Search results for ""author roy"
Orion Publishing Co The Deadly Trade: The Complete History of Submarine Warfare From Archimedes to the Present
The Deadly Trade takes readers on an epic and enthralling voyage through submarine warfare, including how U-boats in two world wars tried to achieve victory, first for the Kaiser and then 20 years later for Adolf Hitler. It tells the story of how such tiny craft took on mighty battleships, including U-boats sinking HMS Royal Oak and HMS Barham in WW2, along with the incredible exploits of British submariners in the Dardanelles and Baltic during WW1.The action-packed narrative includes bitterly contested Atlantic convoy fights of WW2 and submarines in the clash of battle fleets at Midway. Iain Ballantyne also reveals how the US Navy submarine service brought the Japanese empire to its knees in 1945, even before the atomic bombs were dropped. The Deadly Trade tells the amazing stories of not only pioneers such as Drebbel, Fulton and Holland, but also of legendary submarine captains, including Max Horton and Otto Weddigen in WW1. During WW2 we sail to war with Otto Kretschmer, Gunther Prien, Fritz-Julius Lemp, Malcolm Wanklyn, Dudley Morton, Richard O'Kane and Sam Dealey. We get involved in the famous fights of Britain's ace submarine-killing escort group leaders Frederic 'Johnny' Walker, Donald Macintyre and Peter Gretton. There is a dive into unconventional submarine warfare, including Japanese midget subs in the notorious Pearl Harbor raid plus British X-craft against the Tirpitz in Arctic waters. Iain Ballantyne plunges readers into famous Enigma machine captures that played a key role in deciding the outcome of WW2. He explains what the Nazis were up to at the end of WW2, pursuing Total Underwater Warfare, partly via the revolutionary Type XXI U-boat. Ballantyne reveals the incredible story of a proposed cruise missile attack on New York and considers the likelihood (or otherwise) of Hitler escaping to South America in a U-boat. The Deadly Trade takes us into the post-WW2 face-off between the Soviets and NATO, the sinking of the Indian frigate INS Khukri by Pakistan's PNS Hangor and attack on the Argentine cruiser ARA Belgrano by HMS Conqueror. The Deadly Trade concludes with today's growing submarine arms race and Putin's 'missile boat diplomacy' along with the use of cruise missiles by the British and Americans to try and decapitate rogue regimes. The Deadly Trade is the perfect companion to Hunter Killers, Iain Ballantyne's real-life Cold War submarine thriller.
£12.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Bristol and Bath Art Book: The cities through the eyes of their artists
Bristol and Bath are two beautiful, closely connected cities. They are portrayed through the eyes of their artists in a delightful variety of styles in this stunning book. The Bristol and Bath Art Book portrays two very different cities. The beautiful images in the book capture the breath-taking landscape of rivers, hills and gorges which they share, but also the cities’ sights that are so unique. Bristol is painted as busy, quirky and vibrant, where Bath glows in more tranquil hues. These important cities in the history of the world are intimately connected. The river Avon that flows through both cities, gouges the spectacular Avon Gorge at Bristol, which is where its international maritime connections begin. The regenerated old docks (the ’floating harbour’), Wapping Wharf and the quayside are lovingly depicted by various artists. Now that the main docks are outside the city, the harbour-side now bustles with shops, bars and offices, but there are still cranes to be seen at the M shed. Underfall boatyard remains a home to maritime businesses and is also pictured in this lovely book, along with pleasure craft and houseboats in the harbour. John Cabot’s The Matthew is the ship that put America on the map. The reconstruction is depicted in drawings and paintings. She may have been a pirate ship at one time, too, as Bristol was the birthplace of Blackbeard and had a thriving piracy business. From this Atlantic connection, the list of items traded expanded from wool, wine and grain to tobacco and alas, to slaves. The profits from this trade endowed many of the fine public monuments drawn and painted here. Like many places, Bristol is undertaking a new reckoning with its history. The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge to span the deep Avon Gorge. In the book, there are many images of this vertiginous bridge: ringed by balloons, luminous in the gloaming, stark in the snow, or painted to resemble a cathedral arch from below. It is a much-loved, living monument to the great man. His Great Western Railway terminus at Temple Meads features here in drawings and prints, along with his pioneering Bristol-built steamship, the SS Great Britain. Crossing Brunel’s famous bridge over the Avon, you will find yourself in the tranquil Leigh woods, painted as a hotspot for bluebells in spring. The old Railway Path, flat, traffic-free and lined with greenery, takes you from Bristol to Bath, where you will find more gorgeous parks: the Georgian garden in the town centre, Alexandra Park with panoramas of the city and the Botanical Gardens with its aerial walkway. Bath is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its Roman remains and exquisite Georgian architecture. Its famous Roman Baths were built around a hot spring the Romans believed sacred to the Goddess Sulis and the city became a centre for health and an inspiration for artists. Its 18th-century architecture: The Royal Crescent, The Circus, Pulteney Bridge and Assembly Rooms, are all examples of Bath’s heyday as a Georgian spa town and are featured in the art book in stunning paintings, drawings and collages. They capture the Bath that Jane Austen would have known from her time in the city. Here, movies of some of her novels have been filmed, along with many other Regency era series e.g. the record-breaking series Bridgerton.
£16.99
Odyssey Publications,Hong Kong Mekong River: From Source to Sea Featuring Laos
This title includes: regional map of mighty Mekong river from source to sea; UNESCO World Heritage sites; French colonial Vientiane; exquisite Luang Prabang; Pak Ou Caves; Khone Pha Pheng Falls; and, coffee-growing regions. Laos has been discovered. Pristine and exotic in a changing world where other Asian cultures have been affected by rapid development, Laos is still green. The rivers mostly run free through sites well worth visiting, from the ancient Khmer temple of Vat Phou in the south to the former royal capital of Luang Prabang in the north. But if you want to see the old Laos you have to move fast. Luang Prabang, an exquisite little town on the banks of the life-giving Mekong, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the main Mecca for tourists. The town is home to some of the finest Buddhist temples anywhere. Charming old colonial mansions are now hotels, trendy restaurants, or upscale boutiques. Al fresco restaurants serving spicy Lao fare line the riverside. A night bazaar with dozens of stalls offers high-quality woven silk scarves, silver jewellery, and embroidered Hmong bedspreads, just a few of the popular wares available. Laos has a long, rich tradition of silk weaving, and textiles are not just a "best buy" for tourists. They represent the most important craftwork done in the country and in some ways define the Lao nation. Also on the Mekong, the capital Vientiane still has the look of a French provincial town complete with tree-lined streets, fading colonial buildings, and sidewalk cafes. Its trendy restaurants offer fusion cuisine as a counterpoint to traditional fiery Lao fare. The city's most prominent monument, Patuxai, closely resembles the pride of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe. Upstream from Luang Prabang, at the confluence of the Ou River, are the Pak Ou Caves, an easy day trip by long-tail boat through pastoral countryside and jungle-covered mountains. The two caves, etched over millennia out of limestone karst cliffs, contain hundreds of images of the Buddha donated by generations of believers. To get away from the heat along the river, travellers head to the Bolaven Plateau, a fertile upland area known for its cooler climate, dramatic waterfalls, and (thanks to the French) some of the best coffee in the world. This is the gateway to the higher mountains to the east and the hill tribes. A trip to southern Laos should include a visit to the spectacular the Khone Pha Pheng Falls, where the usually languid Mekong boils and tumbles through eight miles of wild cataracts that effectively close the river to navigation. One of the key attractions of Laos is the people. Sixty percent of the population is ethnic Lao, who migrated from China a millennium ago. The rest are largely upland people representing about fifty hill tribes. The Lao are mostly Theravada Buddhists who live in the valleys and are famed for being easy-going, party-loving and affable. A precious pearl of a country blessed with pristine natural beauty, exotic flora and rare fauna, Laos hosts the mighty Mekong for a significant distance during its almost 5,000 kilometre journey from the Tibetan Plateau to the sea. Whether you chose to travel by land or by water or both, Odyssey's "Illustrated "Map will enhance your journey both as a pre-trip planner and as a post-trip souvenir. Unfolded map size 991mm x 686mm.
£10.43
Cornell University Press Nobility Lost: French and Canadian Martial Cultures, Indians, and the End of New France
Nobility Lost is a cultural history of the Seven Years' War in French-claimed North America, focused on the meanings of wartime violence and the profound impact of the encounter between Canadian, Indian, and French cultures of war and diplomacy. This narrative highlights the relationship between events in France and events in America and frames them dialogically, as the actors themselves experienced them at the time. Christian Ayne Crouch examines how codes of martial valor were enacted and challenged by metropolitan and colonial leaders to consider how those acts affected French-Indian relations, the culture of French military elites, ideas of male valor, and the trajectory of French colonial enterprises afterwards, in the second half of the eighteenth century. At Versailles, the conflict pertaining to the means used to prosecute war in New France would result in political and cultural crises over what constituted legitimate violence in defense of the empire. These arguments helped frame the basis for the formal French cession of its North American claims to the British in the Treaty of Paris of 1763. While the French regular army, the troupes de terre (a late-arriving contingent to the conflict), framed warfare within highly ritualized contexts and performances of royal and personal honor that had evolved in Europe, the troupes de la marine (colonial forces with economic stakes in New France) fought to maintain colonial land and trade. A demographic disadvantage forced marines and Canadian colonial officials to accommodate Indian practices of gift giving and feasting in preparation for battle, adopt irregular methods of violence, and often work in cooperation with allied indigenous peoples, such as Abenakis, Hurons, and Nipissings. Drawing on Native and European perspectives, Crouch shows the period of the Seven Years' War to be one of decisive transformation for all American communities. Ultimately the augmented strife between metropolitan and colonial elites over the aims and means of warfare, Crouch argues, raised questions about the meaning and cost of empire not just in North America but in the French Atlantic and, later, resonated in France's approach to empire-building around the globe. The French government examined the cause of the colonial debacle in New France at a corruption trial in Paris (known as l'affaire du Canada), and assigned blame. Only colonial officers were tried, and even those who were acquitted found themselves shut out of participation in new imperial projects in the Caribbean and in the Pacific. By tracing the subsequent global circumnavigation of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, a decorated veteran of the French regulars, 1766–1769, Crouch shows how the lessons of New France were assimilated and new colonial enterprises were constructed based on a heightened jealousy of French honor and a corresponding fear of its loss in engagement with Native enemies and allies.
£32.40
Facet Publishing The New Walford Guide to Reference Resources: Volume 1: Science. Technology and Medicine
First published in 1959, Walford's guide to reference material achieved international recognition as a leading bibliographic tool across all subject areas. But, in the 1990s, the web transformed the information universe; and so we have now transformed Walford. The New Walford (TNW) Volume 1: Science, Technology and Medicine is the first volume of a radically different guide. Published over 3 years, TNW will form the most substantial work of its kind in the English language. This book provides a pathway through the huge quantity of information now accessible via the web. The types of material cited have been greatly widened to reflect the revolution brought about by the use of networked information; but we have made sure that print resources are not ignored where these are still valuable. If you are approaching a subject for the first time, TNW will get you on your way, guiding you to the best starting points for your query. For the information professional, TNW's new way of categorizing resources reflects the fundamental changes that have taken place in the scientific, business, political and social information landscapes. Who is it for This new reference book will be valuable for professionals worldwide who need to suggest resources to people who are relatively unfamiliar with the nuances of a topic and who need to know where to start. The focus is on resources that are most likely to be found and used within public, government, education or business information services. If you are an LIS professional responsible for developing and revising a reference collection, new to reference work, staffing an enquiry desk, a research worker or student, you'll welcome publication of this new work - it's your paper portal to the world of reference resources. Subject coverage mathematics physics & astronomy earth sciences chemistry biological sciences agriculture, forestry, fisheries & food pre-clinical sciences; clinical medicine health natural resources & energy engineering information & communication technology. Subject fields include astrophysics & cosmology biodiversity & conservation genetics, genomics & bioinformatics infectious diseases information system security meteorology & climatology microengineering & nanotechnology palaeontology soil science sports & exercise medicine. Editor-in-ChiefDr Ray Lester held posts in Unilever and a number of university libraries before becoming Director of Information Services at the London Business School and then the Head of Library and Information Services at The Natural History Museum. Subject specialists Catherine Carr, Cranfield University Jim Corlett, Nottingham Trent University Joanne Dunham, University of Leicester Helen Hathaway, University of Reading Dr Jonathan Jeffery, Leiden University Gareth Johnson, University of York Nazma Masud, Royal Society of Chemistry Roger Mills, University of Oxford Lorna Mitchell, Queen Mary, University of London Dr David Newton, The British Library Linda Norbury, University of Birmingham Bob Parry, University of Reading Alison Sutton, University of Reading Elizabeth Tilley, University of Cambridge Dr Barry White, University of Manchester Fenella Whittaker, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
£259.95
APA Publications Insight Guides Explore Amsterdam (Travel Guide eBook)
Insight Guides Explore AmsterdamTravel made easy. Ask local experts.Focused travel guide featuring the very best routes and itineraries, now with free eBook.Part of our UEFA Euro 2020 guidebook series. If you're planning to visit the Johan Cruijff Arena to watch Amsterdam for Euro 2020 matches, then this pocket guidebook provides all the information you need to make the most of your trip, from ready-made itineraries to help you explore the city when you're not at the game, to essential advice about getting around. Discover the best of Amsterdam with this unique travel guide, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see, top attractions like Anne Frank's House, the Van Gogh Museum and the Old Centre, to discovering cultural gems, including a trip in time to the Rembrandt House Museum, which has been restored to how it looked in the painter's lifetime, a family day out at the Artis Royal Zoo and a visit to the Oude Kerk (Old Church), one of Amsterdam's most impressive churches ,the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, and help you plan and enhance your visit to Amsterdam.Features of this travel guide to Amsterdam:- 18 walks and tours: detailed itineraries feature all the best places to visit, including where to eat and drink along the way- Local highlights: discover the area's top attractions and unique sights, and be inspired by stunning imagery- Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Amsterdam's rich history and culture, and learn all about its people, art and traditions- Insider recommendations: discover the best hotels, restaurants and nightlife using our comprehensive listings- Practical full-colour map: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy- Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation- The ultimate travel tool: download the free app and eBook to access all this and more from your phone or tablet- Covers: The Golden Age Canals; The Principal Squares; The Museum Quarter; The Old Centre (The Wallen); The Zoo Disctrict; The Harbour; The Canals by Pedal Bike; Amsterdam by Tram; By Bicycle along the River Amstel; The Jordaan; The Jewish Quarter; Amsterdam Bos; Leidseplein; Rembrandtplein; Red-Light District; Haarlen and Zandvoort; The Usselmeer by Bike; The HagueLooking for a comprehensive guide to the Netherlands? Check out Insight Guides the Netherlands for a detailed and entertaining look at all the country has to offer.About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.
£8.99
Michelin Editions des Voyages Streetwise Munich Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Munich, Germany
REVISED 2023 Streetwise Munich Map is a laminated city center map of Munich, Germany - Accordian fold pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including S-Bahn & U-Bahn lines & stations. Coverage includes: Main Munich Map 1:14,000 Munich Area Map 1:73,000 Munich Metro Map Dimensions: 4" x 8.5" folded, 8.5" x 28" unfolded Munich, regional capital of Bavaria in south central Germany, is the second most popular destination in Germany after Berlin. The city is a center for culture and arts, with a staggering assortment of museums. It's also a fun loving, convivial, good old fashion party town known for the annual Oktoberfest. Munich is a city of contrasts. The Marienplatz is the heart of Munich and the site of its most important historic buildings. The square is dominated by the Neo-gothic Town Hall featuring its famous Glockenspiel. The Alte Pinakothek houses ones of Europe s most important art collections. In contrast is the Hofbrauhouse where beer has been swilled at this world famous tavern site since it became a royal brewery in 1605. In Englischer Garten you'll find Haus der Kunst, a popular place for art exhibits. It's located adjacent to one of the best river surfing spots in Munich (there are several): the Eisenbach River. You can stand on the bridge and watch as surfers carve turns on the icy water. The water is shallow and the water is fast, so this may not be the best place to try the sport for the first time, but it's definitely worth watching as surfers line up for a chance to test their skills on this permanent 3 foot wave. And then there is Theresienwiese, the park on the west side of town where the vast beerhall tents are pitched for Octoberfest. The main STREETWISE® map of Munich covers the central city in detail and contains all important sites, architecture, metro stations and parks. Also provided is an inset map which features Munich s metro system and fare structure. This Munich map will enable you to navigate your way to Nymhenburg Palace or Olympic Park, both of which are outside the center city. A Munich Area map, which guides you in, out, and around Munich, is helpful in finding the Munich International Airport and other out of town sites. Our pocket size map of Munich is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. To enhance your visit to Munich, check out the Michelin Green Guide Germany which details sites and attractions using the famed Michelin star-rating system so you can prioritize your trip based on your time and interest. For a selection of the best restaurants and hotels, buy the red MICHELIN Guide Main Cities of Europe. To plan your trip to and from Munich, use Michelin Germany Map No. 718.
£8.23
Cornell University Press The Spirit of Things: Materiality and Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia
What role do objects play in crafting the religions of Southeast Asia and shaping the experiences of believers? The Spirit of Things explores religious materiality in a region marked by shifting boundaries, multiple beliefs, and trends toward religious exclusivism. While most studies of religion in Southeast Asia focus on doctrines or governmental policy, contributors to this volume recognize that religious "things"—statues, talismans, garments, even sacred automobiles—are crucial to worship, and that they have a broad impact on social cohesion. By engaging with religion in its tangible forms, faith communities reiterate their essential narratives, allegiances, and boundaries, and negotiate their coexistence with competing belief systems. These ethnographic and historical studies of Southeast Asia furnish us with intriguing perspectives on wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, and interfaith interactions around the world. In this volume, contributors offer rich ethnographic analyses of religious practices in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma that examine the roles materiality plays in the religious lives of Southeast Asians. These essays demonstrate that religious materials are embedded in a host of practices that enable the faithful to negotiate the often tumultuous experience of living amid other believers. What we see is that the call for plurality, often initiated by government, increases the importance of religious objects, as they are the means by which the distinctiveness of a particular faith is "fenced" in a field of competing religious discourses. This project is called "the spirit of things" to evoke both the "aura" of religious objects and the power of material things to manifest "that which is fundamental" about faith and belief. Contributors: Julius Bautista, National University of Singapore; Sandra Cate, San Jose State University, California; Margaret Chan, Singapore Management University; Liana Chua, Brunel University, London; Cecilia S. de la Paz, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Alexandra de Mersan, Centre Asie du Sud-Est (Paris) and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Johan Fischer, Roskilde University, Denmark; Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California; Klemens Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York City; H. Leedom Lefferts, Drew University and Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; Nguyên Thi Thu Huong, Academic Council of the National Museum of History, Hanoi, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; Anthony Reid, Australian National University, University of California–Los Angeles, and National University of Singapore; Richard A. Ruth, United States Naval Academy; Kenneth Sillander, University of Helsinki; Vu Thi Thanh Tâm, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; and Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Malaysia
£27.90
American School of Classical Studies at Athens Studies in Attic Epigraphy, History, and Topography Presented to Eugene Vanderpool
Twenty-six papers on the epigraphy, history, and topography of ancient Greece presented to the famous scholar by his eminent students and friends. The contents are: A Lid with Dipinto (Alan L. Boegehold); Athenians, Macedonians, and the Origins of the Macedonian Royal House (Eugene N. Borza); Koroni and Keos (John L. Caskey); Epicurus in the Archives of Athens (Diskin Clay); The Nature of the Late Fifth Century Revision of the Athenian Law Code (Kevin Clinton); Theseus and the Unification of Attica (Steven Diamant); Onesippos' Herm (Colin N. Edmonson); Gennadeion Notes v. the Journal of Thomas Whitcombe, Philhellene (C. W. J. Eliot); A Lekythos in Toronto and the Golden Youth of Athens (Henry R. Immerwahr); The Leasing of Land in Rhamnous (Michael H. Jameson); Writing and Spelling on Ostraka (Mabel L. Lang); Some Attic Walls (Merle K. Langdon); Dodwellopolis: Addendum to "Fortified Military Camps in Attica" (James R. McCredie); Athens and Hestiaia (Malcolm F. McGregor); Thucydides and the Decrees of Kallias (Benjamin D. Meritt); Arrian in Two Roles (James H. Oliver); The Dedication of Aristokrates (Antony E. Raubitschek); The Pnyx in Models (Homer A. Thompson); The Alleged Conservatism of Attic Epigraphical Documents: A Different View (Leslie Threatte); Agora I 7181 + IG II, 2, 944b (Stephen V. Tracy); An Interpretation of Six Rock-Cut Inscriptions in the Attic Demes of Lamptrai (John S. Traill); PARADEIGMA (John Travlos and E. L. Smithson); Regulations for an Athenian Festival (Michael B. Walbank); The Final Battle at Plataia (Paul W. Wallace); An Attic Farm near Laurion (Livingston Vance Watrous); Sepulturae Intra Urbem and the Pre-Persian Walls of Athens (F. E. Winter).
£64.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Blinding Flash: The Courage and Sacrifice of a Bomb Disposal Hero, Ken Revis MBE
Ken Revis was training to be a structural engineer, and had almost qualified, when war broke out in September 1939\. He promptly enlisted and, at the age of 23, was commissioned in the Royal Engineers. Training complete, it was during the Christmas festivities of 1940, such as they were in the Army in wartime Britain, that Ken glanced at a typewritten sheet pinned to a noticeboard to discover that he had been posted to a Bomb Disposal unit. His first device, aside from those he had seen under the watchful gaze of his instructors, came early in 1941 in the form of an unexploded 500kg German bomb. Having failed to detonate, it had buried itself in a garden only a yard or so from a footpath leading off a pleasant avenue in the East Sussex town of Hastings. This is it,' Ken remembered thinking. This is the real thing.' Despite his nerves, Ken successfully dealt with this bomb, the first of many that he faced over the coming weeks and months. While most soldiers in the United Kingdom were busy training and preparing for the coming invasion of Europe, Bomb Disposal units were engaged with their dangerous craft in which almost daily they matched their skill and nerve against the inventive genius of the German scientists. It was at 10.00 hours on 10 September 1943, however, that, in an instant, Ken's life irrevocably changed. While he was removing anti-invasion booby-traps from the West Pier in Brighton, something went terribly wrong. In a blinding flash, thirteen mines blew up in his face. After immediate first aid, the mangled body of Ken Revis was rushed to East Grinstead Hospital, home of the renowned plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. It was the start of the long, hard trail that lay in front of him, for it required no less than twenty skilled reconstructive operations to rebuild Ken's shattered face and body. But despite all the surgeons' best efforts, Ken's sight could not be saved. Aside from the traumatic injuries he had suffered, he now had to deal with complete blindness. In this moving biography, John Frayn Turner reveals the remarkable individual who was Ken Revis, exploring the many, and very different, challenges that he faced before and after the disaster on 10 September 1943\. As Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks once remarked, Courage and determination are the two outstanding qualities that emerge from this remarkable story'.
£20.00
Amber Books Ltd Queens: Women in Power through History
In a world historically dominated by male rulers, the women who have sat on thrones of their own shine out brightly. Some queens and empresses were born to greatness, while others fought their way to power. Queens ranges from the ancient world to the present day, telling the stories of these women who ruled, from murderous former courtesan Wu Zetian in 7th century China to Elizabeth I, the ‘Virgin Queen’ of England. In 6th century Constantinople, Empress Theodora, who had been a street performer before catching the eye of Emperor Justinian, extended rights for women, passing laws that allowed them to divorce and own property and made rape a crime punishable by death. In 12th century Europe, Eleanor of Aquitaine first married the king of France and then the king of England. At the Mughal court in Lahore in the early 17th century, Nur Jahan, wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, was the political powerhouse behind the throne. In more recent history, the book explores the reigns of Catherine the Great, revealing how a minor German aristocrat came to rule and expand the Russian Empire, Queen Victoria, whose family dominated the world in the early 20th centuty, and her more recent descendent, Elizabeth II, the longest-ruling queen in history. Female rulers are often described as ambitious rather than bold, as devious rather than diplomatically astute and as intriguers and meddlers, all characterizations that are destructive to the reality of women’s lives in the world’s monarchies. Even genealogies still often leave out the women of royal families, overlooking their genuine contributions. To some extent, we will never know these great women of history as well as we know their menfolk; the sources simply leave too many gaps. However, we can and will do better in giving the women rulers of history the recognition they deserve Carefully researched, superbly entertaining and illustrated throughout with more than 180 photographs and artworks, Queens highlights the true personalities and real lives of the women who became monarchs and empresses.
£17.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hitler's Attack U-Boats: The Kriegsmarine's Submarine Strike Force
The success of German submarines during the First World War in almost cutting off Britain's vital imports had not been forgotten by Adolf Hitler and when, in March 1935, he repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain, magnanimously, signed up to an Anglo-German Naval Agreement. This allowed the Germans to build their submarine strength up to one third of the British Royal Navy's tonnage. When war broke out in 1939, German U-boats went quickly into action, but with only four years of production and development, the main armament of these submarines was considerably weaker than equivalent boats in other navies and many of the other main features, such as living and the fighting conditions, were also significantly inferior. Nevertheless, the German U-boat onslaught against British merchant ships during the autumn of 1940 was highly successful because the attacks were made on the surface at night and from such close range that a single torpedo would sink a ship. Soon, though, Allied technology was able to detect U-boats at night, and new convoy techniques, combined with powerfully-armed, fast modern aircraft searching the seas, meant that by 1941 it was clear that Germany was losing the war at sea. Something had to be done. The new generation of attack U-boats that had been introduced since Hitler came to power needed urgent improvement. This is the story of the Types II, VII and IX that had already become the workhorse' of the Kriegsmarine's submarine fleet and continued to put out to sea to attack Allied shipping right up to the end of the war. The Type II was a small coastal boat that struggled to reach the Atlantic; the Type VII was perfectly at home there, but lacked the technology to tackle well protected convoys; whilst the Type IX was a long-range variety that was modified so that it could operate in the Indian Ocean. In this latest book by the renowned Kriegsmarine historian Jak Mallmann Showell, these attack U-boats are explored at length. This includes details of their armament, capabilities, crew facilities, and just what it was like to operate such a vessel, and of course the story of their development and operational history.
£14.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Firefighting the Blitz: Fire Service Memories
War was coming. Everyone knew that confrontation with Nazi Germany was inevitable and that London was likely to be a prime target of Hitler's bombers. So, in January 1939, Aylmer Firebrace, the Chief Officer of London Fire Brigade, was seconded to the Home Office to plan for the capital's fire defence. Before joining the Fire Brigade, Aylmer Firebrace had been a Royal Navy officer who had fought in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War. It was following the Armistice that, in 1919, he became principal officer in the London Fire Brigade. He was promoted to deputy chief and finally chief officer in June 1938.. That war struck London soon enough, but it was on 7 September 1940, that Firebrace's preparations were truly tested with the start of the Blitz. For the next fifty-seven days and nights London was subjected to the longest continuous bombing campaign in history. Then, as the Luftwaffe ranged wider and further across Britain's towns and cities, Firebrace was tasked with toured the nation to see the effects of the bombing, at which point he saw the need for a national response. The result was the creation of the National Fire Service. Formed in August 1941, by the amalgamation of some 1,600 separate brigades, this remarkable organisation had, at its peak, a strength of 370,000 men and women. It was led for its entire existence by Aylmer Firebrace. As the war continued, Firebrace became Chief of the Fire Staff and Inspector-in-Chief of the Fires Services, being the first and, to date, only person to head all the fire-fighting services in Britain. This body had to deal with the expansion of the Blitz as well as the so-called 'Baedeker' raids, the 'tip-and-run' attacks, Baby Blitz and V1 and V2 offensives of the later years of the war. In his fascinating account, written immediately the war, Firebrace reflects on the functioning of the fire service at its most testing time. This book is an essential addition to the understanding of the Blitz and how London and the rest of the country survived its darkest hour.
£22.50
Fonthill Media Ltd The Earls of Essex: A Tale of Noble Misfortune
This is the dramatic, often erratic, and at times unbelievable story of the fortunes and misfortunes over 900 years to the present day of one of England’s premier aristocratic families, who in 1661 were given the Earldom of Essex by Charles II. This fascinating, previously untold story begins just after the Norman Conquest with a Hugh Capel in AD 1100 and ends at the present day, with Frederick Paul de Vere Capell, 11th Earl of Essex and the future heir presumptive, William Jennings Capell, a former shelf stacker, who lives in Yuba City, California. Over a period of 400 years the Capell family built a fortune, and over the next 500 years lost it due to an incredible number of mistakes bad judgment calls, and misfortunes. Lord Arthur Capel, one of England’s richest men, changed sides from Parliament to support Charles I, and after a further series of poor decisions, was executed at Palace Yard, Westminster at the age of 41 in 1649 by the same executioner, using the same axe as had executed King Charles I barely three months earlier. His son, also Arthur Capel, created 1st Earl of Essex by Charles II became involved in a plot against the king, and was mysteriously found with his throat cut whilst awaiting trial in the Tower of London. Did he commit suicide to avoid the consequences of treason and to save the estates and titles for his son? Conspiracy theories abounded. The king commented sadly that he owed the Earl’s father had died for his father, and he owed him a life and would have spared him. Arthur’s young son became the 3rd Earl and went down in history as `the most debauched young man in London.’ The long-lived 5th Earl had numerous mistresses and, as a close friend of the debauched Prince Regent, shared a well-known courtesan, Mrs Robinson with the Prince. Unhappily married, with no legitimate male heir, living at the family seat, Cassiobury in Watford, at the age of 81 he married secondly a 44-year-old actress and died shortly afterwards, accompanied to the grave by some very irreverent press comments. The three-times-married 6th Earl, whose father was a bankrupt debauched gambler, had an illegitimate son, George Ingerfield Capel, who had an illegitimate daughter who was the mistress of the `Sundance Kid.’ The 7th Earl, in 1892 struggling to keep Cassiobury and the family fortunes together married a title-hunting American heiress, Adele Beach Grant, who was not really an heiress, and who became a member of the Edwardian `fast set’. Her alcoholic husband, known as `sulky’ stepped in front of a cab outside his London club in 1916 and was killed. Adele was found mysteriously dead in the bath in 1922. Her step-son the 8th Earl had eloped with and married young, and by the 1920s the extensive family estates had to be sold. The much-married 9th Earl died heirless in Bermuda in 1966. A contest broke out over whom should now inherit the titles. Robert Edward de Vere Capel, the next Earl, born in 1920 was the son of a railway parcel porter and was a Royal Air Force flight sergeant during the Second World War. He fought a dramatic battle to prove his right to the Earldom. His son, Frederick Paul de Vere Capell, the 11th Earl of Essex, who lives modestly not far from Lancaster, is a retired assistant schoolmaster and a classical music devotee. He has no children and unless the inheritance laws change, the title will one day go to his American cousins in Yuba City, California.
£18.00
APA Publications Insight Guides Explore Budapest (Travel Guide with Free eBook)
Insight Guides Explore BudapestTravel made easy. Ask local experts.Focused travel guide featuring the very best routes and itineraries, now with free eBook.Part of our UEFA Euro 2020 guidebook series. If you're planning to visit Puskás Aréna in Budapest to watch Euro 2020 matches, then this pocket guidebook provides all the information you need to make the most of your trip, from ready-made itineraries to help you explore the city when you're not at the game, to essential advice about getting around. Discover the best of Budapest with this unique travel guide, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see, top attractions like the Royal Palace, Margaret Island and the Grand Synagogue, to discovering cultural gems, including a stroll down Andrássy Avenue, drinking in one of Budapest's vibrant ruin bars or taking a dip in Széchenyi Baths, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, and help you plan and enhance your visit to Budapest.Features of this travel guide to Budapest:- 10 walks and tours: detailed itineraries feature all the best places to visit, including where to eat and drink along the way- Local highlights: discover the area's top attractions and unique sights, and be inspired by stunning imagery- Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Budapest's rich history and culture, and learn all about its people, art and traditions- Insider recommendations: discover the best hotels, restaurants and nightlife using our comprehensive listings- Practical full-colour map: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy- Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation- The ultimate travel tool: download the free app and eBook to access all this and more from your phone or tablet- Covers: Castle Hill; Parliament; The Jewish Quarter; Andrássy Avenue; City Park; The Palace District; Margaret Island; South Pest; South Buda; Buda HillsLooking for a comprehensive guide to Hungary? Check out Insight Guides Hungary for a detailed and entertaining look at all the country has to offer.About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.
£8.99
Maney Publishing Excavations at Dryslwyn Castle 1980-1995
Excavations at Dryslwyn between 1980 and 1995 uncovered a masonry castle, founded in the late 1220s by Rhys Gryg for his son Maredudd ap Rhys, the first Lord of Dryslwyn. The first castle was a simple round tower and polygonal walled enclosure, within which were constructed a kitchen, prison and wood-framed, clay-floored great chamber beside a great hall. In the mid 13th century a second ward was added and the great chamber rebuilt in stone. This castle was greatly expanded in the period 1283-87 by Rhys ap Maredudd, the second and final Lord of Dryslwyn, who built an Outer Ward and gatehouse. He also rebuilt much of the Inner Ward, adding an extra storey to the great hall and great chamber, apartments and a chapel. At the end of the 13th century a large three-ward castle stretched along the eastern and southern edge of the hill while the rest of the hilltop was occupied by a settlement defended by a wall and substantial ditch with access through a gatehouse. This castle and its associated settlement were besieged and captured in 1287 by an English royal army of over 11,000 men following damage inflicted by a trebuchet and mining of the walls. Throughout the 14th century the English Crown garrisoned and repaired the castle, supervised by an appointed constable, before it was surrendered to Owain Glyn Dwr in 1403. During the early to mid 15th century the castle was deliberately walled up to deny its use to a potential enemy and it was subsequently looted and demolished. By the late 13th century, the castle had a white rendered and lime-washed appearance, creating a very dramatic and highly visible symbol of lordship. Internally, the lord's and guest apartments had decorative wall paintings and glazed windows. Evidence from charred beams still in situ, the sizes, shapes and distribution of nails, sheet lead, slates and postholes recovered during excavation has enabled some of the wooden as well as masonry buildings to be reconstructed. Waterlogged deposits had preserAt just 132 hectares (325 acres) the parish of Caldecote is one of the smallest parishes in Hertfordshire. Today the settlement comprises the manor house, until recently surrounded by a range of traditional farm buildings, together with six labourer's cottages and the church. To the north lies the site of the old rectory and the earthworks of a medieval settlement. In 1973 the Department of Environment and the Deserted Medieval Village Research Group arranged a rescue excavation to examine the earthworks of the medieval village before they were levelled and ploughed. Five crofts, the old rectory site and much of the moated enclosure were investigated in one of the largest excavations ever conducted on a later medieval rural site in Britain. Though the excavations did recover a Bronze Age beaker burial and small quantities of Roman and Iron Age pottery, the medieval settlement at Caldecote was probably founded in the 10th century, and by the time of the Domesday Survey there was a church, a priest and nine villeins. A moated site was added in the 13th century. A century later, Caldecote was granted to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery in St Albans, at a time when there were seventeen householders. Early in the second half of the 14th century, the estate and demesne were subdivided into six farms, each complete with a hall-house and two or more barns. Following the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the manor was again held by an absentee lord and the farms continued to prosper. However, the late 16th and early 17th centuries, for which there are several surviving wills and inventories, saw their gradual abandonment.After the desertion of Caldecote Marish in 1698, Caldecote was farmed as a single unit until 1970, when the estate was attached to that adjoining the manor of Newnham. Of particular importance from Caldecote is the archaeological evidence for medieval peasant structures, the development of the later medieval domestic plan and the structural tra
£49.98
HarperCollins Publishers Vintage Rolex: The largest collection in the world
For more than a century, Rolex has stood apart as the most legendary brand of watch in the world. A Rolex conveys many things: a luxury timepiece, a tool of power for movers and shakers and the symbol of passage into adulthood. New labels pop up, styles come and go, but the brand at the top never changes. Ever the record setter—the Daytona that had belonged to Paul Newman was auctioned by Phillips in New York in October 2017 for $17.8 million— it comes as no surprise that Rolex is the most collected watch brand in the world. The Vintage Watch Company is the only store of its kind in the world, with a devoted client base of devoted Rolex aficionados, from royalty to sporting legends to stars of the silver screen. Throughout, father and son, John and David Silver have been carefully cataloguing and amassing one of the largest pictorial records of vintage Rolex watches in the world. Published to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary in late 2020, the book contains a unique pictorial collection of vintage Rolex watches that have passed through the shop during the past 25 years. More than 1800 watches have been photographed and are described in detail in the book. From early Rolex pocket watches to the world’s first wristwatches, elegant in their simplicity yet revolutionary in their impact, to the very first Submariners, iconic Daytonas and jewel-encrusted Crown Collections, the mesmerizing archive of vintage timepieces charts the extraordinary rise of an extraordinary brand. Choose from the First Rolex Submariner, later coined the James Bond, or the Early GMT-Master made for Pan Am transatlantic pilots. Read about the First Explorers made famous by the 1953 Everest Expedition or the later Explorer II worn by Steve McQueen. Marvel at Early Vintage collections, from the Officer’s Pocket Watch to the Ladies’ Diamond; from the Oyster and the Stella & Stone collections, to the Sport Collection. This book is a perfect gift for all lovers of luxury retail as well as passionate collectors of Rolex watches who will want to read about the models they own.
£67.50
Quarto Publishing PLC Mozart: Volume 105
In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the incredible life of Mozart, world-renowned classical musician and composer. Wolfgang Mozart first started playing the keyboard at just three years old. Inspired by his sister’s talent, little Wolfgang soon mastered several instruments and was even writing his own musical compositions. As a young boy, he travelled from city to city with his father and sister, playing for Europe’s royal families and delighting them with his talents. When his father fell ill, and Wolfgang had to keep quiet in their home, he wrote a whole symphony from just hearing the instruments in his head! As he grew, Mozart pushed the boundaries of western music and created exciting masterpieces: from dances and masses to symphonies and operas. Wolfgang wrote over 600 pieces during his short life. Wolfgang became a world-renowned musician and composer, known for his prodigious talent and ability to write across a wide variety of styles. His music has become a key part of western music education, and continues to inspire young musicians to keep playing and practicing their instruments. Today, Wolfgang’s music still delights audiences across the world, from the smallest school hall to the biggest opera house. This inspiring book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the incredible musician and composer’s lifeLittle People, BIG DREAMS is a bestselling biography series for kids that explores the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream. This empowering series of books offers inspiring messages to children of all ages, in a range of formats. The board books are told in simple sentences, perfect for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. The hardback and paperback versions present expanded stories for beginning readers. With rewritten text for older children, the treasuries each bring together a multitude of dreamers in a single volume. You can also collect a selection of the books by theme in boxed gift sets. Activity books and a journal provide even more ways to make the lives of these role models accessible to children.Inspire the next generation of outstanding people who will change the world with Little People, BIG DREAMS!
£9.99
Blast Books,U.S. The Secret World of Renaldo Kuhler
A sumptuous monograph presenting for the first time the extraordinarily imaginative and delightful work of visionary artist Renaldo Kuhler (American, 1931–2013). The Secret World of Renaldo Kuhler catapults a thrilling new discovery into the pantheon of the most accomplished visionary—or “outsider”—artists. Like Henry Darger, Howard Finster, George Widener, and Adolf Wölfli, Renaldo Kuhler was an exceptionally gifted artist and possessed an imagination all his own. By day Kuhler was a self-taught scientific illustrator under the employ of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, for which he created thousands of wonderfully precise illustrations of myriad natural history specimens—reptiles, fish, turtles, and the like. Renaldo Kuhler was an unusual individual, as was instantly clear from his appearance alone. Six-foot-four, with a white beard and ponytail, he wore a custom-tailored uniform consisting of a sleeveless Kelly green suit jacket with wide, black, notched lapels, epaulets, and brass buttons, a matching suit vest, yellow flannel dress shirt, a fleur-de-lis Boy Scout neckerchief, and tight-fitting knee-length shorts (“cotton-blend lederhosen”). However, unbeknownst even to family, friends, and coworkers, Kuhler was more than an eccentric, gifted scientific illustrator. He was a prolific visionary artist, who, as a teenager in the late 1940s, invented an imaginary country he named Rocaterrania—after Rockland County, New York, where he had lived as a child. For the next sixty years, in secret, he illustrated the nation’s entire history and the prominent characters of its populace. Rocaterrania is a fantastical world, a richly illustrated amalgam of Kuhler’s personal cultural and aesthetic fascinations. Situated just north of the Adirondacks in New York, at the Canada–United States border, Rocaterrania is a sovereign nation of immigrants, from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe. Kuhler invented a complete world populated by a royal family and a succession of leaders resembling historical Russian figures, Women reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich and Janet Leigh play important roles as do bearded men of a seeming Hasidic Jewish heritage, men bearing curious physical similarities to American presidents, and neutants—individuals neither male nor female. Amid forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers, Kuhler’s imaginary country is made up of provinces and cities filled with distinctive Rocaterranian architecture and well-planned railroad and metro systems. Its government is unique, and it has its own religion, Ojallism, and its own evolving language and alphabet. With an organized labor service, a prison system (modeled after a New Jersey state penitentiary), a university system, a Rocaterranian Olympics, and an independent movie industry, Rocaterrania is a nation bustling with dozens of characters and their intrigues. Initially meant to be an escape, Kuhler's Rocaterrania became a secret lifelong obsession, an intricately coded, metaphorical account through Rocaterrania’s tumultuous history, which dovetailed with Kuhler’s own struggles for independence and freedom. Renaldo was the son of the German-born industrial designer Otto Kuhler, renowned for his Art Deco–era streamlined trains; his Belgian mother had little patience for her son, who was ostracized and bullied throughout his life for being “different.” The Kuhler family moved in 1948 from Rockland County, New York, to a remote cattle ranch in the Colorado Rockies—an unbearably isolated environment for the teenaged Renaldo. Retreating to his sketchbooks, journals, and watercolors to invent his imaginary nation of Rocaterrania, young Kuhler wrote, “The ability to fantasize is the ability to survive.” The Secret World of Renaldo Kuhler is filled with more than 400 illustrations in pencil, ink, acrylic, oil, gouache, watercolor, colored pencils, and markers, demonstrating Kuhler’s phenomenal draftsmanship and wide range of style—from delicately shaded graphite works to comic-book ink drawings. Complementing Kuhler’s impressive artistry is his gift for analogical thinking, which flowered in his appropriation and reimagining of personalities, places, and events from world history to form a cohesive and fully imagined world. After decades of secrecy, Kuhler eventually first shared his work and the story of his imaginary country with filmmaker Brett Ingram, whom he met by chance in the mid-1990s. In 2009 Ingram released Rocaterrania, a feature-length documentary with prized footage of Kuhler at home and at work, and talking about his creation. With The Secret World of Renaldo Kuhler Ingram has written the complete story of Rocaterrania as relayed to him over time by Kuhler, resulting in a fascinating, highly entertaining first and major book about this rare, newly discovered, full-blown visionary outsider artist.
£28.79
Whittles Publishing Roaming Wild: The Founding of Compassion in World Farming
Roaming Wild details the unconventional and pioneering lives of Anna and Peter Roberts, a British couple who were instrumental in making the animal welfare movement a respectable, highly-impactful and worldwide organisation. This book explores the paths that led Anna and Peter to found and steward what is now the world's largest and most successful animal welfare charity from a backroom of their own home, with few funds, and at a time when caring for animals and our planet was seen as 'crankish' and 'sentimental'. This is the story of their family, their era, influence, their rebellion and prophetic ideas and the development of Compassion in World Farming. It spans the period from the early 1920s when they were born, throughout the decades of their childhoods and World War II, to their highly romantic meeting and marriage in the 1950s, and then the next years of their lives as dairy and chicken farmers in rural Hampshire. This 'ordinary' part of their story preceded their move to change everything by making the 'extraordinary' decision during the tumultuous 1960s, of risking their livelihood, going vegetarian (as animal farmers), and losing the approval of their peers, to found their compassion-driven campaign. This personal transformation was at a time when the British countryside was also transforming, irrevocably and for the worse, when intensive, polluting farms were just taking root, the cruel battery and broiler system had recently been developed, and the countryside's biodiversity was being destroyed with the implementation of monoculture and the profligate spraying of lethal biocides, such as DDT. The Roberts were at first rejected by the popular animal charities of the day; believing that the public cared only about companion animals or those in circuses, rather than those animals who suffer the most at human hands - those in the food chain - and so the Roberts family went out alone and set up CIWF in the face of much public derision. Then followed the highs and lows of campaign life, a court battle with an order of veal-farming Catholic monks, famine campaigns in Ethiopia, work alongside comedian Spike Milligan, model Celia Hammond and philosopher Peter Singer, challenging EU legislation, and battles with agricultural and chemical giant Monsanto. Corporate giants like McDonald's were influenced to go free-range, even the British Royal family was challenged to go free-range, and animals were put on the agenda of every major political party in the 1970s and much more. The story interweaves the personal with the political and documents the highs and lows of family life, the judgement faced when they chose to raise their three daughters as vegetarians in the 1960s, their myriad spiritual quests, including the couple's time spent in the Indian ashram of Sathya Sai Baba, their rewilding of the land near their family home, and the story of their fifty-year love. This is a tale of an 'ordinary couple with an extraordinary vision'.
£18.99
Hodder & Stoughton The King is Dead, Long Live the King!: Majesty, Mourning and Modernity in Edwardian Britain
A Country Life 'Best Book of the Year' 2023The Times Book of the Week * * * 'I could read Martin Williams all day. He is a staggeringly communicative historian; this book throws shafts of light on recent history almost repeating itself, giving vivid glimpses into monarchy and the way things were, and are. Compulsory reading.' --- Dame Joanna Lumley'A social historian and gifted storyteller, Williams is by turns moved and amused as he reflects on the poignancy and rituals of a nation united (pretty much) in grief...' --- The Times'adroitly-written...[told by Williams] so skilfully, and with such silken prose, that it's a pleasure to spend the time inside his head' --- The Oldie'delightful details...to rekindle this vanished epoch' --- Country Life'Vivid, panoramic, skilfully written, this gripping book is an insight into a time and an age'. --- Kate Williams'Martin Williams has written a fascinating and absorbing account of the Edwardian era, the demise and funeral of the King, and the iconic Black Ascot that followed it. He has brought a lost age grippingly to light'. --- Hugo Vickers'witty, informative and immensely readable... captures the spirit of the times'. --- Miranda Seymour'A tour de force'. --- Dr Kate Strasdin'We tend to think that Cecil Beaton single-handedly invented the Edwardian Age. Martin Williams shows us succinctly and elegantly that perhaps it was the King himself.' --- Nicky Haslam'... moves with unflagging wit and style. A fresh perspective on a brilliant life and a lost era beautifully evoked, it is impossible not to be swept away by this gem of a book. Pure pleasure.' --- Robin Muir'a must-have... a wonderful and thought-provoking read.' --- The Historian'...a book about a changed and changing world trying to cope with even more change...beautifully written [and] timely' --- The Catholic Herald'...resonates powerfully with our own recent experience of collective mourning...Williams describes the king's gradual demise in evocative detail.' --- Air MailUnforgettable as it was, the public response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 was not without precedent. When her great-grandfather King Edward VII - glamorous, cosmopolitan and extraordinarily popular - died in May 1910, the political, social and cultural anxieties of a nation in turmoil were temporarily set aside during a summer of intense and ritualised mourning.In The King is Dead, Long Live the King! Martin Williams charts a period of tension and transition as one era slipped away and another took shape. Witnessed by a diverse but interconnected cast of characters - crowned heads and Cabinet ministers, debutantes and suffragettes, artists and murderers - here is the swansong of Edwardian Britain. Set against a backdrop of bereavement and parliamentary crisis overshadowed by the gathering clouds of war, we see a people caught between past and future, tradition and modernity, as they unite to bid farewell to a much-loved monarch who had personified his age. From Buckingham Palace to Bloomsbury, and from the lying-in-state in Westminster Hall to a now legendary Royal Ascot enveloped in black, this is a vivid evocation of a world on the brink of seismic upheaval.
£22.50
Ebury Publishing Impact: Reshaping capitalism to drive real change
Changing the world and making a profit can go hand in hand.The Bestselling Business Book The Financial Times Best Economics Books of 2020"A Must Read Book From The Godfather Of Impact Investing" - Forbes"a powerful case for a movement that is gaining traction in society" - Andrew Jack, The Financial Times'[IMPACT's] aim is nothing less than to create a new type of capitalism infused with social purpose. The book deserves to be read by anybody interested in such a revolution.' - Martin Wolf, The Financial TimesA fascinating blueprint for a hope-filled future underpinned by the social power of impact investing. -- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Former CEO, World Bank GroupCapitalism isn't immoral, it's amoral - it's a wild beast that needs to be led. Here Sir Ronnie provides the core operating manual for those seeking to do good while also doing well. -- Bono, Lead Singer of U2 and Co-Founder of The Rise FundImpact is a new and very important idea to reshape and save our economic system. -- Paul Romer, Nobel Prize in Economics, 2018The book is timely, visionary, bold...and thoroughly persuasive. -- Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks"The most genuinely hopeful and important work on finance and society I've read or imagined reading in decades." - Peter Sacks, Professor of English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University--- Throughout the world, capitalism and democracy are being challenged with great force. The world must change, but we cannot change it by throwing money at old ideas that no longer work. We need a new path to a new world where inequality is shrinking, where natural resources are regenerated, and people can benefit from shared prosperity.This is the world being created by the Impact Revolution.Pre-eminent international investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and social finance innovator, Sir Ronald Cohen, has dedicated two decades to leading the Impact Revolution to achieve real social and environmental change. As one of the founders of venture capital, which ushered in the Tech Revolution, he builds on his years of personal experience to deliver a compelling account of how impact investing is reshaping capitalism.Whether you're an aspiring young entrepreneur, an established business person, an investor, a philanthropist, or somebody in government - or are interested, as a consumer or employee, in companies doing good and doing well at the same time - this book is a sure fire way to find out how you can play a role in changing the world.Throughout the world, capitalism and democracy are being challenged with great force. The world must change, but we cannot change it by throwing money at old ideas that no longer work. We need a new path to a new world where inequality is shrinking, where natural resources are regenerated, and people can benefit from shared prosperity.This is the world being created by the Impact Revolution.Pre-eminent international investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and social finance innovator, Sir Ronald Cohen, has dedicated two decades to leading the Impact Revolution to achieve real social and environmental change. As one of the founders of venture capital, which ushered in the Tech Revolution, he builds on his years of personal experience to deliver a compelling account of how impact investing is reshaping capitalism.Whether you're an aspiring young entrepreneur, an established business person, an investor, a philanthropist, or somebody in government - or are interested, as a consumer or employee, in companies doing good and doing well at the same time - this book is a sure fire way to find out how you can play a role in changing the world.All royalties from the sale of this book are donated to impact charities.
£16.99
Fonthill Media Ltd Sailing and Soaring: The Great Liners and the Great Skyscrapers
The story of the Great Liners begins on the Atlantic route between the Old World and the New, between Europe and the United States. It was the most prestigious, most progressive and certainly most competitive ocean liner run of all time. It was on the North Atlantic that the largest, fastest and indeed grandest passenger ships were created. In this book, William Miller concentrates for the most part on these Atlantic superliners. It has been a race, sometimes fierce, that has continued for well over a century. Smaller passenger ships, even ones of 30,000 and 40,000 tons, are for the most part left to other books. The story begins even earlier, in 1889, when Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II visited his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and attended the British Naval Review at Spithead. The British were more than pleased to show off not only the mightiest naval vessels afloat, but the biggest passenger ships then afloat, namely the 10,000-ton 'Teutonic' of the White Star Line. These ships caught the Kaiser's royal eye. His enthusiasm, his determination and, assuredly, his jealousies were aroused. Her returned to his homeland determined that Germany should have bigger and better ships.The world must know, he theorized, that Imperial Germany had reached new and higher technological heights. To the Kaiser and other envious Germans, the British had, quite simply, had a monopoly on the biggest ships long enough. British engineers and even shipyard crews were recruited, teaching German shipbuilders the key components of a new generation of larger ships. Shipyards at Bremen, Hamburg and Stettin were soon ready. It would all take eight years, however, before the first big German liner would be completed. She would be large enough and fast enough to be dubbed the world's first "super liner". She would only be the biggest vessel built in Germany, but the biggest afloat. The nation's most prominent shipowners, the Hamburg America Line and the North German Lloyd, were both deeply interested. It was the Lloyd, however, which rose first to the occasion. Enthusiastically and optimistically, the first ship was the first of a successive quartet. The illustrious Vulkan Shipyard at Stettin was given the prized contract. Triumph seemed to be in the air! The Kaiser himself went to the launching, on 3 May 1897, of this new Imperial flagship.Designed with four funnels but grouped in pairs, the 655-ft long ship was named 'Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse', honoring the Emperor's grandfather. With the rattle of chains, the release of the building blocks and then the tumultuous roar as the unfinished hull hit the water, this launching was the beginning of the Atlantic race for supremacy, which would last for some 70 years. Only after the first arrival of the trans-Atlantic jet in October 1958 would the race quiet down. The 'Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse' was the great beginning, the start of a superb fleet of what has been dubbed "ocean greyhounds" and later aptly called the "floating palaces". Worried and cautious, the normally contented British referred to the brand new Kaiser as a "German monster".
£17.99
Merrell Publishers Ltd Metroburbia: The Anatomy of Greater London
London's suburbs are home to many thousands of people who travel into the centre every day to work, but they also house many thousands who rarely find a reason to do so. They contain all the essential infrastructure for the city, too, including airports, offices, shopping centre, factories and warehouses. Outer London is therefore both metropolitan and suburban at the same time - it is Metroburbia. In this book Paul Knox examines the architectural history and development of London's suburbs, and celebrates their surprising variety and organized structure, refuting the common claim that they are monotonous or amorphous. The first chapter, The Foundations of Metroburbia, explains the foundation and development of Metroburbia and looks at how topography and geology influenced the siting of the villages that would become part of Greater London. The River Thames, of course, is one of London's most important and well-known structural elements, and in this chapter Knox examines how its meanders and bends have produced distinct patterns of settlement and development. He also describes in detail the seven distinctive sectors of London, which are (running clockwise from the west) the Thames Valley, Northwest London, North London, the Lea Valley, Northeast London, the Thames Estuary and South London. Finally, he looks at how early settlements, country estates and royal palaces shaped Metroburbia, and how the increase in roads and industry consolidated the development of what would become suburbia. Chapter 2, Pattern-book London, looks at Victorian and Edwardian suburbs - the first developments to be given that name. The building booms and their effect on employment in the city, and the difference in style and purpose between the various suburbs, are discussed, and Knox also examines the effects of immigration and industrialization on the city's housing requirements. He also describes the genesis of the parks, cemeteries and garden villages that now provide such valuable green space for Londoners, and the creation of the impressive industrial, civic and institutional buildings that are still striking parts of the city's infrastructure. Chapter 3, Inter-war Suburbia: Metro-Land and the Universal Plan, describes the acceleration of building projects between the wars and the beginning of the transition from Edwardian society to the modern welfare state. The term 'Metro-Land', introduced by the Metropolitan Railway Company in the early twentieth century, gives the chapter its title, and describes the expansion of residential London along the route of the Underground lines into Buckinghamshire. The effect of widespread car ownership is discussed, and the various housing styles - Stockbroker Tudor, Suburban Moderne, the mansion block, and so on - are described. The fourth chapter, Secular Reformation and Modernism, covers the thirty years from the end of the Second World War, during which time the welfare state brought about radical changes to life in London and the architecture of the city. Chapter 5, Counter-Reformation, describes the changes wrought on the country by the new neo-liberal agenda, as the welfare state was overtaken by a market-driven economy that fostered free-for-all development. By this time Metroburbia had spread outwards to incorporate Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea, Maidstone, Guildford, Reading and Luton. This was an era of radical new infrastructure projects - from the rise of the suburban shopping centre to the construction of the new Thames Barrier - and huge increases in house prices. The regeneration of the Isle of Dogs into the Docklands commercial area is one of the most high-profile developments of the era, but infill house-building and small-scale environmental developments were also produced, and social housing regenerated. Finally, the last chapter, Megapolitan Futures, explores the various theories about the capital's future and conjectures about the shape of the city in the twenty-first century.
£31.50
Little, Brown Book Group Superstition and Science: Mystics, sceptics, truth-seekers and charlatans
'A dazzling chronicle, a bracing challenge to modernity's smug assumptions' - Bryce Christensen, Booklist'O what a world of profit and delightOf power, of honour and omnipotenceIs promised to the studious artisan.'Christopher Marlowe, Dr FaustusBetween the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe changed out of all recognition and particularly transformative were the ardent quest for knowledge and the astounding discoveries and inventions which resulted from it. The movement of blood round the body; the movement of the earth round the sun; the velocity of falling objects (and, indeed, why objects fall) - these and numerous other mysteries had been solved by scholars in earnest pursuit of scientia. Several keys were on offer to thinkers seeking to unlock the portal of the unknown:Folk religion had roots deep in the pagan past. Its devotees sought the aid of spirits. They had stores of ancient wisdom, particularly relating to herbal remedies. Theirs was the world of wise women, witches, necromancers, potions and incantations.Catholicism had its own magic and its own wisdom. Dogma was enshrined in the collective wisdom of the doctors of the church and the rigid scholastic system of teaching. Magic resided in the ranks of departed saints and the priestly miracle of the mass.Alchemy was at root a desire to understand and to exploit the material world. Practitioners studied the properties of natural substances. A whole system of knowledge was built on the theory of the four humours.Astrology was based on the belief that human affairs were controlled by the movement of heavenly bodies. Belief in the casting of horoscopes was almost universal.Natural Philosophy really began with Francis Bacon and his empirical method. It was the beginning of science 'proper' because it was based on observation and not on predetermined theory.Classical Studies. University teaching was based on the quadrivium - which consisted largely of rote learning the philosophy and science current in the classical world (Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Ptolemy, etc.). Renaissance scholars reappraised these sources of knowledge.Islamic and Jewish Traditions. The twelfth-century polymath, Averroes, has been called 'the father of secular thought' because of his landmark treatises on astronomy, physics and medicine. Jewish scholars and mystics introduced the esoteric disciplines of the Kabbalah.New Discoveries. Exploration connected Europeans with other peoples and cultures hitherto unknown, changed concepts about the nature of the planet, and led to the development of navigational skills.These 'sciences' were not entirely self-contained. For example physicians and theologians both believed in the casting of horoscopes. Despite popular myth (which developed 200 years later), there was no perceived hostility between faith and reason. Virtually all scientists and philosophers before the Enlightenment worked, or tried to work, within the traditional religious framework. Paracelsus, Descartes, Newton, Boyle and their compeers proceeded on the a príori notion that the universe was governed by rational laws, laid down by a rational God.. This certainly did not mean that there were no conflicts between the upholders of different types of knowledge. Dr Dee's neighbours destroyed his laboratory because they believed he was in league with the devil. Galileo famously had his run-in with the Curia.By the mid-seventeenth century 'science mania' had set in; the quest for knowledge had become a pursuit of cultured gentlemen. In 1663 The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge received its charter. Three years later the French Academy of Sciences was founded. Most other European capitals were not slow to follow suit. In 1725 we encounter the first use of the word 'science' meaning 'a branch of study concerned either with a connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified'. Yet, it was only nine years since the last witch had been executed in Britain - a reminder that, although the relationship of people to their environment was changing profoundly, deep-rooted fears and attitudes remained strong.
£14.99
Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press Alexander the Great
The facts of Alexander's life are extraordinary, and it's no surprise that two major Hollywood films on his life are in production. Born Alexander III, king of Macedonia, and the first king to be called "the Great," he was born in 356 BC and brought up as crown prince. Taught for a time by Aristotle, he acquired a love for Homer and an infatuation with the heroic age. When his father Philip divorced Olympias to marry a younger princess, Alexander fled. Although allowed to return, he remained isolated and insecure untilP hilip's mysterious assassination about June 336. Alexander was at once presented to the army as king. Winning its support, he eliminated all potential rivals. No sooner had Alexander ascended the throne, than the Illyeians and other Northern tribes, which had been subdued by his father Philip, erupted into Macedonia, but they were quickly dispatched by the armies of Alexander. Some Grecian states, with Athens and Thebes at their head, thinking this a favorable oppurtunity, attempted to shake off the macedonia yoke; but the sudden appearance of the youthful Alexander in their midst soon put an end to all resistance. Thebes was taken by strom and razed to the ground, only the house of the poet Pindar and several other dwellings being spared; and the inhabitants were sold into slavery. Athens and the other Greek states immeaditly submitted, and were generously pardoned by Alexander. Then he took up Philip's war of aggression against Persia, adopting his slogan of a Hellenic Crusadeagainst the barbarian. He defeated the small force defending Anatolia, proclaimed freedom for the Greek cities there while keeping them under tight control, and, after a campaign through the Anatolian highlands (to impress the tribesmen), met and defeated the Persian army under Darius III at Issus (near modern Iskenderun, Turkey). He occupied Syria and--after a long siege ofTyreE--Phoenicia, then entered Egypt, where he was accepted as Pharaoh. From there he visited the famous Libyan oracle of Amon (or Ammon,identified by the Greeks with Zeus). The oracle hailed him as Amon's son (two Greek oracles confirmed him as son of Zeus) and promised him that he would become a god. His faith in Amon kept increasing, and after his death he was portrayed with the god's horns. After organizing Egypt and founding Alexandria, Alexander crossed the Eastern Desert and the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and in the autumn of331 defeated Darius's grand army at Gaugamela (near modern Irbil, Iraq). Darius fled to the mountain residence of Ecbatana, while Alexander occupied Babylon, the imperial capital Susa, and Persepolis. Alexander acted as legitimate king of Persia, and to win the support ofthe Iranian aristocracy he appointed mainly Iranians as provincial governors. Yet a major uprising in Greece delayed him at Persepolis until May 330 and then, before leaving, he destroyed the great palace complex as a gesture to the Greeks. At Ecbatana, after hearing that the rebellion had failed, he proclaimed the end of the Hellenic Crusade and discharged the Greek forces. He then pursued Darius, who had turned eastward. Darius was assassinated by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, who distrusted his will to keep fighting and proclaimed himself king. As a result, Alexander faced years of guerrilla war in northeastern Iran and central Asia, which ended only when he married (327) Rozana, the daughter of a localchieftain. The whole area was fortified by a network of military settlements, some of which later developed into major cities. During these years, Alexander's increasing preoccupation outside of Greece led to trouble with Macedonian nobles and some Greeks. Parmenion, Philip II's senior general, and his family originally had a stranglehold on the army, but Alexander gradually weakened its grip. Late in 330, Parmenion's oldestson, Philotas, commander of the cavalry and chief opponent of the king's new policies, was eliminated in a carefully staged coup d'etat, and Parmenion was assassinated. Another noble, Cleitus, was killed by Alexander himself in a drunken brawl. (Heavy drinking was acherished tradition at the Macedonian court.) Alexander next demanded that Europeans follow the Oriental etiquette of prostrating themselves before the king--which he knew was regarded as an act of worship by Greeks. But resistance by Macedonian officers and by the Greek Callisthenes (a nephew of Aristotle who had joined the expedition as the official historian of the crusade) defeated the attempt. Callisthenes was then executed on a charge of conspiracy. With discipline restored, Alexander invaded (327) the Punjab. After conquering most of it, he was stopped from pressing on to the distant Ganges by a mutiny of the soldiers. Turning south, he marched down to the mouth of the Indus, engaging in some of the heaviest fighting and bloodiest massacres of the war. He was nearly killed while assaulting a town. On reaching the Indian Ocean, he sent the Greek oooooofficer Nearchus with a fleet to explore the coastal route to Mesopotamia. Part of the army returned by a tolerable land route, while Alexander, with the rest,marched back through the desert of southern Iran, chiefly to emulate various mythical figures said to have done this. He emerged safely in the winter of 325-24, after the worst sufferings and losses of the entire campaign, to find his personal control over the heart of the empire weakened by years of absence and rumors of his death. On his return, he executed several of his governors and senior officers and replaced others. In the spring of 324, Alexander held a great victory celebration at Susa. He, and 80 close associates, married Iranian noblewomen. In addition, he legitimized previous so-called marriages between soldiers and native women and gave them rich wedding gifts, no doubt to encourage such unions. When he discharged the disabled Macedonian veterans, after defeating a mutiny by the estranged and exasperated Macedonian army, they had to leave their wives and children with him. Because national prejudices had prevented the unification of his empire, his aim was apparently to prepare a long-term solution (he was only 32)by breeding a new body of high nobles of mixed blood and also creating the core of a royal army attached only to himself. In the autumn of 324, at Ecbatana, Alexander lost his boyhoodfriend Hephaestion, by then his grand vizier--probably the only person he had ever genuinely loved. The loss was irreparable. After a period of deep mourning, he embarked on a winter campaign in the mountains, then returned to Babylon, where he prepared an expedition for the conquest of Arabia. Weakened from numerous battles, he died in June 323 without designating a successor. His death opened the anarchic age of the Diadochi. Alexander at once became a legend. Greek accounts blended almost incredible fact with pure fiction (for example, his meeting withthe Queen of the Amazons). What remains as fact are Alexander's indisputable military genius and his successful opportunism and timing in both war and politics. The success of his ambition, at immense cost in terms of human life, spread Greek culture far into central Asia, and some of it--supported and extended by the Hellenistic dynasties--lasted for centuries. It also led to an expansion of Greek horizons and to the acceptance of the idea of a universal kingdom, which paved the way for the Roman Empire. Moreover, it opened up the Greek world to new Oriental influences, which would lay the groundwork for Christianity.
£11.99