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Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Essays, journals, letters & other prose works > From 1900 > Reportage & collected journalism
The gripping, jaw-dropping rise and fall of Sir Philip Green, the self-styled 'king of the high street'. Sir Philip Green is no stranger to scandal. He was once hailed one of Britain's best businessmen and had prime ministers and supermodels on speed dial. But his reputation came crashing down when Oliver Shah uncovered the truth behind his doomed BHS deal. The collapse of British Home Stores left 11,000 employees without jobs and put 20,000 people's pensions at risk. Green eventually paid £363m towards the company's £571m pension deficit, but it wasn't long before he found himself in trouble again. In October 2018, Green was named as the business figure at the heart of Britain's #MeToo scandal. With accusations of sexual and racial harassment flooding the press, and with Topshop's pension deficit rising to almost double the figure that toppled BHS, can the retail tycoon survive yet another scandal? In Damaged Goods, Oliver Shah, the award-winning journalist who first broke the BHS story, shines a light on Green's past and his uncertain future; this is the extraordinary account of the retail magnate Sir Philip Green's fall from grace.
The one and only Zadie Smith, prize-winning, bestselling author of Swing Time and White Teeth, is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. No subject is too fringe or too mainstream for Zadie Smith's insatiable curiosity. From social media to the environment, from Jay-Z to Karl Ove Knausgaard, she has endless enthusiasmand the boundless wit, insight and wisdom to match. In Feel Free, pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment, dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. This electrifying new collection showcases its author as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her credentials as an essential voice of her generation.
Investigative journalist Jacques Pauw exposes the darkest secret at the heart of Jacob Zuma’s compromised government: a cancerous cabal that eliminates the president’s enemies and purges the law-enforcement agencies of good men and women. As Zuma fights for his political life following the 2017 Gupta emails leak, this cabal – the president’s keepers – ensures that after years of ruinous rule, he remains in power and out of prison. But is Zuma the puppet master, or their puppet? Journey with Pauw as he explores the shadow mafia state. From KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape to the corridors of power in Pretoria and Johannesburg – and even to clandestine meetings in Russia. It’s a trail of lies and spies, cronies, cash and kingmakers as Pauw prises open the web of deceit that surrounds the fourth president of the democratic era. ‘An amazing piece of work, stuffed with anecdote and evidence. It will light fires all through the state and the ANC.’ - Peter Bruce ‘This is dynamite. Dynamite that will shake the foundations of the halls of power.’ - Max du Preez
Aan die einde van 1896, enkele jare voor die Anglo-Boereoorlog, het die 26-jarige wewenaar en Transvaalse koerantman Eugène Marais na Londen vertrek om in die regte te gaan studeer. Hier het hy oënskynlik tot in die doodsnikke van die oorlog gewoon. Oor hierdie lewensjare van een van Afrikaans se beroemdste letterkundige figure is baie min bekend. Leon Rousseau sê in sy baanbreker-lewensverhaal oor Marais, Die Groot Verlange (1974): “Tensy ontdekkings gemaak word wat ’n mens jou op die oomblik kwalik kan voorstel, sal dit altyd onmoontlik bly om ’n samehangende relaas van Marais se vyf jaar in Europa te gee.” Hierdie ontdekkings en nog baie meer is nou gemaak. In Donker Stroom word onthul presies waarmee Marais hom kort voor, tydens en ná die bitter stryd tussen Boer en Brit besig gehou het, ’n verstommende verhaal wat ’n mens jou skaars kan indink. Was Marais die onkreukbare patriot en joernalis wat sy biograwe van hom gemaak het, of is hierdie Afrikaner-ikoon ook deur die donker stroom van die tydsgees meegesleur?
Die tweede versameling van prof. Fransjohan Pretorius se rubrieke oor die geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika van die vroegste tye tot taamlik onlangs wat in die dagblad Beeld verskyn het. Maak kennis met nog helde en hendsoppers, die skurke en sterre van die land se verlede in kort en boeiende rubrieke wat die leser se geheue sal verfris oor al die grootste momente in ons geskiedenis asook 'n paar minder bekende maar ewe interessante gebeure.
Duduza. Bopha. Imbiza. Phapha. Asixoliseni. Amapopeye . . . What is the power of a single word? Six days a week, advertising creative Melusi Tshabalala posts a Zulu word on his Everyday Zulu Facebook page and tells a story about it. His off-beat sense of humour, razor-sharp social observations and frank political commentary not only teaches his followers isiZulu but also offer insight into the world Melusi inhabits as a 21st century Zulu man. Over the past few months he has built up a big and a loyal following that include radio host Jenny Crwys-Williams and Afrikaans author Marita van der Vyfer. He pokes fun at our differences and makes us laugh at ourselves and each other. Melusi asks critical questions of everyone, from Aunty Helen, Dudu-Zille to Silili (Cyril Ramaphosa) and even Woolworths (why are their aircons always set on ‘jou moer’?). His fans love him for his honesty and commitment to pointing out subtle and overt forms of prejudice and racism. Melusi’s Everyday Zulu holds up a mirror that shows South African society in all its flaws and its sheer humanity. Most importantly, he shows the power of words and that there’s umzulu in all of us!
Prof. Fransjohan Pretorius se rubrieke oor die geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika van voor Jan van Riebeeck se landing tot die jongste tye wat in die dagblad Beeld verskyn het. Maak kennis met die helde en hendsoppers, die skurke en sterre van die land se verlede in kort en boeiende rubrieke wat die leser se geheue sal verfris oor al die grootste momente in ons geskiedenis asook 'n paar minder bekende maar ewe interessante gebeure.
'Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it's all true.' Time In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York's Chinatown, managed a multimillion-dollar business smuggling people. In The Snakehead, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the inner workings of Cheng Chui Ping aka Sister Ping's complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of undocumented immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them. Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America.
Not a Novel is the best of Jenny Erpenbeck's non-fiction. Moving and insightful, the pieces range from personal essays and literary criticism to reflections on Germany's history, interrogating life and politics, language and freedom, hope and despair. By turns both luminous and explosive, this collection shows one of the most acclaimed European writers reckoning with her country's divided past, and responding to the world today with intelligence and humanity.
Isobel Wylie Hutchison was many things: a botanist, traveller, poet and artist. She travelled solo throughout the arctic collecting plant samples, wrote and published extensive volumes of essays and poetry, and was - in short - one of the most remarkable Scottish figures of her time. However, since her death in 1982 her legacy has been forgotten compared with her male counterparts. Now Isobel can speak for herself again. While better known for her solo journeys across the Arctic, these essays detail Isobel's journeys across Scotland, including visits to Skye, John O' Groats and the various literary shrines across the country. Written with characteristic wit and a keen interest in both science and myth and folklore, the essays serve as important cultural markers not just of Scotland as it was and has developed, but of a woman's experience of travelling alone and a testament to the importance of cultural connection, exploration and communication.
As European empires crumbled in the 20th century, the power structures that had dominated the world for centuries were up for renegotiation. Yet instead of a rebirth for democracy, what emerged was a silent coup – namely, the unstoppable rise of global corporate power. Exposing the origins of this epic power grab as well as its present-day consequences, Silent Coup is the result of two investigative journalists' reports from 30 countries around the world. It provides an explosive guide to the rise of a corporate empire that now dictates how resources are allocated, how territories are governed, and how justice is defined.
Hierdie bundel is saamgestel uit hoogtepunte van die laaste 15 jaar se "Laaste sê"-rubrieke deur Koos van der Merwe in Sarie. Koos weef meesterlik met woorde en het die vermoë om diep betekenis uit alledaagse situasies te haal. Koos vertel van mense, en hulle soeke na hoop, maar ook ons almal se verlange na die Een wat ons nooit sal laat gaan nie.
Investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes a conspiracy of fraud and betrayal behind attacks on a mainstay of medicine: vaccinations. 2021 IPPY Book Award Winner (Gold) in Health/Medicine/Nutrition, Recipient of the Eric Hoffer Award for Nonfiction in the Culture Category. From San Francisco to Shanghai, from Vancouver to Venice, controversy over vaccines is erupting around the globe. Fear is spreading. Banished diseases have returned. And a militant "anti-vax" movement has surfaced to campaign against children's shots. But why? In The Doctor Who Fooled the World, award-winning investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes the truth behind the crisis. Writing with the page-turning tension of a detective story, he unmasks the players and unearths the facts. Where it began. Who was responsible. How they pulled it off. Who paid. At the heart of this dark narrative is the rise of the so-called "father of the anti-vaccine movement": a British-born doctor, Andrew Wakefield. Banned from medicine, thanks to Deer's discoveries, he fled to the United States to pursue his ambitions, and now claims to be winning a "war." In an epic investigation spread across fifteen years, Deer battles medical secrecy and insider cover-ups, smear campaigns and gagging lawsuits, to uncover rigged research and moneymaking schemes, the heartbreaking plight of families struggling with disability, and the scientific scandal of our time.
No man is an island, wrote John Donne. BBC Home Editor Mark Easton argues the opposite: that we are all islands, and it is upon the contradictory shoreline where isolation meets connectedness, where 'us' meets 'them', that we find out who we truly are. Suggesting that a continental bias has blinded us, Easton chronicles a sweep of 250 million years of island history: from Pangaea (the supercontinent mother of all islands) to the first intrepid islanders pointing their canoes over the horizon, from exploration to occupation, exploitation to liberation, a hopeful journey to paradise and a chastening reminder of our planet's fragility. But that is only half of this mesmerising book: aided by the muse he names Pangaea, Easton also interweaves reflections on what he calls 'the psychological islands that form the great archipelago of humankind'. Taking readers on an enchanting adventure, he illustrates how understanding islands and island syndrome might help humanity get closer to the truth about itself. Brave, intelligent and haunting, Islands is a deep dive into geography, myth, literature, politics and philosophy that reveals nothing less than a map of the human heart.
A powerful investigation into the world of extremism and redemption, from TIME journalist and author of Cast Away. "Far Out is an excellent mix of investigative journalism, entertaining storytelling and intelligent analysis. Its individual stories are like pieces of a puzzle that McDonald-Gibson assembles to offer deeply human insights into the drivers of radicalisation and extremism" - Julia Eber, author of Going Dark What makes an extremist? From obscure cults to revolutionary movements, people have always been seduced by fringe beliefs. And in today's deeply divided world, more people than ever are drawn to polarising ideologies. All too often we simply condemn those whose positions offend us, instead of trying to understand what draws people to the far edges of society -- and what can pull them back again. In Far Out, we meet eight people from across religious, ideological, and national divides who found themselves drawn to radical beliefs, including a young man who became the face of white supremacy in Trump-era America, a Norwegian woman sucked into a revolutionary conspiracy in the 1980s, a schoolboy who left Britain to fight in Syria, and an Australian from the far-left Antifa movement. By immersing us in their stories, McDonald-Gibson challenges our ideas of who or what an extremist is, and shows us not only what we can do to prevent extremism in the future, but how we can start healing the rifts in our world today.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. Three francs will feed you till tomorrow, and you cannot think further than that... As a young man struggling to find his voice as a writer, George Orwell left the comfort of home to live in the impoverished working districts of Paris and London. He would document both the chaos and boredom of destitution, the eccentric cast of characters he encountered, and the near-constant pains of hunger and discomfort. Exposing the grim reality of a life marred by poverty, Down and Out in Paris and London, part memoir, part social commentary, would become George Orwell's first published work.
For years the legendary John Seigenthaler hosted A Word on Words on Nashville's public television station, WNPT. During the show's four-decade run (1972 to 2013), he interviewed some of the most interesting and most impor tant writers of our time. These in-depth exchanges revealed much about the writers who appeared on his show and gave a glimpse into their creative pro cesses. Seigenthaler was a deeply engaged reader and a generous interviewer, a true craftsman. Frye Gaillard and Pat Toomay have collected and transcribed some of the iconic interactions from the show. Featuring interviews with: Arna Bontemps * Marshall Chapman * Pat Conroy * Rodney Crowell * John Egerton * Jesse Hill Ford * Charles Fountain * William Price Fox * Kinky Friedman * Frye Gaillard * Nikki Giovanni * Doris Kearns Goodwin * David Halberstam * Waylon Jennings * John Lewis * David Maraniss * William Marshall * Jon Meacham * Ann Patchett * Alice Randall * Dori Sanders * John Seigenthaler Sr. * Marty Stuart * Pat Toomay
Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the infamous Diddly Squat Farm THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out _________ Welcome to Clarkson's farm. It's always had a nice ring to it. Jeremy just never thought that one day his actual job would be 'a farmer'. And, sadly, it doesn't mean he's any good at it. From buying the wrong tractor (Lamborghini, since you ask . . .) to formation combine harvesting, getting tied-up in knots of red tape to chasing viciously athletic cows, our hero soon learns that enthusiasm alone might not be enough. Jeremy may never succeed in becoming master of his land, but, as he's discovering, the fun lies in the trying . . . _________ 'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard Praise for Clarkson's Farm: 'The best thing Clarkson's done . . . it pains me to say this' GUARDIAN 'Shockingly hopeful' INDEPENDENT 'Even the most committed Clarkson haters will find him likeable here' TELEGRAPH 'Quite lovely' THE TIMES
The Fall of Boris Johnson is the explosive inside account of how a prime minister lost his hold on power. A New Statesman, The Times, Daily Mail and FT Book of the Year 'Delicious detail, break-neck pace' - Emily Maitlis 'Entertaining and illuminating' - Tim Shipman Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally getting Brexit done. But within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace, leaving the country in crisis. Sebastian Payne, Whitehall Editor for the Financial Times, tells the essential behind-the-scenes story, charting the series of scandals that felled Johnson: from the blocked suspension of Owen Paterson to partygate, and, then the final death blow: the Chris Pincher allegations. This is the full narrative of the betrayals, rivalries and resignations that resulted in the dramatic Conservative coup and set in motion events that saw the party sink to catastrophic new lows. With unparalleled access to those who were in the room when key decisions were made, Payne tells of the miscalculations and mistakes that led to Boris's downfall. This is a gripping and timely look at how power is gained, wielded and lost in Britain today. 'Genuinely page-turning' - Andrew Marr 'Brilliant' - Fraser Nelson
Every time you try to say 'Africa is...' the words crumble and break. From every generalisation you must exclude at least five countries. And just as you think you've nailed down a certainty, you find the opposite is also true. Africa is full of surprises. For the past three decades, Richard Dowden has travelled this vast and varied continent, listening, learning, and constantly re-evaluating all he thinks he knows. Country by country, he has sought out the local and the personal, the incidents, actions, and characters to tell a story of modern sub-Saharan Africa - an area affected by poverty, disease and war, but also a place of breathtaking beauty, generosity and possibility. The result is a landmark book, compelling, illuminating, and always surprising. Updated for 2018, Africa remains one of the most comprehensive, intelligent and responsive works on the continent ever written.
`I must find my own complicated junkie to have violent sex with. In 1994, nothing seemed like a better idea, save being able to write about it later.' Michelle Tea is our exuberant, witty guide to the hard times and wild creativity of queer life in America. Along the way she reclaims SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas as an absurdist, remembers the lives and deaths of the lesbian motorbike gang HAGS, and listens to activists at a trans protest camp. This kaleidoscope of love and adventure also makes room for a defence of pigeons and a tale of teenage goths hustling for tips at an ice creamery in a `grimy, busted city called Chelsea'. Unsparing but unwaveringly kind, Michelle Tea reveals herself and others in unexpected and heartbreaking ways. Against Memoir is the winner of the 2019 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Best known as writer of fiction and memoir, this is the first time Tea's journalism has been collected. Delivered with her signature candour and dark humour, Against Memoir solidifies her place as one of the leading queer writers of our time.
As heard on the HOW TO FAIL podcast with Elizabeth Day 'I was utterly floored by the emotional depth of About A Son - a book that reaches so deeply into the human experience that to read it is to be forever changed. It is an unflinching examination of grief, a painstaking deconstruction of injustice and a dispatch from the frontiers of the human heart' Elizabeth Day On the evening of Halloween in 2015, Morgan Hehir was walking with friends close to Nuneaton town centre when they were viciously attacked by a group of strangers. Morgan was stabbed, and died hours later in hospital. He was twenty years old and loved making music with his band, going to the football with his mates, having a laugh; a talented graffiti artist who dreamed of moving away and building a life for himself by the sea. From the moment he heard the news, Morgan's father Colin Hehir began to keep an extraordinary diary. It became a record not only of the immediate aftermath of his son's murder, but also a chronicle of his family's evolving grief, the trial of Morgan's killers, and his personal fight to unravel the lies, mistakes and cover-ups that led to a young man with a history of violence being free to take Morgan's life that night. Inspired by this diary, About a Son is a unique and deeply moving exploration of love and loss and a groundbreaking work of creative non-fiction. Part true crime, part memoir, it tells the story of a shocking murder, the emotional repercussions, and the failures that enabled it to take place. It shows how grief affects and changes us, and asks what justice means if the truth is not heard. It asks what can be learned, and where we go from here. |
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