Biography: historical, political and military Books

Book SynopsisThe story of the Dundee mill girl who, inspired by David Livingstone, became a missionary herself in Calabar, a part of Africa known as 'the White Man's Grave'. There she adopted many children who would otherwise have been left to die; when her mediating skills were recognised she became the British Empire's first woman magistrate. Her name lives on in the Mary Slessor Foundation, a charity working in Africa to improve health, skills training and facilitate agricultural projects. Mary Slessor was one of the most remarkable Scotswomen of any generation and the first to be depicted on a Scottish banknote. First published in 2001; this edition has had some material updated and two replacement photographs.Table of Contents1. Early Days in Dundee 2. First Impressions of Calabar 3. A Real Missionary at Last 4. Tragic Prelude to the Okoyong 5. 'It's a Gunboat they need, not a Missionary' 6. The Power of Witchcraft 7. 'The Civilising Influence of that Admirable Lady, Miss Slessor 8. A Most Unlikely Vice-consul 9. Gain and Loss 10. The Aftermath of the Aro Expedition of 1901 11. The British Empire's First Woman Magistrate 12. The End of her Journey

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA fascinating exploration into the lives of three women ignored by history Eye-opening, engrossing'Brit Bennett,bestselling author ofThe Vanishing HalfIn her groundbreaking debut, Anna Malaika Tubbs tells the incredible storIES of three women who raised three world-changing men.Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin''s son James, about Alberta King''s son Martin Luther and Louise Little''s son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them, each fighting their own battles, born into the beginning of the twentieth century and a deadly landscape of racial prejudice, Jim Crow, exploitation, unpoliced violence and open police vitriol.It was a society that would deny their sons' humanity from the beginning as it had denied theirs, but Berdis, Alberta and Louise were extraordinary women who instilled resilience, resistance and greatness in their sons. They would become mothers not just to three world-famous men but Trade Review‘An intimate narrative that aims to link not only Little, King and Baldwin, but all Black mothers’New York Times Book Review ‘Through Tubbs' writing, Berdis, Alberta, and Louise's stories sing. Theirs is a history forgotten that begs to be told, and Tubbs tells it brilliantly’Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist ‘A fascinating exploration into the lives of three women ignored by history … Uncovers hidden complexities within black motherhood that illuminate our understanding of the past while also shedding light on the overlooked contributions of black women today. An eye-opening, engrossing read’Brit Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half and The Mothers ‘Does what Black women do best: hold up the light in darkness, calling us all to do our work … Anna is a powerful storyteller, and we should all be grateful she chose to tell this story’Brittany Packnett Cunningham, co-host of Pod Save the People and co-founder of Campaign Zero ‘A profound reflection on the contours of Black freedom in the twentieth century and beyond … An essential celebration of Black women, one that illuminates the history of racism and resistance in critical new ways. A timely and important book’Elizabeth Hinton, author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime ‘Magnificent … An intimate explication of motherhood as the shoulders upon which children stand … but it's also a love letter to these three particular Black women; a scholarly rejection of the trope of Black woman as conquered victim; and a literary declaration that Black women know best how to survive in this broken world while actively mending it for everyone’Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult

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Book Synopsis'This book will take your breath away, break your heart, and leave you in awe' President Bill Clinton_______Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines speak in their own words about real life in today's armed forces. These are the brutally honest stories usually only shared amongst comrades in arms; stories of life-and-death decisions, and learning how to live with the effects of horrific injuries, both physical and mental. In the voices of the men and women who've fought overseas, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, this is a rare eye-opening look into what it's really like to wear the uniform, fight in combat, lose friends and come home. Walk in my Combat Boots is a powerful collection of never-before-told war stories crafted from hundreds of original interviews by James Patterson, the world's most trusted storyteller, and First Sergeant US Army (Ret.) Matt Eversmann, part of the Ranger unit involved in the infamous Battle of Mogadishu portrayed in the movie Black Hawk Down._______'Raw, authentic, and above all, inspiring' Admiral William H. McRaven, US Navy (Ret.) 'Each of these stories of the personal experience of combat is unique, homespun, and honest' Brigadier General Peter Dawkins, US Army (Ret.)'Painfully raw, improbably funny, and completely human' Stanley A. McChrystal, General, US Army (Ret.) 'A vivid and authentic portrait of life in the modern military . . . Powerful. This edifying collection captures the highs and lows of the military experience' Publishers Weekly 'Urgent and full of suspense . . . In this wide-ranging, consistently absorbing collection, the authors cover the entire spectrum of American military action during the last 50 years' Kirkus 'Extraordinary . . . a deeply intimate insider's look' Richard Engel, NBC News Chief foreign correspondentTrade ReviewThis book will take your breath away, break your heart, and leave you in awe -- President Bill ClintonRaw, authentic, and above all, inspiring -- Admiral William H. McRaven, US Navy (Ret.)Combat is hard to make sense of. Probably because, in many ways, it makes no sense. James Patterson and Matt Eversmann's unvarnished portrayal of soldiers is right on. Each of these stories of the personal experience of combat is unique, homespun, and honest. God bless them, one and all. -- Brigadier General Peter Dawkins, US Army (Ret.)A vivid and authentic portrait of life in the modern military . . . Powerful. This edifying collection captures the highs and lows of the military experience. * Publishers Weekly *Up close war is a tapestry of individual stories, as painfully raw, improbably funny, and completely human as the soldiers themselves. James Patterson and my former Ranger comrade Matt Eversmann, have brilliantly woven together an image that is as compelling as it is entertaining. -- Stanley A. McChrystal, General, US Army (Ret.)

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Book SynopsisThe definitive biography and assessment of the wily and formidable prince who unexpectedly became monarch—the most infamous king in British historyTrade Review“[An] excellent new biography.”—Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books“The great merit of Hicks’s academic study is that he anchors every known move in Richard’s career to the (often conflicting) sources, making it easier for readers to form their own judgments.”—John Guy, London Review of Books“[A]n intricately detailed account of Richard’s every recorded move on his journey from younger son of the powerful Duke of York to the last of England’s mediaeval monarchs.”—Mark Jones, Albion Magazine“Whilst there have been multiple works published regarding the life of Richard III by Hicks and many others, few could command the authority of this title, or could be as well-argued. Hicks’ narrative rightly places Richard at the centre of events whilst retaining a balanced assessment of his life.”—Rebecca Wheddon, Northern History“A thoroughly researched biography of one of England’s most infamous kings. . . . Michael Hicks provides the reader with a detailed study of the world that Richard III was born into and lived in, and the political backdrop of a late medieval England dominated by the dynastic struggles of the Wars of the Roses.”—Marina Gerzic, Royal Studies Journal“Hicks has thrown down the gauntlet. Never has Richard the man been more convincingly portrayed. Who is ready to challenge the ruthless and driven Plantagenet drawn from the shadows? This Richard is not the creation of what followed his death, but the thirty two years of life that preceded it. A meticulous and thrilling biography, in which character is destiny.”—Leanda de Lisle, author of Tudor: The Family Story“The best researched, most comprehensive study of Richard III, especially strong on Richard’s formative experiences. Hicks presents the findings of a lifetime’s archival research with impressive clarity. A must-have for scholars and interested general readers.”—John Guy, author of Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years“Hicks has written a tour de force, based upon a deep understanding of the vast and divergent secondary literature and a career spent among the archives of fifteenth-century England. The book is at once scholarly and accessible and the definitive biography of this most controversial of kings.”—David Grummitt, author of A Short History of the Wars of the Roses“The product of almost 50 years of research into Richard and those surrounding him, this is an impressive feat of scholarship from an authority on the tumultuous Fifteenth Century. An important addition to the bookshelves of any student of the Wars of the Roses and of this enduringly compelling monarch.”—Lauren Johnson, author of Shadow King: The Life and Death

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Book SynopsisFor 270 years, the House of Braganza provided the kings and queens of Portugal. During a period of momentous change, from 1640 to 1910, this influential family helped to establish Portuguese independence from their powerful Spanish neighbours. They ruled the vast empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889, successfully creating a unified nation and preventing the country from splitting into small warring states, and they saved the monarchy and government from total destruction by the marauding armies of Napoleon. In his fascinating reappraisal of the Braganza dynasty, Malyn Newitt traces the rise and fall of one of the world’s most important royal families. He introduces us to a colourful cast of innovators, revolutionaries, villains, heroes and charlatans, from the absolutist Dom Miguel to the `Soldier King’ Dom Pedro I, and recounts in vivid detail the major social, economic and political events that defined their rule. Featuring an extensive selection of artworks and photographs, Newitt offers a timely look at Britain’s `oldest ally’ and the role of monarchy in the early modern European world.

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Book SynopsisAs the only child of the Prince Regent and Caroline of Brunswick, Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) was the heiress presumptive to the throne. Her parents' marriage had already broken up by the time she was born. She had a difficult childhood and a turbulent adolescence, but she was popular with the public, who looked to her to restore the good name of the monarchy. When she broke off her engagement to a Dutch prince, her father put her under virtual imprisonment and she endured a period of profound unhappiness. But she held out for the freedom to choose her husband, and when she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg she finally achieved contentment. Her happiness was cruelly cut short when she died in childbirth at the age of twenty-one only eighteen months later. A shocked nation went into mourning for its people's princess', the queen who never was.

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Book SynopsisA long-overdue and dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians at work today. She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen years; at eighteen she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her. The life of Mary Stuart is one of unparalleled drama and conflict. From the labyrinthine plots laid by the Scottish lords to wrest power for themselves, to the efforts made by Elizabeth's ministers to invalidate Mary's legitimate claim to the English throne, John Guy returns to the archives to explode the myths and correct the inaccuracies that surround this most fascinating monarch. He also explains a central mystery: why Mary would have consented to marry – only three months after the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley – the man who was said to be his killer, the Earl of Bothwell. And, more astonishingly, he solves, through careful re-examination of the Casket Letters, the secret behind Darnley's spectacular assassination at Kirk o'Field. With great pathos, Guy illuminates how the imprisoned Mary's despair led to a reckless plot against Elizabeth – and thus to her own execution. The portrait that emerges is not of a political pawn or a manipulative siren, but of a shrewd and charismatic young ruler who relished power and, for a time, managed to hold together a fatally unstable country. MY HEART IS MY OWN is a compelling work of historical scholarship that offers radical new interpretations of an ancient story.Trade Review'Fascinating… A book based on gold-standard research, the kind of thing that puts most popular history writing to shame.' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday 'Certain to be a bestseller, and deservedly so. Rarely have first-class scholarship and first-class storytelling been so effectively combined.' John Adamson, Daily Telegraph 'An absorbing biography … meticulously researched… scholarly and intriguing.'Peter Ackroyd, The Times 'A biography that reads as thrillingly as a detective story, and is rich in details and authoritative in its analysis.' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisThis is the essential fully illustrated biography of Carl Jung - one of the world's most influential thinkers and a founding father of psychology. It offers a unique insight into Jung's life and work, featuring generous excerpts from his writings and letters, and reveals Jung as seen by those who knew him best, including his friend and mentor Freud, his patients, and the two women in his life, Emma Jung and Toni Wolff. The words of Jung himself and those who shared his work and private life are connected by Claire Dunne's lively and accessible commentary. The evocative illustrations include colour reproductions of Jung's paintings and photographs of Jung and his associates, as well as superb artwork by other artists both ancient and contemporary that reflects Jung's teachings. Jung emerges as a healer whose skills arose from having first attended to the wounds in his own soul.Trade Review"Most appealing and complete presentation of Jung to the general reader since Man and His Symbols...would make a popular text book, perfect for the undergraduate."--Dr. John Beebe, President, C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco "Claire Dunn has managed, in this beautiful book, to capture the essential features of Jung's life and its meaning as a solid achievement." --Dr. Murray Stein, Jungian analyst "Excellent, the best [biography of Jung] yet!" --Robert A. Johnson, Jungian analyst and author

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Book SynopsisThis classic memoir of the First World War is now a major motion picture starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington. Includes an afterword by Kate Mosse OBE.In 1914 Vera Brittain was 20, and as war was declared she was preparing to study at Oxford. Four years later her life - and the life of her whole generation - had changed in a way that would have been unimaginable in the tranquil pre-war era.TESTAMENT OF YOUTH, one of the most famous autobiographies of the First World War, is Brittain's account of how she survived those agonising years; how she lost the man she loved; how she nursed the wounded and how she emerged into an altered world. A passionate record of a lost generation, it made Vera Brittain one of the best-loved writers of her time, and has lost none of its power to shock, move and enthral readers since its first publication in 1933.Trade ReviewVera Brittain's heart-rending account of the way her generation's lives changed is still as shocking and moving as ever. * STELLA MAGAZINE, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Like the much-misunderstood poppy, Testament both memorializes and warns... to remain uninformed is actually life-threatening. * TLS *it was a surprise to pick her book up now and discover how very good it is. -- Diana Athill * The Guardian *sublimely moving... this is a truly great book... should be compulsory reading for the nation's debauched and aimless yobs and yobettes -- Val Hennessy * DAILY MAIL *essential reading, not just as an anti-war polemic but as a portrait of a whole generation of young people who were totally ill-prepared and whose lives were utterly changed within four momentous years. * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW *brilliantly captures the protracted horrors of a war into which her generation was preciptated unprepared... as a personal and social document of its turbulent times, written from the viewpoint of a serious and reflective young woman, this autobiographical work fully merits rediscovery. * CATHOLIC HERALD *Everyone should read this book. Like all true classics, it has something to tell us all, one generation after another. And this handsome new edition benefits from photographic illustrations and an elegant preface by Shirley Williams, Vera Brittain's distinguished daughter. If you have tears, prepare to share them now. * TRIBUNE *A heartbreaking account of the impact of the First World War on a stout-hearted, high-minded young woman * THE SUNDAY TIMES '100 Biographies to Love' *

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Book SynopsisThe prequel to The Crown: the first truly candid portrait of George V and Mary, the Queen''s grandparents and creators of the modern monarchyShortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Historical Biography prize and the History Reclaimed Book of the Year prizeThe lasting reputation of George V is for dullness. However throughout his reign, the monarch navigated a constitutional crisis, the First World War, the fall of thirteen European monarchies and the rise of Bolshevism. The suffragette Emily Davison threw herself under his horse at the Derby, he refused asylum to his cousin the Tsar Nicholas II and he facilitated the first Labour government.How this supposedly limited man steered the Crown through so many perils is a gripping tale. With unprecedented access to the Royal archives, Jane Ridley has been able to reassess the many myths associated with this dramatic period for the first time.''Wonderful... Never a dull paragraph'' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times''Magnificent... An evocative and touching portrait of a surprisingly impressive man'' Philip Hensher, Spectator''A big, beautiful beast of a book. Fair, thorough and unexpectedly funny'' Lucy WorsleyTrade ReviewMost biographers would shy away from the notoriously dull George V. Not so Ridley, whose biography of the stamp-collecting, bird-shooting king is top-notch -- Robbie Millen * The Times, *Books of the Year* *Superb -- Iona McLaren * Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year* *Jane Ridley's George V is so sparklingly incisive about both the king and Queen Mary that it almost counts as a double biography. The pheasant-shooting, stamp-collecting, moderating monarch and his bejewelled, shopaholic consort are beautifully portrayed in all their complexities -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Spectator, *Books of the Year* *Superb . . . a perfectly candid portrait of our present Queen's grandfather: demythologised, certainly, and with spades called spades, but not trivialised, and not denied full credit for the massive amount he achieved . . . Ridley's convincing thesis [is] that George V was the true begetter of modern constitutional monarchy . . . this book makes it clear we were lucky to have him -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph *There have been few monarchs quite as discreet and inscrutable as George V . . . There's much to enjoy here about George's nerdy, hypochondriacal and rather humourless character. Yet, as Ridley portrays with great fairness, he somehow managed to be a king loved and revered by the people . . . Ridley has a wonderful ability to push the story along, luring us with salient details . . . riveting . . . Never a dull paragraph -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe speed of Rishi Sunak's advance to 10 Downing Street is without precedent in modern British politics. In mid-2019, he was an unknown junior minister; seven months later, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer; and by October 2022, he had secured the highest office in the land. Aged forty-two, he was Britain's youngest Prime Minister in more than 200 years. Michael Ashcroft's biography - first published in 2020 and now fully revised and updated - charts Sunak's ascent to the University of Oxford, the City of London, Silicon Valley and Westminster before assuming the most powerful job in the country in chaotic circumstances. It is the story of a clever and hard-working son of immigrant parents who marries an heiress and makes a fortune of his own; a polished southerner who wins over the voters of North Yorkshire; a fiscal conservative who becomes the biggest-spending Chancellor in history; and a fastidious political operator tasked with reuniting the Conservative Party and repairing an economy in flux. Casting new light on Sunak's tense working relationship with his predecessor, Boris Johnson, All to Play For shows what makes him tick ahead of a general election whose outcome will have profound consequences for Britain.

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Book SynopsisSimon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was a major figure of the Pacific War, both for his command in Alaska and in his key role heading Tenth Army during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. Buckner was the senior U.S. officer killed by enemy fire in World War II when Japanese artillery cut him down on June 18, 1945, one month shy of his 59th birthday. The shelling ended a remarkable life – son of a Confederate Lieutenant General and governor of Kentucky, the "Child of the Democracy" in the 1896 Presidential election campaign, educated at West Point, myriad service as a student and instructor at various Army posts and schools from 1917 to 1936, command in Alaska from 1940 to 1944, and ultimately of Tenth Army from 1944 to his death.General Buckner kept a diary covering the period from January 1, 1944 to June 17, 1945, which has never been fully published until now. Buckner made notes every day, often in great detail; his chief of staff thought Buckner wanted to write a memoir after the war, but the papers were scattered after his death. In addition to the Okinawa material, Buckner's diaries discuss his departure from Alaska and service in Hawaii as Tenth Army commander. Topics include his daily life in wartime Hawaii, troop training, comments on war events, gossip, notes on his travels to Guam and the Philippines, and his role in the Smith vs Smith controversy after the Battle of Saipan. The diary text is augmented by letters from General Buckner to his wife Adele during March to June 1945, and a letter from the Tenth Army Chief of Staff to Adele detailing Buckner's death. Tenth Army Commander is an important account from a too-long-silent voice among Pacific War leaders. Table of ContentsI. Editor’s Introduction II. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr’s Life to 1944 III. Alaska: January-May 1944 IV. New Appointments and Assignments: June-December 1944 V. Preparing Tenth Army: January-March 1945 VI. The Battle of Okinawa: April 1 to June 17, 1945 VII. “You’re Going Home” VIII. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr: Assessment of an Army Commander Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe story of one of the most astonishing episodes of espionage and deception of World War Two.This is the tale of two men: Claude Dansey, deputy head of MI6, and double agent Henri Dericourt, who was planted with the rival wartime secret service – SOE – at Dansey’s instructions. From there began a terrifying trail of destruction.After making contact with Dansey in 1942, Dericourt was recruited to SOE as the man desperately needed to organize top-secret flights in and out of occupied French territory. But at the same time Dericourt was in touch with German counter-espionage in Paris. As SOE congratulated themselves on a new asset, Dericourt gave the Nazis everything; every flight, operation and coded message he could.Against a background of unprecedented deception and betrayal, Dansey’s secret MI6 operation eventually led to the arrest of nearly one thousand men and women, hundreds of whom died in concentration camps.How did it go so wrong?A shocking, enthralling account of a devastating episode in the history of the British secret services, perfect for readers of Ben MacIntyre.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant polymath and part of the 'first wave' of British Romanticism, Thomas Manning was one of the first Englishmen to study Chinese language and culture. Like famous friends including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles Lamb, Manning was inspired by the French Revolution and had ambitious plans for making a better world. While his contemporaries turned to the poetic imagination and the English countryside, Manning looked further afield – to China, one of the world’s most ancient and sophisticated civilizations. His travels included the salons of Napoleonic Paris, a period as a prisoner of war, a dramatic shipwreck and, disguised as a Buddhist pilgrim, a trek through the Himalayas to Tibet, where he met the Dalai Lama. Manning’s extraordinary story sheds a new light on English Romanticism.Trade ReviewChina Books Review's best biography of 2023, as recommended by Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking.'Thomas Manning did many remarkable things and knew many remarkable people. He deserves a biography. Such a book will hold particular interest for those who care about the British Romantics, British culture in the early nineteenth century, or British “orientalism”.' Michael Ferber, author of Romanticism: A very short introduction 'I had heard of Thomas Manning, but by name only and knew little about his life and travels, therefore the work has proved to be extremely interesting and educational. What an exciting ‘boy’s own’ adventure Manning appears to have had.' Sarah Murden, All Things Georgian'Edward Weech has successfully rescued one of Britain’s earliest Sinologues from obscurity and for that he should be thanked. That he has written such a highly readable and engaging biography of the man is really the cream on the coffee that makes Chinese Dreams in Romantic England an important study of early Sinology.'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society China -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Early life2 Romantic, 1798-18013 France, 18024 Delay and departure, 1803-18065 Canton, 1807-18096 On the skirts of creation, 1810-18167 Home againConclusion: Why did Thomas Manning want to learn about China?Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOn 27 January 1945 Otto Frank was liberated from Auschwitz by Russian soldiers. At that point not only his journey home started, but also his long quest to find out what had happened to his wife Edith, his daughters Margot and Anne and the four other people with whom he had been in hiding in the Annex at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam: Herman and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter and dentist Fritz Pfeffer. In the months after his liberation Otto Frank would discover that he is the only survivor out of these eight people. After the Annex continues the journey that Otto began. It is the ultimate attempt, based on thorough research in archives and available eye witness accounts, to reconstruct as precisely as possible what happened to the eight people in hiding after their arrest.Trade Review"Author Bas von Benda-Beckmann has pieced together rare accounts from camp survivors who met Anne to build a moving picture of her final days." Daily Mirror "a haunting new book reveals her life in Auschwitz and Belson - and how her indomitable spirit survived to the very end" Daily Mail "Clearly written and superbly researched ... descriptions of the last days of Edith Frank in Auschwitz and of Anne in Bergen-Belsen, desperately ill, naked, wrapped in a blanket, are unbearable." David Herman, The Jewish Chronicle

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Book SynopsisIn this lush and lively book, celebrated botanist Sandra Knapp explores the people whose names have been immortalized in plant genera, presenting little known stories about both the featured plants and their famous eponyms alongside photographs and botanical drawings from the unmatched collections of London's Natural History Museum.

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Book SynopsisA History Book of the Year in The Times 'Cozzens is a master storyteller; his books weave a wealth of intricate detail into gripping historical narrative.' The Times'Marvellous... One of the best pieces of Native American history I have read.' S.C. Gwynne, bestselling author of Empire of the Summer MoonWinner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Biography.Shawnee chief Tecumseh was a man destined for greatness - the son of a prominent war leader, he was supposedly born under a lucky shooting star. Charismatic, intelligent, handsome, he was both a fierce warrior and a savvy politician. In the first biography of Tecumseh in more than twenty years, Peter Cozzens thoroughly revises our understanding of this great leader and his movement, arguing that his overlooked younger brother Tenskwatawa, the 'Shawnee Prophet', was a crucial partner in Tecumseh's success.Until Tecumseh's death in 1813, he was, alongside Tenskwatawa, the co-architect of the greatest pan-Indian confederation in history. Over time, Tenskwatawa has been relegated to the shadows, described as a talentless charlatan and a drunk. But Cozzens argues that while Tecumseh was the forward-facing diplomat, appealing even to the white settlers attempting to steal Shawnee land, behind the scenes, Tenskwatawa unified multiple tribes with his deep understanding of Shawnee religion and culture. No other Native American leaders enjoyed such popularity, and none would ever pose a graver threat to colonial expansion than Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa. Bringing to life an often-overlooked episode in America's past, Cozzens paints in vivid detail the violent, lawless world of the Old Northwest, when settlers spilled over the Appalachians to bloody effect in their haste to exploit lands won from the War of Independence. The Warrior and the Prophet tells the untold story of the Shawnee brothers who retaliated against this threat - becoming allies with the British army in the process - and reveals how they were the last hope for Native Americans to preserve ways of life they had known for centuries.Trade ReviewCozzens is a master storyteller; his books weave a wealth of intricate detail into gripping historical narrative... In this book descriptions of battles are especially enthralling; one can almost smell the gunpowder, the blood and the loamy forest floor. * The Times *Mr. Cozzens puts his narrative skills to great use. His compelling prose and deep research in both primary sources and histories of the period combine to place the reader on the ground with the Shawnee brothers... Sharply drawn. * Wall Street Journal *A towering work of scholarship... Indispensable -- Frank McLynn * Literary Review *Marvellous... The Warrior and the Prophet tells a story of nation-defining events and larger-than-life leaders, and Cozzens' nuanced portrait stands as one of the best pieces of Native American history I have read. -- S.C. Gwynne, bestselling author of EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOONA thorough profile of the notable Tecumseh and his brother. Author Peter Cozzens sculpts his narrative deftly and compellingly. In relating the barbarity of the frontier wars, the author remains objective yet empathetic. Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa are fascinating figures, capable of greatness and leadership, yet destined for tragedy. A+ work. * San Francisco Book Review *The strength of Cozzens' book is his ability to bring to life the thrilling adventures of Tecumseh and his people. Many a war yarn gets bogged down in minutiae, but the author animates these battles by sharing the human stories behind the fighting. By ably piecing together a history that is equal parts engaging and amply sourced, Cozzens has crafted a satisfying work that leads us to sympathize with his subjects without putting his finger on the scale to prove his point. * Washington Independent Review of Books *Cozzens expertly mines the surprisingly varied array of sources for the brothers' early lives; he presents the fullest picture yet of who these men were before they achieved national fame. His book balances them more than any previous retelling of the story ever has... As close to a fully realized popular biography of Tenkswatawa as is ever likely to be written... Paints in vivid colors the grandest effort of Native Americans to retain their independence - and the political and spiritual leaders who tried to make it happen. * Christian Science Monitor *Award-winning historian Peter Cozzens admirably brings this lost world to life... Cozzens's descriptions of Tenskwatawa's spiritual agenda, centered on Indian independence and rejection of White culture, will remind readers that tribal leaders from Osceola to Sitting Bull attempted to preserve native culture with the weapons of war. The tragedy of their failure haunts America today. * American History Magazine *An insightful, unflinching portrayal of the remarkable siblings who came closer to altering the course of American history than any other Indian leaders. -- Professor H.W. Brands, author of HEIRS OF THE FOUNDERSCozzens has a gift for depicting the intricacies of combat with both clarity and flair... the dual biography comes across as fair and impartial. Without sentimentality, and without overlooking the faults of its heroes, it presents a nuanced look at their attempt to halt the invasion of their lands. * Columbus Dispatch *An enthralling, deeply researched dual biography of Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his younger brother... Cozzens's cinematic narrative is steeped in Native American culture and laced with vivid battle scenes and character sketches. * Publishers Weekly *Cozzens... shows his skill at revealing the social and daily realities of late 18th- and early 19th-century life, including wonderfully vivid descriptions of pioneer conditions and Algonquin villages... A long overdue non-fiction account. * Library Journal (Starred review) *Engrossing... Cozzens' biography is solidly researched, fluently written, and bound to stand as the best history to date about the Shawnee brothers' lives and effort to rally pan-Indian resistance. * Booklist (Starred review) *Comprehensive... Blending historical fact with solid storytelling, Cozzens delivers a nuanced study of the great warrior and his times. * Kirkus Reviews *Table of Contents1: The Great Awakening 2: A Restless People 3: A Turbulent Youth 4: A Nation Divided 5: War and Wanderings 6: Out from the Shadows 7: The Making of a Chief 8: A Culture in Crisis 9: A Prophet Arises 10: Black Sun 11: Greenville Interlude 12: A Double Game 13: One Treaty Too Many 14: No Difficulties Deter Him 15: Southern Odyssey 16: The Prophet Stumbles 17: From the Ashes of Prophetstown 18: Into the Maelstrom 19: Kindred Spirits 20: A Man of Mercy 21: An Adequate Sacrifice to Indian Opinion 22: Death on the Thames 23: Twilight of the Prophet

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Book SynopsisA thrilling new account of the tragic life and troubled times of Henry VI. 'The best life of Henry VI now in print' DAN JONES. 'Vivid, absorbing and richly detailed' HELEN CASTOR. 'A well-crafted moving account of a tragic reign' MICHAEL JONES. First-born son of a warrior father who defeated the French at Agincourt, Henry VI of the House Lancaster inherited the crown not only of England but also of France, at a time when Plantagenet dominance over the Valois dynasty was at its glorious height. And yet, by the time he was done to death in the Tower of London in 1471, France was lost, his throne had been seized by his rival, Edward IV of the House of York, and his kingdom had descended into the violent chaos of the Wars of the Roses. Henry VI is perhaps the most troubled of English monarchs, a pious, gentle, well-intentioned man who was plagued by bouts of mental illness. In Shadow King, Lauren Johnson tells his remarkable and sometimes shocking story in a fast-paced and colourful narrative that captures both the poignancy of Henry's life and the tumultuous and bloody nature of the times in which he lived.Trade ReviewJohnson is to be commended for doing something different, putting [Henry VI] back where he belongs. It is Henry's character, scrupulously and sensitively drawn by Johnson, that did most to shape the extraordinary and dramatic events of his reign * The Times *[Lauren Johnson's] intention is to rediscover the man behind the myths and she has succeeded. Johnson has written a long, scrupulously researched book, but an eminently readable one * New Statesman *A lively telling of a hapless reign * Strong Words *Enthrallingly told... [Lauren Johnson] gives us a convincing picture of Henry, a gentle man unsuited to his position, and of his bloody and brutal times... The Shadow King is a scholarly work aimed at the common reader - and the common reader is richly rewarded' * Wall Street Journal *This evocative life of Henry VI shows how betrayal and defeat drove him out of his wits... An involving account of a still undersung saga' * Daily Telegraph *Unanimously impressed... Praised its courage in portraying a less obvious protagonist than bigger and bloodier characters' * The Oldie *A vivid, unusual story, and Johnson tells it well * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisLawrence's own account of his experience after the Arab Revolt - when he joined the RAF under a new name. In 1922, his dreams of an independent Arabia shattered, T.E. Lawrence enlisted in the RAF under the assumed name John Hume Ross. Though methodical and restrictive, life there seemed to suit Lawrence: 'The Air Force is not a man-crushing humiliating slavery, all its days. There is sun and decent treatment, and a very real measure of happiness, to those who do not look forward or back.' With poetic clarity, Lawrence brings to life the harsh realities of barracks life and illuminates the strange twilight world he had slipped into after his war experiences. For anyone interested in the life of one of the 20th century's most enduring heroes and his life beyond the well-documented Arab revolt, The Mint is essential and compelling reading.Trade ReviewA severely chiselled picture of barrack life: Joycean in style, sometimes brilliant in evocation, structured as a series of set-pieces, showing a decided advance in control over Seven Pillars of Wisdom. -- Irving HoweThe Mint, written in a very different style to Seven Pillars of Wisdom, is, like Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a work of observation written by a highly intelligent man who found himself effectively imprisoned. Lawrence distilled its spare descriptions from events that he had witnessed over and over again. -- Jeremy WilsonTable of ContentsIntroduction to the New Edition by Anthony Sattin Note by A. W. Lawrence to the First Edition Part 1: The Raw Material Part 2: In the Mill Part 3: Service

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Book SynopsisOn a June night in 1791, King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette fled Paris in disguise, hoping to escape the turmoil of the French Revolution. They were arrested by a group of citizens a few miles from Belgium and forced to return to Paris. Two years later they would both die at the guillotine. Tackett recounts this story in gripping novelistic style.Trade ReviewThe royal family's attempt to flee France in 1791 was one of the defining events of the French Revolution. Timothy Tackett, the most accomplished historian of the Revolution now writing, tells the story of the great flight memorably. The reader will feel that he or she is accompanying the disguised royal family out of the Tuileries in Paris and riding along with them in the big black coach as it falls further and further behind schedule. This is the story, brilliantly told, of how the decision to flee Paris changed the course of the Revolution. -- John Merriman, author of The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in TimeTimothy Tackett has written a superb book. Not only is this a spellbinding story well-told, Tackett restores the centrality of Louis XVI to the history of the Revolution and shows how the royal betrayal had incalculable consequences for the monarchy and for the tragedies that lay ahead. -- Donald Sutherland, author of The French Revolution and Empire: The Quest for a Civic OrderA meticulous work, combining smooth-flowing narrative with cogent analysis. He thereby demonstrates how far the Revolution had progressed by June 1791, and how the king's flight helps to explain its subsequent radical and repressive turns. -- Isser Woloch, author of The New Regime: Transformations of the French Civic Order, 1789-1820sTackett...describes the failed attempt by Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette to escape revolutionary France in June 1791, astutely assessing the consequences. Beginning with the climax--the capture of the French king and his party in Varennes ("not a particularly distinctive town")--the author then flashes back two years and leads us forward once again to that astonishing moment. Tackett cogently sketches the two principals and displays a fine historian's eye for engaging detail...Exciting, provocative, instructive: popular history at its finest. * Kirkus Reviews *For scholars and general readers alike, the French Revolution remains a perennially favorite historical event. And one of the most intriguing as well as pivotal occurrences in the whole revolutionary period took place on the night of June 21, 1791, when "something quite extraordinary did happen" that "changed the history of France"...Tackett explores the ramifications of the event on the direction the Revolution subsequently took--namely, toward terror and republicanism. The book's approachable style, clear ideas, and excellent pacing guarantee general readership interest. -- Brad Hooper * Booklist *Historian Tackett skillfully shows how Louis XVI's infamous failed flight from his revolutionary captors in Paris in 1791 led to the eventual victory of radicalism and strengthened those calling for terror to "protect" the revolution from its enemies...[A] dramatic account...Tackett describes the nation's reaction to the king's flight and return, not just in Paris but also in the provinces, where widespread fears of foreign invasion immediately followed news of Louis's escape...Tackett has penned a highly accessible popular history that should appeal to those wanting to learn more about one of the central events of the French Revolution. * Publishers Weekly *According to Tackett...Louis XVI's aborted escape from the clutches of revolutionary Paris led to the rise of radical republicanism and the bloody excesses of the Reign of Terror. In many respects, his book is a rebuttal of a prevalent school of thought that views the French Revolution as an abhorrent event from beginning to end...Tackett contends that the political culture of 1789 had placed the revolution on an essentially moderate course and that it was the duplicitous recalcitrance of the king and his network of supporters that unleashed the demons of extremism. Tackett is a lucid writer, and he presents his unique thesis in a scholarly and lively style...Recommended. -- Jim Doyle * Library Journal *In a taut, quickly paced narrative, Timothy Tackett tells the captivating story of [the] flight, an event that changed the course of the French Revolution and set in motion an extraordinary chain of actions and reactions. * Boston Herald *In his excellent and well-researched book Timothy Tackett makes the most of the story [of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette's flight from Paris], neatly broadening it from human melodrama to the stuff of high politics. -- Hazel Mills * The Guardian (UK) *Tim Tackett ably demonstrates [that], in unprecedented detail, [Louis XVI's flight from Paris to the Varennes in June 1891] also produced a panic akin to the Great Fear of summer 1789 and induced a climate of violence that would worsen in the future, a consequence of contingency rather than of revolutionary ideology. This book is beautifully produced, extremely well written, lavishly illustrated and modestly priced, Tackett has already made some splendid contributions to the study of the revolution and this accessible volume will both enhance his reputation and attract a broad readership…Tackett has conducted a great deal of research in the departmental archives, to show how support for Louis drained away in the provinces as well as Paris. -- Malcolm Crook * History *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. Sire, You May Not Pass 2. The King of the French 3. The King Takes Flight 4. Our Good City of Paris 5. The Fathers of the Nation 6. Fear and Repression in the Provinces 7. To Judge a King 8. The Months and Years After Conclusion: The Power of an Event Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFollowing on from his epic 1812: Napoleon''s Fatal March on Moscow', bestselling author Adam Zamoyski has written the dramatic story of the Congress of Vienna.In the wake of his disastrous Russian campaign of 1812, Napoleon''s imperious grip on Europe began to weaken, raising the question of how the Continent was to be reconstructed after his defeat. There were many who dreamed of a peace to end all wars, in which the interests of peoples as well as those of rulers would be taken into account. But what followed was an unseemly and at times brutal scramble for territory by the most powerful states, in which countries were traded as if they had been private and their inhabitants counted like cattle.The results, fixed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, not only laid the foundations of the European world we know; it put in place a social order and a security system that lie at the root of many of the problems which dog the world today. Although the defining moments took place in Vienna, anTrade Review‘Deeply researched, elegantly written, gleaming with the political and sexual depravity of the Congress that decided the fate of Europe, Zamoyski's “Rites of Peace” is outstanding – a delicious, triumphant feast of a book.’ Daily Mail ‘Impressively detailed diplomatic history; it deals with the fate of nations and dynasties and the doings of emperors, kings and princes. The author keeps up a strong narrative drive, guiding the reader through the tortuously involved negotiations of the Congress.’ The Economist ‘Zamoyski's…account of the labyrinthine twists of diplomacy is both masterly and exhaustive…I closed the book full of admiration for its author.’ Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisThe definitive history of coronations and the Royal Family, from acclaimed writer Roy Strong.'What is the finest sight in the world? A Coronation.What do people talk most about? A Coronation.What is delightful to have passed? A Coronation.'Horace Walpole, 1761As a boy of sixteen, Roy Strong watched the grand procession carrying Queen Elizabeth II to her coronation. The spectacle was considered the greatest public event of the century. But now, so many years later, many people have little notion of what a coronation is and are unaware of the rich resonances of the ritual, or its deep significance in terms of the committal of monarch to people.This book is the first of its kind a comprehensive history that sets each coronation into its political, social, religious and cultural context. The story is one of constant re-invention as the service has had to respond to all the changes in fortune of the monarchy or the country: everything from legitimising usurpers to reconciling a Catholic riTrade Review‘Lavishly illustrated throughout, this is, however, much more than a coffee-table book…a beautiful and informative book.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Strong points out in his survey of the 1,000 year history of the event…the changing significance of monarchy.’ Financial Times ‘A well organised, sympathetic and fascinating account of the central ritual of the English people. This is a serious book with a full scholarly apparatus of notes, bibliography, charts, chronologies and index…this new book fulfils a need…a model of the illustrated history genre…the design and layout are exceptionally clear and elegant…Sir Roy has been admirably served by his publishers.’ Spectator 'A fascinating and compellingly readable study… all the themes are dealt with eloquently and with wit' TLS ‘A magnificent book, meticulously researched, never dull, and beautifully illustrated.’ Country Life

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Book SynopsisIn 1792, when he was forty-seven, the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya contracted a serious illness which left him stone deaf. In this extraordinary book Julia Blackburn follows Goya through the remaining thirty-five years of his life. It was a time of political turmoil, of war, violence and confusion, and Goya transformed what he saw happening in the world around him into his visionary paintings, drawings and etchings. These were also years of tenderness for Goya, of intimate relationships with the Duchess of Alba and with Leocadia, his mistress, who was with him to the end. Julia Blackburn writes of the elderly painter with the intimacy of an old friend, seeing through his eyes and sharing the silence in his head, capturing perfectly his ferocious energy, his passion and his genius.Trade ReviewSensitive and intelligent... Julia Blackburn has steeped herself in her subject and in the period * Irish Times *A near-perfect work... combines lyrical style with such exceptional imaginative power and intelligence * Sunday Times *Reading Ms Blackburn's work, you have the uncanny sensation that you have met Goya, felt his honest horny hands, watched him work * Economist *Julia Blackburn has developed her own technique for marrying the 'granite' of fact with the rainbow of personality... Her prose is elegant and precise, illuminated by intelligence, curiosity and a refined visual sense... When the book is closed, her evocation of the life and times of "old man Goya" lives on, a succession of brilliantly lit images in the mind's eye * Literary Review *Julia Blackburn has an extraordinary talent for thinking herself into other worlds... So vivid are her conjurings of lives lived elsewhere or long ago, you begin to suspect she sees ghosts -- Marina Benjamin * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisKoba the Dread is the successor to Amis''s celebrated memoir, Experience. It addresses itself to the central lacuna of twentieth-century thought: the indulgence of communism by Western intellectuals. In between the personal beginning and the personal ending, Amis gives us perhaps the best one hundred pages ever written about Stalin: Koba the Dread, Iosif the Terrible. The author''s father, Kingsley Amis, was ''a Comintern dogsbody'' (as he would come to put it) from 1941 to 1956. His second-closest, and later in life his closest friend, was Robert Conquest, whose book The Great Terror was second only to Solzhenitsyn''s The Gulag Archipelago in undermining the USSR. Amis''s remarkable memoir explores these connections. Stalin said that the death of one person was tragic, the death of a million a mere ''statistic''. Koba the Dread, during whose course the author absorbs a particular, a familial death, is a rebuttal of Stalin''s aphorTrade ReviewA powerfully written, well-documented polemic reminding us of how 20 million humans were starved, murdered or totured to death by Uncle Joe * Daily Mail *More than any of his contemporaries, Amis writes things that you want to remember and repeat: he is original * New Statesman *Amis uses all the tricks of his well-mastered trade to make readable what is almost unreadable, indeed hardly bearable... A disturbing book...but a book I was very glad to have read * Financial Times *Martin Amis' book will not date...it is wise, witty and saturated with saeva indignatio, the only adequate response to tyranny * Literary Review *What's best about him is his style. He is never dull -- John Carey * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisIan Kershaw''s Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris charts the rise of Adolf Hitler, from a bizarre misfit in a Viennese dosshouse, to dictatorial leadership.With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, Kershaw recreates the world which first thwarted and then nurtured Hitler in his youth, from early childhood to the first successes of the Nazi Party. As his seemingly pitiful fantasy of being Germany''s saviour attracted more and more support, Kershaw brilliantly conveys why so many Germans adored Hitler, connived with him or felt powerless to resist him. ''Supersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write''  David Cannadine, Observer Books of the Year ''The Hitler biography for the 21st century ... cool, judicious, factually reliable and intelligently argued''  Richard Evans, Sunday Telegraph ''One of Trade ReviewSupersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write -- David Cannadine * Observer Books of the Year *The Hitler biography for the 21st century ... cool, judicious, factually reliable and intelligently argued ... Kershaw triumphantly succeeds in showing that Hitler's rise to supreme power depended not just on his own talents, nor on the nature of German society, but on the interaction of the two -- Richard Evans * Sunday Telegraph *One of the major historical biographies of our times ... Kershaw has written a dazzlingly lucid interpretation of the central dynamics of the Nazi regime which draws on a wide new range of sources and expertly manages a huge cast of accomplices ... a riveting read -- Jackie Wullschlager * Financial Times, Best Biographies of the Year *His analysis of Hitler's extraordinary character has the fascination of a novel, but he places his struggle and rise in the context of meticulously researched history ... Deeply disturbing. Unforgettable -- A.N. Wilson * Daily Mail *A sane, erudite, moral and intellectually honest biography of the 20th century's most destructive politician. Every page is focused on the historical question we would prefer to forget: how did it happen? -- Ruth Scurr * The Times *This new biography is of profound importance and will ... quickly establish itself as the standard work on Hitler and his regime -- Thomas Childers * Boston Globe *Table of ContentsFantasy and failure; drop-out; elation and embitterment; discovering a talent; the beerhall agitator; the "drummer"; emergence of the leader; mastery over the movement; breakthrough; levered into power; the making of the dictator; securing total power; working towards to Fuhrer.

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Book SynopsisThe History of Mary Prince (1831) was the first narrative of a black woman to be published in Britain. It describes Prince''s sufferings as a slave in Bermuda, Turks Island and Antigua, and her eventual arrival in London with her brutal owner Mr Wood in 1828. Prince escaped from him and sought assistance from the Anti-Slavery Society, where she dictated her remarkable story to Susanna Strickland (later Moodie). A moving and graphic document, The History drew attention to the continuation of slavery in the Caribbean, despite an 1807 Act of Parliament officially ending the slave trade. It inspired two libel actions and ran into three editions in the year of its publication. This powerful rallying cry for emancipation remains an extraordinary testament to Prince''s ill-treatment, suffering and survival.Table of ContentsThe History of Mary Prince AcknowledgmentsIntroductionFurther ReadingChronologyA Note on the TextTHE HISTORY OF MARY PRINCENotesAppendix OneAppendix TwoAppendix ThreeAppendix Four

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020''Mightily impressive ... a marvellous read'' Sunday TimesFrom the acclaimed author of Japan Story, this is the history of Japan, distilled into the stories of twenty remarkable individuals. The vivid and entertaining portraits in Chris Harding''s enormously enjoyable new book take the reader from the earliest written accounts of Japan right through to the life of the current empress, Masako. We encounter shamans and warlords, poets and revolutionaries, scientists, artists and adventurers - each offering insights of their own into this extraordinary place. For anyone new to Japan, this book is the ideal introduction. For anyone already deeply involved with it, this is a book filled with surprises and pleasures.Trade ReviewSkilled, ambitious, mightily impressive ... Harding turns out to be as adept at describing the country's artistic development as he is at unpicking its brutal politics. Another of his talents is a sharp eye for the telling quote that makes these distant presences tangible ... a marvellous read, full of startling information. -- Waldemar Januszczak * Sunday Times *Splendid ... It's an effective way of telling an unfamiliar story, leavening the course of social change with plenty of enjoyable individual details. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *An enjoyable romp through the ages across the Japanese archipelago ... Harding is in his element ... A tour de force, this imaginative book may well be the "ideal introduction" for anyone new to Japan ... Vividly written, there are certainly some interesting surprises to savour along the way. -- Andrew Cobbing * BBC History Magazine *A fresh and fascinating perspective ... By shifting focus without losing the renowned figures or the sweeping trends but rather leavening them with formerly unsung individuals, Harding is able to say something new about the history of Japan and reinvigorate old stories. As such, this book can act as a primer for the archipelago's long and complex story, or as a refreshing take on familiar periods for those already well-versed in the emperors, shoguns and battlefields. -- Iain Maloney * Japan Times *The people included in this look at the lives of 20 of Japan's most notable characters are not, it's fair to say, household names, but historian and broadcaster Christopher Harding brings them to life with warmth and insight. Together, they offer a great primer to the nation's expansive, dynamic story. * History Revealed, Book of the Month *

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Book SynopsisA study of a group of earlier Spaniards in America.Table of Contents Preface Abbreviations Part I. Social Phenomena 1. Narrative Preliminaries: Cajamarca and Other Episodes in the Conquest of Peru 2. Before the Event: Backgrounds, Characteristics, and Types 3. After the Event: Life Patterns of Repatriates and Settlers 4. Organization, Politics, and Faction 5. The Roll of Cajamarca 6. Some General Reflections Part II. The Men 7. Leaders 8. Hidalgos 9. Clerks 10. Men of Affairs 11. Marginal Hidalgos and Solid Commoners 12. Artisans 13. Men from the Sea 14. Lower Plebeians 15. The Obscure 16. Auxiliaries Appendix I. A Letter from Cajamarca Appendix II. Mistakes, Lies, and Legends: Men Who Were Not at Cajamarca Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEd Sanders gave readers their clearest insight yet into the disturbing world of Charles Manson and his followers when he published The Family in 1971. Continuing that journalistic tradition, Sanders presents the most thorough look ever into the heartbreaking story of Sharon Tate, the iconic actress who found love, fame, and ultimately tragedy during her all-too-brief life. Sharon Tate: A Life traces Sharon''s path from beauty queen to budding young actress: her early love affairs, her romance with and marriage to director Roman Polanski, and the excitement of the glamorous life she had always sought- all set against the background of the turbulent 1960s. This sympathetic account tells the powerful story of her determined rise through the ranks of Hollywood and to the brink of stardom before her name became forever linked with the shocking murder spree that took her life.In 1969, the Polanski house was targeted by the followers of cultist Charles Manson. Why the Manson clan focused iTrade ReviewPraise for Sharon Tate Elle, January 2016 "Sanders takes a look at the doe-eyed actress's life and death." New York Post, "Required Reading," 1/16/16 "If you were on the fence about Roman Polanski, Sanders' book is sure to push you to the thumbs-down side." New Republic, 1/12/16 "Sanders seems to resist stepping in where he doesn't feel he can, or should, hold forth, and this feels respectful...Sharon Tate: A Life is a decent project, dutiful and worthy of acknowledgment; as a read, it has moments...The senseless violence of Tate's death superseded her; at least Ed nails that senselessness." Closer Weekly, 1/18/16 "Sanders' book reveals new details of the star's last days." Globe, 1/25/16 "A shocking new book." Woodstock Times, 1/15/16 "An immersive journey into the life of the doomed actress that also touches on everything from New Age mysticism to the moon landing to the RFK assassination." "The Bookworm Sez," 1/25/16 There are many reasons to like this book. Author Ed Sanders writes about more than just Tate here; we also read about other people in her world, and we get a good feel for the feel-good '60s--drugs, sex, weirdness, and all...If you love a good crime story, you've come to the right place." Milwaukee Shepherd Express, 1/19/16 "Sanders returns to the scene of the crime." Connecticut Post, 1/15/16 "[A] gripping look back at the life and death of the actress who was murdered by the Charles Manson gang...Anyone with an interest in the pop culture of the 1960s should find this 'Rashomon'-like portrait a fascinating read." Chronogram, February 2016 "A touching biography of a young beauty...Sanders is meticulous and affectionate in his chronicle, its tone dry, wry, and journalistic...Was Tate specifically targeted? What were Manson's true motives? No one truly knows the answers, but Sanders has tried harder than anyone living to figure it out, and his exploration of all available sources is a fascinating look at chaotic times and a fitting tribute to a life cut brutally short." Waterbury Sunday Republican, 2/7/16 "Will likely appeal to readers who enjoyed Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon." Hartford Advocate "Sanders ties all of his earliest threads--up to 1970--together in the most engagingly idiosyncratic memoir of the year. Indeed, now that his friend and mentor Allen Ginsberg is dead, Ed Sanders is the strongest living link between the Beat Generation, the hippies, and all other underground currents that have trickled along the countercultural pipeline since then." High Times "This brilliant memoir not only chronicles the band's early days, but paints an outrageous, inspiring picture of life among the artistic outlaws of New York's Lower East side in the '60s." Baltimore Sun "In short, impressionistic chapters, Sanders details his adventures, as well as his encounters with seemingly everyone who was anyone in the Beat and hippie scenes. Sanders provides a fly-on-the-wall view of many facets of a turbulent decade." San Francisco Book Review, 3/7/16 "Pulse pounding reading...[An] excellent biography." Buffalo News, 4/10/16 "As a gripping, comprehensive, relentlessly involving revisiting of the Manson murders...it is a stunner...[Sanders] succeeds in shedding new light on the horrors of 1969. This is true crime lit at its most grimly compelling." Washington Post, 4/10/16 "As a biography, Sharon Tate is thorough."

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Book SynopsisA biography of one of America’s most popular and misunderstood authors, John Steinbeck.Trade Review"[Mad at the World] highlights the staggering amount of work he [Steinbeck] fitted into his overflowing life... highly readable..." -- The Sunday Times"William Souder’s Mad at the World is the first significant biography of Steinbeck since Jackson L. Benson’s... The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. It is readable, admiring and compact, and provides a narratively energetic look at a man who suffered many of the same weaknesses as his characters — for booze, benzedrine, depression and bad marriages... Souder writes well, and this is a good place to start reading (or rereading) about Steinbeck." -- Scott Bradfield - The Spectator"A comprehensive new biography of America’s best-known novelist of the Great Depression arrives at a timely moment." -- 17 New Books to Watch For in October - The New York Times"Souder’s sympathy for Steinbeck… is most effective and eloquent in his depiction of the California landscape or of the sea, which he describes as swimming with small pelagic crabs “like a crimson carpet spread across an ocean the color of lapis lazuli"." -- Brenda Wineapple - The New York Times Book Review"Painstakingly researched, psychologically nuanced, unshowy, lucid... [Souder] has brought a deeply human Steinbeck forth in all his flawed, melancholy, brilliant complication." -- Alex Kafka - The Washington Post"[An] appreciative yet clear-eyed assessment." -- Wendy Smith - The Boston Globe

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Book SynopsisThe true story of royal intrigue and a fatal shipwreck on the shores of Restoration BritainTrade ReviewFascinating ... Pickford, a historian who also has experience as a consultant for salvage companies, offers an expert study of the actual circumstances of this shipwreck. At the same time, his narrative is extremely readable and well structured. He weaves in some lesser-known aspects of Stuart life, including horse-racing, yachting, and map-making. His extensive archival research enables him to provide poignant details about members of the doomed crew and to give insights into their private lives ... At a more general level, he shows how the media was manipulated even in the seventeenth century, as the Crown tried to control popular opinion and turn all circumstances to advantage -- Margarette Lincoln, author of London and the Seventeenth Century

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORT BOOK AWARDS - RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR This is the story of 15 men killed in the Great War. The Final Whistle plays tribute to the pivotal role rugby played in the Great War by following the poignant stories of fifteen men who played for Rosslyn Park, London.Trade Review'A fresh and fascinating take on the impact of the Great War with a novel and moving focus.' -- Ian Hislop'Stephen Cooper has written a haunting and beautiful book, [he] tells the story of men from one rugby club but it is a universal narrative of heroism and loss. He writes superbly and has produced a book of commendable scholarship. I cannot recommend it enough.' -- Fergal Keane'a deeply moving book about the loss of fifteen members of Rosslyn Park Rugby Club during the Great War. A War that scarred Britain and took so many fine men, who had they lived would have enriched this country. The lives of these young men, all so promising, are poignantly and vividly recalled.' -- Max Arthur

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Book Synopsis''I am a very ordinary woman to whom a chance was given to see human beings at their best and at their worst... I completely believe in the potential nobility of the human spirit.''During some of the darkest days of the Second World War, a young Frenchwoman living as a mother and housewife in England left her ordinary life to become a British agent, working covertly in France to aid the Resistance. Entering a murky and deadly world of espionage and double-dealing, she was betrayed to the Germans, only to endure torture by the Gestapo and the hell of the infamous concentration camp of Ravensbruck. Yet she retained a compassion, grace and spiritedness that mystified her captors; and, living to see the liberation of Europe, she kept, in the direst circumstances, her fundamental trust in goodness. ODETTE tells the moving and inspirational story of a woman, who, in her courage and her ability to hold on to hope, was far from ordinary.

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Book SynopsisSebastian Payne is the Director of the think tank Onward and the former Whitehall Editor for the Financial Times. He is the author of the acclaimed Broken Heartlands, which was The Times' Political Book of the Year. Sebastian presented the Payne's Politics podcast, which was shortlisted for News Podcast of the Year' at the National Press Awards. The Fall of Boris Johnson is his second book and was a winner at the Parliamentary Book Awards.Trade ReviewAn entertaining and illuminating fly on the wall romp through Boris Johnson's final nine months, where the fly, Seb Payne, must frequently have thought he was on hallucinogens. It's more fun than a Downing Street party and contains a suitcase full of news. -- Tim ShipmanA timely reminder of the fine art of defenestration written by one of Fleet Street’s most trusted insiders. Delicious detail, break-neck pace and a curiosity which is both urgent yet empathetic. We are lucky to have Sebastian Payne. One of the finest of his generation. -- Emily MaitlisA genuinely page-turning, gripping account of some of the most extraordinary days in modern British history. Very well sourced, this is a book historians will be turning to for a long time to come. The fall of emperors often seems a more interesting theme than their rise; Seb Payne triumphantly confirms it. -- Andrew MarrBrilliant, a devastating piece of contemporary history and I’d recommend anyone with a remote interest in politics reads it. However bad you thought the Boris Johnson denouement was, Payne shows that it was much worse. We’re living in a time of epic political implosions, and the definitive history of this one has just been written. -- Fraser NelsonAny Tory MP tempted by a Johnson comeback should be prescribed this book by their GP -- The Times, A Political Book of the YearPayne writes with great skill . . . borders on the best of Tom Sharpe . . . revelatory * The Daily Telegraph *I urge you to read -- Nick CohenRevealing stories . . . delicious detail * The Times *Seasoned Westminster commentator Payne brilliantly, breathlessly and low-blow by low-blow captures the car crash at Downing Street -- Daily Mail, A Book of the YearHas all the pace, intrigue, complexity and dirt worthy of the finest Netflix drama * Metro *Payne tells the inside story, charting the crescendo of scandals that led to the resignation of a prime minister * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThis new edition of the acclaimed translation of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince - revised for the first time after thirty years - includes an extended and rewritten introduction by Quentin Skinner, an improved timeline of key events in Machiavelli's life, and a fully updated bibliography.Table of ContentsEditorial note; Introduction; Principal events in Machiavelli's life; Bibliographical note; Translator's note; Map: northern and central Italy, c.1500; Dedicatory letter: Niccolò Machiavelli to His Magnificence Lorenzo de' Medici; 1. How many kinds of principality there are, and by what means they are acquired; 2. Hereditary principalities; 3. Mixed principalities; 4. Why the Kingdom of Darius, which Alexander occupied, did not rebel against his successors after Alexander's death; 5. By what means cities or provinces that lived under their own laws before they were occupied ought to be administered; 6. New principalities acquired by one's own arms and ability; 7. New principalities acquired through the arms and fortune of others; 8. Those who become rulers through crime; 9. The civil principality; 10. In what ways the strengths of all principalities should be measured; 11. Ecclesiastical principalities; 12. How many kinds of soldiers there are, and mercenary troops; 13. Auxiliaries, mixed troops and one's own troops; 14. How a ruler should act concerning military matters; 15. The things for which men, and especially rulers, are praised or blamed; 16. Liberality and parsimony; 17. Cruelty and mercifulness; and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the contrary; 18. In what way rulers should keep their promises; 19. How contempt and hatred should be avoided; 20. Whether building fortresses, and many other things that rulers frequently do, are useful or useless; 21. What a ruler should do in order to be thought outstanding; 22. On those whom rulers employ in secret matters; 23. How flatterers should be shunned; 24. Why the rulers of Italy have lost their states; 25. How much control fortune has over human affairs, and by what means she can be resisted; 26. An exhortation to seize possession of Italy and assert her liberty from the barbarians; Appendix A. Letters relevant to The Prince; Appendix B. Notes on the vocabulary of The Prince; Biographical notes; Index of subjects; Index of proper names.

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Book SynopsisA book that reclaims the life stories of King Edward I's grandchildren.

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Book SynopsisTwo-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square.As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation''s founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends.Faithful Presen

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Book SynopsisTold for the very first time, this is the true story of the adventure that shaped the world . . .''A thrilling story of courage, survival and science. It''s an extraordinary, visceral and vivid read'' Geographical Magazine________Three hundred years ago no one knew the true shape of the world.It wasn''t a sphere - but did it bulge at the equator or was it pointed at the poles? Until we found out no map could ever be truly accurate. So a team of scientists was sent to South America - to measure one full degree of latitude.But South America was a land of erupting volcanoes, sodden rainforests, earthquakes, deadly diseases, tropical storms and violent unrest. And the misfit scientists had an unfortunate tendency to squander funds, fight duels, stumble into mutinies or die horribly.The tale of their ten-year odyssey of exploration, discovery, flirtations with failure and ultimate triumph becomes in Nicholas Crane''s hands Trade ReviewThis wonderfully readable and rollicking story of adventure and scientific exploration is as gripping as any novel. Full of big ideas and even bigger personalities, it's a book that sparkles with intelligence and wit * Alex Preston, author and journalist *Crane has a rare knack for showing people things they really ought to see across space and time without them having to get out of their chair. Latitude applies his trademark blend of pace, rigour and attention to enticing detail, in order to fill in a key segment of historical and geographical knowledge * Joe Smith, director of The Royal Geographic society *Latitude is a thrilling story of courage, survival and science. It's an extraordinary, visceral and vivid read * Geographical Magazine *A story for our times * Eastern Daily Press *An amazing story -- Jeremy Vine

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Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of the undisputed giant of English literature, a man whose own true history has long been hidden behind the fictional world of his books''Compendious and compelling ... it is impossible to imagine this Life being bettered'' WILLIAM BOYD, NEW STATESMAN''Smiley himself could not have done a better job'' SUNDAY TIMESLong after The Spy Who came in from the Cold made John le Carré a worldwide, bestselling sensation, David Cornwell, the man behind the pseudonym, remained an enigma. In this definitive biography, written with unprecedented access to the man himself, Adam Sisman offers an illuminating portrait of a fascinating and enigmatic writer.In Cornwell''s lonely childhood, Adam Sisman uncovers the origins of the themes of love and abandonment which dominated le Carré''s fiction: the departure of his mother when he was five, followed by ''sixteen hugless years'' in the dubious care of his father, a man of eneTrade ReviewUltimately it's about love ... this is a very emotional book. John le Carré had an utterly heartbreaking childhood ... This is the best biography of 2015 - a rare achievement that invites rereading -- Edward Wilson * Independent *Compendious and compelling...Sisman is excellent at the nuts and bolts of writing and of being published...it must be difficult to write the life of a man who is still very much with us, and in the public eye, no matter how much liberty the biographer has been given to tell the story, warts and all. Sisman - a very fine and astute biographer - has done an excellent, not to say exemplary, job under the circumstances ... it is impossible to imagine this Life being bettered -- William Boyd * New Statesman *This is the way to do it. Why this admirably balanced, patiently detailed biography of John le Carré is not on the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist beats me ... Sisman does full justice to [the] rawness at the heart of le Carré -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *Admirable * Financial Times *Balanced, focused and compelling * Economist *The spy novelist’s life is explored and explained with immaculate care and attention to detail * Sunday Times *This book is testament to Sisman’s skill and perseverance … With his excellent grasp of the wider history, Sisman is good at anchoring Cornwell in this shadowy environment, as he guides his readers through the models for various characters … Sisman brings admirable clarity to what could have been a meander in a wilderness of mirrors -- Andrew Lycett * Spectator *A perceptive and elegant interpreter of complex lives -- Jonathan Dimbleby * Radio Times *Excellent ... Shows how memory, fact and fiction have danced in Le Carré’s life ... [A] masterful biography * Catholic Morning Herald *Absorbing new doorstopper * Western Morning News *Sisman often came to know the reality of what happened in Cornwell’s life better than Cornwell himself did * Newsweek *Respectful though far from sycophantic - Best Books of 2015 -- Gaby Wood * Daily Telegraph *This riveting, thorough biography reveals the real world of Cornwell to be every bit as fascinating as his much-loved fiction. The perfect Christmas present for the le Carré fan in your life * Sunday Times *Cornwell has admitted that he can no longer separate many of the facts of his life from his lies and fictions. For Sisman this is like a red rag to a bull and you can feel the thrill of the chase throughout his terrific John le Carré * Independent *However gripping John le Carré’s novels … Hang onto your hats, because the author’s real life story is equally thrilling. Biographer Adam Sisman peels back layers of le Carré to reveal David Cornwall ... This is a masterpiece of storytelling and factual revelations * Compass *Fascinating * Metro *John le Carré will not be the final word on this subject but it could hardly be bettered -- Robert McCrum * Observer *Sisman pulls it off: this is a well-written and highly readable book which is neither hagiography nor hatchet job ... Within that world he [John le Carré] conveys some of the truths of human nature, endeavour and fallibility. This is a real and rare achievement and in Adam Sisman he has a biographer worthy of it -- Alan Judd * Times Literary Supplement *Absorbing … An insightful and highly readable portrait of a writer and a man who has often been classified as elusive and enigmatic as his fictional heroes -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Perceptive, entertaining * Guardian, 'Book of the Day' *A masterpiece * Irish Examiner, 'Books of the Year' *Extraordinary, absorbing … The most enthralling life of a writer I’ve read since I found myself riveted by Samuel Johnson’s Life of Milton 40 odd years ago … [A] magnificent book about an extraordinary man … Nothing about him [John le Carré] is more shrewd and wise and self-revealing than this superb biography he has elicited from Sisman * Australian *Excellent * Choice magazine *Meticulous and illuminating … Thankfully, his biography stops well short of hagiography * Tablet *[Sisman's] revealing biography, written in blessedly readable prose, makes a three-dimensional figure of a subject who can come across as something of a superman * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary and dramatic biography of the first modern feminist, who spent her entire life fighting for the principle of equality''Gripping ... Most lives would be overshadowed by such a melodramatic end. But Marx's life was so much more than a murder mystery, as Rachel Holmes's gripping and vividly told biography demonstrates'' Sunday Times''Superb ... The story of this remarkable life is so well told, with a rare combination of pace, verve and scholarship'' Jeanette Winterson, Daily TelegraphUnrestrained by convention, lion-hearted and free, Eleanor Marx (1855-98) was an exceptional woman. Hers was the first English translation of Flaubert's Mme Bovary. She pioneered the theatre of Henrik Ibsen. She was the first woman to lead the British dock workers'' and gas workers' trades unions. For years she worked tirelessly for her father, Karl Marx, as personal secretary and researcher. Later she edited many of his Trade ReviewSuperb ... The story of this remarkable life is so well told, with a rare combination of pace, verve and scholarship, that the reader is soon a daily visitor to the Marx household, with its soot, smoke, books, babies, dinner on the table via the pawnshop, three languages spoken in any combination, and the tiny Eleanor ... I doubt the reader will close this brilliant biography unmoved by this extraordinary woman’s life and untroubled by the inevitable questions it raises about global capitalism now * Jeanette Winterson, Daily Telegraph *Thanks to Holmes’ fresh and vital style – not to mention her endearing partisanship – Eleanor Marx: A Life reads less like a biography than a 19th century novel. Its close might indeed be modelled on Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, translated into English for the first time by Eleanor Marx in 1886 ... The life of one of Britain’s most celebrated intellectuals and activists of the late 19th century came abruptly to an end, to be all but forgotten. Thankfully, however, Holmes has given back to us an unforgettable Eleanor Marx * Lisa Jardine, Financial Times *It is the achievement of this biography . . . that it allows us so large and transcendent a view of its subject. [Holmes] succeeds very ably in highlighting the full reach and contemporary relevance of Eleanor Marx's political contribution to socialist and feminist thinking. -- Kate Soper, Professor Emerita of Philosophy, London Metropolitan University * Marx and Philosophy Review of Books *I got to the end of Rachel Holmes’s Eleanor Marx and wanted to start all over again ... At the centre of it all, the irrepressible daughter of Karl and Jenny Marx, the loving sister, passionate lover, actress, political organiser, fiery speaker, translator and intellect. A giant whose character in all its complexity steps off the page to inspire another generation * Susie Orbach *Gripping ... Most lives would be overshadowed by such a melodramatic end. But Marx’s life was so much more than a murder mystery, as Rachel Holmes’s gripping and vividly told biography demonstrates ... Sympathy for her subject is infectious ... Reading about this generous and far-seeing woman, it is hard not to wish that she had changed the world. How much better would the 20th century have been if it has been Eleanor’s views on the freedom of women that were adopted instead of her father’s communist doctrines * Sunday Times *Gripping ... The story of Eleanor Marx is shot through with the melodrama of the great Victorian novels – a tale of secrets, infidelities, lost letters and legacies, depression, deception and ultimate tragedy * Daily Mail *Rachel Holmes has produced a dazzling account of a woman and her family, an age and a movement, that grips from the first page to the last * Gillian Slovo *Eleanor Marx is both a challenging and a stimulating subject for a biographer. In this widely researched and passionately written book, Rachel Holmes has found an original way of presenting her. She balances Eleanor's political career, centred in the Reading Room of the British Museum among her Victorian Bloomsbury group colleagues, with her sobriquet, the emotional figure of “Tussy”, whose love for Edward Aveling ends in tragedy. It is as if the biographer is conducting string and wind instruments in an orchestra. The result, surprising at first, becomes profoundly satisfying * Michael Holroyd *What makes her a biographer’s dream is the style and passion with which she leaped over the barriers of convention ... How Aveling’s betrayals eventually destroyed Tussy provides a heart-rending finale to this enthralling biography. By then, I’d bet that every reader will be as unashamedly in love with Tussy as Rachel Holmes clearly is * Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisHistorian, revolutionary and cricket writer, CLR James was one of the truly radical voices of the twentieth century. Born in Trinidad in the final days of the Victorian era, he debated with Trotsky, played cricket with Constantine, was published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, inspired Kwame Nkrumah, and was a profound influence on the British Black Power movement. And yet by the late 1970s, CLR James was all but forgotten. The books he had written over the past half century were nearly all out of print. There were a few circles in which his name rang a bell: serious students of Black history; obsessive cricket fans. But that was it. When he died in Brixton in 1989, CLR James was internationally famous - lauded as the greatest of Black British intellectuals: the ''Black Plato'', according to The Times. The ideas he put forward in his own time - of the importance of identity alongside class, of rebellion coming from below, of the leading roles of Black Trade ReviewJohn L Williams's exciting and briskly written biography, CLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries, offers the perfect introduction to this titan of 20th-century politics and culture * The Times *This is an unrivalled storehouse of information about one of the twentieth century's most important revolutionaries. John Williams' sparkling biography counterpoints understanding of James' ideas with a richly-detailed account of his itinerant life and times * Paul Gilroy *This is a passionate, timely and challenging portrait. CLR James was decades ahead of his time in challenging our thoughts about empire, colonialism, black history and, not least, in writing brilliantly about cricket. He finally has the biography his extraordinary influence deserves * Barney Ronay *As John Williams states at the beginning of his absorbing biography, CLR James may have been born in the Victorian age but he belongs very much to ours . . . [The book] may be a single biography, but it describes multiple lives. * New Statesman *A genius, a seducer . . . the firebrand author, historian and critic was a complex, fragile human being, as John L Williams's biography reveals. * Observer *A fascinating biography -- Clive DavisCLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries . . . is the full-scale, scrupulously researched, admiring but clear-eyed biography of the T&T intellectual icon that Caribbean readers have awaited for decades * Trinidad & Tobago Express *It's a testament to this generous biography that the idiosyncratic personality of the great silver-tongued enthusiast comes shining through. * Prospect *C. L. R. 's life has been chronicled many times in film, memoirs and biographies. This one . . . should rank as definitive. * Tablet *This finely written and powerful book. . . . Williams gives us the rawness and rare achievement of his life, and that is an invaluable contribution to now-times and future readers. * Morning Star *A scholarly and vibrant biography . . . John L Williams has written a superb account of Trinidad's greatest intellectual * Irish Times *Just finished John Williams's superb biography of CLR James, A Life Beyond the Boundaries. Staggering what CLR fitted into his life. -- Lawrence Booth * Wisden *Three decades after his death, CLR is back in our midst thanks to this passionate, well-researched and necessary portrait * The Hindu *The most comprehensive and intimate portrayal yet of the iconic speaker, author, teacher, theorist, and revolutionary * Jacobin *This carefully researched book reflects on the life of an intellectual equally at home debating Leon Trotsky or discussing Shakespeare with John Arlott * Sunday Times *John L. Williams's superbly researched and beautifully judged book surpasses everything so far written about C.L.R. James. I don't think I now need to read any subsequent biography or critical study. * Telegraph *James has long deserved a biographer who could do full justice to the richness of his personal life and the range of his public activities. He has finally found one in John Williams . . . [A] superbly researched and beautifully judged book * Telegraph India *Now this extraordinary polymath has been honoured with a biography to suit his talents * Daily Mail, BEST SPORTS BOOKS OF 2022 *

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Book SynopsisHistorian, revolutionary and cricket writer, CLR James was one of the truly radical voices of the twentieth century. Born in Trinidad in the final days of the Victorian era, he debated with Trotsky, played cricket with Constantine, was published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, inspired Kwame Nkrumah, and was a profound influence on the British Black Power movement. And yet by the late 1970s, CLR James was all but forgotten. The books he had written over the past half century were nearly all out of print. There were a few circles in which his name rang a bell: serious students of Black history; obsessive cricket fans. But that was it.When he died in Brixton in 1989, CLR James was internationally famous - lauded as the greatest of Black British intellectuals: the ''Black Plato'', according to The Times.The ideas he put forward in his own time - of the importance of identity alongside class, of rebellion coming from below, of the leading roles of Black peoTrade ReviewJohn L Williams's exciting and briskly written biography, CLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries, offers the perfect introduction to this titan of 20th-century politics and culture * The Times *This is an unrivalled storehouse of information about one of the twentieth century's most important revolutionaries. John Williams' sparkling biography counterpoints understanding of James' ideas with a richly-detailed account of his itinerant life and times * Paul Gilroy *This is a passionate, timely and challenging portrait. CLR James was decades ahead of his time in challenging our thoughts about empire, colonialism, black history and, not least, in writing brilliantly about cricket. He finally has the biography his extraordinary influence deserves * Barney Ronay *As John Williams states at the beginning of his absorbing biography, CLR James may have been born in the Victorian age but he belongs very much to ours . . . [The book] may be a single biography, but it describes multiple lives. * New Statesman *A genius, a seducer . . . the firebrand author, historian and critic was a complex, fragile human being, as John L Williams's biography reveals. * Observer *A fascinating biography -- Clive DavisCLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries . . . is the full-scale, scrupulously researched, admiring but clear-eyed biography of the T&T intellectual icon that Caribbean readers have awaited for decades * Trinidad & Tobago Express *It's a testament to this generous biography that the idiosyncratic personality of the great silver-tongued enthusiast comes shining through. * Prospect *C. L. R. 's life has been chronicled many times in film, memoirs and biographies. This one . . . should rank as definitive. * Tablet *This finely written and powerful book. . . . Williams gives us the rawness and rare achievement of his life, and that is an invaluable contribution to now-times and future readers. * Morning Star *A scholarly and vibrant biography . . . John L Williams has written a superb account of Trinidad's greatest intellectual * Irish Times *Just finished John Williams's superb biography of CLR James, A Life Beyond the Boundaries. Staggering what CLR fitted into his life. -- Lawrence Booth * Wisden *Three decades after his death, CLR is back in our midst thanks to this passionate, well-researched and necessary portrait * The Hindu *The most comprehensive and intimate portrayal yet of the iconic speaker, author, teacher, theorist, and revolutionary * Jacobin *This carefully researched book reflects on the life of an intellectual equally at home debating Leon Trotsky or discussing Shakespeare with John Arlott * Sunday Times *John L. Williams's superbly researched and beautifully judged book surpasses everything so far written about C.L.R. James. I don't think I now need to read any subsequent biography or critical study. * Telegraph *James has long deserved a biographer who could do full justice to the richness of his personal life and the range of his public activities. He has finally found one in John Williams . . . [A] superbly researched and beautifully judged book * Telegraph India *Now this extraordinary polymath has been honoured with a biography to suit his talents * Daily Mail, BEST SPORTS BOOKS OF 2022 *CLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries is just that - an unsentimental work that draws back the veil of legend to expose the man of blood and bone. With great subtlety, intelligence and expansiveness, Williams gives us a view onto the thinker's groundbreaking ideas while rooting us firmly in the world that helped to shape him, a world living out the immediate aftershocks of colonialism. This is a profound, stirring and necessary book * Esi Edugyan *

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Book Synopsis''Masterful research, impeccable detail, with a beautifully flowing narrative of which Churchill himself would have been proud.'' - Professor Peter Caddick-AdamsFrom his earliest days Winston Churchill was an extreme risk taker and he carried this into adulthood. Today he is widely hailed as Britain's greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin, and his arch enemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander.Again like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals. The results of this were disasters in Norway, North Africa, Greece and Crete during 194041. His fruitless Dodecanese campaign in 1943 also ended in defeat. Churchill's pig-headedness over supporting the Italian campaign in defiance of the RiTrade ReviewThis well-researched, well-written and soundly argued book is a real addition to the avalanche of books on Winston Churchill, illuminating where the military views came from that were so profoundly to affect the twentieth century and beyond. * Andrew Roberts, author of 'Churchill: Walking with Destiny' *Masterful research, impeccable detail, with a beautifully flowing narrative of which Churchill himself would have been proud. * Professor Peter Caddick-Adams *A lively and compelling account of a remarkable military-political career. As eye-opening as it is comprehensive, Tucker-Jones brings to life Churchill’s experience of combat and military command and charts the course that made him such a great warlord. Balanced and judicious, this book shows us the full measure of the man – his mistakes, blunders and defeats, as well as the glorious victories. * Professor Geoffrey Roberts *This is a thoroughly recommended book and important to appreciate its focus and scope as a welcome addition to the Churchill library. * Aspects of History *A well-researched and well-argued offering that looks at some of [Churchill's] most controversial decisions and how they were influenced by his experiences in the First World War. * Soldier *Throughout the book the author offers a well-balanced opinion, & he is critical, but fair, when pointing out some of Churchill's mistakes. -- Simon Dalton * History Book Chat *Table of ContentsForeword by Andrew Roberts Introduction Prologue: Death or Glory List of Maps List of Illustrations PART ONE: BAPTISM OF FIRE 1. Soldiers of the Queen 2. Frontier Wars 3. Great Escape 4. The Sakabulas PART TWO: FALL AND RISE 5. A Haunting Lesson 6. ‘Cat on Hot Bricks’ 7. Winston’s Mercenaries PART THREE: WORLD ORDER OR DISORDER 8. Flying Police 9. Troubled Emerald Isle 10. Beneath the Sphinx 11. Nazism or Communism PART FOUR: THE WARLORD RETURNS 12. Master and Commander 13. His Finest Hour 14. Strategic Dilemma 15. Old Foes 16. Hitting Back 17. ‘Bands of Brothers’ PART FIVE: GLOBAL JUGGLING ACT 18. Mediterranean Showdown 19. An American Friend 20. Joan of Arc 21. Courting the Red Czar 22. Loss of Faith 23. India in Revolt PART SIX: WAR OF WILLS 24. Strained Relations 25. Second Front Now 26. ‘Death Wish’ 27. Miracle of Deliverance 28. ‘The Whole Scene’ Epilogue: Gone Painting Winston Churchill’s Military Career at a Glance: 1895–1945 Notes and References Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a long overdue study of all aspects of Lucullus life but with heavy emphasis on his military career, strategy and tactics

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Book SynopsisIn King of Spies, prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden, reveals one of the most astonishing – and previously untold – spy stories of the twentieth century.Donald Nichols was 'a one man war', according to his US Air Force commanding general. He won the Distinguished Service Cross, along with a chest full of medals for valor and initiative in the Korean War. His commanders described Nichols as the bravest, most resourceful and effective spymaster of that forgotten war. But there is far more to Donald Nichols' story than first meets the eye . . .Based on long-classified government records, unsealed court records, and interviews in Korea and the U.S., King of Spies tells the story of the reign of an intelligence commander who lost touch with morality, legality, and even sanity, if military psychiatrists are to be believed. Donald Nichols was America's Kurtz. A seventh-grade dropout, he created his own black-ops empire, commanding a small army of hand-selected spies, deploying his own makeshift navy, and ruling over it as a clandestine king, with absolute power over life and death. He claimed a – 'legal license to murder' – and inhabited a world of mass executions and beheadings, as previously unpublished photographs in the book document.Finally, after eleven years, the U.S. military decided to end Nichols's reign. He was secretly sacked and forced to endure months of electroshock in a military hospital in Florida. Nichols told relatives the American government was trying to destroy his memory.King of Spies looks to answer the question of how an uneducated, non-trained, non-experienced man could end up as the number-one US spymaster in South Korea and why his US commanders let him get away with it for so long . . .Trade ReviewBlaine Harden’s King of Spies is jaw-droppingly good — a quirky, unlikely, thrilling true story of intrigue and daring and depravity told by a master of the genre * David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story *Blaine Harden has now produced a fascinating trilogy of stranger-than-fiction books about North Korea. His latest, King of Spies, is about a gay, middle school dropout who was one of the few U.S. officials to predict the outbreak of the Korean War and whose espionage activities had a profound impact on the course of the war. You’ve probably never heard of Donald Nichols, but you’ll never forget him after reading King of Spies * Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea *A must-read for readers interested in Korea, the ­Korean War, or U.S. intelligence operations * Library Journal *King of Spies is a dark story of espionage and evil by a wild American military spymaster in Korea, a tale both revelatory and tragic. Blaine Harden's superb book throws open a long-ignored chapter in the Korean War; a compelling and disturbing read, not to be missed * David E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal *A thrilling real-life spy story told by a terrific writer. * Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA *Blaine Harden has done what no one else thought to do in seven decades: He’s brought us the full, secret, astonishing story of one of the most improbably powerful characters in American history, and he has done so with crystalline writing and in jaw-dropping detail * Steve Twomey, author of Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack *Many accounts of the Korean War are full of mystery, hinting at horrific crimes and large-scale covert operations. King of Spies pierces that mystery through the story of a remarkable American operative who took his mission to mind-boggling extremes. The adventures that fill these pages, from bleak battlefields to the corridors of power, tell us much about how the world really works * Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq *Fascinating account of an espionage pioneer who thrived during the Korean War and then disappeared into disgraced obscurity . . . An engrossing hidden history of wartime espionage, with elements of derring-do and moral barbarity. * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisWhen Queen Victoria's second daughter Princess Alice married the Prince Louis of Hesse and Rhine in 1862 even her own mother described the ceremony as more of a funeral than a wedding' thanks to the fact that it took place shortly after the death of Alice's beloved father Prince Albert. Sadly, the young princess' misfortunes didn't end there and when she also died prematurely, her four motherless daughters were taken under the wing of their formidable grandmother, Victoria. Alix, the youngest of Alice's daughters and allegedly one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, was a special favourite of the elderly queen, who hoped that she would marry her cousin Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and one day reign beside him as Queen. However, the spirited and stubborn Alix had other ideas

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