A Very British Coup

Against the odds, former steel worker Harry Perkins has led the Labour party to a stunning victory. Now he's going to dismantle Britain's nuclear warheads, bring finance under public control and dismantle the media empires. But the establishment isn't going down without a fight. As MI5 conspires with the city and press barons to bring Perkins down, he finds himself caught up in a no-holds-barred battle for survival. Described as 'the political novel of the decade' when it was first published, A Very British Coup is as fresh and relevant now as it ever has been.

The classic political thriller that foretold the rise of Corbyn, from the acclaimed author of A View from the Foothills

Former steel worker Harry Perkins, has, against all the odds, led the Labour Party to a stunning victory at the general election. His manifesto includes the removal of American bases, public control of finance, and the dismantling of the newspaper monopolies. The Establishment is appalled by the prospect, and secretly decides that something must be done. As M15 conspires with the city and the press barons, Perkins the PM finds himself in a no-holds-barred battle for survival.

'Harry Perkins was buried on the day that America declared war on China.' The definitive post-Brexit novel, and long-awaited sequel to the bestselling A Very British Coup. 'Terrific...measured, heart-stopping, moving, clear-eyed'. Stephen Frears 'Brilliant, chilling and all too plausible.' Alastair Campbell 'A very knowledgeable and pleasurable political thriller.' Mark Lawson, The Guardian ‘Readable and very entertaining, and should appeal to both sides of the divide. A book that seeks your X in the ballot box.’ – The Spectator 'Brexit Britain was a gloomy place. True, the Armageddon that some had prophesied had not occurred, but neither had economic miracle promised by the Brexiteers. Instead there had been a long, slow decline into insularity and irrelevance. The value of the pound had fallen steadily against the Euro, the dollar and the Yuan. The much vaunted increase in trade with the Commonwealth had not materialised. The Americans, too, were proving particularly obstreperous. Even now after a nearly decade of negotiations no significant agreements had been reached. At the UN there was talk of relieving the UK of its seat on the Security Council.' Thirty-five years after the publication of A Very British Coup, former Labour MP Chris Mullin has written a compelling and timely sequel. In a near-future, post-Brexit Britain, the fault lines forged in the white heat of the referendum have become entrenched features of British political life. Britain's standing in the world has steadily diminished as its problems have grown. Into the maelstrom steps Fred Thompson, former aide to left-wing prime minister Harry Perkins and his successor as MP for Sheffield Parkside. As he ascends the greasy pole of British politics, Thompson must deal with corruption, the threat of the Far Right and personal tragedy. Along the way, he learns that power does not come without a personal price and that shadowy forces are at work behind the scenes...which, this time, appear to be on his side. At once a gripping political thriller and a chilling prognostication of where we may be headed, this taut, insightful and engrossing novel is essential reading for our troubled times.

A gripping espionage thriller about an establishment plot to take control of 1970s Britain, by a writer who is 'poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carre' 'The thinking person's John le Carré' Tribune 'Edward Wilson seems poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré' Irish Independent 'More George Smiley than James Bond, Catesby will delight those readers looking for less blood and more intelligence in their spy thrillers' Publishers Weekly An MI6 officer, haunted by the ghosts of an SS atrocity, kills a Nazi war criminal in the ruins of a U-boat bunker. The German turns out to be a CIA asset being rat-lined to South America. As a hungry Britain freezes in the winter of 1947, a young cabinet minister negotiates a deal with Moscow trading Rolls-Royce jet engines for cattle fodder and wood. Both have made powerful enemies with long memories. The fates of the two men become entwined as one rises through MI6 and the other to Downing Street. And as Britain stumbles into the mid-1970s, a coup d'etat is imminent. A Very British Ending is the Wolf Hall of power games in modern Britain. Senior MI6 officers, Catesby and Bone, try to outwit a cabal of plotters trying to overthrow the Prime Minister. The author once again reveals the dark underside of the Secret State on both sides of the Atlantic. 'A fantastic read' Culture Matters 'The best espionage story you'll read this year or any other' Crime Review Praise for Edward Wilson: 'Stylistically sophisticated . . . Wilson knows how to hold the reader's attention' W.G. Sebald 'A reader is really privileged to come across something like this' Alan Sillitoe 'All too often, amid the glitzy gadgetry of the spy thriller, all the fast cars and sexual adventures, we lose sight of the essential seriousness of what is at stake. John le Carré reminds us, often, and so does Edward Wilson' Independent

'It is said that failed politicians make the best diarists. In which case I am in with a chance.' Chris Mullin Chris Mullin has been a Labour MP for twenty years, and despite his refusal to toe the party line - on issues like 90 days detention, for example - he has held several prominent posts. To the apoplexy of the whips, he was for a time the only person appointed to government who voted against the Iraq War. He also chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Committee, giving him direct access to the court of Tony Blair. Irreverent, wry and candid, Mullin's keen sense of the ridiculous allows him to give a far clearer insight into the workings of Government than other, more overtly successful politicians. He offers humorous and incisive takes on all aspects of political life: from the build-up to Iraq, to the scandalous sums of tax-payers' money spent on ministerial cars he didn't want to use. His critically acclaimed diary will entertain and amuse far beyond the political classes.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A terrific book ... It really is one of the most enjoyable histories I’ve read in many a year’ JAMES HOLLAND ‘Riveting ... A brilliant account’ DAILY MAIL

An “absorbing” account of the CIA’s 1953 coup in Iran—essential reading for anyone concerned about Iran’s role in the world today (Harper’s Magazine). In August 1953, the Central Intelligence Agency orchestrated the swift overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected leader and installed Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in his place. When the 1979 Iranian Revolution deposed the shah and replaced his puppet government with a radical Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the shift reverberated throughout the Middle East and the world, casting a long, dark shadow over United States-Iran relations that extends to the present day. In this authoritative new history of the coup and its aftermath, noted Iran scholar Ervand Abrahamian uncovers little-known documents that challenge conventional interpretations and sheds new light on how the American role in the coup influenced diplomatic relations between the two countries, past and present. Drawing from the hitherto closed archives of British Petroleum, the Foreign Office, and the US State Department, as well as from Iranian memoirs and published interviews, Abrahamian’s riveting account of this key historical event will change America’s understanding of a crucial turning point in modern United States-Iranian relations. A Choice Outstanding Academic Title “Not only is this book important because of its presentation of history. It is also important because it might be predicting the future.” —Counterpunch “Subtle, lucid, and well-proportioned.” —The Spectator “A valuable corrective to previous work and an important contribution to Iranian history.” —American Historical Review