We owe a debt of gratitude to the naturalists who described, experimented, collected, and gave us the means to understand the natural world. They came from all over the globe, from classical times to the end of the nineteenth century, when natural history changed from a mainly amateur pursuit to today's specialized scientific profession.

Braving dangers—including storms, pirates, and disease—in pursuit of cataloging the natural world, pioneers such as Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin changed the course of science with their groundbreaking theories. This book includes many naturalists who are well known, such as the earliest great natural historian, Aristotle; Carl Linnaeus, the man who brought order to nature; the ornithologist and painter John James Audubon; and Georges Cuvier, who established the concept of extinction. Others are now given their rightful place: Antony van Leeuwenhoek, who made his own microscopes and discovered bacteria; and Mary Anning, "the princess of paleontology," who had an amazing, self-taught talent for finding fossils.

Many of these people were great artists as well as scientists, and The Great Naturalists is illustrated with a selection of beautiful and precise paintings and drawings of birds, animals, fossils, fish, shells, and rocks from the unparalleled collections of the Natural History Museum, London.

History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters.

The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor’s toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch.

These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it’s high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately, - thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts and memoirs in bottles - now they can.

Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, the Greatest Nobodies of History is a surreal love letter to life’s forgotten heroes featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the frontlines of the Great Emu War.

All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true...

The Hidden Histories of Flowers reveals the captivating world of flowers.

From the symbolism and meaning behind flowers and how these have evolved over time, to how humans interact with flowers based on cultural and geographical differences, and how flowers have been coveted for their medicinal aspects as well as for their visual merits, The Hidden Histories of Flowers showcases fascinating details of flowers and our relationship with them.

If you find yourself wondering about the deeper meanings behind flowers and are keen to investigate their inner workings and place in history, The Hidden Histories of Flowers is the perfect place to begin your exploration.

What’s so special about Dutch paintings of cheese? When does Art Nouveau become Art Deco? Why were the Pre-Raphaelites obsessed with gingers? Find out in one sentence with comedian and art historian Verity Babbs.

'Heaps of fun, and endlessly fascinating - a must read for any history of art enthusiast. Utterly brilliant.' Alice Loxton

Verity Babbs journeys through 50 key art movements across history, answering ten questions for each in just one sentence at a time. Within these fascinating, and sometimes hilarious, nuggets of art wisdom, Verity covers everything from who inspired the movement and its impact on history, to the key artists and artworks for each.

Spanning 500 years – from the Renaissance to the Young British Artists – this wonderfully illustrated book is for anyone who wants to learn more about art and also have a laugh along the way. It won’t answer everything, nor will you be a genius by the end of it, but you will feel a little less lost next time you’re in a gallery or museum and will most likely become a whole lot more helpful on your pub quiz team.

***

'Equally amusing and enlightening, this brilliant book offers an answer for every art question you've wanted to ask, plus those you're yet to think of while standing in a museum' Ruth Millington

'Packed with facts and a lively wit that would have the Mona Lisa grinning' Chris Turner

'Verity Babbs has done the impossible - taken a very high-brow, highly edumacated topic and stripped it back into bite-size pieces that make absolute sense. Nothing daunting about this book - get stuck in!' Roo Irvine

'Very little makes me laugh. I would say the one exception is anything by David Sedaris' GRAHAM NORTON

'Sedaris is the God of the comic essay... Sedaris' only rule: be funny or perish' LENA DUNHAM

In The Land and Its People, David Sedaris investigates what it means to be a traveller, a brother, a lifelong friend. Trying on the role of carer after his boyfriend Hugh's hip-replacement surgery, he both succeeds and fails. He covers ground with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. An ambivalent Duolingo bot becomes his unlikely confidante as he attempts to describe his family in a foreign language. Ever adding to his list of 'Countries I Have Been To,' he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest's cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo.

Time takes its toll: Scrolling through his address book, he counts those he couldn't bear to outline and realizes how many are already gone. He is bitten by a dog and insulted by a wee train passenger. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn't. It's easy to agree with the lady waving a sign that reads, 'Enough is Enough.' And yet, life holds much to delight in: the massive testicles of a ram, a trip abroad with his sisters, a really excellent reptile video, a pair of well-made cotton underpants.

Throughout these essays - at once acerbic and tender, playful and profound - Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity our fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.

'Sedaris is the premier observer of our world and its weirdness' ADAM KAY
'Wonderful' IAN McKELLEN
'Unquestionably the king of comic writing' HADLEY FREEMAN
'The funniest writer alive today' JONATHAN ROSS

Library Cat, the resident cat of the University of Edinburgh's Main Library, is not like other cats. He is a thinking cat. You can tell by the canny glint in his eye, his disdainful whiskers and his unrelenting interest in books and piles of paper.

This is the Library Cat's story. Join him as he adventures away from his favourite turquoise library chair and his preferred food (bacon rind) to go out into the big, bad world. Meet his cousins, Biblio Chat and Saaf Landan Tom; swoon during his brief encounter with the elusive Puddle Cat and hold your breath amidst his run-in with the terrifying Black Dog.

Part whimsy, part cat-borne philosophical novella, this is a tale about Library Cat's search for meaning in a confounding world. But it's about us Humans, too. Because with his black and white head bobbing a foot off the ground, Library Cat has seen Humans from a very different angle . . .

And he thinks we have it all wrong.

From the author of the bestselling The Ghost Cat (Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month August 2024). Library Cat was winner of The People's Book Prize 2017 (Beryl Bainbridge Award for Best First Time Author).

Discover everything you need to know to become the ultimate cocktail connoisseur with this pocket guide
Packed within these pages is a selection of showstopper recipes to suit every taste bud, plus craft ideas to add sparkle to your soirees. With a dash of trivia and a healthy measure of fun, it’s time to make every hour cocktail hour!