Must Read Non-Fiction For August 2025

What do you want when no one is watching?
What do you want, when the lights are off?
What do you want, when you are anonymous?

When we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain. And yet so many of us don’t talk about it at all.

In this groundbreaking book, Gillian Anderson collects and introduces the anonymous sexual fantasies of women from around the world (along with her own anonymous submission). They are all extraordinary: full of desire, fear, intimacy, shame, satisfaction and, ultimately, liberation. From dreaming about someone off-limits to conjuring a scene with multiple partners, from sex that is gentle and tender to passionate and playful, from women who have never had sex to women who have had more sex than they can remember, these fantasies provide a window into the most secret part of our minds.

Want reveals how women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally themselves.

Master the ideas that have shaped the world of film today.

In a series of 50 accessible essays, Helen O’Hara introduces and explains the central ideas, eras and genres of film, beginning with the invention of cinema to the theories and genres that have emerged and evolved since.

From concepts such as the mise-en-scène and special effects to Queer Film Theory and the #MeToo movement, 50 Film Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important tenets of film and cinema history.

The currents of History run deep and often unseen beneath the everyday ripple of events. But now and again the current rises to the surface, and the events of a single day shed an exceptional light on the meaning of the past.

Such events are the subject of Days that Changed the World. Some of the 50 days described here mark the end of an era; others the start of something new. Many are the dates of bloody battles or murders; others of momentous decisions or breathtaking discoveries. All are remembered as powerful symbols of their time.

Our story begins almost 2500 years ago on 28 September 480 before the Christian Era, when the Athenian navy destroyed the Persian invasion fleet in the Bay of Salamis. Had the Persians won we might never have heard the names of Plato, Aristotle or Alexander, nor recognize the word democracy. Charting 50 such defining moments, concluding with Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 and 9/11 a decade after, Days that Changed the World is a unique and fascinating way to portray the story of world history.

Repackaged into a neat and striking format, with a brand new cover and an entirely narrative approach, it is bound to be anyone interested in History’s favourite encyclopaedia.

Behind every important scientific discovery there is an equation. They are far from baffling, and now you too can understand their power and beauty! Discover the 50 equations that have led to incredible discoveries, ground-breaking technology and have shaped our understanding of the world.

From much heralded classics as e=mc2 and Pythagoras’s Theorem, to Fuzzy Logic and Google PageRank, each equation is tackled head-on, broken down and explained in a unique, entertaining way so that you understand exactly how it works and why it’s worth knowing about. Innovative illustrations and accessible text help you understand each equation’s function, individual elements and development.

Along the way you’ll discover some surprising stories about the people behind the discoveries and how their brilliant insights resulted in ideas and technology we now take for granted. Covering geometry, technology, science, chance and mathematical theory, The Secret Life of Equations will enlighten and entertain in equal measure.

Every element has character, be it volatile, aloof, gregarious or enigmatic. They also have incredible stories of how they came to be, how they were discovered and how their qualities have been harnessed to make everything we have in the world.

Dr Ben Still takes you through all the groups, revealing the fascinating circumstances of their discoveries and explaining their characteristics and behaviour, often delving inside the atom to explain their structure in a way easily accessible to everyone. Insightful illustrations help you to understand even the most complex-looking aspects of quantum physics, bringing the periodic table to life.

Incredibly enlightening, The Secret Life of the Periodic Table will entertain and inform in equal measure. Take a trip through the ages of exploration, enjoying the story of how Mendeleev’s table came to be; it is the story of one the greatest pattern-seeking accomplishments of humankind

A lively, hilarious, and entirely truthful look at the druggie side of history’s most famous figures, including Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, and the Beatles, from debut author (and viral historical TikToker with over 100K followers) Sam Kelly.

Did you know that Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk, William Shakespeare was a stoner, and George Washington drank a spoonful of opium every night to staunch the pain from his fake teeth? Or how about the fact that China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, ingested liquid mercury in an (ironic) attempt to live forever, or that Alexander Shulgin, inventor of no fewer than 230 new psychedelic drugs, was an employee of the DEA?

In Human History on Drugs, historian Sam Kelly introduces us to the history we weren’t taught in school, offering up irreverent and hysterical commentary as he sheds light on some truly shocking aspects of the historical characters we only thought we knew. With chapters spanning from Ancient Greece (‘The Oracle of Delphi Was Huffing Fumes’) and the Victorian Era (‘Vincent van Gogh Ate Yellow Paint’) to Hollywood’s Golden Age (‘Judy Garland Was Drugged by Grown-Ups’) and modern times (‘Carl Sagan Got Astronomically High’), Kelly’s research spans all manner of eras, places, and, of course, drugs.

History is rife with drug use and drug users, and Human History on Drugs takes us through those highs (pun intended) and lows on a wittily entertaining ride that uncovers their seriously unexpected impact on our past.

Coming Soon!