Arena of Ambition: A History of The Cambridge Union

Stephen Parkinson, Lent Term President in 2004, charts the history of the Union from its nineteenth-century origins, through the turbulent war years and into the new millennium.

With a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales and recollections by a series of ex-Presidents including Douglas Hurd, Michael Howard, Norman Lamont, Arianna Huffington, and Peter Bazalgette.

A hugely impressive history of the Cambridge Union; scholarly, nuanced and well written, with a perceptible fondness for the institution ... this fine book will amuse and instruct Andrew Roberts

At Cambridge you worshipped, you reviled or you ignored the Union - or it scared you (and me) witless. But you never learned about its origins and history. Stephen Parkinson has done this for us, producing a book that's informative and respectful without being fawning or pompous. It's a good read, as well as good history. Matthew Parris