Biography: historical, political and military Books
The History Press Ltd Love and War in the WRNS
Book SynopsisSheila Mills’s story is a unique perspective of the Second World War. She is a clever, middle-class Norfolk girl with a yen for adventure and joins the WRNS in 1940 to escape the shackles of secretarial work in London, her unhappy childhood and her social-climbing mother. From a first posting in Scotland in 1940, she progresses through the ranks, first to Egypt and later to a vanquished Germany.Extraordinary and fascinating encounters and personalities are seen through the eyes of a young Wren officer: Admiral Ramsay, the Invasion of Sicily and Operation Mincemeat that triggered it, The Flap, the sinking of the Medway, the surrender of the Italian fleet and the Belsen Trials. These observations are peppered with humorous insights into the humdrum preoccupations of a typical Wren – boys, appearance and having fun, while worrying about home and family.This treasure trove of hundreds of letters, along with scrapbooks and memorabilia, some of which are reproduced here, was discovered in bin liners shortly after Sheila died. Her daughter, Vicky, has pieced together a fascinating and unusual record of the Second World War from a woman’s perspective.
£13.49
The History Press Ltd Queens of the Underworld: A Journey into the
Book Synopsis'This book is an extremely important part of women's social history. Read it!' - Maxine PeakeRobin Hood, Dick Turpin, Ronnie Biggs, the Krays … All have become folk heroes, glamorised and romanticised, even when they killed. But where are their female equivalents? Where are the street robbers, gang leaders, diamond thieves, gold smugglers and bank robbers?Queens of the Underworld reveals the incredible story of female crooks from the seventeenth century to the present. From Moll Cutpurse to the Black Boy Alley Ladies, from jewel thief Emily Lawrence to bandit leader Elsie Carey and burglar Zoe Progl, these were charismatic women at the top of their game. But female criminals have long been dismissed as either not ‘real women’ or not ‘real criminals’, and in the process their stories have been lost.Caitlin Davies unravels the myths, confronts the lies and tracks down modern-day descendants in order to tell the truth about their lives for the first time. Trade ReviewWhat a brilliant piece of research; pieced together with compassion, heart and understanding. Caitlin's book gives voice to women who have been forgotten or have only been seen through a male prism. She wrestles back their stories. This book is an extremely important part of women's social history. Read it! -- Maxine PeakeThis riveting book begins with the surprise of a different "ever after" and goes on to confound expectations, assumptions and stereotypes.In Queens of the Underworld, Caitlin Davies displays that rare talent for history and storytelling without judgment. "Female Crooks" in particular could do with more of this. -- Shami ChakrabartiNeither sentimental nor judgmental, Davies presents these characters as important examples of criminological history.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd Female Secret Agents
Book SynopsisForget the adventure stories of James Bond, Kim Philby, Klaus Fuchs and co. – espionage is not just a boys’ game. As long as there has been conflict, there have been female agents behind the scenes. In Belgium and northern France in 1914–18 there were several thousand women actively working against the Kaiser’s forces occupying their homelands. In the Second World War, women of many nations opposed the Nazis, risking the firing squad or decapitation by axe or guillotine. Yet, many of those women did not have the right to vote for a government or even open a bank account. So why did they do it?Female Secret Agents explores the lives and the motivations of the women of many races and social classes who have risked their lives as secret agents, and celebrates their intelligence, strength and courage.
£999.99
The History Press Ltd James Fitzjames: Commander of HMS Erebus
Book Synopsis‘A riveting detective story … Revelation follows revelation.’ – Benedict Allen, author, explorer and TV presenterJames Fitzjames was a hero of the early nineteenth-century Royal Navy. A charismatic man with a wicked sense of humour, he pursued his naval career with wily determination. When he joined the Franklin Expedition he thought he would make his name; instead the expedition completely disappeared and he never returned. Its fate is one of history’s great unsolved mysteries, as were the origins and background of James Fitzjames – until now.Fitzjames packed a great deal into his thirty-two years, from trips down the Euphrates to fighting with spectacular bravery in Syria and China. But he was not what he seemed. He concealed several secrets, including the scandal of his birth, the source of his influence and his plans for after the Franklin Expedition.In this definitive biography of the captain of HMS Erebus, William Battersby draws extensively on Fitzjames’ personal letters and journals, as well as naval records, to strip away 200 years of misinformation, enabling us to understand for the first time this intriguing man and his significance.Trade ReviewWilliam Battersby’s work is the first to delve with any depth into the life of the third-in-command (of the Franklin Expedition) – James Fitzjames. Through painstaking research Battersby has detailed the life of the ambitious, accomplished and personable young naval officer. -- David WoodmanI commend this intriguing and interesting life of James Fitzjames, captain of HMS Erebus, during her ill-fated Arctic voyage, under Sir John Franklin’s overall command. -- Ann SavoursA riveting detective story that reveals a whole host of compelling details about the nature of nineteenth-century maritime endeavour, and the fated, enigmatic Captain Fitzjames … Revelation follows revelation – a worthy addition to the distinguished literature on the greatest Arctic naval disaster in history. -- Benedict AllenA well-crafted, highly readable biography. -- William Barr * Arctic *
£13.49
The History Press Ltd Kennedy and Great Britain: The Special
Book SynopsisJohn F. Kennedy carried on a lifelong love affair with England and the English. From his speaking style to his tastes in art, architecture, theatre, music and clothes, his personality reflected his deep affinity for a certain kind of idealised Englishness.Setting his work against a backdrop of some of the twentieth century’s most profound events – the Great Depression, the Second World War, the Cold War and its arms race – noted biographer Christopher Sandford tracks Kennedy’s exploits in Great Britain between 1935 and 1963, and looks in depth at the unique way Britain shaped JFK throughout his adult life and how he in turn charmed British society.Trade ReviewAn amazing story discovered and entertainingly told, it gives whole new meaning to [the US’s] Special Relationship with Great Britain. -- James W. Graham, author of Victura: The Kennedys, a Sailboat and the SeaUnion Jack is a fresh and richly researched addition to the body of literature about John F. Kennedy. -- Curtis Wilkie, co-author of The Road to Camelot
£13.49
Andrews UK Limited A Good Year for the Roses
Book Synopsis
£11.39
Batsford Ltd Charles: Prince of Wales
Book SynopsisThe expertly written text offers an insight into the private and public life of the heir to the throne of England, from his early years at Buckingham Palace through to his education at Gordonstoun and Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as his time in the Royal Navy. With a wide range of humanitarian and social interests, Charles is patron to a number of charities and organisations, including The Princes’s Trust, founded in 1976. He has played a central role as father to Princes William and Harry and his devotion and dedication to his mother, Queens Elizabeth II, is outstanding. This beautifully illustrated biography is part of the Pitkin Royal Collection series, celebrating the lives of the British royal family. Other notable titles in this insightful series include Royal Babies, The Queen and Her Family and Queen Elizabeth II.
£7.59
Pallas Athene Publishers Ruskinland: How John Ruskin Shapes our World
Book SynopsisThe Ruskin Society Book of The Year. Who was John Ruskin? What did he achieve - and how? Where is he today? One possible answer: almost everywhere. John Ruskin was the Victorian age's best-known and most controversial intellectual. He was an art critic, a social activist, an early environmentalist; he was also a painter, writer, and a determined tastemaker in the fields of architecture and design. His ideas, which poured from his pen in the second half of the 19th century, sowed the seeds of the modern welfare state, universal state education and healthcare free at the point of delivery. His acute appreciation of natural beauty underpinned the National Trust, while his sensitivity to environmental change, decades before it was considered other than a local phenomenon, fuelled the modern green movement. His violent critique of free market economics, Unto This Last, has a claim to be the most influential political pamphlet ever written. Ruskin laid into the smug champions of Victorian capitalism, prefigured the current debate about inequality, executive pay, ethical business and automation. Gandhi is just one of the many whose lives were changed radically by reading Ruskin, and who went on to change the world. This book, timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of John Ruskin's birth in 2019, will retrace Ruskin's steps, telling his life story and visiting the places and talking to the people who - perhaps unknowingly - were influenced by Ruskin himself or by his profoundly important ideas. What, if anything, do they know about him? How is what they do or think linked to the vivid, difficult but often prophetic pronouncements he made about the way our modern world should look, live, work and think? As important, where - and why - have his ideas been swept away or displaced, sometimes by buildings, developments and practices that Ruskin himself would have abhorred? Part travelogue, part quest, part unconventional biography, this book will attempt to map Ruskinland: a place where, two centuries after John Ruskin's birth, more of us live than we know.Trade Review'A glimpse into a vast and marvellous country' Spectator; 'A thoughtful book on why we need Ruskin now' Financial Times
£17.99
Vintage Publishing Attila The Hun: Barbarian Terror and the Fall of
Book SynopsisAttila the Hun - godless barbarian and near-mythical warrior king - has become a byword for mindless ferocity. His brutal attacks smashed through the frontiers of the Roman empire in a savage wave of death and destruction. His reign of terror shattered an imperial world that had been securely unified by the conquests of Julius Caesar five centuries before. This book goes in search of the real Attila the Hun. For the first time it reveals the history of an astute politician and first-rate military commander who brilliantly exploited the strengths and weaknesses of the Roman empire. We ride with Attila and the Huns from the windswept steppes of Kazakhstan to the opulent city of Constantinople, from the Great Hungarian Plain to the fertile fields of Champagne in France. Challenging our own ideas about barbarians and Romans, imperialism and civilisation, terrorists and superpowers, this is the absorbing story of an extraordinary and complex individual who helped to bring down an empire and forced the map of Europe to be redrawn forever.Trade ReviewChristopher Kelly...gives a fine account of this complex story, unpicking its strands cleanly and persuasively * Literary Review *Learned, fluent and often witty study of the great Hunnish leader...Kelly is ideally qualified to write this account -- Tom Holland * Daily Telegraph *Acute and entertaining biography set against the fall of the Roman Empire * Metro *Gripping * The Times *
£999.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Unofficial History field-Mrshall Sir William Slim
Book SynopsisLike most members of the professional military freemasonry, Slim came to admire "all the soldiers of different races who have fought with me and most of those who have fought against me." Among the most likable of his enemies were the Wazirs of India's Northwest Frontier. In 1920, Slim took part in a retaliatory raid on an obscure village. It was an unusually easy victory over the canny Wazirs, whom the British took by surprise and escaped from with scant loss. Afterwards, in the casual frontier way, the British sent a message to the Wazirs, expressing surprise at the enemy's unusually poor shooting. The Wazirs replied in courtly fashion that their rifles were Short Magazine Lee-Enfields captured in previous fights with the British and that they had failed to sight the guns to accord with a new stock of ammunition. Now, having calculated the adjustment, they would be delighted to demonstrate their bull's-eye accuracy any time the British wanted. "One cannot help feeling," Slim says, "that the fellows who wrote that ought to be on our side." Slim genuinely enjoyed his virtually blood-free skirmishes with such foes as the Turks, the Wazirs and the Italians in 1940 Ethiopia.
£15.30
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Warwick the Kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame
Book SynopsisWarwick the Kingmaker was a fifteenth-century celebrity; a military hero, self-publicist and populist. For twelve years, he was the arbiter of English politics, not hesitating to set up and put down kings. In the dominant strand of recent English historical writing, Warwick is condemned as a man who hindered the development of the modern state, and yet in earlier centuries he was admired as an exemplar of true nobility who defied the centralising tendencies of the crown. A. J. Pollard offers a fresh assessment, to which neither approach is entirely appropriate, of the man whose nickname has become synonymous with power broking.Trade Review"Splendid" - Southern History"No wonder the 'Warwick phenomenon' so facinates A.J.Pollard and analysis its origins, nature and significance provide the central core of his splendidly readable book." - The Ricardian -- Keith Dockray"an illuminating and thought-provoking volume" BBC History Magazine, 1 December 2007 -- Ian Mortimer"...Pollard lucidly and succinctly illuminates many topics, challenges many presumptions, brings out why Warwick mattered, goes far towards explaining his amazing success, and reveals why for two hundred years his reputation stood so high. We are all in his debt." Northern History, 2009Table of ContentsPreface; List of illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part One: Politics; Chapter 1: Premier Earl, 1428-55; Chapter 2: York's Lieutenant, 1455-60; Chapter 3: England's Caesar, 1460-65; Chapter 4: The Third King, 1465-71; Part Two: Power; Chapter 5: Estates and Finances; Chapter 6: Lordship and Loyalty: East Anglia and the West Midlands; Chapter 7: Lordship and Loyalty: the north; Chapter 8: Calais and the Keeping of the Seas; Part Three: Fame; Chapter 9: The Idol of the Multitude; Chapter 10: The Flower of Chivalry; Conclusion; Appendices; Bibliography.
£60.00
New Island Books Face Down: The Disappearance of Thomas
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive account of one of the darkest and mostly forgotten episodes of the Troubles.
£13.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Hitler's Vienna: A Portrait of the Tyrant as a Young Man
What turned Adolf Hitler, a relatively normal and apparently unexceptional young man, into the very personification of evil? To answer this question, acclaimed historian Brigitte Hamann has turned to the critical, formative, years that the young Hitler spent in Vienna. For it was here, behind the glittering curtain of artistic creativity, liberalism and prosperity, that the architect of the Holocaust was born. As a failing, bitter and desperately poor artist, Hitler experienced only the dark underbelly of Vienna, which was seething with fear, racial prejudice, anti-semitism and conservatism. Drawing on previously untapped sources - from personal reminiscences to the records of shelters where Hitler slept - Hamann vividly recreates the dark side of fin de siecle Vienna and paints the fullest and most disturbing portrait of the young Hitler to date - the genesis of the most terrifying dictator the world has ever known.
£24.39
Gill The Loneliest Boy in the World
Book Synopsis* `The Loneliest Boy in the World – he has only seagulls as playmates.’ 1949 newspaper article * Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin had a unique childhood – he was the last child brought up on the Blasket Islands of Ireland’s southwest coast. The nearest in age was his uncle who was thirty years older. In this affectionate memoir, Gearóid recalls growing up on the island without a doctor, priest, school, church or electricity. Despite public perception of this small, vulnerable fishing community, he remembers a wonderful childhood, cherished by parents and neighbours. His memories are entwined with the beliefs and customs handed down through the generations and are an insight into life on the Blaskets. He speaks with authority of the difficulties and challenges facing the final generation on the island. The Blaskets, with their deserted, crumbling cottages, will live on, in part due to the invaluable memories of the last child of the Great Blasket Island. • Also available: From the Great Blasket to America by Michael CarneyTrade Review'Simply written but richly detailed.' * Sunday Times *'Fascinating, touching book.' * The Wild Geese *'Contributes significantly to the existing literature on Blasket living.' * Sunday Independent *'Simply written [ - ] O Cathain's observations of the more ordinary aspects of life are sharp and valuable.' * The Irish Times *'Remarkable.' * The Irish Catholic *
£11.39
The Gresham Publishing Co. Ltd Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander
Book SynopsisVice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson KB (1758 - 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. Admired for his leadership, strategy and tactics, he led many decisive British naval victories, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. Known for his bold actions, and sometimes disobeying his seniors, Nelson was taken into the hearts of the British people. This slightly built, battle-scarred, often vain man, of dubious private life and few known accomplishments beyond his profession, became a legendary figure in British history. When Admiral Horatio Nelson died, people who had never seen him wept because they felt they had lost someone special and irreplaceable. How that came about, this book describes. Nelson helped to capture Corsica and saw the battle of Calvi (where he lost the sight in his right eye). He later lost his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797. Nelson destroyed Napoleon's fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, and thus gained a direct trade route to India. Over the period 1794 to 1805, under Nelson's leadership, the Royal Navy proved its supremacy over the French. Nelson's most famous engagement, at Cape Trafalgar, saved Britain from threat of invasion by Napoleon, but it would be his last. Before the battle on 21 October 1805, Nelson sent out the famous signal to his fleet 'England expects that every man will do his duty'. Killed by a French sniper just a few hours later, while leading the attack on the combined French and Spanish fleet, Nelson's body was preserved in brandy and transported back to England where he was given a state funeral. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral, London.
£7.59
Whittles Publishing A Scottish Blockade Runner in the American Civil
Book SynopsisBorn in 1828 near Kelso in the Scottish Borders, Wyllie went to sea as an apprentice seaman in 1852 and quickly rose through the ranks. By 1862 he had gained his masters certificate in Liverpool, and there he took command of his first vessel, the Bonita. He sailed for Nassau, then a booming port involved in running contraband through the Union blockade of the Confederate States, at that time fighting in the American Civil War. Sailors from Britain rushed to man these vessels as great fortunes could be made if a successful run was made into a Confederate port. On the return journey, two agents of the State of North Carolina, Thomas Crossan and John White, were travelling to Britain on the orders of Governor Zebulon Vance to purchase ships to run the blockade. This set Wyllie's career as a blockade runner on course. White and Crossan arranged the purchase of the Clyde-built paddle steamer Lord Clyde and, just five months after docking in Liverpool as commander of the Bonita, Wyllie took command of the Lord Clyde, renamed the Ad-Vance. He was aboard from the start of the vessel's new career until her capture in September 1864. Two more commands of blockade runners followed; he was captured again and then evaded the American authorities through an ingenious, and at sometimes unbelievable, escape to Scotland. After the war Wyllie continued at sea for another two years before returning to Scotland to settle as a farmer. Unlike some of those who ran the blockade, Wyllie appears not to have come back a wealthy man. For over 30 years he gave numerous popular lectures of his time at sea in aid of local charities and was known locally as 'Captain Wyllie'. The role that Wyllie played during the Civil War is explored in depth and reveals that he was a constant face, and force, in the crew of the steamer with his actions and abilities being greatly appreciated by both crew and owners alike. The most comprehensive history of the Ad-Vance is provided, from the day she left Glasgow until her capture off the Carolina coast. Many fascinating contemporary passenger diaries, personal recollections from crew, letters and telegrams between Wyllie and Governor Vance, official records of the war and newspaper reports are included. In association with Glasgow Museums.
£18.04
Brewin Books Forgotten Brummies: The Men and Women Who Shaped
Book SynopsisPeople make history in the place they call home. This book briefly describes the lives of twenty-nine Brummies, native and adopted, who shaped, influenced and made Birmingham the cosmopolitan city it has become today. In some cases, their impact was not only local, but national or global. Their lives are seen within the context of Birmingham's development from a Middle Age settlement in Deritend to Britain's second city. Virtually all are forgotten or barely known today. They include: John Rogers, martyred for his beliefs; James Brindley, father of the canals; William Hutton, Birmingham's historian; Joseph Priestley, who provoked a four day riot; Thomas Attwood, universal suffrage campaigner; Josiah Mason, big-hearted philanthropist; Peter Stanford, Birmingham's first black minister; Austen Chamberlain, overshadowed Nobel Prize winner and Hilda Lloyd, women's health care pioneer, along with twenty other Forgotten Brummies.
£14.95
Welsh Academic Press Political Chameleon: In Search of George Thomas
Book SynopsisGeorge Thomas, the former Labour Cabinet Minister and Speaker of the House of Commons, was the sycophant supreme of the British political system and arguably the most divisive figure in twentieth-century Welsh politics, whose transformation from a radical young socialist to Viscount Tonypandy, a fervent supporter of Margaret Thatcher and servile courtier to the English Royal Family who was perfectly described by poet Nigel Jenkins as 'The Lord of Lickspit'. Drawing on previously unpublished material from Thomas' vast personal and political archive in the National Library of Wales, and interviews with many who knew him during his career, award-winning journalist Martin Shipton reveals the real George Thomas, the complex character behind the carefully crafted facade of the devout Christian and ultra British-loyalist, and discovers a number of surprising and shocking personae - which have previously been unknown, downplayed or overlooked - of this ultimate Political Chameleon whose political legacy now lies in ruins: The devious draft-dodger during World War Two. The Communist sympathiser controlled by the Soviet Union. The secret Freemason. The self-proclaimed teetotaller who enjoyed alcohol in private. The close acquaintance of a controversial financier. The spiritual sidekick of a Saudi Arabian oil minister. The duplicitous informer for Harold Wilson. The shameless betrayer of the people of Aberfan. The die-hard opponent of devolution with a spiteful antipathy towards the Welsh language. The unscrupulous fixer of Honours and master of patronage. The 'confirmed bachelor' and Methodist lay-preacher who sought the company of 'rent boys'. Martin Shipton also investigates fresh evidence relating to the explosive allegation that Thomas was a child rapist and a predatory sexual abuser of young males. This is the book that his dwindling number of supporters feared and the book his political opponents have been waiting for. Political Chameleon dissects George Thomas chapter by chapter, exposing him as a sanctimonious hypocrite whose religious veneer was a sham.Trade Review'George would have done anything to advance himself. Anything. He was a man of no principle whatsoever'. Gwynoro Jones, Labour MP for Carmarthen 1970-74.Table of ContentsPreface by Gwynoro Jones Introduction 1. The Servile Welshman 2. Mam’s Boy and Left Wing Activist 3. George the Draft Dodger? 4. Backbencher and Communist Fellow Traveller 5. Years of Frustration 6. Junior Minister 7. The Betrayal of Aberfan 8. At the Commonwealth Office 9. Secretary of State for Wales 10. Back in Opposition 11. The Road to the Speaker’s Chair 12. Falling out with Labour 13. Open House 14. Hating Labour 15. Adoring Thatcher 16. George Thomas and Christianity 17. In the House of Lords 18. Final Acts 19. George and Julian 20. Was George Thomas a Sexual Abuser? 21. Freemason 22. Embedded Royalist 23. Patronage 24. Why Understanding George Thomas is Important Afterword
£13.59
Reaktion Books Lenin
Book SynopsisLenin (1870-1924) was the leader of the communist Bolshevik party and founder of the Soviet Union. He was a key revolutionary thinker and a man who, at one time, lived in exile for his political views and survived several assassination attempts. The standard view of Lenin portrays him as a pessimist with a dismissive view of the revolutionary potential of the workers. In Lenin, Lars T. Lih presents a striking new interpretation, revealing that underneath the sharp polemics, Lenin was more a romantic enthusiast than a sour pragmatist, who imposed meaning on the whirlwind of events going on around him: the Russian proletariat were inspired by the prospect of socialism and went on to lead the Russian narod (the peasants in particular) to revolutionary victory. This concise biography of Lenin's life and outlook is based on wide-ranging new research that puts Lenin into the context both of Russian society and of the international socialist movement of the early twentieth century. It also sets the development of Lenin's political outlook firmly within the framework of his family background and private life. Using contemporary photographs, posters and drawings, Lih illustrates the emotional and physical features of Lenin's world. A non-partisan and vivid portrait of a pivotal figure in modern history, Lenin will appeal to scholars and general readers alike.Trade Review'Lars T Lih's short biography is hardly "Why Lenin was right", although it is no less dramatic for that. Lih advances some seldom-heard historical and political arguments in an unassuming, informative way ... This excellent book advises us not to congratulate ourselves on our hindsight.' - Owen Hatherley, The Guardian 'The book is aimed at a general audience. It is well written, accessible, and probably the snappiest book on Lenin in the English language.' - The NEP Era: Soviet Russia 1921-1928 'Any book that rejects the received wisdom that Lenin was intolerant, cruel and tyrannical, thus laying the basis for the inevitable rise of Stalinism, is to be welcomed. As such, Lars T Lih's concise biography of Lenin is a useful addition.' - Socialist Review 'This is an important contribution to our understanding of Lenin ... This slim volume is a welcome contribution to the battle to combat the lies and myths of both the Stalinist tradition and the right wing opponents of Bolshevism. The scholarly research which informs it makes it a valuable addition to anyone's library.' - Socialist Alternative 'Lih's biography is both an excellent introduction to Lenin and a provocative interpretation that will challenge those familiar with his life and work.' - New Socialist, Canada 'Lars T Lih's excellent short biography of Lenin is a welcome addition to the serious socialist literature on classical Marxist history. Although it contains some nuggets from the archives and some references to interesting but lesser known contemporary sources, the book's chief merits are its strongly contextual interpretation of Lenin's life and its readable style.' - Worker's Liberty 'A carefully drawn, subtle yet compelling portrait of a revolutionary. This is probably the best and most reliable treatment we have had on Lenin in many decades, and it will fill a fair gap for scholars, students and the general public.' - Professor Ronald Suny, University of Michigan, author of The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR and the Successor States 'A scholarly, highly accessible book. It uniquely links Lenin to a political project for human liberation ... the best treatment of Lenin and his ideas I have seen in recent years.' - Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College, City University of New York
£12.34
Otago University Press Dumont d'Urville: Explorer & Polymath
Book Synopsis
£28.80
University of Exeter Press Devon Women in Public and Professional Life,
Book SynopsisHighly Commended for the W.G. Hoskins Prize in the Devon History Society Book of the Year awards. This book is one of the first to study the regional role of women in public and professional life, breaking new ground in early twentieth-century local and gender history. Covering politics (Eleanor Acland and Clara Daymond), medicine and education (Dr Mabel Ramsay and Jessie Headridge), and a variety of voluntary organizations (Florence Cecil, Georgiana Buller, Jane Clinton and Sylvia Calmady-Hamlyn), it shows how women worked individually and in collaboration to create new opportunities for women and girls in a large, mainly rural, county far from London and the industrial heartlands of England. These biographical studies are based on original research and reveal the huge public contribution made by these eight women, who up to now have been largely hidden from history. Devon Women in Public and Professional Life, 1900–1950 is a contribution to the history of women in Britain between the wars, a period that has received less attention than the Edwardian era and the two World Wars. It also fills a major gap in the history of Devon women, on which almost nothing has been published, and on Devon in the inter-war period, similarly neglected by historians. It will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of gender history and the history of modern Britain, as well as everyone interested in the history of twentieth-century Devon. Trade Review... an important advance in the recognition of the role of women in political and professional life -- Helen Wilson, Devonshire Association NewsLook no further for a book that demonstrates the importance of local and regional studies in understanding crucial historical themes and issues; or, indeed, one that is so successfully multi-authored. -- Jane Howells, The Local HistorianThe individual women come alive as we hear about their social backgrounds, personal feelings, and motivations as well as their public achievements...Devon Women is an important text that adds to our understanding of the many spheres in which women could make a difference as active citizens in the period after the vote was won. -- June Hannam, Women's History ReviewScholarly, yet eminently accessible (both in terms of style and method of production, it being available on Open Access), this study is an excellent addition to what I hope will yet prove to be a growing corpus of local studies highlighting the individual and collaborative work undertaken by women who were intent on improving the lot of their communities, while engaging so many others in active citizenship. -- Elizabeth Crawford, The Devon Historian...this volume reminds us of the diversity of women's activism, then as now, and reveals the vibrancy of the contemporary women's movement. It is particularly commendable that it should do so through a local study of a largely rural county, far from the capital. -- Anna Muggeridge, Twentieth Century British HistoryThis is a well-written and impressively researched series of essays. -- Mark Egan, Journal of Liberal HistoryThe authors have ably achieved what they set out to do, and the reader's understanding of women's participation in public life is the richer for having read this book. -- Janet Few, Journal of British StudiesTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Acronyms Acknowledgements Introduction – Paul Auchterlonie Chapter 1 Eleanor Margaret Acland (1878–1933) – Mitzi and Paul Auchterlonie Chapter 2 Clara Henrietta Daymond (1873–1957) – Julia Neville Chapter 3 Mabel Lieda Ramsay (1878–1954) – Ann Roberts Chapter 4 Jessie Headridge (1871–1946) – Julia Neville Chapter 5 Florence Gascoyne-Cecil (1863–1944) – Julia Neville and Helen Turnbull Chapter 6 Georgiana Buller (1884–1953) – Julia Neville Chapter 7 Jane Grey Clinton (1863–1953) – Julia Neville and Helen Turnbull Chapter 8 Mary Sylvia Calmady-Hamlyn (1881–1962) – Julia Neville Conclusion Appendix: Voluntary Organizations in Devon Supported by the Subjects of these Biographies Bibliography Index
£56.25
Helion & Company A Rendezvous with the Enemy: My Brother's Life &
Book Synopsis
£16.96
Pushkin Press Magellan
Book SynopsisThe life of the great Portuguese explorer who dared to sail beyond the horizon The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) is one of the most famous navigators in history-he was the first man to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe, although he was killed en route in a battle with natives in the Phillipines. In this biography, Zweig brings to life the Age of Discovery by telling the tale of one of the era's most daring adventurers. In typically flowing and elegant prose he takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery ourselves. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig travelled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok and Fear. In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he moved to London, where he wrote his only novel Beware of Pity. He later moved on to Bath, taking British citizenship after the outbreak of the Second World War. With the fall of France in 1940 Zweig left Britain for New York, before settling in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press.Trade ReviewZweig's readability made him one of the most popular writers of the early twentieth century all over the world, with translations into thirty languages. His lives of Mary Stuart and Marie Antoinette were international bestsellers -- Julie Kavanagh The Economist Intelligent Life Zweig's accumulated historical and cultural studies, whether in essay or monograph form, remain a body of achievement almost too impressive to take in... Full-sized books on Marie-Antoinette, Mary Stuart, and Magellan were international best sellers -- Clive James Cultural Amnesia Stefan Zweig cherished the everyday imperfections and frustrated aspirations of the men and women he analysed with such affection and understanding -- Paul Bailey Times Literary Supplement
£12.34
University of Chester Press The Prime Minister's Son: Stephen Gladstone,
Book Synopsis
£14.99
ACA Publishing Limited Wan Li: Resolute Reformer and Legislator
Book SynopsisWan Li, a Shandong native, operated at the highest level of party and government during his long and illustrious career. Arguably his finest hour was the ground-breaking agricultural reforms he pushed through in the impoverished rural areas of Anhui province. The reforms proved so successful that they were later extended countrywide and legally enshrined in the constitution. As minister of railways in 1975, his claim to fame was getting rid of factionalism among railway workers and leaders, getting the trains to run on time, and reviving railway construction to enable it to facilitate national economic growth.Wan Li: Resolute Reformer and Legislator is illustrated with numerous rare photographs charting the life story of this key figure in 20th-century Chinese politics. Readers will be able to trace the footsteps of this steadfast reformist from a childhood of poverty in Shandong Province to the highest levels of authority within the Chinese Communist Party.
£13.50
Monsoon Books Snow over Surabaya
Book SynopsisNot many British schoolgirls have grown up to become revolutionary heroes of distant, eastern nations but Muriel Stewart Walker did just that. Under a multitude of different names - 'K'tut Tantri' and 'Surabaya Sue' being the best know - she joined in the struggle for Indonesian independence after the Second World War and broadcast its revolutionary message to the world on Rebel Radio. But she did more and smuggled arms, and probably drugs, to help finance the new Republic and experienced bloody battle in the British attack on Surabaya that some have seen as a war crime. She went on to become an intimate of the revolutionary leaders and finally lived to see Indonesia take its place amongst the free nations of the world. Glaswegian 'Surabaya Sue' is virtually unknown in the West and, even in Indonesia, there have always been doubts about her version of events that many have dismissed outright as a blatant mixture of outrageous fantasy and dishonest omissions. Snow over Surabaya happily embraces those doubts and brings a new, spirited account of her adventures in that tempestuous world.
£8.54
Monsoon Books Jeopardy of Every Wind: The biography of Captain
Book SynopsisCaptain Thomas Bowrey gained renown in numerous fields. He would publish the first ever Malay-English dictionary; he was involved in the African slave trade to India and he collaborated with Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, in the founding of the South Sea Company.
£8.54
Birlinn General The Man Who Gave Away His Island: A Life of John
Book SynopsisIn 1938 John Lorne Campbell bought the Hebridean isle of Canna. He wanted to prevent it becoming a rich man's playground (like so many other islands and Highland estates), to preserve a part of traditional Gaelic culture and show that efficient farming methods could be compatible with wildlife conservation and sustainability. But his determination to get the island left him burdened by debt, and even after he gave it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1981 he still had to fight to secure his legacy. This acclaimed book is an insightful and human portrait of one of the twentieth century's most significant scholars of the Gaelic world, and of his 60-year partnership with Margaret Fay Shaw, who together created the world-famous library of Gaelic song and other material at Canna House.Trade Review'A delightful read following the story of the Hebridean island of Canna' * Scots Magazine *
£9.99
Jacaranda Books Art Music Ltd A Circle of Five
Book SynopsisOn a misty Monday-21st June 1948-the MV Empire Windrush sailed up the Thames and anchored at Tilbury Dock, London. There were a total of 1027 passengers on board with 802 passengers from British Colonies in the West Indies. Of these individuals, 539 were from Jamaica. The infamous images of the passengers walking down the gangplank the next morning would be the moment the Windrush Generation was born.A Circle of Five reflects on the stories of the three hundred thousand or so making the same journey between 1948 and 1971 by showcasing the voices of five Jamaican women, Evelyn, Emma, Irene, Ivy, and Melissa. Each woman tells their own story, all beginning in early 1930's rural Jamaica and spanning some eighty years. Through these women, the experiences of the Windrush Generation come alive, honouring this vital period in British history.
£10.42
Scribe Publications Hiding in Plain Sight: how a Jewish girl survived
Book SynopsisAn extraordinary story about a Jewish woman who pretended to be Catholic to survive the Holocaust. Catholics believed she was one of them. A devoted Nazi family took her in. She fell in love with a German engineer who built aeroplanes for the Luftwaffe. But no one knew that Mala Rivka Kizel had been born into a large Orthodox Jewish family. She survived World War II using her charm, intelligence, blonde hair, and blue eyes to assume different identities. Journalist Pieter van Os retraces Mala’s footsteps through Europe to uncover her extraordinary journey and the stories of those who helped her. This poignant, rich book is an engrossing meditation on what drives us to fear the Other, and what in turn might allow us to feel compassion for them.Trade Review‘In almost every sentence, van Os compels admiration with his elegant prose, demonstrating his erudition but never showing off or taking away from the gravity of the subject matter … Hiding in Plain Sight is more than a survival narrative. It is a history of Eastern European mentality.’ * de Volkskrant *‘I couldn’t stop reading. A stunning book.’ -- Geert Mak, author of In Europe‘Based on the survival story of one woman, van Os wrote a poignant and disconcerting book about the terrible fate of the Jews, and at the same time about current obsessions with national character and identity.’ -- Judges’ comments from the Libris History Prize‘You rarely see a journalistic book of this narrative-literary level. A unique book that reveals every page how much careful research and great writing power lies behind it … Van Os shows the value of dwelling longer on a side path or a detail. In this way he knows how to paint a broad and multicoloured image of the blackest pages of recent European history. You are reading this book in one breath.’ -- Judges' comments from the Brusse Prize for Best Dutch-language Journalistic Book‘Hiding in Plain Sight is an utterly immersive book, bringing readers into lives and places and communities, into their loss and (re)building. It is a hard book to read. As it should be.’ -- Jordana Silverstein * The Conversation *‘Hiding in Plain Sight is, at times, a detective story and at others, a poignant reminder that there were good people who helped, and others who lied to survive, remembering each step of the way that lying, and in turn surviving, was the best revenge of all.’ -- Jessica Abelsohn * Australian Jewish News *‘Hiding in Plain Sight [is] a meticulous, engaging, and thoughtful book.’ -- Yelena Furman * Foreword Reviews *‘Journalist van Os delivers an intense and intriguing portrait of Holocaust survivor Mala Shlafer née Kizel (1926–2021), a Polish Jew who survived the Nazis by passing as an ethnic German Catholic …The result is an immersive study of survival.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Brings a different take to the well-worn genre of WW2 literature.’ * DutchNews.nl *
£10.44
Unicorn Publishing Group Churchill’s Legionnaire Edmund Murray
Book SynopsisIn 1937 aged just 19, Edmund Murray left his family and a comfortable job in London, caught the boat train to France and signed up for the minimum of five years’ service with the French Foreign Legion. Armed with little more than school-boy French and a desire for a life of adventure, Murray travelled through France and on to the Legion’s headquarters in Algeria where he completed a gruelling three-month basic training programme. He went on to serve in Morocco and Indochina (now Vietnam) where towards the end of the War, his regiment were forced to retreat from invading Japanese forces into China where his service ended after eight years as a Legionnaire. Throughout the Second World War, Murray’s overwhelming sense of duty compelled him to try to leave the Legion and join the Allied forces, but he was thwarted at every attempt. He was an Englishman, in a French organisation, by definition a home for ‘the men with no names’, during a time of global conflict where battle lines and countries’ boundaries changed almost daily. He was an anomaly, a diplomatic puzzle. But as such, his was an extraordinary war-time experience. This book, which borrows heavily from Murray’s earlier book, Churchill’s Bodyguard, includes rare personal insights into Legion life from drills and manoeuvres, to feast-days and festivals as well as accounts of friendships forged in exceptional circumstances and which would last a lifetime. It also documents a unique war-time experience of the man whose sense of duty never faltered and led him, in later life, to become bodyguard to Sir Winston Churchill. Edited by his son Bill Murray, this is the story in his own words of Edmund Murray, Churchill’s Legionnaire, and his service in the French Foreign Legion from 1937 to 1945.Trade Review"A quite entertaining adventure story." * Winston Churchill Blog *
£13.49
Unicorn Publishing Group Constance Villiers Stuart in Pursuit of Paradise
Book SynopsisIn 1903, after a fire completely destroyed her family home in Norfolk, UK, the 27- year-old Constance helped her mother redesign their house and recreate the garden. It was an experience from which she never looked back, going on to become an internationally recognised garden expert and connoisseur. A rich woman herself, she was attracted to the most spectacular and extravagant gardens in the world. From Shalimar Bagh, Lahore, to Nishat Bagh, Srinagar, to La Granja near Madrid, Constance earned her reputation studying Mughal and Moorish gardens as well as those in Great Britain, France, Italy and northern Europe. Between 1910 and 1955 she wrote about them, painted and photographed them and lectured on them. She produced two successful illustrated books, and numerous articles for magazines, including Country Life, Vogue, The Burlington Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and The Times. When she died in 1966, she left paintings, photographs, diaries, press cuttings and scrapbooks to her grandchildren. It is upon this fascinating and hitherto unseen archive of memorabilia that Constance Villiers Stuart: In Pursuit of Paradise is based.
£24.00
Ozaru Books Thanet to Tasmania
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£23.74
For Beginners Malcolm X for Beginners Malcom X for Beginners
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£12.34
For Beginners Paul Robeson for Beginners
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£13.29
Fortis Challenges: Leadership In Two Wars, Washington
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£16.10
Atkins & Greenspan Writing Let the Future Begin
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£14.99
Dzanc Books As You Were
Book Synopsis"A book that alternates between grim reality and ribald humor. The hard hits come fast. ... An incandescent addition to both Native American letters and the literature of the Iraq and Afghan wars." -Kirkus starred review When he learns his father is dying, David Tromblay ponders what will become of the monster’s legacy and picks up a pen to set the story straight. In sharp and unflinching prose, he recounts his childhood bouncing between his father, who wrestles with anger, alcoholism, and a traumatic brain injury; his grandmother, who survived Indian boarding schools but mistook the corporal punishment she endured for proper child-rearing; and his mother, a part-time waitress, dancer, and locksmith, who hides from David’s father in church basements and the folded-down back seat of her car until winter forces her to abandon her son on his grandmother’s doorstep. For twelve years, he is beaten, burned, humiliated, locked in closets, lied to, molested, seen and not heard, until his talent for brutal violence meets and exceeds his father’s, granting him an escape. Years later, David confronts the compounded traumas of his childhood, searching for the domino that fell and forced his family into the cycle of brutality and denial of their own identity.Trade Review"A book that alternates between grim reality and ribald humor. The hard hits come fast. ... An incandescent addition to both Native American letters and the literature of the Iraq and Afghan wars." -Kirkus starred review "As You Were flows on a stream of consciousness, between childhood and adulthood, from the image of the author with a gun in his mouth back to the past experiences that would make him want to pull the trigger. ... Some books you read with a sense of wonder that the author survived to write them. Some books, by their very existence, suggest that writing can save your life. This is one of those books." -Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Ugly, sad, tragic, and painfully funny. As You Were is how brutal and beautiful the truth is when it turns on you.” —BULL: Men’s Magazine "Sit down into the passenger seat and don't worry about that sound coming from under the hood, or that shudder in the front end, or the rust under your feet. Just let David Tromblay's voice carry you, and close your eyes to listen if you want—he's got the wheel, he knows where this is going." —Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians “In As You Were, David Tromblay stretches terrible sinew between the bones of wars fought with guns and fists and language—in the name of Country and love and family—in the home, on foreign land, and in the mind itself. This voice shirks at nothing. This voice tells the truth. This voice will ring in your head long after the final page.” —Terese Mailhot, author of Heart Berries: A Memoir "As You Were navigates a dark childhood and time served as both a sailor and soldier during our wars for oil with humor, grace and tight, gritty prose. Every chapter’s end left me turning the page fast—either teary-eyed or laughing but always holding my breath. I could not put it down." —Toni Jensen, author of Carry "There is something both deep-reaching and visceral in the way this memoir ignites the readers; Tromblay’s memories read like we’re the ones re-experiencing our own repressed incidents. And he lets them come from anywhere, like shrapnel, waking us up to the true state of our collective American soul." —Ismet Prcic, author of Shards
£999.99
Rand-Smith LLC My Life With Helen: The Dean of the White House
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£16.27
Fideli Publishing Inc. Ralph
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£15.99
Books on Demand Vie de Napoléon: La biographie inachevée de
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£18.90
Column House Divided Affections: The Extraordinary Life of
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£26.09
Vero Verlag Richard Wagner - Eine Biografie
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£39.38
Grols Verlag Magellan: Der Mann und seine Tat - Gebundene
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£999.99
1 Tarzan de Castro: Vida, Lutas E Sonhos
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£10.16
Alpha Edition The Life Of Captain Sir Richd F. Burton (Volume
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£15.73
Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd Gandhi’s Travels in Tamil Nadu
Book SynopsisThe volume also underscores the vital contribution of the Tamil people to the Indian freedom struggle, and draws our attention to the many Tamilian heirs to the Gandhian legacy who continued his work well after him.
£999.99
Double 9 Booksllp The Day's Work
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£15.29
