Historia & samhälle

Sit down and enjoy the charming, uplifting and inspiring story of Captain Tom this Christmas*** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO 1 BESTSELLER ***'A wonderful life story with lessons for us all . . . beautifully written' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Gloriously enthralling' DAILY MAILFrom his humble Yorkshire childhood, via the battlefields of Burma and the peaks of the Himalayas, to becoming the NHS and the nation's hero during Lockdown, this is a journey for all of us.__________ Who is Captain Sir Tom Moore? You've seen him on the television walking the length of his garden. A frail elderly man, doing his bit at a time of crisis. But he wasn't always like this.Where did he come from? Where was he made? From a childhood in the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales, Tom Moore grew up in a loving family, which wasn't without its share of tragedy. It was a time of plenty and of want. When the storm clouds of the Second World War threatened, he raised his hand and, like many of his generation, joined up to fight.His war would take him from a country he had never left to a place which would steal his heart, India, and the Far East, to which he would return many years later to view the sight he had missed first time around: the distant peak of Everest. Captain Tom's story is our story.It is the story of our past hundred years here in Britain.It's a time which has seen so much change, yet when so much has stayed the same: the national spirit, the can-do attitude, the belief in doing your best for others. In this rich, happy life packed with incident you will encounter time and again the curiosity, courage and generosity that saw Captain Tom look around him during our current crisis and decide that something had to be done . . .'Engaging . . . His upbeat nature shines through and reminds us how much worse this year would have been without him' Evening Standard'A wonderful read. Captain Tom is a beacon of light, and hope, and positivity' Piers Morgan, Life Stories, ITV'A great book' Good Morning Britain'A beautiful book. We have so much to learn from Captain Sir Tom' Chris Evans, Virgin Radio'Fascinating. It's the life story of an ordinary man who is extraordinary' Michael Ball, BBC Radio 2

The Sunday Times Number One BestsellerJay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast 'On Purpose', distils the timeless wisdom he learned as a practising monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life.Over the past three years, Jay Shetty has become a favourite in the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide. One of his clips was the most watched video on Facebook last year, with over 360 million views. His social media following totals over 32 million, he has produced over 400 viral videos, which have amassed more than 5 billion views, and his podcast, 'On Purpose', is consistently ranked the world's #1 health-related podcast.In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk in the Vedic tradition to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Drawing on ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us.The lessons monks learn are profound but often abstract. Shetty transforms them into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve focus, improve relationships, identify our hidden abilities, increase self-discipline and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can - and should - think like a monk.

Our culture has tended to view dying as the end of our consciousness, the end of our existence - a dreaded prospect that for many people evokes fear and anxiety. But Dr Greyson shows how scientific revelations about the dying process can support an alternative theory.

A hugely visible and controversial part of the global game, their credo and aesthetic replicated in almost every league everywhere on earth, a global movement of extreme fandom and politics is also one of the largest youth movements in the world.

One of the leading scientists in the field explores the hidden connection between our guts and our health

Pairs of LEGO (R) minifigures open up their hearts to finish the timeless sentence: 'I knew we clicked when. . .' sharing heartwarming moments of romance, friendship, and love, in all its forms.

The first history of Italian football to be written in English, 'Calcio' is a mix of serious analysis and comic storytelling, with vivid descriptions of games, goals, dives, missed penalties, riots and scandals in the richest and toughest league in the world.'Calcio' tells the story of Italian football from its origins in the 1890's to the present day. It takes us through a history of great players and teams, of style, passion and success, but also of violence, cynicism, catenaccio tactics and corruption.We meet the personalities that have shaped this history - from the Italian heroes to the foreigners that failed, the model professionals to the mavericks. 'Calcio' evokes the triumphs (the 1982 World Cup victory) and the tragedies (Meroni, the 'Italian George Best', killed by his number one fan), set against a backdrop of paranoia and intrigue, in a country where the referee is seen as corrupt until proven otherwise.Calcio is no longer a game. It is sometimes difficult to define it as a sport. It is certainly big business and a fanatical civic religion. There is no moral code here. Winners are always right, losers always wrong. This history of Italian football reveals all about the richest and toughest league in the world.

Considering humankind from the perspective of the actions of which it is capable, this text addresses diminishing human agency and political freedom - the paradox that as human powers increase through technology and inquiry, we are less equipped to control the consequences of our actions.

San Pedro is Bolivia's most notorious prison. Small-time drug smuggler Thomas McFadden found himself on the inside. Marching Powder is the story of how he navigated this dark world of gangs, drugs and corruption to come out on top.Thomas found himself in a bizarre world, the prison reflecting all that is wrong with South American society. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells (the alternative is to sleep outside and die of exposure), prisoners' wives and children often live inside too, high quality cocaine is manufactured and sold from the prison.Thomas ended up making a living by giving backpackers tours of the prison - he became a fixture on the backpacking circuit and was named in the Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia. When he was told that for a bribe of $5000 his sentence could be overturned, it was the many backpackers who'd passed through who sent him the money. Written by lawyer Rusty Young, Marching Powder - sometimes shocking, sometimes funny - is a riveting story of survival.

Join Max La Manna on his journey to living more sustainably, celebrating the incredible power of aplant-based diet creating as minimal waste as possible. Max will show us how it easy it can be to think outside the box when it comes to a more conscious, simple lifestyle.

Perhaps the most important global trend of the last few years has been the rise - and transformation - of information warfare.

Do you have a female brain or a male brain?Drawing on her work as a professor of cognitive neuroimaging, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains.

The Sunday Times bestseller on race and class in the UK, from the MOBO award-winning musician Akala

'Her highly personal and reflective memoir ... is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world' Barack Obama THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 A TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

A magical and captivating coming of age novel set in medieval Russia - perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. One girl can make a difference... Moscow is in flames, leaving its people searching for answers - and someone to blame.

Discover this spellbinding debut from S.A. Chakraborty. `An extravagant feast of a book - spicy and bloody, dizzyingly magical, and still, somehow, utterly believable' Laini Taylor, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author

The fourth epic, captivating novel in the bestselling Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley.

Garry Kasparov gives his first public account of his landmark 1997 chess match with the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, and explains why, twenty years later, he's become convinced that artificial intelligence is good for humans.

In this classic text, Jane Jacobs set out to produce an attack on current city planning and rebuilding and to introduce new principles by which these should be governed.

Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart, from bestselling author Pema Choedroen. With insight and humour, she presents down-to-earth guidance on how to make friends with ourselves and develop genuine compassion towards others.

Few writers have had a more demonstrable impact on the development of the modern world than has Karl Marx (1818-1883). Born in Trier into a middle-class Jewish family in 1818, by the time of his death in London in 1883, Marx claimed a growing international reputation. Of central importance then and later was his book Das Kapital, or, as it is known to English readers, simply Capital. Volume One of Capital was published in Paris in 1867 and is included in this edition. This was the only volume published during Marx's lifetime and the only to have come directly from his pen. Volume Two, available as a separate Wordsworth eBook, was published in 1884, and was based on notes Marx left, but written by his friend and collaborator, Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). Readers from the nineteenth century to the present have been captivated by the unmistakable power and urgency of this classic of world literature. Marx's critique of the capitalist system is rife with big themes: his theory of 'surplus value', his discussion of the exploitation of the working class, and his forecast of class conflict on a grand scale. Marx wrote with purpose. As he famously put it, 'Philosophers have previously tried to explain the world, our task is to change it.'

We can spend a lot of time looking for happiness when the world right around us is full of wonder. But our hearts and minds are so full of noise that we can t always hear the call of life and love. To hear that call and respond to it, we need silence. In his beautiful new book, Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh explains how mindfulness is the practice that stops the noise inside. With gentle anecdotes, simple Buddhist wisdom and practical exercises, he shows us how to live mindfully so that all the internal chatter ceases and we are left with the eloquent sound of silence. Now, at last, we can answer the call of the beauty around us. Through silence, Thich Nhat Hanh reveals, we are free to hear, to see - and just be.

'This is a very worthwhile book. It can change individual lives and the life of our society.' The Dalai LamaLucidly and beautifully written, Peace is Every Step contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh's experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is - in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking in a park - and shows how deep meditative presence is available now. Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace. Nhat Hanh also shows how to be aware of relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty and also its pollution and injustices. The deceptively simple practices of Peace is Every Step encourage the reader to work for peace in the world as he or she continues to work on sustaining inner peace by turning the 'mindness' into the mindful.

'A must-read for anyone interested in food and the future' Yotam OttolenghiBased on ten years of surveying farming communities around the world, top New York chef Dan Barber's The Third Plate offers a radical new way of thinking about food that will heal the land and taste incredible. The 'first plate' was a classic meal centred on a large cut of meat with few vegetables. On the 'second plate', championed by the farm-to-table movement, meat is free-range and vegetables are locally sourced. It's better-tasting, and better for the planet, but the second plate's architecture is identical to that of the first. It, too, disrupts ecological balances, causing soil depletion and nutrient loss - it just isn't a sustainable way to farm or eat. The 'third plate' offers a solution: an integrated system of vegetable, cereal and livestock production that is fully supported - in fact, dictated - by what we choose to cook for dinner. The Third Plate is where good farming and good food intersect.