Showing titles in Presidents & Heads of State

At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy's change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER THE OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘Fear is a meticulously researched account of a White House and a president in financial, legal and personal disorder . . . essential reading’ Daily Mail THE INSIDE STORY ON PRESIDENT TRUMP, AS ONLY BOB WOODWARD CAN TELL IT...

Liz Truss's disastrous premiership was the shortest and most chaotic in British history. In the space of just 49 days, Truss witnessed the death of the longest-reigning monarch, attempted to remould the economy, triggered a collapse in the value of Sterling and was forced on a series of embarrassing U-turns that ultimately led to her resignation. The aftershocks of her time in office are still felt today. How did she blow her opportunity so spectacularly?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Jackie, Ethel, Joan, comes an engrossing and revealing portrait of the next generation of Kennedys. "A page-turning, emotionally riveting saga." ―Book Page For more than half a century, Americans have been captivated by the Kennedys—their joy and...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘An outstanding exposé of Putin and his criminal pals’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘Her much-awaited book is the best and most important on modern Russia’ THE TIMES A chilling and revelatory expose of the KGB’s renaissance, Putin’s rise to power, and how Russian black...

On New Year's Eve 1999, a young Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian TV screens "” awkward, self-conscious... and the new President. Two decades later, Putin is still in power, standing self-assured and at ease on the world stage. How did a once little known KGB bureaucrat become one of the most dominant figures of twenty first century politics?

The ex-politician and bestselling author Alan Johnson, who was a Labour cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, takes on the life and premierships of Harold Wilson.

Was Tony Blair a visionary, impatiently looking ahead, or a leader trapped by his past: Labour's vote-losing 1980s and the dominance of Margaret Thatcher? Was the party's move to the right under Blair necessary in order for them to win, or could they, after 18 years of Tory rule, have afforded to be more daring, more left-wing, than their leader wished to recognise? In Steve Richards' short, provocative and highly engaging new biography, he argues that Blair was often the opposite of what we remember him being.

The most authoritative life of Mao ever written, by the bestselling author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang and her husband, historian Jon Halliday. Based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before, and with virtually everyone...

Brought to you by Penguin. Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the acclaimed multi-million copy bestseller Team of Rivals, filmed by Spielberg as Lincoln, turns to the birth of America's Progressive Era - that heady, optimistic time when the 20th Century is fresh. Reform is in the air, and it is...

'Michael Sheridan is one of the best informed and wisest writers on China' - Chris Patten, last governor of Hong Kong The Red Emperor presents an eye-opening portrait of Xi Jinping, the man who presides over 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy on earth. Born a 'princeling' to one...

French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre said that "words are loaded pistols". In the hands of Russ Baker, they are hydrogen bombs. On each and every page of his masterpiece, Family of Secrets, he explodes the myths and lies that powerful forces have perpetrated on the American consciousness. He digs beneath the surface in a form of journalistic archeology to reveal the hidden history of one of America's most powerful families, leaving no stone unturned.

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER ""Brutal."" —Huffington Post ""Scathing."" —New York Post ""[D]epicts Biden's decline in vivid detail."" —Politico “So many revelations.” —Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe ""Bombshell."" —Jesse Watters...

In 1647, the Parliamentarians were divided. They had won the first civil war and the king was in custody, but disagreements over the way forward had led to a stalemate. As the leader of one party, Oliver Cromwell found himself again at the center of events. In the second volume of his pioneering biography, Ronald Hutton traces Cromwell's career from 1647 through to his seizure of supreme power.

Once described by Mao Zedong as a "needle inside a ball of cotton", Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China's radical transformation in the late 20th century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao's cult of personality, and loosened the policies that had stunted China's growth. Obsessed with modernization, Deng opened trade relations with the West, which lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. Yet he also answered to his authoritarian roots, most notably when he ordered the crackdown in 1989 at Tiananmen Square.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The definitive biography of Andrew Jackson, a larger-than-life president who defied norms, divided a nation, and changed Washington forever “Marvelously readable . . . brings alive a profoundly flawed but dazzlingly charismatic American...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how—and why—he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America. “Meacham has given us the Lincoln for...

He fought for Washington, served with Lincoln, witnessed Bunker Hill, and sounded the clarion against slavery on the eve of the Civil War. He negotiated an end to the War of 1812, engineered the annexation of Florida, and won the Supreme Court decision that freed the African captives of La Amistad. He served his nation as minister to six countries, secretary of state, senator, congressman, and president. John Quincy Adams was all of these things and more. In this masterful biography, award-winning author Harlow Giles Unger reveals Adams as a towering figure in the nation’s formative years.

Winner of the British Book Awards, Biography of the Year, 2005.

President Bill Clinton's My Life is the strikingly candid portrait of a global leader who decided in early life to devote his intellectual and political gifts, and his extraordinary capacity for hard work, to serving the public. It is the fullest, most concretely detailed, most nuanced account of a presidency ever written, and a testament to the positive impact on America and on the world of his work and his ideals.

From one of the most admired reporters covering China today comes a vital new account of the life and political vision of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader of the People's Republic whose hard-edged tactics have set the rising superpower on a collision with Western liberal democracies. As a China reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Chun Han Wong has chronicled Xi's hardline strategy for crushing dissent and his political repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Now, Wong has drawn on his years of reporting across China to create a lucid and historically rooted account of China's leader.