Books by David Brandon

A First Political Biography of a Controversial Political FigureResearched from Recently Available Official and Private PapersA New Insight Into the Post War Political EraA Spotlight on Political Nepotism in the 1950s-1960s

Even after her death, Margaret Thatcher has continued to excite bitter controversy. Her supporters felt that she could do no wrong. Many others condemned her policies as divisive and destructive. Here it is argued that she was a pragmatic rather than a principled politician, that she in fact performed innumerable u-turns, and that she had more luck than she merited. Despite how some choose to portray her now, opinion polls during her time indicated she was one of the twentieth-century's most unpopular Prime Ministers and in each election she fought as leader, more people voted against the Tories, than for them. Eventually she was ditched by her own Conservative Party, when they realised she had become an electoral liability. Much that was wrong with the "broken Britain" that the Con-Dem coalition talked about can be traced back to policies that were initiated during the time that Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. This book is an attempt to put the record straight.

On the south bank of the Thames and demarcated by Blackfriars and Tower Bridges lies the district known as Bankside, the Borough and Southwark. Its origin was in a Roman settlement nestling around the southern end of London Bridge, until the eighteenth century the only bridge across the Thames in London. Being separated only by the Thames from the City of London and outside the City's jurisdiction, it developed as a place for bawdy and disreputable entertainment and leisure - including the Globe Theatre made famous by performing William Shakespeare's plays. It was an area also sought out for its 'stews' which were some of London's most notorious brothels where every taste could be catered for. Borough High Street contained proportionately more inns and taverns than anywhere else in Britain - and some were immortalised by Chaucer and Dickens. The George alone survives to give some idea of what these ancient hostelries were like. From a time when London was a collection of discrete districts and villages, here is the long history of Bankside, the metropolis's disreputable and licentious yet vibrant, cosmopolitan underbelly.

Gripping stories of Bath's haunted locations

Containing more than sixty photographs by local photographer Ed Brandon, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the paranormal history of the area.

London: The Executioner's City

In this stimulating book, the author argues that the only way for radical improvement in our impoverished mental health sector is only achievable if mental health consumers have a much more powerful say in the planning and running of services.