This is the definitive, the official, the most lavish, the completely-different-to-anything-done-before Pythons' autobiography, reissued to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated live shows.Over forty years ago, a group of five Englishmen - and one wayward American - rewrote the rules of comedy. MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, an unheralded, previously unseen half-hour show of sketches, hilarities, inanities and animations, first appeared on the BBC late one night in ...

When Laura Anne Robinson offered £10,000 for Addie Jeffries' youngest son Ian, Addie thought she was joking. After all, they were on their second bottle of Chablis, and Ian was, as they say, a street angel and a house devil. Why would this wealthy woman with her perfect figure, flawless make-up and beautiful home part with so much money to secure a summer playmate for her own son?For the Jeffries family, life in 1960s suburban Ireland is a constant battle with leaky roof, school fe...

A Unique Heroine. An Intriguing MysteryIs it a TURNER ORIGINAL people are dying for?Family orientated Susan Macken buys a painting because it awakens memories of her childhood.She is unaware it may be a TURNER MASTERPIECE.Susan begins to have disturbing flashbacks.In pursuit of the truth she enters an unfamiliar world of extreme danger, deception and secrecy.Much is revealed to her about herself, her identity.A beautiful young man with a le...

The authoritative book to help you make sense of the world - as written by a former British diplomat.'A must-read to understand the often bewildering world we now live in, written as a scholarly book in an accessible tone' - READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Iran. Greenland. Ukraine. Global politics as we know it has been challenged beyond measure in recent times.Westlessness by former UK diplomat Dr Samir Puri is here to help m...

Best known for his unforgettable roles in Monty Python, from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this brilliantly entertaining memoir that takes us on an unforgettable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film.Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the ...

The third volume of Michael Palin's celebrated diaries.TRAVELLING TO WORK is a roller-coaster ride driven by the Palin hallmarks of curiosity and sense of adventure. Michael was not the BBC's first choice for the travel series AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, but after its success, the public naturally wanted more.Palin, however, had other plans. There was his film AMERICAN FRIENDS, a role in Alan Bleasdale's award-winning drama GBH, the staging of his West End...

Best known, of course, for his appearances in the recent AA commercials, it will no doubt come as a surprise to many that John Cleese was previously involved in comedy within a little-known troupe of comedians known as Monty Python, and also wrote and starred in a completely unknown sitcom named Fawlty Towers.Having now reached the dizzy heights of television advertising, Cleese has become a face recognisable across the world and a much-quoted, often controversial figure within the...

'Gripping history that also informs the present' Sunday Times**'Fascinating . . . Wilford writes engagingly with a telling eye for colourful detail' The Spectator**'A spectacular achievement . . . I loved it' Dominic SandbrookHow the CIA became an instrument of a new covert empire both in America and overseas.In 1947, the United States created the CIA to analyse foreign i...

"One of the finest and most accurate records of the making of the film that I have ever read. I just wished I could remember what actually went on then." —Terry JonesIn 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus—Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic, Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than...

**'Certain to become the definitive work' DOUGLAS SMITH'Elegantly written and magisterially researched' ROBERT SERVICE'Masterful . . . a chilling lesson' VLADISLAV ZUBOKThe definitive story behind the self-destruction of the autocratic Romanov dynasty, by the world's foremost expert.**When Tsar Nicholas II fell from power in 1917, Imperial Russia faced a series of overlapping crises, from war to social unrest. Though Nicholas's life is often described as tra...

THE MUST-READ GUIDE TO THE TRADE WAR'A smart, vivid and humane account of the way the world really works' TIM HARFORD'This is the book to read if you want to understand what might be about to hit the world economy' EVAN DAVISThe dangerous race for self-sufficiency has begun. Be warned.Nations are turning away from each other. Faith in globalisation has been fatally undermined by the pandemic...

'A wonderful subject, beautifully written, evoking a world startlingly like and unlike our own' Rory Stewart'A brilliant portrait not just of a great and unjustly forgotten man, but of an entire age' William Dalrymple'Important reading at any time in history; essential in the world of today' Peter FrankopanIN THE EARLY 1960S, a peaceful world seemed possible. The still young United Nations was regarded as humankind'...