Secondhand Biographies

Chasing a dream is never easy, but if you go far enough, it will set you free.Captain Liz Clark spent her youth dreaming of traveling the world by sailboat and...

From the author of Number One bestseller Damaged comes the poignant and shocking memoir of Cathy's recent relationship with Tayo, a young boy she fosters whose good behaviour and polite...

In the first years of the new millennium Russell Watson was at the peak of his success as a much loved classical singer. He had gone from humble beginnings, working...

As a child, Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his mother. The world knew nothing of his living nightmare and he had nothing and no one to turn...

An intimate portrait of an everyday genius. Alexander Masters tripped over his first subject on a Cambridge pavement, and the result was the multi-award-winning bestseller Stuart: A Life Backwards. The...

The most remarkable thing that happened to the world economy after 9/11 was ... nothing. What would have once meant a crippling shock to the system was absorbed astonishingly quickly,...

When social distancing is over, can people still keep their distance?I only do the things I like now, rather than the things I should - is that alright?And these days,...

'A beautiful book' Greg JamesThere's no love quite like that between a dog and their human. When people come to see Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick at his referral hospital, they are...

'Part confession, part call to arms and wholly entertaining' OBSERVER'Her writing style is as kooky and digestible as Bill Bryson's . . . A fun-filled, fact-packed, memorable ride' SUNDAY TIMES...

The rediscovered classic: an unforgettable memoir by a trailblazing black woman in post-war London, introduced by Bernardine Evaristo ('I dare anyone to read it and not come away shocked, moved...

My Family and Other Animals is the bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the island of Corfu by treasured British conservationist Gerald Durrell. Escaping the ills of...

On 17 April 1986 a British television journalist was kidnapped in Beirut. His name was John McCarthy and he was to remain a hostage for the next five years. During...

When I had a Little Sister by Catherine Simpson is a searingly honest and heartbreaking account of growing up in a farming family, and of Catherine's search for understanding into...

What kind of a world do we live in when governments are able to pursue wars against not only the will of the people, but also the international institutions set...

Marcus Butler is everyone's best friend. His videos on his YouTube channels gain over 22 million views a month, and his funny, natural style has won him legions of loyal...

Maggie is John Sergeant's mordant analysis of Margaret Thatcher's career and, more importantly, the legacy she has left to the Conservative party, which he would argue has been little short...

Born in Tenby in 1878, Augustus John studied at the Slade with his sister Gwen, and in Paris. He lived a passionate and unruly life and died in 1961. The...

________________'Like Eat, Pray, Love, her follow-up ... feels irresistibly confessional ... I found myself guzzling Committed, reading it in mighty chunks, far into the night. Whenever I put it down,...

_______________'A triumph' - New York Times Book Review'A startling, tender-hearted tribute to a woman for whom the expression tough love might have been invented' - The Times'As lively as a...

In his first book professional boxer and social media star, Tommy Fury, reveals what life is like juggling his many identities: boxing champion, TV star, mental health advocate, and father,...

Listed in Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019'A gripping and beautiful book about the power of love in the face of unimaginable loss' Cheryl Strayed'Extraordinary . . . both heartbreaking...

The Smart is a true drama of eighteenth-century life with a mercurial, mysterious heroine. Caroline is a young Irishwoman who runs off to marry a soldier, comes to London and...

Catherine Macaulay represented everything the 18th century abhorred in a women. She was learned, politically-minded, actively engaged with public and philosophical issues of the day. Her private life, and especially...

'Memoirs of such richness are rare . . . a joy' JAMES NAUGHTIE'A remarkable personal journey, by one of the great political correspondents of our world - eloquent, enlightening, exhilarating'...

Margaret Mulvihill has written a biography of Charlotte Despard (1844-1939), the woman who, with Mrs Pankhurst and Mrs Fawcett, was one of the three widow-leaders of the Votes for Women...

A compelling biography of a family, and a portrait of an era. Each of the seven Garman sisters were strikingly beautiful, artistic and wild. Born around the turn of the...

Aged just 12, Patrick Sheedy placed his first bet for 10p and devised his first scam, marking the beginning of his life as a compulsive gambler and one of Ireland's...

Tucker Max drinks to excess at inappropriate times, disregards social norms, indulges every whim, takes no responsibility for his actions, rebels against any authority, mocks idiots and posers, sleeps with...

'I Never Said I Love You is one of the most electric, enchanting, engrossing and energising memoirs of self-harm, self-loathing, grief, eating disorders, suicide - and sex - that you...

In December 1991, Allende's daughter Paula, aged 28 fell gravely ill and sank into a coma. This book started as a letter to Paula written during the hours spent at...

Karren Brady is an inspiration to women everywhere, and her incredible success is borne of her passion, impressive business instinct, ambition, and her very genuine, honest, down-to-earth outlook. This is...

'The political memoir of the decade' Sunday Times The referendum on Britain's membership of the EU is one of the most controversial political events of our times. For the first...