NEW EBOOK - Inside the Tank: A Personal View from Inside Prime Minister Thatcher's Policy Unit

NEW EBOOK - Inside the Tank: A Personal View from Inside Prime Minister Thatcher's Policy Unit
"Few people, even Whitehall insiders, really know how Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit worked and how it made her so effective in getting her will to prevail. “Inside the Tank” is a first hand account of how Mrs Thatcher made decisions and how she took advice, particularly on controversial issues where vested interests were pulling in different directions.
Written by a former member of the Unit, seconded in 1986 from the executive board of an international conglomerate, Consolidated Gold Fields, the many similarities between the issues and conflicts in business and government are striking.
George Guise had been responsible for the international development of the Cons Gold Group working in South Africa, the USA and Australia where he restructured the group's operations. He was "borrowed" in 1986 by HMG and immediately hit it off with MT, both having short patience with delayers and nay sayers.
The areas upon which he advised were initially commercial, especially nationalised industries, privatisation and the City of London. This soon expanded to include science policy, in which both he and MT had a deep personal interest, and eventually to South Africa where he had extensive experience.
Inside the Tank focuses exclusively on matters where the writer had direct personal involvement with Margaret Thatcher and does not speculate or philosophise in the way of so many recent publications, some by people who never even met her! "

Contents
Preface
Privatisation from 1986
Science Policy
Arts Policy
South Africa
Epilogue - Overview of Thatcher’s Style

About the Author
George Guise served as Margaret Thatcher’s adviser from 1986 to 1991. His advice covered key areas such as industry, privatisation and science policy but also included the City, the Arts and South Africa. Following the overthrow of MT in December 1990, he declined the new PM's offer to remain at No 10 and spent several years advising foreign countries, including South Africa, Venezuela, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Turkey on electricity privatisation.This was often in conjunction with National Grid or Deloitte & Touche Consulting on whose London board he served. After leaving Downing Street he returned to private business. Although now officially retired, he is an active participant in debate about the way forward, both in the UK and in Europe.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Tank-Personal-Minister-Thatchers-ebook/dp/B00TEACHZS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1427616404&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+inside+tank

NEW EBOOK - A Life at the Chalkface: A Memoir Of A London Headteacher

NEW EBOOK - A Life at the Chalkface: A Memoir Of A London Headteacher

Foreword by Sir Timothy Brighouse.
A realistic but touching look at school life at a tough inner city school by the headteacher who turned the school around and is an acclaimed columnist for the Times Education Supplement and other publications.
‘In the early eighties, Mike Kent took on the headship of a tough, inner city primary school and built it into one of the most popular primary schools in London.
In ‘A Life At The Chalkface’ Mike describes with humour and insight the challenges he experienced as English primary education changed beyond belief during three decades. Never a stranger to controversy, Mike survived a racial tribunal, an eighteen month battle with Ofsted, local school inspectors who were determined to make him conform, and bureaucrats who viewed children merely as outcome units.
His love of teaching and teachers shines through as he describes the many unique characters who passed through his school… the boy who wanted to be a bus, the ex-pupil who became a society thief, the teacher who couldn’t throw anything away, the fire officer who described children’s art as hazardous wall substances and the parent who was determined to enrol his three month old daughter in the Reception class.
A Life At The Chalkface gives a unique insight into the trials and tribulations of headship, and it will be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone with an interest in education and a sense of humour.’

Contents
Foreword by Sir Tim Brighouse
Introduction
Chapter 1 - A School Of My Own
Chapter 2 - Finding My Feet
Chapter 3 - First Day At The Chalkface
Chapter 4 - A Term Of Trial
Chapter 5 - A Test Of My Leadership
Chapter 6 - Walking With Dinosaurs
Chapter 7 - The New Inspector Calls
Chapter 8 - A Tidal Wave Of Change
Chapter 9 - Appeals, Appointments and Questionable Governance
Chapter 10 - All Children Great And Small
Chapter 11 - No Parents Past This Point
Chapter 12 - The Computer Revolution
Chapter 13 - Challenging Ofsted
Chapter 14 - The Bureaucratic Nightmare
Chapter 15 - Polythene, Pigeons and Eccentric Electrics
Chapter 16 - Troubling Teachers
Chapter 17 - The Roar Of The Greasepaint
Chapter 18 - Winding Down



About the Author
Mike Kent has for the last 13 years been a featured columnist on The Times Educational Supplement. For two years running, he was a runner-up for the PPA Columnist Of The Year award. He has written over 400 articles for educational magazines and newspapers, and 27 musical plays for children. He recently retired as headteacher of a tough inner city school.

 

Print book out soon

 

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Chalkface-Memoir-London-Headteacher-ebook/dp/B00TEB4F8Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1427446001&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+life+chalkface

 

Press Coverage of Nicky Morgan MP​'s new book in the Loughborough Echo.

Press Coverage of Nicky Morgan MP​'s new book in the Loughborough Echo.

Town MP Nicky Morgan writes Civil War history book

• 12:00, 23 March 2015
• By Andy Rush

Mrs Morgan has written a children’s activity non-fiction book about Loughborough during the Civil War, which is being published by Bretwalda Books.

Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan has written a children's activity non-fiction book The Civil War in Loughborough which is being published by Bretwalda Books. Photo supplied by Rupert Matthews, editorial director, Bretwalda Books.

TOWN MP Nicky Morgan is set to launch her new history book, The Civil War in Loughborough, today (Friday, March 20,) at Cobden Primary School.
Mrs Morgan, has written a children’s activity non-fiction book about Loughborough during the Civil War, which is being published by Bretwalda Books.
Editorial director of Bretwalda Books, Rupert Matthews

Read the entire article HERE

http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/local-news/town-mp-nicky-morgan-writes-8870749

Nicky Morgan MP and “The Civil War in Loughborough” New Book Released Today

Nicky Morgan MP and

“The Civil War in Loughborough”

New Book Released Today

Loughborough MP, Nicky Morgan, has written a children's activity non-fiction book about Loughborough during the Civil War, published today.

It is time to explore the past with this fantastically fun “cut out and play” title packed with amazing facts, fun activities, cut-out characters to colour in, puzzles and more interesting information than you can shake a stick at.

With a bold and accessible look, this title allows younger readers to discover why holding a match at night was a really bad idea, how spending a penny could get you thrown in prison and what to do if you met a man named Praise God Barebone.

Fun, informative and educational, this is how to get children interested in history.

About the Author

Rt Hon Nicola Morgan MP is Member of Parliament for Loughborough and was fascinated to learn that her constituency played such a significant role in the English Civil War - with a battle being fought almost on her own doorstep

Note to Editor : Author Nicky Morgan is available for interview through Editorial Director Rupert Matthews on 07721 455944.

Attached photos show:

1) The Book cover

2) Author Mrs Nicky Morgan MP

3) Artworks from the book

NB Other photos are available on request

About the Book

Title:               The Civil War in Loughborough

Author            Rt Hon Nicola Morgan MP

ISBN                978-1-910440-28-5

Publisher       Bretwalda Books

Price               £4.99

NEW EBOOK - The Discerning Mercenary's Guide to the 100 Years War

NEW EBOOK - The Discerning Mercenary's Guide to the 100 Years War

The Past, as they say, is Another Country. Now there is a guide book to Britain and France as they were during The Hundred Years War of 1337-1453. Technically that is 116 years, but that’s history for you.
Written by Dr Lee Rotherham this book tells the modern reader everything they would need to know when visiting this war torn period of our past some 600 years ago.
Written as if it were a guide book to be used by a visiting medieval tourist, and illustrated, this book is the essential guidebook to The Hundred Years War.
You will learn the difference between Armagnac and Burgundy (the people not the drinks), get to decide if Joan of Arc is God’s lieutenant on Earth (the French view) or a crazed cross-dresser (the English view), view the glories of Rheims, meet the last Prince of the Welsh, have a chat with the first man to speak modern English and learn the best way to avoid the plague like, err, the plague.
So this handbook is part survival guide, part tome to assist in cultural acclimatisation, part aide-memoire to help manage expectations in what remains a pretty vicious period of our past.

About the Author

Dr Lee Rotherham is author of the previous titles in this series “The Discerning Barbarian’s Guide to Roman Britain” and ““The Discerning Gentleman’s Guidebook to Britain’s American Colonies - 1770s Edition”.

Lee is an historian, political consultant, and writer with a distant background in mediaeval French and Occitan. His interest in the Hundred Years’ War was first piqued during breaks from teaching English in France, spent driving around the castles and battlefields of the Loire in an absurdly green Renault 6.
A part-time soldier, his military incursions have since led him to reconnoitring Iraq’s archaeological sites in a helicopter, pondering over ancient forts in the Afghan desert, and stomping through undergrowth in the retirement town of Scipio Africanus. When not worrying about the national debt or researching arcana about the activities of the European Union (of which there are, sadly, many), he spends his free time wondering where to store a troublingly large photo collection.


Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1 An Introduction for Mediaeval Tourists
Chapter 2 Planning Your Visit
Chapter 3 Information for Business Visitors
Chapter 4 The War Itself
Chapter 5 Meet and Greet
Chapter 6 Where to Visit
Chapter 7 1453 and All that
Acknowledgments
Further Study
About the Author

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discerning-Mercenarys-Guide-100-Years-ebook/dp/B00TEBVSIY/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426232660&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+mercenary+discerning

NEW paperback novel - The Curse of Kings

NEW  paperback novel - The Curse of Kings

Volume 2 of The King's Chalice saga - the continuing story of East Dorset in Saxon Times. A small estate was given to a slave in AD905 after he had saved the life of the prince. Now his descendants must try to keep the inheritance together in an age of war, treachery and greed. Seemingly unchanged by royal friendships, the family retain their own values and remain loyal, breeding and caring for horses. Udric survives a knife wound and marries well, further ammunition for his enemies. Heirs squabble, legitimacy being all-important whether for the throne or lands, lifetimes being cut short by inherited illness, accident or murder.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Curse-Kings-Chalice/dp/1910440094/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426144600&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+curse+of+kings

NEW EBOOK - East Anglia at War

NEW EBOOK - East Anglia at War

In both world wars the British confidently expected Germany to mount an invasion through East Anglia. During the Great War enormous numbers of troops, who were desperately needed on the Western Front, were tied up defending East Anglia against an invasion that never came. In spite of this, in World War II, once again it was East Anglia where the confidently predicted German invasion would take place.
In both Wars East Anglia was a hive of activity with soldiers, sailors and airmen frantically preparing for an invasion that never came, and latterly striking back at Hitler’s Reich through RAF Bomber Command.
This book looks at East Anglia in those desperate, bloody years. It shows how the people of the area coped and survived, or sometimes made the ultimate sacrifice. The book also looks at the relics of those years - gun emplacements, airfields and other structure built while East Anglia was at War.


Contents
Foreword
Chapter One – The Scene is Set
Chapter Two – Encore Une Fois
Chapter Three – The Agricultural Revolution
Chapter Four– The Beginning
Chapter Five – When will they arrive?
Chapter Six –The German invasion plan
Chapter Seven – Local Organisation
Chapter Eight - The Home Guard
Chapter Nine – Military Readiness
Chapter Ten - The RAF before the Battle
Chapter Eleven – The Battle of Britain Begins
Chapter Twelve – The fight to the Death, Douglas Bader and the Big Wing
Chapter Thirteen – Some Iconic Airfields of East Anglia
Chapter Fourteen – The American Intervention – The early Days
Chapter Fifteen – US in Britain
Chapter Sixteen - Keeping the North Sea Open
Chapter Seventeen – Air Raids
Chapter Eighteen – And Finally

About the Author

Michael’s home is in East Anglia. After many years based near Cambridge, he now lives close to the North Norfolk Coast.

Always a prolific writer, during more than twenty years as a head teacher he managed to combine his writing activities with running a school. Educational writing continues to play a significant part in his output, but he has also written widely on topics relating to 20th century military history. This book combines his interest in military history with his love of East Anglia.

This is Michael’s twelfth book and his third covering a World War II topic. The other two: RAF Duxford and Douglas Bader were both published as part of Bretwalda’s Heroes of the RAF series.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/East-Anglia-War-Michael-Evans-ebook/dp/B00TEBI8KU/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426070888&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+east+anglia+at+war

NEW EBOOK - Three Castles and an Ironmasters House (Walking book)

NEW EBOOK - Three Castles and an Ironmasters House (Walking book)
Written by an experienced walker and historian, this book follows a new footpath route through Sussex calling at four National Trust properties, plus numerous pubs, villages and some fantastic scenery.
Three Castles is an opportunity to take the time to explore the castles and houses and towns and villages along the route. It follows man’s ingenuity and progress and a changing industry from agriculture to iron, to sheep, to the woollen trade, smuggling, hopfields and back to agriculture.
There is a soul to this walk; one that reflects the passions and industry of man and also the tensions of war and rebellion. It is now a very pastoral walk with only occasional reminders of the noise, smoke and fire of the iron industry. The ironmasters and the rich woollen trade are survived by their architecture at Sissinghurst, Cranbrook and Burwash and Brightling. The derelict hoppickers cottages, next to the River Teise in Lamberhurst, provide a startling contrast to the rich and landed.
And such a varied landscape brings together tales to tell of Mad Jack Fuller and Bloody Baker, Admiral ‘Foulweather Jack’ Norris, and Captain Swing. There are tales of smugglers and Mechanical riots, Napoleon’s horse, aliens in Robertsbridge and, of course, that ‘vengeful dragon’ in Angley Wood.


CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Bodiam Castle to Sissinghurst Castle
Chapter 2 - Sissinghurst Castle to Scotney Castle
Chapter 3 - Scotney Castle to Bateman’s
Chapter 4 - Bateman’s to Bodiam Castle
Bibliography



About the Author

David Clarke is the author of successful Bretwalda Book “1066 Harold’s Way”, which is a guide to that new long distance footpath. Now he is back with an exciting walk that takes the walker around the beautiful Sussex countryside.
He is an experienced walker and historian who has done much to reappraise the military skills and decisions of Harold in that fateful autumn of 1066 when the future of England hung in the balance.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Castles-Ironmasters-House-Walkers-ebook/dp/B00TEAO350/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425978515&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+castles

1066 Harold's Way - Contents

1066 Harold's Way

A 100 mile walk inspired by King Harold's epic journey to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

by

David Clarke

CONTENTS

Author's Note

Introduction

Chapter 1 - England 1066

Chapter 2 - Harold's Timeline

Chapter 3 -  Westminster to Greenwich

Chapter 4 -  Greenwich to Lesnes Abbey

Chapter 5 - Lesnes Abbey to Dartford

Chapter 6 -  Dartford to Istead Rise

Chapter 7 -  Istead Rise to Rochester Castle

Chapter 8 -  Rochester Castle to Maidstone

Chapter 9 -  Maidstone to Staplehurst

Chapter 10 - Staplehurst to Sissinghurst

Chapter 11 - Sissinghurst to Bodiam Castle

Chapter 12 - Bodiam Castle to Battle Abbey via Sedlescombe

Chapter 13 - Battle and Battle Walks

Epilogue

Appendix 1 Walking Notes

Appendix 2 Pubs and Inns

Bibliography

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1066-Harolds-Way-Guidebook-Distance/dp/1909099511/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1425460118&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=bretwalda+1066