“Characters so vividly drawn that their raucous voices seem to echo long after they have vanished from sight.” – Wall Street Journal

Growing up in Azerbaijan in the turbulent early twentieth century, Banine had an ‘odd, rich, exotic’ childhood that left her continually caught between East and West, tradition and modernity.

She remembers her luxurious home, with endless feasts of sweets and fruit; her beloved, flaxen-haired German governess; her imperious, swearing, strict Muslim grandmother; her bickering, poker-playing, chain-smoking relatives. She recalls how the Bolsheviks came, and they lost everything. How, amid revolution and bloodshed, she fell passionately in love, only to be forced into marriage with a man she loathed – until the chance of escape arrived.

By turns gossipy and romantic, wry and moving, Days in the Caucasus is a coming-of-age story and a portrait of a vanished world, and of how the past haunts us. Banine’s gripping memoir provides fascinating insight into the history of the little-known and understood Caucasus region. It tells the poignant story of how, having grown up in Azerbaijan, Banine is forced to flee her home-country following the Russian Revolution, carrying with her the memories of a life that would never be the same again.

In 2020, Alec Ash left behind his old life as a journalist in buzzy Beijing, and moved to Dali, a rural valley in China’s Yunnan province, centred around a great lake shaped like an ear and overlooked by the Cang mountain range. Here, he hoped to find the space and perspective to mend heartbreak, and escape the trappings of fast-paced, high-pressured city life.

Originally home to the Bai people, Dali has become a richly diverse community of people of all ages and backgrounds, with one shared goal: to reject the worst parts of modernity and live more simply, in tune with the natural world and away from the nexus of authoritarian power. It is into this community that Alec embeds himself, charting his first year of life in Dali among these fascinating neighbours, from political dissidents to bohemian hippies.

The Mountains Are High is a beautifully written, candid memoir about how reevaluating what is really important and taking a leap of faith to reach it can genuinely transform your life. As one of the ‘new migrants’ tells Alec when he arrives: it is easy to change your environment, far more difficult to change your mind.

At every appearance, as the world looked on, the impeccable outfits of Queen Elizabeth II were at the centre of keen discussion and debate. This sartorial biography celebrates Her Majesty as a much-loved and timeless style icon. Showcasing the best of the world’s designers, including Norman Hartnell, Hardy Amies and Ian Thomas, it also tells us much about the many years in which she reigned.

Journey through the decades to discover classic designs with nipped-in waists and full skirts, strong tailored silhouettes, as well rather more relaxed styles from the 70s, all worn by Her Majesty, who always dressed with poise and diplomacy for the world stage.

Princess Elizabeth was the leading style influencer of her day. Young and beautiful (and a real princess), she represented postwar optimism and renewal, both personal and cultural. She had a wardrobe most could only dream of, custom-made in the finest fabrics. From practical clothes for her beloved outdoor pursuits to exquisite and sumptuous gowns, her personal style reflected cultural and social changes over nine decades and reveals a rare understanding of the value of impeccable dressing. In our current era of casual clothing for nearly every occasion, the Queen’s formal attire signalled respect for those she was visiting.

With stunning formal portraits and candid photography, discover the careful work that underpinned the royal wardrobe and celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s enduring legacy.

We need our parks more than ever before, for our health and spirits, our bodies and souls, to keep us fit, to save us from pollution, to protect nature and wildlife; and Londoners are lucky enough to enjoy more green spaces than any other major city in the world.

In  London Parks, Hunter Davies illustrates their wonders by spending a year walking round his favourite parks.  From his local haunt on Hampstead Heath to the capital’s latest wonder, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, each one is chosen for its unique appeal. Informative and entertaining, he details their  history, describes their layout and reveals hidden delights and new attractions that might otherwise be missed, such as the statue of a small brown dog in Battersea Park, a garden full of exotic plants and palm trees in south London’s Burgess Park or, for something completely unique, Ian Dury’s musical memorial bench in Richmond Park.

Fun, thought-provoking and uplifting, London Parks is an essential companion for anyone wishing to explore the ever-green beauty of Britain’s capital city, whether it’s spotting pelicans and politicians in St James’s Park, the birds in the London Wetland Centre or the views from Greenwich Park.

‘Intelligently written and powerfully argued.’ Paul Mason

‘Witty, scathing, and entertaining.’ Danny Dorling

Journalist Sam Bright is a Northerner living in London. He is just one of the millions of people clinging on to the coattails of the capital, sucked in by the prospect of opportunities that the rest of the United Kingdom does not enjoy.

Our capital is a vast melting pot of languages, cultures, and ideas, and rightly celebrated for it. For many, though, there is no other option. The only place to access the opportunities this country offers is London. Banking, law, politics, advertising, architecture, the arts and the media are all concentrated here. It is almost impossible to reach the heights of any profession without joining the grey hoards queuing for the next tube. As the economic, political, and cultural epicentre of the country, Fortress London acts more like a renaissance city-state like Florence or Venice than the capital of a modern nation-state. And the gluttony of London, compared to the malnourishment of our regions, dramatically affects life chances in Britain.

Fortress London argues that to address Britain’s manifold problems, we need first to end the hegemony of its capital. Enriched by a vast array of interviews and statistics, it will examine how our individual destinies, from childhood to death, are determined by the disproportionate power of London. It will explain why regional inequality has fallen off the Left’s radar, even as the Right pays lip service to it, and it will draw on international comparisons to show where we have gone wrong and, crucially, how we can fix it.

Sam Bright’s clear-eyed intervention will convince you that regional inequality is the problem – and that now is the time for change.

We need our parks more than ever before, for our health and spirits, our bodies and souls, to keep us fit, to save us from pollution, to protect nature and wildlife; and Londoners are lucky enough to enjoy more green spaces than any other major city in the world.

In  London Parks, Hunter Davies illustrates their wonders by spending a year walking round his favourite parks.  From his local haunt on Hampstead Heath to the capital’s latest wonder, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, each one is chosen for its unique appeal. Informative and entertaining, he details their  history, describes their layout and reveals hidden delights and new attractions that might otherwise be missed, such as the statue of a small brown dog in Battersea Park, a garden full of exotic plants and palm trees in south London’s Burgess Park or, for something completely unique, Ian Dury’s musical memorial bench in Richmond Park.

Fun, thought-provoking and uplifting, London Parks is an essential companion for anyone wishing to explore the ever-green beauty of Britain’s capital city, whether it’s spotting pelicans and politicians in St James’s Park, the birds in the London Wetland Centre or the views from Greenwich Park.

We all know families that are poor but ‘respectable’. Mine, in contrast, was extremely rich but not ‘respectable’ at all…

This is the extraordinary memoir of an ‘odd, rich, exotic’ childhood – of growing up in Azerbaijan in the turbulent early twentieth century, caught between East and West, tradition and modernity.

Banine remembers her luxurious home, with endless feasts of sweets and fruit; her beloved, flaxen-haired German governess; her imperious, swearing, strict Muslim grandmother; her bickering, poker-playing, chain-smoking relatives. She recalls how the Bolsheviks came, and they lost everything. How, amid revolution and bloodshed, she fell passionately in love, only to be forced into marriage with a man she loathed- until the chance of escape arrived.

By turns gossipy and romantic, wry and moving, Days in the Caucasus is a coming-of-age story and a portrait of a vanished world, and of how the past haunts us.

This is the unforgettable memoir of an ‘odd, rich, exotic’ childhood, of growing up in Azerbaijan in the turbulent early twentieth century, caught between East and West, tradition and modernity.

Banine remembers her luxurious home, with endless feasts of sweets and fruit; her beloved, flaxen-haired German governess; her imperious, swearing, strict Muslim grandmother; her bickering, poker-playing, chain-smoking relatives. She recalls how the Bolsheviks came, and they lost everything. How, amid revolution and bloodshed, she fell passionately in love, only to be forced into marriage with a man she loathed- until the chance of escape arrived.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY US ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY

‘What is it,’ asks Tom Wolfe, ‘that makes a man willing to sit on top of an enormous Roman Candle?and wait for someone to light the fuse?’ Arrogance? Stupidity? Courage? Or, simply, that quality we call ‘the right stuff’?

A monument to the men who battled to beat the Russians into space, The Right Stuff is a voyage into the mythology of the American space programme, and a dizzying dive into the sweat, fear, beauty and danger of being on the white-hot edge of history in the making.

‘Tom Wolfe at his very best? Learned, cheeky, risky, touching, tough, compassionate, nostalgic, worshipful, jingoistic…The Right Stuff is superb’ New York Times Book Review