European history: medieval period, middle ages Books
Bloomsbury USA 1217
Book SynopsisA Sunday Times Book of the Week ''A thrilling episode from England's medieval history.'' Dan Jones, The Sunday TimesAn engrossing history of the pivotal year when the future of England was secured.In 1215 King John had agreed to the terms of Magna Carta, but then reneged on his word, plunging the kingdom into war. Rebellious barons offered the throne to the French prince Louis and set off a chain of events that almost changed the course of English history.Louis arrived in May 1216, was proclaimed king in London, and by the autumn had half of England under his control. However, the choice of a French prince had enormous repercussions: now not merely an internal rebellion, but a war in which the defenders were battling to prevent a foreign takeover. John's death in October 1216 left the throne in the hands of his 9-year-old son, Henry, and his regent, William Marshal, which changed the face of the war again, for now the king trying to fight off an invader was not a hated tyrant but an innocent child.1217 charts the nascent sense of national identity that began to swell. Three key battles would determine England's destiny. The fortress of Dover was besieged, the city of Lincoln was attacked, and a great invasion force set sail and, unusually for the time, was intercepted at sea. Catherine Hanley expertly navigates medieval siege warfare, royal politics, and fighting at sea to bring this remarkable period of history to life.
£10.44
Orion Publishing Co Budapest
Book SynopsisBudapest has always been an important place. Almost at the centre of Europe, it is at the crossroads of geographical regions and of civilizations, at the intersection of ancient trade routes. Mountains that gradually slope into gentle hills converge on a great river, the Danube, and the regions of Buda and Pest sprang up on either side.Throughout history the centre of gravity in Budapest and among Hungarians has shifted between this division of East and West - culturally, politically, emotionally. Invaders have come and gone, empires have conquered, occupied for centuries or decades, and left a few footprints behind: the remains of a Roman bath house complete with wonderfully preserved mosaics stand next to a Soviet-style ''five-year-plan'' apartment block. The city bears the scars of the rise and fall of multiple empires, two world wars, fascism, Nazi German occupation, Soviet Communism. It has been home to some of the world''s greatest writers, artists and musicians. HungaTrade ReviewThis book is a delight. Elegant writing, urbane knowledge, scholarly depth, and a beautifully-sketched cast of warlords, writers and empresses, communists and kings. Not just a superb portrait of Budapest but a history of 2,000 years of Central Europe. * Simon Sebag Montefiore *[Budapest is] magnificent, a really fine history. I was completely swept up in it. It's full of fascinating insights from an author with this city in his blood. Colourful detail and anecdote make it an exciting and often very entertaining read. Victor Sebestyen brings the key heroes and villains in Budapest's history to life. It's vivid, engaging and page-turning. * Victoria Hislop *Victor Sebestyen's Budapest is a compelling portrait of one of the most important cities in Europe. Full of sharp insights, elegant writing and vivid characters, it is a magisterial work spanning 2,000 years from the Romans to the present day. * Andrew Roberts *The task Victor Sebestyen sets himself is to explain both the 'boundless blindness' (in the words of Crown Prince Rudolf) and the 'extraordinary courage' (in Sebestyen's own) that have led Hungary to make the choices she has. The result is highly readable ... [Sebestyen] is excellent on the interwar regent Miklós Horthy. In fact he is excellent on 20th-century Hungary generally. It is a complex subject, but Sebestyen has written about it before, and his hand is very sure. * SPECTATOR *The most accessible and authoritative history of the city in a generation. -- Rory Maclean * TLS *Sebestyen's history of Budapest is full of fascinating facts ... The narrative swings back and forth between the broad sweep of Hungary's past and the almost tangible sense of the city: its streets, its people and its cafés - where the revolution of 1848 began and the words of the national anthem were written. The book ends with 1989, the fall of communism and the emergence of a young firebrand named Viktor Orbán. For anyone seeking background on Hungary's recent history, this is an excellent place to start. -- Alix Kroeger * NEW STATESMAN *Not only a rich portrait of a city but also a masterful survey of central European history -- Martyn Rady * BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE *Incisive... Sebestyen writes of his home city with deep knowledge and unabashed affection. A journalist-turned-historian, he has a fine eye for detail... Read Sebestyen on Budapest and all you'll want is to read it again -- Stefan Wagstyl * FINANCIAL TIMES *Forever caught between East and West, the capital of Hungary encapsulates the drama of central Europe in its wonders and horrors. The author, who left the city as a child after the uprising against communist rule in 1956, excels in describing Budapest's Habsburg heyday, the historical role of its Jewish population and the hubris and humiliations that have helped shape the city * THE ECONOMIST 'Best books of 2022' *
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Operation Chiffon
Book SynopsisOn the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Peter Taylor tells for the first time the gripping story of Operation Chiffon, the top-secret intelligence operation that helped bring peace to Ireland.A gripping exploration of how MI5 and MI6 worked for a ceasefire with the IRA and how one meeting changed everything' Telegraph''An extraordinary story . . . A true tale of espionage'' The TimesApril 1998: the Good Friday Agreement is signed, ending decades of violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland. The process of getting the IRA to end its so-called armed struggle' was always the prerequisite of the search for peace. It was Operation Chiffon that finally helped make it possible.Operation Chiffon takes us inside the top-secret intelligence operation whose roots go back to the bloodiest years of the conflict in the early 1970s, involving officers from MI6 and, later in the 1990s, MI5. The remarkable stor
£10.44
Pen & Sword Books Ltd How to Survive in Medieval England
Book SynopsisImagine you were transported back in time to Medieval England and had to start a new life there. Without mobile phones, ipads, internet and social media networks, when transport means walking or, if you're fortunate, horse-back, how will you know where you are or what to do? Where will you live? What is there to eat? What shall you wear? How can you communicate when nobody speaks as you do and what about money? Who can you go to if you fall ill or are mugged in the street? However can you fit into and thrive in this strange environment full of odd people who seem so different from you? All these questions and many more are answered in this new guide book for time-travellers: _How to Survive in Medieval England_. A handy self-help guide with tips and suggestions to make your visit to the Middle Ages much more fun, this lively and engaging book will help the reader deal with the new experiences they may encounter and the problems that might occur. Know the laws so you don't get into trouble or show your ignorance in an embarrassing faux pas. Enjoy interviews with the celebrities of the day, from a business woman and a condemned felon, to a royal cook and King Richard III himself. Have a go at preparing medieval dishes and learn some new words to set the mood for your time-travelling adventure. Have an exciting visit but be sure to keep this book to hand.
£13.49
Greenhill Books Hitlers Brandenburgers
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£17.09
Troubador Publishing Ice to Athelstan The Emergence of England
Book SynopsisWith such concentration on the Tudors onwards, the English risk losing sight of their nation's roots. Ice to Athelstan fills that gap by presenting the story of the country's origins in a succinct and accessible way.In twelve short chapters the book covers some 10,000 years from the time of the last Ice Age, when Britain was a frozen desert, until the short reign of the first king of England. It tells the story of who came, when, from where, why, and what effect they had, as the country was populated, taken over, abandoned, contested and assaulted before the House of Wessex prevailed.In the process it examines the emergent England's links with Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Scandinavia as England's neighbours underwent their own national evolution.In bringing together a summary of how England emerged, Ice to Athelstan delves deeper into many of the underlying issues, such as the significance of Iron Age monuments, the extent to which people changed or were replaced, the growth of early tribes and kingdoms, and the origins and actions of the successive waves of incomers who went to make up the country's 10th century population.
£14.17
Icon Books Footmarks
Book Synopsis''Lucid, poetic and fascinating'' ALICE ROBERTS''Engaging, authoritative and full of fascinating stories of the past'' RAY MEARS''A gentle, personal and very readable book'' JULIA BLACKBURN AUTHOR OF TIME SONG''A triumph!'' JAMES CANTON, AUTHOR OF THE OAK PAPERS''I loved this book'' FRANCIS PRYOROn paths, roads, seas, in the air, and in space - there has never been so much human movement. In contrast we think of the past as static, ''frozen in time''. But archaeologists have in fact always found evidence for humanity''s irrepressible restlessness. Now, latest developments in science and archaeology are transforming this evidence and overturning how we understand the past movement of humankind. In this book, archaeologist Jim Leary traces the past 3.5 million years to reveal how people have always been moving, how travel has historically been enforced (or prohibited) by people with power, and how our forebears showed incredible bravery and ingenuity to journey across continents and ocea
£10.44
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism
Book SynopsisThis book offers a fresh, bold and unsettling truth: the British Empire and Great Britain are primarily English constructions; and the Church of England has presumed to act for and benefit from English enterprise and exploitation, serving as the spiritual arm of the imperial project. English Anglicanism has developed itself as the lead character within its own serious fiction'the main religious player in a drama of Church and Empire. Yet, in collusion with colonialism, it is now a prisoner of its own historical amnesia.Martyn Percy examines the English interests concealed in appeals to Britishness, and shows how slavery, exploitation, classism and racism played their part in the elitist and hierarchical worldviews propagated by the English to bolster both Empire and Church. Yet, by regarding the rest of the world as lesser, both institutions have slowly degenerated in global standing. Now, Britain' and the Church of England are no more than minor national players on the world stage.Religious, social and political imperialism are founded on the deprecation of others. Yet those peoples who were once looked down upon have fought for equality and independence. Today, the worldwide Anglican Communion faces a new era of moral reckoning.
£23.75
Crossed Crow Books Polish Folk Magic
£21.21
Quercus Publishing Generation GDR
Book SynopsisA gripping account of East Germany in the late '70s and early '80s, and of one man's fated struggle for freedom.
£17.60
Yale University Press Tudor England
Book SynopsisA compelling, authoritative account of the brilliant, conflicted, visionary world of Tudor EnglandTrade Review“[Wooding] writes clear, elegant, purposeful narrative. . . . Anecdote and oddity leap off every page, often slyly juxtaposed. . . . This wide-ranging and punchy book approaches Tudor history from the ground up. It’s a classic in the making.”—Dan Jones, Times (UK)“Generous, heroic history—populist rather than popular—that will shake up long-held views. . . . Tudor England is so well-cited that it’s easy to recommend to someone trying to get up to speed with current historical debates, but it’s also far from dry—liberally scattered with grisly tales and memorable digressions into everything from gardening to the theatres.”—Daniel Brooks, Daily Telegraph“Lucy Wooding offers a new perspective on the period—a treasure chest of real people enduring war, poverty, chaos and contagion. Fascinating characters are crowded into a narrative of superb dramatic pace. Do we need yet another Tudor history? Yes, apparently we do.”—Times (UK), “Best History Books of 2022”“Offers a comprehensive, authoritative, up-to-date account of the Tudor monarchs and the England they governed. Throughout it provides a sense of what it would have felt like to live through the many tumultuous changes of the period; and its combination of broad sweep and with vivid stories and snapshots will reward scholars, students and general readers alike.”—Helen Hackett, Times Literary Supplement“Dr. Wooding’s simple objective, she tells us, is to unfold the astonishing story of this era, something she achieves in an exceptionally human and beautifully written text. . . . With great clarity and engaging prose, we are offered stimulating reappraisals of each regime, all of them bristling with fresh ideas and new ways of looking at age-old areas of study. . . . It surely offers much that is new for even the most well-read Tudor specialist, but equally serves as a fresh and brilliant introduction for the newcomer.”—David Robinson, Country Life“The book is a rather rich and detailed portrait of life in England through which the personal and dynastic histories of the Tudor monarchs are woven . . . [and] a deeply human and intimate account, taking in every level of society. . . . It is a remarkable achievement.”—Mathew Lyons, Literary Review“An exceptional contribution to Tudor scholarship. It offers a fresh and nuanced perspective on the Tudor dynasty, challenging prevailing narratives and shedding light on the complexities of the era.”—Marc Daniel Rivera, KristiyaKnow“Deftly fusing social, religious and political history, Tudor England is an outstanding achievement. Drawing on the latest scholarship, Wooding reappraises the reigns of the five Tudor monarchs, as well as assessing the times in which they lived. Essential reading for students and everyone interested in this most fascinating of dynasties.”—Elizabeth Norton, author of The Lives of Tudor Women“Beautifully written . . . a deeply humane text, in which so many contemporary voices are given a sympathetic hearing, whilst also making a significant contribution to the field.”—Ian Archer, University of Oxford“Impressive and authoritative, combining narrative panache with rigorous new research to give us a new perspective on one of the most controversial and critical English dynasties. It is the reassessment we needed. . . . A treasure trove, exploring Tudor history from every angle.”—Joanne Paul, author of The House of Dudley“A brilliant sketch of political, religious and social change under the Tudor Monarchs. Wooding weaves many a striking detail into a compelling account of complex events and developments.”—George Bernard, author of Who Ruled Tudor England?
£14.99
Harvard University Press Born to Rule
Book Synopsis
£18.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces 1
Book SynopsisAt its height the Roman Empire stretched across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, maintained by an army of modest size but great diversity. In popular culture these soldiers are often portrayed in a generic fashion,but continuing research indicates significant variations in Roman armour and equipment not only between different legions and the provincially-raised auxiliary cohorts that made up half of the army, but also between different regions within the empire. With reference to the latest archaeological and documentary evidence Dr D''Amato investigates how Roman Army units in the Western provinces were equipped, exploring the local influences and traditions that caused the variations in attire.Table of ContentsIntroduction/ Chronology/ The borders and the Roman army/ Distribution of the Roman army in the Western Provinces of Europe and North Africa: legiones, auxilia, numeri, vexillationes/ Table of identified units/ Arms, equipment and clothing in the Western Provinces: Belgica, Britannia, Aquitania, Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, Raetia, Alpes Poeninae, Alpes Maritimae, Alpes Cottiae, Italia, Sicilia, Sardinia; Noricum, Pannonia, Dalmatia, Tarraconensis, Baetica, Lusitania; Africa, Mauretania Tingitana, and Mauretania Caesariensis/ Bibliography
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Swerve
Book SynopsisStephen Greenblatt is Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, which won the National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, as well as the New York Times bestseller Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare and the classic university text Renaissance Self-Fashioning. A prize-winning author and celebrated scholar, he has been studying, thinking and writing about Renaissance literature for his entire working life.Trade ReviewSuperbly readable... An exciting story, and Greenblatt tells it with his customary clarity and verve -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * Daily Telegraph *Superb history ... this concise, learned and fluently written book tells a remarkable story -- Charles Nicholl * Observer *Dazzling * Guardian *In this outstandingly constructed assessment of the birth of philosophical modernity, renowned Shakespeare scholar Greenblatt deftly transports reader to the dawn of the Renaissance...Readers from across the humanities will find this enthralling account irresistible * Library Journal *More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian (starred review) * Kirkus Reviews *
£13.49
Yale University Press The Voynich Manuscript
Book SynopsisThe first authorized copy of this mysterious, much-speculated-upon, one-of-a-kind, centuries-old puzzleTrade Review“For the first time, a complete reproduction [of] The Voynich Manuscript, has been published, featuring essays exploring what is known about the book and extra-wide margins so readers can record their responses to its beguiling, beautiful strangeness.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe“For people who like a good historical mystery, this first authorized publication of the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Voynich Manuscript will fascinate.”—Rebecca Onion, Slate“Handsome and well-produced. . . This facsimile and the accompanying series of essays give a clear sense of the current state of knowledge on the manuscript and reveal the findings of new research.”—H. R. Woud Huysen, Times Literary Supplement“The Voynich MS has inspired generations of enthusiasts dedicated to deciphering it. . . . This beautiful facsimile will make it available for many more people to become enticed and entranced by it.”—David V. Barrett, Fortean Times“The Voynich Manuscript, a volume edited by the library’s curator Raymond Clemens, revivifies this tantalising artefact. . . . Wide margins are deliberately provided for readers’ notes on their own ideas. ‘Bonne chance!,’ writes Clemens. I’ll second that.”—Andrew Robinson, Nature“Perhaps studying these pages in the hope of unlocking secrets is to miss the point. It’s almost as though the book exists in order to make the inquiry into its existence possible.”—Jamie Martin, London Review of Books“As handsome a new book as you could own. This medieval beauty has it all: fold-out sections, delicate illustrations of plants, astrological charts, what look to be alchemical recipes. . . . But the main thing about it—the thing that makes publishing it so quixotic—is that it’s a book you can’t actually read. Nobody can.”—Sam Leith, Prospect“Sumptuous facsimile reproduction. . . . Jennifer Rampling’s judiciously skeptical essay . . . is a careful deconstruction of over-excited theories.”—Kathryn Murphy, Apollo“This new book, reproducing the entire Voynich Manuscript, is a godsend. While the essays offer valid clues to the manuscript’s age and relation to late medieval science, the manuscript itself stubbornly refuses to yield its secrets.”—Roger S. Wieck, Department of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Morgan Library & Museum“A book worthy of its subject in every way. Clemens and his collaborators have done an extraordinary job teasing out some of the secrets and wonders of the enigmatic Voynich Manuscript in ways that will make this volume an invaluable resource for many years to come.”—Bruce Holsinger, author of A Burnable Book“Many hands have held Voynich’s now-eponymous book over the centuries . . . yet none of them have managed convincingly to solve its mysteries.”—Deborah Harkness, from the Introduction
£38.00
Hodder Education Access to History Russia 18941941 for OCR Second
Book SynopsisExam Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR & WJECLevel: A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016This is an OCR endorsed resource.Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students.This title:- Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications- Contains authoritative and engaging content- Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians- Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learntThis title is suitable for a variety of courses including:-
£26.97
Penguin Books Ltd A Short History of Byzantium
Book SynopsisA Short History of Byzantium is renowned historian, and author of A History of Venice, John Julius Norwich''s classic history of Byzantium Constantine the Great moved the seat of Roman power to Constantinople in AD 330 and for eleven brutal, bloody centuries, the Byzantine Empire became a beacon of grand magnificence and depraved decadence . . .Here then are the centuries dominated by ferocious arguments over the nature of Christ and his Church. By knowledge, where scholars and scribes preserved the heritage of the ancient world. By emperors like Justinian the Great and Basil the Bulgar-Slayer - men pious, heroic or monstrous. By creativity, as art and architecture soared to new heights. In this abridgement of his celebrated trilogy, John Julius Norwich provides the definitive introduction to the savage, scintillating world of Byzantium.''Norwich has the gift of historical perspective, as well as clarity and wit. Few can tell a goo
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers The Great Mortality
Book SynopsisA compelling history of the Black Death that scoured Europe in the mid 14th-century killing twenty-five million people. It was one of the worst human disasters in history.The bodies were sparsely covered that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured themAnd believing it to be the end of the world, no one wept for the dead, for all expected to die.' Agnolo di Turo, Siena, 1348In just over a thousand days from 1347 to 1351 the ''Black Death'' travelled across medieval Europe killing thirty per cent of its population. It was a catastrophe that touched the lives of every individual on the continent. The deadly Y. Pestis virus entered Europe in October 1347 by Genoese galley at Messina, Sicily. In the spring of 1348 it was devastating the cities of central Italy, by June 1348 it had reached France and Spain, and by August England. At St Mary's, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, an anonymous hand carved the following inscription for 1349: Wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the peoplTrade Review‘Kelly is a fair-minded and reliable guide, with a gift for providing racy and vivid background for those who know nothing of the Middle Ages.’ Independent on Sunday ‘There has never been a better researched, better written or more engaging account of the worst epidemic the world has ever known than this.’ Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa’ ‘Kelly approaches the story of the greatest tragedy in history like a forensic detective who must first recreate the life of the victims before examining their deaths. While writing with a keen eye for the telling details of the past, Kelly’s book might also be a warning about our own future.’ Jack Weatherford, author of ‘Genghis Khan’
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Realm Divided: A Year in the Life of Plantagenet
Book Synopsis1215 – the penultimate year of the reign of a king with the worst reputation of any in our history – saw England engulfed by crisis. Weakened by the loss of Normandy, King John faced insurrection by his disgruntled barons. With the assistance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, they drew up a list of their demands. In June, in a quiet Thames-side water-meadow, John attached his regal seal – under oath – to a charter that set limits on regal power. In return, the barons renewed their vows of fealty. Groundbreaking though 'Magna Carta' was, it had scant immediate impact as England descended into civil war that would still be raging when John died the following year. Dan Jones's vivid account of the vicissitudes of feudal power politics and the workings of 13th-century government is interwoven with a exploration of the lives of ordinary people: how and where they worked, what they wore, what they ate, and what role the Church played in their lives.Trade ReviewWonderfully engaging... commanding and piercingly insightful. His book is packed with moments that make you stop in your tracks' * Daily Telegraph *A very colourful and entertaining volume * The Bookbag *Jones has a terrific eye for humanising stories and the telling detail... it is the snapshots of life as it was lived that make this book so engaging' * Daily Telegraph *An insightful overview of the state of England 800 years ago * History Revealed Book of the Month *Jones expertly guides us through this turbulent period and sheds fascinating light on life in Plantagenet England * The Irish Mail *Jones writes in a very readable style * Battlefield Magazine *Jones is to be congratulated for telling his story with panache and originality. He deserves to be widely read * BBC History Magazine *
£8.54
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Women of the Cousins War
Book SynopsisA BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHICAL ANTHOLOGY FROM ONE OF THE WORLD'S FOREMOST HISTORICAL NOVELISTS. Beautifully illustrated with rare portraits, The Women of the Cousins' War provides an accurate account of Elizabeth Woodline (The White Queen), Margaret Beaufort (The Red Queen), and Jacquetta (Lady Rivers) - the subjects of the first three novels in Philippa's beloved Cousins' War series. In this exciting addition to the Philippa Gregory ouevre, Philippa writes revealingly about the differences between history and fiction and examines the gaps in the historical record with the help of the two leading historical experts in their field who helped Philippa to research the novels. 'An engrossing introduction to three courageous matriarchs who shaped English history.'Publisher's Weekly
£9.49
Anness Publishing Ancient Rome
Book SynopsisAn authoritative account of Ancient Rome, its political and military history, art, architecture and culture, sumptously illustrated throughout with 1000 photographs and reproductions, chronicling the story of the most important and influential civilisation the world has ever known.Table of ContentsIntroduction 6 Part One The Rise and Fall of Rome 8 The Archetypal Empire 10 Timeline 14 Rome: The World’s First Superpower 18 Chapter I: An Empire of Force and Law 20 Legendary Beginnings 22 The Conquest of Italy 24 The Growth of Empire 26 Victory Abroad, Discord at Home 28 The End of the Republic 30 Peace Restored: The First Emperors 32 The Flavians and “The Five Good Emperors” 34 Crisis and Catastrophe 36 Reconstruction and Revival 38 The Fall of the West 40 Chapter II: Great Romans 42 Great Roman Generals 44 Julius Caesar 48 Pompey 50 Mark Antony 51 The Historians’ View 52 Roman Philosophers 54 Rome’s Enemies 56 Cicero: The Peaceful Roman 60 Chapter III: The Emperors 62 Emperors of Rome 64 Augustus: The First Roman Emperor 66 Organizers of Empire 68 Best of Emperors 70 Evil Emperors 72 Saviours of the Empire 76 Constantine the Great 80 Women Behind the Throne 82 Chapter IV: Governing the Empire 84 A Self-governing Confederacy 86 The Oligarchical Republic 88 Rome’s Ruling Classes 90 The Secret Workings of Roman Politics 94 The Principate: A Monarchy in Disguise 96 Republican Extortion, Imperial Probity 98 Taxation 100 Chapter V: Rome and the Law 102 Law in the Early Republic 104 How the Laws Worked in Times of Crisis 106 The Great Imperial Codifications 108 Police and Secret Police 110 Punishment 112 Chapter VI: Foreign Policy 114 Early Beginnings: The Conquest of Italy 116 Ruler by Default 118 Defensible Frontiers: The Rhine and the Danube 120 Defensible Frontiers: Asia 122 Client and Buffer States 124 Reliance on the Germans 126 At the Empire’s Extremities: Egypt 128 At the Empire’s Extremities: Britain 130 the power of rome 132 Chapter VII: The Roman Army 134 The People’s Army 136 Battle Hardening 138 The Fall of the Republic 140 Legions and Principate 142 Army of the Later Empire 144 Chapter VIII: Inside the Army 146 Organizing the Legion 148 Centurions and Officers 150 Training and Discipline 152 Pay and Conditions 154 Auxiliary Troops 156 Pitching Camp 158 Roads, Canals and Bridges 160 Fleets and Ships 162 Chapter IX: Arms and the Men 164 Armour 166 Arms 168 Artillery 170 Siege Warfare 172 Triumphs and Ovations 174 Permanent Fortifications 176 Great Forts of the Later Empire 178 City Walls 180 Chapter X: The Great Wars 182 Marching and Fighting 184 The Punic Wars 186 Conquering the Greeks 188 Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul 190 The Last Civil Wars 192 Along the Elbe 194 Conquest of Lowland Britain 196 Agricola’s Northern Campaigns 198 Trajan’s Campaigns 200 Chapter XI: Defending the Empire 204 The Dilemmas of Defence 206 Natural Frontiers 208 Colonies and Settlements 214 The Jewish Revolt 216 Siege of Masada 218 Chapter XII: Decline and Fall 220 The 3rd-century Crisis 222 The Eastern Problem 224 Foreign Invasions 226 Loss and Recapture of the East 228 The Splintering Empire 230 The First Recovery 232 The Tetrarchs’ Achievements 234 Constantine 236 Constantine’s Heirs 238 Britain Regained and Abandoned 240 The Gothic Problem 242 The Fatal Winter 244 The Sack of Rome 246 The Fall of Rome 248 Why Rome Fell 250 Part Two The Roman World 254 Rome’s Enduring Legacy 256 Timeline 260 Rome: the first world city 264 Chapter XIII: Building the City of Rome 266 Building Early Rome 268 The Later Republic 270 Augustus and his Heirs 272 Nero and the Flavians 274 Trajan and Hadrian 276 Rome in the Later Empire 278 Rome – The Christian City 280 Chapter XIV: Building Techniques and Styles 282 Building Materials 284 Vaults, Arches, Domes 286 Building Practices and Techniques 288 Architectural Styles and Language 290 Chapter XV: Public Buildings 292 The Forum Romanum 294 The Imperial Forum 296 Rome’s Basilicas and the Senate House 298 Temples: The Republic and the Early Principate 300 Temples: The Pantheon and After 302 Building the Theatres 304 Amphitheatres and the Colosseum 306 Aqueducts and Sewers 310 Imperial Baths 312 Circuses 316 Triumphal Arches 318 Triumphal Columns 320 Churches 322 Chapter XVI: Imperial Palaces 324 The Palaces of Augustus and his Heirs 326 Nero’s Golden Palace 328 The Palatine: Palace of the Emperors 330 Chapter XVII: Housing for Rich and Poor 334 The Domus: Houses of the Rich 336 Insulae: The First Apartments 338 Tiberius’ Villa at Capri 340 Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli 342 Villas of the Rich in Italy 346 Piazza Armerina 348 Diocletian’s Palace at Split 350 Villas of the Empire: British Villas 352 Chapter XVIII: Cities of the Empire 354 Pompeii and Herculaneum 356 Ostia and Portus 360 Contrasting Cities: Carthage and Timgad 362 Lepcis Magna: An Emperor’s Birthplace 364 Athens: A Glorious Past 366 Trier: The Rome of the North 368 Ephesus: Wonder of the World 370 Vanished Cities of the East 372 Nîmes and Arles: Cities of Gaul 374 Romano-British Cities 376 Roman arts and society 378 Chapter XIX: Literature 380 The First Roman Writers 382 Augustus’ Poets Laureate 384 Catullus and the Elegiac Poets 386 Ovid and Later Silver Age Poets 388 Great Prose Writers 390 Novelists and Satirists 392 Late Roman Writers 394 Literature and Literacy 396 Chapter XX: The Arts 398 The Etruscans and the Early Republic 400 Art in the Later Republic 402 Augustus and the Classical Revival 404 The Roman Zenith 406 Hadrian and the Greek Revival 408 Art of the Later Empire 410 Furniture 412 Chapter XXI: Religion and Mythology 414 The Capitoline Gods 416 Venus, Vulcan and Other Gods 420 Emperor Worship and the Goddess Roma 422 Bacchus and Cybele 424 New Gods from the East 426 Cult of the Sun 428 Christianity: Tribulation to Triumph 430 Chapter XXII: Sport and Games 432 Gladiatorial Combats 434 The Great Games 436 Wild Beast Games 438 At the Circus: Chariot Races 440 At the Theatre: Farce, Mime and Pantomime 442 Games and Exercises 444 Chapter XXIII: Science, Technology & the Economy 446 Strabo and Graeco-Roman Geography 448 Astronomy 450 Water Mills 452 Steam Engines 454 Medical Principles and Practice 456 Perils of Urban Life: Plagues, Flood and Fire 458 Trade, Ships and Navigation 460 Passages to India 462 Farming 464 Chapter XXIV: People of Rome 466 Marriage, Divorce and the Power of the Father 468 Roman Women 470 Children: Education and Upbringing 472 Slaves and Freedmen 474 Aspects of Slavery 476 Business and Commerce 478 Leisure and Holidays 480 Dinner Parties 482 Food for Rich and Poor 484 Wine and Vineyards 486 Rome the Great Consumer 488 Tunics and Togas 490 Hairstyles and Cosmetics 492 Erotic Love 494 Funerals and the Afterlife 496 Index 500 Acknowledgements 510
£17.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Finland at War
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the Winter War, Finland found itself drawing ever closer to Nazi Germany and eventually took part in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. For the Finns this was a chance to right the wrongs of the Winter War, and having reached suitable defensive positions, the army was ordered to halt. Years of uneasy trench warfare followed, known as the Continuation War, during which Finland desperately sought a way out, German dreams of victory were dashed, and the Soviet Union built the strongest army in the world. In the summer of 1944, the whole might of the Red Army was launched against the Finnish defenses on the narrow Karelian Isthmus. Over several weeks of fierce fighting, the Finns managed to halt the Soviet assault. With Stalin forced to divert his armies to the race to Berlin, an armistice agreement was reached, the harsh terms of which forced the Finns to take on their erstwhile German allies in Lapland. Featuring rare photographs and first-hand accounts,
£21.25
Orion Publishing Co At Days Close
Book SynopsisA fascinating and colourful social history of the nighttime.''A wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness'' SPECTATOR''Fascinating'' SUNDAY TIMES''A splendid book ... great entertainment'' Sir Patrick Moore''A triumph of social history. Almost every page contains something to surprise the reader ... one of the most enjoyable literary experiences of the year'' MAIL ON SUNDAYFrom blanket fairs to night kings, curfews to crime, At Day''s Close is an intriguing and captivating investigation into the night. Until now, this rich and complex universe in which we spend nearly half of our lives was a world long-lost to historians. Here, Ekirch explores how the night was lived in the past, through travel accounts, memoirs, letters, folklore, poems, court records and coroner''s reports. More than this, it is a passionate argument in the case for less artificial light in an increasingly bright world.Trade ReviewA wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness * SPECTATOR *A triumph of social history. Almost every page contains something to surprise the reader ... one of the most enjoyable literary experiences of the year * MAIL ON SUNDAY *An enthralling anthropology of the shadow reals of Western Europe from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution ... a passionate case against too much artificial light * HARPER'S MAGAZINE *In his fascinating survey of the dark hours of the pre-industrial era, A Roger Ekirch takes us deep into an age when the very lack of light threw life into confusion ... an engrossing book that illuminates the darker recesses of the past * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Meticulously researched ... AT DAY'S CLOSE is a splendid book ... great entertainment, and to social historians it will be of immense value -- Sir Patrick Moore * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT *A comprehensive account of nightlife...bursting with esoteric and well-sourced information about everything from candles and curfews to church bells and chamber pots * EVENING STANDARD *Wonderful... Ekirch spares no pains to rediscover the lost world of the dark ... A book that can't be summarised but must be experienced -- David Wootton * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *Just the sort of browsable treat guaranteed to cause insomnia * THE SCOTSMAN *Night-time has been curiously ignored by social historians. This fine book corrects that lack ... Entertaining and informative * THE TIMES *Ekirch's absorbing history reveals an alternative universe shaped by real and imaginary perils * SUNDAY TIMES *Fascinating ... exploring what went on at night between 1500 and 1830 ... Here are microcultural tales of pirates and robbers, blanket fairs (people climbing into bed together to talk before going to sleep), curtain lectures (wives who felt emboldened by the dark to complain to their recumbent husbands) and night-kings (sewer cleaners in German) * GUARDIAN *The book is especially engaging on the social significance of the night, the moral meanings projected into the dark * FINANCIAL TIMES *There are so many good stories here which do not usually find themselves between the same covers * LITERARY REVIEW *This enlightening book ... is one of the most fascinating and rewarding literary experiences you are likely to discover this year * HERTS & ESSEX OBSERVER *Absorbing ... fascinating ... tells us about everything from witches to firefighting, architecture to domestic violence ... a monumental study * THE NATION *Just the sort of browsable treat guaranteed to cause insomnia. * THE SCOTSMAN (29/4/06) *Wonderful... Ekirch spares no pains to rediscover the lost world of the dark. ... A book that can't be summarised but must be experienced. -- David Wootton * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS (9/3/06) *Night-time has been curiously ignored by social historians. This fine book corrects that lack. ... Entertaining and informative, this book is also challenging. * THE TIMES (25/3/06) *Ekirch's absorbing history reveals an alternative universe shaped by real and imaginary perils. * SUNDAY TIMES (23/4/06) *This enlightening book ... is one of the most fascinating and rewarding literary experiences you are likely to discover this year. * HERTS & ESSEX OBSERVER (11/5/06) *
£12.34
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Normans in Italy 10161194
Book SynopsisPreceding and simultaneously with the conquest of England by Duke William, other ambitious and aggressive Norman noblemen (notably the Drengot, De Hauteville and Guiscard families) found it prudent to leave Normandy. At first taking mercenary employment with Lombard rulers then fighting the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy, many of these noblemen achieved great victories, acquired rich lands of their own, and perfected a feudal military system that lasted for 200 years. As news of the rich pickings to be had in the south spread in Normandy, they were joined by many other opportunists typically, younger sons who could not inherit lands at home. Steadily, these Norman noblemen fought their way to local power, at first in Apulia, then across the Adriatic in Albania, and finally in Muslim Sicily, defeating in the process the armies of Byzantium, the German ''Holy Roman Empire'', and Islamic regional rulers. Finally, in 1130, Roger II founded a unified kingdom incorporating southern ITable of ContentsIntroduction Chronology The Road to Power Organization Armour & Weapons Representative Battles Select Bibliography Plate Commentaries Index
£11.69
Yale University Press The Western Rising of 1549
Book SynopsisThe fascinating story of the so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion” of 1549 which saw the people of Devon and Cornwall rise up against the CrownTrade Review“Stoyle, a professor of history at Southampton University, has pieced together the story of the Western Rising with skill and verve. Richly detailed, authoritative and compelling. A Murderous Midsummer is sure to become the definitive account.”—Mathew Lyons, The Times “Stoyle skilfully provides a connected account. . . . A sympathetic portrayal of communities fighting for all they held dear, and a country torn apart by rival perceptions of the truth.”—Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement “What caused a quarrel between the vicar of a small Devon parish and two local residents to escalate into a rebellion that engulfed two counties and left thousands dead? . . . Mark Stoyle offers an accessible take on the causes, as well as the casualties and consequences—which reached the heart of the political elite.”—BBC History Revealed“[An] authoritative new book. . . . Stoyle's arguments are always well evidenced and carefully weighed and, ultimately, nuance and enrich familiar narratives of the Western Rising.”—Marcus Nevitt, Spectator"Mark Stoyle's compelling new narrative of the Western Rising isn't just academic history at its finest. It is also a gripping and superbly written account that is part-social history, part-political thriller, and part-detective story."—Debbie Kilroy, Get History “Stoyle’s narrative is both magnificent in scope and precise in its detail. Most refreshingly is the empathy with which he treats the rebels, a word he only uses to denote rather than denounce. . . . It is to his infinite credit that the book tackles faith with compassion. . . . Stoyle’s book is an emboldening, if sobering, reminder that from the very beginnings of oppression, ordinary Catholics fought and died for the right to practise freely.”—Fred Kelly, The Tablet “An impressive work combining impressive historical research with an accessible account of a significant event in English history. . . . It will be of interest to everyone trying to understand the dynamics of the English Reformation.”—Martin Empson, Agricultural History Review “Even to someone fairly familiar with the story of the 1549 rebellion in the West, [Stoyle] has opened up new facets of that ‘murderous midsummer.’ This is a ‘must read’ for anyone interested in the mid-Tudor rebellions.”—Local Historian “Stoyle’s re-interpretation of the rising is likely to be the authoritative work on its subject for many years to come.”—Stuart A Raymond, FACHRS Winner of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies Holyer an Gof Cup. Winner of the Devon History Society Book of the Year Awards 2023 “Tells the gripping story of the ill-fated rising in 1549 of the people of Devon and Cornwall against the English government of Edward VI. Full of new insights, the book is beautifully written with great clarity and sensitivity and an unrivalled grasp of the source material. Carrying the reader along with consummate scholarship, terrific storytelling, and an unerring feel for the lives of the people of the past, this book is a real triumph.”—Michael Wood, author of The Story of England “It almost happened. In the summer of 1549, as this book’s gripping and authoritative account proves, a spontaneous rising in Devon and Cornwall came much closer than we have imagined to bringing the whole English Reformation to an abrupt end—and 4000 of them paid for the effort with their lives. Now at last, in Mark Stoyle’s book, they have a fitting scholarly memorial.”—Alec Ryrie, author of Protestants: The Radicals Who Made the Modern World “A fresh and detailed retelling of the Western Rising of 1549, when the people of Cornwall—the little land beyond England—joined forces with the religious traditionalists of neighbouring Devon to resist the newly imposed Prayer Book. Over many years, Professor Mark Stoyle has made the history of early modern Cornwall and Devon his own, and this book, with its sparkling prose and telling insights, adds further to his brilliant repertoire.”—Philip Payton, University of Exeter and Flinders University “Comprehensive in its command of the evidence, judicious in interpretation and salted with a controlled sympathy for place and people, A Murderous Midsummer offers a compelling re-interpretation of the Western Rising of 1549. A rising in defence of traditional religion, its bloody repression, whose ferocity Stoyle skilfully recovers, registered the serious threat it posed to mid-Tudor church and government.”—John Walter, University of Essex “A riveting new account of the Western Rising of 1549. Combining empirical rigour and high narrative powers, Mark Stoyle stylishly recasts our understanding of an episode that has too often been written off as doomed to failure from the start. On the contrary, he shows how close the Cornish and Devonshire rebels came to subverting the Reformation and turning the Tudor world upside down.”—Alexandra Walsham, author of The Reformation of the Landscape
£12.34
Pan Macmillan The Real Middle-Earth: A History of the Dark Ages
Book SynopsisIn The Real Middle-Earth, explore the magically enchanting early-English civilization on which Tolkien based his world of The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien readily admitted that the concept of Middle-earth was not his own invention. An Old English term for the Dark Age world, it was always assumed that the importance of magic in this world existed only in Tolkien’s works; now Professor Brian Bates reveals the vivid truth about this historical culture. Behind the stories we know of Dark Age kings and queens, warriors and battles, lies the hidden history of Middle-earth, a world of magic, mystery and destiny. Fiery dragons were seen to fly across the sky, monsters haunted the marshes, and elves fired poisoned arrows. Wizards cast healing spells, wise trees gave blessings, and omens foretold the deaths of kings. The very landscape itself was enchanted and the world imbued with a life force.Repressed by a millennium of Christianity, this belief system all but disappeared, leaving only faint traces in folk memory and fairy tales. In this remarkable book Professor Brian Bates has drawn on the latest archaeological findings to reconstruct the imaginative world of our past, revealing a culture with insights that may yet help us understand our own place in the world.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Time of the Magicians
Book SynopsisAN ECONOMIST, GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR A gripping narrative of the intertwined lives of the four philosophers whose ideas reshaped the twentieth centuryThe year is 1919. Walter Benjamin flees his overbearing father to scrape a living as a critic. Ludwig Wittgenstein, scion of one of Europe''s wealthiest families, signs away his inheritance, seeking spiritual clarity. Martin Heidegger renounces his faith and aligns his fortunes with Husserl''s phenomenological school. Ernst Cassirer sketches a new schema of human culture on a cramped Berlin tram. The stage is set for a great intellectual drama. Over the next decade the lives and thought of this quartet will converge and intertwine, as each gains world-historical significance, between them remaking philosophy.Time of the Magicians brings to life this miraculous burst of intellectual creativity, unparalleled in philosophy''s history, and with it an entire era, from post-war exuberance to economic crisis and the emergence of National Socialism. With great art, Wolfram Eilenberger traces the paths of these titanic figures through the tumult. He captures their personalities as well as their achievements, and illuminates with singular clarity the philosophies each embodied as well as espoused. It becomes an intellectual adventure story, a captivating journey through the greatest revolution in Western thought told through its four protagonists, each with their own penetrating gaze and answer to the question which has animated philosophy from the very beginning: What are we?Trade ReviewA tremendous feat of scholarship but also a technical masterpiece, knitting together the four men's love lives, money troubles, ontological anxieties and the wider ferment of the Weimar republic with uncommon dexterity -- Oliver Moody * The Times *Splendid, highly entertaining, attentive -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Financial Times *Magnificent, elegantly composed and beautifully narrated -- David Motadel * The Times Literary Supplement *Eilenberger's survey of high thoughts and low politics among German-language philosophers of the 1920s is a salutary tale for today, not just a gripping panorama of century-old dreams and feuds * Economist *Accessible and deeply human ... He draws these four intellectual magi out of the shadows of their writings -- John Kaag * The New York Times *Like any great story, Eilenberger's is not made up, but retrieved. Events have a way of narrating themselves when they encounter a gifted storyteller -- Costica Bradatan * Los Angeles Review of Books *A book of riches - full of stories as well as ideas, all brought together with a fine light touch -- Sarah Bakewell
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd Ravenna
Book Synopsis''Magisterial - an outstanding book that shines a bright light one of the most important, interesting and under-studied cities in European history. A masterpiece.'' Peter Frankopan''A wonderful new history of the Mediterranean from the fifth to eighth centuries through a lens focussed on Ravenna, gracefully and clearly written, which reconceptualises what was ''East'' and what was ''West''.'' Caroline Goodson''A masterwork by one of our greatest historians of Byzantium and early Christianity. Judith Herrin tells a story that is at once gripping and authoritative and full of wonderful detail about every element in the life of Ravenna. Impossible to put down.'' David FreedbergIn 402 AD, after invading tribes broke through the Alpine frontiers of Italy and threatened the imperial government in Milan, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easy defendable city in the Po estuary - Ravenna. From then until 751 AD, Ravenna was first the capital of the Western Roman Empire, then that of the immense kingdom of Theoderic the Goth and finally the centre of Byzantine power in Italy.In this engrossing account Judith Herrin explains how scholars, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, cosmologists and religious luminaries were drawn to Ravenna where they created a cultural and political capital that dominated northern Italy and the Adriatic. As she traces the lives of Ravenna''s rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the pivot between East and West; and the meeting place of Greek, Latin, Christian and barbarian cultures. The book offers a fresh account of the waning of Rome, the Gothic and Lombard invasions, the rise of Islam and the devastating divisions within Christianity. It argues that the fifth to eighth centuries should not be perceived as a time of decline from antiquity but rather, thanks to Byzantium, as one of great creativity - the period of ''Early Christendom''. These were the formative centuries of Europe.While Ravenna''s palaces have crumbled, its churches have survived. In them, Catholic Romans and Arian Goths competed to produce an unrivalled concentration of spectacular mosaics, many of which still astonish visitors today. Beautifully illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, and drawing on the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe brings the early Middle Ages to life through the history of this dazzling city.Trade ReviewHer magni?cent recent book Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe recaptures the excitement of discovering the history of a city where East Rome and Latin Europe joined for many centuries in ways that defy our neat divisions between ancient and medieval; Romans, Greeks, and barbarians; East and West. -- Peter Brown * New York Review of Books *Herrin's claims for Ravenna are both sweeping and convincing. ... Herrin's book, then, is about a good deal more than its ostensible subject. It aims to answer some fundamental historical questions. How did the Roman empire in western Europe decay and mutate? What were the influences on the civilisation of medieval Christendom, and how did they interfuse? To what extent was Christianity touched by the trace elements of Greek and Roman civilisation? Notoriously problematic though these issues are, they are ones that Herrin has spent a distinguished career studying, and which Ravenna brilliantly serves to elucidate. -- Tom Holland * Financial Times *the book is absolutely gorgeous, with magnificent colour reproductions of Ravenna's churches and mosaics. Relics of an age that seems almost impossibly remote, they are the foundations on which modern Europe stands. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Beautifully illustrated, impeccably researched and accessibly presented, it traces Ravenna's career as the capital of the Roman empire in the west ... Buildings are also brought to life alongside the people who built and used them. ... It is this linking of tangible remains and historical record that is the book's great strength -- Jonathan Harris * BBC History Magazine *This book is a triumph of accessible, innovative, lively scholarship from one of the very best Byzantine historians we have. It casts an unexpected but deeply illuminating light on how the "European" political and religious mind became what it is. -- Rowan Williams * New Humanist *The northern Italian city of Ravenna, with its wondrous mosaicked churches and gilded mausolea that miraculously survived the aerial bombardments of the second world war, was manifestly also a Byzantine city. Herrin shows how this was so in her scrupulously researched history of the city in its imperial heyday through the period Edward Gibbon chose to call the Dark Ages ... eminently worth reading. The colour plates are so sumptuous that the Ravenna mosaics fairly glow on the page. -- Ian Thomson * Spectator *Judith Herrin's Ravenna ... performs the seemingly impossible task of rescuing its subject from obscurity, charting an improbably journey from marsh-enfolded outpost to imperial capital and cultural dynamo. -- Philip Parker * Literary Review *Herrin tells the changing story of Ravenna as it unfolds from the end of the fourth century to the ninth in a series of short, accessible sections with the aid of luscious illustrations. -- Averil Cameron * History Today *Herrin spent nine years researching her narrative of the three and a half centuries of Ravenna's ascendancy ... By the time we can easily visit Ravenna the city again it should be with the advantage of having read Ravenna the book -- Christopher Howse * Daily Telegraph *lively, startling ... The author evokes lost worlds in surprising anecdotes ... From chariot races to bust-ups between neighbourhood gangs, readers are vividly reminded that for all its grandeur, Ravenna was in its heyday a flawed and hectic place. * Economist *Ravenna shows us an earlier stage in the relationship between Byzantium and the west. It was an impregnable port city, selected as a redoubt during the depredations of Attila the Hun. It was the residence of the western Roman emperors, of the Gothic kings who succeeded them and then of the exarchs, Byzantine officials who preserved this toehold of imperial control into the eighth century. It was also the seat of powerful archbishops, whose rivalry with the Pope in Rome fills pages of local history. Each of these different rulers left their own stamp on the city through their building work and mosaics. Judith Herrin's book provides a rich illustration and analysis of this legacy ... Herrin is equally adept at drawing out the wider, international legacy of Ravenna. An important example of this comes after the city's heyday, when ... Charlemagne, the Frankish emperor, was a visitor to the city, and in Ravenna he saw models of Roman rulership expressed in stone and mosaic. -- Philip Wood * Prospect *Judith Herrin's Ravenna is an erudite but wonderfully readable over-view of the life of a city that is often ignored, forgotten or misplaced. -- Peter Frankopan * Spectator Books of the Year *Herrin is a superb historian who tells us that she's tethered to the tangible evidence of primary sources. Praise the Lord, I thought. Someone's still doing history the right way. -- Brian T. Allen * National Review *A sweeping and engrossing history ... an accessible narrative that brings to life the men and women who created the city during this period and who fashioned its hybrid Christian culture of Latin, Greek and Gothic elements. The narrative is periodically elevated by discussions of the city's most famous attractions and its glorious churches, brilliantly illustrated in the book's 62 color plates. It is also enlivened by recurring digressions on daily life in the city at each phase in its history. -- Anthony Kaldellis * Wall Street Journal *a fascinating dive into Late Roman/Byzantine history, rich with improbable but true stories -- Theodore Brun * Aspects of History Books of the Year 2021 *Judith Herrin, a Professor at King's College London, is already Britain's best-known living Byzantinologist. Learned and witty, her books and articles have brought her subject out of shadow into a daylight where the dealings of emperors, exarchs and bishops become comprehensible, often lively, often concerned with issues acute in our own times ... She is original in wider ways, too: not only in her painstaking reconstruction of social and economic life in Ravenna from often fragmentary documents, but in her broad take on the whole period from about the fourth to the ninth century ... the gorgeous, plentiful illustrations help the reader to grasp the sheer scale of Herrin's triumphant history. This book is a master-work of scholarship and sharp intelligence. -- Neal Ascherson * Red Pepper *a sumptuously produced and beautifully written account of how the city on the Po was the beleaguered last capital of the Roman Empire but managed to grow into the centre of Byzantine power in Italy and the key pivot between East and West at the dawn of the early modern period. This is a fascinating read and a fabulous book, from the gold sheen of its cover to the vibrant colours of the magnificent illustrations. -- Charlie Connolly * New European Books of the Year *Andrew Roberts superb revisionist biography George III ... Incapable of writing a dull sentence, Roberts deploys deep scholarship and impeccable analysis to exonerate the 'Farmer' King of both stupidity and tyranny. -- Saul David * Aspects of History Books of the Year *Andrew Roberts's George III is a wonderful revisionist portrayal of the monarch who presided over the high point of architecture and the loss of America. Obviously meticulously, majestically done - but also a total joy to read. -- Catherine Ostler * Aspects of History Books of the Year *Judith Herrin's Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe crowns the long career of a deeply learned historian ... a wonderful book, beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. -- Lucky Beckett * The Tablet, Books of the Year *the city was "the melting pot of Europe" ... the hinge between the old Roman empire, the refounded Rome of Byzantium and the second new Rome of Charlemagne, who plundered its monuments for his capital at Aachen. Herrin's book ... is a welcome addition to a golden era of scholarship devoted to late antiquity and the early Middle Ages in Europe -- Martin Ivens * Times Literary Supplement *Judith Herrin's Ravenna aims to set the mosaics, the buildings they ennoble and the urban landscape they inhabit back within a meaningful historical context. It's a worthy project that surprisingly has not really been attempted before ... it takes a scholar of Herrin's brilliance to bring events to life within a meaningful evocation of a time and a place. That skill, and a wonderfully pellucid prose style, ensures that even readers frustrated by the archaic narrative will find a great deal to admire and indeed learn from. -- Michael Kulikowski * Times Literary Supplement *An ambitious, rewarding and detailed history of the city of Ravenna, spanning the period from its designation as imperial capital in the early fifth century to its Carolingian spoliations in the ninth. ... This book is a comprehensive, detailed and glittering history of the city within its Mediterranean context. It will attract the casual reader while also carrying sophisticated new arguments that will appeal to specialists. -- Giulia Bellato * English Historical Review *Judith Herrin tells its fascinating history and presents a parade of forceful and creative characters with great insight and a wonderfully light touch, in a book as beautifully produced as it is profoundly researched. -- R.I. Moore, author of * The War on Heresy *
£15.29
Oxford University Press Greek Lives
Book SynopsisLycurgus, Pericles, Solon, Nicias, Themistocles, Alcibiades, Cimon, Agesilaus, Alexander`I treat the narrative of the Lives as a kind of mirror...The experience is like nothing so much as spending time in their company and living with them: I receive and welcome each of them in turn as my guest.'' In the nine lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Greece. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller''s ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch''s Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduceTrade ReviewIt is ... a privilege to be offered this sparkling new translation of nine of his Greek Lives by Robin Waterfield. ... It is ... a distinguishing trait of Waterfield's that in the interests of scholarship he will go to endless lengths to find the mot juste; ... the book entirely fulfils the publisher's own criteria for inclusion in the new Oxford World's Classics list, namely to make available 'celebrated writing' in editions equipped with'perceptive commentary and essential back-ground information to meet the changing needs of readers'. To do all that also at a very modest price is an ergon (achievement) indeed. * Paul Cartledge, The Anglo-Hellenic Review *This attractively produced addition to the Oxford World's Classics series. * Daniel Ogden, The Classical Review Vol.XLIX No.2 *Table of ContentsIN ADDITION TO USUAL OWC APPARATUS: 3 MAPS, APPENDIX ON MEASURES OF MONEY, WEIGHT, CAPACITY, LENGTH, INDEX OF LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOURCES CITED BY PLUTARCH, INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
£10.44
Vintage Publishing London Under
Book SynopsisPeter Ackroyd is an award-winning historian, biographer, novelist, poet and broadcaster. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers London: The Biography, Thames: Sacred River and London Under; biographies of figures including Charles Dickens, William Blake, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock; and a multi-volume history of England. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society of Literature's William Heinemann Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the South Bank Prize for Literature. He holds a CBE for services to literature.Trade ReviewAckroyd is a knowledgeable and evocative guide to London’s different archaeological levels * Times Higher Education Supplement *As ever his research is meticulous, his scope expansive, his writing definitive. Every sentence is delivered with judicial gravity and command...Once again, Ackroyd shares his vision of a mythical city most do not see -- Euan Ferguson * Time Out *While many authors have shone a flashlight on London's catacombs and tunnels, Ackroyd's vision is infra-red...skilled at connecting the past, present and future...For those looking for a highly readable introduction, plumb and depth to get a copy * Londonist *This book is not a straightforward history of London's relationship with the clay on which it stands but a poetic invoking of what Ackroyd perceives as the diabolic terror of the earth -- Claire Allfree * Metro *Other worlds lurk below London, and Ackroyd revels in them. The book is both an absorbing history of those parts of the capital that lie beneath our feet and a meditation on the meaning we give them * Literary Review *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Book SynopsisAlison Weir is one of Britain's top-selling historians. She is the author of numerous works of history and historical fiction, specialising in the medieval and Tudor periods. Her bestselling history books include The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth of York and The Lost Tudor Princess. Her novels include Innocent Traitor, Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen and Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession. She is an Honorary Life Patron of Historic Royal Palaces and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She lives and works in Surrey.Trade ReviewA thrilling and chilling story * Sunday Telegraph *At last we have the truth about Henry VIII's wives. This book is as reliable and scholarly as it is readable * Evening Standard *An entertaining account of Henry VIII's complicated domestic history. It is full of interesting detail - Alison Weir's treatment of this perennially fascinating subject is a beguiling one * London Review of Books *
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd The Great Hunger Ireland 18451849
Book SynopsisThe Irish potato famine of the 1840s, perhaps the most appalling event of the Victorian era, killed over a million people and drove as many more to emigrate to America. It may not have been the result of deliberate government policy, yet British ‘obtuseness, short-sightedness and ignorance’ - and stubborn commitment to laissez-faire ‘solutions’ - largely caused the disaster and prevented any serious efforts to relieve suffering. The continuing impact on Anglo-Irish relations was incalculable, the immediate human cost almost inconceivable. In this vivid and disturbing book Cecil Woodham-Smith provides the definitive account. ‘A moving and terrible book. It combines great literary power with great learning. It explains much in modern Ireland - and in modern America’ D.W. Brogan.
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd The Green Flag
Book SynopsisTHE GREEN FLAG stands as the most comprehensive and illuminating history of Irish Nationalism yet published. For many years available as three separate volumes (THE MOST DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY, THE BOLD FENIAN MEN and OURSELVES ALONE), this outstanding history is now available as a single volume.Table of ContentsWho were Irishmen?; the first Irish Republicans; the Union; the tragedy of home rule; ourselves alone.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Book SynopsisEdward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the most magnificent and ambitious narratives in European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse. Here, in volumes one and two, Gibbon charts the vast extent and constitution of the Empire from the reign of Augustus to 395 ad. And in a controversial critique, he examines the early Church, with fascinating accounts of the first Christian and last pagan emperors, Constantine and Julian.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductio
£18.70
Penguin Books Ltd The Rise And Fall of Athens
Book SynopsisPlutarch traces the fortunes of Athens through nine lives - from Theseus, its founder, to Lysander, its Spartan conqueror - in this seminal workWhat makes a leader? For Plutarch the answer lay not in great victories, but in moral strengths. In these nine biographies, taken from his Parallel Lives, Plutarch illustrates the rise and fall of Athens through nine lives, from the legendary days of Theseus, the city''s founder, through Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias and Alcibiades, to the razing of its walls by Lysander. Plutarch ultimately held the weaknesses of its leaders responsible for the city''s fall. His work is invaluable for its imaginative reconstruction of the past, and profound insights into human life and achievement. This edition of Ian Scott-Kilvert''s seminal translation, fully revised with a new introduction and notes by John Marincola, now also contains Plutarch''s attack on the first historian, ''On the Malice of Herodotus'
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Vanished Kingdoms
Book SynopsisNorman Davies was for many years a professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London University. He is the author of the acclaimed Vanished Kingdoms and the number one bestseller Europe: A History. His previous books, which include Rising '44, The Isles: A History and God's Playground: A History of Poland, have been translated worldwide. He has researched at universities from Harvard to Hokkaido, and is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford, and a visiting scholar at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd Between East and West Across the Borderlands of
Book SynopsisA vivid and human glimpse into Europe''s borderlands as they emerged from Soviet rule - back in print after nearly 20 years''In this superb book, in which one senses the spirit of Franz Kafka and Bruno Schulz, the dramatic world of the Eastern borderlands comes to life'' Ryszard KapuscinskiAs Europe''s borderlands emerged from Soviet rule, Anne Applebaum travelled from the Baltic to the Black Sea, through Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Carpathian mountains. Rich in vivid characters and stories of tragedy and survival, Between East and West illuminates the soul of a place, and the secret history of its people. ''A beautifully written and thought-provoking account of a journey along Europe''s forgotten edge'' Timothy Garton Ash''A vivid and penetrating assessment of the lands between the Baltic and the Black Sea in all their drama and desolation . . . a wise and useful book'' Robert Conquest''Combines the excitement Trade ReviewIn this superb book, in which one senses the spirit of Franz Kafka and Bruno Schulz, the dramatic world of the Eastern borderlands comes to life -- Ryszard KapuscinskiA vivid and penetrating assessment of the lands between the Baltic and the Black Sea in all their drama and desolation . . . A wise and useful book -- Robert ConquestBetween East and West combines the excitement of a well-written and adventurous travelogue with sophisticated reportage about one of Europe's least-known regions -- Norman DaviesA beautifully written and thought-provoking account of a journey along Europe's forgotten edge -- Timothy Garton Ash
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Rules of the Game
Book SynopsisWinner of the Longman''s History Today Book of the Year Award and the inaugural Westminster Medal for Military Literature More than a century had gone by since the Battle of Trafalgar. Generation after generation of British naval captains had been dreaming ever since of a ''new'' Trafalgar - a cataclysmic encounter which would decisively change a war''s outcome. At last, in the summer of 1916, they thought their moment had come...Andrew Gordon''s extraordinary, gripping book brilliantly recreates the atmosphere of the British navy in the years leading up to Jutland and gives a superb account of the battle itself and its bitterly acrimonious aftermath.
£17.09
Oxford University Press Oxford AQA History for A Level The Making of
Book SynopsisThis The Making of Modern Britain 1951-2007 Revision Guide is part of the bestselling Oxford AQA History for A Level series. Written to match the new AQA specification, this series helps you deepen your historical knowledge and develop vital analytical and evaluation skills. This revision guide offers the clearly structured revision approach of Recap, Apply, and Review to prepare you for exam success. Step-by-step exam practice strategies for all AQA question types are provided (including Source Analysis and essays linked to Key Concepts), as well as well-researched, targeted guidance based on what we now know from the new AQA examiner''s reports on Modern Britain. Our original author team is back, offering expert advice, AS and A Level exam-style questions and Examiner Tips. Contents checklists help monitor revision progress; example student answers and suggested activity answers help you review your own work. This guide is perfect for use alongside the Student Books or as a stand-alo
£11.50
Oxford University Press Jewish Soldiers in Nazi Captivity
Book SynopsisThis book explores the extraordinary story of Jewish POWs in German captivity during the Second World War - extraordinary because of the contrast between Germany''s genocidal policy towards Jews on one hand, and its relatively non-discriminatory treatment of Jewish POWs from western countries on the other. The radicalisation of Germany''s anti-Semitic policies entered its last phase in June 1941 with the invasion of the Soviet Union; during the following four years, nearly six million Jews were murdered. In parallel, Germany''s POW policies had gone through a radicalisation process of their own, resulting in the murder of millions of Soviet POWs, of Allied commando soldiers, and of POW escapees, with Adolf Hitler eventually transferring in July 1944 the responsibility for POWs from the Wehrmacht to Heinrich Himmler, in his role as head of the Replacement Army. And yet, despite all this, Jewish POWs from western countries were usually not discriminated against and were treated, in most cases, according to the 1929 Geneva Convention. Jewish Soldiers in Nazi Captivity combines memoirs, letters, and oral histories with Red Cross camp visit reports and other archival material to challenge the accepted view of the Holocaust as an indiscriminate murder of all Jews in Europe and will help to reshape our understanding of the Holocaust and of Nazi Germany.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: American and British Jewish POWs in German POW Camps 2: Being a Jewish Soldier in Nazi Captivity 3: Segregation of American and British Jewish POWs 4: Why Were They Kept Alive? Explaining the Nazi Treatment of Jewish POWs Conclusion Appendix A - Sample of POW commanders and camp commandants
£83.00
Penguin Books Ltd Enchanted Ground
Book SynopsisA quest for belonging through the forsaken landscapes of BritainWhen Steven Lovatt's grandmother died, he lost not only a beloved family member but also his last link to the way of life she had represented: rooted in place, socially democratic, ecologically rich. Cut loose from the past and confronted with a present missing even the birds of his childhood, Steven's mind cracked. Drawing on field work, local library archives and oral history, as well as dreams, diaries and visions, Enchanted Ground charts a fractured course from breakdown to belonging. For if he is to survive, Steven realises he must set out, like a pilgrim, across the motorways and monoculture wastes of Britain in search of enchanted ground and those who have begun to rebuild it.
£17.00
Yale University Press Medieval Europe
Book SynopsisA spirited and thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle AgesTrade Review"A dazzling race through a complex millennium."—Publishers Weekly"A timely consideration of an oft-considered subject . . . Wickham has managed to produce a volume which combines brevity with deep learning, compelling argument and an authoritative and even-handed tone."—Katherine Harvey, TLS"This bold, sweeping narrative covers the entire sweep of European history between the years 400-1500, focusing on important changes century by century, accompanied by illuminating vignettes which underscore how shifting events affected individual lives."—Bookseller"Medieval Europe is a remarkably detailed and readable book, and, at only 250 pages in length it is, unlike the Middle Ages, both brief and clear."—Dominic Green, Minerva"Writing with great wit, style and clarity, Chris Wickham presents to us a powerful account of the middle ages as a period of considerable dynamism and massive change. Emperors, popes, theologians, knights and mystics are found herein, but so too are cities, peasants, merchants, and the material experiences of the many and not just the few. Above all else, Wickham shows us the economic and structural bones beneath the skin. This is the middle ages that the twenty-first century needs to know about – not the gaudy antithesis of 'modernity' but the centuries of human toil, ingenuity and compromise in which real people made choices, albeit not in circumstances of their own choosing."—John Arnold, Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge"Medieval Europe is a model of clarity and accessibility, the superlative answer to a challenge taken up by an eminent and wide-ranging historian: to interpret the history of a millennium in 250 pages. This yields a sense of intellectual adventure that remains compelling throughout, as Chris Wickham engages his readers in his arguments, choices and interpretations, and keeps them on their toes."—Mayke de Jong, Utrecht University"This is tremendously good. Chris Wickham has an outstandingly keen and understanding eye for the diversities of life across a broadly-framed Europe, and for changes over time. Impressive geographic reach is combined with nuance, and a keen sense of the particularities of different historical landscapes. The author continually makes illuminating connections and comparisons, and does not flinch from offering clear judgments or nailing his own colours to the mast. Indeed, he has a consistently refreshing ability to get the reader away from predictable or ingrained ways of thinking about and judging things."—Len Scales, University of Durham"Fascinating, judicious, authoritative: by far the best single book about the Middle Ages. I wish this had been around earlier in my teaching career. Perhaps Wickham's most unusual accomplishment is that this survey never seems hurried. Without apparent strain, details and examples of historical trends are related to grand themes and changes."—Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination
£12.34
Yale University Press The Great British Reboot How the UK Can Thrive in
Book SynopsisAn optimistic exploration of how, through radical economic reform, the United Kingdom can prosper and flourish in the new global economyTrade Review“A rollicking (and highly readable) account of Britain’s remaining and undersung strengths in high technology, financial services, universities, pharmaceuticals and the creative industries”—Will Hutton, The Guardian ‘Book of the Day’ “A clearly argued case...There are many good ideas here and food for thought for politicians.”—Jonathan Portes, Financial World “In a wide-ranging and upbeat analysis, Alex Brummer paints an ambitious outlook for the UK.”—Christine Shields, 'Reading Room' for The Society of Professional Economists "Brummer provides an inspiring list of reasons to be optimistic about British business."—John Kay, co-author of Radical Uncertainty "Thank goodness for Alex Brummer, someone who closely follows what is happening in the bowels of British business and brings back a mainly uplifting account of the dynamic and innovative core that will see the country prospering in the post-Brexit era."—David Goodhart, author of Head, Hand, Heart "Alex Brummer’s powerful vision of a positive post-Brexit UK future is heartening – but as he himself acknowledges, it depends on singlemindedly protecting, building on and enhancing current strengths. I hope for all our sakes that this can indeed be done."—Vicky Pryce, former Joint Head, UK Government Economic Service
£16.88
Orion Publishing Co Blenheim
Book SynopsisHow two men brought about the defeat of Louis XIV's previously unbeaten army and saved Europe from French domination - A Sunday Times Bestseller
£10.44
Thames and Hudson Ltd Venice
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Brits The War Against the Ira
Book SynopsisThe third part of the trilogy documenting modern-day Northern Ireland, by the author of Provos and LoyalistsIn the final part of his trilogy exploring The Troubles'' in Northern Ireland, Peter Taylor talks to undercover agents of the British state and reveals for the first time the hidden secrets of the war they waged against the IRA for thirty years.PROVOS and LOYALISTS told the story of the conflict from the point of view of the Republicans and Loyalists; now the story, with all its tragic twists and turns, is told from the British perspective. For the first time, undercover soldiers, Special Branch officers and a top MI6 agent step out of the shadows and, along with the Whitehall mandarins who helped shape policy from Westminster, tell their stories.*PRAISE FOR PETER TAYLOR*Only a journalist of Peter Taylor's standing could have persuaded people from all sides in the conflict to cooperate in such a manner. The result was a first-rate piece of journTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR PETER TAYLOR: Peter Taylor should be ranked alongside David Attenborough in any panoply of TV grandees … To report on the region since 1972 and have all sides still talking to you with trust and respect is quite an achievement. As perhaps is the fact that he is still breathing * The Times *Taylor has built a justified reputation as by far the most knowledgeable British – or Irish – television reporter on Northern Irish affairs * Irish Times *A reporter who can face human horror and help us comprehend it * Radio Times *
£15.29
Orion Publishing Co The Templars
Book SynopsisThe dramatic, ultimately tragic history of the Knights Templar, the largest and most powerful military order of the Crusades.Sifting myth from history, Piers Paul Read reveals the Templars - the multinational force of warrior monks, in their white tunics with red crosses over chainmail. They were not only unique among Christian institutions but constituted the first uniformed standing army in the western world and became pioneers of international banking. Expropriated by Philip IV of France in 1307, and confessing under torture to blasphemy, heresy and sodomy, the Order was finally suppressed by Pope Clement V in 1312. In a narrative that incorporates the story of the crusades and the many colourful characters who had links with the Templars, Piers Paul Read examines the question of their guilt and identifies their relevance to our own times.
£10.44
Oneworld Publications His Majestys Airship
Book SynopsisThe forgotten story of Britain's own Hindenburg disaster.Trade Review'I loved every page of this book. Even though we’re aware of R101’s tragic fate from the beginning, Gwynne still delivers an intensely dramatic story.' —The Times'Utterly thrilling... Reads more like a page-turning thriller than a well-researched history but is equally satisfying on both counts.' —Daily ExpressThe airship race of the 1920s and 1930s carried that familiar mixture of visionary idealism, populist politics and wishful thinking… As S.C. Gwynne points out in this excellent account of perhaps Britain’s greatest imperial folly.’ —Spectator'Captivating... Gwynne spins a rich tale of technology, daring and folly that transcends its putative subject. Like any good popular history, it’s also a portrait of an age.' —New York Times'A Promethean tale of unlimited ambitions and technical limitations, airy dreams and explosive endings.' —Wall Street Journal'An enthralling study of the airship era that has the reader hooked from page one. Courage, hubris, ingenuity and a shocking disregard for safety are all bound up with fading empire and one man’s dreams.' —Julia Boyd, author of A Village in the Third Reich'I’ve just closed this book and this is the feeling – I’m standing inside the massive airship, a whale in the air, on its aluminum "ribs," looking far up into the belly as ten-story tall gas bags shift and pulse like creatures in a fable... Gwynne’s lovely prose hunts and nudges across the page, as the airship hunts the air, revealing a grand story, its hubris, its heartbreak.' —Doug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers'Aviation history is nothing less than miraculous; it took a mere sixty-three years, after all, to get from the Wright brothers to Neil Armstrong... With His Majesty’s Airship, the inimitable Mr. Gwynne explores in vivid detail how this dream bloomed, and how it, in time, fell tragically to earth... remarkable.' —Craig Nelson, author of Pearl Harbor and Rocket Men'Meticulously researched and vibrantly written... an immersive and enlightening account of how hubris and impatience can lead to disaster.' —Publishers Weekly'S.C. Gwynne is a consummate storyteller, and his well-documented account of the 1930 crash of a spectacularly large hydrogen-filled British airship is not to be missed.' —BookPage'Gwynne meticulously recounts the final flight of the British airship R101 and the entire zeppelin era in this engaging history. There is plenty of international zeppelin history here, but it is the personal conflicts in the R101 control room, exacerbated by Scott’s spiraling problem with alcoholism, the social context, and the near minute-by-minute presentation of the tragic flight that will capture reader attention.' —Booklist
£22.50
