History Books
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) The Eunuch in Byzantine History and Society
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Eunuch History: From Antiquity to the 21st Century 2. Approaching Eunuchs: Attitudes, Studies and Problems 3. Castration 4. The Court Eunuchs of the Later Roman Empire 5. Transformations: Byzantine Court Eunuchs, 7th to 11th Centuries AD 6. Eunuchs and Religion 7. Images and Identities of Eunuchs 8. The Twighlight of the Byzantine Eunuch Conclusion. Appendix. Index.
£42.99
Oxford University Press Feminism A Very Short Introduction
Book SynopsisHow much have women''s lives really changed? In the West women still come up against the ''glass ceiling'' at work, most earning considerably less than their male counterparts. What are we to make of the now commonplace insistence that feminism deprives men of their rights and dignities? And how does one tackle the issue of female emancipation in different cultural and economic environments - in, for example, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, and Africa?This book provides an historical account of feminism, exploring its earliest roots as well as key issues including voting rights, the liberation of the sixties, and its relevance today. Margaret Walters touches on the difficulties and inequities that women still face more than forty years after the ''new wave'' of 1960s feminism, such as how successful women are at combining domesticity, motherhood, and work outside the house. She brings the subject completely up to date by providing an analysis of the current situation of womeTrade Review"An enjoyable read." * Rosie Blau, FT Magazine *Table of Contents1. Introduction: The rights and wrongs of women ; 2. Pioneers ; 3. Voting Rights ; 4. The Personal is the Political: Liberation in the Twentieth Century ; 5. In a New Century ; 6. Women Across the World
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd THE ANTHROPOCENE A PELICAN INTRODUCTION
Book Synopsis''Brilliantly written and genuinely one of the most important books I have ever read'' - Ellie Mae O''Hagan An engrossing exploration of the science, history and politics of the Anthropocene, one of the most important scientific ideas of our time, from two world-renowned expertsMeteorites, methane, mega-volcanoes and now human beings; the old forces of nature that transformed Earth many millions of years ago are joined by another: us. Our actions have driven Earth into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. For the first time in our home planet''s 4.5-billion year history a single species is dictating Earth''s future.To some the Anthropocene symbolises a future of superlative control of our environment. To others it is the height of hubris, the illusion of our mastery over nature. Whatever your view, just below the surface of this odd-sounding scientific word, the Anthropocene, is a heady mix of science, philosophy, religion and politics linkTrade ReviewA careful explanation of what society is doing to this amazing planet and its people. I was absolutely gripped. Brilliantly written and genuinely one of the most important books I have ever read -- Ellie Mae O’HaganA relentless reckoning of how we, as a species, got ourselves into the mess we're in today. . . told with determination and in chiseled, almost literary prose. Indeed, the book's main story - how one species, Homo sapiens, fresh off the trees of Africa, came to rule the Earth so completely that it now stands a good chance of wrecking it - has the force of a Greek tragedy * Wall Street Journal *A highly entertaining examination of the many ways in which humans are now profoundly altering Earth -- Robin Mckie * Observer Books of the Year *A clear, intelligent and engaged history of and argument about the Anthropocene. . . If readers want a judicious and engaging marker of where the debate has reached, The Human Planet is it -- Robert J. Mayhew * Times Higher Education *Profound and thought-provoking, this book does a remarkable job explaining where the current proposal to define a new human-dominated era properly fits -- Thomas E. Lovejoy, winner of the Blue Planet PrizeThat humans now dominate the 'natural' systems of our planet is the key fact of our time -- this book does a remarkable job of explaining how that came to pass, and why it matters so much -- Bill McKibben, author FalterUnderstanding what it means for humans to have become a geological force reshaping the workings of the Earth is both a deep intellectual challenge and a political necessity. Richly thought through and provocative from its title onwards, The Human Planet rises to that challenge, bringing together Earth history and human history in a new way. Its reassessment of the past will equip its readers to understand the future -- and perhaps to improve it -- Oliver Morton, author of The Planet RemadeToday scientists increasingly believe that we have entered a new era, the Anthropocene. In this succinct but sweeping re-evaluation of the human story, Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin show exactly why this abstract-sounding contention should radically affect our views of today and tomorrow. The Human Planet packs more ideas into a small space than I would have thought possible -- Charles C. Mann, author of The Wizard and the ProphetImmensely readable. . . Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin provide a compelling narrative, stretching from the emergence of hominins from Earth's long history some 3 million years ago, to our position today, as a species with planetary reach * Nature *
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Cheng N Life and Death in Shanghai
Book SynopsisA first-hand account of China''s cultural revolution.Nien Cheng, an anglophile and fluent English-speaker who worked for Shell in Shanghai under Mao, was put under house arrest by Red Guards in 1966 and subsequently jailed. All attempts to make her confess to the charges of being a British spy failed; all efforts to indoctrinate her were met by a steadfast and fearless refusal to accept the terms offered by her interrogators. When she was released from prison she was told that her daughter had committed suicide. In fact Meiping had been beaten to death by Maoist revolutionaries.
£15.29
Princeton University Press The World at First Light A New History of the
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£32.30
National Geographic Society American Soul
£28.00
Bookmarks Publications The Time of the Harvest has Come
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£10.80
Penguin Books Ltd The First World War
Book SynopsisA. J. P. Taylor was one of the most acclaimed and uncompromising historians of the twentieth century. In this clear, lively and now-classic account of the First World War, he tells the story of the conflict from the German advance in the West, through the Marne, Gallipoli, the Balkans and the War at Sea to the offensives of 1918 and the state of Europe after the war. Containing photographs and maps, this an essential history of the war that ''cut deep into the consciousness of modern man''.Trade Review'The most readable, sceptical and original of modern historians' - Michael Foot 'Remarkable ... Taylor here manages in some 200 illustrated pages to say almost everything that is important for an understanding and, indeed, intellectual digestion of that vast event' Observer 'It is unlikely that there will be a more satisfactory compact survey of that Armageddon' Newsweek 'What makes Taylor's book outstanding is his capacity to penetrate through the undergrowth of controversy and conflicting interpretation to the central truth' New York Review of Books 'Probably the most controversial historian in the English-speaking world' The Times
£12.34
Oxford University Press Lives of the Caesars
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£9.49
Saqi Books A Man of Few Words
Book Synopsis?Nobody knows how much I owe that man?, Primo Levi said of the bricklayer who saved his life at Auschwitz. ?I could never repay him.? Levi was referring to Lorenzo Perrone, who ? at great personal risk ? smuggled food, letters and clothing to Levi and other prisoners. The soup might contain sparrows? wings, prune stones, or even fragments of pulped newspaper, but it provided Levi with the 500 extra calories he needed to survive each day. Perrone said nothing as he left the mess tin by a half-constructed brick wall.InA Man of Few Words, Carlo Greppi pieces together Levi?s saviour, a near-destitute labourer with minimal formal education. Despite their stark differences, Levi and Perrone?s friendship survived the Holocaust and continued until Perrone?s tragic death. Levi never forgot Perrone. As his friend withdrew from the world, Levi tried persistently to preserve the memory of this man of few words who had saved his life, but who left few traces of his own behind.Compassionate, worldly and prescient, Greppi brings to light a universal story about an individual who kept hope alive in one of the darkest times and places known to man.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd The History of Sexuality 4
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe most innovative and influential French thinker of the contemporary era -- Sudhir Hazareesingh * Guardian *Nearly 35 years after his death, Foucault remains a vital reference point, and his History of Sexuality remains required reading ... The appearance of the fourth volume is itself the most significant event in the world of Foucault scholarship in 20 years ... Essential * Los Angeles Review of Books *
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd Mccullough D 1776
Book SynopsisAmerica''s most acclaimed historian presents the intricate story of the year of the birth of the United States of America. 1776 tells two gripping stories: how a group of squabbling, disparate colonies became the United States, and how the British Empire tried to stop them. A story with a cast of amazing characters from George III to George Washington, to soldiers and their families, this exhilarating book is one of the great pieces of historical narrative.
£15.29
Vintage Publishing Europe: A History
Book SynopsisEurope – and the question of whether to stay in or leave – has dominated British politics for the last three years. Yet how much do you really know about the Continent?From the Ice Age to the Cold War, from Reykjavik to the Volga, from Minos to Margaret Thatcher, Norman Davies tells the entire story of Europe in a single volume. Discover the most ambitious history of the continent ever undertaken.‘Any European or world citizen should read this… History that illuminates the present day’ Big IssueTrade ReviewAny European or world citizen should read this… History that illuminates the present day -- T. S. Learner * Big Issue *Books of real quality and importance are rare. Norman Davies's history of Europe is one of them. It is a brilliant achievement, written with intelligence, lucidity and a breathtaking width of knowledge... This is a book everyone should read -- A. C. Grayling * Financial Times *A noble monument of scholarship, and all the more noble because it is so full of surprise and feeling... There are superb assessments of vastly daunting subjects -- Jan Morris * Independent *Monumental, authoritative... A book for enquiring minds of all ages, it will answer hundreds of enquires and provoke thousands more -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *No history of Europe in the English language has been so even-handed in its treatment of east and west... Strong characterisation, vivid detail, trenchant opinions, cogent anaylsis all make this tremendous reading * Times Literary Supplement *
£24.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Gothic Revival Architecture
Book SynopsisFrom the Houses of Parliament to the Midland Hotel at St Pancras and Strawberry Hill House, Gothic Revival buildings are some of the most distinctive structures found in Britain. Far from a copy of medieval buildings, it was a style full of colour and invention, in which its exponents created a daring new approach to design. Throwing out the old Classical rule book, Gothic Revival architects like Pugin and George Gilbert Scott designed buildings which were asymmetrical in form and visually expressive of their function. The movement went beyond just bricks and mortar and had a strong moral code, the influence of which was still felt into the 20th century. In this illustrated book, Trevor Yorke tells the story of the Gothic Revival from its origins in the whimsical fancies of the Georgian Period through to its High Victorian climax.Table of ContentsThe Gothic Revival Strawberry Hill Gothic Regency Gothic The Pugin and Ruskin Influence High Victorian Gothic Gothic Interiors A Change in Direction Further Reading Places to Visit Index
£8.99
Thames & Hudson Ltd The Empire of Death A Cultural History of
Book SynopsisTakes the reader on an international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This book brings together some of the world's most important charnel sites, ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy, to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman.Trade Review'The extraordinary displays of human bones in Europe’s charnel houses may now seem utterly bewildering to us, but 'The Empire of Death' reveals fascinating insights into these misunderstood religious monuments' - Metro'Impressive and readable … an excellent memento mori for our age and a work which is the result of considerable endeavour by the author' - The Historical Association'Death can be so beautiful. That’s what comes over most powerfully in this cultural history of charnel houses ... Many of the buildings are closed to the public, making reading the book feel rather like a date with destiny' - Time Out London'Well written, richly referenced and contains some cracking quotes … the book is imbued with a timeless, classy appeal … If you’re into art, history, culture, eschatology or are just plain weird then you will be impressed by this beautiful book' - The Royal College of Pathologists BulletinTable of ContentsIntroduction: A Dialogue with Death • 1. Ars Moriendi: The Early Charnel Houses • 2. The Golden Age: Counter-Reformation Macabre • 3. The Triumph of Death: Nineteenth-Century Visions in Bone • 4. Heavenly Souls: Spiritualism and Mythology in The Bone Pile • 5. Forget Me Not: Ossuaries as Commemorative Sites • 6. Resurrecting the Dead: Conservation and Reconstruction
£32.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Finland at War
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of the Winter War, Finland found itself drawing ever closer to Nazi Germany and eventually took part in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. For the Finns this was a chance to right the wrongs of the Winter War, and having reached suitable defensive positions, the army was ordered to halt. Years of uneasy trench warfare followed, known as the Continuation War, during which Finland desperately sought a way out, German dreams of victory were dashed, and the Soviet Union built the strongest army in the world. In the summer of 1944, the whole might of the Red Army was launched against the Finnish defenses on the narrow Karelian Isthmus. Over several weeks of fierce fighting, the Finns managed to halt the Soviet assault. With Stalin forced to divert his armies to the race to Berlin, an armistice agreement was reached, the harsh terms of which forced the Finns to take on their erstwhile German allies in Lapland. Featuring rare photographs and first-hand accounts,
£21.25
Orion Publishing Co At Days Close
Book SynopsisA fascinating and colourful social history of the nighttime.''A wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness'' SPECTATOR''Fascinating'' SUNDAY TIMES''A splendid book ... great entertainment'' Sir Patrick Moore''A triumph of social history. Almost every page contains something to surprise the reader ... one of the most enjoyable literary experiences of the year'' MAIL ON SUNDAYFrom blanket fairs to night kings, curfews to crime, At Day''s Close is an intriguing and captivating investigation into the night. Until now, this rich and complex universe in which we spend nearly half of our lives was a world long-lost to historians. Here, Ekirch explores how the night was lived in the past, through travel accounts, memoirs, letters, folklore, poems, court records and coroner''s reports. More than this, it is a passionate argument in the case for less artificial light in an increasingly bright world.Trade ReviewA wonderful revelation of a vanished age of darkness * SPECTATOR *A triumph of social history. Almost every page contains something to surprise the reader ... one of the most enjoyable literary experiences of the year * MAIL ON SUNDAY *An enthralling anthropology of the shadow reals of Western Europe from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution ... a passionate case against too much artificial light * HARPER'S MAGAZINE *In his fascinating survey of the dark hours of the pre-industrial era, A Roger Ekirch takes us deep into an age when the very lack of light threw life into confusion ... an engrossing book that illuminates the darker recesses of the past * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Meticulously researched ... AT DAY'S CLOSE is a splendid book ... great entertainment, and to social historians it will be of immense value -- Sir Patrick Moore * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT *A comprehensive account of nightlife...bursting with esoteric and well-sourced information about everything from candles and curfews to church bells and chamber pots * EVENING STANDARD *Wonderful... Ekirch spares no pains to rediscover the lost world of the dark ... A book that can't be summarised but must be experienced -- David Wootton * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *Just the sort of browsable treat guaranteed to cause insomnia * THE SCOTSMAN *Night-time has been curiously ignored by social historians. This fine book corrects that lack ... Entertaining and informative * THE TIMES *Ekirch's absorbing history reveals an alternative universe shaped by real and imaginary perils * SUNDAY TIMES *Fascinating ... exploring what went on at night between 1500 and 1830 ... Here are microcultural tales of pirates and robbers, blanket fairs (people climbing into bed together to talk before going to sleep), curtain lectures (wives who felt emboldened by the dark to complain to their recumbent husbands) and night-kings (sewer cleaners in German) * GUARDIAN *The book is especially engaging on the social significance of the night, the moral meanings projected into the dark * FINANCIAL TIMES *There are so many good stories here which do not usually find themselves between the same covers * LITERARY REVIEW *This enlightening book ... is one of the most fascinating and rewarding literary experiences you are likely to discover this year * HERTS & ESSEX OBSERVER *Absorbing ... fascinating ... tells us about everything from witches to firefighting, architecture to domestic violence ... a monumental study * THE NATION *Just the sort of browsable treat guaranteed to cause insomnia. * THE SCOTSMAN (29/4/06) *Wonderful... Ekirch spares no pains to rediscover the lost world of the dark. ... A book that can't be summarised but must be experienced. -- David Wootton * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS (9/3/06) *Night-time has been curiously ignored by social historians. This fine book corrects that lack. ... Entertaining and informative, this book is also challenging. * THE TIMES (25/3/06) *Ekirch's absorbing history reveals an alternative universe shaped by real and imaginary perils. * SUNDAY TIMES (23/4/06) *This enlightening book ... is one of the most fascinating and rewarding literary experiences you are likely to discover this year. * HERTS & ESSEX OBSERVER (11/5/06) *
£12.34
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a not so dead
Book SynopsisBestseller & Winner of the Popular Non-Fiction Irish Book Award. 'Thought-provoking, irreverent and often laugh-out-loud hilarious' Irish Independent. "Motherfoclóir" [focloir means 'dictionary' and is pronounced like a rather more vulgar English epithet] is a book based on the popular Twitter account @theirishfor. As the title suggests, Motherfoclóir takes an irreverent, pun-friendly and contemporary approach to the Irish language. The translations are expanded on and arranged into broad categories that allow interesting connections to be made, and sprinkled with anecdotes and observations about Irish and Ireland itself, as well as language in general. The author includes stories about his own relationship with Irish, and how it fits in with the most important events in his life. This is a book for all lovers of the quirks of language.Trade ReviewA completely fresh take on the Irish language * Irish Examiner *Full of familiarity, of nostalgia, of humour and warmth. The author's voice really brings the book and the language to life - he somehow manages to remove all the boring aspects, and replaces them in with rich stories, with quirks, with colour and poignancy... I'll be recommending it heartily' -- Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter Wither and A Line Made By WalkingÓ Séaghdha picked an opportune time for his grá for Gaeilge to flower among a receptive readership * Irish Examiner *A fun book on a great subject * Sunday Business Post *It's thought-provoking, irreverent and often laugh-out-loud hilarious * Irish Independent *A lot of fun if you're a bit of a nerd for etymology. It sneakily teaches you Irish in a big-hearted way * Irish Independent, Books of the Year *It takes an irreverent, pun friendly and contemporary approach to the Irish language and it's a book for all lovers of the quirks of the Irish language * Tullamore Tribune *
£9.49
John Murray Press Checkmate in Berlin: The First Battle of the Cold
Book Synopsis'Brilliantly written and completely absorbing, this is Milton's masterpiece' ANTHONY HOROWITZBERLIN'S FATE WAS SEALED AT THE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE.The city was to be carved up between the victorious powers - British, American, French and Soviet - with four all-powerful commandants ruling over their sectors. On paper, it seemed a pragmatic solution; in reality, it marked the start of a ferocious battle of wits. As relations between east and west broke down, these rival commandants fought a desperate battle for control. In doing so, they fired the starting gun for the Cold War. From America's explosive Frank 'Howlin' Mad' Howley, a sharp-tongued colonel with a loathing for Russians, to his nemesis, Russia's charmingly deceptive General Alexander Kotikov, CHECKMATE IN BERLIN tells the exhilarating, high-stakes story of kidnap, skullduggery, sabotage, murder and the greatest aerial operation in history. This is the epic story of the first battle of the Cold War and how it shaped the modern world.'An excellent storyteller' ANDREW ROBERTS 'A book full of heroes' THE TIMESTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR GILES MILTON:The master of narrative history * Sunday Times *A compulsive storyteller * Daily Express *A first-rate storyteller * Wall Street Journal *A meticulous researcher and masterful storyteller * USA Today *PRAISE FOR CHECKMATE IN BERLIN:Brilliantly recapturing the febrile atmosphere of Berlin in the first four years after the Second World War, Giles Milton reminds us what an excellent story-teller he is, and how often and easily the Cold War could have grown red hot. From the major decision-makers in the four Allied Governments who ran the former Nazi capital, right the way down to the spooks, soldiers, crooks and civilians at street level, he has an unerring sense for the revealing incident and hitherto-untold story. * Andrew Roberts, author of 'Churchill: Walking with Destiny' *From the Yalta Conference to the birth of NATO, Checkmate in Berlin balances the sweep of history against a group of truly extraordinary personalities. Brilliantly written and completely absorbing, this is Milton's masterpiece. * Anthony Horowitz *Giles Milton never disappoints. The man who helped to turn narrative history into one of the most popular genres in modern publishing, this latest is up there with his best. Milton paints characters so vividly, and his writing has the momentum of a novel, only better, because it's all true. * Dan Snow *A wonderfully clear and digestible account. . . The devastation wrought on Berlin by the Russians is vividly described by the British historian Giles Milton in a series of sharp vignettes. . . as gripping as any thriller. * Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday *'A sparkling, Le Carré-esque history ... Anyone who has read Milton's previous works of narrative history will know how good he is with set pieces, and at making familiar figures grab the attention afresh...But although Milton has great fun with the big players, the triumph of the book is its depiction of the men who ran things on the ground in Berlin, who in Milton's hands turn out to be figures hardly less compelling than Churchill and Stalin... Thoroughly entertaining.' ***** Daily TelegraphThe sharp-eyed narrative historian Giles Milton charts the transition from the Yalta conference in February 1945 to the breaking of the Soviet blockade of West Berlin in May 1949... The Soviet blockade of Berlin between 1948 and 1949 is expertly told by Milton...This is a book full of heroes. * The Times *Giles Milton is a skillful storyteller. His latest book, vivid and pacy, chronicles the first four years of the Berlin occupation through the first-hand accounts of the individuals involved. * The Spectator *Masterful storytelling... Accessible, engaging and very entertaining, this is a superb read for anyone who wants to know more about the drama, atmosphere, politics and personalities of post-war Berlin. * Literary Review *
£12.34
Anness Publishing The Inca Empire
Book SynopsisAn authoritative account of political and military history, art, architecture and culture, sumptuously illustrated throughout.
£17.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Normans in Italy 10161194
Book SynopsisPreceding and simultaneously with the conquest of England by Duke William, other ambitious and aggressive Norman noblemen (notably the Drengot, De Hauteville and Guiscard families) found it prudent to leave Normandy. At first taking mercenary employment with Lombard rulers then fighting the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy, many of these noblemen achieved great victories, acquired rich lands of their own, and perfected a feudal military system that lasted for 200 years. As news of the rich pickings to be had in the south spread in Normandy, they were joined by many other opportunists typically, younger sons who could not inherit lands at home. Steadily, these Norman noblemen fought their way to local power, at first in Apulia, then across the Adriatic in Albania, and finally in Muslim Sicily, defeating in the process the armies of Byzantium, the German ''Holy Roman Empire'', and Islamic regional rulers. Finally, in 1130, Roger II founded a unified kingdom incorporating southern ITable of ContentsIntroduction Chronology The Road to Power Organization Armour & Weapons Representative Battles Select Bibliography Plate Commentaries Index
£11.69
Headline Publishing Group Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite
Book SynopsisThe supermodel did not arrive when Twiggy first donned false eyelashes; the concept began more than 100 years previously, with a young artists' model whose face captivated a generation.Saved from the drudgery of a working-class existence by a young Pre-Raphaelite artist, Lizzie Siddal rose to become one of the most famous faces in Victorian Britain and a pivotal figure of London's artistic world, until tragically ending her young life in a laudanum-soaked suicide in 1862. In the twenty-first century, even those who do not know her name always recognise her face: she is Millais's doomed Ophelia and Rossetti's beatified Beatrice.With many parallels in the modern-day world of art and fashion, this biography takes Lizzie from the background of Dante Rossetti's life and, finally, brings her to the forefront of her own.Trade Review'A truly extraordinary achievement' -- A.N. Wilson'The life behind the model for Millais's Ophelia ... The first supermodel, Siddal remains a fascinating figure' * Tatler *'A seductive biography. The story as it gains in tragedy is irresistible' * Sunday Times *'This mesmerising biography gives life to an icon, and reads as grippingly as any rags-to-riches novel' * Mail on Sunday *'It is the stuff of opera' * Sunday Telegraph *'A heart-wrenching tale of art, addiction, adultery and loss, which transcends the decades. A fluid contemporary classic' * Skytext *
£18.70
Egypt Exploration Society A Thousand Miles up the Nile
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe new edition includes an introduction by the director of the EES and the curator of the Petrie Museum at UCL, clearly a labour of love for the two organizations ... [It] provides useful background information on Edwards's journey up the Nile. * Times Literary Supplement *
£29.50
Pegasus Books The Pirate King
Book SynopsisThe incredible story of the “Robin Hood of the Seas,” who absconded with millions during the Golden Age of Piracy and who harbored an even greater secret.Henry Avery of Devon pillaged a fortune from a Mughal ship off the coast of India and then vanished into thin air—and into legend. More ballads, plays, biographies and books were written about Avery’s adventures than any other pirate. His contemporaries crowned him the pirate king for pulling off the richest heist in pirate history and escaping with his head intact (unlike Blackbeard and his infamous Flying Gang). Avery was now the most wanted criminal on earth. To the authorities, Avery was the enemy of all mankind. To the people he was a hero. Rumors swirled about his disappearance. The only certainty is that Henry Avery became a ghost. What happened to the notorious Avery has been pirate history’s most baffling cold case for centuries. Now, in a remote archive, a coded letter wr
£18.70
Yale University Press The Western Rising of 1549
Book SynopsisThe fascinating story of the so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion” of 1549 which saw the people of Devon and Cornwall rise up against the CrownTrade Review“Stoyle, a professor of history at Southampton University, has pieced together the story of the Western Rising with skill and verve. Richly detailed, authoritative and compelling. A Murderous Midsummer is sure to become the definitive account.”—Mathew Lyons, The Times “Stoyle skilfully provides a connected account. . . . A sympathetic portrayal of communities fighting for all they held dear, and a country torn apart by rival perceptions of the truth.”—Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement “What caused a quarrel between the vicar of a small Devon parish and two local residents to escalate into a rebellion that engulfed two counties and left thousands dead? . . . Mark Stoyle offers an accessible take on the causes, as well as the casualties and consequences—which reached the heart of the political elite.”—BBC History Revealed“[An] authoritative new book. . . . Stoyle's arguments are always well evidenced and carefully weighed and, ultimately, nuance and enrich familiar narratives of the Western Rising.”—Marcus Nevitt, Spectator"Mark Stoyle's compelling new narrative of the Western Rising isn't just academic history at its finest. It is also a gripping and superbly written account that is part-social history, part-political thriller, and part-detective story."—Debbie Kilroy, Get History “Stoyle’s narrative is both magnificent in scope and precise in its detail. Most refreshingly is the empathy with which he treats the rebels, a word he only uses to denote rather than denounce. . . . It is to his infinite credit that the book tackles faith with compassion. . . . Stoyle’s book is an emboldening, if sobering, reminder that from the very beginnings of oppression, ordinary Catholics fought and died for the right to practise freely.”—Fred Kelly, The Tablet “An impressive work combining impressive historical research with an accessible account of a significant event in English history. . . . It will be of interest to everyone trying to understand the dynamics of the English Reformation.”—Martin Empson, Agricultural History Review “Even to someone fairly familiar with the story of the 1549 rebellion in the West, [Stoyle] has opened up new facets of that ‘murderous midsummer.’ This is a ‘must read’ for anyone interested in the mid-Tudor rebellions.”—Local Historian “Stoyle’s re-interpretation of the rising is likely to be the authoritative work on its subject for many years to come.”—Stuart A Raymond, FACHRS Winner of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies Holyer an Gof Cup. Winner of the Devon History Society Book of the Year Awards 2023 “Tells the gripping story of the ill-fated rising in 1549 of the people of Devon and Cornwall against the English government of Edward VI. Full of new insights, the book is beautifully written with great clarity and sensitivity and an unrivalled grasp of the source material. Carrying the reader along with consummate scholarship, terrific storytelling, and an unerring feel for the lives of the people of the past, this book is a real triumph.”—Michael Wood, author of The Story of England “It almost happened. In the summer of 1549, as this book’s gripping and authoritative account proves, a spontaneous rising in Devon and Cornwall came much closer than we have imagined to bringing the whole English Reformation to an abrupt end—and 4000 of them paid for the effort with their lives. Now at last, in Mark Stoyle’s book, they have a fitting scholarly memorial.”—Alec Ryrie, author of Protestants: The Radicals Who Made the Modern World “A fresh and detailed retelling of the Western Rising of 1549, when the people of Cornwall—the little land beyond England—joined forces with the religious traditionalists of neighbouring Devon to resist the newly imposed Prayer Book. Over many years, Professor Mark Stoyle has made the history of early modern Cornwall and Devon his own, and this book, with its sparkling prose and telling insights, adds further to his brilliant repertoire.”—Philip Payton, University of Exeter and Flinders University “Comprehensive in its command of the evidence, judicious in interpretation and salted with a controlled sympathy for place and people, A Murderous Midsummer offers a compelling re-interpretation of the Western Rising of 1549. A rising in defence of traditional religion, its bloody repression, whose ferocity Stoyle skilfully recovers, registered the serious threat it posed to mid-Tudor church and government.”—John Walter, University of Essex “A riveting new account of the Western Rising of 1549. Combining empirical rigour and high narrative powers, Mark Stoyle stylishly recasts our understanding of an episode that has too often been written off as doomed to failure from the start. On the contrary, he shows how close the Cornish and Devonshire rebels came to subverting the Reformation and turning the Tudor world upside down.”—Alexandra Walsham, author of The Reformation of the Landscape
£12.34
Pan Macmillan The Real Middle-Earth: A History of the Dark Ages
Book SynopsisIn The Real Middle-Earth, explore the magically enchanting early-English civilization on which Tolkien based his world of The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien readily admitted that the concept of Middle-earth was not his own invention. An Old English term for the Dark Age world, it was always assumed that the importance of magic in this world existed only in Tolkien’s works; now Professor Brian Bates reveals the vivid truth about this historical culture. Behind the stories we know of Dark Age kings and queens, warriors and battles, lies the hidden history of Middle-earth, a world of magic, mystery and destiny. Fiery dragons were seen to fly across the sky, monsters haunted the marshes, and elves fired poisoned arrows. Wizards cast healing spells, wise trees gave blessings, and omens foretold the deaths of kings. The very landscape itself was enchanted and the world imbued with a life force.Repressed by a millennium of Christianity, this belief system all but disappeared, leaving only faint traces in folk memory and fairy tales. In this remarkable book Professor Brian Bates has drawn on the latest archaeological findings to reconstruct the imaginative world of our past, revealing a culture with insights that may yet help us understand our own place in the world.
£10.44
Old Street Publishing The Shortest History of Migration
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City
Book Synopsis'A lyrical meditation on landscapes and cities, vivid reportage and a memoir. And also a beautifully realised and moving read.' Financial Times'A beguiling mix of history, geology, folklore and memoir that captivated me from the first page.' Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking'Tom Chivers brings a poet's sensibility to this book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology.' Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, OtherWhat secrets lie beneath a city?Tom Chivers follows hidden pathways, explores lost islands and uncovers the geological mysteries that burst up through the pavement and bubble to the surface of our streets. From Roman ruins to a submerged playhouse, from an abandoned Tube station to underground rivers, Chivers leads us on a journey into the depths of the city he loves.A lyrical interrogation of a capital city, a landscape and our connection to place, London Clay celebrates urban edgelands: in-between spaces where the natural world and the metropolis collide. Through a combination of historical research, vivid reportage and personal memoir, it will transform how you see London, and cities everywhere.'Tom Chivers, with the forensic eye of an investigator, the soul of a poet, is an engaging presence; a guide we would do well to follow.' Iain Sinclair, author of The Last LondonTrade ReviewWill open readers' eyes to what is around and below them ... Its delight in exploration is matched by a thoughtful meditation on grief. * Economist *Periodic surprises even for the most dedicated student of this subject ... movingly written. -- Caroline Crampton * Spectator *Incredible ... More than a simply a cracking read, it's a book that will inspire you to go out and make your own discoveries. You'll never look at the city in the same way again. * Londonist *London Clay by Tom Chivers, is perfect. He brings a poet's sensibility to this prose nonfiction book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology. -- Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other[Chivers] combines the modern phenomenon of psycho-geographer with the ancient trade of poet ...Action-packed, erudite... an audiobook to savour slowly. -- Christina Hardyment * The Times *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: Two lives, one
Book SynopsisA FAMILY STORY AND THE TALE OF A NATION.Ai Weiwei - one of the world's most famous artists and activists - weaves a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own life and that of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet. 'Engrossing...a remarkable story' Sunday TimesHere, through the sweeping lens of his own and his father's life, Ai Weiwei tells an epic tale of China over the last 100 years, from the Cultural Revolution to the modern-day Chinese Communist Party.Here is the story of a childhood spent in desolate exile after his father, Ai Qing, once China's most celebrated poet, fell foul of the authorities. Here is his move to America as a young man and his return to China, his rise from unknown to art-world superstar and international rights activist. Here is his extraordinary account of how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.It's the story of a father and a son, of exceptional creativity and passionate belief, and of how two indomitable spirits enabled the world to understand their country.'A story of inherited resilience and self-determination' Observer'A majestic and exquisitely serious masterpiece about his China... One of the great voices of our time' Andrew Solomon'Intimate, unflinching...an instant classic' Evan Osnos, author of Age of AmbitionTrade ReviewIntimate, unflinching ... an instant classic ... a glorious testament to the power of free expression -- Evan Osnos, author of Age of AmbitionThis is the rarest sort of memoir, rising above the arc of history to grasp at the limits of the soul -- Edward SnowdenAbove all a story of inherited resilience, strength of character and self-determination * Guardian *An impassioned testament to the enduring powers of art -- Michiko Kakutani, author of Ex LibrisAi Weiwei is one of the world's greatest living artists. He is a master of multiple media. His work is always thought-provoking, unpredictable and immensely personal -- Elton John
£10.44
The History Press Ltd Understanding J. Bruce Ismay
Book SynopsisAn insight into the man at the heart of the world’s most infamous maritime disasterTrade ReviewCliff Ismay has done a terrific job of telling Joseph Bruce Ismay's life story, and has thoroughly outlined the chairman's relationship with the White Star Line as well as his controversial survival of the Titanic disaster. In short, this is the Ismay biography we've all been waiting for. -- George BeheBeing the Great Granddaughter of Margaret (The Unsinkable Molly) Brown, I am no stranger to the many misconceptions that have been circulated about my ancestor. Cliff Ismay is also familiar with this regarding his famous ancestor, J. Bruce Ismay.This book is sure to educate and surprise you. Cliff will show you the Bruce Ismay to whom you have never been introduced. So, I encourage you to enjoy this very insightful look into the life of a man you only thought you knew. -- Helen BenzigerThe name J. Bruce Ismay summons strong feelings from many who have studied the Titanic story. Many see him as a villain while others see his efforts loading the lifeboats as a reason to view him differently. In Understanding J. Bruce Ismay, we are taken on a journey into Ismay’s life, giving insight to the man who became infamous during the early morning of April 15, 1912. Enjoy this different perspective of J. Bruce Ismay’s life. -- Bill Willard
£14.39
Simon & Schuster Ltd Wordy
Book SynopsisA wide-ranging collection of essays written by the award-winning writer and historian over his forty-year career, chosen by the man himself.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain:
Book Synopsis'Excellent... Mortimer's erudition is formidable' The TimesA time of exuberance, thrills, frills and unchecked bad behaviour...Ian Mortimer turns to what is arguably the most-loved period in British history - the Regency, or Georgian England.This is the age of Jane Austen and the Romantic poets; the paintings of John Constable and the gardens of Humphry Repton; Britain's military triumphs at Trafalgar and Waterloo. It was perhaps the last age of true freedom before the arrival of the stifling world of Victorian morality.And like all periods in history, it was an age of many contradictions - where Beethoven's thundering Fifth Symphony could premier in the same year that saw Jane Austen craft the delicate sensitivities of Persuasion.This is history at its most exciting, physical, visceral - the past not as something to be studied but as lived experience. This is Ian Mortimer at the height of his time-travelling prowess.'Ian Mortimer has made this kind of imaginative time travel his speciality' Daily MailTrade ReviewMortimer's accessible guidebook format brings...[Regency Britain] vividly to life * History Revealed *Ian Mortimer has made this kind of imaginative time travel his speciality. * Daily Mail *[An] excellent book... Mortimer's erudition is formidable, and he rarely writes a dull sentence * Andrew Taylor, The Times, *Book of the Week* *An entertaining and enlightening read * Choice Magazine *[Mortimer] succeeds, rather brilliantly, in making a mass of information accessible and entertaining * Kate Hubbard, Oldie *
£11.69
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hells Highway
Book SynopsisHell's Highway is the dramatic name given to the vital stretch of road that the British 3rd Guards Armoured Division had to advance down rapidly on their route to relieve the American Paras (83rd Airborne) at Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. It should have been easy as The Screaming Eagles (101st Airborne) had been dropped to hold it. The reasons for the ensuing delay which led to disaster at Arnhem remain controversial and make for gripping reading. Adopting the clear and successful style of Battleground works this book relies on personal accounts to embellish this dramatic story.
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Time of the Magicians
Book SynopsisAN ECONOMIST, GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR A gripping narrative of the intertwined lives of the four philosophers whose ideas reshaped the twentieth centuryThe year is 1919. Walter Benjamin flees his overbearing father to scrape a living as a critic. Ludwig Wittgenstein, scion of one of Europe''s wealthiest families, signs away his inheritance, seeking spiritual clarity. Martin Heidegger renounces his faith and aligns his fortunes with Husserl''s phenomenological school. Ernst Cassirer sketches a new schema of human culture on a cramped Berlin tram. The stage is set for a great intellectual drama. Over the next decade the lives and thought of this quartet will converge and intertwine, as each gains world-historical significance, between them remaking philosophy.Time of the Magicians brings to life this miraculous burst of intellectual creativity, unparalleled in philosophy''s history, and with it an entire era, from post-war exuberance to economic crisis and the emergence of National Socialism. With great art, Wolfram Eilenberger traces the paths of these titanic figures through the tumult. He captures their personalities as well as their achievements, and illuminates with singular clarity the philosophies each embodied as well as espoused. It becomes an intellectual adventure story, a captivating journey through the greatest revolution in Western thought told through its four protagonists, each with their own penetrating gaze and answer to the question which has animated philosophy from the very beginning: What are we?Trade ReviewA tremendous feat of scholarship but also a technical masterpiece, knitting together the four men's love lives, money troubles, ontological anxieties and the wider ferment of the Weimar republic with uncommon dexterity -- Oliver Moody * The Times *Splendid, highly entertaining, attentive -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Financial Times *Magnificent, elegantly composed and beautifully narrated -- David Motadel * The Times Literary Supplement *Eilenberger's survey of high thoughts and low politics among German-language philosophers of the 1920s is a salutary tale for today, not just a gripping panorama of century-old dreams and feuds * Economist *Accessible and deeply human ... He draws these four intellectual magi out of the shadows of their writings -- John Kaag * The New York Times *Like any great story, Eilenberger's is not made up, but retrieved. Events have a way of narrating themselves when they encounter a gifted storyteller -- Costica Bradatan * Los Angeles Review of Books *A book of riches - full of stories as well as ideas, all brought together with a fine light touch -- Sarah Bakewell
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd Ravenna
Book Synopsis''Magisterial - an outstanding book that shines a bright light one of the most important, interesting and under-studied cities in European history. A masterpiece.'' Peter Frankopan''A wonderful new history of the Mediterranean from the fifth to eighth centuries through a lens focussed on Ravenna, gracefully and clearly written, which reconceptualises what was ''East'' and what was ''West''.'' Caroline Goodson''A masterwork by one of our greatest historians of Byzantium and early Christianity. Judith Herrin tells a story that is at once gripping and authoritative and full of wonderful detail about every element in the life of Ravenna. Impossible to put down.'' David FreedbergIn 402 AD, after invading tribes broke through the Alpine frontiers of Italy and threatened the imperial government in Milan, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easy defendable city in the Po estuary - Ravenna. From then until 751 AD, Ravenna was first the capital of the Western Roman Empire, then that of the immense kingdom of Theoderic the Goth and finally the centre of Byzantine power in Italy.In this engrossing account Judith Herrin explains how scholars, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, cosmologists and religious luminaries were drawn to Ravenna where they created a cultural and political capital that dominated northern Italy and the Adriatic. As she traces the lives of Ravenna''s rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the pivot between East and West; and the meeting place of Greek, Latin, Christian and barbarian cultures. The book offers a fresh account of the waning of Rome, the Gothic and Lombard invasions, the rise of Islam and the devastating divisions within Christianity. It argues that the fifth to eighth centuries should not be perceived as a time of decline from antiquity but rather, thanks to Byzantium, as one of great creativity - the period of ''Early Christendom''. These were the formative centuries of Europe.While Ravenna''s palaces have crumbled, its churches have survived. In them, Catholic Romans and Arian Goths competed to produce an unrivalled concentration of spectacular mosaics, many of which still astonish visitors today. Beautifully illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, and drawing on the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe brings the early Middle Ages to life through the history of this dazzling city.Trade ReviewHer magni?cent recent book Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe recaptures the excitement of discovering the history of a city where East Rome and Latin Europe joined for many centuries in ways that defy our neat divisions between ancient and medieval; Romans, Greeks, and barbarians; East and West. -- Peter Brown * New York Review of Books *Herrin's claims for Ravenna are both sweeping and convincing. ... Herrin's book, then, is about a good deal more than its ostensible subject. It aims to answer some fundamental historical questions. How did the Roman empire in western Europe decay and mutate? What were the influences on the civilisation of medieval Christendom, and how did they interfuse? To what extent was Christianity touched by the trace elements of Greek and Roman civilisation? Notoriously problematic though these issues are, they are ones that Herrin has spent a distinguished career studying, and which Ravenna brilliantly serves to elucidate. -- Tom Holland * Financial Times *the book is absolutely gorgeous, with magnificent colour reproductions of Ravenna's churches and mosaics. Relics of an age that seems almost impossibly remote, they are the foundations on which modern Europe stands. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Beautifully illustrated, impeccably researched and accessibly presented, it traces Ravenna's career as the capital of the Roman empire in the west ... Buildings are also brought to life alongside the people who built and used them. ... It is this linking of tangible remains and historical record that is the book's great strength -- Jonathan Harris * BBC History Magazine *This book is a triumph of accessible, innovative, lively scholarship from one of the very best Byzantine historians we have. It casts an unexpected but deeply illuminating light on how the "European" political and religious mind became what it is. -- Rowan Williams * New Humanist *The northern Italian city of Ravenna, with its wondrous mosaicked churches and gilded mausolea that miraculously survived the aerial bombardments of the second world war, was manifestly also a Byzantine city. Herrin shows how this was so in her scrupulously researched history of the city in its imperial heyday through the period Edward Gibbon chose to call the Dark Ages ... eminently worth reading. The colour plates are so sumptuous that the Ravenna mosaics fairly glow on the page. -- Ian Thomson * Spectator *Judith Herrin's Ravenna ... performs the seemingly impossible task of rescuing its subject from obscurity, charting an improbably journey from marsh-enfolded outpost to imperial capital and cultural dynamo. -- Philip Parker * Literary Review *Herrin tells the changing story of Ravenna as it unfolds from the end of the fourth century to the ninth in a series of short, accessible sections with the aid of luscious illustrations. -- Averil Cameron * History Today *Herrin spent nine years researching her narrative of the three and a half centuries of Ravenna's ascendancy ... By the time we can easily visit Ravenna the city again it should be with the advantage of having read Ravenna the book -- Christopher Howse * Daily Telegraph *lively, startling ... The author evokes lost worlds in surprising anecdotes ... From chariot races to bust-ups between neighbourhood gangs, readers are vividly reminded that for all its grandeur, Ravenna was in its heyday a flawed and hectic place. * Economist *Ravenna shows us an earlier stage in the relationship between Byzantium and the west. It was an impregnable port city, selected as a redoubt during the depredations of Attila the Hun. It was the residence of the western Roman emperors, of the Gothic kings who succeeded them and then of the exarchs, Byzantine officials who preserved this toehold of imperial control into the eighth century. It was also the seat of powerful archbishops, whose rivalry with the Pope in Rome fills pages of local history. Each of these different rulers left their own stamp on the city through their building work and mosaics. Judith Herrin's book provides a rich illustration and analysis of this legacy ... Herrin is equally adept at drawing out the wider, international legacy of Ravenna. An important example of this comes after the city's heyday, when ... Charlemagne, the Frankish emperor, was a visitor to the city, and in Ravenna he saw models of Roman rulership expressed in stone and mosaic. -- Philip Wood * Prospect *Judith Herrin's Ravenna is an erudite but wonderfully readable over-view of the life of a city that is often ignored, forgotten or misplaced. -- Peter Frankopan * Spectator Books of the Year *Herrin is a superb historian who tells us that she's tethered to the tangible evidence of primary sources. Praise the Lord, I thought. Someone's still doing history the right way. -- Brian T. Allen * National Review *A sweeping and engrossing history ... an accessible narrative that brings to life the men and women who created the city during this period and who fashioned its hybrid Christian culture of Latin, Greek and Gothic elements. The narrative is periodically elevated by discussions of the city's most famous attractions and its glorious churches, brilliantly illustrated in the book's 62 color plates. It is also enlivened by recurring digressions on daily life in the city at each phase in its history. -- Anthony Kaldellis * Wall Street Journal *a fascinating dive into Late Roman/Byzantine history, rich with improbable but true stories -- Theodore Brun * Aspects of History Books of the Year 2021 *Judith Herrin, a Professor at King's College London, is already Britain's best-known living Byzantinologist. Learned and witty, her books and articles have brought her subject out of shadow into a daylight where the dealings of emperors, exarchs and bishops become comprehensible, often lively, often concerned with issues acute in our own times ... She is original in wider ways, too: not only in her painstaking reconstruction of social and economic life in Ravenna from often fragmentary documents, but in her broad take on the whole period from about the fourth to the ninth century ... the gorgeous, plentiful illustrations help the reader to grasp the sheer scale of Herrin's triumphant history. This book is a master-work of scholarship and sharp intelligence. -- Neal Ascherson * Red Pepper *a sumptuously produced and beautifully written account of how the city on the Po was the beleaguered last capital of the Roman Empire but managed to grow into the centre of Byzantine power in Italy and the key pivot between East and West at the dawn of the early modern period. This is a fascinating read and a fabulous book, from the gold sheen of its cover to the vibrant colours of the magnificent illustrations. -- Charlie Connolly * New European Books of the Year *Andrew Roberts superb revisionist biography George III ... Incapable of writing a dull sentence, Roberts deploys deep scholarship and impeccable analysis to exonerate the 'Farmer' King of both stupidity and tyranny. -- Saul David * Aspects of History Books of the Year *Andrew Roberts's George III is a wonderful revisionist portrayal of the monarch who presided over the high point of architecture and the loss of America. Obviously meticulously, majestically done - but also a total joy to read. -- Catherine Ostler * Aspects of History Books of the Year *Judith Herrin's Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe crowns the long career of a deeply learned historian ... a wonderful book, beautifully written and beautifully illustrated. -- Lucky Beckett * The Tablet, Books of the Year *the city was "the melting pot of Europe" ... the hinge between the old Roman empire, the refounded Rome of Byzantium and the second new Rome of Charlemagne, who plundered its monuments for his capital at Aachen. Herrin's book ... is a welcome addition to a golden era of scholarship devoted to late antiquity and the early Middle Ages in Europe -- Martin Ivens * Times Literary Supplement *Judith Herrin's Ravenna aims to set the mosaics, the buildings they ennoble and the urban landscape they inhabit back within a meaningful historical context. It's a worthy project that surprisingly has not really been attempted before ... it takes a scholar of Herrin's brilliance to bring events to life within a meaningful evocation of a time and a place. That skill, and a wonderfully pellucid prose style, ensures that even readers frustrated by the archaic narrative will find a great deal to admire and indeed learn from. -- Michael Kulikowski * Times Literary Supplement *An ambitious, rewarding and detailed history of the city of Ravenna, spanning the period from its designation as imperial capital in the early fifth century to its Carolingian spoliations in the ninth. ... This book is a comprehensive, detailed and glittering history of the city within its Mediterranean context. It will attract the casual reader while also carrying sophisticated new arguments that will appeal to specialists. -- Giulia Bellato * English Historical Review *Judith Herrin tells its fascinating history and presents a parade of forceful and creative characters with great insight and a wonderfully light touch, in a book as beautifully produced as it is profoundly researched. -- R.I. Moore, author of * The War on Heresy *
£15.29
Cornerstone The Last Duel: Now a major film starring Matt
Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNow a major motion picture directed by Ridley Scott starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer.In 1386, a few days after Christmas, a massive crowd gathered at a Paris monastery to watch two men fight a duel to the death. A trial by combat to prove which man's cause was right in God's sight.The dramatic story of the knight, the squire and the lady unfolds during the tumultuous fourteenth century. A time of war, plague and anarchy, as well as of honour, chivalry, and courtly love.The notorious quarrel appears in many histories of France, but no writer has recounted it in full, until now._______________________________________________________________'Succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights' Sunday Times'Suspenseful and well written' SpectatorTrade Reviewa genuinely suspenseful and well written piece of narrative. * The Spectator *'succeeds brilliantly in combining page-turning intensity with eye-opening insights.' * Sunday Times *'Jager knows his territory well; we learn a good deal about medieval armor and weaponry, fashion and custom, the legal system and sexual ideas, court politics and religion. His skilful prose quickly ensnares readers in the web of the characters' invention, allowing no escape until very near the end- Sex, savagery, and high-level political maneuvers energize a splendid piece of popular history.' * Kirkus Reviews *'A riveting account that will satisfy general readers and historians alike.' * Publishers Weekly *'As enthralling and engrossing as any [story] about a high-profile celebrity scandal today.' * Booklist (starred) *
£8.99
Amberley Publishing The Book of Merlin
Book SynopsisNew paperback edition - Merlin remains the most famous and familiar image of the magician we possess. In this new book, Arthurian expert John Matthews examines the many guises of Merlin.
£999.99
Bodleian Library Fifty Maps and the Stories they Tell
Book SynopsisFrom medieval maps to digital cartograms, this book features highlights from the Bodleian Library’s extraordinary map collection together with rare artefacts and some stunning examples from twenty-first-century map-makers. Each map is accompanied by a narrative revealing the story behind how it came to be made and the significance of what it shows. The chronological arrangement highlights how cartography has evolved over the centuries and how it reflects political and social change. Showcasing a twelfth-century Arabic map of the Mediterranean, highly decorated portolan charts, military maps, trade maps, a Siberian sealskin map, maps of heaven and hell, C.S. Lewis’s map of Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien’s cosmology of Middle-earth and Grayson Perry’s tapestry map, this book is a treasure-trove of cartographical delights spanning over a thousand years.Trade Review'This slim volume spans almost two thousand years of map-making history … Fifty Maps deftly captures how history, science, art and imagination blend together to imbue maps with their profound storytelling power. … an insightful and thought-provoking book.' * The Globe *'The greatest hits compilation …beautifully produced, copiously illustrated in full-colour, excellent value and a joy to behold.' * Sheetlines *
£11.40
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The United Irishmen, Rebellion and the Act of
Book SynopsisThe 1790s is one of the most critical decades in the history of modern Ireland. The decade witnessed the birth of the modern ideology of separatist Irish republicanism, the creation of the Orange Order, and the greatest bloodletting in modern Irish history in the form of the 1798 rebellion. In the aftermath of the rebellion came the Act of Union that brought Ireland into the United Kingdom for the next 121 years, and the smaller rebellion of Robert Emmet, possibly one of the most famous - and, to later generations, inspirational - of Irish republicans. Now, in the second instalment of the collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland magazine, some of the world's leading experts on the 1790s explore the origins, nature and aftermath of the decade from a range of perspectives: from the individuals involved and their international links, to the events of the rebellion and the responses of the government, to the manoeuvres that led to the Act of Union, this volume explore the motives, actions and legacies of the republicans, loyalists, and propagandists who shaped one of the most important decades in Ireland's modern history.
£12.34
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Secret History of the Roman Roads of Britain
Book SynopsisThere have been many books on Britain's Roman roads, but none have considered in any depth their long-term strategic impact. Mike Bishop shows how the road network was vital not only in the Roman strategy of conquest and occupation, but influenced the course of British military history during subsequent ages. The author starts with the pre-Roman origins of the network (many Roman roads being built over prehistoric routes) before describing how the Roman army built, developed, maintained and used it. Then, uniquely, he moves on to the post-Roman history of the roads. He shows how they were crucial to medieval military history (try to find a medieval battle that is not near one) and the governance of the realm, fixing the itinerary of the royal progresses. Their legacy is still clear in the building of 18th century military roads and even in the development of the modern road network. Why have some parts of the network remained in use throughout? The text is supported with clear maps and photographs. Most books on Roman roads are concerned with cataloguing or tracing them, or just dealing with aspects like surveying. This one makes them part of military landscape archaeology.
£21.20
Quiller Publishing Ltd In the Garden with The Totterings
Book SynopsisIn the Garden with the Totterings is a fabulous collection of Annie Tempest’s ‘Tottering-by-Gently’ cartoons around the theme of gardening, which encompasses inter-generational tensions, the differing perspectives of men and women and more. Tottering-by-Gently is a village in the fictional county of North Pimmshire, where Lord and Lady Tottering reside in the fading grandeur of their ancestral home, Tottering Hall. Annie Tempest’s cartoons are based on Lord and Lady Tottering (Dicky and Daffy) and their extended family. Her now international following proves that she touches a note of universal truth in her exquisitely detailed and beautifully executed cartoons as she gently laughs with us at the stuff of life.
£15.19
Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd The Little Book of Pride: The History, the
Book SynopsisCelebrate the LGTBQ community with this small but perfectly formed guide to Pride. What began as a protest for gay rights following the Stonewall riots of 1969 in New York has grown to become a global celebration of LGBTQ culture. In the 50-odd years since the original protest, and what is now widely accepted to be the first Pride march – Christopher Street Liberation Day, 1970 – Pride events are now attended by millions each year, celebrating how far we’ve come, recognising where we have to go and highlighting important causes in the queer community. The Little Book of Pride is a concise look at everything you need to know about Pride, revealing the history, the key people involved, the best Pride events around the world, inspirational quotes from famous queers, Pride facts and a fun Pride survival guide.Trade Review'A little book with a huge insight. I wish I’d had this book growing up gay.' – Tom Allen, Comedian 'Wonderful...Despite what the title may indicate, this book is far from little.' - USA Today.com"Wonderful... With over 140 pages, this is a comprehensive look at Pride." – MSN.com
£7.59
Oxford University Press Greek Lives
Book SynopsisLycurgus, Pericles, Solon, Nicias, Themistocles, Alcibiades, Cimon, Agesilaus, Alexander`I treat the narrative of the Lives as a kind of mirror...The experience is like nothing so much as spending time in their company and living with them: I receive and welcome each of them in turn as my guest.'' In the nine lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Greece. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller''s ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch''s Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduceTrade ReviewIt is ... a privilege to be offered this sparkling new translation of nine of his Greek Lives by Robin Waterfield. ... It is ... a distinguishing trait of Waterfield's that in the interests of scholarship he will go to endless lengths to find the mot juste; ... the book entirely fulfils the publisher's own criteria for inclusion in the new Oxford World's Classics list, namely to make available 'celebrated writing' in editions equipped with'perceptive commentary and essential back-ground information to meet the changing needs of readers'. To do all that also at a very modest price is an ergon (achievement) indeed. * Paul Cartledge, The Anglo-Hellenic Review *This attractively produced addition to the Oxford World's Classics series. * Daniel Ogden, The Classical Review Vol.XLIX No.2 *Table of ContentsIN ADDITION TO USUAL OWC APPARATUS: 3 MAPS, APPENDIX ON MEASURES OF MONEY, WEIGHT, CAPACITY, LENGTH, INDEX OF LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOURCES CITED BY PLUTARCH, INDEX OF PROPER NAMES
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.62
Amberley Publishing The Baltic Story
Book SynopsisNew B-format paperback - The Baltic Story recounts the shared history of the countries around the Baltic, from the events of a thousand years ago to the present day.
£12.34
HarperCollins Publishers Inventory of a Life Mislaid An Unreliable Memoir
Book SynopsisA luminous memoir of post-war childhood, adventure and loss on the banks of the Nile.Wonderful a brave, inventive, touching distillation of memory and imagination' JENNY UGLOWInventory of a Life Mislaid follows Marina Warner's beautiful, penniless young mother Ilia as she leaves southern Italy in 1945 to travel alone to London. Her husband, an English colonel, is still away in the war in the East as she begins to learn how to be Mrs Esmond Warner, an Englishwoman.With diamond rings on her fingers and brogues on her feet, Ilia steps fearlessly into the world of cricket and riding. But, without prospect of work in a bleak, war-ravaged England, Esmond remembers the glorious ease of Cairo during his periods of leave from the desert campaign. There, they start a bookshop, a branch of W. H. Smith's. But growing resistance to foreign interests, especially British, erupts in the 1952 uprising, and the Cairo Fire burns the city clean.Evocative and imaginative, at once historical and speculativTrade Review‘Wonderful – a brave, inventive, touching distillation of memory and imagination, shimmering with images, sounds and scents, conjuring a clash of lives, worlds and words’Jenny Uglow ‘A captivating re-creation of her childhood in a lost Cairo, so incomparably louche, sensuous and fragrant, and of her parents’ improbable marriage’Ferdinand Mount ‘An entrancing weave of memoir, history, autobiography and fiction, this adventurous book voyages through time and space to re-discover, re-imagine and reinvent a lost world. One of Marina Warner's most beautiful works’Michèle Roberts ‘Moving and original … Warner’s view of the past is always precise, at once generous and exacting. She has a gift for using objects to conjure up characters, feelings and atmospheres … Poignant and exquisitely crafted, Inventory of a Life Mislaid is bound to become a classic’Catriona Seth ‘A poignant and imaginatively transgressive exploration of her parents’ marriage, a war time love match between Southern Italy and upper class England … Evocative’Margaret Drabble ‘High-risk and multidimensional … Warner brings to these pages a lifetime of thinking about stories and the ways in which they shape our lives’Literary Review ‘This is a wonderful rich, partly mythical memoir that sifts through the past to connect a family’s secrets to the deep-rooted colonial assumptions that still resonate in a post-Brexit Britain … never dull … Eloquent and heartbreaking’TLS ‘Poignant and mythical’New Statesman ‘The most intriguing memoir … Marina Warner’s subtle, exotic and angry account of her parents’ marriage’Roy Foster, TLS, Books of the Year ‘Warner is such a skilful and imaginative writer that much of …the book reads like lived experience … the happiest of concoctions, a mix of fiction and fact, observation and speculation …This brave, painful, dazzling memoir is riveting’Spectator
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Collins Scotland Clans and Tartans Map
Book SynopsisDiscover Scotland with this authoritative guide to clans, tartans, and their origins.These popular maps are highly detailed, showing hundreds of arms, official insignia, crests, and tartans of the Scottish clans. This beautifully illustrated map is both decorative and informative.This map includes:Two double-sided, full-colour maps of ScotlandMore than 170 arms, the official insignia of clan chiefs, crest badges, and the locations of their ancient territories around the time of King James VIMore than 240 tartans with corresponding clan/ family names, alphabetically arranged for easy look-upAdditional information about the history of the clans and their tartansThe map is ideal for those with an interest in Scottish heraldry, clans and family history.Other titles in the series include: Castles Map of Scotland (99780007508532) Whiskey Map of Scotland (9780008368319)
£9.67
Vintage Publishing A History of God
Book SynopsisKaren Armstrong is one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs. She spent seven years as a Roman Catholic nun in the 1960s, but then left her teaching order in 1969 to read English at St Anne's College, Oxford. In 1982, she became a full time writer and broadcaster. She is a best-selling author of over 15 books. An accomplished writer and passionate campaigner for religious liberty, Armstrong has addressed members of the United States Congress and the Senate and has participated in the World Economic Forum.Trade ReviewThis is the most fascinating and learned survey of the biggest wild-goose chase in history - the quest for God. Karen Armstrong is a genius -- A.N. WilsonA splendidly readable book...the stage is set for the question: has God a future? -- Sister Wendy Beckett * Sunday Times *We are all watching a daily fight between the darkness and light. What we want, but may never get, is assurance that the light will prevail. Armstrong is too tough a thinker to offer us comfort there -- Anthony Burgess * Observer *Armstrong shows a reverent curiosity and a generosity of spirit, refreshing the understanding of what one knows and providing a clear introduction to the unfamiliar -- Rt Revd Robert Runcie * Daily Telegraph *Witty, informative and contemplative: Ms Armstrong can simplify complex ideas, but she is never simplistic * New York Times Book Review *
£11.69
