Showing titles in Biographies & Memoirs

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...

Britain's foremost TV writer and showrunner takes us through his life in television, and behind the scenes on some of our favourite shows. The Queerest of Folk distils Russell T Davies's career in television, taking us from his early days working on children’s shows and soaps through to the...

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...

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...

In fascinating and personal detail, and based on exclusive diaries and audio recordings from his mission, Tim Peake takes listeners closer than ever before to experience what life in space is really like: the sacrifice that astronauts make in being apart from their families, the sights, the smells, the fear, the exhilaration and the deep and abiding wonder of the view from space. Limitless is a book about the power of following our dreams - however unlikely they may seem - and of striving to reach our potential, even when we might not believe in it ourselves.

In How to be a Footballer, Peter Crouch took us into a world of bad tattoos and even worse haircuts, a world where you’re on the pitch one minute, spending too much money on a personalised number plate the next. In I, Robot, he lifts the lid even further on the beautiful game. We will learn about Gareth Bale’s magic beans, the Golden Rhombus of Saturday night entertainment and why Crouchy’s dad walks his dog wearing an England tracksuit from 2005. 

'If a house could gossip, this is the book that Hampton Court would whisper. An enjoyable and readable stroll through 500 years of Hampton Court history: royal residents, common visitors, thieves, invaders and ghosts’ PHILIPPA GREGORY For centuries, Hampton Court has been a place of power...

Bloomsbury presents My Double Life by Mark Foster, read by Andrew Hollingworth. *This audiobook features a bonus conversation with the author and Rebecca Adlington* 'As gripping as Mark's greatest races' – Zoe Ball 'Incredibly brave and uplifting' – Rebecca Adlington The moving story of one...

In January 1980, a secret review quietly rewired Britain’s war in Northern Ireland. Commissioned by the Chief Constable of the RUC and led by future MI5 Director General Sir Patrick Walker, it placed intelligence above the law - and changed everything. What followed was a vast, covert...

To understand England's greatest cricket player is to know what it takes to succeed. Alastair Cook is the greatest batsman to ever play for England, and as one of the most gifted players in the world, he knows that his triumphs are as important as the challenges and moments of resilience. Now, as he English cricket team reel from his dramatic retirement, Alastair tells his story: a close-up account of his last chapter, his 33rd and last Test hundred, an intimate tale of his life, his family, of the man he is today and the man he will be - after cricket.

The International Bestseller 'A love story to the mountains in the mist, the pulsating northern lights and the red deer at dawn. And to independence' – The Washington Post 'A Thoreauvian account of solitary life in the Scottish Highlands . . . delightful' – Kirkus Reviews 'Ken Smith’s...

A collection of the most mind-boggling and outrageous True Crime cases you've ever read. Stories so bizarre, creepy and compelling that you can't stop turning the pages - the perfect gift for True Crime lovers. Are you a hardcore true crime fan? Do you know all the ins and outs of popular cases...

I Survived is Victoria Cilliers' chilling, eye-opening story of marriage and attempted murder, revealing the truth about a case that made headlines around the world. Now the subject of a major Channel 4 documentary The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot. On Easter Sunday 2015, experienced skydiver...

Getting clean was just the beginning... DJ Fat Tony has lived a thousand lives: celebrated nightlife icon, survivor of decades-long addiction to drugs, alcohol and sex, and a LGBTQ activist who navigated trauma, abuse, and the AIDS epidemic. In Recover Me, Tony charts his journey from the hard...

A Rough Trade Book of the Year The Sunday Times bestseller The much-anticipated first book from Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler With over 70 million records sold, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath are one of the most influential bands of all time. From the very beginning, Geezer Butler was...