Biography: philosophy and social sciences Books

Book SynopsisKrys Malcolm Belc''s visual memoir-in-essays explores how the experience of gestational parenthood—conceiving, birthing, and breastfeeding his son Samson—eventually clarified his gender identity.Krys Malcolm Belc has thought a lot about the interplay between parenthood and gender. As a nonbinary, transmasculine parent, giving birth to his son Samson clarified his gender identity. And yet, when his partner, Anna, adopted Samson, the legal documents listed Belc as “the natural mother of the child.”   By considering how the experiences contained under the umbrella of “motherhood” don’t fully align with Belc’s own experience, The Natural Mother of the Child journeys both toward and through common perceptions of what it means to have a body and how that body can influence the perception of a family. With this visual memoir in essays, Belc has created a new kind of life record, one that engages directly with the documentation often thought to constitute a record of one’s life—childhood photos, birth certificates—and addresses his deep ambivalence about the “before” and “after” so prevalent in trans stories, which feels apart from his own experience.   The Natural Mother of the Child is the story of a person moving past societal expectations to take control of his own narrative, with prose that delights in the intimate dailiness of family life and explores how much we can ever really know when we enter into parenting.

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Book SynopsisA Good Morning America Recommended Book • A BuzzFeed Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Rumpus Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of the Month A pathbreaking feminist manifesto, impossible to put down or dismiss. Gina Frangello tells the morally complex story of her adulterous relationship with a lover and her shortcomings as a mother, and in doing so, highlights the forces that shaped, silenced, and shamed her: everyday misogyny, puritanical expectations regarding female sexuality and maternal sacrifice, and male oppression. —Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild GameGina Frangello spent her early adulthood trying to outrun a youth marked by poverty and violence. Now a long-married wife and devoted mother, the better life she carefully built is emotionally upended by the death of her closest friend. Soon, awakened to fault lines in her troubled marriage, Frangello is caught up in a recklessly passionate affair, leading a double life while continuing to project the image of the perfect family. When her secrets are finally uncovered, both her home and her identity will implode, testing the limits of desire, responsibility, love, and forgiveness.Blow Your House Down is a powerful testimony about the ways our culture seeks to cage women in traditional narratives of self-sacrifice and erasure. Frangello uses her personal story to examine the place of women in contemporary society: the violence they experience, the rage they suppress, the ways their bodies often reveal what they cannot say aloud, and finally, what it means to transgress being good in order to reclaim your own life.

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the Thurber Prize for American HumorIn this surprisingly upbeat memoir, Annabelle Gurwitch writes about the financial curveballs that can hit you in midlife . . . Somehow, Ms. Gurwitch manages to find humor in these setbacks. Ultimately, this is a story about harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most. —Tara Parker-Pope, The New York TimesFrom the New York Times bestselling author of I See You Made an Effort comes a timely and hilarious chronicle of downward mobility, financial and emotional.With signature sharp wit (NPR), Annabelle Gurwitch gives irreverent and empathetic voice to a generation hurtling into their next chapter with no safety net and proves that our no-frills new normal doesn't mean a deficit of humor.In these essays, Gurwitch embraces homesharing, welcoming a housing-insecure young couple and a bunny rabbit into her home. The mother of a college student in recovery who sheds the gender binary, she relearns to parent, one pronoun at a time. She wades into the dating pool in a Miss Havisham-inspired line of lingerie and flunks the magic of tidying up.You're Leaving When? is for anybody who thought they had a semblance of security but wound up with a fragile economy and a blankie. Gurwitch offers stories of resilience, adaptability, low-rent redemption, and the kindness of strangers. Even in a muted Zoom.

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Book SynopsisTwo unsung women whose power using food as a political weapon during the civil rights movement was so great it brought the ire of government agents working against them In early 1969 Cleo Silvers and a few Black Panther Party members met at a community center laden with boxes of donated food to cook for the neighborhood children. By the end of the year, the Black Panthers would be feeding more children daily in all of their breakfast programs than the state of California was at that time. More than a thousand miles away, Aylene Quin had spent the decade using her restaurant in McComb, Mississippi, to host secret planning meetings of civil rights leaders and organizations, feed the hungry, and cement herself as a community leader who could bring people together—physically and philosophically—over a meal. These two women’s tales, separated by a handful of years, tell the same story: how food was used by women as a potent and necessary ideological tool in both the rural south and urban north to create lasting social and political change. The leadership of these women cooking and serving food in a safe space for their communities was so powerful, the FBI resorted to coordinated extensive and often illegal means to stop the efforts of these two women, and those using similar tactics, under COINTELPRO--turning a blind eye to the firebombing of the children of a restaurant owner, destroying food intended for poor kids, and declaring a community breakfast program a major threat to public safety.But of course, it was never just about the food.Trade Review"One of the joys -- and reliefs -- of living in this moment is witnessing overlooked, silenced, and marginalized people and their histories be restored to their rightful place: our collective awareness and cultural and historical canon. Cope's work is a valuable addition to that of other scholar activists and invites all readers to learn, reflect, and continue to strive to develop a fuller, fairer, more accurate accounting of history." -- Julie Schwietert Collazo, cofounder and director of Immigrant Families Together and coauthor of The Book of Rosy : A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border"Suzanne Cope does a masterful job of telling the story of the modern civil rights movement through the lens of two of its unsung heroesAylene Quin and Cleo Silvers. These women understood both the practical and ideological power of a hot meal and a full belly, but most important they knew how to use traditional women's work to quietly build a revolution. Cope's absorbing prose keeps you turning the pages. For everyone with an interest in activism, women's history, or the history of civil rights, this is an essential and delicious read." -- Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, director and distinguished professor of Cooperstown Graduate Program"A work of dedication, force, and importance. Power Hungry restores unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, Cleo Silvers and Aylene Quinn, to their rightful place in history. The book gives pride of place to spheres of activism often overlooked because they are led by women of color and focused on feeding and caring for children. Cope's engaging storytelling and dogged research remind us that not all lost stories need remain lost." -- Tana Wojczuk, author of Lady Romeo: the Radical, Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, America's First Celebrity"Part of the whitewashing of Black history has been the inattention paid to the contributions of Black women. No more. In the well-researched Power Hungry , Suzanne Cope holds up the myriad ways Black women supported the fight for civil rights by organizing, educating, and feeding, literally, the movement. At the center of the book are the stories of the Black Panther Party's Cleo Silvers and of Aylene 'Mama' Quin of McComb, Mississippiwomen who imbued voting rights activists with hope, stamina and joy via food and community. Their lives speak to inspiration and determination and are as relevant today as they were in 1968." -- Katherine Dykstra, author of What Happened to Paula"For enslaved African American people, their legacy, trust ... the generational wealth of their descendants was rooted in food. Beyond just sustainability, food has been the currency of a people who experienced the power of ownership and value through each and every grain, crop, or dish they grew and cooked from scratch. Suzanne Cope in the pages of her new book not only understands this paradox but amplifies the story of how two women of color living separate lives in different places in America mirrored the impact of this truth as they feed a movement for change, lifting their communities one plate at a time." -- Alexander Smalls, James Beard--winning chef and author of Meals, Music and Muses and Between Harlem and Heaven"Required reading... Cope expertly contextualizes scholarship with the voices of the women who lived through the Freedom Summer." -- Buzzfeed News"A worthy tribute to the unsung heroines of the fight for racial equality." -- Publishers Weekly"An overlooked and inspiring story of female heroism on the civil-rights front." -- Booklist

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Book SynopsisWhen Mark Cladis embarks, he is spiritually lost, shaken by a failed marriage, and disillusioned by the academic life he has chosen. This is how Paul Kane and Mark Cladis, two Vassar professors, find themselves on a road trip through the Southwest desert. During the trip, Cladis encounters several teachers—Native American educators, local artists, Paul, and the desert itself—who inspire revelations about the land, education, friendship, and the ways of love. Cladis returns considerably healed, spiritually revived, and possessed of a new hope for his life and vocation. On this journey, equally thrilling and healing, he encounters dangers and seeming miracles. From these experiences he receives a distinct feeling of belonging—to the earth, to a spiritual and intellectual ancestry, to a friendship. In Search of a Course is a memoir about those days in the desert that saved his life. It discusses the emotional and embodied strategies he learned in the desert to mitigate suffering, find peace, and repair his life.Trade Review"Cladis has written an honest and beautiful book about finding a course after losing one's way. 'There are seasons of change that we must accept, even embrace,' he writes. Yesthe challenge is doing so in horrible weather. Through fractured love, through divorce, through religious crisis, through professional and academic upheaval, through deep seated anxietyCladis charts his course so that we might weather life's seasons more gracefully." John Kaag, author of New York Times bestsellers American Philosophy: A Love Story"What a rich feeling it is to fall under the spell of a truly compelling book. Mark S. Cladis layers introspective study with a thoughtful journey of personal loss and continuing discovery. His honesty and narrative grace combine with his gift for quoting from other writers to create a text of immense care and comfort. His long friendship with the poet/scholar Paul Kane shines as a bright thread tying the years together. A profound and meaningful book for students, teachers, people in transition, writers and friendswhich is to say, everybody. I love it". Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People's Poet Laureate of the United States (Poetry Foundation)"In Search Of A Course is a refreshingly ambitious and illuminating account of Cladis's impassioned confrontation with nothing less than the central questions of nature, religion, love, and education. This is a brave and important book." Ronald A. Sharp, Acting President emeritus, Kenyon College

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Book Synopsis"A warm and expansive portrait of a woman’s mind that feels at once singular and universal," this collection of essays interweaves commentary on modern life, feminism, art, and sex with the author''s own experiences of obsession, heartbreak, and vulnerability (BuzzFeed).Like a song that feels written just for you, Larissa Pham''s debut work of nonfiction captures the imagination and refuses to let go. Pop Song is a book about love and about falling in love—with a place, or a painting, or a person—and the joy and terror inherent in the experience of that love. Plumbing the well of culture for clues and patterns about love and loss—from Agnes Martin''s abstract paintings to James Turrell''s transcendent light works, and Anne Carson''s Eros the Bittersweet to Frank Ocean''s Blonde—Pham writes of her youthful attempts to find meaning in travel, sex, drugs, and art, before sensing that she might need to turn her gaze upon herself.   Pop Song is also a book about distances, near and far. As she travels from Taos, New Mexico, to Shanghai, China and beyond, Pham meditates on the miles we are willing to cover to get away from ourselves, or those who hurt us, and the impossible gaps that can exist between two people sharing a bed. Pop Song is a book about all the routes by which we might escape our own needs before finally finding a way home. There is heartache in these pages, but Pham''s electric ways of seeing create a perfectly fractured portrait of modern intimacy that is triumphant in both its vulnerability and restlessness. "Each of the essays in this debut collection reads like a mini-memoir . . . in which the author reflects on her experiences of young love, trauma, and transcendence through discussions of art and music . . . with an intimacy that is at once tender and expansive." —New York magazine

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Book SynopsisA brilliant, sinuous exploration of family and childhood memory by one of the most original British philosophers of the twentieth century.Germs is about first things, the seeds from which a life grows, as well as about the illnesses it incurs, the damage it sustains. Written at the end of his life by Richard Wollheim, one of the major philosophers of the late twentieth century, the book is not the usual story of growing up and getting on but a brilliant recovery and evocation of childhood consciousness and unconsciousness, an eerily precise rendering of that primitive, formative world we all come from in which we do not know either the world or ourselves for sure, and things—houses, clothes, meals, parents—loom large around us, as indispensable as they are out of our control. Richard Wollheim’s remarkably original memoir is a disturbing, enthralling, dispassionate but also deeply personal depiction of a child standing, fascinated and fearful, on the threshold of individual life.

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Book SynopsisJust a girl, standing in front of a reader, reminding them they aren't alone.

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Book SynopsisBased on the provocative film documentary of the same name, The Third Dive investigates the shocking death of a world-renowned conservation activist.When experienced diver and award-winning filmmaker Rob Stewart (Sharkwater and Sharkwater: Extinction) drowned while diving off the coast of the Florida Keys in 2017, it was a shock to the world's environmental movement.Reports suggested that Stewart was encouraged to perform a dangerous and ultimately fatal dive by a reckless Svengali-like instructor named Peter Sotis. Some bloggers went so far as to report that Sotis survived the dive by clawing his way onto the boat first, leaving Stewart to drown.A civil case was launched which directed blame at Horizon Divers, the company that had taken Stewart out on the dive. The allegation was that they had not done their jobs properly and left him to die in the water.Through interviews and investigative reporting, The Third Dive is a compelling read that attempts to uncover the mysterious and disturbing circumstances surrounding Rob Stewart's untimely death.

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Book SynopsisWhat are the long-term psychological costs of violence and war? Journalist Garry Leech draws from his experiences as a war correspondent, his ongoing personal struggle with PTSD and the latest research on this mental illness to provide a powerful and vivid answer to this question. For thirteen years, Leech worked in Colombia's rural conflict zones where he experienced combat, witnessed massacre sites and was held captive by armed groups. This raw account of his journey from war on the battlefield to an internal, psychological war at home illustrates how those who work with traumatized populations can themselves be impacted by trauma.Leech removes some of the stigmas, fears and ignorance related to PTSD in particular, and mental illness in general, by shedding light on a largely invisible illness that mostly manifests itself behind the closed doors of our homes. Ultimately, the book uses a journalist's journey through PTSD to provide a message of hope for all those who suffer from this illness.

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Book SynopsisThe Danish philosopher, theologian and author Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is widely considered to be one of the most important religious thinkers of the modern age. He is known as the `father of existentialism', but his work was also influential on theories of modernism, theology, Western culture, church politics and the Christian faith. His wit, imagination and humour have inspired a generation of followers from Franz Kafka to Woody Allen. But how did this inattentive schoolboy rise to critique the work of great thinkers such as Hegel and the German Romantics? Who was the unusual person writing behind the many pseudonyms? And in what way are Kierkegaard's concepts still relevant today? In this absorbing new biography Alastair Hannay unravels the mystery of Soren Kierkegaard's short but momentous career. Kierkegaard's key concepts and major works are described alongside the major incidents in his private and public life, from his longing for selfhood expressed at the age of 22, to a verbal assault on the Church in the months prior to his early death at the age of 42. Soren Kierkegaard is a story of a man destined to become a thorn in the side of society.

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Book SynopsisIsaiah Berlin was one of the great public intellectuals of his time. A magnetic speaker and beacon of liberal philosophy, he gained first-hand experience of some of the pivotal events of the twentieth century and crossed paths with luminaries from Virginia Woolf to Sigmund Freud. Declining to write an autobiography, Berlin instead agreed to give extensive interviews to acclaimed writer Michael Ignatieff in the final decade of his life. The result is a magisterial biography that penetrates deeply into Berlin's life and thought while capturing his vivid style of conversation. Reissued in this updated edition, it traces Berlin's journey to become one of his era's most vigorous defenders of liberty and individuality in the face of tyranny and dogma.Trade Review'Reading Ignatieff's Isaiah Berlin, you feel you are understanding not only Isaiah Berlin, but the history... I do not see how there could be a more insightful, more erudite, biography of this remarkable man' - Doris Lessing'A work of literature and an eloquent portrait... Though Berlin will be the subject of many future studies, one cannot imagine anyone feeling the need to improve on this biography' - Observer'Enthralling... An affectionate and admiring, but none the less independently-minded portrait... A serious book, but also a vivid, lively and uplifting one' - Evening Standard'A rare gem of a book...It will add a new dimension to the afterlife of the philosopher' - Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of how and why a talented writer came to take his own life. When Diana Athill met the man she calls Didi, an Egyptian in exile, she fell in love instantly and out of love just as fast. Didi moved into her flat, they shared housework and holidays, and a life of easy intimacy seemed to beckon. But Didi's sweetness and intelligence soon revealed a darker side - he was a gambler, a drinker and a womanizer, impossible to live with but impossible to ignore. With painful honesty, Athill explores the three years they spent together, a period that culminated in Didi's suicide - in her home - an event he described in the journals he left for her to read as 'the one authentic act of my life'.Trade ReviewOnly a few totally honest accounts of a human life exist. To see the truth of your own life you must have gotten beyong all illusions about yourself, and probably about the world, as well. Few of us do. Diana Athill is one of the few. * Washington Post *A book which gives a new dimension to honesty, a new comprehension to love * Vogue *Anyone who believes that human relationships are important cannot fail to be moved by this book * Daily Telegraph *An extraordinary memoir * Good Homes *

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Book Synopsis'Kerry Brown's Xi is the perfect primer for understanding Xi Jinping's status as China's greatest ruler since Mao and as this century's least assailable statesman' John Keay, author of China: A History'A valuable primer for anyone looking to get up to speed on Xi Jinping's rise to global power' Jeff Wasserstrom, Guardian'Offers a nuanced and thorough explanation of Xi's China and why the Communist Party, for all its flaws, has long life in it' Oliver Farry, Irish TimesAlthough Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, he remains an enigmatic figure in the West. His priority has always been to keep Chinese society as stable as possible, steering a course through a period of astounding economic growth, while ensuring that nothing challenges the political status quo.But with unrest stirring in Hong Kong, reports of human rights abuses taking place in the Xinjiang region and, devastatingly, the outbreak of a virus that would change the world, suddenly understanding Xi's China is more important than ever before.In this short and timely book, academic and author Kerry Brown examines the complexities behind the man, explaining the impact that his rule is already having on the West. But who is Xi really, and what is his vision for China's future? And, crucially, what does that mean for the rest of the world?Trade ReviewKerry Brown's Xi is the perfect primer for understanding Xi Jinping's status as China's greatest ruler since Mao and as this century's least assailable statesman' -- John Keay, author of China: A HistoryBrown's book provides a very readable account of Xi's childhood and rise through the ranks of the Communist party ... an interesting story -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times *A valuable primer for anyone looking to get up to speed on Xi Jinping's rise to global power -- Jeff Wasserstrom * Guardian *There are many books in English about Xi's China, but you'll struggle to find one on the man himself. This book by an academic who has worked and lived in China is a welcome contribution to filling that gap. -- Tim Marshall * Reaction *Highly readable and concise ... A nuanced and thorough explanation of Xi's China and why the Communist Party, for all its flaws, has long life in it -- Oliver Farry * Irish Times *A zesty, fast-paced, very 'human' read... [a] forensic political account -- Neil Mackay * Herald *Written by the veteran British China-watcher Kerry Brown... Brown pithily sums up [Xi Jinping's guiding vision] as "making China great again by making the Party great again" -- Tom Miller * Spectator *

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Book Synopsis'Astonishing... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator'SEBASTIAN FAULKS, Sunday Times'[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie'Kathryn Hughes, Guardian Book of the Day'A gripping masterpiece'BRETT KAHR, Freud Museum LondonMarch 1938: German soldiers are massing on the Austrian border, on the cusp of fulfilling Hitler's dream of absorbing the country into the Third Reich. Many Jews make frantic plans to flee to safety. But one of the most famous men in the world, unable to contemplate leaving his beloved Vienna, is not among them. His name is Sigmund Freud.Saving Freud is the story of a great man's life, and of the extraordinary people who managed to prolong it, by convincing him to escape to London: the Welsh physician who brought psychoanalysis to Britain; Napoleon's great-grandniece; an American ambassador; Freud's devoted daughter, Anna; and the doctor who risked his own life by staying at Freud's side.In examining the histories of both Freud and his closest circle, Andrew Nagorski brilliantly evokes the story of Europe in the first half of the Twentieth Century. This is a tale of a great city, a collapsing empire, a rising terror -and of a man who would change the way we think.Trade ReviewThe astonishing story of Sigmund Freud's last-minute escape from Vienna... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator: clear, objective and keen to keep things moving. -- Sebastian Faulks * Sunday Times *Andrew Nagorski has written a gripping masterpiece about one of the greatest figures in history, whose insights about human beings as "savage beasts" could not be more timely -- Professor Brett Kahr, Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London, and author of FREUD'S PANDEMICS[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie, tells the story of how a "rescue squad" was marshalled to get Freud out of danger before it was too late -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian Book of the Day *Unabashedly gripping and enjoyable, taking on the characteristics of a thriller as it builds to its denouement... Nagorski vividly evokes the atmosphere of [Vienna] in the 1930s, and especially the sudden and violent transition, after decades of resentful tolerance towards its Jewish citizens, to a mood of genocidal hostility. He also offers a tightly controlled, tension-filled account of the inexorable fall of Austria into the abyss of Nazi control -- Josh Cohen * Times Literary Supplement *Nagorski tells a riveting new story, one that shows just how narrow Freud's escape from the Nazi genocide was... The narrative pace and Nagorski's fluid writing give this book the character of an adventure story. It is an engrossing but sobering read that reminds us how many others without the resources of the Freud family had no similar options to make an exodus -- Rachel Newcomb * Washington Post *Fascinating... As Nagorski illustrates with cultural insight and a careful pacing of events, his flight to safety in order to 'die in freedom' amounts to a tale of unlikely resistance at a time of appalling tragedy. -- Simeon House * Mail on Sunday **** *In his fascinating new book Saving Freud, American author Andrew Nagorski pieces together the story of an eccentric bunch of friends and admirers of Freud -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail, Book of the Day *An insight-filled group portrait of the founder of psychoanalysis and his followers. It is also a psychobiographical thriller about the limits of genius -- Diane Cole * Wall Street Journal *Nagorski mixes the pacing of a historical thriller (think Alan Furst, but nonfiction, and starring therapists instead of spies) with a meditation on the limits of insight and what it means to be attached to a specific place and to live in a given moment in time...The result is hard to put down, poignant, and distressingly timely -- Patrick Blanchfield * New Republic *In a time in which the standing and integrity of psychoanalysis continues to be questioned, [Saving Freud] manages to show the extent to which people were entranced by Freud, how much this led some of them to love him, and how in doing so they revealed the deep ethical core of his person and his ideas -- Stephen Frosh * Jewish Chronicle *An intimate, touching portrait of a genius as an old man. Ill, myopic, in denial and terribly vulnerable, this Freud is more human than any I've encountered before. Andrew Nagorski has an artist's eye for revealing detail and a novelist's ability to bring to life a long lost world and its myriad denizens. -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A BEAUTIFUL MINDThis non-fiction work crackles like a novel... Saving Freud seems to have been written for the silver screen, and one can only hope that someone like Steven Spielberg finds his way to this book -- Kitty Kelley * Washington Independent Review of Books *Fascinating, eminently readable... A fresh look at Freud... Freud was magnetic, mythic, and Nagorski's lively and suspenseful biographical history will, it is hoped, recreate interest in this unique figure -- Joan Baum * NPR *Nagorski tells this little-known story in comprehensive and compassionate fashion. -- Sheldon Kirshner * Times of Israel *A richly contextual look at Freud's escape to London... Nagorski delivers a riveting page-turner... a fine biography * Kirkus starred review *Sigmund Freud's vibrant life in Vienna and narrow escape from the Gestapo are recounted in this entertaining history... The result is an invigorating look at a lesser-known chapter of Freud's well-documented life. * Publisher Weekly *As exciting and suspenseful as a spy novel, Andrew Nagorski's masterful narrative reveals how an eclectic group of Sigmund Freud's friends, ranging from an American ambassador to a French-born princess, came together to do the seemingly impossible: engineer his rescue from Nazi-controlled Austria as the Gestapo were closing in. Their successful efforts underscore how powerful love, loyalty, and friendship can be, even in the midst of overwhelming evil -- Lynne Olson, author of MADAME FOURCADE'S SECRET WARA riveting analysis of exile, old-age and friendship, Nagorski uses his characteristic clarity to tell an untold story about a well-known man. Highly exciting and no less historically ambitious for it; John Le Carré meets Ian Kershaw -- Emma Szewczak, author of THE OFFSETWith his characteristic clarity and meticulous research, Nagorski has once again produced a masterful work. Saving Freud is a page-turner, mixing biography and escape narrative, with a powerful reminder that historians need to pay attention not just to words, but to relationships -- Rebecca Erbelding, author of RESCUE BOARDPart engrossing biography of the father of psychoanalysis, part vivid group portrait of the circle of notables who rescued Sigmund Freud from the Nazis, Saving Freud ... captures the power of self-delusion and denial among even the most brilliant minds -- Kati Marton, author of THE CHANCELLOR

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Book Synopsis'Astonishing... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator'SEBASTIAN FAULKS, Sunday Times'[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie'Kathryn Hughes, Guardian Book of the Day'A gripping masterpiece'BRETT KAHR, Freud Museum LondonMarch 1938: German soldiers are massing on the Austrian border, on the cusp of fulfilling Hitler's dream of absorbing the country into the Third Reich. Many Jews make frantic plans to flee to safety. But one of the most famous men in the world, unable to contemplate leaving his beloved Vienna, is not among them. His name is Sigmund Freud.Saving Freud is the story of a great man's life, and of the extraordinary people who managed to prolong it, by convincing him to escape to London: the Welsh physician who brought psychoanalysis to Britain; Napoleon's great-grandniece; an American ambassador; Freud's devoted daughter, Anna; and the doctor who risked his own life by staying at Freud's side.In examining the histories of both Freud and his closest circle, Andrew Nagorski brilliantly evokes the story of Europe in the first half of the Twentieth Century. This is a tale of a great city, a collapsing empire, a rising terror - and of a man who would change the way we think.Trade ReviewThe astonishing story of Sigmund Freud's last-minute escape from Vienna... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator: clear, objective and keen to keep things moving. -- Sebastian Faulks * Sunday Times *Andrew Nagorski has written a gripping masterpiece about one of the greatest figures in history, whose insights about human beings as "savage beasts" could not be more timely -- Professor Brett Kahr, Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London, and author of FREUD'S PANDEMICS[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie, tells the story of how a "rescue squad" was marshalled to get Freud out of danger before it was too late -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian Book of the Day *Unabashedly gripping and enjoyable, taking on the characteristics of a thriller as it builds to its denouement... Nagorski vividly evokes the atmosphere of [Vienna] in the 1930s, and especially the sudden and violent transition, after decades of resentful tolerance towards its Jewish citizens, to a mood of genocidal hostility. He also offers a tightly controlled, tension-filled account of the inexorable fall of Austria into the abyss of Nazi control -- Josh Cohen * Times Literary Supplement *Nagorski tells a riveting new story, one that shows just how narrow Freud's escape from the Nazi genocide was... The narrative pace and Nagorski's fluid writing give this book the character of an adventure story. It is an engrossing but sobering read that reminds us how many others without the resources of the Freud family had no similar options to make an exodus -- Rachel Newcomb * Washington Post *Fascinating... As Nagorski illustrates with cultural insight and a careful pacing of events, his flight to safety in order to 'die in freedom' amounts to a tale of unlikely resistance at a time of appalling tragedy. -- Simeon House * Mail on Sunday **** *In his fascinating new book Saving Freud, American author Andrew Nagorski pieces together the story of an eccentric bunch of friends and admirers of Freud -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail, Book of the Day *An insight-filled group portrait of the founder of psychoanalysis and his followers. It is also a psychobiographical thriller about the limits of genius -- Diane Cole * Wall Street Journal *Nagorski mixes the pacing of a historical thriller (think Alan Furst, but nonfiction, and starring therapists instead of spies) with a meditation on the limits of insight and what it means to be attached to a specific place and to live in a given moment in time...The result is hard to put down, poignant, and distressingly timely -- Patrick Blanchfield * New Republic *In a time in which the standing and integrity of psychoanalysis continues to be questioned, [Saving Freud] manages to show the extent to which people were entranced by Freud, how much this led some of them to love him, and how in doing so they revealed the deep ethical core of his person and his ideas -- Stephen Frosh * Jewish Chronicle *An intimate, touching portrait of a genius as an old man. Ill, myopic, in denial and terribly vulnerable, this Freud is more human than any I've encountered before. Andrew Nagorski has an artist's eye for revealing detail and a novelist's ability to bring to life a long lost world and its myriad denizens. -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A BEAUTIFUL MINDThis non-fiction work crackles like a novel... Saving Freud seems to have been written for the silver screen, and one can only hope that someone like Steven Spielberg finds his way to this book -- Kitty Kelley * Washington Independent Review of Books *Fascinating, eminently readable... A fresh look at Freud... Freud was magnetic, mythic, and Nagorski's lively and suspenseful biographical history will, it is hoped, recreate interest in this unique figure -- Joan Baum * NPR *Nagorski tells this little-known story in comprehensive and compassionate fashion. -- Sheldon Kirshner * Times of Israel *A richly contextual look at Freud's escape to London... Nagorski delivers a riveting page-turner... a fine biography * Kirkus starred review *Sigmund Freud's vibrant life in Vienna and narrow escape from the Gestapo are recounted in this entertaining history... The result is an invigorating look at a lesser-known chapter of Freud's well-documented life. * Publisher Weekly *As exciting and suspenseful as a spy novel, Andrew Nagorski's masterful narrative reveals how an eclectic group of Sigmund Freud's friends, ranging from an American ambassador to a French-born princess, came together to do the seemingly impossible: engineer his rescue from Nazi-controlled Austria as the Gestapo were closing in. Their successful efforts underscore how powerful love, loyalty, and friendship can be, even in the midst of overwhelming evil -- Lynne Olson, author of MADAME FOURCADE'S SECRET WARA riveting analysis of exile, old-age and friendship, Nagorski uses his characteristic clarity to tell an untold story about a well-known man. Highly exciting and no less historically ambitious for it; John Le Carré meets Ian Kershaw -- Emma Szewczak, author of THE OFFSETWith his characteristic clarity and meticulous research, Nagorski has once again produced a masterful work. Saving Freud is a page-turner, mixing biography and escape narrative, with a powerful reminder that historians need to pay attention not just to words, but to relationships -- Rebecca Erbelding, author of RESCUE BOARDPart engrossing biography of the father of psychoanalysis, part vivid group portrait of the circle of notables who rescued Sigmund Freud from the Nazis, Saving Freud ... captures the power of self-delusion and denial among even the most brilliant minds -- Kati Marton, author of THE CHANCELLORThe astonishing story of Sigmund Freud's last-minute escape from Vienna... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator: clear, objective and keen to keep things moving. -- Sebastian Faulks * Sunday Times *Andrew Nagorski has written a gripping masterpiece about one of the greatest figures in history, whose insights about human beings as "savage beasts" could not be more timely -- Professor Brett Kahr, Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London, and author of FREUD'S PANDEMICS[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie, tells the story of how a "rescue squad" was marshalled to get Freud out of danger before it was too late -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian Book of the Day *Unabashedly gripping and enjoyable, taking on the characteristics of a thriller as it builds to its denouement... Nagorski vividly evokes the atmosphere of [Vienna] in the 1930s, and especially the sudden and violent transition, after decades of resentful tolerance towards its Jewish citizens, to a mood of genocidal hostility. He also offers a tightly controlled, tension-filled account of the inexorable fall of Austria into the abyss of Nazi control -- Josh Cohen * Times Literary Supplement *Nagorski tells a riveting new story, one that shows just how narrow Freud's escape from the Nazi genocide was... The narrative pace and Nagorski's fluid writing give this book the character of an adventure story. It is an engrossing but sobering read that reminds us how many others without the resources of the Freud family had no similar options to make an exodus -- Rachel Newcomb * Washington Post *Fascinating... As Nagorski illustrates with cultural insight and a careful pacing of events, his flight to safety in order to 'die in freedom' amounts to a tale of unlikely resistance at a time of appalling tragedy. -- Simeon House * Mail on Sunday **** *In his fascinating new book Saving Freud, American author Andrew Nagorski pieces together the story of an eccentric bunch of friends and admirers of Freud -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail, Book of the Day *An insight-filled group portrait of the founder of psychoanalysis and his followers. It is also a psychobiographical thriller about the limits of genius -- Diane Cole * Wall Street Journal *Nagorski mixes the pacing of a historical thriller (think Alan Furst, but nonfiction, and starring therapists instead of spies) with a meditation on the limits of insight and what it means to be attached to a specific place and to live in a given moment in time...The result is hard to put down, poignant, and distressingly timely -- Patrick Blanchfield * New Republic *In a time in which the standing and integrity of psychoanalysis continues to be questioned, [Saving Freud] manages to show the extent to which people were entranced by Freud, how much this led some of them to love him, and how in doing so they revealed the deep ethical core of his person and his ideas -- Stephen Frosh * Jewish Chronicle *An intimate, touching portrait of a genius as an old man. Ill, myopic, in denial and terribly vulnerable, this Freud is more human than any I've encountered before. Andrew Nagorski has an artist's eye for revealing detail and a novelist's ability to bring to life a long lost world and its myriad denizens. -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A BEAUTIFUL MINDThis non-fiction work crackles like a novel... Saving Freud seems to have been written for the silver screen, and one can only hope that someone like Steven Spielberg finds his way to this book -- Kitty Kelley * Washington Independent Review of Books *Fascinating, eminently readable... A fresh look at Freud... Freud was magnetic, mythic, and Nagorski's lively and suspenseful biographical history will, it is hoped, recreate interest in this unique figure -- Joan Baum * NPR *Nagorski tells this little-known story in comprehensive and compassionate fashion. -- Sheldon Kirshner * Times of Israel *A richly contextual look at Freud's escape to London... Nagorski delivers a riveting page-turner... a fine biography * Kirkus starred review *Sigmund Freud's vibrant life in Vienna and narrow escape from the Gestapo are recounted in this entertaining history... The result is an invigorating look at a lesser-known chapter of Freud's well-documented life. * Publisher Weekly *As exciting and suspenseful as a spy novel, Andrew Nagorski's masterful narrative reveals how an eclectic group of Sigmund Freud's friends, ranging from an American ambassador to a French-born princess, came together to do the seemingly impossible: engineer his rescue from Nazi-controlled Austria as the Gestapo were closing in. Their successful efforts underscore how powerful love, loyalty, and friendship can be, even in the midst of overwhelming evil -- Lynne Olson, author of MADAME FOURCADE'S SECRET WARA riveting analysis of exile, old-age and friendship, Nagorski uses his characteristic clarity to tell an untold story about a well-known man. Highly exciting and no less historically ambitious for it; John Le Carré meets Ian Kershaw -- Emma Szewczak, author of THE OFFSETWith his characteristic clarity and meticulous research, Nagorski has once again produced a masterful work. Saving Freud is a page-turner, mixing biography and escape narrative, with a powerful reminder that historians need to pay attention not just to words, but to relationships -- Rebecca Erbelding, author of RESCUE BOARDPart engrossing biography of the father of psychoanalysis, part vivid group portrait of the circle of notables who rescued Sigmund Freud from the Nazis, Saving Freud ... captures the power of self-delusion and denial among even the most brilliant minds -- Kati Marton, author of THE CHANCELLORThe astonishing story of Sigmund Freud's last-minute escape from Vienna... In the American journalist Andrew Nagorski this tale has found its ideal narrator: clear, objective and keen to keep things moving. -- Sebastian Faulks * Sunday Times *Andrew Nagorski has written a gripping masterpiece about one of the greatest figures in history, whose insights about human beings as "savage beasts" could not be more timely -- Professor Brett Kahr, Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London, and author of FREUD'S PANDEMICS[A] thrilling book, as edge-of-your-seat gripping as any heist movie, tells the story of how a "rescue squad" was marshalled to get Freud out of danger before it was too late -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian Book of the Day *Unabashedly gripping and enjoyable, taking on the characteristics of a thriller as it builds to its denouement... Nagorski vividly evokes the atmosphere of [Vienna] in the 1930s, and especially the sudden and violent transition, after decades of resentful tolerance towards its Jewish citizens, to a mood of genocidal hostility. He also offers a tightly controlled, tension-filled account of the inexorable fall of Austria into the abyss of Nazi control -- Josh Cohen * Times Literary Supplement *Nagorski tells a riveting new story, one that shows just how narrow Freud's escape from the Nazi genocide was... The narrative pace and Nagorski's fluid writing give this book the character of an adventure story. It is an engrossing but sobering read that reminds us how many others without the resources of the Freud family had no similar options to make an exodus -- Rachel Newcomb * Washington Post *Fascinating... As Nagorski illustrates with cultural insight and a careful pacing of events, his flight to safety in order to 'die in freedom' amounts to a tale of unlikely resistance at a time of appalling tragedy. -- Simeon House * Mail on Sunday **** *In his fascinating new book Saving Freud, American author Andrew Nagorski pieces together the story of an eccentric bunch of friends and admirers of Freud -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Daily Mail, Book of the Day *An insight-filled group portrait of the founder of psychoanalysis and his followers. It is also a psychobiographical thriller about the limits of genius -- Diane Cole * Wall Street Journal *Nagorski mixes the pacing of a historical thriller (think Alan Furst, but nonfiction, and starring therapists instead of spies) with a meditation on the limits of insight and what it means to be attached to a specific place and to live in a given moment in time...The result is hard to put down, poignant, and distressingly timely -- Patrick Blanchfield * New Republic *In a time in which the standing and integrity of psychoanalysis continues to be questioned, [Saving Freud] manages to show the extent to which people were entranced by Freud, how much this led some of them to love him, and how in doing so they revealed the deep ethical core of his person and his ideas -- Stephen Frosh * Jewish Chronicle *An intimate, touching portrait of a genius as an old man. Ill, myopic, in denial and terribly vulnerable, this Freud is more human than any I've encountered before. Andrew Nagorski has an artist's eye for revealing detail and a novelist's ability to bring to life a long lost world and its myriad denizens. -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A BEAUTIFUL MINDThis non-fiction work crackles like a novel... Saving Freud seems to have been written for the silver screen, and one can only hope that someone like Steven Spielberg finds his way to this book -- Kitty Kelley * Washington Independent Review of Books *Fascinating, eminently readable... A fresh look at Freud... Freud was magnetic, mythic, and Nagorski's lively and suspenseful biographical history will, it is hoped, recreate interest in this unique figure -- Joan Baum * NPR *Nagorski tells this little-known story in comprehensive and compassionate fashion. -- Sheldon Kirshner * Times of Israel *A richly contextual look at Freud's escape to London... Nagorski delivers a riveting page-turner... a fine biography * Kirkus starred review *Sigmund Freud's vibrant life in Vienna and narrow escape from the Gestapo are recounted in this entertaining history... The result is an invigorating look at a lesser-known chapter of Freud's well-documented life. * Publisher Weekly *As exciting and suspenseful as a spy novel, Andrew Nagorski's masterful narrative reveals how an eclectic group of Sigmund Freud's friends, ranging from an American ambassador to a French-born princess, came together to do the seemingly impossible: engineer his rescue from Nazi-controlled Austria as the Gestapo were closing in. Their successful efforts underscore how powerful love, loyalty, and friendship can be, even in the midst of overwhelming evil -- Lynne Olson, author of MADAME FOURCADE'S SECRET WARA riveting analysis of exile, old-age and friendship, Nagorski uses his characteristic clarity to tell an untold story about a well-known man. Highly exciting and no less historically ambitious for it; John Le Carré meets Ian Kershaw -- Emma Szewczak, author of THE OFFSETWith his characteristic clarity and meticulous research, Nagorski has once again produced a masterful work. Saving Freud is a page-turner, mixing biography and escape narrative, with a powerful reminder that historians need to pay attention not just to words, but to relationships -- Rebecca Erbelding, author of RESCUE BOARDPart engrossing biography of the father of psychoanalysis, part vivid group portrait of the circle of notables who rescued Sigmund Freud from the Nazis, Saving Freud ... captures the power of self-delusion and denial among even the most brilliant minds -- Kati Marton, author of THE CHANCELLOR

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Book Synopsis'I have been a campaigner in many human rights causes, some successful, some less so, some failed. My mother once said, 'Anthony, we had such a fine system until you ruined it!' I hope she was wrong.' Over the course of his illustrious, pioneering and sometimes controversial career, Anthony Lester transformed Britain's approach to human rights. As a brave and creative lawyer, and as a peer in the House of Lords, he worked tirelessly to combat abuses of public power and to introduce new legal frameworks for human rights, equality and free speech. In these honest and remarkable personal memoirs, which map the history of human rights in this country over the past half-century, Anthony Lester explores the social conditions and interior circumstances that shaped his life as a relentless and passionate campaigner for equality and justice.Trade Review"An informative, provocative and deeply personal account of a distinguished life in law and politics." - Lord Pannick QC "A brave trailblazer for human rights." - Sir Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times "In his eloquent memoir, Anthony Lester weaves the story of the expansion of human rights at home and abroad, drawing on his own involvement in many of the legal breakthrough moments. We too often forget how human rights have been strengthened around the globe, even as our democratic societies face renewed assaults on the rule of law. This rich history by a great human rights lawyer is a reminder that 'hope dies last...', and that we cannot give up hope." - Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

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Book SynopsisA few months into the new millennium in May 2000, Ken Livingstone became the first ever Mayor of London. In the succeeding two decades, London has undergone a dramatic evolution under three very different mayors, but how has the mayoralty itself changed? How have the capital’s challenges and crises been overcome? And is the office still fit for purpose? At a time of tremendous uncertainty for the capital and the nation generally, this ambitious new book marks the twentieth anniversary of the creation of the position of the Mayor of London. It examines how the first three mayors have approached the role with markedly distinct politics, outlooks and styles and how the position has transformed over time to meet the changing needs of the city. London’s Mayor at 20 combines expert opinion with reflections from those closely involved in setting up, running and working in the mayor’s office. Featuring a foreword by Tony Blair, who played a crucial role in the establishment of the mayoralty, and including interviews with Ken Livingstone and Sadiq Khan, this comprehensive analysis seeks to investigate how the government of London has developed and what the future holds for this modern metropolis.Trade Review"At a time when so many people are disillusioned about politics, this book reminds us that real change is possible - as we've seen with the impact of successive London mayors. From the congestion charge to Tech City, London has evolved dramatically over the past two decades - and London's Mayor at 20 tells the story of this transformation in a brilliantly human and compelling way." - Rohan Silva, former senior policy advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron "The London mayoralty was the most radical innovation in the capital's government since the LCC. For the first time the political life of the metropolis was embodied in one personality. This study of its creation, strengths and weaknesses is essential reading for anyone who cares about London. It should roll the pitch for a second stage of reform to the capital's transport, policing, education and health. Where I think some regional mayors are of dubious permanence, London's is irreplaceable." - Simon Jenkins, journalist and author of A Short History of London

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Book Synopsis'I was determined to break into the White House and, with the confidence of youth, I didn't see how anyone was going to be able to stop me.' So how did a small-town girl from Muncie, Indiana, end up an assistant to and favourite of the President, joining George H. W. Bush for early morning runs and on the White House tennis court? In this sparkling memoir, Annie Bracken takes readers straight to the heart of the action. How do the powerful live on Capitol Hill? What is Joe Biden really like and could he be a successful President? What is life like after the White House? Packed with vivid personal portraits of Bracken's encounters with Presidents, gangsters, spies and even some Hollywood greats, this is a joyful insider account of one woman's journey from America's fly-over states, through tales of hilarity and intrigue in London and Cannes, all the way to the White House.Trade Review“You definitely want her on your side.” - Katharine Graham, owner of the Washington Post “A breath of fresh air.” - Richard Helms, former director of the CIA“This book is a riot, bright and breezy, whose pages sparkle with unlikely insights into official Washington, with a first person flavour of what goes on behind the closed doors of power. Every line is worth the ticket; the fun is in the reading. It is on the tennis courts that she meets and sometimes is wooed by Washington’s high and mighty. Small as the book is, it offers us a spectacular range of celebrities, by whom the author is undaunted, offering not so much a memoir, as sketches of a life enthusiastically lived.” - John Carlin, author of Invictus “Not a page is turned without a smile” - Andrew Ovenstone

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Book Synopsis'For God's sake, bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful country!' HOME SECRETARY REGINALD MAUDLING, RETURNING FROM HIS FIRST VISIT TO NORTHERN IRELAND IN 1970 In the early years of the twentieth century, simmering discontent began to boil over on the island of Ireland as the nascent IRA took its guerrilla campaign against British rule to the streets. By 1921, Britain had beaten a retreat from all but a small portion of the country - and thus Northern Ireland was born. Kevin Meagher argues that partition has been an unmitigated disaster for Nationalists and Unionists alike. As the long and fraught history of British rule in Ireland staggered to a close, a better future was there for the taking but was lost amid political paralysis, while the resulting fifty years of devolution succeeded only in creating a brooding sectarian stalemate that exploded into the Troubles. In a stark but reasoned critique, Meagher traces the landmark events in Northern Ireland's century of existence, exploring the missed signals, the turning points, the principled decisions that at various stages should have been taken, as well as the raw realpolitik of how Northern Ireland has been governed over the past 100 years. Thoughtful and sometimes provocative, What a Bloody Awful Country reflects on how both Loyalists and Republicans might have played their cards differently and, ultimately, how the actions of successive British governments have amounted to a masterclass in failed statecraft.Trade Review"A gripping appraisal of Northern Ireland's turbulent first century. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we have got to where we are today." - Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph

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Book SynopsisOur political leaders spend their careers spinning their images and polishing their achievements; Michael Cockerell has spent his professional life stripping off the gloss. Over fifty years, he has gained unrivalled access to the secret chambers of Westminster and Whitehall. Here, he reveals in illuminating and often hilarious stories what our top politicians are really like behind the mask. Drawing on his unique experience of having filmed all the past ten Prime Ministers, Cockerell tells how he manages to lull some of the most wary people in the land into candour, and shows how questions of sex are never far from the surface in Westminster. Amongst much else, he recounts: how Margaret Thatcher flirted with him on screen but attacked him by name in the Commons; how Tony Blair said he would willingly 'pay the blood price' in Iraq; how David Cameron learned from Enoch Powell always to make a big speech on a full bladder - and how Boris Johnson admitted to doubts about his ability to be Prime Minister. Revealing how our politicians have reacted during some of the most pivotal events in our recent history, Unmasking Our Leaders also provides a compelling insight into a career working in political television and foreign reporting, where tensions, rivalries and life-threatening danger are all part of the package.Trade Review"I am hugely excited by Michael Cockerell's book. His remarkable access to the great and the good gives him endlessly compelling insights into our leaders and what it is to wield power." - Emily Maitlis "From the man whose camera captured them, and whose questions revealed them, comes the compelling tale of politicians' relationship with television, from Churchill's secret screen test to this day. Stuffed with intimate anecdotes and scattered with decades of his own scoops, Michael Cockerell reminds us why he is the master." - Laura Kuenssberg "The most delightful, absorbing and thoroughly entertaining book about politics you will ever read. A triumph." - Alan Johnson "Hugely entertaining and revealing - my political book of the year." - Iain Dale "Michael Cockerell is the David Attenborough of the political animal kingdom - endlessly fascinated and fascinating." - Rory Bremner "From Heath to Johnson, Michael Cockerell has known them all, and done more than any political journalist to go beyond the caricatures. This richly entertaining memoir casts fresh light on what he made of them ... and what they made of him." - Steve Richards "The master chronicler of our political age tells the story behind the stories of those who've held power in Britain." - Nick Robinson "Michael Cockerell is the Holbein of the televisual political portrait. I have been nagging him for years to write this book. It was worth the wait - and how." - Professor Peter Hennessy "From Heath to Johnson, Michael Cockerell has known them all, and done more than any political journalist to go beyond the caricatures. This richly entertaining memoir casts fresh light on what he made of them ... and what they made of him." - Steve Richards “As enthralling a history of modern British politics as you will find anywhere… it is richly stuffed with anecdotes and gags and as compelling as a Jack Reacher thriller, though with fewer dead bodies.” - Roger Alton, Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisSir Keir Starmer has played many parts during his life and career. He went from schoolboy socialist to radical lawyer before surprising many by joining the establishment, becoming Director of Public Prosecutions, accepting a knighthood and then, in 2015, standing successfully for Parliament. At Westminster, he was swiftly elevated to the shadow Cabinet, and in April 2020 he became the leader of the Labour Party. Michael Ashcroft's new book goes in search of the man who wants to be Prime Minister and reveals previously unknown details about him which help to explain what makes him tick. Starmer was the architect of Labour's second-referendum Brexit policy, which was considered a major factor in its worst electoral defeat for nearly a century. Is he the man to bring back Labour's lost voters? Is he the voice of competence and moderation who can put his party back on the political map? Or is he just a member of the metropolitan elite who is prepared to say and do whatever it takes to win favour? This meticulous examination of his life offers voters the chance to answer these vital questions.Trade Review‘Red Knight is well written and researched and, I think, pretty fair.’ - Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

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Book SynopsisIn the high-stakes world of politics, there are superb highs and terrible lows - and never more so than in the period since 2010, during which so much has changed. Few are better placed to give an insider's view of the turmoil than the Rt Hon. Dame Andrea Leadsom MP. From working cross-party on reform of the European Union to taking to the stage at Wembley as a key figure in the Leave campaign, through two leadership bids, Cabinet intrigue, squaring off against an increasingly erratic Speaker, founding a campaign to give babies the best start for life and securing a landmark Spending Review settlement, Andrea's story tracks the ups and downs of a political career and particularly some of the challenges for female MPs. In this very personal account, she gives a real insight into the daily goings-on with ministers, parliamentary colleagues, civil servants, special advisers, the media and constituents. As a lifelong optimist, Andrea argues that political careers don't always - as is so often claimed - end in failure, and explains how, like a game of snakes and ladders, politics is often about getting yourself into the right place at the right time.

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