Dr Shahed Yousaf is a prison doctor dedicated to caring for people on the margins of society. An outsider on the inside, in Stitched Up he introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters, including killers, con men and auto-cannibals. To Dr Yousaf, they are patients first and prisoners second - because any one of […]

In this suitably dramatic rollercoaster of a teenage memoir, Tez takes us back to where it all began: a working class, insular British Asian Muslim community in his hometown of post-Thatcher Blackburn. Meet Ammi (Mum), Baji Rosey (the older sister), Shibz (the fashionable cousin), Was (the cool cousin), Shiry (the cleverest cousin) and a community […]

Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the family home and restaurant in Wales, and reluctantly step back into the stifling world of their childhood. When […]

England, 1937. Gwen, Noor, Dodo and Vera are four very different teenage girls, with something in common. Their parents are all abroad, leaving them in their English boarding school, where they soon form an intense friendship. The four friends think that no matter what, they will always have each other. Then the war comes. The […]

Collins Big Cat supports every primary child on their reading journey from phonics to fluency. Top authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that children love to read. Book banded for guided and independent reading, there are reading notes in the back, comprehensive teaching and assessment support and ebooks available. Matt and Alex […]

With words come power. But do you speak out or shut up? Everywhere Sara Javed goes – online or outside – everyone is shouting about something. Couldn't they all just shut up? One day she takes her own advice. At first people don't understand her silence and are politely confused at best. But the last […]

When Amy Blahn was murdered on a London office rooftop, Layla Mahoney was there. She held Amy as she died. But all she can say when police arrest her is that 'It was Michael. Find Michael and you'll find out everything you need to know.' The problem is, the police can't find Michael - there […]

You're in at 7am, there until 7pm and marking into the late hours. You've got one student who's a full time carer, another who's pregnant, and a third who's just joined a gang. You haven't got enough textbooks to go around, and one of the parents just called you an 'extremist'. You've just gone through […]

'I'm a girl and northern and brown, didn't you know? A triple threat!' Trying to navigate her Indian world at home and the British world outside her front door, Anita Rani was a girl who didn't ­fit in anywhere. She was always destined to stand out: from playing Mary in her otherwise all white nursery […]

Second canine bodyswap caper featuring Danny – the boy trapped in a dog's body – and Dudley – the hapless dog who's hopeless at being human. Dudley the dog is tired of getting told off, but when he wishes he could sneak some cakes from the kitchen without getting caught, he isn't expecting to transform […]

A thrilling and empowering WWII adventure about the French resistance and their British allies, with a determined, mixed-race heroine. Perfect for fans of Michael Morpurgo and Emma Carroll, and those looking for diverse historical fiction. July, 1941. Rosina Raja is half-Indian and half-English. She has always lived in India, so when her mother passes away […]

A fresh perspective on British history from award-winning broadcaster Fatima Manji Deep within the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, where British foreign policy is shaped and enacted, is an ornate central chamber: the Durbar Court. In a grand house off Hyde Park, the eighteenth-century sword of an Indian Sultan lies amidst tapestries and oil paintings. For […]

Bombay, 1950 When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case […]

A laugh-out-loud young fiction series from bestselling author Joanna Nadin, perfect for fans of Horrid Henry. Head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt thinks 4B is the WORST CLASS IN THE WORLD. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or FUN. It is about LEARNING and it is high time 4B tried harder to EXCEL at […]

Dal Kular is a Sheffield born and based writer of Punjabi/Sikh heritage. She is a facilitator, tutor and mentor specialising in creative writing arts for healing. (un)interrupted tongues unfolds Kular’s creative journey and life as a working-class woman of colour. Written and created intuitively, Kular seeks to unravel the past, in order to understand the […]

How do you talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to you?What happens in the brain when we're having a good conversation?What have smartphones done to how we connect? Conversations are broken. And while effective dialogue is supposed to lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, all the scientific evidence points […]

From international poetry sensation Nikita Gill comes her highly anticipated YA debut These Are the Words: an empowering, feminist and beautifully illustrated poetry collection exploring all the things Nikita wished someone had told her when she was younger. Reclaim your agency. Discover your power. Find the words. Taking you on a journey through the seasons […]

The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nanotechnology and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann. Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His […]

Sarfraz Manzoor grew up in a working-class Pakistani Muslim family in Luton - where he was raised to believe that they were different, they had an alien culture and they would never accept him. They were white people. In today's deeply divided Britain we are often told they are different, they have a different culture […]

Anil Seth's radical new theory of consciousness challenges our understanding of perception and reality, doing for brain science what Dawkins did for evolutionary biology. Being You is not as simple as it sounds. Somehow, within each of our brains, billions of neurons work to create our conscious experience. How does this happen? Why do we experience […]

A beautiful new edition of retellings - including tales from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan! Enjoy a rich collection of folktales, myths and legends from all over South Asia, re-told for young readers. This book includes traditional favourites such as the story of Rama and Sita and classic folktales and mythology. Includes: […]

Who says you can't bake every day? Inside this book Nadiya shows you how to let your oven take the strain to create simple bakes, bursting with flavour, every day of the week. From beautiful celebration bakes to effortless weeknight dinners, easy sweet and savoury tray bakes to quick-fix lunches and snacks, Nadiya's Everyday Baking […]

Emotions can be difficult things to define, yet we all recognise them when we feel them or see them in others. How we interpret those emotions and act on them has been heavily gendered, as far back as Ancient Greek and Roman times and - despite the improvements in societal equality - continues to be […]

A practical, supportive and easy-to-read guide to help you understand and overcome social anxiety, filled with helpful tips and actionable advice Feeling overwhelmed? This little book is here to help. How to Understand and Deal with Social Anxiety is a friendly, accessible guide with all the information and advice you need to identify the source […]

In Joma West's Face, Margaret Atwood meets Kazuo Ishiguro in this sci-fi domestic drama that reimagines race and class in a genetically engineered society fed by performative fame. How much is your Face worth? Schuyler and Madeleine Burroughs have the perfect Face--rich and powerful enough to assure their dominance in society. But in SchAddie's household, […]

A powerful, campaigning intervention by one of Britain’s most senior law enforcers, roundly debunking the myth of progress in racial equality ― particularly in the workplace ― and offering a blueprint for the future. Have you ever wondered why, as Britain becomes more diverse, so many of our leaders come from the same narrow pool? […]

Mo and his mother are embarking on a dangerous journey to reach their new home. Mo's scared, but as they leave their old life behind, his mother keeps reminding him to keep his gaze fixed on the moon, as it will keep them safe. Join this mother and son in their beautiful, inspiring journey as […]

Come with an Arctic fox on a breathtaking journey … an enthralling story from the bestselling, award-winning creators of Julia and the Shark. With dazzling blue and black illustrations and presented as a deluxe hardback with tracing paper inserts, this is a perfect gift for 9+ fans of The Last Bear and A Wolf Called […]

Speak now or forever rest in peace . . . The perfect fiancé When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces she is marrying the rich and handsome Michael, celebrations are strained. Victoria doesn’t trust Michael – he’s hiding something. And he reminds her of someone she needs to forget. The dream wedding plan Too loved up […]

Meet Beth Fellows, a Preston detective haunted by her mum’s murder when she was only four. She’s a driven woman with a heart of gold. A stranger came into our home, strangled my mother to death and left me sitting alone with her body. What happened to my mum is the driving force behind every […]

This actually is a love story, just not the one Sunny was looking for . . . Sunny is the queen of living a double life. To her friends, she's the entertaining, eternally upbeat, single one, always on hand to share hilarious and horrifying date stories. But while they're all settling down with long-term partners […]

Niro is a photographer who’s lost the joy of taking photos. Burned by a bad break-up, she’s in desperate need of inspiration. Vimal is determined to win back his ex-girlfriend. When he hears she’s bringing her new boyfriend on a group holiday, he impulsively declares that he’s bringing a plus one too. Their mutual friends […]

Nina Mistry is at rock bottom. She's just broken up with the love of her life.Her friends are moving on.Her career is tanking.Oh, and she just turned thirty in a prison cell. But her night in prison might change everything. It's there that she comes across a tatty little self-help book promising to change her […]

Starting with the experience of his own illness, Dr Ayan Panja, NHS GP and lifestyle medicine expert, brings a unique personalised framework to tailor targeted lifestyle-based interventions to you, with his groundbreaking new book, The Health Fix. Unlike many approaches to health and wellbeing, The Health Fix focuses on the 'why' rather than just the […]

Keva loves helping out at Grandpa's pet adoption centre. When he has to go to hospital, she knows that his best friend, Atlas the tortoise, is just the thing to cheer him up. It's too bad that the rude hospital manager, Mr Sallow, has banned all pets from the ward! But when Keva notices a […]

Winner of the 2021 #Merky Books New Writers' Prize Nik has lots of questions about his late father but knows better than to ask his mother, Avani. It's their unspoken rule. When his grandfather dies, Nik has the opportunity to learn about the man he never met. Armed with a key and new knowledge about […]

You can choose your house. Not your neighbours. WELCOME TO YOUR DREAM HOME… Salma Khatun is extremely hopeful about Blenheim, the safe suburban development to which she, her husband and their son have just moved. Their family is in desperate need of a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like the place to make that happen. […]

Kamil Rahman thought his crimefighting days were behind him. But when a woman he knows is murdered and the police arrest the most convenient suspect, he hangs up his apron and employs his detective skills once more to find the true killer. Meanwhile, restaurant manager Anjoli is volunteering with a homeless charity, where she notices […]

A wide-ranging novel about family and identity, from an award-winning historian. 1981: Khalid Quraishi feels like one of the lucky ones. Working in the glitzy West End by night and spending time with his beautiful wife and daughter by day, he's a world away from the life he left behind in Karachi. But Khalid likes […]

"You're just being greedy.""Are you sure you're not gay?""Pick a side." Being a bisexual man isn't easy - something Vaneet Mehta knows all too well. After spending more than a decade figuring out his identity, Vaneet's coming out was met with questioning, ridicule and erasure. This experience inspired Vaneet to create the viral #BisexualMenExist campaign, […]

The author of the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Think Like a Monk offers a revelatory guide to every stage of romance, drawing on ancient wisdom and new science. Nobody sits us down and teaches us how to love. So we’re often thrown into relationships with nothing but romance movies and pop culture to help us […]

From the frontlines of the NHS, the story of a junior doctor's love, loss and grief through the Covid-19 crisis In early 2020, junior doctor Roopa Farooki lost her sister to cancer. But just weeks later, she found herself plunged into another kind of crisis, fighting on the frontline of the battle taking place in […]

Two cultures. Two families. Two people. Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine, and a charming, handsome fiancée, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling […]

How did an obscure academic idea pave the way to the Holocaust within just fifty years? Why does eugenics still loom large in the 21st century, despite its genocidal past? Did eugenics work? Could it work? Or was it always a pseudoscientific fantasy? Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance […]

In the wake of an insignificant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. After witnessing the death of her mother, the grief-stricken Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in […]

From bathing rituals and sleep yoga to solitude and mental relaxation, discover the restorative power of rest and sleep with this beautiful little book When was the last time you truly felt well-rested? Perhaps it’s hard even to remember. With so many demands on our energy, modern life can make it challenging to devote enough […]

Mental health is positioned as the cure-all for society’s discontents, from pandemics to terrorism. But psychology and psychiatry are not apolitical, and neither are Muslims. This book unpacks where the politics of the psy-disciplines and the politics of Muslims overlaps, demonstrating how psychological theories and practices serve State interests and perpetuate inequality—especially racism and Islamophobia. […]

Do you love your partner but want to rekindle that ‘in love’ feeling?Do you go on plenty of dates but can’t seem to click with the right person?Do you keep having the same conflicts with your partner? Vex King, the Sunday Times bestselling author of Good Vibes, Good Life and Healing is the New High […]

We've all had those moments. The ones where you look in the mirror and nothing feels ok looking back at you. For Anita Bhagwandas, this started when she was a child growing up in South Wales, and it created an enduring internal torment about her looks. We're all told that this sadness is just part […]

Grief is like an inside joke: you have to have been there to really get it. Everything Cassandra Rampersad knows about her family history has been overheard: whispered behind a closed door or written in a notebook stowed away. Cassandra has always been curious, and when a death in the family means she has to […]

From the creators of Bad Panda and Dave Pigeon comes a pigeontastic World Book Day offering, set in a bookshop. Dave Pigeon and his sidekick Skipper are looking for stories and biscuits. Where better to look than a bookshop? But booksellers aren't so sure about welcoming pigeons . . . if only they spoke pigeonese. […]

Rohingya men, women and children have been fleeing their homes for forty years. The tipping point came in August 2017, when almost 700,000 were wrung from Myanmar in a single military operation. Today, very few members of this Muslim minority remain in the country. Instead, they live mostly in Bangladesh’s refugee camps; or precariously in […]

Sami and Ali dream of playing for the school football team. They practise in the park every day and work hard on their skills. But acing the trials is the last of the boys' worries when they're made to feel they don't belong on the team because of the colour of their skin. Ali just […]

In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of what we call patriarchy, uncovering a complex history of how it first became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present. Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the […]

Madhu is 17 and has the weight of the world on her shoulders: her dad is putting pressure on her to apply to university, she misses her estranged sister but contact is strictly forbidden, and she's pulling in every single shift possible at a pizza place to help support her family. What she really wants, […]

Smartphones, skyscrapers, spacecraft. Modern technology seems mind-bogglingly complex. But beneath the surface, it can be beautifully simple. In Nuts and Bolts, award-winning engineer and broadcaster Roma Agrawal deconstructs our most complex feats of engineering into seven fundamental inventions: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump. Each of these objects is itself a wonder […]

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2023Longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2023An Observer Best Debut Novel of 2022 I'm a Fan Tells the Story of an Unnamed Narrator's Involvement in a Seemingly Unequal Romantic Relationship. With a Clear and Unforgiving Eye, Sheena Patel Makes Startling Connections […]

Xanthe loves visiting her gran in her flat with its rooftop garden. But Nani is becoming forgetful – and Xanthe wishes she could help her, if only she knew how. A mysterious cat shows her a way. It leads Xanthe to clues about Nani's childhood, and how, long ago, she had to escape her old […]

We have to keep saying it because they keep doing it. Do colleagues roll their eyes in a meeting when you use words like sexism or racism? Do you refuse to laugh at jokes that aren't funny? Have you been called divisive for pointing out a division? Then you are a feminist killjoy, and this […]

What does it mean to be a parent in a space where you are the minority? Meandering through a supermarket highway of camembert and baguettes, Priya Joi heard a heart-stopping confession about her daughter's identity that made her entire being implode like a dying star. Confronted with the fact that maybe her daughter was not […]

This book explores the hidden history of the Bengali squatters’ movement. Faced with institutional discrimination in council housing and the existential threat of the National Front, hundreds of Bengali families in 1970s East London decided to squat, taking over entire streets and estates. With the support of the Race Today collective, squatters formed the Bengali […]

Why do stories matter? I tell stories to make sense of the world as I see it. The world I have lived and experienced, read about and heard about, and what I want it to be. I tell stories to make sense of myself. Nikesh Shukla, author, writing mentor and bestselling editor of The Good […]

Sabrina Mahfouz once sat in a Whitehall interview room and was interrogated about everything from her political leanings to her private life. It was ostensibly a job interview, but implicit in their demands was the unspoken question: as a woman of Middle Eastern heritage, could she really be trusted? Years later, Sabrina found herself confronting […]

Bombay, 1950 When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case […]

When Bel Kumar leaves for work in the morning, the last thing she expects is wake up in hospital later that day - with her ex from four years ago by her bedside. It turns out that: 1) She's had a near-death accident outside work2) She urgently needs to replace her ex with another next […]

Eating well doesn't need to be dull food and deprivation - it should be eating a wonderfully varied, vibrant and exciting range of foods. In The Kitchen Prescription, gastroenterologist Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed draws on her love of good food and her expertise in gut health to create 101 recipes that are easy to make, […]

In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the […]

This book is about two unlikely friends. One born in 1970s Britain to Indian immigrant parents, the other arrived from Nazi Germany in 1939, fleeing persecution. This is a story of migration, racism, family, belonging, grief and resilience. It is about the state we're in now and the ways in which we carry our pasts […]

Has someone got away with murder? On the verge of a four-billion-dollar deal, a tech entrepreneur from Shoreditch is found dead in a construction site, which leads to the discovery of three skeletons over a hundred years old. But as fresh bodies turn up, can Detective Kamil - along with his friend Anjoli - prevent […]

An unforgettable debut novel about first love, family obligation and finding your way. In the wake of first heartbreak, Nur somehow meets his perfect woman. Yasmina is bright, beautiful and, what’s most remarkable, she’s into him too. Before long, they are inseparable. But no relationship is perfect. For Yasmina, the complexities of family and cultural […]

Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the family home and restaurant in Wales, and reluctantly step back into the stifling world of their childhood. When […]

Award-winning food writer Sumayya Usmani’s stunning memoir conjures a story of what it was like growing up in Pakistan and how the women in her life inspired her to trust her instincts in the kitchen. From a young age, food was Sumayya's portal to nurturing, love and self-expression. She spent the first eight years of […]

By the age of twenty-five journalist Kieran Yates had lived in twenty different houses across the country, from council estates in London to car showrooms in rural Wales. And in that time, between a series of evictions, mouldy flats and bizarre house-share interviews, the reality of Britain’s housing crisis grew more and more difficult to […]

Lisbet is pregnant, and frightened she will lose this child, too, when the arrival of a stranger upends her world, and promises to change her understanding of love forever. Ida’s life seems simple – she is married, her family fully formed – but a buried secret threatens to destroy her peaceful existence. Nethe has just […]

I didn't kill her. Trust me. When Amy Blahn died on a London rooftop, Layla Mahoney was there. Layla was holding her. But all she can say when she's arrested is that 'It was Michael. Find Michael and you'll find out everything you need to know.' The problem is, the police can't find him - […]

Raw and radical, strange and beguiling – a love letter to Britain's breathtaking flatlands, from Orford Ness to Orkney, and a reckoning with the painful, hidden histories they contain Noreen Masud has always loved flatlands. Her earliest memory is of a wide, flat field glimpsed from the back seat of her father's car in Lahore. […]

What do you do when you are a god – but powerless and unable to prevent one of your favourite species from their insatiable, accelerating death wish? Do you try to shout louder and more insistently, or instead reinvent yourself as a troubadour of romantic ruin? Such are the dilemmas posed by Rishi Dastidar in […]

Why would anyone want to work with thieves, murderers and rapists? Told from the inside out, this is a harrowing, humorous and hard-hitting tale of life behind bars by a prison doctor who has seen it all. Literally. Dr Shahed Yousaf spends his time running between emergencies - from overdoses to assaults, from cell fires […]

Mr. Potterson the elephant hates his big, floppy ears and has decided to have them chopped off. On his journey through the forest to see Dr. Zigzag the Zebra, he falls upon a series of poopy unfortunate events. His animal friends, a giraffe, mouse, blackbird, and sloth try and warn him, but will he open […]

A seven-step guide to winning support for tough action on climate change - the first book from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan For many years, Sadiq wasn't fully aware of the dangers posed by air pollution, nor its connection with climate change. Then, at the age of 43, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult-onset […]

It was the wedding of the year. Millie Beaumont marrying billionaire playboy Oscar Hayat, the eyes of the world watching. But the dream turns into a nightmare when Millie and Oscar are brutally abducted while on honeymoon. Millie is killed, her body dumped in London. Oscar is still missing … Enter DS Mumtaz ‘Moomy’ Khan […]

A deeply moving novel about grief, sisterhood, squash and a teenage girl's struggle to transcend herself. Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart […]

A Pebble In My Throat is two stories told in unison. Aasmah Mir growing up in Glasgow - the place of her birth - and the upbringing of her mother in Pakistan a generation before. It is an emotional and thought-provoking narrative on what it is like to live in two very different cultures whilst […]

Winston Churchill has been repeatedly voted as one of the greatest of Englishmen. In this coruscating biography, Tariq Ali challenges Churchill's vaulted record. Throughout his long career as journalist, adventurer, MP, military leader, statesman, and historian, nationalist self belief influenced Churchill's every step, with catastrophic effects. As a young man he rode into battle in […]

Sadia is a comedian who loves sex. She is also a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. The two are in a lifelong relationship, but it's complicated. Sadia Azmat has many different sides to her, she is the good Muslim sister and the loud and proud comedian, she is the quiet and loving friend and the horny and […]

Idiot, poet, jihadist, son. Who is Yahya Bas? An exuberantly imaginative novel of Britishness and unbelonging from the prizewinning author of In Our Mad and Furious City. When Yahya Bas finds himself in a UK detention centre after fleeing the conflict in Syria, he has many questions to face. What was he doing in the […]

SIX FRIENDS In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration. ONE BODY Before the week is out, one of them is dead. COUNTLESS LIES Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the […]

Calcutta, 1757. Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, are advancing and nobody is safe. Meena, the Nawab’s neglected and abused daughter, finds herself falling under the spell of James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, who claims he wants to betray the company . […]

Comfort and Joy is a fresh take on vegetarian and vegan cooking; not geared towards health or denial but indulging all the senses with a decadent global larder. This is a cookbook of great bounty, promising fortifying curries and stews, the warm embrace of aromatic fried bhajis and rich, satisfying desserts. For Ravinder Bhogal, food […]

Discover that bereavement can be a beginning, not an ending, in this beautiful story of one boy's grief when he loses his beloved grandfather. Dadaji loves to teach others to paint, especially his grandson. But after Dadaji passes away, the boy can’t bear to use the favourite paintbrush his grandfather left for him. When a […]

An accessible, engaging and essential introduction to the British empire for readers aged 9+, by bestselling author of Empireland, Sathnam Sanghera. You've probably heard the word 'empire' before. Perhaps because of the Roman empire. Or maybe even the Star Wars films. But what about the British Empire? Why don't we learn much about this? And […]

At four years old, Dr Faiza Shaheen was told by her mum that one day she would attend the University of Oxford. As the daughter of a car mechanic attending state schools, the odds were low, but she worked hard and succeeded. Today, she’s a leading statistician and standing for election as a Member of […]

Have you ever wondered why, as Britain becomes more diverse, so many of our leaders come from the same narrow pool? Can it be acceptable in 2023 that there are no ethnic minority chief constables, only one CEO in the top 50 NHS Trusts and no permanent secretaries in the civil service? Nazir Afzal knows […]

You get to decide how your lessons are learned and how your story goes. That's the power you have. Life can be relentless, challenging and full of curveballs thrown at us at the worst times, but through these times life will open its hands and offer us the gift of finding out just how powerful […]

Brown Girl Like Me is an inspiring memoir and empowering manifesto that equips women with the confidence and tools they need to navigate the difficulties that come with an intersectional identity. Jaspreet Kaur unpacks key issues such as the media, the workplace, the home, education, mental health, culture, confidence and the body, to help South […]

Sri Lanka has thrilled the foreign imagination as a land of infinite possibility. Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisers envisioned an island of gems and pearls, a stopping-point on the Silk Road; tourists today are sold a vision of golden beaches and swaying palm trees, delicious food and smiling locals. This favours the south of the […]

Welcome to The Centre. You'll never be the same . . . Anisa Ellahi spends her days writing subtitles for Bollywood films in her London flat, all the while longing to be a translator of ‘great works of literature’. Her boyfriend Adam’s extraordinary aptitude for languages only makes her feel worse, but when Adam learns […]

How do you talk to someone who doesn't want to talk to you?What happens in the brain when we're having a good conversation?What have smartphones done to how we connect? Conversations are broken. And while effective dialogue is supposed to lead to greater fulfilment in our personal and professional lives, all the scientific evidence points […]

Reeva Mehta is thriving. Consumed in her career as one of London's top divorce lawyers, she doesn't bat an eyelid when her mum calls to tell her that her dad is dead. Because he's been dead since she was five . . . hasn't he? If finding out her dad was alive – until last […]

Delhi, 1997: It is India's fiftieth year of independence, the year of Hindu nationalists and atomic bombs. But twelve-year-old Adi has a bigger problem: his Ma has gone missing - again. Left with an ailing grandmother, a raging father and no answers, he finds an unlikely ally: a talking vulture who reveals itself to be […]