This is the authoritative December 2008 Edition of Charles Arnold-Baker's monumental one volume encyclopaedia. There is nothing quite like it, written by the single hand of its remarkable author, in his fluid, economic and elegant style, which conveys far more information than you would expect, even from a book of 1,425 pages.

The Companion has the unique distinction of drawing the highest praise from critics of all political persuasions and none; have a look at the reviews and comments appearing in the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, The Times Literary Supplement, History Today and others which you can find by clicking the buttons to the right of this page.

To give you an idea of the scope of his work, broad, deep and interesting, never trite, look at the short sample entries by using the buttons at bottom right. Many of the longer ones are masterpieces, such the  entry on Churchill whose 47 paragraphs constitute as fine an essay on the subject as you will find.

This book is for anyone with a taste for the history of the British peoples, and practically essential for anyone studying the subject. "Bigger than a foundation stone, longer than the Bible" (as the Daily Telegraph put it), or, as we would say, longer than the complete works of Jane Austen, it is a modestly priced hardback.