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This book takes readers from the Mayans to Mongolia, from the kingdom of Benin to the court of the Jagiellonian kings of Poland. Traditional histories of this kind have tended to be Euro-centric, telling mankind's story through tales of Greece and Rome and the crowned heads of Europe's oldest monarchies.
It’s September 2017, and the United Kingdom is on the verge of a crucial referendum that will determine, once and for all, if the country remains a member of the European Union or goes its own way. But, unsuspected by the electorate, and unknown to all but a handful of members of the Prime Minister’s innermost circle, there is a shocking secret at the very heart of government that could change everything in an instant. A group of ruthlessly determined individuals will stop at nothing—including murder—to prevent that from happening. Andrew Marr’s first novel is a darkly comic tale of deception and skullduggery at Downing Street and Whitehall. Making full use of his unrivalled inside knowledge of the British political scene, Marr has created a sparkling entertainment, a wholly original depiction of Westminster and its denizens, and a fascinating, irreverent glimpse behind the parliamentary curtain.
A journalistic memoir from one of the most recognisable TV news correspondents in the UKHow do you decide what is a 'story' and what isn't? What does a newspaper editor actually do all day? How do hacks get their scoops? How do the TV stations choose their news bulletins? How do you persuade people to say those awful, embarassing things? Who earns what? How do journalists manage to look in the mirror after the way they sometimes behave? The purpose of this insider's account is to provide an answer to all these questions and more. Andrew Marr's brilliant, and brilliantly funny, book is a guide to those of us who read newspapers, or who listen to and watch news bulletins but want to know more. Andrew Marr tells the story of modern journalism through his own experience. This is an extremely readable and utterly unique modern social history of British journalism, with all its odd glamour, smashed hopes and future possibility.
The Sunday Times bestseller Now a major BBC TV series presented by Andrew Marr
A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. This edition also includes an extra chapter charting the course from Blair to Brexit. It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what they are doing, but find themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. Throughout, Britain is a country on the edge – first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration now reshaping the world. This history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, Sixties anarchists, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, political lies and the true heroes of British theatre.
Like millions of others, Andrew Marr draws. He hasn't had lessons, yet since childhood, the journalist and TV presenter has been at his happiest with a pen or brush in his hand. One way or another he draws most days, even if it's just a doodle on the edge of a newspaper. But why does he do it? Does it have a point? And in what way, if any, does this activity of his relate to what we think of as 'art'? In this intriguing new book, Andrew Marr explores the subject of drawing and painting through his own experience. He considers the mechanics of the drawing process - the act of making and its importance for a happy life - along with the ways in which good drawing or painting can make us think harder and see the world differently. He also investigates the tensions between drawing as concentrated work and drawing as an expression of freedom or play, and looks at the historical differences between drawing and fine art as well as how drawing fits into today's art world.
In A Short Book About Painting, renowned broadcaster Andrew Marr tackles the subject of painting: inspiration, creativity, politics, beauty and form. How does the artist create a masterpiece? What constitutes good and bad technique? How important is the imagination? Following a serious stroke in 2013 that left him partially paralysed, Marr struggled with the physical rigours of painting using oils. This led to his wrestling with some of the very fundamental questions about painting as an art form in itself. Using historical examples as well as his own works of art to assert his point, Marr's provocative, political and instructive book is not just an essential resource for all amateur painters, it is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the creative process and the limits of human artistic achievement.
A portrait of life in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century as the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire.
‘This book includes some of the greatest of our poetry. I hope that it adds up to a new way of thinking about who we have been, and who we are now.’
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