Twenty three years ago Vivian Stanshall died in a fire, trapped in a north London flat. Drunk, he slept through his own death. Vivian was the ineffable, unflappable, elegant and irreverently funny frontman and songwriter for the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, a group of art students who'd created a band unlike any other band one could name - and still adored by thousands long after their short time in the sun was knocked on the head by Vivian himself. "We were art students. We were Dada. We were making fun of the worst excesses of rock 'n roll. One day I looked around to discover we'd become what we were parodying." Written by his wife of 18 years, an artist in her own right, this is a behind-the-scenes, beneath-the-sheets, under the bed tale of an actual genius - few who admired him would disagree. In many ways this is Vivian through his own private words gleaned from his personal journals. It's also full of up close and revealing portraits of legends: Keith Moon, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, John Peel, Joe Cocker, and so many more. But even more than all that, it's an ART BOOK: crammed full of Vivian's paintings, sketches, unpublished family photos, letters and poems. Vivian Stanshall was the last of the true Bohemians. This is also a tale of Dada, a mad sad glad voyage through life on a grand scale made by one of England's greatest treasures: the genius who was Vivian Stanshall.

The extraordinary story of Vivian Stanshall, lead singer of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, true British eccentric.

Cut through the haze of rock reference with the updated second edition of this illustrated encyclopedia. There are over 1800 entries on the stars who have shaped rock history, whether they were destined to become icons or bygones, influential or infamous. Each entry provides essential facts and opinion on songwriters, musicians and producers and includes a sidebar of star-rated recommended albums. There are over 600 images to complement the text and a full album listing for each act at the back of the book.

In this small, luminous memoir, the National Book Award-winner Patti Smith revisits the most sacred experiences of her early years, with truths so vivid they border on the surreal. The author entwines her childhood self - and its 'clear, unspeakable joy' - with memories both real and envisioned from her twenties on New York's MacDougal Street, the street of cafés. Woolgathering was completed in Michigan, on Patti Smith's 45th birthday and originally published in a slim volume from Raymond Foye's Hanuman Books. Twenty years later, Bloomsbury is proud to present it in a much augmented edition, featuring writing that was omitted from the book's first printing, along with new photographs and illustrations.

Raised like sisters, Mariamne and Salome are indulged with riches, position, and learning-a rare thing for females in Jerusalem. But Mariamne has a further gift: an illness has left her with visions; she has the power of prophecy. It is her prophesying that drives the two girls to flee to Egypt, where they study philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy in the Great Library of Alexandria. After seven years they return to a Judaea where many now believe John the Baptizer is the messiah. Salome too begins to believe, but Mariamne, now called Magdalene, is drawn to his cousin, Yeshu’a, a man touched by the divine in the same way she was during her days of illness. Together they speak of sharing their direct experience of God; but Yeshu’a unexpectedly gains a reputation as a healer, and as the ill and the troubled flock to him, he and Magdalene are forced to make a terrible decision. This radical retelling of the greatest story ever told brings Mary Magdalene to life-not as a prostitute or demon-possessed-but as an educated woman who was truly the “apostle to the apostles.”

The sixties were possibly the greatest decade of last century – an exciting time for music and youth. No other youth culture has personified this more than the Mods, who emerged in the early years of the decade as followers of fashion and soul music and who became the style leaders for this new youth culture. This lavish pictorial history contains over 150 photographs of the original Mods, celebrating their thrilling and unique way of life.

A full-colour illustrated children's introduction to the history of Ancient Egypt. Experience the age of the Pharaohs in a tale of power and conquest, secret rituals and mysterious beliefs. Peter Ackroyd s acclaimed ten-part Voyages Through Time series continues, with a compelling blend of innovative, dramatic design and his uniquely evocative storytelling.