Business Biographies & Histories
Showing 1–24 of 87 results
-
Business Biographies & Histories
A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER’It’s all here in this stunning first draft of the history of the presidency of Donald Trump’ Sydney Morning HeraldFirst came Fire and Fury to sound the alarm, then came Fear to spread unease, now A Very Stable Genius lifts the lid to bring us the full account.Drawing on nearly three years of reporting, hundreds of hours of interviews and more than two hundred sources, including some of the most senior members of the administration, friends and first-hand witnesses who have never spoken before, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig take us inside some of the most controversial moments of Trump’s presidency. They peer deeply into Trump’s White House – at the aides pressured to lie to the public, the lawyers scrambling to clear up norm-breaking disasters, and the staffers whose careers have been reduced to ashes – to paint an unparalleled group portrait of an administration driven by self-preservation and paranoia. Rucker and Leonnig reveal Trump at his most unvarnished, showing the unhinged decision-making and incompetence that has floored officials and stunned foreign leaders. They portray unscripted calls with Vladimir Putin, steak dinners with Kim Jong-un, and calls with Theresa May so hostile that they left her aides shaken. They also take a hard look at Robert Mueller, Trump’s greatest antagonist to date, and how his investigation slowly unravelled an administration whose universal value is loyalty – not to country, but to the president himself.Grippingly told, A Very Stable Genius is a behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s vainglorious pursuit of power in his first term – the rages and the frenzies, the dishonesty and the depravity – as he dodges impeachment, and squares up for the 2020 elections.’Taut and terrifying . . . It reads like a horror story, an almost comic immorality tale’ New York Times’In often alarming detail, A Very Stable Genius chronicles the wild ride of the Trump presidency’ Guardian’A damning, well-reported, well-sourced and clearly written haymaker’ Sunday Times’There are brilliant flashes of insights and voices that have yet to be heard in the presidential cacophony’ Financial Times’Takes us behind the scenes of the Trump presidency, where we learn that the private Trump is – if you can believe it – even worse than what you see every day’ Washington Post
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER’It’s all here in this stunning first draft of the history of the presidency of Donald Trump’ Sydney Morning HeraldFirst came Fire and Fury to sound the alarm, then came Fear to spread unease, now A Very Stable Genius lifts the lid to bring us the full account.Drawing on nearly three years of reporting, hundreds of hours of interviews and more than two hundred sources, including some of the most senior members of the administration, friends and first-hand witnesses who have never spoken before, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig take us inside some of the most controversial moments of Trump’s presidency. They peer deeply into Trump’s White House – at the aides pressured to lie to the public, the lawyers scrambling to clear up norm-breaking disasters, and the staffers whose careers have been reduced to ashes – to paint an unparalleled group portrait of an administration driven by self-preservation and paranoia. Rucker and Leonnig reveal Trump at his most unvarnished, showing the unhinged decision-making and incompetence that has floored officials and stunned foreign leaders. They portray unscripted calls with Vladimir Putin, steak dinners with Kim Jong-un, and calls with Theresa May so hostile that they left her aides shaken. They also take a hard look at Robert Mueller, Trump’s greatest antagonist to date, and how his investigation slowly unravelled an administration whose universal value is loyalty – not to country, but to the president himself.Grippingly told, A Very Stable Genius is a behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s vainglorious pursuit of power in his first term – the rages and the frenzies, the dishonesty and the depravity – as he dodges impeachment, and squares up for the 2020 elections.’Taut and terrifying . . . It reads like a horror story, an almost comic immorality tale’ New York Times’In often alarming detail, A Very Stable Genius chronicles the wild ride of the Trump presidency’ Guardian’A damning, well-reported, well-sourced and clearly written haymaker’ Sunday Times’There are brilliant flashes of insights and voices that have yet to be heard in the presidential cacophony’ Financial Times’Takes us behind the scenes of the Trump presidency, where we learn that the private Trump is – if you can believe it – even worse than what you see every day’ Washington Post
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Acid For The Children – The autobiography of Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers legend
Business Biographies & HistoriesAcid For The Children – The autobiography of Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers legend
Flea, the iconic bassist and co-founder, alongside Anthony Kiedis, of the immortal Red Hot Chili Peppers finally tells his fascinating origin story, complete with all the dizzying highs and the gutter lows you’d expect from an LA street rat turned world-famous rock star. Michael Peter Balzary was born in Melbourne, Australia, on October 16, 1962. His more famous stage name, Flea, and his wild ride as the renowned bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers was in a far and distant future. Little Michael from Oz moved with his very conservative, very normal family to Westchester, New York, where life as he knew it was soon turned upside down. His parents split up and he and his sister moved into the home of his mother’s free-wheeling, jazz musician boyfriend – trading in rules, stability, and barbecues for bohemian values, wildness, and Sunday afternoon jazz parties where booze, weed, and music flowed in equal measure. There began Michael’s life-long journey to channel all the frustration, loneliness, love, and joy he felt into incredible rhythm.When Michael’s family moved to Los Angeles in 1972, his home situation was rockier than ever. He sought out a sense of belonging elsewhere, spending most of his days partying, playing basketball, and committing petty crimes. At Fairfax High School, he met another social outcast, Anthony Kiedis, who quickly became his soul brother, the yin to his yang, his partner in mischief. Michael joined some bands, fell in love with performing, and honed his skills. But it wasn’t until the night when Anthony, excited after catching a Grandmaster Flash concert, suggested they start their own band that he is handed the magic key to the cosmic kingdom.Acid for the Children is as raw, entertaining and wildly unpredictable as its author. It’s both a tenderly evocative coming of age story and a raucous love letter to the power of music and creativity. *WITH AN ORIGINAL POEM FROM PATTI SMITH* ‘Flea creates a rhythm for his prose as curt and distinct as his bass playing.’ Jim Farber, The Guardian’He writes in Beat Generation bursts and epiphanies… You’ll put down Acid for the Children with your human sympathies expanded; you’ll feel less alone.’ The Atlantic
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News
‘[Emily] is so absolutely of the moment. Airhead is a compilation of her greatest hits . . . hilarious’ Evening StandardNews Presenter of the Year Emily Maitlis gives you a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest news stories and interviews of recent years. INCLUDING A NEW CHAPTER ON HER NEWSNIGHT INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE ANDREW__________’Deliciously funny . . . Irresistible’ The Times In this no holds barred account of life in the seconds before, during and after going on air, Newsnight presenter, leading journalist, and queen of the side eye Emily Maitlis gives us the insider info on what we don’t get to see on-screen. Giving us the inside scoop on her interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson to Russell Brand, and Donald Trump to Tony Blair, as well as covering news stories such as President Clinton’s affairs, Boris Johnson’s race to PM, Grenfell, #MeToo, and the Paris terror attacks. Airhead is a brilliant exposé of the moments that never make the news. ‘Anyone who has spent this election campaign shouting at the TV needs a copy in their Christmas stocking. It’s funny and subtly smart’ GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEARDAILY MAIL BOOKS OF THE YEAR _____________Praise for Emily Maitlis:’We LOVE the Maitlis’ Stylist ‘She’s just a mastermind’ Dolly Alderton on The High Low’I think people are a bit in love with Emily Maitlis, she’s a brilliant interviewer’ Pandora Sykes on The High Low Praise for Airhead:’She is a superb writer. It is a sort of greatest hits compilation’ Sunday Times’Excellent’ Guardian’A wonderfully sane book for our unhinged times’ Simon Schama’Fascinating’ Mail on Sunday ‘Smart, funny and brilliantly told’ Elizabeth Day ‘Revelatory, riveting and frequently hilarious. A joy from beginning to end’ James O’Brien ‘Absolutely irresistible’ Jeremy Vine
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News
‘[Emily] is so absolutely of the moment. Airhead is a compilation of her greatest hits . . . hilarious’ Evening StandardNews Presenter of the Year Emily Maitlis gives you a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest news stories and interviews of recent years. INCLUDING A NEW CHAPTER ON HER NEWSNIGHT INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE ANDREW__________’Deliciously funny . . . Irresistible’ The Times In this no holds barred account of life in the seconds before, during and after going on air, Newsnight presenter, leading journalist, and queen of the side eye Emily Maitlis gives us the insider info on what we don’t get to see on-screen. Giving us the inside scoop on her interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson to Russell Brand, and Donald Trump to Tony Blair, as well as covering news stories such as President Clinton’s affairs, Boris Johnson’s race to PM, Grenfell, #MeToo, and the Paris terror attacks. Airhead is a brilliant exposé of the moments that never make the news. ‘Anyone who has spent this election campaign shouting at the TV needs a copy in their Christmas stocking. It’s funny and subtly smart’ GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEARDAILY MAIL BOOKS OF THE YEAR_____________Praise for Emily Maitlis:’We LOVE the Maitlis’ Stylist ‘She’s just a mastermind’ Dolly Alderton on The High Low’I think people are a bit in love with Emily Maitlis, she’s a brilliant interviewer’ Pandora Sykes on The High Low Praise for Airhead:’She is a superb writer. It is a sort of greatest hits compilation’ Sunday Times’Excellent’ Guardian’A wonderfully sane book for our unhinged times’ Simon Schama’Fascinating’ Mail on Sunday ‘Smart, funny and brilliantly told’ Elizabeth Day ‘Revelatory, riveting and frequently hilarious. A joy from beginning to end’ James O’Brien ‘Absolutely irresistible’ Jeremy Vine
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
An Improbable Life: The Autobiography
Sir Trevor McDonald is an extraordinary man – and he has led an improbable life. Now in his 80th year, he is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. As a natural storyteller and communicator, he has few equals. In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts his personal experience of world events and interviews with globally famous – or notorious – figures. He has witnessed war and death and risked his own life to meet and talk with despots and liberators. We read about his first trip to South Africa, and obtaining the first British television interview with Nelson Mandela; his reflections on the Windrush generation; and experiencing Barack Obama’s momentous inauguration as President of the USA. We are also present at his dramatic meetings with Saddam Hussein (the first and only one by a British television correspondent) and Muammar Gaddafi.Engaging, intimate and moving, this is the life story of an exceptional journalist and broadcaster who over decades has expertly revealed to us history in the making.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
An Improbable Life: The Autobiography
‘That life is an extraordinary one … McDonald has grilled some of modern history’s most revered and reviled figures, from Nelson Mandela to Saddam Hussein. In his memoir he offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at these moments and reflects on his own remarkable journey’ RADIO TIMES’The broadcasting legend’s autobiography is written in his trademark charming and enigmatic style’ PRIMA’As well as the deeply personal Windrush scandal [he] offers an insight into the history that has shaped our world and his’ MY WEEKLYSir Trevor McDonald is an extraordinary man – and he has led an improbable life. Now in his 80th year, he is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. As a natural storyteller and communicator, he has few equals. In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts his personal experience of world events and interviews with globally famous – or notorious – figures. He has witnessed war and death and risked his own life to meet and talk with despots and liberators. We read about his first trip to South Africa, and obtaining the first British television interview with Nelson Mandela; his reflections on the Windrush generation; and experiencing Barack Obama’s momentous inauguration as President of the USA. We are also present at his dramatic meetings with Saddam Hussein (the first and only one by a British television correspondent) and Muammar Gaddafi.Engaging, intimate and moving, this is the life story of an exceptional journalist and broadcaster who over decades has expertly revealed to us history in the making.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Angrynomics
Why are measures of stress and anxiety on the rise, when economists and politicians tell us we have never had it so good? While statistics tell us that the vast majority of people are getting steadily richer the world most of us experience day-in and day-out feels increasingly uncertain, unfair, and ever more expensive. In Angrynomics, Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth explore the rising tide of anger, sometimes righteous and useful, sometimes destructive and ill-targeted, and propose radical new solutions for an increasingly polarized and confusing world. Angrynomics is for anyone wondering, where the hell do we go from here?
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder
‘Really made me think about how I think’ – Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit WestTough times don’t last. Tough people do. In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. Here Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better.Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls antifragile are things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb’s message is revolutionary: the antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it.’The hottest thinker in the world’ Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Be Careful What You Wish For
Multimillionaire at 32Youngest Premier League football club owner at 36His club and a fortune lost at 42Owning your childhood club – that’s the dream, isn’t it? Simon Jordan made his fortune building a mobile phone company from scratch. When he sold it for £75 million, he bought Crystal Palace FC, the club he’d supported as a boy, and led them into the Premier League. Ten years later Palace was in administration and Jordan had lost nigh on everything. Be Careful What You Wish For lifts the lid on being the owner of a football club and how the game really works. Hopes and dreams sit alongside greed, self-interest, dodgy transfers, boardroom fights and dressing room dressing downs. Throughout no one is spared, least of all Jordan himself. A finalist for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Shortlisted for the British Sports Book Award for best autobiography
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Be Careful What You Wish For
Multimillionaire at 32Youngest Premier League football club owner at 36His club and a fortune lost at 42Owning your childhood club – that’s the dream, isn’t it? Simon Jordan made his fortune building a mobile phone company from scratch. When he sold it for £75 million, he bought Crystal Palace FC, the club he’d supported as a boy, and led them into the Premier League. Ten years later Palace was in administration and Jordan had lost nigh on everything. Be Careful What You Wish For lifts the lid on being the owner of a football club and how the game really works. Hopes and dreams sit alongside greed, self-interest, dodgy transfers, boardroom fights and dressing room dressing downs. Throughout no one is spared, least of all Jordan himself. A finalist for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Shortlisted for the British Sports Book Award for best autobiography
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Bering Sea Strong: How I Found Solid Ground on Open Ocean
Full of unusual characters, mischief, camaraderie, and testosterone-fueled man gossip.Bering Sea Strong is a tale of adventure and self-discovery. The story portrays a young woman on a solo journey, pushed to the edge of the earth and further from the weight of family—marked by divorce, death, disability, and depression—and a life she desires on land. Locked at sea for ninety days as the lone female trying to tuck in tight alongside twenty-five rough-and-tumble commercial fishermen in Alaska, Laura Hartema offers a rare glimpse into the intertwining worlds of a fisheries observer and the crew she works beside. She graphically illustrates the challenges of daily life and relationships in a way few have seen before. Her story provides an unprecedented portrait of the bizarre and entertaining human dynamics aboard an at-sea catcher-processor vessel, where men battle dangerous working conditions, loneliness, and boredom while rivaling for the attention of the only woman. Between trough and crest, Laura ponders the trauma and tragedies of her Midwest childhood as her capabilities and resilience are regularly tested. She is often left deciding when to “blow it off” and when to “blow a gasket.” In the end, the tumultuous Bering Sea is where she finds the strength to overcome the wounds of her past, embrace life’s uncertainty, and steam ahead into the unchartered waters of her future. Bering Sea Strong demonstrates one woman’s determination to overcome obstacles in pursuit of a satisfying career and a better life.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Billion Dollar Whale: the bestselling investigation into the financial fraud of the century
Business Biographies & HistoriesBillion Dollar Whale: the bestselling investigation into the financial fraud of the century
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune, this New York Times-bestseller exposes how a ‘modern Gatsby’ swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in ‘the heist of the century’. Now a #1 international bestseller, Billion Dollar Whale is ‘an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale’ (Publishers Weekly, starred review), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude — one that would come to symbolise the next great threat to the global financial system. Over a decade, Low, with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund — right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. By early 2019, with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States, Low had become an international fugitive, even as the US Department of Justice continued its investigation. Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar’s Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Intuition is not some magical property that arises unbidden from the depths of our mind. It is a product of long hours and intelligent design, of meaningful work environments and particular rules and principles. This book shows us how we can hone our instinctive ability to know in an instant, helping us to bring out the best in our thinking and become better decision-makers in our homes, offices and in everyday life. Just as he did with his revolutionary theory of the tipping point, Gladwell reveals how the power of blink could fundamentally transform our relationships, the way we consume, create and communicate, how we run our businesses and even our societies.Youll never think about thinking in the same way again.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Break Point: SAS: Who Dares Wins Host’s Incredible True Story
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLEROLLIE OLLERTON CO-HOSTS SAS: WHO DARES WINS ALONGSIDE ANT MIDDLETON, JASON FOX and MARK BILLINGHAM. THIS IS HIS INCREDIBLE TRUE STORYWhere is your break point?Is it here? Facing the gruelling SAS selection process on one leg, with a busted ankle and the finish line nowhere in sight?Or here? Under heavy fire from armed kidnappers while protecting journalists en route to Baghdad.Or is it here? At the bottom of a bottle, with a family in pieces, unable to adapt to a civilian lifestyle, yearning for a warzone?Ex-Special Forces soldier and star of TV’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, Ollie Ollerton has faced many break points in his life and now he tells us the vital lessons he has learnt. His incredible story features hardened criminals, high-speed car chases, counter-terrorism and humanitarian heroics – freeing children from a trafficking ring in Thailand.Ollie has faced break points in his personal life too, surviving a freak childhood attack, run-ins with the law as a teenager rebelling against a broken home, his self-destructive battles with alcohol and drug addiction, and his struggles with anxiety and depression. His final redemption as an entrepreneur and mental health charity ambassador has seen him overcome adversity to build a new and better life.’Everyone has the capacity for incredible achievement, because it’s only when it’s crunch time, when you’re down to your last bullet – when you’re at break point – that you find out who you really are.’
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Break Point: SAS: Who Dares Wins: SAS: Who Dares Wins Host’s Incredible True Story
Business Biographies & HistoriesBreak Point: SAS: Who Dares Wins: SAS: Who Dares Wins Host’s Incredible True Story
THE No. 1 BESTSELLEROLLIE OLLERTON CO-HOSTS SAS: WHO DARES WINS ALONGSIDE ANT MIDDLETON, JASON FOX and MARK BILLINGHAM. THIS IS HIS INCREDIBLE TRUE STORYWhere is your break point?Is it here? Facing the gruelling SAS selection process on one leg, with a busted ankle and the finish line nowhere in sight?Or here? Under heavy fire from armed kidnappers while protecting journalists en route to Baghdad.Or is it here? At the bottom of a bottle, with a family in pieces, unable to adapt to a civilian lifestyle, yearning for a warzone?Ex-Special Forces soldier and star of TV’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, Ollie Ollerton has faced many break points in his life and now he tells us the vital lessons he has learnt. His incredible story features hardened criminals, high-speed car chases, counter-terrorism and humanitarian heroics – freeing children from a trafficking ring in Thailand.Ollie has faced break points in his personal life too, surviving a freak childhood attack, run-ins with the law as a teenager rebelling against a broken home, his self-destructive battles with alcohol and drug addiction, and his struggles with anxiety and depression. His final redemption as an entrepreneur and mental health charity ambassador has seen him overcome adversity to build a new and better life.’Everyone has the capacity for incredible achievement, because it’s only when it’s crunch time, when you’re down to your last bullet – when you’re at break point – that you find out who you really are.’
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Broken Greek: A Story of Chip Shops and Pop Songs
*AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 ‘BOOK OF THE WEEK’*’Lip-lickingly, dance-around-the-living-room good… A smash hit’ Observer’Unflinching and heartwarming’ – Adam Kay’Tender, clever and as funny as it gets … a heart-piercing joy’ – Lauren Laverne’An exceptional coming-of-age story […] Pete Paphides may very well have the biggest heart in Britain’ – Marina Hyde’I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking’ – Nina Stibbe’Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other’ – Cathy Newman’So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental’ – John Niven’It’s brilliant. Sad, really funny and beautifully written … just fantastic’ – Alexis Petridis’A truly beautiful book’ – James O’Brien’Intoxicating’ – Kirsty Wark’Oh, how I love Pete Paphides and this book’ – Daniel Finkelstein’A balm in these times’ David Nicholls’Fantastic … Can’t recommend it highly enough’ Tim Burgess__________’Do you sometimes feel like the music you’re hearing is explaining your life to you?’When Pete’s parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and Britishness.Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs, thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation? ‘Sugar Baby Love’, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Tragedy’, ‘Silly Games’, ‘Going Underground’, ‘Come On Eileen’, and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.*Listen along with Pete’s BROKEN GREEK playlist on Spotify!*
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Broken Greek: the critically acclaimed music-filled memoir about coming of age in 70s Birmingham
Business Biographies & HistoriesBroken Greek: the critically acclaimed music-filled memoir about coming of age in 70s Birmingham
*AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4 ‘BOOK OF THE WEEK’*’Lip-lickingly, dance-around-the-living-room good… A smash hit’ Observer’Unflinching and heartwarming’ – Adam Kay’Tender, clever and as funny as it gets … a heart-piercing joy’ – Lauren Laverne’An exceptional coming-of-age story […] Pete Paphides may very well have the biggest heart in Britain’ – Marina Hyde’I ADORE this utterly wonderful coming-of-age memoir. Joyful, clever, and a bit heartbreaking’ – Nina Stibbe’Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully written, Broken Greek is a childhood memoir like no other’ – Cathy Newman’So wonderfully written, such a light touch. Drenched in sentiment yet not in the least sentimental’ – John Niven’It’s brilliant. Sad, really funny and beautifully written … just fantastic’ – Alexis Petridis’A truly beautiful book’ – James O’Brien’Intoxicating’ – Kirsty Wark’Oh, how I love Pete Paphides and this book’ – Daniel Finkelstein’A balm in these times’ David Nicholls’Fantastic … Can’t recommend it highly enough’ Tim Burgess__________’Do you sometimes feel like the music you’re hearing is explaining your life to you?’When Pete’s parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little bit of English. They opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green. The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about coin-operated machines, male banter and Britishness.Shy and introverted, Pete stopped speaking from age 4 to 7, and found refuge instead in the bittersweet embrace of pop songs, thanks to Top of the Pops and Dial-A-Disc. From Brotherhood of Man to UB40, from ABBA to The Police, music provided the safety net he needed to protect him from the tensions of his home life. It also helped him navigate his way around the challenges surrounding school, friendships and phobias such as visits to the barber, standing near tall buildings and Rod Hull and Emu.With every passing year, his guilty secret became more horrifying to him: his parents were Greek, but all the things that excited him were British. And the engine of that realisation? ‘Sugar Baby Love’, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘Tragedy’, ‘Silly Games’, ‘Going Underground’, ‘Come On Eileen’, and every other irresistibly thrilling chart hit blaring out of the chip shop radio.Never have the trials and tribulations of growing up and the human need for a sense of belonging been so heart-breakingly and humorously depicted.*Listen along with Pete’s BROKEN GREEK playlist on Spotify!*
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street: The New York Times bestseller Bill Gates calls…
Business Biographies & HistoriesBusiness Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street: The New York Times bestseller Bill Gates calls…
‘The best business book I’ve ever read.’ Bill Gates, Wall Street Journal’The Michael Lewis of his day.’ New York TimesWhat do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety. These notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened.Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. John Brooks’s insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history really does repeat itself.This business classic written by longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks is an insightful and engaging look into corporate and financial life in America.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Capital and Ideology
The epic successor to one of the most important books of the century: at once a retelling of global history, a scathing critique of contemporary politics, and a bold proposal for a new and fairer economic system.Thomas Piketty’s bestselling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system. Our economy, Piketty observes, is not a natural fact. Markets, profits, and capital are all historical constructs that depend on choices. Piketty explores the material and ideological interactions of conflicting social groups that have given us slavery, serfdom, colonialism, communism, and hypercapitalism, shaping the lives of billions. He concludes that the great driver of human progress over the centuries has been the struggle for equality and education and not, as often argued, the assertion of property rights or the pursuit of stability. The new era of extreme inequality that has derailed that progress since the 1980s, he shows, is partly a reaction against communism, but it is also the fruit of ignorance, intellectual specialization, and our drift toward the dead-end politics of identity. Once we understand this, we can begin to envision a more balanced approach to economics and politics. Piketty argues for a new “participatory” socialism, a system founded on an ideology of equality, social property, education, and the sharing of knowledge and power. Capital and Ideology is destined to be one of the indispensable books of our time, a work that will not only help us understand the world, but that will change it.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
A New York Times #1 Bestseller An Amazon #1 Bestseller A Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Sunday Times Bestseller Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award Winner of the British Academy Medal Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award “It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year-and maybe of the decade.” -Paul Krugman, New York Times “The book aims to revolutionize the way people think about the economic history of the past two centuries. It may well manage the feat.” -The Economist “Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years.” -Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post “Piketty has written an extraordinarily important book…In its scale and sweep it brings us back to the founders of political economy.” -Martin Wolf, Financial Times “A sweeping account of rising inequality…Piketty has written a book that nobody interested in a defining issue of our era can afford to ignore.” -John Cassidy, New Yorker “Stands a fair chance of becoming the most influential work of economics yet published in our young century. It is the most important study of inequality in over fifty years.” -Timothy Shenk, The Nation
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Capital: Volumes One and Two (Classics of World Literature)
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. This was the only volume published during Marx s lifetime and the only to have come directly from his pen. Volume Two, published in 1884, 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.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future
Business Biographies & HistoriesElon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future
South African born Elon Musk is the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Musk wants to save our planet; he wants to send citizens into space, to form a colony on Mars; he wants to make money while doing these things; and he wants us all to know about it. He is the real-life inspiration for the Iron Man series of films starring Robert Downey Junior. The personal tale of Musk’s life comes with all the trappings one associates with a great, drama-filled story. He was a freakishly bright kid who was bullied brutally at school, and abused by his father. In the midst of these rough conditions, and the violence of apartheid South Africa, Musk still thrived academically and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he paid his own way through school by turning his house into a club and throwing massive parties. He started a pair of huge dot-com successes, including PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002. Musk was forced out as CEO and so began his lost years in which he decided to go it alone and baffled friends by investing his fortune in rockets and electric cars. Meanwhile Musk’s marriage disintegrated as his technological obsessions took over his life … Elon Musk is the Steve Jobs of the present and the future, and for the past twelve months, he has been shadowed by tech reporter, Ashlee Vance. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of Spacex and Tesla is Shaping our Future is an important, exciting and intelligent account of the real-life Iron Man.
SKU: n/a -
Business Biographies & Histories
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt
Business Biographies & HistoriesEnemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt
Henry Avery was the seventeenth century’s most notorious pirate. The press published wildly popular – and wildly inaccurate – reports of his nefarious adventures. The British government offered enormous bounties for his capture, alive or (preferably) dead. But Steven Johnson argues that Avery’s most lasting legacy was his inadvertent triggering of a new model for the global economy. Enemy of All Mankind focuses on one key event – the attack of an Indian treasure ship by Avery and his crew – and its surprising repercussions across time and space. Johnson uses the extraordinary story of Henry Avery and his crimes to explore the emergence of the modern global marketplace: a densely interconnected planet ruled by nations and corporations. Like the bestselling How We Got To Now and The Ghost Map, Enemy of All Mankind crosses disciplinary boundaries to recount its history: the chemistry behind the invention of gunpowder; the innovations in navigation that enabled the age of exploration; the cultural history of pirates; the biographical history of Avery and his crew; the rise of the Moghul dynasty; and the commercial ambition of the East India Company. In this compelling work of history and ideas, Johnson deftly traces the path from a single struck match to a global conflagration.
SKU: n/a