A revealing, honest and often comic coming-of-age story about growing up in 1970s Britain on the boundaries of race 'Full of charm' GUARDIAN 'An account of what being British means' i 'Captures a country in transition ... You can't fail to be moved' THE TIMES Kamal Ahmed's childhood was very 'British' in every way – except for the fact that he was brown. Half English, half Sudanese, he was raised at a time when being mixed-race meant being told to go home, even when you were born just down the road. This is his account of an upbringing of cricket and bucket-and-spade holidays, Angel Delight and the BBC - British to the core, yet always feeling foreign in the only home he had ever known. 'Ahmed grew up as a mixed-race kid in west London in the seventies, and his book charts the progress (sometimes slow and now without a few setbacks along the way) that our country has made on race issues since then. Brilliant' Rohan Silva, Evening Standard

This book develops the major themes of time series analysis from its formal beginnings in the early part of the 20th century to the present day through the research of six distinguished British statisticians, all of whose work is characterised by the British traits of pragmatism and the desire to solve practical problems of importance.

PRE-ORDER THE NEW VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS BOOK NOW! Or don't, you know, whatever you want - we don't mind. Very British Problems are what make us so, well, British. And what better place to get to the heart of these problems than, urm, Britain? Starting in Land's End and heading all the way up to John O'Groats, this A-Z tour of Britain covers everything from the national sports of apologising, queueing and bog-snorkelling to our national cuisine of chips, bread rolls and... chips in bread rolls. You'll take in sights such as Stonehenge (see the iconic prop from Spinal Tap in all its glory), Loch Ness (legend has it there is no monster) and Platform 9 3⁄4 (after a few hours waiting in a railway station, have your photo taken next to a brick wall) all whilst looking for somewhere decent to stop and eat your packed lunch. Britain is a maze of idiosyncrasies, loveable foibles and outright eccentricities and Rob Temple is here to reveal them in all their glory.

Have you ever . . . *Watched in horror as someone helps themselves to the last roast potato? *Broken out in hives at the suggestion that you 'Introduce yourself...' over Zoom? *Been extra dramatic while rubbing in the shop's hand sanitiser, so everyone knows how thoroughly decent you are? . . . then you may be suffering from VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS Very British Problems are sweeping the nation like never before. They are in our homes, in our Zoom calls, in the queue for the supermarket, in our schools, cafés, parks, rivers, cities, towns, villages, glove boxes, sock drawers . . Basically, they're inescapable. There is no vaccine. There is no cure. So there we have it, we're stuck with the malady of Britishness for the foreseeable. Nightmare, isn't it? Ah, well. Could be worse. Not quite sure how, though, off the top of my head. Any thoughts? PRAISE for VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS 'Hilarious' Daily Express 'Temple pays affectionate and comic homage to the sheer quirkiness of being British' Good Book Guide 'A corking Christmas stocking filler' Weekend Sport 'Had us guffawing into our Earl Grey tea' Bella

A gripping espionage thriller about an establishment plot to take control of 1970s Britain, by a writer who is 'poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carre' 'The thinking person's John le Carré' Tribune 'Edward Wilson seems poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré' Irish Independent 'More George Smiley than James Bond, Catesby will delight those readers looking for less blood and more intelligence in their spy thrillers' Publishers Weekly An MI6 officer, haunted by the ghosts of an SS atrocity, kills a Nazi war criminal in the ruins of a U-boat bunker. The German turns out to be a CIA asset being rat-lined to South America. As a hungry Britain freezes in the winter of 1947, a young cabinet minister negotiates a deal with Moscow trading Rolls-Royce jet engines for cattle fodder and wood. Both have made powerful enemies with long memories. The fates of the two men become entwined as one rises through MI6 and the other to Downing Street. And as Britain stumbles into the mid-1970s, a coup d'etat is imminent. A Very British Ending is the Wolf Hall of power games in modern Britain. Senior MI6 officers, Catesby and Bone, try to outwit a cabal of plotters trying to overthrow the Prime Minister. The author once again reveals the dark underside of the Secret State on both sides of the Atlantic. 'A fantastic read' Culture Matters 'The best espionage story you'll read this year or any other' Crime Review Praise for Edward Wilson: 'Stylistically sophisticated . . . Wilson knows how to hold the reader's attention' W.G. Sebald 'A reader is really privileged to come across something like this' Alan Sillitoe 'All too often, amid the glitzy gadgetry of the spy thriller, all the fast cars and sexual adventures, we lose sight of the essential seriousness of what is at stake. John le Carré reminds us, often, and so does Edward Wilson' Independent

WATERSTONES' BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023: PUZZLES AND HUMOUR The perfect quiz book to get you in the Christmassy mood, to play at the office Christmas lunch or to pop into a stocking. Q1: In Britain, it's estimated that 800 million of what traditional Christmas treat are eaten each year?* Q2: Which actor gives the voiceover at the beginning of Love Actually?* Q3: True or False: Queen Elizabeth II wore a Santa hat for her 1996 Christmas Day televised speech.* We Brits can't get enough of a quiz - and never has this been more true at Christmastime. So if you're stumped for office party small talk, trying to make it through Christmas dinner with the in-laws, or simply a quiz connoisseur after puzzles with some festive flair, you can't go wrong with the VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS CHRISTMAS QUIZ BOOK. Inside you'll find all sorts of tickly teasers, complex conundrums, worrisome word searches and much more on topics ranging from nostalgic Christmas adverts and beloved TV specials to toys through the ages and everyone's favourite holiday snacks. Best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a mince pie. *Answers: Buy the book and find out!

The revelations over MPs' expenses that began in May 2009 ranged from petty thieving to outright fraud and sparked a crisis in confidence unprecedented in modern times. This was a 21st-century Peasants' Revolt - an uprising of the people against the political class. Ordinary men and women with political views across the spectrum were by turns amused, incredulous, shocked and then bitterly angry as the disclosures on MPs' expenses flooded out. From Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's bath plug to Conservative MP Sir John Butterfill's 'flipping' of his constituency home - a now-notorious manoeuvre that required him to refund GBP60,000 to the taxpayer - the exposure of MPs' expenses revealed Westminster's culture of quiet corruption like never before. Drawing on his experience as an MP and as a member of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, Martin Bell explains how the expenses crisis arose and, most compellingly, lays out his prescription for healing the deep wounds inflicted by the scandal. As Martin puts it: 'The revolution will not be complete until all the rogues in the House are gone and public confidence in the MPs remaining is restored.' This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revive British politics, and the rebuilding starts here.

There's an epidemic sweeping the nation Symptoms include: *Acute embarrassment at the mere notion of 'making a fuss' *Extreme awkwardness when faced with any social greeting beyond a brisk handshake *An unhealthy preoccupation with meteorology Doctors have also reported several cases of unnecessary apologising, an obsessive interest in correct queuing etiquette and dramatic sighing in the presence of loud teenagers on public transport. If you have experienced any of these symptoms, you may be suffering from VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS. VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS are highly contagious. There is no known cure. Rob Temple's hilarious book reveals all the ways in which we are a nation of socially awkward but well-meaning oddballs, struggling to make it through every day without apologising to an inanimate object. Take comfort in misfortunes of others. You are not alone.

In terms of the Second World War and Britain's wartime strategy three elements deserve close scrutiny: the paramount importance of defending the British mainland and its population; the challenges of building and maintaining coalitions and alliances; and the central role the African continent assumed in all British strategic planning. A concluding essay reflects upon the degree to which in the face of an often uncertain and unconvincing approach these critical themes underpinned the British experience of the conflict. Topics addressed include 1940 and the Defence of Britain; relations with the United States; the British Empire Air Training Plan; General (Boy) Browning and Operation Market Garden; the recall of General Alan Cunningham from Libya in 1941; plans for defending the Royal Family; Exercise Genesis, which turned west London into a battleground for a day in May 1942; and the role of the Eastern Fleet off Africa. Andrew Stewart provides a compelling chapter on the loss of the Tobruk garrison in June 1942 -- one of the worst military disasters suffered by the British Empire during the Second World War. The essay on Tobruk demonstrates how all three defining elements of wartime experience converged: the loss of public confidence about how the war was being conducted; its impact on the relationship with the Union of South Africa, a key partner in the Dominion wartime coalition; and the absolute necessity that existed for deep strategic planning on the African continent -- subsequently to be realised at the final battle at El Alamein.