European history Books
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Resistance: The French Fight Against the
Book SynopsisThe French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II was a struggle in which ordinary people fought for their liberty, despite terrible odds and horrifying repression. Hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen and women carried out an armed struggle against the Nazis, producing underground anti-fascist publications and supplying the Allies with vital intelligence. The Resistancetouches on some of the strongest themes in life - courage, self-sacrifice, betrayal and struggle. It shatters the illusion of a unified Resistance created by General de Gaulle, and brings to vivid life a true story of heroes and conflicts forgotten over the next half-century as the movement became a myth. Based on hundreds of French eye-witness accounts and including recently-released archival material, The Resistanceuses dramatic personal stories to take the reader on one of the great adventures of the 20thcentury.
£10.44
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Carve Her Name with Pride
Book SynopsisCarve Her Name With Pride is the inspiring story of the half-French Violette Szabo who was born in Paris Iin 1921 to an English motor-car dealer, and a French Mother. She met and married Etienne Szabo, a Captain in the French Foreign Legion in 1940. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Tania, her husband died at El Alamein. She became a FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) and was recruited into the SOE and underwent secret agent training. Her first trip to France was completed successfully even though she was arrested and then released by the French Police. On June 7th, 1944, Szabo was parachuted into Limoges. Her task was to co-ordinate the work of the French Resistance in the area in the first days after D-Day. She was captured by the SS 'Das Reich' Panzer Division and handed over to the Gestapo in Paris for interrogation. From Paris, Violette Szabo was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp where she was executed in January 1945. She was only 23 and for her courage was posthumously awarded The George Cross and the Croix de Guerre.
£13.49
Ebury Publishing The Story of Wales
Book SynopsisThe Story of Wales is a vibrant portrait of 30,000 years of power, identity and politics. Revisiting major turning points in Welsh history, from its earliest settlements to the present day, Jon Gower re-examines the myths and misconceptions about this glorious country, revealing a people who have reacted with energy and invention to changing times and opportunities. It's a story of political and industrial power, economic and cultural renewal- and a nation of seemingly limitless potential. The Story of Wales is an epic account of Welsh history for a new generation.
£14.24
Batsford Ltd Sussex, Kent and Surrey 1939
Book SynopsisA remarkable and eccentric insight into the south east of England in the pre-war period. Richard Wyndham's 'last look round' was a tour taken immediately before the Second World War in 1939 and was originally published in the following year as South-Eastern Survey. Wyndham is a very agreeable companion as he travels in his self-confessed 'haphazard' way around the counties of Sussex, Kent and Surrey. Often eccentric but always good fun, he drives 'for the most part on side roads only, and through villages and lesser towns.' A selection of Wyndham's own black and white photographs taken on his expedition are included. Sussex, Kent and Surrey 1939 is a wonderful insight into south east of England before the outbreak of the Second World War, which brought so much change to the country. Wyndham is a superb travel companion who completed the writing as he was called up for active service.Trade Review‘Wyndham’s tone is that of a warm, eccentric uncle.' * Discover Britain *
£9.49
Lang Syne Publishers Ltd MacDougall: The Origins of the Clan MacDougall
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£5.71
Lang Syne Publishers Ltd Wilson: The Origins of the Wilsons and Their
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£999.99
Lang Syne Publishers Ltd O'Brien: The Origins of the O'Brien Family and
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£5.71
Carnegie Publishing Ltd The Lancashire Witch Craze: Jennet Preston and
Book Synopsis'Jennet Preston lies heavy upon me', cried Thomas Lister on his deathbed. We are told that his corpse bled when she touched it...and Jennet was convicted of witchcraft. Was there really a satanic coven on Pendle side? Or was Jennet framed by Lister's son? And were the other 'witches' actually caught up in a much broader and more disturbing pattern of religious persecution? Jonathan Lumby presents a remarkable series of new insights. By placing the events in their wider European context, he explains far more satisfactorily than ever before exactly why these disturbing events occurred.Trade Review'... this book comes as a complete revelation ... Jonathan Lumby has done himself proud. This is a fascinating book, well written, and is above all a highly intriguing read.'
£9.99
Vintage Publishing Amsterdam: A brief life of the city
Book SynopsisA magnet for trade and travellers from all over the world, stylish, cosmopolitan Amsterdam is a city of dreams and nightmares, of grand civic architecture and legendary beauty, but also of civil wars, bloody religious purges, and the tragedy of Anne Frank. In this fascinating examination of the city's soul, part history, part travel guide, Geert Mak imaginatively recreates the lives of the early Amsterdammers, and traces Amsterdam's progress from waterlogged settlement to a major financial centre and thriving modern metropolisTrade ReviewLovers of Amsterdam will revel in the exhaustive reconstruction of everyday life in the medieval city * Independent on Sunday *A strong sense of irony and a lively prose style make Geert Mak's Amsterdam one of the most unusual and engaging 'city books' I have read this year * Sunday Times *Mak's brief is... to bring Amsterdam into the modern age. This he does with wit and style. But his real achievement... is to make accessible unfussily - and unsentimentally - one of Europe's most astonishing urban success stories -- James Woodall * Financial Times *This excellent book is more than essential -- Irvine Welsh
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Bradshaw’s Handbook
Book SynopsisA facsimile edition of Bradshaw's Handbook of 1863, the book that inspired the BBC television series 'Great British Railway Journeys'. When Michael Portillo began the series 'Great British Railway Journeys', a well-thumbed 150-year-old book shot back to fame. The original Bradshaw's guides had been well known to Victorian travellers and were produced when the British railway network was at its peak and as tourism by rail became essential. It was the first national tourist guide specifically organized around railway journeys, and this beautifully illustrated facsimile edition offers a glimpse through the carriage window at a Britain long past.
£12.34
Helion & Company Famous by My Sword: The Army of Montrose and the Military Revolution
£16.10
Four Corners Books Nuclear War In The UK
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£12.56
Helion & Company Operation Dragoon: The Invasion of the South of
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£28.45
HarperCollins Publishers Paris Then and Now® (Then and Now)
Book SynopsisParis Then and Now captures the changes that have taken place in the French capital from the heady days of the Belle Époque through to the 1940s. Matching classic archive images with the same viewpoint taken today the book provides a stunning visual history to Europe’s most beautiful and romantic city. Paris d’hier et d’aujourd’hui retrace les changements opérés dans la capitale entre les jours insouciants de la Belle Époque et les années 1940. Par la confrontation d’images photographiques d’archives avec des photos d’aujourd’hui prises sous le même angle de vue, ce livre propose une histoire visuelle de la plus belle et de la plus romantique des villes d’Europe. Inclus: Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais, Champs Élysées, Place de la Concorde, Statue de Strasbourg, Ministère de la Marine, Cour du Louvre, Comédie Française, Rue de Rivoli, Place Vendôme, Église de la Madeleine, Opéra de Paris, Galeries Lafayette, Boulevard des Capucines, Gare St. Lazare, Fontaine des Innocents, Théâtre du Châtelet, Hôtel de Ville, Centre George Pompidou, Place de la Bastille, Pont Marie, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Pont Neuf, Pont St. Michel, Rue de Bièvre, Shakespeare and Company, La Sorbonne, Station de Métro Odéon, Cour de Rohan, Carrefour de Buci, Rue de Constantine / Rue de Lutèce, Panthéon, Palais du Luxembourg, Café de Floré, Place Saint Médard, La Ruche, Usine Citroën / Parc André Citroën, Rue Berton, Tour Eiffel, Place du Trocadéro / Palais de Chaillot. Pont de L’Alma, Gare d’Orsay, Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Place de la République, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Canal Saint-Martin, Gare de L’Est et Gare du Nord.
£13.49
Crecy Publishing HST: The Train That Saved Britain's Railways
Book SynopsisIn 1976, the High Speed Train arrived on a British railway scene where trains were predominantly in three colours; blue and grey with a large patch of yellow at the front. On the new trains the yellow warning panel was now strikingly extended down the sides of the power cars, thus beginning a transformation both in terms of the trains themselves as well as in their liveries, from BR''s corporate years to the variety that we see today. HST The Train that Saved Britain''s Railways is a photographic tribute to a train widely credited with rescuing Britain''s railway system from further decline. Few items of rolling stock have stayed in front line service for so long, more than forty years, least of all on longer distance duties. The HST has achieved this whilst leading the move away from traditional patterns of operational practice utilising locomotives and coaches, towards one of fixed formations. This was something of a gamble and it has had its down sides, but is now accepted as the norm. The book focuses on the numerous liveries carried by the HST fleet, particularly since privatisation, rather than on their technical and operational achievements.This colourful celebration of these magnificent trains shows HSTs in action in a wide range of locations across the network from the lineside and at stations and depots. It is a celebration of a great British success story which will be relished by the legions of enthusiasts who admire them.
£17.00
£36.00
Blue Crow Media Black History London Map: Guide to Black
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£9.00
Helion & Company The Polish Resettlement Corps 1946-1949:
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£999.99
Helion & Company The Battle of Killiecrankie: The First Jacobite
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£22.50
Helion & Company The Italian Wars Volume 1: The Expedition of
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£21.25
Scribe Publications Monsters: a memoir
Book Synopsis‘I was born as part of a monstrous structure — the grotesque, hideous, ugly, ghastly, gruesome, horrible relations of power that constituted colonial Britain. A structure that shaped me, that shapes the very language that I speak and use and love. I am the daughter of an empire that declared itself the natural order of the world.’ From award-winning writer and critic Alison Croggon, Monsters takes as its point of departure the painful breakdown of a relationship between two sisters. It explores how our attitudes are shaped by the persisting myths that underpin colonialism and patriarchy, how the structures we are raised within splinter and distort the possibilities of our lives. Monsters asks how we maintain the fictions that we create about ourselves, what we will sacrifice to maintain these fictions — and what we have to gain by confronting them.Trade Review‘A marvel of a book … Croggon spares no one, least of all herself, as she unearths colonial history and family complicity to scrutinise those demons that both torment and shape us. This is exactly the kind of book I have longed to see white authors write, and I love it for its refusal to provide easy answers to the dilemma at the heart of the modern human condition.’ -- Ruby Hamad, author of White Tears/Brown Scars‘Refreshing … admirable.’ -- Josephine Fenton * Irish Examiner *‘Croggon is an autodidact and digs deepest into issues which interest her most. Her writing on femaleness and the patriarchy is excellent and follows her own feminist evolution … This is a unique blend of memoir and critical theory.’ -- Bob Moore * Good Reading *‘Croggon’s background as a poet is tangible, and her language in Monsters is flavoursome … she is witty, self-reflective, raw.’ -- Anna Westbrook * ArtsHub, starred review *‘What makes Monsters distinct, from opening bars to melancholy coda, is the nature of the pain it describes. Not the physical kind which holds at least the potential for relief, but the emotional distress emerging from a breakdown in the author’s relationship with one of her two younger sisters: a connection that has grown increasingly poisonous over time … Monsters becomes the effort to draw a global map of human hurt using the fractal experience of one woman’s domestic discord.’ -- Geordie Williamson * The Weekend Australian *‘Monsters is a hybrid memoir about family, colonialism and how external forces invisibly shape us, by renowned critic and impressive brain Alison Croggon.’ -- Jo Case * InDaily *‘Steady and acute self-scrutiny such as Croggon’s is necessary to a widening interrogation of privilege that underpins the illumination and refusal of racism and sexism and promised a historical pivot away from overt and covert violence … Monsters is full of gloriously expressed insights, such as the image of the internet as ‘a trauma machine, recording and reproducing millions of psychic wounds’ and, on the subject of #MeToo, the way an accumulation of incidents can contribute to a ‘deformation fo self’ … stylistically, the rhythms and sonic patterns of Croggon’s prose are a poet’s.’ -- Felicity Plunkett * The Age *‘Sometimes it is in the gulf between what we value and how we act that we are truly revealed … Croggon cares deeply about this idea, of sitting with complexity … in every scorching appraisal of hierarchy and patriarchy, there is a central thought: there must be some explanation … For Croggon, the legacy of British colonialism is the notion that you can take someone’s story away from them. Monsters fights to reclaim the narrative.’ -- Sarah Walker * Australian Book Review *‘In language at once fiery and elegant, [Croggon] reckons with the collective failures of her imperialist ancestors and the personal shame of their legacy. It’s a book I will return to often for its power and its truths.’ -- Marina Benjamin, author of Insomnia‘The searing opening spares no one, least of all Croggon as she details a toxic relationship with her sister … Woven in and out of all this are other ugly but very differently scaled relationships, from colonialism through which she details her own history, to the patriarchy and how it distorts the way we see even ourselves. Croggon is a talented writer, librettist, playwright and thinker, and her focus here is to understand and, in some ways, reconcile with all this dysfunction.’ -- Penelope Debelle * SA Weekend, starred review *‘Monsters brings up interesting insights on trauma, power relations and the pathology of families.’ -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald *‘Young Adult author Croggon grapples with both personal and historical demons … [she] asks probing questions about self-perception and trauma … The monsters of the title are plentiful: throughout the essays she addresses her British colonialist ancestors, her abusive mother, the “traumatic tedium” of her relationship to her sister, and herself … Lyrically rendered, this reckoning will leave readers with plenty to think about.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘With Monsters, [Croggon] tackles one of contemporary literature’s most electric (and eclectic) forms — a kind of glorious literary mutant that braids socio-cultural contemplation and memoir; anchoring high-theory with visceral intimacy. She joins a sorority of glittering thinkers … whose work mimics what it feels like to stretch an idea out in your brain. True to type, Monsters is digressive, kaleidoscopic, and alive with questions.’ -- Beejay Silcox * The Guardian *
£13.49
Daunt Books They Went to Portugal: A Travellers' Portrait
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£11.69
Holy Trinity Publications Russian Monks on Mount Athos: The Thousand Year
Book SynopsisThe Holy Mountain of Athos is a self governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon, known in Greek as the Rossikon. It's building, fully restored in recent years, can accommodate up to 5,000 men, reflecting the scale of the settlement at its apogee in the nineteenth century and prior to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has experienced a strong revival and is now one of the most numerous of the twenty.But the vast buildings that can be seen today are really only a reflection of the history of the past two centuries. Much less well known is the fact that the history of a Russian presence on Athos goes back more than one thousand years. This is the first comprehensive account of this in the English language. The author has been able to draw from previously inaccessible archival materials in gathering the wealth of information he shares in this work. The history of the community is not described in geographical isolation but shown as interacting with the much wider worlds of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and the modern nation state of Greece, together with that of the Russian homeland whose political character is constantly evolving. There are shown to be three distinct phases in this history: From the tenth to the twelfth centuries when Russian Athonites inhabited the ancient Russian Lavra of the Mother of God, also known as Xylourgou. Then the six hundred years from the mid-twelth to the mid-eighteenth century when the ancient Monastery of St Panteleimon was the Russian house on Athos, more commonly referred to as Nagorny or Stary Rusik. Finally the most recent 250 years, that are naturally covered in greater depth thanks to the wider availability of sources.Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. The author seeks to arbitrate fairly between often strongly opposing ethnic viewpoints.It examines in detail the fluctuating fortunes of the monastic community of St Panteleimon during the past 250 years when its ethnic identity was frequently questioned. It is a history that has been blighted by Greek-Russian quarrels, mass deportation of dissenting brethren, troubles in the Caucasus, and even tangential implication in the present-day dispute between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates over Ukraine.This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the general educated reader who does not possess specialist knowledge. It is complimented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full colour illustrations and photographs.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 - The Monastery’s Early History: from Xylourgou to the Old Mountain Rusik 2 - From Savvas to Gerasim 3 - The Return of the Russians in the Reign of Abbot Gerasimos 4 - The New Spiritual Father and Leader of the Russian Brotherhood is Chosen 5 - The Crimean War 6 - The Greek and Russian Brotherhoods at Loggerheads 7 - The Reign of Archimandrite Makary 8 - Makary’s Successors, Abbots Andrey and Nifont 1889–1905 9 - Archimandrite Misail 10- The Name of God Dispute 11 - From 1913 to Abbot Misail’s Death in 1940 12- The Next Four Abbots: from Iustin to Avel´ (1940–1978) 13 - From Ieremiya to Evlogy Afterword Timeline Notes Glossary Bibliography Index
£28.49
The London Stereoscopic Company Diableries: The Complete Edition: Stereoscopic
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£48.00
PeKo Publishing Kft. Combat History of the Panzer-Abteilung 103:
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£23.99
Central European University Press Russia'S Imperial Endeavor and its Geopolitical
Book SynopsisAside from the near-complete devastation of a sovereign state and reversal of the global balance of power, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is leading to a radical transformation in the Eastern European and Eurasian regions – including Russia itself. The 13 chapters in this volume examine the main geopolitical consequences of the resurgent imperialist aspirations of the Russian Federation. They examine the ideological tools of history falsification as an integral part of hybrid warfare. Turning to the economy, the book discusses how the war and economic sanctions imposed on Russia are redrawing the geopolitical map and how economic relations would change following a regime transformation. The book discusses the reactions of members of the international community to the invasion, whether threatened or neutral parties or allies. The collection therefore offers a comprehensive picture of the main consequences of the resurgent imperialist aspirations of the Russian Federation. Equipped with the conceptual tools of the analysis with a focus on the patronal features of the political-economic system, the book considers the aftermath of the war. This collection complements the book entitled Ukraine. Patronal Democracy and the Russian Invasion.Table of ContentsChronology of Russia (1985-2022) Foreword by Kirill Rogov I. Russia’s Patronal Autocracy: Ideology and Sociology of Imperial Warfare Elites in the war and after Putin (Nikolay Petrov) Socially Inclusive and Exclusive Warfighting: Comparing Ukraine and Russia’s Ways of War (András Rácz) The Falsification of History: War and Russian Memory Politics (Zoltán Sz. Bíró) Enter the “Bloody Clown”: Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in the Lens of Russia’s Media Machine (Kostiantyn Fedorenko) Authoritarian Deflation: How Russia Lost the Information War against the West (Péter Krekó, Boglárka Rédl) II. Geopolitical Structures and the War: The Changing Position of Russia and Ukraine In the Gravitational Tensions of East and West: The Systemic and Geopolitical Integration Patterns of Ukraine and Moldova (Kálmán Mizsei) Neo-Backwardness and Prospects for Long-Term Growth: The effects of Western sanctions on Russia and the changing embeddedness of Ukraine in the world economy (Dóra Győrffy) The politics of energy and natural resources in Ukraine (Dmytro Tuzhanskyi) Forced Displacement of Ukrainians during the War: Patterns of Internal and External Migration (2014-2022) (Oksana Mikheieva, Viktoria Sereda, Lidia Kuzemska) III. The International Community: Patronal and Non-Patronal Responses to the War Crescent Rising? The Baltic, Romanian, and “V3” Reaction to the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war (Zsombor Zeöld) Hungary’s Dubious Loyalty: Orbán’s Regime Strategy in the Russia-Ukraine War (Bálint Madlovics, Bálint Magyar) Defensive Submission, Lucrative Neutrality, and Silent Detachment: Post-Soviet Patronal Autocracies in the Shadow of Russian Invasion (Anatoly Reshetnikov) The Russia-Ukraine War and China: Neutrality with Imperial Characteristics (Gyula Krajczár)
£24.65
Bloomsbury Academic Detente
Book SynopsisBetween 1968 and 1975, there was a subtle thawing of relations between East and West, for which Brezhnev coined the name Détente, and perhaps a chance to end the Cold War. The leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev, hoped to forge a new relationship between East and West. Yet, the greatest changes of the era took place outside the sphere of international diplomacy. The 1960s brought social collision across the world, from the anti-war protests in America to the student demonstrations on the streets of Paris, and Mao Zedong''s Red Guards in China. A new generation, whom advertising executives dubbed the baby-boomers, brought new attitudes to towards sex, gender, race, the environment and religion. In this book, Richard Crowder explores the years of Détente, and introduces us to the key players of the era, whose stories form the narrative of this book.Trade ReviewA sweeping and evocative account of the Cold War’s thaw… It’s fast-moving, engaging and authoritative in equal measure. 5 stars. * All About History *Richard Crowder’s broad-ranging account of ‘détente’, the comparative relaxation of Cold War tension which lasted from the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 to the American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, shows in colourful, lively and meticulous detail how Nixon and Brezhnev constructed fragile barriers against mutual annihilation, even while one was coping with a violently divided America and the other with an increasingly dysfunctional Soviet Union. * Rodric Braithwaite *Richard Crowder has managed to write about these turbulent years in vivid detail in a way that combines serious research and readability. * Richard Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth *Richard Crowder possesses a rich array of gifts which carry his fascinating story with zest and insight—a mix of his sense of moment, character and context all enhanced by his insider’s feel for diplomacy and statecraft. Roll on volume three of this fascinating cold war narrative. * Peter Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Seeing Glory Chapter Two: Time Ending Chapter Three: Coming Darkness Chapter Four: The Cock Crows Chapter Five: Courage to Change Chapter Six: The Topmost Branch Chapter Seven: Hurting Each Other Chapter Eight: Sweet Rain Chapter Nine: Monster Rising Chapter Ten: The Humiliated Men Chapter Eleven: Awful Wisdom Chapter Twelve: Horizon of Dreams
£38.25
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery
Book Synopsis"Fascinating and vivid." New Statesman "Thoroughly researched." The Spectator "Intriguing." BBC History Magazine "Vividly told." BBC History Revealed "A timely warning against persecution." Morning Star "Astute and thoughtful." History Today "An important work." All About History "Well-researched." The Tablet On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches. Though ‘pretty much worn away’ the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common. In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.Trade ReviewCallow’s intriguing book is both a case study of the Bideford witch trail and an examination of how superstition prevailed in a time of increasing rationality… Callow’s fascinating and vivid unpicking of the English Salem is also an account of the birth pangs of the modern age. -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman *Callow examines in detail the surviving evidence of the Bideford case, while also imaginatively reconstructing events to create a convincing picture of how superstition and belief in sorcery lay just beneath the surface of a mercantile society struggling to be born. -- Nigel Jones * The Spectator *One 17th-century pamphlet about the Bideford trial promised "many Wonderful Things, worth your Reading"; a line that could justifiably be slapped across the cover of [The Last Witches of England]. -- Tristram Saunders * The Telegraph Culture *A retelling of a 17th-century witchcraft trial that never loses sight of the women at its heart, nor the social and economic factors that contributed to their plight… There is no plain explanation for the witchcraft accusations of 1682, but then acts of evil never have a simple origin. The Last Witches of England faces that fact and marshals an intriguing story around new research on the case. -- Marion Gibson * BBC History Magazine *Carrow meticulously explores the haunting tale of the Bideford witches. -- Suzannah Lipscomb * UnHerd *An elegantly presented, well illustrated and readable book on how class conflict played out through witch hunting… A timely warning against persecution and intolerance. * The Morning Star *In The Last Witches of England John Callow painstakingly reconstructs the lines of three beggar women accused of witchcraft in Bideford, Devon in 1632 by trawling administrate records, parish registers and dole lists. It is a remarkable piece of scholarship…astute and thoughtful. * History Today *Vividly told, detailed and extremely moving. * BBC History Revealed *The Last Witches of England is an important work of social history that presents valuable insights into the workings of life, death, and belief in a cosmopolitan 17th-century town. * All About History *A well-researched and even-handed account of this landmark case, giving pen portraits of all the major players, and providing a comprehensive picture of life in seventeenth-century Britain. -- Chris Nancollas * The Tablet *[Written] with flair and colour… Excellent local studies such as [this] bring[s] us closer to understanding the reality of witchcraft beliefs and accusations in the early modern English world than we have ever seen before. -- Ronald Hutton * Fortean Times *I rarely feel deeply moved by academic publications but John Callow’s exploration of the ‘Bideford Witches’ had a profound effect on me… Callow’s work invites the reader to bear witness to the persecution of the poor and the marginalised… Callow’s work adds considerable weight to a strong moral argument. -- Julie Ward * Chartist *This riveting read is important albeit uncomfortable. In this book, Callow has allowed readers to look at their shared past unflinchingly so that we may go into a less tragic future. -- Hilary Wilson * The Folklore Podcast *A marvellous overview of not only the fate of three women but also of Bideford which was an important port in the 17th Century... with an in depth study of the social and political conditions surrounding the fate of ‘The last witches’ is extremely valuable for those who are interested in the historical background to Wicca, but also for understanding the recent interest in Witchcraft as a political tool. * Wiccan Rede *The Last Witches of England: A Tragedy of Sorcery and Superstition offers a thoroughly engaging account of the lives and afterlives of Temperance Lloyd, Susanna Edwards, and Mary Trembles, three women who were executed for witchcraft in 1682. It is a well-told narrative that will be of interest to scholars of witchcraft, as well as those working more broadly in early modern British social history. * Canadian Journal of History / Annales canadiennes d'histoire *[Callow] brings to the Bideford episode a nuanced sense of how witches’ supposed powers were understood and experienced at different levels of early modern society. * Inside Higher Ed *The Bideford witches' story is an essential piece in England's witchcraft history. Callow has researched it properly and deeply for the first time, and his astonishing discoveries shed new light on this tragic and bizarre story. He draws the reader into the story, retelling it with vibrant characterisation. We come away with a thoughtful understanding of what it meant to be deemed a witch, tried as a witch, and to die as a witch. * Dr. Christina Oakley Harrington, Founder & Director, Treadwell's, UK *I read the book with considerable interest and enjoyment - others have written on the Bideford witches, but not in this sort of depth. John Callow has been remarkably successful in reconstructing the story of the three 'Bideford Witches' executed in 1682. He maintains an imaginative and accessible narrative grounded in the relevant documentation and the relevant historical context, which will immerse the modern reader in the tragedies and complexities of the early modern witch hunts. * James Sharpe, Professor Emeritus of Early Modern History, University of York, UK *This is a stirring and multilayered book. At its heart is a very sad story, but one that needs to be heard. The cautionary tale Callow spins here is not the war between superstition and reason, but in the ways in which we have historically vilified and marginalized those in poverty, especially women, and the lengths we go to in silencing their voices. * Dr Amy Hale, Anthropologist and Folklorist, writer of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully, USA *With 17th Century culture wars, conspiracy theories and non-science, it wasn’t just the people who spread deadly superstition. Political, religious, media, scientific and even legal establishments literally demonised vulnerable women. John Callow’s meticulous and gripping history of the Bideford Witches is unputdownable. * Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Politician, Barrister and Human Rights Activist, UK *Table of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgements A Note on Dating & Terminology Prologue: The Magpie at the Window Chapter One: Fortune My Foe Chapter Two: England’s Golden Bay Chapter Three: An Underground Religion Chapter Four: The Cat, the Pig and the Poppet Chapter Five: The Stolen Apple & a Farthing’s Worth of Tobacco Chapter Six: A Fine Gentleman Dressed All in Black Chapter Seven: The Discourse of the Sleepy Chimney Chapter Eight: The Politics of Death Chapter Nine: At the House of the White Witch Chapter Ten: Where are the Witches? The Crafting of Memory and Survival Endnotes Bibliography
£27.00
Yale University Press The Guitar in Georgian England
Book SynopsisA fascinating social history of the guitar, reasserting its long-forgotten importance in Romantic EnglandTrade Review“It was puzzling that the guitar’s rich history during that period had been so largely neglected in scholarly research. Page’s new book not only fills this gap admirably...but also adds a novel dimension to the discussion of the guitar by investigating its multifaceted impact within the sociocultural and intellectual context of a revolutionary era...The Guitar in Georgian England will certainly inspire and shape future studies of the guitar.”—Panagiotis Poulopoulos, Galpin Society Journal “Page touches on many factors that impact on the life story of a musical instrument, and presents a social and musical history that will be of interest and use to readers well beyond the sphere of musicology.”—Jenny Nex, Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
£30.88
Little, Brown Book Group A Brief History of the Vikings
Book Synopsis'From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.'Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders. Extending beyond the traditional 'Viking age' of most books, A Brief History of the Vikings places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings, explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed because, ultimately, the Vikings didn't disappear: they turned into us.
£9.59
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Enver Hoxha
Book SynopsisStalinism, that particularly brutal phase of communism, came to an end in most of Eastern Europe with the death of Josef Stalin in 1953 or at least with the Khrushchev reforms that began in the Soviet Union in 1956. However, in one country - Albania - Stalinism survived virtually unscathed until 1990. The regime that the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha led from the time of the communist takeover in 1944 until his death in 1985, and that continued unabated under his successor Ramiz Alia until 1990, was incomparably severe. Such was the reign of terror that no audible voice of opposition or dissent ever arose in the Balkan state, a European country that became as isolated from the rest of the world as North Korea is today. When the Albanian communist system finally imploded, it left behind a weary population, frightened and confused after decades of purges and political terror. It also left behind a country with a weak and fragile economy, a country where extreme poverty was the norm. In Table of ContentsIntroduction by Robert Elsie 1. Death Comes Knocking 2. 28 November 1944 3. From Gjirokastra to Korça 4. From France to Belgium: the Dropout 5. Teacher of Moral Education 6. The Founding of the Communist Party 7. A Leader with an Iron Fist 8. Nationalists and Communists 9. Head of the Provisional Government 10. The Plenary Meeting in Berat – an Interlude 11. Tirana and the Wedding 12. The Reign of Terror 13. Departure of the British and the Americans 14. The Yugoslavs: a Matter of Love and Hate 15. Stalin and the Soviets 16. The Bllok 17. Enver Hoxha and Mother Teresa 18. Split Personality 19. The Medical Team 20. The Great Purges 21. Demise of a Prime Minister 22. The Final Purges 23. The Years of Solitude 24. Death and What Remained Chronology of the Life of Enver Hoxha Glossary Bibliography
£16.14
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India
Book Synopsis***THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER*** In the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial 'gift' from the railways to the rule of law was designed in Britain's interests alone. He goes on to show how Britain's Industrial Revolution was founded on India s deindustrialisation, and the destruction of its textile industry. In this bold and incisive reassessment of colonialism, Tharoor exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain's stained Indian legacy.Trade Review'In Inglorious Empire, Shashi Tharoor documents the realities of the British empire in India and makes a compelling case for the need to acknowledge, and, atone for, these realities.' -- Book Riot, ’14 Must-Read Indian History Books’
£23.75
Gibson Square Books Ltd Blowing up Russia: The Book that Got Litvinenko
Book SynopsisUpdated edition of the book that got former FSB Colonel Alexander Litvinenko killed according to MI6. It unveils the first-ever fake news campaign that the FSB created to have former FSB head Vladimir Putin elected as President of Russia.Trade Review`A book that should contain a very serious health warning on the cover.' Andrew Marr, Sunday AM - `Tightly argued.' Sunday Times - Sunday Times Best Current Affairs Book - `Frightening.' Sunday Telegraph - `Disturbing reading.' Mail on Sunday - `One of the severest attacks on the present Russian leadership in print.' Tribune - `Rich in political intrigue.' Good Book Guide - `Pull-no-punches expose.' Independent - `Iconic.' Sunday Business Post (Ireland) - `Was Litvinenko murdered because of this book?' Irish Independent - `For clues as to who wanted Alexander Litvinenko, you need look no farther.' Oleg Gordievsky, The Times - `Demands our attention.' Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph - `As vivid condemnation of the Putin regime as has yet been written.' Sunday Times - `A spy shocker.' Western Morning News - `Crucially important.' Robert Service, Professor of Russian History Oxford University, Sunday Times
£10.44
John Wiley and Sons Ltd A New Introduction to Islam
Book SynopsisCovering the origins, key features, and legacy of the Islamic tradition, the third edition of A New Introduction to Islam includes new material on Islam in the 21st century and discussions of the impact of historical ideas, literature, and movements on contemporary trends. Includes updated and rewritten chapters on the Qur'an and hadith literature that covers important new academic research Compares the practice of Islam in different Islamic countries, as well as acknowledging the differences within Islam as practiced in Europe Features study questions for each chapter and more illustrative material, charts, and excerpts from primary sources Table of ContentsList of Illustrations xi Preface to the Third Edition xv Source Acknowledgments xvii Part I The Formation of the Islamic Tradition 1 1 Islam in Global Perspective 3 The Problem of Defining Islam 3 Mapping the Islamic World 5 Arabs and Non-Arabs 9 Sunnis and Shiʿites 10 Islamic Ritual 11 What to Expect from This Book 14 Essential Resources for the Study of Islam 16 Questions for Study and Discussion 17 2 Arabia 19 Geography 19 Pre-Islamic Poetry 21 Arab Religion 25 Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia 27 Mecca and the Quraysh 28 The Gifts of the Arabs 31 Resources for Further Study 34 Questions for Study and Discussion 35 3 The Pre-Islamic Near East 37 Christianity in the Near East 39 Saints and Relics 45 Zoroastrianism 46 Judaism 47 Manichaeism 49 Mazdak 49 The Place of the Arabs in the Near East 50 Chronology of the Near East of Late Antiquity 52 Resources for Further Study 53 Questions for Study and Discussion 54 4 The Life of Muhammad 55 Prologue and Setting 56 Birth and Childhood 57 Early Adulthood 59 The Beginning of Revelation 61 Opposition 63 The Night Journey and Ascent to Heaven 65 The Hijra 66 The Battle of Badr 68 Confrontation with the Jews of Medina 69 The Battle of Uh. ud 70 The Peace of al-H. udaybiya and the Farewell Pilgrimage 72 Evaluation 73 Resources for Further Study 74 Questions for Study and Discussion 75 5 The Qur ʾan 77 The Qurʾan in Modern Imagination 77 The History of the Text 79 The Language of the Qurʾan 84 The Context of the Qurʾan 87 Jesus in the Qurʾan 88 The Qurʾan in Muslim Piety 90 The Eternity of the Qurʾan 91 The Inimitability of the Qurʾan 93 Interpreting the Qurʾan 94 Central Themes 95 Qurʾanic Narratives 96 Qurʾanic Law and the Problem of Abrogation 97 Women and Gender in the Qurʾan 98 Qurʾan, Sīra, and Hadith 99 Resources for Further Study 99 Questions for Study and Discussion 100 6 The Tradition Literature 103 The Science of Hadith 104 The Origins of the Hadith 108 In Quest of the Historical Muhammad 111 The Sīra and the Shaping of an Islamic Worldview 115 Resources for Further Study 119 Questions for Study and Discussion 120 Part II The Expansion of Islam 121 7 The Conquests 123 Psychological Impact 127 Archeological Data: The “Invisible” Conquests 129 Resources for Further Study 131 Questions for Study and Discussion 132 8 Religion of Empire 133 Early Arab Administration 134 Conversion to Islam 137 Leadership 138 The First Civil War 139 The Martyrdom of Ḥusayn 140 The Deputy of God 141 Personal Piety 142 The Dome of the Rock 144 The Constitution of Medina 149 Resources for Further Study 151 Questions for Study and Discussion 151 9 The Caliphate 153 Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ 153 The Shiʿite Vision 156 The ʿAbbasids 158 Twelvers 159 Ismāʿīlīs 160 Nizārī “Assassins” 161 Kharijites 163 The Sasanian Revival 164 Al-Māwardī and the Sunni Compromise 166 Resources for Further Study 169 Questions for Study and Discussion 170 Part III Islamic Institutions 171 10 Islamic Law 173 The Coffee Debate 173 Revelation and Reason 175 Qiyās 176 The Schools of Law 177 Islamic Law and the State 179 Ijmāʿ 180 The Uṣūl al-Fiqh 181 The Substance of the Law 183 Ritual Purity 184 Acts of Worship 185 Marriage and Divorce 186 The Origins of Islamic Law 189 Al-Shāfiʿī and Islamic Legal Theory 189 Resources for Further Study 192 Questions for Study and Discussion 193 11 Islamic Theology and Philosophy 195 Freedom and Determinism 196 God’s Attributes 198 Anthropomorphism 200 Faith and Works 200 Leadership 203 The Sunni Consensus 203 Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal 204 Al-Ashʿarī 205 Kalām 206 Al-Māturīdī and other Alternatives to Ashʿarite Kalām 208 Jewish and Christian Influences 209 The Challenge of Philosophy 210 Prophecy and Revelation in Islamic Philosophy 212 Philosophy and Mysticism 215 Resources for Further Study 216 Questions for Study and Discussion 217 12 Sufism 219 The Parliament of Birds 219 Stages on the Path 221 The Spiritual Master 223 Sufi Brotherhoods 224 Sufi Ritual 226 The Destination 229 Sufi Cosmology 230 Sufism in History: The Case of al-Ḥallāj 233 Beginnings to the Tenth Century 237 Classical Manuals and the Growth of Ṭarīqas 239 Resources for Further Study 241 Questions for Study and Discussion 242 Part IV Crisis and Renewal in Islamic History 243 13 Turks, Crusaders, and Mongols 245 The Saljūqs 245 Al-Ghazālī and the Sunni Revival 246 Slave Soldiers 248 The Crusades 250 The Mongols 254 The Impact of the Mongol Invasions 257 Resources for Further Study 261 Questions for Study and Discussion 262 14 Revival and Reform 263 The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires 263 The Rise of European Power 266 The Religious Environment 267 The ʿUlamāʾ 267 Sufi Reformers 269 The Wahhabi Movement 274 Resources for Further Study 277 Questions for Study and Discussion 278 15 Islam and the West 279 Napoleon’s Invasion of Egypt 279 The Birth of Orientalism 282 Jihad Movements 284 Al-Afghānī 285 Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Aligarh 287 Resources for Further Study 289 Questions for Study and Discussion 289 16 The Turbulent Twentieth Century 291 The Abolition of the Caliphate 291 Nationalism 293 Secularism 295 Rashīd Riḍā and al-Manār 298 The Muslim Brotherhood 299 Jihad and Martyrdom 300 From Shariʿa to Secular Law and Back 302 Modern Qurʾan Interpretation 304 The Problem of Sunna 305 Ijtihād and Ijmāʿ 306 A New Kalām? 307 Muhammad ʿAbdūh 307 Muhammad Iqbal 309 Sufism and Modernity 311 The Modernist Moment 314 Resources for Further Study 315 Questions for Study and Discussion 315 17 Salafism 317 Café Salafis 317 Salafi Doctrine 319 The Ibn Taymiyya Connection 320 The Albanian Watchmaker’s Son 322 Salafi Apocalypse 324 Salafi Spring? 329 The Appeal of Salafism 331 Salafis and Sufis 332 Resources for Further Study 334 Questions for Study and Discussion 334 18 Islam in the Twenty-First Century 335 The Challenge of Pluralism 336 Islamic Liberalism 340 Islam in the West 342 Islamic Feminism 346 The Challenge of Islam 350 Questions for Study and Discussion 351 Glossary 353 Bibliography 367 Index 391
£27.50
Yale University Press Heretics and Believers
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Peter Marshall has written a fine history of a momentous time as seen from the bottom up, drawing on a wide range of primary sources and his evident scholarship. . . . A riveting account of the losers as well, the English zealots and cynics who wanted a better world, or an unchanging one.”—The Economist“A balanced and judicious account of the English Reformation.”—Arnold Hunt, Times Literary Supplement“An eminently readable narrative that avoids flattening out irregularities in the story. . . . Marshall’s analysis, his control of documentary material and his imaginative maneuvers between the corridors of power and the streets and alehouses is impressive.”—Malcolm Gaskill, Financial Times“A profound book with a light touch—and all the more impressive in that the author is covering almost a century of intellectual, social, and religious history. . . . It will be a long time before the book is surpassed.”—Michael Coren, Globe and Mail“With pleasing dispatch Peter Marshall’s compelling new history of England’s Reformation sweeps all the historians down into the footnotes and just tells the story as he sees it. . . . This is the human story within the grand narrative, written with fluidity and warmth, its scholarship providing a firm foundation without being intrusive, its analysis thoughtful, not polemical.”—Lucy Wooding, Literary Review“The joy of Peter Marshall’s book is that it makes this most hackneyed of historical epics feel fresh and unexpected. More so than any historian of the period working today, Marshall is equally sensitive and perceptive in dealing with both Protestants and Catholics. . . . It is a much-told tale, but I don’t think it has ever been told with more humanity, balance, atmosphere, wit and learning. I wish I’d written it. Buy it, and make time to read it.”—Alec Ryrie, The Tablet“Marshall has a knowledge of the personalities and the detail and texture of events which few living scholars can match. He makes masterly use of the enormous range of quotable texts to bring to life the dilemmas that his characters faced.”—G. R. Evans, Church Times“Marshall’s account of this seemingly well-worn topic never seems stale or perfunctory. There is a sense of real people being affected by real issues, the distant hubbub of which can still just about be heard in the pages of this insightful and immersive book.”—Mark Jones, Albion“A tour de force that transforms our understanding of, what Marshall himself terms, ‘one of the best-known and most widely discussed epochs in English history’: the Reformation of the sixteenth century.”—Henry Jeffries, Irish Historical Studies“This is a superb narrative history of the English Reformation. . . . If you want a book that tells the story in a powerful, effective way, held together with an excellent thesis and illustrative anecdotes, this will serve you well. I foresee that this will become a standard text for those who teach the English Reformation.”—Norman Jones, Renaissance Quarterly“Outstanding work. . . . Aagrand, sweeping view of the Reformation’s impact in England, perhaps the first large scale revisiting of a people’s history approach to the religious upheaval of the Tudor period since Eamon Duffy’s The Stripping of the Altars.”—Chris Skidmore, Books of the Year 2017, BBC History“An outstanding study of one of the most eventful periods in English history. . . . This is historical scholarship at its accessible best.”—Rev. Dr. Martin Wellings, Methodist Recorder“Heretics and Believers provides readers with a wonderful opportunity to expand their historical horizons. Peter Marshall does an excellent job in tracing the antecedents of the English Reformation, profiling key figures and institutions and tracing the chronological development of attempts at reform (and opposition to it).”—Philip Scheepers, Vox Reformata“This is an utterly reliable history of the English Reformation, but it is also its imaginative biography, treating the story as a single narrative, watching its birth, its growth, its growing complexity. . . . Marshall is a historian’s historian, probing the close-up warp and weft of the period with admirable curiosity and archival expertise, but he also enjoys an enviably light touch for the general reader.”—Diarmaid MacCulloch, Ecclesiastical History“The book contains a massive amount of detail, and it is well written” —Fiction’s Fan Book ReviewsWINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2018 “A beautifully judged account of the English Reformation. Marshall weaves a single narrative through a contentious century without loss of detail or depth of understanding. Full of wise and humane analysis, this is ambitious in scope and brilliant in execution.”—Wolfson Prize Judges“A remarkable book that will, without doubt, become the definitive narrative of the English Reformation for years to come. Marshall writes with deep understanding and great panache, moving us masterfully beyond tired debates about whether the Reformation was ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and bringing his subject vividly to life.”—Christopher Marsh, author of Popular Religion in Sixteenth-Century England“A commanding re-interpretation of a deeply significant process of change: analytically subtle, thematically all-encompassing, and full of real people.”—Steven Gunn, author of Henry VII’s New Men and the Making of Tudor England“In a field crowded with exceptionally able histories, Heretics and Believers stands out as a treasure.”—Mark Noll, author of Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction“A magisterial, panoramic and compelling new account of a phenomenon that was never just a top-down, institutionalised and ordered act of state. Peter Marshall reveals how the English Reformation was nurtured within the religious beliefs, culture and polity that it profoundly transformed, and thereby recovers its momentousness.”—Mark Greengrass, author of Christendom Destroyed: Europe, 1517–1648
£17.09
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Ansons Navy
Book SynopsisPrequel to the author's 40,000-copy bestseller Nelson's Navy
£32.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Bradshaw’s Handbook (Premium Edition)
Book SynopsisA luxury facsimile edition of Bradshaw’s Handbook of 1863, the book that inspired the BBC television series ‘Great British Railway Journeys’. The original Bradshaw's guides had been well known to Victorian travellers and were produced when the British railway network was at its peak and as tourism by rail became essential. It was the first national tourist guide specifically organised around railway journeys, and this luxuryleatherbound facsimile edition is a true collector’s item, offering a glimpse through the carriage window at a Britain long past.
£25.49
Silver Dolphin Books Ancient Greek Philosophers
Book Synopsis'Philosophy begins in wonder.' --PlatoHave you ever wondered about the development of civilization? What topics were discussed in the days of Ancient Greece? This collection of thoughts from Plato, Aristotle, and other masters of philosophy will lead your mind on a journey of enlightened exploration into ethics, morality, law, medicine, and more. With an introduction by a distinguished scholar of classic literature, this beautiful Canterbury Classics bonded-leather volume with gilded edges and specially designed endpapers is sure to be a favorite keepsake edition in your library.
£16.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Armies of the Great Northern War 17001720
Book SynopsisThis detailed study explains and illustrates the Russian, Scandinavian, Polish, and German armies of the crucial series of wars that saw Russia''s arrival as a great military power in Northern Europe, displacing Sweden''s 60-year hegemony.The Great Northern War was a long series of campaigns in which Russia, linked with several other countries in temporary alliances, confronted and eventually replaced Sweden as the predominant power in Northern Europe. While contemporary with the Duke of Marlborough''s pivotal campaigns against France, the Great Northern War was in fact more decisive, since it reshaped the Northern European power balance up to the eve of the Napoleonic Wars.It began with a series of astonishing Swedish victories lead by King Charles XII, from Denmark to Poland and deep into Germany. But Peter the Great of Russia showed steadfast determination, and Charles overreached himself when he invaded Russia in 1708; the Russians adopted classic scorchedTable of ContentsIntroduction: Northern and Eastern Europe at the dawn of the 18th century. * The road to war; Russian alliances with Poland, Saxony, Denmark etc. challenge Swedish predominance. * Chronology. [Following chapters each cover organization, uniforms and weapons of the armies of: ] * Russia * Sweden * Denmark * Saxony * Prussia * Hanover * Holstein * Poland-Lithuania * Cossacks * Ottoman Turks, Moldavians, Wallachians, Tatars . * Plate commentaries.
£10.79
Yale University Press The World of the Crusades
Book SynopsisA lively reimagining of how the distant medieval world of war functioned, drawing on the objects used and made by crusadersTrade Review“Tyerman is a judicious and scholarly guide and readers will feel that they are drinking the distillation of a lifetime’s work on its subject”—James Barr, The Times “Tyerman's new book offers a pleasing entry point. With 500 pages of detailed text and an array of images of art and artefacts, it combines the weight of an in-depth history with the flavouring of a visual history to help bring the subject to life.”—History Revealed (Book of the Month) “The World of the Crusades has a mass of new insights, many little-known anecdotes and a fresh approach to the subject” —Jonathan Sumption, Spectator “Tyerman's narrative is rich and detailed, interspersed with the author's characteristically mordant humour”—Helen J. Nicholson, Times Literary Supplement “This book succeeds magnificently in giving a clear picture of the Crusades as a whole, providing, at the same time, much fascinating detail” —Alan Borg, Church Times “Excellently written and incredibly comprehensive. It is clear from the structure and careful pace of the book that Tyerman is an expert on the crusades—he guides the reader skilfully through the many complicating aspects of the topic without ever letting them become confusing…This book has set a new bar for works on the crusades and, without doubt, it is a high one.”—Flora Guijt, Parergon (Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies)
£16.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn
Book SynopsisThis definitive biography of Anne Boleyn establishes her as a figure of considerable importance and influence in her own right. A full biography of Anne Boleyn, based on the latest scholarly research. Focuses on Anne's life and legacy and establishes Anne as a figure of considerable importance and influence in her own right.Trade Review"[Ives is] splendidly successful... Ives's Boleyn, a portrait at all points supported by the evidence he gives, is clever, independent-minded and politically astute. Ives has gone as far as anyone can... in solving the enigma of Boleyn in a narrative at once profoundly researched and lively." Antonia Fraser, The Sunday Times "Eric Ives has made it unnecessary for anyone else to even make the attempt [to write a biography of Anne Boleyn]. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn is a stunning portrait of the most controversial woman ever to have been queen consort of England." The Independent on Sunday "Eric Ives, a scholar utterly at home in early Tudor politics, has been writing about the Boleyns for more than two decades. His book represents a triumphant culmination of all that research, presented with clarity, wit and human sympathy." Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Telegraph "Ives has written an excellent book on Anne Boleyn. Its great strength is its sophisticated understanding of aristocratic women's involvement in 16th-century politics, and precisely how this worked in practice. ...Ives rises effectively to the human drama of Anne Boleyn's life and in the process illuminates both the inner workings of the Tudor court and its relationship to the larger dramas of the Reformation and European politics." Jane Stevenson, Scotland on Sunday "The best full-length life of Anne Boleyn and a monument to investigative scholarship." David Starkey "Magnificently researched. Eric Ives has written the finest, most accurate study of Anne Boleyn we are ever likely to possess. He leaves no stone unturned in his quest to discover the truth. Never has the historical Anne been so satisfyingly portrayed." John Guy "What is most exciting about The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn is not just that it has confirmed and solidified Ives's earlier work and presented it in a more accessible format. (Like John Guy, Ives has discovered that the Starkey model really does work and that popularisation -- 'to place among the people' -- should not be a term of opprobrium.) Rather, it is the development in methodology, the indication that cultural studies and the history of the book have provided us with new ways to evaluate evidence, to interpret the past." The Spectator "Eric Ives achieves the notable feat of combining magisterial historical authority with a gripping style, and sets the reader's mind buzzing with debate about the complex reasons behind the astounding events of Anne's life." Times Literary Supplement "[Ives] delicately pieces together a believable identity ... [and] gives, too, a lucid and coherent exposition of the circumstances that led to Anne's death." The Guardian "What Ives doesn't know ... about the high politics and court life of Henry VIII's England will either never be known or is not worth knowing. If there is a truth about Anne Boleyn's rise and fall, he will tell it to us." London Review of Books "There is no questioning the impact of Professor Eric Ives on the historiography of Tudor England. There is a keen sense of the evidence, of diplomatic affairs, of the minutiae of the record and its context. The writing is fluent and well-paced, drawing the reader along." The Tyndale Society Journal "This is a moving and compelling account by an author who is the absolute master of his subject. I read it with great excitement and admiration." Susan Brigden, Lincoln College, Oxford "Ives demonstrates triumphantly the potential of the biographical approach in a pre-modern setting. He evinces a deep empathy for his subject without ever becoming an apologist for her, and ... he provides a narrative which is genuinely moving. He has also given us a fully rounded and persuasive account of Anne’s life as a whole, and its significance for understanding the politics and political culture of the early Tudor decades." Reviews in History "The best book on Anne Boleyn ever written. This is a must for all lovers of Tudor history, academics and general readers alike." Alison Weir, BBC History Magazine Books of the Year "Eric Ives has cut through the myths and misconceptions. The result surpasses all previous work.When Ives describes Anne herself. he is utterly convincing." Renaissance QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface. List of Illustrations. Part I: Background and Beginnings. 1. A Courtier’s Daughter. 2. A European Education. 3. Debut at the English Court. 4. The Sources. 5. Passion and Courtly Love. 6. A Royal Suitor. Part II: A Difficult Engagement. 7. A Marriage Arranged. 8. Anne Boleyn and the Fall of Wolsey. 9. Stalemate, 1529–1532. 10. The Turning-point, 1532–1533. 11. Wedding Nerves. 12. A Coronation and a Christening. Part III: Anne the Queen. 13. A Royal Marriage. 14. Anne the Queen: Influence, Power and Wealth. 15. Anne Boleyn: Image. 16. Anne Boleyn: Art and Taste. 17. Anne Boleyn: Life at Court. 18. Anne Boleyn and the Advent of Reform. 19. Personal Religion. Part IV: A Marriage Destroyed. 20. The Rival, 1535–1536. 21. The Coup, April–May 1536. 22. The Response, January–April 1536. 23. Judgment. 24. Finale. Epilogue. Bibliographical Abbreviations.
£16.10
Historic Environment Scotland Maeshowe and the Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Book SynopsisThe chambered tomb of Maeshowe sits in one of the richest and best preserved Neolithic landscapes in Europe. This was a place of stone circles, villages and burial monuments; a place where people lived, worshipped and honoured their dead. The surviving evidence tells us that about 5,000 years ago, Orkney was a thriving focus whose influence was felt many miles away. Aside from Maeshowe, visitors can discover Neolithic houses at Skara Brae and Barnhouse, dramatic stone-circled henges such as the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, and the astonishing ceremonial centre at Ness of Brodgar, still being uncovered by archaeologists. The importance of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney was marked in 1999 when some of its key monuments were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This book will help you to explore and understand the Site, and discover other related monuments in the area.
£7.50
Pan Macmillan Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age
Book SynopsisEurope where the sun dares scarce appear For freezing meteors and congealed cold.' - Christopher Marlowe In this innovative and compelling work of environmental history, Philipp Blom chronicles the great climate crisis of the 1600s, a crisis that would transform the entire social and political fabric of Europe. While hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, by the end of the sixteenth century the temperature plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbours were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and ‘frost fairs’ were erected on a frozen Thames – with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city. Recounting the deep legacy and sweeping consequences of this ‘Little Ice Age’, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had ineradicably changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, Blom brilliantly shows how they also gave rise to the growth of European cities, the appearance of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment. A sweeping examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature’s Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.Trade ReviewA book that skilfully creates a historical panorama, in such a gripping and thrillingly informative way that it’s a joy. * Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung *An exciting history book, and an educational one. * Stern *A case study that connects the birth of the modern world with the climate change of the time. A fascinating panorama of a whole era. * Freie Presse *An imposing panorama of politics, economics and intellectual history ... [Blom] has written an informative history of the early modern age, which also prompts us to think about the connections between climate and innovation. * Deutschlandfunk Andruck *“Drawing on rich sources, including diaries, letters, account ledgers, paintings, and religious sermons as well as data gleaned by climate historians and scientists, journalist and translator Blom creates a vivid picture of the European landscape during the Little Ice Age and of social, political, and cultural changes that may have been accelerated by climate change ... An absorbing and revealing portrait of profound natural disaster. * Kirkus Reviews *A sweeping story, embracing developments in economics and science, philosophy and exploration, religion and politics. Blom delivers much of his argument through compressed, beautifully clear life sketches of prominent men. […] Blom’s hypothesis is forceful, and has the potential to be both frightening and, if you hold it up to the light at just the right angle, a little optimistic. The idea can be put like this: climate change changes everything -- John Lanchester * New Yorker *Lively . . . an eye-catchingly grand thesis * Sunday Times *Provocative . . . lively and intelligent * Literary Review *Table of ContentsUnit - 1: PROLOGUE: Winter Landscape Chapter - 1: Life without Money Chapter - 2: The Great Experiment Unit - 2: "GOD HAS ABANDONED US": Europe, 1570-1600 Chapter - 3: A Monk on the Run Chapter - 4: God’s Wind and Waves Chapter - 5: Harsh Frosts and Burning Sun Chapter - 6: A Time of Confusion and a Fiery Mountain Chapter - 7: Pilgrims and Their Hunger Chapter - 8: Truth and Wine Chapter - 9: Wine in Vienna Chapter - 10: The Lights Go Out Chapter - 11: Witches and Spoiled Harvests Chapter - 12: The Truth in the Stars Chapter - 13: Doctor Faustus Chapter - 14: Infinite Worlds Chapter - 15: The Tower of Books Unit - 3: THE AGE OF IRON Chapter - 16: Hortus Botanicus Chapter - 17: Revolutionary Places Chapter - 18: The City Devours Its Children Chapter - 19: The Magic of Green Cheese Chapter - 20: The Great Transformation Chapter - 21: A Picture of the World Chapter - 22: Idle Talk and Fabrications Chapter - 23: A Warning and a Call to Repent Chapter - 24: Tears Too Plentiful to Count Chapter - 25: The Revolution of the Barrel of a Musket Chapter - 26: Sell More to Strangers Chapter - 27: The State as Machine Chapter - 28: A Profitable Trade Chapter - 29: The Curse of Silver Chapter - 30: Officer, Retired Chapter - 31: The Subversive Republic of Letters Chapter - 32: Germanus incredibilis Chapter - 33: Virtue in the Drowning Cell Chapter - 34: Leviathan Chapter - 35: An Inventory of Morality Unit - 4: ON COMETS AND OTHER CELESTIAL LIGHTS Chapter - 36: The Madness of Crowds Chapter - 37: The Antichrist Chapter - 38: The Messiah and the Whore Chapter - 39: The Fair on the Ice Chapter - 40: The Face of Change Chapter - 41: The Price of Change Chapter - 42: Tapissier du roi Chapter - 43: The Public Sphere and the Vices of Bees Chapter - 44: The Floating Reverend Unit - 5: EPILOGUE: Supplement to The Fable of the Bees Chapter - 45: Songbirds, Wood Lice, and Corals Chapter - 46: Freedom and Luxury Chapter - 47: Inherited Compromises Chapter - 48: New Metaphors Chapter - 49: The Theology of the Market Chapter - 50: The Market and the Fortress Acknowledgements - i: Acknowledgments Section - ii: Notes Section - iii: Bibliography Section - iiii: Illustration Credits Index - v: Index
£10.44
Profile Books Ltd The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to
Book SynopsisThe fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 has become the commemorative symbol of the French Revolution. But this violent and random act was unrepresentative of the real work of the early revolution, which was taking place ten miles west of Paris, in Versailles. There, the nobles, clergy and commoners of France had just declared themselves a republic, toppling a rotten system of aristocratic privilege and altering the course of history forever. The Revolution was led not by angry mobs, but by the best and brightest of France's growing bourgeoisie: young, educated, ambitious. Their aim was not to destroy, but to build a better state. In just three months they drew up a Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was to become the archetype of all subsequent Declarations worldwide, and they instituted a system of locally elected administration for France which still survives today. They were determined to create an entirely new system of government, based on rights, equality and the rule of law. In the first three years of the Revolution they went a long way toward doing so. Then came Robespierre, the Terror and unspeakable acts of barbarism. In a clear, dispassionate and fast-moving narrative, Ian Davidson shows how and why the Revolutionaries, in just five years, spiralled from the best of the Enlightenment to tyranny and the Terror. The book reminds us that the Revolution was both an inspiration of the finest principles of a new democracy and an awful warning of what can happen when idealism goes wrong.Trade ReviewExemplary ... enough blood on the pages to make sure that we are kept enthralled * Prospect *Marvellous stuff and an indication of the perennially absorbing nature of the revolution. Davidson's book is a worthy addition to the canon. * Spectator *Terse, tightly written ... allows certain critical aspects of the Revolution to stand out in a way that doesn't usually happen. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *On page after page, there are jolts and surprises, reminders and revelations. ... Lively, engaging ... a compelling single-volume history for the general reader. Recommended. * Irish Examiner *Written with authority, clarity and journalistic immediacy * The Catholic Herald *Praise for Voltaire: A Life A compelling read ... an insightful and entertaining picture of the man * Guardian *Davidson is a fastidious debunker of myths and restorer of balance. He tells his story from beginning to end, one year after the next, with an elegant lucidity -- Sam Leith * Spectator *There is no shortage of biographies of Voltaire ... but this is one of the best of them. -- Andrew Hussey * Financial Times *Written in the crisp, incisive prose of a practised journalist... his research is impressive ... [a] refreshing book which isn't afraid, occasionally, to draw its own conclusions against the grain of what has been written before * Independent on Sunday *Splendidly readable ... This is an entertaining and enlightening account of why Voltaire still matters -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Times *Voltaire can be a rather daunting figure, but emerges in very human colours in this excellent biography, which makes splendid use of the philosopher's letters * Sunday Telegraph *
£10.44
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Iliad
Book SynopsisTrade Review"It is hard to overstate the attractions of this translation. In a rhythm sinewy and flexible, with language that is precise, lyrical and fresh, Lombardo's Iliad pulses with all the power and luminosity of the Greek. He shows extraordinary sensitivity to the images and aural effects of the ancient poem. There are brilliant touches on every page. . . . Altogether this is as good as Homer gets in English." —Richard P. Martin, Princeton University"The most daring, rapid and colloquial translation of Homer's Iliad that I know. [Lombardo's] taut and punchy verse conveys admirably and accurately the excitement and desperation of the battle, the urgency of the commanders, the occasional flashes of humor, the passion of Homer's narrative and the vivid and subtle humanity of his characters." —Richard Janko, University College, London"Lombardo's Iliad should be required for every History of Civilization class in America!" —David R. Wilson, Brigham Young University"[R]emarkably true to the centrality of performance in Homer, the varied pacing and tone, the clarity, speed, narrative drive, and moments of breathtaking beauty." —Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University"Homer has been well served in recent years by good translators. But this reviewer predicts that the dominant translation for the 21st century will be this masterful version by Stanley Lombardo. . . . In her extremely useful Introduction, Murnaghan lucidly summarizes and makes available for the student and general reader the results of complex scholarship on Homer, and she offers sensitive guidance for reading the Iliad as a work that documents the triumph of the human spirit and not merely as a war poem." —Leon Golden, CHOICE"Accessible as Lombardo's translation is, it is rendered even more so by the superb Introduction by Sheila Murnaghan, which provides a rich but lucid discussion of the classical context of the epic. This handsome, superbly done Iliad will be enjoyed by everyone. Highly recommended." —T. F. Merrill, Library Journal
£16.14
Atlantic Books The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages of Vasco da
Book SynopsisIn 1498 a young captain sailed from Portugal, circumnavigated Africa, crossed the Indian Ocean, and discovered the sea route to the Indies, opening up access to the fabled wealth of the East. It was the longest voyage known to history; the ships were pushed to their limits, their crews were racked by storms and devastated by disease. However, the greatest enemy was neither nature nor the fear of venturing into unknown worlds. With blood-red Crusader crosses emblazoned on their sails, the explorers arrived in the heart of the Muslim East at a time when the old hostilities between Christianity and Islam had intensified. In two voyages that spanned six years, Vasco da Gama would fight a running sea battle that would ultimately change the fate of three continents. The Last Crusade is an epic tale of spies, intrigue, and treachery; of bravado, brinkmanship, and confused - often comical collisions - between cultures encountering one another for the first time. With the world once again tipping back East, The Last Crusade offers a key to understanding age-old religious and cultural rivalries resurgent today.Trade ReviewA stirringly epic book...Gama's incident-rich voyage [is a] thrilling narrative * Sunday Times *This excellent book tells the story [of Vasco da Gama] with the swagger and excitement it deserves * Spectator *Lively and ambitious... Cliff has a novelist's gift for depicting character... He brings sixteenth-century Portugal in all its splendor and squalor pungently to life * New York Times, 'Notable Books of the Year' 2011 *
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Blood Toil Tears and Sweat Winston Churchills
Book SynopsisThe most eloquent and expressive statesman of his time - phrases such as 'iron curtain', 'business as usual', 'the few', and 'summit meeting' passed quickly into everyday use - Winston Churchill used language as his most powerful weapon at a time when his most frequent complaint was that the armoury was otherwise empty. In this volume, David Cannadine selects thirty-three orations ranging over fifty years, demonstrating how Churchill gradually hones his rhetoric until the day when, with spectacular effect, 'he mobilized the English language, and sent it into battle' (Edward R. Murrow).Trade Review"Churchill was a word-spinner of genius. . . . A splendid anthology." -The Sunday Telegraph (London)
£11.69
Little, Brown Book Group A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages
Book SynopsisUsing wide-ranging evidence, Martyn Whittock shines a light on Britain in the Middle Ages, bringing it vividly to life in this fascinating new portrait that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary.Thus we glimpse 11th-century rural society through a conversation between a ploughman and his master.The life of Dick Whittington illuminates the rise of the urban elite. The stories of Roger 'the Raker' who drowned in his own sewage, a 'merman' imprisoned in Orford Castle and the sufferings of the Jews of Bristol reveal the extraordinary diversity of medieval society. Through these characters and events - and using the latest discoveries and research - the dynamic and engaging panorama of medieval England is revealed.
£8.24
