- Table View
- List View
Johnson at 10: The Inside Story
by Anthony Seldon Raymond Newell***Chosen as a non-fiction highlight of 2023 in The Times and the Observer***After his dramatic rise to power in the summer of 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock, Boris Johnson presided over the most turbulent period of British history in living memory. Beginning with the controversial prorogation of Parliament in August and the historic landslide election victory later that year, Johnson was barely through the door of No. 10 when Britain was engulfed by a series of crises that will define its place in the world for decades to come. From the agonising upheaval of Brexit and the devastating Covid-19 pandemic to the nerve-shredding crisis in Afghanistan and the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Johnson's government ultimately unravelled after just three years.This gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history maps Johnson's time in power from start to finish and sheds new light on the most divisive Prime Minister to have led the United Kingdom since Thatcher. Based on more than 200 interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, Johnson at 10 gives the first full account of Johnson's premiership, the shockwaves of which are still felt today.
Johnson on Savage: The Life Of Mr Richard Savage By Samuel Johnson
by Samuel JohnsonLives that Never Grow Old Part of a radical series –edited by Richard Holmes – that recovers the great classical tradition of English biography. Johnson’s book is a biographical masterpiece, still thrilling to read and vividly alive.
Johnson without Boswell: A Contemporary Portrait of Samuel Johnson (Routledge Revivals)
by Hugh KingsmillFirst published in 1940, Johnson without Boswell is about Samuel Johnson, the dictator of eighteenth-century English letters. It has become almost axiomatic never to mention that mammoth of wit and wisdom without linking him at least in thought with his great biographer, James Boswell. But there were others who knew him well, and who set down what they knew – among them Johnson himself in his letters and autobiographical fragments, his great friend Mrs. Thale in her Anecdotes, and Sir John Hawkins in his Life. From these and others, excerpted and skilfully pieced together in this volume by Hugh Kingsmill, there emerges a portrait of Johnson more domestic and less alarming than Boswell’s. But something of curmudgeon still, who could terrorise his table-companions by brandishing a knife and bellowing that by God he could eat a bit more. The result is a volume richly readable and informative, which can be read with pleasure either wholly or in part, especially by students of English literature.
Johnson without Boswell: A Contemporary Portrait of Samuel Johnson (Routledge Revivals)
by Hugh KingsmillFirst published in 1940, Johnson without Boswell is about Samuel Johnson, the dictator of eighteenth-century English letters. It has become almost axiomatic never to mention that mammoth of wit and wisdom without linking him at least in thought with his great biographer, James Boswell. But there were others who knew him well, and who set down what they knew – among them Johnson himself in his letters and autobiographical fragments, his great friend Mrs. Thale in her Anecdotes, and Sir John Hawkins in his Life. From these and others, excerpted and skilfully pieced together in this volume by Hugh Kingsmill, there emerges a portrait of Johnson more domestic and less alarming than Boswell’s. But something of curmudgeon still, who could terrorise his table-companions by brandishing a knife and bellowing that by God he could eat a bit more. The result is a volume richly readable and informative, which can be read with pleasure either wholly or in part, especially by students of English literature.
Joining the Dots: An Unauthorised Biography of Pravin Gordhan
by Jonathan Ancer Chris WhitfieldPRAVIN GORDHAN has been at the centre of many of the political storms that have torn through South Africa’s political landscape. He has been investigated by the Hawks, fired as finance minister, accused of running a ‘rogue unit’ at SARS and come up against the public protector, to name a few.Seasoned journalists Jonathan Ancer and Chris Whitfield take a magnifying glass to someone at the centre of this tumultuous period to try to understand the man behind the public image. They go back to Durban in 1949, when Gordhan was born, tracing the significant events and influences that shaped his life and prompted him to become involved in politics as a pharmacy student.The authors interview former fellow activists to build a picture of the role Gordhan played in the struggle, including his detention and torture. It was during this time that he worked closely with Jacob Zuma, the man who would become president and Gordhan’s nemesis and, on the back of a bogus intelligence report, fire him as finance minister.The book examines why President Cyril Ramaphosa’s right-hand man has been dragged into major controversies and made enemies such as public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Julius Malema and many of those associated with corruption.Joining the Dots is an in-depth, insightful, gripping and satisfying read about a man who found the courage to stand up to the dark forces of state capture.
Joining the Dots: A Living History
by Juliet Gardiner‘An accomplished and intensely evocative memoir … A journey of courage and determination … Joining the Dots … will become in time an integral part of our understanding of postwar Britain’ Daniel Kynaston, Books of the Year, Observer
Joint Force Harrier
by Adrian Orchard James BarringtonDays after arriving in Kandahar, the Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron were in the thick of fierce fighting. Armed with rockets and bombs, the pilots were flying crucial danger-close attack missions in defence of troops engaged in the most intense battles seen by British forces since the Korean War. While facing the constant threat of surface-to-air missiles, the British Top Guns knew that any mistake would have fatal consequences for the soldiers who depended on their skill and determination. Written by the Commanding Officer of the first Royal Navy squadron to deploy to Afghanistan, Joint Force Harrier is a compelling insight into the exciting world of modern air warfare.
Jojo: Finally Home - My Inspirational Memoir - THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (2023)
by Johannes Radebe*THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!*Champion dancer and Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe has captured our hearts with his mesmerising talent, bringing joy to millions of fans and wowing the most critical of judges. He is loved not only for his dancing, but for his beautiful, infectious spirit and energy.Jojo: Finally Home is his never-before-told story, where he shares the experiences and challenges he's faced - from growing up in Zamdela, a township in South Africa, as a young boy with a passion for dance (and playing with Barbies), to becoming the star he is today. Dance transformed Jojo's future, giving him a tool to express himself - but as you will learn, this was not always easy.Captivating and moving, these are Jojo's tales of euphoric highs and all-time lows, of making history, of grief, love, family and opportunity. It is a celebration of him finally feeling at home in his own skin. These are the personal moments that have shaped him into the man he is today - someone who lives life to the full and believes that no mountain is insurmountable.
Jokes, Jokes, Jokes: My Very Funny Memoir
by Jenny Eclair'As hilarious and outrageous as you might expect' Rosie Ramsey 'Funny. Poignant. Fascinating. Just the sort of hilarious, disrespectful, ribald book I love to get stuck into' Jo Brand How did little Jenny Hargreaves become Jenny Eclair and elbow her way into the male dominated world of 1980s stand-up?Daughter of Major Derek Hargreaves (spy?) and June Hargreaves (spy's wife?) sister of Sara (born to be Head Girl) and Ben (the usurper), Jenny's comedy career took off via drama school, cider, sausage rolls, sleeping with men who looked like they lived under a carpet, punk poetry, anorexia, bedsit misery, waitressing and not really having a clue about anything.This was a world before microphones, mobile phones, before everyone gave up smoking or started taking coke. Jenny Eclair was on the comedy circuit before there really was a comedy circuit and was the first woman to win the Perrier Award along the way.Still gigging to sell-out crowds forty years later, Jenny Eclair's memoir charts her childhood, her career and the changing face of women in comedy, all told with hilarious brilliance in Jokes, Jokes, Jokes, her very funny memoir.
Jokes to Tell the Queen
by Bloomsbury PublishingWhere does the Queen keep her armies?Up her sleevies! Laugh your way through this hilarious book packed with hundreds of splendidly silly jokes on every topic under the sun, such as animals, school and family, plus plenty of good old knock, knock jokes and lots of royalty themed jokes. Handy practical tips will advise you on crucial regal accomplishments, such as how to perfect the royal wave and how to pull off headscarf chic when walking one's corgis. Interactive elements include devising your Fantasy Royal Family and designing your own palace. A bonus fact section at the back of the book contains fascinating and little-known facts about the Queen and the Royal Family - did you know that Buckingham Palace has its own cinema, post office, chapel, swimming pool, staff cafeteria and doctor's surgery?
Joking Apart: My Autobiography
by Donncha O'CallaghanDonncha O'Callaghan is one of Ireland's leading international rugby players, and a stalwart of the Munster side. He was a key figure in the Irish team which won the IRB 6 Nations Grand Slam in 2009, and has won two Heineken Cup medals and two Magners League titles with Munster. But that success did not come easy. For such a well known player with a larger-than-life reputation, his long battle to make a breakthrough at the highest level is largely unknown. In this honest and revealing autobiography, Donncha talks in detail about the personal setbacks and disappointments at Munster and the unconventional ways he dealt with the frustration of not making the team for four of five years in his early 20s.He had a parallel experience with Ireland where it took him nearly six years to get from fringe squad member to established first choice player. Here he talks candidly about how he brought discipline to his game, and about his relationships with the coaches who had overlooked him and the second row rivals who had kept him on the bench.Donncha talks also with great warmth about a hectic childhood that was shaped by the death of his father when he was only six years old. One of the heroes of his story is his mother Marie who showed incredible strength and resourcefulness to rear a family of five on her own.Often deservedly regarded as 'the joker in the pack', what is often less well known is the serious attitude and intensely professional approach Donncha brings to his rugby. Joking Apart gives the full picture, showing sides of the man that will be unfamiliar to followers of Irish rugby and will surprise the reader.
Jolly Green Giant
by David BellamyDavid Bellamy is a natural story teller whose memoir will be packed full of funny anecdotes and observations. It is the story of how a city boy, brought up in the middle of London, went for a trip into the countryside one day, an event which was to transform his life by setting in motion the amazing love of nature which would make famous this larger-than-life character. In his infectious style he illumines on, amongst other things, the fact that his father, the manager of a branch of Boots, had to grease his hair straight - because in those days managers of Boots weren't allowed to have curly hair! Then there was the time he and his brother discovered an exploded bomb, kept in the garden shed - and then accidentally blew off the front of the house with it. He reveals his secret passion is ballet dancing - and how his mother only found out about it when she saw him on stage at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon. His career as an academic, then author, broadcaster, consultant and television personality, spans 35 years and his main passion - campaigning for the environment - have led to many adventures including his being twice imprisoned in the Third World.
Jon Bon Jovi: The Biography (Tom Thorne Novels #442)
by Laura JacksonThis fascinating biography provides a detailed portrait of the high-energy, charismatic international superstar and frontman of the ever-popular band, Bon Jovi. The book charts Jon's relationship with the other band members who have their fair share of rock and roll stories - sex, booze, burnouts, health and women problems. Although rock music is Jon Bon Jovi's first love, he has more recently developed an interest in acting - starring in various hit TV shows such as Ally McBeal and Sex and the City and attracting critical acclaim for his role in World War II hit film, U-571. He has also scored film music, with his score for Young Guns earning him an Oscar nomination. Bestselling writer Laura Jackson explores the personality, character, drive and the determination that have taken him from playing New Jersey clubs through all the groupie excess and glamorous indulgence to where the band is today. Two new chapters in this updated edition detail his recent work for charity, his involvement in politics and football and also give an update on the band's new albums and tours.
Jonah Lomu Autobiography: The Autobiography
by Jonah LomuWhen Jonah Lomu trampled over Tony Underwood in the World Cup semi-final in 1995, the greatest star rugby union has ever seen was launched on the world. His size and pace seemed to make him unstoppable - and he was still just 20, having only recently learned to play on the wing. How much better would he get? But a year later, a rare and serious kidney disorder threatened more than his career. He fought back, and continued to score tries at a remarkable rate.Lomu's astonishing story is not just about tries, but about adapting to becoming rugby's first superstar of the professional era, a life lived in the spotlight. This is an extraordinary tale from an extraordinary man.
Jonah - My Story: Revised Edition
by Jonah LomuHe was rugby’s first truly international celebrity and he remains one of the game’s greatest heroes. A decade after the publication of his blockbuster autobiography, Jonah Lomu opens up like never before about life after the All Blacks. In this deeply moving, sometimes explosive update to Jonah: My Story, the big man talks candidly of his life and his loves, of reconciliation and betrayal, and of the tragic illness that has been the one constant in his life since he first thundered on to the world’s sporting stage. It’s 10 years since he played his final match for the All Blacks, but still Jonah Lomu remains the most recognisable rugby face on the planet. In this much awaited update to his 2004 best-selling biography, Jonah talks about the highs and lows of that last decade with candour and honesty. Packed with astonishing revelations, including the split with his long-time manager, the breakdown of his marriage and the deeply moving reconciliation with his father, Jonah is also open about his on-going health problems. He details his brave battle with nephrotic syndrome, which eventually led to a kidney transplant and talks about his current health situation, which sees him again in complete renal failure and requiring a second transplant. Despite the cruel hand Jonah Lomu has been dealt, he remains cheery and optimistic, sharing the good times along with the bad — including his joy at becoming a father and how his two young sons have helped save him from the ‘dark times’.
Jonas Kaufmann: In Conversation With
by Thomas VoigtJonas Kaufmann is a phenomenon. With his musicality, his vocal technique and his expressive powers - to say nothing of his matinée-idol good looks - he is widely regarded as the greatest tenor of today. Thomas Voigt's intimate biography, written in collaboration with Kaufmann, reflects on the singer's artistic development in recent years; his work in the recording studio; his relationship to Verdi and Wagner; the sacrifices of success; and much more. It gives unparalleled insight into the world of one of the most captivating opera singers of the international stage.
Jonathan Ball: A Tribute
by Various‘Jonathan is the peerless South African book publisher and ranks in the highest echelons of the global business.’ – Doug Band ‘He is a businessman, to be sure, hard, clever and fair. But her is also in an incessant state of imaginative flight, always here and elsewhere, always on the move.’ – Jonny Steinberg ‘Jonathan Ball filled my life with joy. Even the most godawful moments with him evoke pleasant memories. It comes as no surprise that so many of those memories are of lunches and long, languid afternoons in restaurants.’ – Kerneels Breytenbach ‘His favourite outing was to Chartwell, which was Winston Churchill’s home for many years. Jonathan spent the whole day there, he seemed to have read everything on Churchill.’ – Mark Streatfield ‘His books were warriors in a war on ignorance.’ – Hannes van Zyl ‘Were it not for Jonathan Ball, many South African stories would remain unearthed and untold.’ – Michele Magwood ‘I was struck by his ferocious energy. I remember thinking that he was a pugilist on the side of angels.’ – Stephen PageJonathan Ball, the founder of Jonathan Ball Publishers, died on 3 April 2021 after a short illness. This collection of essays, commissioned in tribute to him, is edited by Michele Magwood.Jonathan Ball left a deep impression on many different people in different ways. The 40 or so essays reflect the many facets of Jonathan: businessman, friend, brother, colleague, husband, father. But it is in the reading that we begin to understand the shape of him: publisher extraordinaire, history expert, gourmand, liberal thinker, suitor, philosemite and so on.It cannot be exaggerated how deep an imprint Jonathan has left on the political and cultural life of South Africa, too. The shelves of Jonathan Ball Publishers are weighted with serious history and biographies of eminent figures, with books that other publishers didn’t have the boldness to take on. But there are many smaller, more finespun stories that tell us, too, who we are as a people and as a nation.
Jonathan Edwards And The Limits Of Enlightenment Philosophy
by Leon ChaiJonathan Edwards has most often been considered in the context of the Puritanism of New England. In many ways, however, he was closer to the thinkers of the European Enlightenment. In this book. Leon Chai explores that connection, analyzing Edwards' thought in light of a number of the issues that preoccupied such Enlightenment figures as Locke, Descartes, Malebranche, and Leibniz. The book comprises three parts, each of which begins with a detailed analysis of a crucial passage from a classic Enlightenment text, and then turns to a major theological work of Jonathan Edwards' in which the same issue is explored.
Jonathan Edwards Confronts The Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion, And Non-christian Faiths
by Gerald R. McDermottThis is a study of how American theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) battled deist arguments about revelation and God's fairness to non-Christians. Author Gerald McDermott argues that Edwards was preparing before his death a sophisticated theological response to Enlightenment religion that was unparalleled in the eighteenth century and surprisingly generous toward non-Christian traditions.
Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage
by Philip WeinsteinJonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage is the first critical biography of one of today's most important novelists. Drawing on unpublished emails and both published and private interviews, Philip Weinstein conveys the feel and heft of Franzen's voice as he ponders the purposes and problems of his life and art, from his earliest fiction to his most recent novel, Purity.Franzen's work raises major questions about the possibilities of contemporary fiction: how does one appeal to a wide audience of mainstream readers, on the one hand, while persuading connoisseurs, on the other, that one's fiction has staying power, is high art? More acutely, how did Franzen move from the rage that animates his first two novels to the more generous comic stance of the later novels on which his reputation rests?Wrestling with these questions, Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage unpacks the becoming of Franzen as a person and a writer-from his ultra-sensitive Midwestern childhood, through his heady years at Swarthmore College, his marriage, and the alienating decade of the 1990s, up to his spectacular ascent and assimilation into pop culture as one of the literary figures of his generation. Weinstein joins biography and criticism in ways that fully respect their differences, but that also grant that the work comes, however unpredictably, out of the life.
Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage
by Philip WeinsteinJonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage is the first critical biography of one of today's most important novelists. Drawing on unpublished emails and both published and private interviews, Philip Weinstein conveys the feel and heft of Franzen's voice as he ponders the purposes and problems of his life and art, from his earliest fiction to his most recent novel, Purity.Franzen's work raises major questions about the possibilities of contemporary fiction: how does one appeal to a wide audience of mainstream readers, on the one hand, while persuading connoisseurs, on the other, that one's fiction has staying power, is high art? More acutely, how did Franzen move from the rage that animates his first two novels to the more generous comic stance of the later novels on which his reputation rests?Wrestling with these questions, Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage unpacks the becoming of Franzen as a person and a writer-from his ultra-sensitive Midwestern childhood, through his heady years at Swarthmore College, his marriage, and the alienating decade of the 1990s, up to his spectacular ascent and assimilation into pop culture as one of the literary figures of his generation. Weinstein joins biography and criticism in ways that fully respect their differences, but that also grant that the work comes, however unpredictably, out of the life.
Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
by Leo DamroschJonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions? In this deeply researched biography, Leo Damrosch draws on discoveries made over the past thirty years to tell the story of Swift’s life anew. Probing holes in the existing evidence, he takes seriously some daring speculations about Swift’s parentage, love life, and various personal relationships and shows how Swift’s public version of his life—the one accepted until recently—was deliberately misleading. Swift concealed aspects of himself and his relationships, and other people in his life helped to keep his secrets.. Assembling suggestive clues, Damrosch re-narrates the events of Swift’s life while making vivid the sights, sounds, and smells of his English and Irish surroundings.Through his own words and those of a wide circle of friends, a complex Swift emerges: a restless, combative, empathetic figure, a man of biting wit and powerful mind, and a major figure in the history of world letters.
Jonathan Swift: A Hypocrite Reversed
by David Nokes'The best biography of Swift to date.' Michael Foot, Observer'David Nokes's book is splendid.' Denis Donoghue, London Review of BooksDavid Nokes presents a gripping and authoritative portrait of Swift in his multifarious roles as satirist, politician, churchman and friend. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, he seeks in particular to re-establish a proper balance between Swift's public and private lives.'Some books give the reader an immediate sense of confidence in the author and this admirable new biography of Swift is one of them.' Yorkshire Post'Should remain the standard one-volume Life for years to come.' New York Times