European history Books

Book Synopsis‘A book worth reading’ Andrew Marr, Sunday TimesThe Debatable Land was an independent territory which used to exist between Scotland and England. At the height of its notoriety, it was the bloodiest region in Great Britain, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James V. After the Union of the Crowns, most of its population was slaughtered or deported and it became the last part of the country to be brought under the control of the state. Today, its history has been forgotten or ignored.When Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, he discovered that the river which almost surrounded his new home had once marked the Debatable Land’s southern boundary. Under the powerful spell of curiosity, Robb began a journey – on foot, by bicycle and into the past – that would uncover lost towns and roads, reveal the truth about this maligned patch of land and result in more than one discovery of major historical significance.Rich in detail and epic in scope, The Debatable Land takes us from a time when neither England nor Scotland could be imagined to the present day, when contemporary nationalism and political turmoil threaten to unsettle the cross-border community once more. Writing with his customary charm, wit and literary grace, Graham Robb proves the Debatable Land to be a crucial, missing piece in the puzzle of British history.Includes a 16-page colour plate section.Trade ReviewSorting out the fact from the fiction in this history is one of Robb’s tasks. He tackles some serious misconceptions about the borderland . . . Robb intercuts the past and present, the intimate and the impersonal, to wonderful effect. Few authors write so well about things lost and neglected – or have such sharp ears and eyes for the natural world -- Ian Jack * Guardian *Graham Robb is a remarkable writer . . . [his work] displays curiosity, intellectual vitality, wide-ranging sympathies, and a keen eye for unexpected detail. This new book will fascinate everyone with a knowledge of the geography, history, mythology and character of the Anglo-Scottish borderlands . . . No short review can do justice to the intelligence, charm, variety and sheer interest of this book. Read it, and you will be richly entertained and enlightened. * The Scotsman *A detective outing on native soil. Armed with energy, humour, a poet’s eye and a bicycle – all things his fans will be familiar with – Robb probes the received wisdoms of the past . . . His skill as a writer is to understand, without being fey, the fourth dimension: peeling back the modern landscape to find buried stories * The Times *Scholarly nonfiction written with novelistic flair . . . The Debatable Land was neither English nor Scottish but a law unto itself, and it became notorious as the centre of reiver violence . . . But Robb, like a conjuror, gradually shows us the Debatable Land as something else . . . his exploration of its history is punctuated by some terrific nature writing * Observer *It’s a book worth reading . . . it contains several glories, much fine writing and the odd (very odd) wonder. -- Andrew Marr * Sunday Times *This is a book written as much on the road as in the library . . . Robb’s book is both a scholarly work of revisionism and an entertaining read . . . One of the pleasures of this book is to watch Robb, like a frontier dodging reiver, slip between past and present, between manuscript and moor, between battlefield site and the 127 bus -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph *Diverting asides animate Robb’s revelatory account of this oft-overlooked and understudied part of the United Kingdom . . . The Debatable Land ends with a brace of discoveries. The first is a key to understanding Ptolemy’s second-century map of Britain, hitherto thought inaccurate, which will surely be invaluable to future historians. The second is the earliest account told from a British point of view of a major battle in these islands. This is all fascinating. -- Alan Taylor * Literary Review *Graham Robb, apart from being a distinguished historian, biographer and literary critic, is one of our most accomplished travel writers . . . he bicycles with the speed and ferocity of a Scottish reiver through these lost flatlands of history -- Hugh Thomson * Spectator *An original and surprising book . . . he ranges with admirable ease over the centuries . . . Robb doesn’t move far from his new home, yet this is a travel book, with a journey in time as well as space . . . the twists and turns of imagined and reimagined history brood over this richly wonderful book -- Allan Massie * The Oldie *Travelogue, history and elucidation, this book is one of timely exploration. Going backwards, it goes forwards and there are many felicities along the way . . . The Debatable Land has excellent illustrations and indices. Elegant and with learning lightly worn, it is, in every respect, an exemplary and topical book, a perfect paradigm of its kind. -- Ross Leckie * Country Life *Innovative methodology, rejection of mythology, precise expression . . . such a wonderful book -- Harry McGrath * Scottish Review of Books *It is three-parts history (as you would expect of Robb’s historical pedigree) and one-part nature writing. A vision of a marginal place (or at least marginal to the urban centres, not to itself of course) through time, written against a backdrop of both the 2014 independence referendum and the 2016 Brexit vote -- Teddy Jamieson * Herald (Scotland) *Rising from this roving, poetic account, which dips in and out of memoir, anecdote and history, is a sense of loosely documented but fierce regional drama . . . Throughout, Robb unpicks ballads and legends – the stuff of old propaganda – with a warm but pleasingly sceptical approach. His search throws up surprises. Reading this book at times resembles a ramble through richly tangled terrain with a guide who is joyously diverted by discovery . . . Its paths deserve to be retaken slowly, chapter by chapter – but the walk is always worthwhile. -- Jenny McCartney * Mail on Sunday *This story is packed with enough mystery, violence, romance, and personal discovery to satisfy any fan of Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, or — for that matter—Bill Bryson . . . Both timely and timeless. * Village Voice *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: List of Figures Section - iii: A Guide to Pronunciation Unit - 1: PART ONE Chapter - 1: Hidden Places Chapter - 2: Outpost Chapter - 3: Panic Button Chapter - 4: The True and Ancient Border Chapter - 5: ‘The Sewer of Abandoned Men’ Chapter - 6: Mouldywarp Chapter - 7: Beachcombing Unit - 2: PART TWO Chapter - 8: Blind Roads Chapter - 9: Harrowed Chapter - 10: ‘Loveable Custumis’ Chapter - 11: Accelerated Transhumance Chapter - 12: Skurrlywarble Chapter - 13: Exploratores Chapter - 14: Windy Edge Chapter - 15: ‘In Tymis Bigane’ Unit - 3: PART THREE Chapter - 16: 'Stob and Staik’ Chapter - 17: ‘Rube, Burne, Spoyll, Slaye, Murder annd Destrewe’ Chapter - 18: The Final Partition Chapter - 19: Hector of ye Harlawe Chapter - 20: Scrope Chapter - 21: Tarras Moss Chapter - 22: ‘A Factious and Naughty People’ Chapter - 23: Silence Unit - 4: PART FOUR Chapter - 24: Graticules Chapter - 25: The Kingdom of Selgovia Chapter - 26: ‘Arthur’ Chapter - 27: The Great Caledonian Invasion Chapter - 28: Polling Stations Chapter - 29: No Man’s Land Chapter - 30: The River Section - iv: Appendix Section - v: Chronology Section - vi: Notes Section - vii: Works Cited Index - viii: General Index Index - ix: Geographical Index Acknowledgements - x: Acknowledgements

Read more less

Book SynopsisExam board: AQA; OCRLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians

Read more less

Book SynopsisA New York Review Books Original   Victor Serge is one of the great men of the 20th century —and one of its great writers too. He was an anarchist, an agitator, a revolutionary, an exile, a historian of his times, as well as a brilliant novelist, and in Memoirs of a Revolutionary he devotes all his passion and genius to describing this extraordinary—and exemplary—career. Serge tells of his upbringing among exiles and conspirators, of his involvement with the notorious Bonnot Gang and his years in prison, of his role in the Russian Revolution, and of the Revolution’s collapse into despotism and terror. Expelled from the Soviet Union, Serge went to Paris, where he evaded the KGB and the Nazis before fleeing to Mexico. Memoirs of a Revolutionary recounts a thrilling life on the front lines of history and includes vivid portraits not only of Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin but of countless other figures who struggled to remake the world.    Peter Sedgwick’s fine translation of Memoirs of a Revolutionary was abridged when first published in 1963. This is the first edition in English to present the entirety of Serge’s book.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the daily life of slaves and citizens to the importance of sport and Olympic Games, this is an absorbing account of every aspect of Greek society. Discover the glory that was Greece and how the people of Athens and Sparta lived and worked during this cultural peak of world history. Explore the myths and legends and the revolutionary innovations by Euclid, Ptolemy and Archimedes in technology, medicine and science.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ONSIDE NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 The islands off the coast of Ireland have long been a source of fascination. Seen as repositories of an ancient Irish culture and the epitome of Irish romanticism, they have attracted generations of scholars, artists and filmmakers, from James Joyce to Robert O'Flaherty, looking for a way of life uncontaminated by modernity or materialism. But the reality for islanders has been a lot more complex. They faced poverty, hardship and official hostility, even while being expected to preserve an ancient culture and way of life. Writing in her 1936 autobiography, Peig Sayers, resident of Blaskets island, described it as 'this dreadful rock'. In 1841, there were 211 inhabited islands with a combined population of 38,000; by 2011, only 64 islands were inhabited, with a total population of 8,500. And younger generations continue to leave. By documenting the island experiences and the social, cultural and political reaction to them over the last 100 years, On the Edge examines why this exodus has happened, and the gulf between the rhetoric that elevated island life and the reality of the political hostility towards them.It uncovers, through state and private archives, personal memoirs, newspaper coverage, and the author's personal travels, the realities behind the "dreadful rocks", and the significance of the experiences of, and reactions to, those who were and remain, literally, on the very edge of European civilisation.Trade ReviewOn the Edge is a superb book, painstakingly researched and brilliantly written. * Irish Examiner *Ferriter skilfully poses big questions with the small stories of small places * Irish Times *...packed with intriguing analysis and historical detail * Irish Independent *This timely book is a good a place as any to start an important debate * Sunday Independent *Ferriter's unique book abut Ireland's offshore islands, is a treasure trove of new research on the economies, cultures, survival strategies, evacuations and extraordinary people who inhabited places held up to us as the cradle of Gaelic civilisation. -- Catriona Crowe * Irish Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe medieval city of Ypres will forever be associated with the Great War, especially by the British. From 1914 to 1918 it was the key strongpoint in the northern sector of the Western Front, and the epic story of its defence has taken on almost legendary status. The city and the surrounding battlefields are also among the most visited sites on the Western Front, and Paul Reed's walking guide is an essential travelling companion for anyone who is eager to explore them either on foot, by bike or by car. His classic book, first published as Walking the Salient over ten years ago, is the result of a lifetime's research into the battles for Ypres and the Flemish landscape over which they were fought. He guides the walker to all the key locations - Ypres itself, Yser, Sanctuary Wood, Bellewaarde Ridge, Zillebeke, Hill 60, Passchendaele, Messines, Kemmel and Ploegsteert are all covered. There are walks to notable sites behind the lines, around Poperinghe, Vlamertinghe and Brandhoek. And, for this second edition which he has revised, updated and expanded, he has provided new photographs and included two entirely new walks covering the Langemarck and Potijze areas.Walking Ypres brings the visitor not only to the places where the armies clashed but to the landscape of monuments, cemeteries and villages that make the Ypres battlefields among the most memorable sites of the Great War.

Read more less

Book Synopsis"Everyone should have two copies - one for the car and one for the house to plan journeys. . . a reminder to think more about the places you pass and less about your route, because every British journey is through rich history." (Edward Stourton)From much-loved historian Neil Oliver, comes this beautifully written, kaleidoscopic history of a place with a story like no other.The British Isles, this archipelago of islands, is to Neil Oliver the best place in the world. From north to south, east to west it cradles astonishing beauty. The human story here is a million years old, and counting. But the tolerant, easygoing peace we enjoy has been hard won. We have made and known the best and worst of times. We have been hero and villain and all else in between, and we have learned some lessons.The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places is Neil’s very personal account of what makes these islands so special, told through the places that have witnessed the unfolding of our history. Beginning with footprints made in the sand by humankind’s earliest ancestors, he takes us via Romans and Vikings, the flowering of religion, through civil war, industrial revolution and two world wars. From windswept headlands to battlefields, ancient trees to magnificent cathedrals, each of his destinations is a place where, somehow, the spirit of the past seems to linger.Trade ReviewA collection of highly crafted historical-archaeological microessays, each centred on a significant place in Britain or Ireland. Few popular history books are as pleasingly tactile as this one..a vivid, pungent history * TLS *This book brilliantly demonstrates Neil's mastery of the broad sweep of British history and landscape.In his introduction Neil Oliver calls the British ‘a lucky, blessed people’, and his book holds up a mirror to that national self-image. Oliver’s timeline journey travels from prehistoric footprints off the Norfolk coast to the Ozymandias folly of the Millennium Dome, from a tiny, exquisite jewel crafted for King Alfred the Great to great enigmatic stone forts in the West of Ireland that are being eaten by the sea. Stories we have been telling ourselves for thousands of years are falling on deaf ears or being forgotten, says Oliver. Here in a hundred fascinating doses is the antidote to that millennial malaise.Neil Oliver brings his vast experience and expertise to bear on this deeply personal journey into British history - a wonderful read.A book of compelling stories. * Mail on Sunday *

Read more less

Book Synopsis**A TIMES, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, SPECTATOR, THE CRITIC, MAIL ON SUNDAY, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR**'A gifted narrative historian, eloquent, graceful and witty; the stories she tells are the ones we all should know' Hilary MantelIt was a time of climate change and colonialism, puritans and populism, witch hunts and war . . .This is the story of a home that became a warzone. Basing House in Hampshire saw one of the longest and bloodiest sieges of the English Civil War. Defended for over two years by artists and aristocrats, actors and apothecaries, women and children, it became a symbol of royalist defiance and a microcosm of the wider conflict.Drawing on unpublished manuscripts and the voices of dozens of soldiers and civilians, award-winning historian Jessie Childs weaves a thrilling tale of war and peace, terror and faith, savagery and civilization.__________'Extraordinary, thrilling, immersive ... at times almost Tolstoyan in its emotional intelligence and literary power' Simon Schama'Compellingly readable... [a] beautifully written and lucid account' Mail on Sunday'Brilliant. Original. Gripping.' Antonia Fraser'Beautifully written and gripping from first page to last. A sparkling book by one of the UK's finest historians' Peter Frankopan'The Siege of Loyalty House is not only deeply researched. Childs has composed a wonderfully poetic narrative and adds a touch of the gothic' The Times'Successfully brings the ghastliness of the period to life, dramatically, vividly and with pathos' Charles Spencer, SpectatorTrade ReviewAtmospheric, unflinching and...exquisitely witty * Guardian, *Books of the Year* *This is war as it should be, passionate, brutal, bloody and chaotic, all described in luscious, evocative prose * The Times, *Books of the Year* *Jessie Childs is one of the finest historians working today; her illuminating, deeply researched, and beautifully written books are never anything short of superlative, and here she does it again. This is a vivid, thrilling story, rendered in delicious prose and brilliant with gems dug from the archives -- Suzannah LipscombA gripping account of the agony at Basing... Characters step off the page... The prose sparkles... Childs's book conveys the raw emotion of events, especially the trauma of the siege itself... In her aim 'to recover the shock of that experience and to look upon the face of the war' Childs could be describing the trenches of Ypres or Bakhmut or the sieges of Leningrad or Mariupol -- Malcolm Gaskill * London Review of Books *Compelling... Childs reveals brilliantly the world of the Civil War in the grain of sand that is Basing House. She captures the horror, the courage, the sheer humanity of those, both besiegers and besieged, who endured the long, desperate lulls punctuated by intense episodes of visceral violence * Daily Telegraph *The Siege of Loyalty House... enriches the packed civil war bookshelf with this elegantly written, close-focus history of a place whose ordeals epitomised the pain of a struggle that tore homes, clans, trades, and souls apart * Financial Times *A spectacular work of scholarship, this is epic, vital history, sweeping from the great trends and ideas of the time to the individual details of vividly lived lives. This brilliant book takes you into the heart of the Civil War, the brutal struggle for the sympathies of a country, the men who fought, women who tried to survive; this is blood, desire and struggle on the page, taking you deep into the seventeenth century world; you can feel its beating heart -- Kate WilliamsCompellingly readable... [a] beautifully written and lucid account * Mail on Sunday *A thrilling account of Basing House, a royalist stronghold during the English Civil War nicknamed 'Loyalty' and the sieges it withstood until its fall to Oliver Cromwell in 1645 * New York Times *Riveting... The breaking of such lives and communities makes poignant reading... [Childs's] focus is local and English, but the story is human and timeless * Economist *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new and definitive account of the German invasion of Poland that initiated WWII in 1939, written by a historian at the height of his abilities.'Deeply researched, very well-written... This book will be the standard work on the subject for many years to come' - Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyThe Polish campaign is the forgotten story of the Second World War.The war began on 1 September 1939, when German tanks, trucks and infantry crossed the Polish border, and the Luftwaffe began bombing Poland's towns and cities. The Polish army fought bravely but could not withstand the concentrated attack. When the Red Army invaded from the east, the country's fate was sealed.This is the first history of the Polish war for almost half a century. Drawing on letters, memoirs and diaries from all sides, Roger Moorhouse's dramatic account of the military events is entwined with a human story of courage and suffering, and a dark tale of diplomatic betrayal.'Important... Moorhouse has a wonderful knack for reminding us about the parts of the Second World War that we are in danger of forgetting' Dan Snow** Shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History 2020 **Trade ReviewWe tend to overlook “the war that Hitler won”, but Roger Moorhouse brilliantly underlines its crucial importance for the future course of the Second World War. This deeply researched, very well-written and penetrating book will be the standard work on the subject for many years to come -- Andrew Roberts, author of ‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny’[A] chilling, indignant narrative… Moorhouse has expertly laid bare…[the] truth -- Roger Boyes * The Times *Moorhouse’s book remedies that gap [in history of The Polish War], weaving together archival material, first-hand accounts, perceptive analysis and heartbreaking descriptions of Poland’s betrayal, defeat and dismemberment * Economist *[A] fascinating book… Moorhouse has mastered a large body of material… this is…a very valuable book, as it gathers a mass of detail into a lucid narrative for general readers -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *An important book. Roger Moorhouse has a wonderful knack of reminding us about the parts of the Second World War that we are in danger of forgetting -- Dan Snow

Read more less

Book SynopsisHenrik Meinander paints a brisk and bold picture of the history of Finland from integrated part of the Swedish kingdom to autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian empire, gradually transformed and maturing into a conscious nation, independent state and skilful adapter of modern technology. The main geographical context for his study is the Baltic region, and the author links his analysis to structural developments and turning points in European history. The book blends politics, economy and culture to show how human and natural resources in Finland have been utilized and the impact its cultural heritage and technological innovation have had on its development. In a departure from most conventional approaches, Meinander gives greater emphasis to recent and contemporary events. In other words, he puts Finland into a range of historical contexts in its Baltic and European settings to highlight how both together have formed Finland into what it is at the beginning of the twenty-first century.Trade Reviewa thoughtful and eminently readable volume. Meinander gives readers an opportunity to look back in an unusually nuanced and informed manner. -- Andrew Newby, English Historical ReviewAn excellent counterpoint to David Kirby's A Concise History of Finland, this volume goes well beyond the chiefly political analysis that informs Kirby's survey and includes substantial information on literary, philosophical, musical, linguistic, pedagogical and general cultural topics, providing a deeper and more nuanced overview of the Finns from prehistoric times to the present. Concentrating on the early modern period to the present, the author gives outstanding summaries of the events and issues during the Swedish and Russian dominions and provides an excellent account of the postindependence decades. Meinander supplies an evenhanded, thoughtful analysis of the civil war and its aftermath, leading into a frank, insightful review of the Winter War, the Continuation War, and the Lapland War, which brought WWII to an end in Finland. He also advances convincing arguments for Finland's Cold War foreign policy and for its postwar economic successes, including its integration into the European Union and its cooperation with NATO. Written in a clear, concise style, the book contains numerous high-quality illustrations as well as a valuable if brief bibliography. If a library can have only one book on modern Finnish history, this is the one. * CHOICE, Outstanding Academic Title *Neither publisher nor author was lacking self-confidence when they decided to produce this survey of Finnish history. Meinander is a master of elegant compression and writes with precision and subtlety. The result is a genuinely entertaining read. -- Jukka Tarkka, Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki'A History of Finland' is an extraordinarily readable and well-balanced book. Meinander's clarity of vision has placed Finland in a Nordic and European perspective as well as skilfully weaving political, economic and cultural developments into an integral whole. -- Lennart Berntson, Svenska Dagbladet, StockholmMeinander has managed to blend everything into his presentation, from the Ice Age to the NATO question. The style is elegant but at the same time so full of substance that the reader is both drawn along by the text and continually surprised by the impact the choice of a few particular words can have on the overall picture. -- Jari-Pekka Vuorela, Aamulehti, TampereMeinander is scholarly, analytical and a gifted stylist. He draws conclusions without being contentious. His 'History of Finland' is never rigid or overstated and is permeated with a scholarship and delight in words which makes for a pleasurable and intellectual adventure. This is no argumentative attempt to be different - yet the fact that it is shows the book's scope and intellectual strength. -- Birger Tholix, Vasabladet, Vaasa

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is almost one hundred years since the Sam Maguire Cup was first awarded to the winner of the All-Ireland Football Championship, the pinnacle of sporting ambition for generations of Gaelic footballers. Here, we celebrate all the heartbreak and glory of the first fifty years of its history. A must' for every GAA enthusiast.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAccording to legend, the English landscape – so calm on the surface – is really the Devil’s work. Cloven Country, now in paperback, tells of rocks hurled into place and valleys carved out by infernal labour. The Devil’s hideous strength laid down great roads in one night, and left scars everywhere as the hard stone melted like wax under those burning feet. With roots in medieval folklore, this is not the Satan of prayer, but a clumsy ogre, easily fooled by humankind. When a smart cobbler or cunning young wife outwitted him, they struck a blow for the underdog. Only the wicked squire and grasping merchant were beyond redemption, carried off by a black huntsman in the storm.Trade Review'Harte – a curator at Bourne Hall Museum in Surrey – has an encyclopedic knowledge of the diverse sources of England’s traditional tales and proves himself to be an authoritative guide . . . From the demon who appears as a fearsome figure hurling stones, gouging out valleys and heaping up hills, or as a sinister black-clad huntsman with his fiery-eyed hounds howling across Bodmin Moor, to ideas about how a woman’s wit is better than a man’s when it comes to besting the lord of darkness, Harte takes his reader on a devilishly entertaining tour of England and its richly storied landscape.' – The Guardian; '[a] fascinating study . . . In Cloven Country, Harte sets out to discover why the “Devil” appears in so many of our place names, and so many of the accompanying tales and folklore. Along the way it becomes an invaluable guide to some of our more puzzling local oddities . . . It all makes for a highly evocative and original guide to our ever-fascinating, multilayered landscape, so full of shadowy mysteries and stories.' – Sunday Times; 'With so much folklore resting on oral tradition, in which old cycles of storytelling disappear with the breath used to speak them, to be lost beyond recall, it is heartening to have authorities like Jeremy Harte tethering them to the record with books like this. Especially when it makes for such a wickedly good read.' – Literary Review; 'Although [Harte] will retell a tale with a nimble and gleeful charm, he’ll then carefully examine them. Harte's skill as a writer makes this process seamless. It also renders what could be an academic and slightly dry exercise every bit as interesting as the narratives themselves. Come for the telling of folktales; stay for the workings of folklore. Cloven Country is testament to Harte's deep personal and learned knowledge of the folklore of England. He’s seemingly read everything and been everywhere – and given the book is illustrated from his collection, clearly also bought the postcard. His writing style is wry and frequently aphoristic. Harte is one of Britain's most eminent folklorists, whose previous works have included detailed accounts of gypsy folklore, holy wells and an award-winning book on fairy traditions. As Cloven Country is coming from a more recognised publisher, hopefully his work will now reach a wider audience. Purely on the basis of this erudite, witty and exceptionally entertaining book, it clearly deserves to.' – Ross MacFarlane, Fortean Times; 'This is my favourite book of the year so far. It is immaculately researched, superbly written and – like all Jeremy Harte’s work – genuinely breaks new ground in folklore studies. Only somebody with his breadth of knowledge, not only of the lore but of related fields of history, myth and literature, could have done as well.' – Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol, and author of Pagan Britain; 'Jeremy Harte has woven together a rich and wildly entertaining romp through the Devil-pocked English landscape. It is hard not to feel more than a little sympathy, given the amount of times the Devil seems to have been outwitted by all and sundry, but then he must be content in the knowledge that his efforts to disrupt have led to him being memorialised across the UK, in the form of dykes, tors, bridges, cauldrons and punchbowls.' – Simon Costin, director of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic and founder of the Museum of British Folklore; 'Engagingly written and with a fitting pinch of mischief, Cloven Country is both erudite and entertaining. Jeremy Harte is one of the country’s leading folklorists and behind his relish for telling tales lies a deep understanding of how devil legends formed in our landscape. Equally delightful to read in a comfy chair or out in the field searching for the many sites he explores.' – Owen Davies, Professor in History, University of Hertfordshire, and president of the Folklore Society; 'This is a damnably good book, thanks largely to Harte's wit and erudition and ability to take folk tales at more than face value, and tease out inferences that would be opaque in a less insightful writer's hands.' – John Billingsley, Northern Earth; 'Cloven Country is an extensive and well-rounded exploration of the image of the Devil as reflected in the English landscape and folklore record, penned in Harte's inimitable clever and witty style. Although rigorously academic, you always feel like you have sat down for a pint with Jeremy, probably in a pub named after one of the Devil's exploits, whilst being regaled with tales. Pull a chair up to the fire, get yourself a drink and a copy of Cloven Country . . . You will not be disappointed.' – Mark Norman, The Folklore Podcast"Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 His Work Undone: The Devil’s Ambitious Projects Fail 2 Down Tumbled the Stones: Landscapes Shaped by the Devil’s Hand 3 Have at Thee! Churches Shifted, Targeted and Raided by the Devil 4 There Stood the Stranger: Rash Deals and Binding Promises with the Devil 5 Off in a Sheet of Flame: Fighting the Devil and Escaping His Clutches 6 Neither Inside nor Outside: Raising the Devil and Laying Him Afterwards 7 Woman’s Wit Is Better than Man’s: Maidens and Mothers Beat the Devil 8 Amid the Shrieking of the Storm: The Devil Appears to Carry off Sinners 9 To Chase Forever: The Devil Is a Huntsman, and Souls Are His Prey References Bibliography Photo Acknowledgements Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new look at a revolutionary writer, a diverse imperial city, and a controversial trick on the Royal Navy. In February 1910, the future Virginia Woolf played the most famous practical joke in British military history. Blackening her face and masquerading as an Abyssinian prince, the young writer and her friends conned their way onto HMS Dreadnought, the Empire’s most powerful battleship. The stunt made headlines around the world, embarrassed the Admiralty, and provoked debate in Parliament. But who was the ‘girl prince’ unidentified at the time, and what was she doing there? The Girl Prince intertwines three fascinating stories: a scandalous prank and its afterlife; Woolf’s ideas about race and empire; and the actual lived experience of Black people in Edwardian Britain, from real princes to Caribbean writers and South African activists. Using letters, diaries, reporting and newly discovered archives, Danell Jones describes an extraordinary chain of events, exploring why a boundary-pushing novelist once pulled a bigoted blackface prank, and what it tells us—about Woolf’s Britain and Woolf’s work. This is a tantalisingly fresh take on an iconic writer and her deeply problematic stunt.Trade Review'[A] kaleidoscopic study … [Jones’s] thorough overview of the hoax and its afterlives presents a unique window onto the early 20th-century British empire.' -- Publishers Weekly‘Jones introduces many of the extraordinary Black individuals’ resident in the U.K. at the time, including in Woolf’s Bloomsbury, some of whom would go on to play crucial roles in the dismantling of Empire (arguably still ongoing).’ -- The New York Journal Review of Books‘A fascinating, unnerving, and enlightening perspective on a transformative writer and the society that forged her sensibility, radical creativity, and despair.’ -- Booklist‘The Girl Prince is at its most interesting when Jones draws in the contemporary experiences of black people in Britain.’ -- Literary Review'Deeply researched and marvellously written, this is the book about Bloomsbury and the Dreadnought Hoax that we've been waiting for. Jones gives an essential racial and historical context for the event and its aftermath, which continues to this day.' -- Gretchen Gerzina, author of 'Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History''An enlightening and insightful book that keeps you reading.' -- Remi Adekoya, author of 'Biracial Britain''An enthralling book. Danell Jones at last provides the nuanced context and deep historical research so often lacking in commentary on this infamous incident.' -- Mark Hussey, author of 'Virginia Woolf A–Z' and 'Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism'

Read more less

Book SynopsisIrish identity is best understood from a maritime perspective. For eight millennia the island has been a haven for explorers, settlers, colonists, navigators, pirates and traders, absorbing goods and peoples from all points of the compass. The reduction of the islanders to the exclusive category ‘Celtic’ has persisted for three hundred years, and is here rejected as impossibly narrow. No classical author ever described Ireland’s inhabitants as ‘Celts’, and neither did the Irish so describe themselves until recent times. The islanders’ sea-girt culture has been crucially shaped by Middle Eastern as well as by European civilizations, by an Islamic heritage as well as a Christian one. The Irish language itself has antique roots extended over thousands of years’ trading up and down the Atlantic seaways. Over the past twenty years Bob Quinn has traced archaeological, linguistic, religious and economic connections from Egypt to Arann, from Morocco to Newgrange, from Cairo and Compostela to Carraroe. Taking Conamara sean-nos singing and its Arabic equivalents, and a North African linguistic stratum under the Irish tongue, Quinn marshalls evidence from field archaeology, boat-types, manuscript illuminations, weaving patterns, mythology, literature, art and artefacts to support a challenging thesis that cites, among other recent studies of the Irish genome, new mitochondrial DNA analysis in the Atlantic zone from north Iberia to west Scandinavia. The Atlantean Irish is a sumptuously illustrated, exciting, intervention in Irish cultural history. Forcefully debated, and wholly persuasive, it opens up a past beyond Europe, linking Orient to Occident. What began as a personal quest-narrative becomes a category-dissolving intellectual adventure of universal significance. It is a book whose time has arrived.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis long-awaited book will be the only full history of Halifax available, and it will almost certainly never be bettered. The town has a wonderfully rich and interesting past, celebrated and enhanced by recent developments, all covered in A History of Halifax. Whether the book is bought as a treat for self or as a gift, it will inform and delight in equal measure. All new edition, fully up to date and enlargedTable of ContentsList of Tables Series Editor’s foreword to the first edition Preface and acknowledgements to the first edition Preface and acknowledgements to the second edition Preface and acknowledgements to the third edition 1 Introduction: geography and environment 2 A Pennine backwater: Halifax before 1500 Prehistory from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age From the Iron Age to the Roman Conquest Britons, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and the Normans Medieval Halifax 3 ‘The inhabitants do altogether live by cloth making’: Halifax and its hinterland, 1500–1750 Halifax and the regional economy Social structure, occupations and living standards Religion and politics Local government Social welfare, education and culture ‘A pretty well-built town of stone’ 4 ‘An astonishing trading town’: Halifax in the age of industrial expansion, 1750–1850 Commercial and industrial expansion Social structure, occupations and living standards Religion and politics Local government ‘A large smoke-canopied commercial town’ 5 ‘Town of a hundred trades’: Victorian and Edwardian Halifax, 1851–1914 The economy: industrial diversification and the service sector Social geography Politics: Chartists, Liberals, Labour and the Suffragettes The provision of local services Culture: religion and recreation ‘Restless Renaissance city’ 6 Halifax at War and Peace, 1914–45 Wars Population The economy: boom, bust and restructuring Local government Local politics Culture: religion and recreation ‘Black Halifax boiled in phosphorus’ 7 Post-War Halifax: from County Borough to Metropolitan Borough, 1946–2018 Population Employment and industry: the decline of manufacturing and the growth of the service sector Local government Local politics Religious, social and cultural life ‘A town full of character and hidden beauty’ Notes Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover and explore Britain's extraordinary history through its most beautiful lost ruins. From crag-top castles to crumbling houses lost in ancient forest, and ivy-encrusted relics of industry to sacred places long since over-grown.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first academic history of the FA England women’s national football team. Based on unprecedented access to FA data, it details the careers of the 227 women who debuted for England from 1972 to 2022. England won the UEFA Women’s Euros in 2022, and Jean worked with Sarina Wiegman and the squad, on the Legendary Lionesses from 1972.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction England Women in a New Era—The 1960s.- Chapter 2. First Eleven: From Unofficial to Official.- Chapter 3. New Horizons for a New England: Thomas, Bampton, Coultard, Davis, Reagan.- Chapter 4. The Hope Powell Era, Mary Phillip, and the Kelly Smith Effect.- Chapter 5. From Mark Sampson to Sarina./

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisNow with a new chapter.The official inside story of the life, death and remarkable discovery of history's most controversial monarch.On 22 August 1485 Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field, the last king of England to die in battle. His victorious opponent, Henry Tudor (the future Henry VII), went on to found one of our most famous ruling dynasties. Richard's body was displayed in undignified fashion for two days in nearby Leicester and then hurriedly buried in the church of the Greyfriars. Fifty years later, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the king's grave was lost - its contents believed to be emptied into the river Soar and Richard III's reputation buried under a mound of Tudor propaganda. Its culmination was Shakespeare's compelling portrayal of a deformed and murderous villain, written over a hundred years after Richard's death. Now - in an incredible find - Richard III's remains have been uncovered beneath a car park in Leicester. The King's Grave traces this remarkable journey. In alternate chapters, Philippa Langley, whose years of research and belief that she would find Richard in this exact spot inspired the project, reveals the inside story of the search for the king's grave, and historian Michael Jones tells of Richard's fifteenth-century life and death. The result is a compelling portrayal of one of our greatest archaeological discoveries, allowing a complete re-evaluation of our most controversial monarch - one that discards the distortions of later Tudor histories and puts the man firmly back into the context of his times.Trade ReviewIn almost the exact spot where Langley had first become convinced she was standing on top of Richard's grave, a careful flick of a trowel revealed the leg bone of what would turn out to be the remains of the king, complete with the twisted, scoliosis spine so compellingly placed centre stage by Shakespeare. Now the remarkable story of King Richard's life and death - and the amazing journey of the intuitive woman who never gave up believing that she would one day find his body - has been brought together in this fascinating and informative book * Lancashire Evening Post *A history-making book which I had trouble putting down * Historical Novel Society *It is being called once of the most significant finds in archaeological history, shedding light on a king's last resting place and solving a 500-year old mystery over his death -- Daily TelegraphArchaeologists described the find as one of the most significant 'in recent times' and said history books will be rewritten -- Daily MailJones's historical chapters are measured, reasonable and elegantly written -- Sunday Times[Philippa Langley] has just written a compelling book with historian and friend Michael Jones . . . It is cleverly constructed: in alternate chapters she tells the story of her quest, while Michael details the life of Richard colourfully. It reads like an up-all-night thriller -- Mail on SundayThis is the year that Richard III rose up from his unmarked grave in a Leicester car park, and this is the book that describes the painstaking quest for the king's body, and the battle that destroyed him. Philippa Langley pursued his remains, Michael Jones pursued his reputation and together they have written a book which explains and defines the battle where he died, the grave that was lost, and the legend that followed him. This book is about an important excavation indeed, of the body from a lost grave, and of a king from a long libel -- Philippa GregoryThe King's Grave . . . reveals the remarkable story of how the remains came to be unearthed. And the result is a compelling portrayal of one of this century's most important archaeological discoveries -- BBC History MagazineHistory at its most fascinating -- Books Monthly magazine[A] page-turner -- Current ArchaeologyLangley's invaluable contribution to the investigation is undisputed; she envisioned, facilitated and drove it for years. Her confidential, breathy, diary-style chapters recreate the immediacy of the dig for the reader . . . The Search for Richard III makes for compelling reading -- TLSInteresting [and] engaging -- Daily ExpressThe King's Grave tells two remarkable stories in alternating chapters -- Wall Street JournalFascinating -- BooksellerJones's cogent and nuanced narrative provides the historical ballast to Langley's search -- GuardianJones's historical chapters are measured, reasonable and elegantly written * Sunday Times *[Philippa Langley] has just written a compelling book with historian and friend Michael Jones . . . It is cleverly constructed: in alternate chapters she tells the story of her quest, while Michael details the life of Richard colourfully. It reads like an up-all-night thriller * Mail on Sunday *This is the year that Richard III rose up from his unmarked grave in a Leicester car park, and this is the book that describes the painstaking quest for the king's body, and the battle that destroyed him. Philippa Langley pursued his remains, Michael Jones pursued his reputation and together they have written a book which explains and defines the battle where he died, the grave that was lost, and the legend that followed him. This book is about an important excavation indeed, of the body from a lost grave, and of a king from a long libel * Philippa Gregory *The King's Grave . . . reveals the remarkable story of how the remains came to be unearthed. And the result is a compelling portrayal of one of this century's most important archaeological discoveries * BBC History Magazine *History at its most fascinating * www.booksmonthly.co.uk/nonfic.html *A . . . page-turner * Current Archaeology *Langley's invaluable contribution to the investigation is undisputed; she envisioned, facilitated and drove it for years. Her confidential, breathy, diary-style chapters recreate the immediacy of the dig for the reader . . . The Search for Richard III makes for compelling reading * TLS *Jones's cogent and nuanced narrative provides the historical ballast to Langley's search * Guardian *Interesting [and] engaging * Daily Express *The King's Grave tells two remarkable stories in alternating chapters * Wall Street Journal *Fascinating * Bookseller *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Sunday Times bestseller (May 2023) - the incredible story of courage, resilience and survival. 'I am a survivor. That comes with a survivor's obligation to represent one and half million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis. They cannot speak. So I must speak on their behalf.' Tova Friedman was one of the youngest people to emerge from Auschwitz. After surviving the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Central Poland where she lived as a toddler, Tova was four when she and her parents were sent to a Nazi labour camp, and almost six when she and her mother were forced into a packed cattle truck and sent to Auschwitz II, also known as the Birkenau extermination camp, while her father was transported to Dachau. During six months of incarceration in Birkenau, Tova witnessed atrocities that she could never forget, and experienced numerous escapes from death. She is one of a handful of Jews to have entered a gas chamber and lived to tell the tale. As Nazi killing squads roamed Birkenau before abandoning the camp in January 1945, Tova and her mother hid among corpses. After being liberated by the Russians they made their way back to their hometown in Poland. Eventually Tova's father tracked them down and the family was reunited.In The Daughter of Auschwitz, Tova immortalizes what she saw, to keep the story of the Holocaust alive, at a time when it's in danger of fading from memory. She has used those memories that have shaped her life to honour the victims. Written with award-winning former war reporter Malcolm Brabant, this is an extremely important book. Brabant's meticulous research has helped Tova recall her experiences in searing detail. Together they have painstakingly recreated Tova's extraordinary story about the world's worst ever crime.(P) 2022 Quercus Editions LimitedTrade ReviewEvery so often a book arrives that demands to be read. This is such a book. It should be compulsory reading for those who know little of one of humanity's greatest crimes and the awe-inspiring bravery of those like Tova Friedman who survived to tell their story. But also for those who think of the Holocaust as ancient history. It is not. It is an eternal reminder that evil needs only ignorance to flourish. That is the true value of this remarkable book * John Humphrys *Tova Friedman's vividly written and compelling story serves as proof that after suffering unimaginable cruelty and trauma, it is still possible to forge a life. This unforgettable book not only ensures we remember the horrors of the Holocaust, but can see the dangers of anti-semitism and other forms of racism today * Lindsey Hilsum *An unforgettable and deeply moving story. Malcolm Brabant brilliantly evokes the world of the ghetto and of Auschwitz through the eyes of Tova Friedman, a small child who survived the brutality of the Holocaust * Jeremy Bowen *I read this book with gratitude and urgency. Gratitude for the courage Tova Friedman has shown in deciding to share her story. We are all the beneficiaries of such powerful witness. The urgency comes from the knowledge that as time marches on such vivid voices are becoming increasingly rare. Read this book, cherish the lessons. It is a book rooted in the terrible events of another time, but the truths it reveals are eternal * Fergal Keane *Tova Friedman is telling her story for a reason, and that's clear in every page. It is a surprising and moving book which makes you furious, and I suspect that's what she wants -- Krishnan Guru-Murthy * Channel 4 News *[A] harrowing and lyrical memoir * Sunday Independent *An absolutely riveting book - please read it -- Judy Woodruff * PBS Newshour *A truly remarkable book -- Christine Lampard * Lorraine *Heart-breaking and powerful reading * History Revealed *In this vivid account, [Tova's] harrowing memories are brought to life with meticulous research from war reporter Malcolm Brabant. This result is a poignant, extraordinarily powerful book * Woman's Own *The combination [of authors] ... has turned into gold, as Brabant unerringly provides accurate research to support Friedman's callow memories. This is the real thing, the horrors of the Holocaust brought shudderingly to life, and all from the point of view of a small child who could barely read or recognise numbers. * Jewish Chronicle *Friedman is unflinching in choosing to reveal the trauma of her childhood and enlist the reader in her struggle to ensure that it can never be forgotten, and in the hope that it will never happen again. * Church Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisKnown by the Greeks as 'Megalonisos', the 'Great Island', Crete has been of paramount strategic importance for thousands of years thanks to its location close to the junction of three continents and the heart of the eastern Mediterranean. The island has been ruled for much of its history by foreign invaders - Mycenaeans, Dorians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians, Ottoman Turks and, briefly, the Third Reich - and thus much of its past has revolved around how the Cretans themselves, fierce lovers of freedom, have interacted with their conquerors and the influence of foreign rule on their culture. Two periods at either end of these three thousand years of domination form an intriguing contrast: the dazzling apogee of the Minoan civilisation and the brief period of autonomy before union with Greece at the beginning of the twentieth century. Moorey has written an engaging and lively account of Crete from the Stone Age to the present day.Trade Review"...a fascinating journey through Cretan history, from its mythological past to its tourist-crowded present" - Mick Reed, Historian; 'Splendid stuff!' - Richard Lofthouse, Oxford University Quad MagazineTable of ContentsKnown by the Greeks as 'Megalonisos' - the 'Great Island' - Crete has been of paramount strategic importance for thousands of years thanks to its location close to the junction of three continents and the heart of the eastern Mediterranean. The island has been ruled for much of its history by foreign invaders - Mycenaeans, Dorians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians, Ottoman Turks and, briefly, the Third Reich - and thus much of its past has revolved around how the Cretans themselves, fierce lovers of freedom, have interacted with their conquerors and the influence of foreign rule on their culture. Two periods at either end of these three thousand years of domination form an intriguing contrast: the dazzling apogee of the Minoan civilisation and the brief period of autonomy before union with Greeceat the beginning of the twentieth century.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''We''re not Christians, Christ stopped short of here, at Eboli.'' Exiled to a remote and barren corner of Italy for his opposition to Mussolini, Carlo Levi entered a world cut off from history and the state, hedged in by custom and sorrow, without comfort or solace, where, eternally patient, the peasants lived in an age-old stillness and in the presence of death - for Christ did stop at Eboli.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis beautifully designed introduction to the treasure details the most significant pieces contained within it and explores the circumstances of its burial, discovery and excavation, as well as its lasting legacy and fame.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn September 1939, housewife and mother Nella Last began a diary whose entries, in their regularity, length and quality, have created a record of the Second World War which is powerful, fascinating and unique. When war broke out, Nella's younger son joined the army while the rest of the family tried to adapt to civilian life. Writing each day for the "Mass Observation" project, Nella, a middle-aged housewife from the bombed town of Barrow, shows what people really felt during this time. This was the period in which she turned 50, saw her children leave home, and reviewed her life and her marriage - which she eventually compares to slavery. Her growing confidence as a result of her war work makes this a moving (though often comic) testimony, which, covering sex, death and fear of invasion, provides a new, unglamorised, female perspective on the war years.'Next to being a mother, I'd have loved to write books.' Oct 8, 1939Trade ReviewA classic of wartime literature...highly engaging, very moving. All Home Front life is here, especially the kitchen sink * Simon Garfield *I relished it...her personality is so powerful...There are so many things to admire about her. * Margaret Forster *A fantastic story...This is not the war of the newsreels - it's about tiny domestic difficulties, lumpy custard... * Victoria Wood *I adored [it.]. An extraordinary glimpse into the heart of an 'ordinary' woman, Nella Last's day-to-day account of her war is spirited, poignant and utterly compelling. * Lucy Moore *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor centuries the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans, their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and myths, artwork and treasures. A foremost authority on the Celtic peoples and their culture, Peter Berresford Ellis presents an invigoration overview of their world. With his gift for making the scholarly accessible, he discusses the Celts' mysterious origins and early history and investigates their rich and complex society. His use of recently uncovered firnds brings fascinating insights into Celtic kings and chieftains, architecture and arts, medicine and religions, myths and legends, making this esesntial reading for any search for Europe's ancient past.Trade Review[A] vivid and enlightening representation of a fascinating civilisation. Anyone interested in the ancient world will find in it an informative and enjoyable adjustment of many assumptions about the Celts. * David Rankin, The Times Higher Education Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Highland Clearances Trail answers the where, why, what and whens of the Highland Clearances. Taking you around the significant sites of the Highland Clearances this vivid guide gives a scholarly introduction to a tragic moment in Scotland's history. Perthshire, Ross-Shire, Arran, Sutherland and Caithness are among the many areas covered. With full background information supplied, along with maps and illustrations, The Highland Clearances Trail provides an alternative route around the Highlands that will leave the reader with a deeper understanding of this sublime landscape.Trade ReviewGibson won’t lack supporters. Financial Times MagazineIt is important to get the whole movement into perspective and examine the truth of the matter and I hope that this well-written book will address the balance. Highland News

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom 1563 to 1736 Scotland put thousands of women to death for witchcraft. Their supposed crimes have much to tell us about attitudes to women in the past, and in the present day. This book introduces sixteen women who lost their lives or lived in the long shadow of the persecutions.'Witches' who, like MARGARET AITKEN, confessed, implicated others, even aided the hunters before they were burned.Nonconforming women like MARY MACLEOD, who saw their reputations tarnished when they did not bend to society's expectations.Creatures of the imagination, like Robert Burns's NANNY, who embody deep-seated associations between womanhood and the occult.Weaving fiction with the facts where these are known, We Are All Witches invites the reader to explore the forces at work in one of the darkest episodes of Scotland's history and consider their echoes in the present day.Trade ReviewSpringing directly from the pioneering Witches of Scotland campaign, Kidd has imagined lively and convincing voices from the past to commemorate the lost lives of Scotland's witches, reminiscent of Jenni Fagan's Hex. * Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists *We Are All Witches is a compelling, moving book that invites the reader to consider not only the background to the Scottish witch trials and the mythology surrounding witches, but also the lives of those affected. * Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women *

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores how runes relate to the cycles of time. Detailing the significance of natural time cycles in the Northern Tradition, Nigel Pennick explores how the stars, planets, seasons, months, and the precessional year relate to the runes. The author explains how the runes are more than just an ancient European alphabet—they encapsulate particular spiritual and symbolic meanings to individually and collectively express deep eternal truths. Discussing the pagan wheel of the year, whose eightfold path later served the Church as the basis for the eight holy celebrations of its religious calendar, he looks at the meanings and temporal qualities of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark and their rapport with ancient timekeeping and star-reading methods. He offers charts and calculations to discern which rune is the primary influence on a particular day, week, month, season, or year. He also examines runic elemental and color associations and their esoteric spatial roles, where they represent the four directions, the eight airts, and other cycles critical to understanding the sacred nature of the material world. Exploring runic astrology, Pennick looks at the runes as they relate to the planets and their cycles. He then presents ways to use this knowledge for calculating runic birth charts and runic horoscopes. Revealing the importance of the patterns and cycles of time operating in our world, the author provides a means for reconnecting with these primal principles—which underlie our existence as beings in time—through the ancient wisdom of runes.Trade Review“Nigel Pennick’s Runes and Astrology presents the runes in perhaps the most relatable and accessible way—through an intimate relationship with time and place. His gift of making the personal transform into mythic through the power of the runes shines.” * S. Kelley Harrell, author of Runic Book of Days *“A few thousand years ago, ancient cultures lived in the context of a traditional worldview that was framed by the cycles of Sun, Moon, and planets and was expressed by multivalent symbols systematically organized. Examples of these include ancient Mesopotamia, India, China, and Mesoamerica. In Runes and Astrology, Nigel Pennick has worked a kind of reconstruction and updating of the Northern Tradition, the northern European culture north of the Alps that later served as the template on which the Roman Church built its own version of reality. We learn about the coherent sequence and multiple uses of the runes, ideas about fate and destiny, the power of the 8 directions that frame the seasonal cycle, and the astounding breakdown of time applied to the cycle of the day. While the Northern Tradition did not produce a horoscopic astrology, it did produce a complex map of time that the author argues is a lot more real than the conventions we live in today. In this sense, Runes and Astrology offers another path to a more holistic vision of nature and human life.” * Bruce Scofield, author of The Nature of Astrology *"It’s difficult to assess the target audience for Runes and Astrology. Astrologers will find quite a few of the entries and historical overviews highly useful. People involved in Northern Tradition spirit work will find the annual time-keeping and naming ideas attractive. There’s a detailed discussion of the origin and messy implementation of the modern Gregorian calendar during the 16th-17th centuries. It’s one of the best and most complete descriptions of this monumental global calendrical shift I’ve ever read. Rune readers will discover much useful material in the first few chapters and descriptions of rune meanings, but divination methods are absent. It’s a lengthy and detailed text with a great deal of valuable information that’s rarely found in any kind of book in the esoteric genre. Eccentric polymaths will revel in this book if they’re not thrown off by the title. This is a book that cannot be judged by its cover! There’s far more to it than meets the eye." * FacingNorth.net *"Runes and Astrology is a must for anyone interested in the Runes or in the Northern Tradition and I also highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in history, spirituality … or who just loves a good book!" * June Kent, Indie Shaman Magazine *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Terminology and Dating Introduction 1 The Basic Concepts 2 The Runes and Their Meaning 3 Cycles of Space and Time 4 Solar Runepower 5 The Eightfold Way—The Year Cycle6 The Runes, the Planets, and Their Cycles7 The Runes in the Circling Heavens 8 Interpretaion of Runic Cycles Postscript APPENDIX 1 The Runes and Their Correspondences APPENDIX 2Runic Half-Months APPENDIX 3 The Northern Tradition Planetary Hours APPENDIX 4 Correspondences of the Days of the Week APPENDIX 5 Zodiacal Correspondences APPENDIX 6The Eight Tides of the Day APPENDIX 7 The Twelve Palaces APPENDIX 8 The Solar System: Astronomical Data Glossary BibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of Randy Shilts AwardIn the half century before the Nazis rose to power, Berlin became the undisputed gay capital of the world. Activists and medical professionals made it a city of firsts—the first gay journal, the first homosexual rights organization, the first Institute for Sexual Science, the first sex reassignment surgeries—exploring and educating themselves and the rest of the world about new ways of understanding the human condition. In this fascinating examination of how the uninhibited urban culture of Berlin helped create our categories of sexual orientation and gender identity, Robert Beachy guides readers through the past events and developments that continue to shape and influence our thinking about sex and gender to this day.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTracy Borman studied and taught history at the University of Hull and was awarded a PhD in 1997. She went on to a successful career in heritage and has worked for a range of historic properties and national heritage organisations, including the National Archives and English Heritage. She is now Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust and also works part-time for Historic Royal Palaces.Tracy has regularly appeared on television and radio, and has featured in a range of magazine and newspaper articles. She is a regular contributor to history magazines, including articles in BBC History Magazine on the history of beauty and eighteenth-century 'It' Girls'. In addition, she also gives public talks and lectures on a wide range of subjects.Trade ReviewTracy Borman tells this story with a steady eye and a steady hand, tracing what can be known of Matilda's part in the events that were to change the course of English history -- Helen Castor * Literary Review *Borman shows that Matilda was a capable regent and political operator... Matilda remains relevant: one legacy is her bloodline, which still rules in Britain today * Sunday Times *A richly layered treatment of a stormy reign * Kirkus *Borman moves deftly between the difficult written sources... The often scanty details of Matilda's life are given more rounded form by viewing them in context * History Today *Borman has expertly forged an absorbing biography from fragments of her personal history * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAbsolute War tells the story of the greatest and most terrible land-air conflict of all time: the war between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. There have been many individual accounts of particular moments in the vicious war between the Nazi regime and the Sovet behemoth, but none which sets out to tell the full and dreadful story of that absolute war: absolute because both sides aimed to 'exterminate the opponent, to destroy his political existence' and total because it was fought by all elements of society, not simply the armed forces, but civilians - men, women, children - too. Chris Bellamy, Profesor of Military Science at Cranfield University, is one of the wolrd's leading experts on this subject and has been working on this book for almost a decade. It benefits from his remarkable insight into strategic issues as well as exhaustive research in hitherto unopened Russian archives. It is the definitive study of what the Soviets called - and what their fifteen succe

Read more less

Book SynopsisA groundbreaking new book about the misogynistic nineteenth century obsession with hysteria, focusing on the renowned Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris.''Fascinating and beautifully written'' Guardian''Fascinating ... gives us a disturbing insight into the extent to which doctors, patients and diseases, both then and now, are products of their time'' Sunday TimesIn 1862 the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris became the epicenter of the study of hysteria, the mysterious illness then thought to affect half of all women.There, prominent neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot''s contentious methods caused furore within the church and divided the medical community. Treatments included hypnosis, piercing and the evocation of demons and, despite the controversy they caused, the experiments became a fascinating and fashionable public spectacle.Medical Muses tells the stories of the women institutionalised in the Salpêtrière. Theirs is a tale of scTrade ReviewFascinating and beautifully written * Guardian *Fascinating ... gives us a disturbing insight into the extent to which doctors, patients and diseases, both then and now, are products of their time * Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times *Thoughtful and engrossing * Miranda Seymour, Daily Telegraph *The thoroughly researched, very readable material brings to life their strange and remarkable stories, told in meticulous detail, as well as the brilliance and brutality of the great physician * Independent *Consistently enthralling * Kathryn Harrison, New York Times *Fascinating ... This account of psychiatry in its infancy is unforgettable -- Lesley McDowell * Independent on Sunday *Asti Hustvedt has tapped into a deeply fascinating seam of medical history here ... Her descriptions of patients, and of Jean-Martin Charcot, the doctor who treated them, are peerless -- William Leith * Scotsman *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMedieval history comes alive in Joseph and Frances Gies’s classic bestseller on life in medieval villagesThis new reissue of Life in a Medieval Village, by respected historians Joseph and Frances Gies, paints a lively, convincing portrait of rural people at work and at play in the Middle Ages.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWithout Churchill's inspiring leadership Britain could not have survived its darkest hour and repelled the Nazi menace. Without his wife Clementine, however, he might never have become Prime Minister. By his own admission, the Second World War would have been 'impossible without her'. Clementine was Winston's emotional rock and his most trusted confidante; not only was she involved in some of the most crucial decisions of war, but she exerted an influence over her husband and the Government that would appear scandalous to modern eyes. Yet her ability to charm Britain's allies and her humanitarian efforts on the Home Front earned her deep respect, both behind closed doors in Whitehall and among the population at large. That Clementine should become Britain's 'First Lady' was by no means pre-ordained. Born into impecunious aristocracy, her childhood was far from gilded. Her mother was a serial adulteress and gambler, who spent many years uprooting her children to escape the clutches of their erstwhile father, and by the time Clementine entered polite society she had become the target of cruel snobbery and rumours about her parentage. In Winston, however, she discovered a partner as emotionally insecure as herself, and in his career she found her mission. Her dedication to his cause may have had tragic consequences for their children, but theirs was a marriage that changed the course of history. Now, acclaimed biographer Sonia Purnell explores the peculiar dynamics of this fascinating union. From the personal and political upheavals of the Great War, through the Churchills' 'wilderness years' in the 1930s, to Clementine's desperate efforts to preserve her husband's health during the struggle against Hitler, Sonia presents the inspiring but often ignored story of one of the most important women in modern history.Trade Review"Engrossing... Clementine Churchill became her husband's essential confidante and adviser, vetting his speeches, smoothing over his faux pas, dealing with his constituents... Purnell's book is the first formal biography of a woman who has heretofore been relegated to the sidelines." The New York Times "Purnell has delivered an astute, pacey account of a woman who hardly ever emerged from the shadows. It is a sharp analysis of what it meant to be a politician's wife... [and] shows how much we can learn about Winston Churchill from his wife and marriage." The Wall Street Journal 'Both scrupulous and fair-minded, Sonia Purnell has done her subject proud in this eye-opening and engrossing account of the strong-willed and ambitious woman without whom - so Purnell argues with authority - Winston Churchill's political career would have been a washout. It is clear from this admirable account that Churchill would never have risen to greatness without Clementine.' -- Miranda Seymour Daily Telegraph 'It seems remarkable that no one has given this remarkable woman proper biographical treatment before. One of the great political partnerships ... sensitively explored by Sonia Purnell.' -- Daisy Goodwin The Times 'Eye opening biography. First Lady is a bold biography of a bold woman; at last Purnell has put Clementine Churchill at the centre of her own extraordinary story, rather than in the shadow of her husband's.' -- Frances Wilson Mail on Sunday 'Sonia Purnell has written a highly readable, well researched, and insightful biography. This is an immensely enjoyable and deeply researched account.' -- Anne Sebba 'Compellingly readable... the heroic saga of a warrior queen who wanted power but only got it by playing subtle diplomatic games as her husband's eminence grise during two world wars.' -- Michele Roberts Independent 'Well researched and fluently written. Eminently readable.' -- Dominic Sandbrook Sunday Times 'An intriguing study of a character both deeply flawed and, in her way, magnificent.' -- Jane Shilling Evening Standard 'From the influence she wielded to the secrets she kept, a new book looks at the extraordinary role of Winston Churchill's wife Clementine who proved that behind every great man is a great woman. Giving Winston confidence and conviction was a key element of her support. The safety and security that Clementine provided - as an emotional blanket and political sounding board - was vital in allowing Churchill to be the dominant politician of his age. Churchill's chief of staff, General Pug Ismay said later: "Without her... the history of Winston Churchill and of the world would have been a very different story."' -- Dan Townend Daily Express 'Outstanding.' Yorkshire Post 'Purnell is an exhaustive researcher and eloquent storyteller. This biography is partly a history of domesticity, and this is its great strength. Winston clearly loved his wife. More to the point, he needed her. Purnell shows convincingly how much 'great men' rely on the everyday emotional labour of the women closest to them. Purnell wants to say much more than this, however: she wants Clementine to be recognised as a 'great woman'. More interesting, though, is what this look at Britain's 'first lady' tells us about the role of leaders' wives in the UK compared to in the US.' BBC History Magazine 'A unique take on Mrs Churchill's time as Britain's 'First Lady'.' Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine "This exemplary biography illustrates how Clementine's intelligence, hard work, and perseverance in often difficult circumstances made her every bit a match for her remarkable, intimidating husband, and a fascinating figure in her own right." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Read more less

Book SynopsisNaples is always a shock, flaunting beauty and squalor like nowhere else. It is the only city in Europe whose ancient past still lives in its irrepressible people. In 1503, Naples was the Mediterranean capital of Spain''s world empire and the base for the Christian struggle with Islam. It was a European metropolis matched only by Paris and Istanbul, an extraordinary concentration of military power, lavish consumption, poverty and desperation. It was to Naples in 1606 that Michelangelo Merisi fled after a fatal street fight, and there released a great age in European art - until everything erupted in a revolt by the dispossessed, and the people of an occupied city brought Europe into the modern world.Ranging across nearly three thousand years of Neapolitan life and art, from the first Greek landings in Italy to the author''s own, less auspicious, arrival thirty-something years ago, Street Fight in Naples brings vividly to life the tumultuous and, at times, tragic history of Naples.Trade ReviewRemarkable ... [an] atmospheric and erudite portrait of a fascinating city * Sunday Times *Finely crafted ... offers is a vivid sense of the infinite layers in a city older than Rome that was once the biggest in Western Europe * The Economist *Never fails to take one's breath away * Financial Times *Robb joyfully flouts the staid chronology of the conventional historian ... I have rarely read a more vivid account of the city's often menacing claims on a visitor * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTimber-framed buildings are a distinctive and treasured part of Britain’s heritage, with such noteworthy examples as Little Moreton Hall, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Lavenham Guildhall. The oldest are medieval but their numbers peaked in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a revival in the nineteenth. The majority of timber-framed buildings are houses, but wood was used in all kinds of other buildings, including shops, inns, churches, town halls and farm buildings. In this beautifully illustrated book, Richard Hayman outlines the history of timber-framed designs, and considers the techniques used in their construction, the regional variations in style that can be found, and how these buildings displayed social status. He also guides the reader in identifying structures now concealed behind later work and explores how these buildings have been treated in subsequent centuries.Table of ContentsIntroduction Timber and Wood Construction Methods Houses Other Building Types Restoration and Revival Further Reading Places to Visit Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSimon Heffer''s new book forms an ambitious exploration of the making of the Victorian age and the Victorian mind.Britain in the 1840s was a country wracked by poverty, unrest and uncertainty, where there were attempts to assassinate the Queen and her prime minister, and the ruling class lived in fear of riot and revolution. By the 1880s it was a confident nation of progress and prosperity, transformed not just by industrialisation but by new attitudes to politics, education, women and the working class. That it should have changed so radically was very largely the work of an astonishingly dynamic and high-minded group of people politicians and philanthropists, writers and thinkers who in a matter of decades fundamentally remade the country, its institutions and its mindset, and laid the foundations for modern society. It traces the evolution of British democracy and shows how early laissez-faire attitudes to the lot of the less fortunate turned into campaigns to improve their lives and prospects. It analyses the birth of new attitudes to education, religion and science. And it shows how even such aesthetic issues as taste in architecture were swept in to broader debates about the direction that the country should take. In the process, Simon Heffer looks at the lives and deeds of major politicians, from the devout and principled Gladstone to the unscrupulous Disraeli; at the intellectual arguments that raged among writers and thinkers such as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, and Samuel Butler; and at the ''great projects'' of the age, from the Great Exhibition to the Albert Memorial. Drawing heavily on previously unpublished documents, he offers a superbly nuanced insight into life in an extraordinary era, populated by extraordinary people and how our forebears' pursuit of perfection gave birth to modern Britain.Trade ReviewHeffer has written a stunning overview of the great and the good – and the not-so-good – of Victorian society and of the changes which a largely benevolent capitalism brought about. * Sarah Bradford, The Literary Review *High Minds is worthy to the task: serious, scholarly, grand and determined...an excellent guide to the aesthetics of the age. * Tristram Hunt, New Statesman *[I]t is really a whole bookshelf of books. If you want a succinct volume on the Clarendon Commission and the debates on education, there is a not-so-slim volume embedded here. There is another on the desperate case of the formidable Caroline Norton and the battle to give women rights...another on the great philanthropists; another on crime and punishment; another (wonderfully detailed and compelling) on the Great Exhibition and the foundation of Albertopolis; another on the sewers; a terrific essay on the struggle between Gothic and Italianate architecture; and of course plenty of politics...This is a great sweeping, confident book, demonstrating the self-same energy and passion as do the Victorian heroes Heffer celebrates. It is a magnificent achievement. * William Waldegrave, The Times *[A] stimulating and thoroughly enjoyable book...[Heffer] is sometimes tendentious but never unreasonable, writes notably well and provides an admirable introduction to a period of history which many of us will think that we know quite well but have never considered from this point of view before. * Philip Ziegler, The Spectator *High Minds is partly social history, partly a history of ideas. It is the personalities involved that contribute such liveliness to this assured and magisterial narrative. * Matthew Dennison, The Sunday Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisScholar, churchman, diplomat and theologian, Gerald of Wales was one of the most fascinating figures of the Middle Ages and The Journey Through Wales describes his eventful tour of the country as a missionary in 1188. In a style reminiscent of a diary, Gerald records the day-to-day events of the mission, alongside lively accounts of local miracles, folklore and religious relics such as Saint Patrick''s Horn, and eloquent descriptions of natural scenery that includes the rugged promontory of St David''s and the vast snow-covered panoramas of Snowdonia. The landscape is evoked in further detail in The Description, which chronicles the everyday lives of the Welsh people with skill and affection. Witty and gently humorous throughout, these works provide a unique view into the medieval world.Table of ContentsTranslated by Lewis ThorpeIntroduction:I. The Life of Gerald of WalesGeneaological table: the family of Gerald of WalesII. The Journey Through Wales1. The purpose of the journey and its achievements2. Gerald's role3. The route followed4. The three versions5. "...cum notabilibus suis"6. The editions7. The earlier translation8. This translationIII. The Description of Wales1. The shape and subject-matter2. The three versions3. The changes made in the second and third versions4. The editions5. The earlier translation6. This translationIV. Gerald the HistorianV. Gerald the ArtistVI. Short BibliographyVII. AcknowledgmentsVIII. List of Gerald's Extant WritingsMaps:1. Gerald's Journey Through Wales2. Wales in 1188THE JOURNEY THROUGH WALESFirst PrefaceSecond PrefaceList of Chapter-Headings: Book I; Book IITHE DESCRIPTION OF WALESFirst PrefaceSecond PrefaceList of Chapter-Headings: Book I; Book IIAppendix I: The additions made in Versions II and III of The Journey Through WalesAppendix II: The additions made in Versions II and III of The Description of WalesAppendix III: Gerald of Wales and King ArthurIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisChris Stringer''s Homo Britannicus is the epic history of life in Britain, from man''s very first footsteps through to the present day. When did the first people arrive here? What did they look like? How did they survive? Who were the Neanderthals? Chris Stringer takes us back to when it was so tropical we lived here alongside hippos, elephants and sabre-toothed tigers or to times so cold we hunted reindeer and mammoth, and to others even colder when we were forced to flee a wall of ice. Here is the incredible truth about our ancestors'' journey over millennia - and a glimpse of the future to see how it might continue. ''A beautiful book on a fascinating subject, written by a world authority''  Richard Dawkins ''Superlative ... Pure stimulation from beginning to end''  Bill Bryson ''Every chapter contains something new, and throws up a fresh location that deserves to become famous''&nbsp

Read more less

Book SynopsisRobin Lane Fox''s The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome is a comprehensive and enthralling introduction to Ancient civilization. The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome dominated the world for centuries and continue to intrigue and enlighten us with their inventions, whether philosophy, politics, theatre, athletics, celebrity, science or the pleasures of horse racing. Robin Lane Fox''s spellbinding history, spans almost a thousand years of change from the foundation of the world''s first democracy in Athens to the Roman Republic and the Empire under Hadrian. Bringing great figures such as Homer, Socrates, Cicero, Alexander, Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus and the first Christian martyrs to life, exploring freedom, justice and luxury, this wonderfully exciting tour brings the turbulent histories of Greece and Rome together in a masterly study. ''Epic in the true sense''  The Times BTrade ReviewThe Classical World is a more epic epic than any toga-clad celluloid epic to date... Mr Lane Fox's brilliant book, where soldiers, poets and orators fight for attention in a story that is never cluttered and always stimulating. * The Economist *witty, ferociously learned, enormously well read * Mary Beard, The Independent *an ambitious and exhilarating volume...The Classical World is so replete with insight and anecdote that I would love to see it in every school library. * Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday *we are in the hands of an author who knows that an epic can only be driven by big characters such as Pericles, Demosthenes, Philip, Cicero, Pompey, Caesar and Cleopatra...Here lies the author's mastery, matching a lifelong familiarity with his subject to the basic needs of a newly arrived apprentice * Nigel Spivey, FT *witty, ferociously learned, enormously well read * Mary Beard, The Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMoving between Spanish conquest abroad and the court of the astute Charles V, Hugh Thomas''s The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V is the second volume in a planned trilogy on the Spanish Empire. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America in the sixteenth century, they swept across the continent in a blaze of imperial expansion and brutal savagery. Beginning with the return of the remnants of Magellan''s circumnavigation in 1522 and ending with Charles''s death in 1558, Hugh Thomas''s masterful work brilliantly brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods of the Renaissance, revealing how the Spaniards were able to conquer Guatemala, Yucatan, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru and Chile; how the audacious conquistador Francisco de Orellana sailed down the Amazon, why Cabeza de Vaca walked from Florida to Mexico and what drove Hernando de Soto to pursue worldly riches in Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. While adventurer

Read more less

Book SynopsisTLS BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016FINANCIAL TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2015WINNER OF THE PUSHKIN HOUSE RUSSIAN BOOK PRIZE 2016 ''Magisterial... reveals how much is at stake for world order in Ukraine and Syria.'' Rachel Polonsky''As much as anything, World War I turned on the fate of Ukraine''The decision to go to war in 1914 had catastrophic consequences for Russia. The result was revolution, civil war and famine in 1917-20, followed by decades of communist rule. Dominic Lieven''s powerful and original book, based on exhaustive and unprecedented study in Russian and many other foreign archives, explains why this suicidal decision was made and explores the world of the men who made it, thereby consigning their entire class to death or exile and making their country the victim of a uniquely terrible political experiment under Lenin and Stalin.Dominic Lieven is a Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College,CaTrade ReviewA book of immense scholarship and engaging readability. Through an eastern window rarely opened to Western gaze, it illuminates the end of Europe's old order and the explosive start of the twentieth century. A century later, we are still struggling with this era's epic legacies. -- David Reynolds, author of The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth CenturyNot just one of the greatest historians on Russia, but also a great writer -- Antony Beevor * The Independent *With its important new evidence about Russia's slide towards war, this is a much-needed account of a how a few clever but foolish men ruined their country and brought disaster on themselves -- Victor Sebestyen * Sunday Times *Aristocratic values, imperial mindsets and the emergence of modern nationalisms are the big themes of this illuminating history of late tsarist Russia by Lieven... he writes with all the clarity, conviction and fluent command of sources that readers have come to expect of him -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *This magnificent book, lively in perceptions and bristling with empirical novelty, traces the origins of the Russian-German rivalry. It is a pleasure to read -- Robert Service * Literary Review *[Lieven's] intimate familiarity with the Russia he describes and his extensive study of the letters, diaries and books of the chief actors in Russia's descent "towards the flames" - many not hitherto accessible to historians - are what render this book so authoritative and readable -- Serge Schmemann * The New York Times *Lieven presents Russia's road to war and revolution as a classical tragedy - a fate driven by the character of both the country and its rulers... [he] recovers a world that has been lost -- William Anthony Hay * The Wall Street Journal *Lieven has a double gift: first, for harvesting details to convey the essence of an era and, second, for finding new, startling, and clarifying elements in familiar stories. This is history with a heartbeat, and it could not be more engrossing -- Robert Legvold * Foreign Affairs *Illuminating history of late tsarist Russia. Lieven writes with all the clarity, conviction and fluent command of sources that readers have come to expect of him -- Tony Barber * FT *

Read more less