"e;Fabulously entertaining, Alex Deane's wry, witty stories take hidden gems from our shared history and polish them until they shine. A must-read."e; - Iain Dale "e;Ribald, riotous and sometimes surreal, Alex Deane's dispatches from the forgotten corners of history bring heroes and villains roaring vividly and often poignantly back to life."e; - Gavin Esler "e;Alex Deane's tongue-in-cheek tales of eccentricity and endeavour not only shed light on the obscurest parts of history; they teach us things we never knew about the present."e; - Suella Braverman, Home Secretary "e;More rollicking tales of fascinating figures who should not be lost to history - told with Alex Deane's warm empathy, shrewd insight and glistening wit."e; - Lord Parkinson, former special adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May *** Welcome to another round of history's most absurd stories and the timeless lessons that come with them. In More Lessons from History, Alex Deane has unearthed yet more bizarre tales that you certainly haven't heard before. If you're wondering how large, flightless birds might organise themselves against a military regiment, how you should respond to the glare of an international rugby player whose glass eye you just knocked out, exactly why carrots are orange, or whether the world's worst-run battleship ever ceased firing upon her comrades-in-arms, then look no further. In this second volume of his acclaimed series, Alex Deane reminds us that, throughout history, human nature has remained exactly the same, and the way that people responded to the most amusing, horrifying and convoluted of circumstances in the past can teach us everything we need to know about who we are today. For even more lessons from history, check out Alex Deane'sHidden History Happy Hourpodcast on Spotify, Google and Apple.
"e;A spellbinding serial voyage in which encounters with islands across time are gathered, displayed and reburnished. Memoir becomes morality, as the oldest human myths challenge present neglect and political malfunction."e; - Iain Sinclair"e;Illuminating, incisive and beautifully written."e; - Kirsty Young"e;From ancient Crete to modern Canvey, this is a fascinating voyage around island identity, exploring isolation and imagination through a wealth of stories from around the world."e; - Martha Kearney"e;A timely and original exploration of the liminalities of islands and the waters that envelop them: by turns beguiling, enchanting and ultimately affirming."e; - Sir Anthony Seldon"e;This is a huge theme which Mark Easton pursues with vigorous and beautifully clear prose. His archipelagic fascination is contagious. Read this and the maps in your mind will never be quite the same again."e; - Peter Hennessy***No man is an island, wrote John Donne. BBC Home Editor Mark Easton argues the opposite: that we are all islands, and it is upon the contradictory shoreline where isolation meets connectedness, where 'us' meets 'them', that we find out who we truly are.Suggesting that a continental bias has blinded us, Easton chronicles a sweep of 250 million years of island history: from Pangaea (the supercontinent mother of all islands) to the first intrepid islanders pointing their canoes over the horizon, from exploration to occupation, exploitation to liberation, a hopeful journey to paradise and a chastening reminder of our planet's fragility.But that is only half of this mesmerising book: aided by the muse he names Pangaea, Easton also interweaves reflections on what he calls 'the psychological islands that form the great archipelago of humankind'. Taking readers on an enchanting adventure, he illustrates how understanding islands and island syndrome might help humanity get closer to the truth about itself.Brave, intelligent and haunting, Islands is a deep dive into geography, myth, literature, politics and philosophy that reveals nothing less than a map of the human heart.
In this remarkable and prescient book, Dr Jerome Booth investigates why some of us have abandoned reason in favour of trite memes, intolerance and hatred. Have we all gone mad? Or can we identify the patterns and causes of what is happening and try to stop it?
Should Wales leave the UK? In Independent Nation, Will Hayward brings nuance back to the arena for this crucial national conversation. Impartial, informed and thoroughly entertaining, Independent Nation raises the standard of debate around an issue that will affect us all.
The years of 1895 to 1914 changed Britain's political landscape for ever. In this wide-ranging and sometimes controversial survey, one of our pre-eminent political historians dispels the popular myths that have grown up about this critical period in Britain's story and argues that it set the scene for much that is laudable about our nation today.
"e;We don't yet know where the current battle is headed. But Puri's 'first cut' will help us greatly in fathoming how we got here."e; - Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham***When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many in the West were left stunned at his act of brutal imperialism. To those who had been paying attention, however, the warning signs of the bloodshed and slaughter to come had been there for years.Tracing the relationship between the two countries from the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 to Putin's invasion in 2022, what emerges from this gripping and accessible book is a portrait of a nation caught in a geopolitical tug of war between Russia and the West. While Russia is identified as the sole aggressor, we see how Western bodies such as the EU and NATO unrealistically raised Ukraine's expectations of membership before dashing them, leaving Ukraine without formal allies and fatally exposed to Russian aggression.As a former international observer, Samir Puri was present for several of the major events covered in this book. He uses this experience to ask honestly: how did we get here? Why does Vladimir Putin view Ukraine as the natural property of Russia? Did the West handle its dealings with these countries prudently? Or did it inflame the tensions left amidst the ruins of the Soviet Union? Were there any missed opportunities to avert the war? And how might this conflict end?
"e;This book should be read by every police officer, every politician and everybody who cares about law and order in this country."e; - Peter Oborne"e;The police are there to look after us. But someone has to look closely at the police - and Tom Harper has done just that in this comprehensive overview. Some of it makes for difficult reading, for much has gone wrong in policing over recent years. But the book is also constructive and never loses sight of the importance of the role the police have in any well-functioning democracy."e; - Alan Rusbridger"e;Meticulous and passionate. Tom Harper has written the most authoritative critique of British policing in years."e; - Lord Macdonald QC, former Director of Public Prosecutions***A searing account of corruption, racism and mismanagement inside Britain's most famous police forceBarely a week goes by without the Metropolitan Police Service being plunged into a new crisis. Demoralised and depleted in numbers, Scotland Yard is a shadow of its former self.Spanning the three decades from the infamous Stephen Lawrence case to the shocking murder of Sarah Everard, Broken Yard charts the Met's fall from a position of unparalleled power to the troubled and discredited organisation we see today, barely trusted by its Westminster masters and struggling to perform its most basic function: the protection of the public.The result is a devastating picture of a world-famous police force riven with corruption, misogyny and rank incompetence.As a top investigative reporter at the Sunday Times and The Independent, Tom Harper covered Scotland Yard for fifteen years, beginning not long after the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian killed by Met Police officers after being mistaken for a terror suspect in 2005. Since then, reporting on Scotland Yard has been akin to witnessing a slow-motion car crash.Using thousands of intelligence files, witness statements and court transcripts provided by police sources, as well as first-hand testimony, Harper explains how London's world-famous police force got itself into this sorry mess - and how it might get itself out of it.
In his bestselling Station X, Michael Smith brought us the astonishing true story of the breaking of the Enigma Code. In The Emperor's Codes, he continues the tale as he examines how Japan's codes were broken and explores the consequences for the Second World War.
"e;A remarkable inside story of the war from the perspective of the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief. Fascinating, very readable, and recommended."e; - Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor "e;Impossible Victory is the definitive memoir of Iraq's effort to save its people and many other would-be victims from the most destructive terrorist organisation in history."e; - Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, former US national security advisor and author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World "e;This book casts a historical light on a decisive era."e; - Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister for Europe and foreign affairs *** By 2014, the world had grown weary of Iraq and its troubles. The Americans had all but gone and the media had turned its gaze towards Syria, but Iraq's problems were far from over. That same year, ISIS put Iraq back on the map as they crossed the border from Syria and rampaged through the country, kidnapping, raping and killing, all in the name of enforcing their murderous interpretation of Sharia law. Terror had arrived and was taking the region in its grip. Saddam Hussein, the occupation, sectarian war, corruption and political instability had collectively laid the groundwork for further violence, and Iraqis were about to see the worst of it. It was against this backdrop that Haider al-Abadi became Prime Minister. What would likely be the most formidable task of his life lay ahead of him: to help unify his homeland's fractured military and politics and, slowly, to turn the tide on ISIS, ultimately achieving what once seemed an impossible victory. This is the definitive and fascinating true story of how the people of Iraq took on and eventually defeated ISIS, told by the country's former Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi.
The son of a meat market porter and an office cleaner, Peter Cruddas left Shoreditch Comprehensive School at the age of fifteen with no qualifications and a part-time job as a milkman. Today he's Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch, the founder of a GBP1.5 billion financial trading company and a distinguished philanthropist, giving to over 200 charities through his foundation, which helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.Fed up with Labour's economic mismanagement, Cruddas began his foray into politics, becoming a key Conservative Party donor. But after being elevated to treasurer in 2011, he fell victim to a Sunday Times sting in which he was falsely accused of breaking the law on party donations. With unflinching honesty, he reveals the full story of his successful libel battle and opens a Pandora's box of profound wider questions about newspaper dark arts and the power of the British press over the judicial system.Refusing to be scared off from the political world, Cruddas co-founded the winning Vote Leave campaign. Here, he gives a detailed insider view of the real reasons behind the victory and contemplates how Britain can now thrive outside the EU.Filled with heartbreak and elation, this is the extraordinary story of Cruddas's epic rise from an east London council estate to a Mayfair mansion - and includes plenty of tips for budding billionaires.
"e;A brilliant A-to-Z for the modern newsroom."e; - Jeremy Vine"e;A must-read."e; - Julie Etchingham"e;Highly recommended reading."e; - Justin Webb***We are at a defining point in the history of news. Following a surge of fake news, clickbait and conspiracy theories, the 2020s have ushered in a welter of existential threats for public service broadcasting.So, where do we go from here? Former Today editor and head of BBC television news Roger Mosey thinks public service broadcasters must buck the trends and in this incisive book he offers twenty core ways in which the news can save itself by getting smarter, sharper, more diverse, more nuanced and less exposed to pummelling by politicians.Mosey sees two possible futures: one in which the incitements of populist demagogues and the passions of social media are ever dominant - or one where we fight hard to retain media that has an interest in the public good and preserves truth, fairness and evidence-based judgements.From one of British broadcasting's most experienced voices comes the definitive exploration of Britain's news output and what must change if we are to avoid a future of uninspiring news, uninformed decision-making and accountability-dodging politicians.
Carrie Johnson is without doubt a very modern prime ministerial spouse. This examination of her career and life offers the electorate the chance to assess exactly what role she plays in Boris Johnson's unpredictable administration and why that matters.
In this vital and alarming book, campaigner and immigration barrister Colin Yeo exposes the iniquities of an immigration system that is unforgiving, unfeeling and, ultimately, failing.
"e;Anyone who cares about education - and especially those in charge of it - should read this brilliant book."e; - Iain Dale***An unputdownable true account of how a tenacious head teacher led one of the most challenging schools in the country to excellence.No Excuses charts an extraordinary principal's journey in diary form from the moment she took over at a failing secondary school in a deprived area of the country, where less than a quarter of children attained five or more A*-C GCSEs, and how she set about the gruelling task of transforming its reputation using her zero-tolerance, tough-love approach.Armed only with a wicked sense of humour, fearless energy and a powerful vision, Alison Colwell put in place a stringent set of rules, including a strict uniform policy and a complete ban on mobile phones, provoking resistance and hostility from some parents, the wider community and on social media.This is the darkly funny, moving story of how, together, teachers and their - often troubled - pupils rebuilt a school and community, with an inspirational head at the helm.Charming, touching and full of brilliant leadership advice, this is the diary of the woman the Daily Mail labelled Britain's strictest head teacher.
The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most enduring and bestselling books of all time, yet its history is as complex as it is contested. For the first time, this is the extraordinary true story behind the book, its publication and its significance.
In this brilliant, wide-ranging study of lies and lying, Wyatt introduces us to a cast of professionals and professional liars, all to help her prove a remarkable thesis: lies hold us together as much as they push us apart and may be vital in a healthy society.
The Men from Miami is a real-life Cold War thriller about the Americans who fought for Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution - then switched sides to try to bring him down.
"e;This is a great account of the life and career of a man I respect immensely. A fascinating read."e; - Ian Wright"e;A searingly honest account of a fascinating football story. Nedum tells it like he played, with nothing left out."e; - Guy Mowbray, Match of the Day"e;A frank, thought-provoking and compelling insight into one of football's most articulate voices."e; - Rory Smith, New York Times chief soccer correspondent***'My identity is built on conflicts, and I'm proud of who I am I can walk through the rest of my life with something to say.'Nedum Onuoha was not a typical footballer. A young black Mancunian picked by the Manchester City Academy aged ten, he was determined to continue his education despite the lure of a career under the floodlights. Fiercely intelligent on and off the pitch, Onuoha developed into a talented defender and played his part in City's meteoric rise. He was at the Etihad Stadium when they won their first Premier League title - as an opposition player for QPR, having left the Blues just four months earlier.In this characteristically forthright book, Onuoha reveals what goes on behind the scenes at top-tier clubs. Stuffed with insights into household names like Stuart Pearce, Sven-Gran Eriksson, Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp, this is football and its most famous figures as you've never seen them before.Kicking Back is also the story of one man's search for identity: as a footballer, as a black man in England and as an outsider in the US during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. What is it like to receive horrific racist abuse while doing your job? And how has football utterly failed the black community? Onuoha provides a damning assessment of the sport's authorities, finally claiming his voice as he dives deep into a life spent on the pitch.
"e;Those who wonder how the international community failed so dramatically in Afghanistan need look no further ... Losing Afghanistan explores the arguments for and against intervention and highlights the difficulty of establishing unity of purpose and effort in such demanding circumstances. Above all, it poses a question: how can we in the West claim we know so much, yet demonstrate in Afghanistan that we understand so little?"e; - General (retd) Sir Jack Deverell OBE, former Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe"e;A wonderful book of insightful essays on Afghanistan from an outsider lens."e; - Ezatullah Adib, head of research at Integrity Watch Afghanistan and national country representative at the World Association for Public Opinion Research"e;The strategic question posed by these brilliant essays is: how can the doctrine of liberal intervention be reframed to ensure the West intervenes overseas to manage future humanitarian calamities for reasons beyond just national security?"e; - Brigadier (retd) Justin Hedges OBE***When Taliban forces took Kabul on 15 August 2021, it marked the end of the Western intervention that had begun nearly twenty years earlier with the US-led invasion.The fall of Afghanistan triggered a seismic shock in the West, where US President Joe Biden announced an end to America's involvement in conflicts overseas. In Afghanistan itself it produced terror for the future for those who had worked with and grown up under the coalition-supported administration.Now, with the country spiralling into economic collapse and famine, Losing Afghanistan is a plea for us to keep our gaze on the plight of the people of Afghanistan and to understand how action and inaction in the West shaped the fate of the nation.Why was Afghanistan lost? Can it be regained? And what happens next? Edited by international development expert Brian Brivati, this collection of twenty-one essays by analysts, politicians, soldiers, commentators and practitioners - interspersed with powerful eyewitness testimony from Afghan voices - explains what happened in Afghanistan and why, and what the future holds both for its people and for liberal intervention.
"Insightful and thought-provoking" - Rt Hon. Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health, 2018-21"Brilliant" - Sir Stephen Bubb, director of Charity Futures and the Oxford Institute of Charity"A tour de force" - Niall Dickson CBE, former chief executive of The King's Fund, the General Medical Council and the NHS Confederation
A United Ireland outlines the various political strands conspiring to make a single Irish state the most plausible end-point of this age-old issue and speculate about how this will come about.
The Falklands War, which may prove to be the last 'colonial' war that Britain ever fights, took place in 1982. Fought 8,000 miles from home soil, it cost the lives of 255 British military personnel, with many more wounded, some seriously.The war also witnessed many acts of outstanding courage by the UK Armed Forces after a strong Task Force was sent to regain the islands from the Argentine invaders. Soldiers, sailors and airmen risked, and in some cases gave, their lives for the freedom of 1,820 islanders.Lord Ashcroft, who has been fascinated by bravery since he was a young boy, has amassed several medal collections over the past four decades, including the world's largest collection of Victoria Crosses, Britain and the Commonwealth's most prestigious gallantry award.Falklands War Heroes tells the stories behind his collection of valour and service medals awarded for the Falklands War. The collection, almost certainly the largest of its kind in the world, spans all the major events of the war.This book, which contains nearly forty individual write-ups, has been written to mark the fortieth anniversary of the war. It is Lord Ashcroft's attempt to champion the outstanding bravery of our Armed Forces during an undeclared war that was fought and won over ten weeks in the most challenging conditions.
This is the inspirational true story of the lengths to which one man went to fulfil a dream and keep his promise of making a positive contribution to the lives of the people, especially children, in the war-torn countries he'd come to know so well through his travels.
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