Profile Books

Since bestselling author Ryan Holiday re-introduced Stoicism to the world with The Obstacle Is the Way in 2014, this simple but powerful philosophy for life has become a global phenomenon. From professional athletes and world leaders to entrepreneurs and creatives just starting out, this brilliant and engaging book has been an invaluable source of wisdom for anyone who wants to become more successful at what they do. Now, Holiday has updated and expanded this modern classic with a new introduction and new chapters featuring a diverse set of inspiring characters. Unpacking lessons from the lives of historical icons, and reframing them for today's world, this book gives us an infinitely elastic formula for turning our toughest trials into triumphs. Success for the world's greatest men and women has often come in the shape of their biggest obstacles - Stoicism, and this invaluable book, shows this can be true for us all.

Charles de Gaulle famously said it was impossible to govern a country with 246 different cheeses. And perhaps he was right. Every French cheese carries an essence of the place where it's made - its history, identity and landscape. Sometimes that's a physical thing, as the hard texture of Comté echoes its mountainous home in the Jura. Other times it's about power and politics - Brie swelling to royal dimensions due to its proximity to the French court, or Camembert gaining national status after being supplied in patriotic boxes to First World War soldiers. In A Cheesemonger's Tour de France, Ned Palmer wends his way around the country's regions, meeting the remarkable cheesemongers who carry the torch for France's oldest and most treasured traditions. As he explains the mysteries of terroir and why each of those different fromages taste as they do, he shows that a French cheeseboard offers genuine insights into la Belle République.

Artificial Intelligence will create gigantic benefits for humankind but will become more powerful than many governments, with purposes and plans of its own, and the ability to alter the very basis of life on earth. Many believe that AI poses a threat to human dominance. In this punchy, follow-up to his bestselling The Future of (Almost) Everything, leading futurist Patrick Dixon has written an in-depth but accessible exploration of AI, looking at the future of the subject and assessing both threats and benefits - from health and education to cybersecurity, business and the world of work. How AI Will Change Your Life looks at likely outcomes for both individuals and businesses in all areas of life and provides advice for the reader and a charter for governments to exploit the benefits and avoid the risks.

We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did this simple invention come from? How did they revolutionise our lives, and why are they such powerful tools for creativity? And how can using a notebook help you change the way you think? In this wide-ranging story, Roland Allen reveals all the answers. Ranging from the bustling markets of medieval Florence to the quiet studies of our greatest thinkers, he follows a trail of dazzling ideas, revealing how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of artists like Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, scientists from Isaac Newton to Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James. We watch Darwin developing his theory of evolution in tiny pocketbooks, see Agatha Christie plotting a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books, and learn how Bruce Chatwin unwittingly inspired the creation of the Moleskine. On the way we meet a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers and mathematicians, who all used their notebooks as a space for thinking and to shape the modern world.

A radical reappraisal of the nature and activities of business - what it is for and how it works For generations, we have defined a corporation as a business run by a capitalist elite, that uses its accumulated wealth to own the means of production and exercise economic power. That is no longer the reality. In the twenty-first century, our most desired goods and services aren't stacked in warehouses or on container ships: they appear on your screen, fit in your pocket or occupy your head. But even as we consume more than ever before, big business faces a crisis of legitimacy. The pharmaceutical industry creates life-saving vaccines but has lost the trust of the public. The widening pay gap between executives and employees is destabilising our societies. Facebook and Google have more customers than any companies in history but are widely reviled. John Kay, one of the greatest economists of our time, describes how the pursuit of shareholder value has destroyed some of the leading companies of the twentieth century. Incisive and provocative, this book redefines successful commercial activity and leadership, the knowledge economy and what the future of the modern corporation might be.

Six Students. One Murder. Your Time Starts Now... The students of Royal Hastings University's new Multimedia Art course have been trouble from day one. Acclaimed artist Alyson wants the department to revolve around her. Ludya struggles to balance her family and the workload. Jonathan has management experience but zero talent for art. Lovely Patrick can barely operate his mobile phone, let alone professional design software. Meanwhile blustering Cameron tries to juggle the course with his job in the City and does neither very well. Then there's Jem. A gifted young sculptor, she's a promising student... but cross her at your peril. The year-long course is blighted by accusations of theft, students setting fire to one another's artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an interactive art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong? The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students' essays and coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? And if so, who is dead, why were they killed, and who is the murderer? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now...

An indispensable guide to your right to protest In this handbook, campaigning lawyer Christian Weaver brings together everything you need to know when taking a stand. Whether you are marching on the streets or making your voice heard from your own front room, organising in your workplace or writing a letter to your MP, this essential guide equips you with your fundamental rights and the laws that protect you - as well as the ones you might plan to break. From organising a demonstration to attending one to navigating the potential after-effects, this book has your back. In it, you'll find up-to-date information on a whole range of topics, including: - Public assembly and who to notify when you're on the move - Striking in the workplace and action your employer can take against you - Direct action and when it crosses over into trespass - Stop and search and how to access help if you are arrested - Online activism and what to do if you accidentally libel someone For activists new and old alike, Your Right to Protest is the indispensable guide to using your voice for what you believe in.

An expert guide to transforming your teamwork and results Habits are crucial for personal productivity. But we rarely work alone: achieving our goals depends on how well we work with others. And teams have their own habits that can accelerate - or block - success. In this essential handbook, productivity and teamwork expert Charlie Gilkey shows how to cultivate, implement and maintain the small habits that lead to big results for any team. From the Team Habits quiz, where you can identify the habits you need to build (or break) to a roadmap for putting them into practice, this book is full of clear, simple actions to: - run more productive meetings - eliminate pointless emails - make better, swifter decisions - create a stellar culture of belonging Team Habits is the difference between teamwork that feels like a struggle and collaboration that empowers everyone to deliver their best.

A transformational guide to stepping up and standing out Good leadership requires authenticity, assertiveness and adaptability. It takes courage. Yet many of us are stuck playing it safe and striving to fit in. Dispelling the myth that caring is a weakness, Alina Addison shows how the things we care about most can fuel our most courageous acts. Combining deep research with her own expertise - as a pioneering corporate leader, Emotional Intelligence coach, and mother to a son on the autism spectrum - Addison presents the eight life-changing principles behind audacious leadership. These practical, proven methods will help you identify the things that set you apart, inspire others and dare to create the life and career you truly want.

NO ONE CAN RUN FOREVER... Grace is a thief - a good one. But she's always on the move, always looking over her shoulder, always alone. It's not the life she wants. Then a run-in with an old associate forces her to lie low in a small rural town, where she happens across an antiques shop. The owner Erin is timid but friendly, and has a room to rent. And Grace glimpses a different life, and perhaps a home. But there are dangerous men watching her, and Grace should know better than to let her guard slip. Because no matter how far she runs, her past is always just a few steps behind... From the multiple Ned Kelly Award-winning author of Consolation comes a stunning new standalone thriller for readers of Jane Harper, Ian Rankin and Chris Hammer.

From The New York Times bestselling author Jean Kwok comes an evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women. * FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL IN TRANSLATION * 'I will find my daughter. No matter the cost...' Jasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China's one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she's forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child. Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca's job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble. Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again...

An unmissable tour through art and time with the most renowned classicist of today, Mary Beard Britain's most famous classicist asks: what are civilisations? Central to this huge question are the ways in which we have depicted the human and the divine from prehistory to the present day. And across such iconic creations as Angkor Wat, the Ravenna mosaics and China's terracotta army, one ancient representation of the human body still influences (or distorts) how people in the West see not only their own culture but that of others. From idolatry to iconoclasm, Mary Beard shines her spotlight on the artists who made art, and on those who have used, viewed, or interpreted it - and asked how to look with the eye of faith.

What is the history of ideas - and how has it shaped our world today? In this bold new follow-up to Confronting Leviathan, David Runciman unmasks modern politics and reveals the great men and women of ideas behind it. What can Samuel Butler's ideas teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies? How did Frederick Douglass not only expose the horrors of slavery, but champion a new approach to abolishing it? Why should we tolerate snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy, as Judith Shklar suggested? And what does Friedrich Nietzsche predict for our future? From Rousseau to Rawls, fascism to feminism and pleasure to anarchy, this is a mind-bending tour through the history of ideas which will forever change your view of politics today.

If we do what is right, everything else will follow: happiness, success, meaning, reputation, love. This is central to Stoic wisdom. The path isn't always easy, but it is essential, and the alternative - taking the easy route - leads only to cowardice and folly.In the third book in his bestselling Stoic Virtues series, Ryan Holiday explores the crucial role that integrity plays in every good life. From pillars of upright living like Ulysses S. Grant and Marcus Aurelius, to the cautionary tales of Napoleon and F. Scott Fitzgerald, this book shows us the power of owning our convictions and acting in accordance with our beliefs - and the perils of an ill-formed conscience.Our conscience, our sense of justice, is our first and our last strength: we can train it, hone it and fortify it, but above all, we must never lose it. This book shows us how.

In collaboration with the Financial Times: powerful, urgent reflections on the value of democracy from eleven women writers and thought-leaders 2024 is an exceptional year for democracy. Nearly half the world's population will take part in a national election, with billions heading to the polls. It's a thrilling, unprecedented moment for change - yet democracy is also under threat. Women are at the forefront of the fight for democratic rights, as well as most vulnerable when those rights disappear. Here eleven extraordinary women - leaders, philosophers, historians, writers and activists - explore democracy's power to uplift our societies. Between its ancient origins and its modern challenges, they share a vision for a better future - one we can build together.

What makes a real salade nicoise? What type of cheese is officially France's stinkiest? Why does the sandy carrot have such a superior flavour? And who exactly are the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Giant Omelette? Leading expert on French food and culture Carolyn Boyd shares the stories behind the country's most fascinating foods and ingredients. Spanning every region of France and divided into 200 separate vignettes, each entry blends history and travel, personal anecdote and recipes. Amuse Bouche is a book to be devoured: a beautifully illustrated, joyous celebration of French food, and a charming, practical guide to inspire your own travels - whether you're a proud Francophile or don't know your ficelle from your fl?te.