Rooms of Their Own travels around the world examining the unique spaces, habits and rituals in which famous writers created their most notable works. The perennial question asked of all authors is, 'How do you write?'. What do they require of their room or desk? Do they have favourite pens, paper or typewriters? And have they found the perfect daily routine to channel their creativity? Crossing centuries, continents and genres, Alex Johnson has pooled 50 of the best writers and transports you to the heart of their writing rooms - from attics and studies to billiard rooms and bathtubs. Discover the ins and outs of how each great writer penned their famous texts, and the routines and habits they perfected. Meet authors who rely on silence and seclusion and those who need people, music and whisky. Meet novelists who travel half-way across the world to a luxury writing retreat, and others who just need an empty shed at the bottom of the garden. Some are particular about pencils, inks, paper and typewriters, and some will scribble on anything - including the furniture. But whether they write in the library or in cars, under trees, private islands, hotel rooms or towers - each of these stories confirms that there is no 'best way' to write. From James Baldwin, writing in the small hours of the morning in his Paris apartment, to DH Lawrence writing at the foot of a towering Ponderosa pine tree, to the Bronte sisters managing in a crowded co-working space, this book takes us into the lives of some of history's greatest ever writers, with each writing space illustrated in evocative watercolour by James Oses. In looking at the working lives of our favourite authors, bibliophiles will be transported to other worlds, aspiring writers will find inspiration and literature fans will gain deeper insight into their most-loved authors.

Secrets of the Royal Palaces takes readers on a tour around the British Isles visiting the most impressive lodges, cottages, palaces and castles owned (or once owned) by the royal family – each with a dramatic narrative to match. Spanning the last c.500 years, Kate Williams explores 30 locations that have been occupied by the monarchy, from Osborne House, designed by Prince Albert in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo; to Hatfield House, where young Elizabeth held court before finding out she would become queen; to Glamis Castle, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In Secrets of the Royal Palaces, Kate introduces each palace before uncovering the secrets held within the four walls, how the interiors were informed by political ties, and the salacious escapades and misbehaviours that the royals would have preferred kept under wraps. Illustrated throughout by James Oses, this is the perfect book for fans of British history and the royals.