Political leaders & leadership
Showing 1–16 of 35 results
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All in
£16.99All in
‘A persuasive manifesto for a better Britain.’ Observer Book of the Day
Britain is in crisis. This timely book by one of the stars of frontline politics shows a way out.
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But what can I do?
£22.00But what can I do?
In recent years, the world of politics has taken a series of disastrous wrong turns. We have witnessed leaders who can’t – or shouldn’t be allowed to – lead, policies that are either self-serving or don’t work, and world views that are corrosive or short term. Alastair Campbell’s aim in ‘But What Can I Do?’ is twofold: to explain why things have gone so wrong, and to show what we can to help put them right. A mix of polemic, analysis and practical advice, this is a political masterclass from a master political commentator and strategist. Alastair Campbell is widely regarded as one of our leading political commentators – this book shows why.
£22.00 -
China 1949
£14.99China 1949
The events of 1949 in China reverberated across the world and throughout the rest of the century. That tumultuous year saw the dramatic collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s ‘pro-Western’ Nationalist government, overthrown by Mao Zedong and his communist armies, and the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. ‘China 1949’ follows the huge military forces that tramped across the country, the exile of once-powerful leaders and the alarm of the foreign powers watching on. The well-known figures of the Revolution are all here. But so are lesser known military and political leaders along with a host of ‘ordinary’ Chinese citizens and foreigners caught in the maelstrom.
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Chums
£9.99Chums
Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May, Dominic Cummings, Daniel Hannan, Jacob Rees-Mogg: Whitehall is swarming with old Oxonians. They debated each other in tutorials, ran against each other in student elections, and attended the same balls and black tie dinners. They aren’t just colleagues – they are peers, rivals, friends. And, when they walked out of the world of student debates onto the national stage, they brought their university politics with them. Eleven of the fifteen postwar British prime ministers went to Oxford. In this book, Simon Kuper traces how the rarefied and privileged atmosphere of this narrowest of talent pools – and the friendships and worldviews it created – shaped modern Britain.
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Churchill’s Shadow
£14.99Churchill’s Shadow
Winston Churchill towered over his own age, when he was variously described as ‘the saviour of his country’, ‘the leader of humanity’, or ‘the man of the century’. More remarkably, he has towered over fifty years and more since his since his death in 1965. He overshadows both his country, whose recent history has been called ‘an extended footnote to Churchill’, and the United States, where a great cult of Churchill has burgeoned. This account of Churchill’s life and afterlife has been more than ten years in the making. It is not a conventional biography but an account of Churchill’s long life, the cult that arose almost immediately after his death, and his place in popular culture, up to the Oscar-winning film ‘Darkest Hour’ in 2017.
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Command
£10.99Command
Al Murray’s passion for military history, and the Second World War in particular, has always been a duel passion with his comedy. It was brought to the fore with several acclaimed and award-winning television shows and the success of his podcast ‘We Have Ways of Making You Talk’ which he hosts alongside James Holland. The podcast has built up a loyal, nationwide fanbase and has given birth to its own annual three-day festival. In his first serious narrative book, ‘Command’ showcases Al Murray’s passion for this pivotal period in the 20th century, as he writes an engaging, entertaining and sharp analysis of the key allied military leaders in the conflict.
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Command
£16.99Command
Throughout history, the concept of command – as both a way to achieve objectives and as an assertion of authority – has been essential to military action and leadership. But, as Sir Lawrence Freedman shows, it is also deeply political. Military command has been reconstructed and revolutionized since the Second World War by nuclear warfare, small-scale guerrilla land operations and cyber interference. Freedman takes a global perspective, systematically investigating its practice and politics since 1945 through a wide range of conflicts from the French Colonial Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bangladesh Liberation War to North Vietnam’s Easter Offensive of 1972, the Falklands War, the Iraq War and Russia’s wars in Chechnya and Ukraine.
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Harold Wilson
£25.00Harold Wilson
Using previously restricted materials, Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds examines one of the most influential and successful politicians of the late 20th century, exploring Wilson’s rise to power via Clement Attlee’s post-war government, his relationship to Nye Bevan, whom he eventually replaced in the Shadow Cabinet, the close workings of his own inner circle, and the issues surrounding the first European Referendum. His biography considers previously overlooked aspects of Wilson’s life, such as the mysterious circumstances of his voluntary resignation and legacy in social reform. The book will offer a timely consideration of the advancement of social justice issues under Wilson’s government: homosexuality was decriminalised, abortion legalised and capital punishment abolished.
£25.00 -
Harold Wilson
£12.99Harold Wilson
Using previously restricted materials, Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds examines one of the most influential and successful politicians of the late 20th century, exploring Wilson’s rise to power via Clement Attlee’s post-war government, his relationship to Nye Bevan, whom he eventually replaced in the Shadow Cabinet, the close workings of his own inner circle, and the issues surrounding the first European Referendum. His biography considers previously overlooked aspects of Wilson’s life, such as the mysterious circumstances of his voluntary resignation and legacy in social reform. The book will offer a timely consideration of the advancement of social justice issues under Wilson’s government: homosexuality was decriminalised, abortion legalised and capital punishment abolished.
£12.99 -
How they broke Britain
£20.00How they broke Britain
Our economy has tanked, our freedoms are shrinking, and social divisions are growing. Our politicians seem most interested in their own careers, and much of the media only make things worse. We are living in a country almost unrecognisable from the one that existed a decade ago. But whose fault is it really? Who broke Britain and how did they do it? Bold and incisive as ever, James O’Brien reveals the shady network of influence that has created a broken Britain of strikes, shortages and scandals. He maps the web connecting dark think tanks to Downing Street, the journalists complicit in selling it to the public and the media bosses pushing their own agendas. Over ten chapters, each focusing on a particular person complicit in the downfall, James O’Brien reveals how a select few have conspired – sometimes by incompetence, sometimes by design – to bring Britain to its knees.
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How to Be a Politician
£16.99How to Be a Politician
Structured to follow the arc of a life in politics – from childhood aspirations and first attempts at getting elected, to navigating the back benches, ascending the greasy pole, dealing with detractors, facing crises, and finally escaping – this unique collection weaves together the wittiest, wisest and most acerbic political quotations from the last 2,000 years.
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In the Shadow of the Gods
£35.00In the Shadow of the Gods
For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. As an expert on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history’s grandest and most dismaying figures.
£35.00 -
In the shadow of the gods
£14.99In the shadow of the gods
For millennia much of the world was ruled by emperors: a handful of individuals claimed no limit to the lands they could rule over and no limit to their authority. They operated beyond normal human constraint and indeed often claimed a superhuman or divine authority. As an expert on empires and on Russian history, Lieven is brilliantly qualified to write a book that brings to life a system of rule that dominated most of human history, as well as some of history’s grandest and most dismaying figures.
£14.99 -
Meeting Churchill
£16.99Meeting Churchill
This insightful portrait of Winston Churchill delves beyond well-known political moments, incorporating perspectives from various individuals who encountered him throughout his life. From Bletchley Park codebreakers to Hollywood stars, Harold Wilson to Gandhi, these lesser-known interactions reveal glimpses of the man behind the legend.
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Napoleon At Peace
£15.99Napoleon At Peace
The French Revolution facilitated the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, but after gaining power he knew that his first task was to end it. In this book William Doyle describes how he did so, beginning with the three large issues that had destabilized revolutionary France: war, religion, and monarchy. Doyle shows how, as First Consul of the Republic, Napoleon resolved these issues: first by winning the war, then by forging peace with the Church, and finally by making himself a monarch. ‘Napoleon at Peace’ ends by discussing Napoleon’s one great failure – his attempt to restore the colonial empire destroyed by war and slave rebellion. By the time this endeavour was abandoned, the fragile peace with Great Britain had broken down, and the Napoleonic wars had begun.
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Personality and Power
£30.00Personality and Power
The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying array of instruments of control, persuasion and death. Whole societies were re-shaped and wars fought, often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms. At the summit of these societies were leaders whose personalities had somehow given them the ability to do whatever they wished. Ian Kershaw’s book is a compelling, lucid and challenging attempt to understand these rulers, whether operating on the widest stage (Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini) or with a more national impact (Tito, Franco). What was it about these leaders and the times they lived in that allowed them such untrammelled and murderous power? And what brought that era to an end?
£30.00
