Orion: 2711 books

The long-awaited biography of one of the great writers of the twentieth century - 'a wonderful blend of scholarly fact and juicy storytelling' (Mail on Sunday). Muriel Spark ended was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. Hers is a Cinderella story, the first thirty-nine years...

'Biographies only tend to be definitive until the next one comes along, but there's no danger of Coldstream's erudite, moving analysis ever being superseded' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY. As an actor Dirk Bogarde was a Rank contract artist and matinee idol who became a giant of the intellectual cinema,...

The hitherto unpublished Dirk Bogarde - the best of his marvellous letters The success of John Coldstream's bestselling biography of Dirk Bogarde demonstrates that the interest in one of Britain's leading actors, memoirists and novelists does not diminish, even though it is a decade since his...

The first general history of the English middle classes, based on BBC TV programme of which Will Self said "No simple overview can do justice to this programme - an exemplary series and mandatory viewing'. Afternoon tea, the Women's Institute, Mrs Beeton, department stores, suburbia, seaside...

Paragon of English virtues or racist imperialist? Andrew Lycett (acclaimed biographer of Ian Fleming) has returned to primary sources to tell the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain's most famous and highest earning author. Among the many new sources, Lycett has discovered...

An outstanding collection of football writing - edited by Nick Hornby, author of the bestselling Fever Pitch Roddy Doyle's account of the Republic of Ireland's triumphant journey through Italia '90 is just one of the many first-class pieces in this anthology of original football writing. Contributors...

ON THE ROAD: GROWING UP IN EIGHT JOURNEYS - MY EARLY YEARS is a new form of autobiography, in which TOP GEAR presenter Richard Hammond tells the story of his early life through a series of significant driving episodes. He's a child in the back seat of Dad's car on the way to the seaside in Weston-Super-Mare....

Men hammered at phones as the lines burned their hands; distributor caps split, engines flashed into flame as gasoline from torn lines doused their blocks; computers rebelled, barraged their operators with lunatic results. An army of poltergeists was loose, ripping and snapping, jamming beyond all repair the machinery of war.

Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1987 Meet Gráinne: blue-stocking seductress, darling of the media, painfully human yet mysterious as her great namesake, the proud girl-goddess who plunged all Ireland into war and shadow...

Michael Palin's terrific account of his journey through 18 countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, published by Phoenix for the first time. For almost a year, Michael Palin travelled through 18 countries on the perimeter of the world's largest ocean, in a spectacular journey of contrasts, drama...

From rag-gatherers to royalty, from fish knives to Freemasons: everyday life in Victorian London. Like its acclaimed companion volumes, Elizabeth's London, Restoration London and Dr Johnson's London, this book is the product of the author's passionate interest in the realities of everyday life...

'A Baedeker of the past, absorbing and revealing in equal measure' Peter Ackroyd 'Brings the age's tortuous splendours and profound murkiness vividly to life' Observer When Dr Johnson published his great Dictionary in 1755, London was the biggest city in Europe. The opulence of the rich and...

A highly personal, anecdotal family memoir of the Wellington legacy. Jane Wellesley is a member of one of Britain's most illustrious families. Her father, the 8th Duke of Wellington, was born in 1915, a hundred years after the first Duke's momentous victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, but only...

The true story of a sensational marriage and murder in 17th-century London. For fans of WEDLOCK, THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER and GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE. Lady Bette, the 14-year-old heiress to the vast Northumberland estates, becomes the victim of a plot by her grandmother, the Countess...