For generations, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood needed to be discreetabout their lives butmake no mistakethey were everywhere, both in front of and behind the camera.

On the eve of the twentieth century, in Thomas Edison's laboratory, one of the earliest attempts at a sound film depicted two men dancing together as a third plays the violin. It's only a few minutes long, but this cornerstone of early cinema captureda queer moment on film. It would not be the last.

With Hollywood Pride, renowned film critic Alonso Duraldepresents a history spanning from the dawn of cinema through the ';pansy craze' of the 1930s and the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s, all the way up to today. He showcases the hard-working actors, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, art directors, and choreographers whose achievements defined the American film industryand charts the evolution of LGBTQ+ storytelling itselfthe way mainstream Hollywood decided it would portray (or erase) their lives and the narratives created by queer filmmakers who fought to tell those stories themselves.

Along the way, readers will encounter a fascinating cast of characters, such as the first generation of queer actors, including J. Warren Kerrigan, Ramon Novarro, and William Haines. Early cinema pioneers like Alla Nazimova and F. W. Murnau helped shape the new medium of moving pictures. The sex symbols, both male (Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and Anthony Perkins) and female (Lizabeth Scott and Greta Garbo), lived under the threat of their private lives undermining their public personas. Underground filmmakers Kenneth Anger and John Waters made huge strides in LGBTQ+ representation with their off-off-Hollywood productions in the 1960s and '70s. These screen legends paved the way for every openly queer figure in Hollywood today.

Illustrated with more than 175 full-color and black-and-white images, Hollywood Pride points to the bright future of LGBTQ+ representation in cinema by revealing the story of the community's inclusion and erasure, its visibility and invisibility, and its triumphs and tragedies.

'Mightily entertaining' - Heat

People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and California, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f**king way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time.

A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

From Jacob Tierney, the creator of Heated Rivalry, in partnership with Brendan Brady and Accent Aigu, comes I'll Believe in Anything, an official and complete collection of annotated scripts for the biggest cultural sensation of the year, with all new exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

**This edition is printed in black and white, with exclusive photographic endpapers you won't find in any other edition, plus 16 pages of colour behind-the-scenes photography.**

Based on Rachel Reid's blockbuster Game Changers book series, Heated Rivalry premiered on Crave and HBO in late 2025 and immediately took the world by storm. I'll Believe in Anything takes readers behind the curtain, showing how Tierney, his producing partner Brendan Brady, and the entire Accent Aigu team drew on a deep reverence for Reid's work, impeccable casting, clever sets and costume design, and thoughtful sex scene choreography to both rewrite the playbook for adapting romance novels to the screen and obliterate the long-held misconception that queer love stories have limited appeal.

I'll Believe in Anything answers all the questions fans of this groundbreaking series have been asking. How did Tierney interweave Ilya and Shane's rivalry with Scott and Kip's love story to create the ultimate television moment? Where did the idea for that incredible Canadian Olympic fleece originate? And what does it look like for a full team, led by Tierney and Brady, to plan, choreograph, and film some of the best sex scenes in television history? Featuring annotations on scene directions, intimacy choreography, costume insights, and more, alongside Tierney's never-before-seen scripts, this book gives fans a brand-new way to come to the cottage!

How did Lin-Manuel Miranda become the preeminent musical storyteller of the 21st century?

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner traces Miranda's path from a friendly but often isolated child to the winner of multiple Tonys and Grammys for his Broadway hits Hamilton and In the Heights and his songs in Disney's Moana and Encanto.

Drawing on interviews with Miranda's family, friends and mentors - and many conversations with Miranda himself - Pollack-Pelzner delves into the formative experiences that shaped Miranda as an artist, from his early musicals in high school and college to the creation of his Broadway and Hollywood triumphs. With full access to Miranda's inner circle, this behind-the-scenes origin story is both captivating and inspiring.

From 30,000-year-old magic wands unearthed in Wales to the sixteenth-century talismanic daggers used in Indonesian ceremonies and horseshoe good luck charms worn by modern Europeans, magic can be found in every era and culture. This intriguing and eye-opening book scrutinizes the compelling visual and material culture of magic in all its variety and power, from personal superstitions and protective markings to cunning folk and enchanted forests, and from mystical spellbooks and secret ceremonies to psychic self-defense and New Age therapies.

Following a concise introduction that clarifies what we mean by "magic," the book is organized in three broad sections: low, high, and alternative magic. Each of these sections is subdivided into three chapters that describe magical practices and reveal how practitioners have shaped culture and society at every level.

The magical beliefs and traditions explored are illustrated with spellbinding images of elaborate grimoires, wise magicians, and esoteric diagrams together with select artifacts, such as amulets, crystal balls, and magic mirrors. Many are examined in close-up detail and their symbolism decoded. Key spirit beings, psychic abilities, and superstitions are also profiled.

Readers will discover how personal magic was practiced in preindustrial Europe, and learn the techniques and beliefs of mesmerism, psychic mediumship, and other alternative magical traditions that have emerged in the modern period. This wide-ranging and accessible book reveals how magic has evolved from ancient times through the ages of science and technology to the present-day era of doublethink and conspiracy theories.

The Big Bang
Natural Selection
E = mc2

All pretty decent theories, that beg one question: why has no-one discovered a fully unified theory for what makes jokes funny?

Well, comedy director Amanda Baker, comedy writer Abi Grant and stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr have done just that. In this book, in case that's not obvious. From how to identify the families of jokes, to decoding the building blocks of comedy, to the real - and brand new - secret to comic timing, On Jokes does for comedy what decoding the genome did for designer babies.

The essential manual for any aspiring comedian, this book can make anyone funny. Even you.