Swift Press

A thrilling historical adventure, inspired by the life of Grace O'Malley, channels the natural beauty and brutality of sixteenth-century Ireland. Seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine, the infamous Irish sea captain and folk heroine who risked everything to protect her people against the powerful Elizabethan regime. Grace O'Malley, 'the Pirate Queen of Ireland', was born to be at sea. Raised alongside her brother by their father, chief of the name of clan O'Malley, Grace learns early that her dreams of the open water are not compatible with the life she's expected to lead as the daughter of a noble family. And when her father marries her to the wrong man, a neighbouring chief named Donhal, Grace's world shifts for the worse. Undaunted, Grace raises a family without abandoning her passion, aiding her hot-tempered husband in his campaigns against rival tribes. Eventually ousted from her husband's land in the wake of his death, Grace returns to her childhood home and begins her career as a pirate in earnest, claiming new territories and finding deeper love, only to see her livelihood threatened by English incursions into Ireland, and her family endangered in an attempt to check her power.

'A superb and compelling espionage drama inside the Iran Israel shadow war by the top spy thrillerist of these wild turbulent times' Simon Sebag Montefiore'A great spy writer' Tim ShipmanWhat happens when a spy is forced to reckon with the consequences of his deceptio? amran Esfahani, a Persian Jewish dentist from Stockholm, dreams of starting afresh in California. To finance his new life, he agrees to spy for Mossad in Iran, working with a clandestine unit tasked with sowing chaos and sabotage inside the country. When he’s captured by Iranian security forces, Kamran is compelled to confess his experiences as a spy, in a testimonial dealing not only with the security of nations, but also with revenge, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies. Mixing suspense with strikingly cinematic action, David McCloskey takes readers deep into the shadow war between Iran and Israel, delivering propulsive storytelling and riveting tradecraft. THE FOURTH NOVEL FROM FORMER CIA OFFICER, THE REST IS CLASSIFIED PODCAST CO-HOST AND THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ***THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR***DAMASCUS STATION (‘One of the best spy thrillers in years’ THE TIMES) AND ***SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR*** MOSCOW XREADER REVIEWS'A brilliant gripping read. This is one of his best books''An excellent read from the pen of one who has been there and done it all, especially in light of current events in the Middle East.''This is the best book I have read in years. A superb spy novel.''Couldn’t put it down, this is an amazing book...This is a must read from a great writer!'

For the first time since university, James and Roland's paths through life - one drawn in straight lines, the other squiggled and meandering - began to cross… James Drayton has always found things too easy. By the time he leaves university, he's still searching for a challenge worthy of his ambitions, one that will fulfil the destiny he thinks awaits him. Roland Mackenzie, on the other hand, is an impulsive risk-taker, a charismatic drifter with boundless enthusiasm but a knack for derailing his own attempts to get started in life. When a chance encounter in a pub reunites these old acquaintances, it sets them on an unpredictable course through the upheavals of the 21st century, and triggers an unlikely alliance. Against the backdrop of the financial crash and its aftermath, they strive to create something that outlasts them, something that will matter. Drayton and Mackenzie is a stunningly ambitious, immediately engaging and ultimately deeply moving novel both about trying to make your mark on the world, and about how a friendship might be the most important thing in life.

Vladimir Putin came to power by destroying the Russian oligarchs, the entrepreneurs who grew rich during Russia’s chaotic transition from communism and exercised unseemly influence over the government of Boris Yeltsin. Putin confiscated their companies and used the profits to build the Kremlin’s war chest for the invasion of Ukraine. He and his cronies siphoned off billions for themselves. Drawing on exclusive interviews and explosive new material, in Suing the Kremlin Martin Sixsmith tells the astonishing story of what happened to the men Putin dispossessed. Some were sent to labour camps, forced into exile or murdered. Some attempted to fight back, but with no success. Yet for the past twenty years, a small, determined team of legal experts based in London has been pursuing Putin and his rogue state through courts across the globe. Acting on behalf of Group Menatep – the holding company founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s wealthiest oligarch – they have set out to reclaim this vast stolen fortune and to prove that even the most powerful men in the world are not beyond the reach of international law.

In A Billion Years of Sex Differences, evolutionary psychologist Steve Stewart-Williams tackles some of science’s most controversial questions: How do men and women differ? Where do the differences come from? And how do they shape modern lif? he result is the most up-to-date, balanced, and engaging account of human sex differences yet written, covering everything from dating and mating to aggression and parenting, from children’s toy preferences and workplace gender gaps to mental health and the politics of equality. Drawing on a century of research - and a billion years of evolution - Stewart-Williams explains why many sex differences appear despite socialization, not because of it; why in our mating and parenting patterns, humans are more like the average bird than the average mammal; and why sex differences are sometimes a sign of societal health rather than injustice. With more than two decades of research in evolutionary psychology and an international reputation in the field, Steve Stewart-Williams is uniquely positioned to challenge prevailing views in this fraught debate. Avoiding the extremes of either overstating or denying the differences, he argues that, rather than trying to make men and women identical, we should strive for a world where bias and barriers are eliminated, and where people are free to be themselves whether they conform to gender norms or defy them.

THE TELEGRAPH, BLOOMBERG AND TIME 'BOOK OF THE YEAR''A taut, immersive chronicle of endurance' Time Magazine'One of the most compelling and unflinching books you will ever read' Daily TelegraphOn 7 October, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Be’eri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out of his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged deep into the suffocating darkness of Gaza’s tunnels. As war raged above him, he endured a gruelling 491 days in captivity - all the while holding onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his loved ones. In the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage, and the fastest-selling book in Israel’s history, Sharabi offers a searing firsthand account of survival under unimaginable conditions - starvation, isolation, physical beatings, and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors. Eli Sharabi’s story is one of hunger and heartache, of physical pain, longing, loneliness and a helplessness that threatens to destroy the soul. But it is also a story of strength, of resilience, and of the human spirit’s refusal to surrender. It is about the camaraderie forged in captivity, the quiet power of faith, and one man’s unrelenting decision to choose life, time and time again. Reminiscent of Elie Wiesel’s Night, Hostage is a profound witness to history, so that it shall be neither forgotten nor erased.

Today’s computer scientists play the same role as the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages. Modern predictions not only advise on war, crop output, and marriages, but algorithms and statisticians also now determine whether we can get a loan, a job, an apartment, or an organ transplant. And when we cede ground to these predictions, we lose control of our own lives. In this powerful, refreshing new look at the many ways prediction shapes our everyday lives, University of Oxford professor Carissa Véliz explains how putting too much stock in others’ predictions makes us vulnerable to charlatans, con artists, dubious technology, and self-deception. Examining a wide range of subjects both personal and societal, including medicine, climate, technology, society, and others, Véliz uncovers a number of insights: predictions about humans tend to be self-fulfilling; more data doesn’t guarantee better outcomes; AI is more likely to increase risk than decrease it; and a free and robust society requires not more prediction, but better preparation. Véliz argues in this incisive and bracingly original book that the main promise of prediction is not knowledge of the future, but rather power over others. Prophecy is an invitation to defy those orders and live life on our own terms.

How a skeptical FBI agent reached out to a famous psychic for help on a baffling case – and the twenty-five-year crime-solving journey that followedCentring on the investigation of the gruesome John Smith murders that rocked the nation, Chasing Evil is a heart-stopping story of murder, justice and finding help in unexpected places. In the summer of 1998, FBI agent Bob Hilland reluctantly picked up the phone to call the famous psychic John Edward. Bob didn’t expect much from the call, but he was working on an unsolvable cold case and had nowhere else to turn. What Bob never imagined was that the call would lead to a shattering of all his preconceived notions, a huge break in the cold case and an unlikely crime-solving partnership that spanned twenty-five years. As Bob and John took on more cases together, they slowly learned how to rely on each other and trust their skills, ultimately finding not only justice for the crimes they solved, but resolution and healing in their own lives.

The story behind Notebook starts with a minor crime: the theft of Tom Cox's rucksack from a Bristol pub in 2018. In that rucksack was a journal containing ten months' worth of notes, one of the many Tom has used to record his thoughts and observations over the past twelve years. It wasn't the best he had ever kept – his handwriting was messier than in his previous notebook, his entries more sporadic – but he still grieved for every one of the hundred or so lost pages. This incident made Tom appreciate how much notebook-keeping means to him: the act of putting pen to paper has always led him to write with an unvarnished, spur-of-the-moment honesty that he wouldn’t achieve on-screen. Here, Tom has assembled his favourite stories, fragments, moments and ideas from those notebooks, ranging from memories of his childhood to the revelation that 'There are two types of people in the world. People who fucking love maps, and people who don't.' The result is a book redolent of the real stuff of life, shot through with Cox’s trademark warmth and wit.

A Telegraph Book of the Year 2025'Allows us to understand the profound, and often profoundly beneficial, impact of Christianity' Anthony Seldon'Superb ... Lively and erudite' The Telegraph'Tremendous ... The arguments are truly profound' The Spectator'A finely judged and beautifully written account' Peter FrankopanChristianity in England is in decline. Congregations are dwindling and ever fewer young people believe. Should we merely shrug our shoulders and accept this as inevitable and even healthy, or is something important being los? ijan Omrani argues that this decline is the most momentous change to occur in English history. He shows how a religion that has been part of our national story for over 1700 years was instrumental in the creation and development of the English nation, its codes of law and morality, and its structures of government and kingship. He demonstrates its profound cultural impact, in areas ranging from architecture and literature to our very landscape and the structure of our everyday life and language. Its influence, he contends, has been enormous, largely benign, and shouldn’t be lightly abandoned. Ending with a rousing call to retain Christianity, rightly understood, as a way of dealing with both the eternal questions of the human condition, as well as the malaises of modernity, this is an erudite and tender tribute to our Christian history and heritage.

'A page-turner' The Spectator 'Harrowing and engrossing' Nicola Sturgeon'Incredible and powerful' The Herald 'Utterly heartbreaking' TelegraphOn 13 March 1996 a man walked into Dunblane Primary School armed with four legally owned handguns, and in less than four minutes fired 105 bullets, killing sixteen children and their Primary One teacher. The gunman was notorious among local parents, politicians and police: for years he ran a network of popular boys’ clubs and was the subject of multiple complaints and investigations, but, despite considerable evidence of troubling behaviour, he was never charged. His crime shocked the world then changed the nation – but only after an extraordinary political battle. Based on original archival research, unseen royal correspondence and exclusive interviews with parents, One Morning in March tells – for the first time – of the lead-up to that day but also the incredible and powerful true story of how, in their darkest hour, a band of parents used their grief as fuel in a fight with John Major’s Conservative government to forever ban handguns in Britain. It is a story of how Princess Diana, forbidden to comfort the parents in the immediate aftermath, urged their campaign on; of how Andy Murray, a pupil at the school, ultimately banished the shadow over his hometown by winning Wimbledon; and of how the grieving parents secured the tightest gun laws in the world.

‘An informative and thought-provoking history’ The Telegraph‘A story rich in intrigue, diplomacy and personalities’ New Statesman'Offering new perspectives and ideas' Guardian'Here is the whirligig of history, which Shorto captures vividly in this well-researched, well-written, sprightly book' Literary ReviewA New Zealand Listener 100 Best Books of 2025In 1664, England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, had dreams of empire, and their arch-rivals, the Dutch, were in the way. But Richard Nicolls, who led the English flotilla bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he began parleying with Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch leader on Manhattan. Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention: the result not of a violent English takeover, but of clever negotiations that led to the fusing of the multiethnic, capitalistic society the Dutch had pioneered to the power of the rising English empire. But the birth of what might be termed the first modern city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots of American slavery. Based on newly translated sources, Taking Manhattan shows how the paradox of New York’s origins — boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement — reflect America’s promise and failure to this day.

‘A masterly analysis of why Britain has much more global influence than it thinks’ Eric Schmidt, former CEO Google'Enthralling' Daily MailSince the global financial crisis, Britain has been through a difficult period, leading many to conclude the country is doomed to inevitable decline. Jeremy Hunt was at the top of government as both Foreign Secretary and Chancellor. In Can We Be Great Again? he persuasively rebuts those who think Britain is no longer capable of shaping the world we live in. With the election of President Trump, a world that was already becoming more dangerous has also become more unpredictable. But when it comes to the big challenges facing the world – whether on European security, the future of democracy, migration, trade or climate - the UK remains one of the most influential countries. Hunt does not shy away from our weaknesses but argues that they should be considered in perspective and without underestimating our many strengths. If we want a world that remains safe and free, now is the time for countries with influence to use it wisely.

A Forever War: Israel and Palestine achieves something quite extraordinary. At a time when passions run high and the Israel-Gaza war intensifies, so much coverage is based on prejudice, fear and ignorance. Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor of Israel Studies at SOAS, presents a calm, scholarly and dispassionate view of the past and of what might lie ahead. Since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, the Middle East has been thrown into conflict. Shindler reflects on the key questions: How did this state of affairs come about? Is it even possible to write an impartial account? Could all the conflict have been avoided? How is it that Israel itself is a divided nation and even other Arab nations treat the Palestinians so badl? n both sides are the extremists - terrorists and ultra-nationalist religious Jews who are determined to seize land from Palestinians and dream of a new Jewish theocracy based on a Greater Israel - but A Forever War strives for objectivity and asks how we can best approach the truth in a time of such complex division.

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel AwardThe 'English' of this novel are a particular kind of family. Their ailing patriarch is Phillip Prys, the once-famous writer unexpectedly eclipsed first by voguish Salman Rushdie, and second by a massive stroke. His third wife, Shirin, pads through their house in Hampstead, resolute in the face of Myfanwy, first spouse, who returns with all the subtlety of a stormy weather front to manage Phillip's care. Their children, Jake and Juliet, have each retreated towards drugs and food, their already strained relationship with their father unable to bear this latest rupture. And to cap it all, it's the hottest summer anyone can remember. Enter Struan. Built like a heron, fresh from Scotland, he is thrust -- quite literally -- into the bosom of the family as Phillip's 17-year-old nurse. He's had experience of death, but not of London. It's a foreign country, with foreign food and foreign customs. But it also has a kind of magic. As he comes under the influence of each Prys, his life begins to change in ways he could never have imagined. And so, in the meantime, do theirs. . .

‘Daniel Wiles connects us viscerally to the past we have buried the history we choose to ignore' Hilary Mantel1950s, Chile. Bernardo has journeyed to his childhood home, tucked deep into the Patagonian wilderness – though it seems little more than a shack to his young son, James. The place is nothing like England, where James was born. The land is harsh. Unyielding. Then Bernardo sees it. Short and lean and striking. The puma, with its huge paws on the earth. What will a father do to ensure his family’s survival? And what might he become when survival is no longer an optio? hrilling and powerfully atmospheric, The Puma is a novel about fathers and sons, and our desperate attempts to tame the wilderness of the past.