This is never more evident than if we lose even a single one of our cognitive abilities. People who develop a brain disorder can find that their identity, their sense of self, can undergo dramatic changes. Through the stories of seven of his patients, acclaimed Oxford University neurologist Masud Husain shows us how our brains create our identity, how that identity can be changed, and sometimes even be restored. Among the people we encounter is a man who ran out of words, a woman who stopped caring what others thought of her and another who, losing her memory, started to believe she was having an affair with the man who was really her husband.

These compelling human dramas reveal how our identities are created by different functions within the brain. They show how modern neuroscience can help to explain the changes in behaviour that occur when our perception, attention, memory, motivation or empathy are altered. By understanding how our brains normally function, neurologists are bringing hope to patients with brain disorders and illuminating the human experience. The resulting journey will ignite new ideas about who we really are and why we act in the ways we do.

Since its inception in the early twentieth century, brain surgery has maintained an air of mystery. As the saying ‘it’s not exactly brain surgery‘ suggests, the specialty has become synonymous with a level of complexity and meticulousness rivalled only by, well, rocket science.

Warm, rigorous and deeply insightful, neurosurgeon Theodore Schwartz reveals what it’s really like to get inside someone’s head – where every second can mean the difference between life or death. Drawing from Schwartz’s experience in one of New York’s busiest hospitals, Gray Matters explores the short but storied history of brain surgery. From the dark days of the lobotomy to the latest research into the long-term effects of contact sports on athletes’ cerebral health, Schwartz unfolds the fascinating story of how we came to understand this extraordinary, three-pound organ, which not only keeps us alive, but makes us who we are.

‘ONE OF THE GREAT THRILLER WRITERS OF OUR AGE’ DAILY EXPRESS

‘IT’S NO WONDER THAT GUILLAUME MUSSO IS ONE OF FRANCE’S MOST LOVED, BESTSELLING AUTHORS’ HARLAN COBEN

PARIS, a misty night a few days before Christmas: a young woman is saved from the waters of the Seine. Unable to remember her name or how she ended up in the river, she is taken to the hospital – only to disappear into thin air.

DNA testing reveals the mysterious woman to be famous pianist Milena Bergman – but that cannot be. Milena died in a plane crash over a year ago. As police captain Roxane begins to investigate, she is plunged deep into an impossible enigma . . .

Is it possible to be alive and dead at the same time?

This is the story of the ‘real’ Bill Gates.   A famous footballer, a successful millionaire and a global philanthropist. This is the story of an incredible man and his remarkable wife, who in his final years made a commitment to use his brain to save the next generation of football players.

Bill was Britain’s first £50 a week teenage superstar who played 333 games for Middlesbrough, where he was the PFA representative.   He was the first entrepreneur/businessman to make sports shops the centre of high-street fashion.   He was a philanthropist who travelled the world using football to change the lives of millions of children in over 100 countries.

But in 2017 his life changed when he was diagnosed with football’s best-kept secret, probable Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, caused by repetitive head impacts including headers, a brain disease with no cure.

Author Mike Amos perfectly captures the incredible life of Bill and Judith, from a coal mining village in Ferryhill in the 1950s, a brilliant 13-year professional career in the 60s and 70s, a chain of sports shops in the 80s, to a millionaire’s lifestyle on 7 mile beach on Grand Cayman in the 90s, to their most difficult journey together to ensure the future of the beautiful game.   He shares Judith’s work, designing the Billion Pound Game of Football that captured the attention of media around the globe and highlighted the need for changes in sport.  

Their ground-breaking Head Safe Football charity has led to research and education, and supported families of players with CTE. Designed to protect the future of the game, Head Safe Football educates players, coaches, sports scientists, and parents to recognise that CTE begins in young footballers and can be prevented with common sense Head Safe Football policies and training.    

No-Brainer explains how one man and his family have galvanised the football world around facts and science to impact player care and child safeguarding policies for both males and females.

If you have ever headed a football, if your child or grandchild are heading footballs, then this is the one book that you need to read.  

The diary of Jean-Dominique Bauby who, with his left eyelid (the only surviving muscle after a massive stroke) dictated a remarkable book about his experiences locked inside his body. A masterpiece and a bestseller in France.

In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French Elle and the father of two young children, suffered a massive stroke and found himself paralysed and speechless. But his mind remained as active and alert as it had ever been.

Using his only functioning muscle – his left eyelid – he was determined to tell his remarkable story, painstakingly spelling it out letter by letter.

The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly records Bauby’s lonely existence but also the ability to invent a life for oneself in the most appalling of circumstances. It one of the most extraordinary books about the triumph of the human spirit ever written.

From the gladiator arenas of history to the rugby pitches of today, athletes have always forfeited their bodies for sport, with grievous bodily contact consistently celebrated as the ultimate performance of toughness and masculinity. But at what cost? This is the story of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) – a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head, and whose impact in the sporting world is only now coming to light.

A Delicate Game is a searing investigation that explores the truth about brain injury in sport and beyond it, from the social dynamics that send young men into violent and dangerous pursuits, to the scientists searching for truth and the families living with the consequences – and it will change the way you think about sport forever.

‘Beautifully written, deeply moving and absolutely mind-blowing’ Julia Ebner

‘A clarion call of great conviction and urgency’ Irish Examiner

From the creator of the award-winning podcast A Beautiful Brain.

This is the story of the degenerative brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), concussive and sub-concussive trauma. It is also a story of power, of science and sport, and of the bodies that society deems worth sacrificing.
It is an investigation that explores the truth about concussion in sport and beyond it, from the social dynamics that send young men into violent sports, to the scientists searching for truth and the families living with consequences. This story belongs to those families.
A Delicate Game explores the passion and fury of sport, truth and justice, violence against women, privilege, love, greed, hope and redemption. It’s going to change the way you think about sport forever.

Reviews

‘Moving…persuasive…timely…absorbing…well-researched…required reading’ Sunday Times

‘Hana Walker-Brown is a powerful new voice in narrative non-fiction. A Delicate Game is sensitive, crushing, vivid and unforgettable’ Will Storr

‘A MUST read book for anybody involved in sports, the facts and truth needs to be common knowledge for everyone.’ – Alix Popham

‘A Delicate Game is a beautifully written, deeply moving and absolutely mind-blowing read. Hana Walker-Brown gives such deep insights that it often feels like you are right next to her in her encounters, privileged enough to be listening. A Delicate Game combines excellent investigative reporting with a uniquely passionate voice that is calling for immediate action. Everyone should read this book!’ – Julia Ebner

‘A heartbreaking but really important book. I can hugely recommend to all’ Fi Glover

‘Sharp, smart and vital. Walker-Brown is a super duper mega talent’ – Anneka Harry

‘It is hard to summarise the level of skill required to execute a multifaceted book like this. A book with real depth that will stay with me for a long time. The literary world of investigative journalism has just gained a new talent’
Dr Sophie Mort

Praise for The Beautiful Brain
‘Thoughtful, compelling and frequently hard-hitting, The Beautiful Brain is a powerful cri-de-Coeur against an industry failure to protect those who keep it afloat’ – Fiona Sturgess, Financial Times
‘A lovely and painful listen. Lovely because of the care and tenderness Walker-Brown puts into her work; painful because of the subject matter. The Beautiful Brain is essential listening’ – Miranda Sawyer, Observer
‘I can’t stop thinking about its core message – the breadth or argument and depth of detail are remarkable” – Gillian Reynolds, Sunday Times
‘It’s gripping and essential – if often overwhelmingly poignant and righteously enraging, as much a call-to-arms as a piece of investigative journalism’ – Esquire
‘Hana’s attention to detail and storytelling skills have created something that is having and will continue to have a lot of impact’ – Halina Haag, PHD Researcher and Brain Trauma Survivor
‘A simple thank you is not reflective of the impact of this story, and it’s delivery’ – Jodie Marshall, Canadian Council for First Aid Education and British Red Cross

‘Wrenchingly honest…eye-opening and deeply moving. *****’ Mail on Sunday

As seen on ‘Living Wild; How to Change your Life’ a two-part prime-time series on Channel 4, Loose Women and The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C

On the precipice of starting her adult life, aged eighteen, Sophie, a rebellious and incorrigible wild child, crashed her car and was instantly paralysed from the chest down. Rushed to hospital, everything she had dreamed for her life was instantly forgotten and her journey to rediscover herself and build a different life began. But being told she would never walk again would come to be the least of her concerns.

Over the next eighteen years, as she strived to come to terms with the change in her body, her relationships were put to the test; she has had to learn to cope with the many unexpected and unpredictable setbacks of living with paralysis; she has had to overcome her own and other people’s perceptions of disability and explore the limits of her abilities, all whilst searching for love, acceptance, meaning, identity, and purpose.

Driving Forwards is a remarkable and powerful memoir, detailing Sophie’s life-changing injury, her recovery, and her life since. Strikingly honest, her story is unusual and yet relatable, inspiring us to see how adversity can be channelled into opportunity and how ongoing resilience can ultimately lead to empowerment.

‘Raw, life affirming and gorgeously written – this book is filled with extraordinary honesty, courage and warmth. Sophie’s words will make us all braver and more hopeful.’ Daisy Buchanan

‘A truly astonishing read about the power of never giving up.’ Sun

‘F***king hell!! This book is absolutely brilliant . . . One of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Honest and so blooming human, it’s fantastic.’ Kathy Burke