Philip Collins – författare

An entertaining, provocative novel, a fresh look at male bonding and our sense of kinship, by a young, high-flying political consultant.Living in neighbouring houses on a tough estate in Lancashire, Adam and Kevin were childhood best friends. Kevin – child of a problem family, revered fighter and footballer – was definitely the leader, while Adam – puny, bookish and sensitive – rode on the coat-tails of his dominating friend.However, Kevin's football career is wrecked by a knee injury, leaving him at 18 unemployed with a wife and two children to support. He takes refuge in drink and drugs while Adam, complete with a new set of well-heeled friends, lands a high-flying job in London. The stretch between Strangeways prison and the hallowed cloisters of Cambridge, between the estate's Working Men's Club and London media life, becomes too much for even the best of friends.But when Adam and Kevin lose the people that mean most to them, they – back in their home town again – are forced to confront what their roots really are and what means success to them – and in doing so they come to know what separates the men from the boys.Touching, funny and completely unputdownable, Philip Collins's novel of life, love and loss is the unforgettable story of a new generation.Peopled with wonderful characters and vivid scenes from closing mines to university quads, from unemployment centres and hopeless estates to the upwardly mobile, fast-stream Islington lifestyle, The Men From the Boys is also rich in the questions it poses. Readers of Roddy Doyle, Tony Parsons and Nick Hornby will enjoy The Men From the Boys.

Second novel from the author of The Men from the Boys.Philip Collins had an impressive debut with the bestselling The Men from the Boys. That was a story on male friendship. Now with Bobby Dazzler he looks at what we make of our lives.The market stall and the Amateur Dramatic Society are the twin poles of Georgie Lees' working existence. She is the organiser of the market and the star of the local theatre. Her son, her mother, and sometimes her ex-husband, are the cornerstones of her life.Mary, her mother, one-time publican, popular neighbourhood performer and brilliant needlework designer, is beginning to show early signs of erratic behaviour; her son is struggling at school and, at ten, is too old to be cuddled for comfort but too young to talk to; and his father, the local funeral director, seems to spend more time talking to the plants in his allotment than to any of them.Georgie is offered what she had always wanted: the chance to perform professionally. But should she – could she – take the opportunity when her family seem to be in such need?It is the growing difficulties of her mother that bring a new player into her life, the comical but efficient, dramatic but stoic Brian. And it is death that irrevocably changes their lives and asks the question lying behind all their choices – how should those with no religious faith find meaning in life?

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘For all those who believe in the politics of principle and hope this a wonderful reminder that they do not always lose. For all those who despair that politics can ever be inspiring again this is a must-read to shake you out of your misery’ Paddy Ashdown ‘By the people, for the people’ ‘I have the heart and stomach of a king’ ‘We shall never surrender’ The right words at the right time can shape history. By analysing twenty-five of the greatest speeches ever given – delivered by iconic figures from Elizabeth I to John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama – Philip Collins tells the story of democracy. For it is through the finest words spoken in public that progress unfolds.When They Go Low, We Go High is a passionate defence of the power of public speaking, and an urgent – and timely – reminder of how words can change the world.‘For all those who believe in the politics of principle and hope, this is a wonderful reminder that they do not always lose. For all those who despair that politics can ever be inspiring again, this is a must read to shake you out of your miser’ Paddy Ashdown

‘The bible for The Independent Group and many others’ Nick Robinson, Today Programme Start Again is a life-raft for all those who find themselves politically adrift and a rallying cry for a better kind of politics Britain is today divided old against young, class against class, region against region, nativist against cosmopolitan, rich against poor and London against the rest. Our country is divided by generation, by education, by place and by attitude. Politics needs to be turned off and started again. In this time of tumult, when Britain is wrestling with the question of what sort of nation it wishes to be, its politics is stuck.Power is hoarded by a distant and unresponsive centre and our two largest political parties have both been captured by those on their outer edges.Too many of us have been left politically homeless.In Start Again, Philip Collins, Times journalist and until recently a lifelong Labour voter, offers a road map to a different political destination. It is a road map that, in recent days, has been taken up by many from both sides of the political divide.Drawing on lessons from history Collins proposes new answers to today’s most urgent questions: questions of education, work, health, housing, security, nationhood, and of how we can achieve a better future.Hopeful, indignant and inspirational, this is a book for anyone who feels that politics no longer speaks to them.

A scholarly edition of public readings by Charles Dickens. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

'One of the best social commentators on Dickens...models of historical scholarship.'- Gertrude Himmelfarb, Distinguished Professor of History, City University of New York. This classic of Dickens criticism, now in its third edition, provides a fascinating insight into Dickens's thinking and writing on crime. Extraordinary in character, as well as literary skill, he displayed a shrewd insight into the criminal character, whilst demanding tough penalties for those who broke the law. At one stage attracted to a career as a metropolitan magistrate, Dickens turned instead to fiction and discovered there an outlet for his enduring fascination with the darker side of human nature. Thieves, cheats and murderers people the pages of his novels, few of which are without some serious crime. But the treatment of crime for Dickens was far more than an authorial device: it was a focal point for his deep concern with social problems and played a vital role in his attempt to understand these ills.Dickens and Crime continues to be one of the most significant and illuminating studies into Dickens's creative imagination, and its reappearance in print will be warmly welcomed by scholars and general readers alike.

These essays are lectures, mostly revised or expanded, given to the Tennyson Society by leading Victorianists, including one of the doyens of Tennyson studies, Jerome H. Buckley. "In Memoriam" and "Maud" are central texts, but many other poems are discussed - lyrics, dramatic monologues, narratives, ballads - and such recurrent topics as loss, the numinous and distance in space and time. The poems are related to their intellectual context and to other poets such as Wordsworth and Edward Fitzgerald. The author also wrote "Dickens and Crime".

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels.The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation.Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects.The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase boxes) and as individual volumes.

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels.The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation.Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects.The Collected Critical Heritage set will be available as a set of 68 volumes and the series will also be available in mini sets selected by period (in slipcase boxes) and as individual volumes.

Be memorable.Whether you like it or loathe it, public speaking is something many of us have to do. Be it presentations to colleagues or speeches to a room full of near strangers, we all want to shine…or at least get through it with our dignity intact. Luckily Philip Collins, former Chief Speech Writer to Tony Blair, knows exactly what’s needed to give a storming speech.The secret, according to Philip, is content. Too many of us focus on how we’re presenting, and don’t spend enough time thinking about what we’re presenting. The secret to memorable, polished speeches is to think more about the material you’re sharing – to pay attention to detail and choose your works carefully. Speech writing is and art – and art we can all learn.When the content’s right, the confidence will follow.In The Art of Speeches and Presentations Philip Collins provides you with a concise set of tools, preparing you for any speaking occasion. Ranging from the ancient history of rhetoric to what makes Barack Obama such a good speaker, it’s packed with practical examples and tips to teach you the craft of speaking well and making people remember what to say.“Does Phil Collins know what he is talking about? Here’s the answer – he isn’t just good, he is the best. It’s as simple as that. I spent years writing speeches for major politicians and I now speak publicly myself all the time, and yet there is so much that I can pick up from him and anyone who re4ads this book will too.”—Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor, The Times and former speech writer to William Hague

These essays are lectures, mostly revised or expanded, given to the Tennyson Society by leading Victorianists, including one of the doyens of Tennyson studies, Jerome H.