President Trump's last secretary of defense shares harrowing stories of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, gives an insider look at the tumultuous final days of the Trump administration, and issues a stark warning about the readiness of the military under President Biden.If you know one thing about Chris Miller, it's that he was President Donald Trump's final Secretary of Defense, elevated to that position in the days after the 2020 election. If you know a second thing about Chris Miller, it's that he oversaw the U.S. Armed Forces during one of the most controversial and tumultuous periods the military has experienced in decades, culminating in the shocking events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Yet Chris Miller is no political partisan. On the contrary, Miller has spent his adult life in the crosshairs of America's most dangerous enemies--from Middle Eastern deserts to the bowels of U.S. intelligence agencies--and emerged as one of the leading national security minds of his generation.Needless to say, Chris Miller has stories to tell. In Soldier Secretary, he reveals for the first time everything he saw--in a book that is candid, thought-provoking, and like that of no Secretary of Defense before him. This book is not just the inside story of what happened during the Trump administration--it's the inside story of what happened to America, its military, and its institutions during the two decades after September 11, 2001.Part badass, part iconoclast, Miller is an irreverent, heterodox, and always-fascinating thinker whose personal journey through war and the White House has led him to some shocking conclusions about the state of American power in 2021. With a perspective that will surprise and interest both Republicans and Democrats, Miller argues for a radical rethinking of U.S. national security strategy unlike anything since the creation of the joint armed forces in the 1980s. He offers a roadmap for how the United States can win in the era of unrestricted warfare by shedding the bloated defense bureaucracy, bringing American forces home from endless conflicts, renewing our national unity, and beating China at its own game. Miller is a true American warrior whose incredible journey from Iowa to Afghanistan to Iraq to the White House endeared him to the troops, prepared him for the unprecedented crisis of January 6, and left him deeply concerned about the future of our military and the future of our nation.

Liz Truss's journey from schoolgirl revolutionary to Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister The Sunday Times Politics Book of the Year 'An insightful and at times riotously entertaining account of the lengthy rise and abrupt fall of Britain's 56th Prime Minister. What was intended as a prologue to her premiership is now a riveting political obituary in which every page drips with the seeds of both triumph and disaster. Cole and Heale have produced a meticulously reported account of Truss's drive, impulsiveness, eccentricity and ideological certainty which reads like a warning from history. It has elements of tragedy but is frequently very, very funny.' Tim Shipman 'Make sure you put your seat belt on. Heale and Cole put you in the passenger seat of the fastest car crash in recent political history. It's an unmissable romp through Liz Truss's long journey to the top, fuelled by ambition and espresso. The clues that foretold the extraordinary catastrophe are all there, as the authors reveal in gory detail how Liz Truss nearly had the last laugh, before finally, as her government imploded, the joke was on her.' Laura Kuenssberg Despite being written off and mocked by even her closest colleagues, Liz Truss slowly but determinedly achieved her goal of taking over 10 Downing Street - only to instantly plunge her administration into chaos and announce her resignation after a record-breaking 44 days. How did she do it? And what exactly went so wrong? With unrivalled access and insight, award-winning political journalists Harry Cole and James Heale provide the answers, drawing on interviews with Truss's friends and supporters, as well as her worst critics and rivals, from Kwasi Kwarteng to Michael Gove. Tracking Truss's transformation from geeky teenage Lib Dem to Tory PM, with the inside scoop on her first - and only - month in office, Out of the Blue is the unmissable behind-the-scenes account of Britain's shortest-serving Prime Minister.

The Russian Great Reforms of the 1860s were the last major modernizing effort by the Romanov dynasty. From 1855 to 1861, Grand Duchess Elena, born Princess Charlotte of WA1/4rttemberg (1807-1873), acted as the spokeswoman for the reform-minded circles of Russian society, bringing before her nephew Emperor Alexander II a group of civic-minded experts who formed the core of the committee that prepared the greatest and most complex of the reforms, the abolition of serfdom in Russia. The Grand Duchess's involvement in these crucial events in Russian history highlights the considerable influence aristocratic women had in Russian society, quite unlike women of the same class and status in Western Europe. A study of the Grand Duchess Elena of Russia offers a new understanding of Russian and international events of the time, the Romanovs' role in them, the degree of autonomy enjoyed by high-born women in Russia and the ways in which new ideas gained ground in the nineteenth-century Russian empire. Based on abundant and largely unused archival sources, published documents and literature of the period in French, Russian, German, Italian and English, this is the first book about Grand Duchess Elena and it expertly interweaves the story of a woman's life with that of Imperial Russian high politics.

In January 2003, Kenya was hailed as a model of democracy after the peaceful election of its new president, Mwai Kibaki. By appointing respected longtime reformer John Githongo as anticorruption czar, the new Kikuyu government signaled its determination to end the corrupt practices that had tainted the previous regime. Yet only two years later, Githongo himself was on the run, having secretly compiled evidence of official malfeasance throughout the new administration. Unable to remain silent, Githongo, at great personal risk, made the painful choice to go public. The result was a Kenyan Watergate.

Michela Wrong's account of how a pillar of the establishment turned whistle-blower--becoming simultaneously one of the most hated and admired men in Kenya--grips like a political thriller while probing the very roots of the continent's predicament.

The tragic story of Anne Boleyn has been retold over the centuries, yet two key figures in Anne's life-her father Thomas and brother George- are often relegated to the margins of the history of Henry VIII's turbulent reign. Well before Anne's coronation in 1533, Thomas was regarded as one of Henry's most skilled and experienced ambassadors, and George was a talented young courtier on the rise. But Anne's downfall was to have a devastating effect on her family - ultimately costing her and her brother their lives. A family whose success and prestige had been shaped over generations was destroyed in a violent and brutal episode as the king sought a new wife and a male heir. In this first biography devoted to the Boleyn men, Lauren Mackay takes us beyond the stereotypes of Thomas and George to present a story that has almost been lost to history. This book follows the Boleyn men as they negotiated their way through the ruthless game of politics among the wolves of the court, and establishes their place in Tudor history.

**A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022** 'Anyone wanting to learn more about Putin's personality, ideas, power...should read this outstanding biography' Ian Kershaw, author of Personality and Power This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what is happening in Ukraine today. Vladimir Putin has the power to reduce the United States and Europe to ashes in a nuclear firestorm. He invades his neighbours, most recently Ukraine, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations inside and outside Russia. Yet many Russians continue to support him. Despite western sanctions, the majority have been living better than at any time in the past. By fair means or foul, under Putin's leadership, Russia has once again become a force to be reckoned with. Philip Short's magisterial biography demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia and explores in unprecedented depth the personality of its enigmatic and ruthless leader. What forces and experiences shaped him? What led him to challenge the American-led world order that has kept the peace since the end of the Cold War? To explain is not to justify. Putin pursues his goals relentlessly by whatever means he thinks fit. But on closer examination, much of what we think we know about him turns out to rest on half-truths.

There is no denying Queen Margaret's imaginative hold on generations of Scots. Born c.1046, she died in 1094 and was canonised in 1250. She stands on a line between the late Celtic/Norse and early medieval periods; although she was contemporaneous with the Vikings, by her time the Roman church was firmly established in all but the outer reaches of Europe, among which was Scotland. Margaret, a princess of impeccable lineage who was reared at the courts of Andrew II of Hungary and Edward the Confessor, became the representative of both the Roman communion and French/English culture when she married Malcolm III, King of Scots, around 1070. Eileen Dunlop re-examines the well-documented accounts of Queen Margaret and from a modern viewpoint looks at the contradictions in her life, her marriage, her death and the differing reactions she has aroused.

Monarchy and Matrimony is the first comprehensive study of Elizabeth I's courtships. Susan Doran argues that the cult of the Virgin Queen' was invented by her ministers, and that Elizabeth was forced into celibacy by political necessity.
Doran's detailed examination of the different suits is based on extensive archival research across Europe. Rather than focusing on Elizabeth's personality and image, she views the question within a wider political and religious context. She shows how the question of Elizabeth's marriage was divisive for England, affecting both political life and international relations, and provoking popular propaganda in the form of plays, poetry and paintings.

A superb autobiography by one of the great literary figures of the twentieth century, Simone de Beauvoir's Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter offers an intimate picture of growing up in a bourgeois French family, rebelling as an adolescent against the conventional expectations of her class, and striking out on her own with an intellectual and existential ambition exceedingly rare in a young woman in the 1920s.She vividly evokes her friendships, love interests, mentors, and the early days of the most important relationship of her life, with fellow student Jean-Paul Sartre, against the backdrop of a turbulent political time.

First modern biography of Thomas William Coke, first earl of Leicester, who revolutionised agricultural practices and became an outspoken critic of Britain's war against America over independence. Thomas William Coke ("Coke of Norfolk") (1754-1842) is best known as one of the main promoters of the improved farming of the "Agricultural Revolution". He was also a county MP for over forty years between 1776 and 1832; and the owner of one of the finest palladian mansions in Britain, and by far, the largest estate in Norfolk at Holkham Hall. A friend of Charles James Fox, he moved in the highest Whig social circles and lavishly entertained distinguishedfriends from both political and academic fields who came to Holkham for its splendid library, works of art and antiquities as well as the game coverts. A charismatic figure, he was an outspoken critic of Britain's war against theAmericans in their fight for independence which made him friends who visited and corresponded across the Atlantic. Despite his importance, both locally and nationally, there has been no full scale biography of him for a hundred years - a gap which this book sets out to address. It sets his agricultural achievements in a wider context, and places Coke himself in his milieu, as one of a small circle of landed grandees who were of major influence duringa period of political turbulence and agricultural change. The author also examines Coke's reputation as a "patriot". Dr SUSANNA WADE MARTINS is Honorary Research Fellow, School of History, University of East Anglia.

This is a fascinating and insightful biography of one of the world's longest reigning and most revered monarchs. King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is the world's longest reigning living monarch - an achievement few would have predicted when the Thai king acceded the throne after the mysterious death of his brother in 1946. How did King Bhumibol revive the sinking fortunes of the Thai monarchy? Why has he become arguably the most revered king in Thai history? This illustrated biography tells that remarkable story. Beginning with an introduction explaining the unique history and traditions of the Thai monarchy, King Bhumibol Adulyadej offers a fresh and insightful account of his life, from his birth in America and education in Europe to his unexpected accession to the throne. Following him through the Cold War and Indochina War periods, the book shows how the king has used his position to help develop the country and its people while at the same time securing the status of the monarchy itself.

And the Dawn Came Up Like Thunder is the experience of an ordinary soldier captured by the Japanese at Singapore in February 1942. Leo Rawlings' story is told in his own pictures and his own words; a world that is uncompromising, vivid and raw. He pulls no punches. For the first time the cruelty inflicted on the prisoners of war by their own officers is depicted as well as shocking images of POW life. This is truly a view of the River Kwai experience for a 21st Century audience.The new edition includes pictures never before published as well as an extensive new commentary by Dr Nigel Stanley, an expert on Rawlings and the medical problems faced on the Burma Railway. More than just a commentary on the history and terrible facts behind Rawlings' work, it stands on its own as a guide to the hidden lives of the prisoners.Most of the pictures are printed for the first time in colour as the artist intended, bringing new detail and insight to conditions faced by the POWs as they built the infamous death railway, and faced starvation, disease and cruelty.Pictures such as those showing the construction of Tamarkan Bridge, now famed as the prototype for the fictional Bridge on the River Kwai, and those showing the horrendous suffering of the POWs such as King of the Damned have an iconic status. Rawlings' art brings a different perspective to the depiction of the world of the Far East prisoners. For the first time the pictures and original texts are printed in a large format edition, so that their full power can be experienced.The new edition includes an account of how Rawlings' book was published in Japan by Takashi Nagase (well known from Eric Lomax's book The Railway Man) in the early 1980s. Rawlings visited Nagase in 1980 and at last reconciled himself to his experiences as a POW.

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham--the brilliant Cambridge scientist, freethinking intellectual, and practicing nudist who unlocked the most closely held secrets of China, once the world's most technologically advanced country.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER DAILY MAIL & SUNDAY EXPRESS BOOKS OF THE YEAR The inspiring true story of a father and son's fight to stay together and survive the Holocaust, for anyone captivated by The Cut Out Girl and The Tattooist of Auschwitz 'A powerful and often uncomfortable true story that deserves to be read and remembered. It beautifully captures the strength of the bond between a father and son' Heather Morris, author of New York Times no. 1 bestseller The Tattooist of Auschwitz _______ Even in darkness, love brings hope. Gustav and Fritz Kleinmann are father and son in an ordinary Austrian Jewish family when the Nazis come for them. Sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in 1939 they survive three years of murderous brutality. Then Gustav is ordered to Auschwitz. Fritz, desperate not to lose his beloved father, insists he must go too. And though he is told it means certain death, he won't back down. So it is that father and son together board a train bound for the most hellish place on Earth . . . This is the astonishing true story of love and impossible survival. _______ 'Extraordinary' Observer 'The story is both immersive and extraordinary. Deeply moving and brimming with humanity' Guardian 'An emotionally devastating story of courage - and survival' i Paper 'We should all read this shattering book about the Holocaust. An astonishing story of the unbreakable bond between a father and a son' Daily Mail 'A deeply humane account and a visceral depiction of everyday life in the camps. Could not be more timely and deserves the widest possible readership' Daily Express

As a very young boy in the Second World War the seeds were sown to fly in the blue sky. Terry made up his young mind with great determination to reach for that sky in a 'Spitfire'. He joined the RAF as a pilot but twists of fate caused him to become a nuclear bomber pilot. It was RAF policy not to change from that complicated role to another and yet he pushed for change; became an instructor and as a display pilot he made his final move to the single seat air defence Lightning. He instructed on the Lightning and commanded two squadrons. Terry's original dream came true and he reached the pinnacle of his ambition but it was complicated in a way that he had not envisaged. There were dangerous incidents, the loss of friends, the 31 moves of his family and the politics associated with senior rank. At the outset he had not understood the demands of a Cold War or the need for him to sail the major oceans of the world with a sea-going admiral and become his intelligence officer. The eventual compensation was a promotion and a two year tour on a tropical island with his family.

Though all but three of Robert Sidney's 332 extant letters to his wife Barbara Gamage Sidney have been in the Sidney family archive, they have never previously been fully transcribed or edited. This edition of the surviving letters, which Sidney wrote to his wife when they were separated for long periods by his official duties at various continental locations, provides a wealth of information about the Sidneys' family life. They touch on matters such as family illnesses, the children's education, court gossip, finances, and the construction of additions to Penshurst Place, the seat of the Sidney family. The letters also offer an extraordinary record of an early-modern English household in which the wife was entrusted with the overall responsibility for the well-being of her family, and for managing a large estate in the absence of her husband. Sidney's letters show that, although his union with the wealthy Welsh heiress Barbara Gamage may have been engineered primarily for political and financial ends, clearly the couple enjoyed a happy and loving marriage. Their correspondence is full of endearments, and Robert frequently tells his wife how much he misses her and their beloved children, including his 'Malkin,' later Lady Mary Wroth. The volume includes an introduction and notes by the editors. It also includes contextual materials such as relevant sections on family matters from letters to Robert from his trusted agent, Rowland Whyte; and from Robert Sidney's own business correspondence. The introduction specifically addresses the issue of Barbara's literacy, within the broader context of late-Elizabethan women's literacy.

It is January, 1978. Groups of nervous, dutiful white conscripts begin their National Service with Rhodesia's security forces. Ian Smith's minority regime is in its dying days and negotiations towards majority rule are already under way. For these inexperienced eighteen-year-olds, there is nothing to do but go on fighting, and hold the line while the transition happens around them. Dead Leaves is a richly textured memoir in which an ordinary troopie grapples with the unique dilemmas presented by an extraordinary period in history - the specters of inner violence and death; the pressurized arrival of manhood; and the place of conscience, friendship and beauty in the pervasive atmosphere of futile warfare.

During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Samuel Bentham influenced both the technology and the administrative ideas employed in the management of the British navy. His influence stemmed from his passion for science, from his desire to achieve improvements based on a belief in the principle of Utility, and from experience gained over eleven years in Russia, a large part in the service of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin. Having travelled extensively throughout the north and south of Russia, Poland and Siberia, he managed Potemkin's industries at Krichev, built fast river galleys, armed the Russian flotilla of small craft at Kherson and served with the flotilla that defeated the Turks in the Black Sea. His main ambition was to open river communication in Siberia and develop trade into the Pacific. However he returned to England and in 1796 became Inspector General of Naval Works, a post in which he fought for innovations in the technology and management of the British royal dockyards. Regarded then by the Navy Board as a dangerous maverick, this book reveals the experiences, creativity and thinking that made him a major figure in British naval development.