Short Books

Our phones have become a constant distraction; it's time we put them down and rediscovered the simple art of taking a few minutes out. This book offers an imaginative list of games and tips aimed at curing us of our portable tech addiction. More than mere time-killers, these activities include ways to unleash your creative side and train your brain, but above all methods to set you on the road to calm.

This book offers an imaginative mix of games and tips to remind you of the simple joys of waking up with a clear head.Whether you are about to embark upon a short detox, quit the sauce for good, or just looking for a night off, these alcohol-free activities will light your way.

Can you identify that tree outside the window? Probably not. Most of us don't know an oak from a sycamore, let alone a beech from a birch. Perhaps it is time to turn over a new leaf...Out of the Woods is an affectionate, convivial introduction to Britain's trees, in which Will Cohu takes you on a revelatory ramble through country and city - from woodlands of majestic oak and ash, via alder-clad lay-bys, t...

Denmark is the country of the moment. Recently named the happiest nation in the world, it's the motherland of The Bridge, Borgen, and The Killing, and home to Noma, the world's best restaurant. But though we wear their jumpers and watch their thrillers, how much do we really know about the Danes themselves? Part reportage, part travelogue, How to be Danish is an attempt to fill in some of the gaps - an in...

Florence knew she did not want a life of fancy clothes and parties, like all the other girls. She was going to do something different - and important. But what...? In 1854, she shocked everyone. Florence set out for the Crimea to nurse soldiers injured in the war. Nothing could have prepared her for the horror of the army hospital, the filth and dirt, and the rats scuttling round the dying soldiers on the b...

At 12 years old David Livingstone was sent to work in a cotton mill. He knew he had to escape. And ten years later he had saved enough money to plan his first adventure. This is the incredible story of the tough man of Victorian Britain who would stop at nothing in his determination to explore Africa. He trekked hundreds of miles through dangerous territory and was attacked by cannibals, rampaging lions an...

Live well and feel great - go vegan in 15...The vegan revolution is here. More and more people are looking to eat and shop in a way that treads as lightly as possible on our fragile planet and that doesn't cause suffering to animals. In Vegan in 15, renowned green food blogger and cook Kate Ford presents the easy way to 'go vegan' - showing you how to conjure up incredibly tasty meals in just 15 minutes, wi...

In a country parsonage in the late 18th century, there lived a large family of seven children. They were all bright and clever and noisy, so nobody really noticed when little Jane turned quietly into a genius...The modest, obedient youngest daughter of the Reverend Austen was to grow up to be one of the greatest writers in the English language. And the story of how she succeeded is every bit as romantic as ...

We are a nation that loves its ancient woods and trees. We prize our sturdy oaks, craggy pines, bluebells and primroses, badgers and dormice. We value the history and heritage of places that have been woodland since before the Norman Conquest. But only a generation ago we were all set to wipe them out. It was said that in the space of just 30 years, nearly half of our ancient woods were destroyed. How and w...

"In the summer of 1940, lying in the sun, I saw a family of redstarts, unconcerned in the affairs of our skeletal multitude, going about their ways in cherry and chestnut trees..." Soon after his arrival at Warburg PoW camp, British army officer John Buxton found an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment. Passing his days covertly watching birds, he was unaware that he, too, was being wat...

On 30th April 1945 Germany is in chaos - Russian troops have reached Berlin. All over the country, people are on the move - concentration camp survivors, Allied PoWs, escaping Nazis - and the civilian population is fast running out of food. The man who orchestrated this nightmare is in his bunker beneath the capital, saying his farewells. Hitler's Last Day: Minute by Minute is pure chronological narrat...

Look out of the window. See a bird. Enjoy it. Congratulations. You are now a bad birdwatcher. Anyone who has ever gazed up at the sky or stared out of the window knows something about birds. In this funny, inspiring, eye-opening book, Simon Barnes paints a riveting picture of how bird-watching has framed his life and can help us all to a better understanding of our place on this planet. How to be a bad bir...

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a man with a brilliant brain for design, and never tired of building new and exciting things - the deepest tunnel, the longest bridge, the fastest train. For Brunel, the average and the ordinary were just not good enough. He was a perfectionist and a control freak. And he would stop at nothing to complete a project, even when if it meant taking hair-raising risks...

Life on planet earth is not weirder than we imagine. It's weirder than we are capable of imagining.And we're all in it together: humans, blue whales, rats, birds of paradise, ridiculous numbers of beetles, molluscs the size of a bus, bdelloid rotifers who haven't had sex for millions of years and creatures called water bears: you can boil them, freeze them and fire them off into space without killing them.I...

On 30th April 1945 Germany is in chaos...Russian troops have reached Berlin. All over the country, people are on the move - concentration camp survivors, Allied PoWs, escaping Nazis - and the civilian population is fast running out of food. The man who orchestrated this nightmare is in his bunker beneath the capital, saying his farewells. This is the gripping story of Hitler's final hours, as seen through t...

The invasion has begun. In this gripping book, Jonathan Mayo gives a blow by blow account of the events of D-Day, revealing what happened to the people swept up in this crucial moment in history. From soldiers, French villagers and journalists, to schoolchildren and nurses, thousands were placed in extraordinary situations when the Allies landed in Normandy. This is their story.

Daughter of the famous romantic poet Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace was a child prodigy. Brilliant at maths, she read numbers like most people read words.Lady Byron wanted Ada to be as unlike her father as possible. Ada grew up surrounded by an army of tutors who taught her every subject every waking moment, except for poetry.In 1843 Ada came to the attention of Charles Babbage, a scientist and inventor who had j...

John Sutherland, one of Britain's most celebrated professors of English literature, is here to test, stretch, amuse and instruct you with his definitive quiz on all things grammatical.Why do purists insist that 'television' is wrong while telephone is correct?Was Bill Clinton taking risks with language as well as his presidency when he declared, 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman'?And can the ...

Learning birdsong is not just a way to become a better bird-spotter. It is tuning in: a way of hearing the soundtrack of the planet earth...Why do birds sing? What are they trying to say? Birdsong is not just about natural history. It is also about our history. We got melody from the birds as we got rhythm from the womb. This vital book - with a free podcast - takes you from winter into deepest spring...

With everything from Achilles' heel to Pythagoras' theorem, from Oedipus and his complex to Margaret Thatcher and Thucydides, this book aims to unlock the richness of the Greek world and show just how profoundly it has informed our own. Consider the way we think: about right and wrong, about the nature of beauty, goodness, and truth. What, in the end, it is to be a human being amid the immensity of the univ...