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Jan 8, 2025 5:13 PM

Author:Simon Jenkins

Wales

From the great citadels of Caernarvon, Harlech, Powis and Beaumaris in the north, to the Victorian glories of Cardiff in the south, St David's cathedral ('the loveliest church in Wales') in the west to the exquisite little hill church of Patrishow in the east, from Plas Newydd above the Menai Straits to the romantic citadel of Carreg Cennan in the heart of the country, the buildings of Wales embody its history and are the equal of any in the British Isles. Simon Jenkins has travelled, it seems, every mile of the country to celebrate, and in some cases to find the very best of them, and irresistibly conveys in this book his enthusiasm for them. Cumulatively they amount to a cultural history of Wales by one of its most devoted sons. Anyone who is visiting Wales or who loves it will want to own this glorious book.

Reviews

A genuinely useful and discriminating guide for all Tudor fans. Full of fascinating true stories... it helps us see the world as the Tudors must have seen it

—— Hilary Mantel

Lipscomb is an eloquent tour-guide, and each of her 50 destinations allows her deftly to unfold a different chapter of Tudor history ... As a pocket-guide to the dynasty of brutes, this is as good as it gets

—— Spectator

Magnificent ... Charged with infectious enthusiasm for its subject, this is an unmissable treat which ought to be top of every Londoner’s reading list

—— Time Out

A brilliant account of the bursting, overflowing city, with its glittering wealth and harrowing poverty

—— Financial Times

Jerry White is to London as Boswell is to Johnson... London in the Nineteenth Century should sit on your shelf alongside Debrett’s, the Oxford dictionary, and your complete set of Dickens

—— Daily Telegraph

White brings to his book a diligence and contagious zest that may serve to discourage anyone from ever tackling the subject again

—— Sunday Times

Fascinating … irresistible

—— Liza Picard , BBC History Magazine

The Norman Conquest is a scrupulously researched and well-written book. But it is also that rare thing: a work undertaken with enormous integrity. Dr Morris questions the received wisdom from past scholars, considers the Conquest and its aftermath anew, and expresses his findings with great conscientiousness.

—— Ian Mortimer

A muscular, vivid narrative full of compelling historical insight – not just a brilliantly told story, but required reading for anyone interested in the real 1066 and all that.

—— Helen Castor

As this book immodestly reveals, Tony Blair was, and remains, a remarkable influence on politics, both domestically and internationally

—— Menzies Campbell , Scotland on Sunday

What makes his memoir so absorbing as it swings from clever phrase-making and thoughtful contemporary history to wince-inducing self-analysis, is that he is the first of a generation of politicians to conduct their craft as if observing themselves from an amused an admiring distance - and then to write about it. No recent politician has examines his own motives and psychology quite so candidly

—— John Rentoul , The Independent

It is the small revelations about the character of Blair that make this book worthwhile

—— Ross Clark , The Express

It's a gripping insight into the ex-PM's ten years of power . . . It will take a lot for many people to read his own take on the rise and fall of New Labour, but those that do might be reminded of the charm and vision that swept him to power

—— News of the World

I have read many a prime ministerial memoir and none of the other authors has been as self-deprecating, as willing to admit mistakes and to tell jokes against themselves

—— Mary Ann Sieghart , The Independent

Paints a candid picture of his friend and rival, Gordon Brown, and of their relationship

—— Patrick Hennessy , The Sunday Telegraph
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