The story of Rome's richest man, who died a humiliating desert death in search of military gloryMarcus Licinius Crassus (115–53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome's first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led an army on an unprov...

A biography of Horace, one of the most popular poets from antiquity, revealing the little-known man behind his famous lines“Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.”—Mary BeardQuintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome’s greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist’s recognition of the dictatorial world aro...

A unique, unprecedented eyewitness account of the thirty most critical days of Tony Blair’s political career as Prime Minister, from 10 March 2003 to the end of the second Gulf War, written by the former editor of The Times.For thirty extraordinary days, in March and April 2003, Tony Blair defied street protests, party revolts, allied anger and government resignations in order to send British troops to Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.What was it like inside Downing Street during...

A biography of Horace, one of the most popular poets from antiquity, revealing the little-known man behind his famous linesQuintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome's greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist's recognition of the dictatorial world around him. Horace is famed for his fine phrases, lyric sex, and guidance on how to live, but he was a poet maddened by war, and many of his most self-revealin...

The story of Rome’s richest man, who died a humiliating desert death in search of military gloryMarcus Licinius Crassus (115–53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome’s first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led an army on an unprov...

One of the most enigmatic figures of antiquity, Tiberius lacked the imperial splendour of his great predecessor Augustus and the excesses of many of his successors, and has been overlooked by history. Yet this compelling study offers a portrait of a complex and contradictory man, both emperor and exile, tyrant and recluse.Drawing on a wealth of ancient sources as well as contemporary classical scholarship, Iskander Rehman engages in a nuanced and multidisciplinary examination of Ti...

A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. This edition also includes an extra chapter charting the course from Blair to Brexit.It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what the...

Johnny Adair was born in the Shankhill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The youngest of seven children he was raised a Protestant. As a teenager Johnny and his gang would roam the streets looking for Catholics for no other reason then religion and he bears many scars and war wounds from endless street battles. A young Loyalist, Johnny earned his reputation as a paramilitary leader long before he fully understood the politics but quickly came to realise the purpose of the paramilitar...

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 ...

Allowing you to uncover the woman behind the 'Iron Lady' image, 'Iron Lady: The Thatcher Years' takes a thorough yet lighthearted look at the life and times of Britain's longest-serving twentieth-century prime minister. As both the first woman to become leader of a European country and the first British premier to achieve re-election for three consecutive terms, Margaret Thatcher's legacy is such that even today she plays a significant role in British political life. Reflecting on her life...

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...