“Why do the Brexiteers want to leave?” “Why do the Remainers want to stay?” “What exactly would a post-Brexit Europe look like?” These questions have dominated the post- Brexit socio-political landscape. In this timely and engaging book Bernard Porter responds to these questions. Each chapter presents different historical episodes contributing to an overall understanding of what Porter calls Britain’s “most important move in her national life since she risked her whole being to go to war with...
The Fall of the Tory Party Despite winning the December 2019 General Election, the Conservative parliamentary party is a moribund organisation. It no longer speaks for, or to, the British people. Its leadership has sacrificed the long-standing commitment to the Union to 'Get Brexit Done'. And beyond this, it is an intellectual vacuum, propped up by half-baked doctrine and magical thinking. Falling Down offers an explanation for how the Tory party came to position itself on the edge of the prec...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: Platinum Jubilee Celebration
by Brian Hoey
A celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, detailing the highlights and challenges of her seventy-year reign. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has carried out her role as sovereign with flawless professionalism. Her demeanor has been perfect, and in the seventy years she has reigned, she has epitomized all the hallmarks of an iconic sovereign beloved by her people. When she succeeded her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth was only twenty-five years old....
Prevenge (2016) is an entertainingly dark 21st-century horror movie detailing the serial killing journey of heavily pregnant Ruth. It's a cleverly crafted narrative full of stark social commentary, traversing the delicate line between comedy and tragedy by fusing together a kitchen sink approach with a supernatural revenge plot. This book, as part of the Devil's Advocates series, examines how the film deconstructs the slasher mythology and the sexism therein, and upends stereotypical representat...
SHORTLISTED FOR TELEGRAPH FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019A fascinating book, by two witty and meticulous sports writers Sunday TimesA jaunty journey through the past quarter of a century in English football The TimesMagnificent ... Witty, pacy, thorough, this is a book hard to put down Daily MailBrilliant IndependentAn excellent recap, with wonderful access and forensic detail on the Premier League's rise to global alpha status... All told with an arch sense of humour The GuardianHow did English...
In the hundredth year of the British Broadcasting Corporation, historian Simon J. Potter looks back over the hundred year history, asking if the BBC is really the 'voice of Britain', and what comes next for British public broadcasting. 2022 marks the centenary year of the British Broadcasting Corporation. As Britain's most famous and influential broadcaster, the BBC faces a range of significant challenges to the way it operates, and perhaps to its existence, from the government but also from a...
Deryn Blackwell is a walking, talking miracle.At the age of 10, he was diagnosed with Leukaemia.Then, 18 months later, he developed another rare form of cancer called Langerhan's cell sarcoma. Only five other people in the world have it. He is the youngest of them all, and the only person in the world known to be fighting it alongside another cancer......making him one in seven billion.He and his parents were told that there was no hope of survival. And so, at the age of 14, after four years of...
What has brought about the transformation of the British film industry over the last few decades, to the beginnings of what is arguably a new golden era? In the mid-1980s the industry was in a parlous state. The number of films produced in the UK was tiny. Cinema attendance had dipped to an all-time low, cinema buildings were in a state of disrepair and home video had yet to flourish. Since then, while many business challenges - especially for independent producers and distributors - remain, the...
This book examines in words and pictures the huge changes that have taken place in the last 50 years on the British railway network. We see how steam-age infrastructure has gradually given way to a streamlined modern railway. The beginning of the period saw the final stages of the Beeching cuts, with the closure of some rural branches and lesser-used stations. Since the 1980s the tide has turned and numerous lines and stations have joined or rejoined the network. As for freight, we see how the c...
An exhaustive and revealing new biography of Britain’s future king with fresh reporting by the journalist the Wall Street Journal dubbed “the Godfather of royal reporting.” With exclusive interviews and extensive research, King Charles delivers definitive insight into the extraordinary life of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, as he nears the throne at a watershed moment in modern history and in the British monarchy. New York Times bestselling author Robert Jobson debunks the...
The Maximum Surveillance Society
by Clive Norris and Gary Armstrong
The use of Closed-Circuit Television, or CCTV, has dramatically increased over the past decade, but its presence is often so subtle as to go unnoticed. Should we unthinkingly accept that increased surveillance is in the public's best interests, or does this mean that 'Big Brother' is finally watching us? This book asks provocative questions about the rise of the maximum surveillance society. Is crime control the principal motivation behind increased surveillance or are the reasons more complex?...
In a time of political turbulence, and as the Welfare State totters under the strain in a country that has changed dramatically since 1945, Archbishop Justin Welby sets out to identify the values that will enable us to reimagine, and to enact, a more hopeful future. The thesis is that the work of reimagining is as great as it was in 1945, and will happen either by accident - and thus badly - or deliberately. The author draws on Britain's history and Christian tradition to identify this country'...
The New Spymasters by Stephen Grey - Inside Espionage from the Cold War to Al-Qaeda In this era of email intercepts and drone strikes, many believe that the spy is dead. What use are double agents and dead letter boxes compared to the all-seeing digital eye?They couldn't be more wrong. The spying game is changing, but the need for walking, talking sources who gather secret information has never been more acute. And they are still out there. In this searing modern history of espionage, Stephen...
The End of the Small Party? (Manchester University Press)
by Louise Thompson
For a brief moment in 2019 Britain's politics looked like it might be transformed. Just when it seemed that the divisions within and across British political parties over Brexit could not get any more intense, 7 Labour and 3 Conservative MPs broke away to form The Independent Group (TIG) - later Change UK. This is the first book to explore the meteoric lifespan of that party, within the wider context of the experiences of other small political groupings in the House of Commons. Ultimately, it sh...
British Politics: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
by Tony Wright
At a time when politics in Britain is experiencing unprecedented turmoil, this Very Short Introduction examines the past, present, and possible future of British politics. Tony Wright puts current events into a longer and larger perspective, ranging from political ideas to political institutions, and offering an overview of the British political tradition. Throughout, he identifies key characteristics and ideas of British politics, and investigates what makes it distinctive, while emphasizing ho...
‘A brilliant vivid and intimate new memoir’ The Daily Mail ’For over a decade Kate Fall was the most influential woman in British politics.’ Alice Thomson, The Times For eleven years Kate Fall was one of David Cameron’s closest advisors. During some of the most significant political events of our times – the Arab Spring, the financial crash and a European referendum that has changed the face of British politics forever – she sat right outside the door...
The Queen is the most iconic figure in modern Britain. For more than sixty years she has been on every stamp, every coin, and starred in every one of our Christmas days. But how well do we really know our beloved monarch?Her Majesty has written a letter to her most trusted private secretary, Sir Jeremy, every week for several years. For the first time, she has allowed these letters to be published. Honest, charming, and hilarious, they show what she has really been thinking: about her mischievou...
How might the British have handled Hitler differently? remains one of history's greatest 'what ifs'. Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding and poignant story, for the first time, of a handful of amateur British intelligence agents who wined, dined and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians and businessmen, they hoped to use the much mythologised Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilise the Nazis. A pacifist Wels...
Data has never mattered more. Our lives are increasingly shaped by it and how it is defined, collected and used. But who counts in the collection, analysis and application of data? This important book is the first to look at queer data - defined as data relating to gender, sex, sexual orientation and trans identity/history. The author shows us how current data practices reflect an incomplete account of LGBTQ lives and helps us understand how data biases are used to delegitimise the everyday exp...
Longlisted for the Orwell Prize, 2019 ____________The Times Round-up of the Best Non-fiction Paperbacks, 2019The Times Best Current Affairs and Big Ideas Book of the Year, 2018'A very discomforting book, no matter what your politics might be... very good' Sunday Times'Potent, disturbing and revelatory' Evening StandardWe all define ourselves by our profession. But what if our job was demeaning, poorly paid, and tedious? Cracking open Britain's divisions journalist James Bloodworth spends six mon...
The formal gardens of Elizabethan England were among the glories of their age. Complementing the great houses of the day, they reflected the aspirations of their owners, whose greatest desire was to achieve success at Court and to delight the Queen. No leading courtier would be without his great house, no great house was complete without its garden. In this richly illustrated work, Jane Whitaker explores these gems of Elizabethan England, focusing on the gardens of the Queen and her leading c...