Showing titles in Cultural & Regional

Only the scathing wit and searching intelligence of Jessica Mitford could turn an exposé of the American funeral industry into a book that is at once deadly serious and side-splittingly funny. When first published in 1963, this landmark of investigative journalism became a runaway bestseller...

In this intimate biography of the Prince of Soul, David Ritz provides a candid look at a star and a friend. Ritz had been collaborating with Marvin Gaye on his story for several years before the singer's tragic death and had conducted a series of extraordinary interviews in which Gaye discussed his deepest secrets. What emerges is a full-scale portrait of a charming but tortured artist, a brilliant singer with a divided soul.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Dr Jessica Taylor grew up on a council estate where brutality and coercion were normalised, and where substance abuse was a day-to-day occurrence. Now one of the UK's most spirited advocates for women's rights, and a leading chartered psychologist helping women and...

Bloomsbury presents Maggie & Me written and read by Damian Barr A unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years ________________________ 'Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and...

Comment je suis devenu turcophone retrace le parcours singulier d'un auteur francoalgérien qui décide un jour d'apprendre le turc. Ce choix inattendu devient le point de départ d'une exploration sensible des liens historiques, culturels et linguistiques qui relient l'Algérie, la France et la Turquie. Entre récit personnel, réflexion identitaire et éclairages historiques, Hakim Madi interroge les héritages ottomans, les circulations méditerranéennes et la manière dont les langues façonnent nos appartenances.

What happens when a man slows down long enough to notice his own life? In The Cowboy in the Park, Gregg Patten brings together humor, observation, and reflection in a warm and thoughtful collection drawn from ordinary moments on a park bench. With the voice of a man who has lived, lost, learned, and kept going, these pieces explore identity, healing, relationships, aging, regret, faith, and the quiet courage it takes to remain yourself in a noisy world. Part memoir, part meditation, and part gentle conversation, this book offers the kind of wisdom that does not shout. It sits beside you.

"Russian Silhouette" is the memoir of Daniel M. Jaffe, a Jewish Princeton student who spends two summers in the oppressive, antisemitic USSR of the late 1970s. While there, he befriends Soviet Jews, refuseniks (Soviet Jews denied government permission to emigrate), and political dissidents who are living under constant government threat. The KGB surveils and arrests Daniel, warning him never to return. He returns anyway.

After a four-year absence, the Sunday Times bestselling and original bookshop diarist is back. The Bookshop in Wigtown is a bookworm’s paradise: the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland, with over a mile of shelving, 100,000 books and a log fire. You’d think that after twenty-five years...

The books that make up the life and times of Maya Angelou are some of the best, most beautiful and haunting pieces of autobiography written. They run the gamut from life affirming to tragedy and back again with a tone that is a joyous, direct and searingly honest and are an extraordinary portrait of 20th century black America.

Brought to you by Penguin. In this collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, Chatwin takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Ghandi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that 'Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot'.  

‘A uniquely strange and wonderful work of literature’ Philip Hoare ‘An exciting new voice’ Mark Cocker, author of Crow Country In his late thirties, Edward Parnell found himself trapped in the recurring nightmare of a family tragedy. For comfort, he turned to his bookshelves, back to the...

The “brilliantly wry” (Lena Dunham) and “lovably awkward” (Mindy Kaling) New York Times bestseller from the creator of HBO’s Insecure. In this "delightfully deadpan" (Essence) bestseller named for her wildly popular web series, Issa Rae waxes humorously on what it’s like to be...

The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother. For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles...

'The definitive telling of the life of a West Indian hero' Sir Clive Lloyd The brilliant all-rounder Frank Worrell had to wait until 1960 to become the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies cricket team, denied for a decade by the elitism, insularity and racism of Caribbean...

Achieving a hit in every decade since the 1950s, Cliff Richard stands alone in pop history. Coming of age in 1950s London, he began his music career at Soho's legendary 2i's Cafe, and now he's approaching his 80th birthday with record sales of over 250 million and counting. Cliff looks back on his humble upbringing and how he went on to fulfil his wildest dreams by becoming a pop star and even a film star. He talks about finding Christianity, reflects on the ups and downs of life in the public eye and reveals how the false allegations against him changed his life forever.

“Defiance takes my breath away. A nail-biting tale of astonishing courage.” —Jeannette Walls #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle “A heartbreaking account of a young woman’s struggle for freedom against the rampaging forces of fanaticism and tyranny...

From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a corrupt baby business at the Tennessee Children's Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents - hiding the fact that many weren't orphans at all but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died. The publication of Lisa Wingate's novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann's child trafficking.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT CHANNEL 5 DOCUMENTARY A glimpse of life inside the world’s most secretive country, as told by Britain’s best-loved travel writer. In May 2018, former Monty Python stalwart and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin spent two weeks in the...

First published in 1789, this autobiography of Olaudah Equiano comprises a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel tale, and spiritual journey. It recounts Equiano's time as a slave, and chronicles his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his freedom.

Ever since she was a child, every aspect of Julia Haart's life—what she wore, what she ate, what she thought—was controlled by the orders of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. At 19, after a lifetime spent caring for her seven younger siblings, she was married off to a man she barely knew. For the next 24 years, he would rule her life. Eventually, when her youngest daughter, Miriam, started to question why she wasn't allowed to sing, run or ride a bike, Julia reached her breaking point.