BOOKS


Editor’s Choice


Previews New Titles: Non-fiction


authors trace the constitu- tional developments and tensions that have beset and shaken the UK in the decade since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and offer a briefing on the challenges which lie ahead for the next government.


Natural history & pets


Richard Shimell Trees in Winter Sphere, 24th, hb, £25.00, 9781408732403


While many books have articulated the heal- ing properties of nature and of all-weather walking, rarely have they been expressed as handsomely as this. Including more than 30 of the printmaker author’s own illustrations accompanied by passages of memoir in which Shimell shares his story of becoming an artist and connecting with the world around him, this captures the profiles of British trees in winter and extols the creative joys of learning a craft and practising it. I’ve always thought that naked trees in winter have a haunting sculptural beauty and this stunning book showcases that beauty perfectly.


Gideon Levy The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe Verso, pb, £14.99, 9781804297506 Award-winning Israeli journalist presents a collection of his hard- hitting journalism from the frontline of the Gaza war. “His work is an urgent rebuttal to the propaganda distributed through the mainstream liberal press throughout the world”.


Editor’s Choice


Suzanne Nossel & Charlotte Lydia Riley Is Free Speech Under Threat? Bodley Head, 10th, hb, £16.99, 9781847928221 “One big question: Two great answers”. In this first book in a new Think Again series, to be published in association with Intelligence Squared, Riley and Nossel offer two short, opposed but “equally persuasive” answers to a question which lies at the heart of the culture wars. Each book can be read from either end.


challenges the consensus that Islamophobia does not exist, arguing that this prejudice has gone fright- eningly unchecked. In the vein of Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel, the co-host of her podcast, “A Muslim and a Jew Go There”.


Film, TV, music & gaming


provides insights into his creative process.


Meg Clothier The Shipping Forecast BBC, 24th, hb, £16.99, 9781785949265 Celebrating 100 years since the first broadcast of the “Shipping Forecast” on BBC Radio 4, this official book takes us on an exploration of British maritime history; from fishing boats and stormy weather to art, songs and poems about the forecast and information about each sea area.


Marc Aumont Metallica: Kill ’Em All: Their Greatest Live Performances Greenfinch, 10th, hb, £40, 9781529438277 From the band’s early performances to the release of the bestsell- ing “Black Album” and beyond, and including tour anecdotes, back- stage access and insider accounts, a lavishly illustrated year-by-year chronicle of the heavy metal band.


Biography & memoir Dava Sobel


Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of


Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science Fourth Estate, 24th, hb, £22.00, 9780008536916


“Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist whom most people can name.” A scandalous situation the author of Longitude aims to rectify with this fascinating account of Curie’s trailblazing life and discoveries, told through the largely forgotten young women who trained in her laboratory and who were inspired by her, becoming her legacy. They include Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, a pioneer of radio chemistry; France’s Marguerite Perey who discovered the element francium; and Curie’s own daughter Irène.


24 12th July 2024


Richard Seymour Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization Verso, hb, £16.99, 9781804294253 Tracing the spread of nationalism globally from the US and Brazil to India and Israel, this argues that the current crisis in liberal civilisation may soon lead to mass fascism, and that we face a struggle for our collective soul.


Sayeeda Warsi Muslims Don’t Matter Te Bridge Street Press, 3rd, hb, £14.99, 9780349136479 Conservative peer, campaigner and podcaster Warsi


Julie Beckett The Archers Unseen: A Secret History of Ambridge BBC, 24th, hb, £16.99, 9781785948879 “The Archers” remains the most listened-to programme on BBC Radio 4 with an average audience of four million. This “canny, in-world” celebration of the radio soap goes behind closed doors to dish the gossip on everything from the Grundys’ ferret obsession to what Helen Titchener was cooking when she stabbed her abusive husband over dinner.


Tara Bennett, Paul Terry, Ryan Meinerding (illus) Marvel Studios: The Art of Ryan Meinerding Abrams, 10th, hb, £50, 9781419738647 Meinerding is Marvel Studios’ head of visual development and has been an important creative force in designing the look of the Super Heroes and Villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This lavish book contains more than 500 illustrations and


Andrew Ford The Shortest History of Music Old Street, 1st, hb, £14.99, 9781913083656 From why we sing “Do Re Mi”, to how Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” fell out of fashion for a century, this latest addition to the Shortest Histories series sets out to understand exactly what music is, and why humans are drawn to make and listen to it.


Jan Gradvall Melancholy Undercover: The Book of ABBA Faber, 10th, hb, £20, 9780571390984 With exclusive band interviews and based on more than a decade of research, this explores the secrets behind ABBA’s success and shows how the story of ABBA is also the story of Sweden and the internationalism of pop culture.


Robert Hunter The Silver Snarling Trumpet Constable, 10th, hb, £25, 9781408721490 Published with unseen photos and ephemera, including original lyric sheets, this is the “legend- ary” lost manuscript of Grateful Dead co-founder and primary lyricist, Hunter. Written in the early 1960s, it’s a “wry, richly observed and enlightening” remem- brance of the scene in Palo Alto that gave rise to the band.


Wally and Amanda Koval Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures Laurence King, £35, hb, 9781398721791 From a visit to the post office at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego,


to a town in the Arctic Circle where cats are not allowed, this visual cele- bration of the films of Wes Anderson is authorised by the filmmaker himself.


David Leaf Smile: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson Omnibus, 10th, hb, £25, 9781915841315 Billed as the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and his “SMiLE” album 20 years on. “One of music’s truly epic stories, involving an artist at the height of his powers, addiction and abuse, experimentation and overcoming obstacles”.


Thandi Lumbini Race and Entertainment: Reflections on Racism in Film, TV & the Media Kamera, 24th, pb, £16.99, 9780857305664 Drawing on original interviews with Black professionals in the medi- cal, criminal justice and entertainment industries, this part analysis and part workbook is a reflection on the portrayal of Black people in all forms of media throughout history.


Ian Nathan Steven Spielberg: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work White Lion, 3rd, hb, £28, 978080711295230 Slip-cased illustrated celebration of the life and works of the legendary film director by the former editor of Empire maga- zine. Part of White Lion’s Iconic Filmmakers series.


Miranda Sawyer Uncommon People: A History of Britpop in 20 Songs John Murray, 24th, hb, £25, 9781399816892 Based on new interviews, this explores the stories behind some of the most enduring anthems of 1990s Britpop, including music by Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Suede, P J Harvey, Supergrass and more; reliving the “mad exhilara- tion” of what it was like


© Glen Allsop


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40