Böcker utgivna av Swift Press

In 2019, the English Premier League introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), a way of using technology to review and correct the on-field referee's decisions. It's been a disaster: players hate it, managers hate it, pundits line up to pour scorn on its decisions, and fans have coined the chant 'it's not football any more' to describe its effect on the game. Almost every other sport in the world has managed to integrate technology into its decision-making process. Why is football failing so badly? Is it a special case, or have the game's authorities got something wrong? And what does the controversy about VAR tell us about the nature of authority, rationality and technology in the 21st century?

It isn't quite 'Don't buy any green bananas'. But it's close to 'Don't start any long books'. In his mid-40s, Simon Boas was diagnosed with incurable cancer - it had been caught too late, and spread around his body. But he was determined to die as he had learned to live - optimistically, thinking the best of people, and prioritising what really matters in life. In A Beginner's Guide to Dying Simon considers and collates the things that have given him such a great sense of peace and contentment, and why dying at 46 really isn't so bad. And for that reason it's also only partly about 'dying'. It is mostly a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life, and why giving death a place can help all of us make even more of it.

Originally written as annual stories sent to friends instead of Christmas cards, this is a collection in the grand tradition of ghost stories - to be read by the fire in the depths of winter.

Ireland, under both the Irish Free State and after full independence, has now had just over 100 years of autonomous national political leadership. This book, based on Iain Dale's blockbuster podcast, tells the story of Irish politics over the past century by examining the lives and actions of each Irish Taoiseach, from W.T. Cosgrave to Micheál Martin. 15 leading Irish historians, journalists and politicians write essays on each of these figures, showing in the process how Ireland developed from a poor ex-colony to a successful, modern country at the heart of the European Union. In the process, the contributors examine the importance of topics such as the power of the Roman Catholic Church, changing social mores, Ireland's relationship with the UK, and its economic development. This is a must read for anyone interested in Irish politics at a time of potential far-reaching change for the republic.

Family life has changed rapidly over the past 60 years. David Goodhart asks whether this transformation has been an unalloyed good. Increased opportunities for women, greater freedom and autonomy, and a more equal domestic sphere have brought considerable benefits. However, argues Goodhart, there have been losses as well as gains: liberal trends have produced negative consequences in family breakdown, children's mental health, and the undervaluing of care. Falling birthrates also present major demographic and social challenges. The costs fall disproportionately on the working poor and left-behind 'somewheres', and, for many, are starting to outweigh the benefits. We need a new policy settlement that supports gender equality while also recognising the importance of stable families and community life. No-one interested in the biggest social and political challenges facing us can afford to miss this game-changing contribution from one of our most incisive and iconoclastic commentators.

The ex-politician and bestselling author Alan Johnson, who was a Labour cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, takes on the life and premierships of Harold Wilson.

Soon to be a major movie starring Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor'Exquisitely crafted, deeply imagined, exhilaratingly diverse, The History of Sound places Ben Shattuck firmly among the very finest of our storytellers' - Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of HorseIn twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families. The haunting title story recalls the journey of two men who meet around a piano in a smoky, dim bar, only to spend a summer walking the Maine woods collecting folk songs in the shadow of the First World War, forever marked by the odyssey. Decades later, in another story, a woman discovers the wax cylinders recorded that fateful summer while cleaning out her new house in Maine. Shattuck's inventive, exquisite stories transport readers from 1700s Nantucket to the contemporary woods of New Hampshire and beyond-into landscapes both enduring and unmistakably modern. Memories, artefacts, paintings, and journals resurface in surprising and poignant ways among evocative beaches, forests, and orchards, revealing the secrets, misunderstandings, and love that linger across centuries. Written with breathtaking humanity and humor, The History of Sound is a love letter to New England, a radiant conversation between past and present, and a moving meditation on the abiding search for home.

Radical Thinking is a book about being more curious. It's about noticing the window through which you look. The window that frames your view of the world.It is, of course, a restricted view. Whatever you think - about any subject at all - it's based on what you notice and how you interpret what you see and hear. It's based on limited information, which is presented to you in a particular way, and on your personal preferences.Beyond this, there's a bigger picture. To see it, you need to be more curious. You need to wonder about what you're missing. You need to look at things from different angles. You need to realise the limits of your view.Radical Thinking is a look at the things that shape how we think about the world around us, and how, by noticing these things, we can make more sense of everything else. Written by a professor of psychology, it is based on more than twenty years of research and teaching on curious things, and on how people make sense of them.

'The Wicker Man meets Rebecca, with darkly beautiful surroundings and mysterious, brooding locals - this is the perfect summer holiday read'' - Fiona Leitch, bestselling author of the Jodie 'Nosey' Parker cozy crime seriesOn the Feast of St John the Cornish villagers of Trevennick dance around midsummer bonfires and make offerings to the river. It''s not the sort of thing that appeals to Audrey Delaney, who is very much a city mouse. But when her (sort of, almost) boyfriend Noah whisks her away on a surprise trip to the West Country, she''s determined to do the best she can to enjoy herself, if that''s what it takes to remove the question mark from their relationship.Then their first night ends in tragedy, and Audrey finds herself stuck in the back of beyond, embroiled in a police inquiry, and unsure who to trust. Not Noah, who obviously had an ulterior motive for bringing her here. And certainly none of the villagers: brooding mussel farmer Trevor, weirdly intense vicar Lamorna, and infuriatingly cocky and omnipresent jack-of-all-trades Griffin. She''ll have to untangle the mysteries of this insular community quickly, though, because people are dying fast. The river will have its due...

Peter Caddick-Adams, leading military historian of WWII, writes for the first time specifically on Winston ChurchillPeter Caddick-Adams has 58k followers on TwitterHe will seek a balanced way through the thicket of controversy on Churchill, correcting the views of both Churchill's unjust detractors and his uncritical cheerleaders

The once-dominant philosophy of the West, defined by free expression, equal treatment of individuals, national solidarity and scientific rationality, is under threat. 'Cultural socialism' - which advocates harsh restrictions on free speech, due process and national symbols in order to reduce psychological harm and bolster the esteem of formerly marginalized groups - is on the rise.Rather than focusing on Marxist revolutionaries or equality law, Eric Kaufmann concentrates on well-meaning left-liberals. He argues that the genesis of 'woke' cultural socialism emerged from liberal taboos around race that arose in the 1960s and came to be weaponised and extended to other areas, such as gender. Using extensive survey data, he shows that this process is driven mainly by values, not fear, and is only going to accelerate as culturally leftist generations enter the workforce and electorate. Its rise suppresses the open debate that makes effective policy-making possible, harming the minorities cultural socialists purport to help. Only if we shift from encouraging minority fragility to building minority resilience, using state power to check institutional illiberalism, can we resist cultural socialism and restore cultural flourishing.This is the authoritative study of the radical shift in values that has turbo-charged the culture wars of our time. No-one concerned with the cultural and political conflicts of our times can afford to miss it.

When Jan Frischof, a dying elderly man, gives a deathbed confession too unbelievable to be true, journalist Heloise Kaldan immediately knows there's a deeper story to uncover. Her gut soon proves to be right - Jan immediately backtracks and warns her that they will both be in danger if she asks any more questions. Could this kind and elderly man really be a cold-blooded killer?Heloise quickly realizes that this is a darker, and far more complicated, investigation. Jan is clearly afraid of something, but who or what he's afraid of could be a dangerous question for Heloise to find the answer to. As she digs deeper, Heloise begins to see that Jan''s confession is connected to a string decades-old disappearances. But next of kin and police are lying to her at every turn, and she has no idea what else Jan could be hiding.Enlisting her friend, detective inspector Erik Schäfer, Heloise begins her descent into the past, unsure of what she will unearth.

The political left has an urgent and rising problem with authoritarianism. An alarmingly high percentage of self-identified progressives are punitive, bullying, and intolerant of disagreement - and the problem is getting worse.Using his own cutting-edge research, leading psychologist Luke Conway shows that it's not just right-wing extremists who long for an authority figure to crush their enemies, silence opponents and restore order; it' s also those who preach 'be kind' and celebrate their 'inclusivity.' A persistent proportion of left-wingers demonstrate authoritarian tendencies, and they're becoming more emboldened as they gain cultural and political power. On a range of scientific and social issues, they are increasingly advocating censorship over free debate, disregarding the rule of law, and dehumanising their opponents. These tendencies are part of an accelerating 'threat circle' of mutual hatred and fear between left and right that could tear apart our basic democratic norms.Concluding with an eloquent call for firm but rational resistance to this rising tide of liberal bullying, Conway presents a way forward for our hyper-partisan era.

Things change; we have to recognise that; the world will not stay still. What we must hope is that the new is better and stronger than the old.Anno Domini 1546. In a manor house in England a young woman feels the walls are closing round her, while her dying husband is obsessed by his vision of a chapel where prayers will be said for his immortal soul.As the days go by and the chapel takes shape, the outside world starts to intrude. And as the old ways are replaced by the new, the people of the village sense a dangerous freedom.The Book of Days is a beautifully written novel of lives lived in troubled times and the solace to be found in nature and the turning seasons.

'So useful ... extremely well-researched' - The TimesA search for 'parenting' returns over a billion unique hits on Google. How can parents know which approaches actually work to support their children to be happy, healthy and fulfilled while maintaining their own sanity?Evidence-Based Parenting draws directly on more than one thousand studies, and indirectly on thousands more, to create a single evidence base and reference manual for parents. This vast knowledge base has been condensed, for the first time, into straightforward ideas to support children's relationships, physical health, learning and play, behaviour, and happiness and well-being.

Being the parent of a gender-questioning child is confusing. There is a lot of advice out there,but much of it goes against what many parents feel instinctively is the right approach. And thestakes are very high if you get it wrong.