Maxwell: The Outsider, Tom Bower (Heinemann). The book that the vile conman tried to ban, which is a profound recommendation in itself

Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing On the Edge, Tom Bower (Harper). The rise and fall of the disgraced media tycoon.

Full Disclosure, Andrew Neil (MacMillan) Brillo tells the stories behind the major headlines of the 80s and 90s, and reveals what life was like at the heart of Murdoch’s empire.

Last of the Hot Metal Men, Derek Jameson (Ebury). The second volume of Jameson’s autobiography covers the 10 years in which he edited three Fleet Street papers, was fired twice and went on to forge a new career on radio and TV.

Will This Do?, Auberon Waugh (Century). The autobiography of a unique and varied life, which included decades working as a journalist for publications as varied as the Daily Telegraph and Private Eye.

Dear Bill, WF Deedes (MacMillan). The legend reflects on a long lifetime in journalism.

The Remarkable Lives of Bill Deedes, Stephen Robinson (Little Brown). The authorised but frank biography of a journalistic legend.

Richard Ingrams: Lord of the Gnomes, Harry Thompson (Mandarin) A rare insight into the complex life on one of my journalistic heroes, the long-serving editor of Private Eye whose influence on British life is vastly under-rated.

Beaverbrook: A Life, Anne Chisholm and Michael Davie (Hutchison). A dry buy comprehensively authoritative biography of one of the giants of the newspaper business.

Strange Place, Questionable People, John Simpson (MacMillan). The first volume of memoirs by the BBC’s world affairs editor.

A Mad World, My Masters: Tales From a Traveller’s Life, John Simpson (MacMillan). The second volume of Simpson’s memoirs.

Newspapermen: Hugh Cudlipp, Cecil Harmsworth and the Glory Days of Fleet Street, Ruth Dudley Edwards (Secker and Warburg). A detailed look at the intertwined careers of the "Barnum and Bailey" of the Street.

The Kindness of Strangers, Kate Adie (Headline). A life on the front line (literally) by the BBC’s former chief news correspondent

Give Me Ten Seconds, John Sergeant (MacMillan). Memories of politics and the BBC by the corporation’s deliciously witty former political correspondent, who was later the political editor of ITN.

Inside Track, Robin Oakley (Bantam). Memoir of a reporter’s career by the former BBC political editor.

Dogs and Lampposts, Richard Stott (Metro). An insider’s irreverent and hilarious view of the booze-fuelled dying days of Fleet Street by the award-winning former Mirror editor.

As It Seemed to Me, John Cole (Weidenfeld and Nicolson). Political memoirs of the former BBC political editor

Veronica Guerin: Dying For the Market, Emily O’Reilly (Vintage). A critical dismantling of the myths built up around a human tragedy that could so easily have been avoided.