'The inventions, the innovations, the stories, the surprises. A combination of history, reference and entertainment - something for every seafarer and many others too.' - Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence People have been sailing for thousands of years, but we've come some distance from longboats and clippers. How did we arrive here? In fifty tales of inventors and innovations, Sails, Skippers and Sextants looks at the history of one of our most enjoyable pastimes, from the monarch who pioneered English yachting to the engineer who invented sailboards. The stories are sometimes inspiring, usually amusing and often intriguing - so grab your lifejacket, it's going to be quite an adventure.

'For most men, as Epicurus has remarked, rest is stagnation and activity madness. Mad or not, the activity that I have been pursuing for the last twenty years takes the form of voyages to remote, mountainous regions.' H.W. 'Bill' Tilman's fourteenth book Ice with Everything describes three more of those voyages, 'the first comparatively humdrum, the second totally disastrous, and the third exceedingly troublesome'. The first voyage describes Tilman's 1971 attempt to reach East Greenland's remote and ice-bound Scoresby Sound. The largest fjord system in the world was named after the father of Whitby whaling captain, William Scoresby, who first charted the coastline in 1822. Scoresby's two-volume Account of the Arctic Regions provided much of the historical inspiration for Tilman's northern voyages and fuelled his fascination with Scoresby Sound and the unclimbed mountains at its head. Tilman's first attempt to reach the fjord had already cost him his first boat, Mischief, in 1968. The following year, a 'polite mutiny' aboard Sea Breeze had forced him to turn back within sight of the entrance, so with a good crew aboard in 1971, it was particularly frustrating for Tilman to find the fjord blocked once more, this time by impenetrable sea ice at the entrance. Refusing to give up, Tilman's obsession with Scoresby Sound continued in 1972 when a series of unfortunate events led to the loss of Sea Breeze, crushed between a rock and an ice floe. Safely back home in Wales, the inevitable search for a new boat began. 'One cannot buy a biggish boat as if buying a piece of soap. The act is almost as irrevocable as marriage and should be given as much thought'. The 1902 pilot cutter Baroque was acquired and after not inconsiderable expense, proved equal to the challenge. Tilman's first troublesome voyage aboard her to West Greenland in 1973 completes this collection.

'Asne Seierstad is the supreme non-fiction writer of her generation ... Two Sisters isn't only the story of how a pair of teenage girls became radicalised but an unsparing portrait of our own society - of its failings and its joys' Luke Harding On 17 October 2013, teenage sisters Ayan and Leila Juma left their family home near Oslo, seemingly as usual. Later that day they sent an email to their unsuspecting parents, confessing they were on their way to Syria. They had been planning the trip for months in secret. Asne Seierstad - working closely with the family - followed the story through its many dramatic twists and turns. This is, in part, a story about Syria. But most of all it is a story of what happens to apparently ordinary people when their lives are turned upside down by conflict and tragedy. 'A masterpiece and a masterclass in investigative journalism' Christina Lamb, Sunday Times 'Meticulously documented, full of drama ... this is a tale fluently told, and a thriller as well' Kate Adie, Literary Review 'A masterwork. Brilliantly conceived, scrupulously reported and beautifully written, this book is compulsive reading' Jon Lee Anderson

'No sea voyage can be dull for a man who has an eye for the ever-changing sea and sky, the waves, the wind and the way of a ship upon the water.' So observes H.W. 'Bill' Tilman in this account of two lengthy voyages in which dull intervals were few and far between. In 1966, after a succession of eventful and successful voyages in the high latitudes of the Arctic, Tilman and his pilot cutter Mischief head south again, this time with the Antarctic Peninsula, Smith Island and the unclimbed Mount Foster in their sights. Mischief goes South is an account of a voyage marred by tragedy and dogged by crew trouble from the start. Tilman gives ample insight into the difficulties associated with his selection of shipmates and his supervision of a crew, as he wryly notes, 'to have four misfits in a crew of five is too many'. The second part of this volume contains the author's account of a gruelling voyage south, an account left unwritten for ten years for lack of time and energy. Originally intended as an expedition to the remote Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, this 1957 voyage evolved into a circumnavigation of Africa, the unplanned consequence of a momentary lapse in attention by an inexperienced helmsman. The two voyages described in Mischief goes South covered 43,000 miles over twenty-five months spent at sea and, while neither was deemed successful, published together they give a fine insight into Tilman's character.

On 22nd November 1963, the 35th president of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and his wife Jackie were taking part in a presidential motorcade through Dallas. Thousands lined the streets cheering; others hung out of windows to catch a glimpse of the much-loved First Lady and President. Suddenly, the unthinkable: three shots - bang...bang, bang - rang out. In front of the world, John F Kennedy was fatally wounded. Lee Harvey Oswald was caught. But did he fire the fatal bullet? Who REALLY killed JFK? Fifty years after the tragic events in Dallas, JFK: THE SMOKING GUN solves the ultimate cold case. With the forensic eye of a highly regarded ex-cop, Colin McLaren gathered the evidence, studied 10,000 pages of transcripts, discovered the witnesses the Warren Commission failed to call, and uncovered the exhibits and testimonies that were hidden until now. What he found is far more outrageous than any fanciful conspiracy theory could ever be. JFK: THE SMOKING GUN proves, once and for all, who did kill the President. 'A compelling case' THE AUSTRALIAN 'Comprehensive and compelling' NEWCASTLE HERALD

Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames or bonfires to modern-day lighthouse keeping. Yet most of their stories are little-known. Guiding Lights includes true stories from around the world, chronicling the lives of the extraordinary women who mind the world's storm-battered towers. From Hannah Sutton and her partner Grant, the two caretakers living alone on Tasmania's wild Maatsuyker Island, to Karen Zacharuk, the keeper in charge of Cape Beale on Canada's Vancouver Island, where bears, cougars and wolves roam, the lives of lighthouse women are not for the faint of heart. Stunning photographs from throughout history accompany accounts of the dramatic torching of Puysegur Point, one of NZ's most inhospitable lighthouses; 'haunted' lighthouses in across the US and their tragic tales; lighthouse accidents and emergencies around the world; and two of the world's most legendary lighthouse women: Ida Lewis (US) and Grace Darling (UK), who risked their lives to save others. The book also explores our dual perception of lighthouses: are they comforting and romantic beacons symbolising hope and trust, or storm-lashed and forbidding towers with echoes of lonely, mad keepers? Whatever our perception, stories of women's courage and dedication in minding the lights - then and now - continue to capture our imagination and inspire.

"Dr. Wakefield sets the record straight. It was not he who showed callous disregard towards vulnerable, sick children with autism. It was the British medical establishment, the General Medical Council, the media and the pharmaceutical industry."-Mary Holland, Esq., co-founder, Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy As Andrew Wakefield states in his prologue, "If autism does not affect your family now, it will. If something does not change-and change soon-this is almost a mathematical certainty. This book affects you also. It is not a parochial look at a trivial medical spat in the United Kingdom, but dispatches from the battlefront in a major confrontation-a struggle against compromise in medicine, corruption of science, and a real and present threat to children in the interests of policy and profit. It is a story of how 'the system' deals with dissent among its doctors and scientists." In the pursuit of possible links between childhood vaccines, intestinal inflammation, and neurologic injury in children, Wakefield lost his job in London's Royal Free Hospital, his country of birth, his career, and his medical license. A recent General Medical Council ruling stated that he was "dishonest, irresponsible and showed callous disregard for the distress and pain of children." Maligned by the medical establishment and mainstream media, Wakefield endeavors to set the record straight in Callous Disregard. While explaining what really happened, he calls out the organizations and individuals that are acting not for the sake of children affected by autism, but in their own self-interests.

The epic, page-turning history of how a group of physicists toppled the Newtonian universe in the early decades of the twentieth century. Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schroedinger, and Albert Einstein didn't only revolutionise physics; they redefined our world and the reality we live in. In The Age of Uncertainty, Tobias Hurter brings to life the golden age of physics and its dazzling, flawed, and unforgettable heroes and heroines. The work of the twentieth century's most important physicists produced scientific breakthroughs that led to an entirely new view of physics - and a view of the universe that is still not fully understood today, even as evidence for its accuracy is all around us. The men and women who made these discoveries were intellectual adventurers, renegades, dandies, and nerds, some bound together by deep friendship; others, by bitter enmity. But the age of relativity theory and quantum mechanics was also the age of wars and revolutions. The discovery of radioactivity transformed science, but also led to the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Throughout The Age of Uncertainty, Hurter reminds us about the entanglement of science and world events, for we cannot observe the world without changing it.

'I went for a walk around the garden. A great tit warbled above a patch of coltsfoot. I felt a thousand discoveries awaited...' Notes from a Summer Cottage by Nina Burton is a beautifully written nature memoir about the time spent renovating a cottage in the Swedish countryside, and all the species that she encountered her during her stay. Did you know that there are more ants altogether than the number of seconds that have passed since the Big Bang? And that in relation to their size, their anthill cities can be larger than London and New York? Or, that a bird's migratory instinct is so strong that an injured stork once escaped captivity and was found six weeks later having walked 150 kilometres, following the migratory path of his flock on foot? What begins with a renovation of a an old summer cottage swiftly turns into an exploration of nature, life and philosophy, in which Nina Burton reveals the inner lives and hitherto unknown habits of the animals with which she shares. Within the walls, the ceiling and the floor of the cottage and its surrounding garden, she encounters a host of animals-ants, honey bees, foxes, squirrels, blackbirds, badgers, pigeons, deer and many more-all of whom have made her house and garden their home, and all of whom cause Nina to reflect on their role within our world.

On the night of 23 February 1820, twenty-five impoverished craftsmen assembled in an obscure stable in Cato Street, London, with a plan to massacre the whole British cabinet at its monthly dinner. The Cato Street Conspiracy was the most sensational of all plots aimed at the British state since Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot of 1605. It ended in betrayal, arrest, and trial, and with five conspirators publicly hanged and decapitated for treason. Their failure proved the state's physical strength, and ended hopes of revolution for a century. Vic Gatrell explores this dramatic yet neglected event in unprecedented detail through spy reports, trial interrogations, letters, speeches, songs, maps, and images. Attending to the 'real lives' and habitats of the men, women, and children involved, he throws fresh light on the troubled and tragic world of Regency Britain, and on one of the most compelling and poignant episodes in British history.

However many times it has been done, the act of casting off the warps and letting go one's last hold of the shore at the start of a voyage has about it something solemn and irrevocable, like marriage, for better or for worse. Mostly Mischief's ordinary title belies four more extraordinary voyages made by H.W. 'Bill' Tilman covering almost 25,000 miles in both Arctic and Antarctic waters. The first sees the pilot cutter Mischief retracing the steps of Elizabethan explorer John Davis to the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. Tilman and a companion land on the north coast and make the hazardous crossing of Bylot Island while the remainder of the crew make the eventful passage to the southern shore to recover the climbing party. Back in England, Tilman refuses to accept the condemnation of Mischief's surveyor, undertaking costly repairs before heading back to sea for a first encounter with the East Greenland ice. Between June 1964 and September 1965, Tilman is at sea almost without a break. Two eventful voyages to East Greenland in Mischief provide the entertaining bookends to his account of the five-month voyage in the Southern Ocean as skipper of the schooner Patanela. Tilman had been hand-picked by the expedition leader as the navigator best able to land a team of Australian and New Zealand climbers and scientists on Heard Island, a tiny volcanic speck in the Furious Fifties devoid of safe anchorages and capped by an unclimbed glaciated peak. In a separate account of this successful voyage, Colin Putt describes the expedition as unique - the first ascent of a mountain to start below sea level.

Al Venter regards himself an African – a ‘white’ African, but as much a part of the fascinating and often troubled continent on which he was born as his Zulu and Swahili speaking contemporaries. There is no country in Africa that he has not visited. During his half-century career as a foreign correspondent, working for media outlets on four continents, he has given his version of unfolding events from many of them, for, inter alia, Britain’s Jane’s Information Group, the Daily Express and Daily Mail of London, United Press International, Geneva’s Interavia, the BBC, SABC, NBC (radio), as well as scores of magazines. His love for Africa stems in part from his childhood. At the age of 14 - while on vacation in what was then still Northern Rhodesia - he hitched-hiked back to boarding school in Johannesburg in a race with his schoolmates who travelled by train. And he won. Seven years later, after completing three-years in the navy, he explored East Africa and ended up in Mombasa in Kenya and cadged a lift on a freighter to Canada. Then, after qualifying professionally in London, he travelled overland through West Africa all the way to London. Along the way he met many notables – including Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and the man who hosted Graham Greene at his derelict hotel in Liberia – then all but an American colony, where the ‘greenback’ was the official currency – as well as the great Dr Albert Schweitzer. The author spent a week at his jungle clinic at Lambarane in Gabon.Venter includes many of these adventures in this new book. He also delves into some of his military adventures and has invited several of his old colleagues to add some of their thoughts to this bundle of travel, adventure and excitement to create a remarkable insight to a continent that, though briefly ‘tamed’ by Europe, was never really subjugated. In that anomaly too, there lies many a stirring yarn.

Freud may never have set foot in Cambridge - that hub for the twentieth century's most influential thinkers and scientists - but his intellectual impact there in the years between the two World Wars was immense. This is a story that has long languished untold, buried under different accounts of the dissemination of psychoanalysis. John Forrester and Laura Cameron present a fascinating and deeply textured history of the ways in which a set of Freudian ideas about the workings of the human mind, sexuality and the unconscious affected Cambridge men and women - from A. G. Tansley and W. H. R. Rivers to Bertrand Russell, Bernal, Strachey and Wittgenstein - shaping their thinking across a range of disciplines, from biology to anthropology, and from philosophy to psychology, education and literature. Freud in Cambridge will be welcomed as a major intervention by literary scholars, historians and all readers interested in twentieth-century intellectual and scientific life.

One morning in October 2013, nineteen-year-old Ayan Juma and her sixteen-year-old sister Leila left their family home in Oslo. Later that day they sent an email to their parents. 'Peace, God's mercy and blessings upon you, Mum and Dad ... Please do not be cross with us...' Leila and Ayan had decided to travel to Syria, 'and help out down there as best we can'. They had been planning for months. By the time their desperate father Sadiq tracks them to Turkey, they have already crossed the border. But Sadiq is determined to find them. What follows is the gripping, heartbreaking story of a family ripped apart. While Sadiq risks his own life to bring his daughters back, at home his wife Sara begins to question their life in Norway. How could her children have been radicalised without her knowledge? How can she protect her two younger sons from the same fate? Asne Seierstad - with the complete support of the Juma family - followed the story from the beginning, through its many dramatic twists and turns. It's a tale that crosses from Sadiq and Sara's original home in Somalia, to their council estate in Oslo, to Turkey and to Syria - where two teenage sisters must face the shocking consequences of their decision.

Freud may never have set foot in Cambridge - that hub for the twentieth century's most influential thinkers and scientists - but his intellectual impact there in the years between the two World Wars was immense. This is a story that has long languished untold, buried under different accounts of the dissemination of psychoanalysis. John Forrester and Laura Cameron present a fascinating and deeply textured history of the ways in which a set of Freudian ideas about the workings of the human mind, sexuality and the unconscious affected Cambridge men and women - from A. G. Tansley and W. H. R. Rivers to Bertrand Russell, Bernal, Strachey and Wittgenstein - shaping their thinking across a range of disciplines, from biology to anthropology, and from philosophy to psychology, education and literature. Freud in Cambridge will be welcomed as a major intervention by literary scholars, historians and all readers interested in twentieth-century intellectual and scientific life.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING EDDIE REDMAYNE AND FELICITY JONES A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW STATESMAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A DAILY TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW REPUBLIC BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A TIME MAGAZINE TOP 10 NONFICTION From ambitious scientists rising above the clouds to analyse the air to war generals floating across enemy lines, Richard Holmes takes to the air in this heart-lifting history of pioneer balloonists. Falling Upwards asks why they risked their lives, and how their flights revealed the secrets of our planet. The stories range from early ballooning rivals to the long-distance voyages of American entrepreneurs; from the legendary balloon escape from the Prussian siege of Paris to dauntless James Glaisher, who in the 1860s flew seven miles above the earth - without oxygen. Falling Upwards has inspired the Major Motion Picture The Aeronauts - in cinemas SOON. In a glorious fusion of history, art, science and biography, this is a book about what balloons give rise to: the spirit of discovery, and the brilliant humanity of recklessness, vision and hope.

'People often say that non-fiction books read like fast-moving thrillers, but this one genuinely does... This is a splendid book - and highly recommended.' Daily Mail A remarkable piece of investigative journalism into one of the most pervasive and troubling mysteries of recent memory. 01:20am, 8 March 2014. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying 239 passengers, disappeared into the night, never to be seen or heard from again. The incident was inexplicable. In a world defined by advanced technology and interconnectedness, how could an entire aircraft become untraceable? Had the flight been subject to a perfect hijack? Perhaps the pilots lost control? And if the plane did crash, where was the wreckage? Writing for Le Monde in the days and months after the plane's disappearance, journalist Florence de Changy closely documented the chaotic international investigation that followed, uncovering more questions than answers. Riddled with inconsistencies, contradictions and a lack of basic communication between authorities, the mystery surrounding flight MH370 only deepened. Now, de Changy offers her own explanation. Drawing together countless eyewitness testimonies, press releases, independent investigative reports and expert opinion, The Disappearing Act offers an eloquent and deeply unnerving narrative of what happened to the missing aircraft. An incredible feat of investigative journalism and a testament to de Changy's tenacity and resolve, this book is an exhaustive, gripping account into one of the most profound mysteries of the 21st century.

A heart-warming story of a woman who devoted her life to helping others. This is the memoir of Joan, who started nursing in the 1940s and whose experiences took her into the Yorkshire mining pits and through the tumult of the 1984-85 miners' strike. Joan Hart always knew what she wanted to do with her life. Born in South Yorkshire in 1932, she started her nursing training when she was 16, the youngest age girls could do so at the time. She continued working after she married and her work took her to London and Doncaster, caring for children and miners. When she took a job as a pit nurse in Doncaster in 1974, she found that in order to be accepted by the men under her care, she would have to become one of them. Most of the time rejecting a traditional nurse's uniform and donning a baggy miner's suit, pit boots, a hardhat and a headlamp, Joan resolved always to go down to injured miners and bring them out of the pit herself. Over 15 years Joan grew to know the miners not only as a nurse, but as a confidante and friend. She tended to injured miners underground, rescued men trapped in the pits, and provided support for them and their families during the bitter miners' strike which stretched from March 1984 to 1985. Moving and uplifting, this is a story of one woman's life, marriage and work; it is guaranteed to make readers laugh, cry, and smile.

ONE OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE'S BEST SUMMER READS 2022 5* 'A jaw-dropping memoir' - THE TELEGRAPH 'One of the maddest memoirs you'll read this year... a beautiful, warm, funny book.' -The Times 'Extraordinary' -The Guardian 'A wholly absorbing page-turner that everyone will want to read. You should probably buy two.' -Kirkus Starred Review 'A riveting debut.' -People Magazine 'By turns hilarious, wrenching, and achingly tender.' -Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author 'A remarkable and wise book, two memoirs braided together with such tendresse that readers will come to believe the ironic title in earnest' -LA TIMES 'Riveting and hilariously funny' - The Times For most of her life, Chrysta Bilton was one member of a small, if dysfunctional, family of four. There was her sister, Kaitlyn, her hedonistic, glamorous, gay mum Debra, and Jeffrey, who Debra hand-picked, in an LA hairdressers, to be the father of her children. During Chrysta's unstable childhood, Debra struggled to keep the family afloat and Jeffrey wandered in and out of their lives. Then, in her twenties, Chrysta discovered that her father had secretly donated his sperm over 500 times - and that she had at least 35 other siblings. A Normal Family is a captivating coming-of-age memoir about Chrysta's reckoning with the secrets both parents had carefully kept from her. Heartfelt, warm and funny, it's a story of embracing the family we have, in all the forms we find it.

In his quest to define 'sporting greatness', double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has spent nearly 4 years interviewing and training with some of the greatest minds in sport to discover what it takes to become - and remain - a champion. Featuring: Ian Botham * Mark Cavendish * Alastair Cook * Alex Danson * Richard Dunwoody * Donna Fraser * Chris Froome * Anna Hemmings * Denis Irwin * Michael Johnson * Kilian Jornet * Stuart Lancaster * AP McCoy * Ronnie O'Sullivan * Michael Owen * Adam Peaty * Ian Poulter * Paula Radcliffe * Ian Thorpe * Mark Webber * Shane Williams From an early age Alistair Brownlee has been obsessed with being the very best, and not just improving his sporting performance across his three specialist triathlon disciplines of swimming, cycling and running, but also understanding how a winner becomes a dominant champion. Winning gold in consecutive Olympic Games has only strengthened this need and desire. Over the last 4 years Alistair has been on a journey to learn from the best, talking to elite figures across multiple sports as well as leading thinkers and scientists, to understand what enabled these remarkable individuals to rise to the very top, and to push the limits of human capability in their relentless pursuit of perfection. Alistair uses these fascinating interviews, along with extensive research, to explore a range of sports and environments - athletics, cycling, football, rugby, horseracing, hockey, cricket, golf, motor racing, snooker, swimming and ultra-running - to reveal how talent alone is never enough and how hard work, pain, pressure, stress, risk, focus, sacrifice, innovation, reinvention, passion, ruthlessness, luck, failure and even a lockdown can all play a crucial part in honing a winning mentality and achieving sustained success.

A charming children's encyclopedia for little learners who love exciting journeys and incredible discoveries. The world is so much bigger than young minds can fathom and there is always more to learn. My Encyclopedia of Very Important Adventures is a vibrant encyclopedia for curious 5-9 year olds with an exciting introduction to the awe-inspiring adventures of eager explorers, dynamic daredevils, imaginative inventors and other pioneers who shaped the world. Combining fun facts with charming illustrations, young readers can take a dive into the unknown and go on a daring journey across land, sea and sky, as they explore the highest mountains, the deepest oceans and everything in between. Celebrate your child's curiosity as they travel through time to visit the workshops, labs and studios of history's most important minds, whilst the read about the pioneers who dared to go where nobody had ever been before! My Encyclopedia of Very Important Adventures is bursting with all sorts of subjects that early readers will love! From scientists and inventors to builders and thinkers, this adventure book is perfect for curious little kids with a thirst for knowledge. Mixing photography and colourful illustrations, kids will discover important facts about the world's most renowned explorers, pioneers, risk-takers and more. My Encyclopedia of Very Important Adventures is a friendly book that gets children learning, reading, and laughing too! Celebrate your child's curiosity as they: - Read fun facts about a variety of different people who shaped the world - Learn all about archeologists, scientists and more who made mind-boggling discoveries - Discover a unique approach to the subject that focuses primarily on events Our encyclopedia for children is the perfect blend of engaging and striking photography with lively text. Encourage early learners to go on a journey into the animal kingdom to explore a world of information, making this the ideal first reference book for kids aged 5-9 to enjoy for hours on end, whether for shared reading at bedtime or reading alone, this fun fact book for children also doubles up as the perfect gift for curious kids who love to learn. Tell the story of the world one page at a time, by uncovering: - Educational content written in a friendly and fun manner - Beautifully padded cover with several high-quality finishes, including padding and foil - Features a built-in ribbon bookmark so you never lose your place whilst reading More in the Series My Encyclopedia of Very Important Adventures is part of the educational kid's book series My Very Encyclopedia series. Complete the series and nurture your child's curiosity of the animal kingdom with My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals, teach them about different sports with My Encyclopedia of Very Important Sport, or let them walk with the dinosaurs who ruled the earth before them in My Encyclopedia of Very Important Dinosaurs.

One winter's evening in 1821, stung by his girlfriend Eliza's rejection, 17-year-old John Horwood picked up a stone and flung it at her. That thoughtless act of fury was to cost both those young people their lives. A prominent surgeon who clearly placed his own reputation above the care of his patients carried out an operation on Eliza which he must have known would probably kill her - as it did. Smith kept her skull for teaching purposes, and when John was sentenced to hang for her death he made sure the youth's body would be his to dismember. He even had a book bound with John Horwood's skin. When Mary Halliwell, a descendant of John Horwood, unearthed this grotesque and shocking story, she and her husband Dave went into action. 190 years after the fateful day when John's young life was so unjustly snuffed out, they finally managed to arrange a Christian burial for his remains.

RHS Staff Pick of the Year 2021 Spectator Gardening Book of the year 2021 'A refreshingly insightful history of plant introductions.' - Roy Lancaster Travel the world with extraordinary tales of the botanical discoveries that have shaped empires, built (and destroyed) economies, revolutionised medicine and advanced our understanding of science. Circling the globe from Australia's Botany Bay to the Tibetan plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this book presents an incredible cast of characters - dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the 'Green Samurai' Mikinori Ogisu and the intrepid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian - the first woman known to have made a living from science. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 botanical artworks from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this absorbing book tells the stories of how plants have travelled across the world - from the missions of the Pharaohs right up to 21st century seed-banks and the many new and endangered species being named every year. *** THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW is a world-famous research organisation and a major international visitor attraction. It harnesses the power of its science, the rich diversity of its gardens and collections to unearth why plants and fungi matter to everyone. Its aspiration is to end the extinction crisis and help create a world where nature and biodiversity are protected, valued and managed sustainably.

*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* A GUARDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'An astonishing book' James O'Brien 'A gripping, devastating read' Sunday Times The inside story of the UK's response to the pandemic from the Insight investigations unit at The Sunday Times Failures of State recounts the extraordinary political decisions taken at the heart of Boris Johnson's government during the global pandemic. Fully updated and corroborated by hundreds of sources, this is the insider's account of how the government sleepwalked into disaster and tried to cover up its role in the tragedy. Thrillingly told, it exposes one of the most scandalous failures of political leadership in British history. 'A damning indictment' Alan Johnson, Observer 'A devastating piece of journalism' Andrew Marr 'This is a scandal' Piers Morgan

'What joy to be at sea again, adrift on the vast Pacific, in the clutches of a gifted storyteller. Harrison Christian and the mutineers of Men Without Country held me happily captive to the very last page.' - Dava Sobel, author of Longitude 'Men Without Country shows what a writer can produce when he has real skin in the game... Harrison Christian sets the record straight on the Bounty mutiny with forensic fervour, including the before, the during - and the after.' - Adam Courtenay, author of The Ship that Never Was Full of misadventure and mystery, Men Without Country is a sweeping history of exploration and rebellion in the South Seas - told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the man who led the infamous mutiny on the Bounty A mission to collect breadfruit from Tahiti becomes the most famous mutiny in history when the crew rise up against Captain William Bligh, with accusations of food restrictions and unfair punishments. Bligh's remarkable journey back to safety is well documented, but the fates of the mutinous men remain shrouded in mystery. Some settled in Tahiti only to face capture and court martial, others sailed on to form a secret colony on Pitcairn Island, the most remote inhabited island on earth, avoiding detection for twenty years. When an American captain stumbled across the island in 1808, only one of the Bounty mutineers was left alive. Told by a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, Men Without Country details the journey of the Bounty, and the lives of the men aboard. Lives dominated by a punishing regime of hard work and scarce rations, and deeply divided by the hierarchy of class. It is a tale of adventure and exploration punctuated by moments of extreme violence - towards each other and the people of the South Pacific. For the first time, Christian provides a comprehensive and compelling account of the whole story - from the history of trade and exploration in the South Seas to Pitcairn Island, which provided the mutineers' salvation, and then became their grave.