Books published by Biteback Publishing

"e;Sheer joy!"e; - Patrick Barclay"e;Fascinating, funny and poignant."e; - Henry Winter"e;Brilliant, non-judgemental, superbly researched and anecdote-laden."e; - Guillem Balague"e;Wonderfully evocative."e; - Michael Cox, The Athletic"e;Cracking tales from the terraces amid betrayal in the boardrooms."e; - Tim Marshall, author of "e;Dirty Northern B*st*rds!"e; and Other Tales from the Terraces: The Story of Britain's Football Chants"e;If 1970s football is due a reappraisal, Get It On is an exhilarating place to start."e; - Tom Lines, When Saturday Comes***Four years after the crowning glory of 1966 and a decade after the abolition of the maximum wage, a brash new era dawned in English football. As the 1970s took hold, a new generation of larger-than-life footballers and managers came to dominate the sport, appearing on television sets in vivid technicolour for the first time.Set against a backdrop of three-day weeks, strikes, political unrest, freezing winters and glam rock, Get It On tells the intriguing inside story of how commercialism, innovation, racism and hooliganism rocked the national game in the 1970s. Charting the emergence of Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Kevin Keegan, and the fall of George Best, Alf Ramsey and Don Revie, this fascinating footballing fiesta traces the highs and lows of an evolutionary and revolutionary era for the beautiful game.Jon Spurling has been interviewing footballers for twenty-five years, including legends George Best and Jack Charlton, European Cup-winning captains Emlyn Hughes and John McGovern and pioneering black footballers Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson. Get It On presents these heroes of the era in their unvarnished and uncompromising glory and explores how the 1970s was the most groundbreaking decade in English football history.

The first biography of the new Chelsea manager.

A lively, passionate and vital account of American conservatism and the obstacles that it faces under the Presidency of Donald R Trump.

In thirty years on the front line of British policing, there is very little that Iain Donnelly didn't do: from being a uniformed constable on the beat in London to running counter-terrorism and surveillance operations, combatting child sexual exploitation and overseeing the investigation of the most serious crimes. During that time, he saw the job change irrevocably, to the point where the public no longer knows what to expect from the police and the police service no longer knows what to expect of itself.Tango Juliet Foxtrot - police code for 'the job's fucked' - reveals how constant political meddling and a hostile media narrative have had a devastating impact on the morale of police officers and their ability to protect the public. With the organisation cut by 20,000 officers and 23,000 police staff, only 7 per cent of reported crime now results in a charge - compared with around 20 per cent ten years ago.By turns fascinating and funny, poignant and uplifting, this compelling account paints a vivid picture of what life is really like for those tasked with keeping us safe - and, crucially, explores what needs to change to secure the future of British policing.

Desperate Times is the unmissable new collection of sketches of contemporary political life by The Times's master of satire, Peter Brookes.

A provocative and timely examination of the royal family's role in contemporary Britain, covering their finances and constitutional role.

A sharp polemic highlighting perceived lapses and shortcomings in the BBC's doctrine of impartiality. A timely book examining the role of the nation's broadcaster in the age of fake truth.

Biteback Publishing is delighted to announce a major new project, a two volume series of biographies of every female MP ever to be elected to the House of Commons.

The ultimate insider, Bernard Ingham was Margaret Thatcher's press secretary during her tenure at No. 10. These diaries will come to be viewed as arguably amongst the most important primary source material about her unexpected fall from power.

The fightback starts here: this timely book offers a glimmer of hope in the darkness of the age, and a contribution to the anti-Trump resistance. The author was President Obama's communications director and senior adviser.

A compelling and comprehensive history of the world's most successive secret service.

During the course of the 1950s England lost confidence in its rulers and convinced itself it must modernise. The bankrupt, steam-powered railway, run by a Colonel Blimp, symbolised everything that was wrong with the country; the future lay in motorways and high-speed electric - or even atomic - express trains. But plans for a gleaming new railway system ended in failure and on the roads traffic ground to a halt. Along came Dr Beeching, forensically analysing the railways' problems and expertly delivering his diagnosis: a third of the nation's railways must go. Local services were destroyed, rural England sacrificed for tarmac and wheel - at least that is how Dr Beeching is remembered today. Last Trains examines why and how the railway system contracted, exposing the political failures that bankrupted the railways and scrutinising the attempts of officials to understand a transport revolution beyond their control. It is a story of the increasing alienation of bureaucrats from the public they thought they were serving, but also of a nation struggling to come to terms with modernity.

In this remarkable and prescient book, Dr Jerome Booth investigates why some of us have abandoned reason in favour of trite memes, intolerance and hatred. Have we all gone mad? Or can we identify the patterns and causes of what is happening and try to stop it?

"e;We don't yet know where the current battle is headed. But Puri's 'first cut' will help us greatly in fathoming how we got here."e; - Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham***When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many in the West were left stunned at his act of brutal imperialism. To those who had been paying attention, however, the warning signs of the bloodshed and slaughter to come had been there for years.Tracing the relationship between the two countries from the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 to Putin's invasion in 2022, what emerges from this gripping and accessible book is a portrait of a nation caught in a geopolitical tug of war between Russia and the West. While Russia is identified as the sole aggressor, we see how Western bodies such as the EU and NATO unrealistically raised Ukraine's expectations of membership before dashing them, leaving Ukraine without formal allies and fatally exposed to Russian aggression.As a former international observer, Samir Puri was present for several of the major events covered in this book. He uses this experience to ask honestly: how did we get here? Why does Vladimir Putin view Ukraine as the natural property of Russia? Did the West handle its dealings with these countries prudently? Or did it inflame the tensions left amidst the ruins of the Soviet Union? Were there any missed opportunities to avert the war? And how might this conflict end?

"e;This book should be read by every police officer, every politician and everybody who cares about law and order in this country."e; - Peter Oborne"e;The police are there to look after us. But someone has to look closely at the police - and Tom Harper has done just that in this comprehensive overview. Some of it makes for difficult reading, for much has gone wrong in policing over recent years. But the book is also constructive and never loses sight of the importance of the role the police have in any well-functioning democracy."e; - Alan Rusbridger"e;Meticulous and passionate. Tom Harper has written the most authoritative critique of British policing in years."e; - Lord Macdonald QC, former Director of Public Prosecutions***A searing account of corruption, racism and mismanagement inside Britain's most famous police forceBarely a week goes by without the Metropolitan Police Service being plunged into a new crisis. Demoralised and depleted in numbers, Scotland Yard is a shadow of its former self.Spanning the three decades from the infamous Stephen Lawrence case to the shocking murder of Sarah Everard, Broken Yard charts the Met's fall from a position of unparalleled power to the troubled and discredited organisation we see today, barely trusted by its Westminster masters and struggling to perform its most basic function: the protection of the public.The result is a devastating picture of a world-famous police force riven with corruption, misogyny and rank incompetence.As a top investigative reporter at the Sunday Times and The Independent, Tom Harper covered Scotland Yard for fifteen years, beginning not long after the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian killed by Met Police officers after being mistaken for a terror suspect in 2005. Since then, reporting on Scotland Yard has been akin to witnessing a slow-motion car crash.Using thousands of intelligence files, witness statements and court transcripts provided by police sources, as well as first-hand testimony, Harper explains how London's world-famous police force got itself into this sorry mess - and how it might get itself out of it.

"e;A remarkable inside story of the war from the perspective of the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief. Fascinating, very readable, and recommended."e; - Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor "e;Impossible Victory is the definitive memoir of Iraq's effort to save its people and many other would-be victims from the most destructive terrorist organisation in history."e; - Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, former US national security advisor and author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World "e;This book casts a historical light on a decisive era."e; - Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister for Europe and foreign affairs *** By 2014, the world had grown weary of Iraq and its troubles. The Americans had all but gone and the media had turned its gaze towards Syria, but Iraq's problems were far from over. That same year, ISIS put Iraq back on the map as they crossed the border from Syria and rampaged through the country, kidnapping, raping and killing, all in the name of enforcing their murderous interpretation of Sharia law. Terror had arrived and was taking the region in its grip. Saddam Hussein, the occupation, sectarian war, corruption and political instability had collectively laid the groundwork for further violence, and Iraqis were about to see the worst of it. It was against this backdrop that Haider al-Abadi became Prime Minister. What would likely be the most formidable task of his life lay ahead of him: to help unify his homeland's fractured military and politics and, slowly, to turn the tide on ISIS, ultimately achieving what once seemed an impossible victory. This is the definitive and fascinating true story of how the people of Iraq took on and eventually defeated ISIS, told by the country's former Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi.

The son of a meat market porter and an office cleaner, Peter Cruddas left Shoreditch Comprehensive School at the age of fifteen with no qualifications and a part-time job as a milkman. Today he's Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch, the founder of a GBP1.5 billion financial trading company and a distinguished philanthropist, giving to over 200 charities through his foundation, which helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.Fed up with Labour's economic mismanagement, Cruddas began his foray into politics, becoming a key Conservative Party donor. But after being elevated to treasurer in 2011, he fell victim to a Sunday Times sting in which he was falsely accused of breaking the law on party donations. With unflinching honesty, he reveals the full story of his successful libel battle and opens a Pandora's box of profound wider questions about newspaper dark arts and the power of the British press over the judicial system.Refusing to be scared off from the political world, Cruddas co-founded the winning Vote Leave campaign. Here, he gives a detailed insider view of the real reasons behind the victory and contemplates how Britain can now thrive outside the EU.Filled with heartbreak and elation, this is the extraordinary story of Cruddas's epic rise from an east London council estate to a Mayfair mansion - and includes plenty of tips for budding billionaires.

"e;A brilliant A-to-Z for the modern newsroom."e; - Jeremy Vine"e;A must-read."e; - Julie Etchingham"e;Highly recommended reading."e; - Justin Webb***We are at a defining point in the history of news. Following a surge of fake news, clickbait and conspiracy theories, the 2020s have ushered in a welter of existential threats for public service broadcasting.So, where do we go from here? Former Today editor and head of BBC television news Roger Mosey thinks public service broadcasters must buck the trends and in this incisive book he offers twenty core ways in which the news can save itself by getting smarter, sharper, more diverse, more nuanced and less exposed to pummelling by politicians.Mosey sees two possible futures: one in which the incitements of populist demagogues and the passions of social media are ever dominant - or one where we fight hard to retain media that has an interest in the public good and preserves truth, fairness and evidence-based judgements.From one of British broadcasting's most experienced voices comes the definitive exploration of Britain's news output and what must change if we are to avoid a future of uninspiring news, uninformed decision-making and accountability-dodging politicians.

Carrie Johnson is without doubt a very modern prime ministerial spouse. This examination of her career and life offers the electorate the chance to assess exactly what role she plays in Boris Johnson's unpredictable administration and why that matters.

The ten landmark cases between 1942 and 2021 that have changed the course of British social and cultural history.

In this vital and alarming book, campaigner and immigration barrister Colin Yeo exposes the iniquities of an immigration system that is unforgiving, unfeeling and, ultimately, failing.

"e;Anyone who cares about education - and especially those in charge of it - should read this brilliant book."e; - Iain Dale***An unputdownable true account of how a tenacious head teacher led one of the most challenging schools in the country to excellence.No Excuses charts an extraordinary principal's journey in diary form from the moment she took over at a failing secondary school in a deprived area of the country, where less than a quarter of children attained five or more A*-C GCSEs, and how she set about the gruelling task of transforming its reputation using her zero-tolerance, tough-love approach.Armed only with a wicked sense of humour, fearless energy and a powerful vision, Alison Colwell put in place a stringent set of rules, including a strict uniform policy and a complete ban on mobile phones, provoking resistance and hostility from some parents, the wider community and on social media.This is the darkly funny, moving story of how, together, teachers and their - often troubled - pupils rebuilt a school and community, with an inspirational head at the helm.Charming, touching and full of brilliant leadership advice, this is the diary of the woman the Daily Mail labelled Britain's strictest head teacher.