{"title":"Books by Sam Leith","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781836430407","title":"The Haunted Wood","description":"The Sunday Times Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2025A Sunday Times, Irish Times, Financial Times, Independent, Daily Mail, TLS, Economist, Prospect, Evening Standard and New Statesman Book of the Year 2024'A MARVEL' PHILIP PULLMANThe stories we read as children matter a great deal. The best ones are indelible in our memories; reaching far beyond our childhoods, they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys and anxieties. They reveal our past – collective and individual, remembered and imagined – and invite us to dream up different futures.   In a pioneering history of the children’s literary canon, The Haunted Wood reveals the magic of childhood reading, from the ancient tales of Aesop, through the Victorian and Edwardian golden age to new classics. Excavating the complex lives of our most beloved writers, Sam Leith offers a humane portrait of a genre and celebrates the power of books to inspire and console entire generations.   ***'A DELIGHT' JULIA DONALDSON'A JOY' MICHAEL ROSEN'GLORIOUSLY ENTERTAINING' TOM HOLLAND","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55897667043701,"sku":"9781836430407","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781836430407_e364ae6f-7b79-4cde-991a-17fbb353cdbd.jpg?v=1786028105"},{"product_id":"9781781254783","title":"Write to the Point","description":"Writing tends to make people anxious, and with good reason. The first  sentence of a job application letter can consign it to the bin. A speech  intended to rouse can put a room to sleep. A mistimed tweet can cost  you your job. And a letter to a beloved may aim to convey feelings of  tenderness but end up making the recipient laugh rather than melt.   In this complete guide to persuasive writing, Sam Leith shows how to  express yourself fully across any medium, and how to maximise your  chances of getting your way in every situation. From work reports to  Valentine cards, and from emails of condolence to tweets of complaint,  Leith lays bare the secrets to successful communication, eloquence and  off- and online etiquette. How do you write a job application, a  thank-you card, or an email to your bank manager, to your children's  headteacher, to your clients or your boss? How do you prepare a speech  to win the argument, get the vote of confidence, or embarrass the  bridegroom? Getting these things right - or wrong - can be  life-changing.  Succinct treatments of the most general principles of style and  composition, as well as examinations of specific modes of address (What  is a subtweet? How do I write a moving elegy?) are accompanied by  concrete and well-illustrated dos and don'ts and examples of wins and  fails. Astute, sprightly and illuminating, Write to the Point will give you the skills and confidence you need to get your message across on every occasion.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303281635701,"sku":"9781781254783","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781781254783_9626ba5a-cd9c-4e0c-90e7-9a2c24908be7.jpg?v=1786025374"},{"product_id":"9781788163187","title":"You Talkin' To Me?","description":"Rhetoric gives our words the power to inspire. But it's not just for politicians: it's all around us, whether you're buttering up a key client or persuading your children to eat their greens. You have been using rhetoric yourself, all your life. After all, you know what a rhetorical question is, don't you?In this updated edition of his classic guide, Sam Leith traces the art of argument from ancient Greece down to its many modern mutations. He introduces verbal villains from Hitler to Donald Trump - and the three musketeers: ethos, pathos and logos. He explains how rhetoric works in speeches from Cicero to Richard Nixon, and pays tribute to the rhetorical brilliance of AC\/DC's \"Back In Black\". Before you know it, you'll be confident in chiasmus and proud of your panegyrics - because rhetoric is useful, relevant and absolutely nothing to be afraid of.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305704599925,"sku":"9781788163187","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781788163187_efc33f3f-bddf-471c-8dc1-169d4497a860.jpg?v=1786026994"},{"product_id":"9781529110197","title":"Our Times in Rhymes","description":"\u003cb\u003eA parliament of fools, or a confederacy of dunces? Blethering celebrities and blundering politicians, royal babies and right royal cock-ups, milkshake madness and vegan sausage rolls - and, of course, the long and winding road to Brexit.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf ever the times were ripe for a return to the high days of Augustan satire, it’s now – and the \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e’s literary editor Sam Leith provides it.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOur Times in Rhymes\u003c\/i\u003e is a waspish, affectionate and very funny look at the state of our nation as it – let's be even-handed - teeters on the cliff-edge of a marvellous opportunity. Here is all the insanity and inanity of 2019, month by cherishable month, rendered in galloping comic verse and paired with satirical drawings by the brilliant cartoonist Edith Pritchett. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt makes the perfect Christmas stocking filler for anyone who needs a good laugh at the damnable times we live in.\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312571298165,"sku":"9781529110197","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529110197_1d39ad8f-5e95-4807-81dd-f52ffa087d2e.jpg?v=1786022504"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-sam-leith.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}