Search results for ""the history press ltd""

When Titanic began sending out distress calls, one of the first to reply was the Cunard liner Carpathia. As it turned out, Carpathia was the only vessel to reach the scene in time to save the lives of any of Titanic’s passengers, and, after she arrived in New York, reporters crowded the pier and vied with each other to obtain interviews with the survivors of the disaster. In their zeal to interview survivors, though, the reporters brushed past other people who could have provided their own eyewitness accounts – namely, Carpathia’s own passengers, largely left to their own devices as to how and when they discussed their participation in events. A few wrote letters to relatives, others wrote accounts intended for publication. The author’s collection of these rare written accounts and interviews sheds new light on the tragic way the lives of so many were impacted by the loss of the largest passenger liner in the world.

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The Brabazon – the name evokes the immediate post-war optimism of civil aviation. The giant airliner was built by Bristol Aircraft in 1949 to cross the Atlantic and serve the empire. However, the plane proved to be a commercial failure when airlines felt that it was too large and expensive to be useful. Large and luxurious, it carried only 60-80 passengers, and with a range of 5,000 miles, a 225ft wing span and eight engines buried in the wings with enough fuel to reach New York, the ‘100-ton bomber’ was more impressive and capable than the B-29: the ultimate passenger airliner was born. Now, with previously unpublished material and illustrations from the original Bristol Brabazon sales brochure, among other sources, the Brabazon’s 1930s-style elegance is displayed once again, celebrating its design, construction and sheer luxury. A fitting outcome for such a paragon of post-war optimism and an aircraft still considered by many to be the foremost in propeller-driven civil aviation.

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Harry H. Corbett rose from the slums of Manchester to become one of the best-known television stars of the 20th century. Having left home as a 17-year-old Royal Marine during the Second World War, he fought in the North Atlantic and the jungles of the Pacific and witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by the Hiroshima bomb. On his return home he wandered into the local theatre company and landed a starring role – The Front Legs of the Cow. Soon becoming a leading light in Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop and a widely-respected classical stage actor, his life was changed forever by the television comedy Steptoe and Son. Overnight he became a household name as the series drew unparalleled viewing figures of over 28 million, with fans ranging from the working classes to the Royal Family. Naturally shy and a committed socialist, fame and fortune didn’t sit easily on his shoulders, and for the next twenty years, until his untimely death at the age of only 57, he had to learn how to be ‘’Arold’. Written by his daughter, Susannah Corbett, an actor herself, this is the first biography of Harry H. Corbett, the man who was once described as being ‘the English Marlon Brando’.

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Take a walk through this county in the heart of England in the entertaining company of a local storyteller. Kevan Manwaring, born and raised in Northampton, regales you with tales ancient and modern. Learn how the farmer outwitted the bogle; how a Queen who lost her head; the Great Fire of Northampton; and the last execution of witches in England. Along the way you will meet incredible characters from history and myth: Boudicca, St Patrick, Robin Hood and Hereward the Wake, Captain Slash, Dionysia the female knight, beasts and angels, cobblers and kings. From fairies to wolves, these illustrated tales are ideal to be read out loud or used as a source book for your own performances. Northamptonshire Folk Tales is a great companion for any visit to the area, for fascinating days out and for discovering exciting treasures on your doorstep. The 'Rose of the Shires' will open before you!

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Flint was a vitally important resource for prehistoric societies who put it to a diverse range of uses. Chris Butler has created a concise guide to recognising and categorising British prehistoric flintwork. The author begins by looking at the different sources of flint that were exploited by prehistoric peoples, and explains why flint was such a widely used raw material. He then discusses how to recognise prehistoric worked flint and explores the different technologies that were used to work flint and make tools.Flintknapping techniques used in each period of prehistory are illustrated, along with detailed techniques used in each period of prehistory are illustrated, along with detailed descriptions of the variety of implements produced and their associated diagnostic waste material. The flintwork from a number of case-study sites and the eventual decline in the importance of flint. The book also explores what the analysis of flintwork can tell us about society and past use of the landscape.

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Palm Sunday 1461 was the date of a ruthless and bitterly contested battle, fought by two massive medieval armies on an exposed Yorkshire plateau for the prize of the crown of England. This singular engagement of the Wars of the Roses has acquired the auspicious title of the longest, biggest and bloodiest battle ever fought on British soil. But what drove the contending armies of York and Lancaster to fight at Towton and what is the truth behind the legends about this terrible encounter, where contemporaries record that the rivers ran red with blood? Andrew Boardman answers these questions and many more in the new updated edition of his classic account of Towton which provides a fascinating insight into the reality of the battlefield. The Battle of Towton is illustrated throughout with contemporary illustrations, modern photographs and specially drawn maps.

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A giant sea monster … trees that can dance … a water-horse … a girl so clever she outwits a giant … Welcome to the world of the Scottish folk tale – a world of talking animals, mischief-making witches, giants, trolls, bold girls, reckless boys and, of course, the Wee Folk. These stories – specially chosen to be enjoyed by 7 to 11-year-old readers – burst with adventure and glitter with magic. As old as the mountains and the glens, these well- loved tales are retold by storyteller Judy Paterson.

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The life of Captain Robert Falcon Scott Scott of the Antarctic and the courage that he exemplified have marked him out as a hero to generations, despite his failure to be the first to reach the South Pole.Born in 1868, Scott joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the age of 13 and progressed through the ranks to become a lieutenant. In 1899, after a chance encounter with Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geographical Society, he asked to be involved in the forthcoming exploration of the Antarctic. A year later he was appointed to lead the National Antarctic Expedition, which reached further south than any previous attempts, and Scott returned to Britain a national hero. But Scott was not content to stop there: he dreamed of becoming the first explorer to reach the South Pole. And so it was that, in 1910, he and his team ventured out on a second Antarctic expedition.Scott of the Antarctic vividly recreates that fateful journey across the

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Did you know? The young George IV liked to go dancing until 4 a.m. Brighton is home to the UK’s oldest electric railway. There are nearly 1,400 premises licensed to sell alcohol in Brighton and Hove. Brighton and Hove welcomes 8 million visitors annually and has been voted one of the top five cities that tourists want to visit during their stay in the UK. This engaging little book is packed full of insider knowledge, facts, figures and the secrets of the vibrant city of Brighton and Hove: diversity, culture, the arts, history, comedy and creativity in bucket-and-spade-loads.

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During the Second World War, black volunteers from across the British Empire enthusiastically joined the armed forces and played their part in fighting Nazi Germany and its allies. In the air, sea and on land, they risked their lives, yet very little attention has been given to the thousands of black British, Caribbean and West African servicemen and women who supported the British war effort from 1939–45. Drawing on the author’s expert knowledge of the subject, and many years of original research, The Motherland Calls also includes some rare and previously unpublished photos. Among those remembered are Britain’s Lilian Bader, Guyana’s Cy Grant, Trinidad’s Ulric Cross, Nigeria’s Peter Thomas, Sierra Leone’s Johnny Smythe and Jamaica’s Billy Strachan, Connie Mark and Sam King. The Motherland Calls is a long-overdue tribute to some of the black servicemen and women whose contribution to fighting for peace has been overlooked. It is intended as a companion to Stephen Bourne’s previous History Press book: Mother Country – Britain’s Black Community on the Home Front 1939–45.

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Thanks to Thomas Keneally’s book Schindler’s Ark, and the film based on it, Schindler’s List, we have become more aware of the fact that, in the midst of Hitler’s extermination of the Jews, courage and humanity could still overcome evil. While 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime, some were saved through the actions of non-Jews whose consciences would not allow them to pass by on the other side, and many are honoured by Yad Vashem as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for their actions. As a baby, Agnes Grunwald-Spier was herself saved from the horrors of Auschwitz by an unknown official, and is now a trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. She has collected together the stories of thirty individuals who rescued Jews, and these provide a new insight into why these people were prepared to risk so much for their fellow men and women. With a foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert, one of the leading experts on the subject, this is an ultimately uplifting account of how some good deeds really do shine in a weary world.

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Built of plywood and measuring 115 feet long, powered by four supercharged petrol engines and armed to the teeth with heavy weapons, the 'D' Class Motor Gun Boats (MGBs) and Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) were better known as Dog Boats and played havoc with enemy shipping in home and foreign waters. During three years of war they engaged the enemy on more than 350 occasions, sinking and damaging many ships. Dog Boats at War is the authoritative account of operations by the Royal Navy's 'D' Class MGBs and MTBs in the Second World War in Home, Mediterranean and Norwegian waters. As well as drawing on official records - both British and German - the author has contacted several hundred Dog Boat veterans whose eye witness accounts add drama to the unfolding story.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury called him ‘bloody rude’, courtiers feared he was ‘a foreign interloper out for the goodies’, daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson found him ‘very frightening’ and the Queen Mother labelled him ‘the Hun’. Journalists have continually portrayed him as a gaffe-prone serial philanderer, with European outlets going way off-piste and claiming he has fathered 24 illegitimate children. Prince Philip says ‘the impression the public has got is unfair’, though there is no self-serving autobiography and his interviews with broadcasters or writers are done grudgingly. The Duke sets out to explore the man behind the various myths, drawing on interviews with relations, friends and courtiers and the Duke's own words. It brings to life some rare aspects of his character, from a love of poetry and religion to his fondness for Duke Ellington and his fascination with UFOs. It also explains why for over seven decades he has been the Queen's ‘strength and stay’ – and why he is regarded by many as a national treasure.

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Once upon a time in the quiet coastal town of Whitstable, previously known for oysters and fingering, a bunch of (mostly) novice embroiderers but accomplished swearers came together to sew, drink and swear. And amidst all the stitching and laughing, friendships flourished and beautiful, irreverent pieces of art were created, adding a contemporary flavour to the ancient art of embroidery. F*ck Off, I’m Sewing! brings you the highlights and lowlifes of the Profanity Embroidery Group. Often funny, at times moving and always profane, their colourful embroidery will leave you in stitches.

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Professional Storyteller Wendy Shearer has gathered together stories from many Caribbean islands and countries, drawing on oral history and written texts to bring these folk tales to life. Many stories are of West African origin, kept alive through rhythm and song. These tales and their languages were blended with European and East Indian folklore, with royalty, heroes and spirits exacting revenge. Alongside the stories are newly collected reminiscences of migration to Britain from Caribbean countries during the Windrush years. These first-hand accounts mirror the themes found in the folk tales with love and loss, magic and mystery, caution and justice.Cric! Crac! Prepare to be enchanted by La Diablesse from Haiti, outsmarted by the trickster Anansi, or terrified by the shapeshifting Old Higue in Guyana.

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Did you know English people were around before the country of England was invented? It’s true: just over 1,000 years ago, English people lived in several smaller countries all over the island of Britain. A Saxon king called Alfred is famous for starting to bring these countries together – but who finished the job? Another Saxon king? A monk? Or was it... a Viking? In this fantastically illustrated book, storyteller Chip Colquhoun explores fact and folklore to see what they tell us about the birth of a country. After enjoying these tales of deadly battles, singing kings and miraculous queens, can you work out Who Made England?

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Cork Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world. It is a historical wonder, surrounded by villages, forts, towers and churches, all of which combine to tell the colourful story of Ireland’s largest county. A reliable reference book and a quirky guide, this book by author and historian Kieran McCarthy can be dipped into time and again to uncover new landmarks, people and stories from this stunning part of the world.

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Queen Elizabeth: A Photographic Journey allows the reader to travel aboard Cunard’s newest ship, the second largest ship to carry the Cunard colours. The ultimate in luxury cruising waits aboard Queen Elizabeth. From the three-storey Royal Court Theatre, complete with box seating, to the opulence of the Queens Room, the authors have captured the interior elegance of Queen Elizabeth with never-before-published images. Explore the behind-the-scenes areas, with a tour of the Engine Room, Stores and the Bridge, before returning to the passenger areas to discover bars, lounges, restaurants and cabins. This stunning volume is a must-have whether you’re a seasoned Cunard passenger, or simply an armchair traveller. Written by two enthusiastic Cunard fans, travellers and historians, this book is beautifully illustrated with over 200 colour photographs and includes a foreword by Peter Shanks, former president of the Cunard Line, thoughts from Commodore Rynd on the ship’s fifth anniversary and an afterword by Captain Chris Wells, Queen Elizabeth’s First Master. This is Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross’ sixth Cunard book and the fourth in their Journey series.

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After the Second World War, cars in Britain were very hard to come by. Most new models had to go for export or were reserved for those drivers who needed them the most, such as doctors. Petrol was still rationed, roads inadequate and modern technology lacking. With the arrival of the 1950s, things slowly began to change: Morris, Austin and Ford put increasing numbers of British families on the road, new sports cars from MG, Jaguar, Triumph and Austin-Healey promised a thrilling drive, and innovative motors such as the Land Rover and the bubble car emerged. By 1958, new car buying was leading a consumer boom, and Britain’s manufacturers still had the market to themselves. Giles Chapman investigates the fascinating motoring history of the 1950s.

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Family and Local Historians frequently encounter the challenge posed by the writing, and sometimes the translation, of the records which might most enable them to make further progress with their research. Many pamphlets, booklets and even books have been produced over the past century to help with old handwriting and abbreviations, but this new work, written by an author who has for years run courses on the subject, is the most practical and comprehensive yet for family and local historians. Based on some fifty facsimile reproductions of documents of graduated difficulty, culled from many useful sources, it provides transcripts, and translations where appropriate, together with advice on methods of transcribing. The alphabet, with commentary, of the numerous types of letter to be found in the examples (many being in the secretary and court hands which so often cause problems), and illustrations of forms of abbreviation will greatly help to unravel the difficulties of reading. Many documents before 1733 were written in Latin and the author includes an outline of the differences between classical and medieval usage and a vocabulary to cover the section in Latin. There are examples, from the 1400s to the 1700s, of a wide range of hands found in the most usual categories of record used by family historians, such as parish registers, wills and court rolls, and in many others which disclose helpful information on families and localities. Those who use this book will not need to be persuaded of the great enjoyment to be derived from pursuing research into family or local history and the pleasures of piecing together evidence to throw new light on old times. They may also find great enjoyment in the deciphering of documents, the means to that end. For the solitary searcher or a member of a class or local society, this will be the standard work upon which to rely for many decades to come.

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This is the third edition of a classic. It is the standard study of the parochial administration in England. When the late W.E. Tate first wrote it, in 1946, there was no such book though all agreed that such a book was very much needed. The author modestly, in his Preface, hoped that his readers would regard the work as 'the essay of a fellow student rather than as the authoritative treatise of an expert'. That he wrought better than he knew, or would claim, is evidenced by the fact that - though subsequent editions have been extensively corrected, revised and updated - his book has stood the test of seven decades of intensive use by literally every worker in the field and enjoys universal veneration as the unsurpassed, definitive work; yet it is still essentially the same book that Mr Tate wrote seventy years ago. Mr Tate's purpose was to encourage research into local and family history by describing, explaining and illustrating the entire range of civil and ecclesiastical documents that occur in parish archives; traditionally, the 'parish chest'. Many examples of typical records of all kinds are printed, transcribed and related to the conditions and laws that gave rise to them and to the earlier phases of the evolving English society whose relics they are. The author's unrivalled knowledge of the documents and the literature dealing with them has enabled him not only to guide the modern searcher in the use and understanding of parish records, but also to trace and illustrate the development of local government in England. Most local historians and genealogists have found that this exhaustive, yet easily read, scholarly yet humorous book has opened up new avenues of study or lines of rewarding research for them. This latest impression, in an enlarged and more attractive format, will undoubtedly perform the same seminal service for a further generation of searchers among England's vast store of parochial archives.

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Latin is the language of a vast quantity of untouched source material. Despite the widespread popular interest in research into local and family history there has been no recent text book to help the beginner to cope with the great barrier preventing access to that wealth of information ... medieval Latin. This book remedies the omission. It embodies the author's experience as a university teacher of Latin examination in the local history certificate courses which he organised. After dealing with the basic grammar of Latin, this very practical book examines the structure and vocabulary of the records used in local and family research, including episcopal visitations, church court records, sepulchral inscriptions, wills, manorial court rolls, charters and deeds. A final chapter explains the abbreviations used in medieval Latin. The Book is complete in itself and contains all the necessary tables of declensions and conjugations plus a glossary of more than eight hundred words. The Book is uniquely 'user-friendly'. The tempo of instruction is slow; the passages for translation are carefully graded for grammar and vocabulary and selected both for their intrinsic interest and for their representative character. The author believes that, although Latin cannot be made simple, it is nevertheless manageable. The reader who works systematically through the book will be equipped to handle the Latin of the documents encountered by the do-it-yourself local or family historian. Following the enormous success of his earlier Manorial Records (1992), the author has now furnished the research with another invaluable guide to fill an even more fundamental gap in the 'how-to-do-it' library. All previous, partial attempts to deal with the problems of medieval Latin sources are totally eclipsed by this welcome primer - both comprehensive and easy to use.

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This lively and entertaining collection of folk tales from the County Derry is rich in stories both tall and true, ancient and recent, dark and funny, fantastical and powerful. Here you will find stories of mythical beasts such as the Lig-na-Paiste, banished by St Murrough to Lough Foyle; the dark tales of Abhartach, the Irish Vampire, and the reason a skeleton features of Derry’s coat of arms; the cautionary tale of the man who raised the Devil and who never spoke another word for the rest of his life; and, of course, the legends of the great St Columba, founder of the City of Derry, whose prayer reputedly still protects its inhabitants from ever being struck by lightening. These well-loved and magical stories, retold by professional storyteller Madeline McCully and richly illustrated with enchanting line drawings, are sure to be enjoyed and shared time and again.

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Local history of East Belfast.

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Wilfrid Scawen Blunt was a British diplomat and poet, who fought the case for Egyptian and Irish nationalism. A great admirer of Islam, the author's classic text from the 1880s predicts many of the divisions that affect the world, and speaks of what must happen if the world is to ever be a peaceful one.

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The dramatic story of Captain Bill Bradford, Adjutant of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, compiled using diaries and letters, coded messages and correspondence between his family and the War Office in their desperate effort to hear news of his safety.Escape from St-Valery-en-Caux tells of Captain Bradford's experiences between 1939 and 1941, during which time he was in the thick of the action in France until the surrender of the Highland Division at St-Valery-en-Caux in June 1940. While being marched into captivity Captain Bradford managed to escape once from the Germans and then seven further times from the Vichy French. His son, Andrew Bradford, details his journey to safety in Gibraltar, travelling through France, Spain and North Africa, including a night crossing of the Pyrenees and an astonishing 700-mile voyage in a 17ft sailing boat.

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Between 1945 and 1963 over 2 1⁄2 million 18-year-olds were called up for national service. Alf Townsend was one of them, and here he tells his story – the highs and lows of life as a lowly Aircraftman Second Class in the early 1950s. Before national service intervened Alf was ‘heading down the criminal road at top speed’, having grown up in a North London slum where money was short and local villains were revered.Bad Lads is a warts and all account of Alf Townsend’s time in the RAF, when he was transplanted into a completely new world of misfits and officer types, rogues and entertainers, all amusingly described in the author’s inimitable style.

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This is the story of how the Mackeson brothers of Deal bought a brewery in the small Kent town of Hythe and transformed it into a producer of one of the biggest brewing success stories of the twentieth century – milk stout. The drink was a favourite in pubs and shops across the country and famously found its way into the snug in Coronation Street’s ‘Rover’s Return’.The family’s journey was not a smooth one. From 1801, four generations struggled with economic depression and recession; war; a suicide; bankruptcies; lawsuits; wastrel and importunate relatives; and premature deaths. But there were triumphs along the way, too: transporting the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria, discovering a new dinosaur and finally the reward of a baronetcy.

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'Theirs was a pre-urban world in the glow of its last sunset, without a care or doubt, in which it seemed as if nothing could ever come to harm. Here was their version of that ideal world that has haunted the dreamer, rebel and pastoral poet for centuries.'Between 1850 and 1939 such well-known writers as Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf and Richard Jefferies came to Sussex, a county already home to the likes of Wilfrid Blunt, Hilaire Belloc and others. The result was an explosion of literary creativity which rejected modernity and the London scene, and instead developed writing imbued with a sense of nature and landscape.In this, his last book, Peter Brandon (1927–2011) has drawn on his vast knowledge of the Sussex landscape to show how such writers, seeking a foil to London, were inspired by their surroundings and found peace and a tranquillity which existed in few other places.

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In July 1943, Hitler launched Operation Zitadelle, the last German offensive on the Eastern Front. It was an attempt to shorten the German lines by eliminating the Kursk salient and was designed to result in the encirclement of the Red Army. In reality, the German tanks came up against impenetrable Russian defences: minefields, artillery and anti-tank emplacements, spread through lines 250km deep and manned by Russian troops whose actions often verged on the suicidal. The greatest tank battle in history, Operation Zitadelle assured the Nazis’ defeat and was ‘the swan song of the German tank arm’.Involving over 9,000 tanks, 5,000 aircraft, 35,000 guns and mortars, 2.7 million troops and 230,000 casualties, the Battle of Kursk’s scale and barbarity eclipsed all other clashes in Europe. In this book, historian Mark Healy gives a clear, concise account of those dramatic days in 1943.

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“A fascinating and intimate portrait of a garden over time … Reading is like being given a rusty key to a beautiful secret garden." - Ben Dark, Author of The GroveHidden away behind high stone walls in the centre of London is Lambeth Palace Garden, a 10-acre site that has been continuously cultivated for more than a thousand years.Join Head Gardener Nick Stewart Smith as he unlocks the gates and invites us to wander through a secret garden where nature is at the heart of everything and where a thoughtful approach to gardening creates a haven for all sorts of native wildlife, allowing nature to flourish in the midst of one of the world’s busiest cities.The Thousand Year Old Garden is a comforting meditation through the seasons on the act of renewal, hope, gardening, and our place in nature.

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The musical child of Russia’s golden age, Sergei Rachmaninoff, was the last of the great Romantics. Scorned by the musical establishment until very recently, his music received hostile reviews from critics and other composers. Conversely, it never failed to find widespread popular acclaim, and today he is one of the most popular composers of all time.Biographer Michael Scott investigates Rachmaninoff’s intense and often melodramatic life, following him from imperial Russia to his years of exile as a wandering virtuoso and his death in Beverly Hills during the Second World War, worn out by his punishing schedule.In this remarkable biography which relates the man to his music, Michael Scott tells the colourful story of a life that spanned two centuries and two continents. His original research from the Russian archives, so long closed to writers from the West, brings us closer to the spirit of a man who genuinely believed that music could be both good and popular, a belief that is now triumphantly vindicated.

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Archaeology isn’t just for academics and television presenters – it’s for everyone. And it is all around us. Get your boots on and explore Britain’s national and local archaeology sites for yourself with this revised and updated, easy-to-read, fully illustrated guide.Follow our islands’ history in this step-by-step introduction. Discover what life was like from the earliest days of human habitation right through to the world wars. Then get out to visit the best sites and see what features each era left behind for us to find – and find out how to spot archaeology for yourself in the most surprising places.Be warned: you may never look at an empty field, a stone monument or an old building in the same way again!

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Soldiers and sailors, geographers and geologists, submariners and balloonists all flocked to Antarctica during the ‘Heroic Age’ of Polar exploration. No one better represented this eclectic band than Frank Bickerton, engineer on Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1911–14. A true pioneer of Antarctic exploration, he piloted the expedition’s ‘air-tractor’, established the first crucial wireless link between Antarctica and the rest of the world, and discovered one of the first meteorites ever to be found on the continent.Treasure-hunter, explorer, fighter pilot, entrepreneur, big-game hunter and movie-maker, Bickerton not only made a major contribution to the success of the AAE, but was also recruited by Ernest Shackleton for his ill-fated Endurance Expedition, dug for pirate gold on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, survived bloody dogfights over the Western Front during the First World War, and flirted with the glittering world of 1920s Hollywood.In Born Adventurer, historian Stephen Haddelsey draws on unique access to family papers, journals and letters to provide a thrilling account of Bickerton’s rich and colourful life.

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In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), walked in the door. ‘You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,’ Donovan said as an introduction. ‘Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff... I think you’re it.’Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included Bat Bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects.Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, The Dirty Tricks Department tells the story of these scheming scientists, explores the moral dilemmas that they faced, and reveals their dark legacy of directly inspiring the most infamous program in CIA history: MKULTRA.

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As featured in The New York Times...Throughout the history of civilisation, traditional crafts have been passed down from hand to skilled hand. Blacksmithing, brewing, beekeeping, baking, milling, spinning, knitting and weaving: these skills held societies together, and so too shaped their folklore and mythology.Exploring the folklore connected with these rural crafts, Telling the Bees examines the customs, superstitions and stories woven into some of the world’s oldest trades. From the spinning of the Fates to the blacksmith’s relationship with the devil, and the symbolism of John Barleycorn to a ritual to create bees from the corpse of a cow – these are the traditions upon which our modern world was built.

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During the early twentieth century, professional gamblers were such a scourge in the smoking rooms of trans-Atlantic passenger liners that White Star Line warned its passengers about them. In spring 1912 three professional gamblers travelled from the USA to England for the sole purpose of returning to America on the maiden voyage of Titanic. "Kid" Homer, "Harry" Rolmane and "Boy" Bradley (Harry Homer, Charles Romaine and George Brereton) were grifters with a long history of living on the wrong side of the law, who planned to utilize their skills at the card table to relieve fellow passengers of cash. One swiftly fell under suspicion of being a professional "card mechanic", and was excluded from some poker games, but other games continued apace. This new book, the result of years of research by George Behe, reveals the true identities of these gamblers, their individual backgrounds, the ruses they used, and their ultimate fates after tragedy struck, as well as providing an intriguing insight into a bygone age.

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From the moment the iceberg was spotted to the moment Titanic’s fate was realised, it was a race against time for the 2,208 souls on board.At 11:40 p.m. on 14 April 1912, Titanic collided with an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic. Less than three hours later, it had disappeared completely beneath the waves.From the second the iceberg hove into view, the ship was on a collision course with destiny, those on board embarking on a race against time to inspect the damage and determine their fates.11:40: Analysis of Evasive Manoeuvres & Damage Assessment on RMS Titanic is a comprehensive new study that breaks down and forensically analyses every event on that fateful night, order by order, moment by moment. With the backing of an exhaustive collection of both historical and modern data, along with over twenty years of personal research, Brad Payne separates fact from myth, revealing the truth about what really happened on board Titanic during its critical last moments.

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On the night of 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler leaned out of a spotlit window of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, bursting with joy. The moment seemed unbelievable, even to Hitler. After an improbable political journey that came close to faltering on many occasions, his march to power had finally succeeded.While the story of Hitler’s rise has been told in books covering larger portions of his life, no previous work has focused on his eight-year climb to rule: 1925–1933. Renowned author Peter Ross Range brings this period back to startling life with a narrative history that describes brushes with power, quests for revenge, nonstop electioneering and underhand campaign tactics. For Hitler, moments of gloating triumph were followed by abject humiliation.This is the tale of a school dropout’s climb from the infamy of a failed coup to Germany’s highest office. It is a saga of personal growth and lavish living, a melodrama rife with love affairs and even suicide attempts. But it is also the definitive account of Hitler’s unrelenting struggle for control over his raucous movement as he fought off challenges, built and bullied coalitions, quelled internecine feuds and neutralised his enemies – all culminating in the creation of the Third Reich and the world’s descent into darkness.One of the most dramatic and important stories of the twentieth century, Hitler’s ascent spans Germany’s wobbly recovery from the First World War through years of growing prosperity and, finally, into crippling depression. Masterfully woven into an unforgettable and urgent narrative, The Unfathomable Ascent will remind us of what we should never forget.

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What exactly is White Elephant Technology?White Elephant Technology is any unusual invention past or present that fails in the marketplace despite its innovative nature. From jeeps that fly to tanks that shouldn’t; from a wave-powered boat that took over three months to reach its destination to a jet-powered train that shook itself apart, White Elephant Technology showcases each inventor’s talent for creating something nobody asked for. Importantly, none of these inventions are speculative. Each one was built, field tested and worked more or less as planned (except when it killed its creator).Although success is highly prized, failure has a lot to teach us, especially when you realise it’s the rule and not the exception. Still, no one has undertaken a survey of failed inventions despite history being littered with them … until now. White Elephant Technology corrects this oversight in an entertaining, respectful and occasionally humorous manner, proving that failure is not only as fascinating as success but is also the purest expression of the human condition.

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There had been stars before. There had been films prior to Cleopatra. But in all the cynical, greedy, magical, histrionic history of the movies, there had never been a combination like that of Elizabeth Taylor and Cleopatra.Other films may have taken more money, won more awards or attracted better reviews, but none have come close to the legend that is Cleopatra.What began in 1958 as a remake of the 1917 Theda Bara film, which starred Joan Collins and was projected to cost $2 million, would open five years later, having cost nearly twenty times as much. The budget had skyrocketed enormously as the production went through extravagant sets in two different countries, two directors and six leading men – and this was on top of Elizabeth Taylor’s $1 million fee.But it was the off-screen romance between the two on-screen leads that really cemented Cleopatra’s place in cinema history. Within weeks of Richard Burton’s arrival in Italy, he and Taylor embarked on a tumultuous and passionate love affair that kept the Cuban Missile Crisis off the front pages and was denounced by the Vatican. Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood is a story of lust, excess and hubris – and how one film nearly brought Hollywood to its knees.

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A national hero in his playing days, Herbert Sutcliffe belongs to a select band of all-time cricketing greats. Alan Hill’s award-winning biography of the Yorkshire and England batsman charts his extraordinary transformation from cobbler’s apprentice to urbane gentleman: one of the coolest, most determined and technically accomplished practitioners the game has ever known.Blessed with the looks of a matinee idol, Sutcliffe was a complex, often enigmatic, personality. As a cricketer, he was touched with genius. His career spanned exactly the years between the wars and he performed with distinction in every one of those seasons. He scored 50,138 first-class runs, including 149 centuries, and his remarkable Test average of 60.73 is the highest for an English batsman – higher than those of Hobbs, Hammond or Hutton.Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro calls upon the reminiscences of Bob Wyatt, Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Len Hutton and Les Ames among other illustrious contemporaries, to evoke the splendour of Sutcliffe’s achievements for Yorkshire and England, and to bring to life the vivacious story of one of the greatest batsmen ever.

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Few locomotives are as widely known or excite so much interest as Flying Scotsman. Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley in 1923, the locomotive became a flagship for the LNER and represented them at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 and 1925. Thus began Flying Scotsman’s fame, which only continued as the locomotive broke records, becoming the first to exceed 100mph in 1934 and taking the longest journey of any steam locomotive in 1988–89. Passing through such hands as Alan Pegler’s and Pete Waterman’s after her retirement from British Railways, Flying Scotsman is now in public hands for restoration. Here James S. Baldwin uses his expert knowledge and unrivalled collection of images to highlight the illustrious career of this world-famous locomotive.

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The world was stunned when little-known Karol Wojtyła became the first non-Italian pope for 450 years. As Pope John Paul II, he continued to surprise, directly confronting Communist regimes, flying hundreds of thousands of miles to meet the faithful, and building bridges with other faiths. John Paul II became a bête noire in the eyes of liberals for his staunch refusal to accept contraception or the ordination of women. But for others he was a Churchillian figure who took on the forces of godlessness and moral relativism. He gained a stature that left secular statesmen in his shadow. Love him or loathe him, few could deny that he was a man of rare courage. He survived two assassination attempts, fought off cancer and waged a very public battle with Parkinson’s disease. Seven years after his death he continues to exert a hold over the Church and to inspire an almost cult-like devotion.

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Dudley was connected by tram to various parts of the Black Country, first by steam trams and then by electric ones. This book takes a route-by-route look at the development, operation and run-down of the tramway system which once linked Dudley to Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Netherton, Cradley Heath, Pensnett, Kingswinford, Wordsley, Kinver, Lye, Wollaston, Old Hill and Blackheath. After charting each line’s history, the book recreates a ride along them using a plethora of historic photographs, many of which have not been published before, highlighting the many features and objects from the tramway that survive along the way.

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Drawn from many international sources, many not employed before in English-language publications, Armies of the Seven Years War is the finest reference work on this most complex of conflicts. It details the senior commanders, uniforms, weapons, equipment, artillery, strategy and tactics (military and naval) of the forces that fought – in effect – for world supremacy from 1756 to 1763. States involved included Austria, Bavaria, Britain, Brunswick, Hanover, Hessen-Darmstadt, Hessen-Kassel, France, the Palatinate, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Württemberg and the minor states of the Holy Roman Empire. The colonial struggle in North America is not neglected. Coverage of the uniforms and colours is in depth. The tactics of the ‘horse and musket’ era are examined, as are Frederick the Great’s abilities as a war leader who led his armies against the rest of continental Europe. With over 280 illustrations and specially commissioned battle maps, Armies of the Seven Years War is an invaluable resource for the modeller and wargamer, as well as a clear analysis of an extraordinary period of international conflict for all those with an interest in the history of empire. William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Britain’s war leader, stated that ‘America was won in Germany.’ How could Prussian successes on the continent of Europe have sounded the death knell for New France and Spanish ambitions in North America? Armies of the Seven Years War explains the connection and the outcomes of all the complex alliances that led to the ‘first world war’.

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The very first Land Rover, launched in 1948, owed its low-key existence to shoestring British ingenuity and – literally – odds and ends left over from World War II. Rover thought it could keep its factory ticking over as the company’s post-war fortunes slowly revived. They also thought that farmers might appreciate it as a handy cross between a pick-up and a tractor. But it was soon obvious that the company had created, in the land Rover, a world-beating product. Giles Chapman tells the story of how Land Rovers have tamed the planet’s toughest terrain with their unstoppable off-road capability. It also charts how the Land Rover legend allowed the marque to gradually expand its range with the Range Rover, Discovery, Freelander and the latest Range Rover Evoque. They’re all cars as familiar in cities and suburbs as they are at home in the countryside. Land Rover has been controversial, its fortunes tied to Britain’s economic ups and downs. Today it’s on a roll, leading a renaissance in British design and manufacturing, yet the continued presence of the Defender helps keep the Land Rover Story absolutely pukka.

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Diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2008, Chris Todd tells the story of this period of his life in diary form. It is a personal, honest and often humorous account of a leukaemia sufferer’s battle with this life-threatening disease, and also of Chris’s career as a whole. As the weeks and months go by, Toddy relates what can only be described as an epic journey: being told his football career would have to be put on hold; his failure to regain a place in the Torquay United team on his return to action; his loan spell to Salisbury and subsequent return to Torquay; getting back to the first team and then topping-off a truly remarkable few months by gaining promotion to League Two with the Gulls with their victory over Cambridge at Wembley. This book, though, is about more than football. Todd explains, in great detail, the effects the disease had not only on his football career, but other aspects of his life, especially in terms of his immediate family and friends – not least his wife Gemma. He never looks for sympathy – instead he aims to inspire. They say football is a game of two halves: well so is life.

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