Simon Garfield Libros

The real story of the Mini, published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this design classic.

The encyclopaedia once shaped our understanding of the world, created by countless scholars and meticulous editors. A good set conveyed absolute wisdom, with contributions from figures like Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Marie Curie, aiding millions in their studies. Adults believed they had access to all explainable knowledge within their homes. However, these once-revered volumes now gather dust and sell for little online, as we increasingly rely on our devices for information. What have we lost in this shift? This work celebrates the groundbreaking publishing phenomenon of encyclopaedias, tracing their evolution from Ancient Greece to Wikipedia, and examining the transition from single volumes to massive collections. It details how Encyclopaedia Britannica dominated the market, inspired numerous competitors, and how door-to-door salesmen marketed these resources to parents. The text explores how encyclopaedias mirrored societal attitudes towards sexuality, race, and technology, while also revealing the errors and biases that plagued these trusted sources. With his engaging style, Simon Garfield highlights this significant aspect of our history and questions whether the quest for complete knowledge—a deeply human aspiration—will ever be fully realized.

'A remarkable journalistic achievement.' Time Out'Powerful . Including interviews with key figures in the fight against the virus as well as those facing personal devastation and prejudice, The End of Innocence is an important and powerful story, compellingly told.

The result is a moving, intriguing, funny, at times heartbreaking book - unashamedly populist in the spirit of Forgotten Voices or indeed Margaret Forster's Diary of an Ordinary Woman.

In Private Battles, award-winning writer Simon Garfield has skilfully interwoven the diaries of four ordinary people as they struggle to cope with the day-to-day reality of life during the Second World War. Edward Stebbing, a 20-year-old discharged soldier living with a stern landlady in Essex.

When British wrestling was dropped from the ITV schedules in the mid-80s it left the giants of the ring - Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki - bereft. This is the true story of the circuit, the big names and their rivalries, told with humour, warmth and affection.

Includes portions of the diaries of: Pam Ashford, Christopher Tomlin, Tilly Rice, Eileen Potter, and Maggie Joy Blunt.

Originally published: London: Profile Books, 2010.

The wartime correspondence which first warmed people's hearts in Simon Garfield's To the Letter, now available in a single volume for readers to follow their wonderful and life-changing journey.

This title examines the industrial and social changes reflected in both the old Mini and the new MINI, which evolved from symbols of austerity and efficiency to representations of individuality and classlessness.