Biographies

Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed with . . . An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs. Until one day, Jeremy decided he would do the farming itself. After all, how hard could it be? . . . Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to 'do farming', Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor. Fortunately, there's help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller. And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it's worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241464502 • Author: Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher: Michael Joseph • Format: Hardback • Pages: 224 • Dimensions: 24 x 16.2 x 2.6 cm

Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. At the end of Jeremy's first year in the tractor's driving seat, Diddly Squat farm rewarded him with a profit of just £144. So, while he's the first to admit that he's still only a 'trainee farmer'*, there is clearly still work to be done. Because while he's mastered the art of moaning about nearly everything, some of the other attributes required of a successful farmer prove more of a challenge. Did you know that loading a grain trailer was more demanding than flying an Apache gunship? Or that cows were more dangerous than motor-racing? Or whether would have been easier to get planning permission to build a nuclear power station than to turn an old barn into a farm restaurant? But if the council planning department and the local red trouser brigade seem determined to frustrate his schemes at every turn, at least he's got Lisa, Kaleb, Cheerful Charlie and Gerald, his dry-stone-walling Head of Security to see him through.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780241695791 • Author:  Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher:  Michael Joseph • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  240 • Dimensions:  15.24 x 1.3 x 23.5 cm

THE UNMISSABLE, UNVARNISHED MEMOIRS OF BORIS JOHNSON Boris Johnson has always been larger than life. Controversial, untrammelled by the normal rules of politics, his route to becoming Britain’s prime minister included a landmark career as a journalist, two terms as London’s mayor, leading the Vote Leave Brexit campaign and acting as foreign secretary. He won the largest Tory majority since 1987 when he went to the polls in December 2019 for a mandate to ‘Get Brexit Done’ – only to have his administration hit by the global Covid pandemic and toppled in a Tory putsch. Unleashed is his account of his time in politics, and a book that shatters the mould of the modern prime ministerial memoir. Written in his inimitable style, it is honest, unrestrained and deeply revealing about the politician who has dominated our times. This is his story of the fifteen years since he trounced Ken Livingstone at the polls to become mayor of London. Riots, tackling knife crime, bikes, buses, the London Olympics, and so much more. He writes about his role in Brexit, takes readers through all the big decisions and his reasons for taking them, and describes how he nearly died from Covid. Underlying everything in the book is his view that the UK is an extraordinary country and should have an exceptional future. These are the reflections of a political leader who believes fundamentally in levelling up – that there are millions of people in Britain who do not have the present they need or the future they deserve, and that it is the first job of politicians to put this right. It is all here. From soup to nuts, warts and all. As a journalist he was famed as a blurter of unsayable truths, and he has drawn again on this quality for the book. About people, policies, mistakes and triumphs. This is it – the reality as he saw it: unvarnished, unlocked, unleashed. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008618209 • Author: Boris Johnson • Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers • Format: Hardback • Pages: 784 • Dimensions: 24 x 15.9cm

'When I see something old, that I think is beautiful, special, valuable, it's not about the money. It's about being in another time and place.' Star of TV's Salvage Hunters, Drew Pritchard will go to the greatest lengths for the best deals. He discovered the casts Lord Elgin made of his infamous marbles in a school garage, and broke the bank to buy the tool box Malcolm Campbell used when he set the water speed record in 1934. He made a million. Lost it. And made it again. The face of the compulsively fascinating business of finding and restoring lost treasures, visionary Drew takes us up and down the country, into garages, factories, schools and pubs, digging out incredible items from that 'other time and place'. Then by lovingly restoring them, he brings our history back to life. A flat cap among silver spoons and old school ties, our favourite no-bullshit expert may be a one-off, but his story makes us all dream of that obscure piece of antiquity gathering dust in the garden shed... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953596 • Author: Drew Pritchard • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 19 x 1.26cm

'I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf.' Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau. During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale. As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited. In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honour the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781529423501 • Author: Tova Friedman & Malcolm Brabant • Publisher:  Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 3 x 19.6 cm

Two true-crime cases from the hit TV series Murder is Forever. MURDER, INTERRUPTED. Rich, cheating financier Frank Howard wants his wife dead, and he's willing to pay Billie Earl Johnson whatever it takes. But when the bullet misses the mark, Billie Earl and Frank will turn on each other in a fight for their lives . . .  MOTHER OF ALL MURDERS. Dee Dee Blancharde is a local celebrity. Television reports praise her as a single mother who tirelessly cares for her wheelchair-bound, chronically ill daughter. But when Gypsy Rose realises she isn't actually sick and Dee Dee has lied all these years, the daughter exacts her revenge . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953664 • Author: James Patterson • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2cm

After three years, Jeremy Clarkson has discovered the golden rule of farming: Whatever you hope will happen, won't. Enthusiastic schemes to diversify face defeat at the hands of the Council Planning department, or derision from Kaleb. Jeremy's plans for a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup are doubted by Lisa. And the stifling thickets of red tape keep only one person smiling – Cheerful Charlie, who charges by the hour. But the animals couldn’t be happier. A rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro is delighting the cows. The pigs are bringing home the bacon. And the goats are . . . most probably psychopaths. Yet on the good days it hard not to be optimistic. Where else do you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner? Maybe it’s not just Break-heart Maestro who gets a happy ending? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405961424 • Author: Jeremy Clarkson   • Publisher: Penguin • Format: Paperback • Pages: 192 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.2 x 19.7cm

How do you stop your past from determining your future? “It’s what daddies do with their little girls,” he explains, “every little girl does it. But it’s a secret, and you must not talk about it.”  Cassie was too young to remember when her father started abusing her, but she remembers how unclean it made her feel. When she got married at sixteen and had a family of her own, she thought she’d finally escaped his clutches, but he found a way to make sure she could never move on. Turning to drink to cope, Cassie’s babies were taken into care and her husband left her. Now would begin the biggest challenge of her life: winning her children back and working to eclipse the pain of the past. This is the heartbreaking true story of a little girl that just wanted to be loved. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953589 • Author: Toni Maguire & Cassie Cook • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Pages: 336 • Format: Paperback • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2cm

In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholsterer in Vienna, was seized by the Nazis. Along with his teenage son, Fritz, he was sent to Buchenwald in Germany. There began an unimaginable ordeal that saw the pair beaten, starved and forced to build the very concentration camp they were held in.  When Gustav was set to be transferred to Auschwitz, a certain death sentence, Fritz refused to leave his side. Throughout the horrors they witnessed and the suffering they endured, there was one constant that kept them alive: the love between father and son.  Based on Gustav's secret diary and meticulous archive research, this book tells his and Fritz's story for the first time - a story of courage and survival unparalleled in the history of the Holocaust. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405976527 • Author: Jeremy Dronfield • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 432 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6cm

Hollywood legend and British national treasure Sir Michael Caine shares the wisdom, stories, insight and skills that life has taught him in his remarkable career - and now his 85th year. One of our best-loved actors Michael Caine has starred in a huge range of films - including all-time favourites - from the classic British movies Alfie, Zulu and The Italian Job to the Hollywood blockbusting Dark Knight trilogy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hannah and Her Sisters and Cider House Rules. Caine has excelled in every kind of role - with a skill that's made it look easy.He knows what success takes - he's made it to the top of his profession from the toughest beginning. But as he says 'Small parts can lead to big things. And if you keep doing things right, the stars will align when you least expect it.' Now in his 85th year he wants to share everything he's learned.With brilliant new insight into his life and work and with his wonderful gift for story, this is Caine at his wise and entertaining best. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781473689329 • Author: Michael Caine • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.2 x 19.6 cm

From the hit TV series come two true-crime stories where the bonds of matrimony and love can tear you brutally apart. TILL MURDER DO US PART  (with Andrew Bourelle)  Kathi Spiars can't believe she's found such a good man to marry as Steven Marcum. Twelve years later, she starts to suspect that he isn't who he says he is. As she digs into his past, she doesn't realise that learning the truth will lead to a lifetime of fear and hiding.  RAMP UP TO MURDER  (with Max DiLallo)  Brandi McClain, a young, beautiful teenager, moves to California from Arizona, to model and live with her new boyfriend, a professional skateboarder. But her perfect life is about to turn on its head. In San Diego, investigators hunt for a missing girl. It's a case that seems to be plagued by dead ends. But once the truth emerges, it's more haunting than they could have imagined. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953671 • Author: James Patterson • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2cm

SAS Great Escapes Two recounts the hitherto untold stories of six of the most dramatic and daring escapes executed by the world's most famous fighting force during WWII. From the very earliest SAS missions to the push into Nazi-occupied Europe, they cover some of the key figures in the Regiment, including its founder, David Stirling, plus other lesser-known heroes. With each story comes an edge-of-the-seat, rollercoaster ride in classic Damien Lewis fashion, as readers are plunged into the escapees' experiences - sharing their most terrifying yet inspiring moments. These stunning accounts of survival beggar belief, revealing nerve-racking bluff and deception, knife-edge encounters with enemy hunter forces hellbent on wreaking vengeance and murder, but also incredible acts of mercy and kindness from those who risk all to help the escapees on their way. Each tale of breath-taking derring-do reveals how necessity really is the mother of all invention, as with every step and at every juncture these fugitives defied fate, snatching survival and freedom from the jaws of the enemy, and all the horrors that would have followed capture. Damien Lewis has worked closely with the families of those portrayed, accessing wartime diaries, letters, mission reports, interrogation transcripts and more, to relate how the men of the SAS crossed blazing deserts, evaded enemy hunter forces and escaped through hostile lands, battling against seemingly insurmountable odds. But most of all, these uplifting tales of endurance beyond measure showcase the triumph of the human spirit and the will to survive. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781529429428 • Author: Damien Lewis • Publisher: Quercus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm

On 28 November 2004, banker and father-of-two Alistair Wilson was shot three times on his doorstep in a killing more commonly associated with inner city gang wars than a sleepy seaside town in the Scottish Highlands. All these years later, the question remains: why? Who would wish to kill this respectable husband and family man in such a brutal fashion? Was it simply a tragic case of mistaken identity, or did someone have reason to end Alistair's life? And what was the significance of the envelope handed to him before he was fatally wounded? Over the years, lines of enquiry have been investigated and dismissed, gossip has spread, theories offered and rumours debated at length. And yet, so long after Alistair's death, no arrest has ever been made and precious few motives have been made public. In this gripping true crime investigation, Peter Bleksley, top ex-undercover cop and The Chief on Channel 4's Hunted, strives to uncover the truth and hunt down Alistair's killer. He travels to Scotland, speaks to experts, and draws on his decades of investigative experience in order to provide new insight into Scotland's most mysterious murder case. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781786069832 • Author:  Peter Bleksley • Publisher: John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 1.8 x 19.6 cm

One of the most harrowing child abuse memoirs you'll ever read . . . Please Save Me is a story of the sickening abuse to which a father subjected his daughter, which led to her giving birth to two children conceived from that abuse. Mandy's father was seen as a pillar of society but no one knew what went on behind closed doors. From the age of 11, he raped his daughter four times a week, like clockwork, forcing himself on her even when she was pregnant. After being dismissed and ignored for years, Mandy finally found someone to believe her and help bring her father to justice. This remarkable woman now tells her story in the hope of shedding light on the horrors so many children endure, as well as exploring the stigma of conception through rape. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789467840 • Author: Mandy Yousaf • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.7cm

One of the most remarkable stories in the history of Special Forces' operations - Daily Express In the bleak moments after defeat on mainland Europe in winter 1939, wartime leader Winston Churchill knew that Britain had to strike back hard. He recruited a band of eccentric free-thinking warriors to become the first 'deniable' secret operatives behind enemy lines, offering these volunteers nothing but the potential for glory and all-but-certain death. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare tells of the daring victories for this small force of 'freelance pirates' in their many missions against the Nazis, often dressed in enemy uniforms and breaking all previously held rules of warfare. Master storyteller and military historian Damien Lewis brings the true adventures of the secret unit to life, from their earliest missions to the death of the group's leader just weeks before the end of World War Two. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781529439526 • Author: Damien Lewis • Publisher: Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.8 x 19.6 cm

Alice Vinten, a former Met Police Constable with over 10 years of service on the force, shares the stories of brave and dedicated policewomen who have been involved in real-life cases in the UK, based on a series of interviews with these women who have spent their entire careers at the sharp end of crime-fighting.  The Real Happy Valley reveals what life on the beat is really like. From dealing with domestic abuse cases to facing personal assaults, gang crime and murder, these courageous women stop at nothing to bring criminals to justice, never failing to put others' safety before their own.  Gripping and inspiring, The Real Happy Valley is a celebration of our finest policewomen's extraordinary courage, and their peerless commitment to protect and serve. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804997031 • Author: Alice Vinten • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.7cm

In 1940, as Britain braced for war, a group of poor London girls were dispatched to a children's home in Ascot to escape the merciless Luftwaffe bombing. At Englemere Wood they came under the care of the formidable but kindly Matron Doris Bailey - the Angel of Englemere - who cherished each girl as her own.  Through first-hand accounts from the surviving girls, their stories and anecdotes shed light on life at the time - from the emotional upheaval of evacuation to adventures on the royal grounds of their new home - and the work of a woman who helped save a generation.  Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405976510 • Author: Karen Farrington • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.2cm

'I heard a horrible screaming sound, like an animal being slaughtered ... then I realised it was me.'  When Katie Piper was 24, her life was near perfect. Young and beautiful, she was well on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a model.  But then she met Daniel Lynch on Facebook and her world quickly turned into a nightmare. After being held captive and brutally raped by her new boyfriend, Katie was subjected to a vicious acid attack. Within seconds, this bright and bubbly girl could feel her looks and the life she loved melting away.  Beautiful is the moving true story of how one young woman had her mind, body and spirit cruelly snatched from her and how she inspired millions with her fight to get them back. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529104356 • Author: Katie Piper • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.1cm

No Irish rugby player has ever achieved more, or been a source of more inspiration to teammates and fans alike, than Johnny Sexton. In his hotly anticipated autobiography, Johnny tells the story of his life and explores the sources of his unmatched will to win. The Sexton era was marked by four European Cups, four Six Nations championships (including two Grand Slams), a series win in New Zealand, two stints for Ireland at number 1 in the world, and the World Player of the Year award. Always outspoken on and off the field, Sexton offers an honest look at his childhood, his seemingly inauspicious early experiences in club and professional rugby, his relationships with key teammates and coaches (including Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell), and his ideas about the game. Obsessed is more than just a brilliantly detailed account of a legendary playing career. It is also a work of deep self-exploration, tracing the psychological arc of a player who almost always felt embattled, who struggled with self-doubt, and who was still learning new lessons about being a team-mate and a leader into his late thirties. Intense, witty, perceptive and frank, Obsessed is an autobiography worthy of its author and the essential chronicle of an extraordinary era in Irish rugby. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781844885206 • Author: Johnny Sexton • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Hardback • Pages: 432 • Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.1 x 3.9cm

Think of this memoir as a Christmas special in book form, from someone who has been involved in a few of those and understands a bit about the concept. But a Christmas special very much like Only Fools and Horses, in the sense that the stories will be always heading outwards, ranging far and wide and well beyond the traditional festive gags involving giblets left in turkeys. As I sift through various festive-related episodes in my career, loosening the ribbons, parting the wrapping paper, I'll be doing my best to reach any relevant conclusions about life, work and the meaning of it all that I can usefully pass on to you - baubles of wisdom if you like. Or certainly baubles. You'll learn why I have the perfect face to play Scrooge. And if you're lucky I'll also share what it's like to fly in a helicopter with my old mucker Tom Cruise. Merry Christmas, you plonkers. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804955550 • Author: David Jason • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.1cm