Books published by Biteback Publishing

BEN SMITH: PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER. Recognise the name? Of course you don't. That's because most of Smith's years in the game were spent outside the vaunted, big-money environs of the Premier League - and this sporting memoir is all the more entertaining as a result. 1995: an adolescent Ben arrives at the training ground of one of England's biggest clubs to begin his journey and realise his dream of playing top-flight professional football. Aged just sixteen, he shares pre-season sessions at Arsenal with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright. Surely this is the start of a stellar career? Instead, the next seventeen years saw the bright young star descend the ranks from Highbury to obscurity. With seasons playing for the likes of Reading, Yeovil, Southend, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Weymouth - and a career including three promotions, one relegation and some very memorable FA Cup games - Ben's story is one of a quintessential journeyman footballer. Candidly describing the negotiations, insecurities, injuries, relocations, personal implications and wet Saturday afternoons playing in front of 500 people, Journeyman offers a unique insight into the unvarnished life of a lower-league player - so far removed from the stories of pampered Premiership stars - as well as documenting the many teammates, opponents, managers and coaches who left an indelible mark on Ben's eclectic career. Refreshingly unsentimental and often hilarious, Smith's story is essential reading for all true fans of the not-always-so-beautiful game.

Alan Friedman tells the story of Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul turned Prime Minister, who has dominated Italian life for the past twenty years.

Best summer reads 2015 John Crace, GuardianNot for everyone the title of Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or other such hallowed callings; the vast majority of the House of Commons is made up of backbenchers - the power behind the constitutionally elected throne.Here is a guide for anyone and everyone fascinated by the quirks and foibles of Westminster Palace, covering all species of backbencher and providing every hardworking MP and political enthusiast with the know-how to survive life in Parliament.From how to address the crowd, weather marital troubles and socialise at party conference to the all important Backbenchers' Commandments, How to Be an MP is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to make a mark from the back bench and influence proceedings in the House. And in the process it provides the outsider with a riveting insight into life as a Member.- An unique guide to being a Member of Parliament.- Essential reading for MPs and a fascinating account of life and work in the world's oldest Parliament.- Has sold 5,000 units since first publication in 2012.- Foreword by Speaker John Bercow.

This extraordinary book, originally published as Action This Day, includes descriptions by some of Britain's foremost historians of the work of Bletchley Park.

A thoughtful analysis of how 'progressive politics' should look over the next five years with the aim of shaping both Parliament and government.

Longlisted for the FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015In September 2008, HBOS, with assets larger than Britain's GDP, was on the edge of bankruptcy. Its collapse would have created the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s and a major political disaster for the Labour government. With the help and support of Gordon Brown, HBOS was rescued by Lloyds TSB, one of the country's strongest banks, in circumstances that have since become the stuff of City legend.In the highly acclaimed Black Horse Ride, veteran financial journalist Ivan Fallon brings together the accounts of all the power players involved in this dramatic saga for the first time, including the key roles played by the Governor of the Bank of England, the Prime Minister and the Treasury.Through a compelling cast of prominent bankers, politicians and investors, Fallon reveals what really occurred in the aftermath of the crash of Lehman Brothers, perhaps the worst single day in banking history.

The astonishing story of how the British codebreakers of Bletchley Park cracked the Nazi Enigma cyphers, cutting an estimated two years off the Second World War, never ceases to amaze.No one is better placed to tell that story than Michael Smith, whose number one bestseller Station X was one of the earliest accounts. Using recently released secret files, along with personal interviews with many of the codebreakers themselves, Smith now provides the definitive account of everything that happened at Bletchley Park during the war, from breaking the German, Italian and Japanese codes to creating the world's first electronic computer. The familiar picture of Bletchley Park is of eccentric elderly professors breaking German codes, but in fact the vast majority of people who worked at Bletchley Park were young women. For them and for the young graduates plucked from Britain's best universities who did the bulk of the day-to-day codebreaking, this was truly the time of their lives. The Secrets of Station X tells their story in full, providing an enthralling account of one of the most remarkable British success stories of all time.