Leaders & Notable People

A classic of World War II literature, an incredibly revealing work that provides a near comprehensive account of the war and brings to life the legendary general and eventual president of the United States. • “Gives the reader true insight into the most difficult part of a commander’s life.” —The New York Times

Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as he planned and executed it. Through Eisenhower’s eyes the enormous scope and drama of the war–strategy, battles, moments of great decision–become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Penned before his Presidency, this account is deeply human and helped propel him to the highest office. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack leaves no doubt of his travails and reveals how this great leader handled the ultimate pressure. For historians, his memoir of this world historic period has become an indispensable record of the war and timeless classic.

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Methodism in the public and private lives of the politician

After more than forty contentious years in the public eye, Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the best-known political figures in the nation. Yet the strong religious faith at the heart of her politics and personal life often remains confounding, if not mysterious, to longtime observers. Even many of her admirers would be surprised to hear Clinton state that her Methodist outlook has “been a huge part of who I am and how I have seen the world, and what I believe in, and what I have tried to do in my life.” 

Gary Scott Smith’s biography of Clinton’s journey in faith begins with her Methodist upbringing in Park Ridge, Illinois, where she faithfully attended worship services, Sunday school, and youth group meetings. Like many mainline Protestants, Clinton’s spiritual commitment developed gradually throughout childhood, while her combination of missionary zeal and impressive personal talents has informed her career from the time of her pro bono work at Yale on behalf of children to the present.

Her Methodist faith has been very important to many of Clinton’s high-profile endeavors and in helping her cope with the prominent travails brought on by two presidential campaigns, never-ending conservative rancor, and her husband’s infidelity. Smith’s account examines Clinton’s faith in the context of work ranging from her 1990s pursuit of healthcare reform to a “Hillary doctrine” of foreign policy focused on her longtime goal of providing basic human rights for children and women–a project she saw as essential to United States security. The result is an enlightening reconsideration of an extraordinary political figure who has defied private doubts and public controversy to live by John Wesley’s dictum: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

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For as long as the British monarchy has existed, royal children have been brought up in ways that seem bizarre and eccentric to the rest of us. From medieval wet nurses to today’s Norland nannies and elite boarding schools, princes and princesses have endured parental abandonment for centuries as their parents farmed out childrearing duties to paid staff.

And as this marvellous romp of a book demonstrates, dysfunctional childhood experiences produce emotionally damaged adults, as evidenced by Edward VIII – who was horribly mistreated by his nanny – and his marriage to his substitute mother figure, Mrs Simpson; by alcoholic party girl Princess Margaret; and by rebellious Harry and his desperate desire to adopt Meghan Markle’s world view, to the detriment of his relationship with his brother.

Interweaving exclusive testimonies from palace staff with historical sources, Tom Quinn also uncovers outrageous tales of royal children misbehaving, often hilariously – 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.

Amusing and shocking in equal measure, Gilded Youth examines how the royal family has clung to outmoded traditions that centre on emotional coldness and detachment, and how, when it comes to children, the British royal family is still living in the Dark Ages.

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The sequel to the much-praised Mr Keynes’ Revolution.

The story of one man’s intellectual journey, and of a very remarkable marriage.

1926. Maynard Keynes has long been a thorn in the side of the British Establishment: an irritant to the Treasury, the Bank of England and his fellow academics alike. Rejected for his radical ideas, he has made an unlikely marriage to a Russian ballerina, her eccentricity charming him almost as much as it infuriates his highbrow Bloomsbury friends. But as the world around them changes, Maynard and Lydia cannot stay cocooned in their private refuge for long.

While Maynard frets about the ever-growing dole queues, and plans his route to power by way of the magnetic Lloyd George, Lydia is tormented by the thought of her family in Leningrad. Exiled by the Russian Revolution, she has found fame and fortune as the star dancer of Diaghilev’s celebrated Ballets Russes. Yet however demanding the role of stage celebrity, it is less challenging than that of the supposedly respectable and fortunate Mrs Keynes: the scrutiny of a crowded theatre less intense than from those convinced her marriage is heading for disaster.

In truth for Lydia and Maynard, marriage was always a gamble, and their life a dance where nobody is quite sure of the steps.

Then comes the Wall Street Crash, followed by a depression the likes of which the world has never seen. A society barely recovered from the Great War seems dangerously close to collapse. In the turmoil of the 1930s, the intellectual Maynard finds that answers must be sought in the most unlikely places.

The story of the man who invented modern economics.

In tumultuous times, it is not enough to hope for calmer waters.

Set during some of the most momentous years of the twentieth century, this novel explores the lives of two figures at the heart of those economic and cultural upheavals: John Maynard Keynes, considered by many as the most important economist of all time, and one of Time Magazine’s most significant people of the twentieth century, and the celebrated and eccentric Russian ballerina, Lydia Lopokova. Beginning in the “roaring twenties”, with ever-growing unemployment queues and a General Strike that pitches the whole labouring class against the governing elite, their journey takes them from the heart of the Bohemian Bloomsbury Group in Sussex, to Leningrad in Soviet Russia, to New York in the grip of the Great Depression, to the quiet colleges courts of Cambridge. The supporting cast ranges from a Welsh kitchen maid to pioneering socialist Beatrice Webb, fascist leader Oswald Mosley, politician Winston Churchill and writer Virginia Woolf.

A sequel to Mr Keynes’ Revolution, which was much praised for the depth of its research, and the way it deftly interwove economic ideas and history into a story of personal relationships and romance, Mr Keynes’ Dance is another intellectually daring and page-turning historical novel, which continues the tumultuous and surprising story of Maynard and Lydia.

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GIVE THE STORY ON EVERYONE’S LIPS THIS CHRISTMAS: COLEEN ROONEY’S OFFICIAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

A candid, intimate, behind the scenes look at the reality of a life lived on social media and under the scrutiny of the public eye.

‘It was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me, and like nothing I’d ever experienced…

Looking back on it now, it still amazes me how inflated it all got, how ridiculous, how serious.

That’s why I need to tell what happened in full…’

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Coleen Rooney has always been true to herself.

In My Account, she tells us how her upbringing prepared her for a life in the full glare of public and media scrutiny. In fact, from an early age, she was no stranger to responsibility, having two younger brothers as well as welcoming disabled foster sister Rosie into the family.

At just seventeen, she and boyfriend Wayne left their childhood homes to live together and
in time they had their own young family to care for. But being married to one of the world’s most successful sportsmen has also meant that any private difficulties they faced were inevitably exposed very publicly.

And that is no more true than in the now infamous tale of how a casual acquaintance of
Coleen’s ended in an extraordinary deception.

Here, she recounts how she first suspected someone was betraying her trust (and how devastated it left her), and then the meticulous steps she took to identify, trap and finally reveal to the world her suspect.

With the consequences playing out around the world and Coleen dragged unwillingly into a devastating court case whose outcome was far from certain, only now can she candidly give us her side of the story.

This, then, is My Account, Coleen Rooney’s tale of what it means to stand up for yourself and your family.

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The Sunday Times bestseller

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‘[A] compelling story of overcoming adversity… Unexpectedly fascinating… amazingly inspiriting…’ — The Observer

‘…the vitality of the book lies in its directness and conversational candour… An engaging memoir’ — The Sunday Times

‘Extraordinary’ — Evening Standard

‘Funny, honest and at times heart-breaking – a terrific read.’ — Lorraine Kelly

‘For a politician to have such an extraordinary story to tell is rare. For that politician to be able to tell it with such eloquence and benevolence is rarer still. This book is a triumph.’ — Alan Johnson

‘This riveting tale of social aspiration leads us from the East End to Westminster in detailed honesty.’ — Ian McKellen

‘A moving and inspiring hymn to the ups and downs of life – to love, to adversity and above all courage.’ —Michael Cashman

‘Compulsive reading: Wes’s story is inspiring, surprising and full of compassion.’ — Jess Phillips

‘A remarkable and enchanting book.’ — The House

‘One of the most extraordinary memoirs that I have read.’ — Lewis Goodall, The News Agents

‘Searingly honest… a really inspirational book.’ — Iain Dale

Wes Streeting might have ended up in prison rather than in parliament. His maternal grandfather Bill, an unsuccessful armed robber, spent time behind bars, as did his grandmother, who was also a political campaigner.

Brought up on a Stepney council estate, the young Streeting saw his teenage parents struggle to provide for him. In One Boy, Two Bills & A Fry Up he brings to life the poverty, humiliation and incredible struggle for them choosing whether to feed the meter and heat the flat, put carpet on the floor, or food on the table.

Wes Streeting knows it was the help and inspiration he received from the great characters that surrounded him, especially his paternal grandfather (also called Bill), that ultimately set him on the way to Cambridge and then Parliament. He knew he could draw on the strengths in childhood to eventually come out, and to go on and face his now successful struggle with kidney cancer.

This honest, uplifting, affectionate memoir is a tribute to the love and support which set him on his way out of poverty, and informs everything about Wes Streeting’s mission now in politics.

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What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour…Until Now!

As a cricketer, broadcaster and celebrity jungle-dweller, Phil Tufnell has travelled the world far and wide. From the great cricket tours of Australia and South Africa to his equally memorable jaunts to Benidorm and Blackpool, Phil has spent much of his life living out of a suitcase, meeting a host of colourful and memorable characters along the way.

The Tourist takes you out on the road, into the dressing room and behind the scenes of the commentary box to reveal just what really happens on Tour. Did Phil once push a baby grand piano down the stairs of a plush hotel? Did he accidentally eat a rat? Was he blamed for England being bowled out for 46 against the West Indies without even being in the team?

There’s only one way to find out…

It’s time to take a hilarious trip across the world with one of our most treasured sports personalities.

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Ask any visitor to London, from Tokyo to Tennessee, what is their number one priority in places to see, and the answer will invariably be: Buckingham Palace. It is by far the most famous building in the world and the lady who lives there, Queen Elizabeth 11, is easily the most famous woman on the planet.
Her Majesty employs some 1,200 men and women, full and part-time, permanent and temporary in her various Royal residences with over 400 working for her at Buckingham Palace alone.
So, what is she like to work for? Is she a generous employer? Does she encourage friendliness among those whose salaries she pays or does she prefer to keep her distance? Is it true she hates her servants to have facial hair – beards or moustaches? Why do the housemaids have to vacuum while walking backwards at all times? How are the servants told to react when they meet the Queen or any member of her family? What’s the money like?
In many ways Her Majesty is a model employer, providing food, drink and accommodation, at the best address in London, to her staff, but one thing she does not offer is high wages.
So why do most of them stay for many years? This book gives all the answers from the inside.

Brian Hoey has written 26 books about Britain’s Royal Family and as a former reporter and presenter with BBC Television and Radio he has interviewed Prince Charles, Princess Anne ( whose official biography he wrote), the Duke of Edinburgh and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Hoey was a television commentator at the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 and again, sadly, in 1997 at the funeral of Diana, He has also interviewed many of Hollywood’s Royalty including; Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Ray Milland, Cary Grant, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons and he conducted the final TV interview with Charlie Chaplin.

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