Search results for ""author marie le conte""

Politicians are weird - we can all agree on that. But do you know how much weirder they used to be? If not, Honourable Misfits is the book for you. Spanning from the past seven hundred years, this is a celebration of the oddest and most eccentric MPs the House of Commons has ever seen. From mad inventors and fearless adventurers to machiavellian villains and mavericks with more money than sense, it offers sixty-five pen portraits of the unique, the mysterious and the downright deranged.There is the one who built a complex network of tunnels and underground rooms underneath his estate; the one who liked to go hunting naked; the one who set himself on fire to cure his hiccups, and the one who invented a very small gun with which to kill flies.Still, they weren't all useless; there was also the MP who invented weather forecasts, and the one who documented more animal species than nearly everyone else. They weren't all good either; between the fascist turned Buddhist monk and the spy who faked his death, there are more than enough villains to go around. They also weren't all lucky; included in Honourable Misfits are tributes to MPs with tragic deaths, from falling on a turnip to getting in a car accident the day after getting elected. This is a book to celebrate human nature in all its odd, compelling complexity.

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Politicians are weird - we can all agree on that. But do you know how much weirder they used to be? If not, Honourable Misfits is the book for you. Spanning from the past seven hundred years, this is a celebration of the oddest and most eccentric MPs the House of Commons has ever seen. From mad inventors and fearless adventurers to machiavellian villains and mavericks with more money than sense, it offers sixty-five pen portraits of the unique, the mysterious and the downright deranged.There is the one who built a complex network of tunnels and underground rooms underneath his estate; the one who liked to go hunting naked; the one who set himself on fire to cure his hiccups, and the one who invented a very small gun with which to kill flies.Still, they weren't all useless; there was also the MP who invented weather forecasts, and the one who documented more animal species than nearly everyone else. They weren't all good either; between the fascist turned Buddhist monk and the spy who faked his death, there are more than enough villains to go around. They also weren't all lucky; included in Honourable Misfits are tributes to MPs with tragic deaths, from falling on a turnip to getting in a car accident the day after getting elected. This is a book to celebrate human nature in all its odd, compelling complexity.

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Journalist Marie Le Conte was born in 1991, the same year the World Wide Web was made publicly available. She had her first blog at 12, a successful music website at 16 and, at 31, has just under 100,000 followers on Twitter. She spent her formative years on MSN, MySpace, Tumblr and forums; like many people her age, she grew up online as the internet itself was growing up. It was a joy until it wasn't - where did it all go wrong?How did the internet go from a haven you hid in to escape real life to a place where real life is shaped? A space where you could be yourself and find like-minded people to a world sullied by bad algorithms, annoying brands and endless trolling? When did it become the place we're all trying to run away from?Escape is a fascinating exploration of the rise and demise of the internet. It's a look back on the people and platforms that came and went before everything started collapsing. It's an analysis of the lessons being online has taught us, and a celebration of the tools it gave us to feel less alone.

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'Fifteen years ago, the internet felt like a special place my friends and I had built for each other; by 2020, we were standing on its ruins, wondering if we'd played a part in its destruction.'Journalist Marie Le Conte was born in 1991, the same year the World Wide Web was invented. She had her first blog at twelve, a successful music website at fifteen, a Wikipedia page at seventeen and now, at thirty, over 80,000 followers on Twitter. From MSN, Tumblr and MySpace, to chat rooms, forums and blogs; Marie is part of the millennial generation that grew up while the internet was growing up with them.Where did it go all wrong? How did the internet go from a place where you went to escape real life to where real life is shaped? A place where you could be yourself and find like-minded people to a world of filters and ads? A place we are all now desperately trying to escape from?Escape is a fascinating exploration of the rise and demise of the internet. It's a look back on the platforms, the people and the online places. It's an analysis of the lessons being online has taught us, how the internet has changed us - and a celebration of the tools it gives us to feel less alone. The online generation have forever altered the world we live in, but is the internet still a place for the people that shaped it?

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'The politics book to be seen with in these febrile times' - The i Newspaper'How facts, rumour and mischief-making become the news we all obsess over' - Tim Shipman'A cracking read! Treat yourself...' - John CraceA BONUS CHAPTER NOW INCLUDED IN THE PAPERBACK EDITION.Ever wondered why the indiscretions of some MPs make the front page while others don't? How close journalists really are to politicians? Or how on earth the country is run when the British political system is in such a mess?Marie Le Conte looks at the role gossip, whispers and tittle-tattle play in all areas of politics - for the MPs and their advisers, the press who cover them and the civil servants in the middle of it all. From policy rows which aren't about policy at all and boozy nights with dramatic consequences, to people spinning their way to the top and dark secrets never seeing the light of day, Haven't You Heard? explores in great and entertaining detail the human side of the people running the country against a backdrop of political mayhem.

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