History Books

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Book SynopsisThe life of Colonel Fawcett is now the subject of the major motion picture The Lost City of Z.The disappearance of Colonel Fawcett in the Matto Grosso remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. In 1925, Fawcett was convinced that he had discovered the location of a lost city; he had set out with two companions, one of whom was his eldest son, to destination ''Z'', never to be heard of again. His younger son, Brian Fawcett, has compiled this book from letters and records left by his father, whose last written words to his wife were: ''You need have no fear of any failure . . .'' This is the thrilling and mysterious account of Fawcett''s ten years of travels in deadly jungles and forests in search of a secret city.

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Book SynopsisBy the author of the international Number One bestsellers KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE WAGER ‘Chilling . . . Poignant . . . Haunting and gripping . . . gets into worlds that are otherwise invisible to us’Daily MailA Polish detective tries to determine whether an author planted clues to a real murder in his post-modern novelAn arson investigator races to prove whether a man about to be executed is innocentScientists stalk a sea monster … In this engrossing collection, David Grann sets out to unravel the truth of twelve great, real-life mysteries. Each of these mesmerising stories is true; the protagonists are mortal and pieces of the puzzle often elude them. Some of the characters are driven by deception and murder. Others go mad. After all, as Holmes puts it, ‘Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the

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Book SynopsisT. E. Carhart is an American who lives in Paris. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank is his debut novel. His second book, Across the Endless River, was published in 2009.Trade ReviewQuirky and tender...beguiling -- Rose Tremain * Sunday Telegraph *A love affair with the piano... A minor classic * Times Literary Supplement *Captivating...full of knowledge...suffused with Parisian sensations...he can choose words that make us feel and hear the instruments he plays...when you close it you feel you have been on holiday * Sunday Times *Charming...a cool, autumnal breeze of a book...written out of love * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis'An absorbing and eye-opening account of what the Plantagenets did for us.' - HELEN CASTOR'Burt and Partington show precisely and engagingly why the Middle Ages matter.' - DAN JONESBetween 1199 and 1399, English politics was high drama.

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Book SynopsisXenophon''s History recounts nearly fifty turbulent years of warfare in Greece between 411 and 362 BC. Continuing the story of the Peloponnesian War at the point where Thucydides finished his magisterial history, this is a fascinating chronicle of the conflicts that ultimately led to the decline of Greece, and the wars with both Thebes and the might of Persia. An Athenian by birth, Xenophon became a firm supporter of the Spartan cause, and fought against the Athenians in the battle of Coronea. Combining history and memoir, this is a brilliant account of the triumphs and failures of city-states, and a portrait of Greece at a time of crisis.Table of ContentsA History of My TimesIntroductionSelect BibliographyA Note on the NotesA History of My TimesBook OneBook TwoBook ThreeBook FourBook SixBook SevenAppendixMaps:1. The Aegean2. Asia Minor3. Northern Peloponnese and North West Greece4. Central Greece5. Area of the Isthmus and the Saronic Gulf6. Central and Southern Peloponnese7. ChalcidiceIndex

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Book Synopsis''The most comprehensive narrative of intelligence compiled ... unrivalled'' Max Hastings, Sunday Times''Captivating, insightful and masterly'' Edward Lucas, The TimesThe history of espionage is far older than any of today''s intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus.''God sent out spies into the land of Canaan''. From there, Christopher Andrew traces the shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognize as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated moTrade ReviewTo write a world history of intelligence, from the dawn of recorded history to the present day, is a daunting task. To make such a work accurate, comprehensive, digestible and startling, and all in a single volume, is a stellar achievement. But that is what Christopher Andrew has done in The Secret World. -- Edward Lucas * The Times *Brilliant in its sweep and near-miraculous in the detail and confident judgements provided on two and a half millennia of spying ... The book is a crowning triumph of one of the most adventurous scholars of the security world -- John Lloyd * Financial Times *Christopher Andrew delivers a stunning secret archaeology of a subject that he himself helped to create -- Richard J. Aldrich * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE**A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND BBC HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR*''A bona fide historical classic'' Sunday Times''Simply one of the best history books I have ever read'' BBC HistoryIn the frontier town of Springfield in 1651, peculiar things begin to happen. Precious food spoils, livestock ails and property vanishes. People suffer fits and are plagued by strange visions and dreams. Children sicken and die. As tensions rise, rumours spread of witches and heretics, and the community becomes tangled in a web of spite, distrust and denunciation. The finger of suspicion falls on a young couple struggling to make a home and feed their children: Hugh Parsons the irascible brickmaker and his troubled wife, Mary. It will be their downfall.The Ruin of All Witches tells the dark, real-life folktale of witch-hunting iTrade ReviewA bona fide historical classic ... Historical writing of the very highest class, impeccably researched and written with supreme imagination and wisdom. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Unforgettable ... Whether you read The Ruin of All Witches for a startling insight into another age, or see its portrait of mob hysteria and witch-hunts as darkly analogous to our own uneasy times, this is one of those rare history books that stays with you and haunts you long after you have turned the last page. Superb. -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *The genius of Gaskill's book lies in his meticulous piecing together of daily life in New England ... Gaskill tells this deeply tragic story with immense empathy and compassion, as well as historical depth. A compelling study that offers a chilling insight into human nature in an age of superstition. -- PD Smith * The Guardian *Breathtaking ... a great story, exquisitely told. I had to reread certain sentences aloud, just to savour their insight and cadence ... This book is history at its illuminative best. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *The narrative is as compelling as a campfire story ... This is deeply atmospheric writing, carefully sourced ... As with the best history, the lessons of Springfield's past may serve to inform the citizens of a still-divided and conflicted nation. -- Erica Wagner * Financial Times *Evocative right from the start, the reader is drawn in and excited in both body and mind ... It's a feast ... a valuable gift to every reader of history. -- Marion Gibson * BBC History Magazine *A portrait of a community during one of the first Puritan witch panics in the New World - and a timeless study of how paranoia, superstition and social unrest fuel fantasies ... Mr Gaskill's immersive approach brings the fate of his subjects movingly to life. * The Economist *Simply one of the best history books I have ever read ... His deeply imaginative, empathetic and yet empirical exploration of a past moment of crisis is history at its finest. -- Suzannah Lipscomb * BBC History *A rich and beautifully written microhistory ... a work of remarkable historical reconstruction. -- Edward Vallance * Literary Review *Malcolm Gaskill shows us with filmic vividness the daily life of the riven, marginal community of Springfield, where settlers from a far country dwell on the edge of the unknown. The clarity of his thought and his writing, his insight, and the immediacy of the telling, combine to make this the best and most enjoyable kind of history writing. Malcolm Gaskill goes to meet the past on its own terms and in its own place, and the result is thought-provoking and absorbing. -- Hilary MantelA surefooted and gripping narrative ... Gaskill's Springfield joins Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou, Tony Wrigley's Colyton and other places of little intrinsic importance which for one reason or another have been immortalised by modern historiography... There is currently no memorial for Hugh and Mary Parsons in Springfield like those which have been erected in other places where witches were hunted. Perhaps they will get one now. -- Keith Thomas * London Review of Books *Reads with the fluency of a novel ... Crucially, Gaskill writes to make us see the world as those early Puritans saw it; how their own psychological fears, of financial ruin, of neighbours, of Native Americans and the hostile elements, could seed the first accusations of witchcraft. -- Samira Ahmend * The New Humanist *An impressively researched account, bringing to life the fears and preoccupations of obscure and humble people, and setting them in the context of their time and place. -- Richard Francis * The Spectator *Powerfully evocative, a grimly compelling morality tale with more than one unexpected twist ... an outstanding achievement, haunting, revelatory and superbly written - a strong contender for the best history book of 2021. -- Andrew Lynch * Irish Independent *A pulsating history of sorcery and superstition ... an academic feat but reads like a Stephen King thriller - and it's just right for our conspiracy-laden times. -- Robert Epstein * The i *A riveting micro-history, brilliantly set within the broader social and cultural history of witchcraft. Drawing on previously neglected source material, this book is elegantly written and full of intelligent analysis. * Wolfson History Prize 2022 *

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Book SynopsisColm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including The Master, Brooklyn, and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, Cundill History Prize, Fage and Oliver Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award Winner of the Historical Writers'' Association Non-Fiction Crown 2020Winner of the American Historical Association''s Jerry Bentley Prize in World History 2020Winner of the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding 2019An Observer and Wall Street Journal Book of the Year 2019A groundbreaking history that will transform our view of West AfricaBy the time of the ''Scramble for Africa'' in the late nineteenth century, Africa had already been globally connected for many centuries. Its gold had fuelled the economies of Europe and Islamic world since around 1000, and its sophisticated kingdoms had traded with Europeans along the coasts from Senegal down to Angola since the fifteenth century. Until at least 1650, this was a trade of equals, using a variety of currencies - most importantly shells: the cowrie shells imported from the Maldives, and the nzimbu shells imported from Brazil.Toby Green''s groundbreaking new book transforms our view of West and West-Central Africa. It reconstructs the world of kingdoms whose existence (like those of Europe) revolved around warfare, taxation, trade, diplomacy, complex religious beliefs, royal display and extravagance, and the production of art.Over time, the relationship between Africa and Europe revolved ever more around the trade in slaves, damaging Africa''s relative political and economic power as the terms of monetary exchange shifted drastically in Europe''s favour. In spite of these growing capital imbalances, longstanding contacts ensured remarkable connections between the Age of Revolution in Europe and America and the birth of a revolutionary nineteenth century in Africa.A Fistful of Shells draws not just on written histories, but on archival research in nine countries, on art, praise-singers, oral history, archaeology, letters, and the author''s personal experience to create a new perspective on the history of one of the world''s most important regions.''Astonishing, staggering'' Ben Okri, Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewA Fistful of Shells is the fruit of research conducted in the archives of nine nations and required the author to undertake fieldwork across eight West African states. It shows. [...] This is a stunning work of research and argumentation. It has the potential to become a landmark in our understanding of the most misunderstood of continents. -- David Olusoga * New Statesman *Toby Green's A Fistful of Shells uses a global archive - in Africa, the Americas and Europe - to explore the complex, flourishing and connected economy of West Africa existing long before a European capitalist system established itself on the continent. Extraordinarily written and researched, the book paints a huge, complex canvas, filled with individual detail. -- Julia Lovell * Observer Books of the Year 2019 *A Fistful of Shells is exemplary: scholarly, sensitive, enlightening and often vivid. The author does much more than make Africa seem normal. He proclaims a daunting ambition: to explore the local and global implications of West Africa's economies during the age of slavery. He succeeds. -- Felipe Fernández-Armesto * Wall Street Journal *A work of staggering scholarship, drawing on previously untapped sources locked away in European vaults and historical records which, taken as a whole, contradict the age-old perceptions foisted on Africa ... peppered with astonishing facts ... polyphonic, detailed and vast. -- Ben Okri * Daily Telegraph *Dismantles the racist myth of west African "backwardness" ... The 19th-century imperial vision of Africa as somehow outside of history continues to mark even "world" histories, which often privilege the global north. A Fistful of Shells is an antidote to these histories, and to the master narrative of Africa as historical object, rather than subject. -- Padraic Scanlan * The Guardian *A rich and insightful work ... What emerges is a radically different view of the region from the one that has been generally available. Green concludes by pointing to the lack of history being taught in schools and universities in West Africa and elsewhere; if it is taught at all, it tends to focus on the slave trade. A Fistful of Shells shows that there was so much more, and of so much relevance when looking at the issues of our own time. * Spectator *This original and thoughtful work is based on detailed first-hand knowledge of and collaboration with the cultures and peoples it depicts ... For all its impressive scholarship A Fistful of Shells is notably readable, supported by great illustrations and a stunning cover - and, in the best sense, personal. * Times Higher Education *A sprawling and nuanced look at the steady depletion of a continent with a powerful lament about the lack of academic interest in Africa's precolonial eras. * New York Review of Books *A multifaceted history of West Africa which turns many old assumptions on their heads. Green utterly demolishes the tired Western view that Africa had no history before the arrival of the Europeans, and that they naively ceded power in the region to the newcomers by exchanging valuable goods for baubles. A magisterial, extensive and fresh account of the history of West Africa that rewrites the region and its peoples back into World History, where they belong. -- Miranda Kaufmann, Author of BLACK TUDORSToby Green's book restores the rich African history which she had been denied for too long. Here the author reveals that Africa was never at the margins of global commerce but was in fact a decisive player with the prowess to negotiate and also the goods - ivory, gum, gold - to supply. -- Hassoum Ceesay, National Museum, The GambiaToby Green's transformative book repositions West African history in an entirely new light. It brings into focus the region's fundamental place in shaping the modern world as well as the powerful and also difficult legacy of this today. -- Paul Reid, Director, Black Cultural ArchivesVery seldom do I pick up a history book and wish I had written it myself. Toby Green's A Fistful of Shells is one such book. Brilliantly conceptualized, beautifully written, it breaks with colonially configured regional boundaries - which work to re-create unintended silos of knowledge - to imagine a West and West Central African Atlantic history of money, power, religion, and inequality that is as rich as it is sound. -- Professor Nwando Achebe, Michigan State UniversityThis book represents an extraordinary and admirable archival and bibliographic undertaking. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisFrom the Velvet Revolution to the disturbing world of Franz Kafka, from the devestation of the Thirty Years War to the musical elegance of Mozart and Dvorak, Prague is steeped in a wealth of history and culture. PRAGUE IN BLACK AND GOLD is a first class history of this unique city, allowing us to unravel layer upon layer of startlingly symbolic sites and buidings to reveal the real Prague. PRAGUE IN BLACK AND GOLD is an exceptional work - and exceptionally reliable ... I am sure that thiswill be an important and exciting guide for all who wish to learn more about the famous people and important events in the history of the Czech lands and their capital Ivan Klima, The Times

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Book SynopsisEvents do not come naked into the world. They come clothed in attitudes, assumptions, values, memories of the past, anticipations of the future, hopes and fears and many other emotions. To understand events, it is necessary to describe the perceptions that accompany them, for the two are inseparable.'When a Parisian crowd stormed the Bastille in July 1789, it triggered an event of global consequence: the overthrow of the monarchy and the birth of a new society. Most historians account for the French Revolution by viewing it as the outcome of underlying conditions such as a faltering economy, class conflict or Enlightenment ideology. Without denying any of these, Robert Darnton offers a different explanation: what Parisians themselves, those at the centre of the Revolution, thought was happening at the time and how it guided their actions. To understand the rise of what he calls the revolutionary temper', Darnton draws on a lifetime's study of pamphlets, books, underground newsletter

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Book SynopsisThe Penguin Historical Atlas of the British Empire traces the emergence of the world's greatest empire from its earliest beginnings in the British Isles, through its ascendancy in Victorian times, to its ultimate collapse in the mid-20th century. It examines the impact of British dominance in America, India and Africa, and the enormous changes brought by Britain's settlement of Australasia. Coverage of major events - the colonization of Ireland, the American Revolution, the South African wars - is complemented by discussion of themes such as Imperial exploitation and trade, hunting for plants and animals, the Imperial exhibitions and the importance of British naval power. Also assessed are the impact of the Empire on different areas of the world and the legacy it has bestowed. Richly illustrated with photographs and full-colour maps, this is an illuminating and multi-faceted one-volume introduction to the rise and fall of the British Empire.

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Book SynopsisCommand and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a missile silo in rural Arkansas, where a single crew struggled to prevent the explosion of the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States, with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort to ensure that nuclear weapons can''t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with men who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view.Trade ReviewSo damnably readable. It drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your mind ... a piece of work of the deepest import, with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel -- John Lloyd * Financial Times *Do you really want to read about the thermonuclear warheads that are still aimed at the city where you live? Do you really need to know about the appalling security issues that have dogged nuclear weapons in the 70 years since their invention? Yes, you do. In Schlosser's hands it is a reading treat ... he's a natural genius -- Jonathan Franzen * Guardian, Books of the Year *Part techno-thriller, part careful historical investigation ... beautifully written and impressively researched -- Gerard DeGroot * Daily Telegraph *Brilliant, gripping, chilling -- Steven Shapin * London Review of Books *The author of Fast Food Nation does for the American nuclear industry what he did for industrial food production * Economist, Books of the Year *Eric Schlosser detonates a truth bomb in Command and Control * Vanity Fair *Deeply reported, deeply frightening . . . a techno-thriller of the first order * Los Angeles Times *An excellent journalistic investigation of the efforts made since the first atomic bomb was exploded, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, to put some kind of harness on nuclear weaponry. By a miracle of information management, Schlosser has synthesized a huge archive of material, including government reports, scientific papers, and a substantial historical and polemical literature on nukes, and transformed it into a crisp narrative covering more than fifty years of scientific and political change. And he has interwoven that narrative with a hair-raising, minute-by-minute account of an accident at a Titan II missile silo in Arkansas, in 1980, which he renders in the manner of a techno-thriller . . . Command and Control is how nonfiction should be written -- Louis Menand * The New Yorker *A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. . . . fascinating -- Lev Grossman * Time *Command and Control ranks among the most nightmarish books written in recent years; and in that crowded company it bids fair to stand at the summit. It is the more horrific for being so incontrovertibly right and so damnably readable. Page after relentless page, it drives the vision of a world trembling on the edge of a fatal precipice deep into your reluctant mind . . . a work with the multilayered density of an ambitiously conceived novel . . . Schlosser has done what journalism does at its best when at full stretch: he has spent time - years - researching, interviewing, understanding and reflecting to give us a piece of work of the deepest import * Financial Times *Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety . . . The story of the missile silo accident unfolds with the pacing, thrill and techno details of an episode of 24 * San Francisco Chronicle *Disquieting but riveting . . . fascinating . . . Schlosser's readers (and he deserves a great many) will be struck by how frequently the people he cites attribute the absence of accidental explosions and nuclear war to divine intervention or sheer luck rather than to human wisdom and skill. Whatever was responsible, we will clearly need many more of it in the years to come * New York Times Book Review *Easily the most unsettling work of nonfiction I've ever read, Schlosser's six-year investigation of America's 'broken arrows' (nuclear weapons mishaps) is by and large historical-this stuff is top secret, after all-but the book is beyond relevant. It's critical reading in a nation with thousands of nukes still on hair-trigger alert . . . Command and Control reads like a character-driven thriller as Schlosser draws on his deep reporting, extensive interviews, and documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act to demonstrate how human error, computer glitches, dilution of authority, poor communications, occasional incompetence, and the routine hoarding of crucial information have nearly brought about our worst nightmare on numerous occasions * Mother Jones *A powerful mix of history, politics, and technology, told with impressive authority * Independent *Eric Schlosser brings the investigative rigour of his big hit Fast Food Nation to this overview of our global nuclear arsenal * Herald *

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Book SynopsisThe soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words - Guardian''For some reason nothing seemed to happen to us at first; we strolled along as though walking in a park. Then, suddenly, we were in the midst of a storm of machine-gun bullets and I saw men beginning to twirl round and fall in all kinds of curious ways'' On 1 July 1916, a continous line of British soldiers climbed out from the trenches of the Somme into No Man''s Land and began to walk towards dug-in German troops armed with machine-guns. By the end of the day there were more than 60,000 British casualties - a third of them fatal.Martin Middlebrook''s now-classic account of the blackest day in the history of the British army draws on official sources from the time, and on the words of hundreds of survivors: normal men, many of them volunteers, who found themselves thrown into a scene of unparalleled tragedy and horror.Trade ReviewThe soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words * Guardian *A particularly vivid and personal narrative * Times Literary Supplement *Pioneering and hauntingly eloquent -- Peter Parker * Spectator *

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating, masterful ... gems scattered throughout the book'' Peter Frankopan, Spectator''Quirkily original but also scholarly and authoritative, to be read for pleasure and serious reflection'' Telegraph*The dramatic history of Europe''s shape-shifting centre, from the author of The Habsburgs*Central Europe is not just a space on a map but also a region of shared experience - of mutual borrowings, impositions and misapprehensions. From the Roman Empire onwards, it has been the target of invasion from the east. In the Middle Ages, Central Europeans cast their eastern foes as ''the dogmen''. They would later become the Turks, Swedes, Russians and Soviets, all of whom pulled the region apart and remade it according to their own vision.Competition among Europe''s Middle Kingdoms yielded repeated cultural effervescences. This was the first home of the High Renaissance outside Italy, the cradle of the Reformation, the starting point of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, the symphony and modern nationalism. It was a permanent battleground too for religious and political ideas.Most recent histories of Central Europe confine themselves to the lands in between Germany and Russia, homing in on Poland, Hungary, and what is now the Czech Republic. This new history embraces the whole of Central Europe, including the German lands as well as Ukraine and Switzerland. The story of Europe''s Middle Kingdoms is a reminder of Central Europe''s precariousness, of its creativity and turbulence, and of the common cultural trends that make these lands so distinctive.

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Book SynopsisThe second volume of Steven Runciman''s classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades''There was magic about. Saladin himself was troubled by terrible dreams...''Steven Runciman''s unrivalled history of the Crusades is a classic of learning and vivid, compelling storytelling, which brilliantly brings to life the personalities, battles, massacres, triumphs and follies of these epochal events. In this second volume of his trilogy Runciman tells the story of the foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the disastrous, bloody Second Crusade and the inexorable rise of the crusaders'' nemesis, Saladin. ''The pre-eminent historian of the Byzantine Empire and of the Crusades ... a surefooted guide who could render the past visible and familiar'' Daily Telegraph''He tells his story plain ... always pleasurable to read'' Gore Vidal

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Book SynopsisDiscover the history of Europe - from the Dark Ages to present day - by the author of the bestselling A Short History of EnglandEurope is an astonishingly successful place. But it would take volumes to tell its story, right? Wrong. From warring peoples to peace, wealth and freedom, Andrew Jenkins distils its evolution into this short, single-volume history.From Greece and Rome, through the French Revolution to the Second World War and modern times. Taking in leaders such as Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Wellington and Angela Merkel.Sharing stories of cultural figures like Aristotle, Shakespeare and Picasso.Jenkins brings together the transformative forces and dominant eras into one chronological tale - all with his insight, colour and authority.Trade ReviewA short, invigorating gallop over two and a half thousand years -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *Simon Jenkins achieves a high ambition: a concise readable history of two millennia of European civilisation from its discernible origins to our present perplexities. In 305 pages! . . . An immensely rewarding book from a gifted writer -- Harold EvansFull of stand-out facts ... absolutely fascinating -- Richard Bacon, BBC Radio 2, on 'A Short History of England'Masterly, perhaps a masterpiece -- Independent, Books of the Year on England's Thousand Best ChurchesJenkins is, like all good guides, more than simply informative: he can be courteous and rude, nostalgic and funny, elegant, convincing and relaxed -- Adam Nicolson on 'England’s Thousand Best Houses' * Evening Standard *Full of the good judgements one might hope for from such a sensible and readable commentator, and they alone are worth perusing for pleasure and food for thought -- Michael Wood on 'A Short History of England' * New Statesman *Any passably cultured inhabitant of the British Isles should ask for, say, three or four copies of this book -- Max Hastings on 'England’s Thousand Best Houses' * Sunday Telegraph *Jenkins has produced the sort of work that not only compacts people and places into manageable form but also has wit and insight enough to bring a sense of freshness even to a knowledgeable history buff * Booklist review *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most engrossing books I have ever read'' Daily TelegraphJohn Kenneth Galbraith''s now-classic account of the 1929 stock market collapse remains the definitive book on the most disastrous cycle of boom and bust in modern times.Vividly depicting the causes, effects, aftermath and long-term consequences of financial meltdown, Galbraith also describes the people and the corporations who were affected by the catastrophe. With its depiction of the ''gold-rush fantasy'' ingrained in America''s psychology, The Great Crash 1929 remains a penetrating study of human greed and folly.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians, a gripping, provocative exploration of the NHS, told through the most critical moments in its 75-year history''The book the NHS has always deserved'' Andrew Marr''Funny, intelligent and so beautifully written . . . a much-needed book'' Chris van Tulleken''Brilliant'' Adam Kay________________Since its foundation in 1948, the NHS has come to define our national identity; it even topped the what makes Britain great poll in 2022. It has made history (and the headlines) again and again - from cutting edge discoveries like the first ''test tube baby'', to its heroic response to the Coronavirus crisis. But the NHS has also become a battleground for some of the fiercest political contests of our time, perceived either as a national treasure, or as a lumbering piece of state machinery in need of renovation.In Fighting for Life, bestselling journalist IsabTrade ReviewA compelling, deftly constructed and powerfully told narrative . . . Hardman is a meticulous journalist with a gift for storytelling. Necessary reading -- Rafael Behr * Guardian *Terrific . . . Every aspect of this history is informed and beautifully written -- Alan Johnson * Observer, Book of the Week *Vivid and fascinating, this is a beautifully cogent, balanced and human biography of a health service haunted by its own mythology . . . Hardman is impressively even-handed and unsentimental -- Melanie Reid * The Times, Book of the Week *It has by far the best analysis of where the health service came from, and where it's going . . . full of excellent stories -- Karol Sikora * The Telegraph *Brilliant -- Adam Kay * author of This is Going to Hurt and Undoctored *Passionate, deeply researched and page-turningly full of good stories, this is so good one is tempted to say it is the book the NHS has always deserved -- Andrew MarrThis is a sensational and much-needed book: funny, intelligent and so beautifully written that it doesn't read like normal non-fiction . . . thorough, scholarly and above all readable -- Chris van TullekenA kaleidoscopic history of the NHS -- Henry Marsh * New Statesman *Hardman's writing is breezily accessible, and her deeply researched book is full of colourful vignettes and an enjoyable spice of gossip . . . she is particularly good at locating the NHS within the wider social movements that have changed British life over the 75 years of its existence -- Sarah Neville * Financial Times *A brilliantly written and engrossing biography of the NHS . . . compelling and even-handed -- Kate Womersley * The Spectator *A superb, rollercoaster account of the NHS . . . This completely riveting and scrupulously researched book shows how, just like its patients, the NHS sways precariously between money, morality and mortality, and trust, trauma and triumph -- Juliet NicolsonA compelling thriller . . . Fighting for Life provides vivid and urgently needed context to the familiar daily news stories about the crises in the NHS -- Steve RichardsA must-read for anyone interested in how the NHS started and why we have ended up where we are. A thoroughly fascinating, comprehensive and critical analysis -- Dr Ranj SinghA fascinating, insightful and forensic history of the NHS by a journalist who understands the politics as well as the policy of the health service. Essential reading -- Rachel SylvesterThis remarkable and immensely readable book looks back at the highs and lows of the NHS's first 75 years, and asks critical questions about its future. Thought-provoking, despairing, eye-opening, and inspiring in equal measure -- Sir David HaslamHardman provides an admirable account of the struggles of the [health service] . . . She is lucid, fair and unpolemical -- Andrew Gimson * Conservative Home *

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Book SynopsisSteeped in honey, Juventius, your golden eyes, and as sweet too when I press my lips to them - three hundred thousand kisses is not close to enoughFor centuries, evidence of queer love in the ancient world was ignored or suppressed. Even today, only a few, famous narratives are widely known - yet there''s a rich literary tradition of Greek and Roman love that extends far beyond this handful of stories. Here, the poet Seán Hewitt and painter Luke Edward Hall collect together, for the first time, forty of the most exhilarating queer tales in the classical canon and bring them newly to life. A ground-breaking anthology that changes the way we see the ancient world - and invites us to reflect on the puritanism of our own - 300,000 Kisses is a riotous celebration of desire in all its forms.Trade ReviewThis lithe, rich anthology of stunning poetry and beguiling stories of queer love from the ancient world pulses with desire, lust, loss and seduction... Scintillating... An essential addition to any library -- Uli Lenart * Attitude magazine *

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Book Synopsis''Singh is a brilliant young scholar and a gifted writer, and this remarkable book will change how you think about religion, spirituality, consciousness, and human nature'' Paul BloomWhat are the origins of shamanism and what is its future? Do shamans believe in their powers? What exactly is trance? And what can we learn from indigenous healing practices?In this enlightening book, anthropologist Manvir Singh offers a new explanation for one of the most misunderstood religious traditions. Travelling from Indonesia to the Amazon, living with shamans and observing music, drug use and indigenous curing ceremonies, he journeys into the origins of shamanism. Fundamentally, shamans are specialists who use altered states to engage with unseen realities and provide services like healing and divination. As Singh shows, shamanism's ubiquity stems from its psychological resonance. Its core appeal is transformation: a specialist uses initiations, deprivation and non-ordinary states to seemingly become a different kind of human, one possessed with the superpowers necessary to tame life's uncertainty.Following a fascinating cast of characters, Singh tells a larger story about the ancient and modern expressions of this timeless tradition. He argues that biomedicine can learn from shamanic practices, yet that psychedelic enthusiasts completely misrepresent history. He also shows that shamanic traditions will forever re-emerge and that by journeying into humanity's oldest spiritual practice, we come to better understand ourselves, our history and our future.

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

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

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Book SynopsisPresents the picture of the world's most famous fighting machine. This title explores every aspect of the Roman army, from the daily lives of individual soldiers to the outcome of major campaigns. It discusses key Roman battles, and includes hundreds of illustrations and biographies of the great commanders.Trade Review'An outstanding general study of the Roman military system … the best one-volume treatment of the subject now in existence' - The Historian'I found myself marvelling at the synthesis of detail and perspective … this really is a complete account of the Roman army … an invaluable reference book' - History TodayTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Changing Face of the Roman Army • 1. The Republican Army • 2. The Professional Army • 3. The Life of a Roman Soldier • 4. The Army at War • 5. The Army of Late Antiquity

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Book SynopsisA thrilling firsthand account by husband-and-wife ex-CIA operatives.

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Book SynopsisGranddaughter of Jeoffrey and grandmother to three Yorkist claimants to the throne, Alice Chaucer is one of the most important female figures of the 15th century. It is remarkable that there has not been a biography of her to-date.

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Book SynopsisDuring the Anglo-American War of 1812, British forces launched hundreds of amphibious raids on the United States. The richest parts of the United States were slave-states, and thousands of enslaved African Americans fled to British forces in what was to be the largest emancipation of enslaved Americans until the abolition of slavery in the USA. From these refugees from slavery, the British built a force - the Corps of Colonial Marines. Black redcoats, they were a fusion of two great American fears, the return of the British King and an uprising by their own oppressed slaves. The Corps of Colonial Marines turned Britain''s campaign on America''s coasts from one of harassment to one of existential threat to the new nation. Although small in number, the Colonial Marines - fighting to liberate their own families as much as for Great Britain - exerted a massive psychological impact on the United States which paralysed American resistance with fear of a widespread slave uprising, and allowed

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Book SynopsisTowards the end of 1906, a meeting took place between two emerging giants of the age, Mohandas K. Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts. United under the same empire, but separated by distance and culture, Smuts was born in the Cape Colony, and Gandhi in Porbandar, a duchy of the Indian province of Gujarat. Both, however, went on to study law in Britain, and while developing a great admiration for the institutions of empire, each man also suffered his own particular crisis of faith. From their widely dispersed origins, Gandhi and Smuts collided over the issue of race and equality in a turbulent province of the empire, each attempting to hold the British to their stated ideals. This insightful book explores attitudes to race, and belonging, in an age when the English speaking peoples straddled the globe, and sought to impose on all of their subject races, basking under the radiance of Britannia, a common ideal of parity, equal opportunity and free movement.

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed by the Daily Mail as ''definitive and harrowing'', this is the final volume of The People's Trilogy'', begun by the Samuel Johnson prize-winning Mao''s Great Famine.''The seminal English language work on the subject' Sunday TimesA major contribution to scholarship on modern China, one that is unequalled, certainly in the English language both revealing and rewarding reading for specialists and non-specialists alike'' Literary ReviewAfter the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 and 1962, an ageing Mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. But the Chairman also used the Cultural Revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longTrade ReviewDefinitive and harrowing -- Book of the Week * Daily Mail *Dikötter never allows his intense account to degenerate into melodrama. Networks of power and information are carefully traced, revealing a movement that spiralled into general score-settling on such a scale that Mao and his allies had only intermittent control … A fascinating account of how people twisted or resisted the aims of Mao’s movement * Daily Telegraph *Definitive and harrowing -- Roger Lewis, Book of the Week * Daily Mail *Magnificent ... The author gives full acknowledgement to memoirs and scholarly works but it is his own archival research, allied to a piercing critique, that lifts the book to a higher level. He has mastered the details so well that with the most sparing use of description he weaves a vivid tapestry of China at the time … This brilliant book leaves no doubt that Mao almost ruined China and left a legacy of paranoia that still grips its modern dictatorship under the latest autocrat, Xi Jinping -- Michael Sheridan * Sunday Times *The murderous frenzy of the times, which tore apart friends and families, not to speak of the Communist party itself, is powerfully conveyed -- Book of the Week * The Times *Given the tortuous nature of the event, what contribution does Frank Dikötter’s new book make to our understanding of the Cultural Revolution? The answer is an immense one. He sheds important new light on what has long been a dark (in several respects) period in Chinese history ... The Cultural Revolution exposes, in measured prose and well-documented analysis, the impact of communist rule in a period of extraordinary stress, tension and violence, most of it unleashed by the Party itself. Together, these three books, which Dikötter calls the ‘People’s Trilogy’, constitute a major contribution to scholarship on modern China, one that is unequalled, certainly in the English language … There is something simply unanswerable about many of his judgments on the effects of almost seventy years of communism in China. Much of this has to do with his use of documents from official archives in China, to which access is difficult … his patience and endurance must be considerable and his Chinese-language skills formidable …. both revealing and rewarding reading – for specialists and non-specialists alike * Literary Review *Gripping, horrific … A significant event in our understanding of modern China * International New York Times *A fine, sharp study of [a] tumultuous, elusive era … Excellent follow-up to his groundbreaking previous work … Dikötter tells a harrowing tale of unbelievable suffering. A potent combination of precise history and moving examples * Kirkus *Outstanding * The Week *Searing * Irish Times *During ten years of insanity, between 1.5m and 2million people lost their lives. It is all chillingly documented in Frank Dikötter’s brilliant new book. -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Times *Magisterial * New Statesman *His “people’s trilogy” … has been hailed as the seminal English language work on the subject. The trilogy’s enduring value lies in its unstinting description of the horrors of life under Mao … Dikötter has done much to ensure that we see the full horror of what happened under Mao * Sunday Times *A significant event in our understanding of modern China * Scotland on Sunday *It includes colourful sketches of famous individuals, a fast-paced account of key political events, and some interesting discussions of how ordinary people experienced and contributed to specific Cultural Revolution episodes … Impressive chapters on the early 1970s that explore and celebrate grassroots developments * Financial Times *A detailed, sober, bleak reminder of the horror and chaos unleashed by Mao Zedong * Tablet *Superb * Tribune *What sets Dikötter apart from many other historians of this period is his obsession with detail and insistence on bringing the story back to the individual account … The level of research in Dikötter’s book is astonishing ... but the book wears this research lightly, with the human story coming through strongly * Irish Times *Dikötter’s well-researched and readable new book on the Cultural Revolution’s causes and consequences is a crucial reminder of the tragedies, miscalculations and human costs of Mao’s last experiment * Guardian *A tragic and salutary history * Catholic Herald *The concluding volume of Dikotter’s superb trilogy on Mao Tse-tung’s China is deeply disturbing * Sunday Times *‘An eye-opener and a page-turner’ * Daily Mail *A revelatory look at a seismic upheaval that has left an indelible imprint on the country * The Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis______________ ''A stylish, deftly erudite and enormously diverting book' - Sunday Telegraph An artfully aimless pleasure cruise around Paris' - Guardian ''White''s genius as a flâneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation'' - New Yorker______________ A unique and eclectic view of Paris through the eyes of a fierce and witty intellect. A flâneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the streets he walks - and is in covert search of adventure, aesthetic or erotic. Acclaimed writer Edmund White, who lived in Paris for sixteen years, wanders through the avenues and along the quays, into parts of the city virtually unknown to visitors and indeed to many locals, luring the reader into the fascinating and seductive backstreets of his personal Paris.______________ ''One has the impreTrade Review‘Edmund White is one of the most virtuosic living writers of sentences in the English language' * Dave Eggers *‘White's genius as a flâneur is revealed in his affinity for unexpected pleasures, and he includes many for our delectation' * New Yorker *‘One has the impression of having fallen into the hands of a highly distractible, somewhat eccentric poet and professor who is determined to show you a Paris you wouldn't otherwise see ... White tells such a good story that I'm ready to listen to anything he wants to talk about' * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisState Power and Governance in Early Imperial China delves into the governance and capacity of the state by providing an empirical historical study of the collapse of China''s Qin Empire. In contrast to the popular view that the Qin fell suddenly and dramatically, this book argues that the collapse was rooted in persistent structural problems of the empire, including the serious resource shortages experienced by local governments, inefficient communication between administrative units, and social tensions in the new territories. Rather than reducing Qin rulers to heartless villains who refused to adjust their policies and statecraft, this book focuses on the changes that the regime did make to meet these challenges. It reveals the various measures that Qin rulers devised to solve these problems, even if they were ultimately to no avail. The paradox of the Qin Empire seemed to be that, although the regime''s policies and reforms could theoretically have strengthened the state''s power and improved the governance of the empire, their ramifications simultaneously exacerbated the misfunction of local governments and triggered the military failures that eventually destroyed the empire.

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Book SynopsisExam Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR & WJECLevel: A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students.This title:- Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications- Contains authoritative and engaging content- Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians- Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learntThis title is suitable for a variety of courses including:- OCR: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 191

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Book SynopsisFROM THE WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE and author of EAST WEST STREETTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ''Should be read by anyone who cares about justice, humanity and human rights'' Elif Shafak''An essential account'' Sunday Times''Powerful and persuasive . . . superb'' Abdulrazak Gurnah ''An urgent reminder that Britain''s colonial rule isn''t our past. It''s our present'' New Statesman''An important [book]'' Observer''Elegant, moving and profoundly informative'' The ScotsmanThrough one woman''s fight for justice, the award-winning author of East West Street exposes the shocking events that marked the 1965 establishment of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Written with Sands'' characteristic expertise, insight and thrilling storytelling, The Last Colony lays bare the brutal legacy of colonial rule, the devastating impact of Britain''s grip on its last colony in AfriTrade ReviewMindful of not only the stories but also the silences of the past, THE LAST COLONY is a powerful and poignant book that should be read by anyone who cares about justice, humanity and human rights. Rarely does a book combine erudition and empathy so eloquently - it is stellar in every sense of the word -- ELIF SHAFAKThe Chagossians were forced from their archipelago in the Indian Ocean in the 1970s, and Britain still refuses to hand it back. Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands relates the wider tragedy of the scandal with nerve and precision . . . [he] makes a steely and forensic case, laced with human empathy . . . an important and welcome corrective -- Tim Adams * OBSERVER *A powerful and persuasive account . . . superb -- ABDULRAZAK GURNAHGripping . . . Sands writes fluently and passionately throughout, linking the story of the Chagossians to the wider narrative of the end of colonialism, and postwar attempts to codify and enforce the right of self-determination of peoples. Elegant, moving and profoundly informative * THE SCOTSMAN *An important book about a great injustice - alas, the sins of our colonial fathers are still with us -- HENRY MARSHPowerful and elegantly written . . . Sands uses the story of one Chagossian woman to tell a broader story about colonialism and international human rights from the 20th century to today. An essential account of a continuing and little-known area of injustice -- Tomiwa Owolade * SUNDAY TIMES *A fascinating story which shows the personal and ongoing toll of colonial rule * IRISH TIMES *Sands, who represented Mauritius at the International Court, is the right person to tell this story. He elegantly mixes a more general history of the development of international law, on which he knows as much as anyone, with the particular subject of the book * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Brings a human touch to the story . . . Sands is a worthy and effective advocate * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT *Interweaves personal stories with global politics and the development of international law . . . an urgent reminder that Britain's colonial rule isn't our past. It's our present * NEW STATESMAN *A devastating indictment of Britain's colonial past, exploring the decision to deport the entire population of Chagos in the 1960s. It recounts one courageous woman's four-decade fight for justice in the face of a crime against humanity, culminating in a courtroom drama at The Hague and a historic ruling * DAILY MIRROR *A resounding history, thrilling as any novel * JEWISH CHRONICLE *

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Book SynopsisExam board: OCRLevel: A LevelSubject: History First teaching: September 2015First exams: AS: Summer 2016, A Level: Summer 2017An OCR endorsed resourceSuccessfully cover Unit Group 2 with the right amount of depth and pace. This bespoke series from the leading History publisher follows our proven and popular approach for OCR A Level, blending clear course coverage with focused activities and comprehensive assessment support.- Develops understanding of the period through an accessible narrative that is tailored to the specification content and structured around key questions for each topic- Builds the skills required for Unit Group 2, from explanation, assessment and analysis to the ability to make substantiated judgements- Enables students to consolidate and extend their topic knowledge with a range of activities suitable for classwork or homework- Helps students achieve their best by providing step-by-step assessment guidance and practice questions- Facilitates revision with useful summaries at the start and end of each chapter- Ensures that students understand key historical terms and concepts by defining them in the glossary

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Book SynopsisCaroline Lucas is the MP for Brighton Pavilion, and the UK's first Green Party MP. Elected to parliament in 2010, she also served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 and as co-leader from 2016 to 2018. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament for ten years. She holds a PhD in English literature.It was her passion for the English countryside that first inspired Caroline to think more deeply about the importance of place in our national life, and her love of literature that led her to respond to the rise of the populist Right by examining the more positive, inclusive stories of England and the English explored in this book.

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Book SynopsisAn unforgettable 3,000-year-old journey - from Mesopotamian clay tablets trying to predict the future, to Tudor book-hunters and Nazi bonfires, and on into the dangers of our increasingly digital existence, Burning the Books shows how the preservation of knowledge is vital for the survival of civilization itself. 'A wonderful book, full of good stories and burning with passion' SUNDAY TIMES, BOOKS OF THE YEAR'Compelling, fascinating and rewarding' LITERARY REVIEW'When books burn, it is more than just words under attack . . . this extraordinary book should stir us to thinking and to action' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A tale of ingenuity and deep courage' GUARDIAN'A stark warning - the truth itself is under attack' THE TIMES, BOOKS OF THE YEARTrade ReviewPassionate and illuminating... this splendid book reveals how, in today's world of fake news and alternative facts, libraries stand defiant as guardians of truth. -- Gerard deGroot * THE TIMES *'Dangerous souvenirs' is what Richard Ovenden calls the books salvaged by ex-monks under the nose of Henry VIII. Now as then, books need friends. This fascinating book will help to find them. -- ALAN BENNETTIf there's anyone you might want to read your love letters after your death, it's Richard Ovenden; as Burning the Books reveals on every page, not only is he careful, diligent and wise, he also knows what to leave out and what to keep in and it's this quality that, above all, makes his book so remarkable. Francis Bacon described the creation of the Bodleian in the 1590s as 'an ark to save learning from the deluge' -- the deluge in question being the Reformation. Ovenden's ark, also written at a time of huge political and economic strife, attempts to save the concept of the library itself...something it achieves not through polemic but by telling stories. Rich, meticulous and impressive... Its sweep is quite astonishing. -- Rachel Cooke * OBSERVER *Intriguing...Unforgettable -- Christopher Hart * SUNDAY TIMES *Richard Ovenden, the Bodleian Librarian, is admirably obsessed with that destruction: the stuff lost for ever . . . This book might easily have turned into a cumbersome diatribe. It is instead a compendium of intriguing stories that collectively deliver a stark warning: "The truth itself is under attack." * The Times (Saturday Review), Philosophy and Ideas Book of the Year 2020 *Both timely and authoritative...The subject of archives and libraries is one of permanent importance in the understanding a nation has of itself, and touches not only high politics but also life-and-death drama. I can think of no-one better qualified to write about it than Richard Ovenden. I enjoyed Burning the Books immensely. -- PHILIP PULLMANBURNING THE BOOKS is fascinating, thought-provoking and very timely. No one should keep quiet about this library history. -- IAN HISLOPA stark and important warning about the value of knowledge and the dangers that come from the destruction of books. Vital reading for this day and age. -- PETER FRANKOPANA magnificent book - timely, vital and full of the most incredible tales, a manifesto for our humanity and its archives -- PHILIPPE SANDSThis fascinating and moving book should be read at schools and translated into languages all around the world . . . a glorious celebration of physical libraries and nuanced knowledge -- ELIF SHAFAK * New Statesman *Like an epic film-maker, Richard Ovenden unfolds vivid scenes from three millennia of turbulent history, to mount passionate arguments for the need to preserve the records of the past - and of the present. This urgent, lucid book calls out to us all to recognise and defend one of our most precious public goods - libraries and archives. -- MARINA WARNEREngaging and timely . . . Ovenden stays true to his calling, reminding us that libraries and librarians are the keepers of humankind's memories: without them, we don't know who we are -- Jonathan Freedland * Guardian *As director of the Bodleian Library Ovenden is well-placed to deliver this devastating take on the erosion of knowledge and the importance of libraries as a physical space -- 75 of the best books for autumn * Independent *A galvanising manifesto for the importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age * The Bookseller *Ovenden moves effortlessly through the centuries and around the world . . . it is hard not to see him and his fellow librarians as warriors and freedom fighters, the unsung heroes of the high streets -- Frances Wilson * Standpoint *This book should stir us to thinking and to action - against censorship, against careless loss, and for the preservation of the memory of where we came from and of our right to be where we are -- Michael Skapinker * Financial Times *Fascinating and rewarding . . . Ovenden's finest achievement in Burning the Books is to demonstrate the importance and enduring power of preserved knowledge . . . [his] professional expertise and personal passion are evident on every page -- Timothy W Ryback * Literary Review *[Ovenden] brings us on an erudite, frightening and often exhilarating journey . . . a fascinating, often entertaining and surprising, incredibly well-researched and beautifully written book. It is an important book, now more than ever * Irish Times *A passionate defence of the sanctity of knowledge . . . the author's passion and authority come across on every page . . . Reading Burning the Books is, by turns, a distressing and illuminating experience. It is distressing because Ovenden shows humanity at its philistine worst throughout history . . . But it is also illuminating because of his partisan celebration of those figures like Bodley who have prized the written word and its preservation as being a civilised end in itself * The Critic *Excellent . . . both gripping and horrifying in equal measure * The Field *Lucidly and engagingly written . . . powerful -- Rhodri Lewis * Prospect Magazine *You expect librarians to have plenty of good stories, but perhaps not to be burning with passion. This erudite, urgent book is full of both * Sunday Times (Culture) *Thought-provoking and relentlessly engaging * Methodist Recorder *Wide-ranging and informative . . . calling out to the better angels of our nature to fight for the preservation of what makes us who we are * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisHeather Selma Gregg argues that the U.S.-led efforts to nation build in both Iraq and Afghanistan failed to focus on the population and build national unity as part of its state building efforts.

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Book SynopsisFor over three centuries, the inhabitants of North Britain faced the might of Rome, resulting in some of the most extraordinary archaeology of the ancient world. This richly illustrated new history of Roman Scotland explores the complex, often tumultuous and frequently brutal interaction between the world's first superpower and the peoples who lived north of Hadrian's Wall. With reference to the latest research and featuring all the key sites, it offers though-provoking re-assessments of many aspects of the story of the Romans in Scotland, from the loss of the IXth Legion and the reasons for building and maintaining Hadrian's Wall, to considering what spurred at least four Roman emperors to personally visit the edge of the empire.Trade Review'Superbly researched, accessibly written and thoughtfully and convincingly argued, this book presents a chronological history of the Romans in Scotland' -- Ken Lussey * Undiscovered Scotland *'A new detailed history of Roman Scotland, offer[ing] an opportunity to re-examine the legend' * West Highland Free Press *'[a] comprehensive, accessible, and thought-provoking study' * Scotland on Sunday *'offers thought-provoking re-assessments of the loss of the IXth Legion, the reasons for building Hadrian's Wall, and why at least four Roman emperors personally visited the edge of the empire' * Southern Reporter *'sifts through the evidence for the impact of the Romans on the country that would become Scotland... sheds new life on brutal conflict' * Sunday Post *'[A] comprehensive, accessible and thought-provoking study' -- David Robinson * The Scotsman *'a new and thought-provoking history of Roman Scotland by an acclaimed expert' * Edinburgh Life *'Reid has an enjoyable writing style... he also tackles areas of scholarly dispute head-on, outlining rather than glossing over key controversies' * Current Archaology Magazine *

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Book SynopsisFor more than 300 years, Kensington Palace has played host to a colourful cast of kings, queens, wayward children, royal aunts and uncles, distant cousins and assorted aristocratic hangers-on. This remarkable building has served as the stage for some of the most dramatic and bizarre events in the royal family’s history. It was here that the young Queen Victoria was held a virtual prisoner for eighteen years; and it was here that George II installed both his wife and his mistress, giving the latter rooms so damp that there were said to be mushrooms growing on the walls. More recently, the palace has witnessed an extraordinary series of scandals, from Princess Diana’s bombshell TV interview with a journalist smuggled into the palace disguised as a salesman, to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure for Frogmore Cottage amid rumours of a rift with William and Kate. Through exclusive interviews with palace staff past and present and detailed historical sources, Tom Quinn takes a look beyond official accounts, delving into the frequently outrageous but often heart-warming history of the palace and its inhabitants, from its earliest beginnings to the present day. With a postscript reflecting on Harry and Meghan’s shock decision to leave the country, Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle offers a rare behind-the-scenes insight into one of Britain’s most iconic residences.Trade Review"A sparkling account of the often very unregal goings-on at the palace. Richly laced with insider gossip, this is behind-the-scenes royal history at its most entertaining." - Jane Shilling, Daily Mail "A fascinating must-read." - Bella

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Book SynopsisUnquiet Women is an exquisitely crafted patchwork of the forgotten lives of some of the most remarkable women in history. History is polyphonic; it must be told by many voices. In Unquiet Women, Max Adams brings to life the voices and experiences of women living between the last days of Rome and the Enlightenment, whose stories of creativity, intellect and influence are all too rarely told. From Wynflæd, the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who owned male slaves and badger-skin gowns, to Mary Astell, the philosopher who out-thought John Locke, this is a kaleidoscopic study of women's history before the Enlightenment changed everything. In this rigorous work of rescue and recovery, their voices can be heard across the centuries – still passionate and still strong. Reviews: 'A centuries-spanning study that rescues women's lives from the margins of history' BBC History Magazine 'Illuminating and wise... An important book' Herald 'A timely work which is beautifully designed and executed, embodying the charm and power of the remarkable women within its pages' All About HistoryTrade ReviewA timely work which is beautifully designed and executed, embodying a charm and power of its own from the remarkable women within its pages * All About History *It's fascinating territory, the narrative is lively and the author's reflections are illuminating and wise * Herald *Brings to life the experiences of women in history whose voices are barely heard and whose stories are rarely told * Journal *A thoroughly captivating look at some of the forgotten women of history, throughout the ages... Highly recommend this as a wonderful read... The stunning cover just adds to the enjoyment!' * Books and Me *A centuries-spanning study that rescues women's lives from the margins of history... The beautiful, faux-embroidered cover of Unquiet Women not only makes it an attractive addition to any bookshelf; it also serves as a reminder that, if we pay as much attention to cloth as the written word, we can continue to unravel stories of unquiet women throughout history' * BBC History Magazine *We hear the individual stories of noblewomen, explores and philosophers in this beautifully illustrated celebration of their intellect, influence and creativity; voices previously barely heard and stories rarely told * Evergreen *

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