In the sweep of human history, the European Union stands out as one of humankind's most ambitious endeavours. It encompasses half a billion people, twenty-seven member states, twenty-three languages, and an economy valued at over $15 trillion. Modern Europe's stunning achievements aside, its sovereign debt crisis has shaken the world's largest political and economic union to its core. Can the federal institutions and shared values of Europeans meet the challenges of debt crisis that are as...

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...

READ BY PETER MANDELSON. The hotly anticipated memoir of one of New Labour’s three founding architects.READ BY PETER MANDELSON. 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 life – with Tony Blair...

As a small boy in Epping Forest, Jack Straw could never have imagined that one day he would become Britain's Lord Chancellor. As one of five children of divorced parents, he was bright enough to get a scholarship to a direct-grant school, but spent his holidays as a plumbers' mate for his uncles to bring in some much-needed extra income. Yet he spent 13 years and 11 days in government, including long and influential spells as Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. This is the story of how h...

In October 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be sliding inexorably toward a nuclear conflict over the placement of missiles in Cuba. Veteran Washington Post reporter Michael Dobbs has pored over previously untapped American, Soviet, and Cuban sources to produce the most authoritative book yet on the Cuban missile crisis. In his hour-by-hour chronicle of those near-fatal days, Dobbs reveals some startling new incidents that illu...

A helicopter crash off the coast of Ireland sends unexpected ripples through the international community in this intricate new thriller from the author of Winterland and Limitless (now a major motion picture).Susie Monaghan was on the cusp of stardom when her life was cut short by a tragic helicopter crash. After a full investigation, her death was ruled an accident: case closed. But a hungry young journalist named Jimmy Gilroy isn't buying the official story. Bef...

Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano novels have become an international sensation, with fans eagerly awaiting each new installment. In this eighteenth book of the New York Times bestselling series, someone is toying with Italy's favorite detective.Inspector Montalbano and his colleagues are stumped when two bombs explode outside empty warehouses—one of which is connected to a big-time drug dealer. Meanwhile, the alluring Liliana Lombardo is trying to seduce the inspect...

With Inspector Montalbano's most recent outings hitting the New York Times bestseller list, Andrea Camilleri's darkly refined Italian mysteries have become favorites of American crime novel fans. This latest installment finds Montalbano in search of his missing right-hand man.Before leaving for vacation with Livia, Montalbano witnesses a seagull doing an odd dance on the beach outside his home—and then the bird suddenly drops dead. Stopping in at his office for a quick che...

'Fantastic, timely, eye-opening' Armando Iannucci, New Statesman, Books of the Year'Captures a collective sense of anger and awakening' Matt Haig, Observer, Books of the YearBehind our democracy lurks a powerful but unaccountable network of people who wield massive power and reap huge profits in the process. In exposing this shadowy and complex system that dominates our lives, Owen Jones sets out on a journey into the heart of our Establishment, from the lobbies of Westmins...

Read by Hugh FraserMurder is part of the curriculum at an exclusive school for girls in Agatha Christie’s Cat Among the Pigeons, as the intrepid Poirot sets out to bring a stealthy killer to justice.Late one night, two teachers investigate a mysterious flashing light in the sports pavilion while the rest of the school sleeps. There, among the lacrosse sticks, they stumble upon the body of an unpopular games mistress—shot through th...

With her debut novel, At Risk, Stella Rimington introduced us to Liz Carlyle–a smart, impassioned MI5 intelligence officer whose talents and ambitions are counterbalanced by an abiding awareness of her job’s moral complexities. In Secret Asset, we are plunged back into her high-stakes, high-tension world.Liz has always been particularly skilled at “assessing people,” and trusts her instinct that a terrorist cell is at work at an Islamic bookshop. But when her boss,...

A remarkable look at day-to-day life of the codebreakers whose clandestine efforts helped win World War IIBletchley Park looked like any other sprawling country estate. In reality, however, it was the top-secret headquarters of Britain’s Government Code and Cypher School—and the site where Germany’s legendary Enigma code was finally cracked. There, the nation’s most brilliant mathematical minds—including Alan Turing, whose discoveries at Bletchley would fuel the birth of modern com...