Since 1999, when he made his international debut, there has been no greater player in world rugby than Brian O'Driscoll. In 2010 Rugby World magazine named him its world player of the decade - and since then the legend has only grown. Now, at the end of his amazing career - which culminated in fairy-tale fashion with Ireland's victory in the 2014 Six Nations championship - he tells his own story. Honest, gritty and thoughtful, Brian O'Driscoll's Autobiography is not just an essential sports book. It is an essential book about family, friends, hard work, courage and imagination. "An amazing career. There will only ever be one BOD". (Dan Carter). "A thoroughly enjoyable read ...After reading The Test I warmed even more to O'Driscoll as a player and a man. He stood for a new ethos in Irish sport that refused to accept mediocrity or glorious failure". (Fergal Keane, Irish Times). "O'Driscoll's honesty ...takes the reader to a place they simply have not been before". (Vincent Hogan, Irish Independent).

    

    She was a Hollywood movie star. She is the wife of one of the greatest presidents of the twentieth century. She is a cancer survivor. And she now wages her greatest, unwinnable battle -- against her husband's Alzheimer's disease. Nancy Davis Reagan has led an extraordinary life; it has also been an extraordinarily private one. Now Mike Deaver, whose relationship with Mrs. Reagan dates back to the 1960s, shares the side of Nancy that only her intimates know.Most people don't know the real Nancy Reagan, or their impression of her has been shaped by consistently negative press coverage. If you believe the mainstream press, all you would really know about Nancy is that she likes fancy clothes or that she has rich and powerful friends or that she was obsessed with trivialities like the White House's china. Pundits were equally tough on her, crowning her with ugly nicknames, the tamer ones being Queen Nancy, Iron Lady, Ice Lady, and Dragon Lady.But the Nancy Reagan Mike Deaver has come to know over thirty-five years, the woman portrayed in Nancy, is far more complicated than the stereotype. No cardboard cutout, she is pure flesh and blood, a woman of immense will and fortitude. And in the Reagans' fifty-year marriage, Ron always received top billing, and she would have it no other way. She is convinced that her husband was one of the great men of the twentieth century -- a rare world leader who changed the tide of history. Still, Nancy has been no bit player in the story. Deaver believes that Reagan would not have risen to such distinction without Nancy at his side.Reluctantly drawn into politics, the retired actress and housewife was at first intimidated, but then gradually embraced her role. To the president who was incapable of protecting himself from those who served him poorly and even wished him harm, Nancy Reagan would bring discipline. When it would come time for a momentous life decision, to wage a campaign for the White House, she would ask the tough questions. When his image might be tainted, she would fervently guard it, even at the expense of her own.To Ronald Reagan the man, who always had trouble expressing intimacy, Nancy gave the gift of her unrestricted love. She was his respite, his comfort, his reward at the end of the day. Whenever she left him to travel, the leader of the free world was anxious as a schoolboy until she was safely home again. Now to a man no longer capable of looking after himself, Nancy is everything there is left to be: care-taker, guardian, nurturer of the Reagan legacy.

    The star of the popular ABC-TV series Grace Under Fire recounts her childhood in the South as the daughter of an absent, alcoholic father, her experience with domestic abuse, and her start as a comedienne.

    When he died in London in 1727 he was so renowned he was given a state funeral—an unheard-of honor for a subject whose achievements were in the realm of the intellect. During the years he was an irascible presence at Trinity College, Cambridge, Newton imagined properties of nature and gave them names—mass, gravity, velocity—things our science now takes for granted. Inspired by Aristotle, spurred on by Galileo’s discoveries and the philosophy of Descartes, Newton grasped the intangible and dared to take its measure, a leap of the mind unparalleled in his generation.James Gleick, the author of Chaos and Genius, and one of the most acclaimed science writers of his generation, brings the reader into Newton’s reclusive life and provides startlingly clear explanations of the concepts that changed forever our perception of bodies, rest, and motion. Ideas so basic to the twenty-first century we literally take them for granted.

    Her life changed utterly with his unexpected inheritance of the title and vast estates after the wartime death of his brother, who had married “Kick” Kennedy, the beloved sister of John F. Kennedy. Her friendship with that family would last through triumph and tragedy.In 1959, the Duchess and her family took up residence in Chatsworth, the four-hundred-year-old family seat, with its incomparable collections of paintings, tapestry, and sculpture—the combined accumulations of generations of tastemakers. Neglected due to the economies of two world wars and punitive inheritance taxes, the great house soon came to life again under the careful attention of the Duchess. It is regarded as one of England’s most loved and popular historic houses.Wait for Me! is written with intense warmth, charm, and perception. A unique portrait of an age of tumult, splendor, and change, it is also an unprecedented look at the rhythms of life inside one of the great aristocratic families of England. With its razor-sharp portraits of the Duchess’s many friends and cohorts—politicians, writers, artists, sportsmen—it is truly irresistible reading, and will join the shelf of Mitford classics to delight readers for years to come.

    —Mike Shanahan, head coach, Washington Redskins  In 2011, the NFF selected 16 college football players as "National Scholar Athletes", one of the highest honors a college football player can receive … Kirk was one of these distinguished 16, which says everything you need to know about him. —Archie Manning, chairman, National Football Foundation and College Hall of FameKirk Cousins is a lot more than an outstanding quarterback. He walks the talk. Few people I've met can inspire like he does. —Jon Gruden, ESPN announcer and former head coach, Tampa Bay BuccaneersIn a world with far too many bad examples, Kirk is a bright light of hope, inspiration, and leadership for a new generation.  —Bill Huizenga, United States Congressman, MichiganWhat’s it really like for a person of strong character to live in the spotlight of pressure and fame?Sit down with Kirk Cousins, record-setting Michigan State quarterback and 2012 draft pick of the NFL’s Washington Redskins. In Game Changer, Cousins gives readers an inside look at his life—as experienced under the bright lights ofcollege and professional football—and how he put his faith and values into action, both on and off the field.Featuring:Personal stories and struggles of a competitive Christian athleteTruthful discussion of media hype and modern sports cultureReflections on honesty, humility, hard work, privilege, and responsibilityLife principles for winning choices on and off the field

    . . [Weaver] paints a romantic picture of Greenwich Village in the 1950s and '60s, when she worked in publishing and hung out with Allen Ginsberg and the poet Richard Howard and was wild and loose, getting high and falling into bed almost immediately with her crushes, including Lenny Bruce. . . . Her descriptions of the Village are evocative, recalling a time when she wore long skirts, Capezio ballet shoes and black stockings,' and used to sit in the Bagatelle and have sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist of lemon.' Early on, she quotes Pasternak: You in others: this is your soul.' Kerouac's soul lives on through many people -- Joyce Johnson, for one -- but few have been as adept as Weaver at capturing both him and the New York bohemia of the time. He was lucky to have met her." --Tara McKelvey, The New York Times Book Review“There is a tendency for memoirs written by women about The Great Man to be self-abnegating exercises in a kind of inverted narcissism—the author seeking to prove her worth as muse, as consort, as chosen one. Not so with Helen Weaver’s beautiful, plainspoken elegy for her time spent with Jack Kerouac, who suddenly appeared at her door in the West Village one white, frosty morning with Allen Ginsberg, who knew Weaver’s roommate, in tow.”—New York Post“Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! . . . This is the most graphic, honest, shameless, and moving documentary of what the newly liberated women in cities got up to—how they lived, loved, and created. Who knew? It is time they did! And here’s how.”—Carolyn Cassady“The book recounts her affair with Kerouac in 1956 during the period when he signed his literary contract for On the Road, but

    Every word and gesture made headlines and garnered controversy. Her serious gifts as an actor were sometimes eclipsed by her notoriety—and by the way the camera fell helplessly in love with her.Beyond the headlines—and the too-familiar stories of heartbreak and desolation—was a woman far more curious, searching, witty, and hopeful than the one the world got to know. Now, for the first time, readers can meet the private Marilyn and understand her in a way we never have before. Fragments is an unprecedented collection of written artifacts—notes to herself, letters, even poems—in Marilyn's own handwriting, never before published, along with rarely seen intimate photos.Jotted in notebooks, typed on paper, or written on hotel letterhead, these texts reveal a woman who loved deeply and strove to perfect her craft. They show a Marilyn Monroe unsparing in her analysis of her own life, but also playful, funny, and impossibly charming. The easy grace and deceptive lightness that made her performances indelible emerge on the page, as does the simmering tragedy that made her last appearances so affecting.

    In this characteristically trenchant memoir, the indomitable Jean Trumpington looks back on her long and remarkable life. The daughter of an officer in the Bengal Lancers and an American heiress, Jean Campbell-Harris was born into a world of considerable privilege, but the Wall Street Crash entirely wiped out her mother's fortune. Leaving school at 15, without ever taking an exam, the young Jean Campbell-Harris was sent to Paris to study art and both French and German, but two years later, with the outbreak of World War II, she became a land girl—on a farm owned by Lloyd George, a family friend—however, she soon changed direction, joining naval intelligence at Bletchley Park, where she stayed for the rest of the war. After the war she worked first in Paris and then in New York, on Madison Avenue, with advertising's "mad men." It was in New York that she met her husband, the historian Alan Barker, and their marriage, in 1954, ushered in the happiest period of her life—bringing up her only son, Adam, and becoming a not entirely conventional headmaster's wife, before embarking on her distinguished political career, as a Cambridge City councillor, Mayor of Cambridge, and, then, in 1980, a life peer. Forthright, witty, and deliciously opinionated, Coming Up Trumps is a wonderfully readable account of a life very well lived.

    Corinne, a European entrepreneur, meets Lketinga, a Samburu warrior, while on vacation in Mombasa on Kenya's glamorous coast. Despite language and cultural barriers, they embark on an impossible love affair. Corinne uproots her life to move to Africa—not the romantic Africa of popular culture, but the Africa of the Masai, in the middle of the isolated bush, where five-foot-tall huts made from cow dung serve as homes. Undaunted by wild animals, hunger, and bouts with tropical diseases, she tries to forge a life with Lketinga. But slowly the dream starts to crumble when she can no longer ignore the chasm between their two vastly different cultures.A story that taps into our universal belief in the power of love, The White Masai is at once a hopelessly romantic love story, a gripping adventure yarn, and a compulsively good read.

    But this riveting account of her storied life, including her marriage to Frank Sinatra, and career had to wait for publication until after her death—because Gardner feared it was too revealing."I either write the book or sell the jewels," Gardner told coauthor Peter Evans, "and I'm kinda sentimental about the jewels." The legendary actress serves up plenty of gems in these pages, reflecting with delicious humor and cutting wit on a life that took her from rural North Carolina to the heights of Hollywood's Golden Age. Tell-all stories abound, especially when Gardner divulges on her three husbands: Mickey Rooney, a serial cheater so notorious that even his mother warned Gardner about him; bandleader Artie Shaw, whom Ava calls "a dominating son of a bitch - always putting me down" and Frank Sinatra ("We were fighting all the time. Fighting and boozing. It was madness. But he was good in the feathers")."Her story is a raw-nerved revelation. . . . A vivid portrait" (Chicago Tribune)."Witty, penetrating, unique in its voice, it is impossible to put down - A complete delight" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

    fans of the band will want to get their hands on this. Pronto."- Booklist (American Library Association)"Until a band member puts pen to paper in a proper tell-all exposé - they won't - Jesse Fink's work here is the number one go-to book on the subject, warts 'n' all."- Uber Rock (UK)"A highly entertaining book... a cracking read." - The Australian"Fink's look at the band addresses the question that he believes most mainstream rock critics have never been able to answer about AC/DC: 'Why have they endured and resonated with hundreds of millions of people and inculcated such fierce loyalty and outright fanaticism?' The answer is the unrelenting tenacity of the Young brothers... fascinating."- Publishers Weekly "This thought-provoking book definitely breaks some new ground. Arrangement by chapters dedicated to specific songs is a satisfying way of telling the AC/DC story while providing music criticism. Scholarly fans will appreciate the bibliography. This one's a must-read for fans."- Library Journal "A great narrative... it has one very simple, very powerful message for those who would like to dismiss AC/DC as childish hacks: 'Stop being so bloody pretentious!'"- Clark Boyd, PRI's The World "A fantastic new AC/DC book... Fink did a great job. Essential for an AC/DC fan to read."- Carter Alan, 100.7 WZLX, Massachusetts"The latest, greatest 'rock read'... an awesome book."- Buck McWilliams, Gater 98.7 FM, Florida"An astounding - astounding - book."- Bill Meyer, KMED, Oregon"An excellent read."- Ryan Gatenby, WBIG, Illinois"The best book on AC/DC ever written."- Dan Rivers, WKBN, Ohio"I loved this book."- Arroe Collins, WRFX, North Carolina"Outstanding."- Mark Mayfield, KSLX, ArizonaJesse Fink's The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC is unlike any AC/DC book you've read before. Less a biography, more a critical appreciation, it tells the story of the trio through 11 classic rock songs and reveals some of the personal and creative secrets that went into their making. Important figures from AC/DC's long way to the top open up for the very first time, while unsung heroes behind the band's success are given the credit they are due. Accepted accounts of events are challenged while sensational new details emerge to cast a whole new light on the band's history--especially their early years with Atlantic Records in the United States. Former AC/DC members and musicians from bands such as Guns N' Roses, Dropkick Murphys, Airbourne and Rose Tattoo also give their take on the Youngs' brand of magic. Their music has never pulled its punches. Neither does The Youngs. After 40 years, AC/DC might just have gotten the serious book it deserves.

    "By turns moving, funny, appalling, disturbing. . . . There has never been anything like it".--"Rolling Stone". 80 b&w photos. 16-page color insert.In his twenty-nine years, rock idol Manson has experienced more than most people have (or would want to) in a lifetime. Now, in his shocking and candid memoir, he takes readers from backstage to gaol cells, from recording studios to emergency rooms, from the pit of despair to the top of the charts, and recounts his metamorphosis from a frightened Christian schoolboy into the most feared and revered music superstar in the country.

    This is the inspiring true story of how a girl got her life back.Aged 15, Jordan Bone got into a car with friends. She would never walk again. Paralysed from the chest down, her life was changed forever. Becoming depressed and feeling like life wasn't worth living, these weren't the teenage years that Jordan had envisaged.However, slowly but surely, she began to get herself out of the darkness. With a little help from the internet, Jordan started to embrace positive thinking and embarked on a personal journey to get her confidence - and her life - back. Eleven years on from the accident, Jordan creates her own beauty tutorials on YouTube and has a range of successful brand partnerships. She has reclaimed her life and her independence and now wants to share her inspirational story with others and is telling it through different aspects of beauty. This isn't a book about looking good on the surface, this is a story of inner strength, believing in yourself and finding motivation when you feel like all hope is gone.