{"product_id":"spanish-ambassadors-suitcase","title":"Spanish Ambassadors Suitcase","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Spanish Ambassador''s Suitcase\u003c\/i\u003e is a hilarious new collection of diplomatic tales by Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eHeard the one about the Spanish Ambassador who arrived in the scorching Saharan desert fully suited and with a mysteriously enormous suitcase? Or the horse they gave Prime Minister John Major in Turkmenistan - which hapless embassy officials had to rescue from the clutches of the Moscow railway? These and other ''funnies'', as they are known in Whitehall, are included in Matthew Parris and and Andrew Bryson''s glorious new volume of not so diplomatic writing, which accompanies a new BBC Radio 4 series is a follow up to their acclaimed collection of ambassadors'' final despatches, \u003ci\u003eParting Shots.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawn from Freedom of Information requests and previously overlooked Valedictories these startling despatches throw a revealing light on how the British have viewed the world - and, unwittingly perhaps, on how the world has viewed the British.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for\u003ci\u003e Parting Shots:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e''Parting Shots\u003c\/i\u003e is unbuttoned, indiscreet and very funny'' \u003ci\u003eYorkshire Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Fascinating, if sometimes uncomfortable, reading'' \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Very funny'' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter working in the Foreign Office then serving as a Conservative MP, Matthew Parris joined \u003ci\u003eThe Times \u003c\/i\u003ein 1988. He writes two weekly columns for \u003ci\u003eThe Times \u003c\/i\u003eand one for the\u003ci\u003e Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e, and in 2011 won the Best Columnist Award at the British Press awards. His acclaimed autobiography \u003ci\u003eChance Witness\u003c\/i\u003e was published by Penguin in 2003. He is a frequent broadcaster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC''s Business and Economic Unit. He frequently works as a producer on Radio 4''s \u003ci\u003eToday \u003c\/i\u003eprogramme and on Radio 5 Live.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57319358857598,"sku":"NW9780241957080","price":11.67,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780241957080.jpg?v=1778727572","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/spanish-ambassadors-suitcase","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}