Historiske og politiske biografier

In these pages, former coalition Cabinet minister David Laws explores periods in British history when one party needed the other to secure electoral support or the ability to govern.

In this meticulously researched biography, Michael Ashcroft charts Kemi Badenoch's fascinating course from relative obscurity to being hailed in some quarters as the saviour of conservatism in the UK.

"It's like the Society of Jesus in the eighteenth century," said one former party whip. "You show them the Bible but also the instruments of torture."

The glittering story of April Ashley, model and trans pioneer, and the divorce case which gripped 1970s Britain and defined transgender rights for a generation. As Britain emerged from post-war austerity, no one embodied its newfound spirit of hedonism and glamour like April Ashley. A fashion model and socialite who rose from poverty in Liverpool to the heights of London society via Le Carrousel nightclub in Paris, she was also one of the first Britons to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Ashley was appointed MBE for services to transgender equality in 2012, but her journey towards acceptance was hard-won and bitterly contested. In 1961, a friend sold her story to a tabloid and she feared that she would never work in the UK again. Her brief marriage to Arthur Corbett, the son of a baron, set off a high-profile divorce battle, resulting in a landmark 1970 decision denying transgender women legal status as women - and denying Ashley her husband's inheritance. Instead, she blazed her own trail, rubbing shoulders along the way with the bohemians and jetsetters who had risen to prominence in the Swinging Sixties. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, award-winning biographers Jacqueline Kent and Tom Roberts tell the full story of April Ashley's extraordinary life at the vanguard of the sexual revolution and the movement for trans equality.

A solid history looking at a popular era and uncovering the cut-throat side of living in Georgian England

A unique and gritty account of D-Day told by eight Ulstermen - some of the last surviving veterans of the 1944 D-Day invasion of France. Mark Scott delves into the veterans' testimonies, revealing previously-untold stories of courage, triumph and tragedy endured by ordinary men who each played their part in the greatest invasion in history.

Tells the story of Marine Colonel Don Cook, an American who was held prisoner in Vietnam from December 31, 1964, until his death on December 8, 1967. Beginning with the days preceding Cook's capture, this volume tells of his arrival in Vietnam, and his impressions of the Vietnamese people and countryside in the letters he wrote to his wife.

A pocket guide to the real Lenin, showing the complexities behind a man often vilified by historians. Ian Birchall guides the reader through an introductory analysis of Lenin''s experiences and achievements, showing his methods and motivations in attempting to create a world in which production was to be for human need rather than profit.

At the break of dawn on D-Day, two young American paratrooper medics descended silently by parachute into the unfamiliar terrain of Normandy. Landing within half a mile of the quaint village of Angoville au Plain, just five and a half miles from the Utah invasion beach, they had no idea that the small 12th century church in this hamlet, surrounded by stone cottages and farmhouses housing only eighty-three inhabitants, would soon transform into a sanctuary for wounded American and German soldiers. In this unexpected haven, equal care and respect would be extended to all in need.At the heart of this story are the lives and deeds of medic Robert E. Wright and medic/stretcher bearer Kenneth J. Moore. Their accounts reveal the profound care and compassion they administered to their fellow soldiers amid the brutal realities of injury and death on the battlefield. More than a tale of wartime medical heroism, this is a poignant story of remarkably courageous young men facing incomprehensible stress, striving against all odds to preserve the livesof their comrades.

First published in 1991, this title is based on a 4-year longitudinal study of pupils from two catchment areas from the first days of their entry to primary school. Using qualitative methodologies of depth interviewing and 'naturalistic' observation, it examines the social construction of pupil careers in the dynamics of classroom life.

A pioneer of nursery education in inner-city areas, Margaret McMillan changed the course of British educational history. Originally published in 1989, working from her own fresh collection of Margaret McMillan's letters and newspaper articles, Dr Bradburn tells in full the inspiring story of a cultured woman who found a new motivation.

Originally published in 1981, Parents and Playgroups brings together three wide-ranging reports which examine the role of the playgroup movement, its underlying philosophy and the contribution made by both playgroups and Mother and Toddler groups to the lives of thousands of mothers and children throughout Britain at the time.

Heroes are hard to come by - but there's one man whose legend has stood the test of two centuries, and whose name sits on Australia's highest peak. Tadeusz Kosciuszko: freedom fighter, friend of Thomas Jefferson and champion of liberty on two continents. Bestselling author Anthony Sharwood finds out why he's the hero the world needs right now.Kosciuszko - our iconic highest mountain - is a name familiar to all Australians. But how many people know who the mountain is named after?Tadeusz Kosciuszko , who lived from 1746 to 1817, is the most famous person Australians probably know absolutely nothing about. A military engineer, freedom fighter, and champion of human rights, this extraordinary revolutionary was crucial to the success of the American War of Independence, then bravely led an uprising against Russia and other invaders in his native Poland, promising freedom and equality to all who joined his cause.In his day, Kosciuszko was loved and respected across Europe and America. His great friend Thomas Jefferson called him 'as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known', while Kosciuszko would later challenge Jefferson to live up to the famous words 'All men are created equal' by bequeathing his American funds to free enslaved people, including those on Jefferson's plantation.Bestselling author Anthony Sharwood (From Snow to Ash; The Brumby Wars) has spent a lifetime walking, skiiing and writing about Kosciuszko National Park. Now he sets off on the trail of the man himself, travelling across the USA, Poland and Switzerland to key sites in Kosciuszko's life. Returning to Australia where a potential name change from Mt Kosciuszko to an Indigenous name is hotly debated, he walks with the area's traditional owners and discovers the ancient history of Australia's highest peak.Kosciuszko's life and legacy is enthralling, inspiring and indispensable. But is that reason enough to keep his name on the mountain?

In this new biography, the story of James VI and I is laid bare, and a welter of scurrilous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of James as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality.

"Marking a milestone for women in state government, Marlene M. Johnson became Minnesota's first woman lieutenant governor under Rudy Perpich's gubernatorial administration in January 1983. Rise to the Challenge weaves together the story of her professional life with her personal one in a courageous portrait of dedication, leadership, and unwavering faith in the public good"--

Perspectives on Imperialism and Decolonization (1984) is a key collection of essays that analyse from many sides the growth and demise of Western imperialism. They examine imperial history, the experience of imperialism, and offer new thoughts on British decolonization.