Reissued with a new foreword to mark the centenary of Harold Wilson's birth, Ben Pimlott's classic biography combines scholarship and observation to illuminate the life and career of one of Britain's most controversial post-war statesmen. Harold Wilson is one of the most enigmatic personalities of recent British history. He held office as Prime Minister for longer than any other Labour leader, and longer than any other premier in peacetime apart from Mrs Thatcher. His success at winning General Elections - four in all - has so far not been matched. His grasp of economic policy was better than that of any other Prime Minister, and he enjoyed a high reputation among foreign leaders. Yet, in retrospect, he seems a master tactician rather than a strategist - and he is regarded today with more curiosity than respect, when he is not treated with contempt.

After a decade as Conservative Party leader and six years as Prime Minister, he remains an enigma to those outside his exclusive inner circle.Now, in the wake of his dramatic resignation following the sensational EU referendum campaign, this new edition of the book that 'got the world talking' (Daily Mail ) revisits the real David Cameron, bringing the story of his premiership to its final chapter.Based on hundreds of interviews with colleagues past and present, friends and foes, this unauthorised biography charts Cameron's path from a blissful childhood in rural Berkshire through to the most powerful office in the country, giving a fascinating insight into his most intriguing relationships, both political and personal.Exploring the highs and lows of his administration, from his brush with disaster over the Scottish question and his humiliation over Syria to his surprise election victory in 2015 and his controversial win on gay marriage, this fully updated edition offers a comprehensive assessment of Cameron's legacy in office, weighing up the extraordinary achievements of Britain's youngest Prime Minister for 200 years.

Soon to be a major motion picture, the story of one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled, between a young unschooled Indian prodigy and a great English mathematician.

In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H Hardy, begging the preeminent English mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled. With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, "the Prince of Intuition," tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, "the Apostle of Proof." In time, Ramanujan's creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two and left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is still being plumbed for its secrets today.

So much of modern-day diplomacy still takes place behind closed doors, away from cameras and prying eyes. So what does this vital role really look like in today's world -and what does it take to do it well? From 2009 to 2014, Cathy Ashton was the EU's first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, effectively Europe's foreign policy supremo responsible for coordinating the EU's response to international crises. Arriving in Brussels as a relative novice to international diplomacy, she faced the challenge of representing the views and values of 28 nations during one of the most turbulent times in living memory. Decades-old certainties were swept away in days. Hope rose and fell, often in a matter of hours. From the frozen conflict of Ukraine to the Serbia-Kosovo deal, there were challenges, failures and moments of success. She encountered dictators and war criminals, and witnessed the aftermath of natural disasters, military action, and political instability. Working with US politicians and counterparts including John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Burns, she negotiated historic settlements, such as the Iran nuclear deal. An 'honest broker', she navigated the needs of opposing politicians to chart a path towards collaboration and stability. Now Ashton takes us behind the scenes to show us what worked and what didn't, and how it felt to be in 'the room where it happened'. From Serbia to Somalia, Libya to Haiti, she offers essential insight into how modern diplomacy works, examining the tools needed to find our way through the many challenges we face today. 'A riveting, absorbing account of modern diplomacy by one of the greatest international diplomats of recent times' General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.), former Director of the CIA 'If generations of Earthlings-to-be do indeed engage in cosmic negotiations with other lifeforms, it will be because of the success of Cathy and her diplomatic compatriots in bringing us to realise we are Earth-life, together.' Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut 'A must for students of politics and a treat for lovers of general non-fiction.' Misha Glenny, Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, and author of McMafia 'riveting, deeply personal and wonderfully accessible' Sir Kim Darroch, former British Ambassador to the USA, National Security Advisor, and UK Permanent Representative to the EU 'Catherine Ashton's gripping memoirs are not only a perfect combination of very precise facts and touching personal emotions, but for all foreign policy observers they convey important lessons of the past to serve for the crises of today.' Pierre Vimont, former French ambassador to the EU and the USA

Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) was the outstanding Greek statesman of the first half of the twentieth century. Michael Llewellyn-Smith traces his early years, political apprenticeship in Crete, and energetic role in that island's emancipation from both Ottoman rule and the arbitrary rule of Prince George of Greece. Summoned to Athens in 1910 by a cabal of officers, Venizelos mastered the Greek political scene, sent the military back to barracks, and led the country through a glorious period of constitutional and political reform, ending in a Balkan alliance waging successful war against Ottoman rule in Europe. By 1914, Greece had doubled in territory and population, and was about to face the challenges of European war. Tensions were rising between the king and the prime minister, foreshadowing political schism. This book illuminates Venizelos' political mastery, liberalism and nationalism, and traces his fateful friendship with David Lloyd George. A second volume will complete his story, with the Great War, the post-war peace settlement, Greece's Asia Minor disaster, and Venizelos' late years of renewed prime ministerial office, political polarisation and exile in Paris.

The story of Fidel Castro has few parallels in contemporary history. None of the outstanding Third World leaders of the twentieth-century played such a prominent and restless part on the international stage and none survived as head of state for as long. Over almost 50 years, he was one of the most controversial political figures in the world, and his legacy has yet to be fully evaluated. Some of his most cherished plans were realized and are a model for many Third World countries. Yet despite enormous sacrifices by Cubans, his grand vision remains unfulfilled and its continued pursuit is full of risks. The fully revised third edition of this respected political biography provides the first full retrospect of Castro's remarkable career right up to his illness and withdrawal from power in February 2008, incorporating analysis of: the renewed crackdown on dissidents in Cuba from the mid 1990s on the major geopolitical reconfiguration of Latin America in the late 1990s, and the new Cuban-Venezuelan relationship under Hugo Chavez the Helms Burton Act and the continuing US embargo The Cuban economy in the first decade of the new millennium It also revisits earlier events in Castro's career, for instance the various assassination plots against him , the Cuban missile crisis and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in the light of documents released by Cuba and the US over the past decade and a half.

The Sunday Times Bestseller 'THE BOOK EVERY VOTER MUST READ' Mail on Sunday 'Meticulous and highly readable ... Funny and devastating' Daily Telegraph 'The most compelling in-depth study so far' Guardian The unmissable expose of Jeremy Corbyn from the UK's most prolific investigative biographer. Since his surprise election as leader of the Labour Party in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn has survived coup attempts and accusations of incompetence that would have felled most politicians, including grave charges of anti-Semitism, bullying and dividing his own party. Now, as the UK government rips itself apart over Brexit, he stands at the brink of power. Through rigorous research and interviews with those closest to Corbyn - including his two ex-wives - Tom Bower reveals the truths that Jeremy Corbyn has worked to conceal from public scrutiny, as well as tracking the inner workings of the leadership years, including his approach to policy, brand of socialism, and relationships with other MPs. The must-read for every voter, Bower tells the story of Corbyn's political career and life so far - and asks what it would mean for UK politics if he made it into Downing Street. Is Corbyn a prime minister, or will he prove a dangerous hero?

First published in 1995. This volume looks at the samurai character of Saigo Takamori, a central character in the novel and television series called 'Tobu ga gotoku' (as if to fly) based on Shiba Ryotaro's novel, which was aired on Japan's public television network NHK. Shiba's main focus in the novel if on the early development of Japan's domestic politics, and on the emergence in that context of widespread discontent toward the policies of the Meiji government among the samurai class, leading eventually to a series of armed rebellions between 1874 and 1877.

Here Singapore's President S.R. Nathan tells his own story, taking the reader back with him to his childhood, to modest beginnings and life as a runaway in Singapore and Malaya, and then the experience of renewed hope during the Japanese occupation. After a belated and limited university education, as well as a short spell as a social worker dealing with seafarers, he witnessed from inside the Labour Reserch Unit the birth of Singapore's modern trade union movement. Shortly after Singapore achieved full independence, he joined the staff of the newly established Ministry of Foreign Affairs, retiring - as he thought - as Permanent Secretary. However, he did not retire. After being asked to run the Straits Times newspaper for a time, he served as High Commissioner in Malaysia and Ambassador in the United States. Few people have packed so much into a life. And then, at an age when most people are well beyond the end of their working lives, he was elected President of Singapore, in which role he has won the hearts of many people in Singapore and abroad.

Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku made a vow to smile every day and believed he was the 'happiest man on earth'. In his inspirational memoir, he paid tribute to those who were lost by telling his story and sharing his wisdom. 'Eddie looked evil in the eye and met it with joy and kindness . . . [his] philosophy is life-affirming' - Daily Express Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. The Happiest Man on Earth is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. 'Australia's answer to Captain Tom . . . a memoir that extols the power of hope, love and mutual support' - The Times

In a world dominated by the British Empire, and at a time when many Europeans considered black people inferior, Sierra Leonean writer A. B. C. Merriman-Labor claimed his right to describe the world as he found it. He looked at the Empire's great capital and laughed. In this first biography of Merriman-Labor, Danell Jones describes the tragic spiral that pulled him down the social ladder from writer and barrister to munitions worker, from witty observer of the social order to patient in a state-run hospital for the poor. In restoring this extraordinary man to the pantheon of African observers of colonialism, she opens a window onto racial attitudes in Edwardian London. An African in Imperial London is a rich portrait of a great metropolis, writhing its way into a new century of appalling social inequity, world-transforming inventions, and unprecedented demands for civil rights. WINNER OF THE HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION

** Shortlisted for the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award ** 'Magnificent. Narrative history at its vivid and compelling best' Fergal Keane The first major history of the International Brigades: a tale of blood, ideals and tragedy in the fight against fascism. The Spanish Civil War was the first armed battle in the fight against fascism, and a rallying cry for a generation. Over 35,000 volunteers from sixty-one countries around the world came to defend democracy against the troops of Franco, Hitler and Mussolini. Ill-equipped and disorderly, yet fuelled by a shared sense of purpose and potential glory, these disparate groups of idealistic young men and women formed a volunteer army of a size and type unseen since the Crusades, known as the International Brigades. Were they heroes or fools? Saints or bloodthirsty adventurers? And what exactly did they achieve? In this magisterial history, Giles Tremlett tells - for the first time - the story of the Spanish Civil War through the experiences of this remarkable group. Drawing on the Brigades' archives in Moscow, as well as first-hand accounts, The International Brigades captures all the human drama of a historic mission to halt fascist expansion in Europe.

Hell is the haunting first volume in Jeffery Archer's The Prison Diaries, the author's daily record of the time he spent there. 'The sun is shining through the bars of my window on what must be a glorious summer day. I've been incarcerated in a cell five paces by three for twelve and a half hours, and will not be let out again until midday; eighteen and a half hours of solitary confinement. There is a child of seventeen in the cell below me who has been charged with shoplifting - his first offence, not even convicted - and he is being locked up for eighteen and a half hours, unable to speak to anyone. This is Great Britain in the twenty-first century, not Turkey, not Nigeria, not Kosovo, but Britain.' On Thursday 19 July 2001, after a perjury trial lasting seven weeks, Jeffrey Archer was sentenced to four years in jail. He was to spend the first twenty-two days and fourteen hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London, which houses some of Britain's most violent criminals. This volume recounts his experience while there.

A Financial Times Politics Book of the Year 2021 Shortlisted for the 2022 Pushkin House Book Prize A fascinating account of Russia's famous dissident and the politics he embodies. Who is Alexei Navalny? Poisoned in August 2020 and transported to Germany for treatment, the politician returned to Russia in January 2021 in the full glare of the world media. His immediate detention at passport control set the stage for an explosive showdown with Vladimir Putin. But Navalny means very different things to different people. To some, he is a democratic hero. To others, he is betraying the Motherland. To others still, he is a dangerous nationalist. This book explores the many dimensions of Navalny's political life, from his pioneering anti-corruption investigations to his ideas and leadership of a political movement. It also looks at how his activities and the Kremlin's strategies have shaped one another. Navalny makes sense of this divisive character, revealing the contradictions of a man who is the second most important political figure in Russia-even when behind bars. In order to understand modern Russia, you need to understand Alexei Navalny.

Thatcher provides an accessible and scholarly introduction to the personality and career of Britain's first female political leader and the twentieth century's longest serving Prime Minister. Providing a balanced narrative and assessment of one of the most significant figures of the post-war era, this new biography examines the reasons why Margaret Thatcher has been admired by many as an architect of national revival, yet loathed by others as the author of widening social and geographical division. The book begins by examining the making of Margaret Thatcher, her education, the beginning of her political career and her rise through the Conservative Party to her appointment as unexpected leader. Moving on to her tenure as Prime Minister, Graham Goodlad then examines her impact at home and abroad, covering her controversial economic policies and hard line with the trade unions, leadership through the Falklands conflict and during the last decade of the Cold War, and influence on Britain's relationship with a more closely integrated Europe. Finally, the biography closes with a review of Thatcher's legacy before and after her death in April 2013, and considers how far she shaped the politics and society of the 1980s and those of our own time. Thatcher is essential reading for all students of twentieth-century history and politics.

The dramatic story of a man who stood at the center of British intelligence operations, the ultimate spymaster of World War II: Thomas Kendrick "A remarkable piece of historical detective work. . . . Now, thanks to this groundbreaking book, the result of years of meticulous research and expert analysis, Kendrick's role as one of the great spymasters of the twentieth century can be revealed."-Saul David, Daily Telegraph Thomas Kendrick (1881-1972) was central to the British Secret Service from its beginnings through to the Second World War. Under the guise of "British Passport Officer," he ran spy networks across Europe, facilitated the escape of Austrian Jews, and later went on to set up the "M Room," a listening operation which elicited information of the same significance and scope as Bletchley Park. Yet the work of Kendrick, and its full significance, remained largely unknown. Helen Fry draws on extensive original research to tell the story of this remarkable British intelligence officer. Kendrick's life sheds light on the development of MI6 itself-he was one of the few men to serve Britain across three wars, two of which while working for the British Secret Service. Fry explores the private and public sides of Kendrick, revealing him to be the epitome of the "English gent"-easily able to charm those around him and scrupulously secretive.

This is the best-selling biography of the IRA resistance fighter and hunger-striker, Bobby Sands. In this updated, new edition, Denis O'Hearn draws from a wealth of interviews with friends, comrades, fellow prisoners and prison wardens, to provide a faithful and shocking insight into life in Northern Ireland's H-Block prisons, an exploration of the motivations and thoughts of the Republican strikers and the story of one of the world's most radical, inspirational figures. Following his journey from its very beginnings - an ordinary boy from a working-class background in Belfast to a highly politicised, articulate revolutionary whose death in HM Prison Maze sent reverberations around the world, Bobby Sands: Nothing But An Unfinished Song captures the atmosphere of the time and the vibrancy of the man: a militant anti-imperialist who held on to his humanity despite living through a bitter, ugly struggle.

In a short life full of quiet endeavour, Will Purdom rose to become a key figure in China's struggle to repair the ecology and sustainability of it forests after decades of ruinous logging.

Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist. As a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in dungeon prisons. After his release, Lafayette sparred with Napoleon, joined an underground conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII, and became an international symbol of liberty. Finally, as a revered elder statesman, he was instrumental in the overthrow of the Bourbon Dynasty in the Revolution of 1830. From enthusiastic youth to world-weary old age, from the pinnacle of glory to the depths of despair, Lafayette never stopped fighting for the rights of all mankind. His remarkable life is the story of where we come from, and an inspiration to defend the ideals he held dear.