Looking for a good paperback

[jumpy]

In the spirit of jacob bronowski (the ascent of man) and various things I've been watching on youtube recently about politics, democracy and the media.
I'm after a decent book with something to think or debate with myself, not just escapist fiction.
Preferably modern history/politics, even better would be something regarding british foreign policy, I've seen a few ideas to research so far, but was wondering what some of you might have to recommend?
Not so much philosophy, but as it pertains to current global economic and political and social events.


Failing that, perhaps some suggestions for astronomy and physics a la 'cosmos' (which is still on my list).

It's essential to be engaging but not in a populist novella way, which is why I said 'in the spirit of' in the first line of this post - that man had a special way of speaking/writing that unfolded some very complex ideas in such a way as to make it seem like he was talking to you personally.

Yer, that's a bit vague, which is why I'm having trouble deciding on where and what to look for.
Oh, and I don't want to spend more than a tenner, preferably less. (you wouldn't believe the price of some of the stuff I've been looking at so far)