Showing results for ""sophie roberts"" in Politics & Social Sciences

Royal insider Lady Colin Campbell sets the record straight on many of the most controversial aspects of Diana's turbulent life. In The Real Diana, she reveals that the reason she knew so much about what went on behind the palace gates was because Diana herself was the source. Drawing upon these confidences - as well as on conversations with countless people who knew Diana and with Diana herself in the final years of her life - Lady Colin Campbell combines true insight with true compassion to bring us the most intimate and revealing portrait of the Princess of Wales.

At the outbreak of WW2, the British monarchy was in a state of turmoil. The previous king, Edward VIII, had abdicated the throne, leaving his unprepared and terrified brother Bertie to become George VI. Meanwhile, as the now-Duke of Windsor awaited the decree that would allow him to marry his mistress Wallis Simpson, he took an increasing interest in the expansionist plans of the Führer of Germany.

In 1889, Victorian impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte opened the Savoy, Britain's first luxury hotel. Allowing the rich to live like royalty, it attracted glamour, scandal and a cast of eccentric characters, with the D'Oyly Carte family elevated to a unique vantage point on high society. The Secret Life of the Savoy will tell their story through three generations, exploring their roller-coaster achievements, lifestyles and private lives, through the prism of this iconic hotel and its many distinguished guests - from Oscar Wilde to the Beatles.

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon,the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August 1900. It might reasonably have been expected that she would lead a life of ease and privilege but few could have imagined the profound effect she would have on Britain and its people. Her life spanned the whole of the 20th century and this official biography tells not only her story but, through it, that of the country she loved so devotedly.

Much has been written about the brutal crimes of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and - 35 years after he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 13 women - scarcely a week goes by without some mention of him in the media. In any story featuring Sutcliffe, however, his victims are incidental, often reduced to a tableau of nameless faces. But each woman was much more than the manner of her death, and in Somebody’s Mother, Somebody’s Daughter, Carol Ann Lee tells, for the first time, the stories of those women who came into Sutcliffe’s murderous orbit.

It's not always easy to grasp the complex forces that are shaping our lives. But by following a dollar on its journey around the globe, we can start to piece it all together. From a shopping trip in suburban Texas, via China's central bank, Nigerian railroads, the oilfields of Iraq and beyond, The Almighty Dollar reveals the economic truths behind what we see on the news every day. Why is China the world's biggest manufacturer—and the USA its biggest customer? Is free trade really a good thing? Why would a nation build a bridge on the other side of the planet?

In little more than 50 years the regard with which the Royal Family are held has changed out of all recognition. Their private lives are now the stuff of soap opera and it seems any one who comes into contact with them sells their story to the magazines or to the newspapers. The Little Princesses was published in 1950 to a furore we cannot imagine today. Crawfie was demonised by the press, and the Queen Mother, who had been a great friend and who had, Crawfie maintained, given her permission to write the account, never spoke to her again.

Power and Glory brings us to the dramatic conclusion of Larman's 'Windsors trilogy'. It begins with the fallout from the revelation of the Duke of Windsor's wartime treachery, and ends with the Coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. In between, it depicts a monarchy - and a country - struggling to cope with the aftermath of World War Two, in an era where old certainties have been replaced by the rise of a new, uncertain world, and where love, tragedy and modernity battle for supremacy.

It was history's most successful political partnership - as sensual and fiery as it was creative and visionary. Catherine the Great was a woman of notorious passion and imperial ambition. Prince Potemkin - wildly flamboyant and sublimely talented - was the love of her life and her co-ruler. Together they seized Ukraine and Crimea, defining the Russian empire to this day. Their affair was so tumultuous that they negotiated an arrangement to share power, leaving Potemkin free to love his beautiful nieces, and Catherine her young male favourites.

In this vibrant and eye-opening book, economist and broadcaster Dharshini David follows the course of an average day to reveal the green changes that are already taking place in every aspect of our world. Exploring industries such as energy, food, fashion, technology, manufacturing and finance, she asks what is happening, how quickly, who is driving it all and what it means for us.

In this book, Katie Brindle teaches listeners how to harness this powerful natural healing system to improve every aspect of their life. Yang Sheng fits and works brilliantly in modern life. Some of the techniques may seem unusual, but they are all simple, quick and effective. Even more appealing, a key principle of Chinese medicine is balance; that means not being perfect or excluding foods or having too many rules or pushing yourself to exhaustion with overwork or over-exercise.

Can you remember the first time you encountered true darkness? The kind that remains as black and inky whether your eyes are open or closed? Where you can't see your hand in front of your face? Jacqueline Yallop can. It was in an unfamiliar bedroom while holidaying in Yorkshire as a child, and ever since then she has been fascinated by the dark, by our efforts to capture or avoid it, by the meanings we give to it and the way our brains process it.

It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we're doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren't as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this - or use it for their own gain. Sanne Blauw travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance....