Download or read book Choose Your Weapons written by Douglas Hurd and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2013-03-28 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noisy popular liberal interventionism? Or a more conservative, diplomatic approach concentrating on co-operation between nations? This is the debate that lies at the heart of modern politics and Hurd traces its most interesting and influential exponents. He starts with Canning and Castelreagh in post Waterloo Britain; to a generation later, the victory of the interventionist Palmerston over Aberdeen; then to Salisbury (Imperialism) and Grey (European balance of power); and finally to Eden and Bevin who combined to lay the foundations of a post-war compromise. That delicate balance has served its purpose for over half a century, but as we enter a new era of terrorism and racial conflict, the old questions and divisions are re-surfacing . . .
Download or read book Robert Peel written by Douglas Hurd and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2017-12-28 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of one of the greatest British Prime Ministers - by an author who knows the scene from his years as a senior Minister in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet. Robert Peel (1788-1850), as much as any man in the nineteenth century, transformed Great Britain into a modern nation. He invented our police force, which became a model for the world. He steered through the Bill which allowed Catholics to sit in Parliament. He reorganised the criminal justice system. Above all he tackled poverty by repealing the Corn Laws. Thanks to Peel the most powerful trading nation chose free trade and opened the door for our globalised world of today. Peel was not all politics. He built two great houses, filled them with famous pictures and was devoted to a beautiful wife. Many followers never forgave him for splitting his Party. But when in 1850 he was carried home after a fall from his horse crowds gathered outside, mainly of working people, to read the medical bulletins. When he died a few days later, factories closed, flags flew at half-mast and thousands contributed small sums to memorials in his honour. He was the man who provided cheap bread and sacrificed his career for the welfare of ordinary people.
Download or read book The Search for Peace written by Douglas Hurd and published by Sphere. This book was released on 1997 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in a world of nation states, immortal and political entities that act as a focus for the loyalty of the citizen but cannot by themselves meet those citizens' needs. As the history of our own continent illustrates, a Europe of nation states has bred a Europe of endemic warfare. Such has been the problem facing international diplomacy for nearly two hundred years. Douglas Hurd traces the search for peace back to the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, focusing his attention on four key events - the Congress of Vienna, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the Yalta settlement of 1945 and the collapse of Communism. He demonstrates how the diplomatic realism that kept Europe at peace for a century was destroyed by both American idealism at the end of the First World War and the accompanying rise of Nazism, Fascism and Marxism. Only by appreciating the lessons of the past, can we meet the new challenges presented by the tumultuous events of 1989, when the threat of nuclear war was replaced by the open wound of Bosnia. Combining acute historical analysis with the unique insight of a former Foreign Secretary, THE SEARCH FOR PEACE is a major contribution to our understanding of international politics.
Download or read book Disraeli written by Douglas Hurd and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2013-07-11 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Benjamin Disraeli was the most gifted parliamentarian of the nineteenth century and a superb orator, writer and wit - but how much do we really know about the man behind the words? 'As Douglas Hurd and Edward Young point out in their splendidly written, finely judged and thoroughly persuasive book, a vast chasm yawned between the real Disraeli and his posthumous reinvention' Dominic Sandbrook, SUNDAY TIMES 'Not only, they tell us in this vigorously debunking romp through his political life, did he never use the phrases "One Nation" or "Tory Democracy", he was actively hostile to the concepts that they are now understood to represent' Sam Leith, THE SPECTATOR 'The book is more a study in character . . . than a staid political narrative. As a result, Disraeli: Or the Two Lives is full of unexpected jolts and paradoxes . . . It proves an unflagging pleasure to read' Richard Davenport-Hines, GUARDIAN 'So intoxicating that you will find yourself snorting it up in one go, as I did, with great pleasure' Boris Johnson, MAIL ON SUNDAY
Download or read book Memoirs written by Douglas Hurd and published by Little, Brown Young Readers. This book was released on 2004 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Douglas Hurd retired as Foreign Secretary in 1995 after a distinguished career in Government spanning 16 years. As Secretary of State for Ireland, Home Secretary and then six years in the Foreign Office in Margaret Thatcher and John Major's administrations, he was at the very heart of modern political decision-making. Earlier he had run Edward Heath's private office from 1968 to 1970 and acted as his Political Secretary when Heath was Prime Minister (1970-74). A Life Peer since 1997, he continues to write highly respected political novels and works in the City as Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Hawkpoint Partners.
Download or read book Ten Minutes to Turn the Devil written by Douglas Hurd and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-07-25 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As an MP, Douglas Hurd would write a new short story every year during the summer Parliamentary recess. This collection comprises ten tales, including a moving account of a family in Bosnia (The Last Day of Summer), a caper about drugrunning off Florida (A Suitcase Between Friends), and a grimly realistic Ulster vignette (Fog of Peace). Each of these stories reflects the intelligent concerns of a politician engaged in, and committed to, both the everyday world of domestic matters and at the highest level.
Download or read book The Shape of Ice written by Douglas Hurd and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-04-02 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prime Minister Simon Russell's personal alarm clock is ticking away, while outside, beyond No. 10, prison riots, bombs in Ireland, corporate blackmail in China and civil unrest in Russia jostle for attention. From the smallest details of the PM's office to the global significance of an international crisis, Douglas Hurd's fine political novel illustrates the political process with real authenticity. With the narrative momentum of a gripping thriller, The Shape of Ice demonstrates how ominous events can develop from near-invisibility into momentous crises. Set in the near future, the novel eloquently conveys the stress of life at the top of the political ladder – the pressure slowly builds to the point where it distorts judgement and relationships.
Download or read book Douglas Hurd Memoirs written by Douglas Hurd and published by Sphere. This book was released on 2004-10-07 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Douglas Hurd retired as Foreign Secretary in 1995 after a distinguished career in Government spanning 16 years. As Secretary of State for Ireland, Home Secretary and then six years in the Foreign Office in Margaret Thatcher and John Major's administrations, he was at the very heart of modern political decision- making. Earlier he had run Edward Heath's private office from 1968 to 1970 and acted as his Political Secretary when Heath was Prime Minister (1970-74). This, then, is an uncommonly well-written political memoir by a man who has been at the heart of government for a generation. A Life Peer since 1997, he continues to write highly respected political novels and works in the City as Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Hawkpoint Partners.
Download or read book The Real Iron Lady written by Gillian Shephard and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-18 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many myths about Margaret Thatcher's extraordinary personality and political career. But what was it really like to work with her? In The Real Iron Lady: Working with Margaret Thatcher, Gillian Shephard speaks to an eclectic and distinguished range of Mrs T.'s former colleagues; all offer a unique insight into what the Iron Lady was really like at close quarters. Among them are John Major, Geoffrey Howe, Douglas Hurd and other Cabinet colleagues, alongside an ambassador and senior civil servants. In addition, prominent Conservative Party members, distinguished journalists and a leading trade unionist add their views, as well as MPs, political advisers and Downing Street staff. A French perspective is even provided by Hubert Védrine, foreign minister to erstwhile President François Mitterrand. Gillian Shephard has laced this miscellany of recollections of the Iron Lady with her own sparkling wit and acerbic comments - resulting in a fascinating close-up portrait of Britain's first woman Prime Minister. Most importantly, it is a portrait painted by the people who were with her throughout the dramas of her political career: the Falklands conflict, the miners' strike, the Brighton Bomb outrage and, eventually, her downfall. The book, with its wealth of previously unpublished material, portrays Margaret Thatcher as a woman of contrasts: courageous, kind, ferocious, feminine - and so far, unsurpassed.
Download or read book The Image in the Water written by Douglas Hurd and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-07-25 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After a narrow Labour Party victory that is dependent on Scottish Labour votes, the young, ambitious and right-wing Alcester sweeps in as Tory leader of the opposition. He has married the previous Prime Minister's daughter, and when their baby boy is kidnapped in mysterious circumstances it leads to an upsurge of support for the bright new Party leader. Alcester redoubles his campaign to throw the Scots out of the UK and in parallel the SLA bid for independence - there is violence throughout the cities of Scotland. As the situation gets out of hand, the Prime Minister announces a referendum in favour of the Union and UK membership of the EU as the only way to check his ruthless young rival.
Download or read book Eminent Parliamentarians written by Philip Norton and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-22 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To celebrate the centenary of the 1911 Parliament Act, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, instigated a series of public lectures in which current parliamentarians assessed the careers and characters of parliamentary giants. The result was a sequence of fascinating appraisals covering a distinguished but eclectic array of politicians who made a name for themselves not only in the House of Commons but also throughout the country. The subjects of the lectures came from diverse backgrounds, advocated very different political philosophies and, indeed, some make surprising bedfellows. But they all had one thing in common: driven by a set of particular beliefs, they were prepared to do whatever was necessary in pursuit of their goals. From Nicholas Soames's warm, familial tribute to his grandfather Winston Churchill to Neil Kinnock's account of an affectionate - though sometimes fraught - relationship with Michael Foot, the roll-call of both lecturers and subjects is outstanding. With his subject sitting in the audience, Tristram Hunt delivers the lecture on Tony Benn; Shirley Williams looks at the life of Nancy Astor, the first woman to take her seat in Parliament; Philip Norton and Peter Tapsell tackle the towering figures of Enoch Powell and F. E. Smith; as an authority on his subject, Kenneth Morgan discusses David Lloyd George, while fellow historian Gordon Marsden speaks on Aneurin Bevan; Douglas Hurd reflects on the life of Iain Macleod; and Andrew Adonis and John Whittingdale both provide an insider's insight into the parliamentary lives of Roy Jenkins and Margaret Thatcher. With a foreword by John Bercow and an introduction by Philip Norton, this is an impressive collection of lectures delivered by expert speakers on the most eminent of parliamentarians.
Download or read book The Smile on the Face of the Tiger written by Douglas Hurd and published by Fontana Press. This book was released on 1970 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Scotch on the Rocks written by Douglas Hurd and published by Sphere. This book was released on 2001 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the blackened, crumbling tenements of Glasgow come ugly rumours... An army of separatist fanatics, recruited from the razor gangs of Europe's most violent city and funded and armed by an unknown power, are standing ready - waiting for the moment to strike. Is the Nationalist tide about to turn? Will Prime Minister Harvey avert catastrophe...? The possibilities of a civil war in Britain have never been so graphically portrayed.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of International Relations written by Christian Reus-Smit and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 792 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of International Relations offers the most authoritative and comprehensive overview to date of the field of international relations. Arguably the most impressive collection of international relations scholars ever brought together within one volume, the Handbook debates the nature of the field itself, critically engages with the major theories, surveys a wide spectrum of methods, addresses the relationship between scholarship and policy making, and examines the field's relation with cognate disciplines. The Handbook takes as its central themes the interaction between empirical and normative inquiry that permeates all theorizing in the field and the way in which contending approaches have shaped one another. In doing so, the Handbook provides an authoritative and critical introduction to the subject and establishes a sense of the field as a dynamic realm of argument and inquiry. The Oxford Handbook of International Relations will be essential reading for all of those interested in the advanced study of global politics and international affairs.
Download or read book Truth Game written by Douglas Hurd and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Somewhere in the Indian ocean a coup d'etat threatens a country to which Britain has treaty obligations. The Foreign Secretary has been killed in an aircrash: rather than remodel his government on the eve of an election the Prime Minister has promoted a senior and much respected backbencher. A rising TV commentator, feeling that he is not rising fast enough, sees, and takes, his chance. An old love affair catches alight and forgotten jealousies flare into life again. All these elements are suddenly brought together by a chance encounter into a fast-moving narrative that will keep the reader wholly absorbed yet half unaware that he is reading fiction.
Download or read book Ten Minutes to Turn the Devil written by Douglas Hurd and published by Little Brown GBR. This book was released on 2000 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As an MP, Douglas Hurd would write a new short story every year during the summer Parliamentary recess. This collection comprises ten tales, including a moving account of a family in Bosnia (The Last Day of Summer), a caper about drugrunning off Florida (A Suitcase Between Friends), and a grimly realistic Ulster vignette (Fog of Peace). Each of these stories reflects the intelligent concerns of a politician engaged in, and committed to, both the everyday world of domestic matters and at the highest level. All admirers of the bestselling THE SHAPE OF ICE will derive enjoyment from them.
Download or read book International Law written by Vaughan Lowe and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-09-27 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: International Law is both an introduction to the subject and a critical consideration of its central themes and debates. The opening chapters of the book explain how international law underpins the international political and economic system by establishing the basic principle of the independence of States, and their right to choose their own political, economic, and cultural systems. Subsequent chapters then focus on considerations that limit national freedom of choice (e.g. human rights, the interconnected global economy, the environment). Through the organizing concepts of territory, sovereignty, and jurisdiction the book shows how international law seeks to achieve an established set of principles according to which the power to make and enforce policies is distributed among States.
