European history Books
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Catherine The Great: Portrait of a Woman
Book SynopsisThe fascinating true story behind HBO's Catherine the Great starring Dame Helen Mirren as Catherine the Great. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination. For thirty-four years, the government, foreign policy, cultural development and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution. Robert K. Massie brings an eternally fascinating woman together with her family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers and enemies – vividly and triumphantly to life. History offers few stories richer than that of Catherine the Great.Trade ReviewA biographer with the instincts of a novelist * New York Times *A masterful portrait of a majestic monarch * Publishers Weekly *A sensitive and compelling portrait not just of a Russian titan, but also of a flesh-and-blood woman * Newsweek *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Britain After Rome
Book SynopsisThe enormous hoard of beautiful gold military objects found in a field in Staffordshire has focused huge attention on the mysterious world of 7th and 8th century Britain. Clearly the product of a sophisticated, wealthy, highly militarized society, the objects beg innumerable questions about how we are to understand the people who once walked across the same landscape we inhabit, who are our ancestors and yet left such a slight record of their presence. Britain after Rome brings together a wealth of research and imaginative engagement to bring us as close as we can hope to get to the tumultuous centuries between the departure of the Roman legions and the arrival of Norman invaders nearly seven centuries later. As towns fell into total decay, Christianity disappeared and wave upon wave of invaders swept across the island, it can be too easily assumed that life in Britain became intolerable - and yet this is the world in which modern languages and political arrangements were forged, a number of fascinating cultures rose and fell and tantalizing glimpses, principally through the study of buildings and burials, can be had of a surprising and resilient place. The result of a lifetime of work, Robin Fleming''s major new addition to the Penguin History of Britain could not be more opportune. A richly enjoyable, varied and surprising book, Britain after Rome allows its readers to see Britain''s history in a quite new light.Trade ReviewThis is a very human and humane treatment of the forgotten people of early Britain... an exciting, often brilliant and always thought-provoking synthesis * Times Literary Supplement *
£12.34
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Covent Garden Ladies: the book that inspired
Book Synopsis***By the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE***'A fascinating expose of the seamy side of eighteenth century life' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Rubenhold's pages practically reek with smelly, pox-ridden Georgian Soho' GUARDIAN-------------------------------------------------------In 1757, a down-and-out Irish poet, the head waiter at the Shakespear's Head Tavern in Covent Garden, and a celebrated London courtesan became bound together by the publication of a little book: Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies. This salacious work - detailing the names and 'specialities' of the capital's sex-workers- became one of the eighteenth century's most scandalous bestsellers.Yet beyond its titillating passages lies a glimpse into the lives of those who lived and died by its profits - a tragicomic opera of the Georgian era, motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration and shame. In this modern and visceral narrative, historian Hallie Rubenhold reveals the story behind Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, and the legion of ordinary women whose lives in the sex trade history has chosen to ignore. 'Scrupulously researched' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Crackles with drama and tension' GUARDIAN'Compelling and ingenious' INDEPENDENTWHAT READERS ARE SAYING:'This book is an absolute 'must'-read for any person interested in English social history' 5 ****'Fascinating' 5 ****'Brilliant. Full of intelligent insight which brings this period to vibrant life' 5 ****
£10.44
Historic Environment Scotland A Work of Beauty: Alexander McCall Smith's
Book Synopsis'I love this city, and always shall. I write about it. I dream about it. I walk its streets and see something new each day - traces of faded lettering on the stone, still legible, but just; some facade that I have walked past before and not noticed; an unregarded doorway with the names, in brass, of those who lived there sixty years ago, the bell-pulls sometimes still in place, as if one might summon long-departed residents from their slumbers.' Edinburgh is a city of stories - a place that has witnessed everything from great historical upheavals, to the individual lives of a remarkable cast of characters. Every spire, cobblestone, bridge, close and avenue has a tale to tell. In this sumptuous new book, Alexander McCall Smith curates his own, distinctive story of Edinburgh - combining his affectionate, incisive wit with a wealth of stunning imagery drawn from Scotland's national collection of architecture and archaeology. Through a series of photographs, maps, drawings and paintings - many never before published - he takes the reader on a unique tour. Just like the city's architecture, the book can move in an instant from sweeping views to secret, hidden vignettes. This is a story of famous landmarks and lost buildings; the people who made them; the people who lived in them. A Work of Beauty is an intimate portrait of a city by one of Scotland's greatest storytellers.Trade Review'Sandy McCall Smith amazes fellow scribblers with his freshness and sheer verve. Having lived in Edinburgh for 20 years, I loved A Work of Beauty, his beautifully written evocation of the most beautiful city in the world.' * The Scotsman Books of the Year 2014 *'Alexander McCall Smith has penned a love letter to Scotland’s capital … A Work of Beauty lays bare the changing face of Auld Reekie, capturing forever the eternal beauty of its historic skyline and the qualities that have earned it the title 'the Athens of the North'.' * The Sunday Post *
£14.24
Little, Brown Book Group Persian Fire
Book SynopsisTom Holland''s bestselling account of the world''s very first clash of civilisations between the Persians and the Greeks in 480BC''Magisterial... told with great authority and a novelistic colour and verve'' Books of the Year, Independent''Holland has a rare eye for detail, drama and the telling anecdote''Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph''An unequivocal argument for the relevance of ancient history'' Observer''Holland brings this tumultuous, epoch-making period dazzlingly to life'' William Napier, Independent on SundayIn the fifth century BC, a global superpower was determined to bring truth and order to what it regarded as two terrorist states. The superpower was Persia, incomparably rich in ambition, gold and men. The terrorist states were Athens and Sparta, eccentric cities in a poor and mountainous backwater: Greece. The story of how their citizens toTrade ReviewIt is a testament to Holland's superlative powers as a narrative historian that he brings this tumultuous, epoch-making period dazzlingly to life -- William Napier * Independent on Sunday *Holland has a rare eye for the detail, drama and the telling anecdote... A vibrant, bloodthirsty popular history, told with a rich sense of irony and irresistible narrative timing * Daily Telegraph *Magisterial... told with great authority and a novelistic colour and verve * Independent on Sunday *A page-turning account of a conflict that genuinely was one of the pivots on which world history has turned... His descriptions of the great confrontations of the war provide miniature masterclasses in the art of exciting historical writing... This is a terrific book, combining impeccable scholarship with the narrative drive of a fine novel -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *This book is an unequivocal argument for the relevance of ancient history... Holland never strains for modern references; they are implicit in the stories he tells with such scholarship and flair * Observer *Excellent... Holland is a cool-headed historian who writes no less authoritatively and engagingly on classical Greece than he did on ancient Rome -- Mary Beard * Sunday Times *Ambitious... a sweeping popular account that seems destined to become a classic * Seattle Times *A welcome popularization of ancient history, with a nicely vengeful cliffhanger of an ending that begs for a sequel * Kirkus *In the sweep and vividness of his prose Tom Holland does the subject proud, and he is also good at trying to look at the conflict as much through Persian eyes as Greek, and at getting inside the psyche of Darius and Xerxes * Literary Review *Holland doesn't impose a modern sensibility on the ancient civilizations he describes, and he delves into the background histories of both sides with equally fascinating detail... the story of the Persian empire should be fresh and surprising to many readers, while Holland's graceful, modern voice will captivate those intimidated by Herodotus * Publishers Weekly *Thrilling... a fascinating insight into Europe's development * Guardian *Gripping and authoritative ... An awe-inspiring story of the struggle for freedom * Express *Confident, fluent and accessible, and with salutary lessons for our own times, this is history at its best * The Times *
£12.34
Cornerstone The Death of Democracy
Book Synopsis*A TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR*WHAT CAUSED THE FALL OF THE MOST PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE, AND THE RISE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING?In the 1930s, Germany was at a turning point, with many looking to the Nazi phenomenon as part of widespread resentment towards cosmopolitan liberal democracy and capitalism. This was a global situation that pushed Germany to embrace authoritarianism, nationalism and economic self-sufficiency, kick-starting a revolution founded on new media technologies, and the formidable political and self-promotional skills of its leader.Based on award-winning research and recently discovered archival material, The Death of Democracy is a panoramic new survey of one of the most important periods in modern history, and a book with a resounding message for the world today.'Extremely fine... with careful prose and scholarship, he brings these events close to us.' Timothy Snyder, The New York Times'Intelligent, well-informed... intriguing.' The Times'With the injection of fresh contemporary voices, The Death of Democracy is also a thoughtful reflection of how our time more resembles the Thirties than the Noughties.' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewExtremely fine... with careful prose and scholarship, with fine thumbnail sketches of individuals and concise discussions of institutions and economics, he brings these events close to us. Hett... sensitively describes a moral crisis that preceded a moral catastrophe. -- Timothy Snyder * The New York Times *Intelligent, well-informed... intriguing. Hett provides a lesson about the fragility of democracy and the danger of that complacent belief that liberal institutions will always protect us. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Readable and well-researched, with the injection of fresh contemporary voices, The Death of Democracy is also a thoughtful reflection of how our time more resembles the Thirties than the Noughties. * Daily Telegraph *Benjamin Carter Hett deftly summarises this dismal period... Hett refrains from poking the reader with too many obvious contemporary parallels, but he knew what he was doing when he left "German" out of his title. On the book's final page, he lays his cards on the table... "Suddenly, the whole thing looks close and familiar." Yes, it does. -- Alex Ross * New Yorker *A superb explanation of how democracy died in Weimar Germany. Too much of this story seems painfully familiar today. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times, 'Books of the Year' *
£10.44
Oneworld Publications Black Tudors: The Untold Story
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2018 A Book of the Year for the Evening Standard and the Observer A black porter publicly whips a white Englishman in the hall of a Gloucestershire manor house. A Moroccan woman is baptised in a London church. Henry VIII dispatches a Mauritanian diver to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose. From long-forgotten records emerge the remarkable stories of Africans who lived free in Tudor England… They were present at some of the defining moments of the age. They were christened, married and buried by the Church. They were paid wages like any other Tudors. The untold stories of the Black Tudors, dazzlingly brought to life by Kaufmann, will transform how we see this most intriguing period of history.Trade Review‘That rare thing: a book about the 16th century that said something new.’ * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *‘This is history on the cutting edge of archival research, but accessibly written and alive with human details and warmth. Black Tudors is a critical book that allows us to better understand an era that fascinates us like no other.’ -- David Olusoga, author of Black and British: A Forgotten History‘Splendid…that rare thing – a work of history about the Tudors that actually says something fresh and new…a cracking contribution to the field.’ * Dan Jones, Sunday Times *‘This is history on the cutting edge of archival research, but accessibly written and alive with human details and warmth. Black Tudors is a critical book that allows us to better understand an era that fascinates us like no other.’ -- David Olusoga, author of Black and British: A Forgotten History‘Enlightening and constantly surprising… Far too many popular studies of the Tudors return the same faces. To its great credit, Black Tudors presents fresh figures and challenges the way we look at them.’ * Jessie Childs, Financial Times *‘Consistently fascinating, historically invaluable…the narrative is pacy, the research sympathetically thorough.. Anyone reading it will never look at Tudor England in the same light again'. * Daily Mail *‘[The] audience will find itself in the hands of a historian of excellent investigative skills, who shows attention to detail, uses evidence with appropriate caution, and has the sensibility of a scholar.’ * Times Literary Supplement *‘The industry and skill with which Miranda Kaufmann has hunted for these sources and teased out their meanings are exemplary… Kaufmann’s greatest skill is her ability to fill in the background on every topic that arises, from piracy to silk-weaving to brothels to Anglo-Moroccan diplomacy…In the hands of a lesser writer this would be mere padding with secondary material, but she investigates every subject in the same depth… a fascinating book, which brings a sadly neglected part of our history to life, and grinds no ideological axes in the process’. * Daily Telegraph *‘Both an eye-opener and a good read.’ * Sorted *‘Miranda Kaufmann writes engagingly as she reveals the untold stories of Africans who lived free, worked for wages, married and died in 16th and 17th century England.’ * CHOICE *‘Fascinating.’ * Sunday Telegraph *‘Meticulous research draws on sources from letters to legal papers…The detail [Kaufmann] unearths brings to life those absent from the pages of history.’ * Observer *‘A thought-provoking account of 10 remarkable people, and a valuable corrective to some unthinking assumptions about both Tudor society and the role of racial minorities in English history.’ * Times Higher Education *‘A powerful and perceptive reassessment of a time that has too long been sidelined by popular historical storytelling.’ * Press Association *‘Impressively detailed and persuasively argued.’ * Diplomat *‘Thought-provoking… [Kaufmann] takes readers on fascinating excursions through Moroccan history, the European exploration of South America, and the seedier side of London.’ * Christian Science Monitor *‘An absolute joy.’ * Leanda de Lisle, The Times *‘Black Tudors demonstrates the way understanding of history is constantly changing based on changing contemporary values and perspectives. For someone dedicated to an awareness of oppression throughout history, Black Tudors is an important but difficult read, inspiring a desire for more information.’ -- The Riveter Magazine‘In a work of brilliant sleuthing, engagingly written, Kaufmann reclaims long-forgotten lives and fundamentally challenges our preconceptions of Tudor and Jacobean attitudes to race and slavery.’ -- John Guy, bestselling author of Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years‘Miranda Kaufmann has written a superb antidote both to the cliches of Tudor history and to the assumption that Black migration to Britain began with the Windrush. Her vivid portrait of Black Tudor lives sweeps readers around the world in the company of Diego, manservant to Sir Francis Drake, and back to the life of single woman Cattelena in the Gloucestershire countryside. Grounded in precise and detailed historical research, Black Tudors promises to change perceptions of a period at the heart of Britain’s national identity.’ -- Catherine Fletcher, author of The Black Prince of Florence‘The book is based on impeccable research in a rich array of sources. But Dr Kaufmann wears her learning lightly and she tells a series of fascinating stories with an elegance and wit that should appeal to many readers.’ -- Clive Holmes, Emeritus Fellow and Lecturer in History, University of Oxford‘A brilliant example of how to use the most detailed kind of archival data to present a broadly accessible picture of the past, and one which has enormous relevance to the present controversies about immigration and diversity.’ -- Paul Kaplan, Professor of Art History, State University of New York, Purchase‘The very concept of black Tudors may sound unlikely, but in this highly readable yet intensively researched book, Kaufmann…makes clear that people of African descent were residing in England centuries before the postwar Windrush generation and were not necessarily enslaved. By examining in detail the lives of 10 previously obscure men and women, Kaufmann depicts the great diversity of their experiences in 16th- and early-17th-century England… Kaufmann also persuasively argues that the enslavement of Africans emerged as a response to the socioeconomic conditions of England’s Caribbean and North American colonies, rather than as an inevitable result of a supposedly inherent racism within early modern English culture. Kaufmann’s crucial contention, in conjunction with her lively prose and fascinating microhistories, should draw some well-deserved attention.’ * Publishers Weekly, starred review *‘An eminently readable book that offers contemporary readers valuable insights into racial relations of centuries past.’ * Kirkus *‘Tudor England’s legendary history is a rich locus in the popular imagination. Full of pageantry and larger-than-life personalities, the period is a favorite of the Anglophilic world. But what if that seemingly monolithic world was also black?… For a modern audience acculturated to thinking of Africans in the West as either enslaved or altogether absent, the picture that emerges challenges the centrality of whiteness and slavery in the Tudor period. Kaufmann takes pains to situate Great Britain on the national stage as a minor nation emerging from civil war and fighting to be acknowledged at the international level… Black Tudors concentrates on individuals who are enmeshed in the historical narrative and effectively places them right back where they’ve always belonged.’ * Foreword Reviews *‘Who knew that a diver from West Africa worked to salvage Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose? Based on a wealth of original research, Miranda Kaufmann’s Black Tudors restores the black presence to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England in all its lively detail. Africans lived and worked not as slaves but as independent agents, from mariners to silk weavers, women and men, prince and prostitute. Black Tudors challenges assumptions about ethnic identity and racism in Tudor England. It will be required reading for anyone interested in new directions in Tudor history.’ -- Dr John Cooper, Senior Lecturer in History, University of York, and author of The Queen’s Agent‘This meticulously researched book… it’s remarkable that she’s created a book that so vividly paints a broad picture of Tudor life, making it both entirely readable and utterly fascinating.’ -- Dorset Magazine
£9.89
Simon & Schuster Infidel
Book Synopsis'Remarkable . . . Infidel shows that a determined woman can change more history than her own' Christopher Hitchens, Sunday Times 'If there is one book that really addresses the existential issues of our civilisation, then Hirsi Ali's autobiography is it' Michael Burleigh, Sunday Telegraph Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened she would be next. An international bestseller, her life story INFIDEL shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished – and sometimes reviled – political superstar and champion of free speech. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright, curious, dutiful little girl evolves into a pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals wi
£10.44
Batsford Ltd Arthurian Legends
Book SynopsisThe definitive book of stories from Arthurian legend. Delve into the enchanted world of Arthurian legends where you will meet the Knights of the Round Table, Wizard Merlin, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. With plots full of romance, adventure and enchantment, these fascinating ancient tales have been revived by the author to reflect their origins in oral history and will appeal to a whole new generation of readers. Stories include Elaine Who Loved Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tristan and Isolde and The Enchantment of Merlin, many of which have recently been adapted in modern cinema and remain a fascination within contemporary culture. The book also features detailed notes on each story and mentions specific places in Britain with Arthurian links, including properties such as Tintagel. Beautifully illustrated with images inspired by Arthurian legend by Arthur Rackham and others.
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Book SynopsisSpanning thirteen centuries from the age of Trajan to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, DECLINE & FALL is one of the greatest narratives in European Literature. David Womersley''s masterly selection and bridging commentary enables the readerto acquire a general sense of the progress and argument of the whole work and displays the full variety of Gibbon''s achievement.Table of ContentsAbridged with a New Introduction and Notes by David WomersleyAbbreviationsIntroductionSelected Further ReadingA Note on the TextChronologyGibbon's PrefacesChapter IChapter IIChapter III[Chapters IV-VI]Chapter VII[Chapters VIII-XIV]Chapter XV[Chapters XVI-XXI]Chapter XXIIChapter XXIIIChapter XXIV[Chapters XXV-XXVII]Chapter XXVIII[Chapters XXIX-XXXIII]Chapter XXXIVChapter XXXV[Chapters XXXVI-XXXVIII]General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West[Chapter XXXIX]Chapter XLChapter XLI[Chapters XLII-XLIX]Chapter L[Chapters LI-LIII]Chapter LIV[Chapters LV-LXVII]Chapter LXVIII[Chapters LXIX-LXX]Chapter LXXIBiographica
£12.34
Thames & Hudson Ltd Ancient Magic in Greece and Rome
Book SynopsisBestselling author Philip Matyszak explores how the Greeks and Romans used magic, who performed it and why. Magic was everywhere in the ancient world. The supernatural abounded, turning flowers into fruit and caterpillars into butterflies. Magic packed a cloud of water vapour with energy enough to destroy a house with one well-aimed thunderbolt. It was everyday magic, but it was still magical. Philip Matyszak takes readers into that world. He shows us how to make a love potion or cast a curse, how to talk to the dead and how to identify and protect oneself from evil spirits. He takes us to a world where gods, like humans, were creatures of space and time; where people could not just talk to spirits and deities, but could even themselves become divine; and where divine beings could fall from or be promoted to full godhood. Ancient Magic offers us a new way of understanding the role of magic, looking at its history in all of its classical forms. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from Greek dramas to curse tablets, lavishly illustrated throughout, and packed with information, surprises, lore and learning, this book offers an engaging and accessible way into the supernatural for all.Trade Review'It’s funny, it’s interesting and it’s informative. The author’s borderline cynical humour, ironic take in parts of the book, and his powers of comparison are thoroughly entertaining' - The Secret LibraryTable of ContentsIntroduction: Discovering Ancient Magic 1. Talking to the Dead 2. Makers of Magic 3. Magic of Love and Hate 4. Magical Creatures 5. Protection against the Arts of Darkness 6. Looking to the Future
£13.49
Quercus Publishing Sovietistan
Book SynopsisAn unforgettable journey through the former Soviet Republics, by a prizewinning author of international reportageTrade Review[A] mesmerising trip across central Asia . . . All credit to Erika Fatland, who may have titled her central Asian travelogue Sovietistan, but who treats each with care and attention. Part diary, part sociopolitical analysis . . . A fascinating travelogue -- Henry Foy * Financial Times *This talented narrator has compiled a book of timeless stories. Social anthropologist Erika Fatland has intertwined her encounters with well-researched digressions in history, politics and geography. -- Renate Nimtz-Köster * Süddeutsche Zeitung *Engaging . . . The reader learns a lot about all kinds of subjects. -- Sara Wheeler * Spectator *With her acute journalistic eye, clarity of style and not least a solid background in social anthropology, Erika Fatland has given us a number of astute books on complicated subjects. When this ability is combined with courage and a sense of adventure, the result is impressive * Aftenposten *Now to be numbered among the best travel writers, the brilliant and intrepid Norwegian Erika Fatland has observed deserts, villages, metropolises and mountains to bring back a jewel of a story of adventure, intermingled histories, geography, geology, culture and politics. * Figaro *Even if you're not currently planning a trip to Central Asia, this book will change your mind * Klassekampen *A road trip dotted with curious incidents, thought-provoking observations and absurd stories, from culinary disasters to snapshots of everyday life under a dictatorship. A fine mingling of facts and the observations of a true travel writer * Reiselyst Magazine *Fatland really knows her subject and writes with conviction. After her thoughtful writing on Beslan and the massacre on Utøya, there was every reason to have huge expectations. They have been more than fulfilled. * Dagbladet *In Sovietistan, Erika Fatland has created a dense, polyphonic mosaic that shows five young states at the crossroads * Deutschland Radiokultur *This is another Asia visited by the Norwegian Erika Fatland . . . countries of contrasts, of extreme wealth and the madness of dictators who build white marble cities in the desert * Culture France *Reminiscent of Ryszard Kapuscinski's The Shadow of the Sun, Sovietistan blends complex history with Fatland's own clear-eyed reporting, the devastation of the Soviet era always in the background (and sometimes the foreground) * Star Tribune *An introduction to a deeply misunderstood part of the world...the complexity and beauty of this region are best represented when she goes back in time. Fatland has a level of access most outsiders would never have. -- Sebastian Modak * New York Times Book Review *
£13.49
Yale University Press Blood and Mistletoe
Book SynopsisThe definitive history of the druids in Britain, from their ancient origins to the present dayTrade ReviewShortlisted for the 2009 Katherine Briggs Folklore Award"A magisterial and eminently readable account of the druids and how they have been continually reinvented over the last three hundred years by visionaries, political radicals, angry academics and downright fraudsters. Recommended reading for anyone who has driven down the A303 late at night, slowed down as they approached Stonehenge and wondered for a moment if the original druids really did process round those gigantic stones wreathed in mistletoe and clutching blood-stained knives!" - Tony Robinson"Lucid, open-minded, encyclopaedic and yet still fascinating - almost perfect history if such a thing were possible." - Terry Jones"Everything that is known about the druids plus everything that is known about knowing about them! Ronald Hutton uses the quest for the druids as a mirror of how Europeans have seen themselves through the last thousand years. It's an enormous undertaking performed with even-handedness and a sense of joy in history." - Terry Jones
£18.04
Oxford University Press The Peloponnesian War
Book SynopsisThucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War combines brilliant narrative and penetrating analysis; his writing has had more lasting influence on western thought than all but Plato and Aristotle. This masterly new translation is the most comprehensive single-volume edition currently available.Trade ReviewThe most accurate and readable translation we now have... the only choice for a serious reading of Thucydides. * Steven J. Willet, Arion *This book deserves to be the standard translation of Thucydides that everyone will use and enjoy. * Greece and RomeAutumn 2010 *The book is excellent value for money and the obvious choice for any reader of Thucydides. * John Taylor, The Anglo-Hellenic Review *H.'s new translation of Thucydides is a triumph. Fluent yet sinewy...It is both accurate and lucid. * James Morwood, Journal of Classical Teaching *Totally indispensable....it is stimulating as well as informative. * James Morwood, Journal of Classical Teaching *An excellent new translation, with superb notes and introduction. This will become the standard translation for this important author * Timothy Duff, Reading University *
£11.39
Pan Macmillan Black and British: A Forgotten History
Book Synopsis'[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion.' – Kwasi Kwarteng, Sunday TimesIn this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. This edition, fully revised and updated, features a new chapter encompassing the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, events which put black British history at the centre of urgent national debate. Black and British is vivid confirmation that black history can no longer be kept separate and marginalised. It is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation and it belongs to us all.Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, Elizabethan ‘blackamoors’ and the global slave-trading empire. It shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Black British history is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation. It is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all.Unflinching, confronting taboos, and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries.Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees’ Award.A Waterstones History Book of the Year.Longlisted for the Orwell Prize.Shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize.Trade ReviewYou could not ask for a more judicious, comprehensive and highly readable survey of a part of British history that has been so long overlooked or denied. David Olusoga, in keeping with the high standards of his earlier books, is a superb guide. -- Adam HochschildGroundbreaking. * Observer *[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion. It is thoroughly researched and there are many interesting anecdotes. -- Kwasi Kwarteng * The Sunday Times *A radical reappraisal of the parameters of history, exposing lacunae in the nation’s version of its past. -- Arifa Akbar * Guardian *A thrilling tale of excavation -- Colin Grant * Guardian *[Olusoga] has discovered new and exciting research materials . . . Such sources give his writing freshness, originality and compassion . . . [Black and British] will inspire and will come to be seen as a major effort to address one of the greatest silences in British historiography -- David Dabydeen * New Statesman *Lucid and accessible. * Herald Scotland *Olusoga's account challenges narrow visions of Britain's past. By tracing the triangulated connections between Britain, America and Africa, he presents black British history in global terms [...] His subjects, even those who barely figure in the historical record, appear as individuals who matter, both in their own right and as historical exemplars. * The London Review of Books *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain . . . Rich in detail and packed with strong personalities, this is an important contribution to our understanding of life in the UK. * History Revealed *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain which is rich in detail and packed with strong, interesting characters. -- Stephanie Yeboah * GQ *Ambitious . . . Long overdue -- Hakim Adi * Spectator *Olusoga has single-handedly over recent years forced our forgotten history on the agenda . . . Written with an urgency it is a thrilling and engaging read. * Nigerian Watch *An erudite exploration of racism and how it continues to mutate . . . it is exhilarating to read a fine mind at work. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Guardian *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Preface Introduction - iii: ‘Years of Distant Wandering’ Chapter - One: ‘Sons of Ham’ Chapter - Two: ‘Blackamoors’ Chapter - Three: ‘For Blacks or Dogs’ Chapter - Four: ‘Too Pure an Air for Slaves' Chapter - Five: ‘Province of Freedom’ Chapter - Six: ‘The Monster is Dead’ Chapter - Seven: Moral Mission Chapter - Eight: ‘Liberated Africans’ Chapter - Nine: ‘Cotton is King' Chapter - Ten: ‘Mercy in a Massacre' Chapter - Eleven: ‘Darkest Africa’ Chapter - Twelve: ‘We are a Coloured Empire' Chapter - Thirteen: ‘We Prefer their Company' Chapter - Fourteen: ‘Swamped' Section - iv: Conclusion Acknowledgements - v: Acknowledgements Section - vi: Bibliography Section - vii: Notes Index - viii: Index
£11.69
Batsford Ltd Celtic Fairy Tales and Legends
Book SynopsisFrom mermaids to dragons, 16 ancient Celtic fairy tales retold with their histories The Celtic cultures of the British Isles – Ireland, Scotland and Wales – have produced some of the richest traditional tales in Europe. Three words best sum up their themes and flavour: adventure, enchantment and romance. In this book, Rosalind Kerven has revived the best Celtic fairy tales for a new generation. The stories are sourced from old folk tale collections from all three regions, alongside selected medieval Welsh and Irish texts. • Visit mysterious Otherworlds inside the hills and below the sea – including a land where only the truth is ever spoken. • Meet iconic characters such as the first great Welsh poet, Taliesin, and the mighty Irish hero, Fionn mac Cumhaill. • Cheer on bold Scots lasses such as Mallie Whuppy, as she outwits a fearsome giant, and Kate Crackernuts, who rescues a prince from bewitchment. • Encounter witches, fairies, a bogle, talking animals and strange underwater beings. Each story is retold from the medieval texts and oral storytelling traditions of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with fascinating background notes and a long list of sources and further reading included. The background notes feature a list of source material, analyses of themes, and examples of similar legends from all over Europe. Trade Review'A gorgeous hardback.' Author of Times Bestseller 'SISTERSONG' and 'Song of The Huntress' Lucy Holland
£13.49
Yale University Press The Great Plague
Book SynopsisTrade Review“The Great Plague of 1665 is too often seen as a metropolitan disaster, even though it brought death and dislocation across much of southern and eastern England. This timely study of Cambridge provides a thorough and imaginative account of the crisis which the epidemic inflicted upon the town, describing the impact upon its society and the experiences of individual families. In doing so it makes a valuable addition to both the literature on the Great Plague and the history of the town.”—Stephen Porter, author of The Great Plague“Rich in the sights and sounds and smells of a seventeenth-century city, this is an evocative portrait of a teeming social world shattered by epidemic disease. Evelyn Lord’s adroit and sensitive reconstruction of daily routines and the urban landscape cranks up the tension as plague advances steadily towards its victims. We follow people down winding streets and alleys and peer into homes, finding there pitiful scenes of the dead and the dying and the distressed. Lord’s tale is horrific yet ultimately uplifting as life crowds back into the spaces left by the grim reaper—panic and misery followed by hope and recovery.”—Malcolm Gaskill, author of Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy
£12.88
Haus Publishing A Short History of Finland
Book SynopsisThe modern nation of Finland is the heir to centuries of history, as a wilderness at the edge of early Europe, a borderland of the Swedish empire, and a Grand Duchy of tsarist Russia. And, as Jonathan Clements' vivid, concise volume shows, it is a tale paved with oddities and excitements galore: from prehistoric reindeer herders to medieval barons, Christian martyrs to Viking queens, and, in the twentieth century, the war heroes who held off the Soviet Union against impossible odds. Offering accounts of public artworks, literary giants, legends, folktales, and famous figures, Clements provides an indispensable portrait of this fascinating nation.This updated edition includes expanded coverage on the Second World War, as well as new sections on Finns in America and Russia, the centenary of the republic, and Finland's battle with COVID-19, right up to its historic application to join NATO.Trade Review'Highly entertaining' Nordic Reach; 'Lively and humorous... a good introduction to Finland' Scandinavian Journal of History
£9.99
Pan Macmillan Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013'Funny, erudite, frequently irritating . . . and never boring' Sarah Bakewell, Financial Times 'An excellent, rich and amusing read' The Times, Book of the WeekFor centuries much of Europe was in the hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off – through luck, guile and sheer mulishness – any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere – indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without them.Danubia plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Full of music, piracy, religion and fighting, it is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Joining Germania and Lotharingia in Simon Winder's endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Danubia is a hilarious, eccentric and witty saga.Trade Review'It combines history, travelogue and digressive personal essay. Winder is a puppyishly enthusiastic companion: funny, erudite, frequently irritating, always more in control of his material than he pretends to be, and never for a moment boring . . . Danubia is a moving book, and also a sensuous one . . . Miniaturist in its eye for detail, grand in its scope, it skips beats and keeps our attention all the way' -- Sarah Bakewell * Financial Times *'A fresh look at a region and a dynasty of which most of us in the English-speaking world are quite ignorant' Guardian‘Memorably funny . . . wonderfully readable and entertaining’ Sunday Times‘Danubia is 500 years of Habsburg imperial history told in the style of a bumbling English detective, the kind of sleuth who appears to skirt around a knotty case and then disarmingly poses a penetrating question . . . As with his previous work Germania, Winder describes this account as a “personal history”, allowing him space for whimsy, for a great deal of Haydn, for careful analysis of paintings and the freedom to favour certain emperors because they were interesting people rather than political heavyweights. It all makes for an excellent, rich and amusing read’ The Times, Book of the WeekThe high plateau of my year was my catching up with Simon Winder. Danubia and Germania are an idiosyncratic, often funny fusion of history writing, travel writing and disrespect -- Sir Tom Stoppard * TLS *‘Danubia is a logical sequel to Simon Winder’s quirky and delightful Germaina . . . Political and military history supplies Danubia with its narrative line, but Simon Winder loves to explore the byways and odd corners of this rambling empire. He is excellent on architecture, painting and music. Never averse to putting himself at the centre of what he discovers on his travels, he has written a book that is every bit as entertaining and enlightening as Germania . . . Anyone with an interest in a part of Europe and a section of history largely ignored in our schools and universities will find this book richly rewarding’ Allan Massie, Literary Review‘Winder is an engaging host . . . The Habsburgs were, latterly, authoritarian liberals. They survived by guile and luck, by sheer chance and cold expediency. With the exceptions of figures like Rudolf II, that melancholy devotee of the occult, there are few of them one can imagine a novelist wanting to explore. Yet Winder rightly enthuses over the contribution this odd political amalgam made to culture . . . Danubia is astoundingly smart and negotiates the Scylla of elegy and the Charybdis of denunciation with expert skill. It’s also damn funny, and includes dodos, the banning of cribs, cockatrices and the entire history of Europe’ Stuart Kelly, Scotland of Sunday‘There is travelogue here, with vivid descriptions of Ukrainian towns, and Transylvanian villages. There are snatches of autobiography too, often anecdotal and whimsical, but sometimes filled with passion about his discoveries of art or music. The main quality of this book, however, is its humour, which sets it aside from the standard histories. To say that Winder is a jokey writer would not begin to do him justice . . . And yet, and yet . . . As the chapters roll past in their gales of hilarity, Winder manages at the same time to do something remarkably skilful, handling complex issues of geopolitics, national identity and cultural change with a deep and surprising thoughtfulness’ Sunday Telegraph, Book of the WeekFunny and yet also fantastically informative -- Books of the Year * Observer *
£12.34
The History Press Ltd Murrays Cabaret Club
Book SynopsisStep below the pavements of Soho’s Beak Street, and discover the untold tale of the exotic – and scandalous – Murray’s Cabaret Club
£21.25
Simon & Schuster Alexander the Great
Book SynopsisIn the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian Philip Freeman tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history. He was a general of such skill and renown that for two thousand years other great leaders studied his strategy and tactics, from Hannibal to Napoleon, with countless more in between. He flashed across the sky of history like a comet, glowing brightly and burning out quickly: crowned at age nineteen, dead by thirty-two. He established the greatest empire of the ancient world; Greek coins and statues are found as far east as Afghanistan. Our interest in him has never faded. Alexander was born into the royal family of Macedonia, the kingdom that would soon rule over Greece. Tutored as a boy by Aristotle, Alexander had an inquisitive mind that would serve him well when he faced formidableTrade Review“Mr. Freeman’s ambition, he tells us in his introduction, was ‘to write a biography of Alexander that is first and foremost a story.’ It is one he splendidly fulfills.” —Tom Holland, The Wall Street Journal "A well-written, chronological narrative that allows Alexander’s remarkable career and achievements to speak for themselves. . . . Readers will appreciate this fine account of a man truly deserving of the title 'Great.'" —Booklist"Fast-paced and dramatic, much like Alexander himself, this is a splendid introduction into one of the most dramatic true stories of history." —Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Antony and Cleopatra“Lean, learned, and marked by good judgment on every page, Alexander the Great is also a roaring good yarn. Philip Freeman has the eye of someone who has walked in Alexander’s footsteps, and he writes with grace and wisdom.” —Barry Strauss, author of The Spartacus War and professor of history, Cornell University"Freeman tells us about Alexander's life like a novel—a remarkably interesting novel, to boot." —Sarah Hann, The Saturday Evening Post
£11.39
HarperCollins Publishers One Hundred Days
Book SynopsisUpdated for the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, this is the bestselling, highly-acclaimed and most famous account of the conflict, written by the commander of the British Task Force.On 5 April 1982, three days after the invasion of the Falkland Islands, British armed forces were ordered to sail 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic unaware of what lay ahead of them or whether they would be committed to war with Argentina.In these engrossing memoirs, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Task Force commander from the aircraft carrier Hermes, takes us from day one to day one hundred of the conflict; from sailing through the waters of the Atlantic with hopes of a political settlement fading, and war becoming increasingly likely, to the repulse of the Argentinian navy and the daring amphibious landing at San Carlos Water.The war, which cost the lives of over 1,000 men, has left a legacy of many historical debates and controversies, from the sinking of ships such as HMS Coventry, HMS Sheffield and SirTrade Review‘One of the most gripping, convincing and realistic accounts of a naval battle ever published.’ John Keegan, Daily Telegraph ‘Perceptive, vivid, engaging.’ Guardian ‘One of the clearest and frankest accounts ever written of modern naval warfare.’ Field Marshal Lord Carver, Sunday Telegraph
£14.24
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Scented Palace
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn entrancing biography. * Elle *A subtly distilled life. Fargeon’s impressions of Marie Antoinette are particularly compelling. -- Judith Thurman * New Yorker *Rhapsodic and piquant… full of information. * New York Review of Books *The book’s heroes are Marie Antoinette, perfume and Fargeon in that order, but what emerges is a powerful evocation of a lost world. -- Erica Wagner * The Times *Learning about Fargeon’s relationship with the Queen and about the fragrances that he compounded is particularly relevant for me. It is also fascinating to read about the ingredients, many of which are used to this day. -- Evelyn Lauder * Vanity Fair *De Feydeau’s descriptions of Versailles Palace’s obsessions with coiffure, fashion, perfume and cosmetics are alluring. -- Sam Leith * Daily Telegraph *De Feydeau’s lively account gives the reader an additional twist on the life and times of Marie Antoinette and her influence on two of France’s continuing major industries – fashion and scent. * Washington Post *Interesting and well-written. -- Rebecca Chappell * French Magazine *Table of ContentsIntroduction by Catherine Wright Prologue 1. The Main Theme 1748-1774 2. The Touches from the Heart 1774-1782 3. The Basic Tenor 1782-1794 Epilogue Appendix 1: The Palette of Jean-Louis Fargeon Appendix 2: Procedures for the Manufacture of Perfumes Notes
£9.99
Manchester University Press Writing the United Kingdom Constitution
Book SynopsisOur unwritten Constitution is past its sell-by date. If the Union is to be preserved we must recognise the UK as a federal country along the lines of Canada and Australia, and soon. Such is the argument made by Brice Dickson in this lucid and timely intervention to the debate on Britain’s political future. A federal structure, he reasons, could maximise the benefits of cooperation between semi-autonomous regions while at the same time paying due respect to the nationalisms that exist within constituent parts of the country. The devolution of powers to the home nations, coupled with the trials and tribulations associated with Brexit and reform of the House of Lords, point to grave risks in the UK’s current constitutional position. Dickson proposes a Constitutional Reform Act which would federalise the nation, provide a modern Bill of Rights, formalise allocation of public expenditure to devolved regions, and contain a clause setting out the 'purpose' of the UK.The UK has an enviable record in rising to a variety of challenges down the centuries, but the fallout from our recent history makes greater certainty and predictability imperative. This urgent analysis by one of our leading constitutional experts points to how that might best be achieved.Trade Review‘Brexit has heated-up the debate about the merits and defects of our constitution, whether we should do something about it, and if so what. Brice Dickson makes a characteristically thoughtful and stimulating contribution to the discussion.’ — Lord Pannick QC‘Brice Dickson argues that now, post Brexit, our constitution needs to cement the Union. He’s right. We don’t need a fully written constitution, but we do need seriously to address and respond to the forces that are pulling the four home nations apart. The United Kingdom’s survival depends on it.’ — Adam Tomkins MSP, Professor of Law, University of Glasgow‘The turmoil surrounding Brexit has caused many to doubt whether the UK’s uncodified constitution is still fit for purpose. Brice Dickson plausibly suggests that a new, federal constitutional settlement may offer a way forward. Here we have a masterly essay by a highly respected constitutional analyst, who possesses the rare gift of elucidating complex issues without ever dumbing them down.’ — Gavin Drewry, Emeritus Professor of Public Administration, Royal Holloway, University of London‘In recent years, a number of jurists and academics have argued that Britain needs to follow almost every other democracy by enacting a codified constitution. Are they right? The debate is likely to intensify after Brexit. Writing the United Kingdom Constitution offers an excellent introduction to the issues.’ — Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government, Kings College London, author of Beyond Brexit: Towards a British Constitution‘Brice Dickson believes that a full-blown written constitution would unleash an endless debate of irreconcilable demands. Instead, he urges a new Constitutional Reform Act to enshrine an acknowledged constitutional federation so as to keep the component parts together in a Union that is looking rather fragile of late. Federalism, well-designed, can help preserve unity to the extent desired but also to respect diversity and distinctiveness appropriate to the parts . If the UK is to survive as such, it needs an acknowledged federal form of government. If the only way to attain that objective is to enact a minimalist model, Dickson's ideas command close attention. The ideas in this book are as important as they are urgent.’ — The Hon Michael Kirby. AC CMG, former Justice of the High Court of Australia -- .Table of Contents1 The Emergence of Our Unwritten Constitution2 Proposals for a Written Constitution3 Lessons from Elsewhere4 The Protection of Rights and a Written Constitution5 Federalisation and a Written Constitution6 The Way ForwardFurther readingReferences
£15.58
Welsh Academic Press Radicals & Realists: Political Parties in Ireland: A Concise History
An essential introduction to Irish politics, Radicals and Realists expertly analyses the political parties that have influenced the history of pre- and post-partition Ireland. Lila Haines' rigorously researched guide provides concise histories of the island's 12 most significant political parties, revealing their ideals and deals, clashes and collaborations, and splinters and mergers. Dispassionate and insightful, Radicals and Realists discusses the achievements, trends and milestones of the contemporary two-jurisdiction island. It also demolishes popular myths and reveals the inconvenient truths about political ineptitude, corruption, authoritarianism or tolerance of terrorism that some parties may prefer to forget or rewrite. Radicals and Realists is an indispensable companion for all who wish to understand how political parties in Ireland have evolved, and how their electoral fortunes are shaping the future of the island they share.
£18.99
Crecy Publishing We Landed By Moonlight
Book Synopsis
£10.76
Mondadori Electa Truly Italian Roots: Thirteen Stories of Italian
Book SynopsisThirteen words, thirteen protagonists, thirteen stories. This special journey crosses different regions and tells of mastery, know-how, emotions, and characters that honor ancient Italian traditions. Gaggia, the brand that invented espresso machines for bars and homes, wanted to represent Italian creativity in 13 stories. To achieve this, it selected the same number of contemporary artisans, including a blacksmith, a motorcycle restorer, a ceramist, a hatter, a tailor, and a creator of floral sets, and depicted them in the pages of the book through the images of Stefania Giorgi and the words of Laura Maggi. In this tale, coffee is an often invisible link; it represents the irreplaceable value of reflection, of time rediscovered, of having a break.
£35.20
Vintage Publishing Devices and Desires
Book SynopsisThe definitive biography' Roy StrongThe remarkable story of Bess of Hardwick, her ascent through Elizabethan society and the houses she built that shaped British architectural history.Born in 1521, Bess of Hardwick, businesswoman, money-lender and property tycoon, lived an astonishing eighty-seven years. Through canny choices, four husbands and a will of steel she rose from country squire's daughter to Dowager Countess, establishing herself as one of the richest and most powerful women in England, second only to Queen Elizabeth.Bess forged her way not merely by judicious marriage, but by shrewd exploitation of whatever assets each marriage brought. Wealth took concrete form in her passion for building and she oversaw every stage of the construction of her four houses including Hardwick New Hall, her sole surviving building, which stands as a celebration of one woman's triumphant progress through Elizabethan England.A dynamic portrait Trade ReviewIt's high time for a new biography of this extraordinary woman, who was a cross between Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Thackeray's Becky Sharp... Devices and Desires is fluently written and full of vivid colour and detail... This book will take its place rightly as the definitive biography of Bess of Hardwick -- Roy Strong * Country Life *Part biography and part building history, considering along the way the erection of Elizabethan prodigy houses, such as Longleat, Theobalds, Wollaton, and, above all, Bess's Hardwick New Hall. It is in here that we can still see Bess's wit, ambition, creativity and vast wealth... Meticulous... A work of considerable scholarship -- Suzannah Lipscomb * The Spectator *Carefully researched and smartly written... The story of building in the 16th century is an elegant way into the ambitions and preoccupations of Bess's world.... The book's true stars are the buildings and one is grateful to its author for reminding us how wonderful they were -- Nicola Shulman * The Oldie *A dynamic portrait of Bess's life... Hubbard makes creative use of often-overlooked sources, such as lists of purchases, to flesh out Bess's daily life and surroundings, and how she sought to shape both. The fascinating relationship between Bess's biography and her building projects is also brought to the fore. Bess of Hardwick emerges from Devices and Desires as a fascinating and influential woman -- Joanne Paul * BBC History Magazine *An enjoyable retelling of Bess’s long and remarkable life…and her astonishing impulse to build -- Richard Hopton * Country & Town House *
£11.69
Cornerstone The Mistresses of Cliveden
Book Synopsis''It covers three centuries of high living, high politics and high drama [...] it is so fascinating'' MEL SYKES_____________________________A Sunday Times bestsellerFive women. One house. One extraordinary history.Even today, Cliveden retains its royal mystique - it is where Meghan Markle and her mother spent the night before the royal wedding - but from its construction in the 1660s to its heyday in the 1960s, Cliveden has played host to a dynasty of remarkable and powerful women.Anna Maria, Elizabeth, Augusta, Harriet, and Nancy were five ladies who, over the course of three centuries, shaped British society through their beauty, personalities, and political influence.Restoration and revolution, aristocratic rise and fall, world war and cold war form the extraordinary backdrop against which their stories unfold. An addictive history of the period and an intimate exploration of the timeless relatiTrade ReviewNarratively enthralling … chronicled with scholarship, readability, wit and a fine eye for telling detail. -- Andrew Roberts * Evening Standard *Her scholarship is considerable and yet she wears it lightly, producing a book which is always lively, entertaining and immensely readable. * Daily Express *Natalie Livingstone has written an utterly fascinating and completely beguiling account of three centuries of high living, high politics, and high drama at one of Britain's most famous stately homes. A page turner from start to finish, The Mistresses of Cliveden perfectly illustrates why social history rules the shelves; it's history with all the good stuff left in. -- Amanda Foreman, author of GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIREA wonderful voyage through the fascinating history of Cliveden - this is a brilliant book full of gripping personalities and beautiful detail. -- Kate Williams, author of BECOMING QUEEN and JOSEPHINEWide-ranging and deliciously enjoyable... -- Juliet Nicholson * The Telegraph *
£999.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Age of Alexander
Book SynopsisOffers a collection of ten biographies that spans the period from the start of the fourth century BC to the early third, and covers some of the most important figures in Greek history, such as the orator Demosthenes and Alexander the Great, as well as lesser known figures such as Plato's pupil Dion of Syracuse.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Blitzkrieg
Book Synopsis''Deighton has a desire, unobtrusive but inflexible, to see the truth ... Blitzkrieg is full of insights'' Financial TimesThis is the story of the Nazi conquest of western Europe, from Hitler''s rise to power and ''lightning-fast war'', to his fatal mistake in halting the German advance on Dunkirk in 1940. Drawing on technical mastery and interviews with both Allied and German participants, Blitzkrieg sets out the technical thinking behind the attack and the weapons that made it possible. It is a compelling, detailed account of Europe''s darkest hour. ''What Deighton did for the Battle of Britain in Fighter he has done for the land-war here ... A rattlingly good yarn'' GuardianTrade ReviewWhat Mr Deighton did for the Battle of Britain in Fighter he has done for the land-war here ... A rattlingly good yarn. * Guardian *Deighton has a desire, unobtrusive but inflexible, to see the truth ... Blitzkrieg is full of insights, quietly expressed but as a rule uncomfortably true. * Financial Times *Contains some gems of research and some arresting conclusions. * New Statesman *
£9.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd The War in the West A New History
Book SynopsisFrom the top ten bestselling author of Normandy 44 and Sicily 43The Second World War is the most cataclysmic and violent sequence of events in recent times. But for the past seven decades, our understanding of it has relied upon conventional wisdom, propaganda and an interpretation skewed by the information available. James Holland has spent over twelve years conducting new research, interviewing survivors, visiting battlefields and archives that have never before been so accessible and challenging too-long-held assumptions about the war that shaped our world. In Germany Ascendant, the first part of this ground-breaking new history, James Holland introduces the war, beginning with the lead-up to its outbreak in 1939 and taking us up to mid-1941 as the Nazis prepared to unleash Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia. To tell the real story, he weaves together the experiences of dozens of individuals, from civilians and soldiers, to sailors, Trade Review"A marvellously readable book" -- Gary Sheffield BBC History Magazine - Books of the Year 2015 "Impeccably researched and superbly written ... Holland's fascinating saga offers a mixture of captivating new research and well-considered revisionism. The next two volumes should be unmissable." -- Alexander Larman Observer "Holland's history is a work of revisionism with a vengeance. Through his emphasis on logistical support and technology, he continually demolishes cherished myths about the war ... This is a magnificent, authoritative contribution to the study of the Second World War." -- Leo McKinstry Literary Review "This brilliant, lucid and intimate history is a game-changer, the Second World War will never seem the same again. If you think you know the real history of the Second World War this book will astonish you: it renders other popular histories redundant" -- Professor David Edgerton King's College, London "The most refreshing and engaging book about the Second World War that I have read in a long time. The absorbing narrative is laced with a passion and enthusiasm and stands head and shoulders above the current crop of titles in the genre" Soldier Magazine "James Holland is the best of the new generation of WW2 historians. His epic new venture convincingly challenges many received ideas about the war and draws some exciting new conclusions" -- Sebastian Faulks "James Holland's War in the West takes a fresh look at the familiar and finds much food for thought - turning several conventions on their heads in a compelling and revelatory way" -- Al Murray "This book stands apart and for all the right reasons: Holland has something new to say. Every page is alive with a level of excitement and enthusiasm. Here is a perspective that turns on its head what I thought I understood about those astonishing years - filled with insight and detail" -- Neil Oliver "With this magnificent, hugely readable debut, James Holland's War in the West is set fair to become one of the truly great multi-volume histories of the Second World War" -- Andrew Roberts "James Holland has produced a gripping multi-layered study of the War in West. It weaves together accounts from all levels of those caught up in the opening stages of the war and provides an accessible and captivating narrative. More importantly still it offers a challenging reappraisal that forces us to rethink our attitudes to the conduct of the most destructive and important war in history. Essential reading" -- Professor John Buckley, Professor of War Studies, Wolverhampton University & author of Monty's Men
£12.34
Transworld Publishers Ltd Hidden History: a compelling and captivating
Book SynopsisThink you know about British history and the causes of the First World War? Think again. This fascinating and gripping study of events at the turn of the Twentieth Century is a remarkable insight into how political and social factors that we widely accept to be the causes of The Great War, were really just a construct put together by a very small, but powerful, political elite...'Thought-provoking . . . Docherty and Macgregor do not mince their words . . . their arguments are powerful' -- Britain at War'Simply astonishing' -- ***** Reader review'Very illuminating' -- ***** Reader review'You simply MUST read this book' -- ***** Reader review'This is a page-turner' -- ***** Reader review***********************************************************************************Hidden History uniquely exposes those responsible for the First World War. It reveals how accounts of the war's origins have been deliberately falsified to conceal the guilt of the secret cabal of very rich and powerful men in London responsible for the most heinous crime perpetrated on humanity. For ten years, they plotted the destruction of Germany as the first stage of their plan to take control of the world. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was no chance happening. It lit a fuse that had been carefully set through a chain of command stretching from Sarajevo through Belgrade and St Petersburg to that cabal in London.Our understanding of these events has been firmly trapped in a web of falsehood and duplicity carefully constructed by the victors at Versailles in 1919 and maintained by compliant historians ever since. The official version is fatally flawed, warped by the volume of evidence they destroyed or concealed from public view.Hidden History poses a tantalising challenge. The authors ask only that you examine the evidence they lay before you . . .Trade ReviewThought-provoking . . . Docherty and Macgregor do not mince their words . . . their arguments are powerful * Britain at War *
£19.80
Manchester University Press The End of the Small Party?: Change Uk and the
Book SynopsisFor a brief moment in 2019 Britain’s politics looked like it might be transformed. Just when it seemed that the divisions within and across British political parties over Brexit could not get any more intense, 7 Labour and 3 Conservative MPs broke away to form The Independent Group (TIG) – later Change UK. This is the first book to explore the meteoric lifespan of that party, within the wider context of the experiences of other small political groupings in the House of Commons. Ultimately, it shows why the party failed and disbanded after just a few months. Timely and thoroughly researched, Louise Thompson’s book takes us deep inside the struggles facing MPs who leave behind the comforts of the large political parties. Drawing on interviews with current and former politicians, it explores the practicalities of being a small party MP in the Commons. What challenges face you? Who can you turn to? And just how can you make an impact? Crisply written for the non-specialist reader, this fascinating book opens a window onto the perilous world of parliamentary politics.Trade Review'Louise Thompson’s account of the short life and fast times of Change UK helps explain why no new governing party has emerged in the UK for a hundred years.'Mark D'Arcy, BBC Parliamentary Correspondent'A fascinating in-depth account of how small-parties, whether they be start-ups or established players, either sink or swim in an environment in which - given their relatively limited access to funding, air-time, and even space - the odds are all-too-often stacked against them.'Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London and Co-Director, Mile End Institute'An outstanding book, packed with insights about the difficulties faced by independents and small parties in the House of Commons. It will be a go-to benchmark on these issues for many years to come. Highly recommended.' Alistair Clarke, Reader in Politics, Newcastle University -- .Table of Contents1 Three days in February2 Finding their feet3 Establishing and resourcing a new parliamentary party4 Making your voice heard 5 Whither the two-party system?BibliographyIndex
£14.24
Orion Publishing Co Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities
Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve' GUARDIAN'Richly entertaining and impeccably researched' Peter FrankopanIstanbul has always been a place where stories and histories collide and crackle, where the idea is as potent as the historical fact. From the Qu'ran to Shakespeare, this city with three names - Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - resonates as an idea and a place, and overspills its boundaries - real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between the East and West, it has served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was known simply as The City, but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city, but a story. In this epic new biography, Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey through the many incarnations of one of the world's greatest cities. As the longest-lived political entity in Europe, over the last 6,000 years Istanbul has absorbed a mosaic of micro-cities and cultures all gathering around the core. At the latest count archaeologists have measured forty-two human habitation layers. Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings, Azeris all called a patch of this earth their home. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul is visceral, immediate and scholarly narrative history at its finest.Trade ReviewThis is historical narrative brimming with brio and incident. Hughes's portraits are written with a zesty flourish ... Istanbul is a visceral, pulsating city. In Bettany Hughes's life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve, it has found a sympathetic and engaging champion' -- Justin Marozzi * GUARDIAN *Bettany Hughes' Istanbul is built deliberately on what is passing as well as past. It is a story of numerous overlapping names, changes that often happened more slowly than the guidebooks tell us. Her subject is the city that was Byzantium for some 900 years, Christian Constantinopole for another 1,000, Islamic Islam-bol, then Istanbul - while also being New Rome, a Diamond Between Two Sapphires and The World's Desire...assiduous...passionate...there have beeen swirling tidal shifts around Istanbul since she began this book 10 years or so ago. She is celebrating citizenry of the world at a time when that idea is in retreat, damnming the "otherness" that the west has bestowed upon the east when throughout the world there are more and more "others"...She is a wistul and impassioned cosmopolitan who has produced a challenging story for 2017. -- Peter Stothard * FINANCIAL TIMES *Her latest book, Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities, is a particular stroke of genius...Over the years the city has had three names - Byzantium, Contantinople and Istanbul so in a vivid rattle she hurls Xerxes, Alcibiades, Constantine, Justinian, Theodora, Suleyman the Magnificent and a sometimes overwhelming cast of thousands before us...It is a story well worth telling as the region continues to implode, the final or at least latest lashings out of the Ottoman Empire's collapse...The book is littered with historical echoes that...are impossible to ignore...there are wonderful anecdotes...She concludes with an encomium to Istanbul as a world city - literally, a cosmo-polis - where faiths and ethnicities are brought together by learning or trade...not an original thought but one that in this particularly troubled moment, for bomb-hit Istanbul and the rest of us, bears repeating. -- Richard Spencer * THE TIMES *With a broadcaster's delight, Bettany Hughes...throws herself into the gargantuan task of capturing the history of a city that spans 3,000 years, and whose story has been woefully neglected compared with other great urban centres...Hughes reconstructs Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul as living, breathing landscapes...her scholarship is impressive...her enthusiasm radiates...Her subject...is irresistibly rich. The place known simply as "The City", Hughes notes, has long lived a "double life - as a real place and as a story"...The tale she tells of the metropolis at the crossroads of the Earth is textured, readable and often compelling. -- Louise Callaghan * SUNDAY TIMES *A magisterial new biography...Bettany Hughes transports the reader on a magic-carpet-like journey through 8,000 years of history...in a vivid narrative dotted with colourful characters and fascinating tangents...the quintessential historical overview of a city racing up the modern political agenda. -- Richard Turner * THE LADY *Fiery and magnificent new biography of Istanbul...Hughes does a fantastic job of cramming all this history into a fluid and engaging narrative. She also possesses a great turn of phrase, such as when she describes Haghia Sophia as seeming "to be suspended by a golden chain from heaven"...A gripping and erudite book. -- Stav Sherez * CATHOLIC HERALD *Award-winning historian Bettany Hughes pieces together the history of Istanbul in a riveting biography of a brilliant, bloodied city. -- Madeleine Keane * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT (IRELAND) *Ten years in the researching and writing, it's a glittering mosaic of a history, packing the stories of three cities - Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul - into one volume, from their earliest settlement in 6000BC, to the 20th Century. -- Caroline Sanderson * THE BOOKSELLER *Over its 6,000 year history, Istanbul has been home to Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings and Azeris, and been the cornerstone of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires...Hughes traces the history of one of the world's greatest cities. * GUARDIAN *Sweeping across eight millennia in its 800 pages, this glinting mosaic of a book is divided into short, vivid, episodic chapters...With 2017 marking the 500th anniversary of the Ottoman caliphate in Istanbul, this sumptuously produced history book is as timely as it is enthralling. -- Caroline Sanderson * SUNDAY EXPRESS *A scholarly narrative, but Hughes isn't averse to heating it up with the salacious stories that dot the city's past -- Sameer Rahim * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *For all its colourful drama, the city's history can be hard to narrate in a way that is coherent and gripping...Bettany Hughes [takes] up that challenge and...the result is impressive. In 'Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities' Ms Hughes plays intriguing, sophisticated games with time and space...by making unlikely connections between well-described locations and events separated by aeons, she gives voice to those witchy, diachronic feelings in a spectacular fashion. * ECONOMIST *One of the pleasures of wandering the city today - whatever you call it - is in recognising that its layers of history are so enfolded with one another that they are impossible to separate. This is also the pleasure of Bettany Hughes' highly readable jaunt through its past 2,500 years..Istanbul is still living history. Perhaps the most moving moment in the book comes when Hughes goes looking for the song of hte Janissaries...Hughes tracked down one of their descendants...Could he remember one of the Janissaries' famous old songs? "Yes he could - and out came a fluid, mellifluous prayer, a song from the religion of the road, a song of hope and revolution, of piety and of cosmopolitan human heartedness. It could be the city's anthem. -- Sameer Rahim * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Bettany Hughes' history of Istanbul through the ages is richly entertaining and impeccably researched. Hughes' ebullient book is an ode to three incarnations of the city...[she] guides us round a city that is magestic, magical and mystical, leaving few stones unturned. It is a loving biography of a city that never stands still, never mind never sleeps...Hughes has written an important book that brings the past of this glorious city to life. It is filled with charming vignettes...snappily written...plenty here to entertain those who know something about the ciy and to enthrall those who don't. -- Peter Frankopan * THE OBSERVER *The research is immaculate, as is the telling of it. * CHOICE *Bettany Hughes transports the reader on a magic-carpet-like journey through 8,000 years of history...[this is] the quintessential historical overview of a city racing up the modern politcal agenda. -- Richard Tarrant * THE LADY *Istanbul's newly revived status as perhaps the major centre of Sunni Islam in the non-Arab world, and a pivot to the current Middle East imbroglio, is underlined by Bettany Hughes in the introduction to her sumptuous urban biography. -- Robert Fox * EVENING STANDARD *Hughes...wishes to show how the city's topography shaped the civilisations that grew from it - and how the many peoples that have passed through its walls went on to shape the lands and seas and trade routes of their known world...The thrill the author takes in her discoveries is infectious...Keen as she is to identify a past that is still omnipresent, she does not just like the city to a "historic millefeuille": time and again she proves it...this heroic work...is the perfect read if - having noticed that Istanbul is increasingly in the news these days - you wish to know its place in the scheme of things, and what light it may case on the uncertain future we shall most certainly share. -- Maureen Freely * NEW STATESMAN *Hughes suceeds triumphantly...and produces a cogent, passionate survey...bolstered by staggeringly wide-ranging research...[a] captivating book...Istanbul, a place where the past is impossible to miss...and few have told its enchanting story with Hughes's blend of precision and panache. -- Jon Wright * GEOGRAPHICAL, The Royal Geographical Society magazine *It is a delightful book for those who know Istanbul, but what a treat for those who do not, and are considering a visit. [Hughes] is an excellent, informed and good natured guide...she gets under the skin of the great city. -- Adrian Spooner * CLASSICS FOR ALL *Undoubtedly timely, because, as Hughes argues, Istanbul is once again central to the European narrative, as a postreligious secularism confront a resurgent religious movement. -- Michael McLouglin * IRISH TIMES *The complexity of the city's story is revealed in mesmerising detail in Bettany Hughes's new book. At times her writing feels like a love letter, or a eulogy to what has been lost. Her compassion for the city and its millions of inhabitants, past and present, comes across from the very first pages. It is quite rare to read a historical book that weaves research and insight with understanding and love: here is a book written as much with the heart as the mind...Here is an important book that must be translated into many languages - and especially into Turkish. -- Elif Shafak * THE SPECTATOR *Ground-breaking...There has been no recent large-scale history of the city with many names (Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul), which makes this colossal undertaking a notable achievement, coming at yet another turbulent moment in its long existence. -- Roger Crowley * LITERARY REVIEW *Istanbul has many inhabitants yearning to nurture their grand but asphyxiated city. In this tome - which begs a Turkish translation - Hughes gives them the time that Istanbul's pace, developers and officials do not. Her quiet confidence in the city's hard-earned cosmopolitanism soothes this concerned Istanbullu -- Sarah Jilani * ART REVIEW ASIA *A witty and lavish account of a shimmering city caught between heaven and hell -- Noonie Minogue * THE TABLET *Bettany Hughes's sprawling, 600-page love letter to one of the most inspiring cities on earth was a decadein the making, as befits a book covering millennia's worth of history in impressive detail. -- Alev Scott * PROSPECT *Historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes has pulled off the feat of wrting about three empires in one book: the Roman empire of Constantine, the Byzantine empire which ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the Ottoman empire which lasted into the 1920s * THE OLDIE *Istanbul has endured an awful run of terrorist attacks and political disorder over the past few years so Bettany Hughes' ebullient homage to the city is a welcome reminder of its long and fascinating history. * i NEWSPAPER *Majestic and immensely enriching...It's a journey through conquest and greatness from Roman to Ottoman times and it reminded me of why I love the city. -- Roula Khalaf * FINANCIAL TIMES *This scholarly work by television historian Bettany Hughes tells the city's story in rich and compelling detail * SUNDAY BUSINESS POST *I can't think of a city with a more extraordinary history than Istanbul, and in Bettany Hughes it has its ideal biographer. -- Simon Shaw * MAIL ON SUNDAY *She deserves enormous credit for managing to traverse swathes of time (right down to the present day) with such aplomb. Rarely have I read a book in which I learnt more things that I really should have already known. -- Jonathan Wright * CATHOLIC HERALD *She populates her three cities of Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul with a rich cast, in a book that brims with brio and incident. -- Justin Marozzi * THE GUARDIAN *Hughes guides us round a city that is majestic, magical and mystical, leaving few stones unturned. It is a loving biography of a city that never stands still, never mind sleeps. Hughes has written an important book that brings the past of this glorious city to life. It is filled with charming vignettes and is snappily written. -- Peter Frankopan * THE OBSERVER Paperback of the Week *With a broadcaster's delight, the historian Bettany Hughes throws herself into the gargantuan task of capturing the history of a city that spans 3,000 years, and whose story has been woefully neglected compared with other great urban centres...Impressive -- Louise Callaghan * SUNDAY TIMES *The English historian's spawling study of one of the world's great capitals covers 3,000 years. It has witnessed enormous flux in that time - not all of it for the better - but Hughes' biography will likely make those who've never visited want to book a plane ticket. * IRISH INDEPENDENT *
£14.24
Atlantic Books The Jamestown Brides: The Bartered Wives of the
Book Synopsis'Compelling... A real pleasure to read.' - BBC History MagazineIn 1621, fifty-six English women crossed the Atlantic in response to the Virginia Company of London's call for maids 'young and uncorrupt' to make wives for the planters of its new colony in Virginia.While the women travelled of their own accord, the company was in effect selling them at a profit for a bride price of 150 lbs of tobacco for each woman sold. The rewards would flow to investors in the near-bankrupt company. But what did the women want from the enterprise? Why did they agree to make the perilous crossing to a wild and dangerous land, where six out of seven European settlers died within their first few years? And what happened to them in the end?Trade ReviewI love this kind of historical writing, with the stitching showing... Engaged and thoughtful, she has given her women an existence they would recognise. -- Lucy Moore * Literary Review *An evocative and painstakingly researched account of these early female settlers, who have lacked a voice, an identity, even a name, until now. From 400 years ago, they step from these pages and speak to us. -- Hilary Davies * The Tablet, 'Books of the Year' *Compelling... A real pleasure to read. * BBC History Magazine *With extraordinary scholarship and painstaking use of contemporary texts Potter succeeds in her professed task of bearing witness to the lives of young women unknown to history... Full of sensational material... * Times Literary Supplement *Potter tells the story using a rich range of sources - pamphlets, ballads, sermons - and travels to flesh out gaps... She writes well and hauntingly, of women "penned like chickens in the gloom", of their shock on arrival at a tiny, dilapidated Virginian town thousands of miles from the English capital. * The Times *
£10.44
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Angel Meadow: Victorian Britain's Most Savage
Book Synopsis"It is all free fighting here. Even some of the windows do not open, so it is useless to cry for help. Dampness and misery, violence and wrong, have left their handwriting in perfectly legible characters on the walls."(Manchester Guardian, 1870.)Step into the Victorian underworld of Angel Meadow, the vilest and most dangerous slum of the Industrial Revolution. In the shadow of the world's first cotton mill, 30,000 souls trapped by poverty are fighting for survival as the British Empire is built upon their backs.Thieves and prostitutes keep company with rats in overcrowded lodging houses and deep cellars on the banks of a black river, the Irk. Gangs of 'scuttlers' stalk the streets in pointed, brass-tripped clogs. Those who evade their clutches are hunted down by cholera, typhoid and tuberculosis. Lawless drinking dens and a cold slab in the dead house provide the only relief from this filthy and frightening world.In this shocking book, journalist Dean Kirby takes readers on a hair-raising journey through the alleyways, gin palaces and underground vaults of this nineteenth century Manchester slum, which was considered so diabolical it was re-christened 'hell upon earth' by Friedrich Engels. Enter Angel Meadow if you dare...Trade Review"Dean Kirby manages to provide visual imagery that is vivid and it is chilling. The sense of sadness which waves through you as you read this book knowing that this is not fiction is heavily felt. As is sympathy for the Victorian people, families and children who lived and died in these conditions within one of the most prosperous cities in England. If you are interested in British history, it's criminal past and the Victorian era this will be a satisfying and educational read."--Crime Traveller
£13.49
Vintage Publishing A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated
Book Synopsis'Moorehead paints a wonderfully vivid and moving portrait of the women of the Italian Resistance' MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMESThe extraordinary story of the courageous women who spearheaded the Italian Resistance during the Second World WarIn the late summer of 1943, in the midst of German occupation, the Italian Resistance was born. Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca were four young women who signed up. Living in the mountains surrounding Turin their contribution was invaluable. They carried messages and weapons, provided safe houses and took prisoners. As thousands of Italians rose up, they fought to liberate their country.With its corruption, greed and anti-Semitism, the fall of Fascist Italy was unrelentingly violent, but for the partisan women it was also a time of camaraderie and equality, pride and optimism. Through the stories of these four exceptional women, the resolve, tenacity and, above all, courage of the Italian Resistance is laid bare. A Spectator Book of the YearTrade ReviewMoorehead paints a wonderfully vivid and moving portrait of the women of the Italian Resistance…an excellent book… She depicts a tragic fate that is timeless, of dreams forged in adversity, shattered by collisions with practical politics -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *Brilliantly and subtly told… The narrative is told with such verve that I frequently had goosebumps: the men and women known from much drier history books come alive… a riveting read -- Tobias Jones * Guardian *A sensitive and perceptive book founded on an appreciation of the role women play in any society, at any times. It is sober and serious, but still an easy read… Moorehead is not afraid to show how these women used their femininity to become more effective partisans -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *The moving finale of a quartet of books on resistance to fascism... Moorehead conveys the terror with understated power; she is equally good at conjuring the blurred morality of civil conflict...[and] the valleys and wild flowers in technicolour detail * Economist *In the best book she has so far written, Moorehead corrects this imbalance with a narrative whose coherence perfectly matches its author’s admiration for her subjects’ redemptive idealism… Moorehead needs to be read by Italians themselves. Over here, meanwhile, she deserves every prize going -- Jonathan Keates * Literary Review *
£9.49
Wooden Books Avebury
Book SynopsisAvebury is the largest stone circle on Earth! Silbury Hill is as old as the Great Pyramid! What is the secret geometry of the ancient stones? Was a lost science once practiced here? Packed with rare old engravings and great new research this timeless pocket guide to Europe's most extensive neolithic complex will leave you informed, intrigued and inspired! WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.
£999.99
Penguin Books Ltd Inglorious Empire
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewTharoor convincingly demolishes some of the more persistent myths about Britain's supposedly civilising mission in India ... [he] charts the destruction of pre-colonial systems of government by the British and their ubiquitous ledgers and rule books ... The statistics are worth repeating. -- Victor Mallet * Financial Times *Inglorious Empire is a timely reminder of the need to start teaching unromanticised colonial history in British schools. A welcome antidote to the nauseating righteousness and condescension pedalled by Niall Ferguson in his 2003 book Empire * Irish Times *His writing is a delight and he seldom misses his target ... Tharoor should be applauded for tackling an impossibly contentious subject ... he deserves to be read. Indians are not the only ones who need reminding that empire has a lot to answer for. * Literary Review *Remarkable ... The book is savagely critical of 200 years of the British in India. It makes very uncomfortable reading for Brits -- Matt Ridley * The Times *Tharoor's impassioned polemic slices straight to the heart of the darkness that drives all empires. Forceful, persuasive and blunt, he demolishes Raj nostalgia, laying bare the grim, and high, cost of the British Empire for its former subjects. An essential read -- Niljana Roy * Financial Times *Ferocious and astonishing. Essential for a Britain lost in sepia fantasies about its past, Inglorious Empire is history at its clearest and cutting best -- Ben JudahThose Brits who speak confidently about how Britain's "historical and cultural ties" to India will make it easy to strike a great new trade deal should read Mr Tharoor's book. It would help them to see the world through the eyes of the ... countries once colonised or defeated by Britain -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times *Rare indeed is it to come across history that is so readable and so persuasive -- Amitav GhoshEloquent ... a well-written riposte to those texts that celebrate empire as a supposed "force for good" * BBC World Histories *Tharoor's book - arising from a contentious Oxford Union debate in 2015 where he proposed the motion "Britain owes reparations to her former colonies" - should keep the home fires burning, so to speak, both in India and in Britain. ... He makes a persuasive case, with telling examples * History Today *Brilliant ... A searing indictment of the Raj and its impact on India. ... Required reading for all Anglophiles in former British colonies, and needs to be a textbook in Britain -- Salil Tripathi, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International, and author of The Colonel Who Would Not RepentPersuasive and well-founded ... the book convincingly demolishes the nostalgic, self-serving arguments voiced by imperial apologists * Time Literary Supplement *
£10.44
Cornell University Press The Archaeology of Greece
Book SynopsisAn introduction for students, teachers, and lay readers to the delights of exploring the world of ancient Greece.Trade ReviewWell-written and exceptionally well-illustrated.... An invaluable guidebook for people who want to visit Greece and understand what it is they are seeing. * Times Literary Supplement *An excellent book which should find a ready audience among teachers and students as the standard handbook for classes in Greek archaeology. * Classical Outlook *Biers' book is an excellent and comprehensive introduction to the subject; this new edition retains its original virtues of reliability, clarity and readability, and adds to its already generous quota of illustrations. It should continue to be a standard textbook for years to come. -- Ruth Westgate * Classical Bulletin *For a history of the art of sculpture, painting, and architecture of Classical Greece and her immediate ancestors, The Archaeology of Greece is an excellent choice. * Archaeology Newsletter *Teachers, students, and travelers should be grateful to author and press for the timely production of a well-balanced, informative, and stimulating introduction. * Archaeology *William Biers' first edition of this book served well a generation of scholars and lay people alike as a standard introduction. A second edition of this valuable work is, therefore, most welcomed.... The Archaeology of Greece is the best general introduction to the subject. Biers' command of the subject, his engaging writing style, and the wealth of illustrations make this work in its second edition a joy to read and use. -- Thomas V. Brisco * Southwestern Journal of Theology *Table of ContentsPreface Preface to the Second Edition Abbreviations1. Archaeology in Greece 2. The Minoans 3. The Mycenaeans 4. The Dark Ages 5. The Geometric Period 6. The Orientalizing Period 7. The Archaic Period 8. The Fifth Century 9. The Fourth Century 10. The Hellenistic Age EpilogueSuggestions for Further Reading Select Bibliography Glossary Index
£24.69
Imperial War Museum Churchill's Cookbook
Book SynopsisIt is well to remember that the stomach governs the world. Winston Churchill Mrs. Landemare s food is distinguished. She is an inspired intuitive cook. Clementine Churchill "Churchill s Cookbook" provides fascinating insight into what the legendary prime minister ate during World War II, containing over three hundred delicious recipes created by his personal cook, Georgina Landemare. The celebrity cook of her day, Landemare specialized in creating sumptuous feasts for England s nobility. At the outbreak of the Second World War, however, she devoted her full-time services to the Churchill family, declaring This will be my war work! She worked for the prime minster throughout the war; she was up at dawn preparing his breakfast and remained steadfastly in the kitchen until after his last whiskey at night. On VE Night, Churchill told her that he could not have managed through the war without her. With an introduction by Phil Reed, director of the Churchill War Rooms, "Churchill s Cookbook" marks the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill s death and the seventieth anniversary of VE Day. Covering mouth-watering cakes, biscuits, and puddings; healthy salads; and warming soups; this timely publication revives some forgotten British classics and reveals the food that sustained Churchill during his finest hours."
£11.69
Vintage Publishing Queer City
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 ReviewAfter his mammoth, shamanic aria London: the Biography, the remarkable writer Peter Ackroyd has produced a nimble, uproarious pocket history of sex in his beloved metropolis -- Alasdair Lees * Independent *Ackroyd has an encyclopaedic knowledge of London, and a poet's instinct for its strange, mesmerising drives and urges ... Queer City contains something to alarm or fascinate on every page -- Craig Brown * The Mail on Sunday *Droll, provocative and crammed to busting with startling facts -- Simon Callow * The Guardian *If there was a prize for the most evocative or salacious chapter headings, then Peter Ackroyd's new book, Queer City, would be the undisputed victor. They capture the rudery and naughtiness, although not the erudition of this entertaining history of the 'queer' experience in London -- Robbie Millen * The Times *Succinct, perceptive and robust -- Rupert Christiansen * Daily Telegraph *
£11.69
Talking Stone Medieval Legends of Love Lust
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Marble Hill Publishers FOREIGN RELATIONS: MEMORIES OF GERMANY AND
Book SynopsisInto this personal account, Oldham weaves a brilliant historical reconstruction of life in a cultured and prosperous Berlin - until the darkening shadows of Hitler's anti-semitic laws steadily reduced the freedoms that he enjoyed and threatened his very existence. Why? Alexander's family was Jewish by birth but generations before, had converted to Lutheranism, an act which was to provide no defence in Hitler's Germany. Writing, remarkably, without animosity, Alexander Oldham combines the warmth of his childhood and his intriguing family life with a meticulous and historical exploration of the brutal political processes that forced him, aged twelve, to flee his Berlin childhood to take on a new identity and make a new life in Britain.Table of ContentsForeword; GERMANY; 1. Introduction; 2. Berlin 1925; 3. The Golden Years; 4. Change; 5. Darkening Skies; ENGLAND AND THE WAR; 6. Emigration; 7. Settling in; 8. The British Army; 9. Towards an Uncertain Future; Maria's Story
£12.34
Profile Books Ltd Ruin and Renewal: Civilising Europe After the
Book Synopsis'Excellent ... much to ponder' Financial Times In 1945, Europe lay in ruins - its cities and towns destroyed by conflict, its economies crippled, its societies ripped apart by war and violence. In the wake of the physical devastation came profound moral questions: how could Europe - once proudly confident of its place at the heart of the 'civilised world' - have done this to itself? And what did it mean that it had? In the years that followed, Europeans - from politicians to refugees, poets to campaigners, religious leaders to communist revolutionaries - tried to make sense of what had happened, and to forge a new understanding of civilisation that would bring peace and progress to a broken continent. As they wrestled with questions great and small - from the legacy of colonialism to workplace etiquette - institutions and shared ideals emerged which still shape our world today. Drawing on original sources as well as individual stories and voices, this is a gripping and authoritative account of how Europe rose from the ashes of the Second World War, forging itself anew in the process.Trade ReviewRuin and Renewal is an erudite, rigorously researched, and elegantly written account of the post-war remaking of Europe. Paul Betts provides his reader with a breathtaking panorama of the world of the men and women who, pursuing varied visions for the creation of a new 'civilization', embarked on bold reforms to rebuild the continent on the ruins of the Second World War. His book will fundamentally reshape our understanding of modern Europe - a masterpiece. -- David Motadel, London School of EconomicsPaul Betts uses the concept of 'civilisation' like a radiographer's dye to reveal some deeply unsettling pathologies beneath the skin of post-war Europe. Ruin and Renewal is an impressively wide-ranging, original synthesis of cultural and political history. -- Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, University of OxfordRuin and Renewal is a marvellously subtle and wide-ranging exploration of the ways in which Europe rebuilt itself materially and morally after the Second World War. Paul Betts boldly uses the much debated and controversial concept of civilization to show how Europeans, on both sides of the Cold War, redefined themselves and others. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the world of today. -- Margaret MacMillan, author of The War that Ended PeaceExcellent ... much to ponder * Financial Times *
£21.25
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story
Book SynopsisA vivid, brilliant, darkly humorous and horrifying history of some of the strangest dictators that Europe has ever seen. 'A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters' Misha Glenny 'Will leave you astonished, exhausted and curious... An unapologetic page turner' Spectator 'Essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present' John Simpson 'An engaging introduction to the rich history [of Romania]' New Statesman Balanced precariously on the shifting fault line between East and West, Romania's past is one of the great untold stories of modern Europe. The country that gave us Vlad Dracula, and whose citizens consider themselves descendants of ancient Rome, has traditionally preferred the status of enigmatic outsider. But it has experienced some of the most disastrous leaderships of the last century. After a relatively benign period led by a dutiful King and his vivacious British-born Queen, the country oscillated wildly. Its interwar rulers form a gallery of bizarre characters: the corrupt and mentally unbalanced King Carol; the fascist death cult led by Corneliu Codreanu; the vain General Ion Antonescu. After 1945 power was handed to Romania's tiny communist party, under which it experienced severe repression, purges and collectivisation. Then in 1965, Nicolae Ceau?escu came to power. And thus began the strangest dictatorship of all.Trade ReviewKenyon relates all this with verve [and] humour... He patiently untangles the complicated webs of loyalty and enmity, that crisscrossed the royal court, the military camarilla and the politburo alike' * Literary Review *A witty and page-turning narrative full of grotesque characters -- Misha GlennyPaul Kenyon sweeps away the myths of romance and horror that cling to this fascinating and mysterious country -- Allan LittleAbsolutely essential reading for anyone interested in Romania past and present -- John SimpsonThis is a book that will leave you astonished, exhausted and curious... An unapologetic page turner' * Spectator *Witty and fluid, Kenyon's prose is readable without being superficial. His book is an engaging introduction to the rich history of a country that is often stereotyped and misunderstood * New Statesman *Paul Kenyon's book delves into this history, bringing to life a rogues' gallery of characters * BBC History Magazine *This is an extraordinary book... It is deeply researched and richly documented... Thanks to this book [Romania] is infinitely better understood' * The Critic *
£11.69
Elliott & Thompson Limited Shadowplay: Behind the Lines and Under Fire: The
Book SynopsisA gripping eyewitness account of a major 20th-century military conflict by the UK's most popular writer on geopolitics; The shattering of Yugoslavia in the 1990s showed that, after nearly 50 years of peace, war could return to Europe. It came to its bloody conclusion in Kosovo in 1999.; Tim Marshall, then diplomatic editor at Sky News, was on the ground covering the Kosovo War. This is his illuminating account of how events unfolded, a thrilling journalistic memoir drawing on personal experience, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with intelligence officials from five countries.; Twenty years on from the war’s end, with the rise of Russian power, a weakened NATO and stalled EU expansion, this story is more relevant than ever, as questions remain about the possibility of conflict on European soil. Utterly gripping, this is Tim Marshall at his very best: behind the lines, under fire and full of the insight that has made him one of Britain’s foremost writers on geopolitics.
£9.49
