Kirjahaku

Winston Churchill was seventy-six when the Conservative Party won the 1951 General Election. At the third attempt since the end of the Second World War he had finally been returned to power by the will of the people. A lifetime's ambition had been achieved after nearly half a century in Parliament. In Anthony Seldon's own words, 'the most controversial element in the book is likely to prove the reassessment of Churchill's contribution as a peacetime premier. The title Churchill's Indian Summer is not intended to be sensational, but it is meant to be combative. I do not suggest he was as fit or as brilliant as he had been during the war. He clearly was not. The characteristic of an Indian Summer is that the temperature is cooler than at the height of the season: indeed, a feature one would expect of a man a month off his seventy-sixth birthday on his return to Number Ten. Yet despite his failing powers, he was, I believe, right to remain in office, at least until his major stroke in the summer of 1953, and a good case can be made for his retention of power until the autumn of 1954. Only in his last six months in office was he not fully up to the task.'The book though is not just about Churchill. In an approach more thematic than chronological Anthony Seldon also gives a detailed analysis of each major Government department, its ministers and especially the civil servants who in many cases not merely implemented policies but determined them too. On the whole, it was an emollient administration somewhat to the left of both the Conservative and Labour Parties of today. Nor was it unsuccessful be it on the home front or in foreign policy. Anthony Seldon's book, first published in 1981, was the first to cover this still slightly forgotten Government. 'Mr Seldon has used an historical method which provides flesh and blood: he has talked to some 200 surviving politicians and civil servants and it is remarkable how little their views and recollections diverge. . . It is a gigantic exercise in oral history, and it is a triumph.' John Colville, Sunday Telegraph 'Here is a massive, excellently researched and very readable account of Winston Churchill's only Prime Ministership in peacetime, from 1951 to 1955. . . There is plenty of shrewd analysis, particularly of character and much balanced and generally charitable personalisation. A valuable book, in fact, and a first-class account of those four years in which Britain was still thought of as ''Great'. One is left with a sense of abiding gratitude to the author as well as his subject.' Terence Prittie 'So much has been made of Churchill's infirmities in these years that too little attention has been given to his final, and extraordinary achievement, and it is the outstanding achievement of Mr Seldon that, although no slavish adulator, he recognizes that little of this would have been possible without that spirit of humanity and warmth and faith which radiated from the Prime Minister. . . . There are few histories of a single Government so competent and reasoned as this.' Robert Rhodes James

A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year. The recent political chaos enfolding Downing Street provides the framing for the extraordinary story of the office of Prime Minister, and how and why it has endured longer than any other democratic political office in world history. Sir Anthony Seldon, historian of Number 10, explores the lives and careers, crises and scandals, and successes and failures of our great Prime Ministers from Robert Walpole to Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher, up to the recent churn of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Seldon discusses which of our PMs have been most effective and why, as well as probing the changing relationship between the Monarchy and the Prime Minister in intimate detail. A celebration of the humanity, frailty, work and achievements of 57 remarkable individuals who averted revolution and civil war, leading the country through times of peace, crisis and war.

Marking the third centenary of the office of Prime Minister, this book tells its extraordinary story, explaining how and why it has endured longer than any other democratic political office in world history. Sir Anthony Seldon, historian of Number 10 Downing Street, explores the lives and careers, loves and scandals, successes and failures, of all our great Prime Ministers. From Robert Walpole and William Pitt the Younger, to Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher, Seldon discusses which of our Prime Ministers have been most effective and why. He reveals the changing relationship between the Monarchy and the office of the Prime Minister in intimate detail, describing how the increasing power of the Prime Minister in becoming leader of Britain coincided with the steadily falling influence of the Monarchy. This book celebrates the humanity and frailty, work and achievement, of these 55 remarkable individuals, who averted revolution and civil war, leading the country through times of peace, crisis and war.

The Conservative Party's periods in opposition have been of crucial importance. They have seen major changes in direction, and often been the springboard for recovering power. There have also been leadership crises and bitter divisions, and recovery was never inevitable. In the first study to examine the topic as a whole, leading authorities present new evidence and interpretations. The book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Conservative Party and of opposition in modern British politics.

The Conservative Party's periods in opposition have been of crucial importance. They have seen major changes in direction, and often been the springboard for recovering power. There have also been leadership crises and bitter divisions, and recovery was never inevitable. In the first study to examine the topic as a whole, leading authorities present new evidence and interpretations. The book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Conservative Party and of opposition in modern British politics.

As Britain's best-known headmaster, Sir Anthony famously introduced happiness, or well-being, lessons at his school, Wellington College. In 2011, he co-founded Action for Happiness, a body to raise awareness of the discovery of happiness and reduction of depression, whose influence is growing rapidly in Britain and across the world. In this book Anthony Seldon distinguishes between pleasure, happiness and joy, and offers an original 8-step approach on how to make our lives far more meaningful and rewarding. The pursuit of happiness can all too easily become a trap which seduces us into thinking there is no more to life than being happy. In fact, the author is highly critical of 'positive psychology' and other dominant schools of thought.In fact, we need to reach beyond this if we are to access the deepest levels of human experience open to us, and find our own unique path in life. The author offers a further 5 steps, which point the way to accessing these deeper levels of experience, which alone result in the joyful life which is our birthright. Paradoxically, as this book demonstrates, stepping off the happiness treadmill will ultimately make for a happier and more fulfilled life. It is time to go beyond happiness.

Updated with significant new material, the paperback edition of the 2019 political bestseller. Theresa May presided over the most dramatic and historic peacetime premiership for a century. May at 10 tells the compelling inside story of the most turbulent period in modern British politics for 100 years. Written by one of Britain's leading political and social commentators, May at 10 describes how Theresa May arrived in 10 Downing Street in 2016 with the clearest, yet toughest, agenda of any Prime Minister since the Second World War: delivering Brexit. What follows defies belief or historical precedent. This story has never been told. Including a comprehensive series of interviews with May's closest aides and allies, and with unparalleled access to the advisors who shaped her premiership, Downing Street's official historian Anthony Seldon decodes the enigma of the Prime Minister's tenure. Drawing on all his authorial experience, he unpacks what is the

*THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*'Enticingly structured... Commendable... The menu is well known, but is deliciously seasoned all the same.' The Times[A] forensic and eloquent evisceration of Truss's chaotic and catastrophic 49 days in No 10' Independent'A textbook on bad government' Dominic Grieve, GuardianThe shortest-serving prime minister in history.The first former leader to lose their seat since 1935.An inside look at how it all went so wrong.Liz Truss's disastrous premiership was the shortest and most chaotic in British history. In the space of just 49 days, Truss witnessed the death of the longest-reigning monarch, attempted to remould the economy, triggered a collapse in the value of Sterling and was forced on a series of embarrassing U-turns that ultimately led to her resignation. The aftershocks of her time in office are still felt today. How did she blow her opportunity so spectacularly?Based on exclusive interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, and focusing on the critical steps that led to her demise, this gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history gives the definitive account of Truss's premiership.Number 1 Sunday Times Bestseller, 8 September 2024

Liz Truss's disastrous premiership was the shortest and most chaotic in British history. In the space of just 49 days, Truss witnessed the death of the longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, attempted to remould the economy, triggered a collapse in the value of Sterling and was forced on a series of embarrassing U-turns that ultimately led to her resignation. The aftershocks of her time in office are still felt today. How did she blow her opportunity so spectacularly? Based on exclusive interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, and focusing on the critical steps that led to her demise, this gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history gives the definitive account of Truss's premiership.

*THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*'Compulsively readable' The Times'[A] forensic and eloquent evisceration' Independent'A lively, brief and analytical account of a catastrophe' Financial Times'It should come with a trigger warning' PoliticsHomeLiz Truss's disastrous premiership was the shortest and most chaotic in British history. In the space of just 49 days, Truss attempted to remould the economy, triggered a collapse in the value of Sterling and was forced into a series of embarrassing U-turns that ultimately led to her resignation. The aftershocks of her time in office are still felt today. How did she blow her opportunity so spectacularly?Based on exclusive interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, bestselling political biographer Anthony Seldon provides a gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history that gives the definitive account of how not to be prime minister.Number 1 Sunday Times Bestseller, 8 September 2024

Praise for The Path of Peace:'A formidable achievement' Rory Stewart'Thoughtful [and] heartfelt' Observer'Profound [and] compelling' Spectator'A noble endeavour' New StatesmanIn 2020, Anthony Seldon, inspired by a fallen World War I soldier who dreamed of a 'ViaSacra' to commemorate the war dead and stand as a marker for the triumph of peace, set outon a 1,000km walk tracing the historic route of the Western Front. But there wasn't to be lasting peace, with thecontinent falling into an even more horrific war two decades later. In The Path of Light, Seldon walks the route from where World War I ended to Auschwitz, discovering the towns andpeople who resisted in the face of unbearable destruction, and ruminating on the Second World War's legacy.

Blackwell's Non-Fiction Book of the Month'A formidable achievement' Rory Stewart'Thoughtful [and] heartfelt' Observer'Profound [and] compelling' Spectator'A noble endeavour' New StatesmanWithout a permanent home, a wife or a job, and with no clear sense of where his life was going, Anthony Seldon set out on a 35-day pilgrimage from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel.The route of his 1,000 kilometre journey was inspired by a young British soldier of the First World War, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a 'Via Sacra' that the men, women and children of Europe could walk to honour the fallen. Tragically, Gillespie was killed in action, his vision forgotten for a hundred years, until a chance discovery in the archive of one of England's oldest schools galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established.Tracing the historic route of the Western Front, he traversed some of Europe's most beautiful and evocative scenery, from the Vosges, Argonne and Champagne to the haunting trenches of Arras, the Somme and Ypres. Along the way, he wrestled heat exhaustion, dog bites and blisters as well as a deeper search for inner peace and renewed purpose. Touching on grief, loss and the legacy of war, The Path of Peace is the extraordinary story of Anthony's epic walk, an unforgettable act of remembrance and a triumphant rediscovery of what matters most in life.***A WATERSTONES BEST BOOKS OF 2022 PICK***____________________________________________'The Western Front Way, an idea that waited 100 years for its moment, is the simplest and fittest memorial yet to the agony of the Great War. Anthony Seldon's account of how he walked it, and what it means to all of us, will be an inspiration to younger generations.' Sebastian Faulks'A deeply informed meditation on the First World War, an exploration of walking's healing power, a formidable physical achievement... and above all a moving enactment of a modern pilgrimage.' Rory Stewart'A journey of self-discovery and a pilgrimage of peace... A remarkable book by a remarkable man.' Michael Morpurgo'An incredible journey that will move and inspire.' Bear Grylls

This book addresses the significant problems that can arise for pre-service teachers, teachers and school leaders who are unprepared for the complexities of 21st century teaching. It focuses on major factors impacting teacher preparation during an era of significant change, including student learning, academic growth, classroom practice, and the efficacy of teachers. In turn, the book considers crucial aspects that can enhance educational outcomes and investigates questions including what impact the changing nature of teachers’ work has on teacher preparation; how educators can evaluate blended learning; and what impact teachers have on learners. This book provides evidence-based approaches that can be used to achieve a positive impact on education and narrow the gap in contemporary and emerging global topics in education.

This book addresses the significant problems that can arise for pre-service teachers, teachers and school leaders who are unprepared for the complexities of 21st century teaching. It focuses on major factors impacting teacher preparation during an era of significant change, including student learning, academic growth, classroom practice, and the efficacy of teachers. In turn, the book considers crucial aspects that can enhance educational outcomes and investigates questions including what impact the changing nature of teachers’ work has on teacher preparation; how educators can evaluate blended learning; and what impact teachers have on learners. This book provides evidence-based approaches that can be used to achieve a positive impact on education and narrow the gap in contemporary and emerging global topics in education.

'The leading authority on our contemporary prime ministers' Dominic Grieve, Guardian After almost a decade and a half of Tory rule, the 2024 General Election saw the Conservatives suffer their worst-ever defeat: they received 7.14 million fewer votes than in 2019; 23.7 per cent is their lowest ever vote share; and their current 121 MP contingent is their smallest since 1832. Meanwhile, the rise of Reform threatens the party's very existence. How did it all go wrong so quickly, following Boris Johnson's record-setting win in 2019? From taking office amidst the cost of living and energy supply crises and the panic caused by Liz Truss's disastrous mini-budget, through the agenda-dominating Ukraine and Gaza wars and the Rwanda Asylum Plan, to the stunning 2023 local election results, Sunak at 10 is the definitive and jaw-dropping window into Rishi Sunak's premiership.

Praise for The Path of Peace: 'A formidable achievement' Rory Stewart 'Thoughtful [and] heartfelt' Observer 'Profound [and] compelling' Spectator 'A noble endeavour' New Statesman In 2021, Anthony Seldon, inspired by a fallen First World War soldier who dreamed of a 'Via Sacra' to commemorate the war dead and stand as a marker for the triumph of peace, set out on a 1,000km walk tracing the historic route of the Western Front. He went on to recount that story in the widely acclaimed The Path of Peace. But there wasn't to be lasting peace, with the continent falling into an even more horrific war two decades later. In The Path of Light, Seldon sets out to walk a new 1,300 km route from the same starting point at Kilometre Zero to Auschwitz, discovering in the towns and villages through which he walks stories of women and men who bravely protected the vulnerable and stood up to evil in the face of unimaginable brutality during the Second World War. As he ruminates on these 'figures of light', whose uplifting stories he encounters along his path, a pattern begins to emerge about how we can draw on their lives to build a better and more peaceful world, never more needed than now, with the ominous and increasing drumbeat of belligerence globally that month by month is the constant backdrop of his walk between 2023 and 2025. It proved a harder book to write than The Path of Peace. But it was a project he knew he had to complete, whatever the cost.

Theresa May has presided over the most dramatic and historic peacetime premiership for a century. May at 10 tells the compelling inside story of the most turbulent period in modern British politics for 100 years. Written by one of Britain's leading political and social commentators, May at 10 describes how Theresa May arrived in 10 Downing Street in 2016 with the clearest, yet toughest, agenda of any Prime Minister since the Second World War: delivering Brexit. What follows defies belief or historical precedent. This story has never been told. Including a comprehensive series of interviews with May's closest aides and allies, and with unparalleled access to the advisers who shaped her premiership, Downing Street's official historian Anthony Seldon decodes the enigma of the Prime Minister's tenure. Drawing on all his authorial experience, he unpacks what is the most intriguing government and Prime Minister of the modern era.