Biography: historical, political and military Books

Book SynopsisMuch of Constantine I's claim to lasting fame rests upon his sponsorship of Christianity, and many works have been published assessing whether his apparent conversion was a real religious experience or a cynical political manoeuvre. However his path to sole rule of the Roman Empire depended more upon the ruthless application of military might than upon his espousal of Christianity. He fought numerous campaigns, many of them against Roman rivals for Imperial power, most famously defeating Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. In this new study, Ian Hughes assesses whether Constantine would have deserved the title 'the Great' for his military achievements alone, or whether the epithet depends upon the gratitude of Christian historians. All of Constantine's campaigns are narrated and his strategic and tactical decisions analysed. The organization, strengths and weaknesses of the Roman army he inherited are described and the effect of both his and his predecessors' reforms discussed. The result is a fresh analysis of this pivotal figure in European history from a military perspective.

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Book SynopsisEleanor of Provence was born in the province of her name in 1223. She has come to England at the age of twelve to marry the king, Henry III. He's sixteen years older, but was a boy when he ascended the throne. He's a kind, sensitive sort whose only personal attachments to women so far have been to his three sisters. The youngest of them is called Eleanor too. She was only nine when, for political reasons, her first marriage took place, but she's already a chaste twenty-year old widow when the new queen arrives in 1236. In a short time, this Eleanor will marry the rising star of her brother's court, a French parvenu named Simon de Montfort, thus wedding the fates of these four people together in an England about to undergo some of the most profound changes in its history. It's a tale that covers three decades at its heart, with loyalty to family and principles at stake, in a land where foreigners are subject to intense scrutiny and jealousy. The relationship between these two sisters-in-law, close but ultimately doomed, will reflect not just the turbulence and tragedy of their times, but also the brilliance and splendour.

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Book SynopsisFlight Lieutenant Thomas Tommy' Rose, a First World War fighter ace, was a pioneer of private flying. He installed and managed the UK's first fuel pump for private aviation at Brooklands before becoming Sales Manager for Phillips and Powis Aircraft Ltd. The chief flying instructor at several early flying schools, Tommy became the Chief Test Pilot for Miles Aircraft and was the winner of air races and pageants. He was undoubtedly a pilot who could always be relied on to amaze the onlookers with his fast, accurate stunts and low-level flying. Mentioned in Despatches in 1916 and awarded the DFC in 1918, Tommy was attacked in his aircraft several times, yet his astonishing ability at the controls of his aircraft enabled him to land without serious injury. By the time of the Armistice, Tommy had been credited with eleven kills'. He continued to demonstrate these skills after the war and though this true trailblazer was widely known in his glory days during the early part of the twentieth century, little is remembered about him today. Yet Tommy Rose achieved the most incredible feats of aviation and was considered one of the finest pilots of his era, completing over 11,200 flying hours up to 1949. In the 1930s, Tommy took the Imperial Airways route through East Africa, to set up a new world record on the UK to Cape Town passage, beating Amy Mollison (Johnson) who took the shorter course down the west coast. He also won the King's Cup Air Race in 1935. Tommy flew many of the early RAF fighters from Maurice Farman to the Spitfire Mk.IX, and, from late 1939, when he was appointed Chief Test Pilot for Phillip & Powis Aircraft Ltd at Woodley (forerunners of Miles Aircraft Ltd), he test flew all Miles monoplane training and target towing aircraft, leaving in January 1946. His last position was as General Manager of Universal Flying Services Ltd at Fairoaks Aerodrome in Surrey. The result of decades of research by the author, through this book the life and adventures of one of history's most accomplished and daring aviators can finally be told.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first full-length work devoted to aedan mac Gabrain, 6th century king of Dal Riata in Scotland. An associate of the famous St. Columba, he was the first recorded king to be ordained in the British Isles and was the most powerful ruler in his generation. His astonishing military reach took him from Orkney, Pictland, Ireland, Northumbria and the Isle of Man. This book details his dominant career, which came to a shattering end after decades of warfare at the Battle of Degsaston in AD 603\. Beyond the record of warfare, there is a unique and tantalising accumulation of legend concerning aedan, from stories about his birth, to tales of him in battle with Irish heroes. English sources mention him and he is one of the few Gaelic kings to feature prominently in Welsh tradition, where he is remembered as a uniquely powerful player in the north of Britain. Modern writers highlight aedan as the father of a prince named Arthur, which has led to his place in Arthurian studies. aedan's prominence in his era qualifies him as a fascinating figure, whose life and legend are accessibly explored in this exciting account of this unique ruler.

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Book Synopsis'Important, compelling, and detailed . . . a superb analysis of the West’s policy missteps and the tragic consequences of them.' - General David PetraeusIn Assad: The Triumph of Tyranny, Con Coughlin, veteran commentator on war in the Middle East and author of Saddam: The Secret Life, examines how a mild-mannered ophthalmic surgeon has transformed himself into the tyrannical ruler of a once flourishing country.Until the Arab Spring of 2011, the world’s view of Bashar al-Assad was largely benign. He and his wife, a former British banker, were viewed as philanthropic individuals doing their best to keep their country at peace. So much so that a profile of Mrs Assad in American Vogue was headlined ‘The Rose in the Desert’. Shortly after it appeared, Syria descended into the horrific civil war that has seen its cities reduced to rubble and thousands murdered and displaced, a civil war that is still raging over a decade later.In this vivid and authoritative account Con Coughlin draws together all the strands of Assad's remarkable story, revealing precisely how a young doctor ensured not only that he inherited the presidency from his father, but has held on to power by whatever means necessary, continuing to preside over one of the most brutal regimes of modern times.Trade ReviewEngrossing . . . Coughlin, as this fine book proves, is a careful judge of situations, and what might be hyperbole from another writer is a damning indictment of a man whose name should join the ranks of those who linger in infamy, including Hitler, Stalin and, more recently, another of this author’s most recent subjects: Saddam Hussein . . . [it is] meticulously researched and even-handed – as far as such an account can be – and has the vice-like grip of a thriller -- Alexander Larman * The Daily Telegraph *Useful, clear and interesting . . . a biography, but also an indictment -- Jason Burke * Literary Review *An important, compelling, and detailed examination of the failure of Western powers to act decisively in the early years of the Syrian Civil War and to prevent one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the early twenty-first century. In this significant new book, Con Coughlin provides a superb analysis of the West’s policy missteps and the tragic consequences of them. -- General David PetraeusFascinating, timely and sharp, Con Coughlin delivers a lucid portrait of the brutal power games and byzantine conspiracies of Syria's Assad dynasty. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: a Family HistoryCon Coughlin's Assad curdles the blood from beginning to end and is always underpinned by superb foundations in analysis. A must-read for everyone who wants to understand the Middle East today. -- Robert ServiceCon Coughlin examines how a quiet eye surgeon could have turned into one of the world’s most vicious blood-stained dictators. No one could be better qualified than Coughlin to write this thought-provoking and penetrating book. -- Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destinty

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Book Synopsis'Crisp and witty' Charles Moore, Spectator'A brilliant survey of the occupants of the Oval Office' Daniel Johnson, Article'Witty and succinct with splendid caricatures' Tibor Fischer, CriticA spirited and entertaining aide-memoire offering 44 short, fascinating accounts of each president, from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama and Donald Trump, bringing the United States' political history to life as never before.Who can name the eight presidents before Lincoln, or the eight presidents after him? Historians tend to shed light on just a handful of leaders: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and perhaps half a dozen others within living memory, leaving at least 30 holders of office if not in total darkness, then at least in deep shadow. Helping to bring these forgotten figures into the light, Andrew Gimson's illuminating accounts are accompanied by sketches from Guardian sartirical cartoonist, Martin Rowson, making this the perfect gift for all lovers of history and politics - the experienced and the novice, the serious and the silly.The Sunday Times bestselling Gimson's Prime Ministers and Gimson's Kings & Queens are also available.Trade ReviewThis is history at its liveliest and most enjoyable. Most presidential biographies are abominably long-winded and reverential. With miniaturist wit and precision, Gimson manages to compress all the salient facts about each president into five or six pages, while offering beautifully crafted insights into their characters and temperaments ... There is something fascinating or funny on every page -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Witty and succinct with splendid caricatures * Tibor Fischer *Brilliant -- Matt ChorleyTerrific -- John RentoulAndrew Gimson’s hugely enjoyable collection of biographies of the 44 US Presidents (not 45, I have learned) is rendered all the more fun, as his books ever are, by Martin Rowson’s cartoons. * Tom Holland *

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Book Synopsis'Stimulating, erudite and above all entertaining...For any reader tired of the seemlingly endless round of Churchill-worship' Robert HarrisA radical biography for a new generationIn A.J.P. Taylor's words, Churchill was 'the saviour of his country' when he became prime minister in 1940. Yet he was also a deeply flawed character.Giving due credit to Churchill's achievements but making no secret of his failures, Geoffrey Wheatcroft takes a radically different approach to other biographies. Going far beyond a reappraisal of a life and a career, he reveals the complex shadow Churchill has cast over post-war British history and contemporary politics.Telling the story of Churchill's extraordinary life and the equally fascinating one of his legacy, Churchill's Shadow focuses on how we as a nation have been living in the grip of his self-written myth ever since his death.'This is the indispensable biography of Churchill for the post-Brexit 2020s' David Kynaston, author of On the Cusp: Days of '62'Wheatcroft is a skilled prosecutor with a rapier pen...this could be the best single-volume indictment of Churchill yet written' New York Times'A clear-eyed, incisive and superbly balanced account of Churchill, the man and the myth' Robert Gildea, author of Empires of the MindTrade ReviewEven readers sick of Churchill will find much to enjoy, partly because Wheatcroft is such a fluent and entertaining writer, but also because he has so many interesting and provocative things to say -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Hagiographers beware; Wheatcroft has skewered the cult of Churchill hero worship. This book reminds us that while Churchill was Britain's saviour in 1940, his views on race and empire, and his military debacles from the Dardanelles to Dieppe, make it unwise to revere him like a saint -- Samir Puri, author of The Great Imperial HangoverA clear-eyed, incisive and superbly balanced account of Churchill, the man and the myth... Much to think about in the twenty-first century -- Robert Gildea, author of Empires of the MindStimulating, erudite and above all entertaining... For any reader tired of the seemingly endless round of Churchill-worship of the last few years, Geoffrey Wheatcroft provides a lively corrective -- Robert HarrisWheatcroft is a skilled prosecutor with a rapier pen ... [Churchill's Shadow] could be the best single-volume indictment of Churchill yet written * New York Times *

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Book Synopsis'In this fascinating account of the turbulent Churchill father-and-son relationship, Josh Ireland shows how central Winston and Randolph were to each other's lives' Andrew RobertsFew fathers and sons can ever have been so close as Winston Churchill and his only son Randolph. Both showed flamboyant impatience, reckless bravery, and generosity of spirit. The glorious and handsome Randolph was a giver and devourer of pleasure, a man who exploded into rooms, trailing whisky tumblers and reciting verbatim whole passages of classic literature. But while Randolph inherited many of his fathers' talents, he also inherited all of his flaws. Randolph was his father only more so: fiercer, louder, more out of control. Hence father and son would be so very close, and so liable to explode at each other.Winston's closest ally during the wilderness years of the 1930s, Randolph would himself become a war hero, serving with the SAS in the desert and Marshal Tito's guerrillas in Yugoslavia, a friend of press barons and American presidents alike, and a journalist with a 'genius for uncovering secrets', able to secure audiences with everyone from Kaiser Wilhelm to General Franco and Guy Burgess.But Randolph's political career never amounted to anything. As much as he idolised Winston and never lost faith in his father during the long, solitary years of Winston's decline, he was never able to escape from the shadow cast by Britain's great hero. In his own eyes, and most woundingly of all his father's, his life was a failure. Winston, ever consumed by his own sense of destiny, allowed his own ambitions to take priority over Randolph's. The world, big as it was, only had space for one Churchill. Instead of the glory he believed was his birthright, Randolph died young, his body rotted by resentment and drink, before he could complete his father's biography.A revealing new perspective on the Churchill myth, this intimate story reveals the lesser-seen Winston Churchill: reading Peter Rabbit books to his children, admonishing Eton schoolmasters and using decanters and wine glasses to re-fight the Battle of Jutland at the table. Amid a cast of personalities who defined an era - PG Wodehouse, Nancy Astor, The Mitfords, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Lord Beaverbrook, William Randolph Hearst, Oswald Mosley, Graham Greene, Duff and Diana Cooper, the Kennedys, Charlie Chaplin, and Lloyd George - Churchill & Son is the lost story of a timeless father-son relationship.Trade ReviewNo matter how low Randolph's reputation plummeted, Winston's love remained undimmed and this fine book may now allow the rest of us to appreciate the younger Churchill's merits * The Times *A fascinating, acute and touching portrait of Churchill and Randolph, revealing there's no greater curse than to be the son of a great man -- Simon Sebag MontefioreBeautifully written, revelatory, evocative and hugely timely. A triumph -- Damien LewisIn this fascinating account of the turbulent Churchill father-and-son relationship, Ireland shows how central Winston and Randolph were to each other's lives. Randolph has rarely been approached so sympathetically as in this well-researched and well-written book -- Andrew RobertsThis is a revelatory portrait of an explosive relationship between a great man and his infamous son. With skill and sensitivity, Josh Ireland lays bare the anguish of their dysfunctional love -- Jonathan DimblebyA fascinating study of the family relationship beneath the most dramatic events of the twentieth century. It is the thrilling story of a man trapped between an epic sense of entitlement and the constant awareness of his own failure - Joshua Levine, author of DunkirkAn immersive account of Churchill's tempestuous relationship with his only son, Randolph ... Entertaining and insightful * Publishers Weekly *Ireland draws unforgettable sketches of life in the Churchill circle, much like Erik Larson did in The Splendid and the Vile ... Tragedy as well as triumph in this meticulous, fascinating tale of three generations of Churchills * Kirkus *A compelling tragedy, but one which casts valuable new light on the outsized human dimensions of both men ... Agonising but excellent * The Telegraph *This is an agonising but excellent study of their volatile relationship * The Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe Great Successor is an irreverent yet insightful quest to understand the life of Kim Jong Un, one of the world's most secretive dictators. Kim's life is swathed in myth and propaganda, from the plainly silly--he supposedly ate so much Swiss cheese that his ankles gave way--to the grimly bloody stories of the ways his enemies and rival family members have perished at his command.One of the most knowledgeable journalists on modern Korea, Anna Fifield has exclusive access to Kim's aunt and uncle who posed as his parents while he was growing up in Switzerland, members of the entourage that accompanied Dennis Rodman on his quasi-ambassadorial visits with Kim, and the Japanese sushi chef whom Kim befriended and who was the first outsider to identify him as the inevitable successor to his father as supreme ruler. She has been able to create a captivating portrait of the oddest and most isolated political regime in the world, one that is broken yet able to summon a US president for peace talks, bankrupt yet in possession of nuclear weapons. Kim Jong Un; ridiculous but deadly, and a man of our times.Trade ReviewAn important and rigorous piece of journalism written with clarity and urgency * Sunday Times *Astonishing and insightful - the inside story of the mercurial man now making headlines, and history. Essential reading * Lyse Doucet *Packed with the fascinating and frequently bizarre anecdotal detail -- Richard Lloyd Parry * The Times *By far the most complete insight into the Hermit Kingdom I have ever seen. Full of fascinating details * Christina Lamb *Superb . . . a detailed account of a regime and a personality that are normally shrouded in mystery * Financial Times *Fascinating * Mail on Sunday *Anna Fifield's excellent account, based on years of reporting from Korea, dispenses with the overfamiliar anecdotes about this ghastly spoiled-brat-turned-dictator * Evening Standard *Anna Fifield owns the North Korea story today in a way that few other journalists, myself included, have ever been able to claim mastery over this most elusive subject. -- Barbara Demick, author of the bestseller * Nothing to Envy *Excellent . . . an illuminating insight into the life and thinking of North Korea's ruthless leader * Evening Standard, Book of the Week *Elegantly written and exhaustively researched * Guardian *superb...a model of investigative diligence and rigour * New Statesman *Those anticipating James Bond villain stories will not be disappointed * Spectator *The Great Successor brims with important and exclusive information about the Kim family -- Andrei Lankov * Financial Times *an authoritative, revealing and spry account of the world's most isolated political regime * Sunday Business Post *A hard-earned, comprehensive portrait . . . essential reading * Irish Independent *Fascinating * Hot Press *Anna Fifield disentangles the propaganda that surrounds Kim and presents a clear-eyed portrait of a secretive dictator. * The Sunday Business Post *

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Book SynopsisMeet the most powerful leader in the world. Chinese premier Xi Jinping graces our television screens and news headlines on a regular basis. But even after a decade in power, he remains shrouded in mystery.From growing up with a father purged in Mao's Cultural Revolution and his mission to eradicate poverty, to his persecution of Uyghur Muslims and paranoia about being likened to Winnie-the-Pooh, Xi Jinping is a man obscured by caricatures. In this short, essential primer, historian and writer Michael Dillon unveils the character of Xi Jinping - arguably the world's most powerful man - to truly understand his grip on China, what he wants and how the West gets him wrong.But this is not just the story of Xi; this is the story of today's largest economic powerhouse, which dives into the crux of the issue - what does Xi's leadership of China mean for the rest of the world, and what will he do next?Trade ReviewMichael Dillon uses his decades of rich and varied experience as a scholar in and about China to decipher the leadership of current leader Xi Jinping. With succinct, informative chapters on Xi's early life, political career, his style of leadership and its guiding ideas, Dillon gives an authoritative, sure-footed interpretation of who Xi is, what he stands for and what he wants. While never shying away from contentious issues like Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights under Xi, Dillon presents a balanced picture, acknowledging both the problems and the strengths of a man often labelled the most powerful figure in the world today. -- Kerry Brown, author of 'Xi: A Study in Power'

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Book SynopsisRaised in Alabama, she sent shockwaves through the South when she launched a public broadside against Jim Crow and donated to the NAACP. She used her fame to oppose American intervention in WWI. She spoke out against Hitler the month he took power in 1933 and embraced the anti-fascist cause during the Spanish Civil War. She was one of the first public figures to alert the world to the evils of Apartheid, raising money to defend Nelson Mandela when he faced the death penalty for High Treason, and she lambasted Joseph McCarthy at the height of the Cold War, even as her contemporaries shied away from his notorious witch hunt. But who was this revolutionary figure?She was Helen Keller.From books to movies to Barbie dolls, most mainstream portrayals of Keller focus heavily on her struggles as a deafblind child-portraying her Teacher, Annie Sullivan, as a miracle worker. This narrative-which has often made Keller a secondary character in her own story-has resulted in few people knowing that her greatest accomplishment was not learning to speak, but what she did with her voice when she found it.After the Miracle is a much-needed corrective to this antiquated narrative. In this first major biography of Keller in decades, Max Wallace reveals that the lionization of Sullivan at the expense of her famous pupil was no accident, and calls attention to Keller's efforts as a card-carrying socialist, fierce anti-racist, and progressive disability advocate. Despite being raised in an era when eugenics and discrimination were commonplace, Keller consistently challenged the media for its ableist coverage and was one of the first activists to highlight the links between disability and capitalism, even as she struggled against the expectations and prejudices of those closest to her.Peeling back the curtain that obscured Keller's political crusades in favor of her "inspirational" childhood, After the Miracle chronicles the complete legacy of one of the 20th century's most extraordinary figures.

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Book SynopsisGraham Allen, a U.S. Army veteran and a rising star in the conservative movement, makes the case that the United States should look to the country as it was on September 12th, 2001 for lessons about our future. On the day after the World Trade Center was attacked, Americans came together regardless of color, religion, or sexual orientation. We were united. On that day, nearly every store in the country sold out of American flags.After the events of the last eighteen months, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the constant attempts to divide us by race, Graham Allen believes that we should all look back on the events of 9/12 and remember what unites us. He believes that we do not all have to be the same, that it's okay not to agree on everything, but that we share a common history and a set of values.Just as the year 1776 serves as a reminder of our beginning, 9/12 will serve as a reminder of our present and future.

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Book SynopsisThe great Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) is widely recognized as one of the most consequential human beings of the twentieth century. Through his writings and moral witness, he illumined the nature of totalitarianism and helped bring down an ‘evil empire.’ His courage and tenacity are acknowledged even by his fiercest critics. Yet the world-class novelist, historian, and philosopher (one uses the latter term in its capacious Russian sense) has largely been eclipsed by a caricature that has transformed a measured and self-critical patriot into a ferocious nationalist, a partisan of local self-government into a quasi-authoritarian, a man of faith and reason into a narrow-minded defender of Orthodoxy. The caricature, widely dispensed in the press, and too often taken for granted, gets in the way of a thoughtful and humane confrontation with the “other” Solzhenitsyn, the true Solzhenitsyn, who is a writer and thinker of the first rank and whose spirited defense of liberty is never divorced from moderation. It is to the recovery of this Solzhenitsyn that this book is dedicated. This book above all explores philosophical, political, and moral themes in Solzhenitsyn’s two masterworks, The Gulag Archipelago and The Red Wheel, as well as in his great European novel In the First Circle. We see Solzhenitsyn as analyst of revolution, defender of the moral law, phenomenologist of ideological despotism, and advocate of “resisting evil with force.” Other chapters carefully explore Solzhenitsyn’s conception of patriotism, his dissection of ideological mendacity, and his controversial, but thoughtful and humane discussion of the “Jewish Question” in the Russian – and Soviet twentieth century. Some of Solzhenitsyn’s later writings, such as the “binary tales” that he wrote in the 1990s, are subject to critically appreciative analysis. And a long final chapter comments on Solzhenitsyn’s July 2007 Der Spiegel interview, his last word to Russia and the West. He is revealed to be a man of faith and freedom, a patriot but not a nationalist, and a principled advocate of self-government for Russia and the West. A final Appendix reproduces the beautiful Introduction (“The Gift of Incarnation”) that the author’s widow, Natalia Solzhenitsyn, wrote to the 2009 Russian abridgment of The Gulag Archipelago, a work that is now taught in Russian high schools. Table of ContentsForeword Chapter 1 An Anguished’ Love of Country: Solzhenitsyn’s Paradoxical Middle Path The Ideological Deformation of Reality Recovering Truth and Memory A False Consensus A “Lucid” Love of Country An Exacting Patriotism A War on Two Fronts A New Mission Self–Inflicted Wounds The Pathologies of the Russian Right Orthodox Universalism: The Other Extreme The Question of Tone A Theorist of Self–Government Beyond Tired Polemics Chapter 2 “The Active Struggle Against Evil”: Reflections on a Theme in Solzhenitsyn Vorotyntsev and Stolypin A Pusillanimous Monarch Moral Freedom and Political Liberty The Soul of Man Under Socialism The Camp Revolts Resisting Evil With Force Chapter 3 Nicholas II and the Coming of Revolution Conclusion Chapter 4 The Artist as Thinker: Reflections In the First Circle The Three Pillars The Two Versions “But We Are Only Given One Conscience, Too” A Crucial Encounter The Decisive Metanoia Beyond Fanaticism and Skepticism The Remarkable Continuities of Sotzhenitsyn’s Reflection Chapter 5 A Phenomenology of Ideological Despotism: Reflections on Solzhenitsyn’s “Our Muzzled Freedom” An Introduction: Theorizing Totalitarianism The Soul and Barbed Wire “Free Life” in a Totalitarian Regime Constant Fear Secrecy and Mistrust Complicity in the Web of Repression Betrayal as a Form of Existence Corruption versus Nobility The Lie as a Form of Existence Class Cruelty Slave Psychology Conclusion: Remembering Everything Chapter 6 Two Critics of the Ideological “Lie”: Raymond Aron’s Encounter with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Letter to the Soviet Leaders A Parisian Encounter Solzhenitsyn and Sartre Misconceptions About Russia Two Spiritual Families? Chapter 7 Solzhenitsyn, Russia, and the Jews Revisited From Belligerence to Understanding Rejecting the Temptation to Blame Renegades and Revolutionaries The Fortunes of Soviet Jewry 131 Repentance and Responsibility Solzhenitsyn’s Moral Challenge The Holocaust Solzhenitsyn’s Non Possum Chapter 8 The Binary Tales: The Soul of Man in the Soviet –and Russian–Twentieth Century Chapter 9 Freedom, Faith and the Moral Foundations of Self–Government: Solzhenitsyn’s Final Word to Russia and the West A Life Rooted in Conscience A State Prize The Prospects for Repentance An Archival Revolution Two Revolutions Two Hundred Years Together Learning About the Past Three Leaders Building Democracy From the Bottom Up A Meaningful Opposition Parties and Popular Representation Making Room for Small Businesses A “National Idea”? Russia and the West The Future of Russian Literature The Church in Russia Today A Man of Faith and Reason Three Prayers An Encounter With the Polish Pope 1 Orthodoxy and the Neo–Pagan Temptation A Calm and Balanced Attitude Toward Death Notes Appendix 1 “Really Existing Socialism” and the Archival Revolution Wooden Words Red Holocaust Black Book Gulag Memoirs Testaments to Violence and Lies History and the Totalitarian Temptation Appendix 2 Introduction: Returning to ‘The Gulag’ The Gift of Incarnation Index

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Book SynopsisJose Carlos Mariategui (1894-1930) is widely recognised across Latin America as one of the most important and innovative Marxist thinkers of the twentieth century. Yet his life and work are largely unknown to the English speaking world. In this gripping political biography - the first written in English - Mike Gonzalez introduces readers to the inspiring life and thought of the Peruvian socialist. As one of the first modern thinkers to discuss what Marxism has to offer, and to learn from, the struggles of Indigenous peoples, his ideas have an immediate relevance in the context of Standing Rock and other native-led fights challenging pipelines across North America.Trade Review“Mariátegui’s Marxism involved a deep, almost archaeological, appreciation for the deposition and accumulation of Peruvian history's sedimentary layers. In his brief life he probed the complex particularities of that social formation across economics, history, politics, literature, and ideology. He intervened tirelessly in local affairs. At the same time, he knew these immediate, local concerns did not exist in pristine isolation from wider relations. With unparalleled determination, he insisted Peruvian reality could only be grappled with insofar as its innumerable entanglements with the rest of Latin America, and indeed the world—through the history of colonialism and capitalism—were fathomed and assimilated into revolutionary strategy. Latin America's socialist revolutions would never be a mere copy of European traditions, but they were nevertheless bound up in a shared universal project of emancipation. Mariátegui’s heretical Marxism involved a utopian-revolutionary dialectic, in which select elements of indigenous communal traditions of the pre-capitalist past were combined with a forward-looking post-capitalist future, where the difference of the particular wasn't cancelled by the project of the universal. This impressive book by Mike Gonzalez turns Mariátegui’s dialectic back on its author, parsing Mariátegui’s life and work with all the necessary attentiveness to time and place, while simultaneously borrowing selectively from its riches to help reinvent a living Marxism and revolutionary politics adequate to our present."—Jeffery R. Webber, author of The Last Day of Oppression, and the First Day of the Same: The Politics and Economics of the New Latin American Left "Mike Gonzalez has long championed José Carlos Mariátegui. His 2007 article in International Socialism is still one of the best introductions to Mariátegui, and if this book can bring this fascinating Latin American revolutionary to a wider English-speaking audience, so much the better."—Steve Cushion, author of A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution in The Chartist Praise for Hugo Chavez: Socialist for the Twenty-first Century: “Mike Gonzalez possesses a extraordinarily rich knowledge of the Latin American left, has engaged critically with the politics of modern military institutions, and has an abiding interest in independently-minded public figures. He has brought these singular attributes together in this lucid portrait of Hugo Chavez. “ —Professor James Dunkerley, Queen Mary University “For activists and scholars alike, this is an excellent biography, which mirrors in its nuances and subtleties the complexity of the Bolivarian process and the figure of Chavez himself.” —Jeffery R. Webber, Queen Mary University of London, author of The Last Day of Oppression and the First Day of The Same “A seminal work on the ideological and political formation of the former Venezuelan President and leading figure of twenty-first century socialism.” —Francesco Di Bernardo, LSE Review of BooksTable of Contents Introduction: the resurrection of a Marxist Peru caught between colonialism and modernity Learning his trade: Mariátegui’s “stone age” 1919: the year of change The discovery of Marxism: Mariátegui in Europe World crisis and the interpretation of Peruvian reality Seven Essays, a Marxist interpretation The agony of Mariátegui Mariátegui’s gift Bibliography (and resume of Mariátegui’s works)

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Book SynopsisErwin Rommel was a complex man: a born leader, brilliant soldier, a devoted husband and proud father; intelligent, instinctive, brave, compassionate, vain, egotistical, and arrogant. In France in 1940, then for two years in North Africa, then finally back in France again, in Normandy in 1944, he proved himself a master of armored warfare, running rings around a succession of Allied generals who never got his measure and could only resort to overwhelming numbers to bring about his defeat.And yet for all his military genius, Rommel was also naive, a man who could admire Adolf Hitler at the same time that he despised the Nazis, dazzled by a Führer whose successes blinded him to the true nature of the Third Reich. Above all, he was the quintessential German patriot, who ultimately would refuse to abandon his moral compass, so that on one pivotal day in June 1944 he came to understand that he had mistakenly served an evil man and evil cause. He would still fight for Germany even as he abandoned his oath of allegiance to the Führer, when he came to realize that Hitler had morphed into nothing more than an agent of death and destruction. In the end Erwin Rommel was forced to die by his own hand, not because, as some would claim, he had dabbled in a tyrannicidal conspiracy, but because he had committed a far greater crime - he dared to tell Adolf Hitler the truth.In Field Marshal historian Daniel Allen Butler not only describes the swirling, innovative campaigns in which Rommel won his military reputation, but assesses the temper of the man who in the final reckoning fought only for his country, with no dark depths beyond.Trade ReviewThis book is a tour de force and easily one of the best that I have reviewed for Arrse. It also defines what a military biography should be – heaven help anyone else planning a biography of Rommel. 5 stars. * Army Rumour Service *Daniel's biography of Rommel is both educational and entertaining - I didn't know, for example, that he had had some kind of epiphany regarding the true nature of the Third Reich and its evil leader, Adolf Hitler. Fascinating stuff, a brilliant biography of a legend of the second world war. * Books Monthly *…an engaging human story. * Miniature Wargames - Chris Jarvis *

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Book SynopsisWith his parting words “I shall return,” General Douglas MacArthur sealed the fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet one young Army Captain named Russell Volckmann refused to surrender. He disappeared into the jungles of north Luzon where he raised a Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla war against the Japanese, killing over 50,000 enemy soldiers. At the same time he established radio contact with MacArthur’s HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces to key enemy positions. When General Yamashita finally surrendered, he made his initial overtures not to MacArthur, but to Volckmann.This book establishes how Volckmann’s leadership was critical to the outcome of the war in the Philippines. His ability to synthesize the realities and potential of guerrilla warfare led to a campaign that rendered Yamashita’s forces incapable of repelling the Allied invasion. Had it not been for Volckmann, the Americans would have gone in “blind” during their counter-invasion, reducing their efforts to a trial-and-error campaign that would undoubtedly have cost more lives, materiel, and potentially stalled the pace of the entire Pacific War.Second, this book establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine and the true “Father” of Army Special Forces - a title that history has erroneously awarded to Colonel Aaron Bank of the ETO. In 1950, Volckmann wrote two Army field manuals: Operations Against Guerrilla Forces and Organization and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare, though today few realize he was their author. Together, they became the Army’s first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations. Taking his argument directly to the Army Chief of Staff, Volckmann outlined the concept for Army Special Forces. At a time when U.S. military doctrine was conventional in outlook, he marketed the ideas of guerrilla warfare as a critical force multiplier for any future conflict, ultimately securing the establishment of the Army’s first special operations unit—the 10th Special Forces Group.Volckmann himself remains a shadowy figure in modern military history, his name absent from every major biography on MacArthur, and in much of the Special Forces literature. Yet as modest, even secretive, as Volckmann was during his career, it is difficult to imagine a man whose heroic initiative had more impact on World War II. This long overdue book not only chronicles the dramatic military exploits of Russell Volckmann, but analyzes how his leadership paved the way for modern special warfare doctrine.

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Book Synopsis1939 was a glorious year for Hermann Goering. He spent it entertaining dignitaries visiting the Third Reich, attending galas, going on official visits, giving rousing speeches at factories and military parades, and indulging in his love of fine art, rich cuisine and sumptuous clothes and jewels. Ever vain, pompous and ambitious, in 1939 he attained the summit of his power and popularity when Hitler, speaking to a packed Reich Chancellery on 1 September, named him his successor. Goering's rise was inseparable from that of his Luftwaffe. As commander-in-chief, he basked in the glory of the Condor Legion's victory in Spain in April 1939 and the Luftwaffe's decisive role in the Blitzkrieg of Poland in September. From these encounters, the Luftwaffe emerged as the world's most feared and respected air force-but beyond the trappings of victory, there were deep-seated flaws. Fearing their exposure against a more powerful enemy, Goering did not want Germany to go to war with Great Britain and France. Hermann Goering: From Madrid to Warsaw and Beyond, 1939 is a photographic chronicle of a momentous year in the life of the Luftwaffe's commander-in-chief, showing him at his most happy and self-confident, and equally, at his most anxious about what the future might bring.Table of ContentsDedication; Acknowledgments; Timeline; Introduction: Two Wars that Hermann Goering as Arminius Won; Reich; Balbo; Spain; Steel; Rechlin; Dahlerus; Poland; Berlin; Burgerbrau; Sitzkrieg; Conclusion; Bibliography; About the Author.

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the story of the various Allied operations and schemes instigated to keep Spain and Portugal out of WWII, which included the widespread bribery of high ranking Spanish officials and the duplicity of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr.Ian Fleming and Alan Hillgarth were the architects of Operation Golden Eye, the sabotage and disruption scheme that would be put in place had Germany invaded Spain. Fleming visited the Iberian Peninsula and Tangiers several times during the war, arguably his greatest achievement in WWII and the closest he came to being a real secret agent. It was these visits which supplied much of the background material for his fiction – Fleming even called his home on Jamaica where he created 007 'Goldeneye'.The book begins with Hitler's dilemma about which way to move, and his meeting with Francisco Franco at Hendaye in October 1940, a major turning point in the war when an alliance between Germany and Spain seemed possible. Simmons explores the British reaction to this, with Operation Tracer being created by Admiral Godfrey, head of Naval Intelligence. This was a plan to leave a listening and observation post buried in the Rock of Gibraltar should it have fallen to the Germans. A chapter is also devoted to Portugal – the SIS and SOE operations there and the vital Wolfram wars. Operation Golden Eye was eventually put on standby in 1943 as the risk of the Nazis occupying Spain was much reduced. Simmons consulted Foreign Office, SOE, CIA and OKW files when writing this book.

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Book SynopsisTen years after the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, a career Foreign Service officer, Thomas J. Corcoran, set down in writing his thoughts on the history of U.S. State Department policy during America's involvement with South Vietnam. Like many Americans of his generation, he was perplexed by the failure of America to achieve its goals in South Vietnam. As an ambassador and with over 30 years of diplomatic experience – beginning in 1948 when he was assigned to Hanoi and involving other postings in Southeast Asia – he brought to his analysis a long and rich personal experience with events in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.The result is a thoughtful, objective and well-researched study that chronicles the key policy decisions made by the US State Department throughout the entire period from 1945 to 1975; decisions that ultimately led to the first war lost by the United States. In his extensive study, Corcoran does an excellent job of exposing many of the myths and falsehoods found in orthodox histories of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Andrew R. Finlayson (COL, USMC, Ret) About the Author Part I. The Beginnings: 1945-1954 Part II. Beginnings of United States Involvement (1955–1963) Part III. Deepening U.S. Involvement (1964–1968) Part IV. Conclusion of U.S. Involvement (1968–1975) Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe first major profile of Ukraine's courageous President Volodymyr Zelensky!From comedian to president to freedom fighter, this is the story of Volodymyr Zelensky, the man who stood up to Vladimir Putin and forever changed the world.

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Book Synopsis'If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.' - Robert Capa. 'Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography' is a brilliant portrayal of the career of the great war photographer who, at the time of his death in 1954, had only one wish: to be an unemployed war photographer. 'It is not always easy' he said, 'to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the suffering.' Born in 1913 to a Jewish family in Budapest, Endre Friedmann left home at 18 for Germany where he studied journalism and political science and worked in a photo agency darkroom. In 1933, Friedmann went to Paris where he shared a darkroom with Henri Cartier-Bresson and lived with Gerda Taro, also a photographer. Together they contrived the name and image 'Robert Capa, famous American photographer'. Capa made several trips to document the Spanish Civil War, where he took the seminal image, 'Death of a Loyalist Soldier' for which he was heralded as 'the greatest war photographer in the world'. By the start of World War II, Capa was in New York freelancing for LIFE, Time, and other publications. He went abroad with the US army to record Allied involvement in WWII, including D-Day on Omaha beach. Disembarking from a landing boat, he took the only images of the invasion. He went on to cover the war in Leipzig, Nuremberg, Berlin, London and Paris. Even now, it is the D-Day images that marked him as the world's greatest war photographer. 'Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography', written in the first person, follows his personal and professional life and through his eyes, the social upheaval and earth-shattering wars of the 20th century. It shows his intimate life and his relationships with the day's larger-than-life personalities: Ingrid Bergman, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and many others. Sepia watercolours wash the book in the fog of war and recall Capa's generation on the cusp of colour film. They show his professional work, his personal battles, his victories and struggles, and his legacy: the founding of the Magnum, a cooperative photo agency which gives photographers control of their work. In 1954, having sworn off war photography but in need of money, he left to cover his fifth war, in Indochina. Driven by his conviction that 'if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough,' he was with a French patrol when he stepped on a landmine and was killed, camera in hand.

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Book Synopsis'A gripping tale of royal feuds and divided kingdoms' - AMANDA FOREMANParis, 1572. Catherine de' Medici, the infamous queen mother of France, is a consummate pragmatist and powerbroker who has dominated the throne for thirty years. Her youngest daughter, Marguerite, the glamorous 'Queen Margot', is a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother can neither intimidate nor fully control. When Catherine forces the Catholic Marguerite to marry the Protestant Henry of Navarre, she creates not only savage conflict within France but also a potent rival within her own family. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, international espionage and adultery form the background to a extraordinary story about two formidable queens, featuring a fascinating array of characters including such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots and Nostradamus.Trade ReviewA gripping tale of royal feuds and divided kingdoms -- AMANDA FOREMANGoldstone upends conventional thought with this well-researched and well-written book, arguing that Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), the French queen mother, was less Machiavellian in nature than generally believed and that she reacted to geopolitical situations with disastrous results for both her family and France ... Goldstone's witty comments make this historical family drama as easy to read as the best fiction, but it's all the more tragic for being true * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *This engrossing, action-packed narrative immerses readers in a tumultuous period of European history * LIBRARY JOURNAL *A thrilling tale packed with historical details and shocking revelations. Nancy Goldstone writes with cinematic clarity and vividly brings to life two indomitable women whose ambitions changed the course of European history -- IVANA LOWELLNancy Goldstone leads her reader with a very sure hand through the most dramatic events of Renaissance France. Her narrative is so gripping that THE RIVALS unfolds like a thriller -- ANKA MUHLSTEINOne of the challenges facing any historian of this period is the sheer profusion of themes that need to be handled ... What makes Goldstone's biography so enjoyable is that she manages, thanks to the clarity of her presentation, to lead readers through this labyrinth with a sure and steady hand ... She is a popular historian whose writing is based on very serious research, with a gift for telling the most complicated tale in vivid, accessible prose * NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS *

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Book Synopsis'Sensitive, moving and finely textured' Guardian'Fantastic' Dan SnowFor the great majority of his long life, Benjamin Franklin was a loyal British royalist. In 1757, having made his fortune in Philadelphia and established his fame as a renowned experimental scientist, he crossed the Atlantic to live as a gentleman in the heaving metropolis of London. With just a brief interlude, a house in Craven Street was to be his home until 1775. From there he mixed with both the brilliant and the powerful, whether in London coffee house clubs, at the Royal Society, or on his summer travels around the British Isles and continental Europe. He counted David Hume, Matthew Boulton, Joseph Priestley, Edmund Burke and Erasmus Darwin among his friends, and as an American colonial representative he had access to successive Prime Ministers and even the King.The early 1760s saw Britain's elevation to global superpower status with victory in the Seven Years War and the succession of the young, active George III. These two events brought a sharp new edge to political competition in London and redefined the relationship between Britain and its colonies. Though Franklin long sought to prevent the break with Great Britain, his own actions would finally help cause that very event. On the eve of the American War of Independence, Franklin fled arrest and escaped by sea. He would never return to London. With his unique focus on the fullness of Benjamin Franklin's life in London, George Goodwin has created an enthralling portrait of the man, the city and the age.Trade ReviewThere are three Benjamin Franklins, the American, the British and the French. The first and the last are famous, the second forgotten ... The British Franklin, the subject of this fascinating and detailed biography, may well be the real Franklin ... George Goodwin's vividly detailed account presents Franklin as a scientific, sociable Londoner. It was Britain's loss he could not remain one. -- Dominic Green * LITERARY REVIEW *wonderful ... to be reminded of a time when America produced great men who revered science, were sceptical towards religion, eagerly studied philosophy and argued with both wit and wisdom -- Gerard DeGroot * THE TIMES *interesting, lively account of Franklin's 'British life' ... Goodwin presents a diverting portrait of Franklin's place in British Enlightenment culture, but his real forte is political history. Goodwin's detailed narrative of Franklin's diplomatic failures offers a fascinating perspective on this descent from imperial triumph to imperial catastrophe. -- Jeffrey Collins * WALL STREET JOURNAL *The respected British historian and biographer George Goodwin provides us with a thoroughly researched and accessibly written chronicle of that important time of Franklin's transformation from place-seeking provincial lobbyist to risk-taking revolutionary sparkplug . . .Mr. Goodwin's story is the stuff of suspenseful history. * THE WASHINGTON TIMES *[Goodwin's] narrative moves gracefully from heated confrontations with cabinet ministers to intimate aspects of Franklin's home life. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *A sensitive, finely textured and moving account * THE OLDIE *Elegantly written ... an enjoyable introduction to Franklin's time in the imperial metropolis. Replete with anecdote -- John Brewer * NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS *Benjamin Franklin in London is out now everybody. You must get a copy, it is fantastic. -- Dan Snow * HISTORY HIT PODCAST *Goodwin's enjoyable biography... -- Tim Stanley * HISTORY TODAY *

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Book SynopsisGilles Deleuze, the person and philosopher, was both singular and multifaceted. Frida Beckman traces Deleuze's remarkable intellectual journey, mapping the encounters from which his life and work emerged. She considers how his life and philosophical developments resonate with historical, political and philosophical events, from the Second World War to the student uprisings in the 1960s, the opening of the experimental University of Paris VIII and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although less of a public figure than many of his contemporaries, Deleuze's life and philosophy are bound up with his numerous friendships, collaborations and disputes with several of the period's most influential thinkers, as well as his connections with writers, artists and film scholars. Beckman considers the events, moods and intensities that were generated by this multiplicity of encounters throughout his life. The book follows Deleuze from the salons to which he was invited as a young student through his popularity as a young teacher to the development of the rich phases of his philosophical work.While resisting the idea of 'Deleuzians', the book also reviews a post-Deleuzian legacy and the influence of this extraordinary thinker on contemporary philosophy.Trade Review'Beckman draws from a stunning array of primary and secondary texts, interviews, and letters to offer a skillful and faithful study.' - Charles W. Stivale, Distinguished Professor of French at Wayne State University 'Beckman skillfully weaves together a narrative that moves between Deleuze's life and what he called "a life". Along the way, many of Deleuze's most important concepts are clarified and critically analyzed in a way that will make this Critical Life both a valuable resource for scholars and an excellent introduction to his life and work.' - Alan D. Schrift, F. Wendell Miller Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College

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Book Synopsis'Bernie Sanders has changed US politics forever' Owen Jones The Sunday Times bestseller Bernie Sanders is one of the most influential voices in a global movement fighting injustice. He has dominated two Democratic primary races, and changed the political conversation around the world. But he began as an unknown underdog. So how did he get here? In this remarkable memoir, Sanders shows how a young man from Brooklyn, via Civil Rights demonstrations and a lifetime of independent politics, became one of the most radical voices in America. He provides a unique insight into the campaign that galvanized a movement, and shares experiences from the campaign trail as well as the ideas and strategies that shaped it. And, drawing on decades of experience as an activist and public servant, he outlines his vision for continuing this revolution.Trade ReviewPraise for Bernie Sanders: 'Gives us a glimpse of what politics could be like' -- Yanis VaroufakisA decent, honest person. It's pretty unusual in the political system. -- Noam ChomskySanders' success today shows that much of America is tired of rising inequality and these so-called political changes, and intends to revive both a progressive agenda and the American tradition of egalitarianism. -- Thomas PikettyOnly Bernie Sanders can break the power of capitalism -- Paul Mason

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Book SynopsisOutside of the Nazi hierarchy, Odilo Globocnik is almost certainly the most culpable in the planned and almost successfully executed attempt to annihilate all the Jews of Europe. In producing this book, the author was soon to discover several interesting facets to the history of this unsavory character. Not only did he play a leading role in the process of murdering the Jews, he was also the arch highwayman in the plunder of their possessions. Additionally, he was responsible for the compulsory uprooting of thousands of Polish non-Jewish citizens, the destruction of their communities, and the trafficking of enforced slave laborers. Often justifiably vilified for his crooked dealings as Gauleiter of Vienna, his function as asset stripper of the Polish Jews is overshadowed by his unquestionable major role in their physical destruction. The ultimate crime of mass murder far outweighs the less significant, but nevertheless considerable, offenses of robbery and human trafficking, for obvious reasons. Odilo Globocnik was guilty of them all.Table of ContentsForeword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Early Days; 2 City of Music; 3 Gauleiter; 4 The New Man in Town; 5 The First Grand Strategy; 6 The Globus Clique; 7 Quest for Germanic Blood; 8 Head Office in Berlin; 9 The Psychopath’s Club; 10 The Road to Heaven; 11 Aktion Reinhardt; 12 Bełżec; 13 Sobibor; 14 Treblinka, the Assembly Line of Death; 15 Jilted; 16 Harvest Festival in Utopia; 17 Golden Boy Tarnished; 18 OZAK; 19 Rumbled; 20 A Life Evaluated ; Appendix I Himmler’s Posen Speech; Appendix II The Stroop Report; Appendix III The Globocnik Reports; Appendix IV Department of the Army Pamphlet (Extract); Appendix V General Government as at 1 September 1941; Appendix VI The Jewish Population of Lublin District; Appendix VII Aktion Reinhardt Camps Personnel; Appendix VIII The Katzmann Report; Appendix IX T4 Reviewers; Appendix X The Confessions of Kurt Gerstein (Extract); Appendix XI The Franke-Griksch Report (Extract); Appendix XII List of Globocnik’s Awards and Decorations; Appendix XIII Christian Wirth—Observations by Franz Suchomel; Endnotes; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisSir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) is now mostly remembered as a genius of architecture – but he was also an accomplished polymath, who only came to architecture quite late in life. Most famous as the mastermind behind the rebuilding of St Paul’s Cathedral and more than fifty parish churches after the Great Fire of London, among his countless other projects Wren also designed the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich, and much of Hampton Court Palace. Replete with colourful images of his buildings, this concise biography tells the story of a man whose creations are still popular tourist attractions to this day, but also casts light on Wren’s credentials as an intellectual and a founding member of the Royal Society.Table of ContentsIntroduction Early Days and a Man of Science and Invention Discovering Architecture Churches and Cathedrals A Royal Architect of Distinction Latter Days and Secular Works Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisGenghis Khan was by far the greatest conqueror the world has ever known, whose empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe, including all of China, the Middle East and Russia. So how did an illiterate nomad rise to such colossal power, eclipsing Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon? Credited by some with paving the way for the Renaissance, condemned by others for being the most heinous murderer in history, who was Genghis Khan? His actual name was Temujin, and the story of his success is that of the Mongol people: a loose collection of fractious tribes who tended livestock, considered bathing taboo and possessed an unparallelled genius for horseback warfare. United under Genghis, a strategist of astonishing cunning and versatility, they could dominate any sedentary society they chose.Combining fast-paced accounts of battles with rich cultural background and the latest scholarship, Frank McLynn brings vividly to life the strange world of the Mongols, describes Temujin’s rise from boyhood outcast to become Genghis Khan, and provides the most accurate and absorbing account yet of one of the most powerful men ever to have lived.Trade ReviewThis powerful and comprehensive study of the great Mongol takes your breath away with the sheer scale and fury of the man’s conquests and cruelties. Told with chilling relish -- Melvyn Bragg * Observer Books of the Year *A formidable study of the world’s greatest conqueror. With this compelling history of a brilliant, complex leader and ruthless master of warfare, McLynn has done his man proud -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *McLynn has carefully synthesised the work of hundreds of scholars to create a sensitive and immensely detailed portrait of an extraordinary leader * The Times *A vivid, page-turning biography * Spectator *Fuses classic biography with a colourful study of medieval Mongolian culture … recounts in detailed, elegant prose the life and legacy of one of history’s greatest monsters * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis'Fascinating' - Eamon Dunphy'Meticulously researched' - Sunday Independent'A wonderful account of the special relationships between Ireland and the USA' Bertie AhernThe links between Ireland and US presidents extend much further and deeper than JFK: from Andrew Jackson in 1829 to Woodrow Wilson in 1913 and Joe Biden in 2021, Ireland's sway in the White House is hugely significant.Spanning the centuries, from the American Revolution to the birth of the Irish Republic and JFK's heady glamour, The Green and White House takes in political machinations and the firebrands who pushed for freedom, justice and peace for Ireland.For centuries, Irish emigrants crossed the Atlantic by boat, but an intense diplomatic bromance has seen American commanders-in-chief returning to remote Irish villages via Air Force One and armoured limousines. Each homecoming turns local people into international media darlings, but this transatlantic courtship has secured Ireland an annual invite to the White House - something no other nation can rival.The Green And White House takes a wry look at the special relationship one tiny nation shares with the world's greatest superpower.

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Book Synopsis'Adam Plowright's excellent book captures the strangeness of Macron's life' Evening StandardTHE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF EMMANUEL MACRON IN ENGLISHFrom total unknown to one of Europe's most powerful men in just a few years, at 39, France's youngest leader since Napoleon is intent on conquering the world stage. But what lies beneath the façade of this youthful, ultra-confident and calculating president? How did someone from small-town France assemble -- in just 12 months -- the network, team and finances to win the presidency? Now elected, can he make the French feel better about themselves? Can he rally Europe around him and turn the tide of right-wing nationalism sweeping the continent? Critically, what will his presidency mean for Britain?Featuring never-before printed interviews with key members of Macron's team, his friends, mentors and political detractors, acclaimed Paris-based journalist Adam Plowright asks: can the shine on this brilliant new president last? And for how long?Trade ReviewAdam Plowright's excellent book captures the strangeness of Macron's life -- Richard Vinen * Evening Standard *Eye-catching detail * Financial Times *For real insight into the remarkable rise - and character - of the new French president, Plowright's is the book to read * Financial Times *a highly readable and well-judged portrait of a fascinating character whose emergence on the world stage earlier this year took many outside France entirely by surprise. * The Times *Written in a highly approachable style, the book reveals how a combination of intelligence, charm and good fortune helped Macron get to the top, and also explores the possible pitfalls that lie ahead. * French Property News *

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Book SynopsisTwenty 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.

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Book SynopsisMichael Gove is one of the most recognisable faces in British politics - and one of the most divisive. Whether it's taking on the education `blob', acting as a frontman for the Brexit campaign or orchestrating one of the bloodiest political assassinations in the history of British politics, Gove is a man who makes things happen. But it was almost so different, and his story, from being born into care to standing for the leadership of the Conservative Party, could have come straight from the pages of a Charles Dickens novel. A charming man to his friends, and a cold-blooded zealot to his enemies, Gove provokes a reaction from everyone, be it loyalty, anger, respect or fury. Love him or hate him, it's impossible to deny Gove's impact on the UK over the past ten years, and, with Brexit still up in the air, he will continue to play a key role in the future of the country. Political journalist Owen Bennett's groundbreaking biography takes in original research as well as interviews with current and former Cabinet ministers, ex-colleagues from the BBC and The Times, and numerous other key players in Gove's life story. Lively and insightful in equal measure, Michael Gove: A Man in a Hurry reveals what turned the adopted son of an Aberdeen fishing family into one of the key political figures of the decade.Trade Review"Essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the last three years at Westminster." Choice Magazine "A lively, entertaining and highly perceptive profile." The Sunday Business Post

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Book SynopsisUnseen behind the throne, two sides of the royal bloodline competed for influence, and egregious family secrets had to be protected. Meanwhile, in public, a succession of family ruptures put the monarchy under unprecedented scrutiny from the world's media. From the turbulent loves of Princess Margaret to the tragic saga of Princess Diana, from the torments of Prince Charles to the arrival of Meghan Markle, tensions gripped the House of Windsor. Through all this, Elizabeth II remained steadfast in her values while many of those around her seemed to lose their moorings. Clive Irving's gripping account casts new light on seventy tempestuous years of British history, exploring how the Queen, uncomfortable with the pace of the social and cultural changes in her nation, and often seeming out of touch, resolutely kept the monarchy stable in a rapidly changing world. With unparalleled insight, Irving examines the pivotal events of the Queen's reign and then steps above them to assess her role in the royal family's Faustian pact with the media. The final irony is, as Irving's carefully measured scrutiny shows, that in the last decades of her reign the Queen endures to become one of the most admired people in the world while remaining one of the least known and understood. She will likely be the last Queen of the United Kingdom.Trade Review"Clive Irving's immensely readable book brings real authority, context and personal insight to our understanding of the Queen. As a newspaperman in the center of the coverage for decades, he has a wonderful eye for the illuminating detail and a sense of history that pulls together the threads of social and political change, never losing sight of the remarkable woman at the center of his enquiring gaze. The Last Queen is as entertaining as it is essential, and I read it with gusto." - Tina Brown “Irving puts his mark on a familiar story with his confident assessments and insider perspective on the British press. Royal watchers will delight in this richly detailed appraisal of the world’s oldest reigning monarch.” - Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisIn this concise yet comprehensive critical biography, Ritchie Robertson examines the work of Friedrich Nietzsche within the context of his life. The book traces Nietzsche’s development from outstanding classical scholar to cultural critic, who measured Imperial Germany by the standards of ancient Greece. It follows him thence to prophet (in the persona of Zarathustra) and savage polemicist against modern liberal values, offering a ‘philosophy of the future’. Robertson argues that Nietzsche’s middle-period writings offer a subtle and searching analysis of his culture, more rewarding than the strident and often-controversial later works. The book also assesses Nietzsche’s claim to be continuing the Enlightenment, and shows that he valued reason, evidence and fact, without which his historical case against Christianity would make no sense.

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Book SynopsisSoldier by instinct, sailor by fate… The relationship that defined a career – and saved a nationThe Navy almost finished the career of Britain’s greatest wartime leader. As a young minister responsible for the senior service from 1911, Churchill ruffled feathers and gave scant regard for the feelings of the admirals. When disaster struck in the First World War, it was the navy that led to his political downfall.But when he returned to power after years in the wilderness, the Royal Navy welcomed him with the cry, ‘Winston is back!’ From that point onwards, the successful pursuit of the war at sea remained his primary consideration.Within a few days of his return to the Admiralty, Churchill received a friendly overture from President Roosevelt, and there began a steady communication and friendship between the self-styled ‘Former Naval Person’ and the President of the United States, their differences subordinated in the pursuit of one shared goal: winning the war.From a veteran naval historian comes the extraordinary and gripping story of Churchill’s stormy association with the navy and the sea, perfect for readers of Richard Overy and Jonathan Dimbleby.

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary true story of survival and courage through the Holocaust.Poland, 1943. It was the last refuge of the desperate, a warren of sewers underneath their city. Above, as the Nazis destroyed the ghetto of the city of Lvov, a small band of Jews escaped into a grim network of tunnels, living for fourteen months with the city's waste, the sudden floods, the fumes and the damp, the rats, the darkness, and the despair.Their only support was a lone sewer worker, an ex-criminal who constantly threatened to leave them. Many died; some falling into the rushing waters of the river, some simply of exhaustion. At one point the survivors found themselves trapped in a chamber, filling to the roof with storm-water.Yet survive they did, even infiltrating the camps above to find their missing relatives. When the Russians liberated Lvov, they emerged from the sewers filthy, bent double, emaciated, unrecognizable... but alive.This powerful story based on a long series of interviews, and a hitherto private diary, creates a blazing testimony to human faith and endurance.

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Book SynopsisFully revised and updated.Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in British history, with a reign even longer than Queen Victoria. Her extraordinary life is expertly portrayed by Jennie Bond, former BBC royal correspondent, in this magnificent visually led biography. On February 6, 1952, Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, became Queen on the death of her father, King George VI. The reign that was to see major changes both in the country and Commonwealth and in the role of the monarchy began far away from Britain in a game reserve in Kenya.Elizabeth: A Celebration in Photographs, looks at this remarkable period in the history of Britain's monarchy in lavish and fascinating detail, featuring over 250 photographs. Constantly under scrutiny the entire time she was on the throne, this book presents a balanced and absorbing account of the Queen's life and of her role as the head of state in a country and a world that have changed almost beyond recognition in the seventy years she held the throne.Table of ContentsFamily Tree • Introduction • Princess Elizabeth • New Queen • First Decade • The Second Decade • The Third Decade • The Fourth Decade • The Fifth Decade • The Sixth Decade • Chronology • Index • Acknowledgements.

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Book SynopsisLetters from Helfenberg tells the story of a family and a house, and between the lines also of two countries, Germany and England, over a span of forty years. Starting in Berlin in 1909, when the shops were full of ‘modern hats with big brims and ostrich feathers, delicious fruit from southern lands, English jams and all kinds of fish in aspic, poultry, venison, sausages, partridge and pheasant pie’, it reaches its end again in Berlin in 1948, when survival depended on dangerous foraging for fruit or bartering with cigarettes and reels of cotton. Between these two extremes, the correspondence records the intervening years of war and peace, when marriage had led one part of the von Lippe family from Dresden to Cambridge. From operas to zeppelins, potato harvests to elections, the letters describe events as the family experienced them, together with a rich overlay of literary allusions and philosophical reflections. Their home in Helfenberg and its surrounding countryside are a constant theme, giving inspiration and support in times of joy and sorrow. Letters from a brother in the German navy also give a colourful picture of his voyages to the Americas in the decade before the First World War. From an age in which letters were the principal method of communication, this collection presents a vivid picture of social and family life in the shadow of great international events.

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Book SynopsisThe lives of the sons of Eleanor of Aquitaine are the stuff of legend. Her daughters, however, are less well known, and the fascinating personalities of her daughters-in-law have been almost entirely overlooked, as have those of the daughters she bore Louis VII of France. The Families of Eleanor of Aquitaine redresses this balance and showcases the lives, travels and careers of these ten very different women, who formed a great international network of political alliances that linked their parents, siblings, husbands and children all across Europe and the Holy Land.Some of these women found happiness; others endured lives of turmoil and conflict. Some of them were close; others never met. But two things linked them all: their connection to Eleanor and to the kingdoms over which she reigned – and their determination to exert authority on their own terms in a male-dominated world.Trade ReviewThis engaging read illuminates the lives of a group of fascinating medieval royal women. Many of these figures … are often only given brief mentions in histories of the period, yet here they come out of the shadow of the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine and get their own chance to shine. -- Elena Woodacre * Founder of the Royal Studies Network *Andrews offers a mesmerising tour of the intricate webs of female power in the medieval world. Through the lens of ten women closely connected to one of history’s most famous matriarchs, we get a unique perspective of the lives of women who were politically and dynastically of great importance … a lively, sparkling and intensely readable account of women who made history. -- Matt Lewis * author of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine *

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Book SynopsisEveryone knows the story of Enigma and secret codebreaking in the Second World War: the triumph of Bletchley Park over world-class cipher technology. Except that excellence in codebreaking was nearly betrayed by incompetence in codemaking.German codebreakers were effective and Allied codes and ciphers were weak. With both sides reading each other’s codes, the biggest secret of all – that the codes had been broken – was now at risk. Sooner or later, on one side or the other, the cipher failures would become known, the systems would be changed and the most valuable source of intelligence would dry up.Were it not for obstinacy, overconfidence and ostrichism. On both sides. The Germans demanded that the traitors be rooted out; the British stifled cipher questions beneath a tangle of committees. The codebreakers’ contest became a struggle to lose the cipher war.From the very outset, the Enigma secret was one of treachery, betrayal and deception. This is the story of the people who fought behind the scenes for cipher security – and of the Enigma traitors.

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Book Synopsis‘Beautifully told, this book brings a fascinating and compelling story to a wider public. A “must read” for those interested in women’s lives in the past.’ - June Purvis, Professor (Emerita) of Women’s and Gender History, University of Portsmouth, UK‘This important and absorbing book presents a unique history of Kitty Marshall. This is first-class history and a first-rate thriller.’ - Professor Clive Bloom, author of A History of Britain’s Fight for a RepublicKatherine ‘Kitty’ Marshall was destined to break with convention. Brought up in a socially active family, her inherent rebellious streak came into play in 1901, when she daringly divorced her husband and joined the newly founded Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), campaigning for women’s suffrage.In 1904, she married solicitor Arthur Willoughby Marshall and the couple soon became a powerhouse team in the movement: Arthur defending the suffragettes in court while Kitty, trained in jujitsu and a member of the WSPU’s elite team ‘the Bodyguard’, helped her close friend Mrs Pankhurst evade the clutches of the authorities under the infamous Cat and Mouse Act. All the while, Kitty was under the watchful eye of the Metropolitan Police, and in particular Detective Inspector Ralph Kitchener, who frequently encountered the Marshalls in his work trailing the suffragette ‘mice’.Following events as they unfolded on both sides, Mrs Pankhurst’s Bodyguard is a gripping account of Kitty and Arthur’s incredible work and their fight for political equality.Trade Review'Godfrey tells the story with a keen eye for historical context and an innate understanding of the world that Kitty, her fellow suffragettes and the police who sought them inhabited.' -- All About History * All About History *'...Kitty was an unstoppable force, yet she has been largely forgotten. Acquaint yourself with her story in this gripping read.' -- This England * This England *

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Book SynopsisThe Dams Raid is the RAF’s most famous bombing operation of the Second World War, and Guy Gibson, who was in command, its most famous bomber pilot. Of the six men who made up his crew on the Dams Raid – two Canadians, an Australian and three Englishmen – only one had previously flown with him, but altogether the men had previously amassed more than 180 operations.Drawing on rare and unpublished sources and family archives, this new study is the first to fully detail their stories. It explores the previous connections between the seven men who would eventually fly on just one operation together and examines how their relationships developed in the months they spent in each other’s company.

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Book SynopsisIn the early hours of the morning of June 3rd 1949, General Harold Alexander was alongside the quay at Dunkirk as he lifted a megaphone and called "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" There was no reply. He had directed the evacuation and was the last to leave Dunkirk.The very next day Churchill stood at the dispatch and gave his "We Shall Fight Them on The Beaches" speech.Tradition tells us that the dramatic events of the evacuation of Dunkirk, in which 300,000 BEF servicemen escaped the Nazis, was a victory gained from the jaws of defeat.  Rather than telling the tale of those who escaped, Peter Smith reveals a story of those sacrificed in the rear-guard battles.For us the Battle for France was not over. In Jun-1940 there were still 41,000 British soldiers fighting the Germans alongside their French allies. Mounting a vigorous counterattack at Abbeville and then conducting a tough defence between the Somme front and the Seine, Peter was fighting a very uncertain battle for mere survival for an even more uncertain future.Peter Smith tells his own story and captures the drama of those military operations and subsequent capture by Rommel''s 7th Panzer Division (the infamous ''Ghost Division'') who moved with clandestine stealth towards their objectives.Nothing prepares a man for war and there can be little doubt, Peter was not prepared, even less so for a life as a POW. "I lost my freedom that day on the June 8th 1940 when we were told it was every man-for-himself and didn''t regain it until April 1945 when I was rescued by Americans near Halberstadt, having walked 1,600km along the Baltic coast from East Prussia."Silent for nearly 80 years, Peter tells his story about his five lost years: the terrible things he saw at Thorn, Stuttoff, Stettin and Halberstadt; working on farms, Peter experienced first had the East Prussian way of life; his period in solitary confinement for ''stealing apple''; the disintegration and collapse of a whole way of life in East Prussia in the face of the Soviet invasion; and the terrible Long March, when 80,000 British POWs were forced to trek through a vicious winter westwards across Poland, alongside 2 million East German refugees as the Soviets approached."We were all prisoners, as POWs, and refugees alike embraced a dance with death in the coldest winter for 50 years as we all trudged west, and similarly the German Army as it battled to save its population."Peter''s story is also about friendship, of physical and mental resilience and of compassion for everyone who suffered. It was a difficult march undertaken in unimaginable wintery arctic conditions, where lack of food, the cold, and death were constant companions.

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Book SynopsisWas Hitler 'the greatest strategic genius of all time' as Nazi propaganda had it, or just an amateur?Why was the startling success of his campaigns in Poland and France followed by the blundering mistakes in Russia, North Africa and France? Might Germany even have won the war without Hitler's continual and disastrous interference?In this extraordinary history, John Strawson answers these and other questions by showing how Hitler's insatiable preoccupation with war and conquest was translated into reality. While the power of a revitalized German army came from Hitler, Strawson examines the Fuhrer's eccentric use of the most formidable war machine the world had ever seen.This lucid story of fire and incompetence is brought alive by the accounts of those who served Hitler both on his staff and as field commanders. Perfect for readers of Ian Kershaw and Anthony Beevor.

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