This is a first-rate study of an underrated figure who is in danger of being overlooked by future generations. John Campbell makes a compelling case for Heath as a good prime minister who was overwhelmed by the economic crises that beset the West in the early 1970s. As a result, his is a political career that is defined by its failures (losing three of four elections while the leader of the Conservative Party) and is being overshadowed by those of his contemporaries -- Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher -- rather than for his critical role in the most important event of Britain's post-1945 history: entry into the European Economic Community and the European Union that followed. This book is an important step towards according Heath his rightful place in history.

Palmerston, he evoked an era of gunboat diplomacy. WHy? Because he understood the British empire rested on its ability to deter aggression and his gutsy vindictive nature of sending the royal navy anywhere it took to protect the honor of England. With the exception of churchill, Palmerston was a great defender of empire, uniquly british. THis is a must read for anyone wanting to understand how America should be acting in the face of terror. Palmerston was the ultimate pre-emptionist.

This is undoubtedly the best book on bird hunting in a very,very long time.It has given the reader the "Who,what,when, and where",in specific and pleasant language, with some inviting photos of the lodges.The author has skillfully gone from areas to hunt that are either almost free, to the quite expensive, using the same exacting detail about what kind of birds,their source,seasons,lodging availability,rates,directions to get there,...even down to tipping. A few paragraphs about each place makes you wish you were able to hunt them all.

This extensive read is a broad brush stroke for the reader who is looking for a landscape portrait about the man as if it were written by him personally. The book begins coverage tracing his pre-history origin shedding light on the beginnings of his psycological make up then on thru his living influences leaving the reader with a good understanding of Winston and his personality as Winston lived it. Suffering thee, as he puts it "The Black Dog" for most of his life it becomes clear to the reader that he did live his role in life beyond just satisfying his personal ego (unlike most politicians), though his ego was not anything small it did gain it's personal satisfactions and it's blows.

Much like his life the book is long and never boring.

Plantagenet Palliser reluctantly becomes the Prime Minister of England. Lady Glencora continues her self-appointed task as a meddler in affairs of the heart and now politics. We are glad to see the couple back at the forefront of our story, the 5th entry of the Palliser saga. Re-appearing characters Lizzie Eustace and Phineas Finn are present, but only in minor roles. The delightful Marie, now Mrs. Finn, stands by Cora in triumph and trouble. Lopez slithers on the scene and courts Emily Wharton, much to her family's dismay. The novels of Anthony Trollope are the Victorian equivalent of daytime TV dramas. They are lightweight, but entertaining. The pace is leisurely, and the book goes on for 700+ pages. Graham Greene once wrote that Trollope's novels ease stress levels because nothing much happens. The stylish presentation in smoothly written prose compensates the reader nicely. Besides, nobody captured the comic essence of Victorian manners and morals as Trollope. The unyielding men and women are often the cause of their own dilemmas. This book is a pleasant contrast to the noise, bustle, and electronic hardware of modern life. Recommended reading. ;-)

Anthony Trollope has created yet another book full of twisted plots and fatal loves. Another book to read and cherish.

When Plantagenet Palliser (Duke of Omnium) is named Prime Minister, his wife, the Duchess Glencora, is delighted. Immediately she plunges into politics herself, giving huge parties intended to support the Duke, who is completely honorable, but unfortunately detached and reserved, seeming at times icy to those whose political backing is needed. Glencora, one of Trollope's most delightful creations, has a sparkling personality, but is occasionally too outspoken and is sometimes misunderstood. Eventually her well-intended machinations result in embarrassment for the Duke's ministry.

In the other main plot, Emily Wharton ignores the advice of her father and almost all her friends when she falls in love with Ferdinand Lopez, about whom very little is known except that he seems to be a wealthy gentleman. Finally she persuades her father to give his permission for her marriage. Very quickly she discovers that she has made a horrendous mistake, and her life becomes a living h! ell. Only one of her old friends remains true--Arthur Fletcher, who vows that he will always love no one but her.

Anyone who is interested in Victorian history and British politics will find the novel a pure delight. Others may find it slow going and mystifying in spots, although no such knowledge or interest is needed for the Emily-Lopez plot. Lopez is one of the most despicable villains in all of Trollope's fiction, ranking with George Vavasor of "Can You Forgive Her?" Emily, on the other hand, sometimes becomes tiresome in her queer, fastidious obstinacy.

The character of Plantagenet Palliser is finely drawn. He is a man who is scrupulously honest, too much so for partisan politics. He is a natural leader and yet a thin-skinned, conscientious man who takes any criticism to heart. He loves his vivacious wife, who teases him mercilessly when she wishes to upset him. The match seems very odd, and their marriage began under inauspicious circumstances, and yet she,! in her way, admires and adores her husband.

"The Pr! ime Minister" is an outstanding work by one of literature's greatest novelists, mainly because of his brilliant handling of character. No one does it better.

This ought to be a terrific book. Winston Churchill led a fascinating life and shaped the history of a time with many lessons for our own. John Keegan is a wonderful military historian whose book "In the Face of Battle" I still assign to students. Moreover, there is a real need for a biography of Churchill with a military emphasis. I plunged into this book with enthusiasm after having waded through the parliamentary detail of Roy Jenkins's Churchill biography. But this is very ordinary. It provides a competent sketch of well-known information, and would not make a bad introduction for someone unfamiliar with the man or the time. That merits several stars. But it does not go beyond that; tracing the intricate interweaving of the political, moral, and military strands that enabled this leader to stand almost alone against tyranny and to hold his country with him remains a challenge to future biographers. Part of the problem may be that Keegan's greatest strength as a writer is his ability to recreate small moments of history in amazingly vivid detail. Perhaps a series of vignettes of crucial moments in Churchill's career would have suited Keegan's talents better.

As with the entire Penguin Lives series, this book was written by an expert who was given the challenge of sharing his knowledge in less than 200 pages. John Keegan succeeds brilliantly. As an expert on World War II, Keegan has written many wonderful and insightful books and this is no exception despite the literary constraints placed upon him. His clear and beautiful prose make the book a quick and enjoyable read, but he does not sacrifice information. I did not know a lot about Churchill before reading this book, but now I feel that I have a good understanding for his achievements and why he was so significant in his own time. It is a fabulous book for an amateur historian who does not want to spend dozens of hours wading through a biography several volumes long and simply wants to know significant events and some good analysis by a renowned historian. A wonderful, well written, and interesting book.

John Keegan succeeds brilliantly in this short biography of Winston Churchill, summoning Churchill's persona and principles, as well as providing an overview of Churchill's role in the great events of his long life. While Keegan has crafted his book beautifully, he graciously allows Churchill's voice, in the form of snippets from his speeches, to provide this biography's rhetorical highpoints. This is a first rate portrait of an amazing man. Highly recommended!

With the advent of what may become the second Gulf War, Tony Blair-Prime Minister is a comprehensive biography of the leader of America's closest ally. Prime Minister Tony Blair is an unlikely choice to be the foreign leader closest to President George W. Bush. British Journalist, John Rentoul has written about the rise and times of Tony Blair from his roots in a middle class British family to that of a rising socialist politician who became leader of the "New" Labor Party and Prime Minister of Great Britian.

Rentoul traces Blair's family and their political leanings. Blair's father Leo Blair was born to a pair of actors and given to a James and Mary Blair in Glasgow. Leo Blair as a teenager was a member of the Scottish Young Communist League and had ambitions to become a Communist Member of Parliment. However, after service in World War II as a member of the Royal Signal Corps, Leo Blair underwent a political conversion. Upon leaving the military he became a member of the Conservative Party. Leo Blair married Blair's mother Hazel from a strongly Protestant family from County Donegal while working at the Ministry of National Insurance in Glasgow. Leo Blair studied law eventually becoming a lecturer in Administrative Law at the University of Adelaide in Australia and eventually the University of Durham in Durham. Leo Blair eventually became a practicing barrister and active in the local Conservative Party.
Tony Blair was the second of three children. He is described as being the child most like his father Leo.

In the opening chapter of the book it states "Tony Blair's political ambition began at age of eleven, when his father Leo's ended, on 4 July 1964. At the age of forty, at the height of his political powers and looking for a Conservative parlimentary seat, Leo Blair had a stroke."

However, the book indicates that many of Blair's acquaintances during his school and law school years were suprised when he decided to become active in politics. Blair was not a member of any political clubs while in school or in-between. Blair had been a singer and manager of a rock n roll band "The Ugly Rumors", had long hair and a van. Unlike his American political counter parts, he never experimented with drugs, smoked marijuana or was seen drunk. In response to the question of whether he ever smoked marijuana, he said no, but if he had "he would have inhaled" in a jab at his friend President Bill Clinton.
One of the suprising discoveries found in the book about Tony Blair is his Christian Socialism. Unlike many American politicians not much mention has been made of the fact he has been a confirmed Christian since his Oxford days. Moreover, he is the only British Prime Minister since Gladstone known to regularly read the Bible.
Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair are as political a couple as the Clintons. Both have worked in local politics and both have run for seats in Parliment. When Blair ran his first successful race for his current seat from the Sedgefield Riding, Cherie was seeking a seat in a "marginal" Labor district or riding. However, after Blair won his first election, Cherie decided to forego elective office as one politician was enough in the family. Since Blair's election in Parliment in 1983, the Blairs have had three children and Cherie has continued her career as a successful barrister.
Over half the book covers Blair's career as leader of the Labor Party and Prime Minister. When he became Prime Minister at age 42, only tweleve years in Parliment, he became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool who became Prime Minister in 1812.
The book is well documented with footnotes after every chapter. Because of its "scholarliness" it may tend to drag at times in the chapters which deal with his years as Prime Minister from May 2, 1997 through the time the book was written in January 2001. As such it chronicles in detail Tony Blair's first term.
In it, the achievements of the first term include the Balkans, Northern Ireland,as well as helping provide a better standard of living for all of Britian.
Blair is described as a "hands-on" Prime Minister, informal but energized and possibly hyper-working on the phone from planes, on vacation and on the weekend.
With as much detail provided of all aspects of Blair's life, TONY BLAIR-Prime Minister gives the reader and the world great insight into Blair's actions now in his second term as Prime Minister.

On 4-th of july 1964,Tony was woken by his mother in the morning and as soon as he heard the first words coming out from his mother - he knew that something wasn't right and he was right
about that.
Tony's father had a stroke and it wasn't sure whether he's gonna make it or not.
This day was the day when Tony's childhood ended,a day when his political ambition began, a life which taught him the value of the family and real friends who walked with his family in the worst moments of their lives.

Tony,a child of strict parents about manners :
Was always polite,kind,helpful towards other people and he enjoyed the attention so much so when he is only 16 years old he formed a group named The Pseuds - to act.

Soon, as a 'gifted guitarist' he starts meeting people of the same interest and talked about getting into the music world.
He loved The Rolling Stones and they were going to be the next Led Zeppelin or Free (Tony's most favorite bands).
So...the band "Ugly Rumours" is formed and THE LEAD SINGER-with
a fantastic voice is someone such as : the future prime minister of Great Britain - TONY BLAIR.

...John Rentoul's biography of Tony Blair-(was made to read easy as novel, even though it was Tony's life to make that possible). It is a well-researched book and tells just about everything you'd want to know about Tony Blair.

Prime Obsession is a delight: a book about a hypothesis on the distribution of prime numbers that reads like a gripping mystery. Most fiction isn't this vivid, moving, and well written, and this is no fiction. It is history, biography, philosophy, and, yes, mathematics brought to life with wit and wonder. You have to read this extraordinary book.

This is the story of the Reimann Hypothesis, the greatest unsolved problem in mathematics today. Here it is in all its glory: "All non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part one-half."

What on earth does it mean? Mr. Derbyshire, a gifted storyteller, takes the reader on an exhilarating journey of discovery as he painstakingly illuminates the meaning, mystery, and power of those eleven short words.

I have never taken a course in calculus and am intimidated by even moderately complex math notation. There's lots of that in this book, and I had my doubts I could get through it. But Mr. Derbyshire knows that some of his readers will have fear of flying, or only be able to fly for short distances, so he patiently breaks scary-looking formulae into bite-size pieces and gives you the general rules you need to know to digest them. He knows how to explain things with crystal clarity and easy wit. And the man knows how to turn a phrase.

Still, he does not coddle his readers, so you need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and fasten your seat belt. This is a challenging book, no bones about it. I needed to read it twice just to get a passing feel for chunks of it. Why, you may ask, would I twice read a book I had difficulty comprehending? Because with Mr. Derbyshire's gentle urging I could glimpse the beauty and feel the deep wonder of Bernhard Riemann's hypothesis, even if it remained just beyond grasp. And this was enough, more than enough, to rivet my attention for days and give me hours of entertaining, informative reading.

This is a gem of book. It left me gasping for air and wanting more. I cannot more strongly recommend it.

There seems to be a plethora of books about the Riemann Hypothesis (RH) lately. This book is very through for the non-mathematician. Every other chapter is mathematical in nature but is tractable with plenty of illustrations to guide the weary reader along the way. For the most part I couldn't see how Mr. Derbyshire could make it any easier.

The other chapters are historical in nature and describe not only Mr. Riemann's life but how RH has touched mathematicians, physicists and the rest of humanity until present day.

Mr. Derbyshire has written an absolutely excellent book on the Riemann hypothesis. The Riemann hypothesis, which relates to prime and complex numbers, has yet to be proved. It is the most famous unproved problem in mathematics. In fact, the first person to prove the Riemann hypothesis will be awarded a large sum of money from the Clay Mathematics Institute.

Mr. Derbyshire's book is perfect for folks like me with a mathematics background and also for those who lack formal training but are interested nonetheless. The mathematics are very well explained, and much of the book requires no understanding of mathematics at all. "Prime Obsession" is easily the most accessible book ever written on the Riemann hypothesis.

Pure mathematics is more of a mysterious art than a science, and this work serves to illuminate one very important mathematical mystery. This book is on my shelf, and it should be on yours too!

Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist, is an outstanding, and easy to read book for young adults. It is very detailed and not hard to follow along. It basically describes the entire life of Winston Churchill starting even before he was born. It is an amazing book, yet does get dry at points.

John Charmley did not do his homework. There are so many things about Churchill he missed. He greatly understates his case that Churchill, by fighting World War II, lost Britain's empire. Far from being a vigorous and foresighted leader, Churchill was incredibly lazy and inept, and Charmley misses this. Churchill failed to prevent the spread of television, failed to stop the invention of the transistor and the integrated circuit, was completely asleep at the switch during the invention of the jet engine and the intercontinental jet airliner. And these are only a few of the things that Churchill didn't stop! Of course, it was these, combined with the continued outward spread of the Enlightenment from Europe, that lost Britain its empire. So, if the lost empire is the "fruit" of Churchill's leadership, at least let's be complete in our condemnation of the man. Otherwise, he might be seen as a leader of bottomless courage, able to inspire an entire nation to rise above itself and distinguish itself for all time, while in the bargain saving Western Civilization. Churchill knew evil when he saw it. Given how difficult it was to launch the D-Day invasion, the mind boggles at what would have happened had Britain gone down.

I was sorely disappointed when finishing the book, not because of poor authorship, but, on the contrary, because Charmley's abrupt ending after a laborious examination of Churchill's political career did not seem at all adequate. He begins with a lurid examination of Churchill's early life and transformation into a political maverick, assaying his beginnings as a freshman MP in 1901 to his rise as one of the most powerful statesmen in the world. Among the most engrossing, although not necessarily new, criticisms are the Prime Minister's deference to the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy, which the author believes, with very much justification, was a catalyst that helped to bring about the Cold War and the eventual dismemberment of the British Empire. Charmley also draws parallels with Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler in 1938 with that of Churchill's handling of Stalin in 1945, and infers Churchill was hypocritical in his criticism of the Munich Pact, in part because of his later policies with regard to the Soviet Union. But after the chapter on the fall of the Churchill government in 1945, the book wraps itself up with a conclusion of little more than two pages; this is hardly befitting such a monumental undertaking. Charmley does not take interest in documenting Churchill's postwar exploits, and makes almost no reference to his Fulton speech or his return to power in 1951. For those already familiar with the standard "song and dance" given by most Churchill biographers, this work is definitely worth your time, but those expecting a more plenary reference on all of Churchill's political career, not just that until 1945, should look elsewhere.

I think people of European descent should ask the question too often avoided by "respectable" intellectuals. Was the destruction of much of Europe and the conservative forces there worth the price of defeating Hitler? In point of fact, once the liberal democracies decided to confront the evil Nazi regime, it was too late. Along with the defeat of Hitler, the anti-communist conservative Christians, who were no friend of Hitler, were mortally wounded. Decent conservatives ended up powerless. The radical socialists in the West crept into power inexorably. The end of a war that saw American involvment only ended up paving the way for an even more evil communist regime in the East and the complete evisceration of Christian Europe. Keep in mind that the "victory" over Germany meant fighting another 45 years of global cold war whose total destructiveness probably exceeds that of WW II itself. Charmley dares to suggest that Churchill, a Christian, was completely out of his depth when he tried to match wits with the Roosevelt administration...an administration that trusted Stalin more than Churchill. The truth hurts. In hindsight, it is clear that the USA is not the torchbearer of Western Civilization, however you may define it. We are the torchbearer of something entirely different...a relentless democratic egalitarianism propelled by the power of free market enterprise. Charmley is passionate about this subject, and is saddened by the downfall of a Europe which he feels was betrayed by poor leadership and myopic statesmanship. The feckless Europe of today is the result, and we may be witnessing the final decades of what was once known as Western Civilization. What will it be replaced by?