Biteback publishing london (Plus de 1 300 résultats)

Paperback. Etat : 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. Etat : Very Good. Ben Smith: Professional footballer. Recognise the name? Of course you don't. That's because most of Smith's years in the game were spent outside the vaunted, big-money environs of the Premier League - and this sporting memoir is all the more entertaining as a result.1995: an adolescent Ben arrives at the training ground of one of England's biggest clubs to begin his journey and realise his dream of playing top-flight professional football. Aged just sixteen, he shares pre-season sessions at Arsenal with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright. Surely this is the start of a stellar career?Instead, the next seventeen years saw the bright young star descend the ranks from Highbury to obscurity. With seasons playing for the likes of Reading, Yeovil, Southend, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Weymouth - and a career including three promotions, one relegation and some very memorable FA Cup games - Ben's story is one of a quintessential journeyman footballer.Candidly describing the negotiations, insecurities, injuries, relocations, personal implications and wet Saturday afternoons playing in front of 500 people, Journeyman offers a unique insight into the unvarnished life of a lower-league player - so far removed from the stories of pampered Premiership stars - as well as documenting the many teammates, opponents, managers and coaches who left an indelible mark on Ben's eclectic career. Refreshingly unsentimental and often hilarious, Smith's story is essential reading for all true fans of the not-always-so-beautiful game. 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. Etat : 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. Etat : Very Good. The 2015 election result was a disaster for progressives in British politics, delivering a majority Conservative government at Westminster. And the outlook for the next election is not auspicious either, particularly amid the aftershocks of the momentous 2016 EU referendum result and with possible boundary changes in the offing. There is a growing recognition, however, that cross-party cooperation among the progressives could reinvigorate politics and inspire a credible alternative to the Conservatives. Those who want a good society can and must work together - and, by doing so, they can deliver better answers and more inclusive government. With contributions from a broad range of left and centre-left voices - including Sian Berry, Mhairi Black, Frances O'Grady, Tim Farron, Peter Hain, Carys Afoko, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Zoe Williams and Neal Lawson - The Alternative sets out a base of core values around which progressives can unite, proposes a number of big policy ideas that embody those values and, crucially, explores an urgently needed new form of politics to achieve them. 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. Etat : 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. Etat : Fair. 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. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration.…

Paperback. Etat : 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. Etat : 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. Etat : Very Good. Carrie Johnson is not only the consort of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson; she is also considered by some to be the second most powerful unelected woman in Britain after the Queen. Since she moved into Downing Street in July 2019, questions have been raised about her perceived influence, her apparent desire to control events, and the number of her associates who have been appointed to positions of standing in the government machine. So, are these concerns justified? In this carefully researched unauthorised biography, Michael Ashcroft charts the extraordinary ascent of Mrs Johnson, speaking to multiple sources who have been close to her and to Boris Johnson in recent years to produce a fascinating portrait of a woman who is still under the age of thirty-five. The book scrutinises Mrs Johnson's colourful family, her attempt to become a professional actress, and her early decision to work in politics. Long before she moved into No. 10, Mrs Johnson made a name for herself as a Conservative Party press aide before becoming a special adviser to two Cabinet ministers and eventually director of communications at Conservative campaign headquarters. Aside from politics, she is also the mother of two young children and campaigns in the fields of the environment and animal welfare. 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. 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. Etat : 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. Etat : 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. Etat : Very Good. Ever since Vladimir Putin came to power, his critics have been turning up dead. According to Amy Knight, one of the Wests foremost scholars of the KGB, this is no coincidence. Here, she links together dozens of deaths, exposing a far-reaching campaign of killing that is even tied to the Boston Marathon bombing. Russia is no stranger to political murder, from the Tsars and the Soviets through to the current regime, during which many journalists, activists, and political opponents have been slain. However convenient these deaths are for the Russian president, Kremlin defenders assert that there is no evidence against him. Because he controls all the murder investigations, Putin will never be seen holding a smoking gun. With new information about the most famous casessuch as Alexander Litvinenko, Boris Nemtsov, and the Salisbury poisoning victimsKnight assesses Putins role in these deaths, and asks: is there nothing we can do to stop him? 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. Etat : Very Good. During the 2015 general election, the contest in Gavin Barwell's constituency of Croydon Central was by any measure - the amount of money spent, the frequency of visits by ministers, the volume of literature delivered or the number of political activists pounding the streets - one of the most intensive constituency campaigns this country has ever seen. At the end of it, after an experience both physically and psychologically gruelling, Gavin had clung on by the skin of his teeth, and had a story well worth telling.Journalists produce a great deal of commentary on the leaders of our political parties, their campaign strategies and key messages. Elections, however, are won and lost on the pavements of only about 100 so-called marginal constituencies - places like Croydon Central.This book gives an unparalleled insight into what it's like to be an MP defending an ultra-marginal seat. It answers questions such as:Why do activists knock on your door - do they really think a quick conversation is going to change your mind?What is it like to find yourself splashed across the front page of a national newspaper?How do you cope with the very real possibility that you might be out of a job tomorrow? How to Win a Marginal Seat is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how campaigning is conducted at the coalface of 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. Etat : Very Good. Not for everyone the title of Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or other such hallowed callings; the vast majority of the House of Commons is made up of backbenchers - the power behind the constitutionally elected throne. Here is a guide for anyone and everyone fascinated by the quirks and foibles of Westminster Palace, covering all species of backbencher and providing every hardworking MP and political enthusiast with the know-how to survive life in Parliament. From how to address the crowd, weather marital troubles and socialise at party conference to the all-important Backbenchers' Commandments, How to be an MP is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to make a mark from the back bench and influence proceedings in the House. And in the process it provides the outsider with a riveting insight into life as a Member. 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. Etat : Very Good. In the summer of '61 John Profumo, Minister for War, enjoyed a brief affair with Christine Keeler.Late in the afternoon of Wednesday 31 July 1963, Dr Stephen Ward was convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts alleging that he lived on the earnings of a prostitute. He was not in the dock but comatose in hospital. The previous night he had attempted suicide, because (as he said in a note) 'after Marshall's [the judge's] summing up, I've given up all hope'. He died on Saturday 3 August, without regaining consciousness. Many observers of the proceedings thought the convictions did not reflect the evidence and that the trial was unfair, and this book will show that it breached basic standards of justice. Geoffrey Robertson brings his forensic skills and a deeply felt sense of injustice to the case at the heart of the Profumo affair, the notorious scandal that brought down a government. 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. Etat : 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. Etat : 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. Etat : 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. Etat : Very Good. The sale of Chelsea Football Club in 2022 was one of the highest-profile and most controversial sports transactions of all time. In the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, what unfolded after Roman Abramovich was forced to put his beloved club up for sale would change English football for ever. Under the threat of bankruptcy and ruin, Chelsea pulled off a complex transaction in three tense and troubling months - a quarter of the time many analysts would normally set aside for such a deal. Sanctioned is the definitive account of this unique period. Through unprecedented access to Abramovich himself and key figures from Chelsea's new ownership, as well as further interviews with a star-studded footballing cast, Nick Purewal unfolds a wide-ranging tale of political sanctions, hushed negotiations and Cold War-style geopolitics, all told in vivid, propulsive prose against a backdrop of war on the edge of Europe. From the club's owners to its staff, players and supporters, via UK government intervention, dramatic peace talks and even a foul-play poisoning episode, Sanctioned chronicles ninety-five extraordinary days in English football. 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. Etat : Very Good. As he enters his sixties, Bruce Springsteen remains a paragon of all that is cool and right. He's a genuine voice of the people, an elder statesman who has inspired generations of bands. There are dozens of books about the Boss, so what's left to say? Nothing objective, perhaps. But when it comes to music, objectivity is highly overrated. WALK LIKE A MAN is liner notes for a mixtape, a frank and funny blend of biography, music appreciation and memoir. Novelist Robert Wiersema grew up with Springsteen's songs, from his own working-class youth, through dreams of escape, falling in love and becoming a father. His book tells the story of a man becoming a man (despite getting a little lost along the way), and of the man and the music that have accompanied him on his journey. 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. Etat : 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. Etat : 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.…

Paperback. Etat : Very Good. Listed by the Sunday Times as one of the five best political books of 2015. Welfare states have spread across the globe, transforming modern civilisation. But the take-over is often going badly. In Marseilles, armed drug gangs dominate the social housing estates. In America, an outstandingly rich country, 45 million people are dependent on food stamps. In Britain, the NHS has one of the worst records for cancer care in the advanced world. Many countries are raising more in taxes but nevertheless getting deeper into debt because of their burgeoning welfare states. All around the world, behaviour is being damaged by welfare state dependency while governments become more and more like Big Brother, telling us what we must do. James Bartholomew travelled around the world seeing how cultures and lives are being changed - seeing what is going wrong but also looking for countries where they are making a better job of it. His book is an unparalleled investigation in which he tells the story of the people and places he visited. He takes the reader on a journey, which includes burnt-out cars in France, a tough-minded benefits office in Singapore and innovative hospitals in Spain.The narrative is supplemented with many photos and graphs that demonstrate and explain. The book is like a window on the modern world. 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. Etat : Very Good. When Captain Ridley's shooting partyA" arrived at Bletchley Park in 1939 no-one would have guessed that by 1945 the guests would number nearly 10,000 and that collectively they would have contributed decisively to the Allied war effort. Their role? To decode the Enigma cypher used by the Germans for high-level communications. It is an astonishing story. A melting pot of Oxbridge dons maverick oddballs and more regular citizens worked night and day at Station X, as Bletchley Park was known, to derive intelligence information from German coded messages. Bear in mind that an Enigma machine had a possible 159 million million million different settings and the magnitude of the challenge becomes apparent. That they succeeded, despite military scepticism, supplying information that led to the sinking of the Bismarck, Montgomery's victory in North Africa and the D-Day landings, is testament to an indomitable spirit that wrenched British intelligence into the modern age, as the Second World War segued into the Cold War. Michael Smith constructs his absorbing narrative around the reminiscences of those who worked and played at Bletchley Park, and their stories add a very human colour to their cerebral activity. The code breakers of Station X did not win the war but they undoubtedly shortened it, and the lives saved on both sides stand as their greatest achievement. 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. Etat : Very Good. Why did Winston Churchill ask to be lowered in a bucket to smoke a cigar in the sewers of London? How did the sale of human teeth become such a booming industry? Why is the name George so important to a certain London members' club?As with many old cities, a wealth of bizarre and astonishing tales make up the history of London: subjects ranging from its churches and streets to the incredible behaviour of monarchs and mavericks.In this follow-up to his bestselling London's Strangest Tales, Tom Quinn delves even deeper into the city's endlessly beguiling past, and once more uncovers the quirkiest tales that characterise one of the world's greatest capitals.From the king who enjoyed cross-dressing to the schoolboys who play football with a real pancake, the prestigious department store that once sold cocaine over the counter and the reason Napoleon's nose is built into the structure of Admiralty Arch, More London's Strangest Tales is an incredible collection of all things mindboggling and, quite simply, mad about our fair city. 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. Etat : Very Good. Long before perma-tanned football agents and TV mega-rights ushered in the age of the multimillionaire player, footballers wages were capped even the games biggest names earned barely more than a plumber or electrician. Footballing legends such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews shared a bond of borderline penury with the huge crowds they entertained on Saturday afternoons, on pitches that were a world away from the pristine lawns of the games modern era. Instead of the gleaming sports cars driven by todays top players, the stars of yesteryear travelled to matches on public transport and returned to homes every bit as modest as those of their supporters. Players and fans would even sometimes be next-door neighbours in a street of working-class terraced houses. Based on the first-hand accounts of players from a fastdisappearing generation, When Footballers Were Skint delves into the games rich heritage and relates the fascinating story of a truly great sporting era. 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. Etat : Very Good. Is our civil service fit for purpose? Michael Coolican takes John Reid's damning statement about the Home Office as his point of departure for a comprehensive overview and evaluation of the machinery behind the government and the people who make public services work on a daily basis. Beginning with Henry VIII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell, Michael Coolican takes us on an odyssey through the history of the British civil service, starting with a time when public positions were sold and traded through Royal Warrant. Coolican examines the radical reforms of the Victorian era which entrenched a culture of elitism, misogyny and distrust of high-quality data as a basis for decision making, that, in some areas, persists to this day. A former high-level civil servant with forty years of experience, Coolican has produced a pithy and, where necessary, ruthless analysis of the civil service and its relationship with government, especially at Cabinet level, bringing to bear detailed and extensive research informed by a true insider. 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. Etat : Very Good. Statesman, pre-eminent leader and founder of the free world's then largest and most formidable trade union, Ernest Bevin was one of the greatest and most inspirational figures of the twentieth century. Minister of Labour in the wartime coalition during the Second World War, he was at Churchill's right hand, masterminding the home front while the war supremo commanded the battle front. Following the war, he was Foreign Secretary at one of the most pivotal moments of international history, responsible for keeping Stalin and communism out of Western Europe, and for creating West Germany, NATO and the transatlantic alliance, all of which underpin European democracy and security to this day. Born into abject poverty, an orphan farm boy from Bristol with virtually no formal education, Bevin's remarkable rise to fame and power is unmatched by any leader to this day. In this insightful and wide-ranging new biography, Andrew Adonis examines how 'the working-class John Bull' grew to a position of such authority, and offers a critical reassessment of Bevin's life and influence. Skilfully bringing to life this extraordinary figure, Adonis explores Bevin's powerful legacy and lessons for our own age, restoring this charismatic statesman to his rightful place among the pantheon of Britain's greatest political leaders. 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. Etat : Very Good. Between 2016 and 2019, a unique coalition assembled within British politics. Combining Corbynite campaigners, Conservative Cabinet ministers, celebrities and grassroots activists, this disparate collection of forces was brought together by one aim: stopping Brexit. What began as the unfocused belief that Britain must not leave the European Union morphed into a mass movement: the People's Vote campaign, a mess of organisations united by the call for a second referendum. From the stunts of youth campaigners and the online antics of pro-EU influencers to the million-person marches of 2019 and the launch of new centrist parties, many tactics, serious and unserious alike, were used to try to secure a fresh vote. A campaign premised on telling the nation that they had got it catastrophically wrong was always going to be hard, and it was only made more so by parliamentary maths that never quite seemed to add up. No Second Chances tells the dramatic, bizarre and at times embarrassing tale of the battle for a second referendum, the descent into infighting and the implosion of the People's Vote campaign in full for the first time. Based on exclusive interviews with those on the front line, this is the sensational inside story of one of recent British history's most feted roads not taken. 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. Etat : Good. Between 2016 and 2019, a unique coalition assembled within British politics. Combining Corbynite campaigners, Conservative Cabinet ministers, celebrities and grassroots activists, this disparate collection of forces was brought together by one aim: stopping Brexit. What began as the unfocused belief that Britain must not leave the European Union morphed into a mass movement: the People's Vote campaign, a mess of organisations united by the call for a second referendum. From the stunts of youth campaigners and the online antics of pro-EU influencers to the million-person marches of 2019 and the launch of new centrist parties, many tactics, serious and unserious alike, were used to try to secure a fresh vote. A campaign premised on telling the nation that they had got it catastrophically wrong was always going to be hard, and it was only made more so by parliamentary maths that never quite seemed to add up. No Second Chances tells the dramatic, bizarre and at times embarrassing tale of the battle for a second referendum, the descent into infighting and the implosion of the People's Vote campaign in full for the first time. Based on exclusive interviews with those on the front line, this is the sensational inside story of one of recent British history's most feted roads not taken. 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.…