{"title":"Books by John Preston","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780241989630","title":"The Dig","description":"\u003cb\u003eA brilliantly realised account of the most famous archeological dig in British history, now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Exquisitely original' Ian MacEwan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An enthralling story of love and loss' Robert Harris\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the long hot summer of 1939 Britain is preparing for war. But on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind: Mrs Pretty, the widowed farmer, has had her hunch proved correct that the strange mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds against a background of mounting national anxiety, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Preston's recreation of the Sutton Hoo dig - the greatest Anglo-Saxon discovery ever in Britain - brilliantly and comically dramatizes three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A tale of rivalry, loss and thwarted love so absorbing that I read right through lunchtime one day, and it's not often I miss a meal' Nigella Lawson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A delicate evocation of a vanished era' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201674084530,"sku":"9780241989630","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241989630_03eeb2b3-5df9-411c-affa-ad9527733648.jpg?v=1786012242"},{"product_id":"9780241388686","title":"Fall","description":"\u003cb\u003eTHE \u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2021\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The best biography yet of the media magnate Robert Maxwell - by turns engrossing, amusing and appalling' Robert Harris, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Electrifying... the supreme chronicler of modern British scandals' \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eA Very English Scandal, \u003c\/i\u003ethe jaw-dropping life story of the notorious business tycoon Robert Maxwell.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn February 1991, the media mogul and former MP Robert Maxwell made a triumphant entrance into Manhattan harbour aboard his yacht, the \u003ci\u003eLady Ghislaine\u003c\/i\u003e, to complete his purchase of the ailing \u003ci\u003eNew York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e. Crowds lined the quayside to watch his arrival, taxi drivers stopped their cabs to shake his hand and children asked for his autograph. But just ten months later, Maxwell disappeared from the same yacht off the Canary Islands, only to be found dead in the water soon afterward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaxwell was the embodiment of Britain's post-war boom. Born an Orthodox Jew, he had escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, fought in World War 2, and was decorated for his heroism with the Military Cross. He went on to become a Labour MP and an astonishingly successful businessman, owning a number of newspapers and publishing companies. But on his death, his empire fell apart, as long-hidden debts and unscrupulous dealings came to light. Within a few days, Maxwell was being reviled as the embodiment of greed and corruption. No one had ever fallen so far and so quickly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat went so wrong? How did a war hero and model of society become reduced to a bloated, amoral wreck? In this gripping book, John Preston delivers the definitive account of Maxwell's extraordinary rise and scandalous fall.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Preston is a natural storyteller' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56227998335349,"sku":"9780241388686","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241388686_1d23b3ff-390d-46ee-9eb1-a571f3b6516e.jpg?v=1786012281"},{"product_id":"9780241973745","title":"A Very English Scandal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe bestselling book that inspired the Bafta-winning BBC drama\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCorruption. Blackmail. Conspiracy to murder. \u003ci\u003eA Very English Scandal\u003c\/i\u003e has all the hallmarks of a classic thriller with one difference. It's all true.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the late 1960s Jeremy Thorp, the charismatic leader of the Liberal Party, was at the height of his political career. But homosexuality had only just been legalized, and a former relationship with a younger man named Norman Scott threatened to destroy Thorp's carefully curated facade. Helped by fellow politicians, Thorpe schemed, deceived and embezzled until he saw only one way to silence his ex-lover for good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeticulously researched and endlessly extraordinary, Thorp's trial captured the moment that British society discovered the truth about its political class - and learned just how far the Establishment will go to protect its own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Gripping. A story of cack-handed assassins, buffoonish policemen, dodgy Home Secretaries' \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I loved it; eccentric, dark, humane and English in the very best sense' Alain de Botton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Retold with masterful skill . . . It grips like a detective story' \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail, Book of the Week\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJOHN PRESTON'S NEXT BOOK, \u003ci\u003eFALL: THE MYSTERY OF ROBERT MAXWELL\u003c\/i\u003e, IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56230400328053,"sku":"9780241973745","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241973745_a7d2f910-dc69-4339-8795-f7c8836f3b84.jpg?v=1786012744"},{"product_id":"9780241996911","title":"Watford Forever","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e Sports Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eTimes \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eGuardian \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The heartwarming story of the collaboration and friendship between English football’s oddest couple, Elton John and Graham Taylor' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'  A wonderful, feel-good account of an ultimately English provincial story'\u003c\/b\u003e Simon Kuper\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn unforgettable British underdog story from \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eone of our greatest narrative nonfiction writers, John Preston, and the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003einternational musical icon and bestselling author, Sir Elton John.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBritain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. 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