What makes a great golfer? Is it innate talent, unstinting dedication, hard graft or inner strength? Can it be measured by championships won or prize money earned? Is the perfect technique more important than an engaging personality? Since the birth in 1860 of the Open Championship, every era of golf has produced its iconic great players, and here Andy Farrell selects his candidates for the top 100. From the early Scottish professionals who pioneered the game, such as Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tommy, through such 20th century golden greats as Bobby Jones, Babe Zaharias, Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros, to the modern era of Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, and the young pretenders of Yani Tseng and Rory McIlroy. Grouped by era, 'The 100 Greatest Ever Golfers' is a unique collection of the finest players the game has seen. Farrell explores each golfer's achievements as well as setting them in the context of their peers. Sure to inspire endless debate for its selection, this fascinating treasure trove of stories is essential reading for any golfer. "Don't be put off by the list aspect - this is a cracking book. Not just 100 mini-biographies, but full of good stories and some fantastic quotes. Farrell also makes some excellent and intriguing left-field picks. Full of little nuggets such as the fact that Hale Irwin won more money heading the 1997 Champions Tour money list than Tiger Woods did topping that year's PGA Tour." Dave Tindall, www.skysports.com
John Rentoul has been running the Questions To Which The Answer Is "No!" Awards for several years now. Celebrating the journalistic skill of basing an entire article on a fantastically far-fetched question-based headline (and only admitting that the premise is extraordinarily unlikely in the final paragraph), his blog attracts large numbers of followers keen to submit their own favourites. Here for the first time Rentoul brings together the winning entries over the years. With an introductory essay on the art of headline writing, articles are grouped thematically in subjects from sports to politics, current affairs and history. Featuring such journalistic gems as: - Was JFK killed because of his interest in aliens? - Can your dreams predict the future? - Is this penguin a communist? - Has Marilyn Monroe been reincarnated as a shop assistant called Chris? ... and many more, 'Questions To Which The Answer Is "No!"' will leave you not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the state of journalism today.
Dark Art' lifts the lid on the covert world of business and financial public relations. Tim Burt, former award-winning journalist at the 'Financial Times', charts the upheaval of an industry that generates multi-million dollar revenues for mainly private, and tightly held, agencies around the world. He sets out to explain the new tactics shaping strategic communications in the 21st century, and questions whether the industry can live up to its promises in a world where the media itself is facing an existential threat. As the industry struggles to adapt, Burt investigates the impact of the evolving digital environment, and the likely winners and losers from the old 'dark art' of spin. What emerges is a tale of corporate intrigue, where larger-than-life millionaires agonise about their reputations, where business promises are made and broken, and where demands grow for strategic communications services that can be trusted. Based on high-profile examples of contemporary corporate crises, this is a unique insider view on a discreet industry at a time of unprecedented change. 'Dark Art' examines the challenges facing the PR industry and sets out a vision of how the industry might evolve.
The Smart Entrepreneur features real-life case studies as well as in-depth analysis by authors with direct experience of developing start-ups and venture coaching. Also available as a full ebook and print edition, here The Smart Entrepreneur has been divided into four mini-manuals: Idea creation and evaluation; From idea to business proposition; Proof of concept; and Marshalling resources. Each section offers practical advice and guidance to cover all aspects of your venture, from building a smart business proposition to assembling a dynamic team, carrying out affordable yet effective market research and seeking investment. Part IV describes the resources - primarily human and financial - you need to bring a business to fruition, and discusses how to work out a strategy and roadmap for obtaining the most suitable resources at the right time.
Dave Hart, charismatic leader of the fallen giant, Grossbank, is dead. But it's worse than that. He's in love. In the midst of an opium-and-sex-fuelled haze in the heart of Cambodia, having made billions of dollars from Grossbank's collapse before faking his own death, he is desperate to return to London and get The Girl. And in this case, it's not just any girl - it's Laura 'Two Livers' Mackay, the most intelligent, independent, powerful woman around … with the kind of figure that would make a dead man restless. But how exactly do you rise from the dead? How do you go about resurrecting the financial world following a devastating economic crash? And why are some of the shadiest figures in organised crime so keen to give you upwards of a hundred billion dollars? The Ego's Nest is a witty, gripping, fast-paced tale of one man trying to stay true to his beliefs no matter how jaded and immoral they may be, in a world where ethical business is obviously bad business.
Let me be clear. This book does not contain a raft of measures to address issues around the abuse of the English language. It is not a forward offering to proactively strategise a blue sky solution utilising key deliverables. Nor does it articulate a compelling and coherent vision for the coming period. The fact of the matter is, we need a step change in the way that we communicate if we are to avoid a spiral of decline. It is time to draw a line in the sand and consign certain linguistic atrocities to the dustbin of history. Welcome to The Banned List. The Banned List began with five cliches, and has grown steadily ever since. Here its creator, John Rentoul, sets out the need for such a list and argues the case for clear writing. He looks at the lure of the cliche and how jargon from different walks of life has made its way into the language everyone uses. Cloudy, meaningless words and tired, hackneyed phrases are not merely annoying, they make it hardr for us to communicate. The solution is simple, however. The Banned List shows you the traps to avoid and the rules to bear in mind when writing or speaking clearly and simply. It also contains The List in full. Keep it close to hand and you cannot go wrong. It's not rocket science.
The Smart Entrepreneur features real-life case studies as well as in-depth analysis by authors with direct experience of developing start-ups and venture coaching. Also available as a full ebook and print edition, here The Smart Entrepreneur has been divided into four mini-manuals: Idea creation and evaluation; From idea to business proposition; Proof of concept; and Marshalling resources. Each section offers practical advice and guidance to cover all aspects of your venture, from building a smart business proposition to assembling a dynamic team, carrying out affordable yet effective market research and seeking investment. Part I looks at how business ideas are matched with credible opportunities, whether you're starting from a perceived market or from a tecnology or competence that you'd like to commercialise. We emphasise the importance of considering a range of possibilities and evaluating each new idea with respect to existing alternatives already on the market, and perhaps modifying or improving it accordingly.
Just what exactly is classical music ...and why should it be a part of everyone's life? Who are the big names behind the classical hits ...and which are the best recordings of their music? What are you supposed to wear to a classical concert ...and when on earth are you supposed to applaud? 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Classical Music ...But Were Too Afraid to Ask' answers these questions and much more. In the pages of this book, Darren Henley and Sam Jackson set out to make the classical world not only accessible, but also disarmingly simple and utterly engrossing, as they share their passion for the greatest music ever written. Celebrating 20 years of the world's most successful classical music radio station, this book lifts the lid on the burning questions that Classic FM's listeners have most often asked over the past two decades. Three sections steer you through the terminology and etiquette of classical music, open the fascinating history of the genre and its key figures over the last 1,000 years, and provide a detailed reference guide. Since its transmitters were first switched on in 1992, the team behind Classic FM has believed that classical music can and should be a part of everyone's life, no matter who they are or where they live. So, whether you are a long-time listener or completely new to the genre this book equips you to begin your own personal journey of discovery into the world's greatest music.
She's back! When arch-snob Emmeline Lucas (known universally as Lucia) makes some money on the stockmarket, the wheels are set in motion for a new adventure - and this time, her ambitions are larger than ever. But eternal rival Elizabeth Mapp-Flint is determined to outshine Lucia and she's got royalty on her side. The much-loved Mapp and Lucia series takes a new turn as the two legendary protagonists travel to the continent to lock horns in an idyllic Italian setting. Can Mapp upstage Lucia on foreign soil so far from Tilling? What is Georgie's new valet up to? And will Lucia's financial speculation lead to rags or more riches? 'Lucia On Holiday' is a new addition to the Mapp and Lucia canon, based on the immortal characters first created by E.F. Benson. Perfect reading for followers of Benson's original novels and sure to be equally loved by new fans, this is a pitch-perfect and deliciously enjoyable social satire of an England long gone but not forgotten.She's back! When arch-snob Emmeline Lucas (known universally as Lucia) makes some money on the stockmarket, the wheels are set in motion for a new adventure - and this time, her ambitions are larger than ever. But eternal rival Elizabeth Mapp-Flint is determined to outshine Lucia and she's got royalty on her side. The much-loved Mapp and Lucia series takes a new turn as the two legendary protagonists travel to the continent to lock horns in an idyllic Italian setting. Can Mapp upstage Lucia on foreign soil so far from Tilling? What is Georgie's new valet up to? And will Lucia's financial speculation lead to rags or more riches? 'Lucia On Holiday' is a new addition to the Mapp and Lucia canon, based on the immortal characters first created by E.F. Benson. Perfect reading for followers of Benson's original novels and sure to be equally loved by new fans, this is a pitch-perfect and deliciously enjoyable social satire of an England long gone but not forgotten.
The Concise Classic FM Hall of Fame celebrates classical music's unique ability to stir the emotions of a listener – whether it's the haunting melodies of Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs or Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; the passionately charged opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; dramatic operas such as Puccini's La bohème; the moving sounds of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto; beautiful ballet scores from Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky; or blockbuster film soundtracks composed by John Williams and Howard Shore. Based on fifteen years of selections by Classic FM's millions of listeners for the radio station's annual countdown of the nation's 300 favourite works, this definitive collection encompasses a rich variety of classical greats, contemporary masters, lesser-known treasures and great British composers to provide a fascinating insight into our relationship with the music we love. This exclusive ebook version, based on the Sunday Times bestselling The Classic FM Hall of Fame, combines the stories behind each of the 300 pieces of music, with biographies of key composers, the full Hall of Fame ranking and detailed recommended recordings to help guide your listening and enjoyment of the greatest classical music of all time. Full of information and facts as relevant to a new listener discovering the joys of classical music as it is to long-time lovers of the genre, The Concise Classic FM Hall of Fame is the ideal companion to music which can inspire, entertain, relax and invigorate us.
Behind the City of London's facade of sharp suits, fast cars and lavish expense accounts lies a world of cruel deception, savage double-dealing and rampaging egos. For ten years David Charters lived the life. Now he lifts the lid on what really goes on in the Square Mile.
Gerard Lee Bevan was the model of an Edwardian swell - arrogant, smooth, well-connected and highly cultured. He married money and influence - his wife Sophie Kenrick was a cousin of the future prime minister Neville Chamberlain - and over the years he kept a string of showgirl mistresses. But his was a success built on fraud and deception, and eventually Bevan could sustain the fiction no longer. After a series of desperate swerves, he fled the country on 8 February 1922, abandoning his family and leaving his stockbroking and insurance empire in ruins. Thus began an extraordinary flight across Europe - disguised as a Frenchman, using a stolen passport, with his mistress at his side. His subsequent arrest in Vienna, and the Old Bailey trial that followed, would shock the entire country. 'Fortune's Spear' is a parable of the way in which the prospect of easy money draws risk-takers in every era into a spiral of greed and deceit. Bevan may have been forgotten, but he richly deserves to be remembered. Drawing on c ontemporary evidence and told with novelistic flair, Martin Vander Weyer's gripping biography brings him vividly to life.
The Smart Entrepreneur features real-life case studies as well as in-depth analysis by authors with direct experience of developing start-ups and venture coaching. Also available as a full ebook and print edition, here The Smart Entrepreneur has been divided into four mini-manuals: Idea creation and evaluation; From idea to business proposition; Proof of concept; and Marshalling resources. Each section offers practical advice and guidance to cover all aspects of your venture, from building a smart business proposition to assembling a dynamic team, carrying out affordable yet effective market research and seeking investment. Part II looks at the broadening of an initial idea for a product, service or application into a rounded business strategy, by employing preferred witness research to identify and roughly quantify a target market. We show you how to consider the opportunities or limitations of your prospective business environment, how to protect your ideas and invetnions from imitation by competitors, and how to draw on this information to shape a commercial strategy.
The Smart Entrepreneur features real-life case studies as well as in-depth analysis by authors with direct experience of developing start-ups and venture coaching. Also available as a full ebook and print edition, here The Smart Entrepreneur has been divided into four mini-manuals: Idea creation and evaluation; From idea to business proposition; Proof of concept; and Marshalling resources. Each section offers practical advice and guidance to cover all aspects of your venture, from building a smart business proposition to assembling a dynamic team, carrying out affordable yet effective market research and seeking investment. Part III covers ways to demonstrate and test your business proposition, both technically and commercially, through prototyping and some rough-and-ready market testing.
On August 15th 1992, the Premier League kicked off for the very first time to the sound of money. That same season, a new kind of branded commercialism descended across the continent as the European Cup was re-launched as the Champions League. In 1994, the game's oldest trophy, the FA Cup, would become the last of English football's major competitions to fall to commercial sponsors. The early 1990s mark the moment at which the beautiful game, the sport of the common man, wound up on a market stall, complete with price tag. Of course the game needed to change - terraces had become ugly, dangerous places, blighted with racism and afflicted with the tragedies of Hillsborough and Heysel; on the mud-patches that passed for pitches, tackles were brutal, bone-crunching, and very much from behind. But rather than righting wrongs, pockets were lined as the legacy of football was cashed in. Rob Smyth and Georgina Turner explore the fan's-eye view of 21st-century football, a game that can be about breathtaking style, but very little substance; a grossly inflated memory of its former self where Football's Soul (TM) is an idea to be traded, not treasured. These days, at least as much energy is spent figuring out how to exploit money-spinning opportunities as holes in the opposition back four, with long-suffering supporters brazenly commodified along the way. Yet in the game of the people, for the people, 'Jumpers for Goalposts' proves that the fans do know best and that to recover its soul, the beautiful game has to rediscover its roots.On August 15th 1992, the Premier League kicked off for the very first time to the sound of money. That same season, a new kind of branded commercialism descended across the continent as the European Cup was re-launched as the Champions League. In 1994, the game's oldest trophy, the FA Cup, would become the last of English football's major competitions to fall to commercial sponsors. The early 1990s mark the moment at which the beautiful game, the sport of the common man, wound up on a market stall, complete with price tag. Of course the game needed to change - terraces had become ugly, dangerous places, blighted with racism and afflicted with the tragedies of Hillsborough and Heysel; on the mud-patches that passed for pitches, tackles were brutal, bone-crunching, and very much from behind. But rather than righting wrongs, pockets were lined as the legacy of football was cashed in. Rob Smyth and Georgina Turner explore the fan's-eye view of 21st-century football, a game that can be about breathtaking style, but very little substance; a grossly inflated memory of its former self where Football's Soul (TM) is an idea to be traded, not treasured. These days, at least as much energy is spent figuring out how to exploit money-spinning opportunities as holes in the opposition back four, with long-suffering supporters brazenly commodified along the way. Yet in the game of the people, for the people, 'Jumpers for Goalposts' proves that the fans do know best and that to recover its soul, the beautiful game has to rediscover its roots.
We might not like to admit to it, but everyone -even the gentlest of souls -derives a secret guilty satisfaction from the misfortune of others. Tim Lihoreau has made it his business to uncover the myriad ways in which schadenfreude rears its wicked head, including: Turparphilia: To delight in the less than aesthetically beautiful nature of a friend's offspring. Nimbuphilia: To delight in driving wildly through a kerb-side puddle which you know to be too close to a pedestrian. Famaphilia: To delight in witnessing a celebrity in an everyday pickle. Schadenfreude: The Little Book of Black Delights uncovers the shady details of our darkest pleasures. Naming, defining and explaining each one in turn with fascinating insights and erudite wit, it drives at the heart of what it is we find so irresistibly delightful when faced with the other people's discomfort. Whether you actively pursue them, only think of them or even try and deny them, your blackest delights are in here somewhere...
From Bulgaria to Berkeley, Indonesia to Australia, Roger Carrick has travelled the world as an English diplomat. He was shadowed by the secret police in Sofia, witnessed the 1968 riots in Paris, befriended Shirley Temple at Stanford University and negotiated the withdrawal of British troops from Singapore. In between he rose to the heights of ambassador to Indonesia and High Commissioner to Australia. All in a day's work for a distinguished diplomat. Diplomatic Anecdotage is a reflection on his career and on the ups and downs of diplomatic life. By turns witty and thoughtful, it is an absorbing and appealing read and a unique behind-the-scenes look at diplomacy in action. It is also an account of a changing world, whose author has played a discreet role in shaping its course.
The memoirs of the last British Admiral to lead an aircraft carrier into active battle A story that covers Britain's most remarkable battleships and naval events of the recent past A unique view from the highest levels of the British admiralty "I slept that night in my top bunk, as we clattered over the rails. I imagined the ambush first, and a burst of fire ripping through our compartment, then wondered how I would cope with clambering down from the train in the darkness, knowing there were hostile insurgents about! Alas, I need not have worried, and we duly arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur in time for breakfast..." Born in Devon, Sir Jeremy Black began his naval life aged 13, as a Cadet under Training at Dartmouth and on HMS Devonshire. Then, cadets still slept in hammocks forced to lie on their backs to conform with the hanging of hammocks, a naval tradition dating back to before Nelson's time. He would learn seamanship and how to paint ships under the careful watch of Petty Officers, while in the classroom receive instruction on gunnery, torpedoes, signals and anti-submarine warfare. Cadet Black won the King's Sword after completing two long and intensive training cruises. His first appointment was on HMS Belfast (now a popular tourist attraction, moored by Tower Bridge), which took him to his initial taste of service under fire during the Korean War. Experience on other ships followed until, aged 30, he commanded a minesweeper engaged in action during the Borneo uprising. There, unfortunately, he failed to notice that many of the ship's stores were sold by the Chief Bosun's mate, resulting in Sir Jeremy's Court Martial on a record number of charges. He survived. His long, distinguished naval career has taken Sir Jeremy to nearly every part of the world where the British Navy was engaged in the last half of the twentieth century; from the Korean War, through the Suez crisis, and in all the main areas of possible conflict during the Cold War. Appointed to command the country's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible, he took it and its men to the Falkland Islands, winning the DSO for his part in the conflict. He went on to become a Flag Officer, taking a number of ships to the Far East, ending his career as Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command, when he flew his Flag in HMS Victory, Nelson's Flagship. From dancing eightsome reels in Borneo to the complex and dangerous fight to win back the Falklands, Sir Jeremy blends the tale of a successful naval career with many cogent observations on how naval life has developed - not always for the best - over the many years of his exceptional career. Written with a wry humour, Sir Jeremy's keen eye for detail and some pungent opinions combine to render memoirs which entertain, educate and finally engage its readers in a life of service, well-lived.The memoirs of the last British Admiral to lead an aircraft carrier into active battle A story that covers Britain's most remarkable battleships and naval events of the recent past A unique view from the highest levels of the British admiralty "I slept that night in my top bunk, as we clattered over the rails. I imagined the ambush first, and a burst of fire ripping through our compartment, then wondered how I would cope with clambering down from the train in the darkness, knowing there were hostile insurgents about! Alas, I need not have worried, and we duly arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur in time for breakfast..." Born in Devon, Sir Jeremy Black began his naval life aged 13, as a Cadet under Training at Dartmouth and on HMS Devonshire. Then, cadets still slept in hammocks forced to lie on their backs to conform with the hanging of hammocks, a naval tradition dating back to before Nelson's time. He would learn seamanship and how to paint ships under the careful watch of Petty Officers, while in the classroom receive instruction on gunnery, torpedoes, signals and anti-submarine warfare. Cadet Black won the King's Sword after completing two long and intensive training cruises. His first appointment was on HMS Belfast (now a popular tourist attraction, moored by Tower Bridge), which took him to his initial taste of service under fire during the Korean War. Experience on other ships followed until, aged 30, he commanded a minesweeper engaged in action during the Borneo uprising. There, unfortunately, he failed to notice that many of the ship's stores were sold by the Chief Bosun's mate, resulting in Sir Jeremy's Court Martial on a record number of charges. He survived. His long, distinguished naval career has taken Sir Jeremy to nearly every part of the world where the British Navy was engaged in the last half of the twentieth century; from the Korean War, through the Suez crisis, and in all the main areas of possible conflict during the Cold War. Appointed to command the country's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Invincible, he took it and its men to the Falkland Islands, winning the DSO for his part in the conflict. He went on to become a Flag Officer, taking a number of ships to the Far East, ending his career as Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command, when he flew his Flag in HMS Victory, Nelson's Flagship. From dancing eightsome reels in Borneo to the complex and dangerous fight to win back the Falklands, Sir Jeremy blends the tale of a successful naval career with many cogent observations on how naval life has developed - not always for the best - over the many years of his exceptional career. Written with a wry humour, Sir Jeremy's keen eye for detail and some pungent opinions combine to render memoirs which entertain, educate and finally engage its readers in a life of service, well-lived.
Modern manners leave a lot to be desired. In 'How the Queen can Make You Happy' Mary Killen, etiquette expert, mixes wit and polemic to make the case for civilised conduct - based on the ultimate role model, HM the Queen. In the year of her diamond jubilee, Mary argues that the Queen represents the best of British behaviour - which is why she is held in such high esteem around the world. Now you can use examples from her own life to navigate life's social complexities with ease and good grace. Entries include: - how to manage difficult pets - how to deal with bores - how to address an insult - how to dress properly and many more. Examining such under-rated virtues as discretion, politeness and kindness, 'How the Queen can Make You Happy' is a humorous celebration of long-held British values in an age where discretion is not generally the better part of value. Never mind the curtsey, where's the courtesy?
Various politicians present themselves as having the answers to our financial woes yet, as bestselling author Guy Fraser-Sampson shows, they are not part of the solution. They are the problem. His trenchant views have been heard frequently on radio and television programmes discussing the current situation. Here he sets out the facts supporting his belief that at every opportunity politicians choose the course of action which pursues their own short-term political ends, rather than doing what is right for the national long-term interest. In an entertaining mix of historical narrative and conceptual analysis, he argues that the present crisis has in fact been several decades in the making, and is the inevitable outcome of years of neglect and betrayal by those we have trusted to serve and govern us. As national debt reaches record levels around the world, and politicians continue to pile up fresh borrowings year after year, many are starting to ask just what, if anything, can be done to rescue us from the stark consequences of government folly. 'The Mess We're In' will open your eyes to the true causes of the crisis, and suggest some radical common-sense measures to drag the world back from the edge of the abyss.
Three novels featuring the anti-heroic banker, Dave Hart, the satirical creation of David Charters. This omnibus edition contains the novels 'At Bonus Time, No One Can Hear You Scream', 'Trust Me I'm a Banker' and 'The Ego Has Landed'.
Following Napoleon's defeat, a generation of young Russian officers was acutely conscious of the backward social and political conditions in their own country, compared to those in France. Taking advantage of the confusion after Alexander I's sudden death, on 14th December 1825 the officer-conspirators gathered their troops in St Petersburg to demand, among other things, a constitutional monarchy. The revolt's suppression was brutal: executions, hard labour and perpetual exile for the 121 ringleaders, many of whom belonged to Russia's wealthiest and most influential families. But thanks in part to the wives who joined them, the Decembrists maintained coherence as a group, and those who survived for the new Tsars amnesty in 1856 returned home as living legends. The Estonian Baron Rozen was scarcely more than a bystander at the veents of December 1825, but he was punished alongside the ringleaders and shared their fate. His account of the rebellion itself, of the years in Siberia and his subsequent exile, remains the best primary source for what happened. First published in his native German in 1869 (and in English in 1872), this vivid, accurate memoir stands as a fascinating precursor to the testaments of later political prisoners such as Mandelstam, Ginzburg, Solzhenitsyn and Havel.
Revolution is in the air. Throughout the Middle East, across Europe, America and beyond, 2011 wasa year of mass uprising "€“of communal protest, sometimes violent suppression and above all a burning desire for change. Yet these events are not without precedent. History is rich with stories of people power in action, some immortalised in national myths, others long forgotten or victims of repressive censors. From Spartacus' famous uprising against the Romans in 73BC to the Arab Spring of 2011, 'Viva la Revolution!' spans centuries and continents to examine 30 revolutions that have forged global superpowers, shaken empires, brought a halt to oppression, upended social divisions, established the first independent black nation and given birth to cultures, ideologies and idols. Alongside era-defining events such as the French and American revolutions, Derry Nairn brings to light hidden protests and assesses the continued importance of revolutions "€“such as the Irish uprising of 1798 "€“that ultimately failed, but which nevertheless help us understand our modern world in revolt.Revolution is in the air. Throughout the Middle East, across Europe, America and beyond, 2011 wasa year of mass uprising –of communal protest, sometimes violent suppression and above all a burning desire for change. Yet these events are not without precedent. History is rich with stories of people power in action, some immortalised in national myths, others long forgotten or victims of repressive censors. From Spartacus' famous uprising against the Romans in 73BC to the Arab Spring of 2011, 'Viva la Revolution!' spans centuries and continents to examine 30 revolutions that have forged global superpowers, shaken empires, brought a halt to oppression, upended social divisions, established the first independent black nation and given birth to cultures, ideologies and idols. Alongside era-defining events such as the French and American revolutions, Derry Nairn brings to light hidden protests and assesses the continued importance of revolutions –such as the Irish uprising of 1798 –that ultimately failed, but which nevertheless help us understand our modern world in revolt.
"An easy to read treat for royal enthusiasts, skilfully assembled to highlight significant episodes in our history from the comic to the tragic … informative and enjoyable" Sarah Bradford "Jeremy Archer takes Christmas as his springboard andthus, in a series of fascinating vignettes, he brings tolifemany varied members of the Royal Family over two centuries." Hugo Vickers A Royal Christmas is a Christmas pudding of a book, enticingly full of silver threepenny pieces. Organised thematically, it covers such topics as Christmas and conflict in the 20th century, Christmas pastimes, festive feasts, Christmas and the Commonwealth, and many more, to reveal the many ways in which the Royal Family have celebrated Christmas through the ages. Jeremy Archer has delved into the Royal Archives to uncover the personal thoughts of many members of the Royal Family during the Christmas period. What comes over most strongly from Queen Victoria's journals is the importance of family: the joys they shared, the trials they endured, and the carefully-selected gifts they exchanged. Although there is much happiness, tragedy is a common bed-fellow, particularly in earlier times. And conflict is seldom very far away. But this is a celebration - both of an enduring festive season and an extraordinary family.
