Icon January - June 2009 AIs by Icon Books

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Science and Islam: A History / Ehsan Masood Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

8th January 2009 978-1-84831-040-7 £14.99 $30.00 Demy 256pp Hardback 8 page colour plate section Science / History World ex. USA

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The official tie-in to the major BBC TV series Science and Islam

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First episode will be broadcast on MONDAY 5TH JANUARY 2009

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Following on the success of Icon’s BBC TV tie-in Atom which sold over 20,000 copies in hardback

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An important title in an often over-looked area of science and history

The official tie-in to the BBC television series, Science and Islam tells the story of one of history’s most misunderstood yet rich and fertile periods in science: the extraordinary Islamic scientific revolution between 700 and 1400 CE. It charts a religious empire’s scientific heyday, its decline, and the many debates that now surround it. Between the 8th and 15th centuries, scholars and researchers working from Samarkand in modern-day Uzbekistan to Cordoba in Spain advanced our knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, medicine and philosophy to new heights. It was Musa al-Khwarizmi, for instance, who developed algebra in 9th-century Baghdad, drawing on work by mathematicians in India; there was also al-Jazari, a Turkish engineer of the 13th century whose achievements include the crank, the camshaft, and the reciprocating piston; and ibn-Sina, whose textbook Canon of Medicine was a standard work in Europe’s universities until the 1600s. These scientists were part of a sophisticated culture and civilisation that was based on belief in God – a picture which helps to scotch the myth of the ‘Dark Ages’ and the idea that scientific progress falters because of religion. Science writer Ehsan Masood weaves the story of these and other scientists into a compelling narrative, taking the reader on a journey through the Islamic empires of the middle ages, the cultural and religious circumstances that made this revolution possible, and its contribution to science in Western Europe. He unpacks the debates between scientists, philosophers and theologians on the nature of physical reality and the limits of human reason, and explores the many reasons for the eventual decline of advanced science and learning in the Arabic speaking world. Ehsan Masood is Acting Chief Commissioning Editor at Nature and teaches international science policy at Imperial College London. He also writes for Prospect and OpenDemocracy.net and is a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Home Planet. Author lives: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

In the Red: The Diary of a Recovering Shopaholic/ Alexis Hall Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

8th January 2009 978-1-84831-023-0 £7.99 $16.00 B 304pp Paperback Lifestyle World ex. USA

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TPB sold in excess of 10,000 copies following massive press coverage in Jan 08

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Covers pertinent credit crunch issues many can relate to – flashing the plastic is easy, giving back what you owe is a lot harder

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Brand new introduction, bringing Alexis’ story up- to-date

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Will appeal to fans of Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series – meet the real Becky Bloomwood!

The bestselling diary of shopaholic Alexis Hall’s quest to get back in the black, now in compact paperback and including a brand new introduction, bringing her story right up-to-date. When your debt is more than your share of the mortgage and your partner’s threatening to not only leave, but to tell your mother how out of control your spending is, then you know it’s time to face reality and take drastic action. So, for one whole year, Alexis Hall sets out to buy nothing except the bare essentials in a bid to reclaim her life from the retail rollercoaster threatening to pitch her into permanent poverty. That might not sound too hard a task, but when you owe over £30,000 and you’re consumed by consumerism, just making it to lunchtime without buying a pair of sensational shoes suddenly becomes a life-altering act. In the Red is Alexis’ hilarious diary – full of fashion and frustration – as she battles to transform herself from a spending junkie to a scrupulous saver. You’ll soon realize there’s a bit of Alexis in all of us!

‘A witty take on our consumer culture through the eyes of one former addict, In the Red is compulsive reading for shopaholics everywhere.’ My Weekly

Alexis Hall is a media relations officer and former broadcast journalist. She lives in Glasgow with her partner, their four-legged, furry child and her large collection of shoes. In the Red is her first book. Author lives: Glasgow

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Not Fade Away: The Life and Music of Buddy Holly / John Gribbin Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

8th January 2009 978-1-84831-034-6 £12.99 $26.00 B 240 pp Hardback 16 page b/w photo section Music / Biography World ex. USA

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On the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death comes a unique and personal biography, charting every Holly recording session for the first time ever

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Popular science legend John Gribbin’s first ever non-science title

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An important biography of a man whose incredibly short career has influenced musicians from The Beatles to Blink 182, Weezer and Bob Dylan

A new, popular biography of Buddy Holly, published on the 50th anniversary of his tragic death – and pop science legend John Gribbin’s first ever non-science book. Buddy Holly was killed at 22 when the plane he was travelling in crashed on 3 February 1959. Although this was less than two years after Holly’s first hit record, Don McLean described this as ‘the day the music died.’ But Sonny Curtis, Holly’s friend and musical colleague, told us that the music didn’t die, because ‘Buddy Holly lives every time you play rock’n’roll.’ Fifty years after Holly’s death, his lasting influence on pop is clear; a musical based on his life seems set to run for longer than Holly was alive. The Beatles chose That’ll Be the Day by Buddy’s group The Crickets as their first attempt at recording, as well taking inspiration for their name. Clearly, the music didn’t die! John Gribbin, an ardent fan since he was 12 presents this labour of love written in the spirit of Sonny Curtis’ lyric, as a celebration of Holly’s all too brief life, and as an introduction, for all those not around in 1959, to the man and his astonishing musical legacy. It also includes – uniquely – a full and detailed account of every Holly recording session, which any Buddy fan will devour. 'Buddy Holly and The Crickets had an electrifying effect on us as young lads in Liverpool. We were inspired to learn guitar by seeing him on television and listening to his records. That'll Be The Day blew our minds and Lord knows how long we took trying to learn the opening riff. His guitar and vocal style was massively influential on us as writers and players and things would definitely not have been the same without his huge talent. Love ya’ Buddy! P.S. The name of his band The Crickets also influenced our choice of band name so those boys have a lot to answer for!' Paul McCartney John Gribbin, trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge before becoming a full-time science writer, is the ‘master of popular science writing' according to the Sunday Times. He has worked for Nature, and the New Scientist and has contributed to the Times and The Guardian. His numerous books include In Search of Schrödinger's Cat and The Universe: A Biography. Author lives: Newhaven, UK

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Another Alice: An inspiring true story of a young woman’s battle to overcome rheumatoid arthritis / Alice Peterson Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

8th January 2009 978-1-84831-041-4 £7.99 $16.00 B 272 pages Paperback Autobiography/ Health World ex. USA

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An incredible true story from a bestselling novelist

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A unique and touching story of living with rheumatoid arthritis, an often misunderstood disease

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Will appeal to fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love and Alice Peterson’s previous novels including Look the World in the Eye and You, Me and Him.

The heartbreaking and awe-inspiring true story of novelist Alice Peterson’s journey with rheumatoid arthritis. Love, lust, boys and coursework – the main worries of a teenage girl? Not for eighteen year-old Alice Peterson, who, at the height of her youth and an extremely promising tennis career, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. In the midst of shock and denial, and the lingering question, ‘Isn’t it old people who get arthritis?’, Alice had to learn to live with what quickly turned from the odd ache and pain, to a very aggressive form of the illness, and rediscover a new path in life. Another Alice is at times utterly heart-breaking, and at others laugh-out-loud. Here is her story of how, armed with humour and courage, she left behind a world she loved to overcome the pain of a degenerative illness. Told with wit, charm and sheer honesty, Another Alice is also a story of friendship, family and growing up, the desire to be ‘normal’. But above all, it celebrates the power of the human spirit. ‘I have just finished reading your wonderful book and wanted to write to say how truly amazing and brave and beautiful it is.’ Bear Grylls

Alice Peterson is the author of four novels, M'Coben, Place of Ghosts (Witchingham Press, 2003), Look The World In The Eye (Black Swan, 2005) and You, Me and Him (Black Swan, 2007), which Red called ‘a witty and moving account of sibling rivalry’. She now works closely with the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) to raise awareness of the condition, and to highlight particularly how it affects the lives of young sufferers. Author lives: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Improve Your Memory Today/ Rob Eastaway with Dr Hilary Jones Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

1st January 2009 978-1-84831-064-3 £8.99 $18.00 B 240 pp Paperback Memory World ex. USA

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Success and interest in memory games shown in Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training and Terry Wogan’s new quiz show Total Recall

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GMTV’s Dr Hilary Jones a household name

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Memory is a pertinent issue very much on the public’s minds

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Strong PR campaign in association with many memory-related charities to make the issue a national talking-point

Are you increasingly beset by ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ moments? Do you forget names, dates and other vital information? Are you concerned that your memory is getting worse as you get older?

Forgetting is a natural part of how the brain functions, but for some people it can still be a maddening or distressing experience. In this book, Dr Hilary Jones and Rob Eastaway explain how memory works, why it sometimes goes wrong, and what practical steps you can take to build a stronger memory – debunking some popular myths along the way. Drawing on strategies and experiences of real people in their everyday lives, and using gentle humour, this book takes a refreshing look at memory, how to live with its defects and how to improve it. Dr Hilary Jones is one of the UK’s best known GPs. He joined the breakfast TV station, TVam, in 1989 and has carried on his regular morning slots with GMTV ever since. He is a regular contributor to the News of the World, has a weekly column in Fabulous magazine, and writes for Rosemary Conley's Diet and Fitness magazine each month. He has had six books published including Before You Call The Doctor and Your Child's Health. Rob Eastaway is a writer and independent lecturer whose previous books include the best-selling Why Do Buses come in Threes? He appears regularly on BBC Radio to talk about various subjects including lateral thinking, mathematics and memory. Authors live: London and Hampshire

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

The Devil’s Children: A History of Childhood and Murder / Loretta Loach Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th February 2009 978-1-84831-019-3 £14.99 $30.00 Demy format 336 pages Hardback Psychology / Crime World ex. USA

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An objective, fascinating and well-researched exploration into a timely subject matter

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Anything but exploitative, and much more about society’s relationship to childhood and underage law-breakers than the murders themselves

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Author with vast media experience and networks

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Responds to the growing public demand for understanding more about childhood crime

A unique true crime history – from medieval society to Jamie Bulger – of children who kill and how adults have tried to make sense of them. The extraordinary and horrifying crime of murder by children of other children commands widespread public interest, but has this always been so? Focusing on the earliest recorded cases, up to and including the tragic killing of James Bulger, this fascinating investigation goes beyond the notoriety of the crimes to explore the real-life stories of the children who committed them and the adult world in which they took place. As well as asking what has changed in the treatment and punishment of these children, and in how they have been viewed by the Church, the courts and the medical profession, it also reveals how these unusual crimes were as pivotal then as they are now in wider deliberations about childhood, morality and the troubling boundaries between innocence and experience. The intriguing story of these crimes is deftly woven together with the keen insights of social history and a groundbreaking depiction of how the legal and medical cultures used such cases to rethink human agency and responsibility.

Loretta Loach has an extensive background in television documentaries in history, politics and current affairs, as well as a PhD in History. The most recent historical drama documentary she has worked on was Queen Victoria’s Empire for Channel Four. She has appeared on Radio 4’s All In the Mind and has written for the Guardian, the Observer and the New Statesman. Author lives: North London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

The Devil’s Children: A History of Childhood and Murder / Loretta Loach EXPORT PAPERBACK EDITION Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th February 2009 978-1-84831-066-7 £10.99 $22.00 Demy 336 pages Paperback Psychology / Crime World ex. USA

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An objective, fascinating and well-researched exploration into a timely subject matter

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Anything but exploitative, and much more about society’s relationship to childhood and underage law-breakers than the murders themselves

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Author with vast media experience and networks

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Responds to the growing public demand for understanding more about childhood crime

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

The Father of Forensics: How Sir Bernard Spilsbury Invented Modern CSI / Colin Evans Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th February 2009 978-184831-043-8 UK £8.99 B format 336pp Paperback 8-page b/w photo section True Crime / History UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada

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The fascinating story of history’s greatest medical detective

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For all CSI fans – the gripping real-life cases involving legendary forensic pathologist Bernard Spilsbury

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How the science of fighting crime truly began

In the vein of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Colin Evans’ book brilliantly explores how Sir Bernard Spilsbury, a superstar detective in 1920s Britain, solved a catalogue of gruesome, unexplained murders.

He was once one of the most famous people in Britain, and, through his use of cutting-edge science, Bernard Spilsbury single-handedly brought criminal investigations into the modern age. Starting out as a charismatic physician in the early 20th century, Spilsbury shook up the English justice system and hit the headlines, garnering a reputation as a real-life Sherlock Holmes. He uncovered evidence others missed, stood above his peers in the field of crime reconstruction, exposed discrepancies between witness testimony and factual evidence, and most importantly, convicted dozens of murderers with hard-nosed, scientific proof. Killers who would have escaped punishment pre-Spilsbury began to drop through the hangman's trap-door. This is the fascinating story of the life and work of Bernard Spilsbury, history's greatest medical detective, and of the cases that not only made him a celebrity, but also inspired the astonishing science of criminal investigation in our own time. ‘Excellent. Evans is a vivid and compelling narrator with – excuse the phrase – a forensic eye for detail. The accounts of the murders Spilsbury investigated are fascinating meditations on man's inhumanity to man or, more often than not, woman.’ P.D. Smith, Guardian

Colin Evans is a veteran writer specialising in forensics. His books include The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes, and A Question of Evidence: The Casebook of Great Forensic Controversies from Napoleon to O.J. He lives in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Author lives: Trowbridge, Wiltshire

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

A New Science of Life / Rupert Sheldrake Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th February 2009 978-1-84831-042-1 £9.99 B 304 pp Paperback b/w illustrations Science

UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada

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Updated edition of a popular science masterpiece that created outrage and spawned debate upon its original release in 1981

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From the author of the massive bestseller Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home

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New edition revised and updated with new Preface and an extensive Appendix and a discussion of 10 new tests.

Described as ‘the best candidate for burning there has been for many years’ by Nature on first publication, this updated edition will raise hackles and inspire curiosity in equal measure. In this fully revised and updated edition of his controversial first book, biologist Rupert Sheldrake argues that phenomena become more probable the more often they occur. When chemists have crystallized a new chemical in one part of the world, for instance, it becomes easier to crystallize elsewhere. After rats in a laboratory in Harvard learned to escape from a water maze, rats in Melbourne, Australia, escaped from a similar maze much quicker. Why, and how? Rupert Sheldrake describes this process as morphic resonance: the past forms and behaviours of organisms, he argues, influence organisms in the present. He reinterprets the regularities of nature as being more like habits than immutable laws. Described as ‘the best candidate for burning there has been for many years’ by Nature on first publication, this fully updated edition with a new Preface and extensive Appendices, including a discussion of new experimental tests, is bound both to raise hackles and also to inspire curious minds. ‘The implications are fascinating and far-reaching, and would turn upside down a lot of orthodox science.’ Observer on the first edition Dr Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and ten books, including the bestselling Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. He has written for numerous newspapers including the Guardian, where he had a regular monthly column, and for a variety of magazines, including New Scientist and the Spectator. Author lives: Hampstead, north London

ICON BOOKS 2008 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Relativity – compact edition / Bruce Bassett and Ralph Edney Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price US Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th February 2009 978-1-84831-057-5 £6.99 $10.99 $9.95 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Science World

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A further title from Icon’s much-imitated but never-bettered series of graphic guides to big ideas in the new, mass-market format

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A bestselling INTRODUCING title appears in the series’ beautiful new format – only £6.99 and pocket-sized!

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Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks Beginning near the speed of light and proceeding to explorations of space-time and curved spaces, Introducing Relativity plots a visually accessible course through the thought experiments that have given shape to contemporary physics. Scientists from Newton to Hawking add their unique contributions to this story, as we encounter Einstein’s astounding vision of gravity as the curvature of space-time and arrive at the breathtakingly beautiful field equations. Einstein’s legacy is reviewed in the most advanced frontiers of physics today - black holes, gravitational waves, the accelerating universe and string theory. A superlative, fascinating graphic account of Einstein’s strange world and how his legacy has been built upon since. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Bruce Bassett is a cosmologist and lecturer at the University of Cape town and the South African Astronomical Observatory. Ralph Edney trained as a mathematician, and has worked as a teacher, journalist, illustrator and political cartoonist. He has illustrated a number of Introducing titles. Authors live: South Africa & London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Marxism – compact edition / Rupert Woodfin and Oscar Zarate Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

COVER TO FOLLOW

5th February 2009 978-1-84831-058-2 £6.99 $14.00 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Philosophy World

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A further title from Icon’s much-imitated but never-bettered series of graphic guides to big ideas in the new, mass-market format

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Only £6.99 and pocket-sized!

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Illustrated by Oscar Zarate, one of UK’s leading graphic artists

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Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks

‘Introducing is a miracle of modern publishing … buy one now.’ Don Patterson, Guardian Was Marx himself a ‘Marxist’? Was his visionary promise of socialism betrayed by Marxist dictatorship? Is Marxism inevitably totalitarian? What did Marx really say? Introducing Marxism provides a fundamental account of Karl Marx’s original philosophy, its roots in 19th century European ideology, his radical economic and social criticism of capitalism that inspired vast 20th century revolutions. It assesses Marxism’s Russian disciples, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin who forged a ruthless dogmatic Communism. The book examines the alternative Marxist approaches of Gramsci, the Frankfurt School of critical theory and the structuralist Marxism of Althusser in the 1960s. It marshals postmodern interpretations of Marxism and raises the spectre of ‘post-Marxism’ in Derrida’s confrontation with Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’ doctrine. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Oscar Zarate is one of the UK’s leading graphic artists. He has illustrated numerous Introducing titles. His graphic novel A Small Killing won the Will Eisner Prize. Authors live: Oscar Zarate – north London

CORINTHIAN BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACKINFORMATION

The Top 100 Formula One Drivers of All Time / Alan Henry. Foreword by Sir Jackie Stewart Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price U.S. Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-190685-002-9 £8.99 $18.00 $15.95 B format 224pp Paperback Frequent Sport World

Updated paperback edition

New Foreword by living F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart OBE

Fantastically well-reviewed on HBK release

Highly respected, well-known motor racing author Alan Henry has over three decades of inside experience

Updated paperback edition of Alan Henry’s controversial chart of the best drivers from the history of Formula One, published as the new season gets going. If you want a heated debate among Formula One fans, then just throw into the conversation the driver you think is the best the sport has ever seen, and watch the sparks fly. To fuel the fires of disagreement further, legendary F1 journalist Alan Henry reveals his top 100. Although skills behind the wheel is obviously notable, Henry gives his subjects a rigorous assessment that also considers the dignity, tenacity and the ability of a driver to inspire the team – in fact every part of the complex mix which goes into making a truly great Formula One driver. But who is number one? Alan Henry’s book excited huge interest on hardback publication, and this updated edition – with a foreword from true F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart – is set to do so once more. ‘A small but perfectly formed volume by the doyen of his trade’ Guardian ‘Alan Henry’s judgment in these matters is pretty much at Supreme Court level’ Autocar ‘Enormous fun, backed up with great knowledge and personal experience … a great, fun book’ Daily Telegraph ‘Irresistible’ Motor Sport Magazine ‘Already guaranteed to be the most contentious motorsport book of the year’ Autosport

Alan Henry has been part of the F1 paddock for for 36 years, covering 574 races and almost 2 million miles in the process. He is now editor of Autocourse, editor-at-large for F1 Racing and Grand Prix correspondent for Autocar, and has been motor racing correspondent for the Guardian since 1987. Sir Jackie Stewart OBE is a triple Formula One World Champion and motor sport legend. In the words of Murray Walker OBE, he is simply ‘the greatest motor racing personality of all time.’ Author lives: Essex

CORINTHIAN BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Wholly Irresponsible Exploits!: 65 Ways to Muck About With Science / Sean Connolly Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-190685-001-2 £7.99 $16.00 B format 192pp Paperback Throughout – b/w Hobbies/ Science World ex. USA

Sequel to Sean Connolly’s Wholly Irresponsible Experiments

Awe-inspiring experiments demonstrating the magic of science

Perfect for fans of The Dangerous Book for Boys

You are the scientist, your home is the laboratory – create some good honest mayhem in the name of progress!

Now in paperback, the hilarious, and just a little naughty, sequel to the bestselling Wholly Irresponsible Experiments. ‘Am I seeing things? Did that bottle just disappear into orbit?’ Well, let me start at the beginning … Sean Connolly, author of Wholly Irresponsible Experiments, returns with another assemblage of bizarre and outlandish activities – all in the name of science. Connolly’s witty, informative text takes readers on a journey of discovery, but the best thing is that the journey needn’t go very far from the kitchen cupboard, the odds-and-ends drawer or the garden shed. Along the way, budding experimenters will learn how to make a submarine, create their own ‘Red Sky at Night’, and manage a crystal harvest. And that bottle that just kissed the Earth goodbye? Why, it’s part of the magic of science, and Wholly Irresponsible Exploits lets readers in on the secrets of the rocket fuel. Wholly irresponsible? Well, you could say so. Wholly enthralling, exciting and entertaining? Undoubtedly! And (whisper it) maybe even that other ‘e’ word – educational. Praise for Wholly Irresponsible Experiments: ‘This imaginative book is crammed with awe-inspiring experiments designed to demonstrate the magic of science.’ Guardian Sean Connolly will be familiar to listeners of BBC Radio Five Live and Radio Wales. Among his more than 50 books aimed at children and adults are In Time of Need: Storms and Earthquakes and Witness to History: The Industrial Revolution. He's also written for the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. His three children are either collaborators or guinea pigs, depending on the project. Author lives: Bath

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atom Bomb 1939 - 1949 / Jim Baggott Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-1-84831-044-5 £20.00 Royal 480 Hardback 16 Page b/w photo section Science / History UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada

 Blend of popular science and history in a fascinating story of a fierce political battle  ‘World War II changed many things and not the least among them was the relationship of science to the military. Readers interested in this important historic transformation will find Jim Baggott's engaging history replete with drama and insight.’ Martin J. Sherwin, coauthor of American Prometheus, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Rich in personality, action, confrontation and deception, Atomic is the first fully realized popular account of the race between Nazi Germany, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, in the midst of World War Two and its immediate aftermath, to build humankind’s most destructive weapon. The book draws on declassified material such as MI6’s Farm Hall transcripts, coded Soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in the Venona project and interpretations by Russian scholars of documents from the Soviet archives. Jim Baggott weaves these threads into a monumental book that spans ten historic years, from the discovery of nuclear fission in 1939 to the aftermath of ‘Joe-1’, August 1949’s first Soviet atomic bomb test. It includes dramatic episodes such as the sabotage of Vemork’s heavy water plant by Norwegian commandos, made into a film starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, and Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg's meeting in Copenhagen, the subject of Michael Frayn's play. Baggott also tells of how Allied scientists were directly involved in the hunt for their German counterparts in war-torn Europe following D-Day; and brings to light of the reactions of captured German scientists on hearing of the Allied ‘success’ at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why did physicists persist in developing the atomic bomb, despite the devastation that it could bring? Why, despite having a clear head start, did Hitler’s physicists fail? To what extent did the Soviet atomic programme rely on intelligence gathered by spies such as Klaus Fuchs, Theodore Hall, David Greenglass and the Rosenbergs? Did the Allies really plot to assassinate a key member of the German bomb programme? Did the physicists knowingly inspire the arms race? Atomic is an epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding; a tale barely believable as fiction, which just happens to be historical fact. Jim Baggott is an award-winning science writer whose previous books include A Beginner’s Guide to Reality (Penguin, 2005) and Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy and the Meaning of Quantum Theory (OUP, 2004). Author lives: Reading, UK

ICON BOOKS 2009 IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Isabel’s World: Autism and the Making of a Modern Epidemic / Roy Richard Grinker Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-184831-048-3 £8.99 B 416pp Paperback Science UK & Commonwealth x. Can

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One father’s heartfelt journey to understand autism and his powerful, compelling conclusions

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New answers to this most puzzling and often controversial of disorders, combining moving stories, personal experience and the latest science

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‘A powerful memoir of his family’s experience … it is impossible not to be moved.’ The Times

Anthropologist and father Roy Richard Grinker’s heartfelt, deeply touching quest to understand autism – and his powerful, compelling conclusions. When Roy Richard Grinker’s daughter Isabel was diagnosed with autism in 1994, he knew nothing about the condition. It was considered rare, occurring in about 3 in every 10,000 births. Within ten years, however, most Westerners would be familiar with autism. Scientists have now reported rates as high as 1 in 100, and autism has been called an epidemic. Driven to learn more about this dramatic increase – both as an anthropologist and a father – Grinker set forth on a journey around the world, talking to mothers and fathers, physicians and teachers, advocates and scientists. Travelling from Africa and India to East Asia, from the mountains of Appalachia to America’s National Institutes of Health, Grinker made a surprising and controversial discovery about the so-called autism epidemic that would change both his understanding of the disorder and his relationship with his daughter. Filled with moving stories, and informed by the latest science and Grinker’s own experience, Isabel’s World is a powerful testament to a father's quest for the truth, and is urgently relevant to anyone whose life is touched by one of history's most puzzling disorders. ‘An amazing, enlightening read’ Waterstones Books Quarterly ‘A fresh, scholarly yet warm and personal book.’ National Autistic Society website Roy Richard Grinker is Professor of Anthropology and the Human Sciences at George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is the author of four other books, including the widely-acclaimed In the Arms of Africa: The Life of Colin M. Turnbull. He lectures widely about autism, and lives in suburban Maryland. His website is www.unstrange.com Author lives: Maryland, USA

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Supercapitalism: The Battle for Democracy in an Age of Big Business / Robert Reich Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-1-84831-046-9 £8.99 B 288 pages Paperback Politics / Economics UK & Com ex. Can / ANZ

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THE key read on the background to the economic turmoil of the late noughties

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10,000 copies sold in TPB

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Robert Reich now on Barack Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board; he was US Secretary of Labour under Bill Clinton

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‘One of the most interesting books on political economy to appear for a long time’ Samuel Brittan, Financial Times

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‘A rounded and explicit discussion of how capitalist structures have stretched into the realm of democracy and eroded it.’ New Statesman

Capitalism should be made to serve democracy and not the other way around, argues Robert Reich. Supercapitalism – turbocharged, Web-based, able to find and make almost anything just about anywhere – is working wonderfully well to create wealth. But democracy, charged with caring for all citizens, is failing under its influence. Robert Reich explains how widening inequalities, heightened job insecurity and global warming are the logical outcomes of supercapitalism. He shows that companies, fighting harder than ever to be competitive, have become more deeply involved in politics, and how the tools used to temper society’s problems – taxation, education, trade unions – have withered as supercapitalism has burgeoned. Supercapitalism sets out a clear course to a vibrant capitalism and a concurrent, equally vibrant democracy. Business and politics must be kept distinct: to debate whether Wal-Mart, Google, Microsoft or Nike are good or evil is to miss the point. Important, timely, authoritative and thrilling, Supercapitalism is a tour de force of modern popular political writing, and is essential reading for anyone concerned that government and big business are too-familiar bedfellows. ‘Supercapitalism is a grand debunking of the conventional wisdom in the style of John Kenneth Galbraith … the main thrust of Reich’s argument is right on target … Reich documents in lurid detail the explosive growth of corporate lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions since the 1970s. Today's presidential candidates should study his message carefully’ New York Times Robert Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkley. Secretary of Labour under President Clinton, he is now a prolific journalist who has written in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post and in the UK, most recently in The Sunday www.robertreich.org / www.robertreich.blogspot.com Times. Author lives: Boston, USA

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

The Last Amateurs: To Hell and Back with the Cambridge Boat Race Crew / Mark de Rond Foreword by Sir Steve Redgrave Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

5th March 2009 978-1-84831-045-2 £8.99 $18.00 B 256 pages Paperback 8-page colour photo section Sport World ex. USA

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Foreword by Britain’s most successful rower and Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave.

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Published to coincide with the 2009 Boat Race, watched by millions worldwide.

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First-hand account of the team’s progress with incredible exclusive access and photos.

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Rapturously received on hardback publication

Mark de Rond’s brilliant, acclaimed year in the life of the Cambridge Boat Race crew, published in paperback to coincide with 2009’s race at the end of March. 'Don't underestimate what an achievement this work is. Required reading for boat race cynics and afficionados alike.' Peter Drury, ITV commentator ‘Sports journalism of the highest order’ The Times Founded in 1828, the Cambridge University Boat Club has one objective: to beat Oxford in the Boat Race. This annual affair is one of sharp contrasts: a private match between two of the world’s oldest universities, it is still followed by millions worldwide; an occasion marked by tribal rivalry, it also harbours deep mutual respect; quintessentially British, it is contested by amateurs who are nevertheless world-class sportsmen; it is all about taking part and yet the pain of losing is unimaginable. A Cambridge don in his late thirties, Mark de Rond spent a year living the blood, sweat and tears of the 39 students risking all for a chance to race Oxford, seeing in them everything he is not. This intense and deeply personal account reinforces the great traditions of Oxbridge, yet gives them a human face. For despite their brilliance, these individuals are flawed too. So what does it take to row in the coveted Blue Boat? De Rond delves into the depths of what it means to be a man and the primeval desire to compete. Told chronologically and driven by the pursuit of the final victory, the result is truly compelling – and a sports book like no other. Mark de Rond described by the Financial Times as ‘Cambridge’s secret weapon for the Boat Race’, is an Oxford-educated Cambridge don. His work has also featured in Time, the Economist, The Times, The Week, and on BBC Radio 4. Sir Steve Redgrave CBE, at least until the Bejing games, was widely considered to be Britain’s greatest Olympian, having won a gold medal in rowing at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000, as well as an additional bronze medal in 1988. Author lives: Cambridge

CORINTHIAN BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Life in the Beautiful Game / Bob Wilson Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

2nd April 2009 978-190685-003-6 £8.99 $18.00 B 496 pages Paperback 16-page colour photo section Sport World ex. USA

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Packed with anecdotes featuring the world’s greatest footballers from the personal career of a legendary player

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Author with rich and personal history with the sport - an essential read for football fans young and old

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Will be supported by Bob Wilson’s always enthusiastic promotion – please contact Icon for signings and event requests

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‘A great insight into a great game from a great man’ Arséne Wenger

A very personal look at ‘the beautiful game’ and its greats by one of football’s most respected ambassadors. Bob Wilson’s Life in The Beautiful Game sees the Arsenal legend and veteran BBC presenter takes a long and personal look back at a sport that has kept him busy in one form or another for over half a century. During his career, he has played alongside or against, coached, interviewed, become friends with, or at least met pretty much every great name the game of football has ever produced. Needless to say, he has picked up some pretty good stories along the way. From Busby to Beckham, Garrincha to Gazza, Puskás to Pelé, no one escapes Wilson’s entertaining dissection of the game. Discover why the great Bill Shankly once locked him in a room at the Liverpool training ground and wouldn’t let him out, why the legendary Brian Clough once insisted on getting him drunk before an interview, and what really happened in that infamous Arsenal and Man Utd tunnel punch-up between Vieira and Keane. It’s clearly a sport he loves, and there is no question that reading his book will leave you remembering why football acquired the moniker ‘The Beautiful Game’. Royalties from this book go to Bob Wilson’s Willow Foundation charity

Bob Wilson was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to football and his charity, the Willow Foundation, which he founded in memory of his daughter, Anna, who died of cancer aged 31, and which receives royalties from the sale of his books.

Author lives: Christchurch, Dorset

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality / Manjit Kumar Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

2nd April 2009 978-1-84831-035-3 £9.99 $20.00 B 464 pages Paperback 16-page b/w photo section Science / History UK & Com ex. Canada

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Paperback edition of the first book to tell the story of the dramatic history of quantum theory and of the complex lives of the men behind it

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Originally acquired by Fourth Estate for a high six-figure advance – Icon’s acquisition of it was a huge coup

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Magisterial, brilliantly written popular science masterpiece

Dramatic, powerful and superbly-written history of the most important and challenging scientific revolution of the 20th-century – and the ferocious debate at its heart. For most people, quantum theory is a byword for mysterious, impenetrable science. And yet for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly-written history of this fundamental scientific revolution, and the divisive debate at its heart. For 60 years most physicists believed that quantum theory denied the very existence of reality itself. Yet Kumar shows how the golden age of physics ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century. Quantum sets the science in the context of the great upheavals of the modern age. In 1925 the quantum pioneers nearly all hailed from upper-middle-class academic families; most were German; and their average age was 24. But it was their irrational, romantic spirit, formed in reaction to the mechanised slaughter of the First World War that inspired their will to test science to its limits. The essential read for anyone fascinated by this complex and thrilling story and by the band of young men at its heart.

Manjit Kumar is the editor of Prometheus, a journal that covers the arts, sciences and humanities and has written for the Guardian, the TES and the Irish Times. He is the co-author of Science and the Retreat from Reason, an adapted chapter of which Michael Frayn described as ‘the clearest account I’ve read yet of the development of quantum mechanics.’ Author lives: North London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Don’t Get Fooled Again: The Sceptic’s Guide to Life / Richard Wilson Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

7th May 2009 978-1-84831-052-0 £8.99 $18.00 B format 288 pages Paperback Philosophy World ex. USA

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Bursting with polemic yet offering positive solutions for the modern day sceptic

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Comparable to Francis Wheen’s How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World and Damian Thompson’s Counterknowledge

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Richard Dawkins meets Jon Ronson – a scathing attack against the everyday nonsense that surrounds us

Turned off by pseudo-science, moral panics, conspiracy theories or 1,001 ways to ‘discover the inner you’? Richard Wilson offers a balm – sceptics of the world, unite! Why is it that, time and again, intelligent, educated people end up falling for ideas that turn out on closer examination to be nonsense? We live in a supposedly rational age, yet crazy notions seem increasingly mainstream. New Age peddlers claim to cure Aids with vitamin tablets. Media gatekeepers stoke panic and regurgitate corporate press releases in the name of ‘balance’. Wildeyed men in sandwich boards blame it all on the CIA. Even the word ‘sceptic’ has been appropriated by cranks and conspiracy theorists bent on rewriting history and debunking sound science. But while it may be easier than ever for nonsense to spread, it’s never been simpler to fight back ... Don’t Get Fooled Again offers practical tools for cutting through the claptrap and unravelling the spin – tackling propaganda, the psychology of deception, pseudo-news, bogus science, the weird cult of ‘Aids reappraisal’, numerous conspiracy theories (including the one about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq), and much more. Richard Wilson’s book is user-friendly, enjoyable, shot through with polemic – and argues forcefully for a positive solution. ‘An enjoyable polemic against pretty much everything really, and as it rips apart our own gullibility and life in general, it also manages to highlight a lot of the basic philosophical premises that we have opted into without giving them real consideration in the first place. An enjoyable diatribe, indeed.' Publishing News Richard Wilson read Philosophy at University College London. His first book, Titanic Express, recounts his search for the truth about the death of his sister Charlotte, who was killed in Burundi in 2000. He now works for a human rights organisation and lives in London with his wife, Heleen. Author lives: Crystal Palace, London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Arena of Ambition: The History of the Cambridge Union / Stephen Parkinson. Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can. Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

2nd April 2009 978-1-84831-061-2 £20.00 $40.00 Royal 432 pages Hardback 16-page b/w photo section History / Politics World ex. USA

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Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales, one many illustrious former members

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World-famous debating society with an incredible history and legacy that remains on the cutting-edge of controversy and relevance

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Prominent place in UK history – debates often mirroring current affairs and public concerns

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Author an ex-president with unique knowledge and ties to the Union

How has a student debating society at Cambridge thrived for nearly two centuries, and commanded such attention from the outside world? Older than fourteen colleges and the Boat Race, the Cambridge Union has been an important part of university life at Cambridge since its foundation in 1815. Ex-Presidents have included John Maynard Keynes, Robert Harris, Arianna Huffington and Douglas Hurd – as well as an Olympic medallist, an Oscar nominee, and two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Generations of undergraduates have flocked to its celebrated debating chamber and spoken as equals with its distinguished guests − Prime Ministers like Baldwin and Churchill, Presidents like Roosevelt and Reagan, and controversial figures like Oswald Mosley and Enoch Powell. Stephen Parkinson, an ex-President of the Union, charts the history of the Union from its nineteenthcentury origins, focusing particularly on the turbulent post-war years − during which the Union building was hit by a German bomb and commandeered by the Army, future Cabinet ministers fell out over bitterly contested elections, and controversies raged about the admission of women and the place of such an antiquated club in a modern university. It is the story of a student society like no other.

Stephen Parkinson graduated from Cambridge in 2004, and was President of the Union in Lent Term that year. He spent two years in the Conservative Research Department before becoming Director of Research at the Centre for Policy Studies. In late 2007 he returned to Conservative Central Office, where he works on the party’s target seats campaign. Author lives: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

How I Caused the Credit Crunch / Tetsuya Ishikawa Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

2 April 2009 978-1-84831-067-4 £8.99 $18.00 B 304 pages Paper Business / Finance World

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Cityboy but with real insight into the financial world – the human failings behind the credit crisis

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A revealed account of work at the cutting edge of the global economy

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A exposé of, and invitation into, the mad, decadent world of banking; awash with money, sex and greed

A vivid and personal account of 21st century banking excess How I Caused the Credit Crunch traces seven years at the forefront of the credit markets – a tale from the heart of the bewildering banking maelstrom whose catastrophic collapse has plunged the world towards the worst recession since the 1930s. Tetsuya Ishikawa’s story reveals how a young Oxford graduate finds himself in command of vast sums of other people’s money; how a novice to the mysteries of hedge funds, subprime mortgages and CDOs can fix complex deals for billions of dollars in the exclusive bars, brothels and trading floors of London, New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo, and reap the benefits in a colossal annual bonus and an international luxury lifestyle. Ishikawa’s book, which deftly explains the arcane financial instruments now grimly associated with the credit crunch, is both a powerful tale of lost innocence and an exposé of the disturbing truth of the collective folly, frailty and greed at the heart of the banking crisis.

Tetsuya Ishikawa, Japanese by birth, grew up in London, and attended Eton College before reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. Throughout his banking career that included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and ABN AMRO, he structured, syndicated and sold Credit Derivative, CDO and Securitisation (including subprime) products to investors globally. He was made redundant by Morgan Stanley in May 2008. He currently lives in London with his wife and children.

Author lives: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Capitalism / Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil and Piero Pub Date ISBN UK Price US Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

2nd April 2009 978-1-84831-055-1 £6.99 $9.95 $10.99 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Philosophy World

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A brand-new title from Icon’s much-imitated but never-bettered series of graphic guides to big ideas in the new, mass-market format

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Very timely as the credit crunch continues to bite – and great value at only £6.99!

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Brilliantly illustrated by Piero

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Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks Capitalism now dominates the globe, both in economics and ideology, shapes every aspect of our world and influences everything from laws, wars and government to interpersonal relationships. Tracing capitalism from its beginning to the present day, Dan Cryan and Sharron Shatil, alongside Piero’s brilliant graphics, look at its practical and theoretical impact. They cover the major economic, social and political developments that shaped the world we live in, such as the rise of banking, the founding of America and the Opium Wars. The book explores the leading views for and against, including thinkers like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Theodor Adorno and Milton Friedman, together with the connections between them and their historical context. Capitalism has influenced everything in the 21st-century world. For anyone who wants to gain a broad understanding of this fascinating subject, this book cuts across narrow academic lines to analyse an all-encompassing feature of modern life. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Dan Cryan has degrees in Philosophy from UCL and now works as a market analyst in London. Sharron Shatil is a Philosophy lecturer at the Open University in Israel. Piero is an illustrator, artist and graphic designer whose work has twice been included in the Royal College of Art exhibition in London. Previous Introducing titles include Aesthetics, Shakespeare and Nietzsche. Authors live: Dan Cryan – London, Sharron Shatil – Israel, Piero – London.

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Critical Theory – compact edition / Stuart Sim and Borin van Loon Pub Date ISBN UK Price US Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

COVER TO FOLLOW

2nd April 2009 978-1-84831-059-9 £6.99 $9.95 $10.99 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Philosophy World



A further title from Icon’s much-imitated but never-bettered series of graphic guides to big ideas in the new, mass-market format



Only £6.99 and pocket-sized!



Brilliantly illustrated by Borin van Loon



Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks

The last few decades have seen an explosion in the production of critical theories, with deconstructionists, poststructuralists, postmodernists, second-wave feminists, new historicists, cultural materialists, postcolonialists, black critics and queer theorists, among a host of others, all vying for our attention. The world around us can look very different on the critical theory applied to it. This vast range of interpretations can leave one feeling confused and frustrated. This book provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing theories. It provides a context for these recent developments by situating them within the longer-term tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. The essential methods and objectives of each theoretical school are presented in an incisive and accessible manner. Special attention is paid to recurrent themes and concerns that have preoccupied a century of critical theoretical activity. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Borin Van Loon has worked on numerous Introducing titles. He is a freelance illustrator, surrealist painter and collagist who produced the comic strip 'The Severed Head' for The Chap magazine. Authors live: Stuart Sim – Newcastle upon Tyne. Borin van Loon – Suffolk.

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

The Top 100 Cricketers of All Time / Christopher Martin-Jenkins Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

7th May 2009 978-190685-004-3 £14.99 $30.00 Demy format 256pp Hardback 16 colour photo section Sport World ex. USA

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Author highly respected cricket commentator

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Loyal following of his writing

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Released the year in which The Ashes return to England – atmosphere ripe for cricketing controversy

Following in the success of Alan Henry’s Top 100 Formula One Drivers, this is a rigorous assessment of cricketing legends from one of the game’s foremost commentators.

With every cricket season that passes the roll-call of great players gets longer. Batsmen, bowlers, fielders, wicket-keepers, captains, characters. Every year more international cricket is played by more countries, making the task of ranking the best of them harder than it has ever been. And how do you compare a dazzling Twenty20 specialist of the modern era with a champion of the age before Test cricket officially started in 1877? Some years after the last of his highly regarded books was published, Christopher Martin-Jenkins has accepted the challenge of selecting the 100 best players of all time, one that he has called 'impossible but irresistible'. Placing them in order of precedence, he has analysed each of them, assessing their characters, the cricketing elements that made them so outstanding and the special qualities that enabled them to be pre-eminent in their time. Whether Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen, Brett Lee, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis, heroes of the contemporary game, will make a list that includes immortal cricketers such as W.G. Grace, Don Bradman and Gary Sobers, will be as fascinating as where they may be rated in the pantheon. Having written and commentated on international cricket for 40 years, MartinJenkins is almost uniquely qualified to act as judge and jury.

Christopher Martin-Jenkins has commentated for BBC Radio 4’s Test Match Special since 1973. During that time he has also been editor of The Cricketer, Chief Cricket Correspondent for BBC Television, the Telegraph and The Times, and perennial winner of The Wisden Cricketer best cricket writer poll. He has written a number of acclaimed books, including Men for All Seasons, An Australian Summer, and the bestselling Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers. Author lives: West Sussex

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

The Psychic Tourist: A Voyage Into the Curious World of Predicting the Future / William Little Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

7th May 2009 978-1-84831-050-6 £14.99 £30.00 Demy 272 pages Hardback Popular Psychology UK & Commonwealth

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Huge market interest in the psychic world – from Dr Who to Most Haunted, Gordon Smith and Derren Brown

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Will appeal to both believers and sceptics – offering unparalleled insight into a fascinating subject – a book In the vein of Jon Ronson or Louis Theroux

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Written by Daily Mail journalist with excellent media contacts

Journalist William Little travels into the world of the psychic, and discovers more than he’d ever imagined... Can people really see into the future? Can someone’s life be predicted? Are physicists on the verge of discovering the first time machine? And why does a Nobel prize-winning scientist believe that humans are capable of sensing the future? Following a prediction of his sister’s death, William Little sets out to find the truth about the power of fortune telling and prophecy. On a journey that takes him to a witches’ coven in a haunted wood, on the hunt for murderers with psychic detectives and to the doorsteps of the world’s most powerful and revered psychics, William Little goes on a desperate quest to find out whether people can see into the future – or if the many millions who consult horoscopes, watch TV psychics, or who read Nostradamus are simply being sold a lie. Through a rollercoaster ride of mystics, mishaps and mayhem, he discovers uncomfortable facts that make him reassess his beliefs. In a book that answers the unanswerable about what science, psychics, and crystal balls can reveal about tomorrow, William Little lifts the lid on the most sought-after destination of them all – the future. Includes interviews with US psychic Sylvia Browne, CIA psychic spy Joseph McMoneagale, Sally Morgan, Derren Brown, Richard Dawkins, Channel Five’s Psychic Challenge winner Diane Lazarus, experts such as Professor Brian Josephson and Dr Richard Wiseman and Allison Dubois, whose life was the basis for the NBC and BBC programme Medium.

William Little is a freelance journalist for the Saturday Telegraph magazine, the Daily Mail, Guardian, The Times, and Financial Times. He has also worked for Arena, Esquire and Cosmopolitan, and contributed articles to the Independent, the Daily Express and the Big Issue, among many others. Author lives: Balham, London, UK

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

A Time to Dance, A Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 / John Waller Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

7th May 2009 978-1-84831-053-7 £8.99 $18.00 B format 272 pages Paperback 16-page b/w picture section History World ex. USA

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‘A book to make you grateful for the historical increase in human sanity’ New Scientist

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‘Waller’s book should interest both historians and scientists, while the general reader will enjoy his colourful depictions of medieval life.’ BBC Focus

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‘Extraordinary’ Waterstones Books Quarterly

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Brilliant young author of the hugely admired The Real Oliver Twist

The true story of a wild dancing epidemic that brought death and fear to a 16th-century city, and the terrifying supernatural beliefs from which it arose. In July 1518 a terrifying and mysterious plague struck the medieval city of Strasbourg. Hundreds of men and women danced wildly, day after day, in the punishing summer heat. They did not want to dance, but could not stop. Throughout August and early September more and more were seized by the same terrible compulsion. By the time the epidemic subsided, heat and exhaustion had claimed an untold number of lives, leaving thousands bewildered and bereaved, and an enduring enigma for future generations. Drawing on fresh evidence, John Waller’s account of the bizarre events of 1518 explains why Strasbourg’s dancing plague took place. In doing so it leads us into a largely vanished world, evoking the sights, sounds, aromas, diseases and hardships, the fervent supernaturalism, and the desperate hedonism of the late medieval world. At the same time, the extraordinary story this book tells offers rich insights into how people behave when driven beyond the limits of endurance. Above all, this is an exploration into the strangest capabilities of the human mind and the extremes to which fear and irrationality can lead us.

John Waller is a historian of medicine at Michigan State University. Educated at the universities of Oxford and London, he is the author of several other books, including The Real Oliver Twist (Icon, 2005), The Discovery of the Germ (2002) and Fabulous Science (OUP, 2002). He lives with his wife and daughter in Michigan. Praise for The Real Oliver Twist: ‘A compelling history of workhouse children in the industrial revolution’ Guardian ‘Waller writes with passion and flair which commands the reader’s attention.’ Times Literary Supplement ‘History approaching its best … combines a gripping story with a historian’s attention to detail and context. ’ The Australian Author lives: Michigan, USA

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Alec Stewart’s Cricket Companion / Alec Stewart Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

4th June 2009 978-190685-000-5 £16.99 $34.00 Royal 360 pp Hardback 16 Colour-page section Sport World ex. USA

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Author a national cricketing institution

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Appears constantly in the cricket media

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Book published the month before The Ashes begin in England – press and public will be hungry for the book’s stories about English and Australian players past and present

A straight-talking analysis of the game of cricket and the illustrious career of England’s most capped player of all time. When Alec Stewart blistered a century in his 100th Test, the sheer length of the standing ovation from a packed Old Trafford crowd confirmed that he had already become a national institution. He went on to represent England more times than Botham, Boycott, Gooch, Gower and every other great that the game has ever produced. Having recently decided to bring his playing days to an end, The Cricket Companion now provides him with the opportunity to take a wider look at the game as a whole. Full of engaging anecdotes from life in a sport he clearly loves, the book also explores the state of world cricket today, before assessing how the sport should evolve and embrace the future. Stewart is characteristically honest and uncompromising about a number of players past and present, and it’s not just cricket that makes it into the firing line. We learn his assessment of modern-day sport as a whole, not least football and his beloved Chelsea FC. This book isn’t just for followers of cricket, it’s for anyone wanting to absorb the professional opinion of one of the greatest sportsmen England has ever known. Alec Stewart OBE played cricket at the highest level for over 20 years – captaining his country, becoming the most capped English cricketer of all time in both Test matches and One Day Internationals, Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and registering the highest score by an England wicketkeeper in the history of the game. He now writes for a number of National newspapers, commentates on BBC Radio 4’s Test Match Special and is a cricket analyst for Sky and BBC Radio 5 Live. Author lives: Easher, Surrey

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard / Ben Crystal Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

4th June 2009 978-1-84831-054-4 £7.99 $16.00 187 mm x 125 mm 272 pages Paperback Literature UK & Commonwealth

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‘Humorous, unpretentious and fascinating.’ Independent on Sunday

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‘A masterclass for modern beginners and old hands alike.’ The Times

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‘Having Crystal as a companion through the stickier parts of Hamlet and Macbeth is like going to the theatre with an intelligent friend.’ The Independent

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‘An enthusiastic, accessible and entertaining introduction to Shakespeare.’ Bookbag

In the words of Judi Dench, this is a ‘brilliantly enjoyable look at Shakespeare which dispels the myths and makes him accessible to all’ and it’s now in paperback.

‘Shakespeare on Toast is reassuring, and appealing, and Crystal’s bounding enthusiasm is hard to resist. If, like Crystal, you’re a bit of a Shakespeare evangelist, you’ll want all your Shakespeare-resistant friends to read it. I’ll certainly be buying copies for mine.’ Around the Globe Magazine Who’s afraid of William Shakespeare? Just about everyone. He wrote too much and what he did write is inaccessible and elitist. Right? Wrong. Shakespeare on Toast knocks the stuffing from the staid old myth of Shakespeare, revealing the man and his plays for what they really are: modern, thrilling and uplifting drama. Actor and author Ben Crystal brings the bright words and colourful characters of the world’s greatest hack writer brilliantly to life, handing over the key to Shakespeare’s plays, unlocking the so-called difficult bits and, astonishingly, finding Shakespeare’s own voice in among the poetry. Told in five fascinating Acts, Shakespeare on Toast sweeps the cobwebs from the Bard – from his language, his life, his time – revealing both the man and his work to be relevant, accessible and full of beans. This is a book for everyone, whether you’re reading Shakespeare for the first time, occasionally find him troublesome, think you know him backwards, or have never set foot near one of his plays but have always wanted to … It’s quick, easy and good for you. Just like beans on toast. Ben Crystal is an actor at Shakespeare’s Globe. With David Crystal he co-authored the internationally acclaimed bestseller Shakespeare’s Words (Penguin, 2002) and The Shakespeare Miscellany (Penguin, 2005).

www.shakespeareontoast.com Author lives: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Foucault – compact edition / Christopher Horrocks and Zoran Jevtic Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

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4th June 2009 978-1-84831-060-5 £6.99 $10.99 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Philosophy World

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Published on the 25th anniversary of Foucault’s untimely death from AIDS in 1984

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Only £6.99 and pocket-sized!

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Fantastically illustrated by Zoran Jetvic



Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks

‘Introducing is a miracle of modern publishing … buy one now.’ Don Patterson, Guardian Michel Foucault’s work was described at his death as ‘the most important event of thought in our century’. As a philosopher, historian and political activist he certainly left behind an enduring and influential body of work, but is this acclaim justified? Introducing Foucault places his work in its turbulent philosophical and political context, and critically explores his mission to expose the links between knowledge and power in the human sciences, their discourses and institutions. This book explains how Foucault overturned our assumptions about the experience and perception of madness, sexuality and criminality, and the often brutal social practices of confinement, confession and discipline. It also describes Foucault’s engagement with psychiatry and clinical medicine, his political activism and the transgressive aspects of pleasure and desire that he promoted in his writing. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Christopher Horrocks is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Design at Kingston University. His previous books include Introducing Baudrillard and Baudrillard and the Millennium (both published by Icon/Totem). Zoran Jetvic is hugely renowned illustrator. Authors live: London

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW TITLE INFORMATION

Introducing Keynes – compact edition / Peter Pugh and Chris Garratt Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

COVER TO FOLLOW

4th June 2009 978-1-84831-065-0 £6.99 $10.99 A 176 pages Paperback b/w throughout Economics World

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A newly re-formatted title in Icon’s muchimitated but never-bettered series of graphic guides to big ideas in the new, mass-market format

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Only £6.99 and pocket-sized!

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Fantastically illustrated by Chris Garratt

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Supported by ongoing marketing and publicity campaigns – FREE series posters 978-184046821-2 and bookmarks 978-184046-544-0 available to order from TBS

www.introducingbooks.com myspace.com/introducingbooks As we find ourselves at the cusp of an economic downturn, there has been a clear reinvigoration of Keynesian economics as governments are attempting to stimulate the market through public funds. Forming his economic theories in the wake of the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes argued that a healthy economy depended on the total spending of consumers, business investors and, most importantly, governments too. Keynes formulated that governments should take control of the economy in the short term, rather than relying on the market, because, as he eloquently put it "in the long run, we are all dead." This graphic guide is the ideal introduction to one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, at a time when his theories may be crucial to our economic survival. Through a deft mixture of words and images, Introducing Keynes is a timely, accessible and enjoyable read. What INTRODUCING books look like inside:

Also available in the compact format:

Peter Pugh read History at Cambridge and is the author of more than 30 books on business and history, including the seminal guide to the Guinness scandal and a hugely acclaimed three-volume official history of Rolls-Royce, The Magic of a Name. Chris Garratt is an illustrator. He is the cartoonist behind the legendary 'Biff' comic strip in the Guardian. Authors live: Cambridge, UK and the Isles of Scilly, UK.

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Wacky Nation: 50 Unbelievable Days Out at Britain’s Craziest Contests / James Bamber and Sally Rayner Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

4th June 2009 978-1-84831-062-9 £9.99 $20.00 B 400 pages Paperback 16-page Colour photo section Humour / Travel World ex. USA

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‘A very silly, completely bonkers but surprisingly engaging book that could guide you to some extremely unusual events across the country. ‘ Sunday Telegraph

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‘It’s quirky, funny and, well, just plain mad’ Morning Star

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‘An original, very amusing and often fascinating read – get involved if you dare.’ Student Direct

Now in B format, James Bamber and Sally Raynes provide an indispensable guide to the UK’s most absurd, bizarre and even foolhardy – but curiously British – ‘sports’ imaginable … An indispensable guide to the UK’s most absurd, bizarre and even foolhardy ‘sports’ ... From Worm Charming to Bog Snorkelling, Nettle Eating to Shin Kicking, there’s a great British tradition of holding very strange contests in which getting filthy, feeling sick, risking life and limb – and above all, looking ridiculous – are not mere side-effects, but positively celebrated. Welcome to the Wacky Nation. James Bamber and Sally Raynes – creators of www.wackynation.com – present 50 of the oddest contests, races and traditions you’d never imagined existed. Think you’ve got what it takes to become the World Coal Carrying Champion, or maybe the Greatest Liar? Perhaps your forté lies in Gurning? Look no further. With ratings for Spectator Fun, Pain Factor and Wackiness for each event, there’s a strong get-involved-if-youdare streak, backed up by the intrepid authors’ own experiences (with the scars to prove it) and tips from winners. Each entry will astound and amuse, enticing you to become a world champion or simply a laughing stock. With Wacky Nation, you've no excuse for a dull weekend ever again…

James Bamber and Sally Raynes are the creators of www.wackynation.com. Between them, they hold the World Russian Egg Roulette title, won silver in 2006’s World Snail Racing Championships and, in the same year, Sally claimed second place for World Stinging-Nettle Eating (women’s event), having devoured 30 feet of nettles. Shin-kicking is not their forte, having come last in this competition, and James was disqualified in stone-skimming.

www.wackynation.com Authors live: Tiverton , Devon

ICON BOOKS 2009 NEW IN PAPERBACK INFORMATION

Groovy Old Men: A Spotter’s Guide Nick Baker Pub Date ISBN UK Price Can Price Format Extent Binding Illustrations Subject Rights

4th June 2009 978-1-84831-039-1 £8.99 $18.00 B 240 pages Paperback Humour / Culture World ex. USA

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The perfect Father’s Day gift

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‘Funny and observant’ Daily Mail

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‘Groovy Old Men are not just for Christmas shopping, they’re for (a very long and groovy) life.’ Kathryn Flett, Observer

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‘A deserved tribute to the first generation of men who didn’t just turn into their fathers at 21.’ The Word

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Author with extensive media contacts

Meet the generation of men who are happy they didn’t die before they got old in Nick Baker’s original, humorous and acutely observed Groovy Old Men – now in paperback for Father’s day. ‘A humorous and provocative commentary on the role and status of the more mature man in the 21st century.’ Sunday Herald ‘We have radio producer Nick Baker to thank for identifying a new social phenomenon called Groovy Old Men. Like other good definitions I kick myself that I didn’t think of it myself as I instantly know what – and more important who – Groovy Old Men are.’ Emma Soames, Saga Magazine Nick Baker brilliantly argues in this unique, and sometimes touching book that these stylish older men are part of a new and growing breed. It’s packed full of interviews with experts and archetypes like designer Sir Paul Smith, radical Tariq Ali and Glastonbury cofounder Andrew Kerr, as well as sceptics like Richard Ingrams and lots of Groovy Old Men who might be your father, granddad, neighbour, husband or lover. The complete guide to Groovy Old Men for everybody who has one, or wants one, in their life. Nick Baker was born in 1952 and lives in London with his partner and two teenage sons. He has been a teacher, journalist, writer for teenagers, awardwinning radio reporter producer. He runs Testbed, a long established radio and audio independent production company. www.groovyoldmen.com Author lives: South London