Thoughtful, relaxing and interesting, books are always a well-received present. This Christmas, we have the perfect selection from which you can choose politically charged narratives or explorations of subjects beyond the ordinary.
Explore this carefully curated collection of seven books, destined to be this Christmas’s must-haves.
FICTION: The Winding Stair by Jesse Norman
Set in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Jesse Norman’s first novel takes the reader on a thrilling journey to the upper echelons of power. Focused on two titans of the early modern world – Francis Bacon and Edward Coke – this epic tale tells their gripping story while mirroring the darkest parts of our own contemporary politics.
Learn something new about Tudor history while joining in the parlour game: is King James I like Boris Johnson or is Walsingham similar to a certain adviser? As a Conservative MP, Norman’s authoritative ringside seat means that “he writes with a deep knowledge of Parliament – ‘the happenings, the plots and counterplots, the subterfuges and stratagems’. This tour de force reflects his direct experience of the winding stair.” (The Spectator)
FUN: The Not Quite Prime Ministers: Leaders of the Opposition 1783–2020 by Nigel Fletcher
History is written by the winners. And more often than not, it is written about them too. A library’s worth of books have been published chronicling the UK’s Prime Ministers. But what about those who never quite made it to No. 10? Described as “a chocolate box of a book” by Stephen Bush, The Not Quite Prime Ministers offers a brief history of each Leader of the Opposition since Charles James Fox.
Entertaining (for example, a James Bond-esque car chase involving Hugh Gaitskell and Ian Fleming’s wife in the Caribbean) while informative, there is another layer to this book: the importance of opposition. Political historian Dr Nigel Fletcher skilfully examines each leader’s impact, making this book important reading in the run-up to next year’s general election.
BIOGRAPHY: Marcia Williams: The Life and Times of Baroness Falkender by Linda McDougall
Over a decade before Margaret Thatcher swept to power, another woman was running Britain from 10 Downing Street: Marcia Williams, the first female political adviser to a Prime Minister. She masterminded Harold Wilson’s election victories, but her reputation was one of a ‘public nuisance’ – until now…
Linda McDougall overturns these verdicts, restoring this trailblazing pioneer to her rightful place in British political history. This is the topical, timely and long-overdue reassessment of this maligned woman that finally “examines her pivotal importance” (Sir Anthony Seldon).
ROYAL: Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family by Tom Quinn
2023 began with Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare. And then that Netflix documentary. Now, should we ask, is growing up in the royal family really that bad? What does growing up in the royal family actually entail?
Royal author, Tom Quinn, has delved deep into the weird and some would say wonderful traditions and methods of rearing children in the royal family, from Edward VII smashing up his schoolroom to the Queen mischievously pranking unsuspecting visitors with dog biscuits to Prince William pinching a teacher’s bottom. The ‘royallygood’ book for a royal fan!
SPORT: Newbon, Bloody Hell: A Life in Sports Broadcasting by Gary Newbon
For many people, Gary Newbon is the face of British sports broadcasting. Now, go behindthescenes of a career that included seven World Cups, three Olympic Games and many football and boxing championships both at home and around the world.
This hugely entertaining memoir is a glittering record of what he achieved in a golden era of British broadcasting and charts friendships and encounters with sporting legends, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Brian Clough, Muhammad Ali, Pelé, Carl Lewis, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Garry Sobers, Sir Geoff Hurst, Jonah Lomu, Sebastian Coe, Ian Botham and many others.
MILITARY: The Women Behind the Few: The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence during the Second World War by Sarah-Louise Miller
The courageous pilots of the Royal Air Force who faced the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, affectionately known as ‘the Few’, are rightly hailed as heroes. Recently, efforts have been made to recognise the thousands who supported RAF operations behind the scenes.
And yet one group remains missing from the narrative: the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. The Women Behind the Few explores the Second World War from the perspective of the WAAFs who worked to collect and disseminate vital intelligence – intelligence that resulted in Allied victory.
CRIME: No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter by Martin Brunt
What is it about crime that we find so fascinating, even if at the same time the details are repugnant? Why exactly do we immerse ourselves in true crime podcasts and TV shows? Has this appetite for gore shifted over the years? And what role does the crime reporter play in all of this?
In this compelling book, Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt draws on the most shocking and harrowing stories he’s covered over the past thirty years to document the life of a crime reporter and assess the public obsession with crime that his reporting caters to. It’s a true crime must-read.
Add these to your basket today and get that Christmas shopping out of the way!
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