Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors

50 Places That Changed British Politics

De: Matt Chorley

Narrado por: Matt Chorley

‘’F *** ing brilliant. I would describe it as like a bag of political nuts – moreish and fabulously salty’ JOE LYCETT

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors is an entertaining and original romp through the highs and lows of British political history and the unlikely locations that have decided our national fate.

Forget Westminster bust-ups and PMQs, some of the key events that have shaped modern British politics happened not in the cloisters of parliament or Downing Street’s many corridors of power, but in car parks, village halls and seaside resorts where the mundane have played host to the mighty. From Pitt the Younger’s Putney Heath duel to finding Margaret Thatcher a voice coach on a train, Harold Wilson’s ‘Scilly’ season holidays to John Major’s dental appointment clearing his path to No10 – these (and many more) are the places where chance meetings, untimely deaths and snap, sometimes daft, decisions changed the course of politics.

Matt Chorley has spent almost two decades covering Westminster, interviewing prime ministers, mocking ministers and chronicling the serious, and sometimes unintentionally absurd, events which act as unlikely turning points in the direction of a nation. Illustrated by award-winning political cartoonist Morten Morland, Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors combines Matt’s insider-knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research with his background in comedy to create an hilarious history of how politics actually happens.

©2023 Matt Chorley (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

A humorous adventure

As a Yankee, I enjoyed this humorous look at the political history of the United Kingdom. If you want an enjoyable quick listen this is the book.

Enjoyed an inside look at UK politics

It was a good inside look at UK politics through interesting places and eras. Would recommend it

The stories behind the news

Presenter of The Times essential podcast Politics Without The Boring Bits, Matt Chorley is passionate about politics. His passion and enthusiasm shines brightly as he reads from his own book.

Pulling 50 different stories from a quarter of a millennium of political history, Matt takes you on a whistle stop tour of many famous and obscure locations of political interest.

From 1773 through to 2022 Matt delivers fascinating insights into the stories behind the news stories of the day. These are stories filled with laughter, tears, hubris, haplessness, and happenstance.

As a Brit who now lives in the US some of the stories here are more familiar than others, but I found them all interesting.

Highly recommended for lovers of all things British or all things political.