OLDCASTLE BOOKS – serie

After the Second World War, divided Germany was saturated with spies. Among them were the 'first class comrades' of the Stasi - the East German Ministry for State Security. The early Cold War saw the Stasi establish itself as one of the world's most notorious spy and secret police agencies.Drawing on rarely seen files from the Stasi archives, First Class Comrades tells the Stasi story from a fresh perspective: how it helped to create a new European state, how its foreign intelligence service became one of the most successful ever, and how its spy-catchers tackled vigorous attempts by the West to infiltrate East Germany - attempts that influenced the decision to build the Berlin Wall.Full of new insights on Cold War espionage, and featuring newly discovered details of the Stasi's operational methods, First Class Comrades shines a light on this lesser-known period of Stasi history, and why its stories and lessons still matter today.

Whether housesharing with Philip Pullman, trading one-liners at RADA with Ralph Richardson, shooting the breeze with Clint Eastwood, partying with Jerry Hall, acting in Edwardian comedy with Rex Harrison or dodging fights with Sid Vicious, Edward Tudor Pole has proved himself equal to many a challenge. In a series of amusing, nostalgic and sometimes outrageous stories, told with candour and wit, Tudor Pole recounts his fascinating youth pre-punk and during the time of Vicious and The Clash before fronting 80s band Tenpole Tudor. After the horrific implosion of the group, Tudor Pole was enticed into the acting world, appearing in numerous films and plays including Sid & Nancy, Absolute Beginners, a long term association with cult film director Alex Cox, cameo appearances in Harry Potter and Game of Thrones and a stint presenting The Crystal Maze.The Pen is Mightier tells of how a troubled start can lead to a happy ending. Tudor Pole writes a fast-paced account of a life spent exploring every avenue of show business before finding out where you belong, taking the reader through his eclectic career as a punk rock band leader, hit songwriter, top 10 pop star, movie actor, TV presenter, West-End leading man and long-term touring musician.

In 1381, a large army of people marched through the south-east of England to London, demanding an end to unfair taxation and threatening the rule of the boy-king, Richard II. During the eighteenth century, food riots, riots in protest at land enclosure, and riots targeting religious groups and foreigners regularly occurred. In the following century, mass gatherings demanded reform of the electoral system which allowed only a tiny proportion of the population to vote. In the early twentieth century, suffragettes chained themselves to railings, took part in huge demonstrations and endured prison sentences in pursuit of the vote for women. Recent decades have seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets of London and other cities to protest against the Iraq War and, in the last year, the war in Gaza.The only power otherwise powerless people possess lies in their numbers. Riots and Rebels is an examination of how they have exercised that power over the centuries and how governments have reacted to it. From the so-called Peasants' Revolt to Just Stop Oil, via the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, Luddites breaking machinery which threatened their livelihood, the infamous Peterloo Massacre of 1819, the Chartist demonstrations of the 1830s and 1840s, 1887's Bloody Sunday and many other, often violent events, Nick Rennison provides a concise, compelling account of popular protest in Britain.