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'Tremendous.' David Hare 'An absorbing, necessary book.' Ahad Akthar 'Fascinating and energising.' Financial Times From the 'Winner of Winners' of the Baillie Gifford Prize, a timely and dramatic story of a utopian American experiment, and the self-serving politicians that engineered its downfall. In 1935 the American public was presented with a radical opportunity. Established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project would employ 12,000 artists, writers, and actors; stage more than 1,000 productions; and reach over 30 million people. Its output included Orson Welles' directorial debut, a landmark modern dance programme, and shows that sought to shed light on the reality of racism, inequality and the dangers of fascism. But within three years, an opportunistic Texas congressman had embarked on a campaign to destroy it, inventing a playbook that echoes into the culture wars of today. From one of the world's great storytellers, The Playbook is an illuminating account of a terrifyingly prescient moment in twentieth-century American cultural history.
'An enthralling narrative of the rise and fall of Britain's republican experiment.'DOMINIC SANDBROOK, The Times 'Best History Books of 2024''A gripping tale of political and cultural crisis but also one of joy and hopeful innovation, told with eloquence and passion.'MALCOLM GASKILL'Magisterial, compelling and eye-opening.'SUZANNAH LIPSCOMBEvents moved with giddying speed in the 1650s. After the execution of Charles I, 'dangerous' monarchy was abolished and the House of Lords was dismissed, sending shock waves across the kingdom. These revolutionary acts set in motion a decade of bewildering change and instability, under the leadership of the soldier-statesman Oliver Cromwell. England's unique and distinctive republican experiment may have been short-lived, but it changed the course of British history. It transformed the relationship between England, Scotland and Ireland, reset the compact between the monarch and the people, and re-fashioned the story the British told - and continue to tell - about themselves. REPUBLIC is a richly engrossing year-by-year account of this exhilarating and daring period. It tells the story of what Britain's republic was really like: why it failed, but also, what it got right.
From the techy kind of virus that shut down computer mainframes and brings total panicTo the going viral global fame type of virus (that also creates total panic)To the snotty variety of virus which creates a different sort of Must-go-to-bed now sort of panic .
In this beautifully illustrated collection of letters, Josie George, well-being guru, shows readers that the world is full of magic and mystery if you only look hard enough. Because Wonderland exists outside of stories - it's in the cracks between the pavement, in neglected urban spaces, in overgrown gardens, in weeds and upturned flower pots . . . It's the wonder we all experience as very small children but that we grow out of as time goes on. Reading it is to feel bewitched - and transported to a happier place. She gives readers the tools they need to navigate through life and retain an inner peace and joy.
In this stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed Alyssa and the Spell Garden, Alyssa is transported to Jamaica and must rediscover the magic of her ancestors.
The Jealous One (1964), Celia Fremlin's fifth novel, opens on its protagonist Rosamund as she wakes from a mid-morning nap to find, to her delight, that she is running a temperature. Surely that explains her blinding headache, and even the weird, delirious dream in which she had murdered her overly seductive neighbour, Lindy? A great relief, then, to find this was merely the work of a fevered imagination. Until her husband exclaims, 'Rosamund! Have you any idea what's happened to Lindy? She's disappeared!...''A tense situation, ultimately resolved by a beautifully fitting plot-twist. Even more memorable than the suspense story is the witty and acute comedy.' New York Times'A brilliant example of the psychological thriller. The little worm of jealousy devours its way into the mind, gradually, page by page.' Hampstead & Highgate Express
By its nature, folk is ephemeral: tricky to define, hard to preserve and even more difficult to resurrect. But folk culture is all around us; sitting in our churches, swinging from our pubs and dancing through our streets, patiently waiting to be discovered, appreciated, saved and cherished. In The Lost Folk, Lally MacBeth is on a mission to breathe new life into these rapidly disappearing customs. She reminds us that folk is for everyone, and does not belong to an imagined, halcyon past, but is constantly being drawn from everyday lives and communities. As well as looking at what folk customs have meant in Britain's past, she shines a light on what they can and should mean as we move into the future - encouraging us to use the book as an inspiration, and become collectors and creators of our very own folk traditions.
Bernard O'Donoghue investigates the idea of anchorage as a place we build for ourselves out of memory and story. The Ireland of his youth is rich in colour and precise in detail, and while he acknowledges the power of the past, he also brings it into question: 'I wish I'd never started on this story;/It may have been a dream, or maybe not . . .' O'Donoghue's informal, even playful tone is that of a poet disarming themselves as well as their reader. He is neither plaintive nor nostalgic but confronts the possibility that what you are most attached to can be, in the end, what ties you down. The poems also enact the reluctance to return that arises out of a fear of finding yourself locked out.
'Can a planet have legal rights? Could it be defended in a court of law?' A revolution is taking place. Around the world, ordinary people are turning to courts seeking justice for environmental damage. At the forefront of this movement, pioneering barrister Monica Feria-Tinta advocates not only for the people fighting for their homes and livelihoods, but also for those who have no voice: for rivers, forests and endangered species. In A Barrister for the Earth, Monica takes us behind the scenes of ten real cases - as she argues against the destruction of cloud forests in the world's first Rights of Nature case, to holding Sovereign states to account for inaction in addressing climate change in a landmark win for the Torres Strait Islanders. Each of these hopeful stories are landmarks signalling that we are at an important juncture, in which the law can be a powerful tool for the lasting change that we need.
It's hand to hand combat. 11 December 1997. The Kyoto Conference Centre, 5 a.m. The nations of the world are in deadlock. And agreement feels a world away. Their prize: the world's first legally binding emissions targets.
THE LOUDER THAN WAR #1 BOOK OF THE YEARA ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, MOJO, UNCUT, THE HERALD BOOK OF THE YEARThis is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or more precisely, their world. 'To 50,000 Fall Fans: please buy this inspired & inspiring, profound & provocative, beautiful & bonkers Book of Revelations.'DAVID PEACE'Mind blowing . . . there is so much to enjoy in this brilliant book.'TIM BURGESS'A container sized treasure trove . . . I strongly advise you to buy it.'MAXINE PEAKE'The most wonderful, unashamedly intellectual, pretentious, ridiculous, exciting hymn to this incredible group.'ANDY MILLER, BACKLISTEDOver a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation.Their frontman and lyricist Mark E. Smith spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding; the Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M. R. James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work.Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, EXCAVATE! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world.
This gorgeously illustrated collection of poems illuminates and reimagines the ingenious, fragile dwellings of the living creatures around us. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage was inspired to write these poems by the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, an ambitious restoration project where history and mystery combine.
Danny McGee goes to the seaside with his sister and makes a bet that he can drink the sea all up!And he does. He drinks it all through a straw. And then he eats a tree, and then he eats a cat drinking some tea, and then he eats a man learning to ski .
**AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**'A hugely gifted writer.' ANN PATCHETT'Cole's storytelling rings so true.' MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD 'A deft, agile, intricate portrait of family life and midlife crisis.' LUCY CALDWELLThe stunning, timely second novel, effortlessly blending the intimate and the wide-screen, from this emerging, must-read US author. Three's a crowd. Emmett and Joel are half-brothers, but they couldn't be more different: Emmett is single and working in a vast Cargo Distribution Centre in Kentucky, while Joel is a married academic and published writer. For the first time in years, the two of them are back together in the family home, just as Joel's wife, Alice, starts to yearn for a different kind of lifestyle. Both wide-screen and intimate, Fulfillment is a beautifully written and absorbing portrayal of three people's changing hopes and dreams, further marking Lee Cole out as one of today's must-read, young authors. 'Markovits' writing makes the ordinary unforgettable.' NEW YORK TIMES'A great new talent.' NICKOLAS BUTLER 'An exciting new voice.' WASHINGTON POST
And anyway, Jude knows better than to trust those in power. Jude and Moorley must find a way to reverse the effects of the raw magic. Consortium guards are everywhere and all their usual leads are sending them to dead ends, until Jude meets a strange boy called Darcius who seems to know far more than he should .
'Michael Pedersen is a rare writer of real passion and power and this debut is phenomenal.' MATT HAIGLife on a remote island is turned upside down by a stranger's arrival, testing bonds of family and tradition and leaving a young dreamer's future hanging in the balance. It's no ordinary existence on the rugged isle of Muckle Flugga. The elements run riot and the very rocks that shape the place begin to shift under their influence. The only human inhabitants are the lighthouse keeper, known as The Father, and his otherworldly son, Ouse. Them, and the occasional lodger to keep the wolf from the door. When one of those lodgers - Firth, a chaotic writer - arrives from Edinburgh, the limits of the world the keeper and his son cling to begin to crumble. A tug of war ensues between Firth and the lighthouse keeper for Ouse's affections - and his future. As old and new ways collide, and life-changing decisions loom, what will the tides leave standing in their wake?
Revitalising conversations surrounding environmentalism and ecopoetics, this new gathering of voices is both urgent and inspirational.
From a master of contemporary Indian fiction, an expertly crafted and taut family drama, set over the course of four days. But maybe Venkat needs to look a little further back: at the early days of his marriage to her mother Viji?
'There are few writers who can match Oyeyemi's creative glee.' Guardian'One of the best writers alive today.' StylistAVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOWKinga is a woman who is just trying to make it through the week. There's a Kinga for every day: on Mondays, you can catch Kinga A deleting food delivery apps. By Friday, Kinga E is happy to spend the days soaking, wine-drunk, in the bath. Kingas A-G, perhaps unsurprisingly, live a varied life - between them is a professional matchmaker, a scent-crazed perfumer and a window cleaner, all with varying degrees of apathy, anger, introversion and bossiness. At least three of them are Team Toxic. It's an arrangement that's not without its fair share of admin, grudges and half-truths. But when Kinga A discovers a man tied up in their apartment, the Kingas have to reckon with the possibility that one of them might be planning to destroy them all.
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