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In this second volume of his acclaimed series, Alex Deane reminds us that, throughout history, human nature has remained exactly the same, and the way that people responded to the most amusing, horrifying and convoluted of circumstances in the past can teach us everything we need to know about who we are today.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128556093618,"sku":"9781785907807","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785907807_4332264a-1acd-4b79-9464-3c41c6100ef9.jpg?v=1786025449"},{"product_id":"9781785907784","title":"No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason","description":"Inthis compelling book, Martin Brunt, crime correspondent for Sky News, draws onthe most shocking and harrowing stories he's covered over the past thirty yearsto document the life of a crime reporter and assess the public obsession withcrime that his reporting caters for. 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From his prep school years, straight out of Evelyn Waugh, through the Army to Cambridge, the City of London and the Palace of Westminster, Mitchell has passed through a series of British institutions at a time of furious social change - in the process becoming rather more cynical about the Establishment.   Here, he brilliantly lifts the lid on its inner workings, from the punctilio of high finance to the dark arts of the government Whips' Office, and reveals how he accidentally started Boris Johnson's political career - an act which rebounded on him spectacularly.   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His paintings in oils are unlikely jewels of surreal satire, gleaming in the political desert in which we find ourselves: a kaleidoscopic gallery of the clowns, mountebanks and villains in charge, stripped of their self-importance and thrown overboard. This selection of 100 pictures, edited and introduced by Sam Kinchin-Smith, tells several stories at the same time: of how we got into this mess, of how we might get out of it, and of how Mar has become one of our most perceptive and wildly inventive political artists. It is the first proper account of the work of a cult figure around Westminster, promoted by the present crises to the status of national treasure: a satirist laureate for Brexit Britain. 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When Constance Markievicz stood as the Sinn Fein candidate for Dublin St Patrick's in 1918, few people believed she would win the election to become the first woman MP - but she did. Now, just over 100 years later, women following the path she paved are increasingly winning, and filling, the hallowed seats of Parliament.    The past two decades have seen more and more women stepping up to fight for the interests of their constituents and redressing the unequal gender balance in the Commons. Since the huge influx of female Labour MPs with the election of Tony Blair (unfortunately referred to as 'Blair's Babes'), there are now women standing for a wide range of parties across the political spectrum. Alongside the ever-growing representation of BAME members in Parliament, these women are revolutionising Britain's political landscape like never before.   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Footballing legends such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews shared a bond of borderline penury with the huge crowds they entertained on Saturday afternoons, on pitches that were a world away from the pristine lawns of the game’s modern era. Instead of the gleaming sports cars driven by today’s top players, the stars of yesteryear travelled to matches on public transport and returned to homes every bit as modest as those of their supporters. Players and fans would even sometimes be next-door neighbours in a street of working-class terraced houses.   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In this wide-ranging unauthorised biography of the Conservative Member of Parliament for North East Somerset, Michael Ashcroft, bestselling author of Call Me Dave: The Unauthorised Biography of David Cameron, turns his attention to one of the most intriguing politicians of our time.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205058789554,"sku":"9781785904875","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785904875_3a4d70a4-271f-4332-8a64-6505ce69b467.jpg?v=1786025331"},{"product_id":"9781785905322","title":"F**k Business","description":"When a senior Cabinet minister dismissed corporate fears over a hard Brexit with a curt `F**k business,' it seemed emblematic of a growing distance between the country's politicians and its wealth creators.   Recounted by the founder and chairman of the UK's largest independent lobbying business, Iain Anderson - who has had a ringside seat at the interactions between business and politics since the 2016 referendum - this is the definitive and shocking story of how and why politics and business have become utterly disconnected in the last decade; culminating in the rancour, mistrust and confusion of Brexit.   Featuring exclusive and candid interviews with those at the heart of No. 10, the Cabinet and Parliament, and with the foremost business leaders of this Brexit generation, F**K Business portrays the exhaustion felt by all major companies over politics. With unparalleled access to the key players, the book describes how business sought to prepare for Brexit only to be frustrated by the inability of Parliament to set out a clear pathway ahead. But it also points the way ahead for a new relationship and a brighter future.   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