ICON BOOKS July – December 2017
Welcome to the second catalogue of Icon’s 25th anniversary year!
2016 was a landmark year for Icon, a fact recognised by our shortlisting for Trade Publisher of the Year at the IPG Independent Publishing Awards. We build on this success with 2017’s autumn list, which is packed, as you would expect, with high-quality, thoughtprovoking and entertaining non-fiction. Highlights include Michael Odell’s Rock Bottom, a darkly humorous memoir of a rock journalist struggling with mental illness; Barney Shaw’s brilliant investigation into our most underappreciated sense with The Smell of Fresh Rain; ‘Hot Science’, a new series on cutting-edge subjects in science; two new football biographies from Luca Caioli; two landmark history books in Catherine Hewitt’s Renoir’s Dancer and The Berlin Airlift by Barry Turner, and our 30-Second series in paperback for the first time.
We’ve recently relaunched our website too, so please do take a look – iconbooks.com. An independent publisher is nothing without its readers, customers and partners, so as ever, thank you for your support – and do keep in touch: @iconbooks #icon25 info@iconbooks.com
1
2
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
STOP PRESS: NEW ANNOUNCEMENT – APRIL 2017 The essential guide to making real change in your community, society or country
Lobbying for Change Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society
Alberto Alemanno
Many democratic societies are experiencing a crisis of faith. Citizens are making clear their frustration with their supposedly representative governments, which instead seem driven by the interests of big business, powerful individuals and wealthy lobby groups. But what can we do about it? How do we fix democracy and get our voices heard? The answer, argues Alberto Alemanno, is to become change-makers – citizen lobbyists. By using our skills and talents and mobilizing others, we can bring about social and political change. Whoever you are, you’ve got power, and this book will show you how to unleash it. If you’re looking to improve – or to join – your community, if you’re searching for a sense of purpose or a way to take control of what’s going on around you, switching off is no longer an option. It’s time to make your voice count.
ALBERTO ALEMANNO is an academic, public interest lawyer and civic advocate. A Professor of European Union Law at the HEC Paris and Global Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law, he is also a Co-Founder and Director of The Good Lobby, which forges partnerships to lobby for the public interest.
27th April 2017 Politics 9781785782855 £8.99 US $14.95 9781785782862 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 240 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
APRIL
3
4
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
A rollercoaster new history for the 50th anniversary of the ‘Summer of Love’, from a music business veteran who was actually there
In Search of the Lost Chord 1967 and the Hippie Idea
Danny Goldberg
‘Danny Goldberg is probably one of the purest, most reasonable guides you could ask for to 1967.’ Ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. In Search of the Lost Chord is Danny Goldberg’s unique eyewitness history of these epochal twelve months, which saw the flowering of the HaightAshbury hippie community in San Francisco, the release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and debut albums from The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. It was the year of the Summer of Love and LSD; the Monterey Pop Festival; Muhammad Ali’s conviction for draft avoidance and Martin Luther King Jr’s public opposition to the war in Vietnam; Black Power; the Six-Day War and Che Guevara’s murder. Exhaustively researched and informed by interviews including Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary and Gil Scott-Heron (one of Goldberg’s high school classmates), In Search of the Lost Chord is a refreshing new analysis of the era and provides a unique perspective on how and why the legacy of 1967 lives on today. ‘Weaves together rollicking, rousing, wonderfully colorful and disparate narratives to remind us how the energies and aspirations of the counterculture were intertwined with protest and reform … mesmerizing.’ The Nation
DANNY GOLDBERG is an author and rock music industry veteran. He is president of Gold Village Entertainment, whose clients include Steve Earle and The Hives. Previously, he was president of Gold Mountain Entertainment (Nirvana, Bonnie Raitt), chairman of Warner Bros. Records, president of Atlantic Records, and vice president of Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records. He was also Zeppelin’s publicist in the early 70s and had his first break reporting on Woodstock for Billboard Magazine in 1969. He lives in New York City.
6th July 2017 Music / History 9781785782954 £14.99 9781785782961 (eBook) £9.99 (eBook) Royal PBK 280 pages TERRITORY: UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Akashic Books
JULY
5
6
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
Written with Pullman’s full cooperation, an insider’s guide to His Dark Materials – to be a BBC series in 2017
Darkness Visible
Philip Pullman and His Dark Materials
Nicholas Tucker
Philip Pullman’s celebrated trilogy His Dark Materials has been translated into 40 languages and sold over four million copies worldwide. All three books with their astonishing characters and richly complex plots will shortly become a major new BBC TV series. In this second, revised edition of Darkness Visible, leading authority on children’s literature Nicholas Tucker writes about the man he knows as a friend. He unpacks and examines the sources Pullman drew on for his masterpiece, from poets Milton and Blake to comic books and radio dramas. Written for the general reader of any age, and including family photographs and illustrations, Darkness Visible offers a unique exploration of Pullman’s great work while discussing the controversies it has given rise to in the decade following its publication.
NICHOLAS TUCKER is the author of nine books about children, childhood and reading, including The Child and the Book, (Cambridge University Press, 1981 and 1990). He has also written six books for children, broadcasts frequently and reviews in the national press. He lives in Lewes, East Sussex and sometimes finds himself reading aloud the same books to some of his eight grandchildren as he once did to their mothers and father.
6th July 2017 Literary Criticism / Biography 9781785782282 £8.99 US $14.95 9781785782435 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 224 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
JULY
7
8
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
A brand-new edition of David Orrell’s acclaimed critique of what economics gets very wrong
Economyths 11 Ways That Economics Gets It Wrong
David Orrell
When Economyths was first published in 2010, David Orrell showed how mainstream economics is based on key myths such as fair competition, rational behaviour, stability and eternal growth – and how these myths lead paradoxically to their opposites: inequality, an irrational economy, financial instability and a collision with nature’s limits. Since then, we’ve had Occupy, political upheaval, flash crashes in financial markets, the warmest few years in recorded history – and a growing chorus demanding fundamental reform. So how has economics responded? In this revised and expanded edition, Orrell shows how the ten myths still dominate economics. He reveals their roots in thought that goes back to the ancient Greeks, making them hard to dislodge. And he uncovers, demolishes and develops an alternative to the greatest economyth of all – the one that will lead to the collapse of orthodox economics.
DAVID ORRELL studied mathematics at the University of Alberta, and obtained his doctorate from Oxford University on the prediction of nonlinear systems. His work has been featured in the New Scientist, the Financial Times and on BBC Radio.
6th July 2017 Economics 9781785782299 £8.99 9781785782442 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 320 pages TERRITORY: UK & British Commonwealth ex. Canada TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Robert Lecker Agency
JULY
9
10
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
Hot Science is a new series exploring the cutting-edge of science and technology. With topics from martian exploration and big data (launched this season) to black holes, quantum biology, dark matter or epigenetics, these books are designed for popular science fans who like to go that little bit deeper...
Destination Mars The Story of Our Quest to Conquer the Red Planet
Andrew May Mars is back. Suddenly everyone – from Elon Musk to Ridley Scott to Donald Trump – is talking about going to the Red Planet. Four decades after Viking and almost half a century after Apollo, technology has improved beyond recognition. As private ventures like SpaceX seize centre stage from NASA, Mars has undergone a seismic shift – it’s become the prime destination for future human expansion and colonisation. But what’s it really like on Mars, and why should anyone want to go there? How do you get there and what are the risks? Astrophysicist and science writer Andrew May answers these questions and more, as he traces the history of our fascination with the Red Planet.
ANDREW MAY obtained his PhD in astrophysics from the University of Manchester in 1982. His recent books include pocket-sized biographies of Newton and Einstein and an eye-opening study of the relationship between pseudoscience and science fiction. He lives in Somerset.
6th July 2017 Science 9781785782251 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782268 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 176 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
JULY
11
12
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
New for Icon’s Hot Science series – a startling insight into the data that runs our lives Big Data Surviving the Information Revolution
Brian Clegg Is the Brexit vote successful big data politics or the end of democracy? Why do airlines overbook, and why do banks get it wrong so often? And how are companies using big data to benefit from smart meters, use advertising that spies on you and develop the gig economy, where workers are managed by the whim of an algorithm? The volumes of data we now access can give unparalleled abilities to make predictions, respond to customer demand and solve problems. But Big Brother’s shadow hovers over it. Though big data can set us free and enhance our lives, it has the potential to create an underclass and a totalitarian state. With big data ever-present, you can’t afford to ignore it. Acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg – a habitual early adopter of new technology (and the owner of the second-ever copy of Windows in the UK) – brings big data to life.
BRIAN CLEGG’s most recent books are What Colour is the Sun (Icon, 2016) and Ten Billion Tomorrows (St. Martins, 2016). His Dice World and A Brief History of Infinity were both longlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
3rd August 2017 Science 9781785782343 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782497 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 176 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
AUGUST
13
14
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
5000-1: The Leicester An up-to-date commemorative edition City Story: of the first and best Commemorative Edition How We Beat the Odds to Become book on Leicester City’s Premier League Champions Premier League victory Rob Tanner A regal blue-and-gold hardback edition – a keepsake for fans to commemorate Leicester City’s astonishing title-winning season and the year that followed. On 2 May 2016 England’s football landscape was spectacularly and irreversibly altered as 5000-1 longshots Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions. Not only did this incredible feat break the long-standing monopoly at the top of the table, it also propelled Leicester into the Champions League for the very first time. Relive this remarkable season with Rob Tanner, the Leicester Mercury’s chief football writer, from the great escape of 2015 to the curtain-closer at Stamford Bridge – now updated to include City’s summer of celebration and their fairy-tale run in Europe.
ROB TANNER is Leicester Mercury’s chief football writer and has been Leicester City FC correspondent for the past eight seasons. He lives in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
3rd August 2017 Football 9781785782794 £14.99 9781785782800 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format HBK 336 pages with 16 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
AUGUST
15
16
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
A hilarious and offbeat mental health memoir from a former Q journalist
Rock Bottom A Music Writer’s Journey Into Madness
Michael Odell
Michael Odell is a rock music writer who takes his responsibility as cultural gatekeeper seriously; he asks rock stars the forbidden questions to discover whether they’re worthy of readers’ admiration. But after interviewing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards – two of the ‘Big Six’ icons – Michael is depressed. He has a public meltdown while chaperoning Oasis at an awards ceremony; he’s lost joy in his bathroom full of rock’n’roll memorabilia; and his young son is in trouble at school for emulating rock star behaviour. Reluctantly Michael consults Mrs Henckel, a no-nonsense therapist with zero experience of pop culture. As Michael addresses his feelings about the past, in particular his failed teenage band, Mental Elf, he’s forced to confront the question: is it finally time to grow up and forget rock’n’roll?
MICHAEL ODELL is a former contributing editor to Q magazine and has written about music for NME, the Guardian, the Independent and Spin, among others. Currently he does interviews and writes on family matters for The Times. He lives in Bristol.
3rd September 2017 Memoir / Music / Health 9781785782220 £16.99 9781785782237 (eBook) £12.99 (eBook) Demy HBK 384 pages TERRITORY: UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Johnson & Alcock Literary Agency
SEPTEMBER
17
18
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
An exploration of the hidden complexities of one of our most underused and misunderstood senses
The Smell of Fresh Rain A Journey into our Sense of Smell
Barney Shaw
What do we actually mean when we say that something smells of fresh paint? Or frying bacon? And what does five o’clock in the morning smell like? Inspired by an unsettlingly synaesthesic question put to him by his son, Barney Shaw looks into the science of smell: peering behind its sensory nature to discover its complexities, and finding beauty in its processes. Shaw’s popular science debut is an investigation into the biology, psychology and history of smell. It’s also a search for effective ways to describe the kinds of smell we instantly relate to, but find strangely ineffable, and includes a 200-item thesaurus of succinct descriptions of common smells. Journeying around boatyards, perfume shops and memories, Barney Shaw opens your nose, breaking down the ‘chords’ of smells into component notes and revealing new ways of understanding the world around us.
BARNEY SHAW is an artist, and former civil servant. He was Private Secretary to Norman Tebbit and later David Miliband, and was put in charge of the country’s 1,100 unemployment benefit offices. He was also responsible for government policy on, variously: Scientology, anthrax and wartime conscription. This is his first book.
7th September 2017 Science 9781785781131 £14.99 US $24.95 9781785781148 (eBook) £10.99 (eBook) Demy HBK 304 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
SEPTEMBER
19
Luca Caioli’s Bestselling Football Biographies Accessible, aspirational and packed with exclusive interviews, these books are perfect for readers of all ages
Pogba The Story of Manchester United’s Homecoming Hero
Luca Caioli and Cyril Collot
When Manchester United re-signed their former youth player Paul Pogba for a world record fee in the summer of 2016, they made a powerful statement. It signalled their determination to attract the best players in the world to Old Trafford, despite three seasons of underachievement.
The first biography of Manchester United’s wunderkind French midfielder
LUCA CAIOLI is the bestselling author of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Suarez and other acclaimed football biographies. A renowned Italian sports journalist, he lives in Spain working for SKY Italia and Corriere della Sera.
20
NEW TITLE
Pogba had blossomed into a midfielder of world class, propelling Juventus to a host of club titles and the French national team to within a whisker of winning Euro 2016. With exclusive insights from those closest to the player, Luca Caioli’s Pogba is an indepth portrait of one of modern football’s greatest talents. 7th September 2017 Football / Teenage 9781785782398 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782541(eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 240 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
Griezmann The Making of France’s Mini Maestro
Luca Caioli and Cyril Collot
Quick, incisive and versatile, Antoine Griezmann is the ultimate modern forward. Arriving in 2014 to join an Atlético Madrid side persistently challenging for the biggest trophies in Spanish and European football, he quickly established himself as the team’s key player and main goal threat. A Super Cup win over city rivals Real Madrid was just the start but an inspired tilt at the Champions League the following season ended in heartbreak – as did a Euro 2016 campaign in which his performances for France saw him named player of the tournament. In this first biography of the Atléti and France star, Madrid-based journalist Luca Caioli examines the story behind Griezmann’s rise to the top. Features exclusive interviews.
7th September 2017 Football / Teenage 9781785782718 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782725 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 240 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
The first-ever book on France and Atlético Madrid’s dazzling striker
As recommended by Football Beyond Borders SEPTEMBER
21
ID EA S BI G 25
YE AR S
O F
Messi 2018 Updated Edition More Than a Superstar
Having risen to the top of the game more than a decade ago, Lionel Messi has matured into the perfect team player, as likely to provide a superlative assist as a masterful match-winner. As the star of an exceptional Barcelona team, he has won more silverware than most football clubs.
An updated edition of Caioli’s biography focussing on the iconic Barcelona forward
‘Our kids love these books, they’ve sparked hours of debate.’ Jasper Kain, founder of Football Beyond Borders 22
PAPERBACK
Messi is Luca Caioli’s classic portrait of a footballing icon, now fully updated to include all the action from 2016/17. Featuring exclusive testimony from those who know him best, including coaches, teammates and even Messi himself, it offers an unrivalled behind-the-scenes look at the career of a sporting giant.
3rd August 2017 Football 9781785782305 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782459 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 288 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
Ronaldo 2018 Updated Edition The Obsession for Perfection
Cristiano Ronaldo’s status as a footballing superstar is unquestionable. His insatiable desire to succeed and to improve himself year-after-year has seen him win almost everything there is to win in the game, including his first international silverware: a Euro 2016 winner’s medal. Here, Madrid-based journalist Luca Caioli tells the inside story of the global superstar, featuring insights from those who know him best: coaches, teammates, girlfriends and even the man himself.
A fully revised look at the career of Real Madrid’s global superstar
Updated to include all the action from the 2016/17 season, Ronaldo lays bare the career of a modern footballing icon.
3rd August 2017 Football 9781785782312 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782466 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 316 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
AUGUST
23
ID EA S 25
YE AR S
O F
BI G
Neymar 2018 Updated Edition The Unstoppable Rise of Barcelona’s Brazilian Superstar
Having long been hailed as a future star of world soccer, Neymar has thrived under the pressure of expectation. Already well on his way to becoming Brazil’s all-time top scorer and a leading light in one of the greatest Barcelona teams in history, his legacy is already taking shape.
A new, up-to-date edition tracing the rise of Brazil’s all-time top scorer
Updated to include all the action from the 2016/17 season and drawing on exclusive interviews with those who have known and worked with him, Neymar paints a compelling picture of the life and career of a global superstar.
3rd August 2017 Football 9781785782329 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782473 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 240 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
24
PAPERBACK AUGUST
Messi vs Ronaldo 2018 Updated Edition The Greatest Rivalry
For years, the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has defined toplevel European football. At its heart: a personal battle – Messi vs Ronaldo.
ORK W T R A
N SOO G N I COM
Since they were first pitted against each other in 2007, the two men’s domination of the record books has been unparalleled. Their styles, personalities and footballing allegiances continue to divide opinion but one thing is beyond doubt: this is football’s greatest ever head-to-head. In this new edition of Messi vs Ronaldo, updated to include all the action from 2016/17, Luca Caioli draws on the exclusive testimonies of managers, teammates, friends and family to tell the inside story of this momentous rivalry.
7th December 2017 Football 9781785782770 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785782787 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 240 pages with 8 pages of colour photographs TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Acer Literary Agency
A revised look at the rivalry between two of the greatest footballers of our time
‘The book is so interesting, it has given me lots of evidence to argue that Ronaldo is the better player but also has meant I respect Messi a lot more now.’ Cameron, aged 13. DECEMBER
25
26
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
A new history of ‘Operation Vittles’, based on hitherto unexplored archives and interviews with veterans
The Berlin Airlift A New History
Barry Turner
Over eleven months from June 1948 to May 1949, British and American aircrafts carried out the most ambitious airborne relief operation ever mounted, flying 2.3 million tons of supplies on 277,500 flights to save a beleaguered Berlin – opening a new, if unsure, chapter in the UK/US ‘special relationship’. Acclaimed historian Barry Turner’s new history of the Airlift is based on research into American, British and German archives and numerous interviews with veterans. It focuses on a high point in Anglo-American relations which deteriorated sharply in the years ahead when Britain threw away the chance to lead in Europe. Turner reveals the incredible logistical and political hurdles that were overcome to make the airlift a success, deftly explains the context and explores its legacy, especially in Germany’s economic and political ascendancy over Britain in the post-war recovery.
BARRY TURNER is a celebrated historian, the author most recently of Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich (Icon, 2015), described as ‘pageturning’ by the Daily Mail, and of Suez 1956 (Hodder, 2006) and, with Tony Rennell, of When Daddy Came Home (Arrow, 2014). He lives in London and South-west France.
9781785780547
Also Available:
5th October 2017 History 9781785782404 £20.00 US $29.95 9781785782558 (eBook) £15.99 (eBook) Royal HBK 320 pages with 16 pages of b / w plates TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Johnson & Alcock
OCTOBER
27
28
NEW TITLE
25 YE AR S O F
BI G
ID EA S
The first in a landmark three-volume history of industry in the United Kingdom, from business historian Peter Pugh
The History of British Industry The Birth of the Industrial Revolution 1700 –1825
Peter Pugh
The History of British Industry is the magisterial three-volume story of the United Kingdom’s rise to become the world’s first economic superpower – and how that crown slipped... Business historian Peter Pugh – who has written over 50 histories of British companies from Rolls-Royce to Kwik-Fit – explores in fascinating detail the people, politics, technology and economics of Britain’s industrial heritage. Pugh begins with what was to become the world’s first industrial revolution, and with Isaac Newton, whose Principia Mathematica, published in 1647, laid the foundations of classical mechanics and set the scene for more than a century of British invention. We meet the well-known pioneers of the age such as Thomas Newcomen, Matthew Boulton and James Watt, but Pugh makes the case too for reappraising lesser-known figures: Joseph Bramah, James Brindley, John Roebuck and Erasmus Darwin. Pugh also explores the South Sea Bubble, the dotcom boom of the early 1720s which left thousands of investors penniless – not least Isaac Newton himself, who lost the equivalent of £2.2 million.
PETER PUGH is a businessperson and business historian who has written more than 50 histories of companies from Rolls-Royce to Iceland. He is also the author of Introducing Thatcherism and Introducing Keynes. He lives by the sea in north Norfolk, and in Cambridge.
5th October 2017 History / Business 9781785782657 £22.99 US $32.95 9781785782664 (eBook) £20.00 (eBook) Royal HBK 368 pages with 32 pages of colour illustrations TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
OCTOBER
29
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25
30
NEW TITLE
9781785780448
Also Available:
From the author of The Mistress of Paris, a lavish biography of a remarkable 19th-century woman
Renoir’s Dancer The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon
Catherine Hewitt
In the 1880s, Suzanne Valadon was considered the Impressionists’ most beautiful model. But behind her captivating façade lay a closely-guarded secret. Born in poverty in rural France, as a teenager in Montmartre, Suzanne began posing for – and having affairs with – some of the age’s most renowned painters. Then Renoir caught her indulging in a passion she had been trying to conceal: the model was herself a talented artist. Some found her vibrant still lifes and frank portraits as shocking as her bohemian lifestyle. At eighteen, she gave birth to an illegitimate child, future painter Maurice Utrillo. But her friends Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas could see her skill. Rebellious and opinionated, she refused to be confined by tradition or gender, and in 1894, her work was accepted to the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, an extraordinary achievement for a working-class woman with no formal art training. Renoir’s Dancer tells the remarkable tale of an ambitious, headstrong woman fighting to find a professional voice in a male-dominated world.
CATHERINE HEWITT studied French Literature and Art History at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Mistress of Paris, her first book, was published by Icon Books in 2015 and described as an ‘enthralling story, told with both conviction and sympathy’ by the Observer. She lives in a village in Surrey.
2nd November 2017 History / Art 9781785782732 £25.00 9781785782749 (eBook) £20.00 (eBook) Royal HBK 320 pages with 16 pages of colour illustrations & b/w images throughout TERRITORY: UK & British Commonwealth, ex. Canada TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Andrew Lownie
NOVEMBER
31
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25
Icon is thrilled to bring back to publication – and present a brand-new addition to – classic titles from John Sutherland’s hugely popular series of literary puzzle books. If you’re kept up at night wondering why Robinson Crusoe finds only one footprint, or why Sherlock Holmes gets the name of his client wrong in The Adventure of the Speckled Band – these are the books for you!
32
NEW TITLE
Acclaimed critic John Sutherland gets his teeth into the literary puzzles of the greatest-ever Gothic novel
Who Was Dracula’s Father? And Other Puzzles in Bram Stoker’s Gothic Masterpiece
John Sutherland
When it was first published in 1897 – 120 years ago – Irish author Bram Stoker’s Dracula was ranked by the Daily Mail above work by Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as Wuthering Heights. Yet it never made Stoker any money. Since 1931’s film Nosferatu the Vampire, however, it has never been out of print and is legendary among fans of the dark, macabre and mysterious … Critic John Sutherland, a Dracula fan since childhood – and author of the literary puzzle classics Is Heathcliff a Murderer? and Can Jane Eyre be Happy? (both reissued by Icon this year) – explores the enigmas and puzzles of this towering giant of gothic novels such as: Who was Dracula’s father? Why does the Count come to England? Does the Count actually give Jonathan a ‘love bite’? Why does every country we know of have a vampire legend? And finally – how long is it before we’re all vampires?
JOHN SUTHERLAND is Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus at University College London and an eminent scholar in the field of Victorian fiction, author of many works including The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction. He has also written the bestselling popular titles Is Heathcliff a Murderer? and Can Jane Eyre be Happy?, and such scholarly jeux d’esprit as Curiosities of Literature.
2nd November 2017 Literary Criticism 9781785782978 £9.99 $15.95 9781785782985 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format HBK 208 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
NOVEMBER
33
ID EA S BI G 25
YE AR S
O F
Is Heathcliff a Murderer? Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction
John Sutherland
Does Becky kill Jos at the end of Vanity Fair? Why does no one notice that Hetty is pregnant in Adam Bede? How, exactly, does Victor Frankenstein make his monster? Readers of Victorian fiction often find themselves tripping up on seeming anomalies, enigmas and mysteries in their favourite novels.
A brand-new, revised edition of John Sutherland’s bestselling literary puzzle classic
34
NEW TITLE
.
9781785782596
Also Available:
In Is Heathcliff a Murderer? John Sutherland investigates 34 conundrums of nineteenthcentury fiction, paying homage to the most rewarding of critical activities: close reading and the pleasures of good-natured pedantry.
2nd November 2017 Literary Criticism 9781785782992 £8.99 $14.95 9781785783005 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 208 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
Can Jane Eyre be Happy? More Puzzles in Classic Fiction
John Sutherland
How does Magwitch swim to shore with a great iron on his leg? Where does Fanny Hill keep her contraceptives? Whose side is Hawkeye on? And how does Clarissa Dalloway get home so quickly? In this new edition sequel to the enormously successful Is Heathcliff a Murderer?, John Sutherland plays literary detective and investigates 32 literary conundrums, ranging from Daniel Defoe to Virginia Woolf. As in its universally loved predecessor, the questions and answers are ingenious and convincing, and return the reader with new respect to the great novels that inspire them.
Also Available:
9781848313910
2nd November 2017 Literary Criticism 9781785783012 ÂŁ8.99 $14.95 9781785783029 (eBook) ÂŁ6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 208 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
A new edition of the brilliant literary puzzle sequel, exploring conundrums in classic fiction
NOVEMBER
35
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25 36
NEW TITLE
9781785781858
Also Available:
Incredible, startling and often hilarious tales from the world’s best hotels
Rooms with a View The Secret Life of Great Hotels
Adrian Mourby
Salvador Dalí once asked room service at Hôtel Le Meurice in Paris to send him up a flock of sheep. When they were duly brought to his room he got out a gun and fired blanks at them. George Bernard Shaw tried to learn the tango at Reid’s Palace in Madeira, and the details of India’s independence were worked out in the ballroom of the Imperial Hotel, Delhi. The great hotels have provided glamorous backgrounds for some of the most momentous – and most bizarre – events of world history. Adrian Mourby is a distinguished hotel historian and travel journalist – and a lover of great hotels. Here he tells the stories of 50 of the world’s most magnificent, among them the Adlon in Berlin, the Cipriani in Venice, the Intercontinental in Saigon, Raffles in Singapore, the Dorchester in London, Hotel Kamp in Helsinki, the Pera Palace in Istanbul – and, a personal favourite, the Art Deco Midland in Morecambe Bay. All human life is to be found in a great hotel, only in a more entertaining form.
ADRIAN MOURBY was an awardwinning BBC drama producer before turning to full-time writing. He has published three novels, two AA travel guides, a book of humour based on his Sony Award-winning Radio 4 series Whatever Happened To…? and most recently Rooms of One’s Own (Icon, 2017). In recent years Adrian has won two Italian awards for his travel journalism.
2nd November 2017 Travel / History 9781785782756 £12.99 $22.95 9781785782763 (eBook) £10.99 (eBook) B-format HBK 304 pages with b / w illustrations throughout TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
NOVEMBER
37
30-SECOND PAPERBACKS This season we launch our acclaimed 30-Second series for the first time in paperback. The 30-Second series has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide in numerous languages. Every title in the series opens up a key area in the arts and sciences, with each concept in the books designed to be understood in just half a minute. We launch five titles in paperback this season – all lavishly produced paperbacks with flaps at just £9.99 each. All titles: 195 x 150mm / £9.99 / 160 pages with colour illustrations through. Territory: UK & Eire. Translation Rights: Quarto Group.
SEPTEMBER
30-Second Psychology
9781785782879
38
30-SECOND
Dazzle the bar with your knowledge of Pavlov’s Dogs, Psychoanalysis, Milgram’s Obedience Study, Beck’s Cognitive Therapy and the inner workings of the human mind…
SEPTEMBER
30-Second Maths 9781785782886
From Rubik’s cubes to Godel’s incompleteness theorem, everything mathematical explained in half a minute.
OCTOBER
30-Second Philosophies 9781785782893
Get to know what I Think Therefore I Am, Existentialism, Dialectical Materialism, The Socratic Method and Deconstruction are all about – in 30 seconds each.
OCTOBER
30-Second Economics 9781785782909
Keynesian Economics, Free Market Capitalism, Monetarism, Game Theory, the Invisible Hand… From Marxism to Mercantilism, here is a ‘crash’ course in economic theory.
NOVEMBER
30–Second Quantum Theory 9781785782916
A beautifully illustrated, full-colour guide to one of science’s most infamously impenetrable subjects.
30-SECOND
39
ID EA S BI G 25
YE AR S
O F
The 50 Greatest Musical Places of the World Sarah Woods
A trip around the world, played out to the most eclectic soundtrack, discovering hidden musical gems along the way. From mosh pits to cabarets, Berlin’s beatnik band haunts to Korea’s peppy k-pop clubs, from visiting the infamous Dollywood, to tracing Freddie Mercury’s childhood in Zanzibar, The 50 Greatest Musical Places of the World has something for music fans of all genres.
The stories behind the places that have inspired great music
Discover the places where iconic songs were written, groups were formed, music legends were born and extraordinary talent is celebrated.
SARAH WOODS is the author of over a dozen travel books, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers. She writes for national newspapers and travel magazines and appears regularly on TV and radio. She has been awarded the BGTW ‘Travel Guide Writer of the Year’.
40
THE 50
6th July 2017 Travel / Music 9781785781896 £8.99 US $14.95 9781785781902 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 304 pages with frequent b/w images TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
JULY
The 50 Greatest Prehistoric Sites of the World Barry Stone
Humanity’s written history stretches back only 5,000 years, a mere blip on the timeline of our existence. If you want to know what it really means to be fully human, to see the whole story, you need to go way back. Prehistoric humans couldn’t write, but they were adept at telling their own stories. On every continent and outpost where they gained a foothold, they left signs for modern man to decipher. From the Middle Bronze Age settlement of Arkaim on the Kazakh Steppes to the temples of the Olmec in Mexico; from one of the first European proto-cities at Nebelivka in Ukraine to the neolithic henges of Avebury and Stonehenge; from the dolmens of Antequera in the heart of Andalucía to the megalithic culture that thrived in isolation on Indonesia’s tiny Nias Island.
3rd August 2017 Travel / History 9781785782350 £8.99 US $14.95 9781785782503 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 304 pages with frequent b/w illustrations TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
THE 50
Revealing the most incredible places to relive humankind’s deep past
BARRY STONE is an established travel writer and author of books on subjects ranging from religious hermits to mutinies in the age of sail and military history titles, for publishers including Hardie Grant, Allen & Unwin and HarperCollins. He is also the author of The 50 Greatest Walks of the World and The 50 Greatest Westerns in this series. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
AUGUST
41
ID EA S BI G O F 25
YE AR S
The 50 Greatest Churches and Cathedrals Sue Dobson
Cathedrals and great churches are among the most iconic sights of the world’s towns and cities.
Sharing the secrets of the most awe-inspiring churches and cathedrals from around the world
SUE DOBSON is an awardingwinning travel writer and magazine editor with a passion for discovering the world, its art, music, religions and cultures. Her love of cities is balanced by the joy of landscapes as diverse as deserts and mountains.
42
THE 50
Visible from miles around, the cathedrals of Canterbury, St Paul’s, Chartres and St Stephen’s in Vienna dominate their skylines. Others surprise by their statistics: Salisbury has Britain’s tallest spire, Wells the largest display of medieval sculptures in the world, while King’s College Chapel in Cambridge boasts the largest fan vaulting in existence. Not all are ancient: Dresden’s reconstructed Frauenkirche opened in 2005 and Gaudi’s masterpiece in Barcelona is still under construction. Award-winning travel writer Sue Dobson gives us a highly personal tour of their highlights.
2nd November 2017 Travel / History / Architecture 9781785782831 £8.99 US $14.95 9781785782848 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 288 pages with b/w illustrations TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
NOVEMBER
THE 50 SERIES BACKLIST All books: UK £8.99 • USA $14.95 • B-format paperback 288 pages with b/w illustrations throughout
9781785781735
9781785780349
9781785781810
9781785781094
9781785780981
9781785781247
9781785780264
9781785780639
9781785780653
9781785780967
THE 50
BACKLIST
43
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25
ICON SCIENCE
2017 is Icon’s 25th anniversary, and as part of the celebrations we’ve been announcing new editions of the best popular science we’ve ever published. Six titles appeared in the first half of 2017, and here are six more – all deft, concise and enjoyable histories of key moments in scientific history. All titles: £8.99 UK / $14.95 US where applicable – B-format PBK
Sex, Botany and Empire The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks
Patricia Fara
JULY
The sexual symbolism of Enlightenment botany Patricia Fara explores the worlds of botanists Joseph Banks and Carl Linneaus, revealing the existence of the seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower in the name of the British Imperial state.
PATRICIA FARA is a senior tutor at Clare College at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches history of science. Her other books include Newton: The Making of Genius (Macmillan, 2001) and An Entertainment for Angels (Icon, 2002). 44
ICON SCIENCE
6th July 2017 9781785782275 9781785782428 (eBook) TERRITORY: UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada
Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century
AUGUST
Iwan Morus
The fascinating world of Michael Faraday Iwan Morus tells the story of the man who pioneered the discovery of electricity as a source of energy, set against the backdrop of an empire near the peak of its power.
IWAN MORUS is a professor of history at Aberystwyth University. He is the author, most recently, of William Robert Grove: Victorian Gentleman of Science (University of Wales Press, 2017) and the editor of the Oxford Illustrated History of Science (OUP, 2017).
SEPTEMBER
3rd August 2017 9781785782671 9781785782688 (eBook) TERRITORY: World
Turing and the Universal Machine The Making of the Modern Computer
Jon Agar
‘Thought provoking yet highly readable’ (New Scientist) biography of a brilliant but troubled man The history of the computer is entwined with that of the modern world and most famously with the life of one man, Alan Turing. How did the this device come to structure and dominate our lives so totally?
7th September 2017 9781785782381 9781785782534 (eBook) TERRITORY: World
ICON SCIENCE
JON AGAR is professor of science and technology studies at University College London. He is also the author of Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Polity, 2012). 45
OCTOBER
Frank Whittle The Invention of the Jet
Andrew Nahum
‘A refreshingly balanced historical perspective … Fascinating’. Flight International Blending genius, tragedy, heroism and war, Andrew Nahum tells the fascinating story of the man whose invention would go on to change the world.
5th October 2017 9781785782411 9781785782565 (eBook) TERRITORY: World
ANDREW NAHUM is currently Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum, London. He is also author of Alec Issigonis and the Mini (Icon Books, 2004) and Fifty Cars that changed the World (Design Museum, 2009, 2016).
Knowledge is Power How Magic, the Government and an Apocalyptic Vision Helped Francis Bacon to Create Modern Science
NOVEMBER
John Henry
The scientific life and times of Sir Francis Bacon John Henry paints a dramatic picture of one of the leading figures in the history of science, revealing the experimental methods and unconventional sources behind the ideas that today form the very bedrock of modern scientific progress.
JOHN HENRY is a senior lecturer in Science Studies at Edinburgh University. He is the author of Moving Heaven and Earth: Copernicus and the Solar System (2001), and has also illustrated a book on darts. 46
ICON SCIENCE
2nd November 2017 9781785782367 9781785782510 (eBook) TERRITORY: World
Moving Heaven and Earth
DECEMBER
Copernicus and the Solar System
John Henry
An insight into the fundamental workings of the cosmos Copernicus sowed the seed from which science has grown to be a dominant aspect of modern culture, fundamental in shaping our understanding of the workings of the cosmos. John Henry reveals why Copernicus was led to such a seemingly outrageous and implausible idea as a swiftly moving Earth. 7th December 2017 9781785782695 9781785782701 (eBook) TERRITORY: World
JOHN HENRY is a senior lecturer in Science Studies at Edinburgh University. He is the author of Knowledge is Power.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
9781785782053
9781785781919
9781785781667
9781785782077
9781785782022
9781785782015
ICON SCIENCE
47
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25
9781848311671
9781848316652
9781848311688
9781848311695
9781848312142
9781848312043
9781848312074
9781848313026
9781848310117
9781848310551
9781848310131
9781848312944
9781848311718
9781848314177
9781848310599
9781848311817
9781848311176
9781848312050
9781848311725
9781848312159
9781848315082
9781848311794
9781848318625
9781848310087
9781848311862
9781848311824
9781848316133
9781848316126
9781848311213
9781848310605
9781848310872
9781840468519
9781848314115
9781785780820
9781848312951
9781848312081
9781848311749
9781848311145
9781848315143
9781848314061
9781848310841
9781848314092
9781848311831
9781848316935
31
9781848313514
48
9781848318557
9781848312098
INTRODUCING
9781848310650
9781848315150
9781848310889
9781848319042
9781848310124
9781848311756
9781848314078
9781848310582
9781848312975
9781848311848
9781848312135
9781848311169
9781848311763
9781848310094
9781848315891
9781840468533
9781848312968
9781848311770
9781848312036
9781840468496
9781848312104
9781840468526
9781848313446
9781840468502
9781848310575
9781848311787
9781848312128
9781848312111
9781848311855
9781848311152
9781848312937
9781785780738
9781848310568
9781848310940
9781848312982
9781848311206
9781848315099
9781848316928
9781848310865
9781848318625
9781785780820
All books: UK £6.99 or £7.99 • USA $9.95 • 168 x 118mm paperback 176 pages with b/w illustrations throughout introducingbooks.com @GraphicGuides facebook.com/introducingbooks
GRAPHIC GUIDES
49
9781848316263
9781848316256
9781848313415
O F
9781848312548
9781848316799
9781848314221
YE AR S
9781848314009
9781848312586
9781848316621
25
9781848314214
9781848314191
9781848315112
9781848313620
9781848315068
9781848315181
INTRODUCING
50
9781848315051
Introducing Practical Guides are self-improvement books that equip you with the tools to change your life. BI G
ID EA S
9781848317222
9781848317239
9781848317215
9781848316508
9781848313590
9781848316492
9781848312777
9781848313569
9781848317963
9781848312579
9781848313651
9781848312593
51
PRACTICAL GUIDES
9781848313804
9781848312562
9781848312555
9781848314016
introducingbooks.com
All books: UK £6.99 • USA $9.95 168 x 118mm paperback • 224 pages
ID EA S BI G YE AR S
O F
Love Voltaire Us Apart
25
A Philosopher’s Guide to Relationships
Julia Edelman Illustrated by Hallie Bateman
What would Kant’s sexts look like? How would Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir break up? What would Confucius think of Tinder? Love Voltaire Us Apart is a hilarious spoof relationship guide with a philosophical edge, made up of philosophers’ love letters, advice columns and breakup letters.
‘Expand your mind, increase your sex appeal, and laugh yourself silly with Julia’s great new book’. Bill Oakley, writer on The Simpsons
From Confucius learning the Golden Rules of dating to Simone de Beauvoir considering bangs after breaking up with Jean-Paul Sartre, comedy writer Julia Edelman views the love lives of prominent philosophers through a clever and contemporary lens. Based on Edelman’s New Yorker article, ‘Excerpts from Philosophers’ Breakup Letters Throughout History’, Love Voltaire Us Apart is funny, smart, refreshingly original and brought to life with charming illustrations by Hallie Bateman.
JULIE EDELMAN grew up in New York. She studied film theory and philosophy at McGill University. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, New York magazine, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, VICE, Cosmopolitan, Playboy, CollegeHumor and the Believer. She lives in Brooklyn.
HALLIE BATEMAN is a Los Angeles-based writer and illustrator. Her work can be seen on halliebateman.com. 52
PAPERBACK
6th July 2017 Humour / Philosophy / Relationships 9781785782244 £7.99 US $12.95 9781785781360 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 112 pages with frequent b/w illustrations TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
JULY
How to be Cool The 150 Essential Idols, Ideals and Other Cool S***
Thomas W. Hodgkinson
Cool can’t be taught. Or can it? That’s the received wisdom, yet the idea behind this sleek, entertaining compendium by Thomas W. Hodgkinson (author of How to Sound Cultured) is that, on the contrary, anyone can increase their cool quotient by learning from the masters and the methods of the past. As well as identifying the Nine Defining Qualities of Cool, the book takes you on a tour of the 75 ‘Idols’ (from William Blake to Kate Moss, via Marlon Brando and Lou Reed) and 50 ‘Ideas and Ideals’ (drugs, Buddhism, base jumping, irony, etc.) that have created and embodied those qualities.
3rd August 2017 Humour / Culture 9781785782626 £8.99 $14.95 9781785781636 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 356 pages TERRITORY: WORLD TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
PAPERBACK
9781785780936
Also Available:
‘This is a cool book’. PJ O’Rourke ‘Being hip is no longer a young person’s game’ The Daily Telegraph
THOMAS W. HODGKINSON is the coauthor of How to Sound Cultured (Icon, 2015) and author of the novel Memoirs of a Stalker (Silvertail, 2015). He writes regularly for The Spectator and the Daily Mail, and is a contributing editor at the Week. He lives in North London.
AUGUST
53
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S 25 54
PAPERBACK
9781785780288
Also Available:
AUGUST
Study smarter, learn more, avoid distractions and improve your life – the Productivity Ninja way!
How to be a Study Ninja Study smarter. Focus better. Achieve more.
Graham Allcott
In the world of smartphones, instant internet access and ondemand documentaries, studying should be easier than ever. Yet all this background noise can make us unfocused and inefficient learners. So how can you cut through the distractions and get back to productive, rewarding learning? Four little words: Think like a Ninja. Paralysed by procrastination? Harness some Ninja Focus to get things started. Overwhelmed by exam nerves? You need some Zen-like Calm to turn those butterflies into steely focus. Surrounded by too many scrappy notes and unfinished to-do lists? Get Weapon-savvy with the latest organisational technology. With nine Ninja techniques to learn, there is a solution here for everyone who wants to learn better – and they don’t involve giving up the rest of your life. Written by one of the world’s foremost productivity experts, How to be a Study Ninja is a fun, accessible and practical guide on how to get the most out of your studying and love the quest for knowledge again. ‘Inspirational and Encouraging’ - Milkround
GRAHAM ALLCOTT is the author of the hugely acclaimed How to be a Productivity Ninja (Icon, 2014) and the founder of Think Productive, one of the world’s leading productivity training companies. Think Productive’s diverse list of clients includes eBay, the British Library and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
PAPERBACK
3rd August 2017 Study Guides 9781785782374 £8.99 $14.95 9781785782527 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 304 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
AUGUST
55
ID EA S BI G O F YE AR S
The Bible for Grown-Ups
25
A New Look at the Good Book
Simon Loveday
The Bible for Grown-Ups neither requires, nor rejects, belief. It sets out to help intelligent adults make sense of the Bible – a book that is too large to swallow whole, yet too important in our history and culture to spit out.
‘A hymn to an irrepressible longing in the human spirit for higher meaning’ Matthew Parris, Spectator
Why do the creation stories in Genesis contradict each other? Did the Exodus really happen? Was King David a historical figure? Why is Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus so different from Luke’s? Why was St Paul so rude about St Peter? Every biblical author wrote for their own time, and their own audience. In short, nothing in the Bible is quite what it seems. Literary critic Simon Loveday’s book – a labour of love that has taken over a decade to write – is a thrilling read, for Christians and anyone else, which will overturn everything you thought you knew about the Good Book.
SIMON LOVEDAY trained as an
anthropologist and a literary critic, teaching at UEA and Oxford. He also edited the psychological journal Typeface and wrote The Romances of John Fowles. He lectured at Keele University and lived in Wells, Somerset, where he was at one time Chair of the Wells Festival of Literature. Simon Loveday died in October 2016. 56
PAPERBACK
7th September 2017 Religion / History 9781785782633 £8.99 $16.95 9781785781322 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 320 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
SEPTEMBER
Castle of the Eagles Escape from Mussolini’s Colditz
Mark Felton
High in the Tuscan hills above Florence, an elaborate medieval castle, converted to a POW camp on Mussolini’s personal orders, holds one of the most illustrious groups of prisoners in the history of warfare. The dozen or so British and Commonwealth senior officers includes three knights of the realm and two VCs. The youngest of them is 42, the oldest 63. One is missing a hand and an eye. Another suffers with a gammy hip. Against insuperable odds, these extraordinary middle-aged POWs plan a series of daring escape attempts, culminating in a complex tunnel deep beneath the castle. One rainswept night in March 1943, six men will burst from the earth beyond the castle’s curtain wall and slip away.
The true story of one of World War Two’s greatest escapes, brought to life by historian Mark Felton
PAPERBACK
9781848318472
2nd November 2017 History 9781785782824 £8.99 9781785781193 (eBook) £7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 334 pages with 8 pages of b/w plates TERRITORY:UK & Commonwealth ex. Canada TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Andrew Lownie
9781785780493
Also Available:
MARK FELTON has written over a dozen books on World War Two, including most recently, The Sea Devils and Zero Night. His Japan’s Gestapo was named ‘Best Book of 2009’ by the Japan Times. He also writes regularly for publications including Military History Monthly and World War II.
NOVEMBER
57
ID EA S BI G YE AR S
O F
The Brontesaurus
25
An A–Z of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë (& Branwell)
John Sutherland
Did Charlotte Brontë take opium? Did the Reverend Brontë carry a loaded pistol? What, precisely, does ‘wuthering’ mean? Distinguished literary critic John Sutherland takes an idiosyncratic look at the world of the Brontës, from the bumps on Charlotte’s head to the nefarious origins of Mr Rochester’s fortune, by way of astral telephony, letterwriting dogs, an exploding peat bog, and much, much more.
The essential miscellany for all Brontë fans
Also features ‘Jane Eyre abbreviated’ by John Crace, author of the Guardian’s ‘Digested Reads’ column – read Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece in five minutes!
JOHN SUTHERLAND is Lord Northcliffe
Professor Emeritus at University College London and an eminent scholar in the field of Victorian fiction. He has also written the bestselling popular titles Is Heathcliff a Murderer? and Can Jane Eyre be Happy?, and such scholarly jeux d’esprit as Curiosities of Literature.
JOHN CRACE is the parliamentary sketch writer
for the Guardian newspaper. He is the author of several books including, with John Sutherland, the multi-volume The Incomplete Shakespeare. 58
PAPERBACK
2nd November 2017 Literature 9781785782596 £7.99 $12.95 9781785781445 (eBook) £6.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 176 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
NOVEMBER
The Reality Frame Relativity and Our Place in the Universe
Brian Clegg
Weaving together the great ideas of science, in this, his magnum opus, Brian Clegg builds up reality piece by piece, from space, to time, matter, movement, the fundamental forces, life and the massive transformation that life itself has wrought on the natural world. He reveals that underlying it all is not, as we might believe, a system of immovable absolutes, but the ever-shifting, amorphous world of relativity. This is an Ascent of Man for the 21st century, the gripping story of modern science that will fill you with wonder and give you a new insight into our place in the universe.
9781848318465
PAPERBACK
9781848315044
7th December 2017 Science 9781785782817 ÂŁ9.99 $16.95 9781785782145 (eBook) ÂŁ7.99 (eBook) B-format PBK 320 pages TERRITORY: World TRANSLATION RIGHTS: Icon Books / Marsh Agency
9781848313057
Also Available:
A thrilling journey from empty space all the way to the human mind
BRIAN CLEGG studied physics at
Cambridge and specialises in making the strangest aspects of the universe accessible to the general reader. He is editor of popularscience.co.uk and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His previous books include Inflight Science, The Universe Inside You and Science for Life.
DECEMBER
59
BACKLIST HIGHLIGHTS 9781848313705
9781848313477
SCIENCE 60
9781848319158
9781785781773
9781785780257
9781848316522
9781848313057
9781848318465
9781848315044
9781848319288
9781785781223
9781848318144
9781785782084
9781848316546
9781848312203
9781840467987
9781785781612
9781848316584
9781848315990
9781785781087
9781785780486
9781848310483
9781785780769
9781848310353
9781848316591
9781848316553
9781785780516
9781848311336
9781848313064
9781848310421
9781840467802
9781840468663
9781848310018
9781785780240
9781848317949
9781848318328
9781785781155
9781848310308
9781785781780
9781785781667
9781785781919
9781785782053
9781785782077
9781785782015
9781785782022
SCIENCE
9781848311503
61
HISTORY 62
9781848319356
9781848319110
9781840467833
9781848311893
9781848319929
9781848313880
9781848311282
9781848314122
9781848317284
9781785780530
9781848312166
9781785780493
9781848318472
9781785781186
9781848312319
9781848311541
9781848313835
9781848311275
9781785780448
9781848312999
9781848319462
9781848316232
9781848315853
9781848318380
9781840466751
9781848316577
9781848310063
9781848316614
9781848319240
9781785782091
9781785782107
9781848319424
9781848315174
9781848311312
9781848317369
9781785780004
9781840468434
9781848311350
9781848316119
9781785780547
9781848310537
9781785781834
9781785781971
9781785780592
9781785780288
9781848318168
9781848317109
9781848319417
BUSINESS & SELF-HELP 9781848313774
63
BUSINESS & SELF-HELP 64
9781848315921
9781785780295
9781848318205
9781848318243
9781848312463
9781848316515
9781785781650
9781848317895
9781848319165
9781785781995
9781785780417
9781848317031
9781848319523
9781848319608
9781848319509
9781848319370
9781848319561
9781785780219
9781848319547
9781848319585
9781848310148
9781785781001
9781848317437
9781785782046
9781840468243
9781848317376
9781848319325
9781848311329
9781785780936
9781785781803
9781785780301
9781785781605
9781848311527
9781848314023
9781840466188
9781848317840
9781785781704
9781785781711
9781785781728
9781785781889
9781785781438
9781840468342
9781848312470
LITERATURE & LANGUAGE
9781848316911
9781785781414
9781785780998
GIFT & HUMOUR
9781848317055
65
OTHER 66
9781785781681
9781785781858
9781785780714
9781785780608
9781848312197
9781785781766
9781848310469
9781848310674
9781848313439
9781785780233
9781785780523
9781785781759
9781785781315
9781785781872
9781785780578
9781785780806
9781785781933
9781785781957
9781785781278
9781785780370
9781848312425
9781785780394
9781848318281
9781906850883
9781785780509
9781906850685
9781906850524
9781906850852
9781906850739
9781906850531
9781906850548
9781848319882
9781785781513
9781785780387
9781785781285
9781785781056
9781906850036
9781840467741
9781785781537
SPORT & LEISURE
9781906850555
67
LUCA CAIOLI 30-SECOND HBKS 68
9781848319134
9781785780974
9781785780905
9781785781117
9781785781292
9781785780912
9781785780929
9781906850975
9781906850869
9781848316478
9781848318403
9781848313699
9781848316669
9781848315976
9781848312616
9781848311626
9781848312326
9781848311299
9781848318427
9781848315945
9781848314030
39–41 North Road, London, N7 9DP info@iconbooks.com / iconbooks.com T: 0207 697 9695 / F: 0207 697 9501 @iconbooks / facebook.com/iconbooks
ICON BOOKS
Visit iconbooks.com to discover more about our books and authors SALES, MARKETING, RIGHTS Andrew Furlow, Sales & Marketing Director andrew@iconbooks.com 0207 700 9961 PRESS Victoria Reed, Publicity Assistant victoria@iconbooks.com 0207 700 9960 EDITORIAL submissions@iconbooks.com TRADE SALES UK sales enquiries: Independent Alliance rep or the Faber sales office: sales@faber.co.uk / 020 7927 3800 For all European and Middle Eastern export enquiries please contact export@faber.co.uk DISTRIBUTION Grantham Book Services Ltd. Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ UK: orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk / 01476 541080 EXPORT: export@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk / 01476 541082 AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065 info@allenandunwin.com / 0061 2 84250100 USA Publishers Group West 1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 orders@perseusbooksgroup.com / 510-809-3700 CANADA Publishers Group Canada 76 Stafford Street, Unit 300 Toronto, Ontario, M6J 2S1 Canada Te: 416-934-9900 Fax: 416-934-1410 orders@raincoastbooks.com
INDIA Penguin Books India 7th Floor, Infinity Tower – C DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon 122002, Haryana Tel +91 124 478 5600 Fax +91 124 478 5600 customer.service@in.penguingroup.com SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA Penguin Books Singapore Penguin Random House Pte Ltd 9, North Buona Vista Drive #13-05/06, The Metropolis Tower One Singapore 138588 P +65 6715 8961 SOUTH AFRICA Jonathan Ball Office B4, The District, 41 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, 7925 enquiries@bookpro.ca.za 021 469 8900 EAST AND WEST AFRICA Anita Zih-De Haan A-Z Africa Book Services 105b Prins Mauritssingel 3043 PE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-10-415-4250 Fax: +31-10-415-1128 anita.zih@azabs.nl TRANSLATION RIGHTS The Marsh Agency 50 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BS enquiries@marsh-agency.co.uk 020 7493 4361 US RIGHTS The Carol Mann Agency 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003, USA carol.mann@carolmannagency.com 001 212 206 5635
Credits Cover Image from Chris Collins Design Direction by Steve White
69
25 YEARS OF BIG IDEAS In 2017, Icon celebrates a quarter-century of books that inform, educate and entertain. GET INVOLVED Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
Facebook “f ” Logo
CMYK / .eps
@ICONBOOKS #ICON25 ICONBOOKS.COM