13 Paperbacks to Pack on Your Next Adventure

Thames & Hudson publishes across a range of categories, and often our titles are available in paperback. From the wonders of ancient Egypt to the history of Scotland, there’s something for everyone:

High Society 
A global history of intoxication, exploring the international spectrum of drug use in cultures worldwide, from prehistory to the present.

Mike Jay’s narrative traverses the globe and ranges from prehistory to the present day, exploring the role of drugs from ayahuasca in the Amazon to coffee in early modern Europe, opium in China to the discovery of psychedelics: ‘A vivid report on the other side of drugs’ Hanif Kureishi, Guardian 

Gay Life Stories 
A fascinating portrait of gay men and women throughout time whose lives have influenced society at large, as well as what we recognize as today’s varied gay culture.

Giving a voice to more than eighty LGBTQ+ people from every major continent and from all walks of life, Gay Life Stories will entertain, give pause for thought, and celebrate the diversity of human history: ‘Ultimately uplifting’ Observer 

Virginia Woolf 
An accessible introduction to a writer whose work is of timeless significance and whose unconventional life is a continuous source of fascination. 

‘A pencil sketch in clear brisk lines. As an introduction to Woolf, Harris’s study will do very well: she writes beautifully, with an eye for lucid detail’ Sunday Times

Scotland’s Forgotten Past 
A charming, lively and often amusing tour of 36 forgotten episodes and overlooked people and places of Scottish history.  

Alistair Moffat brings Scotland’s half-forgotten histories out of the shadows, from the clashes of proud Picts and medieval ‘pirate kings’ to the invention of tartan, whisky, Aberdeen Angus and Peter Pan. Each surprising or scandalous twist sheds a new light on the history of Scotland.

Ancient Egypt on Five Deben a Day 
An essential guide for the discerning time-traveller: take a trip to ancient Egypt at the height of its power and prosperity in the reign of Ramesses II.

Egyptologist Donald Ryan guides the time-travelling tourist on a journey up the Nile, and en route he offers useful advice on everything from deciphering hieroglyphics to mummifying household pets.

Totally Wired 
A raucous yet reflective look back at the evolution of the music press and the passionate rock and pop journalists who defined the music of the 20th century.  

‘Paul Gorman has given us the book that the music press deserves: fun, factual, glamorous, gritty, packed with mad anecdotes as well as cold-eyed truth. Essential’
Miranda Sawyer

The Irish: Tales of Emigration, Exile and Imperialism 
Explore the lives of over forty men and women – great and otherwise – whose pioneering journeys beyond the Irish shore played a profound role in world history.  

‘This fascinating assortment of case histories, spread across 1,400 years and six continents, is an impressive feat of research. The short biographies themselves are lively yet judicious, packed with vivid detail’ BBC History

British Women Artists 
Weaving individual stories with playful critique, British Women Artists traces modern British art history through the stories of its women.  

‘A lavish chronicle of female artists and their struggle to succeed … full of surprises’
Rachel Cooke, Observer 

A History of Witchcraft 
An authoritative and concise history of witchcraft from the ancient world to today.  

This classic book explores the definition of witchcraft in its many diverse forms, from the worship of the Greek goddess of magic, Hecate, through the witch-crazes of the 15th and 16th centuries and the development of modern witchcraft by Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner in the early 20th century, to the rise of social media platforms, the coronavirus pandemic and new neopagan groups.

Mystery Cults in the Ancient World 
A landmark study of ancient Greek and Roman cults, from the nocturnal mysteries at Eleusis to the cults of Dionysus and Mithras.  

‘A wonderful revelation. Piece by archaeological and textual piece, Bowden jigsaw-puzzles together the heady, high-octane, highly charged world of mystery ritual in Greece and Rome’ Bettany Hughes

The Unfinished Palazzo 
The story of Venice’s Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, ‘the Unfinished Palazzo’, told through the lives of three of its most unconventional, passionate and fascinating residents – Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim. 

‘The best gallimaufry of gossip and scandal I have read in years’ Lynn Barber, Sunday Times

Plague, Pestilence and Pandemic 
A collection of intimate and revelatory first-hand accounts of pandemics through the ages.  

Bearing witness to despair, rage, the blackest of humour, heartbreak and hope, the stories in this book hold up a mirror to our own experiences of, and responses to, the Covid pandemic.

Digging Up Britain: A New History in Ten Extraordinary Discoveries 
Recounts ten of the most exciting archaeological discoveries in Britain over the past decade.  

‘Lucid and informative … conveys both the thrill of discovery and the painstaking, puzzling interpretation work that follows it. … If you’ve ever wondered how we know so much about who we used to be, this is the book for you’ Greg Jenner, historian and author of A Million Years in a Day