John Sandoe Books

'motherhood is frequently politicised, but rarely acknowledged in all its fullness to be political' We were delighted that Helen Charman, a Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge, whose writing has been published in The Guardian, The White Review, Another Gaze and The Stinging Fly, came to the shop to speak about her new book, Mother State. The impetus behind the book — a history of motherhood in the UK and Ireland — is that motherhood is an inherently political state of being, and should be considered in terms of collective responsibilities as well as individual. The communities that she is interested in — anti-nuclear campaigners, lesbian squatters, the wives of striking miners... — present a world in which mothering is a powerful, radical act.  She was joined in conversation by Kate Briggs (The Long Form and This Little Art, both published by Fitzcarraldo).  To hear about upcoming events in the shop and new episodes on our podcast, please click here.  Edited by Magnus Rena

Five years - almost to the day - since the first episode of the Sandoe's podcast, we welcome back the very first author to have graced our airwaves: William Dalrymple. In September 2019 he came to discuss The Anarchy; he returns, on our 80th episode, for The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World. He traces the rise and spread of Buddhism from its roots, showing the dominance of Indian culture in the ancient and early medieval worlds. WD's customary grace, zest and elegance render unfamiliar names and ideas both accessible and compelling. There's a limited number of signed copies so please give us a ring, email or order through our website if you'd like one. Interviewed by Arabella von Friesen  Edited by Magnus Rena 

Rupert Thomson has attracted the kind of critical acclaim which would flatter any rockstar, let alone writer. He's been compared to Dickens, Kafka and Grace Jones; The Insult was chosen by David Bowie as one of his 100 favourite novels of all time; and his first novel, Dreams of Leaving - one of the earliest books to be published by Bloomsbury soon after it was established in 1986 - found fans in everyone from the drummer of Souxsie and the Banshees to the New Statesman, who said, “When someone writes as well as Thomson does, it's a wonder other people bother”. His latest book is called How to Make a Bomb (or Dartmouth Park in its American edition). It's a heady, swirling novel about a writer's psychic collapse which begins in Norway and takes him to Cadiz and Crete. There are shades of John Fowles's The Magus to it: acute, sensitive, eerie but compulsively readable.  Interviewed and edited by Magnus Rena

Acclaimed historian Giles Milton (Checkmate in Berlin, Nathaniel's Nutmeg, Paradise Lost) talks to Johnny about his new book on the US and Britain's diplomatic mission to brace Stalin against the Germans and bring him into WW2 as an ally.  Edited by Magnus Rena