The Hobbit

In October 1936, Stanley Unwin, chairman of British publishers George Allen & Unwin (later acquired by HarperCollins), received a children’s book submission. More

Tracy Chevalier

I read because I want to know what it’s like to look at the world through someone else’s eyes, and reading is a remarkably efficient and vigorous way of doing that. More

Bernard Cornwell

Born in London in 1944, Bernard Cornwell grew up in Essex and, after a stint as a teacher, moved on to the BBC, where he took a job as a producer in Northern Ireland. More

Bel Canto

Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More

Flashman

When this novel was first published, many critics mistakenly accepted it as a genuine historical memoir. More

Anthony Doerr

We are all mapmakers: We embed our memories everywhere, inscribing a private and intensely complicated latticework across the landscape. More

William Collins

Born on the south side of Glasgow in the village of Pollokshaws in 1789, William Collins left school to work as a weaver and clerk in a local cotton mill. More

Longitude

Story of an epic scientific quest, which won British Book of the Year in 1997. More

No Logo

International bestseller and one of the world’s most influential books on the alter-globalization movement. More

A Game of Thrones

First volume in the internationally bestselling series that has sold upward of 70 million copies. More