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During the late Middle Ages, conflict raged between France and England as they battled in pursuit of power, the throne and beyond. It became known as the Hundred Years’ War.Hella S. Haasse’s epic masterpiece brings this period to vivid life, as the novel’s infamous characters move across a panoramic tapestry woven together by criss-crossed bloodlines and intense rivalries. There is the mad King Charles VI and his heartless Bavarian wife Isabeau; the King’s dashing brother Louis, Duke of Orléans and his sensitive Italian Duchess, Valentine. Their son, Charles, inherits a ferocious feud with the powerful and scheming Duke of Burgundy. Meanwhile, their bastard son becomes the right arm of Joan of Arc.Charles of Orléans is the central character of this astonishing novel, a man caught up in deadly dynastic rivalries who survives because he is captured by the English at the Battle of Agincourt and made their prisoner for the next 25 years. In that time he perfects his craft as a writer and becomes one of the great French poets of the era.In a narrative that spans decades, we also bear witness to the reign of three English Kings: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, the brilliant leader of the English army, who changes the face of war at Agincourt.First published in the Netherlands in 1949 and never out of print, In a Dark Wood Wandering is a timeless classic.

''[A] whimsical tale of transformation... magic is essential, and Okri can spin it.'' Guardian''Full of rich hallucinatory imagery and enjoyably vibrant symbolism'' Irish Times What do you do when your heart has been made a wasteland by love?Viv, who’s in the House of Lords, had the idea for the festival on the twentieth anniversary of the day her first husband left her. Six months later, crowds descend on the grounds of a dreamlike chateau in the South of France, avidly awaiting the experience of a lifetime, Viv’s inaugural Festival for the Broken-Hearted.Everyone is in fancy dress. No one knows who anyone is. They wander the beautiful woods with just one night to change everything. And to crown it all, a very special guest is expected: world-renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller Madame Sosostris, known as the wisest woman in Europe, and not seen since the pages of T.S. Eliot''s The Waste Land. She will attend for one night only. But will she actually appear at all, or will Viv’s carefully orchestrated festival fall to pieces? Will Viv and her husband make it through the night? Will anyone else?Part vision, part mystery, this story of a midsummer night’s madness is also an homage to Eliot''s famous poem, in Ben Okri’s inimitable style, as alive with echoes and reverberations as the enchanted forest itself. Think Ingmar Bergman meets William Shakespeare, with a dash of Mozart.Hearts will be healed, and hearts broken, but nobody will leave this festival exactly as they arrived.

* LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 ** A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK MARCH 2025 *‘A gripping, Kafkaesque foray into an all-too-plausible future’ JENNIFER EGAN‘So cleverly conceived, so relevant, that everyone should read it and sweat’ THE TIMES‘Extraordinary’ RUMAAN ALAM‘Absolutely unputdownable’ SANDRA NEWMANSara is returning home from a conference abroad when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside at the airport. Using data from her dreams, their algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming her husband. For his safety, she must be transferred to a retention centre, and kept under observation for twenty-one days.But as Sara arrives to be monitored alongside other dangerous dreamers, she discovers that with every deviation from the facility’s strict and ever-shifting rules, their stays can be extended – and that getting home to her family is going to cost much more than just three weeks of good behaviour.Then, one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.The Dream Hotel is a gripping speculative mystery about the seductive dangers of the technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier. As terrifying as it is inventive, it explores how well we can ever truly know those around us – even with the most invasive surveillance systems in place.

A detailed examination of one of the crucial campaigns of World War II in Burma, in which British and Commonwealth forces achieved their first decisive victory over Japanese arms.The hard-fought Second Arakan campaign was a second attempt by Allied arms to advance in the coastal Arakan region in western Burma, following a failed first effort in early 1943. The battles fought shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility that had for over two years crippled the Allied cause, and for the first time offered the prospect of successful offensive operations against the Japanese in Burma.Military historian Tim Moreman examines the wide range of actions that made up the Second Arakan campaign, from XV Indian Corps’ initial push down the Burmese coast towards Akyab Island, to the key events of the major Japanese Ha-Go operation launched by Twenty-Eighth Army. These include the Battle of the Admin Box near Sinweyza, where the surrounded 7th Indian Division inflicted a serious defeat on the Japanese 55th Division; the reinforcement of Imphal and Kohima; and the seizure of Razabil, the Tunnels and Point 551 between March and May 1944. Packed with maps, diagrams, battlescene artworks and photographs that guide the reader through this complex campaign in easy to follow detail, this work provides a must-have illustrated companion to this decisive victory for British and Commonwealth arms over the Imperial Japanese Army.

As the royal houses of Sons of Darkness intrigued, manoeuvred and finally met in open battle with devastating consequences, far more sinister deeds were unfolding just over the Eastern horizon. Dance of Shadows is that story. A fragile armistice may hold in the West, but everyone knows it cannot last. In the Tree Cities of the East, a Conclave of Peace has assembled to secure the future of the realm. But the delegates -- deaf swordswomen and exiled snakelings, spoilt heroes and lovesick princes, immortal assassins and their apprentices -- will find no sun to light their path. After all, the season of peace is the finest time to plant the seeds of war.For the Son of Darkness rises, boiling over with a wrath that all the oracles in the world cannot hope to stop. After all, seeing the future is one thing, changing it is quite another.But who is to say that there isn''t a way?In his dark re-imagining of ancient India, Mohanty dangles a vibrant cast of dubious heroes from the threads of fate: ancient foes awake, bitter enemies reconcile, old friends swear to destroy each other. The Sun is setting on the age of humanity, and shadows are gathering to dance...

''A heart stopping thriller, a heartfelt mystery'' CHRIS WHITAKER ''A clever, chilling thriller that is also unexpectedly moving'' SHARI LAPENA ''Kept me guessing until the very end'' IAN RANKIN ''Incredible plotting and devastatingly good writing'' THE SECRET BARRISTER Sophie King is missing. Her parents, Harry and Zara, are distraught; for the last seventeen years, they''ve done everything for their beloved only daughter and now she''s gone. The police have no leads, and Harry and Zara are growing increasingly frantic, although they are both dealing with it in very different ways. Increasingly obsessed with their highly suspicious neighbour who won''t open the door or answer any questions, they are both coming to the same conclusion. If they want answers, they''re going to have to take matters into their own hands. But just how far are they prepared to go for the love of their daughter? ''Powerfully and brilliantly written'' VASEEM KHAN ''Pure brilliance'' JANICE HALLETT''Wow, what an ending!'' C. L. TAYLOR ''An astonishingly twisty tale of despair, deception and desperation'' LIZ NUGENT An Observer thriller of the month.

A groundbreaking history of the wars of the Ottoman Expansion, a truly global conflagration that crisscrossed three continents and ultimately defined the borders and future of modern Europe.The determined attempt to thwart Ottoman dominance was fought across five theaters from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Russia. This intercontinental melee is expertly re-told in this fascinating new history by historian Si Sheppard.But this is not the story of a clash of civilizations between East and West as you might assume. Europe was not united against the Turks; the scandal of the age was the alliance between King Francis I of France and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Meanwhile, the resistance of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco to Ottoman encroachment played a critical role in denying Constantinople direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. By the same token, though religious imperatives were critical to the motivations of all the key actors involved, these in no way fell neatly along the Christian Muslim divide. Crescent Dawn expertly shows how the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V desired nothing more than to eradicate the Protestant heresy metastasizing throughout his domains, but the threat of Turkish invasion forced him to stay his hand and indulge his Lutheran subjects to ensure a common defense. Nevertheless, the collective effort to constrain the expansion of the Ottoman superpower did succeed with the ultimate victory in 1571 the tipping point in reordering the trajectory of history.Crescent Dawn features some of the legendary figures of the era – from Mehmet the Conqueror, and Suleiman the Magnificent on the Ottoman side, to Charles V and Vasco de Gama on the other – and some of the most exotic locales on Earth – from the sumptuous palaces of Constantinople to the bloody battlefields of the Balkans to the awe-inspiring mountains of Ethiopia. This is a colorful history that brings the great battles of the age to life and clearly shows how the western struggle against the Ottomans constituted the first truly world war.

Fully illustrated, this is the second volume in a detailed study of the German auxiliary troops who fought for Britain in the American Revolutionary War. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), German auxiliary troops provided a vital element of the British war effort. While the largest body of German troops was from Hessen-Cassel (see the first volume of this study), the British also fielded troops from Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, Hessen-Hanau, Waldeck and Pyrmont, Brandenburg Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and Anhalt-Zerbst. This volume also covers the Hanoverian soldiers involved in the sieges of Gibraltar and Menorca.Fighting on a host of battlefields from Saratoga to Yorktown, these hired soldiers provided the Crown Forces with much-needed manpower and contributed crucial combat skills in the form of the Jäger, renowned specialists in open-order warfare. Featuring eight specially commissioned artwork plates and an array of carefully chosen illustrations, many in colour, this lively study examines the organization, uniforms, weapons and equipment of these troops who fought for King George in the New World.

Meet royal animals from across history in this fact-packed sticker activity book made in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces. With fun activities and 150 plastic-free stickers!In partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, this sticker activity book will take you to some of the most stunning palaces in the United Kingdom, and tell you the stories of their lesser-known inhabitants – the animals! Marvel at the Tower of London''s famous ravens and discover how strange animals including polar bears, elephants and lions once lived there! Draw your own crest complete with lions, dragons or unicorns and learn all about the royal family''s famous pets. With fun activities and sticker pages to fill in and 150 plastic-free stickers to choose from, children will be entertained for hours while learning all about the palaces'' amazing animals and the history of how they got there.

A compelling narrative of the largest land battle of its time, and the decisive engagement of the Russo-Japanese War.Mukden stands out as the most significant battle of the Russo-Japanese War. By February 1905, the conflict had reached its culmination, as Port Arthur had fallen to the Japanese after an epic six-month siege. Now free to mass all his field armies, Japanese commander Marshal Oyama shifted his focus to the Russian forces assembled around the city of Mukden. The Russians, led by General Kuropatkin and numbering over 300,000 men, had finally achieved sufficient strength to conduct their own offensive. A Russian victory would be vital to save both deteriorating morale in the army, as well as to reassure the home front. This fascinating work documents the decisive set-piece battle between the opposing sides on the plains and hills of Manchuria. Maps, diagrams, battlescene artwork and period photos bring to life the brutal clash, the largest battle in history up to that point. Exploring the unabated fighting across a 90-mile-long front in the depths of winter, John Valitutto considers the effectiveness of each armies'' manoeuvres, the trench warfare that prefigured World War I, and the influence of machine guns and massed heavy artillery on the battle’s outcome. Mukden made it clear to all that the conduct of war was changing, with new technologies and tactics demonstrating their terrible potential to the world.

The first part of a detailed study of one of the longest, and most brutal, tactical operations of World War II. In September 1944, the Allied High Command continued to press eastwards towards the Rhine, the thrust being spearheaded by Courtney Hodges'' US First Army, whose proposed line of advance was through a wooded area south of Aachen, known locally as the Hürtgenwald – or Hürtgen Forest. On the opposing side, the German forces under the overall command of Walter Model would do all they could to defend the Reich, but also maintain a staging post for the forthcoming Battle of the Bulge. Fought in brutal terrain – heavily wooded, riven with razor sharp ridgelines and precipitous cliffs, and with a woefully inadequate road network – and in all elements, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest was a grinding and protracted encounter where gains were measured in feet and yards and not miles. This study explores the first phase of this bloody battle, including the ‘Aachen Question’ facing the Allies. Featuring stunning artwork, detailed maps and diagrams, and period images, this book provides a gripping narrative of the infamous clash in the Hürtgen Forest, concluding with an assessment of the situation in November 1944, and the preparations for the next phase of operations.

**A Guardian Book of the Summer 2025**** The instant top 5 Sunday Times bestseller from political commentator Ash Sarkar **''One of the boldest and most exciting thinkers of her generation'' NAOMI KLEIN''Delivers its message with punch and panache ... A joy to read'' GUARDIAN''If leftists feel they have been stumbling around in the darkness, Minority Rule flicks on the light'' STANDARDWe live under minority rule. But who is the ruling minority?Most of us are getting screwed over. Our world is defined by inequality, insecurity, lack of community and information overload. As the world burns, mega-corporations are reporting record profits. How are they getting away with it?‘Minority rule’ is the term Ash Sarkar uses to describe the irrational fear that minorities are trying to overturn and oppress majority populations. In her eye-opening debut, she reveals how minority elites rule majorities by creating the culture wars that have taken over our politics, stoking fear and panic in our media landscape. Because despite what they’ll have you believe, antiracist campaigners aren’t actually silencing the ‘forgotten’ working class, immigrants aren’t eating your pets, trans-activists aren’t corrupting your children, and cancel culture isn’t crushing free speech.In Minority Rule, Sarkar exposes how a strategic misdirection of blame over who is really screwing everything up is keeping the majority divided, while the real ruling minority of hedge fund managers, press barons, landlords and corporations remain on top. And it’s facilitating one of the biggest power grabs in history. Most crucially, she shows us how what we really have in common is being concealed by a deafening culture of distraction – and that the first step towards a better future is understanding what is happening now, and how we got here.An 2025 highlight for GQ, New Statesman and Irish TimesMinority Rule was no. 4 in the Sunday Times bestseller chart, 09/03/25

This fully illustrated book assesses the trial of strength between US Navy PT boats and Japanese destroyers operating in the Solomon Islands during 1942–43.During the Solomons fighting, the IJN was forced to rely on destroyers to move men and materiel to its forward garrisons. Conducted at night to avoid American air power, these missions, first seen during the struggle for Guadalcanal, were dubbed the Tokyo Express. Unable to derail the Tokyo Express by using its destroyers, the USN deployed PT boats off Guadalcanal from October 1942; sinking one destroyer and damaging another.As the fighting moved into the Central Solomons, the USN attempted to disrupt the build-up of Japanese forces on New Georgia Island and other Japanese strongholds by using cruisers and destroyers, but this approach resulted in heavy losses. PT boat operations were increasingly important after the Japanese turned to barges to move troops and supplies.Full-colour artwork and mapping and carefully chosen archive photographs complement vivid battle narratives and shrewd analysis in this lively account of the ships and men fighting on both sides in the crucial Solomon Islands campaign at the height of World War II. Renowned authority Mark Stille explores the background to this epic clash of arms, charts its course during 1942–43, and offers insights into the performance of both sides in this pivotal campaign of World War II in the Pacific.

Come What May follows Debi Gliori’s much-loved foxes, Large and Small, as they head out on a picnic in the countryside to wind down after a rather trying afternoon attempting some baking. As their walk takes them across flower-strewn meadows, through cool woods and eventually up onto a gentle hill from which they can see their cosy home below, they reflect on all the moods a single day can hold. And as a squall of rain briefly threatens their picnic, they eventually decide that moods may change like the weather, but their love for each other will always remain constant. A warm-hearted, uplifting story, told with genuine affection and flourishes of humour, perfect to read at bedtime – or any time!

All that is hidden will soon be revealed . . . ''Steeped in atmosphere, sprinkled with suspense and vivid characters ... An engaging, entertaining read'' Daily Mail''A triumph ... deliciously intriguing'' Harriet Constable, author of The Instrumentalist ''Impeccably researched, masterfully plotted, beautifully written'' Santa Montefiore''Imaginative. The streets, parlours and galleries of London and Oxford come alive in this twisting, Victorian-era drama.'' Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black CakeOne morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It’s clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, whose paintings were celebrated and debated not just for their beauty, but for the rumours behind them: they were believed to immortalise the souls of their subjects. But Ponden-Hall has been thought dead for the last 50 years. . . In a bid to quiet the gossip and rumours that swirl around the streets of London, the gallery brings in renowned and reluctant art historian Solomon Oak to investigate. Oak is assisted by an unlikely aide: his daughter Alice. A passionate but sheltered student, Alice has worldly desires which eclipse the life she’s expected to lead. Together they discover that exposing Ponden-Hall’s legacy will prove more controversial than they could ever have imagined for their family, and for Victorian society.Set between London and Oxford, The Portrait Artist is a twisting debut exploring race, fame and long-kept secrets.''An intriguing and original debut'' Emily Howes

‘I read this book in two sit downs! It is filled with compassion. An honest look at navigating life, marriage, family, neurodiversity and veg.’ Anna Maxwell Martin‘A truly beautiful, magical book – I urge you to give it to anyone having a midlife wobble, because Lucy is unashamed about showing her vulnerability and what it is to be human, a woman, a wife and a mum in the 21st century. Heart-breaking and heart-warming, but the ultimate message is one of hope: never give up on the one you love.’ Veronica Henry"On National Divorce Day, my husband Steve and I decide to break up. After years of depression and mood swings (him) and hope and defeat (me) enough is, quite frankly, enough.Until a chance remark triggers a chain of events leading to Steve’s diagnosis of ADHD and autism. What follows is a year of discovery, denial, medication and salvation as we, our teenagers and even our beloved Golden Retriever, Margot, set out to embrace this new reality. But will my plan to start an amateur honesty box business from our tiny Devon village be the catalyst to bring us together, or drive us further apart?This is about what it is like to try and rebuild a marriage. It is a funny, heart-wrenching, uplifting quest for truth, transformation and marrows.I guess you could call it a love story too."‘A beautiful and much needed book about what it is like to be in a relationship with someone who is neurodivergent, and the challenges it can bring! Lucy’s story highlights just how life changing a diagnosis can be, and how it can truly save relationships.’ Rich and Rox Pink, @adhd_love_