Showing titles in Cultural & Regional

Footprints in the Margin: The Life of a Forgotten Cultural Mediator recounts the quiet yet deeply influential life of an individual who served as a bridge between cultures—only to be overlooked by history. Born in one land and raised in the language of another, the protagonist carried within them a rare gift: the ability to understand—and translate—two seemingly distant worlds. The book delves into the life of a translator, letter writer, linguistic advisor, and cultural intermediary during critical historical moments—from international summits to postwar negotiations.

In early 1983, electrical engineer Barry Norris travelled from Sheffield to Japan to help build an oil rig in Yokohama. Each week he recorded his thoughts on cassette tapes, describing daily life in Japan during its industrial boom, from shipyards and sushi bars to earthquakes and karaoke nights. More than forty years later, his son David Norris introduces and shares those recordings in full, preserving the unfiltered voice of a Geordie abroad.

In this intimate biography of the Prince of Soul, David Ritz provides a candid look at a star and a friend. Ritz had been collaborating with Marvin Gaye on his story for several years before the singer's tragic death and had conducted a series of extraordinary interviews in which Gaye discussed his deepest secrets. What emerges is a full-scale portrait of a charming but tortured artist, a brilliant singer with a divided soul.

The Secret Daughter is the tale of Nikki Carlson, an adoptee whose search for her roots sets her on an unbelievable thrill ride and emotional odyssey that forever changes her. Adopted as a toddler into a big game-hunting Minnesota family and raised on the flat prairies of the Midwest, Nikki’s life is wholly unremarkable. Haunted by the mysteries of her origins, once Nikki comes of age, she begins to search for her biological roots. What she uncovers is more surreal and twisted than anything she could have imagined.

In Lost & Found: The Journey of Socorro, Linda Ann Sanchez shares her remarkable memoir of survival, resilience, and self-discovery. From the uncertainty of her earliest years to the struggles of growing up in a world where she never quite felt at home, Linda’s story is one of perseverance and hope. Through the trials of adoption, the challenges of family relationships, and the search for faith and purpose, Linda discovers that healing isn’t just about finding where you come from—it’s about embracing where you are meant to be.

Rory Cellan-Jones knew he was the child of a love affair between two BBC employees. But until his mother, Sylvia, died and he found a file labelled 'For Rory' he had no idea of their beginnings or ending. Or why his peculiarly isolated childhood had so tested the bond between him and Sylvia, who was single-parenting two sons in a one-bedroom fl at while working full time through the Fifties and Sixties. 'For Rory,' his mother had written on the file before she died, 'in the hope that it will help him understand how it really was ...'

Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired countless readers with the first three volumes of her autobiography, one of the most remarkable personal narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth volume, The Heart of a Woman, her turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as...

Funny, charming, and romantic to a fault, everyone loves Jamie Laing. The affectionate and exuberant blond puppy dog has come a long way - and broken many hearts - since he first graced our screens in 2011 as the joker of the Kings Road on Made in Chelsea. Ten years on, he became king of the...

For years, Amy Thunig thought she knew all the details about the day she was born, often demanding that the story of her birth be retold. Years later, heavily pregnant with her own first child, she learns what really happened that day. It’s a tale that exemplifies many of the events of her early life, where circumstances sometimes dictated that things be slightly different from how they might seem–including what is meant by her dad being away for ‘work’ and why her legal last name differs from her family’s.

The searing, visionary memoir of founding Black Panther Huey P. Newton Tracing the birth of a revolutionary, Huey P. Newton's famous and oft-quoted autobiography is as much a manifesto as a portrait of the inner circle of America's Black Panther Party. From Newton's impoverished childhood on the...

‘A uniquely strange and wonderful work of literature’ Philip Hoare ‘An exciting new voice’ Mark Cocker, author of Crow Country In his late thirties, Edward Parnell found himself trapped in the recurring nightmare of a family tragedy. For comfort, he turned to his bookshelves, back to the...

Every Monument Will Fall offers an urgent reappraisal of how we think about culture, and how to find hope, remembrance and reconciliation in the fragments of an unfinished violent past. Refusing to choose between pulling down every statue, or living in a past that we can never change, the book makes the case for allowing monuments to fall once in a while, even those that are hard to see as monuments, rebuilding a memory culture that is in step with our times.

From the ancient pulse of Persian atmosphere to modern Iran, Currents of Being – Volume I: The River of Life guides listeners through a deeply personal journey exploring history, identity, and transformation. Born into a country shaped by thousands of years of culture and an era of revolutionary change, Shahin Samadi recalls a childhood filled with adventure, warmth, and a deep connection to his heritage.

When John Stoessinger was ten years old, Adolf Hitler annexed his homeland of Austria, ripping the boy from his home and his friends in Vienna. His grandparents encouraged his mother and stepfather to take young John somewhere safe. "You must have a future," his grandfather told him before he and his parents boarded the train and waved goodbye. As they trekked across the country, from Vienna to Prague and then finally settling in Shanghai, there was never a single moment Stoessinger was not afraid.

Mark Hodkinson grew up among the terrace houses of Rochdale in a house with just one book. His dad kept it on top of a wardrobe with other items of great worth - wedding photographs and Mark's National Cycling Proficiency certificate. If Mark wanted to read it, he was warned not to crease the pages or slam shut the covers. Today, Mark is an author, journalist and publisher. He still lives in Rochdale but is now snugly ensconced (or is that buried?) in a 'book cave' surrounded by 3,500 titles - at the last count.

A haunting and beautiful memoir from a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot's genocide in the 1970s but who finds hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother's kitchen. Take a well-fed nine-year-old with a big family and a fancy education. Fold in 2...

When British Arab and ‘Southerner’ Dr Ahmed Handy suddenly found himself working as a junior doctor in the Midlands, a part of the country with which he was wholly unfamiliar (and which was equally unfamiliar with people like him), he was faced with something of a culture shock. But that was only the beginning of his bizarre junior doctor experience.

No singer has been more mythologized and more misunderstood than jazz legend Billie Holiday, who helped to create much of the mystique herself with her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues - and this authentic biography sets the record straight.

In Take It Where You Find It: The American Dream, Earned and Stolen, Heinz H. Bartesch takes listeners on a deeply personal journey through the turbulence of 20th-century history. Born in a refugee camp in Austria, Heinz’s story begins with his family’s escape from the ravages of war-torn Transylvania, where they were caught in the chaos of World War II. The Bartesch family, rooted in the resilient community of the Siebenbürger Saxons, faced unimaginable hardships as they navigated displacement, survival, and the weight of historical trauma.

Överstelöjtnant Kim Yong har oerhörda privilegier med nordkoreanska mått mätt. Han äger en importerad bil och kan åka var han vill i landet. Men förräderianklagelser raserar hela Yongs tillvaro. Han döms till Nordkoreas mest ökända arbetsläger, nr 14 i Hamgyong-provinsen–en värld av våld och tortyr. Medan han tvångsarbetar i en gruva två kilometer under marken blir dagsljus Kims enda lyx. Allt eftersom månaderna går blir han bekant med politiska fångar, omänskliga lägervakter och en apokalyptisk hungersnöd.