The third instalment in Naughtie's Cold War spy series about three brothers whose lives are all entwined with the intelligence services. Will is now British ambassador to Washington, but soon finds himself on a dangerous journey into his clandestine past, from conflict in Ireland to the long shadows of the Cold War.
The acclaimed author and BBC broadcaster on US politics and the American dream, from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump.
From Shakespeare and Jane Austen to Gabriel García Márquez and Toni Morrison, delve into more than 100 biographies of the world's greatest writers. Introduced with a stunning portrait of each featured novelist, playwright, or poet, biographical entries trace the friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired each individual and influenced their work, revealing insights into the larger-than-life characters, plots, and evocative settings that they created. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and paintings of writers' homes, studies, and personal artefacts - along with pages from original manuscripts, first editions, and their correspondence - this book introduces the key ideas, themes, and literary techniques of each writer, revealing the imaginations and personalities behind some of the world's greatest novels, short stories, poems, and plays. With a foreword introduction by James Naughtie, and covering an eclectic range of authors from the Middle Ages to the present day, Writers provides a compelling glimpse of the lives and loves of each great writer.
Will Flemyng was a spy who turned to politics and is rising to the top in the 1970s. But when a bizarre death, on one hot summer day in London, starts to unravel some of the most sensitive secrets of his government, he's drawn back into the shadows of the Cold War and begins to dance with danger once more. Buffeted by political forces and the powerful women around him, and caught in interlocking mysteries he must disentangle – including a potentially lethal family secret – Flemyng faces his vulnerability and learns, through betrayal and tragedy, more truth about his world than he has ever known.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most popular foreign leader in the United States, and one whose support for America has made him widely reviled at home. Why did Blair become such an object of fascination here? What are Democrats to make of their old friend's attachment to Bush? In a Europe profoundly skeptical about a new American imperialism, why did Blair decide to face resolutely west across the Atlantic? To James Naughtie, a renowned British journalist with unparalleled knowledge of Blair and a deep understanding of American politics, the story of our love affair with Blair provides a fascinating mirror on the troubles facing Western democracies, and on America itself. In The Accidental American , the first book about Blair written specifically for American readers, he explores how a politician swept to power by a party once avowedly socialist came to make common cause with American neo-conservatives, and became the gatekeeper between America and Western Europe. Though Blair has been feted by Congress and is beloved by the White House, his real beliefs about America remain almost unknown. Naughtie has watched Blair close-up for many years and has many contacts inside his circle of friends and advisors. In the tumult of a presidential election year, this book provides a revelatory portrait of a master politician and revelatory insights into the politics and character of our own country.