seven days one summer kate morris the baskerville legacy john o’connell the last day of term francis gilbert the harlot’s press helen pike the ecstasy and the

agony steve walker

calamities & catastrophes d e r e k w i l s o n

the trouble with alice olivia glazebrook the baskerville legacy john o’connell

the social animal david brooks low life jeremy clark

the pocket guide to good grannies jane fearnley-whittingstall

cooking for claudine john baxter notes on them and us justin webb

the russian court at sea frances welch

the three hungry boys

birdwatching with your eyes closed simon barnes

dinner with churchill cita stelzer

S H O R T B O O K S May-November 2011

FICTION2 Seven Days One Summer

3 The Last Day of Term

5 We All Ran Into The Sunlight

6 The Harlot’s Press

7 The Trouble with Alice

8 The Baskerville Legacy

NON-FICTION 10 The Social Animal

12 The Ecstasy and The Agony

13 Calamities & Catastrophes

14 Notes on Them and Us

16 Dinner With Churchill

18 The Pocket Guide to Good Grannies

19 The Russian Court at Sea

20 The Three Hungry Boys

22 Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed

24 Low Life

25 Cooking for Claudine

24 Backlist

28 Contact Details

29 Key Titles from Spring 2011

It is the last day of term at the Gilda Ball Academy, and teacher Martin Hicks starts it full of hope and good intentions. He is about to get the promotion he’s wanted for years, and has vowed to make things up with his estranged wife Helen.

Cut to a dim flat in Elephant & Castle, where Bela, a Hungarian boy, lives with his great-uncle, a refugee from WWII, and his mother, a chain-smoking Communist. Bela has been threatening revenge on Martin ever since being suspended from Gilda Ball a few weeks previously.

All told within a single day, The Last Day of Term weaves a gripping drama about life in an inner-city multicultural school. Shortly after his arrival at work, Martin’s life is in tailspin, his career potentially ruined by an anonymous accusation of child molestation. Bela, the Hungarian boy, is the likely source. But the truth, as Martin discovers, is never quite that simple.

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 320pp

PUB DATE July 2011

FORMAT Demy

trade paperback

ISBN 978-1-906021-51-1

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

The Last Day of TermFraNCIs gIlberT

Funny, richly detailed and humane, Francis Gilbert’s latest book is about a man in crisis and a boy on the edge who find they have more in common than they could ever have imagined.

Francis gilbert has taught in a variety of comprehensive schools in London and currently teaches English part-time. His previous books have included the bestselling I’m A Teacher, Get Me Out of Here (Short Books, 2004), Teacher on the Run (Short Books, 2005), Yob Nation (2006) and Working the System (Short Books, 2009). He lives in East London with his wife and son.

o r i g i n a l f i c t i o n 3

When her old flame Sam rings up one day and invites her on a villa holiday in Italy, Jen is completely thrown off balance. Sam, as she cannot help but recall, was the best kiss of her life.

With her husband Marcus constantly travelling the world for work, and seven-year-old Alfie still in the marital bed, the joys of marriage and motherhood are thin on the ground for Jen these days... What could be more appealing than being with old friends and recapturing a little bit of their youth.

Two months later, Jen and Marcus arrive at the stunning Villa La Silerchie. There to greet them are Jen’s best friend Tara and her new husband Dave, a struggling writer; there’s also vain, neurotic Miranda and her fiancé Toby; Jack, a handsome and successful actor, recently separated; and Sam – funny, laid-back, sexy Sam...

Everything’s set for the holiday of a lifetime; but as the week progresses, and tensions rise in the August heat, relationships unravel, old rivalries re-emerge, and uncomfortable truths have to be faced.

Who knew what seven days in the sun could lead to...

Seven Days One SummerkaTe mOrrIs eight old friends reunite for a week in the sun... what could possibly go wrong?

‘Kate Morris brilliantly depicts all those little irks and irritations that eventually get to even the best of us.’ Daily Express

PRICE £7.99

EXTENT 304pp

PUB DATE July 2011

FORMAT

B paperback

ISBN 978-1-907595-27-1

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

kate morris is a freelance writer, author of two novels – including The Seven Year Itch (Penguin, 2009) – and the mother of two children. She writes a marriage column for the Times and lives in West London.

2 p a p e r b a c k f i c t i o n

‘The past grabs hold and will not let you go in this uncanny and beautiful novel. Strange and

delicious in the manner of Rebecca.’ Sarah Blake, author of The Postmistress

‘Bold and original... Natalie Young captures beautifully the character of a small French town,

porous to every drop of gossip but presenting an impenetrable surface to outsiders.’

Helen Dunmore

‘Natalie Young has created a near-Gothic story of obsession and desire, set against the background

of a sinister chateau. Definitely not for the faint-hearted... A true tour de force.’

Mavis Cheek

‘Poised, well-written, richly detailed’ Ben Okri

‘This novel will mesmerize you – and it will break your heart.’

Stefan Merrill Block, author of The Story of Forgetting

Kate and Stephen Glover – in need of a break from their hectic London life – go on a winter sabbatical in the secluded French village of Canas. The slow pace of life there affects them in different ways. While Stephen feels increasingly restless, Kate finds herself drawn to the village and to the beautiful, derelict chateau at its heart.

But soon Kate’s daily excursions over the chateau wall are spreading rumours among the locals. What she doesn’t know is that the house has a terrible legacy, and her private journey of escape and self-discovery is threatening to reawaken the trauma of a family, broken apart one summer’s night more than fifty years before.

PRICE £7.99

EXTENT 320pp

PUB DATE

August 2011

FORMAT B paperback

ISBN 978-1-907595-41-7

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

We All Ran Into The SunlightNaTalIe YOUNg

Set in the shimmering landscape of the southern Cevennes, Natalie Young’s novel alternates between the years immediately after the Second World War and the present day to explore a dark family secret and its ripple effect on people’s lives. It is a heartbreaking story of love and ownership, misplaced desire and the damage done when the truth is withheld.

Natalie Young worked for The Times for several years, and is now books editor at Prospect. She has two children and lives in London. This is her first novel.

p a p e r b a c k f i c t i o n 5

Kit and Alice are happy, in love and enjoying a luxurious weekend break abroad when the unthinkable happens. Their car spins off a mountain road and into an empty desert valley. Their lives are changed in an instant.

The accident shatters their faith in their relationship and in each other. Alice’s natural optimism deserts her; she stops eating and separates herself from other people. Even her loving sister, Emmy, is kept at a distance. Kit’s dog Bones becomes her constant companion. For his part, Kit resents this new brittle Alice; he reproaches himself for his lack of sympathy but he cannot seem to reconnect.

The Trouble with Alice is a beautifully written tale of two people thrown in at the emotional deep end, stuggling to find a way back in the aftermath of tragedy. With poignancy and humour, Olivia Glazebrook unwinds the conventions of a love story. She speaks of compassion, of renewal and ultimately, perhaps, of reconciliation.

PRICE £7.99

EXTENT 304pp

PUB DATE Aug 2011

FORMAT B paperback

ISBN

978-1-907595-64-6

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

The Trouble with Alice OlIvIa glazebrOOk

‘A story that really draws the reader in, with characters that you want to embrace as friends (or as satisfyingly horrible enemies)... Quite deliciously funny and sad’ Barbara Trapido, author of Frankie & Stankie

Olivia glazebrook was born in 1976 and brought up in Dorset. She studied English Literature at University College London and has written as a journalist, screenwriter, film critic and book critic for fifteen years. The Trouble With Alice is her first novel. She lives in West London.

p a p e r b a c k f i c t i o n 7

Into this tumultuous world is thrown Nell Wingfield, a gutsy 17-year-old printer of political pamphlets. Nell has recently returned home after a six-month absence that she would rather not explain. After her mother’s death, she was duped into working at one of the ‘Houses of the Quality’, the brothels on St James’s, turning tricks with men at the heart of the English establishment. When one of them – a key protagonist in the plot to keep Caroline from the throne – was found dead in his bed, it was time for Nell to leave.

But back on Cheapside she finds that the family print shop, far from providing a sanctuary, has become a hotbed of dangerous radical activity. Nell’s troubles, it seems, have only just begun...

The Harlot’s Press is a gripping historical drama, in which St James’s and Cheapside, royalty and the rabble become thrillingly entangled as Nell fights for survival.

The Harlot ’s PressHeleN PIke

London, 1820: George IV is to be crowned King at last. But will his estranged wife Caroline be allowed to join him as Queen? The city is in turmoil, as Caroline’s radical supporters rally to her cause…

PRICE £7.99

EXTENT 352pp

PUB DATE July 2011

FORMAT B paperback

ISBN 978-1-907595-40-0

UK & COM. ex CAN

Short Books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

United Agents

Helen Pike lives in Guildford and Oxfordshire. She is a History graduate of Oxford and holds an MA in creative writing from Birkbeck. This is her debut novel, and was in part inspired by her history teaching.

6 p a p e r b a c k f i c t i o n

A research trip to deepest Dartmoor cements their friendship as they start work on what will become one of the world’s most famous tales, The Hound of the Baskervilles.But the experience will prove traumatic for both of them, andwhen the result of their labours – Sherlock’s comeback vehicle – is finally published, it will be credited to one author alone.

Based on real events, The Baskerville Legacy is a creeper in its own right: a thrilling exploration of friendship and rivalry, love and lust, ambition and the limits of talent. It takes us from the clattering heart of Edwardian London to the eerie stillness of ancient West Country moorland, where a treacherous mire might swallow a man in seconds...

The Baskervi l le LegacyJOHN O’CONNell

‘It’s a curious business, the relationship between a creator and his creations. Brutal, too. Of course,’ Doyle’s tone hardened, ‘Holmes had to be retired. He was distracting me from better things.’ I seized on this. ‘So Holmes is retired? He’s not... not dead?’ Doyle roared with laughter. ‘I like you, Robinson. You remind me of myself when I was younger. But I won’t be drawn on that. Goodness, no.’

When a young journalist, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, meets his writer hero Arthur Conan Doyle on a troop ship coming back from South Africa, he is delighted – especially when the creator of Sherlock Holmes suggests they collaborate on a ‘real creeper’ of a story.

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 172pp

PUB DATE September 2011

FORMAT A hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-46-2

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

John O’Connell worked for several years at the London listings magazine Time Out, where he was books editor. He now writes, mostly about books, for The Times, The Guardian, New Statesman and The National. He is the author of I Told You I Was Ill: Adventures in Hypochondria (Short Books, 2005) and The Midlife Manual (Short Books, 2010). He is 37 and lives in south London with his wife and two children.

8 o r i g i n a l f i c t i o n

Fiction£12.99 172pp

September 2011A format hardback978-1-907595-46-2

World rights: Short Books

PRICE £14.99

EXTENT 448pp

PUB DATE May 2011

FORMAT Royal paperback

ISBN 978-1-907595-44-8

UK & COM. ex CAN.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Random House

‘An uncommonly brilliant blend of sociology, intellect and allegory.’ Kirkus, Starred Review

Meet Harold and Erica, representative of you and me. In this captivating fable of modern life, New York Times columnist David Brooks follows their story from birth to old age and explores the forces that expand and limit their choices in life – how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed.

The Social Animal DavID brOOks the hidden sources of love, character and achievement

David Brooks has millions of readers worldwide from his New York Times column. His influence has only grown since the publication of his book Bobos In Paradise. New York magazine called him ‘the essential columnist of our time’ in a recent profile. He lives in Washington DC.

n o n - f i c t i o n 11

This is the happiest story you’ll ever read.

It’s about two people who led

wonderfully fulfilling lives. They had engrossing careers, earned the respect

of their friends, and made important contributions to their neighbourhood,

their country, and their world.

The odd thing was, they weren’t born geniuses. They did okay in IQ tests

but had no extraordinary physical or mental gifts. They were fine-looking, but they weren’t beautiful. Nobody

would have picked them out at a young age and said they were destined for

greatness. Yet they achieved this success, and everyone who met them

said they had blessed lives.

How did they do it?

Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred – we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we had in the previous three thousand. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind

– not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, personality traits and social norms: the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made.

The Social Animal is about how we do the things we do and why we are the way we are. Impossible to put down, it is an essential book for our time, one that will have broad social impact and will change the way we see ourselves and the world.

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 256pp

PUB DATE August 2011

FORMAT Demy trade ppbck

ISBN 978-1-907595-65-3

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

We learn from our mistakes – don’t we? We look back on things that have gone wrong and do our best not to let them happen again. Well, that’s the general idea. Unfortunately, history tells us otherwise.

In this fascinating, revelatory book, Derek Wilson picks the ten very worst years in world history – from the destruction of the Roman Empire in 541 to the march on Leningrad in 1942. He identifies the traitors, scumbags and villains, whose lust for power brought such terror to their times, and shows how history has a horrible habit of repeating itself.

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 272pp

PUB DATE Sept 2011

FORMAT B hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-45-5

UK & COM. ex CAN.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

United Agents

Calamit ies & Catastrophes Derek WIlsON

Forget those boring lessons spent snoozing at the back of the class while Mr Potts droned about the origins of the Industrial Revolution – this book describes a catalogue of calamities, catastrophes and cock-ups that will make you hair curl.

Derek Wilson is one of Britain’s leading popular historians. Since leaving Cambridge, where he took the Archbishop Cranmer Prize for post-graduate research, he has written over 50 books including Britain’s Rottenest Years (Short Books), Rothschild: A Story of Wealth and Power and Hans Holbein: Portrait of an Unknown Man, and has made numerous radio and TV appearances.

h i s t o r y 13

When one of his dealer associates ended up decapitated in the back of a taxi – part of the dirty war to control the illegal drug market in the city – Steve moved underground, in a desperate bid to go straight. But leaving his old life behind him was not so easy. There followed frequent stints in prison and suicide attempts… And then, years later, having been committed to a psychiatric hospital, his body ravaged by a decade of addiction, he was given one last chance to save himself.

The Ecstasy and The Agony is the inspirational story of a man who had to go on the toughest of journeys to bring himself back from the brink and reconnect with the world. It is a testament to the incredible power there is within all of us to break even the most hardened aspects of our habits and behaviour and turn our lives around.

The Ecstasy and The AgonysTeve Walker

By the age of 23, Steve Walker was the biggest drug dealer in Cardiff. He had a fast car, money to splash and a trail of broken relationships. He also had a serious drug habit of his own.

steve Walker is now Programme Director of the Ley Community in Oxfordshire, one of Britain’s most important and successful drug rehabilitation centres, where he was treated in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

12 m e m o i r

When Barack Obama made his first presidential visit to London, his briefing began thus: ‘England – a place slightly smaller than Oregon’. So much for the

‘Special Relationship’.

Notes on Them & Us is a wry account of the transatlantic friendship as it actually exists today

– how Americans see us, how we Brits see them – and Justin Webb, presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme and formerly the BBC’s North American editor for 8 years, is perfectly placed to comment.

An amusing, myth-breaking, unflinchingly honest read, this is not an attack on either the English or the Americans. Webb concludes that there is a fault line in the long-standing marriage between these two great nations, a cultural divide that separates us. And he argues that recognising this divide, even celebrating it, is the key to a rich future collaboration.

Notes on Them and UsJUsTIN Webba plan for an amicable separation between britain and america

‘Not since Charles Wheeler has the BBC had as fine an American correspondent. His perceptive reporting has been a joy.’ The Times

14 p o l i t i c s

PRICE £16.99

EXTENT 288pp

PUB DATE

September 2011

FORMAT Demy

hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-43-1

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

Justin Webb is a presenter on Radio Four’s Today programme. He was previously the BBC’s North America editor and he has spent the last eight years shaping and leading the BBC’s coverage of the US and its neighbours. He lives in London with his wife Sarah and their children Martha, Sam and Clara.

There is a place where the special relationship still exists. There are no direct flights from Britain to this place. You have to change planes. You have to fly on into that pancake bit in the middle of America where, on a cloudless day, the view stretches towards the horizon. This is the part of America where Tony Blair’s journey never ends. Prime Minister Blair (always Prime Minister) and Lady Thatcher have morphed into a composite picture of the plucky dependable Brit. Both are revered and through their good offices, gentle reader, you can be too. But to assume that your muscularity (or Blair’s and Thatcher’s) is the attraction, or your ability to commit British troops to far away wars, or your (imagined or otherwise) support or past support for these giants and their policies, is to make a serious mistake.

They love you for your vowels. Imagine you have just arrived in a place like Boise, Idaho or Wichita, Kansas or Normal, Illinois. You are in need of refreshment and you spot, in the out-of-town mall between the airport and the hotel, a Starbucks. In you go and order a muffin and an iced tea. Pandemonium ensues. People are called in from the back office. “Jolene, come here and listen to this man’s beautiful voice!” Large ladies with serious religious views consider throwing away their chances of getting to heaven for a moment of madness with this English stranger. You can see it in their eyes. You are glamour. Like Julia Roberts popping into that bookshop in Notting Hill, you cause hearts to flutter.

‘

’

PRICE £17.99

EXTENT 304pp

PUB DATE Oct 2011

FORMAT Royal hdbck

with b/w pics

ISBN 978-1-907595-42-4

UK & COM. ex CAN.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Capel & Land

In this riveting, entertaining book, Cita Stelzer examines ten of the key dinners at which Churchill presided during WWII, and shows how in this crucial period he used his superlative social and rhetorical skills to bring about serious political change.

With fascinating new material on the food he ate, the champagnes he loved, as well as original menus, seating plans, and unpublished photographs, Dinner with Churchill is a sumptuous treat. It reveals the care with which Churchill planned his charm offensives against both natyral allies, like Roosevelt, and potential antagonists, like Stalin, on his favourite battlefield – a luxurious dining-room, primed and loaded, from soup to nuts, from cocktails to liqueurs.

Dinner with Churchi l l CITa sTelzerthe prime minister’s table-top diplomacy

‘Nobody could be better qualified to have written this book than Cita Stelzer.’ Andrew Roberts, author of Masters and Commanders Dinners meant a lot to Churchill – a friend once said of him, ‘He is a man of simple tastes; he is quite easily satisfied with the best of everything.’

But meals were always more for him than just good food and fine wine. Over seventy years the dinner table became a stage for his own brilliant conversational talents, an intimate world in which both gossip and diplomatic secrets could be shared...

A freelance editor and journalist, Cita stelzer majored in history and went on to work for John Lindsay, mayor of New York and Governor Hugh Carey. She is currently a reader at Churchill College, Cambridge; and a director of the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum

b i o g r a p h y 17

On 11th April 1919, less than a year after the assassination of the Romanovs, the British battleship HMS Marlborough left Yalta carrying 17 members of the Russian Imperial Family into perpetual exile. They included the Tsar’s mother, the Dowager Empress Marie, and his sister, the Grand Duchess Xenia; Prince Felix Youssupov, the murderer of Rasputin and a man once mooted as a future leader of Russia; and Grand Duke Nicholas, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies.

As the ship prepared to set sail, a British sloop carrying 170 White Russian soldiers drew up alongside. The soldiers stood on deck and sang the Russian national anthem. It was the last time the anthem was sung to members of the Imperial Family within Russian territory for over 70 years.

The Russian Court at Sea vividly recreates this unlikely voyage, with its bizarre assortment of warring characters and its priceless cargo of treasures, including rolled-up Rembrandts and Faberge eggs. It is a story, by turns exotic, comic and doomed, of an extraordinary group of people caught up in an extraordinary moment in history when their lives were in every way at sea.

PRICE £8.99

EXTENT 288pp

PUB DATE Aug 2011

FORMAT B paperback

ISBN 978-1-907595-70-7

UK & COM.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Rogers, Coleridge & White

The Russian Court at Sea FraNCes WelCH

‘The kind of history that makes fiction look pallid and pointless…’ Evening Standard

‘Frances Welch has produced a book that is wonderfully witty and sad by turns. The grainy photographs, showing everyday life on board the Marlborough, add to the atmosphere of delicious wistfulness.’ Mail on Sunday

Frances Welch has written for the Sunday Telegraph, Granta, The Spectator and the Financial Times. She is author of The Romanov & Mr Gibbes (Short Books, 2003) and A Romanov Fantasy (Short Books, 2007) She is married to the writer Craig Brown, and has two children.

h i s t o r y 19

In this delightful new book, Jane Fearnley- Whittingstall features 50 deliciously recognisable types – from Glam Gran (she descends on the newborn’s cradle like a fairy godmother with her designer baby clothes and cashmere wraps) to Wise Gran (she knows by instinct how to get a burp out of a baby and how to comfort a colicky one...)

Charmingly illustrated with Alex Fox’s cartoons, The Pocket Book of Good Grannies is a celebration of grandmotherhood in all its guises. There’s a Granny in here for everyone.

The Pocket Guide to Good GranniesJaNe FearNleY-WHITTINgsTall

What kind of granny are you? Traditional Gran? Rock ‘n’ Roll Gran? Perhaps you’re more Sporty Gran (forever breezing in from the golf course or flying off for a week’s scuba-diving in the sun)...

PRICE £9.99

EXTENT 144pp

PUB DATE October 2011

FORMAT B hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-50-9

UK & COM.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Greene and Heaton

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, has also written The Good Granny Companion and The Good Granny Cookbook (Short Books, 2008, 2007). A grandmother of five, and the mother of TV chef Hugh, she lives with her husband in Gloucestershire.

18 h u m o u r

a new title from the bestsellingauthor of the good granny guide

The Three Hungry BoysTrevOr brINkmaN, THOm HUNT& TIm CressWell

think of how many summers you have left in your life...

Last year, Tim, Thom and Trevor – three best mates who shared a love of the outdoors – decided not to waste a single summer more. They undertook the journey of their lives, setting off for Scotland in a beaten up VW camper van, with the aim of surviving for a month on their collective knowledge of nature and the wild and not much else.

These three lads knew their Ray Mears and Bear Grylls, but nothing could have prepared them for the challenge of having to catch, trap or blag their way to a full stomach – let alone pitch a tent on the beach on a moonless night in the pouring rain.

Three Hungry Boys brings together everything the boys learnt on their great summer adventure – expect spear fishing, caber tossing, mushroom picking, goose culling, lobster baiting, log rafting, fly fishing, whisky tasting, urchin eating, wild swimming, salmon smoking, mussel picking, paddle surfing, scuba diving, shark swimming, and even sword dancing.

With an entertaining mix of recipes, how to’s, survival tips and hilarious anecdotes, this book will inspire you to get out there and have an adventure of your own

PRICE £16.99

EXTENT 224pp

PUB DATE October 2011

FORMAT Crown Quarto ppbck

ISBN 978-1-907595-17-2

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

Trevor, Thom and Tim aka the Three Hungry boys, met at university in 2000, and have been best friends ever since. Sharing a love of marine biology, outdoor life and eating whatever they can get their hands on, their TV programme, The Three Hungry Boys on Channel 4 has been a runaway success.

20 c o o k i n g / o u t d o o r

Fiction£12.99 172pp

September 2011A format hardback978-1-907595-46-2

World rights: Short Books

Why do birds sing? What are they trying to say? Birdsong is not just about natural history. It is

also about our history. We got melody from birds as we got rhythm from the womb. Birds are our music: they teach us to express emotion and beauty in sound. The first instruments ever made were bird-flutes.

This vital book – with a free CD and podcast – takes you from winter into deepest spring, teaching you how to recognise song after song as the chorus swells. You start with robin, and end up listening to nightingales.

Along the way, you will learn something of the science of birdsong – the difference between song and call, the physiology of songbirds, what birdsong tells us about evolution, and indeed the very beginnings of life itself. The aim is to give you a flying start in birdsong so that, after reading this book, you’ll be listening to order, not chaos, to Bach, not white noise. You will be more aware of the wild world, and better able to understand it.

Birdwatching With Your Eyes ClosedsImON barNes Learning birdsong is not just a way to become a better bird-spotter. It is tuning in: a way of hearing the soundtrack of the planet earth...

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 288pp

PUB DATE November 2011

FORMAT B hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-47-9

UK & COM.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Capel & Land

simon barnes is the multi-award-

winning chief sportswriter for the

Times. He is also a novelist, nature

writer and horseman, and the author of

a dozen books, including How to be a

Bad Birdwatcher and The Meaning of

Sport (Short Books). He lives in Suffolk

with his family.

22 n a t u r e

bestselling author of how to be a bad birdwatcher

Cooking for Claudine is the charming and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread – and didn’t speak a word of French – unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family...

For John Baxter – acclaimed film critic and food lover – that moment came when he fell in love with a French woman and impulsively moved to Paris to marry her. As a test of his love, his sceptical in-laws charged him with cooking the next Christmas banquet. His year-long quest takes readers to the farthest corners of France in search of the country’s finest recipes and ingredients.

Cooking for Claudine is a warm-hearted tale of good food and true love – Parisian-style. How can you resist?

PRICE £8.99

EXTENT 304pp

PUB DATE Nov 2011

FORMAT cut down B ppbck

ISBN 978-1-907595-12-7

UK & COM. ex CAN.

Short books

FOREIGN R IGHTS

Curtis Brown

Cooking for Claudine JOHN baxTerhow i cooked my way to the heart of a formidable french family

‘John Baxter is so erudite while being so funny. He’s much more than a tourist – he’s got it all.’ Diane Johnson, bestselling author of Le Divorce

John baxter is an Australian-born writer, journalist and filmmaker. Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the filmmaker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.

f o o d / m e m o i r 25

Attended charismatic Baptist church. Made girlfriend pregnant. Resigned from job as refuse collector, resigned church membership, returned library books, sold house, went to the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire.

Came back altered. Conscious decision to join bourgeoisie. Night classes for a year in Torquay. Reviewed book by the late, great D Brian Plummer on ferret husbandry for University College London student literary magazine. Taken on by legendary editor Dr Karl Miller as his latest ‘great white hope’.

Book deal. Fifty grand advance. Spent advance. Failed to write book. Now, author of the Low Life column in the Spectator.

53 years old and a grandfather. Unmarried. Currently coughing and sneezing in a remote cottage on Dartmoor...

Low LifeJeremY Clarkeone middle-aged man in search of the point...

Meet Jeremy Clarke: Two O levels. Three convictions for smash and grab in off licenses. Two for drunk driving. One for possession of amphetamine sulphate. General labouring and factory work.

PRICE £12.99

EXTENT 256pp

PUB DATE Nov 2011

FORMAT B hardback

ISBN 978-1-907595-51-6

WORLD R IGHTS

Short Books

Jeremy Clarke has been a columnist for Prospect (1995-2000), the Independent on Sunday (1996-98) and the Spectator, where he has been writing the Low Life column since the death of Jeffrey Barnard in 2000. He remains an undiscovered talent.

24 m e m o i r

e-bOOks

978-1-907595-30-1 978-1-907595-32-5 978-1-907595-36-3 978-1-907595-31-8

978-1-907595-29-5 978-1-907595-33-2 978-1-907595-35-6 978-1-907595-37-0

978-1-907595-38-7 978-1-907595-23-3 978-1-907595-24-0 978-1-907595-73-8

978-1-907595-75-2 978-1-907595-79-0 978-1-907595-81-3 978-1-907595-87-5

978-1-907595-89-9 978-1-907595-93-6 978-1-907595-95-0 978-1-907595-77-6

978-1-907595-83-7 978-1-907595-85-1 978-1-907595-97-4

FICTIONA CHANCE ACQUAINTANCE Charles ChadwickB format hardback 978-1-906021-40-5

BENNY & SHRIMP Katarina MazettiB format paperback 978-1-906021-36-8

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH HITLER Emma CraigieB format paperback 978-1-907595-20-2

CRIMSON CHINA Betsy TobinB format paperback 978-1-907595-22-6

ICE LAND Betsy TobinB format paperback 978-1-906021-34-4

THE DAYS OF JUDY B Rose HeineyB format paperback 978-1-906021-35-1

MCNAUGHTEN Sian BusbyB format paperback 978-1-906021-88-7

OPHELIA IN PIECES Clare JacobDemy trade paperback 978-1-907595-14-1

THE TROUBLE WITH ALICE Olivia GlazebrookDemy trade paperback 978-1-907595-15-8

NON-FICTION

A BOOK OF HEROES Simon Barnes B format paperback 978-1-904095-19-6

AMO, AMAS, AMAT...and all that Harry Mount B format paperback 978-1-906021-15-3

A RAGE FOR ROCK GARDENING Nicola Shulman B format paperback 978-1-904095-47-7

A ROMANOV FANTASY Frances WelchDemy hdbk 978-1-904977-71-1

A SEASIDE PRACTICE Dr Tom SmithB format paperback 978-1-906021-23-8

...AND SHE LAUGHED NO MORE Stephen Foster B format paperback 978-1-906021-62-7

A WONDERFUL LITTLE GIRL Siân BusbyB format ppbk 978-1-904095-70-5

BAcKLIST 2726 BAcKLIST

NON-FICTION

BRITAIN’S ROTTENEST YEARS Derek WilsonB format hardback 978-1-906021-58-0

BROWN’S BRITAIN Robert PestonRoyal paperback 978-1-904977-36-0

CAMILLA Rebecca TyrrelA format ppbk 978-1-904095-73-6

CAN WE PLAY YOU EVERY WEEK? Max Velody B format ppbk 978-1-906021-74-0

CHAMFORT Edited by Douglas ParméeB format hdbk 978-1-904095-62-0

CHANGE THE WORLD FOR A FIVER 210mm x 196mm paperback 978-1-904095-96-5

CHANGE THE WORLD 9-5 210mm x 196mm paperback 978-1-904977-48-3

DEAR GRANNY SMITH Roy Mayall Cut down A format ppbck 978-1-906021-97-9

DREAMING IN CHINESE Deborah Fallows 129x192mm hardback 978-1-906021-55-9

FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE Jane Fearnley-WhittingstallRoyal hardback 978-1-904977-76-6

GOING BUDDHIST Peter J. ConradiB format paperback 978-1-904977-01-8

GRAVEN WITH DIAMONDS Nicola Shulman Royal Hardback 978-1-906021-11-5

HAVE A NICE DAY Justin WebbB format paperback 978-1-906021-70-2

HOW TO BE A BAD BIRDWATCHER Simon Barnes B format paperback 978-1-904977-05-6

HOW TO BE WILD Simon BarnesB format paperback 978-1-904977-97-1

HOW TO GET THINGS REALLY FLAT Andrew Martin B format paperback 978-1-906021-71-9

I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL John O’ConnellB format paperback 978-1-904977-44-5

I’M A TEACHER GET ME OUT OF HERE! Francis Gilbert B format paperback 978-1-904977-02-5

IRIS MURDOCH – A WRITER AT WAR ed. Peter Conradi Royal hardback 978-1-906021-22-1

IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME Charlotte HigginsB format paperback 978-1-906021-59-7

JEREMY & AMY Jeremy KeelingB format paperback 978-1-907595-18-9

KEEPER Andrea GilliesB format paperback 978-1-906021-99-3

MADCAP Tim Willis B format pbck 978-1-904095-50-7

MIND THE GAP Ferdinand MountB format paperback 978-1-904977-32-2

NIGEL DEMPSTER &THE DEATH OF DISCRETION Tim Willis B format paperback 978-1-907595-25-7

THE HORSEY LIFE Simon Barnes 978-1-907595-35-6

MY NATURAL HISTORY Simon Barnes B format paperback 978-1-907595-28-8

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING Rupert Christiansen B format hardback 978-1-906021-16-0

OLD BOYS’ NETWORK John Rae164 x 256mm paperback 978-1-906021-93-1

ONE TO NINE Andrew HodgesB format paperback 978-1-906021-26-9

OUT OF THE WOODS Will CohuB format hardback 978 -1-904977-83-4

SEASONAL SUICIDE NOTES Roger Lewis 129x192mm hardback 978-1-96021-76-4

TEACHER ON THE RUN Francis Gilbert B format paperback 978-1-904977-55-1

TEACH YOUR GRANNY TO TEXT 280 x 214 mm paperback 978-1-406320-71-8

THE CRUEL MOTHER Siân Busby B format paperback 978-1-904977-06-3

THE FATHER’S BOOK Elma Van Vliet232 x 170mm hardback 978-1-906021-69-6

THE GIRLS’ EMPIRE 198x152mm hdbck 978-1-906021-17-7

THE GOOD GRANNY COMPANIONJane Fearnley-Whittingstall198 x 152mm paperback 978-1-906021-66-5

THE GOOD GRANNY COOKBOOKJane Fearnley-Whittingstall164 x 256mm paperback 978-1-906021-44-3

THE GOOD GRANNY GUIDE Jane Fearnley-WhittingstallB format paperback 978-1-904977-70-4

THE HORSEY LIFE Simon Barnes B format paperback 978-1-906021-94-8

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ETON Nick Fraser B format paperback 978-1-906021-27-6

THE LAST RESORT Douglas RogersDemy paperback 978-1-906021-91-7

THE MEANING OF SPORT Simon Barnes B format paperback 978-1-904977-85-8

THE MIDLIFE MANUAL John O’Connell & Jessica Cargill-Thompson198x152mm hdbck 978-1-907595-05-9

THE MOTHER’S BOOK Elma Van Vliet 232x170mm hardback 978-1-906021-09-2

THE RUSSIAN COURT AT SEA Frances Welch B format hardback 978-1-906021-78-8

THE SOCIAL ANIMAL David BrooksRoyal hardback 978-1-907595-44-8

THE WISDOM OF DONKEYS Andy Merrifield B format paperback 978-1-906021-37-5

WALKING OLLIE Stephen FosterB format paperback 978-1-904977-88-9

WENGER Jasper Rees A format pbck 978-1-904095-72-9

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP? Deborah Hutton Cut down B format pbck 978-1-906021-56-6

WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? Tom Carver B format pbck 978-1-906021-92-4

WORKING THE SYSTEM Francis Gilbert Demy trade pbck 978-1-906021-75-7

CHIlDreN’s FICTIONTHE AWFUL TALE OF AGATHA BILKESiân Pattenden B format paperback978-1-904977-51-3

OPERATION WARD 10 Siân Pattenden B format paperback978-1-904977-89-6

PARIS MATCH Siân Pattenden B format paperback 978-1-906021-30-6

RUBIES IN THE SNOW Kate Hubbard B format paperback 978-1-906021-64-1

CHIlDreN’s NON-FICTIONTHE BOY WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS Andrew Billen B format hardback 978-1-906021-82-5

THE WHO WAS... SERIES – B format ppbks

CONTACT clemmie@shortbooks.co.uk

BAcKLIST 2928 BAcKLIST

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sPrINg 2011

Crimson China Betsy Tobin978-1-907595-22-6

The Trouble With aliceOlivia Glazebrook978-1-907595-15-8

Ophelia in Pieces Clare Jacob978-1-907595-14-1

The last resortDouglas Rogers978-1-907595-21-9

The russian Court at sea Frances Welch978-1-906021-78-8

a book of HeroesSimon Barnes978-1-907595-19-6

The Harlot’s PressHelen Pike978-1-907595-13-4

graven with DiamondsNicola Shulman978-1-906021-11-5

Jeremy & amyJeremy Keeling978-1-907595-18-9

my Natural HistorySimon Barnes978-1-907595-28-8

We all ran Into The sunlightNatalie Young978-1-907595-09-7

Chocolate Cake with Hitler Emma Craigie978-1-906021-99-3

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