Publication date: 2001-04-27
Dewey code: 320
RRP: £8.99
Price: £14.92
Review Evita, First Lady: A Biography of EVA Peron / Atlantic Books:
Publication date: 1991-01-01
Dewey code: 305.896073092
Price: £7.99
Review Soul on Ice / Delta (imprint of Dell Publishing):
Edition: New title
Publication date: 2006-06-15
Dewey code: 780.92
RRP: £17.50
Price: £10.32
Review The John Adams Reader / Amadeus Press:
Authors
- Frederick Douglass
- Harriet A. Jacobs
Publication date: 2000-10-26
Dewey code: 973.8092
RRP: £9.99
Price: £2.78
Review Slave Narratives: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: AND Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Modern Library Classics) / Random House Inc:
Authors
- Yvonne Argent
- Paul Marriot
- Paul Marriott
Publication date: 1998-01-01
Dewey code: 920
RRP: £15.95
Price: £9.92
Review The Last Days of T.E. Lawrence: A Leaf in the Wind / The Alpha Press Ltd:
Publication date: 2001-11
Dewey code: 941.084092
Price: £21.42
Review Churchill: A Biography / Farrar Straus Giroux:Book buyers will never tire of reading about Winston Churchill, for "the greatest adventurer of modern political history" (RA Butler's verdict) led a life of action-packed drama and global significance. Roy Jenkins' Churchill is the latest biography of this great Briton, following closely in the tailwind of Geoffrey Best's Churchill: A Study in Greatness. Where Best restores altitude to Churchill's dipping reputation, seeing off academic critics of the last decade or so, Jenkins provides a jumbo-size old-fashioned biography, lauding his subject's achievements, sympathising with his quirks, and stepping lightly over his well-known mistakes. As he did in his earlier biographies of Dilke, Asquith and Gladstone, Jenkins sticks closely to the published record, utilising in particular the definitive researches of Martin Gilbert, but he brings the authority and the inside knowledge of British politics to his book, slipping in his own memories of Churchill, and his own comparable experience sat the Cabinet table. It is all here, from the Boer Wars to the nuclear bomb, from the hustings in Oldham to the diplomacy of Yalta, with due coverage of the big moments-at the Board of Trade and at the Admiralty in Asquith's peacetime and wartime cabinets, taking on the appeasers in the 1930s and Hitler in the 1940s. All the books are here, and all the political relationships tetchy and touchy alike, from Lloyd George to Baldwin, Smuts to Stalin, and of course, the British people. Like its subject the book is bulky and at times indulgent, but impossible not to enjoy. -Miles Taylor.
Publication date: 1997-02-17
Dewey code: 963.04092
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.81
Review Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa: A Political Biography - Ethiopia and Eritrea, 1875-97 / Red Sea Press,U.S.:
Edition: New Ed
Publication date: 2001-07-16
Dewey code: 320
RRP: £7.99
Price: £0.01
Review Accidental MP / Penguin Books Ltd:If the BBC had found me a small war somewhere, none of the rest of this story would have occurred. There is a photograph in An Accidental MP of Martin Bell, brow furrowed, mouth open, eyes glazed with what could be incomprehension or incredulity. This could almost be the freeze-frame embodiment of this engaging self-penned account of his by-election victory over Neil Hamilton, Tory MP and the parliamentarian most associated with sleaze, and his subsequent career as parliament's first Independent MP for almost half a century. A self-admitted layman in politics with no party allegiances, Bell was sick of the dumbing down of BBC news into "newzak" when he accepted the suggestion of standing as a candidate, almost in the course of after dinner chat. However, not everyone wakes up the next morning with a call from Alastair Campbell. As an Independent he had no party machine, "more a contraption" to guide him through the procedural minefields. This in itself would have made for a fascinating everyman story to lead readers through the palace of Westminster, its personalities and processes. Yet perhaps it is Bell's sense of fair play that prevents him from taking us through more of the details of his excellent adventure. He almost comes across as an anachronism, but his self-righteousness seems reasonably well-placed. His passion is undeniable, his sense of injustice acute, and his narration of the effects of landmines and the disgraceful treatment of paratrooper Major Milos Stankovic by the Ministry of Defence pertinent and compelling. [+]His discussion of the Kosovo war is strong on commitment, although readers looking for more detail might find deeper argument in Michael Ignatieff's Virtual War. There are few surprises for the cynical: parliament is increasingly populated by cronies, MPs debate too long, and Peter Mandelson really is the prince of darkness. Yet this is a fascinating read carried along by Bell's self-effacing wit. Apparently he is toying with the idea of continuing beyond his pledge of one term. One doesn't know whether to pity his foolhardiness or envy his next great adventure. -Larry Brown.
Publication date: 2008-02-18
Dewey code: 920
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.95
Review Saddam Hussein - The Butcher of Baghdad (Biography) / Filiquarian Publishing:
Edition: Updated Ed
Publication date: 2003-09-04
Dewey code: 941.085092
RRP: £12.99
Price: £12.99
Review Kill the Messenger...Again / Politico's Publishing Ltd:
Publication date: 2006-06-15
Dewey code: 363.252092
RRP: £16.99
Price: £1.99
Review Unsung Hero / John Blake Publishing Ltd:
Edition: 1st American Ed
Publication date: 1995-05-01
Dewey code: 941.084092
RRP: £18.74
Price: £17.98
Review Churchill: The Unruly Giant / The Free Press:
Edition: New Ed
Publication date: 1998-05-11
Dewey code: 320
RRP: £14.99
Price: £44.98
Review Balfour: A Life of Arthur James Balfour (Phoenix Giants) / Weidenfeld & Nicolson:
Publication date: 2000-06-30
Dewey code: 920
RRP: £8.91
Price: £4.34
Review Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance / Saint Martin's Press Inc.:
Publication date: 2002-04-05
Dewey code: 363.283092
RRP: £20.00
Price: £20.00
Review Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940 / Hoover Institution Press,U.S.:
Edition: New Ed
Publication date: 2002-04-30
Dewey code: 796.092
RRP: £12.99
Price: £5.59
Review C.B.Fry: King of Sport / Metro Books,London:
Creator: Ron Garnett
Publication date: 2003-01
Dewey code: 323.092396073
RRP: £2.14
Price: £0.01
Review Great Black Heroes: Five Bold Freedom Fighters (Level 4) (Great Black Heroes) / Cartwheel Books:
Publication date: 2008-05-22
Dewey code: 359.331092
RRP: £25.00
Price: £13.96
Review In the Shadow of Nelson: The Life of Admiral Lord Collingwood / Pen & Sword Maritime:
Publication date: 2002-11-25
Dewey code: 973.931
RRP: £18.99
Price: £2.76
Review Bush at War: Inside the Bush White House / Simon & Schuster Ltd:Bush at War focuses on the three months following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, during which the US prepared for war in Afghanistan, took steps toward a pre-emptive strike against Iraq, intensified homeland defence and began a well-funded CIA covert war against terrorism around the world. The narrative is classic Woodward: using his inside access to the major players, he offers an almost day-by-day account of the decision-making processes and power battles behind the headlines. Woodward's information is based on tape-recorded interviews of over a hundred sources (some unnamed), including four hours of exclusive interviews with the president, along with notes from cabinet meetings and access to some classified reports. Woodward's analysis of President Bush's leadership style is especially fascinating. A self-described "gut player" who relies heavily on instinct, Bush comes across as a man of action continually pressing his cabinet for concrete results. The revelation that the president developed and publicly stated the so-called Bush Doctrine-the policy that the US would not only go after terrorists everywhere but also those governments or groups that harbour them-without first consulting Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell or Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is particularly telling. Other principals are examined with equal scrutiny. Though National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice emerges as soft-spoken and even tentative during group meetings, it becomes clear that Bush is dependent on her for candid advice as well as for conveying his thoughts to his cabinet. The relationship between Powell and Rumsfeld (and to a lesser degree Powell and Cheney) is often strained, exposing their differences regarding how to deal with Iraq and whether coalition building or unilateralism is most appropriate. Woodward also describes how CIA director George Tenet prepared a paramilitary team to infiltrate Afghanistan to set the groundwork for invasion, and how this ushered in a new era of cooperation between the defence department and the CIA. [+]A worthwhile and often enlightening read, this is a revealing and informative first draft of the Bush legacy. -Shawn Carkonen.
Publication date: 2008-02-25
Dewey code: 954
RRP: £16.95
Price: £9.34
Review The Moon Princess: Memories of the Shan States / River Books,Thailand:
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Models & Brands:
Evita, First Lady: A Biography of EVA Peron, Soul on Ice, The John Adams Reader, Slave Narratives: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: AND Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Modern Library Classics), The Last Days of T.E. Lawrence: A Leaf in the Wind, Churchill: A Biography, Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa: A Political Biography - Ethiopia and Eritrea, 1875-97, Accidental MP, Saddam Hussein - The Butcher of Baghdad (Biography), Kill the Messenger...Again, Unsung Hero, Churchill: The Unruly Giant, Balfour: A Life of Arthur James Balfour (Phoenix Giants), Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance, Stalin's Loyal Executioner: People's Commissar Nikolai Ezhov, 1895-1940, C.B.Fry: King of Sport, Great Black Heroes: Five Bold Freedom Fighters (Level 4) (Great Black Heroes), In the Shadow of Nelson: The Life of Admiral Lord Collingwood, Bush at War: Inside the Bush White House, The Moon Princess: Memories of the Shan States |
