Books published by publisher Cornerstone

'I was riveted: this is a fascinating social history.' NIGELLA LAWSON'Five stars... history on a scale at once intimate and grand.' TELEGRAPH'A magnificent book... endlessly fascinating.' JEWISH CHRONICLE'How the Lyons company took on the world... a satisfying slab of dynastic history.' GUARDIAN, 'Book of the Day''Written with love and imagination... a masterclass in historical empathy.' TLS'Enthralling... fascinating.' OBSERVER'Rich... Fascinating... Harding is to be congratulated on this panoramic history.' EVENING STANDARD'Endlessly fascinating and hard to put down... this is a tour de force.' JULIA NEUBERGERA panoramic new history of modern Britain, as told through the story of one extraordinary family, and one groundbreaking company.In the early 1800s, Lehmann Gluckstein and his family escaped the pogroms of Eastern Europe and made their way to Whitechapel in London’s East End. There, starting with nothing, they worked tirelessly to pull themselves out of poverty, creating a small tobacco factory that grew to become the largest catering company in the world: J. Lyons.For over a century, Lyons was on every high street, in every home, in every coffee and teacup. It was an ascent from rags to riches in the face of many obstacles: poverty, hatred and anti-Semitism stood between this poor immigrant family and the British Dream.Legacy charts the rise and fall of one of the most influential dynasties in British history through the lives of five astonishing generations. Both sweeping and intimate, it is a story of sacrifice and selflessness, betrayal and personal tragedy, and Empire and its cost. It is also an illuminating new exploration of Britain and its place in the world, from the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.___________________________'Legacy is the biography of the extraordinary family who put the respectable teashop on the corner, the hamburger on the high street, plus the cuppa and Ready Brek on your breakfast table. Thomas Harding is a researcher of the first rank. Nobody quite stirs the soup of historical detail like Harding.' EXPRESS‘An affectionate family history, deftly sandwiched in the rise and fall of empires, two world wars, and two centuries of social and political change.’ ECONOMIST'An affectionate and colourful family portrait.' FINANCIAL TIMES'This extraordinarily rich and meticulously researched history of modern Britain is a tour de force. […] It’s a paen to the immigrant contribution to our nation.' BOOKSELLER'I absolutely love this book.' TRACY ANN OBERMAN'Absolutely fascinating.' GILES COREN

Rafe Khatchadorian is getting the Hollywood treatment in a film version of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life starring Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle and Thomas Barbusca.Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he's got an ace plan for the best year ever, if he can pull it off. With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school's oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class - 5,000 points! Running in the hallway - 10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm - 50,000 points! But when Rafe's game starts to catch up with him, he'll have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he's finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he's been avoiding.

_______________________________________Troy Phelen is one of the richest men in the United States. He is also looking for a way to die, and he might just have found it.Nate O'Riley is a high-octane Washington litigator who's lived too hard, too fast, for too long. Emerging from his fourth stay in rehab, he knows returning to the real world is always difficult, but this time it's going to be murder. Rachel Lane is a young woman who chose to give her life to God, who walked away from the modern world and went to live and work with a primitive tribe in the deepest jungles of Brazil. When Phelen commits suicide and leaves a shocking will behind him, these three lives collide in a unique blend of legal suspense and adventure - and none of their lives will be the same after the revelation of the startling secrets of the Testament._______________________________________‘A master at the art of deft characterisation and the skilful delivery of hair-raising crescendos' – Irish Independent'John Grisham is the master of legal fiction' – Jodi Picoult'The best thriller writer alive' – Ken Follett‘John Grisham has perfected the art of cooking up convincing, fast-paced thrillers’ – Telegraph ‘Grisham is a superb, instinctive storyteller’ – The Times‘Grisham's storytelling genius reminds us that when it comes to legal drama, the master is in a league of his own.’ – Daily Record‘Masterful – when Grisham gets in the courtroom he lets rip, drawing scenes so real they're not just alive, they're pulsating’ – Mirror‘A giant of the thriller genre’ – TimeOut

Rafe Khatchadorian is getting the Hollywood treatment in a film version of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life starring Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle and Thomas Barbusca.After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone. Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when his newest mission uncovers secrets about the family Rafe's never known, he has to decide if he's ready to have his world turned upside down.James Patterson's winning follow-up to Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is another riotous and heart-warming story about living large.

NOW AVAILABLE: Michael Palin's North Korea JournalTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERIn the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time.On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic.Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.Then, in 2014, she was found.This is her story._______________BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK‘Beyond terrific . . . I didn’t want it to end.’ Bill Bryson‘Illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It’s a fascinating story that [Palin] brings full-bloodedly to life.’ Guardian ‘This is an incredible book . . . The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we’ve all been waiting for.’ Nicholas Crane‘Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.’ Sunday Times‘A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes – as you might expect – very funny Palin style.’ David Baddiel, Daily Mail‘Magisterial . . . Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.’ The Times

Rafe Khatchadorian is getting the Hollywood treatment in a film version of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life starring Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle and Thomas Barbusca.Georgia Khatchadorian plans to excel at Hills Village Middle School in all the places her troublemaking brother failed. She's even bet him that she'll quickly become one of the most popular girls in school. But Rafe left a big mark at HVMS, and no one will give Georgia a chance! Even worse, Rafe has sneakily signed up her band to play at the school dance, and she's terrified to embarrass herself in front of the snooty 'Princesses' who run the school and the boy who's caught her eye.Will she be able to overcome her fears and win her bet with Rafe? Find out THE TRUTH about Rafe Khatchadorian's sister in the first Middle School story from the point of view of the hilarious Georgia - a girl who's ready to speak her mind!

__________________________The definitive account of the Scrum methodology from its co-creator and the CEO of Scrum, Inc., Jeff Sutherland.Scrum is the revolutionary approach to project management and team building that has helped to transform everything from software companies to the US military to healthcare in major American hospitals. In this major new book its originator, Jeff Sutherland, explains precisely and step by step how it operates – and how it can be made to work for anyone, anywhere. Take the FBI attempt to digitize its records, for example. As with so many software projects the first attempt failed, having taken four years and cost over $400 million.Then the FBI turned to Scrum, and just over a year later unveiled a functioning system that cost less than a tenth of the first project and employed a tenth of the staff. And it's not just grand projects that Scrum can help with.Every organisation, whatever its size, constantly has to come to grips with delivering a product or service on time and on budget. Scrum shows you how. It explains how to define precisely what it is that you are seeking to achieve, how to set up the team to achieve it, and how to monitor progress until the project is successfully completed. Filled with practical examples drawn from all types and organisation it will make you rethink the fundamentals of successful management – and show you how to get things done however everyday or ambitious, however small or large your organisation.__________________________'Full of engaging stories and real-world examples. The project management method known as Scrum may be the most widely deployed productivity tool among high-tech companies. On a mission to put this tool into the hands of the broader business world for the first time, Jeff Sutherland succeeds brilliantly.' - ERIC RIES, New York Times bestselling author of THE LEAN STARTUP'Engaging, persuasive and extremely practical... Scrum provides a simple framework for solving what seem like intractable and complicated work problems. Amazingly, this book will not only make your life at work and home easier, but also, better and happier.' - SHAWN ACHOR, New York Times bestselling author of BEFORE HAPPINESS and THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE'Scrum is mandatory reading for any leader, whether they’re leading troops on the battlefield or in the marketplace. The challenges of today’s world don’t permit the luxury of slow, inefficient work. Success requires tremendous speed, enormous productivity, and an unwavering commitment to achieving results. In other words, success requires Scrum.' - U.S. General BARRY McCAFFREY'Jeff Sutherland is the master of creating high-performing teams. The subtitle of this book understates Scrum’s impact. If you don’t get three times the results in one-third the time, you aren’t doing it right!' - SCOTT MAXWELL, Founder & Senior Managing Director, OpenView Venture Partners'This deceptively simple system is the most powerful way I've seen to improve the effectiveness of any team. I started using it with my business and family halfway through reading the book. - LEO BABAUTA, creator of ZEN HABITS'[Scrum] dramatically increases productivity while reducing employees’ frustrations with the typical corporate nonsense. This book is the best description I’ve seen of how this process can work across many industries. Senior leaders should not just read the book - they should do what Sutherland recommends.' - PROFESSOR JEFFREY PFEFFER, Stanford Business School; co-author of THE KNOWING-DOING GAP

Teaching other kids how to be funny is the toughest gig that Jamie Grimm has ever had, and with the highest stakes. If he fails, his school library will be shut down for good!Even though he has a national contest trophy and a TV show under his belt, Jamie Grimm isn't one to sit back and relax. When his school has a major funding crisis, Jamie hits on a bright idea to save the day – a comedy class for the other students. Little does he know that making jokes and teaching jokes are two very different things... and he's only good at one of them.With the fate of his school's library on his shoulders, Jamie has to dig deep to see if he has what it takes to succeed at his most difficult challenge yet.

THE THIRD CLIFFEHAVEN NOVEL BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ELLIE DEANJune 1940. Rita Smith swore she would never lose heart . . .Despite losing her mother at a young age and her father away on important war work, seventeen-year-old Rita Smith has plenty of people to turn to in the close-knit community of Cliffhaven. Until Italy sides with Germany and Rita's closest friends and neighbours are interned as enemies of the state. As war rages across Europe, Rita is more determined than ever to do her bit for the war effort. Although she is forced to give up her dream of joining the WAAF, she volunteers as a fire warden. When her own home is destroyed Rita vows she will not lose spirit and throws herself into doing her bit for king and country, longing for the day when she is reunited with those she loves best...A fabulous, heart-warming Second World War novel in Ellie Dean's bestselling Cliffehaven series (previously called the Beach View Boarding House series).

There are some cases you have to take.Adam Hill is a rookie lawyer at a top Chicago firm. The world is at his feet.So why does he volunteer to represent a KKK terrorist under threat of execution?And why is the defendant happy to put his life in a novice’s hands?The answer lies twenty years in the past, but there are darker, more shocking secrets to be uncovered…_______________A classic legal thriller from legendary author John Grisham, whose books have sold over 300 million copies

One case. One chance. One man against the world.Rudy Baylor is a newly qualified lawyer, forced into ambulance-chasing by bad luck and poor job prospects. Unexpectedly, he winds up on a case representing a family whose son was denied insurance cover for his leukemia treatment. Instead, the company delayed until it was too late to ensure they wouldn't have to pay out.The case could change it all. Rudy's deeply in debt, and a settlement from the insurance company could save his legal practice. But he's never argued a case in court before, and the company isn't going down without a fight. In fact, he'll be up against an army of the best lawyers money can buy...

Meet Quentin Coldwater, king of the bizarre and wonderful land of Fillory. But he is getting restless, even in heaven a man needs a little adventure. So when a steward is murdered on a morning's hunt Quentin gets exactly that. But this quest is like no other. What starts as a glorified cruise to faraway lands soon becomes the stuff of nightmares...The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an extraordinary journey that allows the imagination to run riot and proves Grossman is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis. This is a book like no other.