Over the next four years, a singular confluence of events – involving a cast of outsized, unforgettable characters – would widen those divisions into chasms. Ed Koch. Donald Trump. Al Sharpton. The Central Park Five. Larry Kramer. Spike Lee. Rudy Giuliani. Howard Beach. Tawana Brawley. The Preppy Murder. The Tompkins Square Riots. Jimmy Breslin. Ivan Boesky. Do the Right Thing, Wall Street, crack, the AIDS epidemic, Black Monday and, of course, ready to pour gasoline on every fire – the tabloids.

In The Gods of New York, bestselling author Jonathan Mahler tells the story of these outsized characters and of these convulsive, defining years. It’s an exuberant, kaleidoscopic, and deeply immersive portrait of a city in transformation, one whose long-held identity was suddenly up for grabs: Could it be both the great working-class city, drawing in and lifting up immigrants from around the world and the money-soaked capital of global finance? Could it retain a civic culture – a common idea of what it meant to be a New Yorker – when the rich were building a city of their own and vast swaths of its citizens were losing faith in the systems that were intended to protect them? New York was one thing at the dawn of 1986; it would be something very different as 1989 came to a close. This book is the story of how that happened.

In February 2025, Michael Palin travelled to Venezuela to get a sense of what life is like in one of South America’s most culturally rich, vibrant but also troubled nations. In the journal he kept during his trip he gives a vivid account of the towns and cities he visited, the landscapes he travelled through, and the people he met.

Illustrated throughout with colour photographs taken on the trip, and permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country from the best-selling author of Great Uncle Harry and Into Iraq.

More and more people around the world are rediscovering an ancient secret to wellbeing, relaxation and stress relief: the humble sauna. By gently raising the heart rate and relaxing muscles, the magical steam that rises from the heated stones – what Finns call löyly – has improved quality of life in the Nordic region for millennia.

In this practical guide, leading global expert Lassi Liikkanen teaches us how to plan, build and maintain a new sauna, with detail on insulation, panelling, and bench construction, and uses the examples of an indoor electric sauna and an outdoor sauna cabin with a wood-burning heater. Along the way, you will learn the traditions and science of sauna, and for the first time Dr Liikkanen introduces his history of Finnish sauna as defined by four eras.

Whether you’re already planning to build your own, or just beginning to learn of the health benefits of sauna, this book is the perfect introduction to löyly and the very Finnish art of living well. Prepare to embrace the deep sense of calm and connection that comes from this simple marriage of steam, wood and stone.

As the tempo of change accelerates beyond anything our ancestors could have imagined, the ability to think clearly about what lies ahead has never been more important – yet we remain remarkably bad at it.

So how might we think about the future with greater rigour?

Nick Foster is one of very few people to have built a career considering this question, and in this book he’s written an invaluable guide for the rest of us. From the Could of excitable, science fiction utopianism and the Should of data-driven, dogmatic certainty, to the Might of scenario planning and the Don’t of fear-driven risk avoidance, Foster explores how humanity has grappled with the concept of the future throughout history, tracing the emergence of distinct schools of thought and exploring the virtues, blind spots and inevitable shortcomings of each.

Could Should Might Don’t resists making cocksure prophecies and bombastic predictions, instead encouraging us to create more balanced, detailed and truthful versions of the future, so that we might improve what we leave behind for those who might follow.

She travelled from coast to coast, from New York to Hollywood, taking in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Washington DC. She rode a pony through the Grand Canyon, listened to jazz in New Orleans and visited the nightclubs of Chicago. And she captured the entire experience in her journal.

This captivating book is that journal and an immersive portrait of postwar America. Beauvoir was disturbed by the poverty and segregation she encountered and at the same time delighted by American energy and friendliness.

Intimate, warm, and compulsively readable, this is travel writing from the iconic feminist and thinker, Simone de Beauvoir.

On New York: ‘I walk between the steep cliffs at the bottom of a canyon where no sun penetrates: it’s permeated by a salt smell. Human history is not inscribed on these carefully calibrated buildings: They are closer to prehistoric caves than to the houses of Paris or Rome.’

On Los Angeles: ‘I watch the Mexican dances and eat chilli con carne, which takes the roof off my mouth, I drink the tequila and I’m utterly dazed with pleasure.’

‘An absorbing, moving, and beautifully composed exploration of motherhood and mothering across the world . . . a gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book’
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

AS THE YEAR TURNS, FOUR WOMEN GIVE BIRTH.

In Japan, Tsukasa‘s government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she spends seven days there, before resting at her mother’s house for a month. The day after giving birth in Kenya, Chelsea returns to her flat in the city, far from her extended family, and her friends help her settle in. Anna, who has already been on maternity leave in Finland for a month, delivers her baby in a midwife-lead birth centre, a tradition dating back a century. In America, despite her insurance, Sarah pays $3,000 from her savings for an uncomplicated birth, before heading home, excited and overwhelmed.

Four Mothers follows these women over the next twelve months, through their first year of parenting. Through immersive storytelling and deep reporting, Abigail Leonard brings to life the policies that shape the experiences of both parents and children: access to healthcare and parental leave, community and workplace support.

Both intimate and international, we see what is and what could be.

‘Eye-opening and cathartic. It is a love letter to parents and a clarion call for better policy’
Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play

‘Exquisitely reported and intensely readable … Once I started Four Mothers I could not put it down’
Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage

*WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY GRAYSON PERRY*

The unofficial guidebook to the English national character by anthropologist Kate Fox.

From the class system to conversation etiquette, Kate Fox picks apart and exposes the bizarre codes of behaviour that the English unconsciously obey.

If you are English, this book will make you re-examine everything you take for granted. And if you aren’t English, it will help you navigate the rules of this peculiar culture.

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READERS LOVE WATCHING THE ENGLISH:

‘A hugely enjoyable read . . . If you want to be really cheered up and entertained with some well-crafted observation of the embarrassingly familiar then do read this book – it’s a joy.’ ?????

‘A great read for lovers of sociology, language and anthropology.’ ?????

‘A very thought-provoking and insightful book. It draws to your attention all the intricacies of class distinction and underlying humour that pervades almost everything we do.’ ?????

Una Marson was unstoppable-a poet whose words lit up hearts, a broadcaster who made history in 1941 as the first Black woman on the BBC, and an activist who fought fiercely for racial and gender equality. She brought Caribbean culture to the global stage, challenged prejudice head-on, and dared to imagine a better world. Yet history nearly erased her.

From the streets of 1920s Kingston, Jamaica, to the heart of British broadcasting during World War II, Una’s journey was one of resilience, ambition, and brilliance. She shared ideas with George Orwell, held her ground with T.S. Eliot, and used her voice to amplify the silenced while navigating a world unprepared for her genius.

Calling Una Marson restores this trailblazing woman to her rightful place in history. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, it celebrates her dazzling, difficult life and the legacy of courage, creativity, and justice she left behind.