Training for the Trenches: A Practical Handbook Based upon Personal Experience During the First Two Years of the War in France is an invaluable guide for soldiers, officers, and anyone interested in the realities of World War I trench warfare. Written by Captain Leslie Vickers, this comprehensive manual draws directly from his firsthand experiences on the Western Front, offering a rare and authentic perspective on the challenges and demands faced by those serving in the trenches. The book ...

The definitive and authorised biography of one of the world's most fascinating, famous and admired photographers.Cecil Beaton was one of Britain's greatest cultural icons - not just as a photographer capturing some of the most celebrated portraits of the 20th century but also as designer of the iconic sets and costumes for the films My Fair Lady and Gigi.In 1980, Beaton personally chose Hugo Vickers to be his biographer, e...

Eighteen year old Lyla Pierson spent her life preparing for one moment-her Flowering Day Ceremony, a centuries-old tradition where her parents present her with five carefully chosen suitors-men of influence, charm and good-looks.Tradition demands she chooses one to marry, a match that promises safety, security and the kind of love she's always dreamed of.But on the morning of her wedding, her little sister Iris, disappears.Wanting to call off the ceremony, Lyla's fa...

The Smile of DecemberBy: Jonathan VickersTHE SMILE OF DECEMBER is a family drama with an overall theme of fatherhood in its various forms. For Darryl Walker, being a good father to two handsome boys would be his finest achievement, nullifying the mistakes of his own father, but fate can intervene in strange ways. The joys and sadness of fatherhood are tested time and again – sometimes elevated, sometimes crushed – for Darryl and his two sons, brothers who are as different a...

**Highly Commended in the category of Oncology at the British Medical Association Awards 2019The accessible guide to the principles behind new, more targeted drug treatments for cancer**Written for anyone who encounters cancer patients, cancer data or cancer terminology, but have no more than a passing knowledge of cell biology. A Beginner's Guide to Targeted Cancer Treatments provides an understanding of how cancer works and the many new treatments available....

It is 1938 and Sigmund Freud, suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer, has been permitted by the Nazis to leave Vienna. He seeks refuge in England, taking up residence in the house in Hampstead in which he will die only fifteen months later. But his last months are made vivid by the arrival of a stranger, who comes and goes according to Freud's state of health. Who is the mysterious visitor and why has he come to tell the famed proponent of the Oedipus complex his strange story?

The brilliant new novel from the bestselling author of ‘Mr Golightly's Holiday’ and ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’.'There is no cure for being alive.' Thus speaks Dr David McBride, a psychiatrist for whom death exerts an unusual draw. As a young child he witnessed the death of his six-year-old brother and it is this traumatic event which has shaped his own personality and choice of profession. One day a failed suicide, Elizabeth Cruikshank, is admitted to his hospital. She is unusually reti...

A beautiful, beguiling novel from the bestselling author of The Librarian and Grandmothers'A lovely book . . . wise at heart and filled with colourful characters' Joanne Harris, author of ChocolatA compelling story of darkness and light, of traumatic loss and second chances, The Cleaner of Chartres tells of the mysterious and elusive Agnes Morel whose little acts of kindness around a rura...

A novel from the best-selling author of ‘Miss Garnet's Angel’ and ‘Instances of the Number 3’.Holiday: a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation. [literally: holy day]Many years ago Mr Golightly wrote a work of dramatic fiction that grew to be an international bestseller. But his reputation is on the decline and he finds himself out of touch with the modern world.He decides to take a holiday and comes to the ancient vill...

An enthralling portrait of the enigmatic woman at the centre of a now vanished Golden Age: Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough.'Truly wonderful - a masterclass in storytelling' - SUNDAY TIMESThe Times Best Biography Audiobook of the Year (2021)One of the most beautiful and brilliant women of her time, Gladys Deacon dazzled and puzzled the glittering social circles in which she moved . . .

*A Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller*'Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand; she's a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists.' Philip PullmanIn 1958, Sylvia Blackwell, fresh from one of the new post-war Library Schools, takes up a job as children's librarian in a run down library in the market town of East Mole.Her mission is to fire the enthusiasm of the children of East Mole for readin...

From the author of Miss Garnet's Angel and the forthcoming The Cleaner of Chartres comes a relatable short story about family holidays.When Beth decides to treat her husband Hamish to a short holiday in the Scottish Highlands, his paternal home, she does not bet on the arrival of Una, her oddball mother-in-law. Una's quirks - swimming outdoors (naked) in the freezing cold, her St Tropez perma-tan and breaking into song- naturally put a strain on t...