In an age of colourless bureaucrats, Nigel Farage is a politician you are unable to ignore, provoking controversy and admiration in equal measure. What cannot be denied is the effect he has had on British and European politics. A fun-loving iconoclast whose motto is work hard and play harderA", Farage's charismatic leadership and determination to battle the forces of anti-libertarianism have made him a Robin Hood figure to many, and propelled his party, UKIP, into a position of real power in the country. Told with Farage's customary wit and humour, Fighting Bull is a thoroughly engaging look at an extraordinary life, including the spills - a near fatal car accident and surviving testicular cancer - and the thrills - a boisterous boyhood in London and a career as a City trader, to battling bureaucracy in Europe and defending the nation's hard-won freedoms against erosion from without and within. His account of his journey into the Brussels labyrinth is compelling. The book tells of loyalty and treachery in his own ranks and of his struggle to overcome media preconceptions. It features sometimes hilarious and often terrifying encounters with a stellar supporting cast, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jose Manuel Barroso, and UKIP's short-lived, silver-gilt mascot - Robert Kilroy-Silk. In September 2009 Nigel Farage announced he would stand against John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, in his Buckingham constituency in the next election, despite a modern convention that the speaker is not challenged for re-election. Fighting Bull is a candid, colourful life story by a fascinating and controversial character. It also shows that one fearless, determined individual can still make a difference.

This book is a study of the formulation of British policy towards the American colonies during the crucial period between the Boston Tea Party of December 1773 and the American Declaration of Independence in July 1776. It is set against the background both of British public opinion and of the developing resistance movement in America. Thomas examines the constraints on British policy-making, and analyses the failure of the colonists either to respond to British overtures or to produce positive proposals of their own. He shows how the crisis escalated as the Americans moved from constitutional demands to a military response, and finally took the decision to separate from Britain.