“The Map of Knowledge is an endlessly fascinating book, rich in detail, capacious and humane in vision.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, winner of the Pulitzer PrizeAfter the Fall of Rome, when many of the great ideas of the ancient world were lost to the ravages of the Dark Ages, three crucial manuscripts passed hand to hand through seven Mediterranean cities and survived to fuel the revival o...

Enter the mysterious world of sixteenth-century science, where astronomers and alchemists shared laboratories.In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus declared the earth revolved around the Sun, overturning centuries of scholastic presumption. A new age was coming into view – one guided by observation, technology and logic.But omens and elixirs did not disappear from the sixteenth-century laboratory. Charms and potions could still be found nestled between glistening br...

“The Map of Knowledge is an endlessly fascinating book, rich in detail, capacious and humane in vision.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, winner of the Pulitzer PrizeAfter the Fall of Rome, when many of the great ideas of the ancient world were lost to the ravages of the Dark Ages, three crucial manuscripts passed hand to hand through seven Mediterranean cities and survived to fuel the revival o...

Enter the mysterious world of sixteenth-century science, where astronomers and alchemists shared laboratories.In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus declared the earth revolved around the Sun, overturning centuries of scholastic presumption. A new age was coming into view—one guided by observation, technology and logic.But omens and elixirs did not disappear from the sixteenth-century laboratory. Charms and potions could still be found nestled between glistening bras...

Brought to you by Penguin.As a child, Chris Thorogood dreamed of seeing Rafflesia - the plant with the world's largest flowers. He crafted life-size replicas in an abandoned cemetery, carefully bringing them to life with paper and paint. Today he is a botanist at the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden and has dedicated his life to studying the biology of such extraordinary plants, working alongside botanists and foresters in Southeast Asia to document t...

In this fresh, fast-paced modern murder mystery—the first in a wildly funny and inventive new series—a ghostwriter is chosen to collaborate on a presidential candidate’s memoir, only to discover just how much trouble a smart woman with time on her hands can get up to …“I tell other people’s stories for a living. … I’ve always been a snoop where other people are concerned, and I discovered in my late twenties I have a knack for spinning tales about them, and for making these tales s...

Brought to you by Penguin.In 2016, while working as a journalist in Yangon, Clare Hammond discovered an obscure map that showed a web of new railways spanning the length and breadth of the country - railways not shown on any other publicly available maps. She was determined to uncover the railways' origins, purpose, and most of all, the silence that surrounded them. She would spend three months travelling on these mysterious railways, and the next five years piecin...

The fascinating true story of the year 1910 when King Edward VII died, sending shockwaves through Britain.'I could read Martin Williams all day. This book throws shafts of light on recent history almost repeating itself, giving vivid glimpses into monarchy and the way things were, and are. Compulsory reading.' - DAME JOANNA LUMLEY***'***Not just beautifully written and informative but entertaining, thought-provoking...

SOON TO BE ADAPTED FOR TV!'Glorious fun, packed with puzzles and twists. An absolute riot’ Tom Mead, author of The Murder WheelA gripping new mystery featuring Detective Tess Fox and her con-artist sister Sarah Jacobs.Members of the Lewes Bonfire Society would say afterwards that the event would have been a huge success that year, if it hadn’t been for the dead body…When the charred remains of MP Rupert Mil...

Brought to you by Penguin.‘We were so happy and didn’t know it…’A thirty-three-year-old writer lives in a quiet European suburb with his wife and his dog. His parents have bought an apartment nearby. On weekends they go out for brunch, cook and see friends. Life is good; it is normal. Then the invaders come.Language of War is about what happens when your world changes overnight. When you wake up to the sound of helicopters and the ...

In literary legend, Faustus is the quintessential occult personality of early modern Europe. The historical Faustus, however, was something quite different: a magus—a learned magician fully embedded in the scholarly currents and public life of the Renaissance. And he was hardly the only one. Anthony Grafton argues that the magus in sixteenth-century Europe was a distinctive intellectual type, both different from and indebted to medieval counterparts as well as contemporaries like the engin...

**Brought to you by Penguin.Why is our education system unequal?**How does race play a part?Is Britain still institutionally racist?Education remains the greatest indicator of life chances in Britain. What we study, where we study, and how long for shape all aspects of our lives. Our careers, our long-term health, our wealth and security are all moulded in the classroom.But who we are ultimately matters the mo...