ICON JAN-JUL 2022 CATALOGUE ()
Archives: Titles
Ten Days in Physics that Shook the World
Ten Days in Physics that Shook the World (eBook)
How Physicists Transformed Everyday Life
Brian Clegg
The breakthroughs that have had the most transformative practical impacts, from thermodynamics to the Internet.
Physics informs our understanding of how the world works – but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to ten separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives.
It is a unique selection. Focusing on practical impact means there is no room for Stephen Hawking’s work on black holes, or the discovery of the Higgs boson. Instead we have the relatively little-known Rudolf Clausius (thermodynamics) and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (superconductivity), while Albert Einstein is included not for his theories of relativity but for the short paper that gave us E=mc2 (nuclear fission). Later chapters feature transistors, LEDs and the Internet.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
A Pretoria Boy
A Pretoria Boy (eBook)
The Story of South Africa’s ‘Public Enemy Number One’
Peter Hain
'A stalwart anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigner.' Doreen (Baroness) Lawrence
'From fighting for Nelson Mandela's freedom to exposing his betrayal under Jacob Zuma, a 50 year story of constant campaigning.' Sir Trevor McDonald, broadcaster
The powerful and timely story of Peter Hain's political life fighting South African apartheid and modern-day corruption.
Peter Hain has had a dramatic 50-year political career, in Britain and his native South Africa. This is the story of that extraordinary journey, from Pretoria to the House of Lords.
Hain vividly describes his anti-apartheid parents' arrest and harassment in the early 1960s, the hanging of a close white family friend, and enforced London exile in 1966. After organising militant anti-Springbok demonstrations he became 'Public Enemy Number One' in the South African media. Narrowly escaping jail for disrupting all-white South African sports tours, he was framed for bank robbery and nearly assassinated by a bomb.
He used British parliamentary privilege to expose looting and money laundering in President Jacob Zuma's administration, informed by his government 'deep throat', and likely influenced Zuma's resignation. Hain ends by exhorting South Africa to reincarnate Nelson Mandela's vision and integrity for the future.
Praise for A Pretoria Boy:
'Peter's gripping story and his passionate activism resonates with me over our common (African) childhood and exile in Britain.' Natasha Kaplinsky, broadcaster
'A tour de force over an extraordinary half century of campaigning for justice.' Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister and United Nations Development Chief
'Talk about courage and chutzpah – this young 'un helped topple apartheid!' Ronnie Kasrils, former ANC underground chief and Minister
Peter Hain was brought up in South Africa. Forced into exile, he became a British anti-apartheid leader. Labour MP for Neath 1991-2015, he served in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments for twelve years, seven of those in the Cabinet, and joined the House of Lords in 2015.
A stalwart anti-racist and anti-apartheid campaigner.
Peter Hain's engrossing, thrilleresque autobiography is a master class in how to pursue and achieve justice and freedom. Impossible to put down.
A tour de force over an extraordinary half century of campaigning for justice.
Peter's gripping story and his passionate activism resonates with me over our common (African) childhood and exile in Britain
From fighting for Nelson Mandela's freedom to exposing his betrayal under Jacob Zuma, a 50 year story of constant campaigning.
Talk about courage and chutzpah – this young 'un helped topple apartheid!
A terrific read – a novel perspective with depth, empathy and moral objective in pursuit of the Common Good.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Elements
The Elements (eBook)
A Widowhood
Kat Lister
'Powerful, humane and deeply affecting, Lister's wise and truthful writing makes this essential reading for anyone touched, and utterly confused, by grief.' Sali Hughes
'The must-read memoir' Red
What does it mean to become a widow at 35?
In her mid-thirties Kat Lister lost her husband to brain cancer. After five years of being a wife and one of being a carer, in love and in and out of hospitals, she became a widow.
In the year following his death Kat seeks refuge in stories of grief and widowhood, but struggles to find a language that can make sense of her experience and the physicality of bereavement. Instead, she turns to the elements – fire, water, earth, air – on her quest to come to terms with her grief, to inhabit her body again, and to find out who she is now.
The Elements is a story of love, pain, hope and, ultimately, transformation.
Kat Lister is a writer and editor based in London. Beginning her career as a music journalist at the NME, she has gone on to write widely for publications including VICE, the Guardian, Marie Claire, Vogue and The Feminist Times, where she was appointed Contributing Editor. In 2017, she joined the editorial team at The Pool, becoming a freelance features and news editor until its demise in 2019. Since her husband's death in 2018, she has focused on investigating her experience of grief, writing widely circulated essays and features for the Sunday Times Magazine, Sunday Times Style and The Pool.
'Powerful, humane and deeply affecting, Lister's wise and truthful writing makes this essential reading for anyone touched, and utterly confused, by grief.'
'The must-read memoir. A moving, bruising and meditative memoir and love story … Beautifully written, The Elements, will strike a chord with anyone who's been touched by grief.'
'A staggering book. Kat writes with such hypnotic lyricism.'
'It is not just one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, exploring grief through the elements of the cosmos, it is the only book I've read that has made me feel less alone. A must read even if it's not your own experience.'
'A stunning and immersive examination of grief; of making a new future; the body as a site of "wrongness" and "re-entry" after bereavement … it veers from melancholy to rage and joy.'
'Strikingly honest'
'It knocked me for six: the honesty in it, the frankness, the detail, the research, the feeling, and such stunning writing … it's not just about losing someone. It's about rebuilding.'
'The writing will make you stop to catch your breath, it's hopeful in ways you won't expect at all, and the smallest moments will break your heart.'
'It is lyrical. It is wise. It is physical in its longing … Destined to become a classic. The Elements is a gift; not so much a map but a compass, to a landscape we long not to visit but many of us do.'
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Space Business
The Space Business (eBook)
From Hotels in Orbit to Mining the Moon – How Private Enterprise is Transforming Space
Andrew May
Dreams, schemes and opportunity as space opens for tourism and commerce.
Twentieth century space exploration may have belonged to state-funded giants such as NASA, but there is a parallel history which has set the template for the future.
Even before Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, private companies were exploiting space via communication satellites – a sector that is seeing exponential growth in the internet age. In human spaceflight, too, commercialisation is making itself felt. Billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have long trumpeted plans to make space travel a possibility for ordinary people and those ideas are inching ever closer to reality. At the same time, other companies plan to mine the Moon for helium-3, or asteroids for precious metals.
Science writer Andrew May takes an entertaining, in-depth look at the triumphs and heroic failures of our quixotic quest to commercialise the final frontier.
We enjoyed this book, and it is a thought provoking read as we move into an exciting new phase of space activity.
Easy to read, detailed and extremely well-researched – and fascinating to boot.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Eight Improbable Possibilities
Eight Improbable Possibilities (eBook)
The Mystery of the Moon, and Other Implausible Scientific Truths
John Gribbin
A mind-warping excursion into the wildly improbable truths of science.
Echoing Sherlock Holmes’ famous dictum, John Gribbin tells us: ‘Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, is certainly possible, in the light of present scientific knowledge.’ With that in mind, in his sequel to the hugely popular Six Impossible Things and Seven Pillars of Science, Gribbin turns his attention to some of the mind-bendingly improbable truths of science. For example:
We know that the Universe had a beginning, and when it was – and also that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up. We can detect ripples in space that are one ten-thousandth the width of a proton, made by colliding black holes billions of light years from Earth.
And, most importantly from our perspective, all complex life on Earth today is descended from a single cell – but without the stabilising influence of the Moon, life forms like us could never have evolved.
John Gribbin’s numerous bestselling books include In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat and Six Impossible Things, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize. He has been described as ‘one of the finest and most prolific writers of popular science around’ by the Spectator.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Rewilding – The Illustrated Edition
Rewilding – The Illustrated Edition (eBook)
The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery
Cain Blythe Paul Jepson
'A dazzling illustrated edition of a 'hugely useful and fascinating resumé of rewilding' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
'Compelling … succinct and objective' Financial Times
Rewilding reveals the ways in which ecologists are restoring the lost interactions between animals, plants, and natural disturbances that are the essence of thriving ecosystems. It looks into a past in which industrialization and globalization have downgraded our grasslands; at present projects restoring plants and animals to their natural, untamed state; and into the future, with ten predictions for a rewilded planet.
This illustrated edition combines beautiful natural history images with infographic flow-charts depicting the 'trophic cascades' of biodiverse ecosystems, to explore a brave new world repopulated with wild horses and cattle, beavers, rhinos, and wolves.
'A masterly job, explaining the science behind rewilding in an accessible, honest and compelling way. It deserves to be widely read and become a book of great influence.' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding.
Paul Jepson was until recently a director of Oxford University's MSc course in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, and is a regular contributor to TV and radio.
Cain Blythe specialises in habitat restoration, nature recovery and the use of technology in conservation.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
How to Feed a Dictator
How to Feed a Dictator (eBook)
Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks
Witold Szabłowski Antonia Lloyd-Jones
A devastatingly original look at the world's worst dictators, through the eyes of their personal chefs, by award-winning Polish author Witold Szablowski.
What is it like to cook for the most dangerous men in the world?
In this darkly funny and fascinating book, Witold Szablowski travels across four continents in search of the personal chefs of five dictators. From the savannahs of Kenya to the faded glamour of Havana, and the bombed-out streets of Baghdad, Szablowski finds the men and women who cooked fish soup for Saddam Hussein, roasted goat for Idi Amin and chopped papaya salad for Pol Pot. He reveals the strangeness of a job where a single culinary mistake could be fatal, but a well-seasoned dish could change your life. And in doing so, he lifts the veil on what life is like at the very heart of power.
Mixing bold journalism with bolder allegories, Mr Szablowski teaches us with witty persistence that we must desire freedom rather than simply expect it
This book tells all that we know about the power of good suppers, whoever they are fed to
Riveting, and utterly convinces in its thesis that "20th-century history as seen from the kitchen" is worth our attention
How To Feed A Dictator offers a beguiling mix of the dark and the comic, combining fancy cuisine with torture and genocide. Its tone is reminiscent of Armando Iannucci's recent movie The Death Of Stalin, in which the absurd and the monstrous, the funny and the horrifying are so entwined as to be indivisible
A fascinating collection of essays – part oral history, part reportage – by Polish journalist Witold Szablowski… For some of these chefs, it was hard to see their employers as anything but ordinary human beings, however flawed, until it was too late. Maybe you can't see monstrosity in its full monstrousness when you're making breakfast for it every day
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Illustrated Etymologicon
The Illustrated Etymologicon (eBook)
A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
Mark Forsyth
A NEW, BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER, PUBLISHED ON ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY.
'Witty and erudite … stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless.' Nick Duerden, Independent.
'Particularly good … Forsyth takes words and draws us into their, and our, murky history.' William Leith, Evening Standard.
The Etymologicon is an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language.
What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces?
Mark Forsyth's riotous celebration of the idiosyncratic and sometimes absurd connections between words is a classic of its kind: a mine of fascinating information and a must-read for word-lovers everywhere.
'Highly recommended' Spectator
Mark Forsyth is a writer, journalist and blogger. His book The Etymologicon was a Sunday Times Number One Bestseller and his TED Talk 'What's a snollygoster?' has had more than half a million views. He is also the author of The Horologicon and The Elements of Eloquence, and wrote a specially commissioned essay The Unknown Unknown for Independent Booksellers Week. He lives in London with his dictionaries, and blogs at blog.inkyfool.com.
[Forsyth] riff[s] very entertainingly on the hidden connections of words (from brackets and codpieces, to cappuccinos and monkeys).
I'm hooked on Forsyth's book – Crikey, but this is addictive.
Kudos should go to Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon – Clearly a man who knows his onions, Mr Forsyth must have worked 19 to the dozen, spotting red herrings and unravelling inkhorn terms, to bestow this boon – a work of the first water, to coin a phrase.
This year's must-have stocking filler – the angel on the top of the tree, the satsuma in the sock, the threepenny bit in the plum pudding, the essential addition to the library in the smallest room is Mark Forsyth's The Etymologicon.
The stocking filler of the season.
Witty and erudite … stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless.
This witty book liberates etymology from the dusty pages of the dictionary and brings it alive.
'The Etymologicon' contains fascinating facts
From Nazis and film buffs to heckling and humble pie, the obscure origins of commonly-used words and phrases are explained.
A collection of verbal curiosities … fascinating.
A perfect bit of stocking filler for the bookish member of the family, or just a cracking all-year-round read. Highly recommended.
Light, entertaining and fascinating … This is really one of those books where you have to fight hard to resist telling anyone in earshot little snippets every five minutes.
An absolute gem … a pleasure to read.
I want this book to be never-ending … a real winner.
It makes for a very good read … a perfect Christmas gift for anyone who might be interested in where our words come from.
I adored this book. I read and read and then I read some more until it was all gone. It was just my cup of tea, well presented, engaging, witty, wonderful. Full of usable facts and great anecdotes, it's one of the only 'history' books I've read this year that was anything other than dull as dishwater. Full marks.
Mark Forsyth, who blogs as 'The Inky Fool,' is an extreme and hugely entertaining practitioner.
The subtitle … 'A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language' … is a misdescription. It is not a stroll; it is a plunge on a toboggan where the only way to stop is to fall off.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Pandemic Baby
Pandemic Baby (eBook)
Becoming a Parent in Lockdown
Pia Bramley
‘A thing to treasure and keep close at hand. I would prescribe it to the lost and the lonely, the busy and the overburdened, the heart-broken and the happy’ – Emily Haworth-Booth
A moving, funny exploration of life as the parent of a lockdown baby, by illustrator Pia Bramley.
Since March 2020, babies have been born into a world of masks, hand washing and social distancing. They met their grandparents on video calls. Their parents held them up to windows and took them for long walks in the rain.
Pia Bramley’s illustrations capture the intimacy of the small, strange world of the pandemic baby. She draws on her own experience as a new parent, telling the story of a child's first year against the backdrop of the pandemic: the quiet streets of the first lockdown, the relative freedom of summer, the long nights of autumn and winter and, finally, new hope as spring arrives and life begins to open up again. Moving, funny and deeply honest, this is a book for every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend who waited to hold their pandemic baby.
Pia Bramley studied at the Royal Drawing School and the University of Brighton. Pandemic Baby is her first book.
A thing to treasure and keep close at hand. I would prescribe it to the lost and the lonely, the busy and the overburdened, the heart-broken and the happy
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Babel Message
The Babel Message (eBook)
A Love Letter to Language
Keith Kahn-Harris
'Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.' Simon Garfield
A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point.
Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial – the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs:
WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3 years. Small parts might be swallowed or inhaled.
On a tiny sheet of paper, this message is translated into dozens of languages – the world boiled down to a multilingual essence. Inspired by this, the author asks: what makes 'a language'? With the help of the international community of language geeks, he shows us what the message looks like in Ancient Sumerian, Zulu, Cornish, Klingon – and many more. Along the way he considers why Hungarian writing looks angry, how to make up your own language, and the meaning of the heavy metal umlaut.
Overturning the Babel myth, he argues that the messy diversity of language shouldn't be a source of conflict, but of collective wonder. This is a book about hope, a love letter to language.
'This is a wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.' – Ann Morgan, author of Reading the World: Confessions of a Literary Explorer
DR KEITH KAHN-HARRIS is a sociologist and author, based in London. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and a Senior Lecturer at Leo Baeck College. He also makes time for pursuing other interests outside the community, including extreme metal music and the warning messages in Kinder Surprise Eggs.
The author of nine books, his most recent publications are Strange Hate: Antisemitism, Racism and the Limits of Diversity, The Babel Message: A Love Letter to Language (Icon) and (co-authored with Rob Stothard) What Does A Jew Look Like? Find out more at kahn-harris.org.
Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.
This is a wonderful book. A treasure trove of mind-expanding insights into language and humanity encased in a deliciously quirky, quixotic quest. I loved it. Warning: this will keep you reading.
I would warn everyone to read and keep this beautifully written book … Keith explores the world of language – what it is, what it means and how we use it. Keith's precisely written prose celebrates the wonderful imprecision of language in all its glory.
The Babel Message is a gloriously inflected record of an obsession … [It] manages to teach us a great deal about language – its protean energy and its slipperiness – but also makes us properly laugh (a rare Venn diagram, believe me). … Kahn-Harris's fan-boy passion for the gorgeous surface of written language and his own skill in deploying it make the book a complete delight.
In this unlikely story of a quixotic translation, Keith Kahn-Harris illuminates how language-learning can hone our minds, strengthen our empathy, and lead us all to justice. Read this book – and immerse yourself in the raw pleasure of linguistic diversity.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Leicester City Story
The Leicester City Story (eBook)
Five Years On
Rob Tanner
**A REVISED AND SIGNIFICANTLY UPDATED EDITION OF ROB TANNER'S 5000-1- NOW COVERING THE FIVE YEARS SINCE LEICESTER CITY'S INCREDIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE WIN.**
On 2 May 2016, English football was spectacularly altered as 5000-1 longshots Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions. Their victory broke a long-standing monopoly at the top of the table, and propelled the club into the Champions League for the first time.
In The Leicester City Story: Five Years On, acclaimed Athletic Leicester City correspondent Rob Tanner relives City's title win, their summer of celebration and the highs and lows of the next five years that led to their first FA Cup win in 2021.
Detailing the dramatic changes in the club's management since 2016, and reflecting on the great legacy of the club's much-loved owner, Khun Vichai, Tanner tells the inside story of a remarkable team still on the rise.
Rob Tanner is The Athletic's Leicester City correspondent. He was the Leicester Mercury's chief football writer from 2009 until 2019. He lives in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Let’s Get Physical
Let’s Get Physical (eBook)
How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World
Danielle Friedman
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2022
'Well-researched and readable' – Financial Times
'An absorbing, pacy read' – New Statesman
'Canny and informative' – The New Yorker
The untold history of women's exercise culture, from jogging and Jazzercise to Jane Fonda.
Author of The Cut's viral article shared thousands of times unearthing the little-known origins of barre workouts, Danielle Friedman explores the history of women's exercise, and how physical strength has been converted into other forms of power.
Only in the 60s, thanks to a few forward-thinking fitness pioneers, did women begin to move en masse. In doing so, they were pursuing not only physical strength, but personal autonomy.
Exploring barre, jogging, aerobics, weight training and yoga, Danielle Friedman tells the story of how, with the rise of late-20th century feminism, women discovered the joy of physical competence – and how, going forward, we can work to transform fitness from a privilege into a right.
Danielle Friedman is an award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine's The Cut, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Health, and other publications. She has worked as a senior editor at NBC News Digital and The Daily Beast, and she began her career as a nonfiction book editor at the Penguin imprints Hudson Street Press and Plume. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.
A well-researched and readable account of how female pioneers broke the taboos that stopped most women exercising until at least the 1960s. Friedman, a journalist, emphasises that fitness has remained accessible primarily to white women with time and resources. Now some pioneers are trying to break those exclusionary barriers too.
An absorbing, pacy read – and her enthusiasm for exercise is contagious.
Astute and entertaining … With an emphasis on barrier breakers, business dynamos, and exceptional athletes, Friedman explores how physical training can be a means of personal liberation … This zippy history is bursting with energy.
Canny and informative.
There are few areas of American culture as complicated-and as understudied-as women's exercise. Which is why I feel like I've been waiting for a book like Let's Get Physical for decades: something that takes the history and importance of fitness seriously, but is also incisive and curious and readable and fun.
Friedman's study of modern fitness culture is as illuminating as it is enthralling. She reveals the wild characters, political agendas, and social movements that changed not only our exercise behaviors but our understanding of exercise itself. Behind every workout there is a story, and it's usually a good one.
A fascinating and complicated history, masterfully shared. Let's Get Physical made me grateful to the women of the past and hopeful about the future of fitness. My favorite read of the year!
It's easy to critique the class, race, and gender stereotypes perpetuated by many fitness industry advertising campaigns, but Friedman reminds us how revolutionary it was, not so long ago, to encourage women to do strenuous physical exercise. An engaging account of the complicated, unconventional individuals who pioneered today's fitness culture for women.
Don't read this book because it's 'good for you.' Read it because it's an eye-opening cultural history of the fitness pioneers who put the 'move' into the feminist movement. Let's Get Physical reminded me of why feeling strong feels so good.
How did we get from the notion that exercise was unladylike, even dangerous for women, to the 1980s fitness craze and beyond that has totally transformed women's lives? In this lively book, Danielle Friedman uses fitness pioneers and icons, from Bonnie Prudden to Jane Fonda to Lilias Folan, to trace how regular exercise became central to millions of women's pursuit of vitality, confidence, and happiness. Full of fun and inspiring stories, Let's Get Physical reminds us that this is not just a history of sports bras or leg warmers, but also of how feminism itself enabled and drew from women finding empowerment in the strength of their own bodies.
Danielle Friedman's wildly engaging Let's Get Physical answered the questions I didn't even know I had about the origins of women's fitness (Jane Fonda sold how many copies of her Workout?!), and left me with a huge debt of gratitude to the trailblazing women who had the foresight to do things like sneak into the Boston Marathon and invent the sports bra so that we could swan into the gym without a second thought. A fascinating, meticulously researched read that left me with a much greater appreciation for the burn of barre class.
With lively writing and compelling storytelling-tales of bamboo swords, spandex, and a sexy gerbil included-Danielle Friedman teases out the complicated relationship between exercise culture and feminism in this engaging exploration of modern fitness history. You'll want to hit the barre afterward.
It is all too easy to look at the history of women's fitness as an unconnected timeline of fads and celebrities. In Let's Get Physical, Danielle Friedman weaves together the cultural history of a movement that is nothing less than the story of the modern American woman-and she does it with fascinating and fun storytelling that will appeal to anyone who has ever wondered why thighs need to be mastered or buns should be made of steel.
Let's Get Physical is a delicious deep dive into fitness culture that features an eclectic cast of women who deviously ran men-only marathons in the 1960s, turned Jazzercise, aerobics, and barre into mainstream mega fads, and who power-lifted notions of femininity until they included muscles and strength. Author Danielle Friedman tracks exercise culture into the 21st century, debunking myths and delighting readers with diamond-sharp prose, wry humor and rigorous research.
Fact-packed but bouncy … Most enjoyable is when Friedman shines light on less hallowed figures, like Judi Sheppard Missett, the relentlessly upbeat founder of Jazzercise, whose classes "changed the rhythm of women's days"; and Bonnie Prudden, "the lady in the leotite" and a descendant of Davy Crockett…[Friedman's] book is very much "pro" exercise, but for the right reasons: not slimming down but mood management, community, spirituality in the corporal.
Friedman's engaging stories of the women who created and transformed the fitness industry illustrate an evolution built upon strong female shoulders.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Beyond Bitcoin
Beyond Bitcoin (eBook)
Decentralised Finance and the End of Banks
Simon Dingle Steven Boykey Sidley
After over a decade of Bitcoin, which has now moved beyond lore and hype into an increasingly robust star in the firmament of global assets, a new and more important question has arisen. What happens beyond Bitcoin? The answer is decentralised finance – 'DeFi'.
Tech and finance experts Steven Boykey Sidley and Simon Dingle argue that DeFi – which enables all manner of financial transactions to take place directly, person to person, without the involvement of financial institutions – will redesign the cogs and wheels in the engines of trust, and make the remarkable rise of Bitcoin look quaint by comparison. It will disrupt and displace fine and respectable companies, if not entire industries.
Sidley and Dingle explain how DeFi works, introduce the organisations and individuals that comprise the new industry, and identify the likely winners and losers in the coming revolution.
STEVEN BOYKEY SIDLEY has worked extensively in technology and finance and is an award-winning novelist, playwright and columnist. An American citizen, he currently lives in Johannesburg with his wife and their two children.
SIMON DINGLE is an author, broadcaster and entrepreneur with extensive experience in cryptocurrency, including being on the founding teams of several fintech firms, including cryptocurrency exchange Luno and open banking provider Curve.
A rich, clear and articulate explanation of a transformative technology
The gripping story of the great financial disruption and its portents, told with wit and insight
'Looking backward to move forward, this book is a masterclass on the evolution and expansion of the crypto world and its possible futures. Essential for those wanting to move beyond the headlines.'
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Ronaldo
Ronaldo (eBook)
Luca Caioli
Strength, speed and dedication: Cristiano Ronaldo is known throughout the world as a colossus of the modern game.
But did you know that he underwent laser heart surgery aged just fifteen to enable him to continue playing the game he loved?
Or that Nacional, his first professional club, donated twenty balls and two sets of kits to his youth team in order to sign him?
Or how he came to be known as abelhinha -'little bee'- a name he would later pass on to his Yorkshire Terrier?
Find out all this and more in Luca Caioli's biography of the global superstar, featuring exclusive insights from those who know him best and even the man himself.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Wired Up Wrong
Wired Up Wrong (eBook)
Rachael Smith
A new graphic memoir, from the award-winning author of Quarantine Comix.
Hoping to better understand her own brain, award-winning comic-creator Rachael Smith set about documenting her experiences and struggles with anxiety and depression through comic strips.
The resulting book, Wired Up Wrong, is both educating and entertaining, holding a mirror up to all the flattering and unflattering aspects of mental health.
Featuring Rufus the cat, Barky, a giant black dog who lives inside her head, and two tiny, imaginary game-show hosts, Comedy Women in Print-shortlisted Rachael Smith's work is at times light-hearted, others heart-breaking, but always brave and honest.
Pure Genius
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Dear Bill Bryson
Dear Bill Bryson (eBook)
Footnotes from a Small Island
Ben Aitken
FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE ACCLAIMED THE GRAN TOUR AND THE MARMALADE DIARIES
An irreverent homage to the '95 travel classic.
'It would be wrong to view this book as just a highly accomplished homage to a personal hero. Aitken's politics, as much as his humour, are firmly in the spotlight, and Dear Bill Bryson achieves more than its title (possibly even its author) intended.' Manchester Review
In 2013, travel writer Ben Aitken decided to follow in the footsteps of his hero – literally – and started a journey around the UK, tracing the trip taken by Bill Bryson in his classic tribute to the British Isles, Notes from a Small Island.
Staying at the same hotels, ordering the same food, and even spending the same amount of time in the bath, Aitken's homage – updated and with a new preface for 2022 – is filled with wit, insight and humour.
It would be wrong to view this book as just a highly accomplished homage to a personal hero. Aitken's politics, as much as his humour, are firmly in the spotlight, and Dear Bill Bryson achieves more than its title intended.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Messi
Messi (eBook)
Luca Caioli
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RONALDO AND NEYMAR.
Prolific, cool-headed and unerringly consistent, Lionel Messi is one of the most revered footballers in history.
But did you know that his transfer to Barcelona was first agreed on a paper napkin?
Or that an x-ray of his hand was to thank for identifying his growth hormone deficiency?
And do you know why he refused to collect his first ever Champions League winner's medal?
Find out all this and more in Luca Caioli's classic portrait of a footballing icon, featuring exclusive interviews with those who know him best and even Messi himself.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid (eBook)
How the Natural World is Adapting to Climate Change
Thor Hanson
'An original, wide-ranging and carefully researched book … contains important lessons for humanity.' Mark Cocker, The Spectator
A fascinating insight into climate change biology around the globe, as well as in our own backyards.
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid is the first major book by a biologist to focus on the fascinating story of how the natural world is adjusting, adapting, and sometimes measurably evolving in response to climate change. Lyrical and thought-provoking, this book broadens the climate focus from humans to the wider lattice of life.
Bestselling nature writer Thor Hanson – author of Buzz (a Radio 4 'Book of the Week') – shows us how Caribbean lizards have grown larger toe pads to grip trees more tightly during frequent hurricanes; and how the 'plasticity' of squid has allowed them to change their body size and breeding habits to cope with altered sea temperatures.
Plants and animals have a great deal to teach us about the nature of what comes next, because for many of them, and also for many of us, that world is already here.
'Nature-lovers … will marvel at the incredible ingenuity of creatures across the globe.'
'An original, wide-ranging and carefully researched book . . . [Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid] contains important lessons for humanity.'
'This compelling read will spark the interest of everyone who cares about what is happening to the natural world.'
A masterful storyteller, Hanson interweaves his own formative experiences into the narrative … The book's forward-looking approach seems intended to encourage readers' curiosity about climate change, with the notion that, once suitably informed, they will feel compelled to take action.
Hanson is an affable guide and storyteller, with a knack for analogy, a sense of humor and the natural curiosity of a scientist.
[Hanson is] an ideal guide to a topic that might otherwise send readers down a well of despair. … The challenge feels overwhelming, and as a single concerned citizen, much feels out of my hands. Yet Hanson's words did inspire me to take a cue from the rest of the species on this warming world to do what I can.
Close study of how animals are living with climate change reveals that humans are at the center of more things than we realize … [Hanson makes] glaringly clear that we are not in command of what we have set in motion. The biodiversity and versatility on display in the animal kingdom of which we are part have lots to teach us. To remain at home in the world, we too will need to change.
An original, wide-ranging and carefully researched book … contains important lessons for humanity.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Black Joke
The Black Joke (eBook)
The True Story of One British Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade
A. E. Rooks
**Longlisted for the Mountbatten Maritime Media Awards 2022**
A groundbreaking history of the Black Joke, the most famous member of the British Royal Navy's anti-slavery squadron, and the long fight to end the transatlantic slave trade.
Initially a slaving vessel itself, the Black Joke was captured in 1827 and repurposed by the Royal Navy to catch its former compatriots. Over the next five years, the vessel liberated more enslaved people than any other in Britain's West Africa Squadron.
As Britain attempted to snuff out the transatlantic slave trade by way of treaty and negotiation, enforcing these policies fell to ships such as the Black Joke as they battled slavers, weather disasters, and interpersonal drama among captains and crew that reverberated across oceans.
The Black Joke is a crucial and deeply compelling work of history, both as a reckoning with slavery and abolition and as a lesson about the power of political will – or the lack thereof.
