An anthology of an age . . . A book that offers so much pleasure and insight

Austin Metros and Chariots of Fire, cricket balls and petrol bombs, Sloane Rangers and Boys from the Blackstuff . . . Andy Beckett's lively and even-handed account of two years in the life of modern Britons is bracingly anti-nostalgic. Focusing sharply on key players and events, he teases out the paradoxes of those sharp-elbowed and irony-free times, and leaves the reader with provoking questions about how we got here from there

Promised You a Miracle is intelligent, entertaining, readable, convincing and timely. It is history well told and properly done

Beckett is a lucid, focussed writer . . . There is a wry, shrewd humanity to his historical interests

A breezy and very intelligent anatomy of the years 1980-82 . . . This is not conventional political history - and is all the better for it. Beckett is as interested in the flowering of independent television production companies and the regeneration of London's Docklands as he is in monetarism, the Falklands War and the assault on the trade unions

[A] gripping mixture of contemporary history and vivid reportage

Those who lived through the early eighties - who spent all that time wondering what the hell was going to happen next - will enjoy Beckett's work because it validates what at times seemed like a waking dream, or sometimes a waking nightmare. For those too young, the book is valuable as a reminder that there were other times in recent history when it seemed everything was beginning to slide

Beckett has a fine eye for detail

[Beckett] mixes history, journalism and autobiography. He has a strong sense of place

The appeal of Beckett's book is that he succeeds in showing rather than merely telling us why his chosen period was pivotal in the life of the nation. For those who lived through all the turbulence, as I did, it reawakens memories and helps reconnect you with the person you once were. For those who did not, or who cannot remember, it recounts well how an old nation roused itself from slumber and dared to change the course on which it seemed set

Beautifully written… Lewis brilliantly evokes the golden age of a long-vanished Fleet Street.

Marvellous biography… Lewis Portrays Astor as a gifted amateur… This meticulously researched book takes us back to a lost age.

Lewis is an indefatigable, sharp-eyed researcher… With the publication of this book, David Astor the Editor is well celebrated. As a biographer, Jeremy Lewis is informative, entertaining and fair-minded.

Perceptive and absorbing biography.

[A] vivid, insightful and sometimes very funny biography… Essential reading, not just for present and aspiring editors, but for anybody who cares about newspapers.

Shot through with a magnificent sly humour.

[It] is well researched and an absorbing read.

[Digby’s] story has been a long time finding a narrator, but this book has been worth waiting for.

Reads like a thrilling historical novel but amazingly happens to be nonfiction.

The reason Varoufakis seems to have captured the imaginations of so many is that his words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy

Like all great story tellers, Varoufakis’ literary flair is not just a function of stylistic prowess. He gets right inside the fears, desires and external constraints of the key players in the complex history of the Eurozone … Reading And The Weak Suffer What They Must? is like reading a gripping thriller. It is a page turner because the plot itself is a relentless sequence of astonishing twists and turns driven by the cunning ingenuity and hubristic folly of its key protagonists … This book is not just illuminating. It is a call to moral awakening and to intelligent, determined and humane political action

Beautifully illustrated… [It] overflows with entertaining detail.

Tinniswood uses lively local detail.

[It] combines a panoramic view of life and architecture in the interwar years with pin-sharp detail and the sort of springy prose that comes with complete command of the material.

This is a lively and hugely entertaining history… It’s packed with very funny anecdotes… A delight.

Tinniswood paints a vivid portrait of the period

A detailed and appreciated look at the phenomenon [of country houses]… Tinniswood writes elegantly, in complete charge of his material. The book is a joy to hold in your hand.

Wittily written and beautifully illustrated, Tinniswood’s book recreates a world far more peculiar, but at times rather more enviable, than any fictional version.

[A] compelling volume of social history.

[A] brilliant book about life in the English country house.

A scandal-packed glimpse into the glamourous Downton Abbey-esque world of English country houses… ****

A probing psychological account.