The Prime Minister's Ironing Board and Other State Secrets

The Prime Minister's Ironing Board and Other State Secrets True Stories from the Government Archives

Paperback (25 Sep 2014)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Stored in Whitehall's archives are everything from blood-chilling warnings of imminent nuclear attack to comical details of daily life in the corridors of power. Concerned notes from ministers on the subject of the Heir to the Throne's potential brainwashing by Welsh terrorists are shelved alongside worries about housemaids 'on the wobble' at Chequers.

Detailed and surprising plans for royal funerals sit beside reports on suspected spies in the showbiz world and bawdy poetry about the monkeys on the Rock of Gibraltar. And Mary Whitehouse's complaints about the sex education syllabus nestle next to thank-you notes from prisoner 13260/62, also known as Nelson Mandela.

Adam Macqueen, author of the highly acclaimed bestseller Private Eye: The First 50 Years, has searched high and low to present us with some of the most unlikely revelations since the Official secrets act was inaugurated one hundred years ago. Not only about Mrs Thatcher's ironing board, but Ted Heath's car, Harold Macmillan's bedroom carpet, Imelda Marcos and her son Bong Bong's trip to Buckingham Palace and President Eisenhower's particular problem with Winston Churchill's trousers.

About the Publisher

Abacus

Abacus

Abacus is home to some of the world?s most renowned authors, including Donna Tartt, Gore Vidal, Jane Gardam, Primo Levi and Beryl Bainbridge. In 2013, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with the reissue of 18 of our classic books ? a wonderfully diverse collection ranging from Douglas Coupland?s Generation X and Iain Banks? The Wasp Factory, to Tom Holland?s Rubicon and Alexander McCall Smith?s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Originally a non-fiction list with something of an ecological flavour, Abacus has evolved over the years to become one of the most renowned homes for quality fiction and non-fiction, and one with a particularly strong tradition in bestselling memoirs, notably Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom and historian William Woodruff's double No. 1 bestsellers The Road to Nab End and Beyond Nab End. Our non-fiction publishing grew further with the publication of books by some of the most influential writers in their fields, such as Tim Harford, Gillian Tett and Tom Holland, and our fiction publishing continues to go from strength to strength, driven by a new generation of novelists like Kevin Maher and A. D. Miller, who sit alongside global bestsellers like Anita Shreve and Candace Bushnell.

Book information

ISBN: 9780349138916
Publisher: Little, Brown
Imprint: Abacus
Pub date:
DEWEY: 941.085
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: xvi, 286
Weight: 284g
Height: 126mm
Width: 197mm
Spine width: 21mm