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John Simpson Book order






- 2023
- 2022
The Grape Vine, its Propagation and Culture
- 104 pages
- 4 hours of reading
- 2021
Change of Course
- 286 pages
- 11 hours of reading
The mysterious death of James Lodge on a mine road three decades ago resurfaces when Sophie Addison arrives, prompting questions that have long been ignored. Her unexpected interest raises suspicions about the events surrounding his death and why no one has sought answers until now. As Sophie delves into the past, the buried truths and hidden motives of those involved begin to unravel, revealing a complex web of secrets that could change everything.
- 2021
Our Friends in Beijing
- 384 pages
- 14 hours of reading
Jon Swift is in trouble. His journalism career is in freefall. He's too old to be part of the new world order and he's never learned to suck up to those in charge. But experience has taught him to trust his instincts. When, for the first time in years, Jon runs into Lin Lifeng in a café in Oxford he wonders if the meeting is a coincidence. When Lin asks him to pass on a coded message, he knows it's not. Travelling to Beijing, Jon starts to follow a tangled web in which it is hard to know who he can trust. Under the watchful eyes of an international network of spies, double-agents and politicians, all with a ruthless desire for power, Jon is in a high-stakes race to expose the truth, before it's too late. About the Author John Simpson has been the BBC's World Affairs Editor for more than half his fifty-two year career. In his time with the BBC, he has reported on major events all over the world, and was made a CBE in the Gulf War honours list in 1991. He has twice been the Royal Television Society's Journalist of the Year, and has won three BAFTAs, a News and Current Affairs award and an Emmy. He lives in Oxford.
- 2011
The book offers a compelling analysis of the British press's role in shaping public perception during pivotal historical events. Through the lens of one of the era's foremost reporters, it provides an insightful and often opinionated critique of media practices, highlighting the influence of journalism on society and politics. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how the press has both reflected and shaped national narratives throughout history.
- 2010
"It’s a shame that so many very apt words fall out of common use over time, like “blobber-lippd,” which means having lips that are very thick, hanging down, or turning over; and “chounter”, which is to talk pertly, and sometimes angrily. Both words can be found in The First English Dictionary of Slang, originally published in 1699 as A New Dictionary of Terms, Ancient and Modern, of the Canting Crew by B. E. Gentleman. Though a number of early texts, beginning in the sixteenth century, codified forms of cant—the slang language of the criminal underworld—in word lists which appeared as appendices or parts of larger volumes, the dictionary of 1699 was the first work dedicated to slang words and their meanings. It aimed to educate the more polite classes in the language and, consequently, the methods of thieves and vagabonds, protecting the innocent from cant speakers and their activities... Reproduced here with an introduction by John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, describing the history and culture of canting in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the evolution of English slang, this is a fascinating volume for all who marvel at words and may wish to reclaim a few—say, to dabble in the parlance of a seventeenth-century sailor one day and that of a vagabond the next."--Publisher description
- 2008
A mad world, my masters : tales from a traveller's life
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
There are only a handful of places left on this earth where you can't buy a McDonald's hamburger or stay in a Holiday Inn - and John Simpson has been to them all. This hugely successful volume of writing is a celebration of some of the world's wilder places. His extraordinary experiences include stories about a television camera that killed people, about how Colonel Gadhaffi farted his way through an interview and how he - Simpson - mooned the Queen. 'Highly entertaining' The Times 'What amazing tales he has to tell, and with what enthralling vividness . . . Riveting' Daily Mail 'The range of his travels is staggering . . . Never less than entertaining, sometimes moving and often funny' Sunday Telegraph
- 2008
Not Quite World's End
- 496 pages
- 18 hours of reading
John Simpson offers a lively look at the challenges and changes the world has gone through in his life and long career. He looks at the world's troubles - the Middle East, global warming, population explosion - and takes the perhaps surprising view that it's actually not nor will be the end of the world.
- 2006
The memoir captures John Simpson's childhood experiences while offering a rich depiction of Britain in the 1940s. Through personal anecdotes, he explores themes of family, resilience, and the societal changes of the era, providing readers with an intimate look at his formative years against the backdrop of post-war Britain.
- 2003
News from no man's land : reporting the world
- 480 pages
- 17 hours of reading
Packed with incident and anecdote, this is vintage Simpson and gives readers a unique insight into the way a journalist follows a story, even when the odds are stacked against them.





