Biographies & Memoirs

"An epic, mesmerizing oral history of Hollywood and Los Angeles by the author of the contemporary classic Edie; Jean Stein transformed the art of oral history in her groundbreaking book Edie : American Girl, an indelible portrait of Andy Warhol 'superstar' Edie Sedgwick. Now, in West of Eden, she turns ...

The Chamberlains were the most controversial dynasty in British public life for sixty years. Based on the letters they wrote to each other during that time, this book relives those controversies as the Chamberlains saw them.

The authorized biography of one of the great British post-war writers.Written with the close co-operation of Alan Sillitoe himself, The Life of a Long Distance Writer is not only the definitive work on the legendary writer in his 80th birthday year, it also promises to be perhaps the most controversial ...

First memoir by one of the most influential poets, novelists and critics of the last few decades. Full of literary anecdotes and revealing events in the author's personal life.

The extraordinary stroy of 'Joe' Carstairs, the fastest woman on water
The Sunday Times bestseller

From the moment the Military Wives sang together on BBC Two's The Choir, their lives changed forever. Their journey entranced the nation, and their story moved millions.

Subrata Dasgupta was six years old when his parents came to Britain from Calcutta in 1950. In his affectionate portrait of a Britain, he recalls what it was like growing up in Nottingham and Derby in the 1950s: holidays in Blackpool, the trials of the dreaded Eleven-Plus and the first stirrings of rock and roll.

'A skilful, moving, even humorous book. It is more than an elegy for a lost mother or the charting of one human being's decline ... It is an investigation of memory, which concludes that "Memory, I have come to understand, is everything, it's life itself"' Scotland on Sunday

Between 2007 and 2008, 20-year-old Kenny Meighan was the longest-serving point man in Helmand province. An exceptionally skilful and brave private who came from a family of soldiers, he was lucky to stay alive.

This is the true story of how Kenny took on the toughest test a soldier could face and lived to tell the tale.

'The culmination of an exceptional series. As well as a sceptic's scrupulous examination of his morality and a sharp satire of the medical profession, it is a celebration of life' Book of the Year, Sunday Telegraph

Baker's startlingly honest, very funny account of his obsession with John Updike, part of a stunning redesign of Baker's Granta backlist.

From one of the most ferociously brilliant and distinctive young voices in literary nonfiction: a debut shot through with violence, comedy, and feverish intensity that takes us on an odyssey into an American netherworld, exposing a raw personal journey along the way.

A gripping and poignant literary memoir about grief, identity and family secrets

This hilarious coming-of-age story follows his journey from collecting Star Wars toys as a small boy to schmoozing Carrie Fisher in her Hollywood home, and becoming one of the most loved and instantly recognised faces on British TV.

Revealing the woman behind the warrior in the fight for freedom, justice and equality, the family of Rosa Parks presents a collection of personal remembrances, reflections and never-before-seen photos and letters that pay tribute to one of the most famous figures in American history.

The revealing and deeply moving autobiography of one of the greatest American playwrights of the twentieth century

During the fifteen months which I spent as a political prisoner in Ghana, from January 1972 to March 1973, I had the enforced opportunity to reflect on the many problems appertaining to the welfare and future of Africa generally, especially her relationship with the rest of the world. The more I thought ...

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British Prime Minister and leader of the wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, is a towering figure. When he died, writes the author, "one might have thought it was not a man who was being borne to his grave, but British history itself".

The Churchills dominated world politics for generations - but, like every family, they too have their secrets. Winston's mother, Jennie, had an affair with the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and her spendthrift habits devastated the family's reputation. The younger brother, Jack, played a crucial ...

The author of the monumental La Comédie Humaine, Honoré de Balzac was an extraordinarily prolific writer and is regarded as one of the founding fathers of realism. This new biography looks at his remarkable body of work, setting it against his life in 19th-century France and making it an informative ...