Biography: historical, political and military Books

Book SynopsisCleopatra Selene, daughter of Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Mark Antony, was the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty to survive after her parents were defeated by the future Roman emperor Augustus at the Battle of Actium. Paraded as a prisoner in a Roman triumph, then brought up in the household of Augustus’ sister Octavia, she would marry a North African prince, becoming co-ruler of the Roman client-state of Mauretania. Jane Draycott recreates the life and times of a woman who became a powerful ruler in her own right at a time when most women were marginalised, and whose remarkable life shines new and revelatory light on Roman politics, society and culture in the early years of the Empire.Trade ReviewAnyone who wants to learn more about [an] underappreciated female ruler should read this book * All About History *Draycott brings to life the little-known story of an intelligent, powerful woman of mixed Macedonian, Roman, and Egyptian heritage making her own way in exciting historical times -- Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient WorldA vibrant and fascinating portrait of a great woman who deserves her place in the pantheon of Roman queens -- Emma Southon, author of Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman WorldFascinating! Full of fabulous facts about ancient Rome, Egypt and North Africa. I loved all the details of life in Cleopatra's world supported by a feast of visual and literary references -- Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman MysteriesJane Draycott has written an excellent account of Cleopatra's daughter – princess, captive, and queen. In Draycott's capable hands, the archaeological evidence tells half the tale, and it is intriguing. Here, Cleopatra Selene finally attains her rightful place in history -- Barry Strauss, Cornell University, author of The War that Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at ActiumIt is extraordinary that such a story has remained untold for so long. The historian and archaeologist Jane Draycott has masterfully pieced together a rich range of literary and artistic sources to create this immensely readable account of a great queen, Egyptian and Roman, who wielded power at a time when women were largely marginalised. * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisThe career of William Marshal (1146/7-12), who rose from being the penniless, landless younger son of a middle-ranking nobleman to be regent of England in the minority of Henry III, is one of the most extraordinary stories of theMiddle Ages. His biography was completed shortly after his death by a household minstrel and we are fortunate that it survives to give a unique portrait of a twelfth-century knight's life in the early days of tournaments and chivalry as well as his career in warfare and politics.Trade ReviewThis book deserves to become a classic and to find its way into many a university course syllabus and into many a bookcase. * FRANCIA *Table of ContentsIntroduction The History of William Marshal Glossary

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Book SynopsisFamed as the ultimate penalty for traitors, heretics and royalty alike, being sent to the Tower is known to have been experienced by no less than 8,000 unfortunate souls. Many of those who were imprisoned in the Tower never returned to civilisation and those who did, often did so without their head! It is hardly surprising that the Tower has earned itself a reputation among the most infamous buildings on the planet. There have, of course, been other towers. Practically every castle ever built has consisted of at least one; indeed, even by the late 14th century, the Tower proudly boasted no less than 21. Yet even as early as the 1100s, the effect that the first Tower had on the psyche of the local population was considerable. The sight of the dark four-pointed citadel - at the time the largest building in London - as it appeared against the backdrop of the expanding city gave rise to many legends, ranging from the exact circumstances of its creation to what went on within its strong walls. In ten centuries what once consisted of a solitary keep has developed into a complex castle around which the history of England has continuously evolved. So revered has it become that legend has it that should the Tower fall, so would the kingdom. Beginning with the early tales surrounding its creation, this book investigates the private life of an English icon. Concentrating on the Tower's developing role throughout the centuries, not in terms of its physical expansion into a site of unique architectural majesty or many purposes but through the eyes of those who experienced its darker side, it pieces together the, often seldom-told, human story and how the fates of many of those who stayed within its walls contributed to its lasting effect on England's - and later the UK's - destiny. From ruthless traitors to unjustly killed Jesuits, vanished treasures to disappeared princes and jaded wives to star-crossed lovers, this book provides a raw and at times unsettling insight into its unsolved mysteries and the lot of its unfortunate victims, thus explaining how this once typical castle came to be the place we will always remember as THE TOWER.

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Book SynopsisErwin Rommel was a complex man: a born leader, brilliant soldier, a devoted husband and proud father; intelligent, instinctive, brave, compassionate, vain, egotistical, and arrogant. In France in 1940, then for two years in North Africa, then finally back in France again, in Normandy in 1944, he proved himself a master of armored warfare, running rings around a succession of Allied generals who never got his measure and could only resort to overwhelming numbers to bring about his defeat.And yet for all his military genius, Rommel was also naive, a man who could admire Adolf Hitler at the same time that he despised the Nazis, dazzled by a Führer whose successes blinded him to the true nature of the Third Reich. Above all, he was the quintessential German patriot, who ultimately would refuse to abandon his moral compass, so that on one pivotal day in June 1944 he came to understand that he had mistakenly served an evil man and evil cause. He would still fight for Germany even as he abandoned his oath of allegiance to the Führer, when he came to realize that Hitler had morphed into nothing more than an agent of death and destruction. In the end Erwin Rommel was forced to die by his own hand, not because, as some would claim, he had dabbled in a tyrannicidal conspiracy, but because he had committed a far greater crime - he dared to tell Adolf Hitler the truth.In Field Marshal historian Daniel Allen Butler not only describes the swirling, innovative campaigns in which Rommel won his military reputation, but assesses the temper of the man who in the final reckoning fought only for his country, with no dark depths beyond.Trade ReviewThis book is a tour de force and easily one of the best that I have reviewed for Arrse. It also defines what a military biography should be – heaven help anyone else planning a biography of Rommel. 5 stars. * Army Rumour Service *Daniel's biography of Rommel is both educational and entertaining - I didn't know, for example, that he had had some kind of epiphany regarding the true nature of the Third Reich and its evil leader, Adolf Hitler. Fascinating stuff, a brilliant biography of a legend of the second world war. * Books Monthly *…an engaging human story. * Miniature Wargames - Chris Jarvis *

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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 *

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Book SynopsisWilf Page was a champion of agricultural workers, a promoter of justice in the countryside, a rural communist councillor during the difficult cold war years and a lifelong community activist. He is best known for his role in the National Union of Agricultural Workers, and in the European Federation of Agricultural Unions, but he was also a prominent local politician in Norfolk, and was a communist councillor for Edgefield for twenty-eight years. On his death, an obituary in "The Times" accurately reported that Wilf's communism had not been of the 'big Russian bear' variety, but had been about 'the community owning the wealth'. He was a man whose tireless battle for justice lasted until the last day of his life.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Norfolk's labour heritage 2. Early days 3. Drifting in London and Jersey 4. Flying in India 5. Labour Party agent and councillor 6. Blacklisted communist 7. Union and community activist 8. The national arena 9. The 1970s 10. Retirement and continuing activism 11. Pensioners' activist Bibliography Index Published in association with Unite the Union and the Marx Memorial Library ISBN 9781905007974 192 pages, plus 16 pages of photographs GBP13.99 paperback September 2009 Price: GBP13.99 books

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Book SynopsisJohn Saville (1916-2009) was one of the leading socialist academics of his generation, and one of the most influential figures in British labour history. This new collection of essays offers a variety of perspectives on his lifetime's work. A first section - commitments - assesses Saville's activities, at different times during his life, as a communist, as a founder of the New Left, and as editor (with Ralph Miliband) of the long-running Socialist Register. The middle section - themes - looks at key themes which mattered for Saville, from revolutionary anti-imperialism in India to the politics of Cold War and debates in labour history. In part three - interventions - contributors discuss Saville's contributions to contemporary historical understanding of Chartism, British labourism and the Cold War. The aim is to offer critical analysis and reflection in the tradition which Saville himself did so much to establish.Table of ContentsContents Kevin Morgan - The good old cause Madeleine Davis - The New Reasoner and the Early New Left Colin Leys - 'Honest socialists': John Saville and the Socialist Register John Sakkas - The first casualty of a socialist foreign policy? Greece and Britain in the 1940s Dianne Kirby - Islam and the Religious Cold War Sobhanlal Datta Gupta - History re-examined: anti-imperialism, the Communist Party of India and international communism Tony Adams - Port workers and politics: religion, casual labour and voting in English docklands, 1900-1922 Malcolm Chase - The Chartist movement and 1848 David Howell - The ideology of labourism John Callaghan - The politics of continuity

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