Bodley Head Illuminations Benjamin Walter

Keep calm – but do not carry on. There is nothing remotely inevitable about Brexit – except that it will be deeply damaging if it happens. Extricating Britain from Europe will be the greatest challenge this country has faced since the Second World War. And as negotiations with the EU expose the promises of the Brexit campaign to have been hollow, even some Brexit-voters now wish to exercise their democratic right to change their mind, seeing that the most pragmatic option is to … stop. It would certainly be the best thing for Britain. But how can it be done? Haven’t the people spoken? • No. In this indispensable handbook, Nick Clegg categorically debunks the various myths that have been used to force Brexit on Britain, not by ‘the people’ but by a small, extremely rich, self-serving elite, and explains precisely how this historic mistake can be reversed – and what you can do to make sure that it is

Cloudmoney take us to the frontlines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom: it is a captivating tour of the world of money that also asks the most important questions about our future • We are often told that the move towards a cashless society is 'natural progress', but there is seldom reference to the powerful groups that are vigorously pushing for it. What happens when physical money is replaced completely by digital transactions? • In the great battle for global monopolization, different 'watchers' are trying to capture and hoard data. Google has search patterns revealing your desires, fetishes and intellectual interests. Facebook has a treasure trove of its users' special moments and projections of vanity. Yet, if we really want to see what a person is motivated to act upon in society, we should examine their payments data

World-renowned psychologist Paul Bloom presents a captivating scientific account of why a rich and meaningful life is rarely an easy one - and why we should embrace that fact • Why do we seek out painful experiences? From horror movies and roller-coaster rides to mountain-climbing, religious abstinence and - most painful of all - parenthood, humans are drawn irresistibly to activities that they know are going to hurt. Many people have something missing in their lives, and a whole 'happiness' business has grown up in response. In The Sweet Spot, psychologist Paul Bloom takes a different approach • Drawing on studies of the evolutionary value of play and the science of morality, he presents an alternative account of human behaviour in which our desire for meaning is far greater than our desire for happiness, and shows not only that chosen suffering - including pain, fear and sadness - can be a source of pleasure, but that suffering is an essential part of achieving a complete and fulfilling life

A critical but fair political biography that tells the story of the life and the equally fascinating one of his legacy. This is Churchill for those who believe that the country has lost its way and who try to understand why - and Churchill and his legacy have a lot to answer for • A critical but fair political biography of Churchill that zooms in on crucial moments in his life and career that help us understand the man in his many contradictions • While in A.J.P. Taylor's words, Churchill was 'the saviour of his country', he was also a deeply flawed character, whose personal ambition would cloud his political judgement - and as a result he was often plain wrong. But the book's central argument goes beyond biography: argues that Churchill has cast a dark shadow over post-war British history and contemporary politics - from the 'Churchillian stance' of Tony Blair taking the country to war in Iraq to the delusion of a special relationship with the United States to the fateful belief in British exceptionalism: that the nation can once again stand alone in Europe

The Face of Battle is military history from the battlefield: an imperishable account of the direct experience of individuals at 'the point of maximum danger' • It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away • In this stunningly vivid reassessment of three battles, John Keegan conveys their reality for the participants, whether facing the arrow cloud of Agincourt, the levelled muskets of Waterloo or the steel rain of the Somme

An extraordinary and captivating story told in exquisite prose; this is the unmade documentary from the pioneer and legendary filmmaker who brought us the mutli-award-winning Grizzly Man • The great filmmaker Werner Herzog, in his first novel, tells the incredible story of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who defended a small island in the Philippines for twenty-nine years after the end of World War II • In 1997, Werner Herzog was in Tokyo to direct an opera. His hosts asked him, Whom would you like to meet? He replied instantly: Hiroo Onoda. Onoda was a former solider famous for having quixotically defended an island in the Philippines for decades after World War II, unaware the fighting was over. Herzog and Onoda developed an instant rapport and would meet many times, talking for hours and together unraveling the story of Onoda's long war

A dramatic, immersive and thrillingly original account of a defining episode in the English Civil War • It was a time of climate change and colonialism, puritans and populism, witch hunts and war • A greater proportion of the British population died in the civil wars of the seventeenth century than in the world wars of the twentieth. Jessie Childs recovers the shock of this conflict by plunging us into one of its most extraordinary episodes: the siege of Basing House. To the parliamentarians, the royalist stronghold was the devil's seat. Its defenders called it Loyalty House • We follow artists, apothecaries, merchants and their families from the revolutionary streets of London to the Marquess of Winchester's mist-shrouded mansion. Over two years, they are battered, bombarded, starved and gassed

In a time of pandemic and tyranny Our Malady is an urgent diagnosis of the vital link between health and freedom • A virus is not human, but the reaction to it is a measure of humanity • America has not measured up well. Tens of thousands are dead for no reason. America is supposed to be about freedom, yet illness and fear make its citizens less free. After all, freedom is meaningless if we are too ill to think about our right to happiness or too weak to pursue it. So, if a government is making its people unhealthy it is also making them unfree • On December 29, 2019, Timothy Snyder fell gravely ill. As he clung to life he found himself reflecting on the fragility of health, not recognized in America as a human right, but without which all rights and freedoms have no meaning

A hugely enjoyable and original history of the interplay between spying and showbiz from Shakespeare to James Bond • A vastly entertaining and unique history of the interaction between spying and showbiz, from the Elizabethan age to the Cold War and beyond • Throughout history, there has been a consistent crossover between show business and espionage, often producing some of the most extraordinary undercover agents, and occasionallyleading to disastrous and dangerous failures. The fact that one relies on publicity and the other on secrecy might seem to rule out a successful symbiosis; but as both require high levels of creative thinking, improvisation, disguise and role-play, they inevitably attract some remarkably similar personalities • Stars and Spies is the first history of the interplay between the two worlds

A grand unifying theory of human flourishing and inequality from one of the world's pre-eminent thinkers • In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present and back again, world-renowned thinker Oded Galor offers a captivating solution to the two seminal and interrelated mysteries of human flourishing and inequality. Why are humans the only species on the planet to have escaped - only very recently - the subsistence trap, allowing us to enjoy a standard of living that vastly exceeds all others? And why have we progressed so unequally around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today? • Immense in scope and packed with astounding connections, Galor's gripping narrative explains how biology, technology, population size and natural selection led to a stunning 'phase change' in the human story a mere two hundred years ago

An extraordinary memoir about what it means to be a writer, a woman and a mother with Bell's Palsy by award-winning playwright • The extraordinary story of one woman's ten-year medical and metaphysical odyssey that brought her physical, creative, emotional, and spiritual healing, by a MacArthur genius and two-time Pulitzer finalist • With a play opening on Broadway, and every reason to smile, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that ninety percent of Bell's palsy patients see spontaneous improvement and experience a full recovery... But Sarah is in the unlucky ten percent. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theatre, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings significant and specific challenges

After the bestselling The Case for God, Karen Armstrong makes the case for compassion – an urgent appeal to establish empathy and altruism at the centre of our private and public lives • * Drawing on a wide range of material, ranging from the spiritualities of the world religions to the findings of contemporary neuroscience, Karen Armstrong argues that compassion is hardwired into our brains, yet is constantly pushed back by our more primitive instincts for selfishness and survival. Since time immemorial religion has enhanced our altruistic tendencies: all faiths insist that the Golden Rule is the test of true spirituality – ‘Always treat others as you wish to be treated yourself’ • * Taking as her starting point the teachings of the great world religions, Karen Armstrong demonstrates in twelve practical steps how we can bring compassion to the forefront of our lives