Join Village Books and Alleyn’s Schools Enterprises for an evening with Ben Macintyre where he’ll be discussing his book Siege: The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama.

In April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens. A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod.

Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, Ben Macintyre takes readers from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the gripping minute-by-minute account of the siege and rescue.

Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Colditz, Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends . He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times, and has worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington.

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British architecture has always been a battle of styles. For a thousand years it has been romanesque versus gothic, gothic versus renaissance, palladian versus baroque, classical versus gothic revival. The greatest battle came in the 1960s, when modernists took control of British planning and plotted the demolition of large swathes of the centres of Britain’s cities.

Most of London’s West End was to be destroyed. Piccadilly Circus, Whitehall, Nash’s St James’s, Covent Garden and Soho were to disappear. Urban Britain was to be transformed into a uniform townscape of concrete and glass. Yet by 1974 almost all these plans had been abandoned. It was one of the most dramatic U-turns in British social history. How did it happen?

Simon Jenkins tells the turbulent history of Britain’s built environment. He shows how the battles of the past live on today, in arguments over tall buildings, over what should be preserved and what form new buildings should take and where they should stand.

‘Provocative, elegant, intriguing – Jenkins is a bold, imaginative writer, brilliant at challenging old assumptions and encouraging you to look at British architecture in a new light’ Rory Stewart, author of Politics On The Edge

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Published ahead of the centenary of the Queen’s birth and sumptuously illustrated with over 100 images, Fashioning the Crown is an exquisite hidden history of the Crown and how it survived a tumultuous era and two world wars.

“Magnificent . . . A book that is tart, racy and compulsively readable. The pictures, as you might expect, are gorgeous” The Times

“A fascinating and eye-opening account of the House of Windsor’s relationship with clothes, and the designers behind them…Picardie shows how the Windsors used – and still use – dress to shore up monarchy, particularly at times of threat. Fashioning the Crown is full of detail and insight, told with warmth and rigour, and as carefully put together as a Norman Hartnell gown.” Professor Alice Hunt

Justine Picardie is the author of seven books, including the international bestsellers Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture and Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. Previously the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, she was an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times, columnist for the Telegraph, editor of the Observer Magazine and features director of Vogue.

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Pollyanna Wilkinson is one of the UK’s most exciting and sought-after garden designers. She has won the coveted People’s Choice Award at both the Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows, and her designs have transformed gardens across the UK and internationally.

Now Polly wants to share her expertise with readers with her new book. How to Design a Garden is a glorious mix of inspiration, expertise and advice presented with perfect clarity and Polly’s infectious enthusiasm. Polly explains all the steps you need to work through to design create your dream garden – from making early moodboards to creating timeless plant combinations. The book also contains month-by-month growing guides to help you to nurture your garden for years to come.

Whether you’re a new gardener or have years of experience, Polly can help you realise your dream garden – and find joy in every step along the way too.

Pollyanna Wilkinson studied garden design at the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden, graduating with distinction. She went on to study Horticulture at Merrist Wood and then set up her landscape design business. She is passionate about design, sustainability and horticulture. Polly’s studio holds three RHS medals from Chelsea Flower Show and Hampton Court Flower Show. She has also won the coveted People’s Choice Awards at Chelsea in 2022 for her Garden for Mothers and at RHS Hampton Court in 2019 for her Naturecraft Garden.

Pollyanna will be interviewed by Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound: Rewilding a Life and Why Women Grow. Her latest book Hark: How Women Listen will be published in May 2025.

In partnership with James Allen’s Girls’ School.

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Prue Leith’s career has spanned over five decades and along the way she’s learnt a thing or two about embracing life and everyday joy.

Join Village Books and James Allen’s Girls School for an entertaining evening with Prue where she’ll be looking back on her career and sharing some insights from her new memoir.

Nothing is off limits: from beauty, staying active and finding fame on The Great British Bake Off, to friendship, family, and the occasional regret. She tackles the big questions we all have about getting older with the same frankness she brings to discussing finding love, the right time to retire, fashion, travel, and gardening.

Wise, witty, and wonderfully human, this book will inspire us all to face the challenges of ageing with good humour, pragmatism and confidence.

Prue will be chatting to journalist and author Felicity Cloake.

Prue Leith made her name with her Michelin-starred restaurant Leith’s, and Leith’s school of Food and Wine. She has written sixteen cookery books, eight novels, and her memoir was published in 2013. Her first television appearance was in the 1970s as a presenter, and she returned to television to be a judge on The Great British Menu for 11 years. Prue Leith has most recently been on our screens in the sixteenth series of The Great British Bake Off, for which she has been a judge since 2017.

In association with James Allen’s Girls’ School

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Join us for an evening with Nussaibah Younis and Bryony Gordon to discuss Nussaibah’s Women’s Prize Shortlisted book, Fundamentally.

Nadia is an academic who’s been dumped by her girlfriend and disowned by her puritanical mother. Instead of going to therapy, she decides to accept a UN job rehabilitating ISIS women in Iraq. Sara is a sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen. Nadia feels inexplicably drawn to her and, as it turns out, they have a lot in common. That is, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for.

A bitingly original, wildly funny and wickedly sharp debut, Fundamentally upends a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour.

Dr Nussaibah Younis is a peacebuilding practitioner and a globally recognised expert on contemporary Iraq. For several years, she advised the Iraqi government on proposed programs to de-radicalise women affiliated with ISIS. She studied at Oxford, Durham and Harvard Universities, and has a PhD in International Affairs. Dr Younis was a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC, where she directed the Task Force on the Future of Iraq. She was born in the UK to an Iraqi father and a Pakistani mother, and currently lives in London.

Bryony Gordon is an award-winning journalist, author and mental health campaigner. She is the writer of six Sunday Times Bestselling books, including Mad Girl, Mad Woman, and You Got This. In her podcast, Life of Bryony, she openly explores life’s messier moments with refreshing honesty. In 2020 she won the Journalist’s Charity Special Award for her writing about mental illness and she was a judge for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

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From the creator of the global sensation #DrawWithRob and bestselling author of the Peanut Jones books comes a new series: The Moonhaven Chronicles. The legend of the werewolf is reimagined in this thrilling, spine-tingling adventure by superstar author and illustrator Rob Biddulph.

Jax, Jovi, Esau and Fourth live for full-moon adventures – sneaking out after curfew, dodging the Nighthawks and roaming the empty streets of Moonhaven.

But when a rare werewolf attack rocks the town, the friends become prime suspects. With the Nighthawks closing in on anyone who was out after dark, they’re forced to run – setting off a chain of rumours, secrets and betrayals. As suspicion spreads, friendships are tested and the truth may be more dangerous than any of them imagined…

Perfect for children 6+, this hardback is packed with more than 100 spectacular black-and-white illustrations by Rob.

Rob Biddulph is a bestselling and multi award-winning author/illustrator. He was also the official World Book Day Illustrator for 2019, 2020 and 2021. Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City was his fiction debut followed by Peanut Jones and the Twelve Portals. In March 2020 he started #DrawWithRob. On 21 May 2020 he broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class when 45,611 people tuned in to his live #DrawWithRob YouTube class.

In association with Alleyn’s Schools Enterprises.

Please note:
Rob is keen to meet as many people as possible. However, due to time constraints, there will be a limit to signing any books bought on the day and just one book from home. Please do keep an eye out for further events if you’d like to meet Rob again in future.

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We’re delighted that bookshop favourite, M. G. Leonard will be visiting the bookshop to sign copies of Hunt for the Golden Scarab , the first book in the Time Keys series.

In Hunt for the Golden Scara b we are introduced to twelve year old Sim Lockier and his mum, who never live anywhere long. When dangerous strangers appear one night, Sim discovers why. His mum has been keeping secrets: she has the power to open doors in time through music and can travel into the past as a ‘key’ to doors in time, but every journey could be her last.

Running for their lives, Sim and his friends are determined to outwit the sinister Council of Keys and be the first to find Nefertiti’s lost tomb, a powerful door to Ancient Egypt. They must piece together long-hidden clues if they are to solve the mystery of her golden heart scarab. Can they find it before the Council finds them?

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Christina Soteriou is on a mission to make eating plants exciting. In Big Veg Energy , Christina shares 100 simple, tasty and nutritious recipes to be enjoyed by everyone – from long-time vegans to anyone simply looking to adopt more plant-based habits. With influences from Christina’s Cypriot roots, expect nourishing, vibrant food, including Spicy Mushroom Skewers with Peanut Lime Sauce, Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Butter Chickpeas, Roasted Courgettes with Lemony Whipped Tofu and Peanut Butter Cherry Jam Semifreddo.

Always fresh and healthy, with advice for making sure meals are packed with protein and nutrients, Big Veg Energy has everything you need to move towards a plant-based lifestyle – including money-saving tips and debunked vegan myths. With chapters including Small Plates, Big Platters, Cosy Bowls, Baking Dish and Dessert Spoon, Christina makes eating plants easy, abundant and joyful, for whatever the occasion.

Join us at Bell House where Christina will be discussing her new book and dishing out some tasty samples.

Christina Soteriou is a chef, recipe writer and content creator who creates plant-based food for people who love to eat, inspired by the Mediterranean flavours of her Greek Cypriot heritage. Christina’s passion for food has made her determined to find creative and nutritious ways to make plant-based dishes as tasty as possible. Find her online @christinasots and at christina-soteriou.com

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Join us for an evening with bestselling author ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey to celebrate the publication of his new book The Persian. David will be interviewed by author and journalist Tim Shipman.

David McCloskey returns to his inside knowledge of the Middle East in his fourth novel: a gripping thriller exploring what happens when a loner spy is forced to reckon with the consequences of his deception. From Tehran to Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Stockholm, The Persian traces the rise and downfall of Kamran Esfahani, an Iranian Jew caught in the high stakes struggle between the spy agencies of Israel and Iran, and the secret he’s trying to take to his grave.

Kamran Esfahani, a Persian Jewish dentist from Stockholm, dreams of starting afresh in California. To finance his new life, he agrees to spy for Mossad in Iran, working with a clandestine unit tasked with sowing chaos and sabotage inside the country. He soon finds himself entangled in a deadly game of spy vs. spy. When he’s captured by Iranian security forces, Kamran is compelled to confess his experiences as a spy, in a testimonial dealing not only with the security of nations, but also with revenge, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies.

David will be interviewed by bestselling author and award-winning journalist Tim Shipman – perhaps best known as Political Editor at The Spectator and author of four books on Brexit, he’s also a leading spy fiction expert and on the board of Spybrary.com, for which he also writes.

David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst. While at the CIA, he wrote regularly for the President’s Daily Brief during President Obama’s tenure, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and more. He worked in CIA field stations across the Middle East. He is the co-host with Gordon Corera of the successful The Rest is Classified podcast. His first novel, Damascus Station, set in Syria, was the bestselling debut spy novel of its year and shortlisted for a British Book Award. His second, Moscow X was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and a Sunday Times Thriller of the Year. And his third, The Seventh Floor, was a Sunday Times Bestseller. The Persian is his fourth novel.

In association with Alleyn’s Schools Enterprises.

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