The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade

Synopsis

"The Insider" dominated the UK media on publication in March 2005 and instantly became a No.1 bestseller. Not only did it fill thousands of column inches with its revelations about prominent political and showbiz figures, it was critically acclaimed across the broadsheets for its unique and fascinating insight into the worlds of celebrity, royalty, politics and the media. At the record-breaking age of 28, Piers Morgan was made editor of the "News of the World", the UK's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper. The decade that followed was one of the most tumultuous in modern times, a period in which we witnessed the self-implosion of the Tories, the rise of New Labour, the Royal Family brought to its knees by scandal and tragedy, horrific news events like Dunblane, September 11, and the war in Iraq - alongside a seemingly endless supply of fantastically entertaining sport and celebrity gossip. Throughout the period (he later moved to the "Mirror", infamously deciding to take it upmarket and stand alone in making the paper anti-war) he kept detailed diaries of what happened, as it happened - recording encounters and escapades with the key figures involved, from Murdoch to Blair, Diana to the Beckhams. Like Alan Clark and Paul Burrell before him, Piers Morgan will give the wider reading public an unprecedented insight into the workings not only of newspapers, but the inside track on the corridors of power in Britain. Entertaining, engaging and compulsive, "The Insider" has been the most talked-about book of 2005, blowing apart every notion we have about politics, media and celebrity in twenty-first century Britain.