Search results for ""Author Roy"
Hachette Books Ireland The Other Guinness Girl: A Question of Honor
'A gloriously good read' Sunday Independent LIFESURROUNDED BY WEALTH, GLAMOUR AND EXCITEMENTLady Honor Guinness is a reluctant wallflower. But that all changes when she marries Henry 'Chips' Channon, a charming and ambitious American. On his arm, she finds herself at the heart of 1930s London's most elite social circles, mingling with aristocrats, politicians and royalty. But it's not too long before Chips begins toprioritise his aspirations over all else, and Honor begins to wonder who exactly she has married.By her side is her best friend Doris, a young woman eager to establish her place in society. A social butterfly who keeps the details of her family background to herself, Doris is hopeful her beauty and charm will win her a suitable husband, but she has no interest in a romantic attachment. Until she is introduced to 'the most devastating man in London'.Inspired by true-life events, The Other Guinness Girl: A Question of Honor is an elegant, captivating story of two young women navigating friendship, loneliness, love and desire as they try to find their places in a society where the rules seem to change every moment.PRAISE FOR THE GUINNESS GIRLS NOVELS'Utterly captivating ... an absolute page-turner' IRISH INDEPENDENT'Masterfully and glamorously told' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST'Fans of Downton Abbey will adore this' SUNDAY TIMES
£9.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Running the Gauntlet: Cargo Liners Under Fire 1939 1945
The British Merchant Navy dominated the world trade routes in the years leading up to the Second World War. The star players of the fleet were the cargo liners, faster and larger than the tramps and offering limited passenger accommodation. On the outbreak of war these cargo liners became crucial to the nation's survival using their speed and expertise to evade Nazi warships, raiders and U-boats. Initially operating alone, but increasingly relying on Royal Navy protected convoys, these key elements of the Merchant Navy plied the oceans and seas despite mounting losses, throughout the war years. This superbly researched book describes numerous dramatic incidents. Some ended in disaster such as the New Zealand Shipping Company's Turakina which was sunk after a running battle with the German raider Orion. Others were triumphs for example Operation Substance when six fast cargo liners succeeded against all the odds in reaching besieged Malta with vital supplies. The common denominations in all these historic voyages were the courage and skilled seamanship of the Merchant Navy crews. As Running The Gauntlet vividly illustrates, their contribution to victory, too long overlooked, cannot be overstated.
£20.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Real Queen Charlotte: Inside the Real Bridgerton Court
Known to millions as the imperious matriarch of Bridgerton's court, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was still a teenager when she was chosen to be the bride of King George III. Shy, innocent, and sheltered, the orphaned princess and her youthful groom carried the hopes of a nation on their shoulders. The placid and unassuming young couple symbolised a new beginning, but soon those hopes began to sour. Charlotte and George's marriage lasted for nearly 60 years and produced more than a dozen children, but it was beset by unrest at home, war in the colonies, and the king's encroaching madness. As the royal couple battled against their critics, their political opponents, and sometimes even their own family, Charlotte learned what it really meant to be queen. Locked in a bitter struggle with her eldest son for the king's future and with her daughters for their freedom, the timid young girl grew into an insular and domineering woman that few dared to cross. Shouldering the burden of family disputes, ambitious courtiers, and the care of the man she adored, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz presided over one of the most tumultuous eras that the monarchy has ever seen. As tragic as it was glittering, this is the story of her extraordinary life.
£20.00
Orion Publishing Co Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe
The four beautiful, cultured and clever daughters of the Count and Countess of Provence made illustrious marriages and lived at the epicentre of political power and intrigue in 13th-century Europe.Marguerite accompanied her husband, King Louis IX of France, on his disastrous first crusade to the Holy Land, where straight from childbirth she ransomed him from the Mamluks. And with her sister Eleanor, queen of England, Marguerite engineered a sturdy peace between France and England. Ambitious Eleanor walked a narrow line while she struggled to build her own power base without alienating her cowardly husband, Henry III. Beatrice's coronation as queen of Sicily was the culmination of her long, hard-fought campaign to earn respect from her world-famous, mightily accomplished older siblings. Sanchia wed one of the richest men in Europe, but her reign as queen of Germany, brought her only misery. From Goldstone's rich, beautifully woven tapestry, medieval Europe springs to vivid life, from the lavish menus of the royal banquets and the sweet songs of the troubadours to the complex machinations of the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor. This compelling work of history gives women their due as movers and shakers in tumultuous times.
£10.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd Polo: The lavish and racy classic from Sunday Times bestseller Jilly Cooper
In Jilly Cooper's third Rutshire chronicle we meet Ricky France-Lynch, who is moody, macho, and magnificent. He had a large crumbling estate, a nine-goal polo handicap, and a beautiful wife who was fair game for anyone with a cheque book. He also had the adoration of fourteen-year-old Perdita MacLeod. Perdita couldn't wait to leave her dreary school and become a polo player.The polo set were ritzy, wild, and gloriously promiscuous.Perdita thought she'd get along with them very well.But before she had time to grow up, Ricky's life exploded into tragedy, and Perdita turned into a brat who loved only her horses - and Ricky France-Lynch.Ricky's obsession to win back his wife, and Perdita's to win both Ricky and a place as a top class polo player, take the reader on a wildly exciting journey - to the estancias of Argentina, to Palm Beach and Deauville, and on to the royal polo fields of England and the glamorous pitches of California where the most heroic battle of all is destined to be fought - a match that is about far more than just the winning of a huge silver cup...------------------------------'Compulsively readable and funny...the irrepressible Jilly remains irresistible' The Times'Polo is the best thing she's ever done' Daily Mail 'A work of towering genius' Evening Standard
£10.99
Oxford University Press Carbon Dioxide through the Ages: From wild spirit to climate culprit
Carbon dioxide has become one of the “defining molecules” of our century, due to its role in Earth's climate. This text traces the development of the perception of carbon dioxide through the ages. With layman summaries at the beginning of each chapter and extensive literature references and notes, the text takes the reader through the history of our understanding of the gas, from its early discovery as a separate gas in the mid-17th century to the recognition of its radiative properties and impact on climate in the late 19th and 20th century. The text describes the world's slow efforts to control the rise in carbon dioxide over the last 50 years and concludes by setting the stage for the Paris climate accords and subsequent negotiations. The world must reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide fast, and this book discusses options to achieve that goal. Han Dolman is a climate scientist and director of the Royal NIOZ, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, as well as a Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, Free University of Amsterdam. For many years, his work has been centered around the global carbon cycle and its relation to our climate. Over the length of his career, he has been involved in several international research programs such as the Global Climate Observing System.
£26.61
Penguin Books Ltd The English
In The English Jeremy Paxman sets out to find about the English. Not the British overall, not the Scots, not the Irish or Welsh, but the English. Why do they seem so unsure of who they are?Jeremy Paxman is to many the embodiment of Englishness yet even he is sometimes forced to ask: who or what exactly are the English? And in setting about addressing this most vexing of questions, Paxman discovers answers to a few others. Like: Why do the English actually enjoy feeling persecuted?What is behind the English obsession with games?How did they acquire their odd attitudes to sex and to food?Where did they get their extraordinary capacity for hypocrisy?Covering history, attitudes to foreigners, sport, stereotypyes, language and much, much more, The English brims over with stories and anecdotes that provide a fascinating portrait of a nation and its people.'Intelligent, well-written, informative and funny...A book to chew on, dip into, quote from and exploit in arguments' Andrew Marr, Observer 'Bursting with good things' Daily Telegraph Jeremy Paxman is a journalist, best known for his work presenting Newsnight and University Challenge. His books include Empire, On Royalty, The English and The Political Animal. He lives in Oxfordshire.
£12.99
Vintage Publishing Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures
The smash-hit Sunday Times bestseller that will transform your understanding of our planet and life itself.'Astonishing ... it seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down' Observer'Completely mind-blowing ... reads like an adventure story' Sunday Times*WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY BOOK PRIZE 2021**WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2021*The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. They can change our minds, heal our bodies and even help us avoid environmental disaster; they are metabolic masters, earth-makers and key players in most of nature's processes. In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake takes us on a mind-altering journey into their spectacular world, and reveals how these extraordinary organisms transform our understanding of our planet and life itself.'Dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing' Robert Macfarlane'Urgent, astounding and necessary' Helen Macdonald'Gorgeous!' Margaret Atwood (on Twitter)'Wonderful' Nigella Lawson'This book is like one surprise after another' David Byrne'Uplifting' Jeanette Winterson*SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2021**SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021** A Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Times, Evening Standard, Mail on Sunday, BBC Science Focus and Time Book of the Year *
£12.99
Indiana University Press On the Sultan's Service: Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil's Memoir of the Ottoman Palace, 1909–1912
"When at last we were approaching the Harem, the Sultan, surely quite alarmed, said to me in a low voice (was that so the eunuch walking in front of us wouldn't hear, or because in this lonely and dark passageway he was frightened of his own voice?), Ne olacak? 'What is to become of things?'" Translated into English for the first time, this memoir provides fascinating first-hand insight into the personalities, intrigues, and inner workings of the Ottoman palace in its final decades. Written by Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil, who was First Secretary to Sultan Mehmed V and would go on to be one of Turkey's most famous novelists, On the Sultan's Service makes available to English readers the remarkable account of life and work in the Ottoman palace chancery—the public, "business" side of the palace—in its final incarnation. We learn of the court's new role under this second-to-last Sultan in post-Revolution Turkey. No longer exercising political power, the palace negotiated the minefields between political factions, sought ways to unite the empire in the face of sharpening nationalist aspirations, and faced with a kind of shocked despondency the opening salvos of the wars that were to overwhelm the country. Uşaklıgil includes interviews with the Imperial family and descriptions of royal nuptials, the palaces and its visitors, and the crises that shook the court. He delivers an insightful and moving portrait of Mehmed V, the elderly gentleman who reigned over the Ottoman Empire through both Balkan Wars and World War I.
£63.00
Biteback Publishing The Women Behind the Few: The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Intelligence during the Second World War
'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' The courageous pilots of the Royal Air Force who faced the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, affectionately known as 'the Few', are rightly hailed as heroes. Recently, efforts have been made to recognise the thousands who supported RAF operations behind the scenes. And yet one group remains missing from the narrative: the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. The Women Behind the Few explores the Second World War from the perspective of the WAAFs working behind the scenes to collect and disseminate vital intelligence - intelligence that resulted in Allied victory. WAAFs worked within the Dowding System, the world's most sophisticated air defence network, as well as in the Y Service, intercepting German communications. Throughout the Blitz, they used radar to aid Fighter and Bomber Commands in protecting Britain's civilians. WAAFs also assisted with the Allied offensive bombing campaign and were behind the discovery of the terrifying German V-weapons. Their work was critical ahead of the Normandy landings and they were present in their hundreds at Bletchley Park. In this thrilling book, Sarah-Louise Miller brings the women of the force back to life, celebrating their wartime contribution to British military intelligence. Hidden behind the Few but vital to their success, WAAFs supplied the RAF with life-saving information. Here, for the first time, is their story.
£22.50
John Murray Press NIV Pocket Pastel Pink Soft-tone Bible
This pretty pink Bible comes in a sturdy gift-style box and includes a ribbon marker and silver page edges.With over 400 million Bibles in print, the New International Version is the world's most popular modern English Bible. It is renowned for its combination of reliability and readability. Fully revised and updated for the first time in 25 years, the NIV is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study.This Bible also features: clear, readable 6.75pt texteasy-to-read layout shortcuts to key stories, events and people of the Bible reading plan timeline book by book overview quick links to find inspiration and help from the Bible in different life situations.British Text This edition uses British spelling, punctuation and grammar to allow the Bible to be read more naturally.More about the translationThis revised and updated edition of the NIV includes three main types of change, taking into account changes in the way we use language day to day; advances in biblical scholarship and understanding; and the need to ensure that gender accurate language is used, to faithfully reflect whether men and women are referred to in each instance. The translators have carefully assessed a huge body of scholarship, as well as inviting peer submissions, in order to review every word of the existing NIV to ensure it remains as clear and relevant today as when it was first published.Royalties from all sales of the NIV Bible help Biblica, formerly the International Bible Society, in their work of translating and distributing Bibles around the world.
£18.99
HarperCollins Focus The Call of the Wrens
The Call of the Wrens introduces the little-known story of the daring women who rode through war-torn Europe carrying secrets on their shoulders.An orphan who spent her youth without a true home, Marion Hoxton found in the Great War something other than destruction. She discovered a chance to belong. As a member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service—the Wrens—Marion gained sisters. She found purpose in her work as a motorcycle dispatch rider assigned to train and deliver carrier pigeons to the front line. And despite the constant threat of danger, she and her childhood friend Eddie began to dream of a future together. Until the battle that changed everything.Now twenty years later, another war has broken out across Europe, calling Marion to return to the fight. Meanwhile others, like twenty-year-old society girl Evelyn Fairchild, hear the call for the first time. For Evelyn, serving in the war is a way to prove herself after a childhood fraught with surgeries and limitations from a disability. The re-formation of the Wrens as World War II rages is the perfect opportunity to make a difference in the world at seventy miles per hour.Told in alternating narratives that converge in a single life-changing moment, The Call of the Wrens is a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, and resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it. Historical, stand-alone novel Book length: approximately 94,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs
£10.99
Octopus Publishing Group Vogue Colouring Book
Editor's Choice - The Bookseller"...the latest addition to the genre is the most stylish yet, comprising images from 1950s Vogue....Even in monochrome the Vogue Colouring Book is a masterful creation, transporting you back to the billowing layers, long gloves and poised hats of the 1950s." Stella magazine.This, the first colouring book from British VOGUE, has been created by award-winning writer, fashion editor, curator and Royal College of Art Professor, Iain R Webb. Celebrating the centenary of British VOGUE, these hand-drawn artworks are inspired by iconic images from the magazine in the 1950s - an era of hats and matching gloves, haughty elegance and hourglass silhouettes (a period that continues to inspire contemporary designers including Miuccia Prada and Dolce & Gabbana).The book features a glamorous dream wardrobe of luxurious ballgowns and soigné cocktail dresses, smart suits and dramatic accessories by key designers including Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Chanel. The accompanying captions offer fashion and style tips (often highly amusing in hindsight) and are taken from the original pages of British VOGUE. The c90 artworks can be coloured in in the spirit of the original images that inspired them or embellished with whatever colours and patterns take the reader's fancy. The colouring book is the perfect present for all those who love vintage fashion and will be published in time for VOGUE's centenary celebrations in 2016, which begin with a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.
£11.69
Troubador Publishing Jacobite Sons in New South Wales
Jacobite Sons in New South Wales is the last book in the Trilogy that tracks the Lovat family from the devastation of the Jacobite Rebellion in the Scottish Highlands to their resettlement in Australia. In the first book, Son of a Jacobite, Thomas is born on the day his father is killed at Culloden, marking the defeat of the Scots at the hands of the English. Growing up in Lancashire, he travels to Persia as a young man and discovers Islam. After joining the British Army, he serves in the American Wars, struggling with being a British Officer due to his rebellious Jacobite spirit, one he sees reflected in the American cause. In The Jacobite Grandson, Thomas takes his son, Edward, to Persia where Edward also comes to understand the Islamic world. Edward joins the Royal Navy and travels to New South Wales, struggling like his father with his rebellious heritage, especially as he sees the injustices meted out to the convicts and Indigenous peoples. In Jacobite Sons in New South Wales, Edward’s two sons, Thomas and Charles, migrate permanently to New South Wales, one as a pioneer educator, the other as a pioneer clergyman. It covers their own struggles with the sectarianism and divisions that characterised public and church life in the colony at the time. Much factual history is inserted into the lives of all the key characters through events and people such as Thomas Jefferson, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Arthur Philip and later governors of New South Wales. The history is coloured by the love lives, happy and sad, of all the main players.
£13.00
John Murray Press NIV Pocket Pastel Blue Soft-tone Bible
This lovely blue Bible comes in a sturdy gift-style box and includes a ribbon marker and silver page edges.With over 400 million Bibles in print, the New International Version is the world's most popular modern English Bible. It is renowned for its combination of reliability and readability. Fully revised and updated for the first time in 25 years, the NIV is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study.This Bible also features: clear, readable 6.75pt texteasy-to-read layout shortcuts to key stories, events and people of the Bible reading plan timeline book by book overview quick links to find inspiration and help from the Bible in different life situations.British Text This edition uses British spelling, punctuation and grammar to allow the Bible to be read more naturally.More about the translationThis revised and updated edition of the NIV includes three main types of change, taking into account changes in the way we use language day to day; advances in biblical scholarship and understanding; and the need to ensure that gender accurate language is used, to faithfully reflect whether men and women are referred to in each instance. The translators have carefully assessed a huge body of scholarship, as well as inviting peer submissions, in order to review every word of the existing NIV to ensure it remains as clear and relevant today as when it was first published.Royalties from all sales of the NIV Bible help Biblica, formerly the International Bible Society, in their work of translating and distributing Bibles around the world.
£19.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd British and Commonwealth Warship Camouflage of WWII: Volume III: Cruisers and Minelayers
During the Second World War navies developed low visibility camouflage, applied to both the vertical and horizontal surfaces of their ships, in order to reduce visibility by blending in with the sea, or confuse the identity of a ship by applying obtrusive patters. In this volume by maritime artist Mal Wright, all the paint schemes that adorned the cruisers, minelayers and armed merchant cruisers of the Royal Navy and Commonwealth are depicted in detail, along with discussion on changes of armament and electronics that effected the outward appearance of each ship. Beginning with the older cruisers, the book goes on to cover all the other cruiser classes taking in heavy cruisers, prewar cruisers, prewar and wartime cruisers; a large part also covers minelayers and armed merchant vessels (AMCs). Where possible both sides of the ship are depicted. With 800 full colour illustrations, arranged by ship type rather than camouflage scheme, this book concentrates the clearest possible information into a single volume to provide a one-stop reference source. Many schemes would be difficult for any reader to unearth other than with the most intensive research, so this work is an invaluable tool for historians, collectors, modelmakers and wargamers. 'Overall, this is a very good book that brings the subject matter to life in a way that no previous work has done. Like its predecessor you can read it from cover to cover or dip into it to study a particular ship or class and it is a tribute both to Mal Wright's many years of research and his artwork. I thoroughly recommend it...' Australian Naval Institute
£16.99
Oxford University Press Inc Radegund: The Trials and Triumphs of a Merovingian Queen
A princess born to the Thuringian royal house. A captive in war, forced to marry the Frankish king who killed her family. A queen, who renounced her position, received consecration as a deaconess, and took monastic vows. A religious leader, who acquired a fragment of the Cross of the Crucifixion for her convent of Holy Cross in Poitiers. And, lastly, a saint, remembered for her healings, exorcisms, and extreme self-mortification. Such was Radegund, a woman who lived through an era defined by headlong change. Honored as a "mother" by subsequent Frankish kings and as a holy woman by her nuns and devotees, Radegund enjoyed a reputation for righteousness that spread throughout the whole of medieval Europe, with later queens emulating her pious achievements. For generations, she defined medieval queenship, female monastic practice, and the expectations associated with holy women. Today, she is often envisioned as a pan-European saint. Radegund presents a new interpretation of this remarkable woman, examining her vibrant life and legacy. E. T. Dailey shows how she succeeded in establishing a place for herself within this difficult and dangerous world, despite the trials she faced. He also demonstrates how Radegund achieved a position of prominence as a woman in a foreign land without resorting to the violence and intrigue that characterized the lives of other prominent women during this period. Based on a wealth of English, French, and German scholarship, this book will equip experts and lay readers with a concise, authoritative, and accessible portrait of Radegund.
£19.15
National Academies Press Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France
Diane France loves bones. Why? Because they talk to her. Every skeleton she meets whispers secrets about the life?and death?of its owner. Diane France can hear those secrets because she's a forensic anthropologist, a bone detective. She has the science skills and know-how to examine bones for clues to a mystery: Who was this person and how did he or she die? Bones tell Diane about the life and times of famous people in history, from a Russian royal family to American outlaws and war heroes. They speak to her about murders, mass disasters, and fatal accidents. One day she's collecting skeletal evidence at a crime scene. A phone call later she's jetting to the site of a plane crash or other unexpected tragedy to identify victims. Young readers will be captivated by the thrilling real-life story of this small-town girl full of curiosity and mischief who became a world-famous bone detective. This title aligns to Common Core standards: Interest Level Grades 6 - 8; Reading Level Grade level Equivalent: 7.1: Lexile Measure: 1080L; DRA: Not Available; Guided Reading: Z Table of ContentsSample Chapter 1: Diane France's Brain
£16.99
John Donald Publishers Ltd James VII: Duke and King of Scots, 1633 - 1701
James VII and II is one of the least studied monarchs of Scotland, and has previously mostly been studied from an English perspective or as the muddled victim of the revolution of 1688/9 which delivered for Britain much-vaunted political emancipation. This book provides the first complete portrait of James as a Stewart prince of Scotland, as duke of Albany and King of Scots. It re-evaluates the traditional views of James as a Catholic extremist and absolutist who failed through incompetence, and challenges preconceptions based on strong views of his failings, both in popular belief and serious history. Investigating the personality and motives of the man, this biography assesses James as commander, as Christian and as king, but also as family man and Restoration libertine - a prince of his time. Painting a picture of James from cradle to grave, from childhood to resigned exile, it brings him to life within his Scottish context and as a member of the royal line of Scotland. The journey from dashing young cavalry commander to pious prince in exile appears oddly incongruous given the political and personal trials that lay between. That journey was much more of Scotland than previous studies have suggested - indeed, James was in many ways the last King of Scots.
£25.00
Salt Publishing The Third Reel
Scott Pack: Books of the Year 2018Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Literary Awards (South Africa)Twenty-two-year-old Etienne is studying film in London, having fled conscription in his native South Africa. It is 1986, the time of Thatcher, anti-apartheid campaigns and Aids, but also of postmodern art, post-punk rock, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Adrift in a city cast in shadow, he falls in love with a German artist while living in derelict artists’ communes.When Etienne finds the first of three reels of a German film from the 1930s, he begins searching for the missing reels, a project that turns into an obsession when his lover disappears in Berlin. It is while navigating this city divided by the Wall that Etienne gradually pieces together the history of a small group of Jewish film makers in Nazi Germany.It is a desperate quest amid complications that pull him back to the present and to South Africa. However, his search for the missing film continues.Ambitious and cosmopolitan, the material of S. J. Naudé’s The Third Reel is as disparate as the cities in which the book is set. Architecture, cinematography, sex, music, illness, loss and love all collide in this exquisitely wrought, deeply affecting novel.
£9.99
Not for Tourists Not For Tourists Guide to London 2024
With details on everything from Big Ben to Brick Lane, this is the only guide a native or traveler needs. Whether you’ve called London your home for decades or just arrived last night, there’s information in the Not For TouristsGuide to London that you need to know. This map-based, neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide will help you master this amazing city like an expert. Packed with more than 150 maps and thousands of listings for restaurants, shops, theaters, and under-the-radar spots, you won’t find a better guide to London. Want to score tickets to a big Arsenal or Chelsea football match? NFT has you covered. How about royal sightseeing at Buckingham Palace? We’ve got that, too. The best Indian restaurant, theater experience, bookstore, or cultural site—whatever you need—NFT puts it at your fingertips. This light and portable guide also features: An invaluable street index Profiles of more than one hundred neighborhoods Listings for museums, landmarks, the best shopping, and more You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to solve the mysteries of London; NFT has all the answers!
£13.49
Cornell University Press Living by the Sword: Weapons and Material Culture in France and Britain, 600–1600
Sharpen your knowledge of swords with Kristen B. Neuschel as she takes you through a captivating 1,000 years of French and English history. Living by the Sword reveals that warrior culture, with the sword as its ultimate symbol, was deeply rooted in ritual long before the introduction of gunpowder weapons transformed the battlefield. Neuschel argues that objects have agency and that decoding their meaning involves seeing them in motion: bought, sold, exchanged, refurbished, written about, displayed, and used in ceremony. Drawing on evidence about swords (from wills, inventories, records of armories, and treasuries) in the possession of nobles and royalty, she explores the meanings people attached to them from the contexts in which they appeared. These environments included other prestige goods such as tapestries, jewels, and tableware—all used to construct and display status. Living by the Sword draws on an exciting diversity of sources from archaeology, military and social history, literature, and material culture studies to inspire students and educated lay readers (including collectors and reenactors) to stretch the boundaries of what they know as the "war and culture" genre.
£20.99
Ohio University Press Making Money: Life, Death, and Early Modern Trade on Africa’s Guinea Coast
A new era in world history began when Atlantic maritime trade among Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas opened up in the fifteenth century, setting the stage for massive economic and cultural change. In Making Money, Colleen Kriger examines the influence of the global trade on the Upper Guinea Coast two hundred years later—a place and time whose study, in her hands, imparts profound insights into Anglo-African commerce and its wider milieu. A stunning variety of people lived in this coastal society, struggling to work together across deep cultural divides and in the process creating a dynamic creole culture. Kriger digs further than any previous historian of Africa into the records of England’s Royal African Company to illuminate global trade patterns, the interconnectedness of Asian, African, and European markets, and—most remarkably—the individual lives that give Making Money its human scale. By inviting readers into the day-to-day workings of early modern trade in the Atlantic basin, Kriger masterfully reveals the rich social relations at its core. Ultimately, this accessible book affirms Africa’s crucial place in world history during a transitional period, the early modern era.
£55.80
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Anglo-Norman Studies XXV: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2002
The Battle Conference celebrated its quarter-centenary in 2002 in Glasgow, and this volume has a particular focus on Scottish themes. The Battle Conference celebrated its quarter-centenary in 2002 in Glasgow, and this volume, while ranging from Norman Sicily to Scandinavia, has a particular focus on Scottish themes. There are six papers on aspects of Scottish history from the eleventh to the early thirteenth century: on kings and their followers, on the building of burghs, and on the border abbey churches. Charters (Norman, Anglo-Norman and Scottish) represent another focus. In additionto papers discussing problems of authenticity and the implications of forgery, several others use charter evidence to shed new light on royal and aristocratic values and on critical periods in the history of William the Conquerorand the Marshal earls. Three papers take a comparative look at past and present interpretations of law and law codes in England, Scotland and Scandinavia; two investigate contemporary historians' perceptions of the Jews and Byzantium.Contributors: MICHAEL ANGOLD, G.W.S. BARROW, DAVID BATES, DAUVIT BROUN, JULIA CRICK, A.A.M. DUNCAN, RICHARD FAWCETT, J0HN HUDSON, MICHAEL H. GELTING, MICHAEL KENNEDY, RICHARD MORTIMER, BRUCE O'BRIEN, DANIEL POWER, NIGEL WEBB.
£80.00
University of British Columbia Press Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice
The name “Donald Marshall Jr.” is synonymous with “wrongful conviction” and the fight for Indigenous rights in Canada. In Truth and Conviction, Jane McMillan – Marshall’s former partner, an acclaimed anthropologist, and an original defendant in the Supreme Court’s Marshall decision on Indigenous fishing rights – tells the story of how Marshall’s fight against injustice permeated Canadian legal consciousness and revitalized Indigenous law.Marshall was destined to assume the role of hereditary chief of the Mi’kmaw Nation when, in 1971, he was wrongly convicted of murder. He spent more than eleven years in jail before a royal commission exonerated him and exposed the entrenched racism underlying the terrible miscarriage of justice. Four years later, in 1993, he was charged with fishing eels without a licence. With the backing of Mi’kmaw chiefs, he took the case all the way to the Supreme Court to vindicate Indigenous treaty rights in the landmark Marshall decision.Marshall was only fifty-five when he died in 2009. His legacy lives on as Mi’kmaq continue to assert their rights and build justice programs grounded in customary laws and practices, key steps in the path to self-determination and reconciliation.
£25.99
Faber & Faber Sleeping on Islands: A Life in Poetry
Andrew Motion has been close to the centres of British poetry for over fifty years.Sleeping on Islands is his clear-sighted and open-hearted account of this remarkable career. It takes us from scenes of a teenage home-life coloured by tragedy and silence - where writing was as much a refuge as an assertion - to the excruciations of early public appearances, to the decade he spent as Poet Laureate, promoting and ensuring the central place of poetry in a nation's character. Along the way, we hear about the risks and sacrifices involved, as well as the difficulties of sustaining a commitment to writing within a helix of other obligations. We see in close-up the significance of Motion's formative relationship with W. H. Auden and his subsequent friendship with Philip Larkin. And during his time as Laureate, we witness memorable encounters with Royalty and Prime Ministers, and discover the costs and complications that accompany such a high-profile role.By turns moving and humorous, this is the intimate story of a rare poetic life. And it proves Motion's contention that the poems we most enjoy 'are not weird visitations, or ornaments stuck on the surface of life, but part of life's daily bread'.
£18.00
Hodder & Stoughton NIV Pocket Mint Soft-tone Bible with Zip
Small enough to take with you everywhere you go, this pocket Bible will ensure you have the Word of God at hand at all times. With a pastel mint soft imitation leather cover and matching zip, the Bible pages will be kept tidy and clean.This lovely gift Bible has a removable presentation sleeve, a pastel mint ribbon marker, and features a black and white hand-drawn pattern on the endpapers.First published in British English in 1979, the New International Version is the world's most popular modern English Bible. It is renowned for its combination of reliability and readability and is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study. This Bible also features:- clear, readable 6.75pt text- easy-to-read layout- shortcuts to key stories, events and people of the Bible- reading plan- book-by-book overview- quick links to find inspiration and help from the Bible in different life situations.This edition uses British spelling, punctuation and grammar to allow the Bible to be read more naturally.Royalties from all sales of the NIV Bible help Biblica in their work of translating and distributing Bibles around the world.
£18.99
River Books A Luang Prabang Love Story
In 1930s Luang Prabang, the beautiful and demure Kham-Phiou was much admired. On a New Year's Day, the life of the aristocratic young woman changed when she caught the eye of a sophisticated older man - Prince Souvanna Phouma. The prince fell madly in love with Kham-Phiou and was determined to marry her against all odds. His family wanted a marriage within the dynasty, while her widowed mother feared Palace intrigues. After the wedding, life in the prince's family home was difficult, but Kham-Phiou began to adapt until the prince decided they should move to Vientiane for the sake of his career. The tale of the tragic love story spans over half a century and is set against the little-known backdrop of old-world Laos where ancient customs and superstitions still held sway. In this charming and moving personal account incorporating the social history of Laos, Manisamouth, granddaughter of Kham-Phiou, brings her grandmother's untold story to life, accompanied by evocative black and white photographs, family trees of the Luang Prabang Royals and Kham-Phiou's lineage, and includes a section on Lao history.
£9.99
New Era Publications UK Ltd Mission Earth 3, The Enemy Within
Do you know who your enemies are? Your neighbor? Your boss? Your butcher? Your wife? Only the Voltarians know for sure. Theyve infiltrated our worldand theyre prepping it for a power play unlike any youve ever seen. Even Jettero Heller, a leading Voltarian, doesnt know whom he can trust. Beset by double crossing body doubles and backstabbing identity shifters, he discovers that the most dangerous battle of all is about to begin... against a most surprising enemy. In this web of espionage, intrigue and betrayal, even Voltarian Royal Combat Engineer Jettero Heller doesnt know who he can trust. Hes hard at work creating a gasoline substitute to fuel his 68 Caddy in a Long Island automobile racea development that could have dramatic consequences for the entire human race. As such, he poses a grave threat to the powers that be. Now, his treacherous fellow Voltarian, Soltan Gris, has formed a secret alliance with a cabal that includes a dirty DC politician, a ruthless billionaire industrialist and a mysterious media madman. Their mission: terminate Jettero Heller. Beset by double-crossing body doubles and backstabbing identity shifters, Heller discovers that the most dangerous battle of all is about to begin against THE ENEMY WITHIN.
£9.50
Zaffre One Enchanted Evening: The uplifting and charming Sunday Times Bestselling Debut by Anton Du Beke
The Sunday Times bestseller!'Downton with dance, perfect!' Santa MontefiorePrepare to be swept off your feet by the romantic and irresistible debut novel from Anton Du BekeLondon, 1936.Inside the spectacular Grand Ballroom of the exclusive Buckingham Hotel the rich and powerful, politicians, film stars, even royalty, rub shoulders with Raymond de Guise and his troupe of talented dancers from all around the world, who must enchant them, captivate them, and sweep away their cares. Accustomed to waltzing with the highest of society, Raymond knows a secret from his past could threaten all he holds dear.Nancy Nettleton, new chambermaid at the Buckingham, finds hotel life a struggle after leaving her small hometown. She dreams of joining the dancers on the ballroom floor as she watches, unseen, from behind plush curtains and hidden doorways. She soon discovers everyone at the Buckingham - guests and staff alike - has something to hide . . .The storm clouds of war are gathering, and beneath the glitz and glamour of the ballroom lurks an irresistible world of scandal and secrets.Let's dance . . .
£8.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Hawker Hunter
If ever there was a real pilot's aeroplane it was the Hunter; an outstanding multi-purpose aircraft which excelled in the roles of interceptor fighter, ground attack, reconnaissance, research vehicle and two-seater trainer, not forgetting its dramatic formation aerobatic performances. The Hunter is one of the world's greatest aircraft. For three decades, pilots have enthused about it, extolling the virtues of its smooth, aerodynamic lines, 4 x 30mm cannon, the Rolls-Royce Avon engine, and its outstandingly honest handling characteristics combined with a lively performance. It saw operational deployment in Europe with Fighter Command and 2nd TAF, in Cyprus, the Middle East and the Far East, operating in the ground-attack role against rebels in Aden and Malaysia respectively. The Hunter was a classic thoroughbred of its time, from the stables of one of the finest fighter manufacturers in the world and, for fifty years, its adaptability was rarely challenged. Although the last example was retired in July 2001, the Hunter legend undoubtedly lives on, with 114 potentially airworthy airframes located in fourteen countries around the world. Here, the legendary tale of the Hunter is told in words and images.
£15.29
Hodder & Stoughton NIV Pocket Lilac Soft-tone Bible with Zip
Small enough to take with you everywhere you go, this pocket Bible will ensure you have the Word of God at hand at all times. With a lilac pastel purple soft imitation leather cover and matching zip, the Bible pages will be kept tidy and clean. This lovely gift Bible has a removable presentation box and a pastel purple ribbon marker, and features a black and white hand-drawn pattern on the endpapers. First published in British English in 1979, the New International Version is the world's most popular modern English Bible. It is renowned for its combination of reliability and readability and is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study. This Bible also features:- clear, readable 6.75pt text- easy-to-read layout- shortcuts to key stories, events and people of the Bible- reading plan- book by book overview- quick links to find inspiration and help from the Bible in different life situations.This edition uses British spelling, punctuation and grammar to allow the Bible to be read more naturally.Royalties from all sales of the NIV Bible help Biblica in their work of translating and distributing Bibles around the world.
£18.99
Rebellion Publishing Ltd. Saint Death's Daughter: 2023 World Fantasy Award Winner!
WINNER OF THE 2023 WORLD FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NOVELNothing complicates life like Death.Lanie Stones, the daughter of the Royal Assassin and Chief Executioner of Liriat, has never led a normal life. Born with a gift for necromancy and a literal allergy to violence, she was raised in isolation in the family’s crumbling mansion by her oldest friend, the ancient revenant Goody Graves.When her parents are murdered, it falls on Lanie and her cheerfully psychotic sister Nita to settle their extensive debts or lose their ancestral home—and Goody with it. Appeals to Liriat's ruler to protect them fall on indifferent ears… until she, too, is murdered, throwing the nation's future into doubt.Hunted by Liriat’s enemies, hounded by her family’s creditors and terrorised by the ghost of her great-grandfather, Lanie will need more than luck to get through the next few months—but when the goddess of Death is on your side, anything is possible.
£15.29
Peeters Publishers Van Eyck Studies: Papers Presented at the Eighteenth Symposium for the Study of Underdrawing and Technology in Painting, Brussels, 19-21 September 2012
Since Paul Coreman's ground-breaking L'Agneau mystique au laboratoire in 1953, the Ghent Altarpiece, masterwork of the Van Eyck brothers, has been a major focus of research at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA, Brussels). Some sixty years later, in the wake of a new conservation campaign in which KIK-IRPA is again playing the leading role, the art of Hubert and Jan van Eyck took centre stage at the Symposium XVIII for the Study of Underdrawing and Technology in Painting (Brussels, 19-21 September 2012). The event was organised by the KIK-IRPA and the Centre for the Study of the Flemish Primitives in collaboration with the Laboratoire d'étude des ÷uvres d'art par des méthodes scientifiques (Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve), and Illuminare - Centre for the Study of Medieval Art (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). The Ghent Altarpiece and the oeuvre of Jan van Eyck continue to captivate modern viewers and still arouse tremendous interest among art historians. The fascination with Eyckian art, with all its dazzling illusionistic effects and iconographic finesse, is every bit as fresh and challenging as it was six centuries ago. During three days of presentations and intense discussions, eminent specialists from all over the world attempted to fanthom the secrets of Van Eyck's success. They debated the issues from a variety of different standpoints, and shed new light on thorny topics such as attribution, iconography and painting technique. This book captures the variety of thirty-seven papers presented at the symposium and provides state-of-the-art knowledge on one of the most significant painters of all time. It should be read in conjunction with the widely acclaimed website "Closer to Van Eyck", which offers the scientific imagery of the Ghent Altarpiece in glorious high resolution.
£212.35
Ivan R Dee, Inc Full Swing: Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer's Life
It was a long way from the gritty streets of Springfield Avenue on Chicago's West Side, and hawking stockings in the old Maxwell Street marketplace, to a position as sports columnist and feature writer for the New York Times, and a share in the Pulitzer Prize. But Ira Berkow made that improbable journey. In this joyful, moving, and often funny memoir, he describes how he climbed up to become not just a sportswriter but a writer. His early years were not exactly promising. For someone who suffered through poor grades in high school and flunked out of his first crack at college in his first semester, it was a revelation to discover as a junior in college that he had a passion for writing. He pursued it with determination and became one of America's most thoughtful writers on sports, a man interested as much in the people who play the games as in the scores and statistics. His father had not a little to do with forming Mr. Berkow's character and his concern for matters like truth and justice. But there were others who pitched in to help suggest a path for a young man who wasn't always sure what he wanted to do with his life. Like the great sports columnist Red Smith, a mentor who took the time to critique a young writer's efforts; and Red Holzman, the Hall of Fame coach of the New York Knicks, who inspired Mr. Berkow as well as his players. Add E. B. White, Muhammad Ali, Saul Bellow, Mike Royko, Ted Williams, P. G. Wodehouse, Michael Jordan—the cast of characters in Full Swing is as broad as Mr. Berkow's interests and as instructive as a day at training camp. This is a writer's memoir with the warts as well as the wows, and with all the intelligence and charm that readers of Mr. Berkow have grown accustomed to. With 12 black-and-white photographs.
£15.73
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Dunkirk Perimeter and Evacuation 1940: France and Flanders Campaign
The book, the latest in a series of eight Battleground Europe books that deals with the BEF's campaign in France and Flanders in 1940, covers the fierce fighting around the Dunkerque Perimeter during May and June 1940 between the retreating British Expeditionary Force and its French allies and the advancing German army. It covers the area that most people in Britain associate with the fighting in France in 1940, a military disaster that could have been much worse. This grievous military setback was soon transformed into a morale boosting symbol of the resilience of the British against a Germany that had crushed so many nations in a matter of weeks. With over 200 black and white photographs and fourteen maps, this book looks in some detail at the units deployed around Dunkerque and Nieuport and their often desperate actions to prevent the inevitable advance of German forces opposing them. The evacuation of the BEF from the beaches east of Dunkerque is covered in detail from the perspective of the Royal Navy and from the standpoint of the soldier on the beaches. Unusual for a Battleground Europe publication is the inclusion of a walk and drive around Ramsgate and Dover, covering the English end of the evacuation. In addition to visits to the relevant cemeteries, the book includes three appendices and two car tours, one tour covering the whole of the Dunkirk perimeter and the other covering Ramsgate and Dover, although there is plenty of scope for walking in both tours. There is also a walk around De Panne, which takes the tourist along the beach that saw so much of the evacuation, and into the back areas of the town where the Germans left their mark when clearing up after the British had gone.
£14.99
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Watergate: Inside America’s Most Infamous Address
A biography of Washington's most famous apartment complex -- the buildings with a thousand stories of the notables who have lived there From the day The Watergate officially opened in October 1965, living there meant being at the epicenter of politics and international intrigue. Virtually every major Washington figure in the 1960’s and 1970’s -- from J. Edgar Hoover to John and Martha Mitchell to Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward-had a connection to the the building. In The Watergate, writer and political consultant Joseph Rodota skillfully weaves the stories of such insiders into a riveting narrative history of a building that was a central hub of Washington for more than a decade. Along the way, Rodota introduces us to the Watergate’s secret movers and shakers who made the Beltway tick. There’s Anna Chenault, who dated Tommy Corcoran, Washington’s first “super lobbyist,” and was known as Washington’s “Tiger Hostess” for the lavish dinners and cocktail parties she hosted in her Watergate penthouse. Walter Pforzheimer, one of the “founding fathers” of the CIA, kept two apartments at the Watergate, one for his collection of literature on spying, and the other to sleep in. He chose the building because its cement-and-steel construction meant the floor was strong enough to hold his safe, and was a ubiquitous, if enigmatic, presence at the complex. And during the Nixon-Watergate scandal, the irrepressible Martha Mitchell was actually living there! During the Clinton years, it was almost known as "little Little Rock." Through the stories of both Washington royalty, and these lesser-known yet fascinating residents, Rodota achieves a history of Washington through the chronicle of its best-known residential building.
£20.22
Liverpool University Press Child Actors on the London Stage, Circa 1600: Their Education, Recruitment and Theatrical Success
A legal document dated 1600, for a Star Chamber case titled Clifton versus Robinson, details how boys were abducted from London streets and forcibly held in order to train them as actors for the Blackfriars theatre. No adults were seen on-stage in this theatre, which was stocked solely by acting boys, resulting in a satirical and scurrilous method of play presentation. Were the boys specifically targeted for skills they may have possessed which would have been applicable to this type of play presentation? And, was this method of recruitment typical or atypical of Elizabethan theatre? Analysis of the background of the boy subjects of the legal case indicate that several had received grammar-school tuition and, as a result, would have possessed skills in oration and rhetoric. Indeed, a significant number of the grammar schools in London provided regular public disputations and theatrical performances which would have made these boys an attractive proposition for inclusion in a theatrical company. The styles of play-texts which the boys performed and their manner of presenting characters helps to assess why child acting companies were commercially viable and popular. Their portrayal of all roles in a performance; young and old, male and female, clearly demonstrated their versatility and skill in mimicry and the adoption of other personas. Therefore the taking of grammar-school boys for re-training as actors was not opportunistic; their abductions were planned. The theatre owners undertook this method of recruitment as they felt that they were immune from prosecution due to holding royal commissions which they used to recruit boys. However, the Clifton vs. Robinson case clearly demonstrates that a determined parent whose child had been taken could challenge this and demand reparation.
£100.10
The History Press Ltd Stratford: A Pictorial History
Stratford developed at the lowest crossing point of the River Lea and was a strategic gateway to London. Part of the Essex parish of West Ham, its name, which derives from the Roman road to Colchester, was first mentioned shortly after the Norman Conquest. Domesday Book recorded nine water-mills and, more recently, the largest tithe-mill in Britain was built here in 1776, which happily survives to this day. The Abbey of Stratford Langthorne was founded in 1135, soon after the new Bow Bridge had been built, and it remained a wealthy institution until its dissolution in 1538.Throughout the Middle Ages, Stratford’s situation made it a trading place and a rural retreat for City merchants. Silk weaving and calico printing were the first industries to develop, together with the famous Bow porcelain works, but after the railway arrived in 1839, Hudson, ‘The Railway King’, turned Stratford into a major railway town. Meanwhile, on the marshy southern fringe fronting the Thames, ship-building and chemical works developed and the greatest industrial venture – the Royal Docks – were built, the largest in the country for many years. Stratford’s growth in the Victorian age was phenomenal; the population soared and social pressures mounted. The area became a cradle of the socialist and trade union movement.This splendidly illustrated book explores both the medieval background and the rich industrial and social heritage of Stratford in a fascinating narrative account, illuminated with a superb selection of carefully captioned old pictures. It will appeal to all who live or shop in the town and to everyone with an interest in the past of East London and the making of its present environment.
£16.99
John Blake Publishing Ltd Aled Jones: My Story
Aled Jones, a choirboy with a remarkable voice, achieved more as a teenager than many adult singers do in a lifetime. His prodigious talent propelled him to international stardom; before he was 16, he had already sold more than 6 million records and had become a fixture on television and radio. He has worked alongside such musical greats as Leonard Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Neville Marriner, Howard Blake and Mike Oldfield. Some of the high points of his early career included performances at the Hollywood Bowl and the wedding of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, as well as singing privately for the Prince and the late Princess of Wales. Best known as a boy soprano for his hit 'Walking in the Air', Aled tells the full story of the effect it had on his life. Always refreshingly honest and self-effacing, Aled reveals how he faced up to life after his voice had broken and how he carved out a new career for himself on stage, record, television and radio. His story begins with his idyllic childhood on the Welsh island of Anglesey and his years as a chorister at Bangor Cathedral, during which his family provided wonderful support and encouragement as he rose to fame. He tells of his studies at the Royal Academy of Music and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. As an adult performer, Aled has released a series of best-selling albums. Today, he is most known for sitting alongside Lorraine Kelly as one half of the presenting partnership of ITV's breakfast programme Daybreak. He is a regular host of Songs of Praise and presents weekly radio programmes for Classic FM and BBC Radio Wales. Aled: My Story reveals the man behind the music in a frank, heart-warming and funny account of his life.
£8.99
Pan Macmillan The Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories of Mystery Illness
Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2021'To compare any book to a Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it . . . I finished it feeling thrillingly unsettled, and wishing there was more.' – James McConnachie, Sunday TimesIn Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night.These disparate cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and – more crucially – to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology.Inspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses.From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn’t an illness?Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.'A study of diseases that we sometimes say are 'all in the mind', and an explanation of how unfair that characterisation is.' – Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year
£10.99
University of Pennsylvania Press No Wood, No Kingdom: Political Ecology in the English Atlantic
In early modern England, wood scarcity was a widespread concern. Royal officials, artisans, and common people expressed their fears in laws, petitions, and pamphlets, in which they debated the severity of the problem, speculated on its origins, and proposed solutions to it. No Wood, No Kingdom explores these conflicting attempts to understand the problem of scarcity and demonstrates how these ideas shaped land use, forestry, and the economic vision of England's earliest colonies. Popular accounts have often suggested that deforestation served as a "push" for English colonial expansion. Keith Pluymers shows that wood scarcity in England, rather than a problem of absolute supply and demand, resulted from social conflict over the right to define and regulate resources, difficulties obtaining accurate information, and competing visions for trade, forestry, and the English landscape. Domestic scarcity claims did encourage schemes to develop wood-dependent enterprises in the colonies, but in practice colonies competed with domestic enterprises rather than supplanting them. Moreover, close studies of colonial governments and the actions of individual landholders in Ireland, Virginia, Bermuda, and Barbados demonstrate that colonists experimented with different, often competing approaches to colonial woods and trees, including efforts to manage them as long-term resources, albeit ones that nonetheless brought significant transformations to the land. No Wood, No Kingdom explores the efforts to knot together woods around the Atlantic basin as resources for an English empire and the deep underlying conflicts and confusion that largely frustrated those plans. It speaks to historians of early modern Europe, early America, and the Atlantic World but also offers key insights on early modern resource politics, forest management, and political ecology of interest to readers in the environmental humanities and social sciences as well as those interested in colonialism or economic history.
£39.00
Penguin Books Ltd A Pipeline Runs Through It: The Story of Oil from Ancient Times to the First World War
'Fascinating revelations' Max Hastings, Sunday Times'Wonderfully detailed and colourful' Steven Poole, Daily Telegraph'The book I have long been waiting for... Essential reading' Michael KlarePetroleum has always been used by humans: as an adhesive by Neanderthals, as a waterproofing agent in Noah's Ark and as a weapon during the Crusades. Its eventual extraction from the earth in vast quantities transformed light, heat and power. A Pipeline Runs Through It is a fresh, comprehensive in-depth look at the social, economic, political and geopolitical forces involved in our transition to the modern oil age. It tells an extraordinary origin story, from the pre-industrial history of petroleum through to large-scale production in the mid-nineteenth century and the development of a dominant, fully-fledged oil industry by the early twentieth century.This was always a story of imperialist violence, political disenfranchisement, economic exploitation and environmental destruction. The near total eradication of the Native Americans of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio has barely been mentioned as a precondition for the emergence of the first industrialised oil region in the United States. Britain's invasion of Upper Burma in 1885 was perhaps the first war fought, at least in part, for access to oil; the growth of Royal Dutch-Shell involved the genocidal subjugation of people of the Dutch East Indies and the exploitation of oil in the Middle East arose seamlessly out of Britain's prior political and military interventions in the region.Finally, in an entirely new analysis, the book shows how the British navy's increasingly desperate dependence on vulnerable foreign sources of oil may have been a catalytic ingredient in the outbreak of the First World War. The rise of oil has shaped the modern world, and this is the book to understand it.
£36.00
The University of Chicago Press Is Administrative Law Unlawful?
Is administrative law unlawful? This provocative question has become all the more significant with the expansion of the modern administrative state. While the federal government traditionally could constrain liberty only through acts of Congress and the courts, the executive branch has increasingly come to control Americans through its own administrative rules and adjudication, thus raising disturbing questions about the effect of this sort of state power on American government and society. With Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, Philip Hamburger answers this question in the affirmative, offering a revisionist account of administrative law. Rather than accepting it as a novel power necessitated by modern society, he locates its origins in the medieval and early modern English tradition of royal prerogative. Then he traces resistance to administrative law from the Middle Ages to the present. Medieval parliaments periodically tried to confine the Crown to governing through regular law, but the most effective response was the seventeenth-century development of English constitutional law, which concluded that the government could rule only through the law of the land and the courts, not through administrative edicts. Although the US Constitution pursued this conclusion even more vigorously, administrative power reemerged in the Progressive and New Deal Eras. Since then, Hamburger argues, administrative law has returned American government and society to precisely the sort of consolidated or absolute power that the US Constitution-and constitutions in general-were designed to prevent. With a clear yet many-layered argument that draws on history, law, and legal thought, Is Administrative Law Unlawful? reveals administrative law to be not a benign, natural outgrowth of contemporary government but a pernicious-and profoundly unlawful-return to dangerous pre-constitutional absolutism.
£28.78
Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd Shakespeare, Hogarth and Garrick: Plays, Painting and Performance
In London in 1770 Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) remarked, ‘What a work could be written on Shakespeare, Hogarth and Garrick! There is something similar in the genius of all three.’ Two-and-a-half centuries on, Robin Simon’s highly original and illuminating book takes up the challenge.William Hogarth (1697–1764) and David Garrick (1717–1779) closely associated themselves with Shakespeare, embodying a relationship between plays, painting and performance that had been understood since Antiquity and which shaped the rules for history painting drawn up by the Académie royale in Paris in the seventeenth century.History painting was considered the highest form of art: a picture illustrating a moment drawn from just a few lines in a revered text. Hogarth’s David Garrick as Richard III (1745) transformed those ideas because, although it looked like a history painting, it was also a portrait of an actor in performance. With it, Hogarth established the genre of theatrical portraiture, a new and distinctively British kind ofhistory painting.This book offers a fresh examination of theatrical portraits through close analysis of the pictures and of the texts used in performance. It also examines the central role of the theatre in British culture, while highlighting the significance of Shakespeare, Hogarth and Garrick in the European Enlightenment and the rise of Romanticism. In this context another trio of genius features prominently: Lichtenberg, GottholdEphraim Lessing and Denis Diderot.Familiar paintings and performances are seen in an entirely new light, while unfamiliar pictures are also introduced, including major paintings and drawings that have never been published.The final chapter shows that the inter-relationship between plays, painting and performance survived into the age of cinema, revealing the pictorial sources of Laurence Olivier’s legendary film Richard III.
£80.30
Hodder & Stoughton Lessons From the Edge: Inspirational Tales of Surviving, Thriving and Extreme Adventure
'The thinking man's action hero.' - The Times Magazine'Inspiring survival stories from Aldo Kane, the man behind Tom Hardy, Bear Grylls and Steve Backshall expeditions.' - Trail MagazineTrained Royal Marines Sniper, world record breaker and extreme TV adventurer, Aldo Kane is known for his ability to navigate and lead through challenging and pressured environments, whether it be abseiling into an erupting volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rowing the Atlantic, getting locked in a bunker for 10 days with zero daylight, leading Steve Backshall into the jungle or being held at gunpoint...In his debut book, Lessons From The Edge, Aldo will inspire readers with his jaw-dropping stories and show them how to survive and thrive through sheer strength of mind and sharp decision-making. It will reveal how this tough military man was able to cope with suddenly feeling worthless, how he overcame doors literally slamming in his face, how he came to realise that you can't wait for things to happen and instead how he rediscovered his identity and harnessed his emotions to his advantage to find determination, purpose, and a renewed sense of belonging. And how, to use his own words, he became the captain of his own ship.Aldo is a firm believer that with the right head game, however hard it feels, you can get through anything life throws at you. Lessons From The Edge will inspire readers to find the spirit to do the things in life they've previously been too scared to tackle, build the courage to know that failure isn't the end, and the knowledge that the impossible can be made possible.Aldo is currently co-presenting The Bridge on Channel 4.
£20.00
Transworld Publishers Ltd Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying . . . every step feels spring-loaded with tension... extraordinary.' The New York TimesThe story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it first-hand. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, this book makes for a masterful non-fiction thriller.Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. It is a story that has long remained in dispute, clouded from the beginning in secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation.Midnight In Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of history's worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will - lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats - remain not just vital but necessary.Now, Higginbotham brings us closer to the truth behind this colossal tragedy.'Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair . . . wonderful and chilling ... written with skill and passion.' The Observer'An invaluable contribution to history.' Serhii Plokhy, Evening StandardLONGLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020
£12.99
Quercus Publishing The Admiral Benbow: The Life and Times of a Naval Legend
Admiral John Benbow was an English naval hero, a fighting sailor of ruthless methods but indomitable courage. Benbow was a man to be reckoned with. In 1702, however, when Benbow engaged a French squadron off the Spanish main, other ships in his squadron failed to support him. His leg shattered by a cannon-ball, Benbow fought on - but to no avail: the French escaped and the stricken Benbow succumbed to his wounds. When the story of his 'Last Fight' reached England, there was an outcry. Two of the captains who had abandoned him were court-martialled and shot; 'Brave Benbow' was elevated from national hero to national legend, his valour immortalized in broadsheet and folksong: ships were named after him; Tennyson later feted him in verse; in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, the tavern where Jim Hawkins and his mother live is called 'The Admiral Benbow'. For the very first time, Sam Willis tells the extraordinary story of Admiral Benbow through an age of dramatic change, from his birth under Cromwell's Commonwealth; to service under the restored Stuart monarchy; to the Glorious Revolution of 1688; to the French wars of Louis XIV; and finally to the bitter betrayal of 1702. The Admiral Benbow covers all aspects of seventeenth century naval life in richly vivid detail, from strategy and tactics to health and discipline. But Benbow also worked in the Royal Dockyards, lived in Samuel Evelyn's House, knew Peter the Great, helped to found the first naval hospital, and helped to build the first offshore lighthouse. The second volume in the Hearts of Oak trilogy, from one of Britain's most exciting young historians, The Admiral Benbow is a gripping and detailed account of the making of a naval legend.
£17.09