One of the great historians of our age asks: how far can a single leader alter the course of history?

The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying array of instruments of control, persuasion and death. Whole societies were re-shaped and wars fought, often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms. At the summit of these societies were leaders whose personalities had somehow given them the ability to do whatever they wished.

Ian Kershaw's new book ...

The essential guide to mental health from the bestselling author of The School of Life

This is a book about getting unwell. About losing direction and hope. About imagining that we have let ourselves and everyone down.

But it is also a book about getting better. About regaining the thread, rediscovering meaning and finding a way back to connection and joy.

Here, Alain de Botton follows the arc of a mental health journey, from crisis to recuperation; the moments we realize we cannot cope; the ...

From the bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED, an inspiring book about one of humankind’s defining but overlooked impulses, and how we can super-charge its potential to build a hopeful future

“I flew through these pages with an increasing sense of joy. I hope that millions read this book.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

Let’s face it: Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the...

Improve all of your relationships, starting with your relationship with yourself

'I breathed in stories, as soon as I breathed in air. Sometimes I think I wasn't born, but I just came out of an ink blot.'

'Mantel's idiosyncratic and magisterial voice comes through on every page, carrying readers across an astonishing array of subject matter with ease. This is a treasure' Publishers Weekly

As well as her celebrated career as a novelist, Hilary Mantel long contributed to newspapers and journals, unspooling stories from her own life and illuminating the world as she found it...

A portrait of Europe as youve never before seen it, told through twenty extraordinary stories of the people who live and breathe it.

A stunning history of indigenous plant knowledge, from origin myths to medical applications

Covid-19, monkeypox, bird flu, SARS, HIV, AIDS, Ebola; we are living in the Age of Pandemics - one that we have created. As the climate crisis reaches a fever pitch and ecological destruction continues unabated, we are just beginning to reckon with the effects of environmental collapse on our global health.

Fevered Planet exposes how the way we farm, what we eat, the places we travel to and the scientific experiments we conduct create the perfect conditions for deadly new diseases to emerge a...

They called for a break, and Gambon magicked up a cigarette from out of his beard. He and I were often to be found outside the stage that housed the Astronomy Tower, having 'a breath of fresh air' as we referred to it. There would be painters and plasterers and chippies and sparks, and among them all would be me and Dumbledore having a crafty cigarette.

From Borrower to wizard, Tom Felton's childhood was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame saw him catapulted into the limelight aged ...

"I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent, sober, or blitzed, I was forever feeding off my surroundings, making copious notes as ammunition for future compositions. . . . The thing is good, bad or indifferent I never stopped writing, it was as addictive as any drug."

This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who co...