The first part of Matthew Engel's sweeping social history of modern Britain during the reign of Elizabeth II.
'Magisterial' - Guardian
'Outstanding' - Ian Kershaw
Vladimir Putin is a pariah to the West.
Alone among world leaders, he has the power to reduce the United States and Europe to ashes in a nuclear firestorm and has threatened to do so. He invades his neighbours, most recently Ukraine, meddles in western elections and orders assassinations inside and outside Russia. The regime he heads is autocratic and corrupt.
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 explores in unprecedented depth the personality of its enigmatic and ruthless leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia. Since becoming President in 2000, his obsession has been to restore Russia's status as a great power, unbound by western rules. 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's regime is dark. He 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.
This book is as close as we will come to understanding Russia's ruler. It also makes us revise long-held assumptions about the course of global politics since the end of the Cold War.
Three years after the political novice Volodymyr Zelensky was elected to Ukraine's highest office, he found himself catapulted into the role of war-time leader. The former comedian has become the public face of his country's courageous and bloody struggle against a brutal invasion. Born to Jewish parents in central Ukraine, Zelensky campaigned for the presidency in the 2019 election on the promise to restore trust in politics. After his landslide victory, he told jubilant supporters 'I will never let you down.' Little did he know that he would be called upon to serve his people in the most demanding circumstances imaginable, fighting for the very survival of his country in the worst war on European soil since 1945. Zelensky's leadership in the face of Russia's aggression is an inspiration to everyone who stands opposed to the appalling violence being unleashed on Ukraine. This book tells his astonishing story.
'Thorough and engaging ... you can't understand England without understanding the BBC' - New York Times
This journal of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine is a collection of Andrey Kurkov's writings and broadcasts from Kyiv.
A moving and thought-provoking story of loss and war from the Director of the Ukrainian institute, told in a powerful blend of memoir and essay
THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Geography comes before history. Islands cannot have the same history as continental plains. The United Kingdom is a European country, but not the same kind of European country as Germany, Poland or Hungary. For most of the 150 centuries during which Britain has been inhabited it has been on the edge, culturally and literally, of mainland Europe.
In this succinct book, Tombs shows that the decision to leave the EU is historically explicable - though not made historically inevitable - by Britain's very different historical experience, especially in the twentieth century, and because of our more extensive and deeper ties outside Europe. He challenges the orthodox view that Brexit was due solely to British or English exceptionalism: in choosing to leave the EU, the British, he argues, were in many ways voting as typical Europeans.
Magnitsky's brutal killing has remained uninvestigated and unpunished to this day. His farcical posthumous show-trial brought Putin's regime to a new low in the eyes of the international community.
'Should be required reading for everyone - including unionists - who are interested in and concerned about the fate of this island' Dublin Review of Books
'The first comprehensive manual of Irish unification' Irish Times
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Will Ireland really reunite?
Throughout the century since partition the unification of the two parts of the island seemed impossible. Many still feel that it is, particularly because of the bloody legacy of past conflict.
However, by 2030, if not sooner, Ulster unionists' demographic and electoral advantages will be over. And in the light of Brexit, the rising popularity of Sinn Fein, political developments both sides of the border, and within Great Britain, Irish unification referendums will become increasingly likely. Yet even those who want these to happen are not prepared.
Making Sense of a United Ireland is a landmark exploration of this most contentious of issues. Distinguished political scientist Brendan O'Leary - a global expert on divided places, who has been profoundly engaged with the Irish question for nearly four decades - argues that the time to consider the future of the island of Ireland is now.
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'A tour de force' Globe and Mail
'A must-read for anyone who lives in Northern Ireland and thinks seriously about its future. [O'Leary has] thought through the implications of possible unity so deeply it would be foolish for anyone who seeks it or opposes it to ignore his book' Cathal Mac Coille
'Impressively researched and well-argued ... detailed and readable' Irish Independent
'Brilliant' Brian Feeney, Irish News
'Highly readable, stylishly written, and essential' Irish Central
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From New York Times Bestselling author Scott Galloway comes an urgent examination of the future of America and the reasons behind its current social and economic crisis
In Adrift, Scott Galloway looks from the past to the present - from 1945 to the 2020s - to reveal how America has reached its current state of political, social and economic crisis. It is on the brink of massive change, change that will disrupt the working of its economy and drastically impact its financial backbone, the middle class.
Telling America's story through 100 charts, Galloway demonstrates how crises such as Jim Crow, World War II, and the Stock Market Crash of 2008, as well as the escalating power of technology, an entrenched white patriarchy, and the socio-economic effects of the pandemic, created today's perfect storm.
Adrift seeks to make sense of it all, and offers Galloway's unique take on where America is headed and what it will become. It's a vital guide for anyone who wants to understand the state the country is in and how and why its influence on the world has changed.
'Deighton has a desire, unobtrusive but inflexible, to see the truth ... Blitzkrieg is full of insights' Financial Times
This is the story of the Nazi conquest of western Europe, from Hitler's rise to power and 'lightning-fast war', to his fatal mistake in halting the German advance on Dunkirk in 1940. Drawing on technical mastery and interviews with both Allied and German participants, Blitzkrieg sets out the technical thinking behind the attack and the weapons that made it possible. It is a compelling, detailed account of Europe's darkest hour.
'What Deighton did for the Battle of Britain in Fighter he has done for the land-war here ... A rattlingly good yarn' Guardian
SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'The most important book of the year' Daily Mail The brilliant and provocative new book from one of the world's foremost political writers
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ''The Putin book that we''ve been waiting for'' Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland ''Books about modern Russia abound ... Belton has surpassed them all. Her much-awaited book is the best and most important on modern Russia'' The Times A chilling and revelatory expose of the KGB''s renaissance, Putin''s rise to power, and how Russian black cash is subverting the world. In Putin''s People , former Moscow correspondent and investigative journalist Catherine Belton reveals the untold story of how Vladimir Putin and his entourage of KGB men seized power in Russia and built a new league of oligarchs. Through exclusive interviews with key inside players, Belton tells how Putin''s people conducted their relentless seizure of private companies, took over the economy, siphoned billions, blurred the lines between organised crime and political powers, shut down opponents, and then used their riches and power to extend influence in the West. In a story that ranges from Moscow to London, Switzerland and Trump''s America, Putin''s People is a gripping and terrifying account of how hopes for the new Russia went astray, with stark consequences for its inhabitants and, increasingly, the world. ''A fearless, fascinating account ... Reads at times like a John le Carre novel ... A groundbreaking and meticulously researched anatomy of the Putin regime, Belton''s book shines a light on the pernicious threats Russian money and influence now pose to the west'' Guardian
THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD
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