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Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

"Larry and Nancy Goldstone, accompanied by their wise and witty eight-year-old daughter, Emily, treat their readers to a fabulous personal tour of the Library of Congress ("114,000,000 books, so little time"). They also entertain us with unorthodox behind-the-scences looks at the Folger Library and the Beinecke, Yale University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library." "Forgeries, famous and otherwise, feature largely among the tidbits of arcane booklore that the Goldstones share with their readers this time around. The clever detective work that led to the uncovering of the infamous New England forger is recounted in all its facinating detail, as is the case of the murderous Mormon. Fans of The Antiques Roadshow will find here an amusing bibliographic counterpart." "Intended for those readers who already know a lot about books but want to learn more, Warmly Inscribed is the perfect gift for the book lover in your life."--Jacket.

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Andrew Norman

When Agatha Christie, the so-called “Queen of Crime”, disappeared from her home in Sunningdale in Berkshire for eleven days on 3 December 1927, the whole nation held its breath. The following day, when her car was found abandoned fourteen miles away, a nationwide search was instigated. From a painstaking reconstruction of Agatha’s movements and behavior during those eleven days, Dr Andrew Norman is able to shed new light on what, in many ways, has remained a baffling mystery. Only now, fifty years after Agatha’s death, is it possible to explain fully, in the light of scientific knowledge, her behaviour during that troubled time. By deciphering clues from her celebrated works, Agatha Christie: The Finished Portrait sheds light on what is perhaps the greatest mystery of all to be associated with Britain’s best-loved crime writer, namely that of the person herself.

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Abi Smith

Micky Flanagan is one of Britain's best-loved cheeky-chappy comedians, thanks to his stand-up routines about how he's gone from growing up in London's East End in the 1970s to his life now in middle-class suburbia. Yet a career as a professional comedian was not something that he had ever dreamed of when, as a troublesome teen, he left school aged 15 to work in a fish market. Abi Smith looks at how Micky, who was laughed at by his teachers when he said he wanted to be a vet, has triumphed from his early days working as a fish porter in the East End and as a dishwasher in New York. In this page-turning biography you'll also discover why his mum labelled him a drama queen, and how he tried his hand at various professions - including trainee teacher and painter and decorator - before having the last laugh by becoming one of the country's most popular funny men.

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John Baxter

In the rural Australia of the fifties where John Baxter grew up, reading books was disregarded with suspicion, owning and collecting them with utter incomprehension. Despite this, by the age of eleven Baxter had 'collected' his first book - The Poems of Rupert Brooke. He'd read the volume often, but now he had to own it. This was the beginning of what would become a major collection and a lifelong obsession. His book-hunting would take him all over the world, but his first real find was in London in 1978, when he spotted a rare copy of a Graham Greene children's book while browsing on a stall in Swiss Cottage. It was going for 5 pence. This would also, fortuitously, be the day when he first encountered one of the legends of the book-selling world: Martin Stone. At various times pothead, international fugitive from justice, and professional rock musician, he would become John's mentor and friend. In this brilliantly readable and funny book, John Baxter brings us into contact with such literary greats as Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, J.G. Ballard and Ray Bradbury. But he also shows us how he penetrated the secret fraternity of 'runners' or book scouts - sleuths who use bluff and guile to hunt down their quarry - and joined them in scouring junk shops, markets, auction rooms and private homes for rarities. In the comic tradition of Clive James's Unreliable Memoirs, A Pound of Paper describes how a boy from the bush came to be living in a Paris penthouse with a library worth millions. It also explores the exploding market in first editions. What treasures are lying unnoticed in your garage?