Biteback Publishing London (Over 1,300 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Twenty days after Britain's dramatic vote to leave the European Union, with the government still reeling from the political aftershock, a new Prime Minister captured Downing Street. Few were more surprised by this unexpected turn of events than Theresa May herself. David Cameron's sudden resignation unleashed a leadership contest like no other - and saw the showier rivals for his crown fall one by one with dizzying speed. So how did the daughter of an Oxfordshire vicar rise to the top job with such ease? In this fascinating biography, Rosa Prince explores the self-styled unflashy politician whose commitment to public service was instilled in her from childhood. More than a decade after she warned stunned Conservatives of their 'nasty' image, May has become the champion of Middle England and, for the time being, united her riven party. Theresa May: The Enigmatic Politician maps the rise of Britain's second female premier, a woman who had to fight against the odds to become an MP, who remained overlooked and undervalued during much of her time in Parliament, yet who went on to become a formidable Home Secretary and, now, the leader of her country as it faces its greatest challenge since the Second World War. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. During nearly two decades in the adrenaline-filled, egotistical and stressful world of Parliament, Mark Field had a remarkable capacity for getting into high-profile scrapes - most famously in his close friendship with future Prime Minister Liz Truss, his role in David Cameron's Piggate scandal and his skirmish with protesters at Mansion House. From his first foray into student politics at Oxford, where he got to know David Miliband, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove and Keir Starmer, to his years as a Foreign Office Minister alongside Boris Johnson and Rory Stewart, Mark casts an unsparing eye over forty years of British political life. Crammed with vivid pen portraits of some of the most influential political figures of our age, this wry and incisive memoir also reflects candidly on the changes that have taken place in the UK during Mark's lifetime. Recognising that his has been a golden generation that has benefited from a range of opportunities now denied to younger Britons, Mark emphasises how our unrealistic sense of exceptionalism risks holding us back from the urgent reform now needed in so many of our institutions. Above all, he argues that post-Brexit, it is the Conservative Party's failure to ensure we take responsibility for our own fate that has led to its rapid decline and fall. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A surprise win for the Conservatives as the voters decisively reject a Labour leader deemed 'not Prime Minister material'? A Tory Party ripped apart by European civil war? A country rebounding from one of the worst recessions in living memory?Check, check, check.One of the winners in an election victory nobody had predicted, back in 1992, Gyles Brandreth is no stranger to a poll-confounding, knife-edge Tory majority. Controversially, his gloriously indiscreet diaries revealed for the first time the secret world of the Government Whips' Office and its struggles to control a party riven by in-fighting over Europe.Now, as history looks set to repeat itself, comes the definitive edition of this widely acclaimed classic, featuring material originally excised for legal reasons, as well as additional diaries taking the story on another ten years.With candid descriptions of the key figures of the era, from the leading players to the ministers who fell from grace - and a bright young hopeful by the name of David Cameron - Breaking the Code paints an extraordinary portrait of Whitehall and Westminster in our time - warts and all. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 'Set Europe ablaze.' The order came from Churchill himself. The result was the Special Operations Executive - the SOE. Established in 1941 with the aim of supplying occupied France with a steady stream of highly trained resistance agents, this clandestine second world war network grew to become a crucial part of the allied arsenal. Ingeniously engineering acts of sabotage, resistance and terror in the face of the occupying Nazis, the SOE dealt devastating and fatal blows to the German war effort - and directly contributed to the rapid and successful advance of Allied forces across France in the days and months after D-Day. At the head of the French operations stood Colonel Maurice James Buckmaster, the leader of the SOE's French Section. These are his extraordinary memoirs. A lost classic, now available for the first time after many decades, They Fought Alone offers a unique insight into the courageous triumphs and terrible fates of the SOE's agents between 1941 and 1944. This new edition includes an introduction by intelligence historian Michael Smith that deals with the recent controversy surrounding Buckmaster, restoring his reputation as one of the most important figures in the resistance to the Nazis. The best collection of military, espionage, and adventure stories ever told. The Dialogue Espionage Classics series began in 2010 with the purpose of bringing back classic out-of-print spying and espionage tales. From WWI and WWII to the Cold War, D-Day to the SOE, Bletchley Park to the Comet Line this fascinating spy history series brings you the best stories that should never be forgotten. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. How does the machinery of government respond when a King steps out of line? The relationship between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson created a constitutional crisis that has fascinated the public for decades. Unwilling to accept the idea of the twice-married American as future Queen of England, the government was determined to pressure the King into giving up Mrs Simpson and, when that failed, into giving up his crown. The King's phone lines were tapped by his own government, dubious police reports poisoned Mrs Simpson's reputation, and threats to sabotage her divorce were deployed to edge the King towards abdication. The hopeless attempts of the King's allies, particularly Winston Churchill, to keep him on the throne were dismissed as sinister conspiracy, whilst the King wrecked his own chances with wildly unrealistic goals and ill-thought-out schemes that served only to frame him as erratic and unreliable as a monarch. As each side was overwhelmed by desperation and distrust, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin fought to steer events to a smooth conclusion. In this fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the royal abdication crisis of 1936, Adrian Phillips reveals the previously untold story of the hidden political machinations and insidious battles in Westminster and Whitehall that settled the fate of the King and Mrs Simpson. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Austin Mitchell is a political maverick. For thirty-eight years he was a fly in the parliamentary ointment, a recurring itch on the body politic. A maverick may annoy the whips, threaten party discipline and challenge the solemnities of Parliament. Troublemakers they may well be, but the Commons would certainly be a duller place without them. However Mitchell's dissidence wasn't all bitterness without volume control. Rattling the cage, swimming against the tide, pursuing honourable causes and, of course, fighting for his constituency, Grimsby, proved a rewarding career in itself. Confessions of a Political Maverick succeeds in uncovering the realities behind the pretentious parliamentary facade of tradition and the stuffy complacency of Britain's failing political class. Dissenting from the peculiar and highly particular conformity of career politicians dedicated to climbing the greasy pole can be a lonely role, but it can also be fun. It certainly was for Austin Mitchell. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. As the Labour MP for Gloucester, when things were good for Parmjit Dhanda, they were very good. He would be rolled out at party conferences and for TV appearances as a poster boy for his party, a shining example of a new Britain, where white constituencies chose ethnic minorities as their candidates and elected them. He was a feel-good story, and telling the other side of the story not only would have jarred with the narrative but would also have brought to light issues that neither Dhanda nor his colleagues would be comfortable addressing. Then something happened. As Parmjit and his family strove to put their lives back together after the 2010 general election defeat, there was a knock on the door one Sunday morning in Gloucester. A frightened-looking lady stood there shaking, distressed. She had a dog on the end of the lead that was pulling her body away towards one of the cars outside the house. A decapitated pig's head had been left in the middle of the drive. After nine years' service people didn't even realise Parmjit was actually a Sikh and not a Muslim. But prejudice doesn't make these distinctions.After all, at school there was never a distinction between a Paki or a Wog before you felt a blow to the back of your head in the playground. In what promises to be one of the most important political memoirs of recent years, Parmjit Dhanda speaks out for the first time about some of the uncomfortable issues in politics, in the hope it helps present a smoother path for others in the future and makes it easier for those in the game now to speak out too. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Veering from the hilarious to the tragic, Andrew Mitchell's tales from the parliamentary jungle make for one of the most entertaining political memoirs in years. From his prep school years, straight out of Evelyn Waugh, through the Army to Cambridge, the City of London and the Palace of Westminster, Mitchell has passed through a series of British institutions at a time of furious social and political change - in the process becoming rather more cynical about the British Establishment. Here, he reflects on the perils and pleasures of loyalty, whether to a party, to individuals or to one's own principles. He brilliantly lifts the lid on the dark arts of the government Whips' Office ('Whipping, like stripping, is best done in private') and reveals how he accidentally started Boris Johnson's political career and later naively backed him to be Prime Minister - an act which rebounded on him spectacularly. Mitchell also writes candidly about the Plebgate fiasco, which led to four police officers being sacked for gross misconduct and in one case imprisoned, while Mitchell himself faced a bill of millions of pounds in legal fees after losing his libel case. Engagingly honest about his ups and downs in politics, Beyond a Fringe is crammed with hilarious political anecdotes and irresistible insider gossip from the heart of Westminster. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Growing up in a strict Muslim community in south-east London, Alom Shaha learnt that religion was not to be questioned. Reciting the Qur'an without understanding what it meant was simply a part of life; so, too, was obeying the imam and enduring beatings when he failed to attend the local mosque. Shaha was more drawn to science and its power to illuminate. As a teen, he lived between two worlds: the home controlled by his authoritarian father, and a school alive with books and ideas. In a charming blend of memoir, philosophy, and science, Shaha explores the questions about faith and the afterlife that we all ponder. Through a series of loose 'lessons', he tells his own compelling story, drawing on the theories of some of history's greatest thinkers and interrogating the fallacies that have impeded humanity for centuries. Shaha recounts how his education and formative experiences led him to question how to live without being tied to what his parents, priests, or teachers told him to believe, and offers insights so that others may do the same. This is a book for anyone who thinks about what they should believe and how they should live. It's for those who may need the facts and the ideas, as well as the courage, to break free from inherited beliefs. In this powerful narrative, Shaha shows that it is possible to live a compassionate, fulfilling, and meaningful life without God. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Finding Margaret is the moving story of journalist and broadcaster Andrew Pierce's search for his birth mother. As he was approaching fifty, Pierce decided that it was finally time to track down his biological mother. He knew that he had lived in a Roman Catholic orphanage in Cheltenham for more than two years and was adopted at the age of three by a family who loved and nurtured him. As his career in journalism flourished and despite feeling like he was betraying the adoptive parents who loved him so much, Pierce began to tentatively search for his birth mother, only to find that she had done everything she could to ensure he would never find her. When he finally managed to meet her, the mystery only deepened, leading him to Ireland in search of the man who may or may not have been his father. During his search, Pierce also realises the extent of the mistreatment he suffered at the orphanage and attempts to forge a relationship with the woman who gave him away. This candid book is a heartwarming page turner that takes the reader on an extraordinary journey. Full of amusing and arresting anecdotes, at its heart lies the inspirational story of one man's extensive search for his birth mother and what happened when he finally found her. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's political partnership changed the face of Scotland, bringing the country to within 200,000 votes of independence in 2014 and holding sway at Holyrood for more than a decade. Since the referendum, Scottish nationalism has been a movement on the up, but the relationship between the former First Minister and his protegee and successor has broken down. Break-Up tells the inside story of how an alliance that goes back thirty years was ripped apart amid shocking claims of sexual assault, driving a wedge through the once unbreakable unity of the Scottish National Party. With unrivalled access to both camps and the women who made the allegations, and with rigorously fair-minded reporting, journalists David Clegg and Kieran Andrews go behind the headlines to uncover the truth about this extraordinary episode, in a piece of political history that reads like a thriller. This is a jaw-dropping tale of inappropriate behaviour in the highest reaches of power, of lies, distrust and alleged conspiracy, with profound implications not only for Salmond and Sturgeon themselves but for Scotland's governing party and the wider independence campaign. At its heart, it is also a story about how women who voiced concerns about the behaviour of the most powerful man in the country were used as political pawns - and about what that means for the #MeToo movement. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Heroines and Harridans is a tale of eccentricity (generally British), some bad behaviour (occasionally American) and rather odd love lives (some corking aristocrats). It is not by chance that the relation of matters in the past are called 'History'. It is, generally, 'his story' with many men doing grand things while the women stayed home to make the soup. Heroines and Harridans gives another, highly entertaining view on life as comedian Sandi Toksvig brings her trademark wit and humour to bear on 22 portraits of as eccentric a melange of women throughout history as you are ever likely to find. All of the featured characters were terrific good fun, helped shape the world they lived in but in many cases disappeared into obscurity. Each of Toksvig's gloriously funny pen portraits is accompanied by equally striking and imaginative illustrations by artist Sandy Nightingale. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Desperate Times is the brilliant and unfl inching new collection of sketches of contemporary political life by The Times's master of satire, Peter Brookes. Within these pages, the multiple winner of the British Press Awards Cartoonist of the Year showcases the standout pieces from his political cartoons in The Times, up to the minute and breathtaking in their bite and wit. Cataloguing two of the most turbulent years on record, Desperate Times provides an unsparing critique of political leaders and events at home and abroad. From Brexit and Megxit to Trump's departure and the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, this collection of exquisitely crafted cartoons provides vivid proof, were it needed, that we are indeed living through desperate times. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Despite his tenure of three of the four Great Offices of State, his popularity with the electorate and the truly revolutionary 1944 Education Act that bears his name, Richard Austen 'Rab' Butler narrowly missed out on the premiership on three separate occasions during his political career, earning him the sobriquet that has attached to his name ever since - The Best Prime Minister That Britain Never Had.Banished from the inner council of the War Cabinet for his support of appeasement, Butler used his time as Education Minister wisely to emerge as the progressive face of the post-war Tory Party, going on to spend four years at the Treasury before the gradual but relentless eclipse of his career after Anthony Eden's accession.Was Butler an over-ambitious, condescending intellectual who had antagonised enough colleagues in the course of his career to ensure he would ultimately be thwarted? Or did he simply not want the leadership enough? Could this liberal Tory, in tune with the electorate, have led the Conservatives to victory in the 1964 election?In this robust and insightful biography of the great nearly-man of British politics, bestselling author Michael Jago looks to answer whether Rab Butler really was 'The Best Prime Minister We Never Had'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Contemporary art is obsessed with the politics of identity. Visit any contemporary gallery, museum or theatre, and chances are the art on offer will be principally concerned with race, gender, sexuality, power and privilege.The quest for truth, freedom and the sacred has been thrust aside to make room for identity politics. Mystery, individuality and beauty are out; radical feminism, racial grievance and queer theory are in. The result is a drearily predictable culture and the narrowing of the space for creative self-expression and honest criticism.Sohrab Ahmari's book is a passionate cri de coeur against this state of affairs. The New Philistines takes readers deep inside a cultural scene where all manner of ugly, inept art is celebrated so long as it toes the ideological line, and where the artistic glories of the Western world are revised and disfigured to fit the rigid doctrines of identity politics.The degree of politicisation means that art no longer performs its historical function, as a mirror and repository of the human spirit - something that should alarm not just art lovers but anyone who cares about the future of liberal civilisation. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Good. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Tony Blair said his three priorities were Education, Education, Education. Andrew Adonis played a decisive role in turning this slogan into a reform programme. This book describes his quest to transform standards and opportunities in England's schools, and his ambition to make English education truly world class. The reinvention of the comprehensive school was the central Blair project. In 1997 a majority of comprehensives were failing or seriously underperforming, with calamitous consequences for society and the economy. Academies replaced comprehensives by a radically new form of independent state school characterised by strong leadership and an ethos of aspiration, success and social mobility. Adonis tells the story of academies, from the germ of a reform idea in the late 1990s to the national movement for educational transformation they have become today. Adonis argues that wider reform is imperative to make England's schools world-class and sets out a manifesto for change, including higher salaries and better training and selection to make teaching the nation's most prestigious profession, and further radical innovation in the creation of new and better schools to tackle school drop-out and the challenges of the future. Education, Education, Education is optimistic about the power of politics to transform society for the better, and practical about the ways to make it happen. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Brexit is unravelling. Amid the turmoil of plots, government defeats, resignations and riots, the United Kingdom's choice to leave the European Union and make its own way in the world has left the country more fractured than ever. At the heart of the chaos is Alan, a special adviser to a government minister; Mitra, a Labour MP; Jenny, a TV news producer; and Davey, a UKIP activist. Each will struggle to keep control of their own lives as they navigate a political environment that becomes more aggressive and unpredictable by the day. This sweeping novel takes its characters from the streets of Westminster to decaying towns, from the dingiest of pool halls to the heart of No. 10, and finally brings them all together for a debate in front of a live audience during the 2019 election. That night, there is more at stake than just politics; at least one of them is in real danger. Will they all survive - and if they do, will they be able to start draining some of the poison from the political world they now inhabit? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. For more than 300 years, Kensington Palace has played host to a colourful cast of kings, queens and assorted aristocratic hangers-on. A stones throw from the bustling streets of central London, this grand building has served as the stage for some of the most dramatic and bizarre events in the history of the royal family. It was here that the young Queen Victoria was held a virtual prisoner for eighteen years; and it was here that George II installed both his wife and his mistress, giving the latter rooms so damp that there were said to be mushrooms growing on the walls. More recently, the palace has witnessed an extraordinary series of scandals, from Princess Dianas bombshell TV interview with a journalist smuggled into the palace disguised as a salesman, to Prince Harry and Meghan Markles shock departure first for Frogmore Cottage, and then for America amid rumours of a rift with William and Kate. With exclusive interviews with palace staff past and present, fascinating historical details and a fully updated postscript considering what life after Kensington holds for Harry and Meghan, Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle offers a rare behind-the-scenes insight into one of Britains most iconic residences. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. For twenty-six long years, John Nicholson was a vegetarian. No meat, no fish, no guilt. He was a walking advert for healthy eating. Brown rice, lentils, tofu, fruit, vegetables, low fat and low cholesterol - in the battle of good food versus bad, he should have been on the winning side. But the exact opposite was true: his diet was making him ill. Really ill. Joint pain? Tick. Exhaustion? Tick. Chronic IBS and piles? Tick, tick. Not to mention the fat belly and the sky-high cholesterol. His mind may have forgotten its taste for flesh and blood but had his body? Tired of being sick, John decided to do the unthinkable: eat meat and eat lots of it. Going against all the official healthy-eating advice, he returned to an old fashioned red-blooded, full-fat, high-cholesterol diet. The results were spectacular. Twenty-four hours later, he felt better. After forty-eight hours he was fighting fit. Twelve months on, he had become a new person. His health was utterly transformed. He was first shocked, then delighted, then damn angry. The Meat Fix charts one man's journey to the top of the food chain, uncovering in the process an alternate universe of research condemning everything we think we know about healthy eating as little more than illusion, guesswork and marketing. The body is a temple - but, as John Nicholson discovered, we may have forgotten how to worship it. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. He is a most unlikely revolutionary: a middle-aged, middle-class former grammar schoolboy who honed his radicalism on the mean streets of rural Shropshire. Last summer, this little-known outsider rode a wave of popular enthusiasm to win the Labour Party leadership by a landslide, with a greater mandate than any British political leader before him. This new edition of the critically acclaimed biography brings the Jeremy Corbyn story fully up to date, setting out how this very British iconoclast managed to snatch the leadership of a party he spent forty years rebelling against and, despite rebellion from within his own ranks, managed to galvanise millions to vote for him in the 2017 general election. Engaging, clear-sighted and above all revealing, Comrade Corbyn explores the extraordinary story of the most unexpected leader in modern British politics. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. FULLY UPDATED PAPERBACK EDITION On 23 June 2016, in the biggest ever vote in British history, 17.4 million people chose to leave the EU. So what does the future now hold after this momentous decision? What will life be like in Britain after we end our European marriage? Will Brexit precipitate the doom and gloom that many predict? Drawing on years of experience at the cutting edge of economic, business and policy issues, plus extensive discussions with leading politicians and diplomats across the UK, Europe and the world, Clean Brexit answers these questions - and more. Economists Liam Halligan and Gerard Lyons believe great days lie ahead. Brexit is an opportunity to strike deals with the world's fastest-growing economies, boosting British trade and job prospects. Freed from the EU's regulatory stranglehold, the UK can thrive, spreading wealth throughout the whole of the country. Directly elected MPs will once again have the final say over our laws, borders, taxes and trade negotiations. Important, balanced and accessible, Clean Brexit is the ultimate guide to making a success of Britain's divorce from the EU - and a source of strength for voters elsewhere in Europe who have long demanded EU reform, but have been rebuffed. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The English like their lions rough, not smooth. This is the story of the rise and fall and rise again of Wayne Rooney, a boy from the mean streets of broken Britain - few streets meaner than Croxteth in Liverpool - lifted out of poverty by his footballing genius to play for Manchester United and England. On the pitch (most of the time) a hero. Off it, the centrepiece, with his wife Coleen, of perhaps the most vacuous media soap opera of modern times. Wayne Rooney was a tabloid angel who became a demon overnight when it was alleged he'd been having sex with a PVC-clad grannie called the Auld Slapper. (There's no serious evidence that ever happened, but on Planet Rooney the truth is stranger than the headlines.) He shrugged off the abuse and carried on scoring goals. Lots of them. He can be bad-tempered and he can use bad language, but there's no doubting his passion for the beautiful game. Rough, working class, surrounded by an unlikely crew - including a controversial agent, a crooked lawyer, tarts and gangsters - ROONEY'S GOLD looks at the characters who have been attracted to the fabulous money Rooney gets for kicking a ball around a field. Some of them have tainted his gold. Some of them will not enjoy reading this book. One of them - his agent Paul Stretford, fined and banned for nine months by the Football Association - did his best to stop it. Others have tried to do their best by Rooney. John Sweeney's book is certainly no hagiography. Irreverent, hilarious and surprising, ROONEY'S GOLD is a warts-and-all biography of England's most famous sportsman and the iniquities of some of those who have sought their pound of flesh. It's an attack on how Big Money taxes our passion for football and an attack on celebrity culture. But it is, above all, the story of a boy who, despite all the forces pulling him down, rose up to become a hero. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Two days before Christmas 2013, former MP Denis MacShane entered one of Europe's harshest prisons. Having pleaded guilty to false accounting at the Old Bailey, he had been sentenced to six months in jail. Upon arrival at Belmarsh Prison, his books and personal possessions were confiscated and he was locked in a solitary cell for up to twenty-three hours a day. Denis was the latest MP condemned to serve as an example in the wake of the expenses scandal. Written with scavenged pens and scraps of paper, this diary is a compelling account of his extraordinary experiences in Belmarsh and, later, Brixton. Recording the lives of his fellow prisoners, he discovers a humility and a willingness to admit mistakes that was conspicuously lacking in his former colleagues at the House of Commons. Woven into the narrative are thoughtprovoking re flections on a range of important topics, from the waning of public confidence in MPs - and the high-profile termination of his own political career - to the failings of the British judicial system. Above all, Prison Diaries reveals what life as a prisoner in Britain is really like, addressing issues such as rising inmate numbers, dehumanising conditions, high incarceration rates, lack of rehabilitation and an endemic political disinterest. This honest and fascinating diary is both a first-hand insight into the current prison system and a report on how it simply does not work. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. To some, it is the voice of the nation, yet to others it has never been clearer that the BBC is in the grip of an ideology that prevents it reporting fairly on the world. Many have been scandalised by its pessimism on Brexit and its one-sided presentation of the Trump presidency, whilst simultaneously amused by its outrage over `fake news'. The author of this controversial book, who himself spent twenty-five years working for the BBC as a reporter and executive, argues that the Corporation needs to be reminded that what is `fake' rather depends on where one is standing. From where his feet are planted, the BBC's own coverage of events often looks decidedly peculiar, peppered with distortions, omissions and amplifications tailored to its own liberal agenda. This punchy polemic from the author of Can We Trust the BBC? promises to add to the debate over how the licence- fee payers' money is spent, and whether the BBC is a fair arbiter of the news, or whether it is a conduit for pervasive and institutional liberal left-wing bias. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Sir Keir Starmer made the leap from Leader of the Opposition to Prime Minister in only four years, one of just a handful of politicians to have done so since 1945. Yet the landslide majority that Labour secured under him in July 2024 has been described as 'loveless' and his first months in Downing Street were overshadowed by rows and controversies, turning what should have been a political honeymoon into a period of sustained turbulence.In this fully revised and updated edition of his 2021 biography, Michael Ashcroft traces how Starmer went from schoolboy socialist to radical lawyer and Director of Public Prosecutions before - aged fifty-two - becoming an MP, then Labour leader and ultimately the occupant of No. 10. Revealing previously unknown details which help to explain what makes Starmer tick, this careful examination of Britain's first Labour Prime Minister for fourteen years offers voters the chance to assess his character and his political instincts. Having turned his party into an election-winning machine, his goal is to transform Britain into one of the most progressive states in the world. Does he have what it takes to succeed? . The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Swamped beneath the tide of fake news, wars on woke and social media storms lies democracy. Jo Phillips and David Seymour guide the reader through the workings of government and Parliament and make a passionate case for the power of democracy. Their argument is that young people should take back control of the future, hold politicians to account and get involved. In the last decade we've had a Brexit referendum, the Covid pandemic, war in Ukraine and Gaza, increasing fears over the climate emergency, a new monarch and since 2010, six Prime Ministers. Britain's influence in the world has been diminished, freedom to protest peacefully has been curtailed, the cost of further education is a concern, the health service is in crisis and the likelihood of owning your own home or even finding somewhere to rent is becoming less and less. If younger people turned out to vote in the same numbers that older people do, this country would be a very different place. Apathy is the enemy, not the answer. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Good. John Major's prime ministership was an eventful one. Between 1990 and 1997 he presided over Britain's participations in the Gulf War, the start of the Northern Ireland peace process, the Maastricht Treaty negotiations and, of course, Black Wednesday and Britain's exit from the ERM, as well as a surprise fourth consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party. An Unsuccessful Prime Minister? is the first wide-ranging appraisal of John Major's government in nearly two decades. Widely criticised by politicians on the right of the Conservative Party and from the other political parties as well as by journalists, Major's government was living on borrowed time towards the end, beset by splits over Europe and by allegations of sleaze before being crushed by New Labour in the 1997 general election. This book reconsiders the role of John Major as Prime Minister and the policy achievements of his government, and argues that although it was not one of the greatest of governments it did have more success than critics would allow. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.…

Paperback. Condition: Good. There are few characters in history about whom opinion has been more divided than the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. On one hand, they are venerated as saints, innocent victims of Bolshevik assassins, and on the other they are impugned as the unwitting harbingers of revolution and imperial collapse, blamed for all the ills that befell the Russian people in the 20th century. Theirs was also a tragic love story; for whatever else can be said of them, there can be no doubt that Alix and Nicky adored one another. Soon after their engagement, Alix wrote in her fiance's diary: "Ever true and ever loving, faithful, pure and strong as death" - words which met their fulfilment twenty-four years later in a blood-spattered cellar in Ekaterinburg. Through the letters and diaries written by the couple and by those around them, Virginia Rounding presents an intimate, penetrating, and fresh portrayal of these two complex figures and of their passion - their love and their suffering. She explores the nature and possible causes of the Empress's ill health, and examines in depth the enigmatic triangular relationship between Nicky, Alix and their 'favourite,' Ania Vyrubova, protegee of the infamous Rasputin, extracting the meaning from words left unsaid, from hints and innuendoes. The story of Alix and Nicky, of their four daughters known collectively as 'OTMA' and of their haemophiliac little boy Alexei, is endlessly fascinating, and Rounding makes these characters come alive, presenting them in all their human dimensions and expertly leading the reader into their vanished world. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. With a foreword by Isabel Hardman HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED.how people feel about sleeping with the political enemy? .whether gambling markets are best at predicting political outcomes? .who Santa Claus would vote for? Then look no further. More Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box brings us another collection of concise chapters penned by leading political experts and delving into the fascinating field of electoral politics. Following on from the success of its bestselling predecessor, this illuminating book shines a light on how we vote in Britain and around the world. You'll learn about the shifting landscape of party politics and the perceptions and misconceptions that shape our opinions of our politicians and of each other. You'll learn about the factors informing voter habits - from class, race and gender to the internet and the weather. You'll also learn which political party has the most sexually satisfied supporters. Forget mind-numbing numbers and difficult demographics. This sharp and frequently hilarious volume is fizzing with accessible facts and figures that are more than just conversation starters - they're unexpected insights into the human condition. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…