News
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TERRIFIC REVIEWS FOR LAWRENCE JAMES'S ARISTOCRATS
04 Nov 2009
“…a detailed and enjoyable political history of the British aristocracy…a readable, chronological account packed with lively and interesting anecdotes…James’s writing is easy and fluent, and (that) his book is written for the general reader, not for the scholar, the historian or the professional genealogist. His chapters on the Irish aristocracy, on American republicanism, on the Whig movement and on aristocratic sporting habits are all first rate, but where he excels is in his frequent and fine descriptions of the shifting balance in relations between the aristocracy and the Crown, and between the aristocracy and the middleclass. He demonstrates considerable skill in marshalling vast amounts of disparate material and forming it all into a coherent and structured whole. There is not a single page without some peculiarly interesting fact upon it…This is atavistic history, to be read aloud at the fireside, a book that returns to the once popular notion that English history is essentially a history of the monarchy and the aristocracy. Does anyone remember Our Island Story? A wonderful book – well, this is the same sort of thing, only for grown-ups.” Alexander Waugh, Literary Review
“Lawrence James’s stylish book is a reminder of the extraordinary staying power of Britain’s aristocracy from 1066 into the 20th century….one of the delights of this book is its attention to noblemen who tend to be overlooked in histories preoccupied with the big political families.” Sunday Express
“James traces the history of the aristocracy at breakneck speed in two dozen short and snappy chapters with few pretensions to scholarship but a keen eye for amusing details…he keeps the anecdotes flowing nicely. “ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
“…paints the nobility with all its warts….he has a gift for illustrating points with memorable examples and writing generally pithy prose…” Financial Times
“…an entertaining work…” Noel Malcolm, Spectator
“…this erudite history…He is brilliant at dissecting the changing fashions of architecture as an expression of power…He has an aptitude for the literary flourish and caustic aside…” Times Literary Supplement
“An accessible history of the last 900 years through the perspective of the aristocracy, and of the aristocracy through that of this history, Lawrence James’s well-written book…” Jeremy Black, BBC History Magazine
“…this engaging history.” Bookseller
“Impeccably researched, balanced and brilliantly entertaining, Aristocrats is an enthralling history of power, influence and an extraordinary knack for survival of a class that has always wielded power and exerted influence on culture, sport, politics and much else besides…” Warwick Books
“Lawrence James has written the story of this ruling class and its nine-hundred-year rule with an insight and accuracy that lays bare the infrastructure that supports a much misunderstood function, whilst putting it vividly in context.” The Resident
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PRAISE FOR MARTIN PUGH'S WE DANCED ALL NIGHT
04 Nov 2009
‘WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW ?’ [Daily Mail, 16 October 2009] BY JEFFREY ARCHER:
I am reading We Danced All Night by Martin Pugh (Vintage £8.99). This excellent book is a social history of Britain which covers the period between the two World Wars. I was born in 1940, so I find it particularly fascinating. I’d quite forgotten the days before television, refigerators, mobile phones, canned Coca Cola, when we had 240 pennies in the pound, no parking meters and a king was still on the throne.’
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The World's Healthiest Meal
04 Nov 2009
It’s been a busy week for Gurpareet Bains, author of the forthcoming Indian Superfood, as he unveiled the world’s healthiest meal - a curry. Some of the extensive world media coverage , much still to come,can be seen as follows: 30/10/2009 Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1223755/Recipe-health-Chef-cooks-cancer-fighting-curry.html Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6465024/Anglo-Indian-chef-creates-worlds-healthiest-curry-a-curry.html Daily Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/10/30/my-curry-to-beat-cancer-115875-21784047/ Marie Claire: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/428697/chef-cooks-world-s-healthiest-meal.html BBC Radio 2 with Chris Evans, who said ‘it’s the best curry I have ever tasted in all of my life’. Chris has invited Gurpareet back to cook the curry on air just before Christmas 2009: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nh5m8/ChrisEvans30_102009/ If you start listening from 1hr35mins through to 1hr46mins, you will hear Gurpareet’s interview. 05/11/2009 Heart FM Bedford: http://www.heartbedford.co.uk/article.asp?id=1572873 07/11/2009 BBC Three Counties Radio. Presenter, Matt Deasely is tasting his curry live on air. 09/11/2009 Heart FM Bedford. An in-depth interview with Tony Dibbins and Emily Saint on Heart Breakfast. Tony has already said that the curry ‘is the nicest ever ever ever’ (It was pre-recorded): http://www.heartbedford.co.uk/article.asp?id=1572873 17/11/2009 Neil Morrisey, Charlie Lawson (Rain Man), Michelle McManus and Stephen Jardine will be sampling his curry on STV (Scottish ITV) - . Radio presenters and the general public have also been asking whether Gurpareet’s food is available to buy in the supermarket!!
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The Joys of Publicity
04 Nov 2009
This piece from The New Yorker about authors doing their own publicity might bring a wry smile
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2009/10/19/091019sh_shouts_weiner
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New York Times profile of Daniel Tammet
04 Nov 2009
The New York Times of 3rd November profiles Daniel Tammet. It can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html
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Adam Ockelford's radio series on how music shapes our lives
04 Nov 2009
Adam Ockelford’s "The Inner World Of Music" will be transmitted on Tuesday 17th November at 1.30pm on BBC Radio 4, and then repeated on Saturday 21st November at 3.30pm. It’ll also be on the BBC’s iPlayer till 28th November at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
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4th November 2009 Two Agency Books in Top Ten
04 Nov 2009
Congratulations to Cathy Glass whose The Saddest Girl in the World remains in the top ten paperback non-fiction bestsellers at no 4 - last week she was no 2.
She is joined by Cassie Harte’s I Did Tell, I Did, another misery memoir published by Harper Collins, which comes in straight at no 7.
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Cathy Glass and Doug Beattie
22 Oct 2009
Cathy Glass’s The Saddest Girl in the World enters the bestselling chart at Number 4.
Doug Beattie’s Task Force Helmand was extracted in a second serial by the News of the World
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/540894/Extract-from-Task-Force-Helmand-by-Doug-Beattie.html
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The most successful non-fiction agency in the UK
18 Oct 2009
It's official. The agency is the most successful non-fiction agency in the United Kingdom thanks to its brilliant authors.
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