Search results for ""the history press ltd""

Diamond-shaped funeral hatchments first came into vogue in the early 17th century, but are rarely used today. They are objects of considerable artistic merit, besides being of great interest and important to students of heraldry, genealogy and local history. This is the first volume of this valuable and attractive series in which those hatchments still surviving in Britain are recorded for the first time.

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The old kingdom of Gwynedd – the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), Ynys (Anglesey) and the Llyˆn Peninsula – may be the most mythic landscape in Britain. The ancient Druids and from it sprang the tales of Blessed Bran who protected the land, wizards who made a Woman of Flowers, and Merlin the dragon whisperer whose prophecy echoes still. The poet Taliesin walked these hills, Welsh bards told stories of Arthur by these hearths and saints made pilgrimages along these paths. From these hidden nooks the Tylwyth Teg (Fair Folk) emerged to tease the people, and through these mountain passes rode Llywelyn the Great and Owain Glyndwˆ r, living lives that would be spun into legend. Storyteller and singer Eric Maddern has gathered these old tales here and breathed fresh life into them.

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The Secret History of Oxford offers the reader an off-the-beaten-track tour of the city’s landmarks and streets. Filled with hundreds of facts and anecdotes, it reveals the amusing, unlikely and downright wonderful stories hidden beneath the surface. Some, such as the fact that the founder of Oxford was eaten by wolves, will be known; many others, such as the fact that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, stole a piece of New College’s unicorn horn, that one of the Fellows of Christ Church was a bear or that Oxford Castle has England’s most frequently sighted ghost, are much less widely known – and some of these stories have not appeared in print for hundreds of years. With rare photographs and intriguing information on the people, eras and events that defined the city’s history, this book lets the flying cats out of the bags, rattles the dragons’ cages and reveals all the skeletons in the city’s cupboards.

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The West End of London has long been popular with theatre-goers and tourists to the capital, but this historic area is also home to a multitude of terrifying ghosts. From the theatre where a female spectre cradles a severed head in her lap and the haunted house where two people have died of fright, to the ghostly voices of children heard in a modern office block built over a plague pit, this spine-chilling collection of tales is guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Richly illustrated, Haunted West End is sure to appeal to everyone interested in the paranormal and the history of London. Read on - if you dare!

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Portobello Market has been going since 1860. It boasts the largest antiques street market in the world, is a source of inspiration for fashion designers, song writers and film directors, receives over a million visitors a year... and is at risk. In Portobello Voices, Blanche Girouard introduces us to the intoxicating mix of characters that make the market buzz - from the antique dealer to rubbish collector, sausage seller to fur coat vendor, Afghan battery seller to public school entrepreneur. Listening to their stories, learn how to spot a fake, store a fur and make a tin pan; find out what lies behind an obsession with collecting, a passion for buttons and the gusset in boxer shorts and hear how experiences of loss, abandonment and estrangement lead to a life as a market trader. Read the book, rediscover the market and become part of the solution to preserving the wonder that is Portobello.

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‘Unsinkable’ is the story of a man unjustly vilified: Churchill in the First World War. His enemies – the Tory Party – censured him for Antwerp, the Dardanelles and Gallipoli. He could do no right and was regarded as a dangerous maniac. But the true story is quite the opposite. This book tells how, as a brilliant First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill was ousted by his enemies yet clawed his way back to power against all odds. He was the leading critic of senselessly sending men to march towards machine guns, but his calls for ‘machines, not men’ went unheeded. After a spell in the trenches, he returned to London to clear his name over the Dardanelles. Then he relentlessly fought his way back to power through his brilliant, incisive criticism of the land war. Churchill finally became Munitions Minister in 1917, where he pushed output to unimagined levels. His weapons delivered the victory that had eluded others for the previous three years. Drawing on the private correspondence of Asquith, Churchill, Clementine Churchill and others, and the diaries of Riddell and Hobhouse, author Richard Freeman tells the story of the 'unsinkable politician’ and his extraordinary achievements during the Great War.

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This is the ultimate quiz book on Leeds United Football Club. An ideal gift for fans of all ages, this is your chance to interact with the club’s long and eventful history, from its formation, through the glory years and on to more recent highs and lows. Informative and fun, it is the perfect companion for those long match-day trips up, down and across the country or for simply testing you and your mates’ knowledge of our great club. From the obscure to the infamous, the book is packed with 30 themed rounds of questions designed to entertain and amuse all Leeds supporters. So get your Leeds United thinking caps on – it’s quiz time!

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From 1939 to 1945 a generation of German men sacrificed their youth for the wrong cause and then rejoined a society that wanted to forget the horrors of war. These men grew old with the inward silence of the defeated, in a country where their children did not want to know what they had experienced. Their story is retold here, through their own eyes, by the photographs they took during their service in the German army. Comprised of unpublished, personal photographs, this fascinating volume provides an unprecedented glimpse into the life and experiences of the ordinary German soldier during the crucial war years of 1941 and ’42, when easy victories ebbed away into hard-fought battles. Each illustration is accompanied by a detailed caption, offering anecdotes and first-hand information gained from extensive interviews with German veterans. This book is destined to become a valuable addition to the bibliography of the Second World War.

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The Secret History of Southend-on-Sea is full of intriguing information on the incredible residents, visitors and events that have played a part in Southend’s story. Southend-on-Sea, the largest town in Essex, has had an amazingly rich history, and this book collects together hundreds of little-known facts and anecdotes that will make you see the town in a new light. Discover the ‘Brides in the Bath’ murderer, the top secret military operations performed just off Southend shore and the secret tunnels and smuggling dens used to hide guns, tobacco and Dutch gin. This captivating book will amuse and inform readers in Essex and beyond.

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On 10 December 1941, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese bombers in the South China Sea. Amongst the several hundred men who went down with her was her Captain, John Leach, who had fought against frightful odds and to the very end made the best of an impossible situation with courage and calmness. He truly embodied ‘the highest traditions of the Royal Navy’. Author Matthew B. Wills analyses the influences that shaped John Leach and led him ultimately to his heroic end: his time at Royal Naval College Osborne and Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth and his baptism of fire when he survived a direct shell hit to the bridge where he was standing. He describes Leach’s role in command during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, during which the Prince of Wales inflicted damage on the Bismarck that contributed to her later destruction ̶ and then the ill-fated mission to Singapore as part of Force Z, an attempt to intercept Japanese landings in Malaya.

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It began with a key. One afternoon in 1956, in the home of the Hitchings family in Battersea, south London, a small silver key appeared on Shirley Hitchings’ bed. This seemingly insignificant event heralded the beginning of one of the most terrifying, incredible and mysterious hauntings in British history. The spirit, who quickly became known as ‘Donald’, began to communicate, initially via tapping sounds, but over time - and with the encouragement of psychical researcher Harold Chibbett, whose case-files appear here – by learning to write. Soon, the spirit had begun to make simply incredible claims about his identity, insisting that he was one of the most famous figures in world history – but what was the truth? Here, for the first time, is the full story, told by the woman right at the heart of it all – Shirley herself.

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On 29 October 1914 the hospital ship Rohilla left Queensferry with 234 people on board bound for Dunkirk. Just after 4 a.m. on 30 October there was a tremendous impact as the ship ran onto rocks at Saltwick Nab, a mile south of Whitby. Mortally wounded only 600 yards from shore, she was ‘so close to land yet so far from safety’. It was impossible to launch the Whitby No. 1 lifeboat to aid those stranded on the ship, instead the No. 2 boat, John Fielden, was lifted over the sea wall and hauled over the rock Scar to opposite the Rohilla. Despite being holed, the lifeboat reached the wreck after great difficulty and rescued five nurses and twelve men. A further eighteen men were saved in a second trip, but damage to the lifeboat barred any further rescues. This book unfolds the heroic events that transpired as members of the public and lifeboatmen struggled to reach those stranded on the wreck. The final fifty souls were saved in an impressive rescue from a motor lifeboat that had travelled over 40 miles in perilous conditions to reach them. Of the 234 people on board the Rohilla eighty-nine were lost. Such was the effort involved that the RNLI bestowed some of its highest medals on several of those involved in the rescue. The loss of the Rohilla is still regarded as one of the worst tragedies to have occurred amongst the annals of the RNLI.

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As Stuart Laycock’s book All the Countries We’ve Ever Invaded: and the Few We Never got Round to shows, the British have not been backward in coming forward when it comes to aggressive forays abroad. But it hasn’t all been one way. In 1193 for example, the Danes teamed up serial offenders, the French, for a full-scale invasion. The French Prince Louis the Lion came close to success exactly 150 years after the Battle of Hastings. The 100 Years War saw multiple raids on British towns and ports by the Spanish and French. Following the Armada, there was the bloodless invasion of 1688, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s march south, the remarkable American John Paul Jones’ attack on Whitehaven during the American War of Independence, the German occupation of the Channel Islands and – the great what if of British, perhaps world history – the threat of Operation Sealion. Ian Hernon brings his journalistic flair to bear in this dramatic narrative of the survival of an island race over 900 years – sometimes, surprisingly, against the odds. Whilst such a history (one leaving out the boring bits) is bound to entertain, it also cannot fail to inform: where were shots last exchanged with an enemy on the mainland? At Graveney Marsh in Kent.

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Written from the unique point of view of the club chairman, A Year in the Life of Somerset County Cricket Club is the story of the highs and lows of county cricket. Somerset County Cricket Club was founded in 1875 and since then has provided its many members and supporters with countless memories. In recent years the Club has established itself as one of the leading clubs in England, closely competing for honours every season and developing many young players through its age-group and Academy system. The Club has simultaneously transformed its fortunes off the pitch, managing to redevelop the County Ground in Taunton without freighting itself with large debts. In October last year the ECB granted Somerset Provisional Category B status, meaning it can now progress towards hosting England ODIs and T20 fixtures, which will bring many benefits to the West Country. This book provides a captivating insight into the daily workings in and around the Club throughout 2012 as it meets numerous challenges and prepares future plans. All royalties from sales of this book have been kindly donated by the author to the Clowance charity that promotes youth cricket.

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The Earl of Dudley’s Railway, also known as The Pensnett Railway, was nearly 40 miles of track stretching in all directions from The Earl’s Iron Works (later a steel works) at Round Oak, just outside Brierley Hill. It began life in a spectacular way back in 1829 when a steam locomotive named Agenoria began hauling wagons of coal from pits near Pensnett, out to a basin on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Ashwood. For many years it transported coal from Baggeridge Colliery to the outside world and to Round Oak, and from 1928 until 1939 it carried passengers to the fetes at Himley Park. Now only a small remnant remains at the Round Oak Rail Terminal; the steel works and the pits have gone, some trackbeds have become footpaths, while others have disappeared completely. This book invites you to explore the railway, its locomotives and rolling stock and a little about the men who worked on the line. May it never be forgotten.

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Michael Elphick was a young electrician working at the Chichester Theatre when he was discovered by Laurence Olivier, who arranged for him to join the Central School of Drama. It was here where he met Bruce Robinson, who would later cast him in one of the most popular British films of all time – Withnail and I. Elphick’s illustrious career also included major supporting roles in films such as Quadrophenia, The Elephant Man, Gorky Park and Dennis Potter’s Blue Remembered Hills. On television, there was Private Schultz and Boon, which gave his acolyte and friend, Neil Morrissey, his first starring role. One of his characters’ owned houses in Coronation Street whilst another wooed Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders. However, Elphick’s private life was every bit as varied as his acting career. Racked by alcoholism and devastated by the early death of his partner, Julia, Elphick died at the age of 55. And yet, his friends and family will always remember his hugely humorous personality, and everyone he met was left with a ‘Mike Elphick story’...

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The castle is an evocative structure, no matter its setting, and this is no truer than in Scotland, where the multitude of castles reflect the country’s turbulent history: its many conflicts and skirmishes, whether against invaders from the north, the English to the south or between clans. Castle building reflected the dual needs to control a population and protect against rebellion and invaders. They have been the scenes for some of the most dramatic deeds in British history throughout war and political confl ict and, of course, without the strategic and psychological effect of castles the feudal system would have been impossible. In this well-researched and beautifully illustrated book, Marc Alexander explores the story of Scotland’s castles, featuring many vivid tales from history and legend, and showcasing a wide range of its incredible wealth of castles.

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It was not until after the Norman Conquest that British castles, as we think of them today, came into being. Before this point, the only fortifications in England were Iron Age hill forts surrounded by deep trenches and timber palisades. More so than anything else, the English castle symbolises the long and tumultuous struggle for dominance and control in a realm where the threat of invasion or attack was never far away. From Corfe Castle, where Lady Mary Bankes defended her home against besieging Parliamentarians, to the Tower of London, where Sir Walter Raleigh conducted chemical experiments whilst in prison, to the photogenic castle at Alnwick, which provided the setting for the wizards’ school in the Harry Potter films, these great strongholds powerfully evoke the rich and varied history of the English nation. In this beautifully illustrated book full of little-known facts, Marc Alexander reveals the turbulent story of English castles such as Windsor and Warwick, featuring colourful photographs and fascinating anecdotes.

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North Walsham & District IOP: A Second Selection

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The Irish have always been proud of their contribution to Manchester. Alan Keegan and Danny Claffey's Irish Manchester: A Third Selection combines many previously unpublished photographs with well-researched captions to create a fascinating picture of the Irish community in the city. Among the themes featured are suburbs, characters, shops, clubs, buildings, events and entertainment of the past. Packed with memories, anecdotes and people, this is the ultimate guide to Manchester's strong links with the Emerald Isle. Two chapters are being contributed by notable local characters Joe Casserley (who presents a local radio show) and Rose Morris of the Irish Heritage Centre.

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The world of ocean liners, those built for French lines were the epitome of style and panache, and SS Normandie perhaps the pinnacle of this. When she entered service in 1935, she was the largest, longest, fastest and certainly the best fed ship of her time, serving the finest food imaginable in a dining room longer than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Normandie embodied high glamour and was a firm favourite of many, albeit for a short time. Times were changing and even the French government's massive subsidies to the builders, an attempt to make Normandie a flagship for the drive out of the Depression. could only work for so long, as the Second World War drew nearer. She might have been a valuable troopship, and served a the USS Lafayette for a time, but caught fire at her New York pier in 1942. The great ship was salvaged, but with an expensive restoration in prospect she could not escape being scrapped in 1946-47. Through beautiful illustrations and evocative writing, William H.Miller presents the story of one of the most lavish liners ever to cross the seas.

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The new series of Spellmount Military Memoirs provides rare and sought-after texts for the collector of classic historical works, together with rigorously selected personal narratives never before in print – destined to become classics in their own right. Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies was awarded the Victoria Cross when serving with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps during the Second Boer War. He went on to serve as Divisional Corps liasion officer in 1914-15, his correspondence offers a rare insight into the changing face of the British Army at this time. In 1916 he took over the 113th Brigade, in a New Army Division 38th (Welsh). The first major test was on the Somme at Mametz Wood, where the divisional commander was sacked. He describes this famous fight and eventual capture of the wood in dramatic detail. Once again in the thick of the fighting at Pilckem Ridge in 1917 on the first day of Third Ypres, his letters show the importance of this battle’s success. In 1918 he travelled to Italy, where his diaries reveal for the first time how the Allied Command functioned in this theatre. His constant correspondence with his brother-in-law Henry Wilson, the C.I.G.S., is a unique insight into British Army High Command and this legendary Field Marshal. This rare collection of letters offers a broad and detailed insight into the First World War that will fascinate any enthusiast.

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Chedworth is one of the few Roman villas in Britain whose remains are open to the public, and this book seeks to explain what these remains mean. The fourth century in Britain was a ‘golden age’ and at the time the Cotswolds were the richest area of Roman Britain. The wealthy owners of a villa such as Chedworth felt themselves part of an imperial Roman aristocracy. This is expressed at the villa in the layout of the buildings, rooms for receiving guests and for grand dining, the provision of baths, and the use of mosaics. The villa would also have housed the wife, family and household of the owner and been the centre of an agricultural estate. In the nineteenth century Chedworth was rediscovered, and part of the villa’s tale is the way in which it was viewed by a nineteenth-century Cotswold landowner, Lord Eldon, and then its current owners, the National Trust. Now, in this remarkable and beautifully illustrated volume, Chedworth’s story is told in full.

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In 2011, nine years after being on the brink of obscurity, Swansea City made it to the Premier League following their defeat of Reading in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Wales, at last, had a premier club in the Premier League. This no-holds-barred account graphically describes that first year in the Premier League and the dramas of one football fan’s journey. Written off by pundits at the beginning of the season, this turned out to be an explosive year in the history of Swansea City FC.

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To all appearances Jack Swann is a typical gentleman of the Regency period; educated, cultured and affluent. In his early thirties, he is an attractive and eligible bachelor, with all the resources needed to live a privileged life. Haunted by the murder of his father twenty years earlier – the perpetrators of which have never been caught – Swann has, however, turned his back on this world and chosen instead to fight crime as ‘The Regency Detective’, an unofficial consulting detective to the Bow Street Runners in London. Arriving in Bath for a family funeral, Swann finds several reasons for staying in the city: to protect Mary, his sister, from the mysterious Lockhart; to find the ‘Scarred Man’, who might lead him to his father’s killer; and to end the reign of terror by Wicks, the local underworld boss who, in turn, sets out to have Swann assassinated.

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Taking you through the year day by day, The Colchester Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of Britain’s oldest recorded town. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Colchester’s archives, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

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Razed by Vikings! Deadly Danish assaults and demolitions. Neolithic murders! The tragic tale of Britain’s earliest recorded homicide! A deadly game of thrones! The last remains of two royal victims in the Abbey. Murdered by the Ripper! Was one of Jack the Ripper’s victims from Peterborough? Find out inside! ‘I Can’t Stop While There Are Lives to be Saved’: The incredible story of British spy nurse Edith Cavell. There is the darker side to Peterborough’s history. All manner of incredible events have occurred in the city: Roman occupations; Saxon murders and miracles; riots and revolts; battles, diseases, disasters and plagues. Including more than 60 illustrations, and with the history of institutions such as the prisoner-of-war camps of the Napoleonic era and the slums and workhouses of the Victorian age, you’ll never see the city in the same way again.

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Most books about Celtic saints are based on their legendary medieval lives. This book, however, is based upon our earliest surviving information: an examination of the sites where these early Christians lived and worked. Archaeology, combined with the study of place names, inscribed stones and early texts, offers us important clues which help us to piece together something of the fascinating world of early Irish Christianity. Elizabeth Rees, an acknowledged authority on Celtic Christianity, has produced this insightful history which is the first in an exciting new series. Illustrated throughout with her own evocative photographs of where these saints resided and worked, the reader is drawn into the beautiful world which these men and women inhabited.

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When people think of Richard the Lionheart they recall the scene at the end of every Robin Hood epic when he returns from the Crusades to punish his treacherous brother John and the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham. In reality Richard detested England and the English, was deeply troubled by his own sexuality and was noted for greed, not generosity, and for murder rather than mercy. In youth Richard showed no interest in girls; instead, a taste for cruelty and a rapacity for gold that would literally be the death of him. To save his own skin, he repeatedly abandoned his supporters to an evil fate, and his indifference to women saw the part of queen at his coronation played by his formidable mother, Queen Eleanor. His brief reign bankrupted England twice, destabilised the powerful empire his parents had put together and set the scene for his brother’s ruinous rule. So how has Richard come to be known as the noble Christian warrior associated with such bravery and patriotism? Lionheart reveals the scandalous truth about England’s hero king – a truth that is far different from the legend that has endured for eight centuries.

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Danish death! Vikings sack and burn the city. Medieval murder mysteries! The dead body of a young boy was one third of Norwich’s residents caught the Black Death! Victorian horrors! In 1851, body parts began to appear across the city – but who had left them, and why? This book contains the amazing and dramatic history of Norwich. Beginning with the all-out Viking assault on the city and roaring through to the falling bombs of the Blitz, hundreds of years of incredible history are crammed into this volume. You’ll never look at the city in the same way again!

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This fascinating selection of photographs illustrates the extraordinary transformation that has taken place in Chester during the twentieth century. The book offers an insight into the daily lives and living conditions of local people and gives the reader glimpses and details of familiar places during a century of unprecedented change. Many aspects of Chester’s recent history are covered, famous occasions and individuals are remembered, and the impact of national and international events is witnessed. The book also provides a striking account of the changes that have taken place on the streets of the city and records the process of transformation. Drawing on detailed local knowledge of the community, and illustrated with a wealth of black and white photographs, this book recalls what has changed in Chester in terms of buildings, traditions and ways of life. It also acknowledges and celebrates the character and energy of local people as they moved through the first years of this new century.

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Pamela Jackson, née Mitford, is perhaps the least well known of the illustrious Mitford sisters, and yet her story is just as captivating, and more revealing. Despite shunning the bright city lights that her sisters so desperately craved, she was very much involved in the activities of her extraordinary family, picking up the many pieces when things went disastrously wrong – which they so often did. Joining her sisters on many adventures, including their meeting with Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, Pamela quietly observed the bizarre, funny and often tragic events that took place around her. Through her eyes, we are given a view of the Mitfords never seen before. ‘Loyal to the core,’ she possessed ‘the constancy and kindness that underpinned the wilder exploits of the Mitford family. Indeed, innocence, along with courage and kindness, was one of her remarkable qualities. But it was the innocence of a woman who had lived and suffered, loved and lost, and overcome adversity’. Journalist Diana Alexander, who was Pamela’s friend for many years, here reveals the unknown Mitford, or, as her lifelong admirer John Betjeman described her, ‘Gentle Pamela’.

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Bristol: City on Show is the much-anticipated follow-up to the bestselling collection Bath: City on Show. This unique celebration of life in the city contains a stunning portfolio of new and original views of Bristol’s most notable locations, all by local photographers. These images are given new richness by more than 100 of the rarest engravings and archive photographs of the city, capturing the bustle of life in the city through the ages. Rich with Georgian splendour and architectural grandeur, Bristol has evolved to meet the changing needs and tastes of its residents and visitors. This book is a compelling and powerful reminder of past times with a fresh and revealing look at life today.

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Fanny Murray was an incomparable Georgian beauty and the most desired courtesan of the 1750s. The daughter of an impoverished musician from Bath, she took London society by storm, not only as the most prized ‘purchaseable beauty’ of her day, but also as a fashion icon and muse to poets, writers and artists. She counted princes, aristocrats and politicians among her friends and lovers, but relished the company of rogues, fraudsters and ne’er-do-wells. Barbara White presents evidence to suggest that Fanny Murray participated spiritedly in the sexual antics of the notorious ‘Monks of Medmenham’, the most infamous of the Hell-fire Clubs. After she retired from prostitution, Fanny Murray reinvented herself, entering a pragmatic marriage with the Scottish actor David Ross. Surprisingly, her virtues as a devoted and faithful wife became almost proverbial. Even so, Murray could not escape her disreputable past. In 1763, a scurrilous poem dedicated to her caused a national scandal that ended in the infamous trial of the radical politician John Wilkes for obscene libel. Barbara White’s portrait of Fanny Murray takes readers from the brothels of Covent Garden to sex romps at Medmenham Abbey, from refined drawing rooms in London to marital respectability in Edinburgh. This is an illuminating contribution to the scholarly understanding and popular appreciation of a complex and intriguing period of British history. Fanny Murray’s triumph – against almost insuperable odds – is a remarkable story, as rich in the telling as it is enthralling.

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In the early hours of 16th October 1987, the ‘Great Storm’ raged relentlessly across south-east England. In Canterbury, the author awoke amidst sounds and scenes of chaos, and immediately set out to record on film the resultant devastation as the storm gradually died down. Now, 25 years on, many of these photographs are appearing here in colour for the first time. Accompanied by informative captions and including never before seen views of fallen trees, blocked roads, damaged buildings and flooding, this book reveals the devastation caused in Canterbury by Mother Nature on one destructive night.

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Many books have been written about the Hawker Hunter, one of the world’s great jet fighters. The majority, however, have tended to concentrate on the aircraft’s extensive service career. Superbly illustrated with both colour and black-and-white photographs of the Hawker Hunter – which has always been one of the most photogenic of all aeroplanes – this new title is the first devoted specifically to the Hunter’s design and development: how and why the aircraft came into being, the troubles it experienced on the way, its flight test programme and what it was like to pilot. Drawing on many original Air Staff and Ministry documents and also the Hawker aircraft day-to-day diaries, it tells the story of one-off modifications and trials projects, aerodynamic modifications and tests with various weapons, along with proposed developments, including supersonic versions.

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Motivated by anti-communist zeal and a burning desire for Flemish self-rule, the men of the SS Langemarck answered Himmler's call to arms and earned a reputation for steadfastness in battle from friend and foe alike, right through to their eventual destruction by the Soviets in 1945. the exploits of key figures such as the famous Flemish Knight's Cross winner Remy Schrijnen are covered in detail. Written by a former captain in the British Army, this is the second in Spellmount's new series on Hitler's foreign Legions, following the best-selling Hitler's Gauls.

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J. Samuel White & Company was the oldest firm on the Admiralty List and built 252 ships for the Royal Navy alone. The yard’s closure in 1966 ended 300 years of shipbuilding during which time the company had gained acclaim from mercantile and naval customers alike. Famed early on for fast Revenue cutters and naval brigs, in its final years Royal Navy destroyers earned it great distinction. Highly innovative, it developed and patented many pioneering products while other innovations included semi-diesel engines, heat exchangers, air conditioners and compressors, besides a range of marine thruster units. Not only did the company build ships and boats but it also constructed a range of marine aircraft. During the First World War, White’s production accounted for 100 ships, including twenty-seven destroyers, and 201 seaplanes. Production during the Second World War added up to 317 ships, among them twenty-six destroyers and a large minelayer. Illustrated with photographs of these and many of the company’s other products, this book tells the story of J. Samuel White and its subsidiary concerns, a business built on a reputation of quality which earned it the slogan: “White’s-built – well-built!”.

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In the past, the east shore of Lincolnshire’s long coastline was well adapted for smuggling and the rural quality of the county aided the transport and hiding of contraband goods. In addition to the pirates, coastal criminals and countryside rogues, there was also murder and mayhem aplenty in such cities as Lincoln, Grimsby, Boston and Stamford. Moreover, being near to the north/south routes from London meant that Lincolnshire was a haven for highwaymen and footpads – even the infamous Dick Turpin had a Lincolnshire connection. With exciting and dramatic tales featuring the worst of Lincolnshire’s villains, this book is sure to inform and fascinate everyone interested in Lincolnshire’s criminal past.

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The Essex coastline has endured invasion by plundering and bloodthirsty Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and this mysterious landscape is still haunted by their presence. Their spirits, and countless others, have oft been reported – not least by smugglers determined to keep intruders away from their secret hideouts. Even more dramatic stories of the supernatural lurk inland: accusations of witchcraft have been screamed around many picturesque market towns, dragons have terrorised the community, and a violent White Lady has struck at Hadleigh Castle. Indeed, it is the women of Essex who have stirred the imagination most – from brave Boudicca and beautiful Edith Swan-neck to the adulteress Kitty Canham. Amid the county’s infamous pirates, highwaymen and desperados, Essex can even boast a lady smuggler.

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How was it that ordinary men in medieval England and Wales became such skilled archers that they defeated noble knights in battle after battle? The archer in medieval England became a forerunner of John Bull as a symbol of the spirit of the ordinary Englishman. He had his own popular literature that left us a romantic version of the lives and activities of outlaws and poachers such as Robin Hood.This remarkable development began 150 years after the traumatic events of the Norman Conquest transformed the English way of life, in ways that were almost never to the benefit of the English. This book is the first account of the way ordinary men used bows and arrows in their day-to-day lives, and the way that their skills became recognised by the kings of England as invaluable in warfare.

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Take a photographic journey into Liverpool’s often overlooked local, craft and advertising history. This intriguing book profiles hand-painted advertising from across the city and investigates the companies that commissioned the signs that now appear faded on the brickwork of buildings. It is a snapshot of a time that is almost forgotten but which lives on through the sometimes haunting presence of ghost signs on Liverpool’s city streets. Over 150 signs, gloriously illustrated here in full colour, are explored through chapters focused on the types of products advertised: Food & Drink; Alcohol & Tobacco; Shoes & Clothing; etc. Liverpool Ghost Signs is a must for all true local historians.

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One night, one rash act, one crime changed James Daunton’s life for ever. Robbed of everything he once had, and trapped in a merciless vendetta, James must now take on Nathaniel Caine and his gang to survive. Alone, he cannot hope to win, but to find allies he needs to learn to trust in a world of betrayal. Each of those who promise help has their own secrets, hidden in silences, half-truths and lies. And asked if it is fate, destiny, or simply chance that brings them together, each of them would have a different answer. Avon Street is an historical adventure story that takes the reader on a journey behind the Georgian façades of the city to expose the darker side of Victorian Bath. It is a book about the potential that lies, often unlocked or unrecognised, in all of us.

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From 17 trunks in a Lakeland attic comes this eyewitness account of a soldier’s life at a pivotal moment in the history of the British Empire. Allan Marriot Hutchins, handsome, quick-witted and adventurous, was one of thousands of young men from the shires who, in 1900, volunteered to fight determined, well-armed Boers in a war that foreshadowed the later carnage of the twentieth century, fought with maxim guns, heavy artillery and bitter reprisals against guerrillas and civilians. Allan served as a yeomanry trooper in South Africa and later as a commissioned officer in India where he distinguished himself in the Abor campaign to secure the little-explored frontier between Assam and China. His letters home and the letters he received from home and which still survive, his diaries and thoughts paint a picture of both the man and the wheels of history turning. ‘He cannot write’ said his schoolmaster but Allan can write and his writing brings to life the hardships and adventures of campaigning in hostile, alien terrain against an often invisible enemy. He describes the same modest aspirations, companionship and numbing routine encountered by today’s front-line soldiers.

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Frances Doughty is a young sleuth on her first professional case, trying to discover who distributed dangerously feminist pamphlets to the girls of the Bayswater Academy for the Education of Young Ladies. Armed with only her wits, courage and determination, she finds that even the most respectable denizens of Bayswater have something to hide, and what begins as a simple task soon becomes a case of murder. As election fever erupts and the formidable ladies of the Bayswater Women's Suffrage Society swing into action, Frances’ enquiries expose lies, more murders and a long-concealed scandal, and she makes a powerful new friend. The second book in the popular Frances Doughty Mystery series.

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Celtic is an unusual football club, inspiring strong feelings in almost everyone. It is of course virtually impossible to chronicle all that has happened in the history of the club, but this little gem draws together some of the most interesting, quirky and downright odd events that have taken place over their long and auspicious existence. Packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legend, the reader will delve deep to find out all about the events and people who have shaped the club into what it is today. Featured here are a plethora of stories on this charismatic football club ranging from how the club was formed, to little-known facts about players and managers. Here you will find player feats, individual records and plenty of amusing quotes. Rivalry with Rangers, favourite managers and cult heroes from yesteryear – a book no true Celtic fan should be without.

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When retired solicitor Alasdair Mills is burgled, the robbers leave behind his money and valuables, only stealing a pair of slippers that once belonged to Sir Walter Scott. Dismayed that the police are not taking the theft of his prized possession seriously, Alasdair turns to his old friend, the cunning Abigail Craig, for help. Donning disguises and hunting for clues, the pair turn detectives to track down the thief themselves. But the investigation takes a turn for the worse when Abigail and Alasdair stumble across something more sinister and realise there is far more to this case than a pair of missing slippers.

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Britain is a nation of good sports - literally, it turns out, given our country’s wonderful array of eccentric and bizarrely inventive pastimes. Yes, we know New Zealand are good at rugby, Brazil at football, while Australia and South Africa were countries specifically created for people who take sport far too seriously, but have those sporty nations ever produced a World Champion Pie Eater (OK, Shane Warne notwithstanding)? Has Brazil provided a F1 Pram Racing world champ? Has an Aussie won the World Nettle Eating Championship? A New Zealander tossed his way to Haggis Hurling domination? I can’t hear you Johnny Foreigner, and I’m choosing to interpret your silence as a ‘no’. Because the truth is, ladies and gentlemen of this great, mighty and resilient sporting land we call both Britain and home, we have provided year after year, true world champions in cheese rolling, competitive ploughing, medieval football re-enactment and pram racing. We may not have produced a Wimbledon Champion since the... er... the Wars of the Roses, but put down your Jules Rimet trophy Brazil, hand back your Rugby World Cup South Africa, and pick up your flonking stick - it’s time to learn about the sports that really matter.

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