The top 5 bestselling ebooks of November are...
5. Not In Front of the Corgis by Brian Hoey
The Windsors are England’s most famous family, but what are they really like when they’re out of the public gaze? Behind closed doors in every Royal residence, from Buckingham Palace to Clarence House, there are two families – one upstairs and one down – and nobody knows a Royal quite like a Royal servant, intimately acquainted as they are with every quirk, foible and eccentricity. And there are a fair few! This is the inside story of the Royal Family through the eyes of those who know them best, a sneak peek behind the ermine-trimmed curtains to reveal what they really get up to in their spare time. Are they just like us? Or are they are a world apart? Here are the answers to everything we’ve ever wondered about the Royals.
4. Mr Moon Has Left the Stadium by Jeremy nicholas
Jeremy Nicholas is West Ham United’s stadium announcer. A supporter since the age of six, Jeremy’s blood runs claret and blue. In the summer of 1998, after decades in the stands, he became the voice of his club – announcing the players, the substitutions, the trials and tribulations, and best of all the goals. Over the years he’s established himself as one of the best announcers in the business, combining information with a gentle humour that make visits to the Boleyn Ground that bit more special.Mr Moon Has Left the Stadium is the hilarious tale of one man’s obsession with football and doing things the right way. Part love story, part autobiography, part nostalgia, it will make you laugh and cry. It also answers the all-important question – who is Mr Moon?
3. Masters of Nothing by Matthew Hancock and Nadhim Zahawi
Behaviour is important. Whether this be the behaviour of those who saw it coming, or of those who constantly berated them. The behaviour of those who rode the boom and switched at the tipping point to ride the bust, or the behaviour of those who held on to their principles as the system collapsed around them. It was human behaviour after all, that led us to construct a bubble nobody suspected was dangerous, yet nonetheless would burst with disastrous consequences. Contrary to the views of many before the crash the cycle is inevitable - you cannot eliminate boom and bust. In a boom the bullish are promoted whilst the cautious are overlooked, reinforcing the cycle. This factor is generally ignored by the beautiful but flawed models of economic analysts. Since we cannot abolish the cycle, we must ensure that busts are not so dangerous in the future. The policy solutions are there if we're brave enough, from changing incentives, and creating fiscal and financial regulators with clout and discretion, through to changing corporate governance and shifting the power of executives.
2. Secrets of Station X by Michael Smith
A melting pot of Oxbridge dons, maverick oddballs and more regular citizens worked night and day at Station X, as Bletchley Park was known, to derive intelligence information from German coded messages. Bear in mind that an Enigma machine had a possible 159 million million million different settings and the magnitude of the challenge becomes apparent.
Michael Smith constructs his absorbing narrative around the reminiscences of those who worked and played at Bletchley Park, and their stories add a very human colour to their cerebral activity. The code breakers of Station X did not win the war but they undoubtedly shortened it, and the lives saved on both sides stand as their greatest achievement.
And the winner is...
1. Flying Free by Nigel Farage.
In an age of colourless bureaucrats, Nigel Farage is a politician who is impossible to ignore, provoking controversy and admiration in equal measure. A fun-loving iconoclast whose motto is work hard and play harderA", Farage's charismatic leadership and determination to battle the forces of anti-libertarianism have made him a Robin Hood figure to many, and propelled his party, UKIP, into a position of real power in the country. Never one for a quiet life, this paperback edition includes the story of Nigel's extraordinary escape from death in a plane crash on the eve of the 2010 general election (the light aircraft he was flying in got caught up in a UKIP banner it was towing and crashed shortly after take-off, badly injuring Farage and his pilot), his recovery and return to the leadership of UKIP in November 2010. Featuring sometimes hilarious and often terrifying encounters with a stellar supporting cast, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jose Manuel Barroso, and UKIP's short-lived, silver-gilt masco, Robert Kilroy-Silk - and told with Farage's customary wit and humour, Fighting Bull is a candid, colourful life story by a fascinating and controversial character. It also shows that one fearless, determined individual can still make a difference.