Books published by Vintage Publishing

'George Sand' (Aurore Dupin, 1804-1876) was France's bestselling writer, rivalled in her time only by Victor Hugo. Convent-educated, she became a mischievous, flamboyant rebel: her long, troubled romance with Chopin was just one of many affairs with well-known figures, but her most desperate love was for a beautiful actress.

The great novel of London: dark, wise, unsentimental' William BoydWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK HORNBY John Harmon returns to England after years in exile to claim his inheritance: a great fortune and a beautiful young woman to whom he is betrothed, but has never met.

TRANSLATED BY ROBERT AND ELIZABETH CHANDLER AND OLGA MEERSONPlatonov's dystopian novel describes the lives of a group of Soviet workers who believe they are laying the foundations for a radiant future.

Isaiah Berlin was one of the leading thinkers of the century, and one of the finest writers. This title selects some of the best of his essays. It encapsulates the principal movements that characterise the modern age: romanticism, historicism, Fascism, relativism, irrationalism and nationalism.

Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Come bathe in stew, and dine on meals of eels or worms or jellied gnats, See shoes and ships and sealing wax and fuzzy bears and owls and cats, Depart for the Land where the Bong Tree grows or the Land of Bumbley Boo Find sky in your pie and teatrays up on high and a place where mice say moo.

From the author of the bestselling Suite Francaise. A compelling story of infatuation, passion and self-destructive loveYves Harteloup is a disappointed young man, scarred by the war.

Twenty dollars, two salt-pork sandwiches, and I took jerky, biscuits, six old apples, fresh underthings and a blanket too. There was a conflagration to come; I wanted to lend it my spark. Meet Gallant Ash: hero, folk legend and master of war. Ash is a leader of men and a brutal and fearless soldier.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY KATE WILLIAMSFrederick II of Prussia attempted to escape his authoritarian father as a boy, but went on to become one of history's greatest rulers. Nancy Mitford brings all these contradictions and achievements to sparkling life in an fascinating, intimate biography.

A novel about working-class factory life in Birmingham. Lily Gates keeps house for her widowed father, her timid suitor, Jim, and the patriarch, Craighan, whose house it is. The household slides into disarray as Lily, tempted by the possibility of a more romantic life, elopes with a bolder suitor.

The Death of the Artist. None of the five friends realised how appropriate this theme would become. The book weaves a single narrative across watercolour, digital art, photography, collage and illustration, exploring the themes of creation, destruction, and how we kill our inner artists as we grow up.

In high-end restaurants and in the home, more and more cooks have discovered the joy of using natural foraged ingredients. This book explores over 40 of the most popular garden plants that have edible, medicinal or even cosmetic potential, accompanied by recipes, remedies, and interesting facts, and illustrations.

Christopher Isherwood was a celebrated English writer when he met the Californian teenager Don Bachardy on a Santa Monica beach in 1952. They spent their first night together on Valentine's Day 1953. Defying the conventions, the two men began living as an openly gay couple in an otherwise closeted Hollywood. This book tells their story.

In Titus Awakes the 77th Earl of Groan leaves the crumbling castle of Gormenghast and finds the larger world even stranger than his birthplace. Using notes and the fragments he left behind, his wife, the painter and writer Maeve Gilmore, has created a richly imagined sequel that fans of The Gormenghast Trilogy will delight in.

Facing down demons from his time in Africa as a journalist, Tim Butcher heads deep into this combat zone, encountering the devastation wrought by lawless militia, child soldiers, brutal violence, blood diamonds and masked figures who guard the spiritual secrets of remote jungle communities.

Irene died a month later, aged only thirty-nine. Her biographers take advantage of access to diaries, unpublished documents and surviving family members to examine Irene's remarkable life, from pogroms in Ukraine to gilded holidays in Biarritz, and her troubled relationship with her vain, difficult mother.

Golden Richards is a normal dad. Unbeknownst to his wives, Golden has taken a construction job on a Nevada brothel. Lying to cover his tracks, beset by familial rivalry on all sides, he seeks relief in the arms of his boss's wife.To put it simply this is the story of a polygamist who has an affair.

In the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Acre in 1291 and the reconquest of the Holy Land by the Moslems, the last survivors of the Order of the Temple make their bloody retreat from the Middle East.

Brink at his robust and imaginative best' - Adam Low, Daily Telegraph. A profound novel set in South Africa that combines compelling action with an intellectual confrontation of the author's poitically volatile home country.

The problem must lie, she thinks, in her marriage to Alec, and a neat, civilised divorce seems the perfect solution. But talk of divorce sparks interference from family and friends, and soon public opinion tears into the fragile fabric of family life and private desire.

Leskov's stories of Russian life are explosions of imagination. Peopled by outsized characters including serfs, princes, Gypsy girls, horse dealers, nomadic Tartars and garrulous storytellers, Leskov's writing exuberantly fables the national character of his age.

Follows the life of Serge Carrefax, a man who surges into the electric modernity of the early twentieth century, transfixed by the technologies that obliterate him. Born to the sound of one of the experimental wireless stations, Serge finds himself steeped in a weird world of transmissions.

No body was ever found and when Cat joins forces with one of Rhys' former colleagues, now a wealthy business man obsessed with all things Seerland-related, they begin to wonder whether the rumours that Face is still alive may be true.

In the midst of this he carved out twenty minutes' practice a day - even if that meant practising in a Libyan hotel in the middle of a revolution as well as gaining insights and advice from an array of legendary pianists, theorists, historians and neuroscientists, and even occasionally from secretaries of state.

The hilarious, heartwarming and - unbelievably - true story of Maurice Flitcroft, the World's Worst GolferWhen 46-year-old crane driver Maurice Flitcroft chanced his way into the Open - having never before played a round of golf in his life - he ran up a record-worst score of 121.

A revelatory read with delightful cultural and literary references, Teach us to Sit Still by Booker-shortlisted author Tim Parks examines how the philosophy of 'sit still, relax and stop worrying' can be profoundly life-altering. 'Teach us to Sit Still made me laugh;

Passionate, provocative, entertaining and informative, Scribble, Scribble, Scribble ranges far and wide: from cookery and family to Barack Obama, from preaching and Shakespeare to Victorian sages, from Charlotte Rampling and Hurricane Katrina to 'The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of The Osbournes'.

Haroun: What's the use of stories that aren't even true? I asked that question and the Unthinkable Thing happened: my father can't tell stories anymore. That means no more laughter in the city of Alifbay and now the place stinks of sadness. So it's up to me to put things right.

Edmund is a little on the plump side and Terry is a bit of a rake. When they discover the countries under the Earth they are divided and sent to the warring kingdoms of the Fattypuffs and the Thinifers. The Fattypuffs eat six square meals a day with light snacks in between. The Thinifers like nothing more than discipline and work six days a week.

But Hanna Mehdi's father is unusual. One day Hanna discovers that her father may have done far worse than make risky bets on the money markets. As Hanna follows the trail of blood from Beirut to Lahore to London, her eyes are opened to the real world in which she has been living.