01 April 2020
Publications 2020 - present
Publications from your fellow alumni, published in the years 2020 - present.
From novels and poetry collections to works of non-fiction, our community of alumni and staff have published a variety of books over the years. We share a selection of these with you here.
If you would like to put forward a work for inclusion, please email the alumni office. When submitting, please make sure to also include a high res image of the book cover.
2020
Memoirs of a ‘Lazy Korfa’ by Dr Tunmise Usikalu (Dental Public Health, 2014)
Based on a daily journal kept by the author during three weeks of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Nigeria, Memoirs of a 'Lazy Korfa' provides a very honest, detailed and eye-opening account of NYSC life.
You can find excerpts and more details about the book here: www.lazykorfa.com
Purchase the book here.
This Happy by Niamh Campbell (English Research, 2015)
This Happy is about Alannah, who at 23, meets an older man - a married man - and falls in love. Things happened suddenly. They met in April, in the first bit of mild weather; and in August, they went to stay in rural Ireland, overseen by the cottage's landlady.
Six years later, when Alannah is newly married to another man, she sees the landlady from afar. Memories of those days spent in bliss, then torture, return to her. And the realisation that she has been waiting - all this time - to be rediscovered.
The novel has been described as 'an exhilarating coming-of-age story for fans of Sally Rooney' by the Sunday Times and an 'engrossing, heady debut' by the Independent.
This Happy is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and can be ordered here.
The Philosopher Queens by Rebecca Buxton (Philosophy, 2013) and Lisa Whiting
The history of philosophy has not done women justice: you've probably heard the names Plato, Kant, Nietzsche and Locke - but what about Hypatia, Arendt, Oluwole and Young?
The Philosopher Queens is a long-awaited book about the lives and works of women in philosophy by women in philosophy. This collection brings to centre stage twenty prominent women whose ideas have had a profound - but for the most part uncredited - impact on the world.
2021
Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes by David Enoch (St Thomas', Medicine, 1954), Basant K Puri and Hadrian Ball
This book explores the historical background to, and present-day understanding of, a number of unusual psychiatric disorders. This fully revised new edition contains a new chapter on a range of recently emerging conditions as well as updated literature and a collection of new and updated cases.
Since the publication of the fourth edition, there have been many developments in the field of psychiatry, including changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the advancement of neuroimaging and related research, which have been incorporated into the fifth edition. In this now classic text, each chapter covers an individual disorder in detail, using several case studies gathered by the authors themselves to illustrate and exemplify the disorders discussed. The clear and easy-to-understand writing style ensures that this text is accessible for the wide range of studies and professions who will find it useful.
Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes, Fifth Edition, is essential reading for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, psychiatric social workers, social workers and other mental health professionals. It will also be of interest to graduate students in the fields of psychiatry and psychology as well as those enrolled in psychiatry resident courses.
Be Who You Want: Unlocking the Science of Personality Change by Christian Jarrett (Neuroscience MSc, 2000)
Today, more than ever, we are aware of the power of personality. Are we introverts, extroverts, neurotic, open-minded? Psychology has always taught that there are personality types, some advantageous, some often seen as less so, and the common perception is that we're stuck with what we're given. The introvert will never break out of their shell, the narcissist will be forever trapped gazing into the mirror (or endlessly tweeting about perceived attacks on their brilliance).
Be Who You Want argues that contrary to the old adage, not only can the leopard change his spots, he can swap them for stripes, and that he can do so to his own advantage. In psychological terms, although our initial personality type is moulded by a combination of genetic influences and early experiences, it is not fixed. It's malleable, voluntary even. This book will tell the story of how our personalities are formed and gives us the tools to shape them in the ways which we desire and which will benefit us most.
Buy the book here.
2023
Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson (English with Film Studies, 2021)
From her bedroom in the Tower of London, twenty-six-year-old Maggie has always dreamed of her own fairy-tale ending.
Yet this is twenty-first century London, so instead of knights on white horses, she has catfish on Tinder. And with her last relationship ending in spectacular fashion, she swears off men for good.
And then a chance encounter with Royal Guard Freddie forces Maggie to admit that she isn’t ready to give up on love just yet… But how do you catch the attention of someone who is trained to ignore all distractions?
Can she snare that true love’s first kiss… or is she royally screwed?
You can buy the book from Waterstones here.
The Boy Who Didn't Want to Die by Emeritus Professor Peter Lantos
The Boy Who Didn't Want to Die describes an extraordinary journey, made by Peter, a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945.
Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together. Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another: sleeping in a tent and then under the sky, discovering a disused brick factory, catching butterflies in the meadows - and as Peter realises that this adventure is really a nightmare - watching bombs falling from the blue sky outside Vienna, learning maths from his mother in Belsen.
All this is drawn against a background of terror, starvation, infection and, inevitably, death, before Peter and his mother can return home.
The book is available here to buy.
The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War by Dr Huw J Davies
At the outbreak of the War of Austrian Succession in 1742, the British Army’s military tactics were tired and outdated, stultified after three decades of peace. The army’s leadership was conservative, resistant to change, and unable to match new military techniques developing on the continent. Losses were cataclysmic and the force was in dire need of modernization―both in terms of strategy and in leadership and technology.
In this wide-ranging and highly original account, Huw Davies traces the British Army’s accumulation of military knowledge across the following century. An essentially global force, British armies and soldiers continually gleaned and synthesized strategy from warzones the world over: from Europe to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Davies records how the army and its officers put this globally acquired knowledge to use, exchanging information and developing into a remarkable vehicle of innovation―leading to the pinnacle of its military prowess in the nineteenth century.
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin (MA Philosophy, 2018)
One night, not long after the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh and Minh flee their village and embark on a perilous boat journey to Hong Kong. Their parents and four younger siblings make the crossing in another vessel but as weeks go by it becomes clear that only one party has survived the voyage.
Anh, Thanh and Minh suddenly find themselves alone in the world, without family or home. They travel on, navigating refugee camps and resettlement centres until, by a twist of fate, they arrive in Thatcher's Britain. Here they must somehow build new lives with only each other to turn to, but will that be enough in a place that doesn't seem to want them?
In this piercing debut, the siblings' faltering journey is deftly interwoven with the voice of their lost younger brother, Dao, following them from a place between the living and the dead, and the records of an unknown researcher intent on gathering the strands of their story. Revelatory and inventive, Wandering Souls paints a heart-wrenching portrait of a family in unimaginable adversity while exploring the healing power of stories.
Fire of the Dragon: China's New Cold War by Ian Williams (PhD student for the Department of War Studies)
Under President Xi Jinping, China's global ambitions have taken a dangerous new turn. Bullying and intimidation have replaced diplomacy, and trade, investment, even big-spending tourists and students have been weaponised. Beijing has strengthened its alliance with Vladimir Putin, supporting Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and brooks no criticism of its own flagrant human rights violations against the Uyghur population in western China.
Western leaders say they don't want a cold war with China, but it's a little too late for that. Beijing is already waging a more complex, broader and more dangerous cold war than the old one with the Soviet Union. And it is intensifying.
This thought-provoking and alarming book examines this new cold war's many fronts - from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the Indian frontier, the Arctic and cyberspace. In doing so it proclaims the clear and sobering message that we must open our eyes to the reality of China's rise and its ruthless bid for global dominance.
Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Dr Annabel Sowemimo (PhD student for the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine)
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are all too aware of the urgent health inequalities that plague our world. But these inequalities have always been urgent: modern medicine has a colonial and racist history. Here, in an essential and searingly truthful account, Annabel Sowemimo unravels the colonial roots of modern medicine.
Tackling systemic racism, hidden histories and healthcare myths, Sowemimo recounts her own experiences as a doctor, patient and activist. Divided exposes the racial biases of medicine that affect our everyday lives and provides an illuminating - and incredibly necessary - insight into how our world works, and who it works for. This book will reshape how we see health and medicine - forever.
Amazing Bodies by Dr Ronx (Medicine, 2011)
Inspired by the incredible human body? Take a tour with award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter DR RONX - from spongy brains to gooey guts and everything in between.
Join C.D. Seventeen on her 46-day solo bike and wild camping adventure covering 658 miles of Scottish Highlands through the lens of poetry. The Weights We Carry is one woman’s incredible solo journey intended to find her true purpose through solitude. What she found was this poetry book, 22 poems paired with breath-taking photography.
You can read more about the work here.
Now a leading international composer and a singer-songwriter, Errollyn Wallen is as much at home in jazz and pop as in the classical world. Part memoir, Becoming a Composer offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind and motivation of a composer and covers aspects of Wallen's sometimes troubled childhood, and her experiences of growing up as a black composer in the UK. It includes a collection of observations, diaries following the progress of new works and essays and seeks to shed light on the way a composer sees and hears the world.
Find out more here.
2025
Self-Obsession: How our need for identity threatens our wellbeing by Dr Tom Davies (Medicine, 2017)
Doctor, writer and mental health advocate Tom Davies breaks down the true problem at the heart of our psychological pain and the growing mental health pandemic, providing effective solutions that anyone can practice to live a more fulfilled and happy life. There is one point that contemporary psychology and centuries old Eastern Buddhist and Taoist teachings agree on: if you wish to experience less suffering, you must change the way you see yourself. But what if the change that is needed is to let go of our selves entirely? What does this mean for those of us living in an increasingly self-obsessed and individualistic society? Is our quest for identity actually sabotaging our own wellbeing? In this compassionate and galvanizing book, Dr Tom Davies gently invites you to consider the basic elements that define who you are.
In Part One, get to know your self. From the ground up, discover what the self truly is, how it links to identity, and how self-obsession is central to the human condition and the psychological pain that each of us experience.
In Part Two, overcome self-obsession. Free yourself from your psychological prison, and learn how to live the peaceful and joyful life that you deserve. With a fresh and lucid style, Dr Tom Davies combines his knowledge of the medical, psychological and the philosophical to bring you real solutions to life’s most challenging problems. Whether you are searching for meaning, or are struggling with stress, anxiety, grief or depression, this perspective will provide you with an empowering new insight that can help you transform your life.