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What the Luck?

Ebook: January 26, 2017
Hardback: January 26, 2017
Paperback: March 1, 2017

What the Luck?

Gary Smith

Category: Popular Science,

We underestimate the importance of luck in our lives. We think too highly of the golfer who wins the British Open and, if he loses the next tournament, we speculate that he slacked off. Although the winner is surely an excellent golfer, good luck in how the ball bounced and how it rolled afterwards outside of the golfer’s control also played an important role. An insufficient appreciation of chance can wreak all kinds of mischief not only in sports, but also education, medicine, business, politics and elsewhere. Perfectly natural, random variation can lead us to attach meaning to the meaningless.

Freakonomics showed how economic calculations can explain seemingly counter-intuitive decision-making. Thinking, Fast and Slow, helped readers identify a host of small cognitive errors that can lead to miscalculations and irrational thought. In What the Luck? statistician and author, Gary Smith, sets himself a similar goal, and explains – in clear, understandable, and witty prose – how a statistical understanding of luck can change the way we see just about every aspect of our lives.

Reviews

  • 'Another delightful addition to the stuff-you-think-you-know-that's-wrong genre, á la Freakonomics, Outliers, and The Black Swan' Kirkus (starred review)

Wilde’s Women

Ebook: September 8, 2016
Hardback: October 16, 2015
Paperback: September 8, 2016

Wilde’s Women

Eleanor Fitzsimons

Category: Memoir & Biography,

‘A remarkable book… the breadth and depth of research is astonishing’ Emma Thompson

‘An illuminating study… fascinating’ Independent

Hailed as a gay icon and pioneer of individualism, Oscar Wilde’s insistence that ‘there should be no law for anybody’ made him a staunch defender of gender equality. Throughout his life from his relationship to his extraordinary mother Jane and the tragedy of his sister Isola’s early death to his accomplished wife Constance and a coterie of other free-thinking writers, actors and artists, women were a central aspect of his life and career. Wilde’s Women is the first book to tell the story of his female friends and colleagues who traded witticisms with Wilde but also give him access to vital publicity and whose ideas he gave expression through his social comedies.

Author Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Wilde’s story and his legacy through the women in his life including such fascinating figures as Florence Balcombe who left him for Bram Stoker, actress Lillie Langtry (for a while an inseparable friend) and his tragic and witty niece Dolly who bore a strong resemblance to the writer and loved fast cars, cocaine and foreign women.

Full of fascinating detail and anecdotes Wilde’s Women relates the untold story of how the writer played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever.

Reviews

  • 'Even if you think you know all about Wilde, this highly entertaining book, packed with fascinating detail and anecdotes, will still surprise you' The Lady

  • 'Eleanor Fitzsimons is to be congratulated on finding a new and eminently profitable angle from which to approach him [Wilde]: the women who were so uncommonly significant in his life' Simon Callow, Guardian

  • 'A remarkable book... the breadth and depth of research is astonishing' Emma Thompson

  • 'A refreshing approach to a familiar life story - an approach which could profitably be taken with other literary figures, who have been judged, generally speaking, by their relationships with men' Times Literary Supplement

  • 'An illuminating study of Oscar Wilde's life... Fitzsimons does a fascinating job of reminding us that it wasn't just the men in Wilde's life that raised him up and brought him down, but that this troupe of exceptional women played their part too' Independent

  • 'I adored this book. It's a fascinating, readable account and is stunningly well written' Irish Examiner

  • 'A lively new study' Irish Times

  • 'A lively debut biography... sharply drawn portraits of a colourful cast of characters... A brisk, sympathetic look at an understudied aspect of Wilde's eventful life' Kirkus Reviews

  • 'Lively and comprehensive' The Women's History Association of Ireland

  • 'Fitzsimons has produced a thought-provoking and illuminating read that is sure to offer new lines of thought for even the most knowledgeable Wilde fan. Thoroughly readable and accessible, this is a must for students of Wilde of those who just have an appreciation of the man and his work' We Love This Book

  • 'A well-written, deeply researched, and detailed biographical portrait of the many women in Wilde's life, from his mother and wife to actresses and socialites' Library Journal

  • 'Highly enjoyable and generally reliable' Washington Post

  • 'I'm hugely grateful to Eleanor for sharing this book with me, it's been a joy to read and is meticulously researched. You can feel her passion for the subject leaping from the pages, and it's contagious!' Sheroes of History

  • 'Fitzsimons is showing us another kind of reality... a real person through the eyes of the many women who knew Wilde' Independent

The Ornatrix

Ebook: July 14, 2016
Paperback: July 14, 2016

The Ornatrix

Kate Howard

Category: Historical Fiction,

Flavia was born with a birthmark marring her face in the shape of a bird in flight. A dyer’s daughter, she grows up in a secluded little house in the woods, away from prying eyes. Ashamed of the mark, her mother forces Flavia to conceal her face behind a veil. But on the night before her younger sister’s wedding, Flavia does something drastic, something that will draw her into a much wider and stranger world than she could have imagined: the convent of Santa Giuliana, just outside the city walls. There she meets Ghostanza, a courtesan turned widow, whose white-lead painted face entrances Flavia, and whose beauty and cruelty are unmatched. Flavia becomes her ornatrix: her hairdresser and personal maid.

But as white-lead paint rots the flesh below it, the bustling city, and Santa Giuliana, is rotting below the shimmer of wealth and privilege. And Flavia is drawn into a world of desire and jealousy that has devastating consequences. Set in sixteenth century and painted against a vivid historical Italian landscape, rich in description and character and with themes and characters relevant to today, it tackles issues of belonging, female identity and the perception of beauty. It cannot fail to move.

Reviews

  • 'Dazzling... a first novel of originality and, yes, beauty' The Times

  • 'A richly drawn cast of twisted characters... lyrical... beguiling' Vogue

  • 'Kate Howard's marvellous debut novel creates a seething, sensual idiom entirely its own. Exquisite, earthy, witty - this is a book of rare beauty, about beauty. In this intensely-imagined, elegant and erudite novel, the story of a 16th century Italian woman's quest for beauty springs vividly to life' Wendy Wallace, author of The Painted Bridge

  • 'A historical novel in the old fashioned style... deliciously complex and intelligent' Essie Fox, author of The Goddess and the Thief

  • 'Richly drawn historical novel' Sheerluxe, Summer Reads 2016

  • 'Brilliant... kept me guessing until the end' Lisa Cox, Nudge

  • 'Kate Howard s exceptional debut novel should be enjoyed in sips like fine wine, to better savor the lush, evocative prose all the way to the satisfying finish. It sent me immediately to my cosmetic shelf to decipher the real ingredients of all those miracle creams for which I have paid so dearly, even as I remembered that the more things change, the more they stay the same especially human nature' Brenda Rickman Vantrease, bestselling author of The Illuminator

  • 'Vivid, dark and utterly compelling... a rich, lush novel and Kate Howard is a wonderful new voice in historical fiction' Imogen Robertson, author of Theft of Life

Sleep in Peace Tonight

Ebook: January 29, 2015
Hardback: January 29, 2015
Paperback: January 21, 2016

Sleep in Peace Tonight

James MacManus

Category: Historical Fiction,

January, 1941. The Blitz is devastating England. Food supplies are low and tube stations have become bomb shelters. As the U.S. maintains its sceptical isolationist position, Winston Churchill knows that Britain is doomed without the aid of its powerful ally.

As bombs rain down over London, a weary Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt’s most trusted advisor, is sent to London as his emissary and comes face to face with the Prime Minister himself, as well as a determined female driver who may not be what she seems.

A tale of loyalty, love, and the sacrifices made in the name of each, Sleep in Peace Tonight conjures the poignant lives of those who shaped the course of history during Britain’s darkest hour

Reviews

  • 'A gripping, racy retelling of history. Closely researched, the book gives a vivid and moving picture of that period in 1941 when Britain really was facing the abyss and when the foundations of the UK-US special relationship were laid. London of the Blitz comes vividly to life... Compulsive reading' Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room

  • 'An enlightening and deeply pleasurable read' Margaret Leroy, author of The Soldier's Wife

  • 'Readers will savour this breathtaking ride, that is both a heady, heartbreaking romance and a chance to witness this critical moment in history from the shoulders of giants fantastic!' Pam Jenoff, author of The Kommandant's Girl

Quantum Enigma

Ebook: November 16, 2012
Paperback: July 29, 2011

Quantum Enigma

Bruce Rosenblum, Fred Kuttner

Category: Popular Science,

Everyone knows that sub-atomic particles have some very strange qualities. Light sometimes behaves like a particle, sometimes like a wave. Objects separated by vast distances interact faster than the speed of light – what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’. Most strangely, the behaviour of objects somehow seems be determined in retrospect, depending on what the observer is looking for. In this ground-breaking work the authors show how these quantum properties are being observed in larger and larger objects. They set out carefully and cautiously exactly what quantum theory might mean for us.

Quantum physics presents an unanswerable challenge to our common sense understanding of the universe, and the final explanation might not come from physics at all, but from the equally strange world of cognitive neuro-science – the mysteries of mind and matter might be one and the same.

Reviews

  • 'This excellent book provides patient and luminous explanations... Rosenblum and Kuttner have done a brilliant job of shocking the reader anew' Guardian

  • 'Rosenblum and Kuttner tie together two great mysteries: consciousness and the 'quantum enigma' of how reality coalesces out of the fog of quantum possibilities... an entertaining primer on the nuts and bolts of quantum theory' New Scientist

  • 'This book is unique. I know of no other which so artfully tackles two of the greatest mysteries of modern science: quantum mechanics and consciousness. It has long been suspected that these mysteries are somehow related: the authors treatment of this thorny and controversial issue is honest, wide-ranging, and immensely readable. The book contains some of the clearest expositions I have ever seen of the strange and paradoxical nature of the quantum world. Quantum Enigma is a pleasure to read, and I am sure it is destined to become a classic' George Greenstein, Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College, co-author of The Quantum Challenge: Modern Research on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

Rivals of the Republic

Ebook: August 10, 2016
Hardback: October 20, 2016
Paperback: August 10, 2017

Rivals of the Republic

Annelise Freisenbruch

Category: Historical Fiction,

Using her supreme knowledge of the period, author Annelise Freisenbruch presents the great new heroine of historical fiction, Hortensia, who must navigate the male-dominated courts of law in her quest to uncover a sinister plot to overthrow the Republic.

Drawing from historical accounts of the daughter of famed Roman orator Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, Freisenbruch delivers an atmospheric, meticulously accurate and fast-paced story that will have readers craving more. Rome, 70BC. Roman high society hums with gossip about the suspicious suicide of a prominent Roman senator and the body of a Vestal Virgin is discovered in the river Tiber. As the authorities turn a blind eye, Hortensia is moved to investigate a trail of murders that appear to lead straight to the dark heart of the Eternal City.

Reviews

  • 'Freisenbruch deftly intertwines her plot with the politics of the late republic... and the layers of life, crime and grime in that most fascinating of cities... I look forward to Hortensia’s next adventures' The Times

  • 'Stunning… a riveting tale. Highly recommended!' Alison Weir, bestselling author of Katherine of Aragon

  • 'Brilliant... an enthralling and convincing imagining of Ancient Rome' Harry Sidebottom, bestselling author of the Throne of the Caesars series

  • 'Annelise Freisenbruch's Hortensia is a delight - passionate, articulate, fallible and, better still, inspired by a real woman' Ruth Downie, author of the bestselling Medicus series

  • 'An exciting journey' Margaret George, bestselling author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra

Sick in the Head

Ebook: January 12, 2017
Hardback: March 10, 2016
Paperback: March 10, 2016

Sick in the Head

Judd Apatow

Category: Memoir & Biography,

Before becoming one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood, Judd Apatow was the original comedy nerd. At fifteen, he took a job washing dishes in a local comedy club-just so he could watch endless stand-up for free. At sixteen, he was hosting a show for his local high school radio station in Syosset, Long Island-a show that consisted of Q&As with his comedy heroes, from Garry Shandling to Jerry Seinfeld. Thirty years later, Apatow is still that same comedy nerd-and he’s still interviewing funny people about why they do what they do. Sick in the Head gathers Apatow’s most memorable and revealing conversations into one hilarious, wide-ranging and incredibly candid collection. Here are the comedy legends who inspired and shaped him, the contemporaries he grew up with in Hollywood, and the brightest stars in comedy today, from Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld and Steve Martin to Chris Rock, Seth Rogen and Lena Dunham. Sick in the Head is Apatow’s gift to comedy nerds everywhere.

Reviews

  • 'The funniest man in Hollywood' Sunday Times

  • 'Hilarious and informative... my representatives assure me I will appear in a future edition' Will Ferrell

  • 'I can't stop reading it... I don't want this book to end' Jimmy Fallon

  • 'Anyone interested in comedy should invest' Heat

  • 'It's funny (natch), gossipy, page-turningly readable and packed with hard-won observations about showbusiness and life' GQ

  • 'Open this book anywhere, and you're bound to find some interesting nugget from someone who has had you in stitches many, many times' New York Times

  • 'These are wonderful, expansive interviews-at times brutal, at times breathtaking-with artists whose wit, intelligence, gaze, and insights are all sharp enough to draw blood' Michael Chabon

Florence Foster Jenkins

Ebook: April 21, 2016
Paperback: April 21, 2016

Florence Foster Jenkins

Darryl W. Bullock

Category: Memoir & Biography,

‘Darryl Bullock’s timely biography – delightfully cheering’ Alexander McCall Smith, Guardian

Madame Jenkins couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket: despite that, in 1944 at the age of 76, she played Carnegie Hall to a capacity audience and had celebrity fans by the score. Her infamous 1940s recordings are still highly-prized today. In his well-researched and thoroughly entertaining biography, Darryl W. Bullock tells of Florence Foster Jenkins meteoric rise to success and the man who stood beside her, through every sharp note.

Florence was ridiculed for her poor control of timing, pitch, and tone, and terrible pronunciation of foreign lyrics, but the sheer entertainment value of her caterwauling packed out theatres around the United States, with the ‘singer’ firmly convinced of her own talent, partly thanks to the devoted attention from her husband and manager St Clair Bayfield. Her story is one of triumph in the face of adversity, of courage, conviction and of the belief that with dedication and commitment a true artist can achieve anything.

With a major Hollywood movie about her life out now (starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg), the genius of Florence Foster Jenkins is about to be discovered by a whole new audience.

‘The first full biography of Foster Jenkins’ Clemency Burton-Hill, BBC

‘Listening to her pathetic bleating is something like eavesdropping on a padded cell inmate’ Billboard magazine

Reviews

  • 'Darryl Bullock's timely biography - delightfully cheering' Alexander McCall Smith, Guardian

  • 'Packed with exclusive interviews with Florence's family, friends and connoisseurs, and containing fascinating original photography, Florence Foster Jenkins is the book to read to get the full story on this most incredible woman' Guardian

Elvis Has Left the Building

Ebook: July 17, 2014
Paperback: May 7, 2015

Elvis Has Left the Building

Dylan Jones

Category: Memoir & Biography,

The King departed this world during the month of punk Rock’s apotheosis. Punk had set out to destroy Elvis, or at least everything he came to represent, but never got the chance. Elvis destroyed himself before anyone else could.

Nearly forty years after his death, Rock’s ultimate legend and prototype just won’t go away and his influence and legacy are to be found not just in music today, but the world over. Elvis Presley has permeated the modern world in ways that are bizarre and inexplicable: a pop icon while he was alive, he has become almost a religious icon in death, a modern-day martyr crucified on the wheel of drugs, celebrity culture, junk food and sex.

In Elvis Has Left the Building, Dylan Jones takes us back to those heady days around the time of his death and the rise of punk. He evokes the hysteria and devotion of The King’s numerous disciples and imitators, offering a uniquely insightful commentary on Elvis’s life, times and outrageous demise. This is a fresh account, written with the authors customary panache, recounting how Elvis single-handedly changed the course of popular music and culture, and what his death meant and still means to us today.

Reviews

  • 'As a writer, he has an effortless style with an unerring instinct for the absurd and the noteworthy' Independent

  • 'Jones is a wonderfully fluent writer, with a terrific knack for atmospheric phrasemaking, period detail and juicy factoids' Daily Telegraph

Revolution in Mind

Ebook: March 23, 2010
Paperback: August 26, 2010

Revolution in Mind

George Makari

Category: Psychology & Philosophy,

How did Freudian Theory come together as a body of ideas, and how did these ideas attract followers who spread this model of mind throughout the West? Makari contextualises Freud’s early psychological work amid the great changes occurring in late-nineteenth-century European science, philosophy, and medicine, showing how Freud was a creative, inter-disciplinary synthesizer whose immersion in pre-existing domains of study led to the creation of Freudian Theory.

He looks at how Freud’s followers built a heterogeneous movement in the years leading to 1914, at the growth of the movement, and its subsequent collapse with the departures of Bleuler, Jung and Adler. Finally, Makari examines the critical, but neglected, Weimar period, when there was an attempt to rebuild a more pluralistic psychoanalytic community. This reformation resulted in the broader theoretical reach of psychoanalysis and its greater acceptance across the Western world outside Europe, where the rise of fascism was to lead to the destruction of psychoanalysis and the culture that once sustained it.

Reviews

  • 'Brilliant... A magisterial study that moves beyond the heated disputes of past decades to gives us a detailed, deeply reflective history... The book will serve historians of the field, as well as undaunted readers, for many years to come' Financial Times

  • 'Gripping... At last: a history of psychoanalysis without partisanship or rancour. This neutral and thorough account of one of the most controversial intellectual movements to sweet Europe and the world... is greatly needed today... An impressive achievement' Literary Review

  • 'Rich and even-handed enough for partisans on both sides of the divide to find ammunition for their cause... Makari's lucid and thoroughly researched book is an indispensable guide' TLS

  • 'This history of psychoanalysis aims to display, as they bubble up, ideas that are hardly ideas any longer, more part of our psychic landscape. George Makari... lets us in on the stage where what has since hardened into dogma is still in flux, showing us how Freud took on and discarded theories, tinkering and patching. Similarly fluid, as Makari shows, is the ownership of idea' Guardian

  • 'Not only of high scientific value but also enjoyable to read... Makari has succeeded in writing an important, even brilliant book... An immensely joyful experience' International Journal of Psychoanalysis

  • 'Freud's context is more fully elaborated by Makari than ever before. I admire in particular the sanity and balance of this work, since it shows that Freud's value transcends his scientism' Harold Bloom

  • 'George Makari has written nothing less than a history of the modern mind... an astounding breadth of knowledge and an unprecedented gift for synthesis' Paul Auster

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