2.6 billion people are inhabitants of former British colonies. The empire's influence upon the quarter of the planet it occupied, and its gravitational influence upon the world outside it, has been profound: from the spread of Christianity by missionaries, to nearly 1 in 3 driving on the left side of the road, to the origins of international law. Yet Britain's idea of its imperial history and the world's experience of […]

The secret to productivity isn't discipline. It's joy. We think that productivity is all about hard work. That the road to success is lined with endless frustration and toil. But what if there's another way? Dr Ali Abdaal - the world's most-followed productivity expert - has uncovered an easier, happier path to success. Drawing on decades of psychological research, he has found that the secret to productivity and success isn't […]

In one of America's Happiest Cities, 38-year-old Elen is trapped under the shadow of the snow-capped Cascade Mountains. Her husband has left her. Her belongings are in the boot of her car. Her days are filled mostly with silence and drinking. When she meets four English teenagers in an empty bar, she is enamoured. Luka, Clover, George and Lyn are wealthy squatters, drifting between ski resorts and breaking into empty […]

Ramadan, 2017. Yusuf wakes in the middle of the night to pray. His routine is always the same, but something tells him that tonight is different. Yellow flames blur Yusuf’s vision, and the laughter of a small child echoes in his ears. But this time, the red, smoke-filled skies aren’t just in his memory. Miles away, Rubi is also awake. On the television, she watches reports of a devastating fire […]

ONE MISSING BOY. ONE MAN UNDERCOVER. A WHOLE NATION AT RISK. Detective Kamil Rahman is working for the Metropolitan Police when he gets the call from MI5. They've received intelligence of a terrorist plot, and it's Kamil they need. Posing as a disaffected cop, and working back in his friend Anjoli's beloved restaurant on Brick Lane, Kamil attempts to infiltrate the cell. But when a young boy goes missing, Kamil […]

Knowledge is power. Time is money. Justice is blind. Western civilisation is a powerful brand, and full of accepted wisdoms like these that we rarely question. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and society grew into the tenets many of us still live by today. But if we take a closer look at these ideas, it seems they are not all they […]

Every second of every day, something is happening in every tiny bit of your body, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet… And if you think of your body as a machine, your BRAIN would be the control room – with billions of buttons for all kinds of incredibly important jobs. With words by medical doctor and writer of acclaimed memoir Everything Is True, Roopa […]

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 Malaysia, India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. With the Rohingya almost entirely in exile, I […]

"By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?" When academic Nadia is disowned by her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, she decides to make a getaway - accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues. But then Nadia meets Sara, a precocious and sweary East Londoner who […]

Your kids are missing, accused of plotting to kill thousands. Can you find them before it's too late? It's a week before the presidential elections when a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall. In London, armed police storm Heathrow Airport and arrest Sajid Khan. His daughter, Aliyah entered the USA with the suicide bomber, and now she's missing, potentially plotting another attack on American soil. But then a […]

FROM THE ASHES OF AN EMPIRE, A HERO WILL RISE… Jai has spent his life forced to serve the cruel empire that killed his family and now rules his people. To grow ever more powerful, the emperor’s young son is betrothed to Princess Erica of the Dansk Kingdom. An unconquerable realm, where ancient beasts roam. The princess brings with her a priceless gift: dragons. Only Dansk Royalty can bond with […]

Rita Marsh has two lives. By day she cares for the elderly, and by night she hunts down men who prey on young girls. But now a suspect is dead, and the police are on her tail. When an old school friend shows up with her own dark story to tell, Rita can't help herself being drawn to danger - and her two worlds start to collide. How far will […]

Sophie King is missing. Her parents, Harry and Zara, are distraught; for the last seventeen years, they've done everything for their beloved only daughter and now she's gone. The police have no leads, and Harry and Zara are growing increasingly frantic, although they are both dealing with it in very different ways. Increasingly obsessed with their highly suspicious neighbour who won't open the door or answer any questions, they are […]

We live under minority rule. But who is the ruling minority? Most of us are getting screwed over. Our world is defined by inequality, insecurity, lack of community and information overload. As the world burns, mega-corporations are reporting record profits. How are they getting away with it? 'Minority rule' is the term Ash Sarkar uses to describe the irrational fear that minorities are trying to overturn and oppress majority populations. […]

What if love is the best magic of all? An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magic – and her life – back on track, from the author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and […]

The ritual of chai offers a moment to stop, to inhale, to feel awakened by the heady concoction of tea leaves and spices, to look out of the window and observe, to sit and let thoughts waft into thin air like the steam from the chai, a moment to breathe and sigh, to feel the heat of the spices absorb into the body, to feel the senses awaken from the […]

'This is a work of fiction. This is not a confession.'Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. He is also a father, a widower, and a beloved celebrity in his small town. He is an unassuming man ­– tall, thin and quietly friendly. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer.Nathan Cole has known the truth about his father since he was 10 years old. Too terrified to go to the police, he ran […]

For over twenty-five years, actor Jassa Ahluwalia described himself as 'half Indian, half English'. His fluent Punjabi always prompted bewilderment, medical staff questioned the legitimacy of his name, and the world of casting taught him he wasn't 'the right kind of mixed-race'. Feeling caught between two worlds, it wasn't long before Jassa embarked on a call to action: we need to change how we think and talk about mixed identity. […]

For two years, Jia Khan has been running her late father’s organised crime business in the north of England. So far, her authority has remained unchallenged, but now things are beginning to unravel. When she finds her father’s notebook recounting his arrival from Pakistan in the 1970s, it awakes an old family feud that could have devastating repercussions for Jia. And worst of all, one of her staff lies brutally […]

From Onjali Q. Rauf, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, and award-winning illustrator Pippa Curnick, comes a moving picture book that helps young children understand and empathise with the refugee crisis, and shows the power that friendship, kindness and generosity can have. There's a new girl in my class. She has eyes as wide and as golden as a tiger's, skin as […]

They say she's a murderer.She thinks she's been framed.If only she could remember what happened in Eden Falls. Convicted of cold-blooded murder at seventeen, Orianna has always maintained her innocence. But there are holes in her memory, a blind spot over that fateful day. Did she really kill Gideon Wyclerc? And what happened to Gideon's teenaged daughter, Grace, who vanished that same day? Forensic psychologist, Annie Ledet, is tasked with […]

On the morning of 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black – black clothes, black mask – rushed down the aisle towards him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are. What followed was a horrific act of […]

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime: the open road, London to Kathmandu, just three young people looking for adventure. No one could have predicted the way it ended, and for fifty years the truth has been buried. But now, Joyce is ready to tell her story. London, 1970. Fresh out of a dead-end job, Joyce answers an ad in the local paper: Kathmandu by van, leave […]

He knows everything about you. Including how to save you. And how to kill you. Local pharmacist and pillar of the community, Idris Khan, spends his days doling out methadone to the hundreds of addicts in his care. They trust Idris with their secrets, and so he knows more than his mild manner suggests. So when his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca, doesn't turn up for her daily methadone dose, Idris is […]

Three grandfathers killed on the streets of England in three separate incidents by three different men. Each targeted simply for being Muslim - each attack a consequence of the insidious rise in Islamophobia in Britain. From the far-right violence that broke out in the summer of 2024 to the hatred directed at Muslims in public life during the Gaza conflict, anti-Muslim racism is dangerously out-of-control. Fed by a network of […]

In one night, Nayan lost everything. Years later, his world is at risk again. Nayan has fought hard to move on, losing himself in his political work, trying to make a better world. A fresh challenge arrives with newcomer Megha, who threatens not just his career ambitions, but his ideals. Meanwhile the enigmatic Helen Fletcher returns to Chesterfield and Nayan finds himself growing close to her. But Helen carries secrets […]

It's the 1990's, and Jay is an artist tipped for greatness. Shortly after graduating from his London art school, a promising career is already taking shape before him. Despite the brutal end of his intense relationship with Alice, his great love, he's destined to make his mark on the world as one of the most brilliant young creatives of the last century. Everyone is going to remember his name. It's […]

It might not be the stuff of dreams, but Padma and Wallace have spent ten years building a relationship that feels... fine. Until Wallace gives Padma an ultimatum about starting a family she's not sure she even wants. Padma's fifteen-year-old niece Myra is reaching her own crisis point. When she falls in with the wrong crowd and her life ends up in danger, it's the final straw for her parents. […]

Have you ever felt unheard by your doctor? Been frustrated that they haven't understood your symptoms, that they have neglected your concerns? When Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan was admitted to hospital as a patient she didn't receive the pain medication that she told them she needed, despite her being a senior doctor. It was in that moment she understood that something was deeply wrong with our healthcare system. Doctors aren't listening, […]

Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India's first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India's new post-Independence neighbours. With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators - aided by agents from Britain's MI6 security service - Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But […]

Filled with wit and verve, Vaseem Khan brings his vibrant and dynamic style to one of Ian Fleming's most beloved characters, Q. Charming, drily humorous, and intelligently crafted, Quantum of Menace, the first in the Q mystery books, will appeal to Bond fans, readers of Murder Before Evensong, The Thursday Murder Club and Slow Horses novels, and those who are looking for a new take on clever crime fiction. Q […]