By Grant Tucker
‘A good friend is worth pursuing. But why would a good friend be running away?’
Grant Tucker’s collection of cracking jokes is a celebration of the immortal art form that is the one-liner. Capable of inducing side-splitting laughter and tragic sighs in equal measure, this book collects 5,000 of the funniest one-liners ever told into one definitive volume. My personal favourite so far: ‘An autobiography without punctuation is a life sentence.’
Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister?
Edited by Kevin Hickson and Andrew Crines
2016 marks the centenary of Harold Wilson’s birth, and the fiftieth anniversary of his landslide general election victory in 1966. With contributions from leading experts in the fields of political study, and from Wilson’s own contemporaries, this remarkable new study offers a timely and wide-ranging reappraisal of one of the longest-serving premiers of the twentieth century.
By Martin Stanley
The UK civil service employs 412,000 people across the country. Every year, over 25,000 students and graduates apply to enter the civil service through its fast stream competition alone. For those seeking a career in the profession, Martin Stanley’s comprehensive guide is a must-read, offering invaluable advice about how to most effectively carry out civil service duties, and how to respond to ethical and technical issues pertinent to the job.
How to Win a Marginal Seat: My Year Fighting For My Political Life
By Gavin Barwell
During the 2015 general election, the contest in Gavin Barwell’s constituency of Croydon Central was by any measure one of the most intensive constituency campaigns this country has ever seen. By the end of it, Gavin had clung on by the skin of his teeth, and had a story well worth telling. This book is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how campaigning is conducted at the coalface of British politics.
Taking It On the Chin:
Memoirs of a Parliamentary Bruiser
By Tom Pendry
Surely one of the most colourful characters ever to have graced the Palace of Westminster, Tom Pendry has been a boxer, a bruiser and a scholar, whose political career as an agent, candidate, Labour MP and peer has spanned over sixty years. Full of revealing anecdotes and candid descriptions of colleagues, his memoirs throw new light on successive governments and great, epoch-making events, and are a mixture of light and shade, irreverent wit and deeply serious intent.
Islam Beyond the Violent Jihadis:
An Optimistic Muslim Speaks (Provocations series)
By Ziauddin Sardar
Is Islam inherently violent and misogynistic? Why do young men and women go to join the Jihadi Caliphate? Does Islam need a reformation? Should we be frightened of Shariah? What part do Muhammad’s teachings play, or what part should they play, in our own times? Writer and critic Ziauddin Sardar seeks to answer a host of questions prominent in the discourse today.
As a practicing Muslim, Sardar is as terrified by the rise of Islamic Jihadi groups as anyone else. In this remarkable book, he urges all those who feel the same way to work together to preserve the sanity of our world.
Coalition:
The Inside Story of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government
By David Laws
Coalition is the definitive insider account of the historic Conservative–Lib Dem coalition from its birth in 2010 through to its demise in May 2015. This revealing account will be one of the most important political books of the year, shedding new light on perhaps the most fascinating political partnership since the Second World War. It will also provide an essential historical record of the issues and challenges facing all political parties.
Project Fear:
How an Unlikely Alliance Left a Kingdom United but a Country Divided (second edition)
By Joe Pike
Joe Pike’s bestselling account of the Scottish referendum and its aftermath was one of the most highly acclaimed political books of 2015. This second edition – published to coincide with the anniversary of Scottish independence – is updated with brand new material, interviews and figures.
Resistance:
European Resistance to the Nazis, 1940—1945
By M. R. D. Foot
This brilliant book was the first to analyse the whole field of wartime resistance to the Nazis in Europe; to explain what resisters could and could not do and to assess, in outline, whether they achieved their aims.
The Mantle of Command:
FDR at War, 1941–1942
By Nigel Hamilton
International bestselling historian Nigel Hamilton offers a definitive account of FDR’s masterful — and underappreciated — command of the Allied war effort. With the second volume – Commander in Chief FDR’s Battle with Churchill, 1943 – coming in the summer, this intimate, sweeping look at a great president in one of history’s greatest conflicts is a must-read.