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Dick Taverne: Politics and Beyond: A Memoir
by Dick TaverneIn 1973, Labour MP Dick Taverne caused a national sensation when he stood against his own party as an independent to win a historic by-election in Lincoln. Demonstrating the power of the individual against party politics, his bold move was a forerunner for the formation of the SDP some eight years later and cemented his own place in political history. Peppered with entertaining anecdotes, Against the Tide sets Taverne's political battles in the context of a rich and varied life. After studying at Oxford University, Taverne juggled a legal career while taking his first steps in politics, before serving in Harold Wilson's government during the 1960s. His later achievements included the launch of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the founding of the charity Sense About Science, whose objective of advancing public understanding of science continues to inform public debate today. Still an active member of the House of Lords, Dick Taverne presents a thoughtful and compelling memoir, as well as a measured account of fraught and turbulent times.
Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius
by Nick HornbyWhat could possibly connect Prince, the great twentieth century singer songwriter, and Charles Dickens, the great writer of classics usually stuffed into the hands of adolescents too early? What could these two geniuses, one born in 1812 in England, and the other in 1950s Minneapolis, have in common?For Nick Hornby, Dickens and Prince are two artists that compare to no others. At the young age of 24, they both had their breakthroughs, Prince with '1999' and Dickens with The Pickwick Papers. At 26, Prince released 'Purple Rain' and Dickens' Oliver Twist was published, and, by 30, both artists were huge stars.No one else had such a relentless work ethic and produced such a staggeringly original and enormous body of work. Where did their magic come from? How did they use it? And, in the end, did it kill them?Tracing their lives, from the early years to their relationships with women, their finances to their inability to stop working, Dickens and Prince is a brilliantly surprising and joyous uncovering of the essence of a very particular and unique type of genius.
Dickens the Novelist: The Novelist (Peregrine Bks.)
by F. R. LeavisIn The Great Tradition, published in 1948, F. R. Leavis seemed to rate the work of Charles Dickens - with the exception of Hard Times - as lacking the seriousness and formal control of the true masters of English fiction. By 1970, when Dickens the Novelist was published on the first centenary of the writer's death, Leavis and his lifelong collaborator Q. D. (Queenie) Leavis, had changed their minds. 'Our purpose', they wrote, 'is to enforce as unanswerably as possible the conviction that Dickens was one of the greatest of creative writers . . .'In seven typically robust and uncompromising chapters, the Leavises grapple with the evaluation of a writer who was then still open to dismissal as a mere entertainer, a caricaturist not worthy of discussion in the same breath as Henry James. Q. D. Leavis shows, for example, how deeply influential David Copperfield was on the work of Tolstoy, and explores the symbolic richness of the nightmare world of Bleak House. F. R. Leavis reprints his famous essay on Hard Times, with its moral critique of utilitarianism, and reveals the imaginative influence of Blake on Little Dorrit. Q. D. Leavis contributes a pathbreaking chapter on the importance of Dickens's illustrators to the effect of his work.
Dickensland: The Curious History of Dickens's London
by Lee JacksonThe intriguing history of Dickens’s London, showing how tourists have reimagined and reinvented the Dickensian metropolis for more than 150 years Tourists have sought out the landmarks, streets, and alleys of Charles Dickens’s London ever since the death of the world-renowned author. Late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with tracking down the locations—dubbed “Dickensland”—that famously featured in his novels. But his fans were faced with a city that was undergoing rapid redevelopment, where literary shrines were far from sacred. Over the following century, sites connected with Dickens were demolished, relocated, and reimagined. Lee Jackson traces the fascinating history of Dickensian tourism, exploring both real Victorian London and a fictional city shaped by fandom, tourism, and heritage entrepreneurs. Beginning with the late nineteenth century, Jackson investigates key sites of literary pilgrimage and their relationship with Dickens and his work, revealing hidden, reinvented, and even faked locations. From vanishing coaching inns to submerged riverside stairs, hidden burial grounds to apocryphal shops, Dickensland charts the curious history of an imaginary world.
Dickie Bird Autobiography: An honest and frank story
by Dickie BirdDickie Bird's retirement was an international event shown on TV screens and newspapers throughout the world. He is a household name, an eccentric, and one of the most loved and respected characters in world cricket. His idiosyncratic style and infectious humour has endeared him to millions, transcending his sport.Fiercely proud of his background as a Yorkshire miner's son, his account follows his youth in Barnsley, his early days as a cricketer, through to his career as an umpire and his experiences of the international scene, all told with total honesty by this very private person. As the most respected umpire in the game, Dickie has serious and constructive points to make about modern cricket. He has fearlessly berated fast-bowlers when necessary. He has some sharp comments to make about ball tampering and he has mixed feelings about the introduction of the third umpire. Dickie wanted to go out at the top and he has certainly done so - after standing at 66 Test matches, three World Cup finals and 92 one-day Internationals.Combining forthright views on the game and those involved in it, compelling accounts of what it is like behind the scenes in cricket at the highest level, and the hilarious stories for which Dickie is so well known, here is the refreshing and enjoyable autobiography of a sporting legend.
Dickory Cronke: The Dumb Philosopher, or, Great Britain's Wonder
by Daniel DefoeSynopsis not available
Dictator: From the Sunday Times bestselling author (Cicero Trilogy #3)
by Robert HarrisPRE-ORDER PRECIPICE, THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, NOW - PUBLISHING AUGUST 2024'Confirms Harris's undisputed place as our leading master of both the historical and contemporary thriller' Daily Mail'Climatic in every sense . . . I could not put it down' GuardianThere was a time when Cicero held Caesar's life in the palm of his hand. But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero's life is in ruins. Cicero's comeback requires wit, skill and courage. And for a brief and glorious period, the legendary orator is once more the supreme senator in Rome. But politics is never static. And no statesman, however cunning, can safeguard against the ambition and corruption of others.'The finest fictional treatment of Ancient Rome in the English language' The Scotsman
The Dictator, the Revolution, the Machine: A Political Account of Joseph Stalin
by Tony McKennaIt is a commonplace wisdom that from the authoritarian roots of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 grew the gulags and the police state of the Stalinist epoch. The Dictator, the Revolution, The Machine overturns that perspective once and for all by showing how October was inspired by a profound mass movement comprised of urban workers and rural poor -- a movement that went on to forge a state capable of channelling its political will in and through the most overwhelming form of grass-roots democracy history has ever known. It was a single, precarious experiment whose life was tragically brief. In a context of civil war and foreign invasion the fledgling democracy was eradicated and the Bolshevik party was denuded of its social basis -- the working classes. While the party survived, its centrist elements came to the fore as the power of the bureaucracy asserted itself. From the ashes of human freedom there arose a zombified, sclerotic administration in which state functionaries took precedence over elected representatives. One man came to embody the inverted logic of this bureaucratic machine, its remorseless brutality and its parasitic drive for power. Joseph Stalin was its highest expression, accruing to himself state powers as he made his murderous, heady rise to dictator. This book examines his historical profile, its roots in Georgian medievalism, and shows why Stalin was destined to play the role he did. In broader strokes Tony McKenna raises the conflict between the revolutionary movement and the bureaucracy to the level of a literary tragedy played out on the stage of world history, showing how Stalinism's victory would pave the way for the Midnight of the Century.
The Dictator, the Revolution, the Machine: A Political Account of Joseph Stalin
by Tony McKennaIt is a commonplace wisdom that from the authoritarian roots of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 grew the gulags and the police state of the Stalinist epoch. The Dictator, the Revolution, The Machine overturns that perspective once and for all by showing how October was inspired by a profound mass movement comprised of urban workers and rural poor -- a movement that went on to forge a state capable of channelling its political will in and through the most overwhelming form of grass-roots democracy history has ever known. It was a single, precarious experiment whose life was tragically brief. In a context of civil war and foreign invasion the fledgling democracy was eradicated and the Bolshevik party was denuded of its social basis -- the working classes. While the party survived, its centrist elements came to the fore as the power of the bureaucracy asserted itself. From the ashes of human freedom there arose a zombified, sclerotic administration in which state functionaries took precedence over elected representatives. One man came to embody the inverted logic of this bureaucratic machine, its remorseless brutality and its parasitic drive for power. Joseph Stalin was its highest expression, accruing to himself state powers as he made his murderous, heady rise to dictator. This book examines his historical profile, its roots in Georgian medievalism, and shows why Stalin was destined to play the role he did. In broader strokes Tony McKenna raises the conflict between the revolutionary movement and the bureaucracy to the level of a literary tragedy played out on the stage of world history, showing how Stalinism's victory would pave the way for the Midnight of the Century.
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
by Alastair Smith Bruce Bueno de MesquitaA groundbreaking new theory of the real rules of politics: leaders do whatever keeps them in power, regardless of the national interest.As featured on the viral video Rules for Rulers, which has been viewed over 3 million times.Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith's canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest"-or even their subjects-unless they have to. This clever and accessible book shows that democracy is essentially just a convenient fiction. Governments do not differ in kind but only in the number of essential supporters, or backs that need scratching. The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with, and the quality of life or misery under them. The picture the authors paint is not pretty. But it just may be the truth, which is a good starting point for anyone seeking to improve human governance.
The Dictionary People: LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024
by Sarah Ogilvie**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024**'Enthralling and exuberant ... Here is a wonder-book for word-lovers' Jeanette Winterson‘A lively, entertaining, and illuminating read. I loved it’ Susie DentWhat do three murderers, Karl Marx's daughter and a vegetarian vicar have in common?They all helped create the Oxford English Dictionary.The Oxford English Dictionary has long been associated with elite institutions and Victorian men. But the Dictionary didn't just belong to the experts; it relied on contributions from members of the public. By 1928, its 414,825 entries had been crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people, from astronomers to murderers, naturists, pornographers, suffragists and queer couples.Lexicographer Sarah Ogilvie dives deep into previously untapped archives to tell a people's history of the OED. Here, she reveals, for the first time, the full story of the making of one of the most famous books in the world - and celebrates the extraordinary efforts of the Dictionary People.** A Financial Times, TLS and Daunt Books Book of the Year 2023 **'Utterly fascinating, entertaining, astonishing and as clever as a box of monkeys ... I completely love it' Joanna Lumley'Full marks to Sarah Ogilvie... guaranteed to grab those of us obsessed with books, language and mystery' Financial Times'[An] astonishing book' Sunday Times'Touching ... The oddities [of language] enliven the book' Observer *Book of the Day*'[An] affectionate and accomplished book' TLS'Engaging' Spectator'Marvellous, witty and wholly original' Alan Rusbridger'Glorious and surprising' Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian and author of Burning the Books‘A fascinating and delightful exploration of the Victorian world … Wonderful’ Nicola Shulman, TLS Podcast
Did I Ever Tell You?: The most moving memoir of 2024
by Genevieve Kingston'Compelling and heartbreaking' Ann NapolitanoA deeply moving memoir of a young daughter, her dying mother - and the trail of letters and gifts she left behind.'Her messages met me like guideposts in a dark forest; if her words couldn't point the way, at least they offered the comfort of knowing someone had been there before'Ten days before Gwen Kingston turned twelve, her beloved mother - with whom she shared a birthday - died. She left behind two chests - one for Gwen and one for her brother - filled with lovingly wrapped presents and letters marking the milestones she would miss: driver's licences, graduations and every one of their birthdays until the age of thirty. Each gift a chance to reach back into the past and, for the briefest moment, hear her voice again.Over the last twenty years, the chest of treasures has travelled with Gwen across a continent, from state to state and apartment to apartment, growing lighter with each passing birthday. And now, just three gifts remain . . .In this beautiful and heart-rending memoir, Gwen describes growing up in the shadow of loss, guided by what her mother left behind. Woven in is her mother's own story, and that of their whole family - tragedies foreseen and unforeseen, paths taken and not taken. It's about a mother's love for her daughter, but more than that, it is a story of marriage, family, inheritance and everything that shapes a life.
Did I Ever Tell You This?
by Sam Neill‘Just wonderful, so funny and charming. Sam Neill's lively, lovely book made me laugh out loud’ MERYL STREEPDead Calm The Hunt for Red October The Piano Jurassic ParkFor over forty years, Sam Neill’s name has been a hallmark of quality. From enduring blockbusters to arthouse and cult classics, his work has taken him all over the world, working with Hollywood’s greats.In Did I Ever Tell You This? he invites us in, sharing stories from an extraordinary life with heaps of charm, honesty and a good-humoured appreciation for the absurd.‘Sam Neill is a legend, and in this magnificent book he shares his stories of family, friends and film’ LAURA DERN‘Charming. A transparently lovely man, with a life hectically well lived’ Mail on Sunday‘A fabulously entertaining, insanely readable memoir’ STEPHEN FRY‘Really, really, really funny. There are some cracking stories’ LORRAINE KELLY‘I love this book. A real treat. Fantastic’ GRAHAM NORTON
Did She Kill Him?: A Victorian tale of deception, adultery and arsenic
by Kate ColquhounIn the summer of 1889, young Southern belle Florence Maybrick stood trial for the alleged arsenic poisoning of her much older husband, Liverpool cotton merchant James Maybrick. 'The Maybrick Mystery' had all the makings of a sensation: a pretty, flirtatious young girl; resentful, gossiping servants; rumours of gambling and debt; and torrid mutual infidelity. The case cracked the varnish of Victorian respectability, shocking and exciting the public in equal measure as they clambered to read the latest revelations of Florence's past and glimpse her likeness in Madame Tussaud's. Florence's fate was fiercely debated in the courtroom, on the front pages of the newspapers and in parlours and backyards across the country. Did she poison her husband? Was her previous infidelity proof of murderous intentions? Was James' own habit of self-medicating to blame for his demise? Historian Kate Colquhoun recounts an utterly absorbing tale of addiction, deception and adultery that keeps you asking to the very last page, did she kill him?
Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?
by Seamas O'Reilly'A gorgeous memoir' Pandora Sykes'Tender, sad and side-splittingly funny' Annie MacManus'A heartfelt tribute to an alarmingly large family held together by a quietly heroic father' Arthur Mathews, co-creator of Father Ted and Toast of LondonSéamas O'Reilly's mother died when he was five, leaving him, his ten brothers and sisters and their beloved father in their sprawling bungalow in rural Derry. It was the 1990s; the Troubles were a background rumble (most of the time), and Séamas at that point was more preoccupied with dinosaurs, Star Wars and the actual location of heaven than the political climate.Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? is a book about a family of argumentative, loud, musical, sarcastic, grief-stricken siblings, shepherded into adulthood by a man whose foibles and reticence were matched only by his love for his children and his determination that they would flourish. It is the moving, often amusing and completely unsentimental story of a boy growing up in a family bonded by love, loss and fairly relentless mockery.'Not only hilarious, tender, absurd, delightful and charming, but written with such skill as to render it unforgettable' Nina Stibbe, author of Reasons to be Cheerful 'Grotesquely funny' Sophie Heawood, author of The Hungover Games
Did You Ever Love Me?: Abused by the ones who were supposed to keep her safe
by Toni Maguire Cassie CookHow do you stop your past from determining your future? “It’s what daddies do with their little girls,” he explains, “every little girl does it. But it’s a secret, and you must not talk about it.”Cassie was too young to remember when her father started abusing her, but she remembers how unclean it made her feel. When she got married at sixteen and had a family of her own, she thought she’d finally escaped his clutches, but he found a way to make sure she could never move on. Turning to drink to cope, Cassie’s babies were taken into care and her husband left her. Now would begin the biggest challenge of her life: winning her children back and working to eclipse the pain of the past. This is the heartbreaking true story of a little girl that just wanted to be loved.
Did You Like That? Fred Dibnah, In His Own Words: Fred Dibnah, In His Own Words
by Don HaworthWhen Fred Dibnah debuted on television in 1979, British audiences immediately embraced a new cultural icon: a steeplejack from Bolton who fell in love with England's decaying industrial landscape and an exhaustive storyteller whose charm and wit was matched only by his down-to-earth manner. The Producer of that first film, Don Haworth, would go on to make nineteen films about this unlikely celebrity and true British eccentric.Did You Like That? collects the best stories from these films: colourful tales told by Fred himself, recounting key moments in his life, his experiences as a steeplejack, his fascination with machinery, his work as an engineer, craftsman, artist, inventor and steam enthusiast, and his forthright views on life in general.Told with true Northern grit, Did You Like That? is the story of a man who never shied away from a hair-raising challenge, and the closest thing to Fred's autobiography we're likely to get. In paperback for the first time, this is Fred's story, in his own words.
Did You Really Shoot the Television?: A Family Fable
by Max HastingsMax Hastings's account of his family's tumultuous 20th century experiences embraces the worlds of fashion and newspapers, theatre and TV, pioneering in Africa and even – his father's most exotic 1960 stunt – being cast away on a desert island in the Indian Ocean.
Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm
by Jeremy ClarksonPull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed withWelcome to Clarkson's farm.An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs, it's the perfect plot of land for someone to delegate the actual, you know, farming to someone else while he galivants around the world in cars.Until one day, Jeremy decided he would do the farming itself.After all, how hard could it be? . . .Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to 'do farming', Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor.Fortunately, there's help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller.Between them, they enthusiastically cultivate crops, rear livestock and hens, keep bees, bottle spring water and open a farm shop. But profits remain elusive.And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it's worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . .Praise for Clarkson's Farm:'The best thing Clarkson's done . . . It pains me to say this' THE GUARDIAN'Shockingly hopeful' THE INDEPENDENT'Even the most committed Clarkson haters will find him likeable here' THE TELEGRAPH'Quite lovely' THE TIMES
Diddly Squat: The No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller
by Jeremy ClarksonThe seeds are being sown, the soil turned, the farm shop restocked - that's right, it's time for another riotous trip to Diddly Squat Farm with farmer-in-progress Jeremy Clarkson . . .Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm.At the end of Jeremy's first year in the tractor's driving seat, Diddly Squat farm rewarded him with a profit of just £144. So, while he's the first to admit that he's still only a 'trainee farmer'*, there is clearly still work to be done.Because while he's mastered the art of moaning about nearly everything, some of the other attributes required of a successful farmer prove more of a challenge.Who knew, for instance . . .That loading a grain trailer was more demanding than flying an Apache gunship? That cows were more dangerous than motor-racing? Or that it would have been easier to get planning permission to build a nuclear power station than to turn an old barn into a farm restaurant?But if the council planning department and the local red trouser brigade seem determined to frustrate his schemes at every turn, at least he's got Lisa, Kaleb, Cheerful Charlie and Gerald, his dry-stone-walling Head of Security to see him through.Life on Clarkson's Farm may not always go according to plan. There may not always be one. But there's not a day goes by when Jeremy can't say 'I've done a thing' and mean it . . .* generous, in Kaleb's view____________PRAISE FOR DIDDLY SQUAT'Clarkson has done more for farmers in one series than Countryfile achieved in 30 years' James Rebanks, author of A Shepherd's Life'Clarkson has showcased the passion, humour and personalities of the people who work throughout the year to grow the nation's food . . . and brought an understanding of many of the issues faced by farmers to the British public' National Farmers Union'A deserving Farming Champion of the Year' Farmers Weekly 'I don't know anything about farming. It's like David Attenborough doing jet-skiing, or Nicholas Witchell saying, "I'm going to be a cage fighter'" Jeremy Clarkson
Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly
by Jeremy ClarksonGet tucked in to a third bestselling helping of Clarkson's Farm from our favourite wellie-wearing wannabe farmer, Jeremy ClarksonWelcome back to Clarkson's Farm. Since taking the wheel three years ago Jeremy's had his work cut out. And it's now clear from hard-won experience that, when it comes to farming, there's only one golden rule:Whatever you hope will happen, won't.Enthusiastic schemes to diversify have met with stubborn opposition from the red trouser brigade, defeat at the hands of Council Planning department, and predictable derision from Kaleb - although, to be fair, even Lisa had doubts about Jeremy's brilliant plan to build a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup. And only Cheerful Charlie is still smiling about the stifling amount of red tape that's incoming . . . But he charges by the hour.Then there are the animals: the sheep are gone; the cows have been joined by a rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro;. the pigs are making piglets; and the goats have turned out to be psychopaths.But despite the naysayers and (sometimes self-inflicted) setbacks, Jeremy remains irrepressibly optimistic about life at Diddly Squat. Because It's hard not to be when you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner.And, after all, it shouldn't just be Break-heart Maestro who gets to enjoy a happy ending . . .Diddly Squat, Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, October 2022
The Didi Man
by Dietmar HamannA warm and highly entertaining account of Dietmar Hamman's personal story, The Didi Man was a Sunday Times bestseller on hardback publication. Dietmar 'Didi' Hamann is a complete one-off. The foreigner with a Scouse accent. The German who now plays cricket for his local village team. The overseas footballer turned anglophile who fell deeply in love with the city of Liverpool, its people and its eponymous football club. The classy midfielder had a long and distinguished playing career, but it was his seven seasons at Anfield that marked him out forever as a true Liverpool legend. His cult status was secured when he came off the bench at half-time during the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul to inspire his team to a dramatic come-back and spectacular European glory. The Didi Man is Hamann's story of his time on Merseyside at a football club which will always have a very special place in his heart.
Didn’t You Use to Be Chris Mullin?: Diaries 2010–2022
by Chris Mullin“When I retired from Parliament in April 2010, I ceased keeping a diary, on the assumption that life would no longer be of sufficient interest to justify doing so. It soon became apparent that I was wrong…I am under no illusion, however. Despite the occasional moment in the sunshine, I have never been much more than a fleabite on the body politic. On a visit to Parliament a couple of years after retiring, I came across a former colleague. He peered at me over the top of his glasses and said, ‘Didn’t you use to be Chris Mullin?’”Picking up where he left off in 2010’s Decline and Fall, celebrated diarist Chris Mullin returns with his trademark irreverence and keen eye for the absurd to chronicle the turbulent last decade of the second Elizabethan era.Didn’t You Use to Be Chris Mullin? charts the collapse of New Labour, the long years of austerity politics, the highs and lows of Brexit, the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn and no fewer than four Tory Prime Ministers, culminating in the death of the Queen.Wise, witty and deeply perceptive, Mullin paints a vivid portrait of our recent political history.
Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge
by Rainer Maria RilkeThe Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge is Rilke’s major prose work and was one of the earliest publications to introduce him to American readers. The very wide audience which Rilke’s work commands today will welcome the reissue in paperback of this extremely perceptive translation of the Notebooks by M. D. Herter Norton. A masterly translation of one of the first great modernist novels by one of the German language's greatest poets, in which a young man named Malte Laurids Brigge lives in a cheap room in Paris while his belongings rot in storage. Every person he sees seems to carry their death within them and with little but a library card to distinguish him from the city's untouchables, he thinks of the deaths, and ghosts, of his aristocratic family, of which he is the sole living descendant. Suffused with passages of lyrical brilliance, Rilke's semi-autobiographical novel is a moving and powerful coming-of-age story.