The Bright SideOptimism, irrational though it might be, is central to the human psyche: it seems to give us an advantage both in everyday life and in the evolutionary race. What does Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition have in common with the chicken that crossed the road? Or James Baldwin's campaign for civil rights with the development of AI? Or even Crossrail and George Bush's 'mission accomplished'? 'The Bright Side' makes a vital and transformative new

Tim Marshall's 'Prisoners of Geography' showed how every nation's choices are limited by mountains

AND THE THRILL OF FINDING YOUR PERSON WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

eats a mysterious golden apple

who makes a living driving at top speed over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra

Monty's observations and insights are relevant to each and every one of us

But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe and

From roller-skating to church

spooky romance

But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind

A new - and not entirely honest - relationship is going to be born

he was just 'an arrogant

as they have for millennia