Profile Books Rights Guide
London 2014
3a Exmouth House, Pine Street, London, ec1r 0jh www.profilebooks.com
The Time Travel Handbook Johnny Acton and David Goldblatt
If you could go back in time to any point in history, what would it be? Where would you stay? What would you wear? And how would you get there? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, The Time Travel Handbook is for you. The world’s first travel guide to human history, it will take you back to the greatest public spectacles of the past: from the medieval Hajj to the Spanish Inquisition to Haile Selassie’s coronation and the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it won’t just tell you what’s happening: you’ll also have useful tips on local customs, currency exchange rates, managing time travel – and what to have for lunch. Totally international and covering events from the dawn of time up until 2013, The Time Travel Handbook is a witty, knowledgeable and unique look at the history of our civilisation – and the first that lets you experience it for yourself. Think Horrible Histories for adults. See for yourself … The Trial of Socrates The medieval Hajj The Children’s Crusade The Arrival of the Conquistadors at Moctezuma’s court The Boston Tea Party
October 2015 £12.99 Demy HB 352pp ISBN 978 1 78125 404 2 Proposal available All rights available
The Gold Rush The Gettysburg Address The Great Exhibition Berlin Olympics Woodstock, 1969 US evacuation of Saigon
David Goldblatt is the author of the World Football Yearbook and The Ball is Round: a Global History of Football. He writes the ‘Sporting Life’ column in Prospect, teaches sociology of sport at Bristol University, and broadcasts regularly on’ the politics of sport for BBC Radio. He is the co-author of How to Watch the Olympics (Profile, 2012).
Johnny Acton is a writer who specialises in digging up obscure nuggets of information and making complex subjects accessible. He has written books on everything from pickling food (Preserved with Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall) to the history of balloons (The Man Who Touched the Sky). He is the co-author of How to Watch the Olympics (Profile, 2012).
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Lingo
A Language-Spotters Guide to Europe Gaston Dorren
LANGUAGE/ REFERENCE
Welcome to Europe as you’ve never known it before, seen through the peculiarities of its languages and dialects. Combining linguistics and cultural history, Gaston Dorren takes us on an intriguing tour of the continent, from Proto-Indo-European (the common ancestor of most European languages) to the rise and rise of English, via the complexities of Welsh plurals and Czech pronunciation. Along the way we learn why Esperanto will never catch on, how the language of William the Conqueror survives in the Channel Islands and why Finnish is the easiest European language. Surprising, witty and full of extraordinary facts, this book will change the way you think about the languages around you.
November 2014 £12.99 256pp B HB ISBN 978 1 78125 416 5 Sample chapters available All languages available ex Dutch
Find out … • • • • • • • • •
Why it’s so hard to calculate in Breton Why Esperanto will never catch on Why Portuguese isn’t really Portuguese Why Finnish is the easiest European language Why Norwegians use Norwegian-Norwegian dictionaries Why the Dutch are gender-benders Why the Spanish talk so fast Why Slovenia has so many dialects Why English is like Chinese
Gaston Dorren has written two Dutch books on language and contributes regularly to Onze Taal, a popular linguistics magazine. This book is a thoroughly revised translation of his 2012 book on language tourism, which received rave reviews in the Netherlands. He teaches workshops in science writing at the University of Nijmegen and gives talks on European languages to translators and students. A true polyglot, Gaston speaks Dutch, Limburgish, English, German and Spanish, and reads French , Afrikaans, Frisian, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Luxembourgish and Esperanto. 2
IDEAS IN PROFILE
NEW SERIES
Profile Books are proud to present the first title in a ground-breaking new series of introductions to the big subjects: IDEAS IN PROFILE. Combining writing from the world’s greatest thinkers with digital animation and images from the award-winning animators behind RSA Animates (viewed by over 46 million people), IDEAS IN PROFILE reinvents introductions for the twenty-first century. Perfectly adapted to both print and digital formats, IDEAS IN PROFILE titles will be published simultaneously in physical and enhanced ebook formats. Concise, clear, relevant, entertaining, original and global in scope, IDEAS IN PROFILE makes essential reading – and viewing.
Politics
David Runciman In the first title from IDEAS IN PROFILE, Politics, one of the world’s leading political scientists, David Runciman, asks the big questions: what is politics, why we do we need it and where, in these turbulent times, is it heading? With a global scope, Runciman addresses issues ranging from the gap between rich and poor to the impact of social media, via Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber. This comprehensive overview is invaluable to those studying politics or those who want to know how life in Denmark became more comfortable than in Syria. Politics sets the standard for introductions in the field.
May 2014 £8.99 enhanced ebook: £4.99 B Pb0 160pp, 2-colour + illustrated throughout ISBN 978 1 78125 257 4 eISBN 978 1 78283 056 6 enhanced eISBN 978 1 78283 135 8
David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the author of many books about politics, including Political Hypocrisy (2008) and The Confidence Trap (2013). He writes regularly for publications including the Guardian and London Review of Books.
Copies available All rights available
Coming soon: Art by Martin Kemp (Emeritus Professor of History of Art, Cambridge) Shakespeare by Paul Edmonson (Director of Research, Shakespeare Trust) The Ancient World by Jerry Toner (Fellow and Director of Classics, Cambridge)
Cognitive Media is an independent animation company founded in 2004. Their mission is to help people to discover and learn about the world with the help of storytelling, drawing and animation. Creators of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Animate series, they work with global clients from the private, public, charity, and community sectors, including TED-Ed. www.cognitivemedia. co.uk and www.youtube.com/user/TheCognitiveMedia . 3
OxCrimes
CRIME FICTION
Introduced by Ian Rankin
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile have turned to crime. Introduced by the bestselling Ian Rankin, OxCrimes brings together some of the most notorious names in crime writing, from Val McDermid to Anthony Horowitz, to raise money for the world’s largest charity. Among these dark and compelling stories, a beautiful call girl picks up the wrong client in a hotel bar, a scriptwriter finds a novel way to deal with her nasty little blackmail problem and a beekeeper hides a terrible secret. Here, and in Oxcrime’s twenty-four other tales, the twists and turns will keep you guessing until the very last page. There’s never been a better reason to live a life of crime …
May 2014 £9.99 B PbO 464pp ISBN 978 1 78125 064 8 Proofs available All rights available
Contains writing by Mark Billingham – Ann Cleeves – John Connolly – Stella Duffy – Christopher Fowler – Neil Gaiman – John Harvey – Anthony Horowitz – Maxim Jakubowski – Peter James – Simon Lewis – Alexander McCall Smith – Val McDermid – Adrian McKinty – Denise Mina – Walter Mosley – Stuart Neville – George Pelecanos – Ian Rankin – Phil Rickman – Peter Robinson – James Sallis – Yrsa Sigurdardottir – Fred Vargas – Martyn Waites – Louise Welsh – Anne Zouroudi
Profile have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (2011). 4
Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll
POPULAR SCIENCE
The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science Zoe Cormier
A celebration of the unholy trinity of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll from a science writer taking the international festival scene by storm. How can wordless collections of sounds send shivers down our spines and tickle ancient parts of our brains we share with reptiles? How did a chemist’s quest to create a drug to ease the pain of childbirth result in the creation of LSD? Why do goats partake in oral sex, and how can a horse (or even a table) make us weak in the knees? And how on earth could the revered ‘father of anatomy’ not know where the clitoris was? From tortoiseshell condoms to superstar athletes on hallucinogens, these burning questions are explored and dissected, mixed with insights from some of the world’s bravest, cleverest and downright weirdest scientists. Exuberantly curious and shamelessly exuberant, Guerilla Science’s Zoe Cormier reinvents popular science for a new generation by breaking all the rules.
August 2014 £12.99 Demy PbO 288pp + illustrations ISBN 978 1 78125 092 1 eISBN 978 1 84765 949 1
Did you know … The patron saint of LSD is St Anthony of Padua
Manuscript available All rights available
Electronic music started out as the ‘teleharmonium’, a seven-tonne electronic organ Chocolate stimulates the same part of the brain as crack cocaine Scientists injected themselves with monkey glands, guinea-pig testicles, blood and semen in the search for eternal youth About 4% of humans suffer from ‘amusia’, and will never be able to hear music Everyone smells different: whether you find someone’s smell attractive to is largely down to the 3 trillion bacteria living in their system
Zoe Cormier is a freelance journalist, science writer and photographer with a background in biology. Zoe is also the head of communications for UK science outreach organisation Guerilla Science and lives in London. 5
Cakes, Custard and Category Theory
POPULAR SCIENCE
Easy recipes for understanding complex maths Eugenia Cheng Whatever you think maths is … let go of it now. This is going to be different. What is the mathematical formula for the perfect cream tea? And what can a Battenberg cake tell us about infinity? Eugenia Cheng’s mission in life is to rid the world of ‘maths phobia’ and introduce even the most algebra-allergic of us to the fun and fascination of mathematics. Here, she pulls on her apron and provides a tempting tasting menu of mathematical delicacies, using food to explain everything from Möbius strips – you can make one out of a bagel! – to algorithms (like the one she cooked up for the perfect scone – 2:1:1 of scone to jam and cream, if you’re interested).
February 2015 £12.99 Demy PbO 320pp ISBN 978 1 78125 287 1 Rights sold: Ponte Alle Grazie Rights available via Diane Banks: French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Scandinavian rights available via: Diane Banks Associates All other rights via Profile
With her trademark infectious enthusiasm and a down-to-earth approach, Cheng takes on important concepts and ideas with a touch as light as a Victoria sponge.
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Maths is all either right or wrong.’
Cooking can go wrong – your custard can curdle, your soufflé can collapse, your chicken can be undercooked and give everyone food poisoning. But even if it does not poison you, some food tastes better than other food. And sometimes when cooking goes ‘wrong’ you have actually accidentally invented a delicious new recipe. Fallen chocolate soufflé is deliciously dark and squidgy. If you forget to melt the chocolate for your cookies, you get chocolate chip cookies. Maths is like this too. At school if you write 10 + 4 = 2 you will be told that is wrong, but actually that’s correct in some circumstances, such as telling the time – four hours later than 10 o’clock is indeed 2 o’clock. The world of maths is more weird and wonderful than people want to tell you…
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Eugenia Cheng is Senior Lecturer of Pure Mathematics at the University of Sheffield. She was educated at the University of Cambridge and has done post-doctoral work at the Universities of Cambridge, Chicago and Nice. Her YouTube lectures, beginning in 2007, and videos have been viewed around 700,000 times to date. She likes baking. 6
The perfect Battenburg cake http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=o4A2Mdmmgp8 The perfect way to share a cake http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=k844OY_P0Ck
Psy-Q
POPULAR SCIENCE
Test your psychological intelligence Ben Ambridge You’ve heard of your IQ; your general intelligence. But what’s your ‘Psy-Q’? How much do you know and understand about what makes you tick? And how good are you at predicting other people’s behaviour … or even your own? In Psy-Q , Ben Ambridge guides us through dozens of interactive puzzles, IQ tests, quizzes, jokes, puns and visual illusions to show us how we can better understand ourselves. Debunking tabloid speculation, revisiting old favourites like the Stanford Prison Experiment and unearthing cutting-edge research unknown to the general reader, renowned psychologist Ben Ambridge blows away the received wisdom to reveal to enthusiasts and novices alike the psychology behind our daily lives. With wit and humour aplenty, he explains whether your blue eyes make you more or less trustworthy, how analogies can help cure cancer, whether Rorschach’s famous inkblot tests really work, what your love for heavy metal (or Mozart) says about you, how psychology could help solve the obesity crisis and countless other revealing, entertaining and downright astonishing tests of your Psy-Q. Visit Ben’s accompanying website, http://benambridge.wordpress. com/, and test yourself – and your friends.
August 2014 £12.99 Demy PBO 352pp ISBN 978 1 78125 210 9 Sample available Rights sold: Penguin, USA
Do you want to know … Whether you score higher on Neuroticism or Agreeableness? If you might be a psychopath? [Hint … you’re more likely to be if you’re a priest or a civil servant …] Whether you can beat a monkey in a memory test? If you can tell when someone is lying to you? What your perfect partner says about you? A dirty joke?
Ben Ambridge is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Liverpool. Psychoddities is his first trade book. His article ‘Why Can’t We Talk to the Animals?’ was shortlisted for the 2012 Guardian–Wellcome Science Writing Prize, and was the most widely read article ever published on the Wellcome Trust Science Blog, with over 8,000 views. 7
Professor Stewart’s Casebook of Mathematical Mysteries
POPULAR SCIENCE
Ian Stewart
Like its wildly popular predecessors Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities and Hoard of Mathematical Treasures, Professor Stewart’s brand-new book is a miscellany of over 150 mathematical curios and conundrums, packed with trademark humour and numerous illustrations. In addition to the fascinating formulae and thrilling theorems familiar to Professor Stewart’s fans, the Casebook follows the adventures of the not-so-great detective Hemlock Soames and his sidekick Dr John Watsup (immortalised in the phrase ‘Watsup, Doc?’). By a remarkable coincidence they live at 222B Baker Street, just across the road from their more illustrious neighbour who, for reasons known only to Dr Watsup, is never mentioned by name. A typical item is ‘The Case of the Face-Down Aces’, a mathematical magic trick of quite devilish cunning … Ranging from one-liners to four-page investigations from the frontiers of mathematical research, the Casebook reveals Professor Stewart at his challenging and entertaining best. October 2014 £12.99 B HB 256pp ISBN 978 184668 347 3 Rights sold: Basic Books, USA; Wydawnictwo Literackie, Poland
Rights sold in seventeen countries
Ian Stewart is Mathematics Professor Emeritus at Warwick University. His many books include Seventeen Equations that Changed the World, Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities, and The Great Mathematical Problems. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, appears frequently on radio and television, and does research on pattern formation and network dynamics. 8
What the …?
POPULAR SCIENCE
Amazing scientific insights from simple everyday questions New Scientist All science begins with questions. How does that happen? What am I seeing here? Why do those birds do that? When will we have proof for this? And often the simplest questions can lead to amazing insights into our universe, our world and ourselves. Here are 125 intriguing questions and 124* answers from all the sciences, including medicine, astronomy and psychology as well as physics, chemistry and biology. As you would expect from the New Scientist, this is top-flight science at its most head-scratching, unpredictable and weird. * With one question to be answered in a readers’ competition.
November 2014 £7.99 B PbO 256pp ISBN 978 1 78125 164 5
• 60,000 copies sold
All rights available
• Six weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller list • Media coverage in The Times, The Sunday Times, Independent on Sunday, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and on the BBC. • Rights sold: Aripaaz, Estonia; Veen Media, Holland; SB Creative, Japan; Boogle Books, Korea; BKL Publishers, Russia
Avidly read for over fifty years, New Scientist is the bestselling and fastest-growing science magazine in the world. The ‘Last Word’ series, which began with Does Anything Eat Wasps?, has now sold over two million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty languages. Jeremy Webb is the editor-in-chief of New Scientist.
50,000 copies sold
260,000 copies sold
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560,000 copies sold
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850,000 copies sold 9
Forensics
NON-FICTION
An Anatomy of Crime Val McDermid A new non-fiction title from multimillion selling Val McDermid, whose books have sold in nineteen languages. The dead talk. To the right listener, they tell us all about themselves – where they came from, who they are, how they lived – and how they died. Through forensic science, a corpse, or the scene of a crime, or a single hair, can reveal the secrets that hold the truth and allow justice to be done. Val McDermid traces the forensic investigation of a crime from the scene of death to the courtroom, to provide a comprehensive a history of forensic science. Based on interviews with leading experts and SCOs (Scene of Crime Operatives), she will expose the realities of etymology, DNA and blood analysis and toxicology, and will range widely through the field, using well-known historical cases (and less familiar ones) from around the world. Forensics will also explore how medical evidence is used for the living, as well as the dead: in sexual offences, violent assaults, identifications and custody cases. September 2014 £14.99 Royal PbO 320pp + 16pp colour plates ISBN 978 1 78125 169 0 Sample available All rights available
Filled with fascinating detail and surprising facts – from the rise of digital forensics to the fall of fingerprints – Forensics offers a world of insight into modern crime-solving. One thing is certain: our fascination with every aspect of forensic science will never diminish.
Val McDermid is the author of thirty bestselling crime novels which have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Before taking up writing, she worked on national newspapers in Glasgow and Manchester, ending up as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. She reviews regularly for various national newspapers, writes occasional journalism and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland. Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust, the world’s largest independent charitable foundation funding research into human and animal health. 10
Adventures in Human Being
MEDICINE
Gavin Francis
All of us have a body; built of flesh and bone, going about our business, and sometimes failing and causing us distress. But how many of us really know what goes on within us? Drawing on his experiences as a physician in environments as diverse as the Antarctic wilderness and a surgical theatre, Gavin Francis provides unique insights into the secrets of the human body – and what they can tell us about our lives. Covering everything from heart beats to adrenaline to the brain’s pineal gland, the ‘seat of the soul’, Francis follows the hidden pathways of the body, exploring how behind each human weakness, abnormality or adaption lies an extraordinary story, a tale of suffering and survival, of rich and poor, lucky and unlucky, fragile and resilient. Poetic, eloquent and profoundly perceptive about all aspects of ‘human being’, Adventures in Human Being will transform the way you view your own body. April 2015 £14.99 Demy HB 288pp ISBN 978 1 78125 341 0 Proposal available All rights available
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Before stethoscopes were invented, physicians would listen to their patients’ hearts by laying one ear directly onto the skin of the chest. We’re accustomed to laying our heads against the breasts of our lovers, our parents, or our children, but once or twice when I’ve rushed out to an urgent house call, leaving my stethoscope forgotten on the desk, I’ve had to rediscover the traditional method. It’s an odd sensation – intimate yet detached – to apply your ear to the chest of a stranger. It helps if you stick one finger in the unoccupied ear. Once you tune out all the background noises you begin to hear the sound of blood as it makes its way through the chambers and valves of the heart. Classical belief was that blood travelled to the heart in order to be mixed with vital spirit, or pneuma, rarefied from the air by the lungs. The ancients must have imagined a churning within; air frothing with blood the way wind whips up waves on the sea. The first time I tried my ear on a patient’s chest I was reminded of holding a conch shell as a child, listening to the drawl of an imagined ocean within.
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Gavin Francis is a doctor, and the author of True North and Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins, which won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize and Costa Prize. He also writes for Guardian, The Times, London Review of Books and Granta. He lives in Edinburgh. 11
How to Manage your Slaves
CLASSICAL HISTORY/ REFERENCE
Jerry Toner
At last, a manual for managing slaves the Roman way! Marcus Sidonius Falx offers practical answers to every question you’re likely to have and guidance on every problem you’re likely to encounter. He shows how to buy slaves – head for the Saepta Julia in Rome – how to tell good slaves from bad and how to get the best out of them once you’ve bought them. He covers the delicate subject of when you should let your slaves have sex with each other and when you should engage in sex with them yourself. And he considers when to set them free. Armed with this guide you will be master in your own home: your household will be a comfort to your family and the envy of your neighbours. The book is long-overdue. Until now ancient slavery may have been difficult to understand: this Roman’s eye view lets us see at last why slaves meant so much to the Romans. As much as forty per cent of Ancient Italy’s population were slaves, who fulfilled roles from prostitutes to doctors and political aides. Armed with this guide – and the sometimes surprising facts about the Roman world it contains – you will not only be master of your household, but also gain a fascinating insight into how slavery worked in the Roman empire.
June 2014 £12.99 Demy HB 192pp ISBN 978 1 78125 251 2 Manuscript available Rights sold: Overlook, USA; Ohta Shuppan, Japan
Coming soon
Emperors and Crooks The first history of crime and violence in Ancient Rome Jerry Toner Proposal available
Marcus Sidonius Falx is a Roman of noble birth, whose family have kept slaves for generations. He divides his time between his estates in Campania and the province of Africa and his luxury villa on the Esquiline hill overlooking Rome. He has employed the services of Dr Jerry Toner, Fellow and Director of Classics at Hughes Hall, Cambridge University, to set his work in context and provide guidance for readers who want to know more about this fascinating if disagreeable subject. 12
The Quest for Mary Magdalene
HISTORY
Michael Haag
Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ’s wife, and adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about man and the divine. It will follow her from the Gnostic gospels, where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ, through the early Church’s reimagining of her as a fallen woman, to the Renaissance artists for whom she became a symbol of compassion and humanity, and into the present day. For now, once again, we are seeing Mary Magdalene anew as a symbol of a new and powerful femininity. March 2015 £15 Demy HB 352pp ISBN 978 1 84668 452 4 The Tragedy of the Templars November 2012 £16.99 Demy HB 352pp ISBN 978 1 84668 450 0
All rights available
Rights sold: Harper Collins, USA
The Templars 30,000 copies sold July 2009 £9.99 Pb0 384pp ISBN 978 1 84668 153 0 Rights sold: Promo Rocco, Brazil; Slovart, Czech Republic; Ixelles, France; Harper Collins, USA
Michael Haag is a notable historian who has written for the Sunday Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Vogue. His books include Templars, The Tragedy of the Templars, Inferno Decoded, The Rough Guide to Tutankhamun, and Alexandria: City of Memory. Originally from New York City, he lives in London. 13
Christmas Carols
HISTORY OF MUSIC
A Celebration Andrew Gant
Everyone loves a carol – in the end, even Scrooge. They have the power to summon up a special kind of midwinter mood, like the aroma of mince pies and mulled wine and the twinkle of lights on a tree. It’s a kind of magic. But how did they get that magic? In Christmas Carols Andrew Gant tells the story of some twenty carols, each accompanied by lyrics and music, unravelling a captivating – and often surprising – tale of great musicians and thinkers, saints and pagans, shepherd boys, choirboys, monks and drunks. We delve into the history of such favourites as ‘Good King Wenceslas’, ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, discovering along the way how ‘Hark, the Herald angels sing’ came to replace ‘Hark, how all the welkin ring’ and how Ralph Vaughan Williams bolted the tune of an English folk song about a dead ox to a poem by a nineteenth-century American pilgrim to make ‘O little town of Bethlehem’. Christmas Carols brims with anecdote, expert knowledge and Christmas spirit. It is a fittingly joyous account of one of our bestloved musical traditions. November 2014 £9.99 B HB 224pp ISBN 978 1 78125 352 6 Sample available All rights available
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Many of these songs were not composed as Christmas carols, many were not ‘composed’ at all. Almost all did not begin life with these words. Some did not have words at all. Several evolved from folk songs; some are evolving still. One much-loved carol started life as a song about a delinquent farm-boy and a couple of dead cows. Many carols come from the mountains of Austria, or nineteenth-century America, or a Pyrenean hillside, from Lutheran psalters, handsome volumes of illuminated plainsong, or sturdy hymnbooks from Finland, first opened by the flickering light of a fire in some stone hall one evening deep in the sixteenth century.
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Andrew Gant is a composer, choirmaster, church musician, university teacher and writer. He has directed many leading choirs including The Guards’ Chapel, Worcester College Oxford, and Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal. He lectures in Music at St Peter’s College and St Edmund Hall in Oxford, where he lives with his wife and their three children. 14
Adventures in Stationery
REFERENCE
Stories from your pencil case James Ward
We are surrounded by stationery: half-chewed Cristal Bics and bent paper clips, rubber bands, blunt pencils, rubbers and Tipp-ex. They are integral parts of our everyday environment. So much so that we have no idea of the stories they have to tell. But James Ward is here to explain how important stationery is to us. After all, who remains unmoved by the sight of the first sheet of a brand new notepad? And which of humanity’s brightest ideas didn’t start life on a scrap of paper, a Post-it, or in the margins of a notebook? Exploring these everyday objects, Ward reveals tales of invention – accidental and brilliant – and bitter rivalry. He also asks the difficult questions, who is Mr Pritt? What do design evolutions in desk organisers mean for society? Perhaps most importantly, it’s time to ask Blu-Tack: what are the 1000s of uses they claim? Combining telling details, peculiar facts, a love of humour, hubris and brimming with curious stories, this book will change the way you look at your desk forever.
September 2014 £14.99 Demy HB 256pp ISBN 978 1 84668 615 3 Manuscript available All rights available
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Vaaler’s title as the father of the paperclip was given to him posthumously. And as the story grew, it accidentally managed to turn him into a folk hero of sorts in Norway. During the years of Nazi occupation, the paperclip was worn as a symbol of resistance in Norway. This wasn’t actually anything to do with Vaaler being Norwegian (although Vaaler’s original patent application had been rediscovered in the 1920s, the belief that he’d invented the paperclip didn’t become widespread until later), but it was meant as a subtle sign – the binding action of the paperclip acting as a reminder that the Norwegian people were united together against the occupying forces (‘we are bound together’).
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James Ward’s London-based blog, I Like Boring Things, has featured in the Independent, Observer and on the BBC website. He is co-founder of Stationery Club and the Boring Conference, featured in the Wall Street Journal and on Radio 4. This is his first book. 15
Where Do Camels Belong?
POPULAR SCIENCE
The Story and Science of Invasive Species Ken Thompson Where do camels belong? In the Arab world is the obvious answer. But they evolved and lived for tens of millions of years in North America, while today they retain their greatest diversity in South America, and have their only wild populations in Australia. This is a classic example of the problems that underlie the issues of ‘natural’ and ‘invasive’ species, despite horror stories of invaders such as Japanese knotweed. But do we need to fear invaders? And indeed, can we control them, and do we choose the right targets? In Where Do Camels Belong? Ken Thompson puts forward a fascinating array of narratives on invasive and natural plants and animals, to explore what he sees as the crucial question – why only a minority of introduced species succeed, and why so few of them go on to cause trouble. And is fear of invasive species getting in the way of conserving biodiversity and tackling the threat of climate change? March 2014 £10.99 Demy PbO 272pp ISBN 978 1 78125 174 4 Rights sold: Greystone, Canada Ken Thompson taught at the Department of Animal and Plant Studies at the University of Sheffield and also writes regularly on gardening for the Daily Telegraph. His previous book was Do we need pandas: The uncomfortable truth about biodiversity.
Island on Fire
The extraordinary story of Laki, the volcano that turned eighteenth-century Europe dark Alexandra Witze and Jeff Kanipe
HISTORY
‘A volcanic tour de force: terrific story-telling that reveals our vulnerability to Nature’s most destructive forces.’ Nick Crane The eruption of Laki is one of history’s great untold natural disasters. The eruption in Iceland, spewing out a poisonous fog, lasted for eight months, but its effects lingered across Europe for years, causing the death of people as far away as the Nile and creating famine that may have triggered the French Revolution. An Island on Fire is the story not only of a volcano but also of the people whose lives it changed, such as the pastor Jon Steingrimsson, who witnessed and recorded the events. It is the story, too, of modern volcanology, and looks at how events might work out should Laki erupt again in our time. March 2014 £10.99 Demy HB 224pp ISBN 978 1 78125 004 4 Rights sold: Aripaar, Estonia; Pegasus, USA
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Alexandra Witze is a contributing editor to Science News and past US bureau chief for Nature. Jeff Kanipe is the author of Chasing Hubble’s Shadow and Cosmic Connection.
The Galápagos Henry Nicholls
WONDERS OF THE WORLD
‘If you read one book about the Galápagos, make sure it is this.’ Ian Dunn, CEO, Galápagos Conservation Trust ‘A thoughtfully executed and excellent read.’ Johannah Barry, president of the Galápagos Conservancy ‘An inspiring call to visit the islands, to experience the animals and plants in the sea and on land, and to join in conserving them.’ Peter Grant, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University The Galápagos were once known to the sailors and pirates who encountered them as Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands, home to marvellous creatures and dramatic volcanic scenery. This captivating history of the world’s most famous islands charts their evolution from deserted wilderness to profoundly important scientific resource and now global tourist destination. More than ever, we must be alert to the significance of this unique location – because what happens here foreshadows the fate of threatened ecosystems everywhere on earth.
March 2014 £15.99 Demy HB 256pp ISBN 978 1 781250 53 2 Rights sold: Basic Books, USA
Henry Nicholls is a journalist, author and broadcaster, specialising in evolutionary biology, conservation and history of science. He is the author of The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China’s Political Animal and Lonesome George, about Galápagos conservation.
What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? How money really does grow on trees Tony Juniper
POPULAR SCIENCE/ CURRENT AFFAIRS
Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller – 15,000 copies sold Shortlisted for the Political Book Prize ‘Tony Juniper is by popular consent the most effective of Britain’s eco-warriors.’ Independent ‘This is important stuff’ New Scientist ‘Compelling and mindblowing … Juniper’s excellent book ends on an optimistic note.’ Daily Mail ‘Filled with fascinating stories’ The Times It’s been estimated that nature is worth as much as $100 trillion annually to the world economy – nearly double the global GDP. Yet we take most of what nature does for us for granted, imagining its services to be free and limitless … until they suddenly switch off. NOW AVAILABLE: WHAT HAS NATURE EVER DONE FOR BRITAIN
Tony Juniper was Director of Friends of the Earth. His books include the award-winning reference book Parrots. He is the editor of the National Geographic and Guardian green supplements.
January 2013 £9.99 B PbO 336pp with illustrations ISBN 978 1 84668 560 6 Rights sold: Synergetic Press, USA; Chongquing University Press, China
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Sex by Numbers
POPULAR SCIENCE
David Spiegelhalter
Whatever society we live in, and however open-minded we like to think ourselves, when it comes to our sex lives we all like to keep a few secrets. But this makes the jobs of sexologists – professionals who study sexual behaviour – pretty difficult. Luckily, David Spiegelhalter, Professor of Risk at Cambridge University, is here to unravel the web of exaggerations, misdirections and downright lies that surrounds sex in modern society. Drawing on the NATSAL survey, the widest survey of sexual behaviour since the Kinsey Report, he answers crucial questions such as what are we all doing? How often? And how has it changed?
January 2015 £12.99 Demy PbO 288pp ISBN 978 1 78125 329 8
David Spiegelhalter OBE is Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge and the Royal Society. ALSO AVAILABLE
The Norm Chronicles
Stories and numbers about danger Michael Blastland and David Spiegelhalter 12,000 copies sold
All rights available
The Norm Chronicles tells the story of average Norm, Careful Prudence and wreckless Kevin, together with hard data on risk and chance, to produce a fresh and funny take on danger.
One-Stop Guide to Dementia
HEALTH/SELF-HELP
June Andrews
Across the world, 44.4 million people suffer with dementia. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the dementia of parents, partners, siblings or friends. And as much of the world struggles with an aging population, dementia is set to become ever more of a challenge for societies and individuals. But still, most people who are diagnosed, or who are dealing with the diagnosis of a loved one, feel as though they are alone. One Stop Guide to Dementia aims to fill this gap, providing practical information and support for living with, or caring for, dementia.
February 2015 £12.99 Demy PBO 256pp ISBN 978 1 78125 171 3 Manuscript available All rights available
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With clear and sensible information about recognising symptoms, getting help, managing financially, staying at home, treatment, being a carer and staying positive, this guide will help dementia sufferers and their families to make sure that they can stay well and happy as long as possible.
Professor June Andrews is Director of the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre and a recognised leader in the worldwide movement to improve services for people with dementia and their carers. A pamphlet she co-published in 2011 called ‘10 Hints for Carers’, for those looking after dementia patients, has sold over 30,000 copies to date.
Belles and Whistles
HISTORY
Five Journeys Through Time on Britain’s Trains Andrew Martin
In the heroic days of rail travel, you could dine on kippers and champagne aboard the Brighton Belle; smoke a post-prandial cigar as the Golden Arrow closed in on Paris, or be shaved by the Flying Scotsman’s on-board barber. Everyone from schoolboys to socialites knew of these glamorous ‘named trains’ and aspired to ride aboard them. In Belles and Whistles, Andrew Martin recreates five of these famous train journeys by travelling aboard their nearest modern day equivalents. Sometimes their names have survived, even if only as a footnote on a timetable leaflet, but what has usually – if not always – disappeared is the extravagance and luxury. As Martin explains how we got from there to here, evocations of the golden age contrast with the starker modern reality: from monogrammed cutlery to stirring sticks, from silence on trains to tannoy announcements, from compartments to airline seating. For those who wonder whatever happened to porters, dining cars, mellow lighting, timetables, luggage in advance, trunk murders, the answers are all here.
Andrew Martin is a journalist and author. His previous book for Profile, Underground, Overground, was a history of the London Underground. He has written for the Evening Standard, Sunday Times, Independent on Sunday, Daily Telegraph and New Statesman among others.
Fashion on the Ration
September 2014 £14.99 Demy HB 288pp ISBN 978 1 78125 212 3 Sample chapter available All rights available
HISTORY
Julie Summers
*In association with the Imperial War Museum, London* ‘Any power whatsoever is destined to fail before fashion’, Mussolini observed as the Second World War began. And, throughout a war which tested the population of Europe was in every aspect of their lives, ordinary men and women continued to get through the conflict with ingenuity and style. From the outbreak of war to the final aftermath, Julie Summers provides the definitive history of fashion and clothing in World War Two. From glamour to austerity, and including the quirks of rationing, ‘make-do-and-mend’ and the influence of Hollywood, Fashion on the Ration lifts the veil on stories of daily life and radical social change. As hemlines rose and women took on traditional male roles, the clothes people wore reflected their changing lives and outlooks. Today, wartime clothing is appearing again on catwalks and in hipster cafes. Beautifully illustrated, Fashion on the Ration is an evocative look at a fascinating era in British fashion. Julie Summers is the author of Jambusters, When the Children Came Home, Stranger in the House and The Colonel of Tamarkan. She lives in Oxford.
March 2015 £14.99 Demy HB 256pp ISBN 978 1 78125 326 7 Proposal available All rights available
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Consiglieri
BUSINESS
Leading from the Shadows Richard Hytner
Why coming top is second best Not everyone can be in charge – and not everyone should want to be. Richard Hytner, deputy chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, thinks it’s time to celebrate the second-in-command, consiglieri: Merlin to King Arthur, Al Gore to Bill Clinton, Rasputin to the Romanovs.
June 2014 £12.99 Demy Pb0 288pp ISBN 978 1 78125 046 4
Whether you’re Vice President or second violin, the influence, authority and power you wield can determine the fate of countries, companies and individual ventures all over the world. Consiglieri brings together historical examples, conversations with those in the shadows of Tony Blair, Sir Alex Ferguson and the Royal Family, interviews with leaders in sport, business, politics and music, and cutting-edge research from psychologists and academics, to produce a deft, refreshing new approach to leadership. If you fancy yourself as a contemporary Machiavelli or Richelieu, put this clever and entertaining guide to finding your ideal role second from top of your pile.
Proofs available All rights available Richard Hytner is Deputy Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi. In 2011, he was appointed (not full but) Adjunct Associate Professor of Marketing at the London Business School.
Billions to Bust and Back
BUSINESS
How I made, lost and rebuilt a fortune Thor Bjorgolfsson Thor Bjorgolfsson is a self-styled adventure capitalist with an addiction to debt and an insatiable appetite for business deals who became Iceland’s first billionaire. After ten years establishing his financial empire with alco-pops and beer in the lawless ‘Wild East’ of newly-capitalist Russia in the 1990s, he moved on to merging, floating, spinning off and privatising businesses from Finland to Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and the Czech Republic. On his fortieth birthday, and worth $3.5 billion, he was sitting on top of the world; only 250 people in it were richer than him. His most spectacular triumph was the takeover of Iceland’s second-largest bank, Landsbanki – he had expected his investment’s value to double or treble in four years, and instead it rose ten-fold.
June 2014 £20 Royal HB 256pp ISBN 978 1 78125 369 4 Proofs available All rights available ex Icelandic
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But when financial meltdown hit Iceland in October 2008, Landsbanki crashed and burned, taking Bjorgolfsson with it. Within 12 months he had lost 3.3 billion euros – 98.5% of his wealth – and was treated as a scapegoat in his native country for supposedly bringing about the disaster. Faced with appalling debts, Bjorgolfsson has made good on his promises to repay his creditors, and at the age of 47 is now a billionaire once again. Thor Bjorgolfsson was Iceland’s first billionaire. He made his first $100 million in 2002, from the sale of his Russian Bravo brewery business to Heineken. At the age of forty, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $3.4 billion and featured him on its cover.
The Checklist Series
BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
Your guides to getting it right
The first five titles in a new series from the experts at the Chartered Management Institute
Managing Yourself
From Developing your network and Handling the politics to Solving problems and Stress management: the aspects that are most crucial to your personal performance as a manager. ISBN 978 1 78125 145 4 Rights sold: Piter Press, Russia
Managing Others: Teams and Individuals
From Empowerment and Successful delegation to Managing conflict and Motivating the demotivated: the aspects that are most crucial to getting the most from those you have to manage and work with. ISBN 978 1 78125 144 7 Rights sold: Piter Press, Russia
Managing Others: the Organisational Essentials
From Performance management and Training needs analysis to Recruitment and Redundancy: the organisational processes you need to be on top of when managing other people. ISBN 978 1 78125 143 0 Rights sold: Piter Press, Russia
ALL EDITIONS July 2013 £12.99 TR PB 252pp
Managing Finance
From Financial forecasting and Management accounting to Business ratios and Valuing a business: the aspects that are most crucial to handling your financial management responsibilities. ISBN 978 1 78125 218 5
Managing Strategy
From Mission and vision and Devising a code of ethics to Writing a business plan and Using consultants: the experts’ guide to the all-important subject of business strategy. ISBN 978 1 78125 219 2 The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the UK’s only chartered professional body that exists to promote the highest standards in management and leadership excellence. It sets standards that others follow and its Chartered Management qualification is the hallmark of any professional manager. It has more than 90,000 members. The checklists in this new series have been compiled by its most experienced members who are specialists in the subjects covered.
ALL EDITIONS May 2015 £12.99 TR PB MF: 224pp MS: 272pp
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Peas & Queues
HUMOUR/REFERENCE
The Minefield of Modern Manners Sandi Toksvig
‘She makes Stephen Fry look like a layabout’ Guardian ‘There are three things you immediately notice about Sandi Toksvig. Her height, her wit and her distinctive voice … it’s rip-roaring stuff, and it translates to the page, too.’ Independent on Sunday ‘Contains plenty of etiquette-related nuggets here to enhance a reader’s own conversational repertoire.’ Spectator
October 2013 £12.99 Demy HB 272pp ISBN 978 1 78125 032 7 Rights sold: The Experiment, USA; Mlada fronta, Czech Republic; Sinbad, Russia
The award-winning Radio 4 broadcaster and writer Sandi Toksvig offers guidance on the social pitfalls of every phase of life, from christenings to condolence letters – and reveals fascinating details about how our manners have changed across time, from the earliest étiquettes (little cards to remind courtiers how to behave) to tackling the trolls of Twitter. With characteristic wit and perceptiveness, Peas & Queues provides an essential guide to twenty-first century behaviour.
Sandi Toksvig is a well-known broadcaster for both television and radio, and is the regular host of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz. Born in Copenhagen, she travelled extensively during her childhood and, when her father Claus Toksvig was covering the Apollo 11 Mission, Toksvig held hands with Neil Armstrong’s secretary as he stepped onto the moon. While at University, she was a member of the Cambridge Footlights.
Rogerson’s Book of Numbers
The Culture of Numbers from 1001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World Barnaby Rogerson
MISCELLANY
‘Rogerson’s Book of Numbers is fascinating’ Guardian ‘From the numerology of Swedish phallus cults, through the varieties of archangels, and the grades of Mithraic initiation to the number of women seduced by Lord Byron and the names of Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs, Rogerson’s Book of Numbers is as dangerously addictive as it is wonderfully witty and crazily wide-ranging and erudite. It is also the very greatest fun.’ William Dalrymple
November 2013 £9.99 A HB 208pp ISBN 978 1 781250 990 Rights sold: Pegasus, USA
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Rogerson’s Book of Numbers is a deceptively simple list of virtues, spiritual attributes, gods, devils, sacred cities, dominions, powers, heroes, saints and symbols. It provides a dazzling mass of information for those intrigued by the many roles numbers play – not only in mathematics and science, but also in poetry, in the hierarchies of heaven and hell and in the many religions, cultures and belief systems of our world. Barnaby Rogerson is an author, publisher and journalist. Together with his partner Rose Baring, he runs Eland Publishing, which specialises in keeping the classics of travel literature in print. He has also written on various North African and Islamic themes, for Vanity Fair, Cornucopia, Condé Nast Traveller, Geographical, Traveller, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, House & Garden, Harpers & Queen and the TLS.
Recent backlist
TRANSLATION RIGHTS AVAILABLE
The Great War Peter Hart
Gallipoli Peter Hart
Brothers at War Sheila Miyoshi Jager
Nijinsky Lucy Moore
Feeding Frenzy Paul McMahon
Mr Selden’s Map of China Timothy Brook
Lost, Stolen or Shredded Rick Gekoski
The Reality Test Robert Rowland Smith
The Burning Question Duncan Clark, Mike Berners-Lee
How Asia Works Joe Studwell
Confronting the Classics Mary Beard
Seventeen Contraditions and the End of Capitalism David Harvey
ISBN 978 1 84668 246 9 £25
ISBN 978 1 78125 034 1 £12.99
ISBN 978 1 78125 045 7 £9.99
ISBN 978 1 84668 161 5 £25
ISBN 978 1 78125 038 9 £18.99
ISBN 978 1 84668 242 1 £14.99
ISBN 978 1 84668 067 0 £25
ISBN 978 1 84668 491 3 £14.99
ISBN 978 1 78125 048 8 £25
ISBN 978 1 84668 618 4 £25
ISBN 978 1 78125 079 2 £12.99
ISBN 978 1 78125 160 7 £14.99
RIGHTS INFORMATION RIGHTS DIRECTOR: Penny Daniel at Profile Books
Tel: +44 20 7841 6300 Email: penny.daniel@profilebooks.com
TRANSLATION RIGHTS VIA: Andrew Nurnberg Associates
Tel: +44 20 3327 0400 Fax: +44 20 7253 4851 Email: hkoscia@nurnberg.co.uk
US RIGHTS VIA: George Lucas at Inkwell Management
Tel: 00 1 212 922 3500 Fax: 00 1 212 922 0535 Email: george@inkwellmanagement.com