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Jackson, mississippi, 1962. black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver. some lines will never be crossed. aibileen is a black maid: smart, regal, and raising her seventeenth white child. yet something shifted inside aibileen the day her own son died while his bosses looked the other way. minny, aibileen’s best friend, is by some way the sassiest woman in mississippi. but even her extraordinary cooking won’t protect minny from the consequences of her tongue. twenty-two-year-old skeeter returns home with a degree and a head full of hope, but her mother will not be happy until there’s a ring on her finger. seeking solace with constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, skeeter finds she has gone. but why will no one tell her where? seemingly as different as can be, skeeter, aibileen and minny’s lives converge over a clandestine project that will not only put them all at risk but also change the town of jackson for ever. but why? and for what? the help is a deeply moving, timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we won’t. itis about how women, whether mothers or daughters, the help or the boss, relate to each other – and that terrible feeling that those who look after your children may understand them, even love them, better than you . . .

A new york times, new statesman, history today and bbc history magazine book of the year ‘masterly… this book is dynamite’ – robert gildea, author of empires of the mind __shortlisted for the baillie gifford prize__ a searing, landmark study of the british empire that lays bare its pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century. drawing on more than a decade of research on four continents, caroline elkins reveals the dark heart of britain’s empire: a racialised, systemised doctrine of unrelenting violence, which it used to secure and maintain its interests across the globe. when britain could no longer maintain control over that violence, it simply retreated – and sought to destroy the evidence. legacy of violence is a monumental achievement that explodes long-held myths and deserves the attention of anyone who seeks to understand empire’s role in shaping the world today. ‘not so much a history book as a book of historical significance’ bbc history magazine ‘riveting’ new statesman ‘crucial… as unflinching as it is gripping, as carefully researched as it is urgently necessary’ jill lepore, author of these truths.

So much has now been said and written about the life and career of michael jackson that it has become almost impossible to disentangle the man from the myth. recent revelations are only the latest instalments of a saga that began decades ago. this book is the fruit of over 30 years of research and hundreds of exclusive interviews with a remarkable level of access to the very closest circles of the jackson family – including michael himself. cutting through tabloid rumours, j. randy taraborrelli traces the real story behind the michael jackson we see and hear today, from his drilling as a child star through the blooming of his talent to his ever-changing personal appearance and bizarre publicity stunts. this major biography includes the behind-the-scenes story to many of the landmarks in jackson’s life: his legal and commercial battles, his marriages to lisa marie presley and debbie rowe, his passions and addictions, his children. objective and revealing, it carries the hallmarks of all of taraborrelli’s best-sellers: impeccable research, brilliant storytelling and definitive documentation.

The author of “the provisional ira” now presents a dramatic pilot’s eye view of the campaign that saved britain from nazi invasion and changed the course of history. of photos.