Icon News & Events

Win a copy of Family: Life, Death and Football by Michael Calvin

Posted on 2012/01/06 in General, tagged as

Family: Life, Death and Football by Michael Calvin, published yesterday by our sports imprint Corinthian, is a unflinching report on year in the life with a ‘real’ football club: Millwall FC, as they fight to win promotion and a taste of glory. Life’s a Pitch have copies of Family to give away to five lucky winners. If you’d like to win a copy, head over to their website and enter your email address. The competition deadline is 2 February 2012.

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Four new Practical Guides published!

Posted on 2012/01/06 in General, tagged as

We’ve added four new titles to the popular Practical Guides series: Introducing Mindfulness, Introducing Happiness, Introducing Positive Psychology and Introducing Ethics for Everyday Life, published yesterday. The Practical Guides are free of jargon but full of straightforward advice, case studies and step-by-step instructions. Other Practical Guide titles include: Introducing Child Psychology Introducing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Intr… Read more »

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How The Etymologicon became a Christmas hit – Channel 4 News

Posted on 2012/01/03 in General, tagged as

Mark Forsyth was the author everyone was talking about before Christmas – the Etymologicon author saw his book climb the dizzy heights of Amazon’s charts and sell in droves in booksellers of all descriptions across the country. And such a success the book was – indeed still is – that is was covered by Channel 4 News on Christmas Eve. Here’s the clip: Happy new year from everyone at Icon – stay tuned for news of what’s coming up from us in 2012…

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Martin Bell, Jon Snow … and Idi Amin

Posted on 2011/12/22 in General, tagged as

Earlier this autumn Icon published Martin Bell’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, a collection of ‘light and dark verse’, much of which is autobiographical and therefore especially interesting to read. One the highlights is a poem entitled ‘Idi Amin’: Idi Amin President Idi Amin of Uganda married his fifth wife, Sarah, at the OAU Summit in Kampala in 1975. In fifty years I never played the hero And never was one either, more’s the pity; In derring-do my… Read more »

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All you need to know about the meaning of Christmas

Posted on 2011/12/22 in General, tagged as

Mark Forsyth, author of Amazon.co.uk’s number 1 bestseller [stop bragging – ed] The Etymologicon, writes today in the Scotsman about the origins of festive words. Mark reveals that turkeys have nothing directly to do with Turkey, Advent starts in late November, Xmas is the proper spelling of Christmas and much more… Today’s episode of his book on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week looks at the link between Jack Robinson, Thomas Derrick and Dr Guill… Read more »

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The Etymologicon beats Steve Jobs to be No.1 on Amazon

Posted on 2011/12/21 in General, tagged as

We don’t usually shout about this sort of thing, but The Etymologicon is Amazon.co.uk’s bestselling book as of 3pm today (yes, that’s it, just above Steve Jobs biography).   If you haven’t heard of it yet, it’s an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, and explaining precisely what the Roll… Read more »

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Icon Staff Books of the Year Part 4

Posted on 2011/12/21 in General, tagged as

Introducing Slavoj Zizek Chosen by Andrew Furlow, Sales and Marketing Director ‘Introducing – Icon’s graphic guide series – were the books I most loved about Icon before I joined and the latest new title, on the Slovenian maverick philosopher Slavoj Zizek is a really brilliant example of what makes the series so unique. Zizek – who attracts audiences that most popstars would be proud of – can be oblique and confusing. But author Christopher Kul-W… Read more »

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Icon Staff Books of the Year Part 3

Posted on 2011/12/20 in General, tagged as

The Epigenetics Revolution Chosen by Simon Flynn, Managing Director ‘For anyone interested in how our genes affect our lives, and how our lives affect our genes, The Epigenetics Revolution is an absolute must. This is popular science as it should be; a book that bridges brilliantly the world of cutting-edge science and its implications for all living things, especially the human race. Discover where science currently is in understanding how two g… Read more »

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Icon Staff Books of the Year Part 2

Posted on 2011/12/19 in General, tagged as

Written in Stone Chosen by Harry Scoble, Editor, as his Book of the Year ‘If I had to pick just one reason why I like this book it would be this: whales with legs. Yes, really. But the strange, semi-aquatic ancestors of modern whales are just one of the evolutionary delights packed in to a book that is not only the story of life on this planet but also a chronicle of the palaeontologists who painstakingly dug that story up and dusted it off with… Read more »

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Family: Life, Death and Football by Michael Calvin – video

Posted on 2011/12/19 in General, tagged as

Published in January by our Corinthan imprint is Michael Calvin’s brilliant, gritty despatch from a year on the frontline with a proper football club, Millwall FC. It’s a year far, far away from the glitz and the money of the Premier League – his book should be essential reading for anyone for whom the beautiful game isn’t all about Drogba, Terry, Rooney and that whole sorry cavalcade. There’s more about the book here but don’t take our word for… Read more »

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