Review, buy Biographies & Memoirs: Love and Louis XIV (CD), Last Letters Home, Diana: Life Of A Princess (Book + 4CDs): Life of a Princess, Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics, A Passion to Win: An Autobiography, Best of Alan Titchmarsh, Margaret Thatcher: The Great Speeches (Spoken Word), Rio: My Story, Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life, Born on a Blue Day, Cricket's Great Entertainers, Maggie: Her Fatal Legacy, Famous Americans in History (Junior Classics), A Castle in Spain, Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly, Gielgud's Letters: John Gielgud in His Own Words, George Harrison, Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1667-1669 v. 3, Best of Dickie Bird, Keep Smiling (CD)

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Love and Louis XIV (CD) (Orion)

Authors

Antonia Fraser

Creator: Patricia Hodge
Publication date: 2006-08-24
RRP: ~~£16.99~~
Price: £10.72

Review Love and Louis XIV (CD) / Orion:

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Review Macmillan Audio Books / Last Letters Home

Last Letters Home (Macmillan Audio Books)

Authors

Tamasin Day-Lewis

Publication date: 2005-04-01
Dewey code: 920
RRP: ~~£13.00~~
Price: £6.99

Review Last Letters Home / Macmillan Audio Books:

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Review Various / Diana: Life Of A Princess (Book + 4CDs): Life of a Princess

Diana: Life Of A Princess (Book + 4CDs): Life of a Princess (Various)

RRP: ~~£24.99~~
Price: £12.00

Review Diana: Life Of A Princess (Book + 4CDs): Life of a Princess / Various:

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Review Penguin Audiobooks / Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics

Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics (Penguin Audiobooks)

Authors

Matthew Parris

Publication date: 2003-02-27
Price: £13.00

Review Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics / Penguin Audiobooks:

In Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics, Matthew Parris gives us a brilliantly diverting autobiography combined with a comprehensive and merciless picture of the politicians he has dealt with, both in his own time as an MP and subsequently as writer for some of our most august newspapers. He is not only the most astute of political commentators, he is one of the most completely entertaining. Matthew Parris made little impression in his career as a Tory candidate (for which, as a sardonically witty and iconoclastic gay man, he was perhaps not best suited), but in his subsequent career as one of the shrewdest observers of the political scene, he has few equals. The book's jacket gives some idea of the unbuttoned tone here: while John Mortimer "thank(s) God for Matthew Parris", Alan Clark is quoted as describing him as an "absolute sh**". And it's Parris' fearlessness (combined with that scalpel-honed wit) that makes this hefty volume the kind of book that (despite its length) will be consumed avidly. Parris was close to the centre of power (Margaret Thatcher no less) but always remained an outsider. Of course, his spell in Mrs Thatcher's office is by far the most entertaining part of the book, his dealings with the Iron Lady being no less than catastrophic. But while delivering devastating pen-portraits of that lady, he is equally exuberant in his pictures of such luminaries as Peter Mandelson (whom he famously "outed"), Tony Blair and Michael Portillo. This is eccentric, highly personal writing, but the combination of mordant humour and fierce intelligence is absolutely irresistible. After reading it, the reader may wonder how Parris lasted for five minutes as part of Margaret Thatcher's humourless government. [+]

-Barry Forshaw.

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Review Simon & Schuster Audio / A Passion to Win: An Autobiography

A Passion to Win: An Autobiography (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Authors

Sumner Redstone
Peter Knobler

Edition: Abridged
Publication date: 2001-08-20
Dewey code: 384.092
RRP: ~~£16.99~~
Price: £13.95

Review A Passion to Win: An Autobiography / Simon & Schuster Audio:

Sumner Redstone should be dead. At least that's what the prologue to this autobiographical tale of business trial and triumph reveals, telling the story of Redstone's narrow escape and painful recovery from a Boston hotel fire in 1979. It might also be what some of Redstone's business adversaries secretly wish after reading this revealing book. Redstone began life in a hardscrabble Boston neighbourhood in the early 1920s, the son of a Jewish entrepreneur and a woman determined to see her children excel. Instilled with this drive to succeed at an early age, Redstone went from the academically tough Boston Latin school to Harvard, on to a military career breaking Japanese codes during World War II, back to Harvard for law school and then spent the next seven years immersing himself in a profession based on reason and justice, ideals that he claims hold his life together. Realising that practising law was just a business, however, he went on to enter the real business arena, joining the movie drive-in company his father had founded and very quickly expanding it, taking over its leadership and changing the company's name to National Amusements, Inc. Redstone's story details his experiences at the helm of this company-taking on the big studios by challenging film industry practices and finally acquiring Viacom in 1987. Many of the juicy bits lie in tales of Redstone's subsequent years with Viacom, his involvement with the Clintons and the company's acquisition of both Paramount and Blockbuster. Redstone is obviously a tough player, not averse to overriding team decisions when he believes in his own vision and not afraid to litigate (or threaten litigation) when he feels unjustly treated. But he's also book-smart and business-savvy and his story offers many titbits of advice on deal making and power-playing when the stakes are high. [+]

A Passion to Win is a tell-all from a seriously high vantage point in corporate entertainment and as Redstone's personal account of all that helped and hindered on his way to the heights (jam-packed with big-name players in the entertainment business, law, finance and politics), it's sure to be a source of anxiety for some and a titillating read for many. -S Ketchum.

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