Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, smuggled wine up the Thames with the help of the Navy. Tony Blair confessed that a stiff drink and half a bottle of wine a night had become a helpful crutch while in office. Joseph Stalin flushed out traitors with vodka. The disintegration of Richard Nixon and Boris Yeltsin was largely down to drink. Winston Churchill was famous for his drinking, often taking a whisky and soda first thing in the morning and champagne ritually with dinner. But why did these politicians drink and what was their tipple of choice? How did drinking shape the decisions they made? Ben Wright, political correspondent for the BBC, explores the history of alcohol within politics, from the debauched drinking practices of eighteenth-century ministers to today, often based on his own experiences supping with politicians in Westminster bars. With exclusive interviews and in-depth research, Order, Order! uses alcohol as a lens through which to meet a remarkable cast of politicians, to understand their times and discover what drove them to drink. A story of boozy bon viveurs - but with many casualties too - and the complexity of the human condition and the pull of the bottle.

'Tantalising, enlightening and the best reason to raise another glass of beer' Olly Smith 'This is one of the most important books ever written about beer' Mark Dredge What's the oldest and most consumed alcoholic beverage on earth? BEER, of course. And it might just be our most important invention. Since its creation 13,000 years ago, our love of beer has shaped everything from religious ceremonies to advertising, and architecture to bioengineering. The people who built the pyramids were paid in ale, the first fridge was built for beer not food, bacteria was discovered while investigating sour beer, Germany's beer halls hosted Hitler's rise to power, and brewer's yeast may yet be the answer to climate change. In The Meaning of Beer, award-winning beer writer Jonny Garrett tells the stories of these incredible human moments and inventions, taking readers to some of the best-known beer destinations in the world - Munich and Oktoberfest, Carlsberg Brewery's historic laboratory, St Louis and the home of Budweiser - as well as those lesser-known, from a 5,000 year old brewery in the Egyptian desert to Arctic Svalbard, home to the world's most northerly pub. Ultimately, this is not a book about how we made beer, but how beer made us.

Inspired by George Orwell, Paul Moody and Robin Turner take a nostalgic road trip around Britain in search of the perfect pub. 'A deeply satisfying travelogue' Stuart Maconie In 1946, George Orwell, a man fond of a pint, wrote about his favourite pub, The Moon Under Water, in his EVENING STANDARD column. But it didn't actually exist. It was Orwell's vision of a perfect pub. Today, Wetherspoons have fourteen Moon Under Waters, and the nation is awash with identikit, high-street lounge bars competing for a dwindling clientele. Paul Moody and Robin Turner's road trip around Britain, therefore, is not just a search for the perfect pub. It is a deeper investigation into what has happened to British pub culture, once the toast of the world. In fact, it is a search for a kind of life-force kindled by the British public, something the powers-that-be are forever trying to extinguish. Along the way, such luminaries as Pete Brown ('the King of Beer'), Tim Martin (Wetherspoon's boss), Iain Sinclair, James Dean Bradfield and Paul Kingsnorth are consulted - along with a host of micro-brewers, landlords, politicians, bloggers and barroom philosophers. What emerges is a picture of the country as seen through a pint glass, a vision that goes to the heart of what it means to be British.

In this report the Administration Committee makes proposals to cut catering costs in the House of Commons by £1.25 million by 2014 - 15, and to widen access to cafes and restaurants. Recommendations include: further proposals for future cost savings; opening restaurants and the Terrace to the public for meals or afternoon teas on days when Parliament is not sitting; a staff discount scheme; generating more income through merchandising, including a new high street shop; looking at the possibility of merging Commons and Lords catering services to save on shared costs; widening access to dining rooms, and giving journalists in the Press Gallery access to a restaurant in Portcullis House instead of their own dining room.

The village of Parliament has a colourful history of conflict, great oratory, wit and repartee, strange customs and larger-than-life characters, and this rich and entertaining miscellany embraces them all. On his enthralling textual tour, Robert Rogers, the Clerk of the House of Commons, looks not only at the memorable and often fiery politicians who have dominated the House over the centuries, but also at the historic building itself and the distinctive characteristics that make it so endlessly fascinating. Here too are all the famous clashes, rivalries and great events of parliamentary history, such as the fire in 1834 that destroyed the medieval buildings, the dramatic attempts to blow up and bomb Parliament, and the Prime Minister who was assassinated while he walked along its corridors. Although it's the great affairs of state that take centre stage, the book contains many odd and intriguing details, from the weight of Big Ben and what is in the dispatch boxes, to what a 'parliament heel' is and the whereabouts of the peregrine falcons' nest. As entertaining as it is informative, and written with the unique knowledge of an insider, this is an indispensable collection.

This House explores Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament through a combination of dialogue, comedy and political comment; and historical and contemporary concerns.

"Previously published as How to piss in public."

What if all the conspiracies we have heard about are not theories but facts? Westminster. The day after tomorrow. A new political party has come to power, out of nowhere, and has made enemies of the rich and powerful – 'shadow people' connected to financial and corporate conglomerates, and perhaps even royalty. Ray Grady, a former talk show icon, has the charisma to lead this new force to the House of Commons and stop the nation descending into anarchy. There’s just one minor complication… Ray has just been assassinated, and all hell is about to break loose if the public finds out. A scientific genius has a way to reanimate this now-deceased Prime Minister, but the risk of exposure of the plan could lead to the wrecking of the country’s fragile stability. Ray’s inner circle of advisers must pull off the greatest escape of all – bringing their leader back from the dead. Unknown to them, they could have some major allies… including forces from the spirit world. With twists and turns, it's time to accept this is not the world as we see it described in the mainstream. The propaganda has gone, to be replaced with devastating truth. Are you ready to be Mindful? A UK-based The West Wing for a new era of politics, where the choices on offer are no longer left or right, Mindful will appeal to readers of political fiction and fans of television shows such as the American restaging of House of Cards.

The second collection of plays from eminent playwright James Graham, bringing together four of his state-of-the-nation plays. The volume includes the following plays, alongside an introduction by the author: This House (2012) explores Westminster and the 1974 hung parliament through a combination of wit and waspish dialogue, comedy and political comment, and historical and contemporary concerns. The Angry Brigade (2014) takes a look at the story behind the Angry Brigade - a British anarchist group who carried out a series of bomb attacks between 1970 and 1972. The Vote (2015) looks at what happens in Britain on election night through the eyes of those at the polling station. Set in a fictional London polling station, Graham's play dramatises the final ninety minutes before the polls close in the 2015 general election. Monster Raving Loony (2016) explores the life and exploits of Screaming Lord Sutch to examine the state of the nation and Britain's post-war identity crisis. It tells the story of Sutch through a cavalcade of comic characters from music hall to Monty Python, panto to Partridge.