Duckworth Books

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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

13/08/2025

Thinking about TS12 and DUET by Eleanor Chan 🎶

“A sensational book. Chan roves across her vast subject with confidence and grace, thrilling the reader with one eye-opening insight after another. I will never see art, and hear music, in quite the same way again.” James Fox, author of The World According to Colour

Out 18th September, available for preorder now 💘

11/08/2025

📚✨ Two electrifying voices in fiction — one unforgettable evening

Join Dur e Aziz Amna (A Splintering, BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick) & Gurnaik Johal (Saraswati, Observer Best Debut 2025) in conversation at Waterstones Gower Street, London.

🗓 Wed 22 Oct 2025, 6:30pm 🎟 From £7 – book now before it sells out!

08/08/2025

SPIDER, SPIDER by

Jet-black and thrilling, Spider, Spider is an unforgettable tale of a woman who has lost herself in the poison of vengeance, and the knife-sharp girl who might just bring her back.

Coming March 2026, available for pre-order now 🕸️

06/08/2025

I’LL BE THE MONSTER by

“The college bars were shuttered. Parties banned. Su***de watch was the new normal. And yet, outside, the air was sweet. Trees exploded in white and pink. Birds sang through long, pastel dusks. When I think of that time, I think of pale skin and outrageous blossoms. I think of choices.”

Sean Gilbert’s razor-sharp debut, coming February 2026 🍽️

Available for pre-order now.

01/08/2025

🎶✨ An Evening of Music, Art & Expression at ✨🎶

Join Eleanor Chan, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason & Emily MacGregor for a powerful night of conversation on how music shapes who we are — from ancient flutes to modern memoirs, from Kandinsky to classical brilliance. This will be a very special evening!

📍 Hatchards, Piccadilly 🗓 Wednesday 1 October 2025 🕡 6.30pm BST  🎟️Tickets via the link int he stories or eventbrite

31/07/2025

🥳We are thrilled to reveal this gorgeous cover🥳

Duet by Eleanor Chan💜🎼

In this startlingly original and beautifully illustrated history of music, classically trained musician, art historian and BBC Next Generation Thinker Dr Eleanor Chan takes us on an unforgettable journey through sound and vision that will forever change the way we see music.

🗓️Out September 18th
✅Pre-order now

18/07/2025

A SPLINTERING by . An unforgettable story of motherhood, obsession and ambition. ⚡️

In a village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. The smell of dung and dust hangs over her world. She is desperate to leave the petty life of the village and escape the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother.

Set against a hypnotic, oppressive backdrop of political violence and natural disaster, A SPLINTERING traces the class struggle of a woman stuck between province and metropolis, between motherhood and ambition. In Tara, has created a complex and unforgettable character, who will risk everything to carve out a life of her own.

✨ ‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ KAMILA SHAMSIE

✨ ‘A lacerating novel by a writer of great insight and deep compassion’ MOHSIN HAMID

19/06/2025

4,373 miles. Eleven states. A bike ride across a nation grappling with political and cultural division.

In A Ride Across America, sets out to meet the people behind the headlines, cycling coast to coast in search of something more human than the headlines allow.

A sharp, funny, and quietly powerful portrait of the US from the saddle.

Out in paperback today.

23/05/2025

A brilliant morning at BBC Radio London with our author Paul Cooper, celebrating his Sunday Times bestseller ‘Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline’. Paul gave a fascinating interview on the Robert Elms Show 👏 Thank you for having us .elms.london

16/05/2025

We had such a fantastic evening at .london celebrating the launch of BREAD & WAR by 💛

Bread & War is a compelling, moving journey through Ukraine that tells the extraordinary stories of just some of the people - refugees and restaurateurs - trying to rebuild lives and kitchens after years of bombing. 🇺🇦

It is available in all good bookshops now.
for.ukraine

13/04/2025

Fall of Civilizations by Paul Cooper is officially a Sunday Times bestseller 👏🏻👏🏻 we’re so proud of this fantastic book and

28/03/2025

Last week we celebrated the launch of IN GREEN by .d.hall at in Marylebone. What a night it was to celebrate the publication of this wonderful book. 👏🏻

IN GREEN, the story of two horses, two strangers and a journey to the end of the land, is available in all good bookshops now.

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1 Golden Court

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Website

https://linktr.ee/duck_books

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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.

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