Autobiographies

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They called for a break, and Gambon magicked up a cigarette from out of his beard. He and I were often to be found outside the stage that housed the Astronomy Tower, having 'a breath of fresh air' as we referred to it. There would be painters and plasterers and chippies and sparks, and among them all would be me and Dumbledore having a crafty cigarette. From Borrower to wizard, Tom Felton's childhood was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame saw him catapulted into the limelight aged just twelve when he landed the iconic role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. Speaking with candour and his own trademark humour, Tom shares his experience of growing up on screen and as part of the wizarding world for the very first time. He tells all about his big break, what filming was really like and the lasting friendships he made during ten years with the franchise, as well as the highs and lows of fame and the reality of navigating adult life after filming finished. Prepare to meet a real-life wizard. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953565 • Author: Tom Felton • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Pages: 336 • Format: Paperback • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.1cm

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

Eddy de Wind, a Dutch doctor and psychiatrist, was shipped to Auschwitz with his wife Friedel, whom he had met and married at the Westerbork labour camp in the Netherlands. At Auschwitz, they made it through the brutal selection process and were put to work. Each day, each hour became a battle for survival. For Eddy, this meant negotiating with the volatile guards in the medical barracks. For Friedel, it meant avoiding the Nazis’ barbaric medical experiments. As the end of the war approached and the Russian Army drew closer, the last Nazis fled, taking many prisoners with them, including Friedel. Eddy hid under a pile of old clothes and stayed behind. Finding a notebook and pencil, he began to write with furious energy about his experiences. Last Stop Auschwitz is an extraordinary account of life as a prisoner, a near real-time record of the daily struggle to survive but also of the flickering moments of joy Eddy and Friedel found in each other - passing notes through the fence, sometimes stealing a brief embrace. Documenting the best and the worst of humanity, it is a unique and timeless story that reminds us of what we as humans are capable of, but that there is hope, even in Hell. Thought to be the only complete book written within Auschwitz itself, it will linger with you long after the final page has been turned. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804995730 • Author:  Eddy de Wind • Publisher:  Doubleday • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  272 • Dimensions: 14.4 x 2.7 x 22.2 cm

'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

A definitive and intriguing biography of Max Verstappen, Formula 1's superstar, Lewis Hamilton's great rival and the three-time winner of the World Drivers' Championship. No Hollywood scriptwriter could possibly have envisioned the breathless, adrenaline-pumping climax to the 2021 Formula 1 season. On the very last lap of the final race of an unbelievably arduous and controversial season, Red Bull's Max Verstappen nervelessly overtook the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes to clinch the first place that thrust the young prodigy to the narrowest of victories and to his first World Drivers' title. He followed up by taking the 2022 and 2023 titles as well. Verstappen may only be 26 years of age, but the Dutch motorsport sensation has an incredible record in F1. This young man has already left an indelible mark on the sport. The son of F1 driver Jos, Verstappen junior quickly stepped out of his father's shadow: his youthful charisma, ferocious speed, fearless driving style and refusal to back down mark him out as a true champion. And the phenomenal success of Netflix's Drive to Survive documentary series has elevated his worldwide popularity still further. Widely respected motorsport writer and F1 insider Mark Hughes is perfectly placed to write the most authoritative narrative on Verstappen's incredible rise through the ranks to F1 glory. Hughes' immaculate credentials and first-rate access enable him to generate fresh and fascinating insights, and to paint a fully-rounded and richly-textured portrait of one of the most exciting young sportsmen on the planet.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781472299048 • Author:  Mark Hughes • Publisher:  Headline • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions:   15.4 x 3.6 x 23.6 cm

'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

From declaring my love to Vanessa Redgrave to being fed cockroaches by Steve Buscemi, from turnip-based comedy with Blackadder to being farted on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Graham Norton's sofa to Alan Cumming's campervan, my life has been (and continues to be) a riotous adventure. Oh Miriam! has been such a constant refrain in my life, said in all kinds of tones - laughs, surprised gasps and orgasmic sighs (I'm hoping for all those from you as you read on!) - that it had to be the title of this book. And with a castlist that stretches from Churchill to di Caprio, Dahl to Dietrich, Princess Margaret to Maggie Smith, I've got so much more to tell you and so much more to say. My chapters range from 'How to Stay Married' to 'Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down'. Discover how to break the thickest conversational ice; why swearing is actually good for you (though not on the Today programme); the unexpected things I actually learnt at school and what my Spice Girl name would be. Not to mention my Tale of the Unexpected and my very own Vagina Monologue. Buckle up and join me on another unforgettable adventure, but this time through my heart and head...  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781399803359 • Author: Miriam Margolyes • Publisher:  John Murray • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  336 • Dimensions: 15.29 x 1.78 x 23.39 cm 

Queen of Latin Ballroom, Shirley Ballas has a spectacular dance career spanning over 40 years – she has Cha-Cha'd her way across the world's dance floors to become a multi-award-winning ballroom champion and one of the most renowned dancers in the world. In 1996, Shirley retired from competitive dancing to become a highly-acclaimed coach and now holds the enviable position of Head Judge on BBC One's prime time show Strictly Come Dancing. In Behind the Sequins, she leads us through her dramatic and determined life, from growing up in a rough estate on the Wirral and leaving home at 14 years old, to conquering the high-octane world of ballroom and coping with betrayal, bullying, two broken marriages and a personal tragedy that left Shirley and her family devastated. Speaking from the heart, Shirley leaves her dancing shoes at the door to tell you the story of a fiery, strong-willed grafter who could make the brat pack blush. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781785949470 • Author: Shirley Ballas • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 400 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.5cm

The powerful, heart-breaking memoir of Dita Kraus, the real-life Librarian of Auschwitz. Born in Prague to a Jewish family in 1929, Dita Kraus has lived through the most turbulent decades of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Here, Dita writes with startling clarity on the horrors and joys of a life delayed by the Holocaust. From her earliest memories and childhood friendships in Prague before the war, to the Nazi-occupation that saw her and her family sent to the Jewish ghetto at Terezín, to the unimaginable fear and bravery of her imprisonment in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and life after liberation. Dita writes unflinchingly about the harsh conditions of the camps and her role as librarian of the precious books that her fellow prisoners managed to smuggle past the guards. But she also looks beyond the Holocaust – to the life she rebuilt after the war: her marriage to fellow survivor Otto B Kraus, a new life in Israel and the happiness and heartbreaks of motherhood. Part of Dita's story was told in fictional form in the Sunday Times bestseller The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. Her memoir tells the full story in her own words. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953503 • Author: Dita Kraus • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 480 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8cm

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

A celebration of the natural year, Matt Baker's first ever book will take the reader on a journey through the seasons: January to December, Spring to Winter on his Hertfordshire farm with his family. Over the past year our relationship with nature has become vital, and Matt's observations of the natural world make for healing reading. The surrounding British wildlife plays a major role in life on the farm and Matt's thoughts and reflections can help every one of us.  The book will also follow Matt in his bid to save his parent's organic sheep farm in the rolling Durham Hills, covered in the 4-part More4 television series Our Farm on the Dales, airing in spring this year.  Much-loved on Blue Peter, BBC One's Countryfile and The One Show, Matt Baker writes about his family, his farming life and the power and beauty of the natural world.  Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405976503 • Author: Matt Baker • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.1cm

BAFTA-winning actor, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Now, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story - and it's well worth the wait. Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had and why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had. From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with brilliant, hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529379907 • Author: Miriam Margolyes • Publisher: John Murray • Format: Paperback • Pages: 448 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm

The instant Sunday Times bestseller  Shortlisted for the Autobiography of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards  'A life of two wonderfully entertaining halves' Sunday Times  Rewind to 1971, and Sue Barker's coach is sending his 15-year-old tennis protégée to a junior championship in France, alone, with a one-way ticket, telling her she'll have to win the money to pay for her return fare. Sue hides in the grounds of the hosting tennis club overnight, to avoid paying for a hotel. The next day, she walks onto court and smashes it. Five years later, and she's Britain's No 1.  The same combination of grit, grace and talent took her to the top of live Sports TV. And now, after three decades on camera encouraging other legends to share their stories, she is telling her own.  Going all in for her once-only autobiography, Sue takes us inside the showbizzy world of 70s and early 80s tennis. She reveals the battles she fought for hard-won success in two careers and gives us a ringside seat on the nation's biggest sporting dramas, and a fascinating insider's understanding of competitors under pressure.  This is the remarkable life story of a tennis champion, an award-winning broadcaster who has brought sporting history into our living rooms for decades, and a trail-blazing woman who has always called the shots. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529953572 • Author: Sue Barker • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.1cm

Global superstar, songwriter, singer and Princess of Pop Britney Spears tells all in her heartfelt and honest memoir that portrays her rise to fame, tumultuous relationship with her father, controversial conservatorship, widely documented mental health struggles and so much more. Battling with a parent to take control of your own life at the age of 39 seems impossible. But this is where superstar Britney Spears found herself, 13 years into a conservatorship constructed by her father. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as she spoke in open court for the first time, delivering a bombshell statement in which she described the complex legal arrangement as abusive and condemned the actions of her own father, Jamie. The impact of voicing her truth was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candour and humour, Spears's ground-breaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781398522541  • Author: Britney Spears • Publisher: Gallery UK • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions:  13 x 1.7 x 19.8cm

The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz presents a rare living testimony through the eyes of a child who had the unique ability to observe and remember every detail around him and chose to document it all. Thomas Geve was just 15 years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp on 11 April 1945. It was the third concentration camp he had survived. Upon arrival at Auschwitz- Birkenau, Thomas was separated from his mother and left to fend for himself in the men’s camp of Auschwitz I, at the age of 13. During the 22 months he was imprisoned, he was subjected to, and forced to observe first-hand, the inhumane world of Nazi concentration camps. On his eventual release Thomas felt compelled to capture daily life in the death camps in more than eighty profoundly moving drawings. Infamous scenarios synonymous with this dark period of history were portrayed in poignant but simplistic detail with extraordinary accuracy. Despite the unspeakable events he experienced, Thomas decided to become an active witness and tell the truth about life in the camps. He has spoken to audiences from around the world and continues to raise awareness about the Holocaust.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780008406394 • Author:  Thomas Geve • Publisher:  HarperCollins • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm

From weighing twenty-eight stone and fighting a deep depression, to his amazing return to heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson opens up and share his inspiring advice and tips on diet, exercise regime, and his incredible journey back to a healthier body and mind.  Frank, accessible and inspiring, The Furious Method is full of inspirational advice for readers on how we can all improve our physical and mental health, and create a champion mind-set. Whatever your starting point or past set-backs, Tyson shows you how you can make your own comeback and start living life to the fullest - fighting fit, mentally restored, and stronger than ever.  Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804954867 • Author: Tyson Fury • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.9cm

What are you willing to do to survive? What are you willing to endure if it means you might live? In the summer of 1942, twenty-two-year-old Franci Rabinek - designated a Jew by the Nazi racial laws - arrived at Terezin, a concentration camp and ghetto forty miles north of her home in Prague. It would be the beginning of her three-year journey from Terezin to the Czech family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau, to the slave labour camps in Hamburg, and finally Bergen Belsen. Franci, a spirited and glamorous young woman, was known among her fellow inmates as the Prague dress designer. Having endured the transportation of her parents, she never forgot her mother's parting words: 'Your only duty to us is to stay alive'. During an Auschwitz selection, Franci would spontaneously lie to Nazi officer Dr Josef Mengele, and claim to be an electrician. It was a split-second decision that would go on to endanger - and save - her life. Unpublished for 50 years, Franci's War is an astonishing account of one woman's attempt to survive. Heartbreaking and candid, Franci finds the light in her darkest years and the horrors she faces instill in her, strength and resilience to survive and to live again. She gives voice to the women prisoners in her tight-knit circle of friends. Her testimony sheds new light on the alliances, love affairs, and sexual barter that took place during the Holocaust, offering a compelling insight into the resilience and courage of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation.  Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405976480 • Author: Franci Rabinek Epstein • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • 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

At the age of sixty, and having lived with Parkinson’s disease for over ten years, Guy Deacon CBE set out on one last adventure: to drive solo from his home in the UK 18,000 miles and through twenty-five countries to Cape Town on the southern tip of Africa. This incredible journey, across Europe and down the full length of Africa, took the former British Army officer over twelve months. Along the way, he broke down five times, underwent one emergency evacuation, and took 3,650 prescription pills. There are only a handful of vehicles each year which attempt this difficult journey; many never complete it. Ongoing conflicts in Libya, South Sudan, Mozambique and many other countries make any journey exceptionally dangerous. In central Africa, road conditions, particularly in the rainy season, often make the going treacherous. Further hazards include illegal checkpoints, extortion, contaminated fuel and a lack of services. Guy drove, lived and slept in his VW Transporter, often in remote spots, hundreds of miles from the nearest village or town. Reliant on patchy GPS, he often got lost. His journey was, quite simply, an incredible feat by a man travelling alone with Stage 3 Parkinson’s disease, when simply putting on a pair of shoes can take half an hour. But not only did Guy’s journey fulfil a childhood dream to drive the length of Africa, his mission was also to raise global awareness of Parkinson’s disease, for which there is currently still no cure. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781802471885 • Author: Guy Deacon • Publisher: Ad Lib Publishers Ltd • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 240 • Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 2cm

The story of pop legend Dusty Springfield from the people who knew her, from her troubled childhood to 60s mod queen and enduring music icon. Dusty Springfield was one of our greatest pop singers. From 60s hits like ‘I Only Want to be With You’, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ and ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’ to her 80s collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys and beyond, she was a musical pioneer and the very essence of authentic white soul. A member of the US Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame, international polls have named Dusty among the best female pop artists of all time. Twenty-five years after her passing, she continues to fascinate and inspire. This classic biography is based on over forty-five original interviews with close friends and people who worked with her, including Sir Tom Jones, Lulu, legendary arranger Ivor Raymonde, and the late, great Atlantic Records trio, Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, with whom she recorded her classic album Dusty In Memphis. The book fully explores her life and legacy, from a troubled Home Counties childhood to 60s mod queen and solo star, to her struggles with addiction and mental health issues, to her status as an influential LGBT heroine and enduring pop icon.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789295863 • Author:  Lucy O'Brien • Publisher:  Michael O'Mara • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 2.2 x 19.8 cm