History Books
HarperCollins Publishers The Titanic
Book SynopsisIn 1912, the largest passenger ship ever built set sail for America, but she never got there. Find out what happened to the Titanic and her passengers.Orange/Band 6 books offer varied text and characters, with action sustained over several pages.Text type: An information book.Pages 22 and 23 show a map of the route the Titanic took, allowing children to retrace the events of the sinking.Curriculum links: History: How do we know aboutThis book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.
£9.05
Pan Macmillan 1946 The Making of the Modern World
Book SynopsisVictor Sebestyen was born in Budapest and was an infant when his family left Hungary as refugees. As a journalist, he was worked on numerous British newspapers, including The Times and the Daily Mail. He reported widely from Eastern Europe when Communism collapsed in 1989 and covered the war in former Yugoslavia. At the London Evening Standard he was foreign editor, media editor and chief leader writer. He is the author of the acclaimed Twelve Days, which documents the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, and Revolution 1989, an account of the fall of the Soviet empire.Trade ReviewThis is an exceptionally involving and horrifying book . . . heaven knows [Sebestyen] can tell a story. His short chapters are full of sharp judgements, apt and really colourful quotations and (I mean this as a compliment) grindingly awful detail. * Spectator *
£13.49
Halban Publishers Drawn to the Promised Land
Book SynopsisDrawn to the Promised Land charts the dramatic history of Palestine from the Balfour Declaration to the creation of the state of Israel. Through the acerbic wit of leading political cartoonists from Britain, the United States and other countries, we see how Britain''s policies changed repeatedly after it captured Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917. From the Arab riots through to the Nazi persecution of European Jews and the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, cartoonists captured every painful twist and agonising turn of events. The first book of cartoons to be published on this contentious subject, Drawn to the Promised Land offers a truly unique visual insight into a period of history that still reverberates to this day.
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Incarnations
Book SynopsisSunil Khilnani is the author of the acclaimed and influential The Idea of India (Penguin). He is currently Avantha Professor and Director of the India Institute at King's College London.Trade ReviewDefies historical conventions...scholarly and accessible, lively and deeply serious. I confess I recognised only about 20 of the names and what I thought I knew was wrong or incomplete... revelatory, bold and contemplative. -- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown * The Independent *A majestic sweep of 2,500 years of Indian history...Khilnani is a rare blend of scholar and cracking travel writer, and his book is replete with distinguished characters little known in the West. -- Tarquin Hall * The Sunday Times *A tour de force of intellectual history, engagingly written and peppered with wry personal anecdotes. -- James Crabtree * Financial Times *Scholarly and playful * The Telegraph *Khilnani is a warm, personable voice on the radio and in this beautifully illustrated book his personal touch has been preserved. It is hard to think of this mammoth task being executed any better.... Superb, ***** -- Sameer Rahim * The Telegraph *Beautifully written with both scholarship and an enviably light touch, thoughtfully constructed and enviably erudite in its wide-ranging references, and as much at ease discussing higher mathematics and philosophy as politics and art, Incarnations is a major work by one of India's most impressive minds, and the best possible introduction to both the complexities and the charms of Indian history. -- William Dalrymple * The Guardian *An exceptionally liberating intellectual journey to take. Mr Khilnani's prose is light and fast-paced... [and his] ability to empathise with people long dead is also astonishing -- Nilanjana S Roy * Business Standard, New Delhi *I enjoyed everything about this book -- Charles Allen * Literary Review *
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers SISTERS WHO WOULD BE QUEEN
Book SynopsisLeanda de Lisle brings the story of nine days' queen, Lady Jane Grey and her forgotten sisters, the rivals of Elizabeth I, to vivid life in her fascinating biography' Philippa GregoryThe dramatic untold story of the three tragic Grey sisters, all heirs to the Tudor throne, all victims to their royal blood.Lady Jane Grey is an iconic figure in English history. Misremembered as the Nine Days Queen', she has been mythologized as a child-woman destroyed on the altar of political expediency. Behind the legend, however, was an opinionated and often rebellious adolescent who died a passionate leader, not merely a victim. Growing up in Jane's shadow, her sisters Katherine and Mary would have to tread carefully to survive.The dramatic lives of the younger Grey sisters remain little known, but under English law they were the heirs and rivals to the Tudor monarchs Mary and Elizabeth I. The beautiful Katherine ignored Jane's dying request that she remain faithful to her beliefs, changing her relTrade Review‘A deep and fascinating account. Leanda de Lisle’s close focus draws us into palace corridors, country houses and city streets where the excitement, intrigue and danger of the times are palpable.’ Jane Dunn ‘Utterly grippring…de Lisle reminds us on each page what terror felt for those in the 16th century…This is a marvellously told and quite terrifying biography.’ Daily Telegraph ‘A thrilling read that could sit comfortably beside any novel by Philippa Gregory…de Lisle wears her learning lightly, though the details are carefully crafted and researched.’ Spectator ‘“The Sisters Who Would Be Queen” brings the Tudor world to life in a story about siblings Katherine, Mary and Lady Jane Grey.… The author rehabilitates [Lady Jane Grey] as less a victim of history than a headstrong individual with a sense of her own destiny.…this fascinating tale relates how her plucky sisters adapted to life at court in an atmosphere of distrust and paranoia.…It was a miracle they lasted as long as they did.’ Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers Redcoat The British Soldier in the Age of Horse
Book SynopsisMagnificent history of the common British soldier from 1700 to 1900 by one of Britain's best-known and accomplished military writers and broadcasters. Red Coat is non-fiction Sharpe, filled with anecdote and humour as well as historical analysis.Redcoat is a wonderful book. It is not just a work of history but one of enthusiasm and unparalleled knowledge.'' BERNARD CORNWELLRedcoat is the story of the British soldier from c.1760 until c.1860 surely one of the most enduring and magnetic subjects of the British past. Solidly based on the letters and diaries of the men who served and the women who followed them, the book is rich in the history of the period. It charts Wolfe''s victory and death at Quebec, the American War of Independence, the Duke of York''s campaign in Flanders, Wellington''s Peninsular War, Waterloo,the retreat from Kabul, the Sikh wars in 1845-9, the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny.The focus of Redcoat, however, is the individual recollection and experience of the oTrade Review'I have never met Richard Holmes, but I am deeply jealous of him for Redcoat opens with the re-enactment of a Napoleonic battle that I wish I had written myself… The redcoat and his family were never appreciated, but Richard Holmes has written them a marvellous memorial. Redcoat is a wonderful book, full of anecdote and good sense. Anyone who has enjoyed a Sharpe story will love it, anyone who likes history will want to own it and anyone who cherishes good writing will read it with pleasure.' BERNARD CORNWELL, Daily Mail
£12.34
Columbia University Press History of the Mafia
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWhat Salvatore Lupo captures particularly well, against all the stereotypes, is the Mafioso as a modern character: the pure distillate of entrepreneurial and criminal intelligence that illuminates the history of both Italy and contemporary Europe. If we can truly break ourselves of the habit of thinking of the Mafia as a belated survival of Sicilian feudalism and the product of underdevelopment, we will have taken a major step forward, and perhaps even be on the road toward a solution. -- Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System History of the Mafia is a tour de force bringing Salvatore Lupo's virtually unequaled expertise about the Mafia, Sicilian history, and Italian politics into play. The book is essential reading for anyone who hopes to be well informed about the Mafia. -- Nelson Moe, Columbia University, and author of The View from Vesuvius: Italian Culture and the Southern Question For anyone who has grown weary of the fond treatment of the Mafia in American popular culture this book is a tonic. The New Yorker This is not a book of dramatic shoot-outs or even one that lingers long on individual characters. It is a sober assessment of the history of a movement. -- Hugh MacDonald Scotland Sunday Herald With Lupo's History, you become a lot more knowledgeable about the phenomenon. -- Lee Lamothe Toronto Globe & Mail [Lupo] provides a useful spectrum of first-hand historic sources. -- Guy Dinmore Financial Times Lupo carefully indicates and assesses the many ways in which the mafia has been understood...Recommended Choice Well-researched... compellingly argued book, -- Richard Drake H-Italy Lupo... is the preeminent scholar of the nineteenth- and twentieth- century Sicilian Mafia whose research is widely respected for its theoretical analysis thoroughly grounded in original archival sources...but newcomers to the field will nonetheless treasure his brilliant introduction. Italian American Review
£20.90
Penguin Books Ltd Another Day of Life
Book Synopsis''This is a very personal book, about being alone and lost''. In 1975 Kapuscinski''s employers sent him to Angola to cover the civil war that had broken out after independence. For months he watched as Luanda and then the rest of the country collapsed into a civil war that was in the author''s words ''sloppy, dogged and cruel''. In his account, Kapuscinski demonstrates an extraordinary capacity to describe and to explain the individual meaning of grand political abstractions.
£9.49
Egypt Exploration Society Howard Carter
Book SynopsisHoward Carter, who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, began his career as an artist working for the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1891. By shining a spotlight on Carter's watercolour painting of a scene from the shrine to Anubis in Hatshepsut's temple, Carl Graves uncovers the life and legacy of one of Egypt's greatest archaeologists.
£11.97
Penguin Books Ltd Masters and Commanders
Book SynopsisAndrew Roberts''s Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses who led the West to Victory in WWII tells the story of how four great leaders fought each other over how best to fight Hitler. During the Second World War the master strategy of the West was shaped by four titanic figures: Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, and their respective military commanders - General Sir Alan Brooke and General George C. Marshall. Each man was tough-willed and strong minded. And each was certain he knew best how to achieve victory. Drawing on previously unpublished material, including for the first time verbatim reports of Churchill''s War Cabinet meetings, Andrew Roberts''s acclaimed history recreates with vivid immediacy the fiery debates and political maneuverings, the rebuffs and the charm, the explosive rows and dramatic reconciliations, as the masters and commanders of the Western Alliance fought each other over the best way to fight Adolf Hitler. Trade Review'This is an important book which ! sees Mr Roberts lay claim to the title of Britain's finest contemporary military historian' Economist 'A masterpiece of robust historical analysis, steeped in scholarship and alive to every nuance of personality' Daily Express 'His interpretation of British/US strategic relations is unlikely to be superseded' - Vernon Bogdanor, Financial Times
£19.55
Penguin Books Ltd The World is Flat
Book SynopsisThomas Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The New York Times. He is the author of two best-selling books, From Beirut to Jerusalem, and The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Pathfinders The Golden Age of Arabic Science
Book SynopsisIn Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science, Jim al-Khalili celebrates the forgotten pioneers who helped shape our understanding of the world. For over 700 years the international language of science was Arabic. Surveying the golden age of Arabic science, Jim Al-Khalili reintroduces such figures as the Iraqi physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who practised the modern scientific method over half a century before Bacon; al-Khwarizmi, the greatest mathematician of the medieval world; and Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a Persian polymath to rival Leonardo da Vinci. ''Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham'' Independent ''He has brought a great story out of the shadows'' Literary Review ''His command of Arabic and mathemaTrade ReviewBrings alive the bubbling invention and delighted curiosity of the Islamic world ... his command of Arabic mathematical physics invests his story with sympathy as well as authority -- Tim Radford * Guardian *A fascinating and user-friendly guide to this whole scientific movement -- Noel Malcolm * Seven, Sunday Telegraph *Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham. To think otherwise, as this book so powerfully reveals, is to do disservice to the tradition to which they belong -- Kenan Malik * Independent *Spry, informative and timely ... Al-Khalili takes the reader through a brisk survey of the highlights of the period -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *A fascinating introduction to a neglected area. His approachable style and ability to distil extensive knowledge into simple narrative makes Pathfinders an absorbing read -- Siobhan Murphy * Metro *Enjoyable and informative ... provides ample evidence for the compatibility of Islam and science -- Sameer Rahim * Daily Telegraph *He has brought a great story out of the shadows * Literary Review *This captivating book is a timely reminder of the debt owed by the West to the intellectual achievements of Arab, Persian and Muslim scholars * The Times *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Paris After the Liberation
Book SynopsisA remarkable historical account of the chaos and uncertainty that followed the liberation of Paris in August, 1944''A beautifully written book about a vast tapestry of military, political and social upheaval. Remarkably well-researched, wise, balanced, very funny at times'' Dirk Bogarde______________ Post-liberation Paris: an epoch charged with political and conflicting emotions. Liberation was greeted with joy but marked by recriminations and the trauma of purges. The feverish intellectual arguments of the young took place amidst the mundane reality of hunger and fuel shortages. This is a thrilling, unsurpassed account of the drama and upheaval of one of history''s most fascinating eras.______________''A dashing, multi-dimensional story. This book covers all aspects of life - diplomacy, strategy, rationing, politics and politicking (from Churchill, Pétain''s and de Gaulle''s point of view), the international theatricals and the tourist invasion, blitzkrieg and Ritzkrieg'' Olivier Todd, Sunday Times''Absorbing . . . a rich, many-layered account, selecting from official documents, private archives, memoirs and histories with a wonderful lightness of touch, so that the most complex events become clear'' Jenny Uglow, Independent on SundayTrade ReviewA rich and intriguing story which the authors disentangle with great skill -- Piers Paul Read * Sunday Telegraph *Skilfully balances historical narrative with social analysis, and tempering the appalling with the absurd -- Jan Morris * Independent *Outstanding. Enormously enjoyable to read - exciting, lively, funny, and admirably tolerant and objective in its opinions. It is hard to see how it could have been better done -- Philip Ziegler * Daily Telegraph *Held me gripped by every page and I was impatient at any interruption. The details of this book are spellbinding, often frightening and sometimes funny -- Alec Guinness * Daily Mail *This book, like the city it discusses, oscillates satisfyingly between blunt history and roistering gossip -- Frank Delaney * Sunday Express *
£11.69
Birlinn General Scottish Placenames
Book SynopsisNames are very important and can unlock vast amounts of information about places and their origins. The placename of Scotland are a goldmine of information about times past and the lives of early inhabitants.This comprehensive book features more than 300 names and is an essential book for all interested in Scottish history and culture.
£8.07
Orion Publishing Co The Somme A New History WN Military
Book SynopsisOn 1 July 1916, after a stupendous 7-day artillery preparation, the British Army finally launched its attack on the German line around the River Somme. Over the next four and half months they continued to attack, with little or no gain, and with horrendous losses to both sides. This book, written by the world''s foremost expert in the subject, describes in chilling detail everything from the grand strategy to the experience of the men on the ground. Illustrated throughout, it is a stunning and absorbing depiction of the horror that was the Somme in 1916.
£12.58
Penguin Books Ltd The History and Topography of Ireland Penguin
Book SynopsisGerald of Wales was among the most dynamic and fascinating churchmen of the twelfth century. A member of one of the leading Norman families involved in the invasion of Ireland, he first visited there in 1183 and later returned in the entourage of Henry II. The resulting Topographia Hiberniae is an extraordinary account of his travels. Here he describes landscapes, fish, birds and animals; recounts the history of Ireland's rulers; and tells fantastical stories of magic wells and deadly whirlpools, strange creatures and evil spirits. Written from the point of view of an invader and reformer, this work has been rightly criticized for its portrait of a primitive land, yet it is also one of the most important sources for what is known of Ireland during the Middle Ages.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Civil Wars
Book SynopsisThe only suriving continuous narrative source for the events between 133 and 70 BCAppian's writings vividly describe Catiline's conspiracy, the rise and fall of the First Triumvirate, and Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, defeat of Pompey and untimely death. The climax comes with the brith of the Second Triumvirate out of anarchy, the terrible purges of Proscriptions which followed and the titanic struggle for world mastery which was only to end with Augustus's defeat of Antony and Cleopatra.If Appian's Roman History as a whole reveals how an empire was born of the struggle against a series of external enemis, these five books concentrate on an even greater ordeal. Despite the rhetorical flourishes, John Carter suggests in his Introductions, the impressive 'overall conception of the decline of the Roman state into violence, with its sombre highlights and the leitmotif of fate, is neither trivial nor inaccurate.'For more than seventy years, Penguin hasTable of ContentsThe Civil Wars - Appian Translated with an Introduction by John CarterAcknowledgmentsIntroductionBibliographical NoteNotes on the TranslationTable of DatesTHE CIVIL WARSBook IBook IIBook IIIBook IVBook VNotesAppendixMaps:A. Northern and Central ItalyB. Southern Italy and SicilyC. Greece and the Aegean BasinD. Provinces and Kingdoms of the EastIndex
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Rome and Italy Books VIX of the History of Rome
Book SynopsisBooks VI-X of Livy''s monumental work trace Rome''s fortunes from its near collapse after defeat by the Gauls in 386 bc to its emergence, in a matter of decades, as the premier power in Italy, having conquered the city-state of Samnium in 293 bc. In this fascinating history, events are described not simply in terms of partisan politics, but through colourful portraits that bring the strengths, weaknesses and motives of leading figures such as the noble statesman Camillus and the corrupt Manlius vividly to life. While Rome''s greatest chronicler intended his history to be a memorial to former glory, he also had more didactic aims - hoping that readers of his account could learn from the past ills and virtues of the city.Table of ContentsRome and Italy - Livy Translated and Annotated by Betty Radice with an Introduction by R. M. OgilvieTranslator's PrefaceIntroductionSelect BibliographyBook VIBook VIIBook VIIIBook IXBook XMaps:1. Rome2. Central Italy3. Western Central Italy4. The Valley of the Caudine ForksIndex
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The History of the Franks
Book SynopsisWritten following the collapse of Rome''s secular control over western Europe, the History of Gregory (c. AD 539-594) is a fascinating exploration of the events that shaped sixth-century France. This volume contains all ten books from the work, the last seven of which provide an in-depth description of Gregory''s own era, in which he played an important role as Bishop of Tours. With skill and eloquence, Gregory brings the age vividly to life, as he relates the exploits of missionaries, martyrs, kings and queens - including the quarrelling sons of Lothar I, and the ruthless Queen Fredegund, third wife of Chilperic. Portraying an age of staggering cruelty and rapid change, this is a powerful depiction of the turbulent progression of faith at a time of political and social chaos.
£13.49
Orion Publishing Co Rorkes Drift
Book SynopsisThe story of the bravest battle ever fought.
£12.34
Columbia University Press Emperor of Japan
Book SynopsisThis is the extraordinary story of how Japan was dramatically transformed during the long reign of Emperor Meiji, from an isolated island nation to one of the five great powers of the world, poised as a rival in Asia to Russia and the European colonial powers.Trade ReviewFew scholars are as well qualified to undertake this tremendous project... [Keene's] special gifts are on display in Emperor of Japan... [which] brings us as close to the inner life of the Meiji emperor as we are ever likely to get. New York Times Book Review Utterly brilliant... the best history in English of the emergence of modern Japan. Los Angeles Times Keene gracefully marshals evidence to illuminate [an] astonishing transformation. New Yorker Keene does a heroic job of painting a personal picture of the Meiji Empire, which is an impossible task. The New York Review of Books Distinguished and massively authoritative... This book probably comes as close as we shall ever get to the man himself. Times Literary Supplement (London) Despite the book's massive scale, Keene's graceful writing holds the reader's interest throughout... This should become the Meiji biography against which all others are judged. Booklist A fresh and fascinating portrait. Choice This is a monumental work, the result of years of painstaking research and meticulous scholarship, unlikely to be superseded by any book about the Emperor Meiji in this century and destined to be required reading for all foreign students of the Restoration and the growth of modern Japan. -- Hugh Cortazzi The Japan Society The first reliable and full biography of the Japanese monarch in any language... Carefully crafted, judicious, balanced, authoritative, it is another remarkable gift from a distinguished American author. Washington Post One comes away from Keene's lively account with the feeling that one person made an extraordinary difference in Japan's history. Foreign Affairs Eminently readable... a staggering achievement. Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer The most complete picture possible of a sovereign who remains as distant as a proper Confucian ruler should. Publishers Weekly Keene... is a master narrator with an eye for fascinating details. Library Journal This book is as close to being a definitive biography of the Emperor Meiji as we are likely to see in Western languages. It is an important contribution to our understanding of Japan's modernizing experience. -- W. Dean Kinzley The HistorianTable of ContentsPreface Emperor of Japan Notes Glossary Bibliography
£23.75
Penguin Books Ltd The End
Book SynopsisNamed Book of the Year by the Sunday Times, TLS, Spectator, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Scotland on Sunday, Ian Kershaw''s The End is a searing account of the final months of Nazi Germany, laying bare the fear and fanaticism that drove a nation to destruction.In almost every major war there comes a point where defeat looms for one side and its rulers cut a deal with the victors, if only in an attempt to save their own skins. In Hitler''s Germany, nothing of this kind happened: in the end the regime had to be stamped out town by town with an almost unprecedented level of brutality.Just what made Germany keep on fighting?Why did its rulers not cut a deal to save their own skins?And why did ordinary people continue to obey the Fuhrer''s suicidal orders, with countless Germans executing their own countrymen for desertion or defeatism?''Nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece'' Trade ReviewA remarkable feat of historical scholarship and intelligent analysis -- Jonathan Sumption * Spectator *Gripping yet scholarly ... the best attempt by far to answer the complex question of why Nazi Germany carried on fighting to total self-destruction. Kershaw, the author of the best biography of Hitler, is the finest sort of academic, for he combines impeccable scholarship with an admirable clarity of thought and prose -- Antony Beevor * Telegraph *Masterly ... Kershaw's gripping and boldly intelligent work of scholarship ... will surely become the standard popularly accessible account of the Nazi system's terrible final phase * Financial Times *Brilliant ... nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece * Mail on Sunday *Well-written, penetrating ... and ground-breaking -- Andrew Roberts * Evening Standard *No one is better qualified to tell this grim story than Kershaw ... A master of both the vast scholarly literature on Nazism and the extraordinary range of its published and unpublished record, Kershaw combines vivid accounts of particular human experiences with wise reflections on big interpretive and moral issues ... No one has written a better account of the human dimensions of Nazi Germany's end * New York Times Book Review *Sober, judicious, clearly written and superbly well researched - a definitive history of the last months of the Third Reich -- Richard Bessel * History Today *Magisterial ... distinguished * Daily Mail, Book of the Week *Kershaw is a sure-footed guide through the Hades of the final dark months of the war in Europe ... his is a thoughtful and thought-provoking account, which admirably combines analysis, historiography and commentary within a very readable narrative * Independent on Sunday *A compelling account of the bloody and deluded last days of the Third Reich ... this is far from being of mere academic interest ... The greatest strength of Kershaw's narrative is that he gives us much more than the view from the top ... Interwoven are insights into German life and death at all levels of society * The Times *[Kershaw] understands as well as any man alive the complex power structure that existed in Nazi Germany ... Gripping ... arguably the most convincing portrait of Germany's Götterdämmerung we have seen so far * Wall Street Journal *Britain's most feted and prolific historian of the Third Reich * Sunday Times *[Kershaw] is among the foremost western scholars of Nazi Germany. Although this book pursues a narrative of events between June 1944 and May 1945, its real business is to explore the psychology of the German people -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *An insightful study of how the Führer held his grip over the German people for so long * Telegraph *Comprehensive ... it generates real power * Observer *
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd The Man on Devils Island
Book SynopsisRuth Harris is a Fellow and tutor in Modern History at New College, Oxford and is the author of the highly acclaimed Lourdes.Trade ReviewWinner of the WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2010 and 2010 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY * Prizes and awards *An extraordinary study of the affair as a tragic drama that swept up a man, his family and friends, and more widely French society and the French state. -- Robert Gildea * The New York Review of Books *A triumph of research and analysis. -- Max McGuinness * The Irish Times *Ruth Harris offers us one of the most thorough and eloquent accounts of this turbulent episode. -- Gavin Bowd * Scotland on Sunday *With the aid of copious illustrations, helpful chronology and a list of leading characters, [Harris] offers a compelling account of incidents -- Malcolm Cook * BBC History *Ruth Harris' minutely detailed examination of the rich mulch from which the Dreyfus case sprouted its fleurs du mal, adds a new level of learning to the affair that defined 20th-century France -- Nigel Jones * Telegraph *a highly imaginative, deeply-researched inquiry into the battle over Dreyfus which revels in paradox and complexity. -- Michael Marrus * TLS *"Harris is a first-rate narrative historian... What marks Harris's contribution is her formidable research skills, her exceptionally wide general and historical reading, and her always interesting eye for the revealing anecdote or pen portrait." -- Carmen Callil * The Guardian *"Scrupulous and well-written... Harris is to be thanked for the care and measure of her sifting and weighing, and for the deep historical perspective that she brings to the undertaking." -- Christopher Hitchens * The Weekly Standard *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Europes Tragedy
Book SynopsisWinner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2011The horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618-48) tore the heart out of Europe, killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns and regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved and, while each country started out with rational war aims, the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control, with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague and murder. The war was both a religious and a political one and it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism, everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price.Peter Wilson''s book is a major work, the first new history of the war in a Trade ReviewPeter Wilson is a brave man to undertake a new general survey of one of the most long-lasting, multi-dimensional and controversial wars of all time. It is a joy to report that, at least in this reviewer's opinion, Europe's Tragedy succeeds brilliantly ... His scholarship seems to me remarkable, his prose light and lovely, his judgments fair -- Paul Kennedy * Sunday Times *An ambitious and accomplished account, abreast of modern scholarship, has been overdue, and EUROPE'S TRAGEDY supplies it all admirably -- Blair Worden * Literary Review *A wonderfully comprehensive and detailed account -- Tim Blanning * Daily Telegraph *Magisterial ... a wise, wide-seeking account, tenaciously researched -- Lauro Martines * The Times Literary Supplement *A history of prodicious erudition ... a definitive account has been needed, and now Peter Wilson has provided it -- Jeffrey Collins * Wall Street Journal *
£17.09
British Museum Press Sex on Show Seeing the Erotic in Greece and Rome
Book SynopsisThe Greeks and Romans were not shy about sex. In classical Greece, statues of erect penises served as boundary-stones and signposts. In Rome, marble satyrs and nymphs grappled in gardens. How are we to make sense of this abundance of sexual imagery? Were these images seductive, shocking, humorous? This title answers these questions.
£21.25
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Beauty and Cosmetics 1550 to 1950
Book SynopsisThe source of tremendous power and the focus of incredible devotion, throughout history notions of beauty have been integral to social life and culture. Each age has had its own standards: a gleaming white brow during the Renaissance, the black eyebrows considered charming in the early eighteenth century, and the thin lips thought desirable by Victorians. Beauty has ensured good marriages, enabled social mobility and offered fame and notoriety, and has led women and some men to remarkable lengths in cultivating it, from the dangerous quantities of lead applied by Elizabeth I, to the women of the 1940s and ''50s, who employed face powder, lipstick and mascara to look their best during the privations of war and austerity, creating a chic appearance to which many still aspire.Table of ContentsThe Sin of Vanity The Fairy Queen Pale and Lovely Beauty and Blackmail The Actress and the Ingénue From Elegance to Expression Index
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Pillboxes and Tank Traps 787 Shire Library
Book SynopsisA concise, illustrated guide to these Second World War defences scattered across the British landscape.With invasion a very real threat, in 1940 Great Britain began a huge military construction programme designed to stop an invading army in its tracks. Around vulnerable coastlines, and inland, thousands of pillboxes, anti-tank barriers and other obstacles were erected to defend against attacks from sea and sky. Though many of these structures were dismantled in the wake of the Second World War, the coast and even some inland areas still boast a wealth of fascinating remains. In this fully illustrated introduction, fortifications authority Bernard Lowry guides the inquiring reader in identifying these remaining defensive structures and explains their seemingly ''random'' placement across the British landscape.Table of ContentsAn Island Fortress Britain Alone A Pause for Breath 1942: A New Defence Policy Britain Becomes a Fortified Island 1944: Tidying Up and Aftermath Further Reading Places to Visit Index
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Gypsies of Britain 738 Shire Library
Book SynopsisGypsies have been a part of the British and European social fabric for centuries and have faced prejudice and oppression for nearly as long, since at least the time of Henry VIII. Theirs is a peripatetic existence, dwelling in tents and in caravans and living often precariously at the edges of towns and villages, moving on in search of opportunities or as mainstream society drives them away. Gypsies of Britain explores the history of this unique lifestyle, looking at how Gypsies have maintained their distinctive culture and how they have adapted to the twenty-first century, and shedding light on a range of traditional Gypsy occupations including harvesting, horse-dealing, fortune-telling and rat-catching. Archive illustrations and modern photographs depict their lives, work and ornately carved and painted caravans.Table of ContentsIntroduction / Travelling Groups in Britain / Travelling Patterns and Abodes / Earning a Living / Evangelism and War Work / The Twenty-first Century / Further Information / Index
£7.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Coin Finds in Britain A Collectors Guide Shire
Book SynopsisOver the centuries Britain's soil has yielded countless spectacular hoards of ancient coins and other artefacts, affording us priceless insights into our ancestors' lives and it is not only such large finds that await discovery but also many thousands of individual pieces. Wonderfully, discoveries both minor and momentous are frequently made not by teams of professionals but by amateur archaeologists and metal-detector enthusiasts, for whom this book is intended as a helpful companion. It provides a catalogue of commonly encountered coins, dating from ancient times until the modern day, explaining their historical context, how they might have come to be lost and where they may be found today.Table of ContentsBritain’s Buried Coinage / Iron Age Coins / Roman Coins / Medieval Coins / Post-medieval Coins / Tokens, Counters and Medals / Recording Coin Finds / Further Reading / Index
£8.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Hitler Mussolini and the Vatican
Book Synopsis* The book is a remarkable piece of modern history which tells the story - for the first time - of a speech that was written by Pope Pius XI in 1939 in which he was intending to speak out against Mussolini and the Fascists and condemn anti-Semitism.Trade Review"Simply put, this is the most thorough and best documented study yet to appear on Pius XI."America Magazine "This excellent new book unearths and magisterially exposes new evidence - a key document for those interested in Europe's turbulent pre-war history."Hugh O'Shaughnessy, Review 31 "A first-rate study."American Historical Review "Now the most comprehensive work on the Vatican's relations with states and national churches in western and central Europe in the 1930s."European History Quarterly "Insightful, provocative and original. Fattorini's examination of Pius XI's evolving attitudes toward totalitarian states is complex and convincing."The Journal of Modern History "A revealing insight into European politics in the 1930s, and the first scholarly attempt to look at the Church's relationship with Fascism and the Nazis during that period."Birmingham Jewish Recorder "A crucial new perspective on the relationship between the Vatican, Mussolini's Fascism, and National Socialism. The tendency to focus exclusively on Eugenio Pacelli, the future wartime pope Pius XII, has obscured the troubled papacy of Pius X1 between 1922 and 1939. Professor Fattorini's narrative, in the light of the recent release of Vatican documents of the period, is sure to breathe new life into this controversial era of Church-state relations on the brink of world war."John Cornwell, University of Cambridge "Emma Fattorini's remarkable work extends our understanding of how the leadership of the Catholic Church grappled with fascism and Nazism. She does so by drawing on riveting documentation recently released from the Vatican Secret Archive and by focusing on the relatively overlooked pontificate of Pius XI. "Michael R. Marrus, University of Toronto "Fattorini's objective and scholarly volume helps to demolish the long-prevailing belief that Pius XI and his secretary of state Eugenio Pacelli - later his successor as Pius XII - concurred in the policy to pursue towards fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. She demonstrates, on the basis of solid documentation, that, while Pius XI increasingly perceived the need for confrontation with these regimes after 1936, Pacelli preferred conciliation and impartiality - policies he pursued during World War II and the Holocaust."Frank Coppa, St John's University "Emma Fattorini has produced an important work on the activities of the Vatican in the years leading up to World War II. She portrays a pope whose spirituality, rather than political views, led him increasingly to speak out against Nazism. Her book adds to a slowly increasing body of literature which illustrates that, while the Vatican may have been slow in speaking out about the persecution of the Jews, no one in the secretariat of state harbored any sympathy for Hitler."Gerald Fogarty, University of Virginia
£12.99
Edinburgh University Press Womens Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain
Book SynopsisThis innovative volume presents for the first time collective expertise on women's magazines and periodicals of the long eighteenth century.
£35.99
Edinburgh University Press The Edinburgh Companion to the First World War
Book SynopsisThis authoritative reference work examines literary and artistic responses to the war's upheavals across a wide range of media and genres, from poetry to pamphlets, sculpture to television documentary, and requiems to war reporting.
£31.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Last Days of the Incas
Book SynopsisThe epic story of the fall of the Inca Empire to Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in the aftermath of a bloody civil war, and the recent discovery of the lost guerrilla capital of the Incas, Vilcabamba, by three American explorers.In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men, including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed-due largely to their horses, their steel armour and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards
£12.34
The History Press Ltd The Story of Sheffield
Book SynopsisThe story of the world’s first working-class cityTrade Review"Epic new book charts city's long history.""Book gets under the city's skin and reveals just what makes it tick."
£17.00
The History Press Ltd The Northumberland Colouring Book Past and
Book SynopsisFeaturing a range of picturesque vistas, from sandy beaches and national parkland to harbour towns and medieval castles, each stunning scene is full of intriguing detail sure to fire the imagination and make you reach for your colouring pencils.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd The Vikings Classic Histories Series
Book SynopsisThey were undoubtedly pillagers, raiders and terrifying warriors, but they were also great pioneers, artists and traders - a dynamic people, whose skill and daring in their exploration of the world has left an indelible impression a thousand years on.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd Bristol City on Show
Book SynopsisBristol: City on Show is the much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling collection Bath: City on Show. This unique celebration of life in the city contains a stunning portfolio of new and original views of Bristol's most notable locations, all by local photographers. These images are given new richness by more than 100 of the rarest engravings and archive photographs of the city, capturing the bustle of life in the city through the ages. Rich with Georgian splendour and architectural grandeur, Bristol has evolved to meet the changing needs and tastes of its residents and visitors. This book is a compelling and powerful reminder of past times with a fresh and revealing look at life today.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd In Search of Cheddar Man
Book SynopsisThis book puts Cheddar Man into a wider archaeological context and explains the scientific detective work behind the headlines which made him an international celebrity nine millennia after his death.
£999.99
The History Press Ltd A Century of Hull
Book SynopsisThis fascinating selection of photographs illustrates the extraordinary transformation that has taken place in Hull during the 20th century. The book offers an insight into the daily lives and living conditions of local people and gives the reader glimpses and details of familiar places during a century of unprecedented change. Many aspects of Hull''s recent history are covered, famous occasions and individuals are remembered and the impact of national and international events is witnessed. The book provides a striking account of the changes that have so altered Hull''s appearance and records the process of transformation. Drawing on detailed local knowledge of the community, and illustrated with a wealth of black-and-white photographs, this book recalls what Hull has lost in terms of buildings, traditions and ways of life. It also acknowledges the regeneration that has taken place and celebrates the character and energy of local people as they move through the first years of this new century.
£13.49
Yale University Press On Wars
Book Synopsis
£17.99
The History Press Ltd Eat Thy Neighbour
Book SynopsisCannibalism is unquestionably one of the oldest and deepest-seated taboos. Even in an age when almost nothing is sacred, religious, moral and social prohibitions surround the topic. But even as our minds recoil at the mention of actual acts of cannibalism there is some dark fascination with the subject. Appalling crimes of humans eating other humans are blown into major news stories and gory movies: both Hitchcock''s Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were based on the crimes of Ed Gein, who is profiled, along with others, in this book. In Eat Thy Neighbour the authors put the subject of cannibalism into its social and historical perspective.
£11.69
The History Press Ltd Bannockburn 1314
Book SynopsisThe Battle of Bannockburn is the most celebrated battle in history between Scotland and England.
£13.49
The History Press Ltd The Womens Land Army
Book SynopsisThis book brings together a wealth of black and white pictures which together record not only the operations of the WLA but also scenes of the countryside between 1939 and 1950. Drawn from the worldwide albums of many ex-land girls at a time when film was rationed and photography monitored, this collection offers a fascinating insight into the people and places associated with the WLA. Many of these photos have never been published in book form and so offer a unique record of the organisation. Every photo is captioned, providing names and dates where possible, revealing historical anecdotal detail which gives life to the scenes and personalities captured through the camera lens. Presenting training, occupations and the social activities of the Land Army women, this absorbing collection will not only evoke many wartime memories, but will also inspire readers through these images of hope, strength and unity.
£12.34
The History Press Ltd Battle of the Atlantic
Book SynopsisWorld War II was only a few hours old when the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest campaign of the Second World War and the most complex submarine war in history, began with the sinking of the unarmed passenger liner Athenia by the German submarine U30. Based on the mastery of the latest research and written from a mid-Atlantic rather than the traditional Anglo-centric perspective, Marc Milner focuses on the confrontation between opposing forces and the attacks on Allied shipping that lay at the heart of the six-year struggle. Against the backdrop of the battle for the Atlantic lifeline he charts the fascinating development of U-boats and the techniques used by the Allies to suppress and destroy these stealth weapons.
£10.79
The History Press Ltd Great French Passenger Ships
Book SynopsisBeginning in 1912 with the four-funnel France, the nostalgic voyage continues with the great and grand transatlantic liners of the French Line, the CGT.
£16.99
The History Press Ltd Defending Britain
Book SynopsisFollowing work recently brought into sharper focus by the Defence of Britain Project, this is the first extensive overview of the military structures of the twentieth century, combining both documentary and fieldwork research. The book presents details of all those elements of the landscape, both urban and rural, which have resulted from the need to defend against conflict - actual or threatened. Defending Britain explains both the form and purpose of structures such as anti-invasion defences, airfields, naval installations and barracks, munitions dumps and firing ranges, Cold War bunkers and radar sites, factories and stores, all of which are well illustrated. The final section provides the reader with a comprehensive gazetteer of surviving examples to visit throughout Britain.
£999.99
The History Press Ltd Drawing on Archaeology
Book SynopsisHow does excavation enable the archaeologist to reconstruct the past? Victor Ambrus, who has been the Channel 4 Time Team artist since the programme''s inception in 1994, has selected some of the key excavations from the many series to show how it has been possible to recreate snapshots of the past.
£17.00
The History Press Ltd Brawdy
Book SynopsisCompleted in 1944 as a satellite airfield to nearby St David''s, Brawdy soon supplanted its parent for meteorological reasons. Used initially by RAF Coastal Command, it passed to the Royal Navy in 1946, becoming HMS Goldcrest. The base was used by the Navy up to 1974, when the RAF resumed control once again. Used as an advanced training facility, Hunters and later Hawks were based there, as was a secret US Navy Oceanographic Research unit. Since 1996, Brawdy has been used by the Army. For many, Brawdy was also synonymous with the air displays held there for many years and for its search and rescue role, making it a widely known location.
£16.20
