High Society

The instant Sunday Times bestseller and critics' pick of the best biographies and memoirs published in 2025<BR><BR>'What Have I Done? snaps, crackles and pops with wit, bravado and glorious Ben-ness. A triumph' - Stephen Fry<BR><BR>'A big life chronicled by truly the Upstart Crow of our generation' - Dawn French<BR>Ben Elton has done everything and worked with everybody. Now, in this frank, forthright, and hugely entertaining book, he tells the whole story.<BR><BR>Discover the truth behind iconic hits like The Young Ones, Blackadder, and We Will Rock You. Relive the pioneering stand-up of Saturday Live that birthed a comedy revolution. From being the BBC's youngest-ever sitcom writer to his most recent, critically acclaimed stand-up tour, Ben reveals unique insights into his groundbreaking work.<BR><BR>He talks honestly about his relationships with brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, and occasional foes. His life off-screen has been just as challenging and funny as it has been on, and he unpacks it all with wit, insight, and of course, a 'little bit of politics'.<BR><BR>For decades, Ben's been making people laugh, think, and getting on plenty of wicks - these are the uncensored stories.<BR><BR>'Funny and fascinating, it's a story of triumph and disaster and is the closest you'll get to understanding where great comedy comes from' - David Mitchell<BR><BR>'Bloody marvellous' - Jo Brand<BR><BR>* The instant Sunday Times bestseller, as of the week ending 11/10/2025.<BR>

It's the 1st of June 1914 and Hugh Stanton, ex-soldier and celebrated adventurer is quite literally the loneliest man on earth. No one he has ever known or loved has been born yet. Perhaps now they never will be.<BR><BR>Stanton knows that a great and terrible war is coming. A collective suicidal madness that will destroy European civilization and bring misery to millions in the century to come. He knows this because, for him, that century is already history.<BR><BR>Somehow he must change that history. He must prevent the war. A war that will begin with a single bullet. But can a single bullet truly corrupt an entire century? <BR><BR>And, if so, could another single bullet save it?

It's two fifteen a.m., you're in bed alone and you're woken by the phone.<BR><BR>Your eyes are wide and your body tense before it has completed so much as a single ring. And as you wake, in the tiny moment between sleep and consciousness, you know already that something is wrong.<BR><BR>Only someone bad would call at such an hour. Or someone good, but with bad news, which would probably be worse.<BR><BR>You lie there in the darkness and wait for the answer machine to kick in. Your own voice sounds strange as it tells you that nobody is there but that a message can be left.<BR><BR>You feel your heart beat. You listen. And then you hear the one voice in the world you least expect . . . your very own Blast From the Past.

The war on drugs has been lost, but afraid to face that fact, the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime, and this story takes us through the landscape it has created.

Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder.<BR><BR>Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.<BR><BR>Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle?<BR><BR>As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes evermore blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth.

For amiable City trader Jimmy Corby money was the new Rock n' Roll. His whole life was a party, adrenalin charged and cocaine fuelled. If he hadn't met Monica he would probably have ended up either dead or in rehab.<BR><BR>But Jimmy was as lucky in love as he was at betting on dodgy derivatives, so instead of burning out, his star just burned brighter than ever. Rich, pampered and successful, Jimmy, Monica and their friends lived the dream, bringing up their children with an army of domestic helps.<BR><BR>But then it all came crashing down. And when the global financial crisis hit, Jimmy discovers that anyone can handle success. It's how you handle failure that really matters.