LOST TO TWO WORLDS is a sad reflection of our times when evil men do evil things yet flourish without misgivings, while good men can anguish a lifetime from childhood trauma that permanently defines them. The story unfolds over two centuries on three continents. It focuses on the lives of two men whose characters are diametrically opposed: Benjamin Boyd, a Scotsman and a real-life, historic pioneer who arrives in Australia in 1842, and a fictional character named Daniel Hannaford, a mining...

A rich, immersive, funny and heartbreaking memoir of the charming bookseller who runs three tiny bookshops in the remote village of Manapouri in Fiordland, in the deep south of New Zealand.'An extraordinary story.' Shaun Bythell, The Diary of a BooksellerRuth Shaw weaves together stories of the characters who visit her bookshops, musings about favourite books, and bittersweet stories from her full and varied life.She's sailed through the Pa...

For many years Sierra Leone and Liberia have been too dangerous to travel through, bedevilled by a uniquely brutal form of violence from which sprang many of Africa's cruellest contemporary icons - child soldiers, prisoner mutilation, blood diamonds. With their wars officially over, Tim Butcher sets out on a journey across both countries, trekking for 350 miles through remote rainforest and malarial swamps. Just as he followed H M Stanley through the Congo - a journey described in his best...

Dolman Travel Book of the Year 2012Between the Orinoco and the Amazon lies a fabulous forested land, barely explored. Much of Guiana seldom sees sunlight, and new species are often tumbling out of the dark trees. Shunned by the conquistadors, it was left to others to carve into colonies. Guyana, Suriname and Guyane Française are what remain of their contest, and the 400 years of struggle that followed.Now, award-winning author John Gimlette sets off along this coast, gather...

'I thought I was the biggest dope smuggler. I wasn't. He was' Howard MarksOn 29 June 1988 Michael Forwell (aka The Fox) had it all - fast cars and speedboats, a nightclub in Bangkok, homes around the world. And a ship heading towards California carrying 72 tons of high-grade Thai marijuana, his last deal before going straight. On 30 June the DEA seized the ship in the biggest dope bust in history . . . and very soon Michael had nothing at all.A mild-mannere...

"As I sat cradling the man's head, with his blood and brains sticking to my hands, I heard a voice - my own voice. It was asking me something. Asking how I had ended up like this, desperate and lost among people who thought nothing of caving in a man's head and then standing back to watch him die." Nick Bullock was a prison officer working in a maximum-security jail with some of Britain's most notorious criminals. Trapped in a world of aggression and fear, he felt frustrated and alone. The...

Journalist Dominic Dunne's travels have rarely been ordinary, despite his best intentions. He has been travelling all his life, from the time his parents started their annual pilgrimage to the opal fields of Lightning Ridge. Since then he has trekked all over Australia and to some 60 countries, spending his life trying to satisfy his insatiable appetite for travelling, an addiction that has taken him to wonderful and sometimes dangerous places where he has met all manner of people. In this...

In 1976, Niall's family emigrated to Australia, as part of the £10 Pom scheme. He lived there for 3 years, moving from Brisbane to Perth in a souped-up station wagon. 30 years later, he returned to retrace his steps; this is a memoir, travelogue, rant, paean, elegy, and perhaps the closest thing to an autoibiography that Niall will ever write.

Two journalists – passionate about travel and the ‘vast, dry cathedral called Namibia’ – set out to meander through this land and to relish the pure space and the joy of road travel. The journey shaped up as something special. Along the way, thirty years of memories returned. Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit encountered a landscape like no other, a seemingly barren place of unexpected and unrivalled beauty: from the enchantment of the Kalahari to the misty shipwreck world of the Skeleton ...

Recently, Granta has explored Chicago, Pakistan and the world of Spanish- language letters. In this bold, eclectic issue, the magazine turns back to focus on Britain. In 2012, Britain is a nation in flux, managing difficult socioeconomic realities, contending with new political alliances and negotiating shifting demographics. Yet it is a country that is still perceived as being bound by tradition and class structures. Is Britain still Great? Where does it stand in the New Europe? What will...

The Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall is where the land ends. In The Swordfish and the Star Gavin Knight takes us into this huddle of grey roofs at the edge of the sea at the beginning of the twenty-first century.He catches the stories of a whole community, but especially those still working this last frontier: the Cornish fishermen. These are the dreamers and fighters who every day prepare for battle with the vast grey Atlantic. Cornwall and its seas are brought to life, mixi...

Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, is tired of being told that she doesn't exist. In this crackling, lolloping story in verse, Ted Hughes describes how she sets out on the road to London for an audience with the Queen...