John Sweeney

Nigel Farage is arguably the most consequential British politician of our age, and on current polling he is set to become the UK prime minister after the next general election. But aspects of his life story remain shrouded in mystery. Who is the real Nigel Farage, and does he possess the qualities to lead the country at a time of domestic turmoil and international peril? Based on interviews and reporting in the UK and across Europe by the fearless John Sweeney, The Real Nigel Farage will be published just ahead of the 2026 autumn party conference season as battlelines are drawn for the next election and the contest to lead the Right intensifies.

John Sweeney tells stories power and money don't want told. As a war reporter he took crazy risks from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and everywhere else in between. In former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Gaza, he lost friends: killed in the firing line of duty. Years later, the BBC got rid of him when had a go at another cult, the one run by Tommy Robinson. Freelance, he headed to Ukraine, staying in the capital for the whole of the Battle of Kyiv. Staying Alive is the autobiography of a reporter who has criticised Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to their faces. In Siberia, Sweeney got punched in the guts; in New York, the Trump organisation put out an attack video against him. When not going undercover in North Korea or Chechnya or Zimbabwe, in Britain he made documentaries on cot death mothers Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony, that they were not guilty of murdering their babies. Thanks, in part, to Sweeney, they were all freed. In 2023, on the day when nurse Lucy Letby was first convicted of killing seven babies, Sweeney tweeted: "Sometimes the law gets it wrong." It is the story of someone who is a free spirit, not afraid to confront real monsters or to stand up for those falsely accused of being monsters. But all of that leaves scar tissue. The book opens with Sweeney sitting in a psychiatrist's waiting room, on sick leave from the BBC, broken by too many battles. It is a book written by someone who has seen the darkest things people can do to each other but also that information is light, that laughter can light up a prison cell, that love and friendship can keep people going through the worst of times. As information becomes more poisoned by the day, Staying Alive sets out the human cost paid by the people who tell truth to power

The latest edition of the definitive guide on the mechanical behaviors of polymers In the newly revised fourth edition of Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers, a team of distinguished researchers delivers an up-to-date discussion of all aspects of the mechanical behavior of solid polymers. The book explores finite elastic behavior, linear viscoelasticity, mechanical relaxations, mechanical anisotropy, non-linear viscoelasticity, yield behavior, and fracture. The authors emphasize biopolymers – as opposed to petrochemical-based polymers – and incorporate a great deal of computational, numerical, and simulation content. They offer extensive discussions of the effects of recycling, as well as nanocomposites – including carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other materials. Readers will also find: An updated comprehensive account of the properties of solid polymersDiscussions of the behaviors of polymers through the mathematical techniques of solid mechanicsQuantitative information about the response of each polymer to different mechanical stressesDiscussions of the most suitable materials for different applications Perfect for academics, researchers and industrial scientists, Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers will also benefit students of materials science, physics, and chemistry students.

'Murder in the Gulag is brilliant journalistic writing: punchy, eloquent, page-turning and factual. It's a powerful reminder of what an extraordinary man Navalny was' - Roland Oliphant, TelegraphIn this revised and updated paperback edition, award-winning journalist John Sweeney goes behind the headlines to investigate what really happened to Alexei Navalny in the freezing Polar Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia in February 2024. This is a warts-and-all portrayal of the highly charismatic but controversial Russian opposition leader who at one time flirted with the far right. Murder in the Gulag lifts the lid on the reality of life in Russia today and asks what Navalny's death means for the future of Putin, Russia and the West.

'A cracking read ... Ghislaine Maxwell's story has had endless column inches, but John gives such a great overview, and has mined so many sources that it still feels fresh and compelling.' Mail on Sunday Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who suffered a tragedy, the death of her father, a war hero, a philanthropist, a good man, in suspicious circumstances. She fled to New York where she made a new life with a brilliant mathematician. Her name is Ghislaine Maxwell and her lover was Jeffrey Epstein. Through Jeffrey, and her family name, Ghislaine became friends with some of the most powerful people on earth, ex-President Bill Clinton and President-to-be Donald Trump and the second son of the Queen of England, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. But this is no fairy tale. HUNTING GHISLAINE sets out the other side of the story, and it's one of the darkest you will ever read. Ghislaine's father, Robert Maxwell, was a sadist, a war criminal, a monster. His cruelty deformed Ghislaine Maxwell long before she met Jeffrey Epstein. Her one-time lover was convicted for being a paedophile. So Ghislaine's life has been spent serving not one monster but two.In HUNTING GHISLAINE, legendary investigative journalist John Sweeney uncovers the truth behind this fairy tale story in reverse.

'Murder in the Gulag is brilliant journalistic writing: punchy, eloquent, page-turning and factual. It's a powerful reminder of what an extraordinary man Navalny was' - Roland Oliphant, TelegraphThe gripping sequel to the bestselling Killer in the Kremlin2:19pm, Moscow time, 16 February 2024. The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District announces that Alexei Navalny is dead. The news sends shockwaves around the world.In Murder in the Gulag, award-winning journalist John Sweeney goes behind the headlines to reveal what really happened to the Russian opposition leader in the freezing Polar Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia. The book is less a whodunnit - Russian President Vladimir Putin's machinery of repression killed Navalny - than a howdunnit.The narrative relates Navalny's extraordinary life story in technicolour detail, from his childhood summers spent with his grandparents in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine to his untimely death at the age of 47, cut down in his prime.This is a warts-and-all portrayal of a highly charismatic but controversial figure who flirted with far-right Russian nationalists before course-correcting, told by an intrepid journalist, based in London and Kyiv, who knew Navalny personally.Murder in the Gulag contains a warning. Navalny made a fatal misjudgement in returning to Russia after his poisoning by Novichok in 2020, betting that Vladimir Putin wouldn't kill him. But as Putin has gained in strength, with the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the fortunes of war slowly turning in Russia's favour, Navalny lost that bet. Sweeney argues that if the West fails to stand up more forcefully to Putin, we are in danger not just of betraying Ukraine but our own security too.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW UPDATED WITH FOUR NEW CHAPTERS'This swashbuckling book is a furious attack on the Russian president. Killer in the Kremlin traces Putin's bloody career... a life littered with corpses.' - THE TIMESA gripping and explosive account of Vladimir Putin's tyranny, charting his rise from spy to tsar, exposing the events that led to his invasion of Ukraine and his assault on Europe.In Killer in the Kremlin, award-winning journalist John Sweeney takes readers from the heart of Putin's Russia to the killing fields of Chechnya, to the embattled cities of an invaded Ukraine.In a disturbing exposé of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war.Drawing on eyewitness accounts and compelling testimony from those who have suffered at Putin's hand, we see the heroism of the Russian opposition, the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance, and the brutality with which the Kremlin responds to such acts of defiance, assassinating or locking away its critics, and stopping at nothing to achieve its imperialist aims.In the midst of one of the darkest acts of aggression in modern history - Russia's invasion of Ukraine - this book shines a light on Putin's rule and poses urgent questions about how the world must respond.'An extraordinarily prescient and fascinating book.' - NIHAL ARTHANAYAKEInstant Sunday Times bestseller, March 2023

'A cracking read ... Ghislaine Maxwell's story has had endless column inches, but John gives such a great overview, and has mined so many sources that it still feels fresh and compelling.' Mail on Sunday Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who suffered a tragedy, the death of her father, a war hero, a philanthropist, a good man, in suspicious circumstances. She fled to New York where she made a new life with a brilliant mathematician. Her name is Ghislaine Maxwell and her lover was Jeffrey Epstein. Through Jeffrey, and her family name, Ghislaine became friends with some of the most powerful people on earth, ex-President Bill Clinton and President-to-be Donald Trump and the second son of the Queen of England, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. But this is no fairy tale. HUNTING GHISLAINE sets out the other side of the story, and it's one of the darkest you will ever read. Ghislaine's father, Robert Maxwell, was a sadist, a war criminal, a monster. His cruelty deformed Ghislaine Maxwell long before she met Jeffrey Epstein. Her one-time lover was convicted for being a paedophile. So Ghislaine's life has been spent serving not one monster but two.In HUNTING GHISLAINE, legendary investigative journalist John Sweeney uncovers the truth behind this fairy tale story in reverse.

'An extraordinarily prescient and fascinating book.' - NIHAL ARTHANAYAKE 'This swashbuckling book is a furious attack on the Russian president. Killer in the Kremlin traces Putin's bloody career... a life littered with corpses.' - THE TIMES THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A gripping and explosive account of Vladimir Putin's tyranny, charting his rise from spy to tsar, exposing the events that led to his invasion of Ukraine and his assault on Europe. In Killer in the Kremlin, award-winning journalist John Sweeney takes readers from the heart of Putin's Russia to the killing fields of Chechnya, to the embattled cities of an invaded Ukraine. In a disturbing exposé of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and compelling testimony from those who have suffered at Putin's hand, we see the heroism of the Russian opposition, the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance, and the brutality with which the Kremlin responds to such acts of defiance, assassinating or locking away its critics, and stopping at nothing to achieve its imperialist aims. In the midst of one of the darkest acts of aggression in modern history - Russia's invasion of Ukraine - this book shines a light on Putin's rule and poses urgent questions about how the world must respond. ---------------- 'No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful people.' - VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE

An explosive account of Putin's presidency and his long-term ambitions, including first-hand reporting from the invasion of Ukraine. A gripping and explosive account of Vladimir Putin's tyranny, charting his rise from spy to tsar, exposing the events that led to his invasion of Ukraine and his assault on Europe. In Killer in the Kremlin, award-winning journalist John Sweeney takes readers from the heart of Putin's Russia to the killing fields of Chechnya, to the embattled cities of an invaded Ukraine. In a disturbing expose of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and compelling testimony from those who have suffered at Putin's hand, we see the heroism of the Russian opposition, the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance, and the brutality with which the Kremlin responds to such acts of defiance, assassinating or locking away its critics, and stopping at nothing to achieve its imperialist aims. In the midst of one of the darkest acts of aggression in modern history - Russia's invasion of Ukraine - this book shines a light on Putin's rule and poses urgent questions about how the world must respond.

‘An insightful, frighteningly intelligent thriller… a gem of a novel’ Robert Dinsdale A Welsh journalist falls foul of Stalin’s secret police after threatening to tell the world about the famine in the Soviet Union – a thriller based on a terrifying and tragic true story.

When a child is kidnapped by his unstable mother, the father turns to Joe Tiplady—offering him a lot of money to find the boy and bring him back. It soon becomes clear that Joe will have to earn every cent: mother and son are in war-torn Syria, and they’ve willingly joined the ranks of ISIS.Meanwhile Zeke Chandler, CIA deputy director, is in Albania, where four electrocuted bodies have been found on a mountainside near a secret black-ops facility. Two seemingly unrelated incidents, but Joe will find himself crossing paths with Zeke again.From the Hollywood underworld to bombed-out Aleppo, via a controversial US election and a global refugee crisis, Joe’s hunt for the missing boy will send him to the darkest, most dangerous places in the modern world. And his search may force him to confront the unfinished business in his own murky past—that is, if he survives.

In the feeble light of a London winter, Joe Tiplady walks his dog in the snow. He is not alone. Two men are tracking him, as is a woman with wolf eyes. Soon Joe will find himself caught in a storm of violence and retribution that he does not yet understand.Around the world, a chain of events is in motion that will make Joe a priceless target. A retired Soviet general hunts for his missing daughter after a series of brutal murders. A ruthless assassin loses something so precious he will do anything to get it back. And in the mountains of Utah, a brilliant ex-CIA chief wrestles with his religion.In the shadow of them all lies Zoba, strongman ruler of Russia and puppet-master of the world’s darkest operatives. Can Joe save himself from this dangerous web of power and revenge? Where can he run when there’s nowhere left to hide?Please note: this book contains strong language and scenes of torture.