New Releases by Ben Pimlott

An updated edition of Ben Pimlott’s classic biography of the Queen: ‘There is no better biography of Elizabeth II.’ PETER HENNESSY, Independent on Sunday

This timely book is the first to take a close historical look at Ken Livingstone s London. It examines the development of London governance from the demise of the Greater London Council to the establishment of the Greater London Authority. The authors investigate the working of Mayor and Assembly, unravel the underlying politics of London and explore policy debates about transport, crime, and economic development. Finally they pose a question of key importance, not just to Londoners, but also to those interested in urban governance throughout the world: to what extent can the creation of new institutions and instruments of government give a major city the sense of being a political community?

The institution of monarchy in Britain is in deep crisis. Scarcely a day goes by without some new revelation about the private life of some or other of the Royals splashed all over the tabloid newspapers, and public interest in the House of Windsor is more feverish and obssessional than ever. This book takes the Queen seriously as the subject of historical biography, exmaining in depth the influences that formed her or the ideas she represents.

Collection of essays and newspaper articles originally published 1981-1993.

Ben Pimlott''s biography of Hugh Dalton won the Whitbread Prize, now the author turns his attention to Harold Wilson. The book combines scholarship and observations to illuminate the life and career of one of Britain''s most controversial post-war statesmen. Wilson is one of the most enigmatic personalities of recent British history. He held office as Prime Minister for longer than any other Labour leader, and longer than any other premier in peacetime apart from Mrs Thatcher. His success at winning General Elections - four in all - has so far not been matched. His grasp of economic policy was better than that of any other Prime Minister, and he enjoyed a high reputation among foreign leaders. Yet, in retrospect, he seems a master tactician rather than a strategiest - and he is regarded today with more curiosity than respect, when he is not treated with contempt.

The 1930s was the ''Red Decade'' of literary imagination. Yet there has seldom been a time when the influence of the British Left has been at a lower ebb.