Author:Leslie Thomas

In the spring of 1940, the spectre of war turned into grim reality.
And on the English home front, men, women and children found themselves swept into a maelstrom of fear and uncertainty while events abroad led inexorably from the debacles of Norway and Dunkirk to the horror and glory of the Battle of Britain.
For the Lovatt family - James, seconded on a hush-hush assignment to work with Churchill, and his brother Harry, a naval officer - for Bess Spofford, Joanne Schorner, Graham Smit and all the inhabitants of the history villages of the New Forest, it was the beginning of the most bizarre, funny and tragic episode of their lives.
Excellent
—— Sunday TimesTop Class
—— MirrorDoyle's tenth novel might be called The Dead Republic, but its vision of what Smart calls "the green thing" is as alive as any he has given us
—— Independent on SundayThere is lovely, brutal detail, as well as a grand swoop over the timeline of Ireland and America, just like the kind of film they just don't make anymore
—— Financial TimesThis is Ireland's most famous living writer tackling one of the most crucial periods in history
—— GuardianReading it is like spending time with a favourite uncle whose anecdotes you'd happily listen to over and over again because...it makes you laugh
—— Alice Fisher , The ObserverHaving made it to number two in Esquire's funniest books list, Jerome K Jerome's comic tale of boat-bound idlers is reissued this month, with 30 charming illustrations by a certain Vic Reeves
—— EsquireA lovely jacketed hardback... Reeves captures absolutely Jerome's droll, gentle and thoroughly English sense of the absurd... perfect alfresco spring reading.
—— Claire Allfrey , MetroGo on a journey without leaving your chair.
—— Harper’s BazaarOne of the 'classics' of English humorous literature
—— Contemporary ReviewA wide-ranging, energetic satire on what used to be called Fleet Street
—— Times Literary SupplementWhen high meets lowbrow, comedy ensues, but McAfee's novel is not without serious intent. She deftly peels away her characters' pretensions, forcing readers to examine their own prejudices.
—— ScotsmanSparky tragicomedy
—— Daily MailMcAfee is a superlative writer and plotter...McAfee has produced a locus classicus of Fleet Street
—— Rachel Johnson , The LadyDarkly funny but also a very timely read
—— Stylist[A] satirical debut about the newspaper business
—— Stand PointA cutting, hilarious portrait of British print journalism... An entirely human story that brilliantly recreates and analyses the recent past
—— The TimesThose gripped by the escalating News International scandal might enjoy the latest newspaper novel Annalena McAfee's The Spoiler
—— Glasgow Heraldauthentic, entertaining and draws on her own experience as an arts journalist
—— Daily ExpressThe Spoiler - set in the halcyon days before phone hacking - was one of the funniest and sharpest fleet street novels in years.
—— David Robson , Sunday Telegraph SevenMcAfee - herself a former journalist - evokes two distinct eras and styles of journalism, that of fearless frontline reportage and that of its successor: style-oriented, celebrity-obsessed features coverage... This is a pacy read that leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that one school of journalism deserves more mourning than the other
—— Alex Clark , GuardianMarvellous satire...the novel is cunningly plotted and satisfyingly nuanced
—— Independent on SundayIf the peek into the world of newspaper journalism afforded by the Leveson inquiry has you gasping for more, then this timely paperback release is perfect...a fiendishly funny (and frighteningly plausible) world of fiddled expenses and suspect tactics
—— ShortlistThoroughly enjoyable behind-the-scenes expose of an ambitious celebrity journalist's attempt to nail the scoop of her life
—— MetroThis is the paperback edition. The hardback appeared before the News Corporation bosses were dragged into the Commons. McAfee was either very prescient or close to the action, holding her fictional hacks to account for printing false stories gleaned from disreputable sources
—— Julia Fernandez , Time Out