Secondhand Biographies

Avoiding shellfish was easy. The stoning of adulterers proved a little more difficult - and potentially controversial. Was it enough to walk up to an adulterer and gently touch them...

In this evocation of twelve world cities which have been either intertwined with his life, or otherwise aroused his particular interest, Roy Jenkins follows up Churchill with a book of...

In To Be a Gay Man, Will Young speaks out about gay shame, revealing the impact it had on his own life, how he learned to deal with it, and...

Mende Nazer's happy childhood was cruelly cut short at the age of twelve when the Mujahidin rode into her village in the remote Nuba mountains of Sudan. They hacked down...

The long-awaited memoir from iconic, beloved actor and living legend Sir Patrick Stewart! From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises,...

The witty, incisive and frank memoirs from the legend of Newsnight and long-standing quiz master of University Challenge. Filled with views, opinions and stories from 4 decades in front of...

This is the autobiography of a young American boy dying of AIDS. Anthony Johnson was born in 1977 and for 11 years was physically and sexually abused by his parents....

Being pregnant for the first time changed Jools Oliver's life. Having longed for children since before she can remember, she was suddenly faced with an array of unfamiliar, unexpected and...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY PRIZE THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.2 BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BMA PRESIDENT'S AWARD 2017 An incredible memoir from one of the world's most eminent heart surgeons,...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEKSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE'A fitting legacy left by a blazing talent' Observer'A masterpiece' Andrew O'Hagan, Guardian'Completely amazing' Lucy...

When Tamara Mellon's father lent her the money to start a high-end shoe company, he cautioned her: 'Don't let the accountants run your business.' Little did he know. Over the...

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN BOOK AWARD AND THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARD'Masterly. Brilliantly crafted, powerfully written and deftly reported' Guardian The urgent and unforgettable true story of post-Katrina New Orleans...

'An extraordinary story of grace, forgiveness and moral courage' Patrick Radden KeefeA 2024 HIGHLIGHT IN THE OBSERVER, GUARDIAN AND IRISH TIMESSHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDSAN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL...

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, longtime New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun are cast into unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water. Good Samaritan Abdulrahman has stayed...

With much new material on the betrayal of the Frank family and their attempts to leave for the US, this updated edition is now the definitive biography of Anne Frank'Definitive'...

Kevin Lewis grew up on a council estate in South London. Beaten and starved by his parents, ignored by the social services and bullied at school, he was offered a...

The poignant account of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the 1930s, and the brilliant first volume of autobiography. A bestseller ever since it was published in February 1993. One...

'Bower's book is a devastating indictment' Sunday Times 'Explosive ... Bower reveals a remarkable and sinister picture of the man who likes to appear as the ever-smiling hero' Daily Mail...

Mike Curtis, a former coal miner and likely Welsh international, served with 2 Para in the Falklands before going on to join the SAS. In this book Curtis, describes his...

*AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*'As the title suggests, Waypoints is a rewarding mix of markers, both personal as he reflects on his life and geographical as...

'Full of love, wisdom and yearning' Kit de WaalA coming-of-age story set in Birmingham in the 1980s and 1990s, The Go-Between opens a window into a closed migrant community living...

In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather left China in search of riches on the 'Gold Mountain', the Chinese name for the promised land of America. His son Fong See later built...

When Robyn Scott was seven her parents left the tranquil hills of New Zealand, taking their three small children to live in the wild Botswana bush, where they grew up...

When fishing, there's always an element of chance. And the occasional opportunity to exaggerate just a bit, especially about the one that got away. In Lies, Damned Lies & Anglers,...

Alan Titchmarsh has had a passion for gardening for as long as he can remember. Aged 8, he announced to friends that he was going to be the next Percy...

Dark, sharp, blackly funny and powerful, this is memoir, wielded as weapon, with the tightly compressed energy of an explosive device. 'She has a poet's gift for language, a playwright's...

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,...