Tom Rodwell’s Third Man in Havana: Finding the Heart of Cricket in the World’s Most Unlikely Places, with a foreword by Courtney Walsh, is published today!

Third Man in Havana is a wonderfully positive story, revealing that the spirit of cricket is alive and well. You can read an extract from the book below.

Third Man in Havana is £14.99 and can be purchased from all good bookshops. You can find out more about it here and watch the book trailer here.

Third Man in Havana: Finding the Heart of Cricket in the World’s Most Unlikely Places by Tom Rodwell, published by our sports imprint Corinthian, is out tomorrow!

For six years Tom Rodwell ran cricketing programmes from Cuba to Zimbabwe, attempting to soothe the world’s ills with the curiously English balm known as cricket.

From Beersheva Cricket Club pavilion in Israel – a converted nuclear bomb shelter, useful in the face of Hamas’ regular rocket attacks – to a game of ‘tapeball’ cricket with ex-Tamil Tiger child soldiers behind barbed wire in Sri Lanka, Rodwell discovers that the heart of the game is beating fast in countries more used to conflict than cricket.

Check out the book trailer below to view some footage of Tom’s wonderful journey.

Touching, amusing and imbued with a deep love of the game, Third Man in Havana documents the characters and experiences Rodwell encountered. You can find out more about the book here and read an extract from it here.

Christopher Kul-Want, author of Introducing Slavoj Žižek: A Graphic Guide, will be introducing Žižek at an upcoming event hosted by the New Statesman and Central Saint Martins.

‘Less Than Nothing: Introducing Slavoj Žižek in conversation with Jonathan Derbyshire’ will offer thought-provoking discussion and a Q&A session. The event is free, but ticketed, and will take place on Monday June 7th at Central Saint Martins. To find out more about the event watch the video below and go here to find out how to reserve a place.

Ian Livingstone, co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series, and author of upcoming gamebook Blood of the Zombies, is running an exciting competition for Fighting Fantasy fans.

Ian Livingstone is giving one lucky winner the chance to have their name appear in Blood of the Zombies, published August 2012. To enter, tweet #bloodofthezombies to @ian_livingstone and he will pick one person at random.

The competition ends 1st June 2012.

Watch Brian Clegg, author of The Universe Inside You, explain why the human body is so fascinating, and what exactly your brain is doing when you look at two amazing optical illusions, in our video:

The Universe Inside You, sequel to the bestselling Inflight Science, explores how your eyes are quantum traps, consuming photons of light from the night sky that have travelled for millions of years; your many senses, which include the ability to detect warps in space and time; and why meeting an attractive person can turn you into a gibbering idiot. It is available now in paperback and ebook format.

Martin Bell will be at Winchester’s Best of British Festival on 25th May, participating in the ‘Any Questions to the Broadcasters’ event along with Michael Grade, Lindsey Hilsum, and Peter Sissons.

Martin Bell is author of In Harm’s Way: Bosnia: A War Reporter’s Story, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and more. Read more about his books here.

Tickets cost £10 and are available from the Theatre Royal Winchester Box Office. Call the box office on 01962 840 440 or email boxoffice@theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk. To find out more about the event go here.

Mark Forsyth’s brilliant and all-conquering bestseller The Etymologicon is published today as an unabridged audiobook, by AudioGo.

And we have a sneak preview for you here – what does Queen Gunhilda have to do with your mobile phone?

Visit the AudioGo website here to buy either CD set or the downloadable version.

The Shrink and the Sage: A Guide to Living, written by British philosopher Julian Baggini, and therapist Antonia Macaro, is published today.

From what Aristotle can teach us about practical wisdom to how the work of psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman can improve our decision-making, they offer eminently practical advice to many common personal dilemmas.

Upbeat, enjoyable and thought-provoking, this brilliantly readable intellectual agony uncle and aunt team combine the insights of philosophy and psychology to begin to piece together a a guide to the good life and how to live it.

Read an extract from the book below.

To find out more about The Shrink and the Sage, go here.