How do you steal a library? Not just any library but the most secret archive in the world. The answer is to be a librarian. To be so quiet, that no-one knows what you are up to as you toil undercover over decades and so low key, that even after your escape, aided by MI6, ... Gordon Corera – The Spy in the Archive

In this remarkable novel, best-selling author Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice. In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, ... Daisy Goodwin – Diva

Law and Literature in Dorchester: Meet at The Thomas Hardy Statue at the Top O’ Town Join Mark Damon Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society, for a fascinating walk tracing the justice system in Dorchester, and some of the literary narratives surrounding it. These will include: *‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffreys, who ordered ... Have They Come For Me? A guided walk tracing Law and Literature in Dorchester with Mark Damon Chutter

“Tanks are like dinner jackets”, an Australian general once commented – “you don’t need them very often, but when you do, nothing else will do.”An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them, from a former officer and best-selling historian.Tanks are the ultimate embodiment of industrial age ... Mark Urban – Tank

At the heart of the Middle East, with its regional conflicts and proxy wars, is a 1400-year-old schism between Sunni and Shia. To understand this divide and its modern resonances, we need to revisit its origins: to become familiar with ‘The House’ of Prophet Muhammad, the accidental coup after his death that set aside the ... Barnaby Rogerson – The House Divided: Sunni, Shia and the Making of the Middle East

Drawing on the latest international research, leading physician and healthcare expert Professor Geoffrey Guy examines how quantum phenomena affect processes as diverse as the functioning of the brain and the body's approach to combating inflammation and disease. He shows how we may need to rethink the ways in which energy and information are carried round ... Geoffrey Guy – Quantum Biology

There’s a sea lover in every Brit. The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4 has been keeping people up to date with the latest changes to British weather for a century – seafarers and armchair travellers alike. Since its first broadcast, the programme has captured the hearts and imaginations of this island nation, as well ... Meg Clothier – The Shipping Forecast

From the international bestselling author, an unmissable new retelling of the life of one of the most captivating and misrepresented female figures in history. A story of female power and vulnerability, of love and loss, fierce friendship and terrible betrayal. It’s time to meet the real Cleopatra.Cleopatra, Egyptian Princess, grows up the favoured daughter of ... Natasha Solomons – Cleopatra

One in three people over the age of 50 has grandchildren. These grandparents are the first generation to be both psychologically aware and very hands on, playing an integral role in their grandchildren’s lives. When a child becomes a parent themselves, existing family structures are radically altered. Old tensions between parents and their adult children ... Terri Apter – Grandparenting: On Love and Relationships Across Generations

A Journey Through Two Centuries of British Railway History 1825–2025.In 1825 the Stockton & Darlington company strode into history with the opening of the world’s first public steam railway. What the S&DR had pioneered soon picked up speed, transforming lives and landscapes, connecting far-flung corners of the nation and creating its own distinctive environments and ... Simon Bradley – Bradley’s Railway Guide

A bold and brilliantly inventive historical novel, set in the reign of James II at a time of rebellion and unrest, from a 25-million-copy bestselling author. England, 1685. Decades after the end of the civil war, the country is once again divided when Charles II’s illegitimate son, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, arrives in Dorset ... Minette Walters – The Players

Beautiful and strange, ancient monuments have long captured our attention and curiosity. We stand in awe before them, asking who created the Uffington White Horse – and why? What was it like to live in the shadow of Hadrian's Wall? What stories would the towering megaliths of Stonehenge and Avebury tell if they could speak? ... Peter Ross – Upon a White Horse