Rivers Run: An Angler’s Journey From Source to Sea

Kevin Parr

Rivers Run is a love letter to Britain’s rivers and waterways by well-known angler and naturalist Kevin Parr. On a journey around his favourite watery hideaways – such as the River Stour in Dorset, the Exe in Devon, the Avon in the Midlands and Parrs Pool in Shropshire – the author shares the thoughts and insights that bubble up while sitting peacefully by the riverside, watching the world go by and waiting for the fish to bite.

Each river that he visits has played a central part in his own development as both an angler and a person, and reflects the ways in which landscape, wildlife and plants mirror the themes that flow through all our lives.

Rivers Run is a delightful yet profound philosophical and poetic examination of water, of the fish that live within it, the nature that surrounds it and how human life is intrinsically linked to its flow.

Wild Pavements

Amanda Tuke

In Wild Pavements, naturalist Amanda Tuke shares her delight in the overlooked and underappreciated wildlife in our UK cities, finds the people who care for it, takes groups out to enjoy it and explores what the current thinking in ecology and conservation means for the future of urban nature.

Join Amanda as she explores London from the City out to the suburbs and visits Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Sheffield, Aberdeen and other cities in the British Isles, exploring the diversity of our urban nature and the surprising places you can find it.

From wild bees living on a canal bank and black redstarts nesting in London’s Oxford Street, to rare plants in pavement cracks and new fish life in trolley-filled urban rivers, her discoveries are there for anyone to enjoy. Noticing the wild world around you may just change the way you think about our cities for good.

An Unnatural History of Britain

Kevin Parr

‘It wasn’t just cats on the prowl. There were other animals that seemed too exotic or dangerous to go unnoticed and some were not simply surviving but thriving. Mammals such as the wild boar, once driven to extinction but now reestablished following escapes and illegal releases; a colony of yellow-tailed scorpions that have scuttled since Victorian times; wallabies, as far away from their native range as they could possibly get, bouncing around dale and moor … How exciting would it be to go and try to see some of them for myself?’

Many are unaware that scorpions, Aesculapian snakes, eagle owls, wallabies and many more unusual non-native species are living and breeding in the British Isles – but here they are.

In An Unnatural History of Britain nature writer Kevin Parr travels the length and breadth of the country seeking out these rare creatures and exploring the myths and folklore that have emerged around them along the way.

The Divorce of Nations

João Vale de Almeida

Today we are witnessing one of the most dangerous geopolitical situations of modern times, heralded by loud populist and nationalist voices, and steeped in uncertainty. But how did the nations of the world come to find themselves in such a predicament? Is the international liberal order condemned?

Having met every consequential global leader since the turn of the millennium, one of the world’s foremost diplomats lifts the veil on modern foreign affairs and enables us to trace how countries have been sleepwalking towards the ‘Divorce of Nations’, and the steps we can take to fix it.

Based on contemporary notes and further reflections, The Divorce of Nations is a necessary and important book that enables us to move forward with better awareness and understanding of the current volatile and fragmented scene, at both national and global levels.

Moreish

Matt Buttrick

It is said we make around 200 food decisions every day, and most of them are completely out of our control. So what really happens when it's time to eat?

Explore the impact of words in menu construction alongside the power of comfort food; why the first bite is not always with the eyes; and how the worlds of sex, symbolism and animal instinct are simmering just beneath the surface in all of us.

Continually eye-opening and perceptive, often witty and entertaining, Moreish sets a place for persuasive packaging, in-your-face pop songs, underhand menu writing and over-the-top advertising. It demonstrates that, while we often feel fully in control of our food choices, the opposite is almost definitely true.

If you’ve ever eaten food, this book is for you.

Chemically Imbalanced

Joanna Moncrieff

For years, we’ve been led to believe that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and antidepressants are the solution. But what if this widely accepted belief has been built on unreliable truths?

In Chemically Imbalanced, renowned psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff takes readers on a thought-provoking journey through the history of the serotonin theory of depression, from its origins in the 1960s to its widespread acceptance in the 1990s. With clarity and compelling evidence, Moncrieff exposes how scientific understanding has been swayed by social and economic forces, leading to misconceptions that have shaped treatment decisions for millions.

Accessible yet profoundly insightful, Chemically Imbalanced is essential reading for anyone seeking to make more informed choices about their mental health and understand the forces that shape the way we perceive and treat depression today.

Rigged

Andy Verity

Rigged exposes a cover-up at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic, upending the official story of the biggest scandal since the global financial crisis.

Banks’ health is judged by an interest rate called Libor. To save themselves from collapse, nationalisation and loss of bonuses, banks instruct traders to manipulate Libor down – a criminal practice known as lowballing. Outraged, traders turn whistleblowers, alerting the authorities.

Their instructions come first from top bosses – then from central banks and governments. But when the scandal explodes into the news, prosecutors allow banks to cover up the evidence pointing to the top. Instead, they accuse 37 traders of another kind of interest rate ‘rigging’ that no one had seen as a crime. In nine trials from 2015 to 2019, nineteen are convicted and sentenced. Rigged exclusively shows why all the defendants are innocent, and how any real culprits go unpunished.

Turns out, it’s not just the market that’s rigged. It’s the entire system.

You Must Stand Up

Amanda Becker

When the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion care by way of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the country was thrown into chaos. Abortion providers and their patients faced sudden closures, new restrictions, and rapidly changing rules as nearly half of the states moved quickly to ban or severely curtail abortion access. Against this backdrop, an army of healthcare providers, lawyers, activists, and everyday people mobilised to protect what a majority of Americans want: legal abortion.

In You Must Stand Up, Nieman Fellow Amanda Becker provides a real-time portrait of the creative resistance that unfolded in America's first year without the protections of Roe v. Wade. Amid daily shifts in healthcare access, new legal battles coming before partisan courts, and up-for-grabs state constitutions, Becker traces the story of the people rising to meet these new challenges.

In depicting the splintered reality of post-Dobbs America, Becker ultimately shows how outrage can beget hope, and give rise to a new movement.

The Quiet Moon

Kevin Parr

A lyrical exploration of mental health and nature, set to the phases of the moon.

The ancient Celts lived by and worshipped the moon. While modern, digital life is often at odds with nature – rubbing against it rather than working in harmony with it – is there something to be said for embracing this ancient way of being and reconnecting to the moon’s natural calendar?

January’s Quiet Moon reflects an air of melancholy, illuminating a midwinter of quiet menace. By May, the Bright Moon brings happiness as time slows, mayflies cloud and elderflowers cascade. Nature approaches her peak during a summer of short nights and bright days – this was when the ancient Celts claimed their wives and celebrated Lugnasad. With the descent into winter comes the sadness of December’s Cold Moon. Trees stand bare and creatures shiver their way to shelter as the Dark Days creep in once more and the cycle restarts.

In The Quiet Moon, Kevin Parr discovers that a year of moons has much to teach us about how to live in the world that surrounds us – and how being more in tune to the rhythms of nature, even in the cold and dark, can help ease the suffering mind.

Cypto Confidential

Jake Donoghue

An uncompromising account of the exorbitant greed and systemic corruption that typifies the cultish world of cryptocurrency, this is the salacious story of the industry everyone is talking about right now. It sheds light on some of the most scandalous financial crimes of the 21st century – from billion-dollar fraud cases to international money laundering cartels, political bribery and even faked deaths, it lifts the lid on the intricate and immense web of malpractice that crypto founders spin to trap ordinary investors.

Written by a prominent and well-connected insider, Crypto Confidential provides a first-hand account of how the industry truly operates, and how every aspect is engineered for one purpose: to make vast amounts of fast money for those on the inside, by any means necessary.

Friday is the New Saturday

Pedro Gomes

A groundbreaking book on how and why the status quo of the 5-day working week must change.

Friday is the New Saturday makes a compelling, provocative and timely case for societal change. Drawing on an eclectic range of economic theory, history and data, Pedro Gomes argues that a four-day working week will bring about a powerful economic renewal for the benefit of all society. It will stimulate demand, productivity, innovation and wages, whilst reducing unemployment and crushing populist movements. The arguments come from both the left and right of the political spectrum to show that a polarised society can still find common ground.

In the 2000s, Friday will become the new Saturday, and we will never look back.

The Super-Helper Syndrome

Jess Baker & Rod Vincent

There’s a type of person out there who is better at helping others than they are at looking after themselves. Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you know someone who is. There’s usually one in every family.

But these people, who do so much to help others, are struggling. Deeper down, beneath all of this, there is something else that causes helpers to suffer. It dwells in their psychology and the belief system that motivates them.

The Super-Helper Syndrome offers a new perspective on the psychology of helping. It offers support for people who want to adopt a Healthy Helper Mindset, including meeting their own needs, countering the inner critic, building assertiveness and setting helping boundaries. It’s only by doing these things that compassionate people can be most effective at helping others.