Both a classic coming-of-age story and a uniquely refreshing tale for our time, Gautam Malkani's internationally acclaimed debut novel has turned heads with its themes of new tribalism, aggressive masculinity, integration and the enduring shadow of generations. Now in a Perennial edition with a fascinating P.S. section, Londonstani is poised to become an iconic favourite of contemporary British literature, at par with the works of Irvine Welsh, Zadie Smith and Monica Ali.

Londonstani

Literature & Fiction

Malkani, Gautam

Contemporary

Penguin Press

Smarter Than You Think The Shallows

Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better

Thompson, Clive

The sensational second volume of Charles Moore's bestselling authorized biography of the Iron Lady In June 1983 Margaret Thatcher won the biggest increase in a government's Parliamentary majority in British electoral history. Over the next four years, as Charles Moore relates in this central volume of his uniquely authoritative biography, Britain's first woman prime minister changed the course of her country's history and that of the world, often by sheer force of will. The book reveals as never before how she faced down the Miners' Strike, transformed relations with Europe, privatized the commanding heights of British industry and continued the reinvigoration of the British economy. It describes her role on the world stage with dramatic immediacy, identifying Mikhail Gorbachev as 'a man to do business with' before he became leader of the Soviet Union, and then persistently pushing him and Ronald Reagan, her great ideological soulmate, to order world affairs according to her vision. For the only time since Churchill, she ensured that Britain had a central place in dealings between the superpowers. But even at her zenith she was beset by difficulties. The beloved Reagan two-timed her during the US invasion of Grenada. She lost the minister to whom she was personally closest to scandal and almost had to resign as a result of the Westland affair. She found herself isolated within her own government over Europe. She was at odds with the Queen over the Commonwealth and South Africa. She bullied senior colleagues and she set in motion the poll tax. Both these last would later return to wound her, fatally. In all this, Charles Moore has had unprecedented access to all Mrs Thatcher's private and government papers. The participants in the events described have been so frank in interview that we feel we are eavesdropping on their conversations as they pass. We look over Mrs Thatcher's shoulder as she vigorously annotates documents, so seeing her views on many particular issues in detail, and we understand for the first time how closely she relied on a handful of trusted advisors to help shape her views and carry out her will. We see her as a public performer, an often anxious mother, a workaholic and the first woman in western democratic history who truly came to dominate her country in her time. In the early hours of 12 October 1984, during the Conservative party conference in Brighton, the IRA attempted to assassinate her. She carried on within hours to give her leader's speech at the conference (and later went on to sign the Anglo-Irish agreement). One of her many left-wing critics, watching her that day, said 'I don't approve of her as Prime Minister, but by God she's a great tank commander.' This titanic figure, with all her capacities and all her flaws, storms from these pages as from no other book.

Margaret Thatcher (Volume 2): The Authorized Biography, Volume Two: Everything She Wants

Biographies & Memoirs

MOORE, Charles

Historical

On 6 June 1944, D Day, Allied troops landed in France, opening the way to eventual history. In this controversial reappraisal of the course of World War II, John Grigg suggests that the Allied invasion could have been launched succesfully in 1943. Beginning with America's entry into the war, Grigg explores policy and grand military strategy, especially the Churchill-Roosevelt relationship. Most crucially he explores the politics of the decision to delay invasion until 1944 and its terrible repercussions.

1943

Grigg, John

History

What is the true origin of the phrase 'one fell swoop'? Does the word 'honeymoon' really derive from an old Persian custom of giving the happy couple mead, a honey wine, for the first month after the wedding? The rapid growth of the internet and the use of email has increased the circulation of (usually) false tales about the evolution of language. In this entertaining and fascinating new book on the origins of words and expressions, Michael Quinion retells the mythic tales that have become popular currency - the word 'posh' deriving from 'port out, starboard home' - and also tries to find and explain the true stories behind the origins of phrases. Quinion offers explanations of why and how stories about words are created, and how misunderstanding word origins - while usually harmless - can have serious consequences.

Port Out, Starboard Home : And Other Language Myths

Reference

MIchael Quinion

Foreign Language Study & Reference

The first major new book on British superstitions and their history in over a generation, this survey not only explains what people have believed and why, but when superstitions arose, which parts of the country adopted them, how they evolved and what people believe today. Drawing extensively on literary sources from medieval times to the present, the book settles many arguments, debunks many myths and provides in the process a fascinating sideways view of social customs and beliefs over the centuries.

A Pocket Guide to Superstitions of the British Isles

Politics & Social Sciences

Steve, Roud

Social Sciences

'The most exciting book I have ever read ... a feverish, fascinating novel' Antony Beevor, Sunday Telegraph 'I can't take any more of your revolting merciful kindness!' Who would have thought that the great military hero Captain Hofmiller - that living monument to his own courage - would have anything burdening his soul? But when he reveals his story, it is not one of bravery but tragedy: a simple blunder at a dance from which disaster grows, ruining lives with his weak, foolish pity... Impatience of the Heart is Stefan Zweig's greatest novel, fiercely capturing human emotions in all their subtleties and extremes - while Hofmiller, his unforgettable, naïve creation, misunderstands everything, resulting in his downfall. A new translation by Jonathan Katz

Impatience of the Heart (Penguin Modern Classics)

Zweig,Stefan

Classics

'There they stood, bumbling into lines with a bit of difficulty: Mother Finland's chosen sacrifice to world history' Unknown Soldiers follows the fates of a ramshackle troupe of machine-gunners in the Second World War, as they argue, joke, swear, cadge a loaf of bread or a cigarette, combat both boredom and horror in the swamps and pine forests - and discover that war will make or break them. One of Finland's best-loved books, this gritty and unromantic depiction of battle honours the dogged determination of a country and the bonds of brotherhood forged between men at war, as they fight for their lives. 'A rediscovered classic... profound and enriching ... Unknown Soldiers still has the power to shock' Herald

Unknown Soldiers

Linna, Väinö

Genre Fiction

A farcical comedy of mistaken identity and outrageous trickery, William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors is edited by Stanley Wells with an introduction by Randall Martin in Penguin Shakespeare. 'We'll leave a proof, by that which we will do, Wives may be merry, and yet honest too' Two sets of identical twins - Dromio and Antipholus of Syracuse, and their brothers Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus - having been separated at sea as children, find themselves in the same city for the first time as adults. Soon, their friends mistake the twins for one another and bewilderment abounds, as the wife of one man declares the other to be her husband, pronouncing him mad when he denies the claim. Exuberant, complex and brilliantly farcical, this is a hilarious comedy of confusion and ultimate reunion. This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to The Comedy of Errors, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English. If you enjoyed The Comedy of Errors, you might like A Midsummer Night's Dream, also available in Penguin Shakespeare. 'After God, Shakespeare has created most' Alexandre Dumas

The Comedy of Errors

Shakespeare., William

Dramas & Plays

A tragedy of doomed love between an Egyptian queen and a ruler of Rome, William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is edited by Emrys Jones with an introduction by René Weis in Penguin Shakespeare. 'Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brows' bent' A battle-hardened soldier, Antony is one of the three leaders of the Roman world. But he is also a man in the grip of an all-consuming passion for Cleopatra, the exotic and tempestuous queen of Egypt. And when their life of pleasure together is threatened by the encroaching politics of Rome, the conflict between love and duty has devastating consequences. This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Antony and Cleopatra, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. If you enjoyed Antony and Cleopatra, you might like Coriolanus, also available in Penguin Shakespeare. 'A kind of perfection, a sort of magic' Patrick Stewart

Antony and Cleopatra

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