Showing titles in Cultural & Regional

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Powerful . . . a coming-of-age story with a twist' Guardian 'Heart-wrenching . . . We need accounts like this haunting, compelling book' Telegraph 'A profound and moving tribute . . . It is Lana's inside perspective on what it was like to grow up within this society...

From humble beginnings in County Donegal in Ireland to worldwide recording success, Daniel O'Donnell recounts the incredible story of his life, charting the ups and downs with remarkable honesty. Through wonderful anecdotes, Daniel recalls his early years and the moment he set his heart on becoming a singer, and gives a personal acount of his spreading popularity and subsequent perfomances all over the world.

In the early 80s, Mark Fleischman reopened Studio 54, the world's most glamorous and notorious nightclub, after it was closed down by the State of New York. Ten thousand people showed up that night, ready to restart the party that abruptly ended after the raid in 1978 landed its former owners in jail. Inside Studio 54 invites you to revisit the happening scenes of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, the post-Pill, pre-AIDS era of free love, consequence-free sex, and seemingly endless partying. Following Fleischman as he built connections that lead him to Studio 54.

"My name has become a horror to all those who want slavery," declared Jean‑Jacques Dessalines as he announced the independence of Haiti, the most radical nation‑state during the Age of Revolution and the first country ever to permanently outlaw slavery. Enslaved for the first thirty years of his life, Dessalines (c. 1758-1806) joined the revolution that abolished slavery within the French colony. Then he became a general in the colonial army of the new French Republic. When it was discovered that France once again supported slavery, Dessalines declared war on his former allies.

The “brilliantly wry” (Lena Dunham) and “lovably awkward” (Mindy Kaling) New York Times bestseller from the creator of HBO’s Insecure. In this "delightfully deadpan" (Essence) bestseller named for her wildly popular web series, Issa Rae waxes humorously on what it’s like to be...

With the success of the critically-acclaimed, Academy Award-winning film “The Fighter,” the world stood up and cheered for the inspiring true story of Micky Ward—a heart-and-soul warrior who overcame the odds to make history in the ring. But that was only part of the tale… Now, in his...

Saint Patrick was, by his own admission, a controversial figure. Convicted in a trial by his elders in Britain and hounded by rumors that he settled in Ireland for financial gain, the man who was to become Ireland’s patron saint battled against great odds before succeeding as a missionary. Saint Patrick Retold draws on recent research to offer a fresh assessment of Patrick’s travails and achievements. This is the first biography in nearly 50 years to explore Patrick’s career against the background of historical events in late antique Britain and Ireland.

In the spring of 1980, the British colony of Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe. Tonderai Munyevu, a born-free, was part of the hopeful next generation from a new country with a new leader, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. While exploring Tonderai’s personal story and his relationship with his father, Mugabe, My Dad and Me charts the rise and fall of one of the most controversial politicians of the 20th century.

Crazy Horse was as much feared by tribal foes as he was honored by allies. His war record was unmatched by any of his peers, and his rout of Custer at the Little Bighorn reverberates through history. Yet so much about him is unknown or steeped in legend. Crazy Horse: A Lakota Life corrects older, idealized accounts - and draws on a greater variety of sources than other recent biographies - to expose the real Crazy Horse: not the brash Sioux warrior we have come to expect but a modest, reflective man whose courage was anchored in Lakota piety.

 Historian Sunil Khilnani, Professor of History and Politics at Ashoka University, takes listeners on an immersive, whirlwind journey from ancient India to the 21st century through the life stories of 50 remarkable individuals, exploring their surprising legacies and illuminating both the wonders and the urgent conflicts of India today. 

A heartfelt, one-of-a-kind memoir chronicling the hilarious, absurd, and thought-provoking experiences of an American pursuing comedy in China, learning first-hand how humor does and doesn’t translate—and whether laughter transcends borders. I marched onstage in a long robe beside my Shifu...

L’ANGOLA, c’est le pays de mon parrain Kulondi. C’est le pays le plus beau de la terre. Depuis mon enfance, j’ai entendu parler de toutes sortes d’histoires. J’y suis allé trois fois, en Angola. En février 2006, à la fin de mes études d’ingénieur en mécanique, durant un mois, pour le découvrir. En septembre 2010, j'y suis retourné pour un peu moins d’une année. J’ai essayé d’obtenir un visa pour travailler au sein de l’entreprise Auto-Mecãnica établie à Lobito. Et durant le mois de mai 2024, sans vraiment savoir pourquoi, c’est une énigme.

Aikau's legendary life and legacy, a pipeline into the exhilarating world of surfing, and an important chronicle of the Hawaiian Renaissance and the emergence of modern Hawaii. In the 1970s, a decade before bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the phrase Eddie Would Go began popping up all over the Hawaiian islands and throughout the surfing world, Eddie Aikau was proving what it meant to be a "waterman." 

Bloomsbury presents Walking through Fire by Nawal El Saadawi, read by Nadia Albina In Walking through Fire, Nawal El Saadawi, author of Woman at Point Zero and one of the Arab world’s greatest writers, tells the story of the later years of a life which shaped an iconic voice in global feminism...

In Lost & Found: The Journey of Socorro, Linda Ann Sanchez shares her remarkable memoir of survival, resilience, and self-discovery. From the uncertainty of her earliest years to the struggles of growing up in a world where she never quite felt at home, Linda’s story is one of perseverance and hope. Through the trials of adoption, the challenges of family relationships, and the search for faith and purpose, Linda discovers that healing isn’t just about finding where you come from—it’s about embracing where you are meant to be.

Compiled by bestselling author susan abulhawa, an Arabic-English bilingual anthology of true stories from eighteen young Palestinian writers trying to survive the genocide in Gaza. In early 2024, writer and activist susan abulhawa managed to enter Gaza twice through the Rafah crossing. There, at...

Malorie Blackman OBE is one of Britain's best loved and most widely read writers, and this is her long-awaited autobiography. For more than 30 years, her books have helped to shape British culture and inspired generations of younger readers and writers. The Noughts and Crosses series, started in 2000, sparked a new and necessary conversation about race and identity in the UK and are already undisputed classics of 21st-century children's literature.

Frank Sayi grew up in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in the 1970s. His childhood straddled two very significant periods in his country's history, both of which heavily influenced his memoir. The first was the war of liberation (1975-1979), closely followed by the post-independence internecine war...

Andrei Tarkovsky: A Life on the Cross by Lyudmila Boyadzhieva is an intimate portrayal of the renowned Soviet filmmaker’s life, struggles, and artistic legacy.

Published during a literary era marked by the ascendance of Black writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Alex Haley, this thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown’s childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s.