The author of the highly acclaimed Founding Gardeners now gives us an enlightening chronicle of the first truly international scientific endeavor—the eighteenth-century quest to observe the transit of Venus and measure the solar system.    On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous the first transit of Venus between the earth and the sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system—but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in remote corners of the world, only to have their efforts thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in eight years later, the scientists would have another opportunity to succeed.    Chasing Venus brings to life the personalities of the eighteenth-century astronomers who embarked upon this complex and essential scientific venture, painting a vivid portrait of the collaborations, the rivalries, and the volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. In the end, what they accomplished would change our conception of the universe and would forever alter the nature of scientific research.

From the bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. 'He had already served three kings. He did not see why he should not be useful to a fourth.' During the conquest of Northern England, the fairy host sweeps across the countryside. The city of Durham finds itself surrounded. But the encircling forces are not fairies, nor even other humans, but trees that trap the city within an eerie wood. Ranulf, Bishop of Durham-a consummate politician-understands that the survival of the Northern English people depends on his finding a way to unite the two races, human and fairy. And he's not averse to improving his own position at the same time. With these aims in view, he sets off for the New Castle, in search of the new King-the leader of the fairy host, rumored to be a mysterious human boy, no more than fourteen years old, who speaks no word of any human language. Set 700 years before the events of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City is a bewitching, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's shelf, featuring beautiful illustrations throughout.

This haunting jungle of a novel has been hailed as “a masterpiece” by Luis Buñuel and “one of the great novels not only of Spanish America, but of our time” by Carlos Fuentes. The story of the last member of the aristocratic Azcoitia family, a monstrous mutation protected from the knowledge of his deformity by being surrounded with other freaks as companions, The Obscene Bird of Night is a triumph of imaginative, visionary writing. Its luxuriance, fecundity, horror, and energy will not soon fade from the reader’s mind. The story is like a great puzzle . . . invested with a vibrant, almost tangible reality. —The New York Times Although many of the other “boom” writers may have received more attention—especially Fuentes and Vargas Llosa—Donoso and his masterpiece may be the most lasting, visionary, strangest of the books from this time period. Seriously, it’s a novel about the last member of an aristocratic family, a monstrous mutant, who is surrounded by other freaks so as to not feel out of place. —Publishers Weekly Nicola Barker has said: "I'm no expert on the topic of South American literature (in fact I'm a dunce), but I have reason to believe (after diligently scouring the internet) that Chile's Jose Donoso, while a very highly regarded author on home turf, is little known on this side of the Atlantic. His masterpiece is the fabulously entitled The Obscene Bird of Night. It would be a crass understatement to say that this book is a challenging read; it's totally and unapologetically psychotic. It's also insanely gothic, brilliantly engaging, exquisitely written, filthy, sick, terrifying, supremely perplexing, and somehow connives to make the brave reader feel like a tiny, sleeping gnat being sucked down a fabulously kaleidoscopic dream plughole."

Following the twin trails of desire and depravity to a shocking, sadistic paradise - a garden in China where torture is practiced as an art form - a dissolute Frenchman discovers the true depths of degradation beyond his prior bourgeois imaginings. Entranced by a resolute Englishwoman whose capacity for debauchery knows no bounds, he capitulates to her every whim amid an ecstatic yet tormenting incursion of visions, scents, caresses, pleasures, horrors, and fantastic atrocities.

A NEW SCIENTIST BOOK PICK FOR 2026'Fascinating ... this book will make you rethink what you thought you knew about sex' CAT BOHANNON'A thrilling biological detective story. Brilliant told and relentlessly entertaining' CHARLES FOSTERExplore the spectacular science of reproduction - from frogs and funghi to seahorses, sparrows and everything in betweenLet's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world.Whiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types - a veritable bonanza.Lixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.