In the middle of Amsterdam stands a tall, narrow house on a canal. Over the course of four centuries the house has been a home to many – from poor families to wealthy couples, and those hiding from persecution. Like the family of a young Jewish girl who sought refuge in the annexe and wrote in her diary of the “old house on the canal”. The girl’s name was Anne Frank, and her diary became world famous.

‘Can’t express how moved I am. An absolute triumph. So much more than a mere book‘ Allan Little

‘Thomas Harding is a researcher of the first rank‘ Daily Express
__

Italy, Summer 1944

A unit of German soldiers arrives at a villa near Florence. Villa Il Focardo is home to Robert Einstein, cousin to the most famous scientist in the world, Albert Einstein – a prominent enemy of the Nazi regime. Having renounced his German citizenship a decade earlier, Albert’s safely in America, well beyond Hitler’s reach.
The same is not true for his cousin.

Twelve hours after arriving, the soldiers have vanished – and a family is dead. This crime – and what happened next – still haunts those who survived.

Who ordered it? Who was involved?

And why did they get away with it?

This is the untold story of the Einstein vendetta.

__________

Praise for Thomas Harding:

Hanns and Rudolf

‘A gripping thriller, an unspeakable crime, an essential history’ John le Carré

‘Thomas Harding has shed intriguing new light on the strange poison of Nazism, and one of its most lethal practitioners… Meticulously researched and deeply felt’ Ben Macintyre, Times Book of the Week

‘Fascinating and moving…This is a remarkable book, which deserves a wide readership’ Max Hastings, Sunday Times

The House by the Lake

‘The narrative drive of a great novelist and the meticulous research of a great historian’ The Herald

‘A passionate memoir about Germany’ Neil MacGregor, author of A History of the World in 100 Objects and Germany: Memories of a Nation

‘I loved this book. I admire the elegance of it, the hope, the honesty and the generousness with which every resident is given his or her place. It has made me think about our individual parts in the bigger story, and the coming and going-ness of things. It is a book that will stay with me for a very long time’ Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

‘A superb portrait of twentieth century Germany seen through the prism of a house which was lived in, and lost, by five different families. A remarkable book’ Tom Holland, author of Rubicon

In the middle of Amsterdam, stands a tall, narrow house on a canal. Over the course of four centuries the house has been a home to many – from poor families to wealthy couples, and those hiding from persecution. Like the family of a young Jewish girl who sought refuge in the annexe and wrote in her diary of the “old house on the canal”. The girl’s name was Anne Frank, and her diary became world famous.

In this first biography, Thomas Harding provides a full, unvarnished and at times difficult history of this complex and fascinating character and crafts a portrait of the publisher’s life that is inextricable from the efforts and intricacies of putting a book into the world. Structured around twenty books associated with George Weidenfeld, and intercut with explorations of contemporary concerns such as the right to publish, freedom of speech and separating the art from the artist, The Maverick tells the captivating story behind the life of this iconic publisher.

Born into a Jewish family in Vienna in 1919, George Weidenfeld fled to England in 1938 to escape the Nazi regime. There he began a career in publishing that would make him one of the most influential figures in the industry. Over the course of his long and illustrious career he championed some of the most important voices of the twentieth century, from Vladimir Nabokov, Mary McCarthy and Saul Bellow to Harold Wilson, Isaiah Berlin and Henry Kissinger.

But what do we know about the man himself? Was he, as described by some, the ‘greatest salesperson’, ‘the world’s best networker’, ‘the publisher’s publisher’ and ‘a great intellectual’? Was his lifelong effort to be the world’s most famous host a cover for his desperate loneliness? Who, in fact, was the real George Weidenfeld and how did he rise so successfully within the ranks of London and New York society? Providing a full, unvarnished and at times difficult history of this complex man, this first biography of a titan of culture is also a story of resilience, determination and the power of ideas to shape history.

In WHITE DEBT, Harding vividly brings to life the story of the uprising by enslaved people that took place in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana) in the Caribbean in 1823. It started on a small sugar plantation called ‘Success’ and grew to become a key trigger in the abolition of slavery across the empire. We see the uprising through the eyes of four people: the enslaved man Jack Gladstone, the missionary John Smith, the colonist John Cheveley, and the politician and slaveholder John Gladstone, father of a future prime minister. Charting the lead-up to the uprising right through to the courtroom drama that came about as a consequence, through this one event we see the true impact of years of unimaginable cruelty and incredible courage writ large.

Captivating, moving and meditative, WHITE DEBT combines a searing personal quest with a deep investigation of a shared history that is little discussed amongst White people. It offers a powerful rebuttal of the national amnesia that masks the role of the British in this devastating period, and asks vital questions about the legacy we have been left with – cultural, political and moral – and whether future generations of those who benefited from slavery need to acknowledge and take responsibility for the White Debt.

“A touching picturebook which shows children that large events can have repercussions even in small and unheralded places” Wall Street Journal

A beautiful picture-book adaptation of Thomas Harding’s Costa-shortlisted biography for adults, exquisitely illustrated by Britta Teckentrup.

On the outskirts of Berlin, a wooden cottage stands on the shore of a lake. Over the course of a century, this little house played host to a loving Jewish family, a renowned Nazi composer, wartime refugees and a Stasi informant; in that time, a world war came and went, and the Berlin Wall was built a stone’s throw from the cottage’s back door.

Thomas Harding first shared this remarkable story in his Costa-shortlisted biography The House by the Lake – now he has rendered it into a deeply moving picture-book for young readers. With words that read like a haunting fairy-tale, and magnificent artwork by Britta Teckentrup, this is the astonishing true story of the house by the lake.

“An atmospheric and ultimately uplifting tale with delicate, ethereal images” The Financial Times

PRAISE FOR THE ORIGINAL BIOGRAPHY OF THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE:

A Radio 4 Book of the Week

“A deft history of a cabin containing many secrets.” – Independent

“A fascinating window on a tumultuous period” – Financial Times

“Nobody quite stirs the soup of historical detail like Harding.” – Express

‘A superb portrait of twentieth century Germany seen through the prism of a house which was lived in, and lost, by five different families. A remarkable book.’ Tom Holland

‘Personal and panoramic, heart-wrenching yet uplifting, this is history at its most alive.’ A.D. Miller

‘A passionate memoir.’ Neil MacGregor
_______________________________________
In 2013, Thomas Harding returned to his grandmother’s house on the outskirts of Berlin which she had been forced to leave when the Nazis swept to power. What was once her ‘soul place’ now stood empty and derelict. A concrete footpath cut through the garden, marking where the Berlin Wall had stood for nearly three decades.

In a bid to save the house from demolition, Thomas began to unearth the history of the five families who had lived there: a nobleman farmer, a prosperous Jewish family, a renowned Nazi composer, a widow and her children and a Stasi informant. Discovering stories of domestic joy and contentment, of terrible grief and tragedy, and of a hatred handed down through the generations, a history of twentieth century Germany and the story of a nation emerged.