Biography - Political

Martin Bell was a member of the BBC TV news team for over thirty years. Disillusioned with corruption and sleaze amongst politicians, he stood for election as MP for Tatton in 1997. Here he tells his own story.

This is the story of two modest parents who rebelled against the apartheid regime knowing they were putting themselves and their family in grave danger. Peter Hain, MP and former Cabinet minister, tells the story of his parents - campaigners, fighters, exiles - in this searing and inspiring account.

Portrait of one of the most controversial British Prime Ministers;

Edited by Toni Morrison and first published in 1974, An Autobiography is a classic of the Black Liberation era which resonates just as powerfully today. Long hard to find, it is reissued now with a new introduction by Davis, for a new audience inspired and galvanised by her ongoing activism and her extraordinary example.

In the book, she describes her journey from a childhood on Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, to one of the most significant political trials of the century: from her political activity in a New York high school to her work with the U.S. Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Soledad Brothers; and from the faculty of the Philosophy Department at UCLA to the FBI's list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

Told with warmth, brilliance, humour, and conviction, it is an unforgettable account of a life committed to radical change.

This is the story of 1000 days of crisis. As Chancellor, Alistair Darling sanctioned the £37 billion bailouts of RBS and HBoS just minutes before their cash machines would have ceased to function. Here, Darling places the reader in the rooms where the destinies of millions weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Was Niccolò Machiavelli really the cynical schemer of legend - or was he a profound ethical thinker, who tried to save the democratic freedom of Renaissance Florence as it was threatened by ruthless dynasties? This revelatory biography shows us a man of fox-like dissimulation: a master of disguise in dangerous times.

As First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama helped to create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, whilst also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls around the world. Here she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms.

The enormous respect and affection of the British public for Betty Boothroyd has its roots in a strong belief in what she stands for: fair play, an unshakeable sense of honour and a passionate belief in the sovereignty of Parliament. Her convictions, she has said, are set in 'Yorkshire granite'. Born into a working class family in Dewsbury in 1929, there was little money, but Betty grew up in a home that radiated love and warmth. Betty popular and a talented dancer who went on, eventually, to become one of the celebrated Tiller Girls - the full story of which she tells here for the first time. But by the age of 25 Betty's dreams of taking the West End by storm had crashed - and her father's ambition of seeing her settled with a nice safe job had been abandoned. Undaunted, she won a national speaking award, stood for election to the local council and became a full-time worker for the Labour Party. Nothing would ever part Betty Boothroyd from politics again. 

A compelling and revealing account of the rise of New Labour and the tumultuous years of Tony Blair's leadership, 'The Blair Years' provides an important record of a remarkable decade in our national life. This is an abridged recording by the author.

Many of us think we know Boris Johnson’s story well. His ruthless ambition was evident from his insistence, as a three-year-old, that he would one day be 'world king'. Eton and Oxford prepared him well for a frantic career straddling the dog-eat-dog worlds of journalism and politics. His transformation from bumbling stooge on Have I Got New for You to a triumphant Mayor of London was overshadowed only by his colourful personal life, brimming with affairs, scandals and transgressions. His ascent to Number 10 in the wake of the acrimonious, era-defining Brexit referendum would prove to be only the first act in an epic drama that saw him play both hero and villain - from proroguing parliament to his controversial leadership of the Covid-19 Crisis, all against the backdrop of divorce, marriage, the birth of his sixth child, revolts among Tory MPs and the countdown to Brexit. Yet, there is so much we've never understood about Boris - until now.

A handy and accessible guide to all of Britain's heads of government, from Sir Robert Walpole right through to Boris Johnson, lifting the veil of obscurity from an all-too-neglected cast of characters.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the acclaimed multi-million copy bestseller Team of Rivals, filmed by Spielberg as Lincoln, turns to the birth of America's Progressive Era - that heady, optimistic time when the 20th Century is fresh. Reform is in the air, and it is time to take on the robber barons and corrupt politicians who have brought the country to its knees. The story is told through the close friendship between two Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and his handpicked successor William Howard Taft (1909-1913). The decades-long intimacy strengthens both men as they reform America, breaking up monopolies, protecting the rights of labour, banning unsafe drugs and closing sweatshops.

Also at the heart of the story are the original 'muckrakers' - a brilliant group of investigative journalists at the celebrated magazine McClure's. They publish popular exposes of fraudulent railroads and millionaire senators, aiding Roosevelt in his quest for change and fairness. As Roosevelt, Taft and the muckrakers confront corruption and expose exploitation, America is reborn.

The gripping inside story of the Cameron premiership, based on over 300 in-depth interviews with senior figures in 10 Downing Street, including the Prime Minister himself.

Winston Churchill towers over every other figure in 20th-century British history. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world. There have been over a thousand biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over forty new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors.

On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of Winston Churchill's death, and written in conjunction with the Churchill Estate, Boris Johnson explores what makes up the 'Churchill Factor' - the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century.

A critical but fair political biography of Churchill that zooms in on crucial moments in his life and career that help us understand the man in his many contradictions. 

While in A.J.P. Taylor's words, Churchill was 'the saviour of his country', he was also a deeply flawed character, whose personal ambition would cloud his political judgement - and as a result he was often plain wrong. But the book's central argument goes beyond biography: argues that Churchill has cast a dark shadow over post-war British history and contemporary politics - from the 'Churchillian stance' of Tony Blair taking the country to war in Iraq to the delusion of a special relationship with the United States to the fateful belief in British exceptionalism: that the nation can once again stand alone in Europe. Wheatcroft takes a radically different approach to other hagiographies of Chruchill.

This is a biography that doesn't just tell the story of his life but the equally fascinating one of his legacy, focusing on how Churchill was viewed by contemporaries and those who came after.

The inspirational autobiography of Shirley Williams, who was born to politics. As well as being influenced by her mother, Vera Brittian, her father George Caitlin, a leading political scientist, encouraged his daughter to have high ambitions for herself - including daring to climb the bookshelves in his library.

Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, met and married Ruth Williams in 1948 after coming to Britain to study law; at the time mixed race marriages were considered unacceptable. The couple was forced into exile for six years after the racially oppressive regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia put the British Government under pressure.

A riveting memoir from Lady Trumpington, doyenne of the House of Lords, taking her from 1920s London to her distinguished political career as a Cambridge City councillor, Mayor of Cambridge and then, in 1980, a life peer.

After four decades in politics, Jeremy Corbyn stands on the brink of power. Until his surprise election as leader of the Labour Party he had not been a major political player. Since then, Corbyn has survived coup attempts and accusations of incompetence. Here, Tom Bower reveals hidden truths about Corbyn's character and Britain's likely fate under the Marxist-Trotskyist society he champions.

David Blunkett has overcome poverty and blindness to become an important and controversial politician. This book charts his career from local government to Westminster and examines the professional and personal difficulties he has encountered.

Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X - including siblings, classmates, friends, cellmates, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become hundreds of hours of interviews into a portrait that would separate fact from fiction.

The result is this magisterial work that conjures a never-before-seen world of its protagonist, whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his followers stir with purpose to overcome the obstacles of racism.

Having worked as a journalist, newspaper editor, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, the memoirs of Lord Deedes provide a unique perspective on political and social life in the twentieth century.

Mohamed Forna was one of the first black students to come to Britain after the war. A dissident he became a rising star in the fledgling democracy of Sierra Leone. As corruption grew he found himself in jail as a prisoner of conscience, and worse followed. His daughter returned to Africa to determine her father's fate.

The son of a black African father and a white American mother, this is Obama's personal odyssey. He follows his mother's family from Kansas, to Hawaii and then Indonesia. He visits Kenya to confront the truth of his father's life, and reconciles his divided inheritance. This is an abridged recording by the author.

Edda Mussolini was Benito's favourite daughter: spoilt, venal, uneducated but clever, faithless but flamboyant, a brilliant diplomat, wild but brave, and ultimately strong and loyal.

She was her father's confidante during the 20 years of Fascist rule, acting as envoy to both Germany and Britain, and playing a part in steering Italy to join forces with Hitler. From her early twenties she was effectively first lady of Italy. She married Galeazzo Ciano, who would become the youngest Foreign Secretary in Italian history, and they were the most celebrated and glamorous couple in elegant, vulgar Roman fascist society.

Their fortunes turned in 1943, when Ciano voted against Mussolini in a plot to bring him down, and his father-in-law did not forgive him. In a dramatic story that takes in hidden diaries, her father's fall and her husband's execution, an escape into Switzerland and a period in exile, we come to know a complicated, bold and determined woman who emerges not just as a witness but as a key player in some of the twentieth century's defining moments. And we see Fascist Italy with all its glamour, decadence and political intrigue, and the turbulence before its violent end.

As a statesman, Ernest Bevin is second only to Churchill in impact and legacy. As Minister of Labour from 1940 to 1945, he was the nation’s wartime mobiliser-in-chief. As post-war Foreign Secretary, Bevin was Britain’s last world power envoy and did much to stabilise and democratise Europe and to pave the way for the European Union. Andrew Adonis brings to life one of our greatest statesmen – a politician whose light is often unjustly hidden beneath that of his more celebrated contemporaries.

A moving and reflective account of the author's 4½ years in captivity in Beirut. Contains some offensive language.

After more than 32 years in the diplomatic service experiencing post-war Washington, Tito's Yugoslavia, Burma, Cyprus, France, Thailand, Tunisia and the beginnings of the United Nations. Here he probes the moral issues behind diplomatic concepts such as the nation-state, mulitilateralism and preventive diplomacy.

The first nine months of Donald Trump's term were stormy, outrageous - and absolutely mesmerising. Now, thanks to his deep access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office, showing us how and why Donald Trump has become the king of discord and disunion.

Without Churchill’s inspiring leadership Britain could not have survived its darkest hour and repelled the Nazi menace. Without his wife Clementine, however, he might never have become Prime Minister. This is the inspiring but often ignored story of one of the most important women in modern history.

David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010, forming Britain’s first coalition government in 70 years, and went on to win the first outright Conservative majority for 23 years at the 2015 general election. Here, Cameron explains how the governments he led transformed the UK economy and is an important assessment of the significant political events of the last decade, the nature of power and the role of leadership at a time of profound global change.

Thomas George Thomas, was a Labour politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. During Thomas' term of office, the first broadcasting of Parliamentary proceedings brought him unprecedented public attention. In 1983 he retired and was created Viscount Tonypandy, one of the last creations of a hereditary peerage.

'In August 1981 my bag was packed for my fifth visit to Panama when the news came to me over the telephone of the death of General Omar Torrijos Herrera, my friend and host... At that moment the idea came to me to write a short personal memoir... of a man I had grown to love over those five years'

Getting to Know the General is Graham Greene's account of a five-year personal involvement with Omar Torrijos, ruler of Panama from 1968-81 and Sergeant Chuchu, one of the few men in the National Guard whom the General trusted completely. It is a fascinating tribute to an inspirational politician in the vital period of his country's history, and to an unusual and enduring friendship.

We like to think we know the story of how Britain went to war with Germany in 1939, but there is one part of the story that has never been told. It features a group of MPs who repeatedly spoke out against their party and their government's policy of appeasing Hitler and Mussolini. Remarkably, nearly all of them were gay or bisexual. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hated them. He had them followed, harassed, spied upon and derided in the press, and called them 'the glamour boys' in reference to their sexuality. They suffered abuse, innuendo and threats of de-selection, yet they spoke out repeatedly against Hitler's territorial ambitions and his treatment of political prisoners and the Jews. In doing so they risked everything, swimming against the overwhelming tide of public opinion at a time when even the suggestion of homosexuality could land you in prison. Forced by the laws of the day to hide their true nature, they ran the danger of exposure on a daily basis. Some of them used their capacity for lying as spies. Others saw brutality in Hitler's camps first hand. Five of them died in action. Without them, this country would never have faced down the Nazis. This is their story.

Joe Haines was the first prime ministerial press secretary to have a public face, when he joined Harold Wilson at Downing St. in 1969. With the benefit of hindsight and historical perspective, Haines writings of his time in No.10 are sensational.