Category Archives: Travel Guides
The Inheritance Of Loss
In the foothills of the Himalayas sits a once grand, now crumbling house – home to three people and a dog. There is the retired judge dreaming of colonial yesterdays; his orphaned granddaughter Sai who has fallen for her clever maths tutor; the cook, whose son Biju writes untruthful letters home from New York City;
Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist
`Riveting …this will be his masterpiece` – Andrew Roberts, The New York Times `For big, bold and compelling, it is impossible to ignore Kissinger` – John Bew, New Statesman, Books of the Year `This is a superb history of the modern world as well as a biography of Kissinger …a tour de force` William Shawcross,
The Craftsman
Provocative and enlightening, Richard Sennett`s “The Craftsman” is an exploration of craftsmanship – the desire to do a job well for its own sake – as a template for living. Most of us have to work. But is work just a means to an end? In trying to make a living, have we lost touch
Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City
`Thank god for Richard Sennett … essential reading for all students of the city` Anna Minton, Prospect`Constantly stimulating ideas from a veteran of urban thinking` Jonathan Meades, GuardianIn Building and Dwelling, Richard Sennett distils a lifetime`s thinking and practical experience to explore the relationship between the good built environment and the good life. He argues
Failed States
The United States asserts the right to use military force against `failed states` around the globe. But as Noam Chomsky argues in this devastating analysis, America shares features with many of the regimes it insists are failing and constitute a danger to their neighbours. Offering a comprehensive and radical examination of America past and present,
Shakespeare on Silver Street
In 1612, Shakespeare gave evidence at the Court of Requests in Westminster – it is the only occasion his spoken words are recorded. The case seems routine – a dispute over an unpaid marriage-dowry – but it opens up an unexpected window into the dramatist`s famously obscure life-story. Charles Nicholl applies a powerful biographical magnifying
On the Road to Kandahar – Travels through conflict in the Islamic World
On the Road to Kandahar describes author Jason Burke’s journey in the summer of 1991 to join Kurdish guerillas fighting in Iraq. His remarkable journey took him from the sands of the Sahara to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, revealing the complexity and variety of the loosely defined ‘Islamic World.’ Describing encounters with hundreds
West End Chronicles
The West End is historically the beating heart of London life and in West End Chronicles Ed Glinert looks at the glorious triumphs of this thriving district.From Mayfair to Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue to Fitzrovia, the West End has always been at the glittering heart of London’s social life, lit by cosy cafes, brothels, drinking dens
How to be Both
How to be both is the dazzling new novel by Ali Smith. Winner of the GoldSmiths Prize 2014 Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014 Winner of the 2014 Costa Novel Award Winner of the Saltire Society Literary Book of the Year Award 2014 Nominated for the Folio Prize 2015. Passionate, compassionate, vitally inventive and
The English Rebel – One Thousand Years of Troublemaking from the Normans to the Nineties
From the Peasants` Revolt to the suffragettes, from Oliver Cromwell to Arthur Scargill, “English Rebel” describes a rich and continuous tradition of resistance, rebellion and radicalism, of violent and charismatic individuals with axes to grind, and of social eruptions and political earthquakes that have shaped England`s whole culture and character.The English have a rich and
Disobedience
By the age of 32, Ronit has left London and transformed her life. She has become a cigarette-smoking, wise-cracking, New York career woman, who is in love with a married man. But when Ronit`s father dies she is called back into the very different world of her childhood, a world she thought she had left
Colour Bar
Sir Seretse Khama, the first President of Botswana and heir apparent to the kingship of the Bangwato people, brought independence and great prosperity to his nation after colonial rule. But for six long years from 1950, Seretse had been forced into exile in England, banned from his own country. His crime? To fall in love
Diamond Street: The Hidden World of Hatton Garden
Hatton Garden is one of the most secret streets in England, home for two centuries to a deeply private working community of diamond and jewellery dealers. Intimately connected to the area both personally (her family run a jewellery business there) and professionally (as an artist archivist of London`s streets), Rachel Lichtenstein is uniquely placed to
Not Quite the Diplomat
Part memoir, part remedy for the state we`re in, with liberal sprinklings of common sense, Chris Patten`s “Not Quite the Diplomat” is a frank and funny book from a very outspoken politician. After spending several years in the thick of international events, Chris Patten has seen rather a lot of the world – and the
Estuary: Out from London to the Sea
Out at the eastern edge of England, between land and ocean, you will find beautiful, haunted salt marshes, coastal shallows and wide-open skies: the Thames Estuary. The estuary is an ancient gateway to England, a passage for numberless travellers in and out of London. And for generations, the people of Kent and Essex have lived
The Universe – A Biography
“The Universe: A Biography” makes cosmology accessible to everyone. John Gribbin navigates the latest frontiers of scientific discovery to tell us what we really know about the history of the universe. Like Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time” and other popular science publications, Gribbin’s book will explain what many feel daunted to understand, in a
Why I Write
Whether puncturing the lies of politicians, wittily dissecting the English character or telling unpalatable truths about war, Orwell`s timeless, uncompromising essays are more relevant, entertaining and essential than ever in today`s era of spin.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have
Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800-1906
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2018 `This is stupendous. The British nineteenth century, in all its complexity, all its horror, all its energy, all its hopes is laid bare. This is the definitive history, and will remain so for generations` A.N. WilsonTo live in nineteenth-century Britain was to experience an astonishing series of changes,
Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty
Catherine Bailey`s “Black Diamonds” is an extraordinary tale of family feuds, forbidden love, civil unrest and the downfall of a mining dynasty. Wentworth in Yorkshire was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men. It is the finest and largest Georgian house in Britain and belonged to the Fitzwilliam family. It is England`s
On Beauty
On Beauty is Zadie Smith’s wonderful homage to Howard’s End and it provides plenty of parallels for devotees to spot while remaining greatly enjoyable on its own terms. The action has transferred to New England, with some taking place in London, and concerns a pair of feuding families embroiled in a clutch of doomed affairs
