Eighteen years ago, Joe Bennett left England. Now, he's back. But how is the England of his memory different from the England of the motorway? Identikit High Streets, New Labour, poker-machine pubs - things aren't what they used to be. But Joe begins to wonder if things were ever what they used to be. Even a century ago, H.V Morton, the nation's most celebrated eulogiser, was In Search of England... Joe Bennett delivers a dazzlingly funny and poignant portrait of his homeland, which is part love letter, part eulogy and part diatribe.

Updated, with new research and over 100 revisions Ten years later, they're still talking about the weather! Kate Fox, the social anthropologist who put the quirks and hidden conditions of the English under a microscope, is back with more biting insights about the nature of Englishness. This updated and revised edition of Watching the English - which over the last decade has become the unofficial guidebook to the English national character - features new and fresh insights on the unwritten rules and foibles of "squaddies," bikers, horse-riders, and more. Fox revisits a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and bizarre codes of behavior. She demystifies the peculiar cultural rules that baffle us: the rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid pantomime rule. Class anxiety tests. The roots of English self-mockery and many more. An international bestseller, Watching the English is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look at the English and their society.

"Mustn't grumble" is what women say to each other when what they really want to do is to have a good moan about the things which make them feel fed up. For disabled women, having a good grumble when they are together is not just something they do well, it's a kind of survival strategy. This anthology of poetry and prose by disabled women contains a wealth of views and shared experiences, honestly expressed.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER The definitive autobiography from the nation's best-loved broadcaster. Written in the style familiar to his millions of listeners, rich with warmth and irony, Mustn't Grumble is Terry's definitive autobiography. Not only does he introduce the reader to his life in Ireland, his chain-smoking maiden aunts, his quick-witted mother and hard-working father and the (not so) Christian Fathers who tried to knock his hands off, he explains how he managed to avoid a hard day's work from childhood to knighthood, and entertained a few million people along the way. Terry talks in full about his past 35 years with the BBC: his hugely popular Radio 2 show, his TV shows Wogan (Now & Then and Blankety Blank, the Eurovision Song Contest, working on the BBC's Children in Need programmes, and where he learnt to breakdance so brilliantly. Mustn't Grumble is fresh, honest and a must-read for any fan of this extraordinary TV and Radio figure.

You are what you eat. Food and diet have an enormous influence on your health and well-being, but eating the right amount of the right things - and not too much of the wrong things - isn't easy. But, as in most walks of life, knowledge is power. This book will empower you to eat healthily, lose weight, and sort the fads from the science facts. This is the New Scientist take on a "New Year, New You" book: an eye-opening and myth-busting guide to everything from sugar to superfoods, from fasting to eating like a caveman and from veganism to your gut microbiome. Forget faddy diet books or gimmicky exercise programs, this is what is scientifically proven to make you live longer and to be healthier and happier.

Combining the latest scientific advances with storytelling skills unmatched in the cosmos, an award-winning astrophysicist and popular writer leads us on a tour of some of the greatest mysteries of our universe. In the constellation of Eridanus, there lurks a cosmic mystery: It’s as if something has taken a huge bite out of the universe. But what is the culprit? The hole in the universe is just one of many puzzles keeping cosmologists busy. Supermassive black holes, bubbles of nothingness gobbling up space, monster universes swallowing others—these and many other bizarre ideas are being pursued by scientists. Due to breathtaking progress in astronomy, the history of our universe is now better understood than the history of our own planet. But these advances have uncovered some startling riddles. In this electrifying new book, renowned cosmologist and author Paul Davies lucidly explains what we know about the cosmos and its enigmas, exploring the tantalizing—and sometimes terrifying—possibilities that lie before us. As Davies guides us through the audacious research offering mind-bending solutions to these and other mysteries, he leads us up to the greatest outstanding conundrum of all: Why does the universe even exist in the first place? And how did a system of mindless, purposeless particles manage to bring forth conscious, thinking beings? Filled with wit and wonder, What’s Eating the Universe? is a dazzling tour of cosmic questions, sure to entertain, enchant, and inspire us all.

An argument that we have a moral duty to explore other planets and solar systems--because human life on Earth has an expiration date. Inevitably, life on Earth will come to an end, whether by climate disaster, cataclysmic war, or the death of the sun in a few billion years. To avoid extinction, we will have to find a new home planet, perhaps even a new solar system, to inhabit. In this provocative and fascinating book, Christopher Mason argues that we have a moral duty to do just that. As the only species aware that life on Earth has an expiration date, we have a responsibility to act as the shepherd of life-forms--not only for our species but for all species on which we depend and for those still to come (by accidental or designed evolution). Mason argues that the same capacity for ingenuity that has enabled us to build rockets and land on other planets can be applied to redesigning biology so that we can sustainably inhabit those planets. And he lays out a 500-year plan for undertaking the massively ambitious project of reengineering human genetics for life on other worlds. As they are today, our frail human bodies could never survive travel to another habitable planet. Mason describes the toll that long-term space travel took on astronaut Scott Kelly, who returned from a year on the International Space Station with changes to his blood, bones, and genes. Mason proposes a ten-phase, 500-year program that would engineer the genome so that humans can tolerate the extreme environments of outer space--with the ultimate goal of achieving human settlement of new solar systems. He lays out a roadmap of which solar systems to visit first, and merges biotechnology, philosophy, and genetics to offer an unparalleled vision of the universe to come.

We all want to be happier, more successful and less stressed, but what really works? From improving creativity to building confidence, self-care to self-esteem, forming better habits and feeling happier,Fix Your Life debunks the fads and explores the real science of self-help. Can you learn to make better decisions? Or break bad habits and form new ones? What should you eat to feel happier? How do you learn a skill faster? Does mindfulness really work? Dispelling mental health myths and self-help fads, here is the truth about meditation, making smarter choices, addiction, CBT, Tai Chi, success, diet, healthy relationships, anxiety, antidepressants, intelligence, willpower and much more. Full of the latest research and ground-breaking evidence, packed with useful advice, this book really could fix your life.