Jon Beck

First published in 1945 this early, groundbreaking account of the psychological effects of war, recounted by means of vivid first-hand observation and anecdote, came at a time when shell-shock was equated with lack of moral fibre. 

In 1940, Lord Moran became Churchill's doctor and his position as a one of history's most important war physicians was secured. His humane, considered observations, scientific analysis and proposed solutions constitute one of the great First World War sources. However, they are perhaps just as relevant to our own conflict-ridden times.

We meet Andrew Leland as he's suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he's midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in.

Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics, and customs. He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves to life with a disability.

Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland's determination not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it - to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.

You left the doctor's surgery before you could ask the things you really wanted to know. You've googled your question about dementia and had 75 answers, all contradicting each other.

You have so many questions, but no idea where to start finding the answers. Here they are. In this book you'll find the definitive, expert responses to all your FAQs: On Dementia. No question is too simple, too embarrassing, too rude or too offbeat to be included, and each one has been asked by thousands of people just like you.

Will my partner stop loving me now they have dementia?
Does my mum have to go into a home now?
Is dementia a terminal illness?

All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to understanding the nature, and impact, of dementia.

No longer an uncertain technology of the distant future, artificial intelligence is starting to shape every aspect of our daily lives, from how we think to who we love. In this urgent polemic, leading barrister Susie Alegre explores the ways in which artificial intelligence threatens our fundamental human rights - including the rights to life, liberty and fair trial; the right to private and family life; and the right to free expression - and how we protect those rights. Touching on the many profound ethical dilemmas posed by emerging technologies, and full of fascinating case studies, Human Rights, Robot Wrongs is a rallying cry for humanity in the age of AI.

The huge variety of colourful phrases contained in the English language are notoriously varied and, often, notably odd. From blue-blooded (an invention of aristocratic Spaniards) to limelight (a way of lighting Victorian theatres), passing an exam with flying colours (an image from sailing ships) to winning hands down (from horse racing), the fascinating expressions that make up our language are explored in Humble Pie and Cold Turkey.

In this highly entertaining book, language enthusiast and Sunday Times best-selling author Caroline Taggart browses through thousands of years of history to shed light on why we use the words and phrases we do. Arranged by themes including food, the household, childhood, romance and more, this intriguing book looks at the origins of our language from their historical context.

Captain Hiram Nightingale is a veteran of the wars which have raged throughout Europe and the Americas. But a grand victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 comes at a devastating cost. Plagued by wounds both physical and mental, he attempts to recover by accepting command of HMS Scylla. His task is to hunt down a mutinous ship and bring the crew to justice.

However, it soon becomes clear that the mission is just one danger in an immense web. And in the centre of all this, his new lieutenant, the popular Arthur Courtney, stirs up long repressed feelings. On his journey, Nightingale must confront his own demons. For it seems, during his dangerous adventure, his greatest enemy might just be himself.

CONTENT WARNING: contains scenes of a sexual nature

The detective's role is simple: to catch the culprit. Yet behind each casual observation lies a learned mind, trained on finding the key to the mystery. Crimes, whatever their form, are often best solved through deliberations of logic - preferably amid complicated gadgetry and a pile of hefty scientific volumes.

The detectives in this collection are masters of scientific deduction, whether they are identifying the perpetrator from a single scrap of fabric, or picking out the poison from a sinister line-up. Containing stories by R. Austin Freeman, J. J. Connington and the master of logical reasoning, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Measure of Malice collects tales of rational thinking to prove the power of the human brain over villainous deeds.

Part of the British Library Crime Classics series.

The detective's role is simple: to catch the culprit. Yet behind each casual observation lies a learned mind, trained on finding the key to the mystery. Crimes, whatever their form, are often best solved through deliberations of logic - preferably amid complicated gadgetry and a pile of hefty scientific volumes.

The detectives in this collection are masters of scientific deduction, whether they are identifying the perpetrator from a single scrap of fabric, or picking out the poison from a sinister line-up. Containing stories by R. Austin Freeman, J. J. Connington and the master of logical reasoning, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Measure of Malice collects tales of rational thinking to prove the power of the human brain over villainous deeds.

Part of the British Library Crime Classics series.

Miller Street SW22 follows a year in the lives of five neighbours who move into the street in the autumn of 2005, each brought to southwest London for a new start. Catherine Wells, recently widowed, Sam Gough and his invalid wife, Lydia, and Violet Lawrence find themselves drawn together by Frances Chater into preparations for a centenary street party. The indomitable organiser, she compels them onto a committee and thus they begin to forge cautious friendships.

As the months pass and the date of the street party grows closer, Catherine, Sam and Frances are unaware of what lies ahead. For the past, they are to discover, is not as fixed and immovable as they have assumed. Ultimately, what is uncovered in the summer of 2006 offers each of them a future unimagined and an entirely new understanding of the past.

With the world in crisis and the Superpowers moving towards confrontation, a UK city is trying to maintain order during a nuclear emergency. Civil rights are suspended and Martin Goodman, a man with a violent secret is put in charge. But unknown to Goodman, he too is under scrutiny.

Discover the universe in a nutshell, with chapters on everything from the creation of the universe to time travel to the future of humanity.

Have you ever wondered how our universe began? Or what it takes to put humans on the moon? Do you know what happens in the microscopic world of a life-saving vaccine? What would you do if you could travel through space and time?

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this beautiful collection of up-to-the-minute essays and mind-blowing facts, by the world's leading scientists including Professor Stephen Hawking himself.