Otherlands author Thomas Halliday: ‘Some people have insisted on reading the book backwards’

The paleobiologist and author of Foyles’ nonfiction book of 2022 on Earth’s deep past, the joys of the British Library, and how early four-limbed vertebrates helped him find his feetThomas Halliday was born in 1989 and raised in Rannoch in the Scottish Highlands. He studied zoology at Cambridge before specialising in paleobiology for his master’s and PhD – winning the Linnean Society Medal for the best doctorate in biological studies. His debut book Otherlands: A World in the Making – which comes out in paperback on 2 February – was Foyles’ nonfiction book of 2022, while the historian Tom Holland called it “the best book on the history of life on Earth I have ever read”. Halliday lives in north London with his wife and sons.What is paleobiology?In the late 20th century, we began to realise that we could study far more aspects of past life than simply describing the forms and defining them into taxonomies. Paleobiology encompasses everything from cell biology to genetic relationships to ecology. It’s like any other part of biology, except it happens to be set in the deep past. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-01-28 18:00:26 UTC ]

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Harry Potter's 20th birthday to be marked with British Library show

Twenty years after the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 2017 show promises ‘a journey to the heart’ of JK Rowling’s storiesIdeally positioned in King’s Cross, just a stone’s throw from the mythical beginning of the journey to Hogwarts on Platform 9 3/4, the British... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Behind the UK Bestseller, 'Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home'

This nonfiction book by a Swedish adventurer who befriended a stray dog on a grueling trek in South America has become an unexpected hit in the U.K. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shakespeare 'digital library wallpaper' from British Library and Vodafone

Vodafone and the British Library have partnered to make some of the earliest and rarest editions of Shakespeare’s plays available to download from specially-designed wallpaper featuring virtual library bookshelves. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Screenwriter wins children's book prize

Screenwriter David Solomons has won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2016 with his debut book, about an 11-year-old boy obsessed with comics Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New events confirmed for Academic Book Week

Academic booksellers and presses are gearing up for the inaugural Academic Book Week, backed by the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association and the British Library, with a raft of fresh events unveiled for the occasion. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Holland appointed to PLR Advisory Committee

The British Library has appointed Tom Holland as chair of the Public Lending Right (PLR) Advisory Committee for the next three years. Holland said: “I am hugely honoured to be taking on the role of chair of the PLR Advisory Committee, which does such excellent work in promoting the interests of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Saudi blogger Raif Badawi awarded PEN Pinter Prize with James Fenton

Saudi blogger and activist Raif Badawi will share the 2015 PEN Pinter Prize with British poet, journalist and literary critic James Fenton.  Badawi was named the 2015 International Writer of Courage, selected by Fenton from a shortlist of international cases of concern supported by English PEN,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Art of Packaging

The first round of storytelling and myth-making about the wave of American filmmaking that temporarily conquered the culture in the late 1960s and 1970s, often called the New Hollywood or the American New Wave, focused mostly on the stories of men. The Rosetta stone of this type of scholarship... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Richell prize for emerging writers: the full longlist

Guardian Australia and Hachette Australia announce the 21 writers in the running for inaugural $10,000 books prize, chosen from more than 900 entriesGuardian Australia is pleased to announced the 21 writers who have made the longlist of the inaugural Richell prize for emerging writers.In its... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Musician Herbert launches debut book on Unbound

Unbound is crowd funding for a new book by ‘iconic’ producer and musician Matthew Herbert.   Instead of producing a new record, Herbert’s debut book, The Music, will describe in “precise and almost poetic detail” how the record will sound. It will be divided into chapters the way an album is... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gordon Graham: Obituary

Exceptional service in the Second World War was a prologue to a publishing career at two influential global groups for Gordon Graham, who is remembered by former publishing analyst Eric de Bellaigue Gordon Graham, who died on 24th April 2015 aged 94, was a past president of the Publishers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book and Food Pairings, Brooklyn-Style

In Greenlight's Book/Plate series, a multi-course dinner and cocktail service for 40 diners and drinkers is crafted with a nonfiction book or novel in mind. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poisoned Pen to Bring Back Golden Age Mysteries

With "Downton Abbey" reviving interest in the period between the two world wars, the publishing arm of the British Library has been releasing new editions of forgotten classics published in Britain’s golden age of mystery (considered to span most of the 1920s and ’30s) since 2012. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inaugural Folio Prize lecture cancelled

The inaugural Folio Prize lecture by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had to be cancelled after the author fell ill. The lecture was due to take place at The British Library on Friday (20th March) as part of the Folio Prize Fiction Festival weekend of events. But Ngozi was unable to travel to London... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury signs title on the maths behind football

Bloomsbury has signed a debut book from mathematician David Sumpter, looking at the statistical background behind football. Commissioning editor Jim Martin signed world rights to More than a Game in a deal with Chris Wellbelove at Greene & Heaton. The book will published on Bloomsbury's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony Harrison wins David Cohen Prize

Poet and playwright Tony Harrison has been awarded the £40,000 David Cohen Prize for literature, honouring his career. The prize was presented last night (26th February) at a ceremony at the British Library. Harrison, now 77, said in his acceptance speech that the award was an "enormous... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zuckerberg's book club pick: 'The End of Power' deals with 'microplayers,' like Hezbollah, hedge funds, and startups

'The End of Power' – a respected, though modestly-selling, nonfiction book – has now been launched to a global audience thanks to Mark Zuckerberg. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Birmingham hopes British Library could protect flagship from cuts

Officials in Birmingham are hoping that a deal with the British Library could help protect the flagship Library of Birmingham from cuts. According to a report in the Birmingham Post, the council is initiating talks which could see the Library of Birmingham become a regional centre for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate signs Highlands nature study

Canongate has signed a book on the wildlife and landscape of the Scottish Highlands, by nature writer and conservationist Sir John Lister-Kaye. Senior editor Jenny Lord signed Gods of the Morning in a deal for world rights with Catherine Clarke at Felicity Bryan Associates. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blogger Zoe Sugg sets new record for fastest-selling debut novel

Sugg's debut book, 'Girl Online,' now holds the record for the highest sales in its first week for a new writer in the UK.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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