Autobiographies

"A rigorously researched book that gracefully pivots between the world of the ring and the racial politics of the early'60s."-New York Times Book Review

The updated edition of Luca Caioli's brilliant biography of Barcelona star Lionel Messi, now covering the 2019/2020 season.

Named one of the Best Business Books of 2021 by The Wall Street JournalIn Japan it's called the Ghosn Shockthe stunning arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the jet-setting CEO who saved Nissan and made it part of a global automotive empire.Even more shocking was his daring escape from Japan, packed into a box and put on a private jet to Lebanon after months spent in a Japanese detention center, subsisting on rice gruel.This is the saga of what led to the Ghosn Shock and what was left in its wake. Ghosn spent two decades building a colossal partnership between Nissan and Renault that looked like a new model for a global business, but the alliance's shiny image fronted an unsteady, tense operation. Culture clashes, infighting among executives and engineers, dueling corporate traditions, and government maneuvering constantly threatened the venture.Journalists Hans Greimel and William Sposato have followed the story up close, with access to key players, including Ghosn himself. Veteran Tokyo-based reporters, they have witnessed the end of Japan's bubble economy and attempts at opening Japan Inc. to the world. They've seen the fraying of keiretsu, Japan's traditional skein of business relationships, and covered numerous corporate scandals, of which the Ghosn Shock and Ghosn's subsequent escape stand above all.Expertly reported, Collision Course explores the complex suspicions around what and who was really responsible for Ghosn's ouster and why one of the top executives in the world would risk everything to escape the country. It explains how economics, history, national interests, cultural politics, and hubris collided, crumpling the legacy of arguably the most important foreign businessman ever to set foot in Japan.This gripping, unforgettable narrative, full of fascinating characters, serves as part cautionary tale, part object lesson, and part forewarning of the increasing complexity of doing global business in a nationalistic world.

An Everest Climb to Discover the Mystery of Mallory and Irvine

A hilarious and inspiring faith memoir and life guide.

Sara Gibbs is autistic. She's always been autistic. She just didn't know until she was thirty. This is the hilarious, witty and compelling memoir of a woman's life that didn't make a lot of sense until she was a third of the way through it.

The story of Uwe Johnson, one of Germany's greatest and most-influential post-war writers, and how he came to live and work in Sheerness, Kent in the 1970s.

The long buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the official and cultural barriers to women covering war.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE from director Ridley Scott, starring Lady Gaga and Adam DriverThe sensational true story of murder, madness, glamour, and greed that shook the Gucci dynasty, now fully updated with a new afterwordOn March 27, 1995, Maurizio Gucci, heir to the fabulous fashion dynasty, was slain by an unknown gunman as he approached his Milan office. In 1998, his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli--nicknamed "The Black Widow" by the press--was sentenced to 29 years in prison, for arranging his murder. Did Patrizia murder her ex-husband because his spending was wildly out of control? Did she do it because her glamorous ex was preparing to marry his mistress, Paola Franchi? Or is there a possibility she didn''t do it at all?The Gucci story is one of glitz, glamour, intrigue, the rise, near fall and subsequent resurgence of a fashion dynasty. Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and widely acclaimed, The House of Gucci will captivate readers with its page-turning account of high fashion, high finance, and heart-rending personal tragedy.

Extraordinary times. Extraordinary courage.Here, from the bestselling author of The Great Escape, are eight true and startling escape stories from the Second World War. The heroism of the servicemen who dared to defy their captors in this volume is matched only by that of the underground movements and ordinary civilians who helped the escapees in these stories of daring, invention and doggedness against the odds. From the account of the Spitfire pilot left for dead by an execution squad in Sicily to the story of the air gunner forced to blag his way across the Baltic, every one is an unputdownable classic. 'As long as there are prisons men will try to escape from them; and as long as there is an RAF it will bring to the problems of escape the qualities of high resource, pure cussedness and that indefinable, damnably annoying refusal to lie down when dead, of which all the stories in this book are such excellent - and, I think, such exciting - examples.' H.E. Bates

'Promises to make for one of 2021's must-read memoirs' StylistThe powerful, urgent manifesto on never giving up from Booker prize-winning trailblazer, Bernardine Evaristo.In 2019, Bernardine Evaristo became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize since its inception fifty years earlier - a revolutionary landmark for Britain. Her journey was a long one, but she made it, and she made history.Manifesto is her intimate and fearless account of how she did it. From a childhood steeped in racism from neighbours, priests and even some white members of her own family, to discovering the arts through her local youth theatre; from stuffing her belongings into bin bags, always on the move between temporary homes, to exploring many romantic partners both toxic and loving, male and female, and eventually finding her soulmate; from setting up Britain's first theatre company for Black women in the eighties to growing into the trailblazing writer, theatre-maker, teacher, mentor and activist we see today - Bernardine charts her rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to community and creativity. And, through the prism of her extraordinary experiences, she offers vital insights into the nature of race, class, feminism, sexuality and ageing in modern Britain.Bernardine Evaristo's life story is a manifesto for courage, integrity, optimism, resourcefulness and tenacity. It's a manifesto for anyone who has ever stood on the margins, and anyone who wants to make their mark on history. It's a manifesto for being unstoppable.'Bernardine Evaristo is one of those writers who should be read by everyone, everywhere' Elif Shafak 'Bernardine Evaristo is one of Britain's best writers, an iconic and unique voice, filled with warmth, subtlety and humanity. Exceptional' Nikesh Shukla 'Bernardine Evaristo is the most daring, imaginative and innovative of writers' Inua Ellams

Private Eye: The 60 Yearbook is a history of the last 60 years, as seen by Britain's first, most successful and indeed only fortnightly satirical magazine.

An alluring evocation of the glittering world of the fin de siecle by its emblematic aesthete

The definitive autobiography of James Dyson, the UK's most successful businessman, revealing the secrets of his success and the inspiration behind his inventions

An illuminating exploration of the intersection between life, art and the sea from the award-winning author of Leviathan, or The Whale.

One woman's secret journal completely changes her marriage in this hilarious and biting memoir - the inspiration for the Netflix Original Series.School psychologists aren't supposed to write books about sex. Doing so would be considered 'unethical' and 'a fireable offense'. Lucky for you, ethics was never my strong suit.Sex/Life: 44 Chapters About 4 Men is a laugh-out-loud funny and brutally honest look at female sexuality, as told through the razor-sharp lens of domesticated bad girl BB Easton. No one and nothing is off limits as BB revisits the ex-boyfriends - a sadistic tattoo artist, a punk rock parolee, and a heavy metal bass player - that led her to finally find true love with a straight-laced, drop-dead-gorgeous . . . accountant.After settling down and starting a family with her perfectly vanilla 'husbot', Ken, BB finds herself longing for the reckless passion she had in her youth. She begins to write about these escapades in a secret journal, just for fun, but when Ken starts to act out the words on the pages, BB realizes that she might have stumbled upon the holy grail of behaviour modification techniques.The psychological dance that ensues is nothing short of hilarious as BB wields her journal like a blowtorch, trying to light a fire under her cold, distant partner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but in the end, BB learns that the man she was trying so hard to change was perfect for her all along.

All Together Now is one of the great sports stories. It's about a group of football fans who were determined to right a wrong. The authorities said they shouldn't try. People in football said it couldn't be done. Robbed of their beloved club, Wimbledon FC, they started again. They had absolutely nothing - no experience of running a club, no players, no manager, nowhere to play. But within nine years they re-formed their team as AFC Wimbledon, rebuilt its community work, won six promotions and fought their way back into the top tiers of the game. En route, they broke records, changed the rules of football and were the subject of Prime Minister's Questions. And now they're back in their spiritual home, Wimbledon, in a brand new stadium. For most of this time Erik Samuelson was finance director and then CEO of the club. He tells the extraordinary inside story of how the most undervalued people in football - the fans - defied the odds to take their club back to the Football League and return home.

What Alexander McQueen Can Teach You About Fashion breaks down Alexander McQueen's life, work and legacy into 36 highly visual lessons. Covering the iconic looks, McQueen's inspiration and the details that define his sartorial tastes.

A candid examination of the life of North Sea oil riggers, and an explosive portrayal of masculinity, loneliness and female desire.

Based on exclusive interviews with friends and family, and full of her extraordinary adventures with the rich and famous, as well as her personal triumphs and tragedies, She's a Rainbow delves deep into her fascinating and moving story - for the first time ever.

The inspirational story of Tom Hartley 'The Dealmaker.' Tom's candid autobiography tells of a boy who left school at 11, selling his first car at 12, and his extraordinary journey to become a supercar dealer and multi-millionaire. The story is expertly transcribed by Ken Gibson, award winning ex-motoring editor of The Sun newspaper.

The making and meaning of Radiohead's groundbreaking, controversial, epoch-defining album, Kid A.

In a memoir more chilling than a John le Carre novel, we meet the senior KGB officer who recruited and handled two of America's most dangerous traitors, and whose career spanned four continents