Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

For more than a decade, the Old Northamptonians 3rd XV fought, laughed, stumbled, and triumphed their way through the beating heart of Northampton rugby. What began as a scratch side on the brink of collapse became a team that defined a club — and a community. In this warm, honest, and often hilarious memoir, Stuart MacDonald charts the unlikely rise of the self-proclaimed best 3rd XV in the UK. From chaotic away days and lastminute callups to league titles, unforgettable characters, and the quiet heroism of simply turning up, this is grassroots rugby in all its messy, brilliant glory.

‘I never once attended a Sunday morning church service in Stanford. There was always the feeling that they weren’t aimed at families like ours.’ Pam Ayres was the sixth child in a hard-up family who lived in a council house, her parents’ generation were harrowed by the war. Yet they lived by the green in the village of Stanford in the Vale, where everything you needed was within walking distance and the sound of motorcars was rarely heard.

The first biography to focus exclusively on Angus Young - from his remarkable rise from working-class Glasgow and Sydney to the biggest stages in the world. Angus Young, the cofounder and the last remaining original member of AC/DC, has for more than 40 years been the face, the sound and sometimes the exposed backside of the trailblazing rock band.

Some of them hid behind a name that wasn't theirs. Others hid behind a uniform, a reputation, a famous last name, or a job so ordinary no one thought to look twice. The twelve cases in this volume share one unsettling thread: the distance between who these people appeared to be and what they did when they were certain no one was watching. A few held that distance open for years. Some held it for decades. One died before anyone ever closed it.

Brought to you by Penguin. Guy’s been pushing himself to the outer limits, as usual. There's no medals, no big ceremony at the end of it all. He's just driven by putting himself through the misery. And coming out smiling. In search of suffering, Guy went to Colombia for the TV job, where he...

The revealing, wildly entertaining, and bestselling memoir from the legendary Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters and performers of any era. Born to Run is the greatest rock ‘n’ roll story ever told. Essential reading for the 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s seminal album...

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY LIKE NO OTHER: SIR ALEX REFLECTS ON HIS RECORD-BREAKING CAREER AT ABERDEEN AND MANCHESTER UNITED 'Sometimes defeats are the best outcomes. To react to adversity is a quality. Even in your lowest periods you are showing strength . . .' For over two decades Sir Alex Ferguson...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley comes a candid memoir in which she reveals the unscripted moments that shaped who she is today. Dorit Kemsley has spent years cultivating a persona that exudes elegance, ambition, and confidence. But...

Jason Manford is firmly established as one of the country's favourite stand-ups and is up there with the best northern comedy legends. His career began one night in a pub in Chorlton when a comedian didn't arrive for his set and Jason, the 17-year-old glass collector stepped in to fill the gap. From that point on he's never looked back, until now that is.... This is the story in his own words of everything that lead up to that fateful moment – a colourful tale of growing up with lots of family and not enough money, of getting by and sticking together.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Narrated by Adrian Bliss, featuring the voices of Beth Rylance, Sebastian Humphreys and Kristin Atherton. History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters. The lives of Leonardo da Vinci...

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular best seller and a critically acclaimed history of China that opened up the country to the world. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family - the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother, and the daughter herself - Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's 20th century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece that is extraordinary in every way.

This is a 9/11 book like no other. Masterfully weaving together multiple strands of the events in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Fall and Rise is a mesmerising, minute-by-minute account of that terrible day. In the days and months after 9/11, Mitchell Zuckoff, then a reporter for the Boston Globe, wrote about the attacks, the victims, and their families.

* A WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE MONTH ‘Magical... A book that will refresh your soul.’ Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive Farm ___ THE TRUE STORY OF A COURAGEOUS LEAP INTO A NEW LIFE In 2000, burnt out by city living, Julian Hoffman and his wife Julia took a bold step: they left everything...

Finding Stevie is a dark and poignant true story that highlights the dangers lurking online. When Stevie’s social worker tells Cathy, an experienced foster carer, that Stevie, 14, is gender fluid she isn’t sure what that term means and looks it up. Stevie, together with his younger brother...

Now a major TV series ‘A masterpiece that reads like a thriller’ Time Out A gripping and probing account of the biggest criminal manhunt in British history. It is over 40 years since Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking 7 more. Still, he remains a killer of...

In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of running a first marathon aged 36, dressed as a toilet, and representing Great Britain four years later. His midlife-crisis running problem escalated to 100-mile ultramarathons and record-breaking bimbles, culminating in his 261-mile Pennine Way run in July 2020.

On the Waterstones Best Books of 2025 List 'Davies has done it again, damn him. Irritatingly good. Maddeningly funny. Annoyingly fine.' STEPHEN FRY 'Emotional, entertaining and startlingly honest. I was totally engrossed.' AMY LIPTROT, author of The Outrun. 'Really honest and really funny'...

'ENORMOUS FUN' GUARDIAN 'SO ENTERTAINING' THE TIMES 'GOSSIPY, LIGHT AND FUN' TLS Queen Bees looks at the lives of six remarkable women who made careers out of being society hostesses, including Lady Astor, who went on to become the first female MP, and Mrs Greville, who cultivated relationships...

*PLUTARCH AWARD FOR THE BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2024* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE* ‘SUBLIME’ A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘STUNNINGLY GOOD’ THE TIMES BEST HISTORY BOOKS 2024 ‘COMPULSIVE’ A PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘BRILLIANT’ A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024...

At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died, in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China - behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.