Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: Prime Ministers

by Jonathan Bastable

British Prime Ministers Delves into the premiership's 300 year history and unearths a host of facts about some of the characters in British history, lifting the lid on the top job. This title talks about the Prime Minister who only lasted 100 days, another who served for 21 years, or how Downing Street came to be the Premier's residence. Full description

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

In 1982, just after I turned 20, I went to live in Leningrad for a year. I was cold and hungry most of the time, and most of my Russian friends were miserable or scared or both. The winter was dark and long, and the regime was oppressive. It was by far the happiest year of my life.

That year, and subsequent years spent at Moscow University as a postgrad, provided much of the core material for Devil's Acre. But I wasn' t then a writer, not yet. After returning to Britain I got a job as a feature writer on The Sunday Times Magazine, and in 1991 I was sent back to Moscow as the newspaper's Russian Affairs correspondent. I covered the slapstick Yeltsin years, and was present at the shelling of the Russian parliament building in 1993 – the moment when Russia's last best hope of a democratic future went up in smoke.

I have written many works of non-fiction, including a history of the Battle of Stalingrad based on eyewitness accounts. I am now, among other things, a travel writer, and I often go back to Russia on assignment for Conde Nast Traveller and other magazines. Devil's Acre is my first novel, and my proudest achievement.

Reviews

[Eviep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and fun facts that give a brilliant history of Bitish Prime Ministers