History Books

Book SynopsisSnapshots of gaiety and celebration are how some people today think of Britain in 1945. This book tells the real story of what happened when millions of ex-servicemen returned home. It draws on their personal letters and diaries to illuminate the darker side of the homecoming experience for ex-servicemen, their families and society at large.Trade Review"'A highly impressive debut, demonstrating great scholarship and an ability to balance the humane detail of fractured lives with a wider perspective of the political and social context... certainly the most insightful text on the 1940s to have appeared this year.' Ian Cawood, Times Literary Supplement 'Allport's wonderfully insightful study asks us to rethink the conventional chronology... It is not only refreshingly free of jargon but remarkably moving. If all academic history were written this way, popular historians would be out of a job.' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'A masterful study of the subject... Demobbed is a detailed and sympathetic examination of this difficult story. Making imaginative use of contemporary court and press accounts as well as the holdings of the Imperial War Museum Archive, it outlines the tribulations of a damaged generation, intertwining personal testimony with the author's thoughtful and cogent analysis... [Demobbed] wears its erudition lightly and has a pleasing, easy style.' BBC History Magazine"

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Book SynopsisA biography that offers a fresh portrait of Anne Boleyn, one of England's most captivating queens. Through a wide-ranging forensic examination of sixteenth-century sources, it reconsiders Boleyn's girlhood, her experience at the French court, the nature of her relationship with Henry, and the authenticity of her evangelical sympathies.Trade Review"'Here at long last is a historian of great skill and persuasive power... who cuts through the fog of speculation to get to the woman herself, in a book whose accessible style will mean that most readers, like this one, will devour it in a single setting.' (Alexander Lucie-Smith, Catholic Herald) 'Bernard deals with historical reputations and questions of guilt and innocence in his magnificent new life of Anne Boleyn...It is brilliantly argued, sometimes exhaustingly so, but it will reward those who come to it with an open mind.' (Linda Porter, History Today) 'A close-up, fine-focus retelling of dysfunctional royal family history... G W Bernard argues that Anne Boleyn, King Henry's most controversial temporary queen was very different from her popular sanitised portrait.' (Patrick Skene Catling, Irish Times)"

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Book SynopsisBased on new archival information, this book upends two hundred years of scholarship on England’s Glorious Revolution to claim that it—not the French Revolution—was the first truly modern revolutionTrade Review"Mr. Pincus’s cogently argued account of what really happened during England’s revolution destroys many comforting notions that have prevailed for more than 200 years. . . . It leaves the reader with something much more exciting: a new understanding of the origins of the modern, liberal state."—Economist"Pincus’s marvellously learned book is the product of years of industrious archival labour."—Jonathan Clark, Times Literary Supplement "A masterful reassessment of the received wisdom of what we understand of modern British history and the concept of revolution. This is a well-researched, well-written and important book."—British Heritage"This is an important book and deserves to be widely read . . . What stands out in Pincus’s work is his comprehensive use of manuscript sources and his determination to view events of 1688 afresh, these are the hallmarks of a true scholar . . . No historian of the Glorious Revolution – or the regime it established – will be able to overlook this remarkable work."—William Gibson, Archives"An engaging read . . . this book will unquestionably become a major talking-point among all interested in Britain’s last revolution."— Ted Vallance, BBC History Magazine"In this brilliant and provocative book, Steve Pincus creates a welcome stir that will enliven the study of the later 17th century . . . The result is a bracing, combative, highly stimulating argument, written in vivid and lively prose . . . A book that will be difficult for any student of the 17th century or of the revolutions to ignore."—Mark Knights, Reviews in History"The result is a major contribution to our understanding of the Revolution of 1688…It is the great strength of this book that it addresses large and intractable issues with boldness, verve, and argumentative charity."—Philip Connell, Notes and Queries"Pincus’s argument is a fascinating one, his study packed full of detail but never confusing or inaccessible."—Lesley McDowell, The Herald (Glasgow)"The sheer size of this impressively holistic study makes it hard to digest at one sitting. 1688 is a book to revisit and reflect upon, for there is so much to ponder here."—John Gibney, Journal of Ecclesiastical HistoryBronze Medal winner for the 2010 Independent Publishers Book Awards in the History CategoryWinner of the 2010 Gustav Ranis International Book Prize, given by the MacMillan CenterHonorable Mention in the Non-Fiction category of the 2009 New England Book Festival sponsored by the Larimar St. Croix Writers Colony, The Hollywood Creative Directory; eDivvy, Shopanista and Westside WebsitesA finalist in the category of Nonfiction for the 2010 Connecticut Book Award, given by the Connecticut Center for the BookWinner of the 2010 Morris D. Forkosch Prize given by the American Historical Association"Utterly extraordinary."—Don Herzog, University of Michigan"We all know that the year 1688 is a milestone in England's history; now, thanks to Steve Pincus, the book 1688 will be a milestone in its historiography. Pincus transforms what once seemed a peaceful compromise among agreeable aristocrats into a fractious and all-encompassing crisis, the ‘first modern revolution.’ Provocative, erudite, and accessible, 1688 is a must read for anyone interested in seventeenth-century Europe and its possessions."—Cynthia Herrup, University of Southern California"In this remarkable work of scholarship, vast in scope and profound in its implications, Pincus challenges Macaulay and the orthodox view that the Glorious Revolution was moderate, peaceful, and conservative, and reveals a violent transformational event that revolutionized England's state, church, and political economy, and introduced political modernity."—Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University"A radical interpretation of a radical revolution. Steve Pincus's brilliantly researched account of the extraordinary events of the 1680s and 1690s mounts an insuperable challenge to the comfortable view that the Glorious Revolution was another instance of British consensus politics, pragmatism, and common sense. 1688 recaptures the revolutionary nature of the Glorious Revolution and its far-reaching and interconnected conflicts over foreign policy, political economy, religion, and the nature of the modern state."—John Brewer, California Institute of Technology"A magnificent, fully documented, very well written study of how the first thorough-going modern revolution was achieved with effort and against substantial obstacles over several years. It was bloody and popular, not merely a palace coup achieved with little loss of life, as is commonly held. Taking a broader chronological view and considering more aspects of society than previous historians, Pincus convincingly shows how England had become a commercial society by the 1680s, and the race was on to harness new wealth—a race between the absolutist modernizing vision of James II and the more tolerant and liberty-minded vision of his opponents. What emerged was the first modern state, with independent financial institutions and a strong sense of national and civil, as opposed to confessional, interest. The triumph of William III and his supporters was a conscious re-ordering of the place of the three kingdoms on the European and world stage. Pincus's commitment to vigorous argument (in which he overturns many received views; his definition of revolution itself is bracingly refreshing) makes this book exciting reading, and will raise fascinated interest in the late 17th-century for many years to come. For anyone interested in modern liberal society, its origins, and why it is worth defending, this book is indispensable."—Nigel Smith, Princeton University

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Book SynopsisThe Wars of the Roses (1455-85) were a major turning point in English history. This title examines the difficult economic, military, and financial crises and explains the real reasons why the Wars of the Roses began, why they kept recurring, and why, eventually, they ceased.Trade Review"All readers interested in late medieval history will appreciate this."—Brian Renvall, Library Journal -- Brian Renvall * Library Journal *"[a] handsome book – produced to Yale University Press’s customarily beautiful standards – seeks not to trace a single thread but to sketch the whole historical tapestry of the complex and bloody conflicts that convulsed England in the second half of the fifteenth century."—Helen Castor, Times Literary Supplement -- Helen Castor * Times Literary Supplement *'A refreshing and stimulating challenge to current orthodoxy about what happened in the middle of the fifteenth century, of which all future accounts will have to take note.' - A J Pollard, author of Warwick the Kingmaker -- A J Pollard"A well-judged, vigorous and vivid account of England's fifteenth-century civil war, The Wars of the Roses interweaves a strong narrative thread with important analysis to explain the issues on which England's rulers and their rivals vied so often, and with such brutal consequences, between 1450 and 1485. For anyone interested in the personalities and controversies that surrounded the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII, The Wars of the Roses will make vital and compulsive reading." - Mark Ormrod, author of Political Life in Medieval England -- Mark Ormrod"This is both a summation and a groundbreaking book, replete with new insights. It distils the mature expertise and judgments of a leading later medieval historian who has greatly advanced our understanding of the medieval English nobility." - Anthony Goodman, author of The Wars of the Roses: The Soldiers' Experience -- Tony Goodman“This is a comprehensive account of the period, logically laid out, explaining why the Wars of the Roses were fought and why they ceased.”—Richard Woulfe, Tribune -- Richard Woulfe * Tribune *"In this impressive book Hicks reinterprets the wars between York and Lancaster and rejects Tudor inevitability."—Desmond Seward, The Tablet -- Desmond Seward * The Tablet *“…this book will be required reading for all serious students of the late-medieval English polity.”—David Grummitt, English Historical Review -- David Grummitt * English Historical Review *“….an important and valuable contribution to the canon of literature on the middle years of the 15th century, which will surely take its rightful place on student reading lists everywhere.”—Hannes Kleineke, History Review -- Hannes Kleineke * History Review *“…a valuable work of synthesis, and a refreshing, analytical reconsideration of the main issues, together with a clear narrative…He presents a stimulating argument in an important work which clarifies the entire subject in an authoritative fashion.”—Northern History * Northern History *

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Book SynopsisA biography that provides the most authoritative picture yet of King Stephen, whose reign (1135-1154), with its 'nineteen long winters' of civil war, made his name synonymous with failed leadership. After years of work on the sources, the author shows with clarity the strengths and weaknesses of the monarch.Trade Review“Edmund King’s discussion of these issues is the fullest and most detailed to date, offered through the medium of a compelling biography of the king.”—Nigel Saul, History Today -- Nigel Saul * History Today *“King is an expert guide, with a forensic eye for detail and a sharp-witted way with an explanation for a 21st-century readership.”—Helen Castor, Times Higher Education -- Helen Castor * Times Higher Education *'King's strength has always been in the close reading of the texts he uses. He deploys his knowledge of the contemporary authors to great effect, time and again making arresting observations about their individual perspectives and links to events, which adds to the freshness and liveliness of his treatment.' - Reviews in History -- David Crouch * Reviews in History *"This is a splendid addition to the English Monarchs series, a piece of thickly descriptive political history at its best. With magisterial command of the sources and contexts, Edmund King takes us on a lively tour of Stephen's castles and courts, his options and dilemmas. It is the story of Matildas, one of them the admirable wife-queen who repeatedly rescued Stephen; of his tumultuous brother Henry; of lesser men who, with the king himself, tried to carry on the work of royal power as public order failed; and of the dynastic and clerical elites that dominated England. Close to his sources, Professor King shows how the violence of castles pervades all these stories. He writes with verve and sympathy. His Stephen, found wanting in the end - although hardly 'as usual' - was no nonentity." - Thomas N. Bisson, Emeritus Lea Professor of Medieval History, Harvard University -- Thomas Bisson"King has written a masterpiece that reveals how a medieval political community can both consume and then reconstitute itself and offers readers a king emblematic of his truncated, troubled age."—J.P. Huffman, Choice -- J.P. Huffman * Choice *“This new monograph on King Stephen makes a formidable addition to the Yale English Monarchs series, and to medieval studies more generally."—Medium Aevum, 80:2 (2011) * Medium Aevum, 80:2 (2011) *Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the United Kingdom category. -- Choice Outstanding Academic Title * Choice *“…a balanced and reliable account.”—The Good Book Guide * The Good Book Guide *In keeping with the high standards of the Yale Monarch series, King has produced an effective account of the man and his reign that will hold up for a long time. His scholarship demonstrates a comfortable familiarity with the era. Successfully scouring the many chronicles, charters, letters and papal correspondence, King has rendered it all in crisp prose.— Laurence W. Marvin, Berry College, Canadian Journal of History -- Laurence W. Marvin * Canadian Journal of History * "An important, indeed invaluable, addition to the English Monarchs series. Based throughout on extensive research in primary sources, complemented by perceptive synthesis, the volume is a tour de force." — Northern History Journal * Northern History Journal *

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Book SynopsisRelics affected everyone in medieval society. In this book, the author illustrates that the pervasiveness and variety of relics answered very specific needs of ordinary people across a darkened Europe under threat of political upheavals, disease, and hellfire. It examines an array of relics in the broad social and cultural context of their age.Trade Review"Freeman is an excellent narrator. . . . He loves to tell a good tale, and the history of relics overflows with countless bizarre and fascinating deeds."—Andrew Butterfield, The New Republic -- Andrew Butterfield * The New Republic *“As Freeman delves into practices across Europe, he demonstrates great ease in synthesizing — and keeping accessible — many various strains of religious thought. . . . The same is true of his treatment of the histories of the Crusades, the rise of the Byzantine Empire, the Italian city-states, the challenge of Protestantism. . . . It’s no easy feat to encapsulate these subjects, and yet Freeman . . . pulls it off with great authority and insight.”—Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times -- Nick Owchar * Los Angeles Times *“Despite their prominence in the Middle Ages and even up to today, there is no other comprehensive history of relics available. As always, Freeman writes well and will stir up controversy. Recommended to scholars who will appreciate this comprehensive history, as well as to buffs of medieval history."—David Keymer, Library Journal -- David Keymer * Library Journal *“[A] fascinating book. . . .”—Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph (Seven) -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph (Seven) *'In Holy Bones, Holy Dust, Charles Freeman presents the massive history of relic veneration in a way that is at the same time comprehensive, compulsive and accessible. This is no mean achievement.'—Paul Fouracre, Frankland: The Franks and the World of Medieval Europe -- Paul Fouracre'Charles Freeman's new book is absorbing, wide-ranging and rigorous, while remaining constantly accessible. There is much original material here and many fresh insights; Freeman's eye for intriguing stories never wavers.'—John Cornwell, author of Newman's Unquiet Grave: the Reluctant Saint -- John Cornwell“This superbly put together and elegantly written book is the first proper history of the cult of relics from the early days to Counter-Reformation. Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, this is a marvellous study.”—Catholic Herald * Catholic Herald *“. . . a nuanced, scholarly and richly entertaining introduction to the subject of medieval Christian relics. It is a treat. The geographical and chronological range of the book is impressive (from ancient Constantinople to the post-Reformation West) and the author focuses on all the important issues. . . . Freeman’s achievement is all the more impressive because too few serious historians have bothered to study this topic in the round. . . . As a result, this is easily the best book that Freeman has written and also the best short introduction to the story of relics that I have read.”—Jonathan Wright, The Tablet -- Jonathan Wright * The Tablet *“In this work he examines the medieval enthusiasm for miracles. Few serious historians have tackled this subject yet it is of crucial importance in trying to understand the medieval mind.”—Church of England Newspaper * Church of England Newspaper *“. . . . this remarkable, in many ways shocking, study places them at the very heart of medieval life.”—Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman -- Michael Kerrigan * The Scotsman *“Wonderfully written and inviting. . . . Freeman, right down to the notes for his illustrations, fascinates....[Holy Bones, Holy Dust is] a model for how history is to be written.”—Thomas McGonigle, ABC of Reading -- Thomas McGonigle * ABC of Reading *“Charles Freeman covers a huge sweep of history con brio in this book on the significance of Catholic relics.”—Simon Scott Plummer, Standpoint -- Simon Scott Plummer * Standpoint *“Freeman’s book is a timely reminder of the extent to which relics were once central to mankind’s sense of identity.”—Nick Vincent, BBC History Magazine -- Nick Vincent * BBC History Magazine *“As Charles Freeman point out in his new book Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics shaped the History of Medieval Europe, relics were a crucial part of the medieval economy.”—Bess Twiston Davies, The Times -- Bess Twiston Davies * The Times *“Holy Bones, Holy Dust offers a readable and ambitious panoramic history of medieval society, politics and religion, defined by the impetus of relics, saints cults and miraculous interventions occurring between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Reformation.”—E.L Devlin, History Today -- E.L Devlin * History Today *“It is rare that a book about medieval history can keep the attention of any apart from scholars or, perhaps, live-role-play gamers. But this is just such a book. Holy Bones, Holy Dust, the latest offering from award-winning author Charles Freeman, benefits from being both exceptionally well written and having a strangely attractive subject matter.”—Tim Perry, ChristianWeek.org -- Tim Perry * ChristianWeek.org *“Charles Freeman’s Holy Bones, Holy Dust is a shrewd and readable account of one of the more significant aspects of the spiritual life of the Middle Ages.”—Jonathan Sumpton, Literary Review -- Jonathan Sumpton * Literary Review *“This book provides an engagingly written historical narrative supported by many detailed stories of how relics were relevant to theological, cultural, political and economic changes across medieval Europe.”—Harold Mytum, British Archaeology -- Harold Mytum * British Archaeology *“Excellent. . . . Meticulously expert, engagingly readable both as history and as writing.”—Craig Smith, Santa Fe New Mexican -- Craig Smith * Santa Fe New Mexican *“An absorbing and insightful journey, . . . with Freeman's fast-paced, well-researched account as our guide. . . . Today relics still have a role. . . . For anyone curious about their long history, Holy Bones, Holy Dust is essential reading.”— Catholic News Service * Catholic News Service *“When it comes to the ancient and medieval worlds, Freeman is one of the most accessible academic writers around, and he does not disappoint in this book.”—Nigel Nelson, The Tribune -- Nigel Nelson * The Tribune *“Scholars and students who wish to understand the popular religiosity of common people in medieval Western Europe will greatly benefit from reading this book.”—Daniel Jeyaraj, Theological Book Review -- Daniel Jeyaraj * Theological Book Review *“[A] fascinating book. . . . It is obvious that the cult of relics was the motive force of the great medieval passion for pilgrimages. Less obvious, perhaps, is the fact that the economic development of the many towns depended on the revenues from those pilgrims; the marble edifices of Renaissance Rome were constructed, so to speak, out of the passion for holy relics.”—Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph (Seven) -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph (Seven) *“…The book is a splendid read.”—Blue Guides * Blue Guides *"This is a history not just of relics and holy objects but of the place they had, not just in the religious but in the whole life of medieval Europe; in war, in peace, in trade, in politics and in the small details of daily living. Fascinating in itself, this book offers a perspective not only on questions about the past but also on questions about the sacred and the profane, both explicit and the implicit." —Christine E. King, Implicit Religion -- Christine E. King * Implicit Religion *Freeman's Holy Bones, Holy Dust is a thoughtful, engaging introduction into the uses and abuses of medieval relics. As a book intended to introduce modern audiences to the varieties and oddities of relic devotion, it does its job very well. The short chapters with their often-fascinating stories of miracles and political intrigue make the book a quick and absorbing read. That Freeman's work will introduce recent academic work on relics to a non-specialist audience is surely to be commended. Holy Bones, Holy Dust deserves to attract a large readership. Combing its fascinating topic with its sure prose, it is certain to do so. — Donna Trembinski, St. Francis Xavier University -- Donna Trembinski * Canadian Journal of History *“The strength of this book is its compelling sense of storytelling. . . . In chapters where the scholarship is particularly rich and focused, . . . Freeman's ability to write exciting narrative sweeps one along. Generally there are big themes—politics, religion, conflict, and resolution—but there also are many telling anecdotes and a sense of the personal and the touchingly human.”—Cynthia Hahn, Catholic Historical Review -- Cynthia Hahn * Catholic Historical Review *"Impressively informed and enlightening, it’s a scholarly work that makes allowances for the general reader and helps us to understand the intricacies of the medieval mind, restoring a more balanced and complete picture of the Middle Ages."—Alastair Mabbott, The Herald -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald (Glasgow) *"This fascinating book provides the necessary background for an understanding of what is today seen as something a little bizarre" — Good Book Guide * Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisIn this brilliant guide to modern European political ideas and thinkers spans the twentieth century, the author illuminates both the twentieth-century's ideological extremes and how Europeans built lasting liberal democracies in the second half of the century.Trade Review" [An] impressive survey of 20th-century European political thought.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *'This is a pathbreaking study in the intellectual history of Europe in our time. Analysing ideas that had political impact, Jan-Werner Mülller illuminates a never-ending debate about true and false democracy.' - Timothy Garton Ash -- Timothy Garton Ash'The most innovative parts of this admirably thorough and comprehensive book deal with the not so liberal roots of the liberal political institutions and practices that came to fruition in post-war Europe. What strikes me is the balanced treatment of developments in Western and Eastern Europe.' - Jürgen Habermas -- Jürgen Habermas'The great achievement of Jan Werner Müller's Contesting Democracy is to guide us safely across the vast unruly manifestos of European political ideas, from the appalling doctrines that helped generate the totalitarian regimes and world wars to the uneasy decency of our own era, without sacrificing the reader's sense of urgency and signifiance.' - Charles S. Maier -- Charles Maier'Ideology is the place where theory and practice, philosophy and history, meet. Understand this "in-between" and you are well on your way to understanding the deepest dynamics that shape modern political existence. In this illuminating study Jan-Werner Müller helps us see the experience of twentieth-century Europe, East and West, in a fresh light by showing how its characteristic ideologies developed, functioned, and adapted to the world they created. By focusing on "political thought that matters politically" Müller takes us beyond the simple stories we have inherited about revolution and reaction, post-war reconstruction, the Cold War, the Sixties, and much else. By the end he puts us in a much better position to understand the forces at work in contemporary European politics and the strange attraction of the "anti-political" ideology that governs our time.' - Mark Lilla, author of The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics -- Mark Lilla'Jan-Werner Müller’s Contesting Democracy is the most philosophically sophisticated and topically comprehensive study of political ideas in twentieth- century Europe yet available. It exhibits a masterful command of primary texts, archival sources, and myriad secondary literatures. Müller assembles for political theorists, intellectual historians and social scientists previously disparate pieces of intellectual-political life from the last, most incomprehensible century on that eternally perplexed and infinitely perplexing continent. By so expertly conveying the full significance of communism, fascism, liberalism, social democracy and Christian democracy, Müller makes the European twentieth century much more fathomable from a historical, moral and political standpoint than any previous work, in any language.' - John P. McCormick, author of Machiavellian Democracy -- John P. McCormick“…… [A] fine study of the impact of mass democracy on European political cultures.”—David Marquand, The New Statesman -- David Marquand * The New Statesman *“…..[An] excellent book…..Müller provides an insightful and comprehensive overview of the development of political ideas in 20th-century Europe that takes in Fascism, Communism, social democracy, liberalism, and much else.—Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint Magazine -- Jeremy Jennings * Standpoint Magazine *“Muller’s profound and stimulating book has much to offer, both to specialists and for others.”—Roger Morgan, Times Higher Education -- Roger Morgan * Times Higher Education *“There is no chapter of the twentieth century’s European political thought that is not luminously analysed in this superbly written, lucidly argued and immensely engaging book.”—Vladimir Tismaneanu, International Affairs -- Vladimir Tismaneanu * International Affairs *"Jan-Werner Muller has written a fine book which for the first time gives us a reliable synthesis of twentieth-century European political thought." European Review of History * European Review of History *"The originality of Contesting Democracy stems in good part from the diversity of its subject, its well thought-out structure, and, last but not least, its lively anecdotes and memorable quotes. Müller writes elegantly and has a good eye for important ideas and neglected authors." A. Craiutu, Springer. -- A. Craiutu * Springer *

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Book SynopsisThe first biography of Charles Cornwallis in forty years—the soldier, governor, and statesman whose career covered America, India, Britain, and IrelandTrade Review“[A] well researched [biography].”—Gerard DeGroot, Times (UK)“Richard Middleton, in this defensive biography of Cornwallis, the first for almost half a century, proves himself an able historian who has mastered the relevant sources. . . . [Cornwallis’s] efforts are recorded diligently by Middleton.”—Paul Lay, Sunday Telegraph“Never less than fair and consistently entertaining.”—Ferdinand Mount, Times Literary Supplement“Middleton has written both a biography and an important work of history. . . . Middleton makes perceptive comments on Cornwallis’s command in America [and] puts this in the context of a career of imperial service that includes posts of responsibility in Britain, Germany, India and Ireland.”—Jeremy Black, Catholic Herald“Richard Middleton vividly narrates the surprising and revealing life of Britain’s leading general during the Age of Revolutions. In lucid prose and telling detail, Cornwallis reappears as a sensible, progressive, and effective leader in crises that both shook and rebuilt the British Empire.”—Alan Taylor, author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750–1804“A comprehensive, thoughtful, and nuanced biography of a leading British soldier and administrator whose career spanned three continents during a tumultuous half century of war and revolution. In this major reassessment, the general best known for sustaining a defeat that guaranteed American independence emerges as an unusually capable, humane, and—by the standards of his own age—enlightened servant of empire.”—Stephen Brumwell, author of George Washington: Gentleman Warrior“Scholarly yet accessible to general readers, Richard Middleton’s new biography of Cornwallis captures his pivotal role in events in America, India and Ireland. Based on a heroic trawl through a great mass of primary sources, notably Cornwallis’s voluminous papers, this book will surely endure as the standard life of this eighteenth-century imperial soldier.”—Stephen Conway, author of History of the British Army, 1714–1783

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Book SynopsisThe later medieval English church is invariably viewed through the lens of the Reformation that transformed it. But in this bold and provocative book historian George Bernard examines it on its own terms, revealing a church with vibrant faith and great energy, but also with weaknesses that reforming bishops worked to overcome. Bernard emphasizes royal control over the church. He examines the challenges facing bishops and clergy, and assesses the depth of lay knowledge and understanding of the teachings of the church, highlighting the practice of pilgrimage. He reconsiders anti-clerical sentiment and the extent and significance of heresy. He shows that the Reformation was not inevitable: the late medieval church was much too full of vitality. But Bernard also argues that alongside that vitality, and often closely linked to it, were vulnerabilities that made the break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries possible. The result is a thought-provoking study of a church and societTrade Review"Superbly researched and coherently argued."—Peter Marshall, Literary Review -- Peter Marshall * Literary Review *"Bernard has again achieved what he does best: making us go back to an old problem and start thinking afresh."—Lucy Wooding, Times Higher Education -- Lucy Wooding * Times Higher Education *"England experienced one of the most muddled Reformations in Western Europe and that’s what makes studying it so fascinating and so infuriating. Even the most basic questions remain open: why, when and how quickly did England become a Protestant nation? Bernard has done as much as any historian to bring us closer to nuanced answers and in his latest book he is on particularly fine form."—Jonathan Wright, Catholic Herald -- Jonathan Wright * Catholic Herald *

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Book SynopsisTells the complete history of women readers and the controversies their reading has inspired since the beginning of the written word. This volume travels from the Cro-Magnon cave to the digital bookstores of our time, exploring how and what women have read through the ages and across cultures and civilizations.Trade Review"Engaging, lively and vigorous. The Woman Reader is a landmark work that no feminist—or for that matter, general reader—should miss."—Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth -- Naomi Wolf "An utterly gripping history of women and reading, brilliantly conceived and told depth and detail for the first time. Belinda Jack's remarkable book is destined to be a landmark in its field."—Claire Harman, author of Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World -- Claire Harman "A lively and erudite history of the many and ingenious covers thrown over women's minds to keep us in the dark, Jack's absorbing story describes and deconstructs the endlessly remade cover versions that men (mostly) have told to women, and to themselves, about the reasons why books and women should be kept apart."—Jeanette Winterson, Times of London -- Jeanette Winterson * Times of London *“A rarefied study of women’s reading over the centuries - a subject that is vast, but also intensely private, and that has left little trace for most of history.”—The Sunday Telegraph * Sunday Telegraph *“Jack’s excellent history begins from a position of anxiety, which she argues is caused by women’s access to the written word. What do women read and what happens to them, and the world, when they do?”—Lesley McDowell, Independent on Sunday -- Lesley McDowell * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisThe people and publications at the root of a national obsession In the century between the accession of Elizabeth I and the restoration of Charles II, a horticultural revolution took place in England, making it a leading player in the European horticultural game. Ideas were exchanged across networks of gardeners, botanists, scholars, and courtiers, and the burgeoning vernacular book trade spread this new knowledge still furtherreaching even the growing number of gardeners furnishing their more modest plots across the verdant nation and its young colonies in the Americas. Margaret Willes introduces a plethora of garden enthusiasts, from the renowned to the legions of anonymous workers who created and tended the great estates. Packed with illustrations from the herbals, design treatises, and practical manuals that inspired these menand occasionally womenWilles's bookenthrallingly charts how England's garden grew.Trade Review“Willes, who was a publisher for the National Trust, is a true bibliophile who has undertaken an ambitious piece of research that will be invaluable to students of gardens and their history.”—Rosie Atkins, History Today -- Rosie Atkins * History Today *“…..all can enjoy the illuminating way Willes puts gardens into context.”—Gardens Illustrated * Gardens Illustrated *“Avoid the glut of picture books that blossom at this time of year for this serious study of the social life of the English garden. It will fascinate serious horticulturalists with its explanation of the how the country had already undergone a radical revolution in gardening before the 18th century, which so many thought was its heyday.”—Country and Town House Magazine * Country and Town House Magazine *

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Book SynopsisImmediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized and helped to carry out the forced relocation of German speakers from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany. This is a study of the largest recorded episode of what we now call "ethnic cleansing".Trade Review"This is an important book, deserving of the widest readership."—Max Hastings, Sunday Times "Douglas provides a fascinating glimpse of the backstage of the Nazi war effort, as hundreds of thousands were shifted from Poland and the Baltic states as part of a forced Germanisation policy that sheer lack of preparation doomed to failure."—Benedicte Williams, Budapest Times"The expulsion of Germans is understandably a politically-charged topic. Until recently, it has been taboo to examine the depths of German suffering after 1945, because of the suffering they themselves had caused. Drawing on meticulous research, Douglas thoughtfully explains the context for this policy, before showing convincingly that its rationale was flawed."—Hester Vaizey, Independent"Well-researched and dispassionately written. . . . Those who want to understand the tensions in modern Europe, not least in central Europe, ought to read this book."—Gisela Stuart, The Housing Magazine"Douglas has produced a highly valuable and convincing account of the expulsion of Germans. . . "—Pertti Ahonen, Journal of Modern History “A timely read” —Harvey Richardson, Methodist RecorderRunner-up in the General Non-Fiction category at the 2013 Great Southeast Book FestivalWinner of the 2013 George Louis Beer Prize given by the American Historical AssociationWon an honorable mention for the 2012 Association of American Publishers PROSE Awards in the European & World History Category"Orderly and Humane is an outstanding and well-written work that fills a significant gap in books written in English about this large subject and the very period of its compass. It ought to be in every serious American library and should be required reading for scholars interested in the history of the end of the Second World War and the years thereafter in Europe."—John Lukacs, author of The Future of History and Five Days in London, May 1940"R.M. Douglas has written a fair-minded, deeply researched and courageous book that carefully demystifies the claims and accusations surrounding the awful history of the expulsion of the ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. A first-rate work, Orderly and Humane compels us to admit that the postwar expulsions were not simply a regrettable accident but a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing on a breathtaking scale that decisively shaped postwar Europe’s history."—William I. Hitchcock, author of The Bitter Road to Freedom: The Human Consequences of Allied Victory in World War II Europe"The tragedy of the post-World War II ethnic German refugees and expellees has been told before but no account is based on so many original documents from so many countries as Douglas’s eminently readable work."—Istvan Deak, Columbia University

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Book SynopsisSeeks to understand how the Africa's history is entwined with the histories of others, while exploring Africa's truest assets: "its humanity, the quality and valuation of its own existence, and modes of managing its environment - both physical and intangible (which includes the spiritual)".

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Book SynopsisOffers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain's fighting forces during World War II, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler's Germany. This study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war's final years features a large cast of colourful unknowns and grand historical personages alike.Trade Review‘His authority, blended with readability and a genuinely fresh, exciting and convincing thesis, makes this the finest account of D-Day and beyond for many, many a year.’ —James Holland, BBC History Magazine -- James Holland * BBC History Magazine *‘ A well-argued take on the role of the British army in the campaign in northwest Europe… a balanced study that stresses the British Army’s effectiveness, both in using the resources at its disposal appropriately and in developing skills that made a valuable contribution to Allied success.’—Diane Lees, The Times. -- Diane Lees * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTales of the intrepid early naturalists who set sail on dangerous voyages of discovery in the vast, unknown Pacific On the great Pacific discovery expeditions of the long eighteenth century, naturalists for the first time were commonly found aboard ships sailing forth from European ports. Lured by intoxicating opportunities to discover exotic and perhaps lucrative flora and fauna unknown at home, these men set out eagerly to collect and catalogue, study and document an uncharted natural world.This enthralling book is the first to describe the adventures and misadventures, discoveries and dangers of this devoted and sometimes eccentric band of explorer-scholars. Their individual experiences are uniquely their own, but together their stories offer a new perspective on the extraordinary era of Pacific exploration and the achievements of an audacious generation of naturalists. Historian Glyn Williams illuminates the naturalist's lot aboard ship, where danger alternated with boredom and quarrels with the ship's commander were the norm. Nor did the naturalist's difficulties end upon returning home, where recognition for years of work often proved elusive. Peopled with wonderful characters and major figures of Enlightenment scienceamong them Louis Antoine de Bouganville, Joseph Banks, John Reinhold Forster, Captain Cook, and Charles Darwinthis book is a gripping account of a small group of scientific travelers whose voyages of discovery were to change perceptions of the natural world.Trade Review“An extraordinary and entertaining catalog of maritime and scientific endeavor.”—Michael Fathers, The Wall Street Journal -- Michael Fathers * The Wall Street Journal * “An erudite and beautifully illustrated work, Naturalists at Sea wears its learning lightly, and conveys to non-specialists an array of fascinating details about explorers and naturalists, familiar and not-so-familiar, quoting judiciously from their journals and post-voyage publications . . . every page testifies to the indomitable vitality of both explorers and naturalists.”—Andrew Robinson, Nature -- Andrew Robinson * Nature *“This fascinating tale is told across time, ships, captains and crews, and the countries that sent or received these scientific travelers, naturalists who brought their skills and weaknesses to documenting the natural world during the Enlightenment and beyond. Williams. . . does all the hard work of making these lives and adventures comprehensible.”—Library Journal * Library Journal *"[A] fascinating work . . . This well-illustrated book will interest a wide audience."—Choice * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThe Danube cuts across and connects central Europe, flowing through and alongside ten countries: Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. Travelling its full length from east to west, the author embarks on a year-long journey that leads to a new perspective on Europe today.Trade Review“A review can’t encompass the majestic canvas of Thorpe’s book. Wise, thoughtful, unprejudiced and consistently absorbing, it is also beautifully written.”—Miranda Seymour, Literary Review -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review *“In this leisurely amalgam of travelogue and history, Nick Thorpe . . . has done the Danube and its ancient people proud.”—Ian Thomson, Sunday Telegraph -- Ian Thomson * The Sunday Telegraph *“Thorpe is a keen conversationalist who lets the multiple voices of riparian communities emerge on their own. The writing is graceful and the descriptions of landscape and, especially, birds are at times magnificent.”—Charles King, Times Literary Supplement -- Charles King * Times Literary Supplement *“A review can’t encompass the majestic canvas of Thorpe’s book. Wise, thoughtful, unprejudiced and consistently absorbing, it is also beautifully written . . . Thorpe’s inspired images quicken and animate the story of the dark and dreaming river to which he committed a well—spent year of travelling.”—Miranda Seymour, Literary Review -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review *‘Early on, Thorpe asks whether, just as Herodotus labelled Egypt “the gift of the Nile”, Europe could likewise be called “the gift of the Danube”, with culture, religion, trade and people moving back and forth along its length. It’s a thought-provoking question, especially as you follow Thorpe on his meandering, enlightening journey.’—Kit Gillet, Geographical Magazine -- Kit Gillet * Geographical Magazine *‘Thorpe is a very good listener, offering wonderful portraits of the people he meets, particularly in the east. A vivid mix of geography, myths, natural history and human lives.’—P D Smith, The Guardian -- P D Smith * The Guardian *‘This book...leaves one in awe of the richness of the cultures of central Europe and with a longing for the humble pleasure of washing down a plate of fried pikeperch with a glass of Romanian white wine.’—Tom Moriarty, The Irish Times -- Tom Moriarity * Irish Times *‘A vivid mix of geography, myths, natural history and human lives.’—The Observer * The Observer *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Zapruder . . . has done a great service to history and the future. Her book deserves to become a standard in Holocaust studies classes. . . . These writings will certainly impress themselves on the memories of all readers."—Publishers Weekly"These extraordinary diaries will resonate in the reader’s broken heart for many days and many nights."—Elie Wiesel"Salvaged Pages offers important perspectives for today’s Holocaust education students. The voices of young adults during the Holocaust resonate in a way that can’t be replicated by other resources."—Jennifer L. Goss, Robert E. Lee High School"Salvaged Pages shares the despair, frustrations, hopes, and loves of young adults who struggle mightily with the impact of the hatred and indifference of their neighbors. My students are enthralled."—Lynne Ravas, Lower Dauphin Middle School"Salvaged Pages is a window into the private world of young diarists existing under Nazi occupation. Readers cannot help but respond to the humanity of writers in a world whose deprivations we can only begin to comprehend through their own words."—Elaine Culbertson, Director, Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers’ Program"A searing collection of Jewish youngsters’ private Holocaust diaries, Salvaged Pages shines a bright light on their daily lives and their inner lives. Zapruder offers us the opportunity follow these child and adolescent writers as they endured and responded to an ever harsher Nazi regime. Salvaged Pages gives us a glimpse, too, of the unfulfilled potential lost with the murder of a generation. A key text for teachers and students alike, Salvaged Pages enriches our understanding of how life was lived and lives were destroyed, day by day, year after year."—Debórah Dwork, Director, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University

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Book SynopsisAn imaginative retelling of London's history, framed through the experiences of Indigenous travelers who came to the city over the course of more than five centuriesTrade Review“This book confirms Coll Thrush’s position as the best historian of place working in Native American and Indigenous studies today. Indigenous London is a major contribution to the growing scholarship of the Red Atlantic.”—Jace Weaver, author of The Red Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000-1927 -- Jace Weaver“In this elegantly written and wide-ranging book Coll Thrush successfully challenges the widely assumed binary between urban civilization and indigenous people. In his exciting and always illuminating tour of the indigenous presence in the metropolis of the British Empire from the 16th to the 21st century, Thrush recovers the ways in which North American, New Zealand, and Australian native peoples sought to challenge settler colonialism. This book is a must read for those interested in indigenous peoples, London and the British Empire.”—Steve Pincus, author of 1688: The First Modern Revolution -- Steve Pincus“This is a truly innovative and engaging book. It demonstrates splendidly how the presence of these visitors stimulated a great deal of curiosity and speculation, as we would expect, but also forced Londoners to see the city through their eyes.”—Karen Kupperman, New York University -- Karen Kupperman“In this extraordinarily rich and compelling book, Coll Thrush has succeeded admirably in bringing to life the half-millennium-long phenomenon of Indigenous engagement with London. A terrific work of scholarship and a stunning act of authorial invention.”—Eric Hinderaker, author of The Two Hendricks: Unraveling a Mohawk Mystery -- Eric Hinderaker

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Book SynopsisTrade Review'This is a wonderful book, and an unusual addition to the gardening shelf. It reveals the democracy of gardening and its being both a craft and an art – a mixture of hard labour and passion. Margaret Willes's book shows how people with no money and little time to themselves produced riches on small plots – little paradises, even. How begging, borrowing (and stealing), they would create wealths of flowers and food, and find joy in doing so. How gardening would become their chosen taskmaster – and their deliverer. Willes's history is a constant statement of how green fingers have transformed lives. The book is a delight.' - Ronald Blythe, author of Akenfield 'An encyclopaedic and enjoyable read, so well written and so informative that it should appeal to anyone interested in history and horticulture.' - Bob Flowerdew, regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time 'Garden historians characteristically focus on the gardens of grand houses and their makers. By contrast, this is an intriguing study of an often overlooked area of both horticultural and social history. Through dauntingly energetic research, Margaret Willes has produced a colourful and remarkably detailed account of how a passion for flower and vegetable gardening has enriched the lives of millions.' - Michael Leapman, author of One Man and His Plot‘…in this wonderfully rich study, Margaret Willes reveals the forgotten history of Britain’s working-class horticulturalists’—PD Smith, the Guardian. -- P.D. Smith * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a tightly argued, meticulously researched history of sanitation that reads like a novel."—Paula Byrne, The Times"Lee Jackson stops to have a good poke around – and consider in fascinating, sometimes gruesome detail, the filth and nuisances of the time . . . Utterly engrossing."—Jo Baker, The New York Times Book Review"Mr Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter."—Emily Cockayne, Wall Street Journal Europe“Impressive . . . [Lee] Jackson has written a book that is neat and sparkling, unlike his subject matter.”—Emily Cockayne, The Wall Street Journal"Rich in wonderful contemporary details gleaned from newspapers and archives, Jackson’s study is a vivid account of the enormous challenges faced by a city expanding at an unprecedented rate."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian“An atypical look at London’s social history. Jackson manages to make a disgusting topic much funnier than one would expect.”—Library Journal"There is an extensive bibliography and index and this makes Dirty Old London a very welcome addition to the social history of the Victorian capital. It will be useful to scholars as well as being a very enjoyable popular history which deserves a wide readership."—Drew Gray, The London Journal"From the dustmen who grew rich from recycling, to a history of the public lavatory, this fascinating book provides a (dare I say fresh?) insight into life in the Victorian capital."—Current Archaeology"Where there’s muck there’s brass. Let’s hope so for Lee Jackson, author of this volume on all things feculent, filthy and noisome in the Victorian city. It’s a big topic that deserves a big audience."—Matt Brown, The Londonist"The book is engagingly written, and based on a wide reading of source material and recent academic writing."—Peter Hounsell, Who Do You Think You Are Magazine"Delve deep into Victorian London’s dirty streets in this detailed, but enjoyably graphic, account of efforts to make life better for the British capital’s growing population."—History Revealed"This superb book places the humdrum business of keeping a city and its people clean in a detailed social and political context."—Jonathan Wright, The Tablet"This interesting and informative book deserves to have a wide circulation."—John Beasley, The Methodist Recorder"This is a fascinating work that will engage both those interested in Victorian in general and London in particular."—Stephen Halliday, BBC History Magazine"I thought I knew nineteenth-century London-this book made me smell it . . . Mud: it’s so often mentioned in Victorian literature, but I didn’t know what it was until I read this admirable book."—Clive Aslet, Country Life"Dirty Old London is a treat – truly Victorian, in that it is shocking, entertaining, educational and grisly by turns."—Catharine Arnold, author of Necropolis: London and its Dead"I can't think of a better companion with whom to explore London's underbelly - expert, engaging and approachable."—Sarah Wise, author of The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum"So much meticulous research packaged into such a vividly readable narrative. I loved it."—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London"The squalor of Victorian London was proverbial. Lee Jackson’s revelatory clean-up goes behind the headlines to allow us to see not just what, but why, London was so dirty."—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bill Hayton’s splendid book lucidly covers these disputes in all their complexity from virtually every angle - historical, legal, political, economic and strategic. A journalist with the BBC and author of a previous book on Vietnam, he tells a good yarn, even when the topic is as dry as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Indeed, he may be the first person ever to have written an exciting account of a meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)."—The Economist"Mr. Hayton, a longtime BBC journalist, excels in distilling the complexity and absurdity of such South China Sea disputes—which include overlapping claims by Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam—into a manageable narrative. His book offers the best combination of accessibility and accuracy so far published on the disputes. . . . This is a book for the layperson, not the lawyer."—Gregory B. Poling, Wall Street Journal"The greatest risk today in U.S.-Chinese relations is the South China Sea, through which passes 40% of world trade. China’s assertion of ‘indisputable sovereignty’ over it riles other nations bordering those waters and is beginning to be challenged by the United States. In The South China Sea, Bill Hayton explains how this all came about and points to the growing risks of miscalculation and escalation."—Daniel Yergin, Wall Street Journal"A fascinating account of this intensifying conflict. . . . [Hayton] has produced a detailed yet accessible story of how the South China Sea has emerged from a mythical danger zone to a real arena of conflict between regional powers and a source of big-power strife."—Global Asia"Hayton has spent much of his professional life working for the BBC and so his storytelling is well developed. Unlike many of the academics who have written previously on the South China Sea, Hayton presents a wholly accessible account that weaves well thought out arguments with vivid descriptions. He understands the importance of engaging his audience; points are explained clearly and his examples, which are as recent as the disappearance of flight MH370 in March 2014, bring each issue to life."—Sophie Ibbotson, Geographical"Thoroughly researched and gracefully written."—David Brown, Asian Sentinel"Aimed at the general reader, The South China Sea is a well-written, imaginatively presented analysis of a complicated struggle which will continue to make the news and has implications far beyond the immediate region."—Simon Scott Plummer, TLS"The South China Sea is of mounting geopolitical importance yet remains obscure to most audiences outside Asia. Bill Hayton's book will do much to remedy that - helping governments to fashion wise policy, and ordinary people to understand the region. It is an invigorating read."—James Holmes, co-author of Red Star over the Pacific: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy"Hayton does a fantastic job of covering all major dimensions of the dispute—historical, legal, resources, geostrategic, military—in a cogent, concise and compelling manner. As any good journalist would (and most academics don’t) he adds colour to the narrative by highlighting the role of key personalities, from Grotius to Bensurto and everyone in between. An excellent book."—Ian J. Storey, Editor-in-Chief, Contemporary South-East Asia

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Kloppenborg’s combination of a wide range of evidence based on epigraphic, documentary, literary and archaeological data to present a fresh perspective for understanding the New Testament and early Christ assemblies, is both remarkable and worthy of applause. . . . A must-read for New Testament scholars and deserves a permanent spot on reading lists for classes on Paul and the social-historical context of the New Testament.”—C. M. Kreinecker, Ephemerides Theologicae LovaniensesWinner of the 2021 Frank W. Beare Award, sponsored by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies“This exceptionally important book offers a clearer understanding of who the early Christ followers really were, where they came from, and how their way of life eventually evolved into the preferred ‘religion’ of the Roman Empire.”—Anders Runesson, author of The Origins of the Synagogue“John Kloppenborg employs his unmatched knowledge of Greek and Roman associations to construct the first systematic comparison of these small groups with early Christ assemblies. This is a masterpiece of historical research and a model of comparative method.”—Larry L. Welborn, author of The Young Against the Old“Why did early Christian groups organize themselves the way they did? What might have attracted people to them? These are questions John Kloppenborg addresses with exemplary clarity and force of argument.”—Arjan Zuiderhoek, author of The Ancient City“This data-rich book is a must-read for those interested in the world of earliest Christianity, providing new understandings of social history and of philology. The reader will learn about the rich, the powerful, the citizen and about the immigrant, the artisan, the laborer, the enslaved, and the poor.”—Laura Nasrallah, author of Archaeology and the Letters of Paul“A watershed in New Testament scholarship, Christ’s Associations is an exciting interpretation of epigraphic sources, which reframes questions of constant debate. One example is Kloppenborg’s choice to translate membership lists of guilds, rather than focusing on spaces for assemblies.”—David Balch, author of Contested Ethnicities and Images

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

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A rich and highly readable interdisciplinary study that draws together the Great Arab Revolt and the Palestine campaigns into a larger whole."—Justin Marozzi, Spectator "Neil Faulkner’s book is caustic, richly detailed and provocative . . . he skewers his main subject exactly."—James Barr, BBC History"Neil Faulkner goes beyond psychohistory and places Lawrence’s endeavour in a wider political and cultural context. He gives the best short account I’ve read of Gallipoli: dramatic, vivid but still subtly inflected; and he explains the strategic battle in London between military Westerners and political Easterners."—Brian Morton, Glasgow Herald"The book expertly describes the politics that led to these wartime alliances . . . really comes into its own with the detailed accounts of the military forces the strategic and tactical considerations of the combatants, the alliances and each of the battles in the region. . . . This is a book that brings a seminal period of history to life and is worthy of study by all who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of the background to its current political impasse."—Dr. Stephen Leah, Methodist Recorder"A landmark in archaeological study of modern conflicts. . . . This is an attractive and very readable book with a worrying degree of relevance in the contemporary world."—Gabriel Barkay, Archaeology Today"Though closely interlinked, the Great Arab Revolt and the Palestine campaigns are generally studied separately. Neil Faulkner?'s eminently readable account treats them in parallel, opening up a much wider context for Lawrence?'s Seven Pillars."—Jeremy Wilson, author of Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography"A lively history of the Arab Revolt that sheds important new light on Lawrence’s Seven Pillars as a reliable source. Essential reading."—Eugene Rogan, author of The Arabs: A History

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Book SynopsisThe definitive account of the superior fighting force that powered the English RevolutionTrade Review“Authoritative and incisive. . . . This is far from just a military history. Gentles, formerly of York University, deals briskly with the key battles and sieges that made, for better or worse, the New Model’s reputation—Naseby, Dunbar, Colchester, Drogheda. . . . Gentles is fascinating too when writing about procurement.”—Paul Lay, Times (UK) “Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army won the decisive battles of the English civil war, overthrew the monarchy in 1649 and sustained the republic until its collapse in 1660. In this expanded version of a study published in 1992, Gentles shows why he is considered the leading authority on the army.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Summer Books of 2022: History” “A thorough study. . . . The author’s mastery of the relevant manuscript and printed primary sources and secondary works is exemplary.”—Edward M. Furgol, Seventeenth-Century News “Explores not just the intricacies and complexities of the army, but also what made it such a formidable battlefield force.”—Military History Matters “This new account shows how powerful the New Model Army was at fighting not just with the sword but also with “The Word.” . . . New insight is given, proving that religion was beating strongly at its heart and that this faith was a force in building morale, military skill and ultimately victory.”—Bruce Kemble-Johnson, Let’s Talk “The purpose of this book is not to provide yet another military history of the wars, but to look beyond the accounts of the fighting, and to consider why the New Model Amy was so formidable on the battlefield, and why it had such an impact on politics and religion off it. Here the author succeeds admirably, delivering an indispensable study that is both insightful and thoroughly readable.”—David Flintham, Military History Matters “A richly detailed and authoritative survey of Parliament’s formidable army formed in 1645 and disbanded at the Restoration.”—Jackie Eales, History Today “Gentles provides a lively and accessible prose, without sacrificing scholarly rigour and analysis. The book will become a standard text for students of the Civil Wars in the Three Kingdoms for decades to come.”— Andrew Hopper, International Journal of Military History and Historiography Shortlisted for the 2023 Military History Matters Book of the Year “Ian Gentles has long been the leading authority on the most important and influential army in English history: and this latest book proves that he still is!”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Making of Oliver Cromwell “Gentles recovers the heart of revolutionary England in this indispensable and definitive landmark book. He masterfully charts the astonishing rise and successes of the New Model Army. Now, in this updated and fresh edition, he provides a view from the inside into the fears, failures, and wider aspirations of the army during its final and most elusive years.”—Polly Ha, associate professor of the history of Christianity, Duke University “Students of the English Revolution, for whom the first edition of The New Model Army has long been required reading, will be thrilled. . . . A tour de force which presents the New Model as a political phenomenon as well as a highly effective military force.”—David Appleby, author of Black Bartholomew’s Day “This is an important and timely reworking of a classic study of the military wrecking ball of the English Revolution. Authoritative yet accessible, the lively narrative guides the reader through a complex and transformative period in the histories of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Henceforth, Gentles’ account will be essential reading for those interested in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.”—Micheál Ó Siochrú, Trinity College Dublin, author of God’s Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Excellent . . . An admirable study."—Nicholas Stargardt, Wall Street Journal"An engaging investigation of the German army’s complex relationship with the Third Reich. The author, the Glasgow academic Ben Shepherd, does a sterling job of boiling down the 12 years of Nazi Germany to produce an accessible account of the Faustian pact entered into by German generals . . ."—Roger Moorhouse, Times"Shepherd has written a comprehensive history of the 20th century’s most formidable fighting machine. It is also an unanswerable indictment of the moral cowardice and arrogance of an officer corps who sold their souls to Hitler and allowed him to lead them and their beloved country into the abyss."—Nigel Jones, BBC History"Highly readable and with great narrative scope, this is an excellent starting-point for anyone who wishes to have a broad overview of WWII from the German military point of view."—Robert Carver, Military History Monthly

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“[A] compelling re-evaluation of the Victorian economy. . . . Bread Winner is a book with the personal and domestic at its heart, telling a powerful story of social realities, pressures, and the fracturing of traditional structures. . . . The great strength of this book is the assurance with which the author moves from the intimate to the general and back again, using eyewitness recollections as a lens through which the reader can examine a society in flux.”—Wall Street Journal“Deeply researched and sensitive without being sentimental.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph, “Best History Books of 2020”“There is much that is fascinating in Bread Winner about the choices imposed on and faced by those entering the labour market.”—Cormac Ó Gráda, Familia“[T]his book brings the trials and tribulations of the 19th century to life.”—History Revealed“Griffin’s extraordinary collection of more than 650 autobiographies allows her to paint a richly textured portrait of these [working class] lives.”—Helen McCarthy, History Today“[A]n enthralling read and fluently written. . . . What makes the book often heartbreaking is the picture it gives of an era where so many lives were blighted by the sheer struggle for survival.”—Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph“[I]n her remarkable new book . . . Griffin [mines] . . . documents with resourcefulness and acumen, unerringly digging out tiny fragments that, when fitted together, enable her to create a brightly coloured mosaic of a society that has all too frequently been depicted in the black and white of charts and statistics.”—Judith Flanders, Literary Review“Griffin’s work is genuinely revisionist—of an economic history too reliant on quantitative methods . . . [and] shows—not just that the male breadwinner norm was damaging to children’s wellbeing and women’s equality, but also that this truth is still news to many. I hope against hope that this book might open their eyes.”—Susan Pederson, London Review of Books“Griffin has a deep empathy for her subjects and a concern to develop a comprehensive bibliography of working-class autobiography. She has an eye for detail and a skill for building patterns in a way that makes the book accessible.”—Erika Rappaport, Cercles“A detailed, well-thought-out contribution to economic and social history that does an excellent job of bringing the domestic into focus, and it is full of stories worthy of Thomas Hardy.”—Jad Adams, New StatesmanShortlisted for the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing “Griffin’s pioneering research shifts our attention from the generalities of economic growth to the realities of lived experience. Her humane and human book is an outstanding contribution to the history of Victorian Britain.”—Martin Daunton, author of Wealth and Welfare“Bread Winner is a love affair with life-writing. The extraordinary voices of the poor, the ambitious, the mobile and the utterly insignificant of Victorian Britain are brought together to tell us how they got by in a precarious world.”—Lucy Delap, author of Knowing Their Place“A sobering—and important—account of the human dimensions of economic life. . . . Makes a powerful case for why attention to the family is indispensable to any understanding of the Victorian economy.” —Deborah Cohen, author of Family Secrets“Griffin’s startling re-evaluation of the Victorian family, powered by the voices and experiences of the poor themselves, is both rigorous and moving in its human detail and searching analyses.”—Peter Mandler, author of The English National Character

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Book SynopsisThe Cold War reconsidered as seventy-five years of slow nuclear warfareTrade Review“Nuclear Bodies provides an important contribution to the literature on the humanitarian impacts of the nuclear industry. . . . A useful reference for anyone looking to better understand the decades of radioactive harm inflicted on people and on the planet.”—Alicia Sanders-Zakre, International Affairs“Inexorable clarity and care for his fellow humans mark Robert Jacobs’s guide to the Cold War as a limited nuclear war, whose harms disfigure any possible future.”—Norma Field, author of In the Realm of a Dying Emperor: Japan at Century’s End“Jacobs leaves behind the division of nuclear power into civilian and military spheres. He argues convincingly that propagandists drew this line in order to clear the way for the unhindered pursuit of nuclear weapons. In so doing, he masterfully shows how military leaders waged a limited nuclear war on the environment and human bodies.”—Kate Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology“Nuclear Bodies is an urgent book, a work of great ethical gravity and political import that grapples with the pernicious legacies of radiological colonialism. Jacobs unsettles conventional distinctions between war and peace, exhorting us to reimagine the Cold War as a limited nuclear war.”—Rob Nixon, author of Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

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Book SynopsisThe first integrative history of Nazi mass killing—showing how policies of mass murder were crucial to the regime’s strategy to win the warTrade Review“In this meticulous, vivid, and grim accounting of the deliberate murder of civilians by Nazi Germany, Kay manages to keep a balance between careful analysis of the evidence and reminders of the horrors of the events he is describing, including individuals’ harrowing recollections of surviving by hiding among dead bodies—often those of their own relatives.”—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs“The book’s great contribution is that it coherently brings together a range of findings, offering a single point of reference for innovative research from the past two decades and beyond. . . . A must-read for anyone teaching classes on the history of World War II, the Nazi period, or twentieth-century Germany more broadly, as well as graduate students studying the Holocaust, Germany, the USSR, or war in twentieth-century Europe.”—Maris Rowe-McCulloch, German History“The book hits the mark due to the fact that it is not individual acts of murder but the entirety of the extermination of civilians by Germans and Austrians in the Second World War that is presented and analysed in an academically rigorous manner. Anyone who wants to understand German and Austrian history— and, beyond that, anyone who wants to understand the human condition—should read the book.”—Hans-Heinrich Nolte, Zeitschrift für Weltgeschichte (Journal of World History)“Kay has produced a truly exceptional book that will be of great interest to general readers and students as well as academics. He presents us with a compendium of Nazi mass killing that both illuminates understudied areas and places them in dialog.”—Waitman Wade Beorn, History: The Journal of the Historical Assocation“This thought-provoking integrative history of Nazi mass killing sets up a new standard for books on Germany’s darkest period.”—Sönke Neitzel, coauthor of Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying“Alex Kay performs a great service by juxtaposing the fates of the different population groups who fell victim to Nazi persecution in a way that clarifies the Nazis’ uncompromising drive to domination. The monstrous brutality and vast scale of Nazi mass murder is laid bare here unequivocally, clearly, and unflinchingly.”—Dan Stone, author of The Liberation of the Camps“Building on his earlier insightful work about Nazi policies of destruction, Alex Kay now offers a powerful and empirically convincing account of German war crimes that, for the first time, brings together the history of the Holocaust and genocidal policies against other population groups in a single analytical frame. Lucid and innovative, Empire of Destruction is a major milestone.”—Robert Gerwarth, author of Hitler’s Hangman“A lucid, informative and chronologically well-organized account of Nazi violence, admirable in its effort to integrate the full range of victims of mass killings.”—Mark Roseman, author of Lives Reclaimed: A Story of Rescue and Resistance in Nazi Germany

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Book SynopsisA history of modern Jewish literature that explores our enduring attachment to the book as an objectTrade ReviewFinalist for the 2023 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award, sponsored by AJS“A bold, often surprising, and luminous study that enhances our perception.”—Ranen Omer-Sherman, University of Louisville“Original and finely instructive, this work leads us to see something new and illuminating about the very modality of literature.”—Robert Alter, author of The Art of Biblical Narrative“Whether reading the poignant details of memory books and graphic novels or analyzing small magazines and visual images in modern Jewish literature, Barbara Mann offers insight into the ways publications work as cultural objects in this vivid contribution to the material history of literature.”—Johanna Drucker, author of Iliazd: A Meta-Biography of a Modernist“At once erudite, evocative, and intellectually exciting, this extraordinary book incites us to think in new ways about materiality and literature. This beautifully written and infinitely rewarding book resists a quick reading, demanding careful attentiveness from the first word to the last.”—Leora Auslander, University of Chicago

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Book SynopsisA riveting account of ancient Rome's imperial bodyguard, the select band of soldiers who wielded the power to makeor destroythe emperors they served Founded by Augustus around 27 B.C., the elite Praetorian Guard was tasked with the protection of the emperor and his family. As the centuries unfolded, however, Praetorian soldiers served not only as protectors and enforcers but also as powerful political players. Fiercely loyal to some emperors, they vied with others and ruthlessly toppled those who displeased them, including Caligula, Nero, Pertinax, and many more. Guy de la Bédoyère provides a compelling first full narrative history of the Praetorians, whose dangerous ambitions ceased only when Constantine permanently disbanded them. de la Bédoyère introduces Praetorians of all echelons, from prefects and messengers to artillery experts and executioners. He explores the delicate position of emperors for whom prestige and guile were the only defenses against bodyguards hungry for power. Folding fascinating details into a broad assessment of the Praetorian era, the author sheds new light on the wielding of power in the greatest of the ancient world's empires.Trade Review“Any future researcher into the subject will certainly begin here.”—Peter Jones, Times (London)"This book is a lively and up-to-date history of the Praetorian Guard, the anti-coup divisions of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Constantine. De la Bédoyère tells their story with clarity and panache, and his book can be most warmly recommended both to aspiring tyrants and the ordinary armchair historian."—Peter Thonemann, Sunday Times"This is a fast paced and engaging history of the Praetorian Guard."—Harry Sidebottom, Sunday Telegraph"Aptly illustrated and impeccably referenced, with a helpful glossary and appendices. . . . It is an altogether impressive piece of compressed scholarship, a thorough study of its subject as well as an engaging history of imperial Rome."—Allan Mallinson, Spectator"[Praetorian] shows that even popular histories can illustrate the complexity of imperial power. . . . Conveying complexity, without subjecting the reader to the dozens of triple-barreled Roman names that make up the finer grain of imperial politics, has long been de la Bedoyere’s metier, as has been the easy charm with which good popular history distinguishes itself."—Michael Kulikowski, London Review of Books"A potted history of the Roman Empire, told through the triumphs and travails of the praetorians. . . . Praetorian is filled with engaging detail and grapples with the lacunae in the historical record with admirable assiduity. It will be a useful resource for any student of the tribulations of the Roman Empire."—Frank Brinkley, Literary Review"De la Bedoyere’s book on the Praetorian’s will likely become the definitive account of the rise and fall of the emperor’s bodyguards."—History of War"The dramatic story of the soldiers at the heart of the Roman empire. Lively and full of insight, de la Bedoyere traces the history of the praetorians and the emperors they served, murdered and made, through three hundred years of intrigue and drama."—Adrian Goldsworthy"A definitive and highly readable account of a key institution of the Roman Empire."—Tom Holland, author of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A well-written and thought-provoking book.”—Economist"[Grave New World] sets out the argument strongly and clearly. . . . King correctly takes aim at the very idea that there is a single international community with an agreed set of aims and ideas, or even a united west when it comes to important issues such as foreign policy and projecting 'Western values' in the Middle East. . . . The truth is, as usual, somewhere between despair and ebullience."—Alan Beattie, Financial Times"Where it succeeds is the ease with which the reader can digest complex ideas. King is a clear, confident guide, weaving his way through history and joining the dots with panache. This story of our time has a cliff-hanger ending. Will it be a grave new world?"—Philip Aldrick, Times"No economist ever lost his reputation by erring on the side of pessimism. In this book, the already much-lauded, HSBC-based thinker, Stephen D. King, warns the West of a host of political-economic horrors on the horizon. . . . This is a book to open that debate, not close it."—Andrew Marr, Sunday Times"A well-argued and credibly pessimistic book."—Martin Wolf, Financial Times"The era of globalisation might be over, warns this gripping and clearly argued guide to the possible future."—Sunday Times, "Summer Reading 2017"“Well-argued and credibly pessimistic.”— Martin Wolf, Books of the Year 2017: Economics, Financial Times"A timely book, Grave New World is an excellent guide to this new global landscape. The combination of up to the minute economic analysis with a long look back at the lessons of economic history is written in an easy to follow and (mostly) jargon free manner."—Duncan Weldon, ProspectLONGLISTED FOR THE FT-MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017"In a powerful and well-written book that draws on important historical insights, Stephen King explains why globalization is not as secure as many would have led you to believe – especially in a world where old and new political forces, as well as disruptive technologies, are aggressively competing to re-shape relationships, institutions and ideas. This is a must-read book for those wondering about the future functioning of the world economy and what it could entail not just for the global economic order but, also, the well-being of individual countries."—Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser, Allianz SE and author of The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability and Avoiding the Next Collapse"Prophetic, brilliant and disturbing. Required reading to prepare for the world of the (very near) future."—Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World"King reminds us both that over millennia there have been previous waves of globalization and that, whilst they may have had different drivers, they fall as well as rise. And the falls have not been pretty. As a world , we have benefited greatly from the current wave over the last seven decades, and would if it continued. But that is far from inevitable and we must understand the longer history and the forces which are now putting this wave in serious question. King's analysis is fascinating and fun in its story telling and profoundly important in its substance."—Lord Nicholas Stern, President of the British Academy, I.G.Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the LSE, and cross-bench member of the House of Lords"What will replace the rules-based order of the past seven decades, as the era of globalization – and of prosperity and relative peace – shudders to an end? Stephen King's compelling and sobering exploration of recent trends makes it clear that the most likely outcomes of the crisis of globalization are deeply troubling. A world without a strong EU, WTO, NATO, and without American leadership, is going to be uncertain, dangerous and impoverished."—Diane Coyle, professor of economics, University of Manchester and author of GDP: A Brief But Affectionate History"Stephen King has written a very important book at a crucial time. His vital historical perspective provides a unique contribution to current debates and his arguments deserve broad consideration."—Lawrence H. Summers, former US Treasury Secretary

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Since the ‘Great Game’ emerged in the nineteenth century, Eurasia has long been seen as the focal point for geopolitical competition, and Gresh’s study breaks new ground in its focus on the naval dimension. . . . This intriguing study will be of interest to naval experts as well as scholars with a research interest in international relations in Eurasian, Chinese, Indian, or Russian foreign policy.”—Elizabeth Wishnick, Slavic Review“It is a must-read for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in the great power competition.”—Yongzheng Parker Li, Pacific Affairs“Inspired by the grand tradition of geo-strategists such as Alfred Thayer Mahan and Nicholas J. Spykman, Geoffrey Gresh’s To Rule Eurasia’s Waves wanders the seas in search of signs of competition between China, Russia and India. . . . Gresh traveled widely for his study, allowing him to enliven the narrative of great-power jousting with first-hand anecdotes from outside China’s first overseas garrison in Djibouti or the infamous Chinese port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.”—John Delury, Global Asia“To Rule Eurasia’s Waves is extremely thought-provoking and well researched.”—Bruce A. Elleman, Russian Review“[T]his is a well-researched, useful and thought-provoking book. The methodology used to examine the growing great power competition at sea is excellent.”—Mark Bailey, Australian Naval Institute“[To Rule Eurasia’s Waves] repeatedly shows the importance of Eurasia’s narrow, strategic maritime choke points, and how this may increase the possibility of future conflicts in a globalised world. Thus, the major importance of the book is its focus on considering the Eurasian landmass as a whole and linking it to the maritime potential of various political actors in a vast and highly complicated region. With so much of the world’s trade reliant on maritime routes—along with the multidimensional nature of seapower and its impact on international relations and politics—it is certainly an important research topic.”—Mihai Murariu, Europolity“Gresh’s thoughtful and important book . . . focuses on the recent engagement by China in particular in a more assertive maritime capability system and ethos, and provides a geopolitical way to consider the resulting dynamics, one in which India and Russia are other key players.”—Jeremy Black, Erasmus Forum“Geoffrey Gresh’s lucid examination of great power competition for the world’s oceans makes clear that a once-romanticized idea of ‘Eurasia’ merits contemporary understanding in geostrategic terms.”—Alexis Dudden, University of Connecticut“To Rule Eurasia’s Waves is well written, clear, and filled with factual detail and strategic insights. Perhaps most importantly, it addresses an enduring issue for both scholars and policy makers not only in the U.S. but across the world.”—Peter Dombrowski, U.S. Naval War College“This is a superb look at the emerging competition between international maritime peers for sea control and power projection—which will be central to national destiny for the U.S., China, India, and Russia. This unfolding ‘great game’ at sea will deeply influence the geopolitics of the twenty-first century.”—Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (retired), 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and author of Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans“A comprehensive, fresh, and penetrating analysis of a changing Eurasia, using its surrounding seas to project economic and strategic influence for the first time in its history.”—John Curtis Perry, author of Singapore: Unlikely Power

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Book SynopsisA wide-ranging illustrated history of transparency as told through the evolution of the glass windowTrade Review“With impressive detail and wide-ranging erudition, Jütte charts the history of a single material, glass, as a product of human ingenuity developed across centuries.”—James Gleick, New York Review of Books“A remarkable achievement—a work of stunning range and erudition. Revelation upon revelation follow in ways that readers will find dazzling and unexpected: very quickly the history of glass and transparency opens up into a much wider vista than the reader ever could have anticipated.”—Darrin M. McMahon, Dartmouth College“Glass is something we rarely look at, transparency something we almost never achieve. Daniel Jütte’s novel account of their fraught entanglement from ancient Rome to the present is a tour de force: lucid, surprising, and consistently illuminating.”—David Armitage, Harvard University“This enthralling book opens a window onto windows: what they’re made of and what they mean. The long history of piercing walls to let in light is rich in lessons about the aesthetics of light and shadow, the politics of privacy and publicity, and the economics of glitzy glass—whether in the stained glass of a medieval cathedral or the reflecting glass of a soaring skyscraper. Daniel Jütte’s long history of transparency is an object lesson in how matter can become metaphor.”—Lorraine Daston, director emerita, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science“Astonishingly erudite and global in embrace, Jütte examines a crucial concept across history, both in thought and, more important, embedded concretely—as building material. A remarkable marriage of intellectual and architectural history.”—Peter Baldwin, University of California at Los Angeles“This world history of the glass window across millennia will take you by surprise and make you think about the material bases of one of the key cultural metaphors of our time. An elegant and fascinating book.”—Francesca Trivellato, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton “Daniel Jütte is already known for a brilliant study of thresholds and power in western history. Transparency presents an equally brilliant history of windows and their associations with both surveillance and democracy, from ancient Rome to the present.”—Peter Burke, Emmanuel College, Cambridge “Enthralling. Jütte’s book will make you think differently about Western history, architecture, art, literature, and your very surroundings. Full of surprises, brilliantly conceptualized, impressively researched, a joy to read and feast for the eyes, it ranks among the best works on material history and cultural studies.”—Ulinka Rublack, St. John’s College, Cambridge

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An impressively forensic study, which not only throws light on an intriguing (and murky) backwater of World War II but also on an unresolved ethical dilemma still with us today.”—Tony Rennell, Daily Mail Book of the Week“In 1954 Scotland wrote his memoirs, but Special Branch raided his publishers and seized the manuscript . . . Now, finally, the original manuscript has been released by the National Archives. This uncensored version is the backbone of Fry’s absorbing book, and Scotland’s powerful personality dominates virtually every page.”—William Cook, Spectator"Intelligence professionals should read The London Cage: it is they who will be tasked to build and run future interrogation programs, and Dr. Fry's book offers an important historical analogue for the work."—J. R. Seeger, CIA Studies in Intelligence“A most valuable addition to our understanding of British intelligence activities. . . highly recommended.” —Britain at War“Golders Green historian Helen Fry has trawled the National Archives to uncover life inside this top secret facility in The London Cage” —Bridget Galton, Ham&High“Impressively researched, this overdue investigation sheds new light on British interrogation methods during and after the Second World War. Shocking and important.” —Clare Mulley, author of The Spy who Loved "A tour de force. Helen Fry's absorbing and authoritative account of how Britain's wartime spies used both brutality and guile to get vital intelligence out of German prisoners-of-war is a shocking but fascinating read."—Michael Smith, author of The Anatomy of a Traitor “A compelling account of the subterranean world of the London Cage and the 3,000 POWs who passed through its doors, presided over by the tough and eccentric Colonel Scotland. Despite the fact that some of the records still remain classified, Helen Fry makes an important contribution to our understanding of what took place in Kensington Palace Gardens during these years, shining a powerful light onto this hidden corner of WW2 history.” —Tom Carver, author of Where the Hell Have You Been?: Monty, Italy and One Man's Incredible Escape"Helen Fry shines the light of historical inquiry into a dark and disturbing corner of World War II, revealing for the first time the shocking story of The London Cage."—Mark Felton, author of Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz “The history of the London Cage is controversial and, even after 70 years, many questions are unanswered. Helen Fry’s book gives a cohesive picture of WW2 British Military Intelligence, raising important questions about means and ends in wartime. A clear and chilling insight into a long concealed chapter of Military Intelligence.” —Michael Jago, author of The Man Who Was George Smiley

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Book SynopsisA unique, colorful view of Victorian London when residents both famous and now-forgotten endured the Great Stink across one hot summer? While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence. Ashton mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonistsCharles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. She also introduces others who gained renown in the headlines of the day, among them George Eliot, Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Ashton reveals invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858, bringing the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.Trade Review“Superbly researched . . . argues that the year was a crucial one in the lives of the three great Victorians: Dickens, Disreali and Darwin.”—Paula Byrne, Times“Rosemary Ashton’s new book charts four boiling hot months in 1858 when the sewage of London went awry and . . . can often feel much closer to how people actually lived and breathed than grander, more panoramic narratives.”—Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday“England was changing in that smelliest of summers, and Ashton gives us a finely scented snapshot of it all.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph“[The Great Stink] is a terrific subject for Ms. Ashton . . . She excels at unearthing and explaining the daily distractions of the nose-holding populace over the course of the summer: horse races, art shows, murder and divorce trials . . . Her detailed atomic record produces thought-provoking coincidences and reminds us of figures who deserve to be better known . . . In short: This book does not stink. Far from it.”—Alexandra Mullen, Wall Street Journal“A wide-ranging narrative, written with [Ashton’s] customary flair.”—John Bugg, TLS“Not just another book about the Victorians, but one that could just as easily have been written by them. Turning its pages is like opening a window on to their world.”—Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Guardian“The book’s real strength is its description of London quivering between modernity and the dark ages . . . There is plenty to enjoy in this panorama of Victorians in their heyday.”—The Economist “Finding space for clubland quarrels alongside state affairs and scientific advances, her lively study is elegantly executed, informative and entertaining.”—Anne Somerset, Literary Review “A wondrous, illuminating and evocative saga . . . Ashton has delved with comprehensive skill into the now-digitised copies of the newspapers of the day to discover the far from fake facts.”—Gerald Isaaman, Islington Tribune“[Ashton] is the best at navigating the hidden rapids of life, politics, art and popular culture.” —Judith Flanders, "Best History Books 2017", History Today"The new celebrity cult developed by the popular press collided with the revolting state of the Thames, in that hot summer. Rosemary Ashton's brilliant description of the result is a 'must-read', whatever this summer brings."—Liza Picard, author of Victorian London"Rosemary Ashton's evocative and intriguing portrait of public, private and political tensions in the long hot summer of 1858 delivers fascinating insights into the interconnected lives of her subjects."—Lee Jackson, author of Dirty Old London"History-writing too often confines itself to great events set in motion by great people. In One Hot Summer Rosemary Ashton has produced history-writing of the most important kind, as she explores what happens in between those great events, and great people, and connects previously unconnected subjects and ideas. It reads as easily as fiction, as excitingly as a thriller. It is history as it should be written, but so rarely is."—Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian City

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Eire’s vast learning is on display throughout this enormous (and handsomely illustrated) work.”—Michael Massing, New York Times Book Review“Monumental”—Charlotte Methuen, Times Literary Supplement“Reformations is a massive study of early modern Europe, both Protestant and Catholic. It is a volume worth perusing carefully, both to think with and to learn from.”—Prof. Benjamin M. Guyer, Reviews in History“Reformations is a major milestone in the field of Reformation studies that will inspire discussion and debates.”—R. Po-chia Hsia, Journal of Jesuit Studies“A remarkable achievement. [Eire] takes immense pains to give an even-handed account of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. . . This massive and remarkable book presents convincing evidence.”—Anthony Kenny, Literary Review“This is a huge book but don’t be put off by its size. It more than lives up to Eire’s promise in his preface of being an introduction and survey for beginners and non-specialists. . . Eire’s prose is transparent, elegant and witty, his narrative enlivened by sparkling insights and one-liners.”—Anne Dillon, Tablet “Fascinating reading. The author is a gifted writer who particularly excels at the ability to expound theological ideas. If you read only one book about the Reformation in the year of its 500th anniversary, this is probably the one to choose.”—Paul Richardson, Church of England Newspaper“[Reformations] provides a readable and stimulating overview of European history between 1450 and 1650 (and often well into the 18th century) that is accessible to newcomers to the discipline, while being sufficiently broad and well-researched to be useful to specialists in early modern history who wish to know more about aspects of the period outside of their area of expertise.”—Sam Kennerley, Reviews in History “This is certainly a good read . . . this enormous survey is well worth reading for its insights and some shrewd assessments.”—Dr. G. R. Evans, Church Times“Carlos Eire’s massive, ambitious new survey navigates the rollercoaster of the Reformation period with all the drama and verve of the ages itself, using these developments as a lens through which to understand early modern Europe as a whole.”—David Gehring, History Today “Eire attempts throughout to keep his writing accessible to the non-specialist reader and he succeeds admirably in this task. His style is lively, engaging and fair minded. He also masterfully weaves anecdotes or little-known facts into the narrative.”—Philip Scheepers, Vox ReformataWinner of the 2017 American Publishers Awards for Professional & Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) in the European & World History category.Winner of the 2017 American Publishers Awards for Professional & Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) in the Excellence in Humanities category.Winner of the 2017 R.R. Hawkins Award given by the American Publishers Awards for Professional & Scholarly Excellence (PROSE).Carlos Eire’s Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650is the second winner of the The Pelikan Award, a biannual prize awarded by Yale University Press to a distinguished book on religion published by the Press in the previous two years.“Carlos Eire’s Reformations is a work of remarkable scope and ambition, a magnificent sweep through four centuries, and as many continents, tracing in original and perceptive ways the unforeseeable consequences—in religion, politics, culture, science—of the convulsions that started in western Christianity at the close of the Middle Ages. Eire writes with insight and empathy about the values and visions of a fervent and often violent age. He does not shield us from the strangeness and complexity of the past, but we come away with a much enhanced understanding of the lines connecting it to our present.”—Peter Marshall, University of Warwick“An ambitious and highly successful project. Wonderfully balanced and nicely nuanced, the book is a genuine tour de force in bringing together the various elements of the Reformations, from their meaning for the educated and sophisticated proponents (and opponents) to their reception (or rejection) by the mass of ordinary and unlettered persons who ‘lived’ amid the swirl of religious change.”—Raymond Mentzer, University of Iowa“Carlos Eire contributes to our understanding of the Reformations as Europe-wide phenomena, highlights the diversity of Protestantism, and shows how vibrant Catholic reform could be.”—Kathryn A. Edwards, University of South Carolina“It takes an unusually perceptive, judicious, knowledgeable, and yes brave person to write a book this big and sweeping, given all the ink spelled and trees felled and terabytes devoted to the Reformation, and Carlos Eire is all of those. It is beautifully structured, gracefully written, evenhanded in its treatment of Catholic, Protestant, and Radical movements, and most importantly equally at home in the Reformation and the present. Read this and you will understand both worlds better.”—Craig Harline, Author of Conversions: Two Family Stories from the Reformation and Modern America

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