Articles tagged Books:
My Top Ten Books of 2018
- 11 Dec 2018
2018 hasn't exactly been a bumper year for the kind of books I like to read. I should explain that I mostly like to read political memoirs, biographies and diaries, with the odd football book thrown in for good measure. I hardly read fiction at all, which is something I want t...
Keith Simpson's Christmas 2018 Reading List For His Fellow MPs (And You!)
- 5 Dec 2018
This guide to interesting books published this autumn has been compiled at a time of great crisis over the future of the Brexit agreement, the ability of the Prime Minister to continue and a Parliament and nation divided. Thirty years ago the late Julian Critchley, MP for Ald...
Watch: Video Interview with James O'Brien
- 5 Dec 2018
This is the full video version of my ‘Iain Dale Book Club’ podcast with my colleague James O’Brien. We talk about his book HOW TO BE RIGHT, which has climbed to number five in the Sunday Times bestseller charts. It’s 55 minutes long.
Honourable Ladies: I'm Looking For Some Women Writers...
- 1 Nov 2018
As you may know, in September Jacqui Smith and I published the first volume of HONOURABLE LADIES, a collection of 168 biographical essays of female MPs elected between 1918 and 1996. Jacqui and I are now commissioning essays for Volume 2, featuring all women MPs elected bet...
Interviewing a Hero - Kevin Keegan
- 13 Oct 2018
Over the years, I’ve got to interview quite a few major league celebrities, who have been vague heroes of mine. Joan Rivers is one that springs to mind. Joan Collins is another. I tried not to be too much of a fan boy, and by and large succeeded. Or at least, I think I did! H...
Book Review: Alan Johnson - In My Life
- 23 Sep 2018
I might as well get this out of the way right from the start. This is the best book I’ve read this year. Anyone who doesn’t buy it will never know what they’re missing out on. This is Alan Johnson’s fourth autobiographical book. The other three have been bestsellers and it wo...
When Peter Hain and I Nearly Ended Up in Prison Together
- 21 Sep 2018
It was six years ago this week. “There’s a letter from the Attorney General of Northern Ireland for you,” said my assistant, Grant Tucker. “Apparently he wants to send you and Peter Hain to The Maze”. And so it began. Six months of legal wrangling that ended up with the Gover...
Ten Books I've Enjoyed...
- 18 Sep 2018
Ten days ago I was challenged on Facebook by Jonathan Isaby to think of ten books I’ve enjoyed reading and to post the covers - one every day for ten days, and each day challenge someone else to do so. There was no need to review the book or say why I had enjoyed it. This is ...
The 'Iain Dale's Book Club' Weekly Podcast Has Launched!
- 15 Sep 2018
When I talked to James Rea, my boss at LBC, about moving to the evening show, I said I’d like to present a books hour. He suggested we do it as a podcast so we needn’t be constrained by format, length or commercial breaks. Two months later I am delighted to tell you that we’re...
Waterstone's Buying Foyles Is All About Bricks & Mortar Market Share - Not Amazon
- 8 Sep 2018
Blink and you’d have missed it. On Friday it was announced that Waterstone’s have bought Foyles. Ten years ago this would have been a major news story, and featured in the first few pages of The Times. Today it didn’t feature at all in the main newspaper and only managed a few...