Duckworth Books

Duckworth Books Publisher of stimulating non-fiction and historical fiction (est. 1898)
Instagram: duck_books Lawrence, Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh, and Beryl Bainbridge.

The UK's oldest general trade independent, Duckworth Publishers (also known as Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd) was founded by Gerald Duckworth in 1898. Duckworth has published numerous classic authors including Virginia Woolf, D.H. Under the imprint Duckworth Overlook, our list encompasses literary, commercial and the odd foray into genre and children's fiction, in addition to a range of non-fiction wi

th particular strengths in popular science, history and biography. Additionally, we hold the Ardis imprint, a list of classic Russian literature in translation, and are associated with The Overlook Press in New York. With a heritage stretching back more than a century, our most recent successes to sit alongside the greats of old include the worldwide phenomenon that is Max Brooks's zombie books, World War Z (now a Brad Pitt-helmed blockbuster) and The Zombie Survival Guide, JJ Connolly's cult gangster novel Layer Cake (also adapted for the big screen, starring Daniel Craig and marking Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut) and its sequel Viva La Madness (soon to be another hit film starring the inimitable Jason Statham), and Google's Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil's futurist touchstones The Singularity is Near and How to Create a Mind, to name but a few.

2014 highlights include Elvis Has Left the Building, The Day the King Died by GQ Editor Dylan Jones, Still Reigning, Thoughts of a Queen by the Queen of Twitter, and Legends by Robert Littell, recently adapted into a TV series starring Sean Bean, The Poisoner by Stephen Bates tells the story of Dr William Palmer, Victorian England’s most notorious serial-killer, and Peter Tunstall’s The Last Escaper is the riveting tale of a WWII bomber who as a prisoner of war repeatedly attempted to escape his German captors. Follow our social media channels and website to stay up to date on new releases and more.


www.ducknet.co.uk

📚 This Weekend: Dur e Aziz Amna at Wimbledon Book Fest × Lahore! 📚We’re thrilled that Dur e Aziz Amna, author of A Splin...
15/10/2025

📚 This Weekend: Dur e Aziz Amna at Wimbledon Book Fest × Lahore! 📚

We’re thrilled that Dur e Aziz Amna, author of A Splintering, will join Aisha Hassan and Keshava Guha at Wimbledon Book Fest × Lahore this weekend for Stories from India & Pakistan.

Together, they’ll explore powerful new fiction set against backdrops of ecological collapse, political unrest, and resilience — in conversation with Saba Karim Khan.

🗓️ Sunday 19 October 2025, 1pm
📍 Merton Arts Space, Wimbledon Library

Don’t miss this vibrant celebration of South Asian storytelling and cross-cultural connection.

📚 25% OFF Duckworth Books at Waterstones! 📚From Tuesday 14th October (00:01) to Friday 17th October (23:59), enjoy 25% o...
14/10/2025

📚 25% OFF Duckworth Books at Waterstones! 📚

From Tuesday 14th October (00:01) to Friday 17th October (23:59), enjoy 25% off RRP on a selection of brilliant Duckworth titles, exclusively on the Waterstones website and app.

Simply enter OCTOBER25 at checkout to redeem the offer.

✨ Featured Duckworth titles include:
* The Last Empress of France
* Spider, Spider
* Bread and War
* In Green
* Conversations with an Executioner
* On Thin Ice
* I’ll Be the Monster
Don’t miss out — this special promotion runs for just four days!

Explore the offer at: http://waterstones.com//campaign/october-pre-order-offer

📚 OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK! 📚We’re thrilled to announce that Dead Behind the Eyes — the second book in Ian Moore’s gripping ...
09/10/2025

📚 OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK! 📚

We’re thrilled to announce that Dead Behind the Eyes — the second book in Ian Moore’s gripping Loire Valley Mystery series — is now available in paperback!

When the decapitated body of a lonely man washes up on the River Loire, Lombard's investigation draws him into the world of eco-terrorism, bio-medical research, French aristocracy and a violent plan to save the planet.

We are also delighted to celebrate the paperback release by announcing the winners of the giveaway we have been running on our page! Huge congratulations to:




08/10/2025
Indie bookshop highlight📚💕Spotted River East, River West and A Splintering in Next Chapter Books, a brilliant women-led ...
07/10/2025

Indie bookshop highlight📚💕

Spotted River East, River West and A Splintering in Next Chapter Books, a brilliant women-led independent bookshop in Leeds.

You can find them at the Leeds Corn Exchange (gorgeous location!)

What is an indie bookshops have you visited recently?

A Splintering in the Sainsbury’s Magazine🧡💕‘Every now and then... I saw Motherwas haunted... I could not affordto sit to...
07/10/2025

A Splintering in the Sainsbury’s Magazine🧡💕

‘Every now and then... I saw Mother
was haunted... I could not afford
to sit too long with my mother’s
ghosts.’

Tara’s ambition to swap the
dull smallness of her rural Pakistani
village for the city life is realised when
she marries an urban accountant.
But she is still shackled by expectation
and tradition: children, obeisance,
patriarchy. Not for always, though...

📚 Event Alert 📚
Join us on 9 Oct, 6:30pm at Daunt Books Hampstead for Karen Bartlett in conversation with Saad Mohseni o...
02/10/2025

📚 Event Alert 📚

Join us on 9 Oct, 6:30pm at Daunt Books Hampstead for Karen Bartlett in conversation with Saad Mohseni on The Escape from Kabul.

🎟️ Tickets £6 – link in stories and on the Daunt Books website.

🚨Giveaway time🚨🕵️‍♂️ A headless co**se on the banks of the River Loire… Are you interested? Matthieu Lombard is back, an...
01/10/2025

🚨Giveaway time🚨

🕵️‍♂️ A headless co**se on the banks of the River Loire… Are you interested?

Matthieu Lombard is back, and the mysteries continue to run deep… 🌊

From eco-terrorism to French aristocracy, Dead Behind the Eyes twists through shadowy corridors of power and hidden motives. Can murder ever be justified by a noble cause?

💀 Dead Behind the Eyes by Ian Moore
📖 The second instalment in the Loire Valley Mystery series
📅 Out in paperback Thursday 9th October

We will be sending out 2 copies of the book to influencers who LOVE crime. To enter:

❤️Like this post
💬Leave a comment
✅Follow us and the author
🔗Share on your stories

'A bleak and gritty shock of a novel, gripping to the end' - Anthony Cummins 🤯Need we say more…. A Splintering just feat...
30/09/2025

'A bleak and gritty shock of a novel, gripping to the end' - Anthony Cummins 🤯

Need we say more….

A Splintering just featured in the Daily Mail’s ‘best Literary Fiction to read this autumn’ 🥳🍁🍂

Join Kate Kennedy and Eleanor Chan at Goldsmiths University 👏📆15th October ⏰5-6pm 📍Richard Hoggart Building 🎟️FreeMusic,...
29/09/2025

Join Kate Kennedy and Eleanor Chan at Goldsmiths University 👏

📆15th October
⏰5-6pm
📍Richard Hoggart Building
🎟️Free

Music, life-writing and how to write about what you can’t hear🎼

We had two Duckworth authors at the inaugural Festival of Encounters 🦆🦆Eleanor Chan discussing Duet with the brilliant  ...
29/09/2025

We had two Duckworth authors at the inaugural Festival of Encounters 🦆🦆

Eleanor Chan discussing Duet with the brilliant

🎼Duet: A groundbreaking history of the way music has threaded through human history, by a brilliant young historian and BBC Next Generation Thinker

And the wonderful Andy Field was discussing his book Encounterism in a barbers shop! Very fitting!

💇‍♂️Encounterism: A joyous exploration into the everyday pleasures and benefits of encountering the world in-person

What a fantastic experience! Thank you so much

Photo credit 📸

We are very excited to see Eleanor Chan  and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason  in conversation at Hatchards  next week.Why not join ...
25/09/2025

We are very excited to see Eleanor Chan  and Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason in conversation at Hatchards next week.

Why not join them – and our Chair, musicologist and broadcaster Emily MacGregor – for a fascinating evening discussing how music has threaded through human history and artistic self-expression? 

In Duet: An Artful History of Music Chan explores the inter-relationships of sound and vision, music and art. Taking us on an exhilarating journey that encompasses a 35,000-year-old flute found in a German cave, Kandinsky's kaleidoscopic paintings, illuminated manuscripts and haute couture, we discover a long historical interplay of music and art. But what might it mean to to trulyseemusic?

Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason’s memoir, House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons, won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Storytelling Award and her most recent book is To Be Young, Gifted and Black. Through conversations with her extraordinarily gifted family, all classical musicians, Kanneh-Mason explores what it’s like to come of age in these turbulent times, when Black artistic self-expression is so often met with disparagement and abuse online – and offers a hopeful, powerful way through.

Emily MacGregor is a writer, broadcaster, and music historian. Her book While the Music Lasts offers an erudite, lyrical, gently humorous and healing journey in making and participating in music.

Address

1 Golden Court
London
TW91EU

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Duckworth Books posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Share

Category

Our Story

Duckworth publishes stories that matter through books of popular science, psychology, memoir, history and historical fiction. Founded by the family of Virginia Woolf in 1898, we have published incredible authors including D.H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and Beryl Bainbridge, Oliver Sacks and Ray Kurzweil, to name just a few.

Follow us for news about our upcoming publications and special deals on all of our ebooks at great prices!

Twitter: @duckbooks W: www.duckworthbooks.co.uk E: [email protected]