Showing titles in Cultural & Regional

Read by the author, Dragged Up Proppa is the story of growing up working class in a forgotten England. 'Very compelling, beautifully written memoir of a time and England that no longer exists but remains just as important today as ever' – Sebastian Payne, author of Broken Heartlands Pip Fallow...

Brought to you by Penguin. Leo Varadkar shares his fascinating experience as Irish prime minister at a time of much change and turbulence, in this remarkably honest memoir. Leo Varadkar was an unlikely Taoiseach – the youngest on taking office in 2017, the first Taoiseach to be gay, and the...

For over twenty-five years, actor Jassa Ahluwalia described himself as 'half Indian, half English'. His fluent Punjabi always prompted bewilderment, medical staff questioned the legitimacy of his name, and the world of casting taught him he wasn't 'the right kind of mixed-race'. Feeling caught between two worlds, it wasn't long before Jassa embarked on a call to action: we need to change how we think and talk about mixed identity.

In 2018 Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took to social media to share her suspicions that the California wildfires were started by 'space solar generators' which were funded by powerful, mysterious backers. Instantly, thousands of people rallied around her, blaming the fires on "Jewish space lasers" and, ultimately, the Rothschild family. For more than 200 years, the name "Rothschild" has been synonymous with two things: great wealth, and conspiracy theories about what they're "really doing" with it.

In Mother's Boy, Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson reveals how he became a writer. It is an exploration of belonging and not-belonging, of being an insider and outsider, both English and Jewish. Full of Jacobson's trademark humour and infused with bittersweet memories of his parents, this is the story of a writer's beginnings - as well as the twists and turns that life takes - and of learning to understand who you are before you can become the writer you were meant to be.

A SPECTATOR AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Timely and beautifully written' Sunday Times 'Phenomenal. An extraordinary insight into a country barely known - and often feared - by the West' Vogue Welcome to Tehran, a city where survival depends on a network of...

In this distinct, subversive and intimate hybrid memoir, Katie Goh explores the orange as a means of understanding the world, and herself within it. What she finds is a world of violence, colonialism, resilience, survival, adaptation - and of unexpected beauty and sweetness against all odds. The orange's odyssey parallels Katie's search for her own heritage and, drawing on her family history as well as extensive travel and research, she follows it from east-to-west and west-to-east - from Longyan, China, to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and the groves of California.

Tarana Burke and Dr Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organisers, artists, academics and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.

** THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ** A Best Book of the Year in the Financial Times, The Week, Spectator, BBC History Magazine, NPR, History Today, Waterstones and Daunts ‘A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian’ PETER FRANKOPAN 'Remarkable … The prose is vivid, the storytelling...

Here is one of the great autobiographies of the English language - exuberant, wonderfully contemporary in spirit, by a man twice as large as life who—he said so himself—had no trouble remembering everything that had ever happened to him and a lot of things besides.

2017 Audie Award Finalist for Autobiography/Memoir From Taraji P. Henson, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe winner, and star of the award-winning film Hidden Figures and the 2023 film The Color Purple, comes an inspiring and funny memoir—“a bona fide hit” (Essence)—about family...

Ever since she was a child, every aspect of Julia Haart's life—what she wore, what she ate, what she thought—was controlled by the orders of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. At 19, after a lifetime spent caring for her seven younger siblings, she was married off to a man she barely knew. For the next 24 years, he would rule her life. Eventually, when her youngest daughter, Miriam, started to question why she wasn't allowed to sing, run or ride a bike, Julia reached her breaking point. 

In this often violent but always introspective memoir, Mobb Deep’s Prodigy tells his much anticipated story of struggle, survival, and hope down the mean streets of New York City. For the first time, he gives an intimate look at his family background, his battles with drugs, his life of crime, his relentless suffering with sickle-cell anemia, and much more.

In 2020, at the age of 100, Tetsuyo Ishii was interviewed by her local paper in Hiroshima. Her positive outlook, wholesome lifestyle and connection to her community instantly captured the hearts of people. In this charming book, Granny Tetsuyo shares the optimistic principles by which she lives her life, and the simple daily rituals that sustain her.

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.

„Vierzig Jahre nach ihrem Verschwinden erfahre ich endlich, warum meine Mutter sich nicht von mir verabschiedete.“Manchmal braucht es vierzig Jahre, bis eine Wahrheit endlich ans Licht kommt. Nach dem spurlosen Verschwinden ihrer Mutter bleibt ein Mädchen zurück, das nie erfährt, warum es verlassen wurde. Kein Abschied. Keine Erklärung. Nur ein Schweigen, das Jahrzehnte lang wie ein Schatten über ihrem Leben liegt. Vierzig Jahre später ist die Mutter alt, krank und gebrochen. Die Tochter holt sie zu sich–und plötzlich öffnen sich Türen, die ein halbes Leben verschlossen waren.

A shockingly frank memoir from a prize-winning economist, reflecting on his remarkable personal odyssey and his changing positions on identity, race, and belief.

Brought to you by Penguin. In this collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, Chatwin takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Ghandi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that 'Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot'.  

'Bright, breezy and unpretentious' Guardian 'A loving and faithful portrait of Almina and her world' Countryfile magazine * * * * * * The story of the real Downton Abbey, told by Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle where the phenomentally successful TV series was filmed. Lady...

For a world of devoted fans, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers. Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with...