A gripping and deeply researched exploration of the hidden influence of organized crime on the global economy that reveals the mafia as an uncredited architect of modern society.

In Mafia: A Global History, Ryan Gingeras takes readers on a fascinating journey into the shadowy world of organized crime and its far-reaching impact on contemporary society. From backroom deals to global power plays, this compelling narrative spans two centuries, unraveling the complex ties between crime syndicates and law enforcement—and how these relationships have reshaped both sides in unexpected ways.

Drawing on over a decade of in-depth research into the global drug trade, Gingeras profiles legendary figures like Al Capone, Pablo Escobar, El Chapo, and Dawood Ibrahim, bringing their stories to life while exposing how these mafias have tested the boundaries of state power. By challenging the law, these criminal networks force governments to adapt, leaving an indelible mark on governance, society, and the global economy.

Gingeras identifies three key spheres of transformation: the legal limits tested by mafias, their economic activities reflecting the Western bloc’s dominance in global trade, and their undeniable presence in pop culture. As crime syndicates continue to evolve in the 21st century, Gingeras highlights the alarming blurring of lines between gangsters, corporations, and political leaders—a trend that threatens to destabilize the global order.

For true crime fans and history buffs alike, Mafia is a must-read. With echoes of Mark Bowden’s Killing Pablo and Sam Quinones’s Dreamland, Gingeras delivers a masterful blend of storytelling and meticulous analysis that will leave you questioning just how much of the world around us is shaped by those operating in the shadows.

Jonty Winch traces the complicated history of South African rugby from its establishment in the Cape in 1879 through to the 2019 World Cup championship.

As he explores key events and questions entrenched narratives, Winch opens a compelling new window on colonialism, apartheid, and the evolution of South African society.

'n Versameling van Jan se beste vegetariese resepte en nog baie nuwe kinkels, alles op die vuur. As jy iets soek vir vleislose Maandag, jou nuwe vegetariese skoondogter moet onthaal, of die kleinkinders moet kosgee - is daar geen rede waarom jy nie kan braai nie. Met Jan se liplekker braaibroodtjies, potjies, kerrie, brode, burgers tot poedings sal selfs die vleiseters terugkom vir nog 'n skeppie!

On the outskirts of Durban, a car is hijacked. The owner, Suzanne Fessey, fights back and kills one thief but the other, wounded, escapes with her baby strapped into the back seat. Called in to pursue the missing vehicle are helicopter tracker pilot Nia Carras, and wildlife researcher Mike Dunn, the only man nearby on the ground who can follow the car. The police have bigger problems; a suicide bomber has killed the visiting American ambassador, and chaos has descended on KwaZulu-Natal. As Mike and Nia track the missing baby through game reserves from Zululand to Zimbabwe, they soon realise that Suzanne is much more than a worried mother, and that the war on terror has erupted in their part of the world.

Nothing Ventured is the first thrilling novel in the William Warwick series, by the master storyteller and bestselling author of the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer.

This is not a detective story, this is a story about a detective.

William Warwick is eight when he decides to join the police force. Resolute in the face of his prominent QC father’s objections, William graduates in Art History from university and immediately enrols as a constable in the Metropolitan Police.

Gaining insight from his first mentor, an experienced, world-weary constable, his keen mind quickly takes him into a role in Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques unit and his first case: the recovery of a Rembrandt stolen from the Fitzmolean Museum.

It will take skill and tenacity for William to solve the crime, and along the way he will encounter many who will change his life, from Miles Faulkner, a crooked art collector, and his influential lawyer – who bends the law to the point of breaking – to research assistant Beth Rainsford, a woman with secrets who he falls hopelessly in love with . . .

William Warwick’s destiny is set, the only question is, how far will his ambition take him?

Thrilling, absorbing and entertaining, Nothing Ventured introduces a character destined to become one of Archer's most enduring legacies.

Continue the series with Hidden in Plain Sight and Turn a Blind Eye.

Are women really more polite than men? What is the best way to apologise? And when is it OK to swear?

Politeness rules our day-to-day lives, whether it's speaking to colleagues about issues at work, dealing with difficult family members or wondering if you should eat the last piece of pie. For years, Professor Louise Mullany has been examining the prevalence and power of politeness in our everyday speech and actions, and discovering what this says about us.

In Polite, Louise shows how the unseen science of politeness governs everything we do, from what we say to how we act, and reveals how a better understanding of the rules and norms of politeness can help us in all aspects of our work, leisure and home lives.

And, in doing so, she answers the age-old question... are politeness standards really declining?

“I had endured enough spaghetti arms and failed take-offs to last a lifetime. I wanted to, once again, move forward with my surfing. It took a simple idea to make that a reality”

Death of a Weekend Warrior is the story of Bernard’s surfing journey. It describes the highs, lows, people, places, and waves he has experienced over the past thirty years. For Bernard, a weekend warrior represents a plateauing of performance, a stagnation. The death of a weekend warrior represents his progression and development.

In this book, Katz unpacks his own insecurities and reflects on the many facets that make up the world of the average weekend surfer. His personal journey is intertwined with descriptions of famous surf spots and explanations of some of the nuances of surfing, localism, surfboard design, the art of tube riding, and more.

Toe die eerste bomme op Februarie 2022 Kijif aan flarde skiet, was Kobus Olivier gereed. Maar om te vlug was bloot nie ’n opsie nie – wat sou van sy vier geliefde honde word?

In Met my honde word Kobus en sy vier brakke se verhaal vertel.

Die angswekkende nagte terwyl bomme om hul neerreën, die verhaal van onvoorwaardelike liefde tussen mens en dier, en hoe jy selfs tydens ’n oorlog op die hulp van vreemdelinge kan staatmaak.

Inside the Mind of Charles Manson dissects the chilling psychology behind the infamous cult leader. Acclaimed crime writer Brad Hunter meticulously examines Manson’s insatiable desire for control, revealing the sinister techniques of mind manipulation that allowed him to achieve his cult status.

This book goes beyond the headlines, offering a gripping analysis of how a disturbed individual became a true mastermind of evil, forever altering the landscape of true crime.

A handy, all-in-one photographic field guide to the wildlife of South Africa, this guide covers the region's mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and trees that are most likely to be seen. Concise accounts and distribution maps are included for each species.

A brief introduction discusses geology, climate, vegetation zones, wildlife hotspots, and tips on watching wildlife. This convenient presentation of South Africa’s most visible wildlife in a single volume will find favour with tourists and local enthusiasts alike.

• Handy, all-in-one guide to diverse groups of wildlife and trees
• Full-colour photographs of all species
• Distribution maps
• Tips to watching wildlife
• Very attractive price

Think Yourself Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Financial Independence is aimed at first-timeearners who want to put themselves on the right path to financial independence. It provides an easy-to-understand guide that explains in clear terms how to consciously choose and plan for a debt-free lifestyle and not only survive, but thrive, on the long-term journey towards financial freedom.

The book covers crucial issues about financial planning clearly and succinctly, including:

- Why it is important to get rid of all unnecessary debt as quickly as possible.

- When you should start saving or investing.

- How to plan for emergencies.

- How much and what kind of insurance you need.

- How much of your income you should save.

- How much of your income you should invest.

- Where, how and when you should invest.

Theoretical information about budgets, financial plans and investment (including all important terminology for various investment options) is interwoven with relevant reallife examples and scenarios that will inspire readers to set aside the time to design and write up a proper financial plan – and execute it. Each chapter builds on the previous one to help readers achieve their goals by sticking to their plans. This book will equip readers to take full control of their finances.

Lew Geffen is destined to have an eventful life. Driven by a maverick spirit, he embarks on a wild ride of success, securing the local Sotheby’s International Realty license to become a major player in the property market.

Along the way he's fired by his mother, sells Mandela's house and navigates the fallout of a murder at his company's annual convention. Lew's extraordinary life is told with candour, warmth and laced by his wicked sense of humour.

Geffinitely a business memoir like no other.

Financial intelligence begins with financial literacy. And Robert Kiyosaki reminds us that "our minds are our greatest assets."

Financial literacy gives you the tools to build your personal financial statement... which tells you the story about how you are managing your cash flow. The language of money can be confusing and intimidating. But, like it or not, “money”―in all of its shapes and forms―is a part of our daily lives. And the more we understand money, and the language of money, the more power we have over our future.

Words are the most powerful tools you can possess. Challenge yourself―and your family―to master the language of money. The lessons in this book are simple ones and, like those in Rich Dad Poor Dad, they have guided me over the years.

I learned that the path to wealth wasn’t about being obsessed with getting the high-paying job or striving for the next promotion and pay raise. I learned that my financial destiny was not dependent upon my boss, a pay raise, the company, the economy, or luck. I learned that I could be in control.

The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era.

Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. He can overwhelm a golf course with his transcendent talent and then, at the next tournament, look utterly lost. McIlroy is golf’s most eloquent ambassador and a trash-talking troll, sometimes in the same press conference. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. A dozen years ago, McIlroy asked Alan Shipnuck a question about the player he had modeled himself after, Tiger Woods: ‘What’s he really like?’ As McIlroy enters the last act of his highly eventful career, this book is a chance to redirect that old question and try to understand a man of deep complexity and contradictions.

McIlroy’s victory at the 2025 Masters packed such an emotional punch because he is golf’s most vulnerable superstar. Across two decades as a pro he has been the anti-Tiger, letting fans into his heart and into his world. When McIlroy collapsed onto the final green at Augusta National, having at last completed the career Grand Slam, golf fans cried along with him because so many saw themselves in his struggles.

But there is much that the public does not know about McIlroy. With reporting chops honed across thirty years on the golf beat, Shipnuck traces McIlroy’s evolution from a young phenom in Northern Ireland to a game-changing force on and off the golf course. Shipnuck has shadowed McIlroy throughout his career, and he brings to life all the heartbreaks and triumphs with thrilling immediacy and unparalleled access. Tabloid romance, bitter business disputes, divisive politicking – it is all part of this portrait of a man in full.

Shipnuck has long been known as the most fearless writer on the golf beat, and he goes deep into McIlroy’s personal history at a time when the spotlight on Rory has never been brighter.

The Sunday Times top 10 bestseller. Laugh along with Michael McIntyre as he lifts the curtain on his life in his revealing autobiography. Michael's first book ended with his big break at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance. Waking up the next morning in the tiny rented flat he shared with his wife Kitty and their one-year-old son, he was beyond excited about the new glamorous world of show business. Unfortunately, he was also clueless . . . In A Funny Life, Michael honestly and hilariously shares the highs and the lows of his rise to the top and desperate attempts to stay there. It's all here, from his disastrous panel show appearances to his hit TV shows, from mistakenly thinking he'd be a good chat show host and talent judge, to finding fame and fortune beyond his wildest dreams and becoming the biggest-selling comedian in the world. Along the way he opens his man drawer, narrowly avoids disaster when his trousers fall down in front of three policemen and learns the hard way why he should always listen to his wife. Michael has had a silly life, a stressful life, sometimes a moving and touching life, but always A Funny Life.

When the leader of North Korea is catastrophically injured, his incapacitation inadvertently triggers a "dead-man's switch," activating an army of sleeper agents in South Korea and precipitating a struggle for succession. Jack Ryan, Jr. is in Seoul to interview a potential addition to the Campus. But his benign trip takes a deadly turn when a wave of violence perpetrated by North Korean operatives grips South Korea's capital. A mysterious voice from North Korea offers Jack a way to stop the peninsula's rush to war, but her price may be more than he can afford to pay.

From two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead comes the thrilling and entertaining sequel to Harlem Shuffle.

1971 - Trash is piled on the streets, crime is at a record high, and the city is careening towards bankruptcy. A shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Ray Carney, furniture-store owner and ex fence, is trying to keep his head down, his business up, and his life on the straight and narrow. His only immediate need is Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May, so what harm could it do to hit up Munson, his old police contact and fixer extraordinaire? And suddenly, staying out of the game becomes more complicated - and deadly.

When one of Ray's tenants is badly injured in a fire, he enlists the enduringly violent Pepper to look into how it started, leading the duo to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent and the utterly corrupt.

In scalpel-sharp prose and with unnerving clarity and wit, Colson Whitehead writes about a city that runs on cronyism, threats, ego, ambition, incompetence and even, sometimes, pride. Crook Manifesto is a kaleidoscopic portrait of Harlem, and a searching portrait of how families work in the face of indifference, chaos and hostility.

The world is currently experiencing the lowest levels of democracy we have seen in over thirty years. Autocracy is on the rise, and while the cost of autocracy seems evident, it nevertheless remains an attractive option to many.

While leaders like Viktor Orbán disrupt democratic foundations from within, autocrats like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin do so from abroad, eroding democratic institutions and values and imperilling democracies that appear increasingly fragile. There are even those who, disillusioned with the current institutions in place, increasingly think authoritarianism can deliver them a better life than democracy has or could.

They're wrong. Autocracy is not the solution - better democracy is. But we have to make the case for it. We have to combat institutional rot by learning from one another, and, at times, from our rivals. And we have to get our own houses in order. Only then can we effectively stand up for democratic values around the world and defeat the dictators.

Weber Braai Bybel is ’n alles-in-een meestersklas oor elke aspek van die gewilde ketelbraai. Of jy nou met gas of houtskool kook, sal hierdie omvattende gids alles dek wat die ywerige eienaar van ’n ketelbraai behoort te weet.

Leer hoe om die perfekte steak of ribbetjies gaar te maak, om ’n lamsbeen oop te vlek, om hoenderboudjies en –vlerkies te braai sonder om dit te verbrand, en hoe om ’n kalkoen te berook. Daar is wenke en goeie idees wat die geheime van ’n suksesvolle braai sal onthul, terwyl hoofstukke oor marinades, geurmiddels en souse jou sal inspireer om jou eie kenmerkende smake saam te stel. Van sosati es, tjops en burgers tot meer ingewikkelde spitbraaie, geroosterde groente, pizza oor die kole en piesang-s’mores, is hierdie boek propvol resepte vir braai regdeur die jaar.

As braai deel is van jou leefstyl en jy jou buitemuurse kookvernuf wil verbeter, hoef jy nie verder as die Weber Braai Bybel te soek nie!

A visual and literary journey through Botswana’s untamed wilderness, showcasing the breathtaking beauty of the Okavango Delta, Kalahari and Tuli regions.

Through inspiring photography, immersive storytelling and a touch of natural history, Armand Grobler captures the raw emotion, intricate interactions and timeless spirit of Africa’s wildlife, blending artistic vision with firsthand experiences that will keep you yearning for more.

Armand invites his audience on an immersive adventure into the heart of Botswana’s true wilderness, a journey that will captivate, inspire and transport you deep into the enchanting soul of Africa.

After years teaching Romantic poetry at the University of Cape Town, David Lurie, middle-aged and twice divorced has an impulsive affair with a student. The affair sours; he is denounced and summoned before a committee of inquiry. Willing to admit his guilt, but refusing to yield to pressure to repent publicly, he resigns and retreats to daughter Lucy’s isolated smallholding.

For a time, his daughter’s influence and the natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. He and Lucy become victims of a savage and disturbing attack which brings into relief all the faultlines in their relationship.

Jan Braai issued a crowdsourcing call in early 2017, and the response from the South African public was overwhelming – from the hundreds of entries received, Jan Braai has curated, tested and included over 80 favourite South African braai recipes. Each entry tells the story of how the recipe came about, why it is special – and of course celebrates the diversity of shisanyama available in South Africa. Shisanyama literally means ‘to burn meat’ in Zulu, and refers to the act of coming together to cook meat on an open fire.

Discover Mzansi favourites such as Bacon Bombs, Baby Back Ribs, Breakfast Pizza, Chakalaka, Brandy & Coke Short Rib, Red Curried Black Mussels, Corn Bread, Mustard Ice-cream with T-Bone Steak, Thokoza Park Chuck, Watermelon Salad and Lamb Jaffles, with loads of other treasured recipes.

On the eve of his 80th birthday, Sir Ranulph Fiennes looks back at his remarkable life and adventures.

He's climbed Everest not long after a heart bypass operation, he's run seven marathons on seven continents, he's hauled loaded sledges across both polar ice caps and he's circumnavigated the earth...

Ran Fiennes truly is the world's greatest explorer, and this book celebrates his 80th birthday by showcasing his greatest achievements in his own words. Featuring interviews and tributes from his friends, colleagues and admirers, Around the World in 80 Years celebrates the incredible life of a legendary explorer.

From the Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of Ghost Wars, this is the inside story of America's long and ruinous relationship with Saddam Hussein.

The Achilles Trap masterfully untangles the people, ploys of power and geopolitics that led to America's disastrous war with Iraq and, for the first time, details America's fundamental miscalculations during its ruinous, decades-long relationship with Saddam Hussein.

Beginning with Saddam's rise to power in 1979 and the birth of Iraq's secret nuclear weapons programme, Steve Coll traces Saddam's motives through understanding his inner circle. He brings to life the diplomats, scientists, family members and generals who had no choice but to defer to their leader - a leader directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, as well as the torture or imprisonment of many more. This was a man whose reasoning was impossible to reduce to a simple explanation, and the CIA and successive presidential administrations failed to grasp critical nuances in his paranoia, resentments and inconsistencies - even when the stakes were incredibly high.

Using unpublished and underreported sources, interviews with surviving participants, and Saddam's own transcripts and audio files, The Achilles Trap is a remarkable picture of a dictator who was convinced the world was out to get him and acted accordingly. A work of great historical significance, it is the definitive account of how corruptions of power, lies of diplomacy and vanity - on both sides - led to avoidable errors of statecraft: ones that would enact immeasurable human suffering and forever change our political landscape.

Completely revised and updated featuring two brand new chapters, in preparation for the 2019 Ashes series From the William Hill Award-Winning Author of A Lot of Hard Yakka comes Cricket's Greatest Rivalry: A History of the Ashes in 12 Matches by Simon Hughes. A fast-paced, distinctive history of the iconic, 137-year-old cricketing rivalry between England and Australia published in the year of back-to-back Ashes contests. No other sport has a fixture like the Ashes. From the early 1880s the rivalry between these two great sporting nations has captured the public imagination and made sporting legends of its stars. Commentator, analyst and award-winning cricket historian Simon Hughes tells the story of the 12 seminal series that have become the stuff of sporting folklore. Cricket's Greatest Rivalry places you right at the heart of the action of each pivotal match, explaining the social context of the time, the atmosphere of the crowd and the background and temperaments of the players that battled in both baggy green and blue caps. The book also includes complete statistics and records of all the Ashes fixtures and results and much more!