Skyscraper is an independent publisher with a simple remit: to seek out and publish interesting books that defy genre, challenge convention, or have been overlooked by larger publishers.
Our books examine some of today's most controversial topics, from politics to assisted dying. We look for writers with stories to share, and our list includes theatre director, scientist and philosopher Jonathan Miller, medical doctor Mads Gilbert, speculative fiction writer Anna Starobinets (Russia's 'Queen of Horror'), comic book artist-turned-novelist Brandon Graham, and journalists at the edge of political events in Russia and the Middle East.
We have links with Olive Branch Press, Interlink and Overlook, who publish some of our titles in the US.
Please have a look at our critically acclaimed published titles below, or see our news page for latest happenings, author talks, book launches and reviews.
For press enquiries and author details, please contact
NEW & FUTURE RELEASES
FICTION & POETRY
Victor Sonkin
£12.99
£12.99
HERE WAS ROME
If a living, thriving city can be encapsulated in a book, Victor Sonkin has done this for Rome. From its rise to its decline, this is the story behind the sites of the city, from its humble beginnings on the Palatine hill to the extent of its power in the 1st-2nd centuries A D, when almost the whole world was under Roman control.
Firmly rooted in the topographic and architectural realities of today, the book gives the sites a meaning and to connect them with the people who lived, fought and loved there two thousand years ago. It serves as a framework for a visit to Rome, taking in the sites in chronological order so that the history unfolds on the journey, and for the armchair traveller gives colourful anecdotes and historical knowledge based on the author's lifetime of fascination with the Roman Empire.
POLITICS & THE MIDDLE EAST
Yana Vagner
£10.99
TO THE LAKE
A haunting and arresting tale of a young woman who flees with her family during the throes of a pandemic, and embarks on a perilous journey through dangerous territory to find a safe haven.
When a virulent flu epidemic sweeps through Moscow killing hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, Anya and her husband Sergei decide to flee to a lake in the far north of Russia where they hope to sit out the epidemic. But as the wave of infection expands from the capital, they encounter obstacles, hazards, and aggression, with near escapes from death as they try to navigate their way through a harsh Russian winter, with diminishing supplies of petrol and food. And their troubles multiply as Sergei agrees to takes on unwelcome guests...
Gilad Atzmon
£10.00
BEING IN TIME: A POST-POLITICAL MANIFESTO
The events of 2016 – the UK vote to leave the EU, and the US Presidential Election – broke the mould which shaped ideas of democracy, politics and social identity. Gilad Atzmon argues that Left and Right have become indistinguishable and meaningless in the post-political universe In which we now live, and much of humanity has been reduced to serving the interests of big money and oligarchies. Being in Time suggests that ‘after politics’ is a tale of the decisive victory of one elite.
Gilad Atzmon is a latterday Pascal, with his startling, spiritual pensees, 'beyond left and right', unafraid to tackle unpleasant truths...Atzmon provides a rudder to navigate the malaise that is gripping the West, with a clown now at the helm. - Eric Walberg
http://www.gilad.co.uk/being-in-time
HISTORY, CULTURE & SOCIETY
Edited by Colin Brewer &
Michael Irwin
£10.00
I'LL SEE MYSELF OUT, THANK YOU
A series of recent landmark cases have highlighted the issues surrounding assisted suicide and may be shifting public opinion in the direction of greater freedom. These essays cover every aspect of the topic from the legal and religious issues to the deeply personal experiences of patients and carers. They present a reasoned libertarian argument for people with terminal conditions, or poor quality of life due to illness or treatment, to be allowed to be helped to kill themselves.
Colin Brewer is a London psychiatrist and writer who specialised in treating drug addiction and has been active in the Assisted Dying movement over the last thirty years. Michael Irwin is a GP who has helped many patients travel to Switzerland for assisted dying. The authors include Will Self, Stuart Lee, Lord Avebury, Peter Tatchell, Mary Warnock, and Anthony Grayling.