Bücher veröffentlicht von Fourth Estate

Whatever happened to middle England? Two of our funniest writers set out on a journey through conservative country ? with hilarious results.The Women's Institute. Polo matches. The Duke of Edinburgh. Nimbys, shooting and game fairs. Pall Mall clubs, the Countryside Alliance and Boris Johnson. Hampshire Police's brass band, the rubber chicken circuit ? and of course the Conservative party itself.Middle England, with all the social rituals, institutions and traditions that hold it together, has lasted for a long time. And Chris Horrie and David Matthews, two left-leaning journalists ? Chris is from Manchester and David's parents are from Guyana ? are fascinated by it.So off they go, armed with two ballpoints and a sharp sense of humour, to see what they can see. Sometimes, it's as simple as hanging out at the proms, munching scones with the vicar at a village cricket match, or chatting with Michael Howard. And other times, a bit more guile is needed ? so Chris and David baffle Conservative party members by helping out with their campaigns.With backgrounds as investigative reporters, the authors infiltrate Middle England and capture its denizens at their least guarded. What they find is at times cheering, and sometimes a bit worrying ? but it is always very entertaining.True Blue is Bill Bryson meets Spitting Image ? and a must-read for fans of John O'Farrell, Private Eye and Jon Ronson.

Those who believe Europe to be weak and ineffectual are wrong. Turning conventional wisdom on its head Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century sets out a vision for a century in which Europe will dominate, not America. This is the book that will make your mind up about Europe. Those who believe Europe is weak and ineffectual are wrong. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, Mark Leonard, one of the UK's most visionary thinkers, argues that Europe is remaking the world in its own image. Europe only looks dead because it is seen through American eyes. But America's reach is shallow and narrow. It can bribe, bully or impose its will anywhere in the world, but when its back is turned its potency wanes. Europe's reach is broad and deep, spreading its values from Albania to Zambia. It brings other countries into its orbit rather than defining itself against them, and once countries come under the influence of its laws and customs they are changed for ever. This book sets up a challenge: to regard Europe not as a tangle of bureaucracy and regulation, but as a revolutionary model for the future. We cannot afford to forget that Europe was founded to protect us against war and that it is now key to the spread of democracy. 'Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century' addresses Europe's place in the world, looks to the past and the future and argues, provocatively, that it can and will shape a new and better world order.

Fans of Jonathan Coe will love this extraordinary panoramic novel, which turns upon the whirligig of life that is Costford, a North Western town, in 1970. Costford, a brash north of England town. It's 1970 and young Trevor Morgan has a magical smile and large ambitions. But his marriage is in crisis, and he seeks help from an unexpected quarter: feisty middle-aged May Rollins. May is feeling the stress of living with the demented mother she has always hated. Strange things start happening: she spots a lollipop lady at eight o'clock on an August evening; her TV converts to colour of its own accord; and mother takes to wandering off, with murderous intent, when the minder, May's stepdaughter Cherry, is not looking. May and Trevor are political enemies, at odds over a controversial plan to build council flats at Prospect Hill, but their relationship takes a shocking ? and ambiguous ? twist. Meanwhile Art Whiteside, a predatory estate agent who believes in true love, complicates affairs on both town and home fronts. With dazzling ingenuity, Richard Francis catches the whirligig of urban life at the very moment when contemporary society was struggling into being. His comic and poignant novel conjures up the fumbled negotiations we make between our public and private lives, evoking the pain and pleasure of husbands, wives, and lovers, of parents and children ? and depicting a personal and communal quest for the meaning of home.

'As good as being in the gallery. Enthralling.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times The original transcript of the famous Wilde vs Queensberry trial, containing previously unseen details and exchanges. With extensive footnotes and a new introduction, this definitive account is a dramatic read that will delight Wilde enthusiasts and the general reader. One of the most famous love affairs in literary history is that of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas. When it became public, it cost Wilde everything. Merlin Holland has discovered the original courtroom transcript of the trial which led to his grandfather's tragedy. Here at last is the true record, without the distortions of previous accounts. On 18 February 1895 Bosie's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, delivered a note to the Albemarle Club addressed to 'Oscar Wilde posing as somdomite [sic]'. With Bosie's encouragement, Wilde decided to sue the Marquess for libel. As soon as the trial opened London's literary darling was at the centre of the greatest scandal of his time. Wilde's fall from grace was swift: his case lost, prosecution by the Crown soon followed, ending in the imprisonment that destroyed his health ? even as his art, as Wilde put it, improved through 'suffering'. In this remarkable book we witness Wilde's confidence ebbing under the relentless questioning and see him lose track of the witty lines for which he was famous. Ultimately, it was his wit that betrayed him.

The extraordinary story of Vivian Stanshall, lead singer of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, true British eccentric. Charismatic and flamboyant, Vivian Stanshall was a natural frontman for The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. The eccentric group who satirised trad jazz, pop and rock, reached Number five with 'I'm The Urban Spaceman' in 1968. A punishing schedule of tours and television followed, including work with the future Monty Python team. The following year, broke and burned out, the Bonzos split up, leaving behind a loyal cult following. Vivian launched into myriad solo projects in music, film and theatre, giving himself several nervous breakdowns in the process. His comic masterpiece, 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End', was heard in radio, on an album, and then hit the big screen. Vivian wrote the musical 'Stinkfoot', was narrator on 'Tubular Bells' and provided lyrics for Steve Winwood. In person, he was just as multi-faceted, by turns the erudite artist and the truculent Teddy Boy, breathtakingly rude. A powerful figure, tall, red-haired and never less than extravagant in his fashion, Vivian Stanshall was a hell-raiser of legendary reputation ? ably assisted through much of the 1970s by Who drummer Keith Moon. Vivian drove the many who loved him to the limit, struggling with terrible tranquilliser and alcohol dependency. He died at home in a house fire in 1995. The story of his turbulent life is utterly compelling.

DJs like Fatboy Slim, Sasha and Paul Oakenfold are the new pop stars: high priests in the rapidly expanding world of dance music. Drawing on many nights out, this is DJ Dave Haslam's fascinating collection of portraits of the major players. Dave Haslam travels Britain to meet clubbers and promoters: hangs out with Sasha in Glasgow, Fatboy Slim in Nottingham, Paul van Dyk in Cardiff, Norman Jay at the Southport Soul Weekender, and Lottie in Newcastle. He meets influential DJs like Pete Tong, pioneers including Jimmy Savile, younger DJs, and unknowns. He interviews mod DJs from the 1960s, Northern Soul DJs from the 1970s and rare groove DJs from the 1980s. He follows aspiring turntablists in the DMC mixing championship, from the heats in Birmingham to the world final. Among the exclusive stories and tall tales, we hear about the millionaire DJ who went to a friend's wedding dressed as a bee, the Radio One DJ who emptied a dancefloor in Ibiza, and the DJ who set a girl's hair on fire. This is a unique, entertaining and revealing book, where the tables are turned and the world of dance music is seen through the eyes of DJs, their fans and their managers. It's a book that will be enjoyed by dedicated clubbers and anyone curious to know more about a vital but under-documented part of modern music: the history of dance music and the rise of the superstar DJs.

A gripping story of obsession, adventure and the search for our oldest surviving ancestor ? 400 million years old ? a four-limbed dinofish! In 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a young South African museum curator, caught sight of a specimen among a fisherman's trawl that she knew was special. With limb-like protuberances culminating in fins the strange fish was unlike anything she had ever seen. The museum board members dismissed it as a common lungfish, but when Marjorie eventually contacted Professor JLB Smith, he immediately identified her fish as a coelacanth ? a species known to have lived 400 million years ago, and believed by many scientists to be the evolutionary missing link ? the first creature to crawl out of the sea. Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer had thus made the century's greatest zoological discovery. But Smith needed a live or frozen specimen to verify the discovery, so began his search for another coelacanth, to which he devoted his life.

The dual biography of the great British comedy double-act and the rise and fall of mass audience television by the respected biographer of Cary Grant . Following the success of Cary Grant ? A Class Apart, Graham McCann has now created an intricate portrait of Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise, possibly the most famous Bristish comedy double-act of all time. This book charts the progress of the duo from a conventional working class music hall act to a mass-audience television team to a national institution. From northern working men's clubs at the beginning of their career to the 1977 Christmas special that had an audience of 28 million, Morecambe and Wise were a double act continually changing the dynamics of their relationship to reflect their influences and their times. Their shows were like nostalgic reflections on a century of popular entertainment, an entertainment that was inclusive to a wide audience and paid homage to the past. McCann's study is also an investigation in the background of mass audience entertainment from which Morecambe and Wise rose. Morecambe & Wise is the definitive biography of one of the most-loved double acts as well as a history of their times.

The sequel to Jane Austen's best-loved novel, Emma, by the author of the international best-seller 'Pemberley'. This is the story of Emma two years after she has married Mr Knightley. There may be harmony between them but Emma is frankly bored. Mr Knightley is affectionate; but he is in reality an old friend, who has, in his own words, 'lectured and blamed' Emma, sixteen years younger than he, all her life. Knightley is no Mr Darcy. To amuse herself, Emma decides to take up matchmaking again, whether her husband will have it or no. But this time Emma is playing for dangerously high stakes. John Knightley ? her brother-in-law, poor widowed John ? is in need of a wife and stepmother to his numerous family. So when a fascinating young woman enters Highbury society, Emma sees at last a golden opportunity. Eliza d'Arblay is of French birth. Her parents, the Comte and Comtesse d'Arblay, fled the French Revolution in 1795. It is now 1815, and Eliza is 20 years old. She is intriguing and romantic as only a beautiful young Frenchwoman can be. Her dresses are more elegant; her accomplishments far superior to anything Highbury has ever seen. John Knightley is introduced and begins to fall in love. But Eliza is not all she seems. Just as a marriage is announced, strange evidence of a very different past begins to emerge. And, most disconcertingly of all, we are led to ponder the meaning of Mr Knightley's statement, early on in Emma, that he would like to 'see Emma in love'. Perhaps, disastrously, she is; but the object of her desires cannot be said to be suitable to Highbury ? or to Mr Knightley ? at all..