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** TO BE READ ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK FROM 5 DEC 2022 **'Curious, lively, humble, utterly genuine ... a remarkable debut.' SUNDAY TIMESAlice Vernon often wakes up to find strangers in her bedroom.Ever since she was a child, her nights have been haunted by nightmares of a figure from her adolescence, sinister hallucinations and episodes of sleepwalking. These are known as 'parasomnias' - and they're surprisingly common. Now a lecturer in Creative Writing, Vernon set out to understand the history, science and culture of these strange and haunting experiences. Night Terrors, her startling and vivid debut, examines the history of our relationship with bad dreams: how we've tried to make sense of and treat them, from some decidedly odd 'cures' like magical 'mare-stones', to research on how video games might help people rewrite their dreams. Along the way she explores the Salem Witch Trials and sleep paralysis, Victorian ghost stories, and soldiers' experiences of PTSD. By directly confronting her own strange and frightening nights for the first time, Vernon encourages us to think about the way troubled sleep has impacted our imaginations.Night Terrors aims to shine a light on the darkest parts of our sleeping lives, and to reassure sufferers from bad dreams that they are not alone.

** Includes foreword from Susie Green, CEO of charity Mermaids **Mama, something went wrong in your tummy. And it made me come out as aboy instead of a girl.

'Holgate guides us expertly and with a deft touch along the journey towards the holy grail of unlimited energy for all.' - JIM AL-KHALILI'What is nuclear fusion? In clear and accessible language, this book explains the basics and the hope for the future. A valuable addition to the Hot Science series.' - JOHN GRIBBINCould the Sun hold the key to a future of clean energy? Since the 1950s, scientists have attempted to harness nuclear fusion - the process that creates the Sun's energy - to generate near-limitless amounts of electricity. But the fact that we still have no fusion power plants is testament to the complexities of the challenge. Now, the deepening climate crisis means that researchers around the world are in a race to create a mini-Sun here on Earth. The glittering prize is an energy source that emits no greenhouse gases and could solve energy equity and supply issues at a stroke. Sharon Ann Holgate, a former Young Professional Physicist of the Year, tells the compelling story of the ongoing scientific quest for a revolutionary new era of green energy production.

"A riveting read ... a dark story of murder and deceit with verve and insight." John Woolf, author of The Wonders THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A 19TH-CENTURY CIRCUS LEGEND On November 28, 1911 a retired showman died violently at his home in North London. Known to the world as Lord George Sanger, he was once the biggest name in show business, and was venerated as a national institution. The death of Britain's wealthiest showman read like a popular crime thriller: a merciless killer; a famous victim; sensational media headlines; a desperate manhunt laced with police incompetencies and a dramatic denouement few could have anticipated. But for over a century, questions have persisted about the murder. Weaving in the story of George's rise to fame and the history of Britain's entertainment industry, The Killing of Lord George uses previously unpublished archive material to reconstruct the events leading up to the death and reveal the true story behind the brutal crime that shocked Edwardian England.

'Gribbin has inspired generations with his popular science writing' Jim Al-KhaliliA scintillating collection of short essays that really does cover 'life, the Universe, and everything'.From the mysteries of the subatomic world to the curious property of water that makes our planet inhabitable, master of popular science John Gribbin delves into the astonishing facts that underlie our existence.Some aspects of the quantum world really do seem impossible to 'common sense', but have been proved correct by experiments. Other features of the Universe appear obvious, such as the fact that atoms are mostly empty space. But this familiarity hides the truly amazing truths underpinning these observations. And some things merely seem improbable but are also hiding a Deep Truth, such as the fact that the Moon and Sun look the same size as viewed from Earth.This book will change forever the way you view the world.

Struggle to stick to your goals, making new resolutions that always end up broken? This time, make them stick.You'll start by identifying what success means to you, building goals around what you really want and what you have the potential to achieve. With the benefit of expert insights, real-life case studies and powerful techniques, you'll build day-to-day strategies to help define and reach your goals, overcome obstacles and succeed in the face of adversity.If you're looking to reach your full potential - whether it's making a personal change, achieving a sporting goal, or putting a business plan into practice - this book will give you the map to changing your life, and enjoying the journey. This A-Z guide distils the top tips and guidance from a range of disciplines, including positive psychology, motivational coaching, neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and sports psychology. Whatever your goal or ambition - whether its improving your quality of life, making a career change, or training for a sporting endeavor - this guide will help you first to recognize and define your goals, then to set out a plan for achieving them, with day-to-day strategies to reach your goals and overcome obstacles. Moreover, this book will help you learn to enjoy the process of goal-setting and to enjoy the success you achieve.The tools used in the book are based on psychological principles and are put to use by the authors in their coaching practice.Case studies help to provide perspective, to see your own issues and experiences reflected through the struggles and successes of others.Exercises help you to recognize priorities, interests, needs and goals.Psychological principles are introduced as key concepts throughout - to help you understand the mental processes that can help and hinder you from setting and achieving your goals. These are coupled with self-reflective exercises to make sure you understand the mental pitfalls and to help you put into practice more positive thinking.The step-by-step approach means that nothing is left to chance: everything, from what makes a realistic goal to why you experience fear, is broken down into memorable tips, activities and guidance.

The breakthroughs that have had the most transformative practical impacts, from thermodynamics to the Internet.Physics informs our understanding of how the world works - but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to ten separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives.It is a unique selection. Focusing on practical impact means there is no room for Stephen Hawking's work on black holes, or the discovery of the Higgs boson. Instead we have the relatively little-known Rudolf Clausius (thermodynamics) and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (superconductivity), while Albert Einstein is included not for his theories of relativity but for the short paper that gave us E=mc2 (nuclear fission). Later chapters feature transistors, LEDs and the Internet.

'A groundbreaking debut from an extraordinary writer ... a testament to where a woman can go after rock-bottom'PIPER KERMAN, New York Times bestselling author of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACKKeri Blakinger's brave, brutal memoir, Corrections in Ink, is a riveting story about suffering, recovery and redemption' DAVID SHEFF, NEW YORK TIMESKeri Blakinger had always lived at full throttle. Whether flying through the air, chasing Olympic dreams on the ice rink; surviving on as few calories as she could; or balancing a heroin addiction with pursuing a degree at an Ivy League university. But on a cold December day, Keri is arrested with a Tupperware container full of heroin. Shortly afterwards, she is convicted and sent to prison.Forced to confront her addiction, Keri finally manages to break free of it, and finds herself in a place unlike anything she has experienced before: a world built on senseless brutality, but whose inhabitants, her fellow inmates, will change her life forever.Written in luminous prose, with searing honesty and flashes of dark humour, Corrections in Ink shines a light on a broken prison system, and the cruelty and kindness Blakinger experienced there. It is a radical call for justice, and a testament to the power of finding one's voice.

'Kerry Brown's Xi is the perfect primer for understanding Xi Jinping's status as China's greatest ruler since Mao and as this century's least assailable statesman' John Keay, author of China: A HistoryAlthough Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, he remains an enigmatic figure in the West. His priority has always been to keep Chinese society as stable as possible, steering a course through a period of astounding economic growth, while ensuring that nothing challenges the political status quo.But with unrest stirring in Hong Kong, reports of human rights abuses taking place in the Xinjiang region and, devastatingly, the outbreak of a virus that would change the world, suddenly understanding Xi's China is more important than ever before.In this short and timely book, academic and author Kerry Brown examines the complexities behind the man, explaining the impact that his rule is already having on the West. But who is Xi really, and what is his vision for China's future? And, crucially, what does that mean for the rest of the world?

'Tremendous ... We all need to take stock, and this is the ideal starting point. I learnt a lot from this book and laughed a lot too.' ROSAMUND YOUNGSince highland cattle ransacked his grandmother's vegetable patch when he was six, Roger Morgan-Grenville has been fascinated by cows.So at the age of 61, with no farming experience, he signed on as a part- time labourer on a beef cattle farm to tell their side of the story. The result is this lyrical and evocative book.For 10,000 years, cow and human lives have been intertwined. Cattle have existed alongside us, fed and shod us, quenched our thirst, and provided a thousand other tiny services, and yet most of us know little about them. We are also blissfully unaware of the de-natured lives we often ask them to lead.Part history, part adventure and part unsentimental manifesto for how we should treat cows in the 21st century, Taking Stock asks us to think carefully about what we eat, and to let nature back into food production.

Two men decide to become beekeepers, learning about nature and about themselves in the process

'[A] tale of cloak and dagger intrigue, intense rivalries and political machinations you'd expect in a spy thriller.' Engineering & TechnologyGross Domestic Product is failing. For decades it has rewarded environmental destruction and obscured inequality. Its formula can be-and has been-gamed to the detriment of developing countries.In this powerfully argued book, now updated with a new chapter, science writer Ehsan Masood shows how GDP fell from the path envisaged by its architects, and how its long-term misapplication has kept large parts of the world in poverty, while helping accelerate global warming and biodiversity loss.As the world rebuilds after the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying global recession, our need for a more sustainable and inclusive measure of economic growth has never been greater. Change must come if we are to break the cycle. With clarity and passion, Masood shows how we can update GDP for a better future.[previously published as The Great Invention in North America]

Strength, speed and dedication: Cristiano Ronaldo is known throughout the world as a colossus of the modern game.But did you know that he underwent laser heart surgery aged just fifteen to enable him to continue playing the game he loved?Or that Nacional, his first professional club, donated twenty balls and two sets of kits to his youth team in order to sign him?Or how he came to be known as abelhinha -'little bee'- a name he would later pass on to his Yorkshire Terrier?Find out all this and more in Luca Caioli's biography of the global superstar, featuring exclusive insights from those who know him best and even the man himself.

'Heart-thumpingly powerful ... history told from the closest and most frightening quarters.' SINCLAIR MCKAY, author of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park'Shocking, terrifying and revealing. Ground-breaking history, expertly told - a dramatic new insight into the Falklands conflict.' ROGER BOLTON, BBC journalist and broadcasterForty years on from the outbreak of the war, acclaimed TV journalist Julian Manyon digs down into Argentina's 'Dirty War' and its effect on the Falklands conflict On May 12th, 1982, after the first bloody exchanges of the Falklands War, journalist Julian Manyon and his TV crew were kidnapped on the streets of Buenos Aires and put through a traumatic mock execution by the secret police. Less than eight hours later they were invited to the Presidential Palace to film a world-exclusive interview with an apologetic President Galtieri, the dictator and head of the Argentine Junta.Spurred on by the recent release of declassified CIA documents about Argentina's 'Dirty War', Manyon discovered that his kidnapper was a key figure in the Junta's bloody struggle against left-wing opposition, with a terrifying record of torture and murder. Also in the secret documents were details of the wider picture - the turmoil inside the Junta as the war with Britain got under way, and how Argentina succeeded in acquiring vital US military equipment which made its war effort possible.Published on the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict, this book is an extraordinary insight into the war behind the war. Manyon provides a harrowing depiction of the campaign of terror that the Junta waged on its own population, and a new perspective on an episode of history more often centred on Mrs Thatcher, the Belgrano and the battle of Goose Green.

** Includes foreword from Susie Green, CEO of charity Mermaids ** Mama, something went wrong in your tummy. And it made me come out as a boy instead of a girl. When Marlo Mack's three year old says these words, she's not surprised - but she's completely unprepared. Marlo gave birth to a beautiful baby boy - M - and brushed his pleas for pink clothes and dresses aside as a young child's playful experimentation with gender. But when her son begs to be put back in her tummy because he came out wrong, she knows she must listen more closely.How to Be a Girl is a raw and unflinching memoir of a mother grappling with her child's transition. Always wanting to support M, Marlo - whose podcast of the same name has over 1.3 million downloads - finds her liberal values surprisingly challenged, and as she learns more about gender and its varied expressions, she questions what being a girl - or a boy, or something else entirely - really means.For every copy of this book sold in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Icon Books will donate 30p to Mermaids (1160575), a charity that is committed to supporting trans, non-binary and gender diverse children and their families.

Money has many apparently magical properties. It can be created out of the void - and vanish without so much as a puff of smoke. It can flash through space. It can grow without limit. And it can blow up without warning.David Orrell argues that the emerging discipline of quantum economics, of which he is at the forefront, is the key to shattering the illusions that prevent us from understanding money's true nature.In this colourful tour of the history, philosophy and mathematics of money, Orrell demonstrates how everything makes much more sense when we replace our classical economic models with ones based on quantum probability - and reveals the explosive reality of what is left once the illusions are stripped away.

Climate change is now a mainstream conversation topic, and yet every week our recycling piles are still overflowing and we're faced with a steady stream of brands trying to persuade us to buy their eco-friendly products in our quest to live sustainably.For too long, corporations have shifted the eco-responsibility onto us, the consumers. It's time to push back and demand change.In Buyer Beware, Ethical Hour founder Sian Conway-Wood provides practical tips on how to stop consuming, advice on how to see through corporations' greenwashing, and steps to hold them accountable. In doing so we can create demand for sustainability in supply chains, and put pressure on decision makers to implement systemic change that puts people and planet above profit.

An irreverent homage to the '95 travel classic, from the author of The Gran Tour'It would be wrong to view this book as just a highly accomplished homage to a personal hero. Aitken's politics, as much as his humour, are firmly in the spotlight, and Dear Bill Bryson achieves more than its title (possibly even its author) intended.' Manchester ReviewIn 2013, travel writer Ben Aitken decided to follow in the footsteps of his hero - literally - and started a journey around the UK, tracing the trip taken by Bill Bryson in his classic tribute to the British Isles, Notes from a Small Island.Staying at the same hotels, ordering the same food, and even spending the same amount of time in the bath, Aitken's homage - updated and with a new preface for 2022 - is filled with wit, insight and humour.

An accessible and hard-hitting look at the facts behind air pollution in everyday life.Take a deep breath. You'll do it 20,000 times a day. You assume all this air is clean; it's the very breath of life.But in Delhi, the toxic smog is as bad for you as smoking 50 cigarettes a day. Even a few days in Paris, London or Rome is equivalent to two or three cigarettes. Air pollution is implicated in six of the top ten causes of death worldwide, including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and dementia. Breathless gives us clear facts about air pollution in our everyday lives, showing how it affects our bodies, how much of it occurs in unexpected places (indoors, inside your car), and how you can minimise the risks.Rooted in the latest science, including real-time air-quality experiments in city streets and ordinary homes, it will allow you to make up your own mind about the risks and trade-offs of modern living - wherever in the world you are.

The ultimate non-technical guide to the fast-developing world of quantum computing Computer technology has improved exponentially over the last 50 years. But the headroom for bigger and better electronic solutions is running out. Our best hope is to engage the power of quantum physics. 'Quantum algorithms' had already been written long before hardware was built. These would enable, for example, a quantum computer to exponentially speed up an information search, or to crack the mathematical trick behind internet security. However, making a quantum computer is incredibly difficult. Despite hundreds of laboratories around the world working on them, we are only just seeing them come close to 'supremacy' where they can outperform a traditional computer. In this approachable introduction, Brian Clegg explains algorithms and their quantum counterparts, explores the physical building blocks and quantum weirdness necessary to make a quantum computer, and uncovers the capabilities of the current generation of machines.