True Story Books

In 1938, before Kindertransport, Jewish parents in Vienna took out adverts in the Manchester Guardian asking for people to take in their children – a desperate, last ditch attempt to save them from the Nazis. Eighty-three years later, Julian Borger discovers an advert for an ‘intelligent boy, aged 11, Viennese of good family’. It was his father, Robert. Like almost everything about his childhood, Robert had kept this a secret, until he took his own life. Starting with nothing but the adverts, Borger traces the remarkable stories of his father, the other advertised children and their families. From a Viennese radio shop to the Shanghai ghetto, internment camps and family homes across Britain, forests and concentration camps in Germany, smugglers saving Jewish lives in Holland, an improbable French Resistance cell, and a redemptive story of survival in New York, he unearths the astonishing journeys and legacies of children left in the hands of fate – and at the mercy of other people’s kindness. I Seek a Kind Person is a gripping story of grief, inheritance, courage and hope. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781399803311 • Author: Julian Borger • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3 cm

Filled with terrifying tales of ghosts and ghouls, poltergeists and other unexplained encounters, this bone-chilling compendium of paranormal phenomena is sure to haunt you long after you have turned the final page Did you hear about the ghost who solved her own murder? What about the terrifying case of the Battersea poltergeist? Do you know the story of the killer ghost of Kentucky? Prepare for your blood to run cold and for your heart to beat a little faster, because the disturbing tales lurking within are not for the faint-hearted. Delve into this collection to discover infamous accounts of the eerie and the unexplained - as well as lesser-known strange, contemporary happenings from across the globe - and connect to the rich tradition of paranormal stories that have captivated humankind throughout the ages. But beware: after sampling these sinister histories, you might be too scared to close your eyes - no matter how much your body craves sleep. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781837994854 • Author: Jamie King • Publisher: Summersdale Publishers Ltd • Format: Paperback  • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.69 x 13.11 x 2.01 cm

The mystery has haunted generations since the Second World War: Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family? And why? Now, thanks to radical new technology and the obsession of a retired FBI agent, this book offers an answer. Rosemary Sullivan unfolds the story in a gripping, moving narrative. Over thirty million people have read The Diary of a Young Girl, the journal teenaged Anne Frank kept while living in an attic with her family and four other people in Amsterdam during World War II, until the Nazis arrested them and sent them to a concentration camp. But despite the many works – journalism, books, plays and novels – devoted to Anne’s story, none has ever conclusively explained how these eight people managed to live in hiding undetected for over two years – and who or what finally brought the Nazis to their door. With painstaking care, retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and a team of indefatigable investigators pored over tens of thousands of pages of documents – some never before seen – and interviewed scores of descendants of people familiar with the Franks. Utilising methods developed by the FBI, the Cold Case Team painstakingly pieced together the months leading to the infamous arrest – and came to a shocking conclusion. The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation is the riveting story of their mission. Rosemary Sullivan introduces us to the investigators, explains the behaviour of both the captives and their captors and profiles a group of suspects. All the while, she vividly brings to life wartime Amsterdam: a place where no matter how wealthy, educated, or careful you were, you never knew whom you could trust. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008353872 • Author: Rosemary Sullivan • Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers • Format: Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.6 cm

A deeply moving and unforgettable portrait of an ordinary and yet an extraordinary teenage girl. First published over sixty years ago, Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl has reached millions of young people throughout the world. In July 1942, thirteen-year-old Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the occupation, went into hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse. Over the next two years Anne vividly describes in her diary the frustrations of living in such close quarters, and her thoughts, feelings and longings as she grows up. Her diary ends abruptly when, in August 1944, they were all betrayed. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241657959 • Author: Anne Frank • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 372 • Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 2.2 cm

Christopher Berry-Dee is a world-renowned investigative criminologist. He has gained the trust of murderers across the world and now delves into the mind of perhaps the most sadistic and psychopathic killer of all time. Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer murdered and dismembered seventeen boys and men. But he is most notorious for what happened to his victims after their grisly deaths and the shocking depravity that led to Dahmer being dubbed the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’. Using his long experience and psychological expertise, Berry-Dee seeks to understand the motivation, the amoral urges and the merciless horror behind Dahmer's inhuman behaviour: what could make a man do this? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781913543310 • Author: Christopher Berry-Dee • Publisher: Ad Lib Publishers Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 256 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 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

'Don't leave me here! Please, don't leave me.' What possesses a mum to kidnap her own child? That's what Maggie asks herself when she's asked to foster 13-year-old Saskia, the subject of a bitter custody battle between her parents. When Saskia's mum Rosa fears the courts are going to favour her ex-husband, James, she takes matters into her own hands. With Rosa facing criminal charges, and Saskia refusing to live with her dad, her future looks uncertain. Will Maggie be able to step in and discover the bombshell that will tear this family apart? From Britain's best-loved foster carer, a new and inspiring true story of secrets and hope. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781399629256 • Author: Maggie Hartley • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 256 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm

Every family has its secrets, but some are worse than others. Lynn’s mother wanted the world to see the perfect family. An immaculate house, three well-dressed children and a charming husband. But behind closed doors it was a different story. Abused by her father from when she was just a baby, Lynn would scream for her mother, who ignored the little girl’s cries. Nothing was going to shatter her perfect life. Threatened by their parents, Lynn and her brother never told anyone in fear of being separated, but the trauma of their past followed them throughout their lives, with devastating consequences. Now as Lynn tries to piece together and come to terms with her past as an adult, she discovers she wasn’t the only one with a secret. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529988505 • Author: Toni Maguire & Lynn Murray • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, which began on 2 September 2024, has captured the world's attention. Behind the haunting details of Pelicot's unthinkable crimes are a mother, Gisèle Pelicot, and a daughter, Caroline Darian, who were forced to rebuild their lives. This is their story. In November 2020, Caroline Darian received a call from the police in Carpentras. Her father was in police custody. The seizure of his computer equipment revealed the unthinkable: since 2013, he had drugged his wife before handing her over, in a state of unconsciousness, to men, from all ages and stages of life. With exceptional courage, Darian recounts the earth-shattering discovery that a loved one, her own father, is capable of the worst. But more importantly, she shares the remarkable story of her mother Gisèle and how she carried on living, without self-pity, while learning to manage all of the things her husband once took care of. She shares how her mother managed to maintain her joie de vivre in circumstances none of us could imagine. Gisèle Pelicot has won acclaim around the world after she gave up her right to anonymity and opted for a public trial, a trial in which Caroline herself has testified, turning the tables: the shame no longer borne by the victims in silence but directed, at last, to the abusers. She has also written her own book, A Hymn to Life. Together, mother and daughter reveal another side to the violence committed against women, as they bravely transform their private trauma into a collective fight. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781785126031 • Author: Caroline Darian • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 208 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.3 cm

In this extraordinary work of non-fiction, we hear the unforgettable stories of everyday heroes who look after our families, our friends and ourselves in the most challenging circumstances imaginable. When we're at our worst, nurses are at their best. Around the clock, highly skilled and compassionate men and women sacrifice and struggle for us and our loved ones. You have never heard their true stories. Not like this. From big-city and small-town hospitals. These are stories told from the heart. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you understand the importance of the work they do. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781804955604 • Author: James Patterson & Matt Eversmann • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.9 cm

HMP Wakefield. ‘Monster Mansion’. Hell to be inside. Almost impossible to escape. This prison has seen some of the most infamous prisoners of all time pass through its cells – from Levi Bellfield to Harold Shipman, Ian Huntley and Charles Bronson. Jonathan Levi and Emma French are the perfect authors to give chilling insight into all the terrible men who have served time there. After detailing the shocking truth of life in Britain’s most high-profile psychiatric hospital in their bestselling book Inside Broadmoor, now they will take readers behind bars in this the UK’s most notorious prison. Inside Wakefield Prison will trace its long and intriguing history, from when it was first built in 1594 all the way up to the present day. Today, just over 750 of the country’s most dangerous offenders are kept there, including ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Robert Maudsley, notorious killer Jeremy Bamber and former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins. Featuring all the sinister and truly horrifying stories that have emerged from the prison, as well as new unheard tales, this book will fascinate and shock readers on every page. Told with the help of interviews with staff, experts – and even in the words of the prisoners themselves – this is a no-holds-barred journey into the dark. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789467536 • Author: Jonathan Levi & Emma French • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2cm

The extraordinary story of Olympian who was imprisoned in Auschwitz and survived to tell his story. Alfred Nakache, a Jewish child from Constantine, never imagined that he would one day swim for France at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, nor than he would achieve a world record, as he did in 1941. As a child he was petrified of the water and yet, somehow, through sheer willpower and determination, he rose to become one of the very best swimmers in the world. That was until 1943, when he was banned from the pool - and in the same year, deported and sent to Auschwitz. Not knowing if he would ever see his wife and daughter again, Alfred battled on, through the humiliation and the pain, even defying the guards by swimming in the water reserves of Auschwitz. Somehow - miraculously - he survived, swimming every day until the end of his life. The Swimmer of Auschwitz is the unique, true story of a forgotten hero, told with remarkable power and simplicity. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800962965 • Author: Renaud Leblond • Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 12.6 x 19.6 x 1.8 cm

‘Please help me,’ he said in a small voice. ‘Will you help me?’ Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are unable to get a hold of his mum and her partner. Social Services are called and when Ralph turns up at Maggie’s house, she knows immediately it’s going to be a challenge. Within a couple of hours, Ralph has trashed Maggie’s house and spit on her face. After a nightmare first day though, Maggie notices that Ralph is limping and a hospital check reveals broken limbs and several injuries that are months and years old. Can Maggie help this troubled little boy who has been rejected by everyone in his life find his forever home? From Britain’s most-loved foster carer, a new powerful true story of abuse, family and hope. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781399620925 • Author: Maggie Hartley • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.56 x 12.7 x 2.29 cm

'If I had to choose between betraying my friend and betraying my country, I hope I should have the courage to betray my country.' E. M. FORSTER People have betrayed their country, or their friends, for all kinds of different reasons - conscience, conviction, love, as well as pride, vengeance and greed. The stories in Traitors range from the faith-inspired terrorism of Guy Fawkes to the non-violent White Rose gang of students who defied Hitler; from patriotic rebels such as Roger Casement to ambivalent ideologues such as Lord Haw-Haw and the Cambridge spy Kim Philby; and from femmes fatales such as Mata Hari to unwitting victims such as Lady Jane Grey. Those found guilty of treason have usually faced the same penalty: death. But as these thoroughly researched and grippingly told tales of treachery show, one man's traitor may sometimes be another man's hero . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529440010 • Author: Ian Crofton • Publisher: Quercus Publishing plc • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm

You know who the Peaky Blinders are ... It's time to see where they began. At the turn of the twentieth century, Birmingham was seemingly transforming into a wealthy, bustling metropolis, celebrated for its manufacturing and local government. Yet behind this optimistic facade, the poorest and most vulnerable in society were abandoned. This longstanding inequality aroused unrest, sparking violence and terror from backstreet gangsters who'd become known as peaky blinders. In this fourth instalment of the bestselling series, historian Carl Chinn draws upon his decades of expertise and his own family history to reveal even more about these notorious gangs, going back to where it all began. Chinn exposes the real people whose bloody feuds, murders and maiming, baiting of police officers, bullying of the decent poor, gendered violence, blackmailing, and disturbing roles in political riots and racist attacks made Birmingham infamous as the city of the Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders: The Real Gangs and Gangsters is a vivid and shocking portrait of Birmingham through the Victorian and Edwardian eras, unpicking the storied history of its vicious gangs to reveal how they forced themselves into notoriety. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789467291 • Author: Carl Chinn • Publisher: Bonnier Books UK Limited • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 13 x 19.8 x 2.5 cm

A gripping compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figures. Who was the Zodiac Killer? What drove Jeffrey Dahmer to dismember his 17 victims? How many women really fell prey to Ted Bundy? Maybe it's because our animal instincts draw us to dangerous situations; maybe it's because reading about predators allows us to learn about their behaviours in a safe setting. Whatever the reason, serial killers and their crimes have fascinated us for centuries. This true crime compendium not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators. The stories within are shocking and often difficult to comprehend, but with this deep dive into the world of the macabre, readers may gain a greater understanding of the motivations and thought processes of these murderers. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the psychology of crime and the human mind. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781837991228 • Author:  Jamie King • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.7 x 2.2 cm

Decidedly absurd and always entertaining, the very best letters to The Times are a treasure trove of wit, humour and unexpected insight. From bizarre uses for old school ties to the nostalgic disappearance of the humble washing line, this collection lets you in on more than a few inside jokes from one of Britain’s longest-running correspondences. While the other pages of the newspaper chronicle the pressing issues of the day, the Letters page often muses on the things that really matter. Now back for the third year in a row, Sir: The year in letters is a selection of the best of these letters, an elegant and erudite display of Times readers at their most whimsical and droll. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008752934 • Author: Andrew Riley • Publisher: Times Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 192  • Dimensions: 11.7 x 18.4 x 2.2 cm

US President John F. Kennedy's killing in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, sent a shockwave around the world. The charismatic young Democrat was seen as a beacon of hope in the West, but his liberal reforming policies had made him many powerful enemies at home. For sixty years, numerous theories have swirled around this key event in American - and world - history. Yet whatever the conclusions of the official Warren Report - that the President had been assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald - many people doubt that to be true. Indeed, President Nixon later admitted on tape that the report was 'a hoax committed on the American people.' John Hughes-Wilson, a former colonel in British Intelligence, has sifted through the millions of words and thousands of pieces of evidence, to put together an intelligence assessment of what really happened that dreadful high noon in Dallas in 1963. Reading this astounding book, no one can be in any doubt that JFK's death was not at the hands of a lone deranged gunman, but a deadly plot to remove a President who threatened vested interests at home and abroad.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789467376 • Author:  John Hughes-Wilson • Publisher:  John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  368 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm   

Cairo, 1942: If you had asked a British officer who Colonel Clarke was, they would have been able to point him out: always ready with a drink and a story, he was a well-known figure in the local bars. If you then asked what he did, you would have less success. Those who knew didn’t tell, and almost no one really knew at all. Clarke thought of himself as developing a new kind of weapon. Its components? Rumour, stagecraft, a sense of fun. Its target? The mind of Erwin Rommel, Hitler’s greatest general. Throughout history, military commanders have sought to mislead their opponents. Dudley Clarke set out to do it on a scale no one had imagined before. Even afterwards, almost no one understood the magnitude of his achievement. Drawing on recently released documents and hugely expanding on the louche portrait of Clarke as seen in SAS: Rogue Heroes, journalist and historian Robert Hutton reveals the amazing story of Clarke’s A Force, the invention of the SAS and the Commandos, and the masterful hoodwinking of the Desert Fox at the battle of El Alamein. The Illusionist tells for the first time the dazzling tale of how, at a pivotal moment in the war, British eccentricity and imagination combined to thwart the Nazis and save innumerable lives – on both sides. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781474626040 • Author: Robert Hutton • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback • Pages: 384 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm

In June 2005 four US Navy SEALs left their base in Afghanistan for the Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al-Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less than twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs was alive. This is the story of team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing. Blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing, Luttrell endured four desperate days fighting the al-Qaeda assassins sent to kill him, before finding unlikely sanctuary with a Pashtun tribe who risked everything to protect him from the circling Taliban killers. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780751555943 • Author: Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson • Publisher: Orion Publishing • Format: Paperback  • Pages: 400 • Dimensions: 19.5 x 12.9 x 2.7 cm