Biography & Autobiography

CUNDILL PRIZE 2018 WINNER SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018 'Enlightening, compassionate, superb' John le Carre A visionary life and times of Joseph Conrad,...

'After all this time Frankie Dettori still ranks amongst the all-time greats of the sport' LESTER PIGGOTT 'An autobiography as gripping as any Dick Francis thriller' YORKSHIRE POST ...

Having written the first book ever on UFO, 2005's long out-of-print Shoot Out the Lights, Martin Popoff, author of over seventy rock books, has now greatly expanded and rewritten the later years material from that title, bringing us now Lettin' Go: UFO...

A brilliant book. Read immediately' Claudia WinklemanA fascinating, inspiring and funny memoir from much-loved broadcaster Gabby Logan When I sat down to write this book, I was really not keen on the idea of writing a biography that charted my life in a...

By the author of the international Number One bestsellers KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE WAGER As Sherlock Holmes once conceded to Dr. Watson, 'If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs and...

Born in the tough East End of Glasgow and married into one of the city's most notorious criminal families, Janey Godley's young life was far from ordinary. From the grim and far-from-swinging 60s, to the discos of the 70s, to the tidal wave of heroin...

Oliver Postgate is widely regarded as the greatest children's storyteller of the modern era. His work, which included The Clangers, Ivor the Engine, The Pogles, Noggin the Nog and, most famously, Bagpuss, is beloved by generations. In this delicious...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERTouching, personal, indomitable, but always laugh-out-loud funny, The Lives of Brian is the legendary story of one of the rock world's best-loved performers - and the many lives he's led'Both a rollicking tale of rock's bygone...

Winner of the British Book Awards History Book of the YearLonglisted for the Samuel Johnson PrizeThis thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet...

This is the story of Messalina - third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world. The scandalous image of the Empress Messalina as a ruthless and sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work...

John Wilders - literary advisor to the BBC TV Shakespeare series - brings thorough scholarship and a practical understanding of performance needs to this new edition. Clarity, accessibility and rigour are the hallmarks of an edition which will provide...

The rumbustious true story of the Victorian master thief who was the model for Conan Doyle's Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' arch-rival. From the bestselling author of 'Operation Mincemeat' and 'Agent Zigzag'. Adam Worth was the greatest master...

At the start of 2021 Richard Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer. For a man whose output includes a stand-up tour titled Talking Cock and who regularly interrogates our attitudes towards masculinity, it was a diagnosis that came with additional...

**DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE WEEK**Soon to be an AppleTV+ series, this is the definitive account of how Enzo Ferrari became the master of motor racing, and one of the most complex, important and imposing figures in the 20th century.The book draws upon years...

'This second volume of memoirs is as fascinating as the first....full of wit, joy, vivid vignettes and useful insights...she has another bestseller on her hands' India Knight, Sunday Times'It's great to have another memoir from Lady Glenconner . . . as...

Meet the most powerful leader in the world. Chinese premier Xi Jinping graces our television screens and news headlines on a regular basis. But even after a decade in power, he remains shrouded in mystery.From growing up with a father purged in Mao's...

'A jewel of a book, a paean to the wonders of water and our place within it' James Nestor, bestselling of author of Breath 'Glorious' The New York Times Take a dive into the deep and discover what it is about water that seduces us, heals us and brings...

*Now a major ITV drama starring Martin Clunes*What does it take to catch a predator who has terrorised southeast England for over fifteen years?Delroy Grant - dubbed the Night Stalker - was one of the nation's most wanted men, a shocking sex predator...

Jeremy Wade has caught an unparalleled array of outsize and outlandish fish from challenging locations all over the world - goliath tigerfish from the Congo, arapaima from the Amazon, 'giant devil catfish' from the Himalayan foothills . . .As his catches...

Travis Barker's soul-baring memoir chronicles the highlights and lowlights of the renowned drummer's art and his life, including the harrowing plane crash that nearly killed him and his traumatic road to recovery-a fascinating never-before-told-in-full...

**NOW A MAJOR SIX-PART SERIES ON ITVX, STARRING DAMIAN LEWIS AND GUY PEARCE** A SUNDAY TIMES No. 1 BESTSELLER WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JOHN LE CARRE 'Riveting, astounding ... An unputdownable postwar thriller' Observer 'Irresistibly readable' Sunday...

Presenting the desperate conflict of the First World War through the eyes of an ordinary German soldier, Ernst Junger's Storm of Steel is translated by Michael Hofmann in Penguin Modern Classics.'As though walking through a deep dream, I saw steel...

In the spring of 1969, the inauspicious release of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's "Trout Mask Replica", a double-album featuring 28 stream-of-consciousness songs filled with abstract rhythms and guttural bellows, dramatically altered the pop...

For decades, Markus Wolf was known to Western intelligence officers only as "the man without a face." Now the legendary spymaster has emerged from the shadows to reveal his remarkable life of secrets, lies, and betrayals as head of the world's most...

The enthralling story of Henry Hill's life as a gangster and notorious participation in the Witness Protection Programme, made into the hugely acclaimed Martin Scorsese film _________________________ 'Absolutely engrossing' - New York Times 'The...

'An extraordinary story' CLOVER STROUD'Astonishing and valuable' THE SPECTATOR'Beautifully written' DAILY MAIL'Intensely gripping . . . as brutal and funny as it is raw and candid' VIV GROSKOP'As vivid an account of addiction as I can remember reading'...

The Sunday Times Gardening Book of the Year 2019 In Scent Magic, a book which is at once romantic and extremely practical, plantswoman, designer and garden-maker extraordinaire Isabel Bannerman immerses the reader in the luscious smells of the...

Written by Captain A. Radclyffe Dugmore of the Kings Own Light Infantry, this personal memoir provides an excellent account of the Great War up to the Battle of the Somme. A wide ranging and perceptive relation of events, Radclyffe Dugmores pedigree as a...

The Sunday Times Bestseller'A beautiful book' Giovanna Fletcher'Will stay with you long after you have put it down' Jools Oliver'Bold, compelling... will blow you away' Marina Fogle'Heartbreaking... such an important read' Sarah Turner (The Unmumsy...

United With Dad is an emotional tale of football fandom and fatherhood, detailing the agonising final two years of a man’s life while drawing on his love for and memories of Manchester United. David Lloyd passed away from metastatic prostate cancer in a...

Winner of the British Army Military Book of the Year 2011 The story of one of the most brutal battles in modern history - fought at a major turning point of the Second World War. Kohima. In this remote Indian village near the border...

'Brilliant biography of an undersung late-blooming treasure . . . subtly profound as well as wickedly entertaining, this biography does its subject scintillating justice' MojoCruel to Be Kind is the definitive account of Nick Lowe's uncompromising life...

The 1995 Open Champion and legendary wild man of golf recalls the best and worst of his life: his inspirational play on both US and European tours; the demons that afflicted him on the course and his addiction to gambling and drink; and the trashed hotel...

Tony 10 was the online betting username of Tony O'Reilly, the postman who became front-page news in 2011 after he stole EURO1.75 million from An Post while he was a branch manager in Gorey, Co. Wexford. He used the money to fund a gambling addiction that...

'Peculiarly hilarious!' - William Gibson'Every page is a pleasure' - Lindsey FItzharris'Utterly charming' - Tom Holland'Laugh-out-loud' - Garth Nix'A must read' - Fergus Butler-Gallie'Brims with self-effacing charm' - Caitlin Doughty'Unfortunately I have...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & BEST GARDENING BOOKS OF 2020 - Sunday Times'Every page a joy' NIGEL SLATER'From a very early age I loved the countryside as much as any garden and was fascinated by the life that I saw all around me from trees, wildflowers,...

'I seem to have banged on this year rather more than usual. I make no apology for that, nor am I nervous that it will it make a jot of difference. I shall still be thought to be kindly, cosy and essentially harmless. I am in the pigeon-hole marked 'no...

Reuben, aged 38, was living in a home for adults with learning disabilities. He hadn't established an independent life in the care system and was still struggling to accept that he had Down's syndrome. Depressed and in a fog of anti-depressants, he...

Crikey, the world according to Clarkson's been a funny old place of late . . .For a while, Jeremy could be found in his normal position as the tallest man on British television but, more recently, he appears to have been usurped by a pretend elephant.But...

This book is a lush and beautiful memoir of a very special house and a superb recreation of a bygone era. In 1967, veteran travel writer Eric Newby and his heroic wife Wanda fulfiled their dream of a return to life in the Italian hills where...