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With a general election looming, what can we do about it?In Good Chaps, Simon Kuper chronicles how corruption set in across public life, from oligarchs bribing MPs to donors who can buy party policy.The chumocracy may be about to end, but will our politicians behave like good chaps again?",{"_812":828,"_814":1014,"_788":1015},"audience","College Audience",{"_812":828,"_814":838,"_788":839},{"_812":828,"_814":819,"_788":1018},"UK-Trade Paper",{"_812":828,"_814":843,"_788":844},{"_812":828,"_814":846,"_788":847},{"_812":828,"_814":852,"_788":1022},"2024-06-13",{"_812":828,"_814":855,"_788":1024},"224",{"_812":858,"_814":351,"_788":859},{"_812":858,"_814":731,"_788":859},{"_812":858,"_814":1028,"_788":862},"onorder_auckland",{"_812":858,"_814":861,"_788":862},{"_812":858,"_814":864,"_788":862},{"_812":858,"_814":1032,"_788":1033},"last_received_auckland","29/01/2025",{"_812":858,"_814":866,"_788":1035},"26/11/2024",{"_812":858,"_814":1037,"_788":784},"price_auckland",{"_812":858,"_814":869,"_788":1039},"35.0",{"_812":858,"_814":1041,"_788":1042},"stock_auckland","0",{"_812":858,"_814":871,"_788":872},{"_812":874,"_814":875,"_788":1045},"Politics",{"_812":874,"_814":351,"_788":1045},{"_812":874,"_814":731,"_788":876},{"_812":874,"_814":879,"_788":1049},"POLITI",{"_812":874,"_814":1051,"_788":1049},"codes_auckland",{"_812":874,"_814":881,"_788":747},{"_812":874,"_814":883,"_788":889},{"_812":874,"_814":1055,"_788":889},"sub_auckland",{"_812":874,"_814":886,"_788":884},{"_812":874,"_814":888,"_788":889},{"_812":874,"_814":1059,"_788":889},"main_auckland",{"_812":874,"_814":891,"_788":889},{"_812":874,"_814":893,"_788":894},{"_812":874,"_814":896,"_788":894},{"_812":874,"_814":898,"_788":902},{"_812":874,"_814":1065,"_788":902},"department_auckland",{"_812":874,"_814":901,"_788":902},{"_765":1068},[1069],{"_768":116,"_769":-5,"_130":1070,"_210":1071,"_779":1075,"_785":1076,"_17":1078,"_789":1079,"_791":1080},"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/43648104169669",{"_772":1072,"_774":775,"_130":1073,"_35":994,"_777":1074},"Good Chaps How Corrupt Politicians Broke Our Law and Institutions - and What We Can Do about It Cover Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/34946097873093",1273,{"_781":782,"_783":784},[1077],{"_751":752,"_788":1078},"Default Title","9781805221227",{"_793":1081},[1082,1085],{"_796":1083},{"_798":33,"_133":1084},{"_751":348},{"_796":1086},{"_798":116,"_133":1087},{"_751":729},{"_130":1089,"_17":1090,"_742":1091,"_760":1092,"_809":1094,"_763":1165},"gid://shopify/Product/8732547842245","Born to Rule The Making and Remaking of the British Elite","born-to-rule-the-making-and-remaking-of-the-british-elite",{"_35":1093},"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0625/6679/3413/files/978-0-674-30424-6.jpg?v=1771726918",[1095,1096,1098,1099,1101,1103,1104,1105,1107,1109,1111,1113,1115,1117,1119,1120,-5,-5,1121,1123,1125,1127,1128,1129,1130,1131,1132,1134,1136,1138,1139,1141,1142,1144,1145,1146,1148,1149,1150,1152,1153,1154,1156,1157,1158,-5,1159,1160,1162,1164],{"_812":813,"_814":17,"_788":1090},{"_812":813,"_814":816,"_788":1097},"REEVES AARON FRIEDMAN SAM",{"_812":813,"_814":819,"_788":820},{"_812":813,"_814":822,"_788":1100},"YALE",{"_812":813,"_814":1001,"_788":1102},"WILE",{"_812":813,"_814":825,"_788":1102},{"_812":828,"_814":829,"_788":830},{"_812":828,"_814":17,"_788":1106},"Born to Rule",{"_812":828,"_814":1008,"_788":1108},"The Making and Remaking of the British Elite",{"_812":828,"_814":816,"_788":1110},"Aaron Reeves; Sam Friedman",{"_812":828,"_814":836,"_788":1112},"The Economist, Best Books of 2024
The Times, Best Ideas Books of 2024

A uniquely data-rich analysis of the British elite from the Victorian era to today: who gets in, how they get there, what they like and look like, where they go to school, and what politics they perpetuate.

Think of the British elite and familiar caricatures spring to mind. But are today's power brokers a conservative chumocracy, born to privilege and anointed at Eton and Oxford? Or is a new progressive elite emerging with different values and political instincts?

Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman combed through a trove of data in search of an answer, scrutinizing the profiles, interests, and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today. At the heart of this meticulously researched study is the historical database of Who's Who, but Reeves and Friedman also mined genealogical records, examined probate data, and interviewed over 200 leading figures from a wide range of backgrounds and professions to uncover who runs Britain, how they think, and what they want.

What they found is that there is less movement at the top than we think. Yes, there has been some progress on including women and Black and Asian Brits, but those born into the top 1 percent are just as likely to get into the elite today as they were 125 years ago. What has changed is how elites present themselves. Today's elite pedal hard to convince us they are perfectly ordinary.

Why should we care? Because the elites we have affect the politics we get. While scholars have long proposed that the family you are born into, and the schools you attend, leave a mark on the exercise of power, the empirical evidence has been thin--until now.",{"_812":828,"_814":1014,"_788":1114},"Trade",{"_812":828,"_814":838,"_788":1116},"Harvard University Press",{"_812":828,"_814":819,"_788":1118},"Trade Paper",{"_812":828,"_814":843,"_788":844},{"_812":828,"_814":846,"_788":847},{"_812":828,"_814":852,"_788":1122},"2026-01-13",{"_812":828,"_814":855,"_788":1124},"328",{"_812":828,"_814":822,"_788":1126},"Belknap Press",{"_812":858,"_814":351,"_788":859},{"_812":858,"_814":731,"_788":859},{"_812":858,"_814":1028,"_788":862},{"_812":858,"_814":861,"_788":862},{"_812":858,"_814":864,"_788":862},{"_812":858,"_814":1032,"_788":1133},"08/04/2026",{"_812":858,"_814":866,"_788":1135},"01/04/2026",{"_812":858,"_814":1037,"_788":1137},"31.0",{"_812":858,"_814":869,"_788":1137},{"_812":858,"_814":1041,"_788":1140},"2",{"_812":858,"_814":871,"_788":1140},{"_812":874,"_814":875,"_788":1143},"European History",{"_812":874,"_814":351,"_788":1143},{"_812":874,"_814":731,"_788":876},{"_812":874,"_814":879,"_788":1147},"EURHIS",{"_812":874,"_814":1051,"_788":1147},{"_812":874,"_814":881,"_788":747},{"_812":874,"_814":883,"_788":1151},"EUROPEAN HISTORY",{"_812":874,"_814":1055,"_788":1151},{"_812":874,"_814":886,"_788":884},{"_812":874,"_814":888,"_788":1155},"HISTORY",{"_812":874,"_814":1059,"_788":1155},{"_812":874,"_814":891,"_788":889},{"_812":874,"_814":893,"_788":894},{"_812":874,"_814":896,"_788":894},{"_812":874,"_814":898,"_788":1161},"HIS,POL",{"_812":874,"_814":1065,"_788":1163},"HIS",{"_812":874,"_814":901,"_788":902},{"_765":1166},[1167],{"_768":116,"_769":-5,"_130":1168,"_210":1169,"_779":1173,"_785":1174,"_17":1090,"_789":1176,"_791":1177},"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/45876797407429",{"_772":1170,"_774":775,"_130":1171,"_35":1093,"_777":1172},"Born to Rule Cover Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/41382119407813",1355,{"_781":782,"_783":1137},[1175],{"_751":752,"_788":1090},"9780674304246",{"_793":1178},[1179,1182],{"_796":1180},{"_798":116,"_133":1181},{"_751":348},{"_796":1183},{"_798":116,"_133":1184},{"_751":729},{"_130":1186,"_17":1187,"_742":1188,"_760":1189,"_809":1191,"_763":1242},"gid://shopify/Product/8618887545029","Strangeland : How Britain Stopped Making Sense","strangeland-how-britain-stopped-making-sense",{"_35":1190},"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0625/6679/3413/files/978-1-5299-3841-8.jpg?v=1769649698",[1192,1193,1195,1196,1198,-5,1200,1201,1203,1205,1207,1209,1210,1212,1213,1214,-5,1215,1217,1219,1221,1223,-5,1224,-5,1225,1226,-5,1228,-5,1230,-5,1231,1232,-5,1233,1234,-5,1235,1236,-5,1237,1238,-5,1239,-5,-5,1240,1241,-5],{"_812":813,"_814":17,"_788":1187},{"_812":813,"_814":816,"_788":1194},"SOPEL JON",{"_812":813,"_814":819,"_788":820},{"_812":813,"_814":822,"_788":1197},"EBURY",{"_812":813,"_814":1001,"_788":1199},"UBD",{"_812":828,"_814":829,"_788":830},{"_812":828,"_814":17,"_788":1202},"Strangeland",{"_812":828,"_814":1008,"_788":1204},"How Britain Stopped Making Sense",{"_812":828,"_814":816,"_788":1206},"Jon Sopel",{"_812":828,"_814":836,"_788":1208},"From Jon Sopel, bestselling author and presenter of hit podcast The News Agents, comes an incisive examination of post-Brexit Britain and what it means for our future.

'I like and trust Jon Sopel and you should too'JOE LYCETT

'A thrilling, nerve-wracking book. You couldn't make the last ten years up; thanks to Jon Sopel, you don't have to'PETER FRANKOPAN

'A hugely entertaining and quite traumatic rollercoaster'ARMANDO IANNUCCI

'Acute and unflinching - Sopel deploys his foreign correspondent skills on home shores as well as far ones, and brings together the story of a tumultuous few years on both sides of the Atlantic'MISHAL HUSAIN

Returning to the UK in some ways has been disconcerting - or maybe discombobulating would be a better word. It is, after all, my home; it is where I grew up, a country I love and am proud of. But either it' s changed, or I have. Maybe both.

It just feels like a strange land.

After eight years of political reporting in the US, Jon Sopel returned home to the UK to find a very different place than the one he left. In his first book since launching the global hit podcast The News Agents, Jon explores what has happened to the country he once knew. Either Britain has changed dramatically, or he has. Perhaps it' s both.

As a second Trump administration begins, and a new chapter of American history exerts its influence over our own isle, Strangeland paints an unforgettable portrait of a country gone through the looking glass.

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On the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Peter Taylor tells for the first time the gripping story of Operation Chiffon, the top-secret intelligence operation that helped bring peace to Ireland.

'A gripping exploration of how MI5 and MI6 worked for a ceasefire with the IRA - and how one meeting changed everything' Telegraph

'An extraordinary story . . . A true tale of espionage' The Times

April 1998: the Good Friday Agreement is signed, ending decades of violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland. The process of getting the IRA to end its so-called 'armed struggle' was always the prerequisite of the search for peace. It was Operation Chiffon that finally helped make it possible.

Operation Chiffon takes us inside the top-secret intelligence operation whose roots go back to the bloodiest years of the conflict in the early 1970s, involving officers from MI6 and, later in the 1990s, MI5. The remarkable story, which has remained hidden for forty years, is now revealed by legendary BBC journalist Peter Taylor with unique access to the officers involved. Drawing on exclusive interviews and Taylor's fifty years of covering the conflict, the book narrates in first-hand detail how those involved risked their careers - and their lives - to help secure the fragile peace that exists today.

Taylor vividly brings this covert operation to life and in the process chronicles the history of Sinn Féin, rising from obscurity in the early days of the Troubles to becoming the largest political party in Ireland today. It is a story fraught with uncertainty and danger that, as Brexit risks destabilising what was achieved in the Good Friday Agreement twenty-five years ago, is more important than ever to remember.

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Chums

by Simon Kuper