‘Every day we are overwhelmed by advice on how to live better. Art Cure is an amazing antidote to the deluge of nonsense . . . Everyone should read this.’ XAND VAN TULLEKEN, doctor and presenter

‘Elegantly distils the evidence for what we have always intuitively felt; that music, literature, cinema, and art are powerful universal remedies . . . A book for our times.‘ GILLIAN ANDERSON, bestselling author, actress and activist

DIET. SLEEP. EXERCISE. NATURE. ARTS?

Many of us consider making and consuming art to be a hobby, or even a luxury. But what if arts engagement – from classical music to salsa, poetry to pop concerts, galleries to graffiti – was in fact one of our most powerful tools for unlocking health and happiness?

What if art could help you live longer – and even save your life?

In Art Cure, world-leading expert and award-winning scientist Professor Daisy Fancourt reveals the life-changing power of the arts, including how:

• Songs support the architectural development of children’s brains.
• Creative hobbies help our brains to stay resilient against dementia.
• Visual art and music act just like drugs to reduce depression, stress, and pain.
• Dance build new neural pathways for people with brain injuries.
• Going to live music events, museums, exhibitions, and the theatre decreases our risk of future loneliness and frailty.
• Engaging in the arts improves the functioning of every major organ system in the body.

And, perhaps most importantly, how art helps us not only to survive, but to thrive and flourish.

Fancourt draws on ground-breaking research in neuroscience, psychology, immunology, physiology, behavioural science and epidemiology, as well as inspiring true stories of people who have experienced radical changes in their health, to empower readers to improve their own health through the arts.

Informed by the results of decades of scientific studies, Art Cure is the must-read, inspiring guide to improving your health, giving you the tools to write your own ‘arts prescription’.

‘A revelation . . . Could not be more timely, nor make a stronger, more urgent case for placing the arts at the centre of our communities.’ MELYN BRAGG, broadcaster and parliamentarian

‘Fascinating, comprehensive, compelling, inspiring.’ DR CHRISTOPHER BAILEY, World Health Organization

‘This book will profoundly change the way you consider your own mind’ Lewis Dartnell, bestselling author of The Knowledge, Origins and Being Human

‘You will not a find a more up-to-date or more compelling account of how a mind emerges from the brain’ Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London

‘An engaging, informative, and genuinely entertaining guide to the many weird ways in which our brains create the world we live in’ Dean Burnett, author of The Idiot Brain

How does your brain decide what it’s seeing, from the physical world to other people? For decades, scientists have tried to understand how our brains work, not realising that the answer lies much closer to home than it seems.

The latest research in neuroscience and psychology suggests that the brain is doing the same thing that the scientists are: using past experiences to build theories of how the world works, and using these models to predict and make sense of it. Through this process, your brain constructs the reality that you live in.

In this book Daniel Yon takes the research one step further, uncovering how your brain colours your perception of the world, the judgements you make about other people and the beliefs you form about yourself. With transformative applications for how we engage with other communities and approach mental illness, A Trick of The Mind will revolutionise the way you think.

‘I trust that reading this book may help many to lead lives of greater compassion and deeper peace of mind’ His Holiness the Dalai Lama

‘One of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time’ Maria Popova

‘An exquisite call to silence and the myriad connections it kindles’ Katherine May

From the bestselling author of The Art of Stillness, a revelatory exploration of the abiding clarity and calm to be found in quiet retreat

Over the past three decades, Pico Iyer has made more than a hundred journeys to a small hermitage high above the sea in Big Sur, California. He’s not a Christian, nor a member of any religious group, and yet his life has been transformed by these periods of time spent in silence.

In Learning from Silence, Iyer travels deep into inner stillness and joy in his many seasons at the monastery, even as his life is going through constant change: houses burn, a parent dies, a daughter is diagnosed with cancer. He shares the revelations he experiences, alongside wisdom from other non-monastics who have learned from adversity and inwardness. Most profoundly, he shows how solitude can be a training in community and companionship.

In so doing, he offers a unique outsider’s view of monastic life – and of a group of selfless souls who have dedicated their days to ensuring there’s a space for quiet and recollection that’s open to us all.

Radiant, intimate and gripping, Learning from Silence offers ageless counsel about the power of silence and what it can teach us about how to live, how to love and, ultimately, how to die.

‘As knowledgeable a guide to neuroscience as one might hope for.’ New York Times Book Review

We are only just beginning to appreciate the healing power of music. In recent years, a wave of scientific research has upended everything we once knew about its effects on our brains: not only in reducing stress, but also in enhancing cognitive function, slowing the spread of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, even strengthening our immune systems.

Here, a neuroscientist and celebrated musician introduces a bold new paradigm for medical treatment, rooted in the unexpected influence of music on our minds and bodies. From explaining how ‘rhythmic auditory stimulation’ can fight multiple sclerosis, to examining why Tracy Chapman’s songs might just help cure PTSD, Professor Daniel Levitin offers surprising insights into the new science of music as medicine.

Along the way, he explores how each of us can use music to calm our thoughts, repair our memories and heal our deepest psychological wounds. The result is both a surprising tour through the science of music, and a joyful celebration of humanity’s oldest obsession.

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‘Music as Medicine showcases Daniel J. Levitin’s expertise in all genres of music as well as experimental neuroscience. No one else in the universe could have written this book.’ Neil deGrasse Tyson

‘For many years I have wondered why a bunch of frequencies organised into a piece of music has the ability, even without words, to make the listener cry and become emotional. Although I know this happens to me and many people, I have often wondered how this can be. Dr Levitin, in this latest book, Music as Medicine, has some fascinating insights into this great phenomenon.’ Paul McCartney

‘Daniel J. Levitin is a visionary neuroscientist, an extraordinary musician, a brilliant writer – and this is his best book yet. Music as Medicine is inspiring and illuminating, as deep as it is delightful.’ Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness

‘Astonishing. Kate Conger and Ryan Mac’s meticulous, comprehensive reporting turns an opaque mess brutally transparent’ Jia Tolentino, bestselling author of Trick Mirror

‘Gripping? Through fly-on-the-wall reporting, Character Limit takes readers inside Elon Musk’s tumultuous Twitter takeover and the disruption of a company, an industry, and the online public square. What a wild ride’ Bradley Hope, bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale

In a world of viral ideas and emotion, who gets to control the narrative, who gets to be heard, and what does power really cost?

This is the story of the showdown between Elon Musk and Twitter and how the richest man on earth suddenly came to control one of the most powerful media platforms in the world. In Character Limit, award-winning reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac draw on exclusive interviews, unreported documents and internal Twitter recordings to provide a revelatory, three-dimensional, and definitive account of what really happened when Musk showed up to takeover Twitter, spoiling for a brawl and intent on revolution, with his merciless, sycophantic cadre of lawyers, investors, and bankers.

In part, this is the story of Twitter’s founder, Jack Dorsey, who idealistically dreamed of building a ‘digital town square’ but detested Wall Street and never built a profitable business, and Musk, one of the site’s most influential users with over 70 million followers. To Musk, Twitter-once known for its almost absolute commitment to free speech-had utterly lost its way. Blaming it for the proliferation of what he called the “woke mind virus”, he claimed that the survival of humanity itself depended on the future of the site.

In January 2022, Musk began secretly accumulating Twitter stock. By April, he was its largest shareholder, and, soon after, he made an unsolicited offer to purchase the company for the unimaginable sum of $44 billion. Backed into a corner, Twitter’s board accepted his offer-only for Musk to change his mind, forcing Twitter to sue him.

Drawing on unparalleled sources, this is the defining story of our time told in vivid, cinematic detail.

‘Jeannette’s knowledge is astonishing’ Derren Brown
‘There is no one better’ Rory Kinnear
‘A true gift for us all’ Indhu Rubasingham

Every time you deliver a speech, give a presentation, or simply tell a good story, you are taking centre stage. Here, one of the world’s leading voice coaches introduces the simple exercises that great actors use to hold people’s attention – and reveals how anyone speaking in public can use them.

Drawing on 25 years working at the National Theatre in London, Jeannette Nelson explains:

• How to warm up your voice and body before a big speech.
• How learning to breathe deeply can improve your clarity and pace
• How to divide a script into individual ‘thoughts’ so it flows more naturally.
• How to adapt your delivery to suit any environment, be it a 1,000-seater auditorium or an intimate Zoom meeting.

Along the way, she recounts stories from leading actors that pull back the curtain on how they learnt to own the room, and how you can too. If all the world’s a stage, this book will turn you into its lead actor.

‘A visionary, personal, compassionate, empowering guide’ BESSEL VAN DER KOLK

‘Beautifully intimate and wildly expansive’ BRENÉ BROWN

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What would it do to movements, to our society and culture, to have the principles of healing at the very center? What does it mean to center healing in every structure and everything we create?

As we emerge from the past few years of collective upheaval, are we ready to face the complexities of our time with joy, authenticity, and connection? Now more than ever, we must learn to heal ourselves, connect with one another, and embody our values. In this revolutionary book, Prentis Hemphill shows us how.

What It Takes to Heal asserts that the principles of embodiment – the recognition of our body’s sensations and habits, and the beliefs that inform them – are critical to lasting healing and transformation. Hemphill, an expert embodiment practitioner, therapist, and activist, who has partnered with Tarana Burke and Esther Perel, among others, shows us that we don’t have to carry our emotional burdens alone. Hemphill demonstrates a future in which healing is done in community, weaving together stories from their own experience as a trauma survivor with clinical accounts and lessons learned from their time as a social movement architect.

In this life-affirming framework for the way forward, Hemphill shows us how to heal our bodies, minds and souls – to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to break down the doors of disconnection and take the necessary risks to reshape our world towards justice.

‘THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE’ Lewis Howes
‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ Julia Samuel
‘OUR POET LAUREATE OF NEUROSCIENCE’ Greg Whyte
‘AN INSTANT CLASSIC’ Bryan Fogel

Dreams are a source of mystery. They have changed the course of individual lives and the world, spurring business deals, inspiring art and scientific breakthroughs, triggering military invasions and mental breakdowns. Yet the source of dreams is not mysterious. They are the product of an extraordinary transformation that occurs in the brain each night when we sleep.

In this pioneering book, bestselling neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial delves into the dreaming brain and shares stories from his own practice to show the astonishing impact that dreams have on our waking life. He explains how dreaming of an exam might help you score up to 20% higher, why taking a long nap could make you better at problem-solving, and even that certain dream disorders can warn you of serious diseases like Parkinson’s years ahead of other symptoms. He offers clear and compelling advice, backed by new research, to become a lucid dreamer, understand your dreaming patterns and unleash their creative power.

Sharing the very latest discoveries in modern neuroscience, This Is Why You Dream provides answers to some fundamental questions: Why do we dream? How do we dream? What do dreams mean? And perhaps, most importantly, do we sleep in order to dream?

‘This is not just a riveting read about how to understand others better. It’s also a revealing look at how to be understood.’ -ADAM GRANT #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and Hidden Potential
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Who and what are supercommunicators? They’re the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They’re brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it?

In this groundbreaking new book, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators to reveal the art – and the science – of successful communication. He unpicks the different types of everyday conversation and pinpoints why some go smoothly while others swiftly fall apart. He reveals the conversational questions and gambits that bring people together. And he shows how even the most tricky of encounters can be turned around. In the process, he shows why a CIA operative was able to win over a reluctant spy, how a member of a jury got his fellow jurors to view an open-and-shut case differently, and what a doctor found they needed to do to engage with a vaccine sceptic.

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.
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‘Charles Duhigg goes through a mountain of research – and some riveting stories – and unearths practical tactics to show that anyone can become a more effective listener, speaker, and even social media poster.’ – DAVID EPSTEIN, bestselling author of Range