Headline Books

The second instalment in Carol McGrath's captivating The Daughters of Hastings trilogy!

A marriage made in heaven, or hell?

1075 and Dowager Queen Edith has died. Her niece Gunnhild longs to leave Wilton Abbey, but is her suitor, Breton knight Count Alain of Richmond, interested in her inheritance as the daughter of King Harold and Edith Swan-Neck, or does he love her for herself?

Is her own love for Count Alain an enduring love, or has she made a terrible mistake? The Swan Daughter is woven around a true 11th-century tale of elopement, love and courage.

Love the novels of Carol McGrath? Don't miss The Silken Rose, starring one of the most fierce and courageous forgotten queens of England!

The second instalment in Carol McGrath's captivating The Daughters of Hastings trilogy!

A marriage made in heaven, or hell?

1075 and Dowager Queen Edith has died. Her niece Gunnhild longs to leave Wilton Abbey, but is her suitor, Breton knight Count Alain of Richmond, interested in her inheritance as the daughter of King Harold and Edith Swan-Neck, or does he love her for herself?

Is her own love for Count Alain an enduring love, or has she made a terrible mistake? The Swan Daughter is woven around a true 11th-century tale of elopement, love and courage.

Love the novels of Carol McGrath? Don't miss The Silken Rose, starring one of the most fierce and courageous forgotten queens of England!

Paul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.

For 21 years, Paul Merson played professional football. He won two First Division titles with Arsenal and was one of the finest players of his generation.

But for 30 years, Paul Merson has also been an addict. Alcohol, drugs, gambling: a desperately unenviable cocktail of addictions and depression which has plagued his entire adult life and driven him to the verge of suicide. 'I've come to realise that I'm powerless over alcohol...I'm an alcoholic. My drinking and gambling have left a lot of wreckage.'

Until recently, the drinking and gambling were still raging. 'I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't go on anymore. I just couldn't see a way out.' Then something clicked. 'One day, I was walking home from the pub late on a Sunday evening, and I thought to myself: I've had enough of feeling like this, every day of my life. I rang up Alcoholics Anonymous the next day, and since then I haven't had a drink.'

Hooked is Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction, searingly charting his journey over three decades. It is absolutely unflinching in detailing his emotional and psychological troughs and in raking over the painful embers of an adult life blighted by such debilitating issues. Hooked will kick-start a crucial national conversation about addiction, depression and the damage they wreak.

'Addiction is the loneliest of places. You're a slave to insecurity and ego. But it has to be you that wants things to change. Never be afraid to talk: the more you talk about the addictions, the more it takes the power out of them. You're never alone.'

Paul Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction for three decades.

For 21 years, Paul Merson played professional football. He won two First Division titles with Arsenal and was one of the finest players of his generation.

But for 30 years, Paul Merson has also been an addict. Alcohol, drugs, gambling: a desperately unenviable cocktail of addictions and depression which has plagued his entire adult life and driven him to the verge of suicide. 'I've come to realise that I'm powerless over alcohol...I'm an alcoholic. My drinking and gambling have left a lot of wreckage.'

Until recently, the drinking and gambling were still raging. 'I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't go on anymore. I just couldn't see a way out.' Then something clicked. 'One day, I was walking home from the pub late on a Sunday evening, and I thought to myself: I've had enough of feeling like this, every day of my life. I rang up Alcoholics Anonymous the next day, and since then I haven't had a drink.'

Hooked is Merson's wonderfully moving and brutally honest memoir of battling addiction, searingly charting his journey over three decades. It is absolutely unflinching in detailing his emotional and psychological troughs and in raking over the painful embers of an adult life blighted by such debilitating issues. Hooked will kick-start a crucial national conversation about addiction, depression and the damage they wreak.

'Addiction is the loneliest of places. You're a slave to insecurity and ego. But it has to be you that wants things to change. Never be afraid to talk: the more you talk about the addictions, the more it takes the power out of them. You're never alone.'

From the founder and activist behind one of the largest movements of the 21st century, the Me Too movement, Tarana Burke debuts a powerful memoir about her own journey to saying those two simple yet infinitely powerful words and how she brought empathy back to an entire generation.

Tarana didn't always have the courage to say me too. As a child, she reeled from her sexual assault, believing she was responsible. Unable to confess what she thought of as her own sins for fear of shattering her family, her soul split in two. One side was the bright, intellectually curious third generation Bronxite steeped in Black literature and power, and the other was the bad, shame-ridden girl who thought of herself as a vile rule breaker, not of a victim. She tucked one away, hidden behind a wall of pain and anger, which seemed to work...until it didn't.

Tarana fought to reunite her fractured soul, through organising, pursuing justice and finding community. In her debut memoir, she shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and Brown girls, and the devastating realisation that to truly help these girls she needed to help that scared, ashamed child still in her soul. Tarana has found that we can only offer empathy to others if we first offer it to ourselves.

Unbound is the story of an inimitable woman's inner strength and perseverance, all in pursuit of bringing healing to her community and the world around her, but it is also a story of possibility, of empathy, of power and of the leader we all have inside ourselves. In sharing her path toward healing and saying me too, Tarana reaches out a hand to help us all on our own journeys.

From the founder and activist behind one of the largest movements of the 21st century, the Me Too movement, Tarana Burke debuts a powerful memoir about her own journey to saying those two simple yet infinitely powerful words and how she brought empathy back to an entire generation.

Tarana didn't always have the courage to say me too. As a child, she reeled from her sexual assault, believing she was responsible. Unable to confess what she thought of as her own sins for fear of shattering her family, her soul split in two. One side was the bright, intellectually curious third generation Bronxite steeped in Black literature and power, and the other was the bad, shame-ridden girl who thought of herself as a vile rule breaker, not of a victim. She tucked one away, hidden behind a wall of pain and anger, which seemed to work...until it didn't.

Tarana fought to reunite her fractured soul, through organising, pursuing justice and finding community. In her debut memoir, she shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and Brown girls, and the devastating realisation that to truly help these girls she needed to help that scared, ashamed child still in her soul. Tarana has found that we can only offer empathy to others if we first offer it to ourselves.

Unbound is the story of an inimitable woman's inner strength and perseverance, all in pursuit of bringing healing to her community and the world around her, but it is also a story of possibility, of empathy, of power and of the leader we all have inside ourselves. In sharing her path toward healing and saying me too, Tarana reaches out a hand to help us all on our own journeys.

London was a city on the front line in the Second World War. It suffered hits from nearly 12,000 tons of bombs, with nearly 30,000 civilians killed by enemy action.

The Blitz changed the landscape of the city. Many famous landmarks were hit, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London - even the Imperial War Museum. Some areas, such as Stepney, were so badly damaged that they had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the war.

But it wasn't just the city's physical landscape that was transformed. With the arrival of large numbers of Commonwealth and overseas service personnel, London became much more cosmopolitan. After 1942, vast numbers of American servicemen were deployed in the capital, and it was also a busy transport hub and a popular destination for troops on leave.

This audiobook tells the story of these momentous years in London's history through IWM's unique collections. Using personal accounts from letters and diaries, objects and documents it gives an up-close and revealing insight into those turbulent years in the capital, experienced by those who lived there.

London was a city on the front line in the Second World War. It suffered hits from nearly 12,000 tons of bombs, with nearly 30,000 civilians killed by enemy action.

The Blitz changed the landscape of the city. Many famous landmarks were hit, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London - even the Imperial War Museum. Some areas, such as Stepney, were so badly damaged that they had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the war.

But it wasn't just the city's physical landscape that was transformed. With the arrival of large numbers of Commonwealth and overseas service personnel, London became much more cosmopolitan. After 1942, vast numbers of American servicemen were deployed in the capital, and it was also a busy transport hub and a popular destination for troops on leave.

This audiobook tells the story of these momentous years in London's history through IWM's unique collections. Using personal accounts from letters and diaries, objects and documents it gives an up-close and revealing insight into those turbulent years in the capital, experienced by those who lived there.

Bizarre, brilliant and filled with things you didn't know you didn't know - The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything evokes a sense of wonder at the scale of this planet, and the universe in which it sits.

The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything is a treasure trove of random knowledge. Covering everything from the furthest known galaxies to the murky origins of oyster ice cream, inside you will find a discussion of how one might determine the most average-sized country in the world; details of humanity's most ridiculous wars; and, at last, the answer to who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Spider-Man.

Bizarre, brilliant and filled with the unexpected, The Compendium covers the breadth and depth of human experience, weaving its way through words and numbers, science and the arts, the spiritual and the secular. It's a feast of facts for a hungry mind.

Includes entries on the cosmos, the human planet, questions of measurement, history/politics, the natural world, leisure and many 'oddities' that don't fit elsewhere...

Bizarre, brilliant and filled with things you didn't know you didn't know - The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything evokes a sense of wonder at the scale of this planet, and the universe in which it sits.

The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything is a treasure trove of random knowledge. Covering everything from the furthest known galaxies to the murky origins of oyster ice cream, inside you will find a discussion of how one might determine the most average-sized country in the world; details of humanity's most ridiculous wars; and, at last, the answer to who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Spider-Man.

Bizarre, brilliant and filled with the unexpected, The Compendium covers the breadth and depth of human experience, weaving its way through words and numbers, science and the arts, the spiritual and the secular. It's a feast of facts for a hungry mind.

Includes entries on the cosmos, the human planet, questions of measurement, history/politics, the natural world, leisure and many 'oddities' that don't fit elsewhere...