Neville Chamberlain, the Conservative politician, was prime minister from 1937-40. When Baldwin retired in 1937, Chamberlain was his natural successor. By then there was a single dominant issue in world affairs — the aggressive intentions of Nazi Germany. The majority in Britain hoped that a peaceful solution could be found for Germany's claims on areas of other countries with German populations, and Chamberlain was a willing spokesman for this policy of appeasement. With the agreement at Munich in 1938 he effectively abandoned Czechoslovakia, but immediately accelerated Britain's rearmament program and the following year declared that Britain would defend Poland. This commitment led, in September 1939, to the start of World War II. He brought into his war cabinet the leading opponent of appeasement, Winston Churchill. The failure of the campaign in Norway in April 1940 led to his resignation, being succeeded by Churchill.

The United States was only some two decades old when Edgar Allan Poe was born. He stands at the very beginnings of American literature, an orphaned, rootless, haunted man who in just forty years gave short story writing its modern cast, pioneered detective and science fiction, and wrote some of the most memorable lyric poems in the English language. Poe's life was driven by scandal: endless conflict with his foster-father, disgrace at university and in the army, marrying a 13 year old cousin, episodes of drunkenness and a fierce personal rivalry with fellow writers and editors. Even his death was gothic and mysterious; explanations range from murder to rabies. In this Life&Times volume, Brian Morton attempts to put the Poe legend in context, in order to reveal in true light one of the most important and influential writers of modern times.

Accessible and affordable illustrated biography about a topical historical figure

This new biography takes a fresh view, re-examining Luxemburg's tempestuous career and her dream of socialism

Born a glover's son in Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare is renowned as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. His art was rooted in a specific type of theatre which first emerged after he was born and disappeared soon after his death, and yet his works are studied as much now as they ever have been, and his legacy continues to grow. The plays, with their popular appeal and complex dramatization, created a mesmeric and lasting impression and served to make 'The Bard' both the world s pre-eminent dramatist and the most quoted writer in literature. Shakespeare's life story is also the story of a flourishing of the English language, and of the literature of the stage in particular. We see in his plays the documenting of a changing world; the simultaneous undermining and affirmation of societies increasingly unstable hierarchy, and the energy, drama and violence of the London in which he wrote. Plays at the time — including Shakespeare's, despite their obvious quality — were not deemed 'literature' as we know it today they were commodities meeting an ever growing demand.

What sort of a man is Gordon Brown? What kind of Prime Minister will he make? Can he stem the growing unpopularity of the Labour Party and win it a fourth term in office? This book, written in the first three months of the year in which Brown becomes Prime Minister, is both a biography and an assessment. Francis Beckett interviewed several of Brown's closest political collaborators, and had a background briefing from Brown himself. He says the popular image of Brown is entirely wrong: he found an amusing, erudite and charming man who will bring his own style to 10 Downing Street--not Tony Blair's style, but at least as stylish. He believes that a Brown premiership will mark a fundamental break with the Blair years: a new and different relationship with the USA, a broader foreign policy which is able to look beyond the Middle East, a new and more transparent way of reaching decisions. In a groundbreaking final chapter, he draws on the best evidence available to predict what Gordon Brown will do with his new job.

All Chinese look the same, some say and the same goes for Americans. How much do we really know about China? Did you know that they don't eat soup they drink it? And not before, but after a meal? That their surname comes before their first name? That their good sense is to be found not in their heads, but their hearts? Or that white is the color of mourning? Kai Strittmatter has lived in China for almost ten years and in this fascinating book he lets us in on a few secrets. Introducing us to some telling Chinese symbols-but not all 57,000 of them! -he explains in a wealth of charming, amusing anecdotes what they reveal of China and its people. On the way we meet pensioners who practice the art of street calligraphy, read the Beijing police's hilarious English phrasebook and have the dubious pleasure of sampling trendy 'Western' food, as well as a hundred other surprises.

Short of the founder of the Red Army later out-manoeuvered by Stalin

“Pindar has skillfully made the process of understanding the complex relationship between Joyce’s life and work ‘funagain.’”—The Times Literary Supplement This acclaimed biography, with an introduction by Terry Eagleton, tells the story of James Joyce rejecting his country and his religion, but going on to carefully recreate the Dublin of his youth in his fiction.

Dali is one of the most important surrealistic painters and most eccentric of all artists of the Modern Age. His old-school techniques contrasted sharply with the other Surrealists, which led to his expulsion from the group. Death, decay and destruction are often repeated themes, influenced by Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico and the writing of Sigmund Freud. He described his style as a paranoid-critical method. Sexual and religious content is mixed with highly subjective and personal sensations. Dali's oeuvre extends beyond painting to include sculptures, films, jewelery and glass objects. His life was marred by an early identity crisis, which lead to Dali living his life between exaggerated self-promotion and psychological self-destruction. Gala, his wife and muse, was always able to save him from the latest crisis. But it was Dali himself who invented himself as a commercial object.

This is one title in a series of short, illustrated biographies. They tell the stories of those who have shaped our present and our past, from Beethoven to Dietrich, from Einstein to Churchill. George Orwell (1903-1949) wrote seminal reportage on the conditions of the poor — such as Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier — and was one of the first critics to write seriously about popular culture. During his last years he turned to allegory and fantasy to produce Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, the two books that were to make him world famous. Politically provocative, after his death he became an icon both for the left and the right at the cost of obscuring the realities of his achievements.

This is one title in a series of short, illustrated biographies. They tell the stories of those who have shaped our present and our past, from Beethoven to Dietrich, from Einstein to Churchill. Suitable for students and the general reader, they contain a chronology, full index, and guide to further reading. Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British Prime Minister and leader of the wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, is a towering figure. When he died, writes the author, one might have thought it was not a man who was being born to his grave, but British history itself. Haffner, whose writing influenced Churchill's policy towards Germany and the Nazis, places Churchill the warrior, poet and advrnturer alongside Churchill the statesman.

This biography concentrates on Cleopatra’s ever-shifting identity. Depending on the audience, she might present herself as a goddess, a political leader, or an alluring and exotic woman. Roman statesmen likewise manipulated Cleopatra’s image for their own political ends.

The story of Catherine the Great is an extraordinary one. Born Sophia Augusta zu Anhalt-Zerbst, a German princess in a family of modest means, she became one of the greatest rulers of the vast Russian Empire in the eighteenth century. But this was no romantic story of a fairytale princess. Though attractive and much-courted, Catherine was above all courageous, shrewd and intelligent, qualities she needed to overcome the many heartaches and obstacles in her early life-including a disastrous marriage to the rightful heir to the Russian throne, Peter III. Soon after Peter became ruler Catherine seized power and he was murdered. For more than thirty years this 'foreign' princess then ruled the growing empire with a vigor and fervor equal to that of any Russian.

This is one title in a series of short, illustrated biographies. They tell the stories of those who have shaped our present and our past, from Beethoven to Dietrich, from Einstein to Churchill and are suitable for students and the general reader. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) lived a life caught between East and West, old and new. He was born in Russia, but left for America after the 1917 Revolution. He returned a decade later as a musical celebrity, but his relationship with the Soviet authorities deteriorated into condemnation and censorship. Some critics have branded his music Socialist Realism and he received praise from the Soviets for his collaborations with the film-maker Sergei Eisenstein. His admirers celebrate his wit and charm and the unique blend of the traditional and the modern in his many piano works, his opera The Love for Three Oranges, his ballet music for Romeo and Juliet and the musical fairy tale Peter and the Wolf. Prokofiev died a few hours before his nemesis Stalin, on 5 March 1953.