The Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely ( JR Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett and the classics) and intelligently. MORE
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You Sam Gosling Does what's in your bathroom or on your desk reveal what’s on your mind? Is your choice of food or the way you sleep about to give you away? And why do handshakes display how outgoing we are more than our bedrooms? For ten years Sam Gosling has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner selves, and how we form impressions of others. One of the world’s most ingenious researchers, he dispatches teams of scientific snoops to poke around in people’s homes and offices, and discovers that our possessions and daily lives can unexpectedly say more about us, often when the information is cleverly combined, than our most intimate conversations. MORE
Fixing Climate: The story of climate science – and how to stop global warming Robert Kunzig and Wallace S. Broecker With Broecker as his guide, award-winning science writer Robert Kunzig looks back at Earth’s volatile climate history so as to shed light on the challenges ahead. Ice ages, planetary orbits, a giant ‘conveyor belt’ in the ocean … it’s a riveting story full of maverick thinkers, extraordinary discoveries and an urgent blueprint for action. MORE
Stonehenge Rosemary Hill This is the first book to approach Stonehenge without any theoretical position. It describes what is known and believed about the monument’s construction from c. 3000 BCE onwards. MORE
The Concise 33 Strategies of War Robert Greene From bestselling author Robert Greene comes a new guide to the strategies of war that can help us gain mastery in the modern world. Spanning world civilisations, and synthesising dozens of political, philosophical, and religious texts, The Concise 33 Strategies of War is a guide to the subtle social game of everyday life. Based on profound and timeless lessons, it is abundantly illustrated with examples of the genius and folly of everyone from Napoleon to Margaret Thatcher and Hannibal to Ulysses S. Grant, as well as diplomats, captains of industry and Samurai swordsmen. MORE
Japan Through the Looking Glass Alan Macfarlane This entertaining and endlessly surprising book takes us on an exploration into every aspect of Japanese society from the most public to the most intimate. A series of meticulous investigations gradually uncovers the multi-faceted nature of a country and people who are even more extraordinary than they seem. MORE
The Templars: From Solomon’s Temple to the Freemasons: A guide to Templar history, culture and locations Michael Haag An order of warrior monks founded after the First Crusade to protect pilgrims to Jerusalem, the Templars developed into one of the wealthiest and most powerful bodies in the medieval world. Yet two centuries later, the Knights were suddenly arrested and accused of blasphemy, heresy and orgies, their order was abolished, and their leaders burnt at the stake. Their dramatic end shocked their contemporaries and has gripped peoples’ imaginations ever since. MORE
The First Emperor of China Frances Wood The First Emperor gave us the name by which China is known in the West and, by his unification or elimination of six states, created imperial China. He stressed the rule of law but suppressed all opposition, burning books and burying scholars alive. MORE
Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus Tim Hindle Developed from the Guide to Management Ideas this new book not only includes the most significant ideas that have influenced the management of business over the past century, but it also includes entries on the most influential business thinkers of the past and present. MORE
The Game Changer: How Every Leader Can Drive Everyday Innovation A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan It is by making innovation an intimate, intentional part of the business that A. G. Lafley – the Jack Welch of the 21st century – has recently transformed Procter & Gamble from a $39 into a $76 billion dollar company that touches more than 3 billion people around the world. On the brink of collapse when he joined in 2000, it became a model for growth and innovation. MORE
Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South East Asia Joe Studwell 40 or 50 families control the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their interests range from banking to property, from shipping to sugar, from vice to gambling. 13 of the 50 richest families in the world are in South East Asia yet they are largely unknown outside confined business circles. MORE
