Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes in the corridors of power during a major crisis or after a ministerial reshuffle? How do new government ministers get to grips with their portfolios and priorities? Who guides and supports them? And why, sometimes – during events such as 'Partygate' – do things go wrong? In this meticulously researched book, former senior civil servant Alun Evans lifts the lid on a vital but little-known cog in the machinery of government: private office and the private secretaries who work within it. Private secretaries exercise huge influence, and yet most of us have never heard of them. They are the ones who manage the flow of work, who whisper quietly in ministers' ears and who have been Prime Ministers' closest, most trusted and most discreet confidants. At critical moments in our national history – from the Falklands War to the Westland affair, from Black Wednesday to the 2008 financial crash, from New Labour to the coalition government – they have been central but hidden players. With exceptional access to former Prime Ministers and decision-makers, Evans explores what private office is and why it matters to British democracy. He argues that following the egregious constitutional breaches of Boris Johnson's premiership, private office must once again be taken seriously so it can return to being the independent junction box of government and a vital part of the British constitution.
THE MOST COMPEHENSIVE SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN PRINT ON THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OF GOLFThis, the tenth in the much praised GOLF MAJORS series, follows the pattern of its predecessors in bringing the story of golf's greatest Championships and Champions up to date, and prepares new ground for the years to come. Among the now familiar, but endlessly fascinating, updated records sections, this edition, through its detailed recaps of the 2014 Majors, highlights a potential cataclysmic shift in power at the top of the men's game. For several years we have seen a decline in the performances of Tiger Woods, in everyone's book one of the top five golfers of all time – and in many eyes perhaps in the top three or even higher. A series of injuries induced by the incredible pressures he has put on his body over time has no doubt been a huge reason why he has not won a Major since 2008; and when he's been free from physical pain, he has suffered considerable mental anguish, albeit self-inflicted for the most part. During the brief interludes of liberation from personal trauma and physical stresses, Tiger had, until 2014, continued to play well in, and win, Tour events, indicating he could still be (but maybe not good enough to increase his tally of 14 Major titles?) a fiercely competitive golfer on his day. Ten years earlier that 'day' would be replicated many times during a Tiger season; now it appears less so, and not to the supreme levels in performance of yesteryear. Until the second half of 2014, the hiatus in Woods' hitherto unbroken supremacy since 2008 had been occupied by a few talented newcomers like Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer, both multiple Major Champions after the Masters and US Open earlier in 2014. Older players, like Ernie Els (for the first time in ten years) and Darren Clarke (never) picked Major Championship trophies. It also allowed the undoubted talents of Phil Mickelson to flourish into his 40s; and the stirrings of a new force, one who showed signs of taking over where Tiger left off, in Rory McIlroy. But after success in Majors in 2011 and 2012, suddenly Rory-hype dried up amid a romantic liaison, and a not so romantic liaison: distractions of the heart combined with the bedding-in of a new sponsor and the new clubs they supplied, seemed to dampen his ardour for the game of golf. Following a 2014 Masters and US Open without Woods, recuperating yet again after back problems, and a luke-warm McIlroy, the interregnum suggested no signs of ending. Then, as we know, Rory saw his golfing path clearly again and walked off with all the spoils in the Open and PGA Championships. Within a few short weeks in the high summer of 2014, the spotlight was again on the Ulsterman, and with it premonitions and prophesies of what may be in store, with or without the return of Woods to the highest echelons of the game once more. Check out the stories as they unfolded, see how Rory's two wins have affected his position the Top 100 Hall of Fame, and get up to date with all the facts, all the stats, all the records in Alun Evans' The Golf Majors Book, 2015. THE ONLY BOOK ANYONE WOULD NEED ON THE GOLF'S MAJORS CHAMPIONSHIP.
This, the next annual edition of Evans' 'The Golf Majors' series, brings the story of golf's greatest Championships bang up to date. Filled as it is with all the facts, results and records going back to 1860 when the first-ever Open Championship was held at Prestwick in Scotland, it still manages to hark back to last summer and provide full reports on the 2018 Majors. The emergence of Brooks Koepka as the sport's latest multiple Major Champion is chronicled in detail: so too, the return of Tiger Woods, once more a creditable force in Majors when many, the author included, felt that so deep had been his decline, such an astonishing recovery was beyond the wildest hopes of his millions of still-faithful fans. Whereas the book unashamedly pays homage to the events of yesteryear, and those that made them so often so memorable, it still finds time to deal with the future and looks in some detail into the Majors of 2019, where for many the high spot will be the return of the Open in July to the island of Ireland, and idyllic Royal Portrush, for the first time since 1951. Not satisfied to leave the reader short-changed Evans has made the end of the book the golf fan's ultimate fantasy, with page after page of Major records - all in all, it is the complete companion (and the only one of its kind) to see you through this year's Major Championships and look forward to the next.
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN PRINT ON THE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OF GOLFThis is the ninth book by Alun Evans on Golf's four biggest events - the Masters, The US Open, The Open Championship and the PGA of America Championship − since the original, now comparatively scratchy, survey saw the light of day in 1998. In order to make the review as close to an annual update as possible, much material form older editions has been omitted to save space and to keep costs down. For those readers who want to know about the first 150 years of Majors in detail, ie from 1860 to 2010, you are pointed to the jam-packed 750 pages of the author's From Old Tom to the Tiger, which was nominated in 2012 for the British Sports Book of the Year. The years 2011 and 2012 are covered in depth in the author's year books of 2012 and 2013, now suitably discounted, of course. Alun Evans' Golf Majors Book, 2014 does exactly as it says on the tin. It covers in detail the Majors of 2013, when Adam Scott deservedly won his first Major at the Masters; Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970; Phil Mickelson at last added the Old Claret Jug to his portfolio; and super-cool Jason Dufner mugged everyone at Oak Hill to collect the PGA Championship - and, like Scott and Rose, became a Major Champion for the first time. Details can be found in this edition of the golf courses to be used in the 2014 round of Majors, based on first-hand information gleaned from the host sites and/or the organizing committees of each. Particularly of interest in 2014 will be the back-to-basic topography of Donald Ross' Pinehurst No2 in the US Open after the Coore and Crenshaw overhaul. And of course, there are the Records. Fully updated stats and full players' records are to be found for those appearing in the 21st Century; plus the expected CVs of those greats of golf who became Major Champions before the change in millennium − and the Hall of Fame compiles for comparison the records of the top 100 performers in Majors.
Contains all you need to know about the golf majors, this yearbook is a must-have for all golf fans. Contains statistics on all the lajors going back to the beginning. Also contains information on all the courses being used for the 2005 season.
Alun Evans explores war films with alphabetically arranged entries on more than 3,000 war films, set in every period from ancient Greece through today. Entries list the date, director, cinematographer, original book (if any), and actors, with a brief description and appreciation. User-friendly appendix material cross-references entries by period and subgenre. Includes: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA APOCALYPSE NOW THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Evans has produced his seventh OannualO concerning the four greatest events in the world of Golf: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the (British) Open, and the PGA of America ChampionshipNcollectively, Othe Majors.O
In his diary, Alun Wyn Jones gives readers an insider's guide to the life of a professional rugby player, both on and off the pitch. We follow his training regime, learn his thoughts on good and bad performance on the pitch, and learn what commitments today's busy rugby stars have off the pitch.
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