Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

One of Britain's most distinguished biographers turns her focus on one of the most vilified women of the twentieth century. Historian Anne Sebba has written the first full biography by a woman of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. 'That woman', as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became...

As divisive as he is beguiling, as misunderstood as he is scrutinised, Boris Johnson is a singular figure. Many of us think we know his story well. His ruthless ambition was evident from his insistence, as a three-year-old, that he would one day be 'world king'. Eton and Oxford prepared him well for a frantic career straddling the dog-eat-dog worlds of journalism and politics. His transformation from bumbling stooge on Have I Got News for You to a triumphant mayor of London was overshadowed only by his colourful personal life, brimming with affairs, scandals and transgressions.

The stories and the people involved in the history of murder are stranger, darker and more compulsive than any crime fiction. There’s Richard Parker, the cannibalized cabin boy whose death at the hands of his hungry crewmates led the Victorian courts to decisively outlaw a defence of necessity to murder. Dr Percy Bateman, the incompetent GP whose violent disregard for his patient changed the law on manslaughter. Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in England in the 1950s, played a crucial role in changes to the law around provocation in murder cases.

When foster carer, Cathy Glass, is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort as it’s...

If I'm going to tell the story of a life, my life, then I need to tell it warts and all. If the tale is too saccharine sweet then what can the reader take away from it? What do they learn about you? I've written everything down. The shit, the death, fun, naughtiness, addiction, laughter, laughter, laughter, some tears and lots of love and happiness. That, to me, is a better reflection of a human's life.

This brilliant audiobook is hilariously read by the author, Nina Stibbe. From the beloved author of Love, Nina, comes a warm and funny story of a woman changing her life at sixty. 'Vulnerable, sharp, funny, wise' - Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons In Chemistry 'A unique comic voice, endlessly...

Brought to you by Penguin. From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen. Before Stanley Tucci became a household name with The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, and the perfect Negroni, he grew up in an...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2017 #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘The best political book of the year’ Andrew Marr ‘A superb work of storytelling and reporting. Sets new benchmark for the writing of contemporary political history’ Guardian The only book to tell the full story of how and...

#1 New York Times non-fiction bestseller #2 Sunday Times non-fiction bestseller SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY APPLE, AMAZON, THE TIMES AND FINANCIAL TIMES Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk offers the most intimate...

Based on the iconic, Emmy-nominated series on A&E, this show explores some of the most difficult-to-solve murders, which stymied investigators and went cold, sometimes for decades. In fact, one-third of all murders in America remain open. But thanks to dogged investigators and breakthroughs in forensic technology, these cases become part of the rare 1% of cold cases that are ever solved. Cold Case Files is narrated by Marisa Pinson.

In this extraordinary account of life as midwife in 1950s London, Jennifer Worth recounts her experiences - and those of the women she helped - in all their stark, colourful and at times shocking reality. Life in London's East End in the 1950s was tough. The brothels of Cable Street, the Kray...

Brought to you by Penguin. New access to court documents and to Ian Brady's private files, shines new light on these crimes and the police investigation. Detailing full story of the Moors Murders, and the search for Ian Brady and Myra Hindley's fifth victim, Keith Bennett, whose grave has never...

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE TIMES and SUNDAY TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2024 … 'GENIUS' A BOOK OF THE YEAR for the SPECTATOR, MAIL ON SUNDAY, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY EXPRESS and THE TABLET. From one of the funniest writers of our time, the award-winning...

*THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *A Financial Times Book of the Year* *Economist Book of the Year* ‘A political epic’ – Guardian ‘This is the book Trump fears most.’ – Axios Few journalists have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few better understand...

No-nonsense New York journalist, Joe Nocera investigates a strange 100-year-old British murder case featuring poisoned scones and weedkiller. How did the case, and others like it, inspire the bestselling writer of all time: Agatha Christie?

Four-time Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox shares her journey as a transgender woman in Hollywood, confronting childhood trauma, shame, gender identity, her transition, body image issues, her search for romantic love, deep-seated feelings of unworthiness, and ultimately, healing. Laverne Cox...

For anyone who feels like their life is one disaster after another: good news–you’re not alone. Jameela Jamil (The Good Place, She-Hulk) gathers her funny friends and they share their most mortifying and embarrassing stories. Crucially, there are no morals and no silver linings. They are simply here to revel in each others’ misfortune. Wrong Turns: where dignity goes to die.Please share your own Wrong Turns with us for possible inclusion in the show, just email a voice memo to PersonalDisasterStories@gmail.com. Wrong Turns takes over from iWeigh and Bad Dates as Jameela’s home in ...

David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look...

People say to me, if you could do it all again, knowing what you know now, would you change anything? I'm like, f*** no. If I'd been clean and sober, I wouldn't be Ozzy. If I'd done normal, sensible things, I wouldn't be Ozzy. Look, if it ends tomorrow, I can't complain. I've been all around the...