The Pimlico Companion To Parliament
Christopher Silvester
  • Published: 1 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9781409019152
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook

The Pimlico Companion To Parliament

A Literary Anthology

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Drawing on the diaries, letters, memoirs and biographies, as well as the journalist tradition of sketch-writing, THE PIMILICO COMPANION TO PARLIAMENT covers all aspects of parliamentary life, from the landmark events of Britain's history to the eating and drinking habits of MPs.

George Canning describes his maiden speech in 1974, Benjamin Disraeli the vote that brought down Sir Robert Peel's administration in 1845. William Jerdan witnesses the assassination of a prime minister, Spencer Percival, in 1812, whilst diaries such as Charles Greville, Harold Nicolson and 'Chips' Channon record their time as MPs. The old refreshment parlour, Bellamy's Kitchen, is described by Charles Dickens, and other visitors include Thomas Carlyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Virginia Woolf and George Orwell. Here also, are writings by leser-known individuals, containing witty, dramatic or moving reflections on an institution whose wealth of history and tradition ia as absorbing as it is unique. 'In the immortal words of Chris Patten, I have been gob-smacked' by thE quality of the book. . . . I can't think of a better book to give to anyone remotely interested in Parliament'. David Mellor EVENING STANDARD. 'Wonderful, nobody who is, was or ever hopes to be an MP, and nobody who has ever been touched by the curious alchemy of the place, can fail to be drawn by Silvester's collection'. Matthew Parris, SUNDAY TIMES
  • Published: 1 June 2011
  • ISBN: 9781409019152
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
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About the author

Christopher Silvester

Christopher Silvester was born in 1959 and educated at Lancing College, Sussex, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read history. From 1983 to 1994 he worked for Private Eye, initially writing the 'New Boys' column, a series of caustic profiles of newly elected MPs, and later specialising in political, legal and media affairs. He has written for several newspapers and magazines, including the Evening Standard, the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent on Sunday, Esquire, GQ and Vanity Fair. He is also the editor of the Penguin Book of Interviews: An Anthology from 1859 to the Present Day and the author of The Pimlico Companion to Parliament.

Praise for The Pimlico Companion To Parliament

Christopher Silvester has produced a quite scintillating anthology..The book is a true labour of love and no praise can be too high for its editor

David Robson, Sunday Telegraph

In the immortal words of Chris Patten, I have been "gob-smacked" by the quality of this book...I can't think of a better book to give to anyone remotely interested in Parliament

David Mellor, Evening Standard

Assembled with style, scholarship and discrimination...a splendid and highly readable anthology

Roy Jenkins, The Times

The publishing industry had up to now inexplicably failed to produce a book like Christopher Silvester's...The unexpected lurks in his erudite preface and 600 resonant pages. He mingles the grave with the gay

David McKie, Guardian

Wonderful...Nobody who is, was, or ever hopes to be an MP should miss this anthology. Nobody who wants to understand the character of our Commons rather than its structure, nobody who wants to know what it feels like to be an MP, and nobody who has ever been touched by the curious alchemy of the place, can fail to be drawn by Silvester's collection

Matthew Parris, Sunday Times
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