Biography: writers

An engaging, wickedly funny and splendidly anecdotal memoir of a career spent among writers, agents, publishers and bookmen and women of every stripe.

In this beautiful reissue, the author of 'Footsteps' collects the biographical curiosities he discovered while researching the romantic poets, creating a captivating mixture of biography and memoir.

Critically acclaimed, award-winning biography of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and the brilliant group of writers to come out of Oxford during the Second World War.

Shakespeare in Love for the sonnets: a fictional tale of how Shakespeare wrote his most famous poems.

A fascinating collection of letters from the great English novelist - and prolific correspondent - Penelope FitzgeraldAcclaimed for her exquisitely elegant novels - including the Booker Prize-winning 'Offshore' - and superb biographies, Penelope Fitzgerald was one of the most admired authors in Britain during the last century.

This acclaimed biography charts the progress of the brilliant, prolific writer, C.

Timely reissue of the second volume of Holmes's classic biographies of one of the greatest Romantic poets.

Bestselling author Torey Hayden's novel poignantly tells of a daughter's attempt to grow up in the shadow of her mother's haunted past.

Elizabeth Smart's passionate fictional account of her intense love-affair with the poet George Barker, described by Angela Carter as 'Like MADAME BOVARY blasted by lightning .

Shawn Levy, author of 'Rat Pack Confidential' brings alive London in the swinging Sixties with a gripping, groovy story of those who created the scene that changed the world.

A working father whose life no longer feels like his own discovers the transforming powers of great (and downright terrible) literature in this laugh-out-loud memoir.

From a childhood of gothic proportions in a vicarage on the Welsh borders, through adolescence, leaving herself teetering on the brink of the 1960's, Lorna Sage vividly and wittily brings to life a vanished time and place and illuminates the lives of three generations of women.

The new novel from the bestselling author of THE SIXTH WIFE.

Penelope Fitzgerald, the Booker Prize-winning author of 'Offshore' and 'The Blue Flower', turns her attention to the story of her remarkable family.

'Justine' was the Marquis de Sade's first novella, written in 1787, whilst imprisoned for two weeks in the Bastille.

'Lives that Never Grow Old' is a wonderful series- edited by Richard Holmes - that recovers the great classical tradition of English biography.

A biography of the Sufi poet that's "e;a dazzling feat of scholarship .

One woman's passion for books and search for romance lie at the heart of this touching and funny novel about literature and longing in Los Angeles.

Discover a novelist that Neil Gaiman describes as 'an astonishingly smart writer'.

Michael Chabon, author of WONDER BOYS and the Pulitzer Prize-wining THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, has written an autobiographical narrative as inventive, beautiful and powerful as his novels.

One of the great hidden gems of the past decade.

A brilliant, highly spirited memoir of Sidney Sheldon's early life that provides as compulsively readable and racy a narrative as any of his bestselling novels.

Carefree, revelatory and intimate, this selection of unpublished letters between the six legendary Mitford sisters, compiled by Diana Mitford's daughter-in-law, is alive with wit, passion and heartbreak.

International bestseller Bill Bryson brings us this brilliantly readable biography of the world's greatest playwright, William Shakespeare.

Lives that Never Grow OldPart of a radical series -edited by Richard Holmes - that recovers the great classical tradition of English biography.

LIVES THAT NEVER GROW OLDThis unique series - edited by Richard Holmes - recovers the great classical tradition of English biography.

LIVES THAT NEVER GROW OLDPart of a radical series - edited by Richard Holmes - that recovers the great classical tradition of English biography.

From the author of the Orange New Writers shortlisted 'The Book of Fires', an extraordinary tale of love and science.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HERMIONE LEEThe previously uncollected occasional prose of a great English writer - full of wit, feeling and illumination.

A page-turning, beautifully written novel from the critically-acclaimed author of Forgive Me, How to be Lost and Sleep Toward Heaven.

A bewitching debut novel in the vein of the much-loved classic Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe.

An impressive debut from a major new voice in American fiction.

A Telegraph Book to Read for Autumn 2022A Times Best Non-fiction Book for Autumn 2022A Daily Mail Book of the Year 2022A Waterstones Best Book of 2022: BiographyThe astonishing new portrait of the master of spy fiction, by the woman he kept secret for almost half his lifeJohn le Carre led a life entirely constructed of secrets.

Brian Patten is renowned as an accessible and popular poet.

An 'imaginative and elegant trek through the landscape of the Brontes' GraziaSee through the eyes of the Brontes as you immerse yourself in their lives and landscapes, wandering the very same paths they each would have walked in search of the inspiration behind their novels and poetry.

A memoir of land, family and perseverance from one of the most influential writers in America.

A collection of letters between Arthur Conan Doyle (author and creator of Sherlock Holmes) and his mother, covering most of his life, written between 1867 and the year of her death in 1921.

Celebrated novelist Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters, eclipsed by her fame, are revealed in all their surprising complexity in this riveting new biography.

The Empress of Crime's life was the ultimate detective story - revealed for the first time in this forthright and perceptive biography.

One of the world's best loved presenters meets one of the world's greatest authors in this beautiful selection of timeless, haunting stories.

Spoil your dinner and rot your teeth with the ultimate book of sweetie nostalgia!

SPECIAL PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIMEThe bestselling author of MAN AND BOY turns his acute eye and pen to the biggest personal issues that face us - as well as the annoying grit in the eye of everyday life.

From the author of the ever-popular Flashman novels, a collection of film-world reminiscences and trenchant thoughts on Cool Britannia, New Labour and other abominations.

The final classic installment in the excellent Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s - the novels that have inspired all Scandinavian crime fiction.

The thrilling ninth classic installment in the Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s - the novels that have inspired all Scandinavian crime fiction.

The second book in the hugely acclaimed Martin Beck series: the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime fiction and influenced writers from Stieg Larrson to Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell and Lars Kepplar.

A third memoir from the author of the huge international bestsellers 'Angela's Ashes' and 'Tis'.

A detailed and fascinating journey to the roots of The Lord of the Rings, by award-winning Tolkien expert Professor Tom Shippey.

Assembled here for the first time in book form are the very best occasional writings from the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Written and illustrated by Boris JohnsonThe nicest kids you ever sawWere Jim and Molly Albacore.