01 April 2026
With longer and warmer days ahead of us, we’re so excited to share our selection of Profile reads to keep you entertained for the spring months! From a new release by world’s most acclaimed classicist, to a deep dive into the history of Black British music, we’re certain that there’s something here you’ll love.
What will you be reading this spring? Let us know on Instagram @Profile.Books or BlueSky @profilebooks.bsky.social.
Ancient by Luke Barley
With the benefit of over twenty years’ experience rehabilitating ancient woodland – from the Lakes to the Peak District, by way of suburban London’s hidden gems – Luke Barley brings us deep into this hidden world to reveal majestic oaks, freshly coppiced hazels, endangered limes, and the passionate individuals tending them for future generations.
Hoax by Madeleine Pelling
A ghost. A witch. A princess. This is a story of those who lie. And of those who choose to believe them. The History Hit presenter’s spellbinding history unpicks the stories of three incredible eighteenth-century hoaxes. Questioning culpability and complicity, Madeleine Pelling’s engrossing history of this great age of the hoax reveals a veiled world of moral panic, tall tales and true crime, and holds a mirror to our own turbulent relationship with truth.
Talking Classics by Mary Beard
In Talking Classics, Mary Beard points to the surprising connections between antiquity and the present. From revolutionaries to dictators, Bob Dylan to Beyoncé, she joins forces with the varied modern characters who have been transfixed by the ancient world. It’s not compulsory, she argues, to be excited by antiquity, but it’s a shame not to be.
Escaping Babylon by Jesse Bernard
From the height of jungle and hip-hop in the 90s to the London uprisings in 2011, the birth of UK trap and the rise of grime superstars like Stormzy, filmmaker and DJ Jesse Bernard examines how Black culture in Britain is moulded by creativity drawn from Lagos and Los Angeles, Sao Paolo and South London. Escaping Babylon takes a deep dive into the history of Black British music to celebrate its richness, heritage and towering legacy.
The Illegals by Shaun Walker
Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews, and newly-discovered archival material, The Illegals is a page-turning tour de force that shines new light on the long arc of the Soviet experiment and its messy aftermath – and on how that hidden history shaped Russia and the West.
Enough Said by Alan Bennett
Enough Said is Alan Bennett’s fourth collection of diaries and prose. Covering the turbulent years 2016 to 2024, the diaries take us through lockdown, Brexit, the reign of Johnson, the rise of Trump and the death of the Queen. 2024 is the year that Alan turns ninety; he reflects on old age and the importance of luck. He looks back to childhood and recalls an idyllic wartime month as an evacuee. A book for the bedside, this is poignant, funny, contemplative Alan Bennett, as he records life both personal and political in his most distinct of voices.
To Exist As I Am by Grace Spence Green
At the age of twenty-two, Grace Spence Green’s spine was broken and her life changed course. One day, she was in hospital supporting patients, the next she was one herself. Over the years that followed, words like healing and recovery took on new meanings. Some emotions, like sadness and self-pity, dimmed. Others were heightened, and Grace learned to embrace them all: anger at a world ill-equipped to accommodate her new body; passion to demand change; and joy found in community, nature and wild swimming. Through her powerful story, Grace shows how we can come back to ourselves after trauma and fight for change while joyously embracing life exactly as we are.
We Survived the Night by Julian Brave NoiseCat
One dark night, a new-born is discovered dumped inside a waste incinerator. The boy, rescued from death, grows into a man who will in turn abandon his own children, including his first-born son Julian Brave NoiseCat. An inventive, illuminating and moving narrative from one of the most compelling artists at work today, We Survived the Night is both reconciliation and celebration of Indigenous pain, hope and resurgence – and their power to shape a collective future.
From Life Itself by Suzy Hansen
In the midst of a world in upheaval, Erdogan has remade Turkey in his own image. Once a shining portal that straddled East and West, Istanbul’s streets now teem with nationalistic fervour, political repression and rampant corruption. And it’s here, in the old Ottoman neighbourhood of Karagumruk, that Suzy Hansen goes looking for the truth about modern Turkey. The Pulitzer finalist tells the fascinating story of the rise of an authoritarian Turkey under Erdogan through the microcosm of life in a local Istanbul neighbourhood.
Extractive Capitalism by Laleh Khalili
Professor Laleh Khalili reflects on the hidden stories behind late capitalism, from seafarers abandoned on debt-ridden container ships to the nefarious reach of consultancy firms and the cronyism that drives record-breaking profits. Piercing, wry and constantly revealing, Extractive Capitalism brings vividly to light the dark truths behind the world’s most voracious industries.
Hinterlands by Hannah Lucinda Smith
In Hinterlands, acclaimed correspondent Hannah Lucinda Smith draws on vivid first-hand encounters with politicians, spies and ordinary people caught in the crosshairs to paint a gripping portrait of Europe at its edges – and the struggles that will define its future.
We Know You Can Pay a Million by Anja Shortland
From a leading expert in illicit trading, Anja Shortland, We Know You Can Pay a Million spotlights the criminal underworld where organised groups trade stolen information and cryptocurrencies, and reveals the fascinating hidden histories of the superhackers whose activities have potentially catastrophic consequences for us all.