From the very first mouthful, 'Lunch with the FT' was destined to become a permanent fixture in the Financial Times.

One thousand lunches later, the FT's weekly interview has become an institution. From film stars to politicians, tycoons to writers, dissidents to lifestyle gurus, the list reads like an international Who's Who of our times.

Lunch with the FT is a selection of the best: 52 classic interviews conducted in the unforgiving proximity of a restaurant table. From Angela Merkel to Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, Martin Amis to one of the Arab world's most notorious sons, this book brings you right to the table to decide what you think of or world's most powerful players.