THE NO. 1 BESTSELLING, LIFE-CHANGING PHENOMENON – SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'A beautiful, gentle exploration of the dark season of life and the light of spring that eventually follows' RAYNOR WINN'My favourite book of the last five years' CAITLIN MORANWintering is a poignant and comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves. Katherine May thoughtfully shows us how to come through these times with the wisdom of knowing that, like the seasons, our winters and summers are the ebb and flow of life.A moving personal narrative interwoven with lessons from literature, mythology and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.Ultimately, Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.'Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself' ELIZABETH GILBERT'Absolutely beautiful' CHERYL STRAYEDNumber 1 Sunday Times bestseller, November 2024 Read more

‘Incredible individual, incredible book, incredible story.’ CHRIS HEMSWORTH‘A hero who is as humble as he is resilient… testament to a “never give up” spirit!’ BEAR GRYLLS‘From reading this book, the message that comes shining through is this: you can achieve anything.’ ANT MIDDLETONBestselling author and award-winning adventurer Ross Edgley has been studying the art of resilience for years, applying all he has learned to become the first person in history to swim around Great Britain, breaking multiple world records. Now Ross focuses on mental strength, stoicism and the training needed to create an unbreakable body.Ross Edgley famously ran a marathon pulling a 1.4-tonne car and climbed a rope the height of Everest (8,848m), after living with Yamabushi warrior monks in Japan and partaking in Shamanic pain rituals with fire ants in the Amazon jungle. On his epic 1,780-mile journey around Great Britain, which lasted 157 days, Ross swam through giant jellyfish, arctic storms, ‘haunted’ whirlpools and polluted shipping lanes, going so hard, and so fast, his tongue fell apart.Ross’s previous book, The World’s Fittest Book, was a Sunday Times bestseller and explored the science of physical fitness. Now, in The Art of Resilience, Ross uses his swim experience and other amazing endurance feats, where he managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable pain, hardship and adversity, to study the performance of extreme athletes, military and fitness specialists and psychologists to uncover the secrets of mental fitness and explore the concept of resilience, persistence, valour and a disciplined mindset in overcoming adversity. This ground-breaking book represents a paradigm shift in what we thought the human body and mind were capable of and will give you a blueprint to become a tougher, more resilient and ultimately better human – whatever the challenge you face.Ross Edgley's book 'The World’s Fittest Cookbook' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 03-01-2022. Read more

Longlisted for Autobiography of the Year, Sports Book Awards 2022The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller‘Honest and moving – everything a memoir should be’ The Sun‘An illuminating look at what it takes to be an Olympian … in this story, passion reigns supreme’ CosmopolitanTom Daley captured the hearts of the nation with his unforgettable medal-winning performance in the London 2012 Olympics. At the games in Tokyo, he triumphed to win gold and became the most decorated British diver of all time.In this deeply personal book, Tom explores the experiences that have shaped him and the qualities to which he owes his contentment and success; from the resilience he developed competing at world-class level, to the courage he discovered while reclaiming the narrative around his sexuality, and the perspective that family life has brought him.Candid and perceptive, Coming Up for Air offers a unique insight into the life and mindset of one our greatest and most-loved athletes.Tom Daley's book 'Made with Love' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2022-10-31. Read more

In 1927, Mercedes Gleitze became the first British woman to swim the English Channel, transforming her from a humble working-class typist into one of the most iconic sportswomen of her age. Fiercely independent and with no financial backing, Mercedes was at the forefront in the struggle to break through the existing prejudices against women taking part in sport. Over a ten-year period and a large number of pioneering, record-setting swims around the world, she achieved celebrity status, helped make Rolex famous, and was regularly in the spotlight of the worldwide press. While pursuing her dream she led by example, showing that women deserved recognition for their sporting achievements – though she herself was very modest about her success, barely talking about it even to her own children. Here, Mercedes’ daughter documents the remarkable story of her early life and subsequent swimming career, using Mercedes’ personal records and pictures, recollections from acquaintances and newspaper articles of the time. Read more

COURTSHIP is a photographic ode to the most beloved of racket sports spotlighting the beauty and allure of the tennis court, ranging from high-altitude to wild and secret locations, taking in riviera chic clubs and inner-city brutalism along the way. For a tennis fan, the quest for a court and a game on the road is eternal. Bailey and Arrigo have documented a range of tennis courts, from iconic European showcourts to hidden gems in city and country settings, capturing the spirit and locale of each court and club in evocative photographs shot exclusively for this book.They pay tribute to one of the great global sports and their passion for it in words and images .This is a book about style, travel and the quest for the dream court. It’s about the love of the game and the power of community spirit for both friends and strangers. From the Côte d’Azur to the wilds of Loch Lomond and the peaks of the Swiss Alps, COURTSHIP invites you on an intimate adventure chasing Grand Slam beauties and the local courts that can anchor and inspire a village.Bailey contributes an essay that depicts her life on the court, expressing the joy and the moments of enlightenment she has experienced through tennis. A selection of quotes and short stories from heroes of the game- and the arts- and community leaders, accompanies a series of curated photographs evoking the legends and lore of this most stylish of sports.A celebratory and inclusive volume designed to capture the spirit of tennis, a well as support grassroots access to the sport via the LTA Foundation. COURTSHIP is timeless and collectible ~ and a love letter to the game. Read more

'A beautiful, brilliantly written book on grief, self-discovery and swimming' EMMA GANNON'Immersive and compelling' CATHY RENTZENBRINK*SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023*In a bid to fill the empty space left by her brother's death, Freya sets out with her friend Miri to swim every tidal pool in Britain in a year. The adventure takes them from a pool hidden in the cliffs of Polperro to the quarry lagoon of Abereiddi, via the Trinkie in northernmost Scotland where locals meet each year to give the pool wall a fresh lick of paint. The further Freya travels, the closer she finds herself to memories of her brother. With every swim, the challenge becomes more than just a way to explore the country's furthest reaches, but a journey of self-discovery.The Tidal Year is a story about the healing power of wild swimming and the space it creates for reflection, rewilding and hope. An exploration of grief in the modern age, it's also a tale of female rage, sisterhood and falling in love after loss.------- 'Some of the best writing on wild swimming that I have encountered' MARIANNE LEVY'I found myself blinking back tears' HARPER'S BAZAAR'A poignant, funny tribute to the complex, tidal nature of grief' JADE ANGELES FITTON'Funny and moving, brimming with bracingly refreshing uncertainty' POLLY ATKIN Read more

The first in Deborah Levy's essential three-part 'Living Autobiography' on writing and womanhood. 'Unmissable. Like chancing upon an oasis, you want to drink it slowly . . . Subtle, unpredictable, surprising' Guardian_________________________________ Taking George Orwell's famous essay, 'Why I Write', as a jumping-off point, Deborah Levy offers her own indispensable reflections of the writing life. With wit, clarity and calm brilliance, she considers how the writer must stake claim to that contested territory as a young woman and shape it to her need. Things I Don't Want to Know is a work of dazzling insight and deep psychological succour, from one of our most vital contemporary writers.The final two instalments in Deborah Levy's 'Living Autobiography', The Cost of Living and Real Estate, are available now. _________________________________'Superb sharpness and originality of imagination. An inspiring work of writing' Marina Warner'An exciting writer, sharp and shocking as the knives her characters wield' Sunday Times'A writer whose anger and confusion in the face of the world transform into poetic flights of fancy . . . which always feel marvellously right' Independent Read more

'Literary and learned. It goes deep' AMY LIPTROT'The most compelling and evocative of underwater odysseys' KATE HUMBLE'The most captivating book on diving that I have ever read' MENSUN BOUNDDamian Le Bas explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world in this spellbinding love letter to diving.Thousands of years ago, an island off the Straits of Gibraltar went to war with ancient Athens. The battle was lost, and an earthquake cleaved the land in two. Overnight the island sank beneath the waves – or so legend tells.As a young boy, Damian Le Bas was captivated by the story of the lost city of Atlantis. As an adult, he dreams of diving to discover its ruins. After the death of his father, torn between his lifelong desire and the taboo his Romany culture places on the ocean, he comes by chance across a dive shop. He can’t help but go in.Under the waves, Damian enters a breathtaking world. As he masters the skills of this exhilarating sport, diving with seals in the Farne Islands, exploring submerged Roman ruins in Naples and mapping the sunken city of Port Royal in Jamaica, he is entranced anew, by wonders both man-made and natural.Plato's writings on Atlantis were a parable about the hubris of humankind; in witnessing our effects on oceans and ocean communities, Damian finds echoes of this in the modern world. Read more

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Memoir of the year' - Vogue'A wondrous, sensuous memoir of salt-stung survival . . . clear-eyed and poetic prose' Sunday Times'A fascinating memoir' - Daily MailWhen Tamsin Calidas first arrives on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides, it feels like coming home. Disenchanted by London, she and her husband left the city and high-flying careers to move the 500 miles north, despite having absolutely no experience of crofting, or of island life. It was idyllic, for a while. But as the months wear on, the children she'd longed for fail to materialise, and her marriage breaks down, Tamsin finds herself in ever-increasing isolation.Injured, ill, without money or friend she is pared right back, stripped to becoming simply a raw element of the often harsh landscape. But with that immersion in her surroundings comes the possibility of rebirth and renewal. Tamsin begins the slow journey back from the brink. Startling, raw and extremely moving, I Am An Island is a story about the incredible ability of the natural world to provide when everything else has fallen away - a stunning book about solitude, friendship, resilience and self-discovery. Read more

From twice Booker-shortlisted author Deborah Levy, a moving and revelatory collection exploring the muses that have shaped her life and work as a writerIn The Position of Spoons, Deborah Levy invites the reader into the interiors of her world, sharing her most intimate thoughts and experiences, as she traces and measures her life against the backdrop of the literary and artistic muses that have shaped her.From Marguerite Duras to Colette and Ballard, and from Lee Miller to Francesca Woodman and Paula Rego, we can relish here the richness of their work and, in turn the richness of the author’s own.Each page draws upon Levy’s life in exalting ways, encapsulating the wonderful precision and astonishing depth of her writing, as she seamlessly shifts between and meditates on questions of mortality, language, suburbia, gender, consumerism and the poetics of every day living. From the child born in South Africa, to her teenage years in Britain, to her travels across the world as a young woman, each page is a beautiful, tender composition of the questioning self: a portrait of Deborah Levy’s writing life and intellectual vitality in all of its dimensions. Read more

In his quest to define ‘sporting greatness’, double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has spent nearly 4 years interviewing and training with some of the greatest minds in sport to discover what it takes to become – and remain – a champion.Featuring:Ian Botham • Mark Cavendish • Alastair Cook • Alex Danson • Richard Dunwoody • Donna Fraser • Chris Froome • Anna Hemmings • Denis Irwin • Michael Johnson • Kílian Jornet • Stuart Lancaster • AP McCoy • Ronnie O’Sullivan • Michael Owen • Adam Peaty • Ian Poulter • Paula Radcliffe • Ian Thorpe • Mark Webber • Shane WilliamsFrom an early age Alistair Brownlee has been obsessed with being the very best, and not just improving his sporting performance across his three specialist triathlon disciplines of swimming, cycling and running, but also understanding how a winner becomes a dominant champion. Winning gold in consecutive Olympic Games has only strengthened this need and desire.Over the last 4 years Alistair has been on a journey to learn from the best, talking to elite figures across multiple sports as well as leading thinkers and scientists, to understand what enabled these remarkable individuals to rise to the very top, and to push the limits of human capability in their relentless pursuit of perfection.Alistair uses these fascinating interviews, along with extensive research, to explore a range of sports and environments – athletics, cycling, football, rugby, horseracing, hockey, cricket, golf, motor racing, snooker, swimming and ultra-running – to reveal how talent alone is never enough and how hard work, pain, pressure, stress, risk, focus, sacrifice, innovation, reinvention, passion, ruthlessness, luck, failure and even a lockdown can all play a crucial part in honing a winning mentality and achieving sustained success. Read more

The House by the Dvina is the riveting story of two families separated in culture and geography but bound together by a Russian-Scottish marriage. It includes episodes as romantic and dramatic as any in fiction: the purchase by the author's great-grandfather of a peasant girl with whom he had fallen in love; the desperate sledge journey in the depths of winter made by her grandmother to intercede with Tsar Aleksandr II for her husband; the extraordinary courtship of her parents; and her Scottish granny being caught up in the abortive revolution of 1905. Eugenie Fraser herself was brought up in Russia but was taken on visits to Scotland. She marvellously evokes a child's reactions to two totally different environments, sets of customs and family backgrounds, while the characters are beautifully drawn and splendidly memorable. With the events of 1914 to 1920 - the war with Germany, the Revolution, the murder of the Tsar and the withdrawal of the Allied Intervention in the north - came the disintegration of Russia and of family life. The stark realities of hunger, deprivation and fear are sharply contrasted with the adventures of childhood. The reader shares the family's suspense and concern about the fates of its members and relives with Eugenie her final escape to Scotland. In The House by the Dvina, Eugenie Fraser has vividly and poignantly portrayed a way of life that finally disappeared in violence and tragedy. Read more

The story of a personal housing crisis that led to a discovery of the true value of home'You will marvel at the beauty of this book' George Monbiot'Incredibly moving' Raynor WinnAged thirty-one, Catrina Davies was renting a box-room in a house in Bristol, which she shared with four other adults and a child. Working several jobs and never knowing if she could make the rent, she felt like she was breaking apart. Homesick for the landscape of her childhood, in the far west of Cornwall, Catrina decides to give up the box-room and face her demons. As a child, she saw her family and their security torn apart; now, she resolves to make a tiny, dilapidated shed a home of her own.With the freedom to write, surf and make music, Catrina rebuilds the shed and, piece by piece, her own sense of self. This is the story of a personal housing crisis and a country-wide one, grappling with class, economics, mental health and nature. Read more

From one of the great thinkers and writers of our time, comes the unmissable final instalment in Deborah Levy's critically acclaimed 'Living Autobiography'.'A beautifully crafted and thought-provoking snapshot of a life' The Evening Standard_________________________________'I began to wonder what myself and all unwritten and unseen women would possess in their property portfolios at the end of their lives. Literally, her physical property and possessions, and then everything else she valued, though it might not be valued by society. What might she claim, own, discard and bequeath? Or is she the real estate, owned by patriarchy? In this sense, Real Estate is a tricky business. We rent it and buy it, sell and inherit it - but we must also knock it down.'Following the critical acclaim of Things I Don't Want to Know and The Cost of Living, this final volume of Deborah Levy's 'Living Autobiography' is an exhilarating, thought-provoking and boldly intimate meditation on home and the spectres that haunt it._________________________________'Real Estate is a book to dive into. Come on in, the water's lovely' The Daily Telegraph'Her reflections on domesticity, freedom and romance are so beautiful, I found myself underlining multiple sentences a page. Wry, warm and uplifting, it's a book I'll return to again and again' Stylist'[Levy's living autobiography series is] a glittering triple echo of books that are as much philosophical discourse as a manifesto for living and writing' Financial Times Read more

'A jewel of a book, a paean to the wonders of water and our place within it' James Nestor, bestselling of author of Breath'Glorious' The New York Times Take a dive into the deep and discover what it is about water that seduces us, heals us and brings us together.Join writer and swimmer Bonnie Tsui as she explores the unique skill of swimming from the five angles of survival, wellbeing, community, competition and flow. Propelled by stories of polar swim champions, a Baghdad swim club, Olympian athletes and modern-day samurai swimmers, Why We Swim takes us around the globe in a remarkable, all-encompassing account of the world of swimming. This is a joyous meditation on our innate connection to water and a true celebration of the wonders of swimming. Read more

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM DISNEY STARRING DAISY RIDLEY.The exhilarating true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, and inspire a new era for women in sportsBy age twenty, at the height of the Jazz Age, Trudy Ederle was the most accomplished swimmer in the world. She’d won Olympic gold and set a host of world records. But the greatest challenge remained: the English Channel. Only a few swimmers, none of them women, had ever made the treacherous twenty-one mile crossing. Trudy’s failed first attempt seemed to confirm what many naysayers believed: No woman could possibly accomplish such a thing.In 1926, Ederle proved them wrong. As her German immigrant parents cheered her, and her sister and fellow swimmer Meg helped fashion both her scandalous two-piece swimsuit and leak-proof goggles, Trudy was determined to succeed. “England or drown is my motto,” she said, plunging into the frigid Channel for her second attempt at the crossing. Fourteen hours later, two hours faster than any man, and after weathering a gale and waves that approached six-feet, she stepped onto Kingsdowne Beach as the most famous woman in the world.Based on years of archival research that unearthed Ederle’s memory from obscurity, Young Woman and the Sea brings to life the real Trudy Ederle, the challenges that came with her fame, and the historic mark her achievement made for all women athletes who followed.  Read more

Swim, Bike, Run - The ultimate guide to triathlon by Olympics heroes Alistair and Jonathan BrownleeA Number One Bestseller This is the story of how two skinny lads from west Yorkshire became the best triathletes in the world.Meet the Brownlees: Olympic Champion Alistair, World Champion Jonny. Brothers, training partners, rivals. They have obliterated the competition and set new standards for swimming, biking and running.In this revealing, often very funny book they take us inside their world. It's both a riveting story of the races, the success and the brotherly rivalry, as well as a guide to triathlon with sections on how to swim, bike and run and packed with advice on nutrition, injury, and mental approach.This book will appeal to readers of cycling and running books like Mark Cavendish's Boy Racer and Running with the Kenyans, as well as fans of Chrissie Wellington's A Life Without Limits and Andy Beckett's Can't Swim, Can't Bike, Can't Run.'Sport has two new heroes: a couple of nice lads from Yorkshire' The TimesAlistair Brownlee, 24, is a British triathlete from Yorkshire. He is the reigning Olympic champion, a back-to-back European champion and a two-time World champion. Jonathan Brownlee, 22, is also a British triathlete from Yorkshire. He is the reigning World Champion, a two-time World Sprint champion and an Olympic bronze medalist. Read more

The inspirational story behind the film The Swimmers on Netflix, by Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer, Yusra Mardini.'An extraordinary tale of bravery, survival, and winsome, never-give-up moxie. It is impossible not to be won over by Yusra.' – Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner It’s important the world understands what many ordinary people must endure to find a safe place to live. If it will help others, I’ll tell my story a million times.When war broke out in her native Syria, Yusra Mardini fled to the Turkish coast in 2015 and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat's engine cut out, it began to sink. Instinctively, Yusra and her sister took to the treacherous open water and guided the boat for three and a half hours, helped by two other refugees, until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard.Butterfly is the story of that remarkable woman, whose journey started in a war-torn suburb of Damascus and took her through Europe to Berlin and from there to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.Yusra Mardini is an athlete, one of People magazine’s twenty-five women changing the world, on the list of TIME Magazine's most influential teens, and one of the the youngest UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors. Yusra's and her sister Sara's story is the subject of a major Netflix film documenting her life, written by Jack Thorne. Yusra and Sara were also part of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2023.Now with an updated afterword.'Yusra, we could not be prouder of you for your courage and your resilience and the great example that you're setting for children everywhere' – Barack Obama Read more

'Prose written with the pen of a poet' - Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape'Full of wisdom and poetry and epic emotion, This is My Sea explores grief, memory and loss through vivid words and striking imagery. It echoes lost summers and the beauty of life, like a shell held to the ear' - Ed O'Loughlin, author of The Last Good Funeral of the YearOver the course of seven difficult years Miriam Mulcahy lost her mother, father and sister, each grief threatening to drown her. But instead of going under she discovered the lessons of the sea, letting the water teach her how to get through anything in life: one breath builds on another, another stroke, another kick and you will get home.THIS IS MY SEA takes our greatest fear, death, and wraps it up in language so fine and beautiful that the reader is carried along and comforted by how completely lost Miriam was and how she found solace in all the things that sustained her: books, music, art, friends, love, swimming, and of course the sea.Shortlisted for the Bookstation Lifestyle Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2023. For fans of The Salt Path by Raynor Winn and I Found my Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice. Read more

Saturnine and quick-tempered, the formidable North Sea is often overlooked - even by those living within a stone's throw of its steel-grey waters. But as playground, theatre of war and cultural crossing-point, it has shaped the world in myriad ways, forged villains and heroes, and determined the fates of nations. It's not all grim, though: the seaside holiday was born on North Sea beaches, and artists, poets and writers have been as equally inspired by glinting sun on the wave-tops as they have the drama of a winter storm. With a wry eye and a warm coat, Tom Blass travels the edges of the North Sea meeting fishermen, artists, bomb disposal experts, burgermeisters - and those who have found themselves flung to the sea's perimeters quite by chance. In doing so he attempts to piece together its manifold histories and to reveal truths, half-truths and fictions otherwise submerged... Read more