For all the West's failings - terrible food, cold weather, and questionable politicians with funny hair to name a few - it has its upsides. Konstantin would know. Growing up in the Soviet Union, he experienced first-hand the horrors of a socialist paradise gone wrong, having lived in extreme poverty with little access to even the most basic of necessities. It wasn't until he moved to the UK that Kisin found himself thriving in an open and tolerant society, receiving countless opportunities he would never have had otherwise. Funny, provocative and unswervingly perceptive, An Immigrant's Love letter to the West interrogates the developing sense of self-loathing the Western sphere has adopted and offers an alternative perspective. Exploring race politics, free speech, immigration and more, Kisin argues that wrongdoing and guilt need not pervade how we feel about the West - and Britain - today, and that despite all its ups and downs, it remains one of the best places to live in the world. After all, if an immigrant can't publicly profess their appreciation for this country, who can?

'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .' 1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . . Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, three years into her apprenticeship, and with Hitler's armies rampaging across Europe, the Witches of Britain have joined the war effort - but not without some resistance from within, the British government having originally forced the witches into hiding. As Lydia's power grows, she too joins the cause, tracking down magical relics in order to keep them out of Nazi hands. But a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences and suddenly Lydia's mission becomes even more urgent . . . Somewhere out there, hidden amidst the chaos of war, is the Grimorium Bellum - an ancient book that Hitler craves, a book so steeped in dark magic that it has the power to wipe out civilisations - an artefact that Lydia must find and secure at all costs. Dropped into the heart of Occupied France, Lydia finds allies in Rebecca Gagne, a French resistance fighter with a secret, and Henry Boudreaux, a Haitian-American art historian who seems to possess a little magic of his own. But tracking down this book is only half the battle - for the Grimorium Bellum seems to have a dark agenda all of its own . . .

'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .' 1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . . Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, three years into her apprenticeship, and with Hitler's armies rampaging across Europe, the Witches of Britain have joined the war effort - but not without some resistance from within, the British government having originally forced the witches into hiding. As Lydia's power grows, she too joins the cause, tracking down magical relics in order to keep them out of Nazi hands. But a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences and suddenly Lydia's mission becomes even more urgent . . . Somewhere out there, hidden amidst the chaos of war, is the Grimorium Bellum - an ancient book that Hitler craves, a book so steeped in dark magic that it has the power to wipe out civilisations - an artefact that Lydia must find and secure at all costs. Dropped into the heart of Occupied France, Lydia finds allies in Rebecca Gagne, a French resistance fighter with a secret, and Henry Boudreaux, a Haitian-American art historian who seems to possess a little magic of his own. But tracking down this book is only half the battle - for the Grimorium Bellum seems to have a dark agenda all of its own . . .

'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .' 1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . . Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, three years into her apprenticeship, and with Hitler's armies rampaging across Europe, the Witches of Britain have joined the war effort - but not without some resistance from within, the British government having originally forced the witches into hiding. As Lydia's power grows, she too joins the cause, tracking down magical relics in order to keep them out of Nazi hands. But a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences and suddenly Lydia's mission becomes even more urgent . . . Somewhere out there, hidden amidst the chaos of war, is the Grimorium Bellum - an ancient book that Hitler craves, a book so steeped in dark magic that it has the power to wipe out civilisations - an artefact that Lydia must find and secure at all costs. Dropped into the heart of Occupied France, Lydia finds allies in Rebecca Gagne, a French resistance fighter with a secret, and Henry Boudreaux, a Haitian-American art historian who seems to possess a little magic of his own. But tracking down this book is only half the battle - for the Grimorium Bellum seems to have a dark agenda all of its own . . .

A glorious celebration, this landmark book is an exploration of the greatest gardens, parks and landscapes in Britain, with stunning photography accompanied by insightful text from leading garden historians and conservators. It is lovingly curated by The Gardens Trust, a prominent UK conservation charity dedicated to preserving, studying and spotlighting historic gardens. Arranged chronologically, it covers around 60 individual gardens, specially selected to give a broad historical overview of British garden design from the Early Modern Period up until the Millennium. Each chapter also includes an intruiging essay, exploring the wider changes in social context, taste and style in each period. Entries include: ¿ Elizabethan splendour at Kenilworth Castle. ¿ Spectacular landscapes by Capability Brown at Alnwick Castle and Chatsworth. ¿ Birkenhead Park, the Victorian inspiration for New York's Central Park. ¿ The classic cottage garden created by Margery Fish at East Lambrook, Somerset. ¿ Ian Hamilton Finlay's modern Scottish masterpiece, Little Sparta. Go on a voyage of garden discovery with this beautiful book, and learn more about the gardens and landscapes that are a much-loved part of our shared national story.

For all the West's failings - terrible food, cold weather, and questionable politicians with funny hair to name a few - it has its upsides. Konstantin would know. Growing up in the Soviet Union, he experienced first-hand the horrors of a socialist paradise gone wrong, having lived in extreme poverty with little access to even the most basic of necessities. It wasn't until he moved to the UK that Kisin found himself thriving in an open and tolerant society, receiving countless opportunities he would never have had otherwise. Funny, provocative and unswervingly perceptive, An Immigrant's Love letter to the West interrogates the developing sense of self-loathing the Western sphere has adopted and offers an alternative perspective. Exploring race politics, free speech, immigration and more, Kisin argues that wrongdoing and guilt need not pervade how we feel about the West - and Britain - today, and that despite all its ups and downs, it remains one of the best places to live in the world. After all, if an immigrant can't publicly profess their appreciation for this country, who can?

For all the West's failings - terrible food, cold weather, and questionable politicians with funny hair to name a few - it has its upsides. Konstantin would know. Growing up in the Soviet Union, he experienced first-hand the horrors of a socialist paradise gone wrong, having lived in extreme poverty with little access to even the most basic of necessities. It wasn't until he moved to the UK that Kisin found himself thriving in an open and tolerant society, receiving countless opportunities he would never have had otherwise. Funny, provocative and unswervingly perceptive, An Immigrant's Love letter to the West interrogates the developing sense of self-loathing the Western sphere has adopted and offers an alternative perspective. Exploring race politics, free speech, immigration and more, Kisin argues that wrongdoing and guilt need not pervade how we feel about the West - and Britain - today, and that despite all its ups and downs, it remains one of the best places to live in the world. After all, if an immigrant can't publicly profess their appreciation for this country, who can?

A heartwarming and hilarious new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of FRANK AND RED. _______ Sister Francis is an unlikely nun. She's sixty, sweary, drives like a lunatic and smokes like a stacked chimney . . . and she runs the Blessed Assumption Boys Club. Richie, Bennett, Kenny and Stan are four best friends from the Whittle council estate with little to do but get up to no good. After a run-in with local bullies, they discover the crumbling, forgotten club and find themselves in the company of the most remarkable person they will ever meet. Set against early 1980s Britain, THE TROUBLE WITH SISTER FRANCIS is a funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking story of unlikely heroes, quiet rebellions, fierce loyalty and unexpected hope. And at the centre of it all lies a long-forgotten journal that might just change everything. Praise for FRANK AND RED : 'Best book of the year!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A fantastic debut' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A lovely feel-good treat' The Times | 'Simply perfect' Daily Mirror | 'Hilariously funny . . . and beneath it all really quite lovely' Metro | 'Brilliant, just brilliant' Huffington Post | Debut of the Year Woman and Home | A Prima Book of The Year

Bloomsbury presents The Wise and Their Works: The Legacy of the Great Exhibition of 1851, written and read by A. N. Wilson The Wise and Their Works celebrates the 175th anniversary of the Great Exhibition in 2026. The men who inspired the Great Exhibition of 1851 - Henry Cole, Sir Robert Peel and above all Prince Albert himself - were at the centre of an extraordinary combination of manufacturing, commercial skill and political vision which made Victorian Britain an unparalleled success story. In this celebratory book, A. N. Wilson examines the legacy they left behind: their idealistic beliefs about free trade, decency and parliamentary democracy, and their ultimate vision of the human race at peace with prosperity spreading, while poverty and warfare were consigned to history. While their loftier ambitions may not have come to pass, these enterprising men did leave behind a little known but hugely influential organisation, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, which still supports industry, science and art in the UK. Skillfully delving into this rich and fascinating history, Wilson takes us on a journey into the heart of the progressive Victorian dream, and where it has left us today.

Bloomsbury presents Return of a King by William Dalrymple, read by Sagar Arya. SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2013 'As taut and richly embroidered as a great novel . . . a masterpiece' Sunday Telegraph 'Dazzling' Sunday Times 'Magnificent' Guardian 'Sparkling' Daily Telegraph A towering history of the first Afghan War by bestselling historian William Dalrymple. In the spring of 1839, Britain invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established on the throne Shah Shuja ul-Mulk. On the way in, the British faced little resistance. But after two years of occupation, the Afghan people rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into violent rebellion. The First Anglo-Afghan War ended in Britain's greatest military humiliation of the nineteenth century: an entire army of the then most powerful nation in the world ambushed in retreat and utterly routed by poorly equipped tribesmen. Using a range of forgotten Afghan and Indian sources, William Dalrymple's masterful retelling of Britain's greatest imperial disaster is a powerful parable of colonial ambition and cultural collision, folly and hubris. Return of a King is history at its most urgent and important.

En la Gran Bretaña actual, la clase trabajadora se ha convertido en objeto de miedo y escarnio. Desde la Vicky Pollard de Little Britain a la demonización de Jade Goody, los medios de comunicación y los políticos desechan por irresponsable, delincuente e ignorante a un vasto y desfavorecido sector de la sociedad cuyos miembros se han estereotipado en una sola palabra cargada de odio: chavs. En este aclamado estudio, Owen Jones analiza cómo la clase trabajadora ha pasado de ser "la sal de la tierra" a la "escoria de la tierra". Desvelando la ignorancia y el prejuicio que están en el centro de la caricatura chav, retrata una realidad mucho más compleja: el estereotipo chav, dice, es utilizado por los gobiernos como pantalla para evitar comprometerse de verdad con los problemas sociales y económicos y justificar el aumento de la desigualdad. Basado en una investigación exhaustiva y original, este libro es una crítica irrefutable de los medios de comunicación y de la clase dirigente, y un retrato esclarecedor e inquietante de la desigualdad y el odio de clases en la Gran Bretaña actual. La edición incluye un nuevo capítulo que explora las causas y las consecuencias de los episodios de violencia que ocurrieron durante el verano de 2011 en Inglaterra.

On 25 July 1947, India's last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, stood before the Chamber of Princes in New Delhi and prepared to deliver the most important speech of his career. He had just three weeks to convince more than 550 sovereign princely states--some the size of Britain, some so small that cartographers had trouble locating them--to become part of a free India. Once Britain's most faithful allies, the princes could choose between joining India or Pakistan, or declaring their independence. This is a saga of promises and betrayals, of brinkmanship and intrigue. Mountbatten worked with two of independent India's founding fathers--the country's most senior civil servant, V.P. Menon, and Congress strongman Vallabhbhai Patel--to save the subcontinent from self-destruction. What India's architects described as a 'bloodless revolution' was anything but, as violence engulfed Kashmir and Indian troops put an end to Hyderabad's dreams of independence. Most states accepted the inevitable, giving up their kingdoms in exchange for guarantees that their privileges and titles would be preserved in perpetuity. Instead, they were led to their extinction--not by the sword, but by political expediency, leaving them with little more than fading memories of a glorified past.

'If Downton Abbey still colours your impression of what Britain was like on the cusp of the First World War, 1913 could be a useful corrective' Scotsman 2018 marks the centenary of the end of the Great War. What was the year before the war really like? 1913 is usually seen as little more than the antechamber to apocalypse. Our images of the times are too often dominated by last summers of upper-class indulgence or by a world rushing headlong into the abyss of an inevitable war. 1913: The World before the Great War proposes a strikingly different portrait: told through the stories of twenty-three cities - Europe's capitals at the height of their global reach, the emerging metropolises of America, the imperial cities of Asia and Africa, the boomtowns of Australia and the Americas - Charles Emmerson presents a panoramic view of a world crackling with possibilities, from St Petersburg to Shanghai and from Los Angeles to Jerusalem. What emerges is a rich and complex world, more familiar than we expect, connected as never before, on the threshold of events which would change the course of global history. 'A masterful, comprehensive portrait of the world at that last moment in its history...' Spectator

In smoky rooms above pubs, bare rooms with battered stools and beer-stained tables, where the stage was little more than a scrap of carpet and sound systems were unheard of, an acoustic revolution took place in Britain in the 1950s and '60s. This was the folk revival, where a generation of musicians, among much drink and raucous cheer, would rediscover the native songs of their own tradition, as well as the folk and blues coming from across the Atlantic by artists such as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Big Bill Broonzy. Singing from the Floor is the story of this remarkable movement, faithfully captured in the voices of those who formed it by JP Bean. We hear from luminaries such as Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger and Ralph McTell, alongside figures such as Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Mike Harding, who all started their careers on the folk circuit. The book charts the revival's improvised beginnings and its ties to the CND movement, through the heyday of the '60s and '70s, when every university, town and many villages across the country boasted a folk club, to the fallow years of the '80s and '90s.

In smoky rooms above pubs, bare rooms with battered stools and beer-stained tables, where the stage was little more than a scrap of carpet and sound systems were unheard of, an acoustic revolution took place in Britain in the 1950s and '60s. This was the folk revival, where a generation of musicians, among much drink and raucous cheer, would rediscover the native songs of their own tradition, as well as the folk and blues coming from across the Atlantic by artists such as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Big Bill Broonzy. Singing from the Floor is the story of this remarkable movement, faithfully captured in the voices of those who formed it by JP Bean. We hear from luminaries such as Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger and Ralph McTell, alongside figures such as Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Mike Harding, who all started their careers on the folk circuit. The book charts the revival's improvised beginnings and its ties to the CND movement, through the heyday of the '60s and '70s, when every university, town and many villages across the country boasted a folk club, to the fallow years of the '80s and '90s.

The Netflix series "Till murder do us part: Soering vs. Haysom" deals with the Haysom murders in detail, but the love affair between Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering comes up a little short. What was their relationship really like back then? How could Jens have fallen so deeply in love with Elizabeth that he was willing to get involved in a double-murder? Jens wrote about this years ago in A far, far better thing (Lantern Books 2017). While the focus of that book is on the murders, seven chapters have almost nothing to do with the crime. Instead, they describe the passionate early months of Elizabeth's and Jens's affair, as well as the five months they spent together on the run in south-eastern Europe, Asia and Great Britain. In this audiobook, Jens reads these seven chapters from A far, far better thing himself. This material is perfectly capable of standing on its own; listeners don't need to know anything about the murder case in order to be drawn into the romantic spell of the story. Was Elizabeth's and Jens's affair really just a nightmare of manipulation and deception? Or was it perhaps also, at least for a time, something beautiful?

Bloomsbury presents At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison, read by Helen Ayres. SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2015 LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016 Four-thirty on a May morning: the black fading to blue, dawn gathering somewhere below the treeline in the east. A long, straight road runs between sleeping fields to the little village of Lodeshill, and on it two cars lie wrecked and ravished, violence gathered about them in the silent air. One wheel, upturned, still spins. Howard and Kitty have recently moved to Lodeshill after a life spent in London; now, their marriage is wordlessly falling apart. Custom car enthusiast Jamie has lived in the village for all of his nineteen years and dreams of leaving it behind, while Jack, a vagrant farm-worker and mystic in flight from a bail hostel, arrives in the village on foot one spring morning, bringing change. All four of them are struggling to find a life in the modern countryside; all are trying to find ways to belong. Building to an extraordinary climax over the course of one spring month, At Hawthorn Time is both a clear-eyed picture of rural Britain, and a heartbreaking exploration of love, land and loss.

The latest book from John Harris and Richard Wilbourn continues to build on their longstanding research into the Hess mystery over 25 years. Slowly, the fog that has descended over the Hess case is beginning to clear and Harris and Wilbourn expand here on the implications of their recent findings. There is now little doubt that MI6 were heavily involved in the Hess affair and this involvement is clearly described and explained. What is not so clear is whether MI6 was acting alone, outside of the incumbent Churchill government, in an attempt to be able to offer a viable peace between Nazi Germany and factions within Great Britain. These factions would much rather have preferred a negotiated settlement to a bloody invasion attempt in the summer of 1941. In order to enter into such negotiations MI6 recruited a Finnish Art historian, Tancred Borenius and sent him to Switzerland in January 1941. Additionally the role of the Polish government in exile is closely examined and in particular the role of Josef Retinger, the arch federalist. The evidence would now suggest that a separate peace was being negotiated, outside of governmental channels. That is why Hess flew to Scotland.

**Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction** The definitive history of Britain's tumultuous relationship with Europe - as it's never been told before. 'Powerful, precise, morally engaged, wonderfully alert to character, context and the greater purpose of political life' -- Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge 'Will stand for many years as the authoritative political history' -- David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 'A cut above other Brexit accounts . . . even the most passionate Remainer - or Leaver - should enjoy it enormously' -- Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times In this lively history, acclaimed writer Tom McTague chronicles the battle of ideas, events and personalities that first took the country into the Common Market in 1973, only to take it out of the European Union in an explosive referendum a little over forty years later. A riveting story of the clashing ideals that have pulled at Britain's public imagination for more than seven decades, Between the Waves illuminates the conflicts between leading twentieth century politicians and the lesser-known actors in this great post-war drama: the Eurosceptic student radicals, Cold Warriors, eccentric billionaires and political strategists who turned the tide of history. Ultimately, this book raises that most elemental of questions: who are we? 'A sweeping, impressive and ambitious history of modern Europe' Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women

'Sarah Waters' masterly novel is gripping, confident, unnerving and supremely entertaining' Hilary Mantel In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. 'The #1 book of the year . . . several sleepless nights are guaranteed' Stephen King 'Chilling . . . a meditation on the nature of the British and class, and how things are rarely what they seem' Kate Mosse 'Not only is it tremendously rich, it's an absolute treat to read - the kind of thing you desperately want to finish and then feel bereft when you do' Bridget Collins 'Waters has determined to scare the pants off her rightly devoted audience. She succeeds unquivocally' Erica Wagner, The Times 'A brilliantly observed story, verging on the comedy, about Britain on the cusp of modern age' Independent on Sunday