Authors

A new and fascinating account of the life of Agatha Christie from acclaimed historian Lucy Worsley....

David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all....

This brutal, beautiful memoir from award-winning novelist Louisa Young is a heartbreaking portrayal of love, grief and the merciless grip of addiction....

On Writing is part biography, part a collection of tips for the aspiring writer....

At six years old, Terry was told by his headteacher that he would never amount to anything. He spent the rest of his life proving that teacher wrong....

Katherine Rundell embarks on a fleet-footed 'act of evangelism', showing us the many sides of Donne's extraordinary life, his obsessions, his blazing words and his tempestuous Elizabeth times—unveiling Donne as the most remarkable mind and as a lesson in living....

In 1982 Murakami began running to keep fit. Here he reflects on his running experiences....

"You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed"....

Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This is an unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs from the acclaimed English actor, author, playwright, and screenwriter....

On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, historian Lucy Worsley leads us into the world in which our best-loved novelist lived....

No book ever written has more perfectly captured the spirit of the 1960s counterculture....

A. A. Gill's memoir begins in the dark of a dormitory with six strangers. He is an alcoholic, dying in the last-chance saloon - driven to dry out, not out of a desire to change....

A famous autobiographical account of life as a young soldier in the first World War trenches....

Malorie Blackman OBE is one of Britain's best loved and most widely read writers, and this is her long-awaited autobiography....

In this long-awaited and candid memoir, Hitchens re-traces the footsteps of his life to date....

Funny, thoughtful, and fascinating, this wonderful series of essays and stories read by the author offers an extraordinary journey into an exceptional career of an award-winning writer....

Prisoner FF8282 gazes out from confinement on what he deems must be a glorious summer’s day, rays of sunlight bursting through the barred...

Shortlisted for Audible's Listen of the Year, 2006.Bill Bryson's hilarious memoir of growing up in middle America in the Fifties, complete, unabridged and read by the author.

Told in a series of letters, this true story of the correspondence between a New York writer and a London bookseller has touched the hearts of thousands....

They were known as the Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege in the early years of the 20th century....

Long days of boredom in confinement, the general inefficiency of prison bureaucracy and a critically over-stretched prison service. The...

Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell’s account of his experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War....

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world....

From the award-winning author of My Name Is Leon, The Trick to Time and Supporting Cast comes a childhood memoir set to become a classic: stinging, warm-hearted and true....

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Charles Dickens: A Life....

This audiobook narrated by William Hope examines how Emerson, Thoreau, and William James forged resilience from devastating loss and changed the course of American thought.

Chesterton goes right to the heart of the matter and addresses the question of whether Blake’s genius was tainted by madness, or whether his peculiar outlook on the world was the key to his success. William Blake has long been regarded as something of an enigma, and his poetry, although much loved by young and old, is seen as esoteric and mysterious.

In this lyrical meditation about the why of writing poetry, Joy Harjo reflects on significant points of illumination, experience, and questioning from her 50 years as a poet. Comprised of intimate vignettes that take us through the author’s life journey as a youth in the late 1960s, a single mother, and a champion of Native nations, this book offers a fresh understanding of how poetry functions as an expression of purpose, spirit, community, and memory.

"600 Quotations from the Great 18th Century Writers" is a collection of inspiring thoughts and reflections from six of the greatest literary minds of all time. During this time, society was experiencing a cultural upheaval, with more emphasis being placed on happiness and the pursuit of knowledge. While these quotes might be over 200 years old, they bear as much relevance today as they did when they were first coined. A superb read for dipping in and out of.

"100 Quotes by Jules Renard" uncovers the famous French author and member of the literary organisation, Académie Goncourt. Famous for his poems, plays and short stories, his work spans the famous "Poil de carotte". The English novelist Julian Barnes' 2008 memoir "Nothing to be Frightened Of" remains a proud homage to Renard, indicative of his continuous influence. His thoughts and musings transcend the page and can be found around the world, on road signs, as well as in books.

"100 Quotes by Edmond and Jules de Goncourt" is a collection of reflections and thoughts by the literary world’s most unexpected collaborators. Touching on everything from religion and the nature of the self to history and poetry, the brothers’ ideas are strikingly similar and timelessly resonant. An ideal book for dipping in and out of, these quotes will provide any reader with food for thought and the tools with which to spark an interesting conversation.

This book is a brief guide to Proust's magnum opus in which Joshua Landy invites the listener to view the novel as a single quest-a quest for purpose, enchantment, identity, connection, and belonging-through the novel's fascinating treatments of memory, society, art, same-sex desire, knowledge, self-understanding, self-fashioning, and the unconscious mind.

America's first poet, Anne Bradstreet, wrote poems regularly for her family's private enjoyment. But in 1647, unbeknownst to Anne, her brother-in-law set sail for England with a manuscript of her poetry. Upon his return, he presented her book to her: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America. Anne was thoroughly embarrassed but also pleased. Subsequent generations have valued her gifts as a poet as well, and her poetry remains in print to this day.

It’s no secret that writers often used their books, poems, and plays to impart observations, thoughts, and reflections. This was also the case for the literature of the 17th century which followed France’s pioneering status in politics and culture. "500 Quotations from the Great French Writers of the 17th Century" offers a fascinating snapshot of that changing society, seen through the eyes of some of the best writers of the era. A superb book for dipping in and out of, this makes a great gift for anyone with an interest in French literature.

William Shakespeare, Plato, Buddha, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Napoleon Bonaparte are just some of the famous names that make up this collection of 500 famous quotes. With ancient sages, politicians, military leaders, philosophers, and physicists imparting their wisdom, this carefully crafted compilation will not only develop your cultural knowledge but entertain, amuse, and inspire you too. "Develop your General Culture in 500 Quotes" will delight those who would like a boost of cultural literacy.

600 Quotations from the Great Writers of the 20th Century features the wit and wisdom of some of the 20th Century’s greatest writers and minds. A cherry-picked selection, the collection includes quotes from the likes of famous Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, American-Lebanese writer and poet Khalil Gibran, Winston Churchill, Britain’s celebrated prime minister, and many more.

Uncover the wisdom from the master of short-form himself, Guy de Maupassant, in this collection of carefully selected quotes. French author and representative of the literary movement "Naturalism", Maupassant’s short stories weave expert observation and reflection with deep social insight. Typically set during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, he focused on human lives and their fateful destinies. His first published story, "Boule de Suif", remains his most celebrated work today.

"100 Quotes by Honoré de Balzac" is a collection of writings and thoughts from the French novelist and playwright, Honoré de Balzac. Balzac was known to frequently flit between several "work in progress" writings, and his finished articles were often revised between editions. The way that Balzac wrote is very much reflective of the difficulties in his own life, and perhaps the writer was attempting to stabilise his life through fiction.

In a remarkable feat of biography, Matthew Hollis reconstructs the intellectual creation of the poem and brings the material reality of its charged times vividly to life. Presenting a mosaic of historical fragments, diaries, dynamic literary criticism and illuminating new research, he reveals the cultural and personal trauma that forged The Waste Land through the lives of its protagonists.

Roald Dahl was one of the world's greatest storytellers. He conceived his vocation as one as intrepid as that of any explorer and, in his writing for children, he was able to tap into a child's viewpoint throughout his life. He crafted tales that were exotic in scenario, frequently invested with a moral, and filled with vibrant characters that endure in public imagination to the present day.