‘A rollicking, brilliant book’ GARETH RUSSELL, author of Queen James
‘A very fine piece of biographical work, erudite but accessible’ JOHN STUBBS, author of Jonathan Swift
A rollicking narrative history set during the extraordinary summer of 1726 when Jonathan Swift arrived in London from Dublin, with a draft of Gulliver’s Travels in his bag.
‘A book to underline endlessly, to carry around until battered, and then to tell all your friends to buy because you’re too reluctant to give up your own copy. A wonder’ Polly Barton
‘Brings a welcome freshness of vision and a dashing style … provocative and illuminating’ The Spectator
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A sparkling account of the writing of one of the most celebrated biographies of all time – ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’ – and an account of the friendship that blossomed between writer and his subject.
‘A towering achievement’ MERVE EMRE
NYT Best New Books of 2026
A majestic cultural and environmental history that reveals how forests have made – and resisted – Russia’s many empires.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE*
A dazzling new biography of young Tennyson by the prize-winning, bestselling author of The Age of Wonder.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘It is good to meet the real Jane Austen at last’ Independent on Sunday
‘Brilliantly illuminating … by focusing, chapter by chapter, on one thread or another of Austen’s experience, Byrne allows us to grasp the richness of her inner life’ Guardian
‘I relished every page … This is the best book on Jane Austen I have ever read’Spectator
‘Compelling … a delightful and engrossing book … Byrne’s passion is nothing if not persuasive’Sunday Times
Was Jane Austen a woman of prim manners and genteel calm? Or someone who behaved outrageously, filled with sharp wit and wild comedy?
A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller and at Waterstones
‘He understands only the women he invents – the others not at all’
It is not often that an author and his editor strike up a relationship which survives forty years of epistolary exchanges and intellectual sparring.
THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTELLER
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES, TELEGRAPH, DAILY MAIL, TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES
‘ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, MIND-BLOWINGLY EXPLOSIVE’ ED BALLS
‘SENSATIONAL’ DAILY MAIL
From the critically acclaimed author Sally Bayley, The Green Lady is a poignant, brilliant exploration of the relationships between children and their teachers.
‘A kind of blissography, teeming with bon mots’ Sunday Times
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
An intimate, revealing and profoundly moving biography of Jean Rhys, acclaimed author of Wide Sargasso Sea.
Bill Bryson’s biography of William Shakespeare unravels the superstitions, academic discoveries and myths surrounding the life of our greatest poet and playwright.
‘A lively picture of multiple operators scrambling to steal a march on the competition . . . Lavishly detailed’FINANCIAL TIMES
