God Is Not Great

The bestselling cult classic

god Is Not Great is the ultimate case against religion. In a series of acute readings of the major religious texts, Christopher Hitchens demonstrates the ways in which religion is man-made, dangerously sexually repressive and distorts the very origins of the cosmos. Above all, Hitchens argues that the concept of an omniscient God has profoundly damaged humanity, and proposes that the world might be a great deal better off without ‘him’. In god is Not Great Hitchens turned his formidable eloquence and rhetorical energy to the most controversial issue in the world: God and religion. The result is a devastating critique of religious faith

Mortality

A Sunday Times Book of The Year
A Mail on Sunday Book of The Year
An Independent Book of The Year
A The Times Book of The Year

During the US book tour for his memoir, Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens collapsed in his New York hotel room to excoriating pain in his chest and thorax. As he would later write in the first of a series of deeply moving Vanity Fair pieces, he was being deported ‘from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks off the land of malady.’ Over the next year he underwent the brutal gamut of modern cancer treatment, enduring catastrophic levels of suffering and eventually losing the ability to speak.

Mortality is the most meditative collection of writing Hitchens has ever produced; at once an unsparingly honest account of the ravages of his disease, an examination of cancer etiquette, and the coda to a lifetime of fierce debate and peerless prose. In this eloquent confrontation with mortality, Hitchens returns a human face to a disease that has become a contemporary cipher of suffering.

Winter Magic

Winter Magic is perfect for anyone seeking to connect with their own magic during the enchanting time of Yule, and to harness the power of the Winter Solstice. Readers will be introduced to various Yule spirits and deities both light and dark, gain insight into the pagan origins of Christmas traditions and learn how to create and foster a Yule that honours and celebrates the Winter Solstice and the returning light of the sun.

Winter Magic will show you how to:
– Make pine needle bundles and hand-dipped taper candles for mindful gift-giving
– Identify the most powerful colours, herbs and spices for your practice
– Create the perfect winter altar and perform rituals to honour Yule deities and spirits
– Bring magic to the kitchen with a nourishing witch’s soup
– Set intentions as you celebrate the Winter Solstice and welcome the new year
– Learn how to read tarot and use other divination tools
– Work with the moon and its influence
And much more!

Whether you are a seasoned practitioner seeking new insights, or a baby witch curious to delve into the magical practices associated with this festive season, Winter Magic offers a treasury of knowledge and practices to enrich your Winter Solstice celebrations.

Cat Lover

No one sees us the way our pets do – and this pet has plans of his own . . .

When solitary and struggling A&E doctor Ivy invites the Geologist home one night, her cat Berry’s hackles are raised. As the Geologist becomes more and more a part of Berry’s life, Berry determines to get rid of him. Meanwhile, as Ivy wrestles with her feelings for boyfriends old and new, she’s entirely unaware of her cat’s designs . . .

Shifting between the perspectives of Ivy and Berry, we watch them tussle over who they are, how they got there and what they desire.

The Lost Queen

‘A good story, embracing character, emotion and drama… refreshing.’ THE TIMES

‘A splendidly sympathetic and sparky portrait… Wittily written and rich in detail’ Miranda Seymour

Despite Catherine of Braganza’s crucial place in British history, and that of its Empire, she has since been overshadowed by stories of the king’s many mistresses and forgotten as Charles’ boring, powerless wife. This could not be further from the truth.

In an absorbing narrative, historian Sophie Shorland not only tells the full story of this long-overlooked figure and her difficult relationship with Charles II, but also reveals how Catherine changed the country in ways both large and small: part of her dowry was Bombay, Britain’s first territory on the Indian subcontinent; she also popularised trousers for women, Baroque art and music, and – perhaps most long-lastingly – tea drinking.

In Search Of Berlin

A WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 ONDAATJE PRIZE

‘A masterful portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities… A must-read’ PETER FRANKOPAN

‘Such a delightful read’ KATJA HOYER, The Times

‘Berlin may well be Europe’s most enigmatic city and John Kampfner is the ideal guide.’ JONATHAN FREEDLAND, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist

‘Gripping’ Financial Times

No other city has had so many lives, survived so many disasters and has reinvented itself so many times. No other city is like Berlin.

Ever since John Kampfner was a young journalist in Communist East Berlin, he hasn’t been able to get the city out of his mind. It is a place tortured by its past, obsessed with memories, a place where traumas are unleashed and the traumatised have gathered.

Over the past four years Kampfner has walked the length and breadth of Berlin, delving into the archives, and talking to historians and writers, architects and archaeologists. He clambers onto a fallen statue of Lenin; he rummages in boxes of early Medieval bones; he learns about the cabaret star so outrageous she was thrown out of the city.

Berlin has been a military barracks, industrial powerhouse, centre of learning, hotbed of decadence – and the laboratory for the worst experiment in horror known to man. Now a city of refuge, it is home to 180 nationalities, and more than a quarter of the population has a migrant background. Berlin never stands still. It is never satisfied. But it is now the irresistible capital to which the world is gravitating.

In Search of Berlin is an 800-year story, a dialogue between past and present; it is a new way of looking at this turbulent and beguiling city on its never-ending journey of reinvention.

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

‘Funny about death, real about anxiety, witty about the things that worry us the most’ Emma Gannon, author of Olive

‘So fundamentally kind that you can feel the warmth coming off each page’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days

Gilda cannot stop thinking about death. Desperate for relief from her anxious mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local church and finds herself abruptly hired to replace the deceased receptionist Grace. It’s not the most obvious job – she’s queer and an atheist for starters – and so in between trying to learn mass, hiding her new maybe-girlfriend and conducting an amateur investigation into Grace’s death, Gilda must avoid revealing the truth of her mortifying existence.

A blend of warmth, deadpan humour, and pitch-perfect observations about the human condition, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where your expiration – and the expiration of those you love – is the only certainty.

Success Through Less

PERFECT FOR FANS OF Mel Robbins’ THE LET THEM THEORY and THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED

The new book from the multi-million-copy bestselling author of The Art of Thinking Clearly

Have you ever:
Got stuck in your career?
Said ‘yes, sure’ when you should have said ‘sorry, no’?
Tried to change someone?
Listened to your inner voice?

These are all examples of habits, decisions and behaviours that will derail your efforts to build a life of success – of better decisions, career and relationships; of happier and healthier living.

In his new international bestseller, Rolf Dobelli reveals 52 of life’s biggest mistakes, and shows why the key to living well is so much simpler than you might think. Just understand what the pitfalls are… then avoid them.

Previously published as The Not-To-Do List.

I Make My Own Fun

A thrilling, intoxicating debut novel about celebrity and obsession
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‘Darkly humorous and outrageous, this is your next obsession’ LUCY ROSE
‘A riotous dissection of celebrity culture’ INDEPENDENT
‘An absolute banger of the highest order’ ALICE SLATER
‘I adored this book’ KATY BRENT
‘The most entertaining debut of the year’ KIA ABDULLAH
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She’s the woman who has everything. But she wants more. She wants you…

Everyone knows Marina, the A-list movie star. But very few know Marina, the absolute monster.

Years at the top have proved that whatever Marina wants, she gets. But when she meets bartender Anna, Marina discovers something that can’t be bought: Anna’s affection. As Anna remains unmoved, Marina’s advances become more desperate – and her obsession more dangerous.

The price of fame is heavy and someone will have to pay for it…
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Readers are loving I Make My Own Fun…
‘Absolutely brilliant’
‘A stellar and entertaining read’
‘Enthralling reading experience’
‘Sharp and spiky’
‘I will definitely be recommending’

Triumphs, Trophies and Troubles

‘An entertaining and whimsical search for “the soul of Irish rugby”… Peppered with astute observations’ Irish Times
‘Triumphs, Trophies and Troubles has got Irish rugby just right in this the 150th anniversary season of the IRFU’ Willie John McBride

FOREWORD by former Ireland fly half Ollie Campbell

‘In a world going all too fast, Peter Bills has the time, the wit and the attention to detail for stories that would otherwise be lost. His is an easy style, a remembering of times and values not just of the Saturday internationals past but of the grassroots members who keep rugby alive to this day.’ Keith Wood

In late 2024 Ireland, with a population of just 7 million people, stood at the top of rugby union’s world rankings.

Ireland’s rise to such an exalted position has been the great triumph of rugby’s professional era. For a nation that fought tooth and nail to keep the game amateur, their progress since 2000 has been extraordinary. The trophies, once so rare in Irish rugby hands, have become almost commonplace. Six Nations Championships, Triple Crowns, Millennium Trophies have all stood in the IRFU offices in Dublin.

But that is the top tier of the game. What is the health of the sport at other levels all around Ireland? In this book award-winning international rugby writer Peter Bills seeks to take the pulse of the game at every level – schools, clubs, provinces – as well as the fast-expanding women’s game. For if rugby at grassroots level withers, the decline will affect everyone. And how can rugby learn to live side by side with the ubiquitous GAA?

Featuring interviews with some legendary names of Irish rugby, such as Keith Wood, Willie John McBride, Tony Ward, Bill Mulcahy, Gordon D’Arcy, Trevor Ringland, Nigel Carr and Tommy Bowe, we also hear from men and women from junior and club rugby, at clubs like Dingle, Kinsale, Monkstown, Boyne, Westport, City of Derry, Donegal Town, Omagh and Oughterard. All of them are doing stirring work behind the scenes for their local clubs and communities as Bills goes in search of the soul of Irish rugby.