July–December 2025
WELCOME TO OUR AUTUMN 2025 CATALOGUE
Welcome to our Autumn 2025 catalogue, a celebration of original research, exceptional writing and the joy of immersing yourself in a good book. We’re proud that our books stand the test of time, exemplified by the enduring popularity of Tim Marshall’s multimillion-copy bestselling Prisoners of Geography, updated this year to reflect the global geopolitical changes since its first publication ten years ago.
This autumn, we’re thrilled to introduce an eclectic lineup of titles. Discover the first-ever biography of R. J. Mitchell, the visionary engineer behind the Spitfire; take a journey through the cultural history of the the waterways that shaped Europe in Three Rivers; and explore the latest scientific breakthroughs in animal communication with What Sheep Think About the Weather. For lovers of recent history, Into the Groove brings the vibrant energy of 1980s pop music to life, while Blood, Sweat and Asparagus Spears serves up the delicious and dramatic foodie story of the 1990s restaurant revolution.
Looking ahead to Halloween, Matt Blake’s spellbinding debut Hearth of Darkness is a haunting exploration of his home’s dark past, and Charlie Creed celebrates the witch’s essential companion in The Cat’s Tales: Feline Fairytales and Folklore.
A heartfelt thank you to our authors for their brilliant books, and to the illustrators and designers for their stunning book covers.
Independent publishing and bookselling are flourishing and it’s a privilege to be a part of this vibrant community. Thank you wholeheartedly for your support for our books.
Katie Bond, Publisher Katie@eandtbooks.com
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR BOOKS
‘There is much food for thought in this wonderful and wholly original book.’
Mail on Sunday on The Company of Owls by Polly Atkin
‘This personal account of his life-long passion has an appealing light touch.’
Financial Times (Best Books of the Year) on In Search of Beethoven by John Suchet
‘An intellectually thrilling 400-page romp through 12,000 years of our often brutal history’
Daily Telegraph on The Invention of British Art by Bendor Grosvenor
‘A bright, shining, lively snapshot, delightful to read.’
The Spectator on Wallis Simpson by Paul French
WANT TO PUBLISH WITH US?
Elliott & Thompson is a proudly independent publisher of original and bestselling non-fiction and occasional fiction. We publish twenty new titles a year and pride ourselves on our attentive editing, collaborative communication with authors and agents, and going the extra mile to position, market and publicise our books to the widest possible readership. Simon & Schuster sell our books and audiobooks in the UK and export markets; Faber sell our ebooks. We are always on the lookout for fresh, compelling non-fiction ideas – if you have a proposal, please send it to us at info@eandtbooks.com.
COMMISSIONING CONTACTS
KATIE BOND, Publisher
I’m looking for narrative-driven, expert perspectives on history (particularly about women), place (from Wild Swans and Driving over Lemons to Abroad in Japan), smart-thinking, self-development, food and memoir. And the occasional brilliant crime and thriller writers. Forthcoming titles include Ctrl+Alt+Chaos: How Teenage Hackers Hijack the Internet by Joe Tidy, Nature Needs You: The Fight to Save our Swifts by Hannah Bourne-Taylor, Blood, Sweat and Asparagus Spears: The Story of the 1990s Restuarant Revolution by Andrew Turvill and Hearth of Darkness by Matt Blake.
SARAH RIGBY, Publishing Director
I’m looking for experts writing story-driven history, popular science and politics, as well as nature writing, sparky smart-thinking and the wide umbrella of narrative non-fiction – plus beautiful seasonal gift titles. My publishing in 2025 includes: Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You: A Memoir of Saying the Unsayable with Food by Candice Chung; Anywhere But Here: How Britain’s Broken Asylum System Fails Us All by Nicola Kelly; Lifelines: Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece by Julian Hoffman and Just F**King Say It: How to Own the Room and Win Over Any Audience by Susie Ashfield.
Elliott & Thompson directors Olivia Bays and Jennie Condell are also taking on occasional new authors:
OLIVIA BAYS, Director, is looking for health, popular science and narrative non-fiction with a compelling story.
JENNIE CONDELL, Director, is looking for original research and the next big story in geopolitics, history or business.
NEW TITLES
Three Rivers
The extraordinary waterways that made Europe
Robert Winder
A fascinating exploration of the rich and varied cultural worlds shaped by the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po
Pub date: 28 August 2025
Price: £25.00
ISBN: 9781783968961
epub: 9781783968978
Genre: Culture, History, Geography
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Royal
Extent: 304 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
Three of Europe’s greatest rivers begin in the same patch of high Alpine ice in the jagged heights of Switzerland. The Rhine, the Rhone and the Po have not only shaped the landscape, carving out the valleys in which humans settled, but also the structure of Europe’s societies; laid the foundation for its economies; and enriched its cultural diversity, shaping the language, religion, philosophy, art science and politics of Germany, France and Italy.
But while their importance is by no means diminished today, their source is. The glaciers that have filled Europe’s Alpine water tank for so long are vanishing – fast. This is a catastrophic change, and the implication is clear: we can no longer take Europe’s great triumvirate of rivers for granted.
Three Rivers follows these extraordinary rivers as they journey through the dramatic landscapes of Europe, while meditating on the enormous cultural consequences that have, quite literally, flowed from their presence.
‘Spirited, provocative, wise, hugely entertaining’ Sunday Times on The Last Wolf
ROBERT WINDER was Literary Editor of the Independent and Deputy Editor of Granta. He is the author of Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain and The Last Wolf: The Hidden Springs of Englishness. The former inspired the Migration Museum Project, which aims to create a major museum on the theme of migration in Britain and for which he was a founder trustee.
Mitchell
Father of the Spitfire
Paul Beaver
The gripping story of the pioneer behind the Spitfire – told for the first time in a major new biography
Pub date: 4 September 2025
Price: £20.00
ISBN: 9781783969036
epub: 9781783969043
Genre: Biography, WWII, Aviation
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Royal
Extent: 300 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
Reginald Mitchell is one of the greatest names in aviation history. A visionary engineer with a passion for speed, his legacy is the most iconic fighter aircraft of all time: the Spitfire.
During the uneasy peace of the 1920s, he was a trailblazing innovator working at the cutting edge of technology. As Europe’s politics darkened in the 1930s, the work of Mitchell and his team became crucial to a nation preparing for war. Though he did not live to see the Spitfire in action, his work led to triumph at the Battle of Britain – and to a legendary aircraft that still inspires awe to this day.
This is the first time Mitchell’s full story has been told. In this exhilarating biography, Paul Beaver takes us behind the scenes, exploring the creative genius of a man devoted to pushing the boundaries of technology. We see his flair for leadership and collaboration with Rolls-Royce, the pinnacle of British engineering; we learn of Mitchell’s other innovative designs that could have changed the course of the war, had he not died in 1937; and, at last, we hear the real story behind the Spitfire.
Drawing on new interviews, private archives and previously unpublished material, this is the definitive biography of a man who helped change the course of history – one of the great design leaders of the twentieth century.
PAUL BEAVER is a leading aviation historian, broadcaster and author, as well as an historic airplane pilot who has been flying the Spitfire since 2011. He has written more than forty books including Spitfire People, Spitfire Evolution and Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot. As well as being an author, Paul has been a television war reporter, journalist with Jane’s Defence Weekly, a parliamentary advisor and served twenty-seven years in the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Colonel in the Army Air Corps. He lives near Salisbury.
Praise for Winkle
’Winkle Brown’s astonishing adventures make for fascinating reading’ Sunday Times
‘[A] thumping great biography by Britain’s leading aviation historian’ Daily Mail, ‘Book of the Week’
‘Beaver recounts the story of a man he regarded as a mentor in unshowy but fascinating detail, and restores a British hero to his rightful place’ Observer
‘An excellent biography’ Daily Telegraph
‘A thrilling new biography’ Daily Express
Photo: John Goodman
The Writer’s Room
The Hidden Worlds that Shape the Books We Love
Katie da Cunha Lewin
What is it that so fascinates us about the spaces in which writers create?
Pub date: 11 September 2025
Price: £18.99
ISBN: 9781783969098
epub: 9781783969104
Genre: Literature, Arts, Biography
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Demy
Extent: 288 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
The rooms of certain writers are mythologised almost as much as the works themselves: Virginia Woolf’s garden room at Monks House; the Brontë’s shared table at Haworth; Sigmund Freud’s study, with its famous couch. They are preserved in writers’ houses, recreated in museums, pictured and described in newspapers and on Instagram, seemingly standing in for the labour of writing itself.
And yet writers, old and new, have worked in all kinds of places and circumstances: in hotels, bedsits and libraries, at kitchen tables and on the move – from Ernest Hemingway in Parisian cafés and debut novelists using the Notes app on the tube to Michaela Coel’s wall of post-it notes in a rented room. Asking us to think again about where and how creativity happens, and how it shapes the stories that shape our lives, Katie da Cunha Lewin dismantles the familiar furniture of the writer’s room and opens it up.
KATIE DA CUNHA LEWIN is a writer and essayist based in London, currently lecturing in 20th- and 21st-century literature at Coventry University. She holds a PhD in contemporary literature and is the co-editor of Don DeLillo: Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Her reviews have appeared in Splice, Review 31, the Times Literary Supplement and Financial Times, among others. She loves to explore the rooms of famous writer’s houses across the country.
Extract from Chapter 1: The Preserved Writer’s Room
’I can’t say how long it’s been there, but I have an image in my mind of the place where writers work. I picture the writer, I picture the space, I conjure an atmosphere of quiet calm, where someone can work for many hours undisturbed. The room contains a desk, on which lie various tools of writing, and perhaps a large window, out of which my writer looks to try to capture the world they depict. There are bookshelves teeming with dog-eared paperbacks, imposing hardbacks, critical anthologies, story collections, art books: my writer is also a reader, and a voracious one at that. They might sit on an old office chair, or one made of wood with a rounded back, but it has a squishy pillow nestled into it to keep the writer comfortable and a blanket thrown over the arm, ready to keep them warm.
As well as the copious number of books, my writer has art on their walls: postcards pinned and askew on a corkboard, prints hung up, and old film posters with a corner that flaps in the breeze. There are other smaller objects too, collected and curated to best inspire, and full of meaning and sentiment; often the potency of these objects lies in their creative charge – their inherent inspirational potential that can be drawn out through the process of writing. These objects crowd shelves, hang from the door frames, peek out from the bookshelves or simply sit next to the writer as companions and friends. Sometimes they become talismans, items of good luck or part of the ritual of the day. The writer’s room need not be neat, it could in fact be the one space of the house where things are supposed to be messy, to show a mind at work. Proper creativity makes for unkempt spaces. But how clean is the writer’s room? Are there crisp packets or orange peel littering the desk? Discarded tissues, unstable piles of books unread, crumpled papers? No writing room can be pristine, but the potential mess must not outweigh the buzzing, trembling atmosphere of solemn, serious work.’
Blood, Sweat & Asparagus Spears
The Story of the 1990s Restaurant Revolution
Andrew Turvil
A fast-paced foray through the era that changed food culture forever
Pub date: 25 September 2025
Price: £25.00
ISBN: 9781783969111
epub: 9781783969128
Genre: Food & Drink, Memoir
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Royal
Extent: 272 pages
Rights: World English, inc. audio
Written by former editor of The Good Food Guide Andrew Turvil, Blood, Sweat & Asparagus Spears tells the story of the 1990s food revolution in Britain. Part social history, part memoir and part food-porn, this book explores how restaurants around the UK radically changed and diversified the public’s palettes, shaking off some (but not all) of the snobbery of the eighties and the downright disgustingness of the seventies.
From Bob Carlos Clarke’s provocative photos of Marco Pierre White with the publication of White Heat in 1990, to the launch of Jamie Oliver’s first foray into TV with The Naked Chef in 1999, the decade saw the food world flipped on its head.
In sparkling prose and a feast of 1990s food, Andrew tells the extraordinary story of the restaurant revolution. Reflections and recollections from major players of the time add spice to the mix, with contributions from the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Garry Hollihead, Sally Clarke, Peter Gordon, Atul Kochar and Simon Hopkinson.
ANDREW TURVIL is the former editor of The Good Food Guide, AA Restaurant Guide and Which? Pub Guide. As a freelance restaurant critic, writer, and editor, he has spent his career writing about pubs and restaurants, and, undeterred, bought a pub in 2015 and ran it for ten years. He was described by the Independent as one of the UK’s ‘arbiters of taste’.
Into the Groove
The 1980s: The Ultimate Decade of Pop History
Justin Lewis
An epic collection of trivia and anecdotes from arguably the greatest decade in music history
Pub date: 2 October 2025
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 9781783969135
epub: 9781783969142
Genre: Music, Ref, Gift
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Demy
Extent: 272 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global story of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, featuring noteworthy pop acts from around the world, including Annie Lennox, A-ha, Roxette, Prince, Madonna, Kraftwerk, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Sugarcubes – and many more. It celebrates genres of all kinds – the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, from post-punk to acid house, from heavy rock to electronic, from hip hop to teen pop – showcasing many of the decade’s key recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry.
The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s music scene.
‘A brilliant musical almanac’
Jonathan Coe, author of Middle England on Don’t Stop the Music
JUSTIN LEWIS is a writer, researcher and editor, who grew up during the 1980s, and even started writing and presenting for local radio before the decade ended. His most recent book is Don’t Stop the Music: A Year of Pop History, One Day at a Time (2023). He has been an editor, writer and contributor to various print and online music publications for more than thirty years, including The Guinness Book of Hit Singles and The Rough Guide to Rock. He lives in Swansea, Wales.
The Cat’s Tales
Feline fairytales and folklore
Charlie Creed
A beautifully illustrated collection of feline folktales from around the world
Pub date: 23 October 2025
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 9781783969210
epub: 9781783969227
Genre: Cats, Fairytales & Folklore, Gift
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 224 pages
Rights: UK & Commonwealth ex. Can., inc. audio
Once upon a time, the enchanting creature that is the cat infiltrated our lives – and our folklore.
Cats have a long association with the supernatural – from being worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt to vilified as witches’ familiars in Europe – and they appear in countless fairy tales throughout history. Every part of the world has its own stories, whether it’s ‘Dick Whittington and His Cat’ in England; the Irish ‘Demon Cat’; Japan’s ‘The Boy Who Drew Cats’; or the Icelandic story of ‘The Cottager and His Cat’.
These felines might appear as companions, guides or demons; they are contrary, malevolent, enigmatic; they are both friends and foes, beloved and reviled. But whether winning kingdoms, falling in love or outwitting giants, they are all the epitome of what we know the cat to be: mysterious, roguish and endlessly lovable.
The Cat’s Tales is a beautiful collection of feline fairy tales from around the world, bringing together much-loved classics as well as more unfamiliar gems – the perfect companion for cat lovers everywhere.
CHARLIE CREED is a writer from Bristol. He studied English Literature at Cambridge University before embarking on a career as a musician. He now works as a subeditor for several national newspapers and as a ghostwriter, specialising in picture books and stories for young children. He lives in Bristol with his wife, two children and cat.
Hearth of Darkness
If your home had a dark past, would you want to know? Matt Blake
From a brilliant investigative journalist comes a haunting blend of memoir, true crime and paranormal investigation
Pub date: 30th October 2025
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 9781783969159
epub: 9781783969166
Genre: Paranormal, True Crime, Memoir
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Demy
Extent: 256 pages
Rights: UK & Commonwealth ex. Can., inc. audio
Everyone says: buy the ugliest house on the street – buy it cheap, do it up. But what if the house you threw everything into turns out to be as ugly on the inside as on the outside? What would you do if you saw shadows where there shouldn’t be any? If slugs started to fall from the ceiling? If you kept feeling something eerie following you around?
Matt Blake tells the powerful true story of discovering his new home was once the lair of the E17 Nightstalker. It was meant to be a refuge for him and his two-year-old daughter after a painful divorce. But unravelling the chilling secrets of the past threatens to suffocate the present.
Can a house be haunted by a bad past? How does a rationalist who doesn’t believe in religion or ghosts make sense of the paranormal? Matt turns to scientists, psychologists, estate agents and exorcists to unravel the truth behind ‘cursed’ properties.
A unique blend of paranormal investigation, true crime and memoir, Hearth of Darkness speaks to our innate desire to feel safe and find peace in our own homes.
MATT BLAKE is an award-winning journalist, writing for the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Grazia and Men’s Health, and former crime reporter for the Daily Mirror and Independent. His story, The Robots Are Coming, And They Want Your Job, was selected for the prestigious Best American Essays of 2019 collection, edited by Rebecca Solnit. Hearth of Darkness is his first book.
What Sheep Think About the Weather
A quest to listen to what animals are trying to say
Amelia Thomas
A fascinating exploration of animal communication – and how we can learn to listen
Pub date: 13 November 2025
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 9781783969234
epub: 9781783969241
Genre: Nature, Animals, Science
Format: Hardback
Dimensions: Demy
Extent: 272 pages
Rights: World excl. North America & US Territories
Science has shown us that animals communicate constantly and elaborately amongst themselves: bees exchange directions via ‘waggle dances’; dolphins have a ‘signature whistle’ that functions like a human name; and fruit flies even have local dialects. But are they talking to us too? And could we ever learn to listen and understand what they’re trying to say?
With the doggedness of a journalist, the soul of an animal lover, and the wonder of a curious intellect, Amelia Thomas pursues the answer, determined to better listen to her own menagerie (a horse, pony, chickens, dogs, cat, goat and pigs). Taking us on her journey of discovery through the scientific, practical and spiritual ways people today are trying to listen to animals, she meets with animal behaviourists, anthrozoologists, pet psychics, animal trainers, AI experts, indigenous trackers and psychologists – all of whom are listening in vastly different ways to vastly different species.
‘Engaging, often inspiring and sometimes poignant’
Daily Mail on The Zoo on the Road to Nablus
AMELIA THOMAS is the author of The Zoo on the Road to Nablus, and her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Sunday Times, CNN Traveler and more. Thomas practices equine bodywork for several charitable organisations and holds a diploma in Equine Psychology.
OUT IN PAPERBACK
Victory at the Ballot Box
The History of How Labour Built Britain Douglas Beattie
The unfolding drama of Labour’s pursuit of power through each British general election from 1900 to 2024
Pub date: 3 July 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783968503
epub: 9781783968350
Genre: Politics, History
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 480 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
Victory at the Ballot Box is the history of the pursuit of power for working people. In assessing the fortunes of the Labour Party through the unfolding drama of each election from 1900 to 4th July 2024, it asks a simple overarching question – how has Labour shaped modern Britain?
With exclusive insights from former leaders and Prime Ministers – including Gordon Brown and Neil Kinnock – Victory at the Ballot Box provides a fascinating historical overview delving deep into the secrets of long-forgotten campaigns, tracing the Party’s roots, examining the strategies, leaders, transformative moments and missteps which have defined Labour at the ballot box and shaped modern Britain.
‘Timely and brilliantly illuminating, a must-read’ Steve Richards
DOUGLAS BEATTIE grew up in Dumfriesshire, studied politics at Glasgow University and is an award-winning former BBC journalist, author and Labour insider. He has first-hand experience of elections having stood for Parliament as the Scottish Labour candidate for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in the 2017 General Election and also having been a Labour councillor. He now lives in London and works as a trade union media and political director. Beattie is fascinated by tribal divisions and his previous book is an acclaimed history of British football derbies, The Rivals Game: Inside the British Derby.
Wallis
Simpson
Her Lotus Year in 1920s China
Paul French
The compelling story of Wallis Simpson’s controversial and formative year in China, 1924–5
Pub date: 10 July 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783968800
epub: 9781783968190
Genre: Biograph, Royalty, History
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 352 pages
Rights: UK & Commonwealth, inc. audio
Wallis Simpson takes a headlong dive into Wallis Simpson’s early, formative years – and into the chaotic and thrilling China of the 1920s – to explore the untold story of a woman too often maligned by history. From the breakdown of her abusive first marriage to undertaking dangerous undercover diplomatic missions in a China torn by civil war, Wallis established her confidence and independence, developed her unique fashion sense, and forged lifelong friendships. She emerged from that year in China as the elegant, stylish, cosmopolitan and worldly woman for whom a king gave up his throne.
‘A fresh perspective on one of history’s most enigmatic figures.’
Dr Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on Fire
‘A bright, shining, lively snapshot, delightful to read.’
Spectator
PAUL FRENCH was born in London and lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. His book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times bestseller and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He received the Mystery Writers’ of America Edgar award for Best Fact Crime and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) Dagger award for non-fiction. His most recent book, City of Devils, received much praise with the Economist calling him a ‘champion storyteller’. Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are currently in development for film.
Rogue Agent
From Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare, The Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart
James Crossland
The thrilling first biography of Britain’s ‘Agent’ in Moscow
Pub date: 17 July 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783969050
epub: 9781783968053
Genre: Politics, History, Biography
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 352 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart (1887–1970) was an impressive figure: a diplomat, intelligence agent, conspirator, journalist and propagandist. He was a man who influential press baron Lord Beaverbook claimed ‘could well have been prime minister’ – and yet Lockhart died almost forgotten and near destitute, becoming little more than a footnote in the pages of history.
Rogue Agent is the first biography of this gifted yet habitually flawed maverick. It chronicles his many exploits, from his time as Britain’s ‘Agent’ in Moscow, when he conspired with MI6’s ‘Ace of Spies’ Sidney Reilly to bring down the Communist regime, to leading the Political Warfare Executive, a secret body responsible for disinformation and propaganda in the Second World War.
Exploring Lockhart’s unorthodox thinking and contributions to the development of psychological warfare as well as his hedonistic lifestyle, Rogue Agent tells the thrilling story of this unconventional war hero.
‘Detailed and engagingly written.’ Telegraph
JAMES CROSSLAND is a Professor of International History at Liverpool John Moores University. His previous books include The Rise of Devils and War, Law and Humanity. Crossland has written extensively on the history of warfare, intelligence, fake news, terrorism and propaganda for popular history magazines.
In Search of Beethoven
A Personal Journey
John Suchet
A personal account of John Suchet’s enduring fascination with the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven
Pub date: 21 August 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783969005
epub: 9781783968114
Genre: Classical Music, Biography
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 320 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
In Search of Beethoven is John Suchet’s latest and most personal book dedicated to the life of this extraordinary composer. Part biography, part memoir, part travelogue, Suchet draws on his own life and career as a foreign correspondent and news anchor to show how Beethoven’s music has accompanied him through the best and worst of times. It was with him as a music-loving and adventurous teenager, as a journalist entering Beirut in the grip of civil war and as he has continued to explore the old cities of Bonn and Vienna, in search of the man behind the music.
Suchet traces Beethoven’s footsteps, taking us on a journey both literal and symbolic, using his own experience as a Beethoven aficionado to demonstrate the life-changing power of music.
‘From palaces to warzones, John Suchet goes on a Beethoven odyssey’ The Telegraph
JOHN SUCHET OBE is a bestselling author, journalist, radio and TV presenter. He was the voice of morning radio on Classic FM for almost a decade and, before that, he was one of the UK’s best-known television journalists and newscasters, regularly presenting ITN’s flagship News at Ten for nearly twenty years. A recognised authority on Beethoven, he is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Beethoven: The Man Revealed (2020), as well as biographies of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Tchaikovsky.
A Winter Dictionary
A collection of words for the festive season
Paul Anthony Jones
A linguistic celebration of all aspects of the wintry months, from frosty weather to Christmas revelries
Pub date: 9 October 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783969067
epub: 9781783968244
Genre: Language, Gift, Holidays
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 256 pages
Rights: World English
As the nights draw in and the cold descends, the winter world emerges – and with it an incredible array of words that superbly capture the season.
From frost-dogs (tiny frozen particles of falling snow) and Stepmother’s breath (a sudden cold snap) to hibernaculum (a winter refuge during the winter months) and crapulent (feeling the aftereffects of overindulgence), Paul Anthony Jones delves into the origins of these rare, fascinating and forgotten words, opening up a whole new way of describing the winter months.
Whether you’re keeping cosy in front of the fire, warding off the winter blues or throwing yourself into the party season, A Winter Dictionary is the perfect way to while away the snow-laden days.
‘An incredible compendium.’
Living North
PAUL ANTHONY JONES is something of a linguistic phenomenon. He runs the popular @HaggardHawks X feed, blog and YouTube channel, revealing daily word facts to 95,000 engaged followers. His books include: Why Is This a Question?, The Cabinet of Calm, Word Drops, The Accidental Dictionary, The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities, Around the World in 80 Words, as well as several other books on trivia and language. He appears regularly in the media and has contributed to the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries online. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Company of Owls
Polly Atkin
A nocturnal love song to the owls that surround Polly Atkin’s
Lake District home
Pub date: 16 October 2025
Price: £10.99
ISBN: 9781783969074
epub: 9781783968152
Genre: Memoir, Natural History, Birds, Gift
Format: Paperback
Dimensions: B-format
Extent: 256 pages
Rights: World, inc. audio
In the woods above Polly Atkin’s home in Grasmere, Cumbria live the tawny owls she calls her neighbours. Each night, they come down to her cottage at dusk, calling out as night falls – in particular a trio of owlets she watches grow from fledglings to young adults.
As the antics of the owl siblings develop, they encourage her to think differently about some of the big needs of all our lives: solitude and companionship, care and belonging, rest and retreat. And into the frame step questions about all sorts of relationships, from how we feel when in darkness to the homes and connection we so desperately seek.
The Company Of Owls is a love song to these incredible creatures, and a reflection on what makes them, and us, unique.
‘I couldn’t put down this warm and comforting, beautiful book.’
Ajay Tegala, author of Wetland Diaries
POLLY ATKIN (FRSL) is a poet and non-fiction writer. Her non-fiction includes Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (Saraband: 2021) and a memoir exploring place, belonging and disability, Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better (Sceptre: 2023), longlisted for the Wainwright Prize. In 2023 she and her partner took ownership of historic Grasmere bookshop, Sam Read Bookseller, in the Lake District.
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epub: 9781783967742
£9.99, PB
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epub: 9781783966899
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£16.99, HB
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£10.99, PB
ISBN: 978-1-78396-782-7
epub: 978-1-78396-704-9
£40, HB
ISBN: 9781783968091
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£12.99, PB
ISBN: 978-1-78396-803-9
epub: 978-1-78396-736-0
eandtbooks elliottandthompson eandtbooks.bsky.social
SUMMER READS
Wondering which books to take with you on holiday? We have plenty of options for those summer reading round-ups . . .
Environomics
Dharshini David
The perfect introduction to how the global green revolution is transforming our economy – and what that means for our lives, our planet and our wallets.
PB 27 March 2025
TRAVEL ENTERTAINMENT
Prisoners of Geography
The Quiz Book
Tim Marshall
Test your geopolitical IQ with this collection of multiple-choice questions, puzzles, word games and maps!
PB 10 October 2024
‘A much needed blend of optimism and realism’ Brett Christophers, author of The Price is Wrong
Prisoners of Geography
Tim Marshall
The 10-year anniversary edition of the runaway bestseller.
Read this to understand what’s happening in the news today, from China’s ambitions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
PB 10 April 2025
Don’t Stop the Music
Justin Lewis
A day-by-day collection of notable events, surprising stories and entertaining coincidences from music history.
PB 30 May 2024
Infinite Life
Jules Howard
Eggs are shaped by their ecology, forged by mass extinctions and honed by natural selection to nearperfection. Finally, the epic story of their role in the tapestry of life can be told.
PB 8 May 2025
‘Like having a light shone on your understanding’ Evening Standard
Wallis Simpson
Paul French
A historian and New York Times
bestselling author examines a controversial and revealing period in the early life of the legendary Wallis Simpson.
PB 10 July 2025
‘Witty, wise, and accessible’ Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
‘Magisterial, beautifully written and impeccably researched.’ Alexander Larman, The Windsors at War
Radical Rest
Evie Muir
A journey of regeneration that reimagines what a world of true rest – radical rest – would look like and how that would feel.
HB 18 July 2024
‘A journey of regeneration’ Stylist
Just F**king Say It
Susie Ashfield
The first book from Britain’s leading speech coach, Just F**king Say It will show you how to win over any audience.
HB 22 May 2025
Conversations on Kindness
Bernadette
Russell
Could a year of kind acts every single day really help change the world for the better? Bernadette Russell decided to find out. A hopeful account of the power of kindness.
HB 27 March 2025
The Fires of Gallipoli
Barney Campbell
A deeply moving novel of courage, resilience and friendship, set during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915 – 16.
HB 13 Feb 2025
‘The UK’s No.1 Speech Coach’ London Daily News
Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You
Candice Chung
A beautiful memoir packed with heart, humour and the bright-hearted moments around a dinner table that bring us together.
HB 24 April 2025
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN NATURE
Nature Needs You
Hannah
Bourne-Taylor
The inspirational story of a bird lover and ecowarrior in the battle to save swifts from extinction.
HB 1 May 2025
‘You will fall in love with these increasingly endangered birds, true masters of the sky.’
Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace
Lifelines
Julian Hoffman
The Shadow Network
Tony Kent
A stunning book about finding home amidst the ancient mountains and lakes of northern Greece, from an award-winning writer and a Highly Commended Finalist for the Wainwright Prize.
HB 15 May 2025
PB 6 June 2024
A tightly plotted and fast paced political thriller set against the backdrop of Russian espionage, double agents and American spy-hunting.
The Company of Owls
Polly Atkin
Join Polly Atkin in a nocturnal love song to the owls that surround Polly Atkin’s Lake District home –a stunning meditation on learning to listen in a world full of noise.
PB 16 October 2025
CONTACT INFORMATION
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Elliott & Thompson 2 John Street London, WC1N 2ES 0203 405 0310 info@eandtbooks.com
PUBLICITY
UK Publicity enquiries: Please contact Amy Greaves amy@eandtbooks.com
RIGHTS
Rights enquiries: Louisa Pritchard
Louisa Pritchard Associates +44 (0)20 7193 7145 info@louisapritchard.co.uk
Rights enquiries – USA: George Lucas Inkwell Management 521 5th Ave # 26 New York, NY 10175, USA +1 212 922 3500 george@inkwellmanagement.com
SALES
UK and Europe sales: Simon & Schuster
1st Floor, 222 Gray’s Inn Road London, WC1X 8HB uk.sales@simonandschuster.co.uk
North America sales: Trafalgar Square Publishing Independent Publishers Group 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, IL 60610, USA brooke@ipgbook.com
Australian sales: Simon & Schuster Suite 19a, Level 1, Building C 450 Miller Street Cammeray, NSW 2062
Australia cservice@simonandschuster.com.au
For Europe, Far East, Middle East, New Zealand and South Africa enquiries: exportsales@simonandschuster.co.uk
DISTRIBUTION & ORDERS
UK Distributors: Macmillan Distribution Houndmills, Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 6XS Tel. 0845 0705656
For UK distribution enquiries: trade@macmillan.co.uk
For all foreign distribution enquiries: info@eandtbooks.com
For all orders via PubEasy, visit http://beta.pubeasy.com/home
SUBMISSIONS
We welcome non-fiction submissions direct from authors. Please send the proposal and up to 5,000 words to us at info@eandtbooks.com.
And readers, if there’s a book you want to read but can’t find, let us know and we’ll see what we can do! We are always open to suggestions.