Constance Briscoe
Ugly

Constance's mother systematically abused her daughter, both physically and emotionally, throughout her childhood. Regularly beaten and starved, the girl was so desperate she took herself off to Social Services and tried to get taken into care. When that failed, she swallowed bleach 'because it kills all known germs and my mother always told me I was a germ'. When Constance was thirteen, her mother simply moved out, leaving her daughter to fend for herself: there was no gas, no electricity and no food. But somehow Constance found the courage to survive her terrible start in life. This is her heartrending - and ultimately triumphant- story.

'Horrific, but remarkable too. Let us hope that Constance's story will inspire young people everywhere to not only hold onto their dreams and make them happen, but also to be better parents themselves' - Lesley Pearse

Nathaniel Philbrick
Mayflower

This is the story of the Pilgrim fathers who set sail on the Mayflower and the bloody battle they ultimately waged against the Native Americans. Behind the quaint and pious version of the Mayflower story usually taught in American primary schools is a tumultuous tale of violence, subterfuge and epic drama. Following the Pilgrims from their perilous journey from England on a battered, leaky ship, through their first bitter North American winter, to their equally bitter battle against the native Wampanoag tribe fifty years later, Philbrick paints a vivid and compelling picture of conflict, colonialism and a grim determination to survive.

`Excellently researched... Philbrick offers a sober corrective to the glorified version o f an inglorious history'- New Statesman

`An outstanding book. His writing is atmospheric and evocative... and he has a sure eye for arresting detail'- Sunday Times

A welcome return to Richard Sharpe finds him fighting his old enemies, the French, at the extraordinary battle of Barossa in 1811. Richard Sharpe has been sent by Wellington on a mission to Cadiz, now the capital of Spain, to rescue the British ambassador - who happens to be Wellington's brother - from a spot of undiplomatic trouble. The city has been blockaded by the French but is supported by the British from the sea. It contains a rare mix of pro- and antiBritish Spanish, diplomats, courtiers, adventurers and spies. Sharpe's mission - complicated, undercover and political - turns out to be completely different from the one on which he was sent. It brings him through the besieging enemy army to the battle of Barossa where the British, deserted by their allies, must confront the overwhelmingly stronger French force.