Last night we hosted a fascinating evening talking about André Rostant’s book The Muffin Man.
The Muffin Man is a frank exploration into the lives of those at the heart of bohemian Soho, told from the perspective of George, a fictional Big Issue Vendor in Soho. This story sheds a much needed light on the most pressing issues in society today and the still desperate need for change.
Dom Joly spoke to André about how his book is fiction but very much based on the lives of those who frequent Soho and about how communities in London can change so much that these people who have lived there their whole lives can be like tourists in their own areas.
Thank you to everyone who attended. We are donating all ticket proceeds and a percentage of book sales to the Big Issue.
If you were unable to attend this event but would like to make a donation to support the Big Issue, please click here
On Thursday we hosted the second of our Table Talks – which include wine, delicious nibbles and fabulous conversation around the table, talking about all things books, travel and life journeys.
We were thrilled to welcome authors Tiffany Murray and Travis Elborough talking about Tiffany’s new book My Family and Other Rock Stars sharing stories, recipes, songs and experiences, a fun evening not to be missed.
Last week we hosted the first of our Table Talks – which include wine, delicious nibbles and fabulous conversation around the table, talking about all things books, travel and life journeys.
We were thrilled to welcome authors Karen McLeod and Travis Elborough to discuss Karen’s new book Lifting off.
Karen McLeod’s account of flying as long-haul cabin crew offers a fascinating insight into the profound impact of airline life. Having come out as a lesbian shortly before getting the job, she is forced to go back in as colleagues advise her that it’s not OK to be gay, unlike male cabin crew. Lifting Off is a fly on the wall tale of flying long-haul, drinking miniatures, hotel bedroom parties with the rest of the crew, one-night stands in exotic locations and the loneliness of having to deny your true self. It is the story of how Karen McLeod saved herself and finally came into land.
Lifting Off came out of trying to write that difficult second novel. Karen realised she had to confront her past before she could write creatively again.
In the 1990s Karen had begun performing as a drag queen, impersonating men impersonating women. This was found to be too unorthodox even on the drag scene so Karen created Barbara who is the inverse of mainstream drag. She hides her hair, makes her legs unflattering in pop socks and wears a shapeless cagoule. The Sunday Times described Barbara as ‘Rik Mayall meets performance art’ and she is now a regular across the UK gay cabaret, literary and comedy community
‘An absorbing and often hilarious account of the author’s 12 years as closeted cabin crew for BA & the profound impact that had on her life as a gay woman’ The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice
‘Beautiful, wise and funny…I really did love it’ Evie Wyld
‘Witty, irreverent, deeply felt and exquisitely written…I can’t recommend this memoir enough. Stunning’ Joelle Taylor
About the speakers:
Karen McLeod is writer in residence at independent bookseller, The Bookseller Crow on the Hill and a visiting lecture in creative writing at UCAS. She performs comedy as Barbara Brownskirt and regularly works with Polari the LGBTQ+ Literary Salon.
Travis Elborough
Described by the Guardian as ‘one of the country’s finest pop culture historians’, Travis Elborough is the author of many books, including Wish You Were Here: England on Sea, The Long-Player Goodbye, Through the Looking Glasses: The Spectacular Life of Spectacles and Atlas of Vanishing Places, winner of Edward Stanford Travel Book Award in 2020.
To celebrate the paperback launch of this 2024 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, Travel Book of the Year shortlisted book, Tom Parfitt came to Stanfords last night to talk to Tom de Waal aboutHigh Caucasus. It was such a fascinating, moving and sobering evening hearing these two experts on the region talk about reminiscences and predictions.
Last night we hosted an event with Jack Cornish and heard all about his new book Lost Paths.
Hundreds of thousands of miles of paths reach into, and connect, communities across England and Wales. By 2026, 10,000 miles of undiscovered footpaths around Britain stand to be lost. Jack Cornish has dedicated the last five years of his life to walking these forgotten routes, and this book, The Lost Paths, is the result. It is Jack Cornish’s hope that The Lost Paths will show just how special these forgotten rights of way are, and how embedded each path is in the history of Britain.
Footpaths, tracks, country lanes and urban streets illuminate how our ancestors interacted with and shaped their landscapes in the pursuit of commerce, salvation, escape, war, and leisure. Paths are an often-overlooked part of our everyday life and our country’s history, crucial to understanding the cultural and environmental history of us in the landscape.
After dedicating his time and energy to fighting for their survival, The Lost Paths is Jack’s personal journey and exploration of the deep history of English and Welsh footways. This narrative history takes us through ancient forests, exposed mountainsides, urban back streets and coastal vistas to reveal how this millennia-old network was created and has been transformed.
This is a celebration of an ancient network and a rallying cry to reclaim what has been lost and preserve it for future generations.
The Lost Paths is available now for £20. We have signed copies while stocks last.
This is an uplifting, humorous memoir of a mother building a new life on a beautiful Sicilian island.
Reeling from a broken relationship, Ros Belford decides the best chance she has of healing, while giving her daughters a childhood to remember, is to move to Italy and live by the sea.
After a false start in a town where machismo is ingrained, they find the small, lush, delightful island of Salina. Izzy and Juno grow up playing on the beach, learning to swim over volcanic bubbles, hearing tales of Aeolian witches and watching Stromboli erupt on the horizon. It is not entirely paradise, however. The school is atrocious, there are power cuts and an earthquake, and property speculators threaten the island’s fragile beauty. But an eclectic community of islanders take them to their hearts, friendships are forged and Salina becomes home.
Full of humanity, vitality, honesty and optimism, Children of the Volcanois for anyone unwilling to give up dreams of adventure and excitement simply because of parenthood, lack of money and not getting things right the first time.
Children of the Volcano by Ros Belford is available now for £19.99. We have signed copies while stocks last.
Last week we hosted the launch of our June Book of the Month Slow Trains to Istanbul by Tom Chesshyre.
From London via Paris, Naples, Nuremberg, the Swiss Alps, Budapest, Athens and into the furthest corners of Eastern Europe across Romania and Bulgaria, join Tom Chesshyre on his fascinating journey to Istanbul and back
Ever dreamt of dropping everything and adventuring cross-country to the edge of Asia? That’s just what rail enthusiast Tom Chesshyre did, hitting the tracks for a 4,570-mile adventure on 55 rides, shadowing the old Orient Express route.
Interrailing was once the realm of young backpackers setting off to “find themselves” – and for many, it still is. But it’s also a joyful and eco-friendly twenty-first century adventure that’s open to us all, no matter our age or agenda. Dodging striking train drivers in Germany, getting stuck by the Bulgarian-Greek border, and negotiating tricky passport officials in Turkey is all part of the fun in this illuminating and meandering journey around Europe.
“This is the story of drink maps, and it’s probably not what you think”
Last week we were joined by Kris Butler for a fascinating exploration of the history of alcohol in Victorian Britain via the ‘drink maps’ that were produced by the temperance movement to promote sobriety.
It’s not about pub crawls or plotted ale trails. Instead, these are maps with an agenda that was adamantly hostile to drinking alcohol, made by an organized faction known as the Temperance Movement. The logic at the time of the maps’ creation went as follows: if people are shown how many places there are to buy alcohol, they will be so appalled that they will join the effort to end drinking. In hindsight this logic is obviously flawed.’
Drink Maps in Victorian Britain explores how drink maps of cities were published to fight increasingly rampant alcohol consumption, from Liverpool,Manchester and Sheffield to Oxford, London, and Norwich.
