Biography
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This Was Funnier in China: An American Comedian’s Journey to Make China and the West Laugh With Each Other, Not at Each Other (Audio Download): Jesse Appell, Jesse Appell, Simon…
A heartfelt, one-of-a-kind memoir chronicling the hilarious, absurd, and thought-provoking experiences of an American pursuing comedy in China, learning first-hand how humor does and doesn’t translate—and whether laughter transcends borders.I marched onstage in a long robe beside my Shifu, under the curious eyes of a thousand Chinese comedy fans, armed only with a microphone and the goal to kill onstage or die trying.
Over the speakers, the host shouted: “Welcome to the stage: Master Ding Guangquan and his American disciple, Ai Jie Xi!”
When self-proclaimed American class clown Jesse Appell signed up to study Mandarin in high school, he never imagined that one day his name would be written into the traditional family tree of Chinese comedy. But when he first moves to Beijing to apprentice to the legendary Master Ding, a single show is all it takes for Jesse and his fellow comedy misfits to understand that book learning means bombing jokes.
To truly get the big laughs, he realizes he needs to know everything, like how long the fuse is on a thirty-cent firework, what card games coal miners play over Chinese New Year, and why comedy writers in Shanghai sometimes sleep in heart-shaped beds.
The result? Asking questions that might seem simple—if they weren’t being asked by an American caught in the breakneck whirlwind of a rising China.
“What do people here find funny?”
“How do you deal with hecklers?”
And, of course, the biggest one of all:
“Can I say that?”
From Jesse’s first forays into the traditional teahouse performance scene to being the only American cast member and writer on a Chinese version of Saturday Night Live, This Was Funnier in China captures an American’s wide-eyed, enthusiastic experiences trying to build a world where we can all laugh together.
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From £16.44 -
Ausländer: One family’s story of escape and exile
‘Profoundly moving’ – Andrew Marr
Sorting through papers and photographs after his mother’s death, Michael Moritz uncovers the history of close family members murdered by the Nazis. Exploring their journey takes him into a past of tragedy, grief and
the dark shadows cast on Jewish life by the Holocaust.Leaving Germany as child refugees, Moritz’s parents escape to London before settling in Cardiff, Wales, after the war. But the idea of being a stranger or outsider – Ausländer – haunts the family; running through Moritz’s childhood and resurfacing in his adopted home of California, where he has become one of Silicon Valley’s
most celebrated investors.‘As the shadows of Trump lengthened, the refrain I had heard from my parents rang ever more loudly … “If it did happen somewhere, it can happen here”.’
Disturbingly relevant to contemporary America, Ausländer shows what can happen to families when
ordinary people hand licence to despots.Read more
From £14.99 -
Henry VII (Penguin Monarchs): Treason and Trust
Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England’s rulers in a collectible format
Henry VII was one of England’s unlikeliest monarchs. An exile and outsider with barely a claim to the throne, his victory over Richard III at Bosworth Field seemed to many in 1485 only the latest in the sequence of violent convulsions among England’s nobility that would come to be known as the Wars of the Roses – with little to suggest that the obscure Henry would last any longer than his predecessor. To break the cycle of division, usurpation, deposition and murder, he had both to maintain a grip on power and to convince England that his rule was both rightful and effective. Here, Sean Cunningham explores how, in his ruthless and controlling kingship, Henry VII did so, in the process founding the Tudor dynasty.
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The Crystal Vase
‘Brilliant, witty and endlessly inventive’ Joe Dunthorne, author of Submarine
A road-trip across Europe and back in time: the debut graphic memoir from the prize-winning author of A Funeral In Freiburg.
When her imperious, chain-smoking German Jewish grandmother dies, it falls to Astrid and her father to drive a hire van to the Black Forest and collect the family heirlooms from Gisela’s nicotine-stained apartment.
In Freiburg, they are faced with several lifetimes’ worth of belongings to sort through – infested Persian rugs, mysterious photographs, a toy monkey that started a marriage – and a grasping landlord, impatient to renovate.
As the list of demands from uncles, sisters and cousins grows longer, the rabbit-holes of history and memory grow deeper. Long-buried secrets and tales of survival are revealed – from Nazi Germany to colonial Africa – and old feuds are reignited, as father and daughter struggle with the responsibility of preserving the family legacy. More importantly, will they be able to fit everything into a medium wheel-base transit van?
Funny, bittersweet and beautifully drawn, The Crystal Vase is an odyssey of family arguments, identity crises, and late discoveries.
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From £11.33The Crystal Vase
From £11.33 -
Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History
THE BRAND-NEW BOOK FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR LUCY WORSLEY: AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW
No one has lived and breathed the monarchy quite like Lucy Worsley. For over twenty years, she worked as Chief Curator in some of Britain’s most splendid palaces – and now she is ready to throw open the doors and welcome us in.
In QUEENS & KINGS, Lucy takes us on a journey through some of our most turbulent and significant moments in history. From the Council Chamber in which Henry VIII decided to break from the Pope to lunch with the late Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, from encounters with the Tower of London’s Ravenmaster to the depths of Queen Victoria’s wardrobe, Lucy shares how she grew to know the queens and kings, courtiers and servants who lived in these buildings before her. She traces their footsteps through the corridors and cloisters, the courtyards and kitchens and breathes new life into moments of great joy and consequence – as well as tales of intrigue which lurked in the shadows of regal splendour.
Packed with new stories told from unexplored places, this is a fresh history of the monarchy.
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From £7.59£9.99Queens and Kings: An Unusually Personal History
From £7.59£9.99 -
Rasputin: And the Downfall of the Romanovs
‘THE GOLD STANDARD OF NARRATIVE HISTORY’ – DAN SNOW
How could a barely literate peasant from Siberia determine the fate of the world? Undoubtedly, the so-called ‘mad monk’ Rasputin bewitched Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra. Yet their strange and scandalous relationship conceals a riddle , one that casts an intriguing light on the controversial ‘great man’ theory of history.
Rasputin was a devoted monarchist, not a revolutionary. He had no official position, no forces at his command. Nevertheless, he contributed more to the fall of the Romanov dynasty than any other individual. So demoralised was the Tsarist officer corps by stories of corruption, to say nothing of the rumours of his debauchery with the Empress – and even her daughters – that when the February Revolution broke out, not a sword was raised in defence of the regime.
Just as Rasputin cast a spell over the Romanovs, his legend has bewitched historians. More than a century later, we still fail to comprehend fully the collapse of the greatest autocracy on Earth. Was there any truth to the wild tales that brought down the empire? Or was his true legacy an unsettling lesson on the potency of myth?
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From £13.47Rasputin: And the Downfall of the Romanovs
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Start With Yourself
START WITH YOURSELF is a game-changing, no-BS guide for anyone seeking meaningful success on their own terms. It’s an essential framework that will give you the tools and mindset to unlock your full potential in life and business – straight from a woman who defied all the odds to become a serial entrepreneur, co-founder of culture-defining global businesses, a non-profit champion and host of “Aspire with Emma Grede” podcast. All while raising a family of four children.
Based on the factors of her early life – she’s the child of a working-class single mother who grew up in a rough neighborhood in East London and dropped out of high school – you’d never guess that Emma Grede would go on to become one of America’s richest self-made women.
This makes Grede singular and unique, but she’s convinced you can do it too: START WITH YOURSELF is a blueprint to her mindset and how she thinks about business and life, structured in easy takeaways, so you can immediately apply her philosophy to what you’re trying to build and create.
Among her most blazing insights, Grede identifies what she calls “Old Thoughts”: stale thinking, outdated ideas; set-in-stone rules ingrained into the culture about work life balance, the crassness of money and the unseemliness of ambition – which aren’t actually rules at all. They’re biases, Grede insists, system errors, and we must strike them from our minds in order to create a greater sense of control, even mastery, over our day-to-day and long-range goals.
Ultimately, this is a book for everyone tired of feeling like a bystander or passenger in their own life. Grede offers tangible and applicable-right-now solutions to create a mindset, an overall system of thought to manage emotions, clarify ideas, and illuminate the right next step – while always staying positive.
It’s about gathering yourself after failure. It’s about being accountable but also forgiving yourself. It’s about not expecting shortcuts while never being bashful about grabbing them when they appear. It’s about pushing hard for wins and never apologising for your dreams.
Above all, Grede offers a new vision for work and life that encourages readers everywhere to take responsibility for their own thinking to achieve personal and professional success at the highest levels.
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From £4.79Start With Yourself
From £4.79 -
Enough Said
20 September. Have a notion for a radio series – Awkward Conversations.
Enough Said is Alan Bennett’s fourth collection of diaries and prose. Covering the turbulent years 2016 to 2024, the diaries take us through lockdown, Brexit, the reign of Johnson, the rise of Trump and the death of the Queen. In between, we take the train with him back and forth to Yorkshire, celebrate the herons, the newts and the street fairs, and lament the scarcity of curlews, the closure of the last local bank and the deteriorating welfare state. There is the premiere of Allelujah!, the revived Talking Heads, the publication of two Sunday Times bestsellers and the filming of The Choral.
2024 is the year that Alan turns ninety; he reflects on old age and the importance of luck. He looks back to childhood and recalls an idyllic wartime month as an evacuee. A book for the bedside, this is poignant, funny, contemplative Alan Bennett, as he records life both personal and political in his most distinct of voices.
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From £1.57Enough Said
From £1.57 -
Attention Seeker: A Neurodivergent Comedian’s Guide to Thriving with ADHD
From neurodivergent comedian Darcy Michael, a hilarious memoir with a message about living with adult ADHD.
What if ADHD isn’t a disorder to overcome, but a superpower that makes you funnier, more creative, and more resilient? In Attention Seeker, comedian and card-carrying adult with ADHD Darcy Michael offers a fresh perspective on getting through the daily struggles that confront those on the neurofabulous end of the spectrum.
Darcy takes readers on a humorous-yet-heartfelt journey as he relates stories of growing up gay, getting married, and finding a career in comedy, all while navigating life with an attention-addled brain. From his early acting days on Spun Out to finding fame (and love) on the internet, Darcy shares all the dirty details (it’s NSFW, folks!) of how ADHD has shaped his identity, his relationships, and his work.
Peppered with asides from Darcy’s long-suffering husband Jer, advice for ADHDers both silly and serious, and words of wisdom from Yuma Dog herself, this laugh-out-loud guide is essential reading for anyone unpacking what ADHD means for them―or anyone who just wants to giggle.
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London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth
From the Baillie Gifford Prize-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing comes a riveting story of wealth, violence and deceit at the heart of a glittering city.
‘A phenomenal book that will stay in your soul long after the last page . . . it captures how easily a life can go wrong in the shadows of a city bankrolled by billionaires’ Emily Maitlis
‘More addictive than any boxset, this book will break your heart, instill you with cold rage, and make you see London in a completely new light’ Sathnam Sanghera
In 2019, a London teenager, Zac Brettler, fell to his death from a luxury apartment building on the banks of the Thames. On a desperate quest to understand how their son had died, his grieving parents made a terrible discovery: Zac had been leading a fantasy life, posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.
Patrick Radden Keefe follows Zac’s parents on a dark journey to find out what brought him to the balcony that night – and how a teenager’s life of make-believe drew him into the city’s terrifying underworld.
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Please Don’t Hurt Me: Kayla’s true story of horror and abuse – is it too late to keep her safe? (A Maggie Hartley Foster Carer Story)
A powerful, moving true story from Sunday Times bestseller, Maggie Hartley, Britain’s most-loved foster carer. Perfect for fans of Cathy Glass.
Thirteen-year-old Kayla goes to live with Maggie after her mum is sectioned due to an ongoing battle with her mental health. Despite everything she had to cope with at home, Kayla is doing well at school, has lots of friends and has started seeing her first boyfriend, Harry. But when their relationship suddenly ends, things take a sinister turn and Maggie has to step in.
Supporting Kayla through her heartbreak, Maggie begins to get suspicious. Wherever Kayla goes, Harry is always there. At first, it seems like a coincidence, but when sinister things start to happen to both Kayla and Maggie, she realises they are both in danger.
Is it too late to keep Kayla safe?
From Britain’s best-loved foster carer, a new and inspiring true story of secrets and hope.
*****
Readers LOVE Maggie Hartley:
‘Wow! I did not want this book to end. This story was unlike any other’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader review
‘Very gripping and powerful read… makes you see what can be going on behind closed doors’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazon reader reviewRead more
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My Brother’s Secret: Can three neglected brothers stay together, or will they be torn apart? (A Maggie Hartley Foster Carer Story)
‘They made me do it, it wasn’t my fault!’
When three brothers come to live with Maggie, she knows that it’s going to be challenging. They are all already struggling with rejection after their dad abandoned them, their mum having died several years before.
While four-year-old Billy is a delight, eleven-year-old Keegan is quiet and withdrawn, and teenager Cooper is a whirlwind of destruction. His behaviour at school is disruptive and Maggie struggles to get through to him, especially when he’s in danger of being expelled.
But when a shocking discovery turns everything on its head, Maggie begins to realise that what she believed to be true is completely wrong.
Danger is lurking, but is it too late for Maggie to help?
From Britain’s best-loved foster carer, a new and emotional true story of bonds, brothers and family.
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Lessons from a Default Parent: Surviving the Front Line of Family Life (Without Losing Your Sh*t) (Audio Download): Lou Beckett, Rob Beckett, Lou Beckett, DK RED: Amazon.co.uk:…
What nobody tells you about parenthood, from one of the ‘silent partners’ behind the Parenting Hell podcast.
School-run coordinator, party planner, clubs organiser, laundry sorter… and maybe even a ‘real’ job on top! Sound exhaustingly familiar?
From assumptions surrounding who is going to stay at home with the kids to the never-ending list of ‘school’ admin, being ‘the default parent’ rears its head in a plethora of ways.
This audiobook is for all the defaults out there – bored out of their eyeballs or so overwhelmed they could scream expletives into the wind for a solid hour – to know their invisible labour is seen and valued.
With heartfelt and hilarious advice, Lou Beckett provides much-needed comfort and community for the one who is depended on the most (and often feels appreciated the least), and maybe – just maybe – how we can begin to rebalance the parenting scales and muddle through a little better, together.
With exclusive audio content with her other half, Rob Beckett!
Lou Beckett is a mother of two, ex-secondary school teacher, and wife to Rob Beckett. The (mostly) silent participant of the incredibly successful Parenting Hell podcast (spoken about, not to, except for the occasional ‘right to reply’ episodes), she can speak about the similarly ‘silent’ issues: default parenting, emotional labour, and managing the mental load of parenthood. Her popular blog post, A Very Long Whinge, prompted many ‘me too’ moments from parents.
2025 Lou Beckett 2025 DK Audio
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Thirst: Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life (Audio Download): John Robins, Penguin Audio: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Brought to you by Penguin.
John Robins is a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, Taskmaster champion, and an award-winning broadcaster. He is also an alcoholic.
But what does that mean? What is an alcoholic?
In Thirst, John tells the story of his life through the lens of alcohol, the drinks that made him, and those that broke him. From his earliest drinking experiences – pretending to be drunk after a sip of champagne aged five, spraying aftershave into his mouth at the school play afterparty, and university nights spent downing red wine alone in his room – to his last drink in 2022 and the journey into sobriety that followed, John explores our relationship with alcohol through reflections on decades of his own drinking.
From hazy memory to sudden clarity he sheds light on subjects from mental health to friendship, from creativity to the lies we tell ourselves, and answers questions such as: are alcoholics born or made? How can we make sense of youthful missteps? And can Buddhism provide relief when dealing with hemorrhoids?
Filled with insights and epiphanies from the world of addiction and recovery, Thirst blends John’s trademark raw honesty and hilarious digressions with the collective wisdom of alcoholics and those around them to offer a compelling, powerful and morbidly funny narrative for anyone who has ever asked ‘why do we drink?’, ‘why do I drink?’ or ‘do I drink too much?’.
John Robins 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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From £19.25 -
The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang and Nvidia, the company shaping the future of AI
** WINNER OF THE FT SCHRODERS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 **
**A SUNDAY TIMES, ECONOMIST AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025**AI tech giant Nvidia is the world’s first $4-trillion company.
It has shaped life as we know it.
This is the inside story of the company that is inventing the future and its charismatic CEO Jensen Huang.
‘Gripping and brilliantly told’ MUSTAFA SULEYMAN, author of The Coming Wave
In June 2024, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of videogame equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process reinvented the computer.
It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, becoming one of the wealthiest men alive.
And it’s the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars and new movies, art and books, generated on command.
‘A page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world’ DAVID EPSTEIN
‘Brilliantly captures the riveting, unlikely story of Jensen Huang’s Nvidia’ RAY KURZWEIL
‘Thrilling … This is the rarest of books on tech – one that may just leave you feeling good about an entrepreneur founder and optimistic about the future’ SUNDAY TIMES
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From £11.35£12.99 -
Yamal Rules (Football Superstars)
Football Superstars brings you the story of Spain’s latest football wonderkid who made history as one of the youngest players to ever play for FC Barcelona. He zoomed through the club’s famous La Masia academy, developing his dazzling dribbles and fearless skills. At just 15, he made his debut for Barcelona’s first team! The winger loves taking on defenders with his quick feet and clever tricks. Fast, creative and cool under pressure, Lamine Yamal is a name the football world won’t forget!Read more
From £3.49Yamal Rules (Football Superstars)
From £3.49 -
Tito: And the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia 1St edition by West, Richard (1995) Hardcover
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English - Best Sellers Rank: 1,701 in European Historical Biographies
- 11,712 in Historical Biographies starting 1901
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Tito and the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
Few figures have dominated a nation’s destiny as much as Marshal Tito of former Yugoslavia. For nearly thirty years he held together mutually hostile religious groups in a deeply divided country, but his death in 1980 rekindled centuries-old hatreds and by 1992 Yugoslavia ceased to exist. In this revealing biography, Richard West questions the full impact of Tito’s reign of power and his implicit responsibility for the ensuing violent, bloody war in Bosnia. ‘Excellent … I recommend his book for those who already know about Yugoslavia and want food for thought about the future.’ David Owen, Sunday Times ‘Admirable … Carefully researched and extremely readable.’ Literary Review ‘A passionate book, in which West’s historical sense is interlaced with his own very intimate knowledge of Yugoslavia from the late 1940s on and of the poignancy of [subsequent] events.’ Fergus Pyle, Irish Times ‘Masterly’. Glasgow HeraldRead more
From £5.78Tito and the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
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The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The life of Reverend W Awdry
The stories of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends have delighted generations of children and adults, but what do we know of the man who created them?
A devoted pastor and family man, the Reverend W Awdry first started telling the stories in order to amuse his own children, with no idea that the characters would lead to a global phenomenon that now, seventy years after their first appearance, shows no signs of waning.
In this fascinating and warm biography, prolific author Brian Sibley brings to life one of the most eminent children’s writers of the twentieth century, tracing his story from his Edwardian childhood through his time at University and into World War 2. A convinced pacifist, Awdry was thrown out of one curacy and denied another, because of his beliefs. Never afraid to fight for what he thought was right, he argued with his publishers and his illustrators, demanding the best for his favourite creations – the trains and their friends.
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From £11.82£12.99The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The life of Reverend W Awdry
From £11.82£12.99 -
The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The life of Reverend W Awdry
The stories of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends have delighted generations of children and adults, but what do we know of the man who created them?
A devoted pastor and family man, the Reverend W Awdry first started telling the stories in order to amuse his own children, with no idea that the characters would lead to a global phenomenon that now, seventy years after their first appearance, shows no signs of waning.
In this fascinating and warm biography, prolific author Brian Sibley brings to life one of the most eminent children’s writers of the twentieth century, tracing his story from his Edwardian childhood through his time at University and into World War 2. A convinced pacifist, Awdry was thrown out of one curacy and denied another, because of his beliefs. Never afraid to fight for what he thought was right, he argued with his publishers and his illustrators, demanding the best for his favourite creations – the trains and their friends.
Read more
From £11.82£12.99The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The life of Reverend W Awdry
From £11.82£12.99
