From prison cell to the political limelight, and back again, there is no doubt that Tommy Sheridan - tanned, handsome and armed with a soundbite for every occasion - was one of the most colourful figures in the drab, dusty world of party politics. Yet behind the charismatic exterior of the man who first came to public notice during the anti- Poll Tax movement and later led the Scottish Socialist Party to become a strong voice in the new Scottish parliament was a deeply flawed, manipulative...

'Don't write crap. Can't be that hard. And when you have written complete crap, then I think you should correct it.' Julia GillardWhen Julia Gillard took the reins of the Australian Labor Party on 24 June 2010 she did so with the goodwill of the majority of her party and a fawning Canberra press gallery. The man she had supplanted, Kevin Rudd, led an isolated band of angry Labor voices at this surprising turn of events. The collective political and media verdict was that his time, ...

**#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Years after her death, Princess Diana remains a mystery. This "insanely readable and improbably profound" biography (Chicago Tribune) reveals the truth as only famed journalist Tina Brown could tell it."The best book on Diana." —The New Yorker**Was she “the people’s princess,” who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she manipulative and media-savvy and nearly brought down the mon...

Barlinnie is one of the most notorious prisons in the world and for a hundred years it has held Glasgow's toughest and most violent men, swept up from the city streets. Ten men died on its gallows in the infamous Hanging Shed, including serial killer Peter Manuel. It has sparked rooftop protests and cell block riots, and been home to godfathers of crime like Arthur Thompson Snr and Walter Norval. Barlinnie was also the scene of one of the most controversial experiments in penal history, th...

At the age of 82, Rupert Murdoch is divorcing his third wife Wendi Deng and gearing up for the toughest challenge of his life: to hand his empire on to his children. But is this the end of the Murdoch dynasty?Lachlan doesn't want to succeed him. James is in disgrace. And Elisabeth is not a serious contender. His grip on the group has also been weakened by scandal. His British tabloids have been caught hacking phones and bribing officials on an industrial scale. At least twenty jour...

The number one bestselling memoir of one of New Labour’s three founding architects, now with a revealing new chapter updating this e-book edition.Peter Mandelson is one of the most influential politicians of modern times. ‘The Third Man’ is his story – of a life played out in the backroom and then on the frontline of the Labour Party during its unprecedented three terms in government.Much of the book is devoted to the defining political relationships of Peter Mandelson’s li...

In this memoir Mary O' Rourke writes, with remarkable candidness and humour, of personal and political events; of the many senior political figures with whom she worked, including Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern; of her life with her beloved husband Enda; of her two dear Brians, both of whom died before their time; of her successes and disappointments. She does all this with honesty, energy and an absence of self-pity or self-justification. The book is like the woman herself: open, warm a...

The Irish National Liberation Army was one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1974 as a splinter group of the Official IRA, the INLA's campaign of murder throughout the 1970s and 1980s included such notorious acts as the bombing of the Droppin' Well in Derry in 1982 and, perhaps most infamously, the kidnapping and mutilation of Dublin dentist by former member, the "Border Fox".Many of their leading members found death at ...

'Retiring in 1975, Fred Daly liked to tell the story of the new Member who sat next to him in the House. Turning to Fred, he said, 'I like to sit here and look across at the enemy.''Son,' said Fred, 'you are looking at the Opposition. The enemy is behind you.' 'Phillip Adams has been close to governments of various persuasions for over fifty years. Having been a confidant – or a fierce opponent – of many of Australia's most influential figure...

News, views and hilarious stories from the legend of Newsnight and long-standing quiz master of University Challenge.‘Bursting with good things’ Daily TelegraphDuring 25 years as BBC Newsnight’s supreme inquisitor, Jeremy Paxman proved himself as the master of the political intervview. From John Major to Theresa May and Tony Blair to Ed Miliband, he has them quaking in their boots. But it wasn’t just politicians. Paxman’s interview...

On the backbenches but still in the thick of it, Decline and Fall runs from Chris Mullin's sacking as a minister by Tony ('The Man') Blair in 2005 to the fall of New Labour in May 2010. Here is politics as it really is: entertaining encounters with constituents and conspirators, tantalising glimpses behind the scenes at the courts of Blair and Brown, all set against the background of the global financial crisis and the great expenses meltdown.Every bit as funny and insight...

The intimate biography of High Court justice Michael Kirby.For most of his life, Michael Kirby has been a man on a tightrope. A person of strong views working in a world governed by objectivity, he has had to balance the potent, sometimes contradictory impulses of passion and duty, honesty and discretion, advocacy and neutrality.He had to hide his real self from the world for decades, while being the public voice of countless human-rights and legal issues. ...