A GUIDE TO LIVING IN DARK TIMES, FROM PEOPLE WHO REALLY DID

Bursting with wisdom and artwork from the Middle Ages, this handy guide will give you time-tested solutions for all of life's biggest problems. Whether it's choosing an appropriate dog name like Garlik or Filthe, becoming an irresistible suitor even though you can't joust, surviving encounters with rabbits and dragons, or coming to terms with your inevitable demise, this book is full of illuminating advice that is sure to brighten up the darkest of times.

Full of quizzes, how-to-guides, diagrams, and flow charts that take you from birth to your gruesome death, this is the ultimate laugh-out-loud read for history buffs.

'A culinary masterpiece' Olia Hercules, author of Home Food

Sun-kissed, simple, and delicious recipes bursting with the delights of the Mediterranean cooking from award-winning food writer, Georgina Hayden.

Throughout TAVERNA you'll be treated to the full, delicious melting pot of Greek Cypriot food and flavours, including:
Simple Mediterranean salads
Classic ingredients like feta, a squeeze of lemon and fresh oregano
Cinnamon-infused stews
Orange-blossom scented pastries

Georgina takes the best of traditional Cypriot cooking and makes it relevant to modern home cooks. From simple vegan fast-day dishes to feasts for the family, there is something delicious for every mood and moment.

These delicious recipes relive sun-kissed Mediterranean holidays and simple taverna-style meals.

'Taverna... brings a touch of Cypriot sunshine into your kitchen' Good Housekeeping

'This spectacular book is filled with comforting, delicious recipes' Jamie Oliver

'James has been my movie guru for years and now he's my spiritual guru too! From now on I'm going to ask myself: 'What would Keanu do?'
Jo Whiley

In this hilarious book of pocket philosophy, film critic and Keanu fan James King reveals what makes Mr Reeves so special. He unpacks iconic films from the Bill & Teds to the John Wicks, as well as the star's own free-spirited life, showing us why the great man with the great hair has all the answers.

And how everyone can #bemorekeanu.

'A handsome, cool, enigmatic Gen X'er who never seems to age, James King is the perfect man to write about Keanu Reeves.'
Stephen Merchant

'Hysterical, important, moving, wonderful' Sara Pascoe

I'm Jen Brister, stand-up comedian, middle-aged adolescent and, more recently, a mum. But not that mum - I'm the other one. Confused? Let's back up a bit. Two years ago, my partner (a woman - we're not solicitors) gave birth to twins. Yes. Yes. Already there's a lot to take in here: gay mums, twins, solicitors... (I know! Believe me, I'm still reeling myself.)

Like every new parent, I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Add 'gay' and 'non-biological' to the mix and what do you get? Not a weird box of detergent, but a panicked beige lesbian desperately googling, 'Will my babies love me?' at 3 a.m.

This is a book for any parent who feels they don't fit the mould of a traditional 2.4 family. Stand-up comedian Jen Brister takes a very funny, very honest look at life as a parent: from IVF awfulness to crying over the pages of sleep training manuals. As 'the other mother' she has the perfect vantage point for us to laugh and cry alongside her.

'Wherever there is a stretch of water for them to find food and make their nest, you will come across swans'

The Mute Swan is not so much a bird, as a national treasure: the avian equivalent of Sir David Attenborough or the Queen. These huge and stately creatures are part of our urban and rural landscapes, a constant presence on lakes, rivers and ponds throughout Britain. Yet despite their familiarity, they are often misunderstood; and while many people love swans, others fear them.

Swans also feature in myths and legends, art and literature, dance and music, not just in Britain but all around the world. Stephen Moss delves into the facts and fiction about these charismatic birds, describes their seasonal life cycle and examines their central role in our history and culture. He also includes stories about 'wild swans' - Whooper and Bewicks - that visit us in winter; and the Black Swan of Australia.

With beautiful illustrations throughout, this eye-opening biography reveals the hidden secrets of one of Britain's best-known birds.

No lover will complain when you present them with a well-iced Negroni as they walk through your door; no house-guest will complain about a round of Gin Sours.

'To cocktail' was coined as a verb by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1928. This guide embodies that Golden Age spirit while giving it a thoroughly modern makeover.

Expressly structured for the amateur, remind yourself how much pleasure there is in cocktailing at home.

'Nourishing, delicious, healthy, original food' Vogue


Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones are the inimitable pair behind Tart London - the peerless boutique caterers, pop-up kitchen pros and ES Magazine columnists who have been bringing bold and bright food to the London scene since they first started in 2012. This book is about their approach to cooking and eating - creating colourful, fresh and wholesome meals to share and enjoy, always with a fun and fuss-free attitude.

Whether you're looking for a weeknight one-pot wonder that can bubble away while you get on with a glass of wine, a splendid brunch to surprise your friends, or the perfect menu for a long and lazy lunch, Lucy and Jemima have the key to honest, full-flavoured and effortlessly enjoyable eating.

From deeply spiced Goan baked eggs or home-baked broccoli and taleggio flatbreads to smoky fish tacos or saffron-roasted tomatoes with labneh and crispy chickpeas, it's easy to have a little of what you fancy, whenever you fancy it. A Love of Eating is all about naturally good food that is a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat.

This is the book I've been waiting for. --Nigel Slater

A British take on Italian cooking by one of London's brightest chefs. Trullo is about serious cooking, but with a simple, laid-back approach. From creative antipasti and knockout feasts to the bold pasta dishes that inspired Trullo's sister restaurant Padella, this is food that brings people together.

Though it is easy to overlook a solitary starling, even with its beautiful iridescent plumage, when they come together in the thousands they take to the skies in awe-inspiring swooping flocks called murmurations. Starlings live almost all over the world - they're are common bird throughout Europe and the Palearctic to western Mongolia, and are recent residents of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa and Fiji, migrating seasonally as far North as Scandinavia. Discover how their love of fruit gets them into trouble, how they can help farmers by eating insects, how their skill for mimicry has inspired centuries of folklore and how they were brought to new continents by one man's passion for Shakespeare.

'Tells you everything you need to know about wine and how to get the best out of it' The Field

'This is all about how your palate works, how you can taste different fruits. Bleeding fantastic' Tom Gilbey

Discover Sam Caporn's exclusive Wine Flavour Tree: the only guide you'll need to demystify the 10 major categories of wine and determine your best option on any budget and for any occasion.

Sam Caporn is one of just over 400 people in the world to hold the expert status of Master of Wine. Drawing on three decades of experience tasting thousands of bottles as a consultant for brands and supermarkets, this informative visual guide to flavours covers:

- How to decode any wine label and buy the best value bottle
- Which wines you are likeliest to enjoy on a menu
- Simple expert tips for pairing your meal with a delicious wine
- What the names of wine styles can tell you about quality
- How wine is made and categorised around the world
By mastering the Wine Flavour Tree, you'll never stand in the wine aisle for long, order the second cheapest option on the menu, or pick wines that overwhelm your palate again.

'Easy to follow, excellent advice and tasting guides that's enabled me to branch out and try new delicious wines!' 5* reader review

'The wine flavour tree is ingenious! The book also has great food recipes and matches wines to them which I love.' 5* reader review

'Genuinely helps me to make a better choice in the wine shop about what I might like, at the same time as being able to try something new without too much risk!' 5* reader review

'The graphics and infographics make learning fun and you'll remember it all too! Wine terms, facts and processes are demystified' 5* reader review

Using the structure of the carol as a jumping off point, he explores the place of twelve fascinating British birds in our history, culture and landscape. Some of the birds are obvious, there's the swan and of course the partridge. Other chapters are loose interpretations of a verse: for drummers drumming he delves into the woodpecker's distinctive drumming tap. Woodpeckers, he explains, have special padded skulls to mitigate against using its head like hammer drills. They carefully select dead trees for the most hollow, sonorous sound.

With brilliant anecdotes and insights, Stephen Moss weaves history, culture, bird behaviour and folklore into a compelling narrative for each species, tracing its fortunes over the past two centuries.

'A superb naturalist and writer' Chris Packham author of Finger in the Sparkle Jar

'Moss has carved out an enviable niche as a chronicler of the natural world' Daily Mail

A parliament of fools, or a confederacy of dunces? Blethering celebrities and blundering politicians, royal babies and right royal cock-ups, milkshake madness and vegan sausage rolls - and, of course, the long and winding road to Brexit.

If ever the times were ripe for a return to the high days of Augustan satire, it's now - and the Spectator's literary editor Sam Leith provides it.

Our Times in Rhymes is a waspish, affectionate and very funny look at the state of our nation as it - let's be even-handed - teeters on the cliff-edge of a marvellous opportunity. Here is all the insanity and inanity of 2019, month by cherishable month, rendered in galloping comic verse and paired with satirical drawings by the brilliant cartoonist Edith Pritchett.

It makes the perfect Christmas stocking filler for anyone who needs a good laugh at the damnable times we live in.

From the author of A Is for Armageddon, a surprising and witty guide to unlikely and unusual things to spot on your daily trudge through life

Tired of the dull daily commute to the office, the tedious traipse to and from school? The time has come to open your eyes, for in the midst of those soulless sceneries and vacant vistas there lies a wealth of fascinating detail. This guide brings together the fun and frustrating, the maddening and the mundane, to offer you a list of unlikely things to spot on your daily trudge through life. So keep your eyes peeled: for whether it be a cat with a mustache, a hopelessly lost tourist, a pigeon with one foot, an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, or the face of Jesus in your soup, the world is waiting to be spotted. Spotting a photobombing? This guide has a form to fill out the time, location, subject of the bomb, expression on the face of the bomber, and it awards varying points for being the photo's subject, witnessing the bombing from afar, taking the photo, and being the actual photobomber. Suddenly, there's nothing more exciting than taking notes on that bad tattoo, those owner/pet lookalikes, or that act of road rage.

Selected as a Book of the Year 2017 in The Times
'There is no doubt that Moss's book, with its charming cover and quaint illustrations, will make it into many a stocking this year' The Times

No other bird is quite so ever-present and familiar, so embedded in our culture, as the robin. With more than six million breeding pairs, the robin is second only to the wren as Britain's most common bird. It seems to live its life alongside us, in every month and season of the year. But how much do we really know about this bird?

In The Robin Stephen Moss records a year of observing the robin both close to home and in the field to shed light on the hidden life of this apparently familiar bird. We follow its lifecycle from the time it enters the world as an egg, through its time as a nestling and juvenile, to the adult bird; via courtship, song, breeding, feeding, migration - and ultimately, death. At the same time we trace the robin's relationship with us: how did this particular bird - one of more than 300 species in its huge and diverse family - find its way so deeply and permanently into our nation's heart and its social and cultural history? It's a story that tells us as much about ourselves as it does about the robin itself.

Selected as a Book of the Year 2017 in You Magazine

'A lavish monthly guide to getting the most from your garden' Daily Mail

A punnet of plums from your tree, a handful of gooseberries; home-grown nuts and herbs, and a few freshly laid eggs from your hens - all enjoyed in your own small plot. What could be more satisfying?

The Garden Farmer is an evocative journal and monthly guide to getting the most out of your garden throughout the year. Whether you are a keen gardener looking for inspiration, or just starting out and wanting to rediscover and reclaim your patch of earth, Sunday Telegraph garden-columnist Francine Raymond lays the groundwork for a bountiful year of garden farming.

Maybe you would like to get outside more, grow a few essential vegetables, some fruit trees or bushes for preserving, and create a scented kitchen garden to provide for you year round. Or perhaps you will raise a small flock of ducks or geese, or even a couple of pigs? Could this be the year you decorate your home with nature's adornments, encourage wildlife back to pollinate your trees and plants, and spend celebratory hours in a haven of your own creation?

Each chapter of The Garden Farmer offers insight into the topics and projects you might be contemplating that month, along with planting notes and timely advice, and a recipe that honours the fruits of your labour. With just a little effort and planning, every garden can be tended in tune with nature, and every gardener can enjoy a host of seasonal delights from their own soil.

Keep up-to-date with Francine's gardening adventures on her blog at kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk.

Eggs, avocado, bacon, bagels - the roll-call of delicious ingredients shows why brunch is by far the best meal of the day.

The Little Book of Brunch features a selection of the world's best ever brunch recipes, ranging from Middle Eastern Shakshuka to traditional English Savouries, from simple Baked Eggs to indulgent Brioche French Toast. Whether you're in the mood to make something sweet or savoury, speedy or slow, these easy and adaptable recipes are everything a meal should be, whatever the time of day. Includes metric measures.

'A fine, if sometimes rude, collection of haikus inspired by modern life' Daily Telegraph

'I'm in here!' yelled Mum.
Hide and seek was spoilt again.
We never found Dad.

The word 'Haiku' invokes images of misty mountains, running streams and falling leaves. But where are the haiku that reflect the modern world we live in? The real world of overflowing baths, train delays and Pierce Brosnan?

In this collection, you will find a haiku for every moment of modern life, all rendered in no more or less than 17 syllables.