Biography & non-fiction prose

Apporached from a historical lens, learn about the great and influential families, their rise and sometimes their fall. No one likes to believe that America has its own aristocracy, but the families described in this narrative share how these American families climbed the social ladder and their ...

It has been 11 years since Diane Foley's son, the American journalist James Foley, was kidnapped in northern Syria, and nearly ten since that day in August 2014 when she would learn that he had been murdered by ISIS in a public beheading that would ricochet in video around the world. A whole deca...

A portrait of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, which discusses his role in the 20th-century scientific world, as well as his roles as family man and head of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies.

Michael Frayn would like to say a brief word about a few of the friends who have shaped his life - 'before my memory goes'. Some have had a profound effect. Some, a small and passing one. Some, you may know yourself. Some you couldn't possibly know at all; and maybe nor did Michael (there are sto...

When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the count...

Bob Mortimer's life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him, but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for this hilariou...

Here is the long-awaited first autobiography by national treasure Bob Mortimer. Bob Mortimer's life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him, but f...

A bestseller translated into several languages and the inspiration for a whole genre of confessional memoirs, this book is an extraordinary portrait of family life, father-son relationships and bereavement.

Today, seeing Black footballers playing the game at the very highest level is considered very normal. This, certainly, was not the case one hundred and forty years ago, and this is what makes the story of Andrew Watson so remarkable. It seems hard to imagine that a Guyanese-born Black man could h...

Charly Gaul is a forgotten cycling legend. Once a household name across Europe, the diminutive Luxembourger won the 1958 Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia twice. A unique rider, Gaul was supremely gifted at climbing and resilient even in the foulest weather. His pedalling style was smooth and ...