Stephen Bates Books

Rincon Point is renowned as the Queen of the Coast, one of the premier surfing spots in the world, but that is only a fragment of its rich history. Before the arrival of Europeans, it was a Chumash village called Shuku. In the 19th century, it was part of Rancho El Rincon, whose owners included a rich but illiterate Californio rancher, an English physician who made house calls by bicycle, and a Chilean pharmacist who dispensed drugs out of an old ship's cabin. It was the site of a scandalous love-triangle murder in the 1870s, a rickety highway on stilts in the 1910s, and a raunchy honky-tonk in the 1920s. Banditos, nudists, movie stars, long-boarders--they have all shaped Rincon Point, a place immortalized by novelists, poets, painters, photographers, and the Beach Boys.

The journey of a teenage boy and his grandfather across America to the 1938 Gettysburg reunion of Civil War veterans uncovers profound revelations. As they travel, the grandson learns that his grandfather may not be the hero he believed him to be, exposing hidden secrets and lies from the old man's past. Despite this, the grandfather possesses a valuable treasure that promises to illuminate both the war and his personal experiences within it.

In 1943, Time Inc. editor-in-chief Henry R. Luce sponsored the greatest collaboration of intellectuals in the twentieth century. He and University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins summoned the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, the Pulitzer-winning poet Archibald MacLeish, and ten other preeminent thinkers to join the Commission on Freedom of the Press. They spent three years wrestling with subjects that are as pertinent as ever: partisan media and distorted news, activists who silence rather than rebut their opponents, conspiracy theories spread by shadowy groups, and the survivability of American democracy in a post-truth age. The report that emerged, A Free and Responsible Press, is a classic, but many of the commission’s sharpest insights never made it into print. Journalist and First Amendment scholar Stephen Bates reveals how these towering intellects debated some of the most vital questions of their time—and reached conclusions urgently relevant today.

A gripping account of the murders committed by Dr William Palmer, the 'Prince of Poisoners', and his dramatic trial

'a superb account of how the Firm (Windsors rather than Krays) became Britain's best-known brand' Books of the Year 2015

"Amidst the turbulence and invasions, upheaval and dissent that characterise British history, one thing has remained remarkably stable. Although there are other monarchies, Britain's Crown stands out due to the continuity of its traditions, and its ability to adapt. There's a reason why schoolchildren still learn about the Kings and Queens: it's their power struggles and subtle compromises that have shaped the nation we inhabit today. When members of the Royal family go on 'walkabouts', they do so because monarchs stretching back to King Alfred understood the need to be seen by their subjects, and the dire consequences of remaining aloof (or abroad). When they give interviews, or accept taxes, they do so as part of a long series of engagements with other, almost-equally powerful operators: Church, Parliament, the nobility and in modern times, the media. In this sprightly commentary on the Crown's 1,800-year-long story, Stephen Bates provides a dazzling insight into Royal custom and ritual, whilst depicting the individuals behind the myth with compassion and wit. And as our ageing Queen prepares to pass the baton, he asks us all to consider: could we ever do without the Crown?"--Publisher's website

1815 was the year of Waterloo, the British victory that ended Napoleon's European ambitions and ushered in a century of peace for Britain. But what sort of country were Wellington's troops fighting for? And what kind of society did they return to? Overseas, the bounds of Empire were expanding; at home the population endured the chill of economic recession. As Jane Austen busied herself with the writing of Emma, John Nash designed Regent Street and Lord's cricket ground held its first match in St John's Wood, a nervous government infiltrated dissident political movements and resorted to repressive legislation to curb free speech. Interweaving first-hand accounts of personal experiences with the major trends and events of a momentous twelve months, 1815 offers a richly engrossing picture of a year that resonates to a surprising degree with the Britain of today.

In this new controversial book, Stephen Bates, the Guardian's religious affairs correspondent, investigates the influence of religion on US politics. How has it come to play such an important role and how it will affect the future of the world's superpower as momentum grows to elect a new president?

A kaleidoscopic picture of Britain in 1846, a nation on the brink of economic and social change as the Industrial Revolution deepened its impact.

A brilliant narrative investigation into the 1920s case that inspired Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham