Michael O’Mara Books Rights Highlights 2017/2018 At Michael O’Mara Books we specialise in creative and inspired adult non-fiction. Independent, commercial and always on-trend, we are passionate about our books and publish an exciting and varied list – from history and popular science to language; sport and biography to puzzles; gift and humour to craft – that reaches readers across the world. Buster Books loves to create books for curious and creative children. Our list is brimming with titles to spark the imagination and encourage exploration. The books will satisfy the keenest of puzzle masters, budding artists and the deepest of thinkers. Above all, they are to be enjoyed. LOM Art is dedicated to showcasing the most talented and creative artists. Our beautiful and exciting artist-led books will unleash creativity in people of all ages. From quirky drawing books to pop-out paper models, the list exhibits what’s hot in the worlds of art and culture. We hope you enjoy our diverse lists. CONTACTS Michael O’Mara Books Ltd TRADE ORDERS Helen Pickford: 9 Lion Yard, Tremadoc Road Littlehampton Book Services Russia, Ukraine, The Baltics, London, SW4 7NQ Faraday Close, Durrington, West The Balkans, India and South Africa Tel: 020 7720 8643 Sussex, BN13 3RB ([email protected]) UK Sales Fax: 020 7627 3041 Tel: 01903 828 800 Simon Rodin: Email: Fax: 01903 828 802 Israel and the Middle East [email protected] ([email protected]) ([email protected]) Websites: FOREIGN SALES TERRITORIES All other enquiries to www.mombooks.com [email protected] www.busterbooks.co.uk Katie Arora: USA and Canada Chairman: Michael O’Mara EXPORT CONTACTS ([email protected]) Managing Director: Lesley O’Mara Australia/New Zealand Distribution: Pinelopi Pourpoutidou: Hardie Grant Books Brazil, China and East Asia, Germany, UK SALES Ground Floor, Building 1, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, Czech [email protected] 658 Church St, Richmond, and Slovak Republic, Greece, Turkey VIC 3121 Digital Sales (pinelopi.pourpoutidou@mombooks. Tel: +61 (0)3 8520 6444 Pinelopi Pourpoutidou (pinelopi. com) Fax: +61 (0)3 8520 6422 pourpoutidou@ mombooks.com) Clémence Mahéo: ([email protected]) France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Latin America (excl Brazil) ([email protected]) All other export queries: Rumana Haider (rumana.haider@ mombooks.com) Website: www.mombooks.com Follow us on Twitter: @OMaraBooks Find us on Facebook: Michael O’Mara Books All prices, specifications and dates of availability are correct at the time of going to press, but are subject to change without notice. All logos and colophons are the trademarks of their respective owners. Printed and bound by CPI, UK. MICHAEL O’MARA BOOKS ISBN: 9781782438403 11 Explorations into Life on Earth 178x111mm • 224pp Christmas Lectures from the b/w illustrations Royal Institution Hardback • World • £12.99 Helen Scales, Foreword by Sir David Attenborough Publication date: 02/11/2017 The second in a series of books in association with the Royal Institution on their world-renowned Christmas Lectures, this time exploring the secrets of the natural world – with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough. • Following on from the success of 13 Journeys Through Space and Time, which took us on a voyage of astronomical discovery. • This book turns our attention to our own planet and the animals, plants, fish, insects and all the other living things that inhabit it – how they’ve evolved and the vital roles they play in the intricate webs of life on earth. • Takes eleven of the most exciting and revealing Christmas Lectures on the natural world given at the Royal Institution, including Sir David Attenborough’s animal-packed lectures from 1977 and Richard Dawkins’ explosive series on the evolution of life. • An illuminating look at more than a hundred years of scientific exploration to discover the origins of life on our planet and the mysteries so far uncovered. ISBN: 9781782438649 The Universe in Bite-sized Chunks 198x129mm • 224pp Colin Stuart b/w line illustrations Hardback • World • £9.99 Publication date: 22/03/2018 The whole cosmos in your hands, The Universe in Bite-sized Chunks is your one-stop guide to everything you ever wanted to know about space and our place in it. Does dark matter keep you up at night? Do alien planets intrigue you, parallel universes confuse you, and black holes fill you with dread? If yes, then this book is for you – all these things, and more, are clearly explained in everyday language for the non-astronomer. • From humanity’s very first astronomical observations to the latest thinking on the most cutting-edge discoveries. • Along the way, you’ll learn about the Big Bang and the ultimate fate of the universe, Galileo and Newton, gravitational waves and shooting stars, the Aurora Borealis and the Apollo missions, quasars and dark energy. • Colin Stuart uses all his knowledge and expertise to engage the reader and make the subject accessible. www.mombooks.com Michael O’Mara Books @OMaraBooks 3 ISBN: 9781782438465 Maths in Bite-sized Chunks 198x129mm • 192pp Chris Waring b/w line illustrations Hardback • World • £9.99 Publication date: 05/04/2018 Let the real world show you how maths works. Maths is often cited as the ‘most difficult’ or ‘complex’ subject to study, many people admitting to a wariness that was probably ingrained into them in their schooldays. In Maths in Bite-sized Chunks, Chris Waring proves that it’s easy to break the subject down into accessible, understandable information, much of which, in fact, we use in one way or another every day of our lives. Each chapter takes readers through the theory, demonstrating how to master it with worked-through problems and examples from the real world. Topics that once seemed impenetrable suddenly become relatable and easier to unpick. So whether it’s algebra or statistics that once had you flummoxed, get ready for a new way of being mathematically minded. ISBN: 9781782438564 24 Hours in Ancient Rome 198x129mm • 272pp A Day in the Life of the People b/w illustrations Who Lived There Hardback • World • £12.99 Philip Matyszak Publication date: 05/10/2017 Walk a day in a Roman’s sandals. What was it like to live in one of the ancient world’s most powerful and bustling cities – one that was eight times more densely populated than modern-day New York? In this entertaining and enlightening guide, bestselling historian Philip Matyszak introduces us to the people who lived and worked there. In each hour of the day we meet a new character – from emperor to slave girl, gladiator to astrologer, medicine woman to water-clock maker – and discover the fascinating details of their daily lives. www.mombooks.com Michael O’Mara Books @OMaraBooks 4 ISBN: 9781782439110 24 Hours in Ancient Egypt 198x129mm • 272pp A Day in the Life of the People b/w line illustrations Who Lived There Hardback • World • £12.99 Charlotte Booth Publication date: 18/10/2018 Spend twenty-four hours with the ancient Egyptians. Ancient Egypt wasn’t all pyramids, sphinxes and gold sarcophagi. For your average Egyptian, life was tough, and work was hard, conducted under the burning gaze of the sun god Ra. During the course of a day in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor), Egypt’s religious capital, we meet 24 Egyptians from all strata of society – from the king to a prostitute, a priest to a laundry man, a midwife to a soldier – and get to know what the real Egypt was like by spending an hour in each of their company. We encounter a different one of these characters – all from different walks of life – every hour and every chapter, and through their eyes see what an average day in ancient Egypt was really like. ISBN: 9781782439028 The Mysteries of History 198x129mm • 256pp Graeme Donald b/w line illustrations Hardback • World • £9.99 Publication date: 19/04/2018 As Napoleon once observed, history is largely a set of lies agreed upon by the winners and, once a lie attains the dignity of age, it becomes the truth. As everyone knows, Marco Polo travelled to China to become Kublai Khan’s right-hand-man; Pope Joan was a medieval woman who fooled the Catholic Church; and the Great Fire of Rome was started by Nero to clear the way for his urban redevelopment of the city … Well, no, actually. Marco Polo got no further than Turkey, where he sat picking the brains of those who had actually been to China; there was no female Pope; and as Nero said all along, it was the Christians who torched the city. As this intriguing book reveals, the greatest mysteries of history centre on who invents such false accounts in the first place, how they gain traction so quickly and why others are so willing – anxious, even – to believe them. www.mombooks.com Michael O’Mara Books @OMaraBooks 5 ISBN: 9781782438496 How to Behave Badly in 234x153mm • 288pp Renaissance Britain b/w line illustrations Ruth Goodman Hardback • World • £20.00 Publication date: 05/04/2018 Journey through a history of offensive language, insulting gestures, insolent behaviour, brawling and scandal in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with practical tips on just how to horrify the neighbours. • Drunkards, swashbucklers and harridans rub shoulders with people with disgusting table manners and neighbours whose dung heaps and noise drove others crazy. • Bestselling historian and popular TV presenter Ruth Goodman draws upon advice books and manuals, court cases and sermons, drama and imagery to outline bad behaviour from the gauche to the galling, the subtle to the outrageous. • Discover just how far apart your feet should be if you wish to mock a soldier or how to parody the walk of a preacher to the amusement of your friends and, if you do blow your nose during dinner, how to put everyone off their food.