{"title":"Books by John Sutherland","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781398707573","title":"The Siege","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'You know you're in the presence of an expert when you read \u003ci\u003eThe Siege.\u003c\/i\u003e A gripping debut novel.'\u003ci\u003e Jeffrey Archer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNine hostages. Ten hours. One chance to save them all.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuperintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A masterly, gripping tale of a siege, written with a true voice of authority.' - \u003ci\u003ePeter James\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128760893618,"sku":"9781398707573","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398707573.jpg?v=1786019828"},{"product_id":"9781785908170","title":"Triggered Literature","description":"\u003cp\u003e‘Triggering’. When and where did the usageoriginate? No one is sure. There is, however, clear connection with thepsychiatric term ‘trauma trigger’ – stimuli which can detonate unhealed wounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe concept of triggering took off infeminist magazines and social media ‘chat’ around 2010. Around 2013\/14 it moved,wholesale, into higher education. In May 2014, the\u003ci\u003e New York Times \u003c\/i\u003ereportedthat at scores of institutions student bodies were demanding trigger warningsin their courses for canonical texts. It reached a floodmark with a survey by\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e of London in August 2022 which found that British universitieshad covertly added trigger warnings to over a thousand texts, including theworks of literary greats such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, JaneAusten, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoliticians in the US, UK and Australiavilifies triggering with the sarcasms ‘wokery’ and ‘snowflakery’. What isoverlooked in the heat of the argument is that triggering is categoricallydifferent from traditional institutional controls on literature. Triggering,done responsibly, honours the fact that great literature is great because itis, as Kafka says, powerful.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this extraordinary polemic, JohnSutherland – former Visiting Professor of Literature at theCalifornia Institute of Technology  – takes a wide-ranging and characteristicallynuanced look at the history of triggering and censorship in literature andshows how it has become a theatre of culture warfare. Politicians in the greatsectors of the English-speaking world have taken up arms in that conflict.Jonathan Swift’s ‘Battle of the Books’ has flared up again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43231329091762,"sku":"9781785908170","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785908170.jpg?v=1786025475"},{"product_id":"9781398716865","title":"The Castle","description":"\u003cp\u003e'\u003cb\u003eA masterclass\u003c\/b\u003e in thrillers' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eOne hell of a treat\u003c\/b\u003e' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eBlown away\u003c\/b\u003e, almost literally' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eWow, wow, wow!!\u003c\/b\u003e' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e'Proper \u003cb\u003eedge-of-your-seat stuff\u003c\/b\u003e' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlex\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003ePip\u003c\/b\u003e are in desperate need of an escape. Their stressful roles as hostage negotiators are eased only by the fact that they get to come home to each other every night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen an old friend invites the couple up to the Scottish Highlands for an extended break, Alex and Pip jump at the chance. It's the rest they both need.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut soon after they arrive at the castle, they hear the sound of gunshots, and their perfect escape turns into a perfect nightmare. \u003cb\u003eThe remote mountainous landscape is now the setting for a terrifying kidnap plot targeting \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eone of the other guests\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the desperate hours that follow, Alex and Pip must call on all their years of negotiating experience to keep everyone alive. \u003cb\u003eBut with Pip gravely injured and the net closing in, it might be her life that needs saving most of all...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRead what everyone is saying about \u003ci\u003eThe Castle\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eWow wow wow!!...\u003c\/b\u003e This was a fantastic read! This book had great suspense, murder, mystery, fantastic characters, revenge... \u003cb\u003ewild twists and turns! \u003c\/b\u003eThe storyline was very interesting! I highly recommend reading this book.' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'This is \u003cb\u003eproper edge-of-your-seat stuff\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003emoves at a blistering pace\u003c\/b\u003e... A very tense read... Mr Sutherland is going to be someone that stays on my radar. Loved this!' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eI will admit to crying\u003c\/b\u003e at one point, you'll know when you get there, and my emotions played yoyo for a while which was fabulous! Highly recommended... \u003cb\u003ea tense and rewarding thriller that we've chosen as both a \u003ci\u003eLoveReading\u003c\/i\u003e Star Book, and Liz Pick of the Month\u003c\/b\u003e.' \u003ci\u003eLoveReading\u003c\/i\u003e, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eA masterclass in thrillers\u003c\/b\u003e... So tense I found myself reading aggressively! I had to know what happened and I wanted more the second I had finished. \u003cb\u003eIncredible\u003c\/b\u003e.' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55206296355189,"sku":"9781398716865","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398716865_eeb6620d-9507-40d9-82df-f976d9a8d5e9.jpg?v=1786019276"},{"product_id":"9780199214891","title":"Bestsellers","description":"'I rejoice', said Doctor Johnson, 'to concur with the Common Reader.' For the last century, the tastes and preferences of the common reader have been reflected in the American and British bestseller lists, and this Very Short Introduction takes an engaging look through the lists to reveal what we have been reading - and why. John Sutherland shows that bestseller lists monitor one of the strongest pulses in modern literature and are therefore worthy of serious study. Along the way, he lifts the lid on the bestseller industry, examines what makes a book into a bestseller, and asks what separates bestsellers from canonical fiction. Exploring the relationship between bestsellers and the fashions, ideologies, and cultural concerns of the day, the book includes short case-studies and lively summaries of bestsellers through the years: from In His Steps - now almost totally forgotten, but the biggest all-time bestseller between 1895 and 1945, to Gone with the Wind and The Andromeda Strain, and The Da Vinci Code. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56226942419317,"sku":"9780199214891","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199214891_d299c539-811b-4f1d-b6bd-e0cc8d284536.jpg?v=1786012286"},{"product_id":"9780199538997","title":"So You Think You Know Jane Austen?","description":"How well do you really know your favourite author? Ace literary detective turned quizmaster John Sutherland and Austen buff Deirdre Le Faye challenge the reader to find out. Starting with easy, factual questions that test how well you remember a novel and its characters, the quiz progresses to a level of greater difficulty, demanding close reading and interpretative deduction. What really motivates the characters, and what is going on beneath the surface of the story? Designed to amuse and divert, the questions and answers take the reader on an imaginative journey into the world of Jane Austen, where hypothesis and speculation produce fascinating and unexpected insights. Whether you are an expert or enthusiast, So You Think You Know Jane Austen? guarantees you will know her much better after reading it. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227646472565,"sku":"9780199538997","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199538997_019bf913-b0e7-4e2e-abb0-0174e769fda4.jpg?v=1786012826"},{"product_id":"9780857524263","title":"Incomplete Shakespeare: Macbeth","description":"‘Give me the daggers and I’ll pin the blame\/ On Duncan’s grooms who both are also slain. \/A little water clears us of this deed \/Though a large scotch might also do the trick...’  To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, this is the first of a new collection of the Bard's greatest plays, digested to a few thousand words with invaluable side notes from John Sutherland.  Funny and incredibly clever, these parodies are a joy for those who know their Shakespeare, perfect for the theatre goer needing a quick recap, and a massive relief for those just desperate to pass their English exam.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295361315189,"sku":"9780857524263","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780857524263_e0a4ba6c-ecd8-4d77-b704-7826305d8c76.jpg?v=1786015938"},{"product_id":"9781474612371","title":"Crossing the Line","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A love letter to police officers and the most vulnerable people they protect and serve' CHRISTIE WATSON, author of THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Extraordinary . . . urgent and compelling. We all have lessons to learn from this book' SIMON MAYO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is much more to policing than tackling crime. Every one of us will need the help of an officer at some point in our lives, often when we're at our most vulnerable. Yet how much do we really know about the realities of policing? Using real life stories from his twenty-five years of service with the Metropolitan Police, John Sutherland invites us beyond the cordon tape to bear witness to all he has seen. In doing so, he offers a hopeful vision for how we can tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society today. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIncludes a new Afterword on policing during the Covid-19 pandemic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300462244213,"sku":"9781474612371","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781474612371_4fecb2e1-e0d3-4361-9643-28d064a1673c.jpg?v=1786020797"},{"product_id":"9781474620208","title":"Monica Jones, Philip Larkin and Me","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A brilliant biography - John Sutherland has brought Monica Jones to life as she deserves.' Claire Tomalin\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Eye-opening... in this account [Monica Jones] comes alive.' The Sunday Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMonica Jones was Philip Larkin's partner for more than four decades, and was arguably the most important woman in his life. She was cruelly immortalised as Margaret Peel in Kingsley Amis's \u003ci\u003eLucky Jim\u003c\/i\u003e and widely vilified for destroying Larkin's diaries and works in progress after his death. She was opinionated and outspoken, widely disliked by his friends and Philip himself was routinely unfaithful to her. But Monica Jones was also a brilliant academic and an inspiring teacher in her own right. She wrote more than 2,000 letters to Larkin, and he in turn poured out his heart to her. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this revealing biography John Sutherland explores the question: who was the real Monica? The calm and collected friend and teacher? The witty conversationalist and inspirational lecturer? Or the private Monica, writing desperate, sometimes furious, occasionally libellous, drunken letters to the only man, to the absent man, whom she could love?  Was Monica's life - one of total sacrifice to a great poet - worthwhile? Through his careful reading of Monica's never-before-seen letters, and his own recollections, John Sutherland shows us a new side to Larkin's story, and allows Monica to finally step out from behind the poet's shadow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300478398837,"sku":"9781474620208","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781474620208_a06cc248-2a00-44ac-b6b1-f9a955262926.jpg?v=1786020996"},{"product_id":"9781474606066","title":"Blue","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA\u003c\/i\u003e Sunday Times \u003ci\u003etop-five bestseller\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'This is a remarkable book . . . profound and \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003edeeply moving . . . It has as much to tell us about \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003emental illness as it does about policing' \u003c\/i\u003eAlastair Stewart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Sutherland joined the Met in 1992, having dreamed of being a police officer since his teens. Rising quickly through the ranks, he experienced all that is extraordinary about a life in blue: saving lives, finding the lost, comforting the broken and helping to take dangerous people off the streets. But for every case with a happy ending, there were others that ended in desperate sadness, and in 2013 John suffered a major breakdown.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlue\u003c\/i\u003e is his memoir of crime and calamity, of adventure and achievement, of friendship and failure, of serious illness and slow recovery. 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In the course of over 500 wittily informative pieces he gives us his own very personal take on the most rewarding, most remarkable and, on occasion, most shamelessly enjoyable works of fiction ever written – the perfect reading list for the would-be literary expert. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis taste is impressively eclectic. An appreciation of Apuleius’s \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Ass – \u003c\/i\u003earguably the first-ever novel – is followed by a consideration of Ian Fleming’s \u003ci\u003eGoldfinger. The Handmaid’s Tale\u003c\/i\u003e is followed by \u003ci\u003eHangover Square\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJane Eyre \u003c\/i\u003eby \u003ci\u003eJaws\u003c\/i\u003e. There are imposing Victorian novels, entertaining contemporary thrillers and everything in between, from dystopian works to romance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe flavour of each is brilliantly evoked and its relative merits or demerits assessed. At the same time, John Sutherland shows how the work fits into a broader context – whether that of the author’s life or of other books from the same genre or period. And he offers endless snippets of intriguing information: did you know, for example, that the Nazis banned \u003ci\u003eBambi\u003c\/i\u003e or that William Faulkner wrote \u003ci\u003eAs I Lay Dying \u003c\/i\u003eon an upturned wheelbarrow; that Voltaire completed \u003ci\u003eCandide \u003c\/i\u003ein three days, or that Anna Sewell was paid £20 for \u003ci\u003eBlack Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEncyclopedic and entertaining by turns, this is a wonderful dip-in book, whose opinions will inform and on occasion, no doubt, infuriate. 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This illuminating and irreverent book provides a new understanding of one of our most iconic and influential writers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303774630261,"sku":"9781780238265","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780238265_670560f7-5bcb-46c4-8318-3848286d7deb.jpg?v=1786024404"},{"product_id":"9781529432183","title":"50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know","description":"In a series of 50 accessible essays, John Sutherland introduces and explains the important forms, concepts, themes and movements in literature, drawing on insights and examples from both classic and popular works.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From postmodernism to postcolonialism, William Shakespeare to Jane Austen , \u003ci\u003e50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know\u003c\/i\u003e is a complete introduction to the most important literary concepts in history.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303786393973,"sku":"9781529432183","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529432183_619f40ae-9ec2-40b4-9ab0-b537ef34ca53.jpg?v=1786022957"},{"product_id":"9781785901713","title":"The War on The Old","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe war on the old has been declared. In the post-Brexit world, intergenerational conflict has become a visible phenomenon. There is an overwhelming sense of blame from younger generations: it was 'the wrinklies', the grey-haired plutocracy, who voted Leave; who are overburdening hospitals, shutting the youth out of the housing market and hoarding accumulated wealth. By 2020, we are told, one in five Britons will be pensioners, and living a longer retirement than ever before. 'A good thing', politicians add, through gritted teeth. The truth is that for them, 'the old' are a social, economic and political inconvenience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Sutherland (age 78, and feeling keenly what he writes about) examines this intergenerational combat as a new kind of war in which institutional neglect and universal indifference to the old has reached aggressive, and routinely lethal, levels. 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John Lucas describes it as “the most perfect and the most beautiful of all Dickens’s novels”, Angus Wilson as “the most completely unified work of art that Dickens ever produced”.                                                                                  \u003cbr\u003e Great Expectations has been so successful partly because it’s an exciting story. Dickens always had a keen eye on the market and subscribed to Wilkie Collins’s advice: “make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, above all make ‘em wait.” From the violent opening scene on the marshes to the climax of Magwitch’s attempted escape on the Thames, the story is full of suspense, mystery and drama. 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Not least about whom Miss Woodhouse herself will marry.                         \u003cbr\u003e                                                      \u003cbr\u003e Emma, of all the six great novels, is the one which conforms most closely to Austen’s famous formula that “three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on”.  Emma is, by general agreement, the “quietest” of the novels.  Some have complained that there is not enough of a story in it, but others, as this guide shows, have found the plot in Emma the most successful Austen achieved. It is, for example, unusual among the sextet in playing a cunning trick on the reader who – unless they are sharp (sharper certainly than Miss Woodhouse) – may well be deluded as to which eligible young (or less than young) man the heroine will end up spending the rest of her life with. 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From the rude jokes within Anglo-Saxon riddles to the guilty pleasures of potboilers and fan fiction, this celebratory guide offers wit, humour and deep learning to all who enjoy literature, and who want to understand it anew.     Little Histories – Inspiring Guides for Curious Minds","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56419553608053,"sku":"9780300283419","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300283419_e786a72c-2142-4528-9aad-40d541c3c9d1.jpg?v=1786012214"},{"product_id":"97-fights","title":"97 Fights","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe noble art of boxing is the world’s oldest contact sport. Its Big Bang moment was the arrival of Thomas Alva Edison, whose pioneering feature film \u003ci\u003eMen Boxing \u003c\/i\u003ewas produced in 1891. From that seed, boxing grew to become the first truly global sport.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e97 Fights \u003c\/i\u003eis a thrilling, no-holds-barred account that considers all the greats – Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, Nicola Adams and Oleksandr Usyk among them. Modern boxing has weathered the storms of mob fixing, wayward fighters and personal tragedy, in and out of the ring. With signature precision and humour, and the passion of a true fan, John Sutherland charts the sport’s precipitous climb, its golden era and its uncertain future, from the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ to the unedifying spectacle of Logan Paul’s ‘Bragging Rights’. Ultimately, the book asks: where will boxing go? Or will it just go? These are the two questions to which Sutherland’s authoritative survey leads, and to which he supplies authoritative answers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507913302389,"sku":"9781836392682","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781836392682.jpg?v=1787043062"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-john-sutherland.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}