European Life

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2021 A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK WINNER OF THE INWORDS LITERARY AWARD ‘Sheer joy' Graham Norton ‘Utterly beautiful … filled with hope’ Joanna Cannon, author of Three Things About...

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that the water of life would save him. Each one set out in turn. The two older ones, setting out in hopes of being the heir, were rude to a dwarf on the way and became trapped in ravines. When the youngest son went the dwarf asked where he was going, and he told him. The dwarf told him it was in a castle, and gave him an iron wand to open the gates and two loaves to feed to the lions inside. Then he had to get the water before the clock struck 12 when the gates would shut again.

The first major biography of the pathbreaking, perpetually influential surrealist artist and iconoclast whose inspiration can be seen in everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyoncé—by the celebrated biographer of Cézanne and Braque In this thought-provoking life of René Magritte (1898‒1967)...

From the author of The School for German Brides, this captivating historical novel set in nineteenth-century and post–World War II Paris follows two fierce women of the same family, generations apart, who find that their futures lie in the four walls of a simple bakery in a tiny corner of...

Brought to you by Penguin. An extraordinarily atmospheric and powerful history of the world's largest country and its decline and fall. With Stalin's death, the Soviet Union remained a repressive, harsh and belligerent place, but one which became more predictable for its citizens and one which...

A Nobel laureate presents a brilliant, discomfiting reflection on literary life defined by the brutality of Ceausescu’s Romania. From her childhood in Romania, in a village “as small as a thimble on the edge of the world,” through to life in exile in Germany, Herta Müller's story unspools...

Navigate a sweeping European history where one mighty river forged powerful empires, fueled trade, and divided nations. Perfect for your daily commute, this evocative narrative transforms physical geography into a thrilling battleground of human ambition. Follow the turbulent waterways from the...

For the first time in audio, Marguerite Yourcenar's masterpiece—an extraordinary novel based on the life of the Roman emperor Hadrian. "[James] Lailey sweeps us away with a virtuoso reading of this debate on soul, body, and power, sensitively underlining the nuanced sentiments in the...

Brought to you by Penguin. For centuries, Mount Etna has sent lava to engulf the towns and villages, terraced fields, orchards, vineyards, and citrus groves that nestle across its slopes. But still it remains home to a quarter of Sicily’s population. Why? Because Etna has always rewarded her...

The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Children of Ash and Elm and award-winning expert on the Vikings brings us even closer to their world Who do we think of when we think about the Vikings? Most of us are familiar with the seafaring marauders who raided, traded and settled the coasts of...

This compelling biography examines the extraordinary life and strange contrasts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the struggling provincial doctor who became the most popular storyteller of his age when he created Sherlock Holmes. From his youthful exploits aboard a whaling ship, to his often stormy...

Brought to you by Penguin. The extraordinary story of the nineteenth-century French-Italian aristocrat Marquis de Morès, the father of fascism, and his ominous legacy In nineteenth-century France, the first fascist was born. Decades before Mussolini, the Marquis de Morès became the first...

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two million Jewish immigrants poured into America, leaving places like Warsaw or the Russian shtetls to pass through Ellis Island and start over in the New World. Though some moved on to Philadelphia, Chicago, and other points west, many of these new citizens settled in New York City, especially in Manhattan's teeming tenements....

How Victorian male doctors used false science to argue that women were unfit for anything but motherhoodand the brilliant doctor who defied them. After Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school, more women demanded a chance to study medicine. Barred entrance to...

'Dubs has been described as the conscience of the Labour movement' The Guardian 'Principled, steely, wise and warm - as wonderful as the writer' Philippe Sands 'A great story told by a great man' Alastair Campbell From the Kindertransport to the House of Lords, one of Britain's best-loved...

A masterful new translation of Suetonius' renowned biography of the twelve Caesars, bringing to life a portrait of the first Roman emperors in stunning detail A Penguin Classic The ancient Roman empire was the supreme arena, where emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle. To...

"[Narrator Michael Stuhlbarg's] elegant performance and Aciman's sensitive writing keep things touching without ever being sentimental. Wonderful listening." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner This program is read by Michael Stuhlbarg, the actor who played Professor Samuel Perlman in...

Brought to you by Penguin. Corruption, sleaze and violence were woven into the fabric of twentieth-century Sicilian life, as the Mafia rose to dominance; this is the story of one man who stood in opposition. In 1986, the largest Mafia trial in Italy’s history took place in Sicily. The...

Bloomsbury presents The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe, read by Juliette Burton. A heart-wrenching story from the bestselling author of The Throwaway Children. Thirteen-year-old Lisa has escaped from Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. She arrives in London unable to speak a word of...

Peaky Blinders—but with women! In the thrilling final installment of Beezy Marsh’s riveting crime trilogy about a real-life London gang that began with Queen of Thieves, we go back to crime queen Alice Diamond’s bold beginnings in 1920s Soho. London, 1922. Orphan girl Alice dreams of more...