Search results for ""the history press ltd""

This book encapsulates the 120-year history of Ebbsfleet United in a series of team photographs, action shots, player portraits, old programmes, statistical information and other fascinating ephemera. It explores the stories of Gravesend United, Northfleet United, the combined club (Gravesend & Northfleet FC) and its modern-day counterpart Ebbsfleet United – the first club to be owned by the people. All the great days of the club’s history are recounted, from strong links to Tottenham Hotspur right through to Ebbsfleet’s memorable FA Trophy success at Wembley, along with the many ups and downs in between. This is a must-have for all fans of the club.

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At the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain’s manpower crisis forced them to turn to a previously untapped resource: women. For years it was thought women would be incapable of serving in uniform, but the ATS was to prove everyone wrong. Formed in 1938, the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service was a remarkable legion of women; this is their story. They took over many roles, releasing servicemen for front-line duties. ATS members worked alongside anti-aircraft gunners as ‘gunner-girls’, maintained vehicles, drove supply trucks, operated as telephonists in France, re-fused live ammunition, provided logistical support in army supply depots and employed specialist skills from Bletchley to General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims. They were even among the last military personnel to be evacuated from Dunkirk. They grasped their new-found opportunities for education, higher wages, skilled employment and a different future from the domestic role of their mothers. They earned the respect and admiration of their male counterparts and carved out a new future for women in Britain. They showed great skill and courage, with famous members including the young Princess Elizabeth (now about to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee as Britain’s Queen) and Mary Churchill, Sir Winston’s daughter. Girls in Khaki reveals their extraordinary achievements, romances, heartbreaks and determination through their own words and never-before published photographs.

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These Somerset tales, newly collected or retold with a strong sense of the land and the waters that shaped them, reflect our enduring interest in the natural landscape. Let these stories from the Summer Lands take you on a journey: across wind-wild moors that plummet to treacherous tides traversed by sea morgans; on a scramble from gorges shaped by the Devil’s spite to caves dwelled in by bitter witches. Discover ancient mines and dragons’ haunts, and emerge into forests and fields to be befriended by bees or bedevilled by fairies; then stroll beside ancient waterways, where willows walk and orchards talk. From Gwyn ap Neath to Joseph of Arimathea, your travelling companions will meet you from legend, history and living memory – from the places where they were once known best. Sharon Jacksties has a sharp eye for the landscape of Somerset and the seen and unseen stories that it holds, a sympathetic ear for the dialect of the South West, and a playful wit that brings this collection of tales to vivid and delightful life.

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When we think of Arnhem we think of a Bridge too Far and a sky full of parachutes dropping the Allies into the Netherlands. Beyond these images, this was one of the most complex and strategically important operations of the war. Operation Market Garden was devised to give the Allies the opportunity to bypass the German Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. Paratroopers were dropped into the Netherlands to secure all the bridgeheads and major routes along the proposed Allied axis advance. Simultaneously the 1st Airborne Division, supported by the Glider Pilot Regiment and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, landed at Arnhem. The British expected to sweep through and connect with the Arnhem force within a matter of days. However, things on the ground proved very different. The troops met resistance from pockets of SS soldiers and soon were overwhelmed. The Arnhem contingent was cut-off from reinforcement and eventually forced to withdraw. The 1st Airborne Division lost three-quarters of its strength in the operation and did not see battle again. Through quotes and maps the text explores the unfolding action of the battle and puts the reader on the frontline. If you truly want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story.

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A Toby in the Lane reveals the rich fabric of the East End markets, primarily in Petticoat Lane and Brick Lane, and celebrates the street traders and stalls which call these London institutions home. This is the story of immigrant communities and their fight for survival, reflected in sweat and toil. Countless tales of traders’ scams, tricks and banter are found inside. Families who have traded throughout the generations on the market offer up a unique insight into the layers of history that – up until now – have remained untold. The story also traces the sometimes complicated relationships between trader and authorities in an often amusing but informative tale of London market life. A spellbinding, quirky and intimate portrait of life on the famous markets of London’s East End, written by an East End senior market inspector, A Toby in the Lane will delight Londoners and visitors alike.

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Built by the Romans, looted by the Danes and conquered by King William I (who devastated the town to build a castle and a cathedral), the city of Lincoln has had a long and most dreadful history. Containing medieval child murder, vile sieges of (and escapes from) the castle, the savage repression of the Lincolnshire rising by King Henry VIII (who had the ringleaders hanged, drawn and quartered) and plagues, lepers, prisons, riots, typhoid, tanks and terrible hangings by the ton, you’ll never see the city in the same way again.

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Victor Green is 37, unmarried and the sort of man who irons his underpants. When pruning his tree, he falls from his ladder and kills the pedestrian below - the gangster Tommy ‘Gruesome’ Hewson. As word spreads of the gangster’s demise, Victor is mistaken for Vincent Green, an international hitman, and swept into a turf war between two local gangs. The hapless Victor’s life is turned upside down as he inherits Tommy's poodle, gets a girlfriend and is recruited to fight in both gangs, accidentally leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he tries to figure out what seems to be a horrific misunderstanding.

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In September 1939, Hitler’s Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Thus began the greatest armed struggle in history. Within days of the invasion, Germany was at war with France, Great Britain and much of the Commonwealth, but by the end of 1941 – by which time Japan and the United States had been plunged into war – the conflict had engulfed virtually the entire planet. World War II witnessed the mobilisation of more than 100 million military personnel. Here was ‘total war’ on a scale never previously experienced by any of the countries involved. The conflict eclipsed everything: industry, technology, the economy and home life. It transformed the lives of an entire generation of men and women, who grew up under the shadow of violence, separation and loss. It was also fought in every conceivable terrain and theatre, from the arctic conditions of the Soviet winter to the tropical landscape of the Pacific islands, with the battle for seas and skies being equally brutal. By the time it ended in September 1945, World War II had claimed the lives of more than 50 million people, and it witnessed the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare to this day. The World War II Story charts the dramatic narrative of the conflict from its first shots to its final apocalyptic end.

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On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated. This event sparked off a war that was change the lives of millions of people around the world. More than 70 million military personnel were mobilised, and over 9 million combatants were killed. Entire generations of young men from towns and villages across Europe were wiped out. The conflict drew in the world’s great global powers, including the British Empire, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the United States and Japan, as well as many other nations. World War I transformed the way in which wars were fought. Cavalry charges and ‘staged’ clashes were consigned to history, making way for trench warfare, heavy artillery, machine guns and poison gas. Troops learnt to exist for months in confined spaces and ruined landscapes, fighting horrifying battles to push their line forward by only a few hundred yards. World War I changed the face of European society and politics forever, and set the scene for a subsequent world war. On 11 November 1918, an armistice at last came into effect, and we continue to remember today the moment when the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The World War I Story is the perfect pocket narrative of one of the largest conflicts in human history: the Great War.

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Motoring journalist Ashley Hollebone reveals for the first time the full story behind the hovercraft, a wonderful British invention that was created in a back shed from a rusty food tin and an old hair dryer – simple yet remarkable! Christopher Cockerell’s 1950s invention has found a multitude of uses across numerous arenas, from cross-Channel ferries and leisure cruising to racing at up to 80mph; it has modernised travel and has an impressive safety record, yet despite this little has been written about this, one of the most innovative modes of transport. This colourful book decisively redresses the balance and comprehensively reveals the history of the hovercraft, through photographs and diagrams, making it an invaluable addition to every enthusiast’s library.

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When a customer of William Doughty's chemist shop dies of strychnine poisoning after drinking medicine he dispensed, William is blamed, and the family faces ruin. William's daughter, nineteen year old Frances, determines to redeem her ailing father's reputation and save the business. She soon becomes convinced that the death was murder, but unable to convince the police, she turns detective. Armed only with her wits, courage and determination, and aided by some unconventional new friends, Frances uncovers a startling deception and solves a ten year old murder. There will be more deaths, and a secret in her own family will be revealed before the killer is unmasked, and Frances will find that her life has changed forever. The first book in the popular Frances Doughty Mystery series.

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From the exceptional town plans and maps contained within this unique volume emerges a social picture of Birmingham; a town quickly developing in size and population in the eighteenth century; along with the changes brought about by urbanisation. Land was bought up for development; hundreds of ‘courts’ were built to home the industrial workers pouring in from the many outlying villages. The many gardens, orchards and wide expanses of open space detailed on Wesley’s 1731 plan of Birmingham were soon to be transformed into a sprawling mass of habitation. By 1765 Matthew Boulton, a leading entrepreneur and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, had built his famous Soho Manufactory on Handsworth Heath. Shortly afterwards, the town plans of Birmingham in the first quarter of the 1800s chart the arrival of the railway; a plan from 1832 is the last glimpse of the city before the arrival of the Grand Junction Railway and other main line stations. Accompanied with informative text and pictures of the cityscape, the many detailed plans contained in this historic atlas of Birmingham are a gateway to its past, allowing the reader and researcher to visually observe the journey of this historic town to city status in 1889 and beyond.

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King Cnut ruled England from 1017 to 1035 and left behind him a legacy of peace, law and order. However, the beginnings of his kingship were less auspicious. He was a cruel and vicious warrior, who invaded England with his father Swegen Forkbeard, perhaps at a tender age. After Swegen's death in 1014 Cnut went home to Denmark to gather his forces. He returned the following year and conquered much of England in his bid for the Crown, but even on the death of Aethelred II the English refused to proclaim him king. However, his victory over the alternative candidate, Aethelred's son King Edmund Ironside, at the battle of Ashingdon, forced a division of the country between the two. Shortly afterwards, Edmund died and Cnut became undisputed ruler.

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In 1956 sea area Heligoland became German Bight. But why did the North Sea island, which for nearly a century had demonstrated its loyalty to Britain, lose its identity? How had this once peaceful haven become, as Admiral Jacky Fisher exclaimed 'a dagger pointed at England's heart'? Behind the renaming of Heligoland lies a catalogue of deceit, political ambition, blunder and daring. Heligoland came under British rule in the nineteenth century, a 'Gibraltar' of the North Sea. Then, in 1890, despite the islanders' wishes, Lord Salisbury announced his intention to swap it for Germany's presence in Zanzibar. The Prime Minister's decision unleashed a storm of controversy. Queen Victoria telegrammed from Balmoral to register her fury. During both world wars, it was used by Germany to control the North Sea, and RAF planes bombed the once-British territory. The story of Heligoland is more than an obscure footnote to the British Empire - it shows the significance of territory throughout history.

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At the age of seventeen, Kenneth McAlpine ran away from the Repton school to join Churchill's new elite special force, the Royal Marine Commandos. As the youngest member of the youngest commando force, after three months he found himself fighting on the beaches of Normandy. In We Died With Our Boots Clean, McAlpine tells his own unique story of World War II and his highly eventful military career. From an unusual encounter with Montgomery and Patton, a concerted attempt to kill a sergeant major and his best friend’s arrest for swearing at the Queen of Holland, McAlpine paints a fascinating picture of commando life and the harsh training that prepared soldiers for frontline combat in an elite unit. Full of absorbing anecdotes such as his time in a military prison and a rescue operation at a concentration camp, this book is an essential part of a World War II enthusiast’s library.

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2012 marks the 225th anniversary of the sailing of the eleven vessels of the First Fleet from England, bound for Australia. From the arrival of the first 788 convicts in 1788, to the end of transportation in 1868, a staggering 165,000 criminals were sent to Australia for a range of crimes. In addition to those transported, hundreds of thousands of free persons emigrated from Britain and Ireland to colonies in Australia. Because of the vast distance involved, few returned, and the descendants of many of them now live in Australia. Tracing those ancestors today may seem like a daunting task, with The National Archives alone holding over 100 miles of shelving for historical records. Now completely revised and expanded to include new research, Bound for Australia is the essential guide to these records. By directing the reader straight to the relevant files and providing a case study to follow the stages necessary to research your Antipodean relatives, Hawkings makes locating you Australian ancestors more achievable than ever before. Who knows, you may even trace your ancestor to the victualling list of 788 criminals on the First Fleet.

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The Little Book of Liverpool is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts. Alex Tulloch’s new book gathers together a myriad of data on this historic city. There are lots of factual chapters but also plenty of frivolous details which will amuse and surprise. A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something you never knew. For instance, did you know that the clock on the Liver Buildings was started at the precise moment that King George V was crowned on 22 June 1911? Thought not. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

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The jump jet was the first vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) operational jet aircraft developed using the revolutionary vectored thrust Pegasus engine. Following its development from the P1127 first tethered ''hops'', to the Sea Harrier and the powerful and potent GR9. The Harrier Story also includes a look at other air forces who operated the aircraft. This hardback illustrated book is full of fascinating Did You Know Facts completing the extraordinary story of the Harrier. For more that 20 years the Harrier has been a unique weapon in the western armoury. The DVD follows the development of the ''Flying Bedstead'' through to the latest AV-8Bs with the USMC. The DVD also contains film of action in the Falklands, Central Europe and supporting amphibious landings during NATO exercises.

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The Sheffield Wednesday Miscellany – a book on the Owls like no other, packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legends. Sheffield Wednesday enjoy a notable history. Names such as David Hirst, Ernest Blenkinsop, Jack Brown and Tommy Crawshaw have worn the famous blue and white stripes hundreds of times and the mercurial Paolo di Canio delighted Hillsborough until an infamous encounter with a referee… In an intriguing format, this book delves the club’s history and brings to the fore countless events and some priceless trivia gems - who can claim to have known that one Football League game the club played in was scheduled to last just 11 minutes, a game with Everton was once turned round despite trailing 5-0 at half time and that Wednesday were once known as ‘the Blades’? Also featured are a wide range of statistics, quotes and biographies from the club’s 140-odd–year history, making it a must for any fan. Can you really afford not to own a copy?

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Ancient human bodies, melted from their glacial time-capsules, present unique sources of highly detailed information of lives spent long ago. One example of particular note has been dubbed by the world’s media ‘Ötzi the Iceman’. Deservedly celebrated from the moment of his incredible discovery, his fame has only increased with the realisation of his murder. Found high in the Alps shot in the back by an arrow, Ötzi lived some 5,200 years ago and represents the oldest and coldest of cold cases. The hectic and violent last few days of his life have been revealed by various analyses of his gut contents which can be likened to an encoded diary and a map. Pollen and coarse remains of plants including mosses have been crucial in these respects. DNA analysis has revealed details of his diet. Stable isotopes have indicated two homelands. This is a detective story unparalleled in scientific archaeology. In this engaging and fully illustrated new book, one of the world’s foremost authorities on glacier mummies explores their curious preservation and unravels the clues they have left for us locked in ice, frozen in time. As one the most mysterious and best preserved examples, Ötzi and his story are given special attention.

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In April 1951, the disappearance of HM submarine Affray knocked news of the Korean War and Festival of Britain from the front pages. Affray had put to sea on a routine peacetime simulated war patrol in the English Channel. She radioed her last position at 2115hrs on 16 April, 30 miles south of the Isle of Wight - preparing to dive. This was the last signal ever received from the submarine. After months of searching, divers eventually discovered Affray resting upright on the sea bottom with no obvious signs of damage to her hull. Hatches were closed tight and emergency buoys were still in their casings. It was obvious that whatever had caused Affray to sink, and had ended the lives of all those on board, had occurred quickly. Sixty years later, in this compelling maritime investigation, Alan Gallop uses previously top secret documents, interviews with experts and contemporary news sources to explore how and why Affray became the last British submarine lost at sea - and possibly the greatest maritime mystery since the Marie Celeste.

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For the first time, the historic town of Maidstone gives up its darkest and eeriest secrets. Including previously unpublished accounts of ghostly activity and re-examining classic cases, this is a treasure trove of original material and atmospheric photography. From tales of haunted buildings to ghosts witnessed on winding roads, this volume of the strange sheds light on some of the town’s scariest mysteries as we peer into its darkest corners. With a foreword by Sean Tudor, the Blue Bell Hill ghost expert, it unravels stories which will send a shiver down the spine of any resident, historian or ghost-hunter.

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The historic city of Lincoln has a history going back to the Romans and a catalogue of crimes to match it. John Haig, the acid-bath murderer, was born in nearby Stamford and was imprisoned in Lincoln where he experimented on small animals to perfect his acid-bath techniques. The city also has its share of women who drowned unwanted babies in the nearby River Witham, and husbands who beat their wives to death. Then there is the poacher who shot and killed a gamekeeper in the woods near Lincoln, and the borstal boy who took a shine to the matron but battered her to death with a chair when she rebuked his advances. Combining meticulous research with evocative photography, the author provides a feast of crime to haunt the imagination of any reader interested in criminal and local history.

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A small church nestling deep in the countryside is instantly evocative. Why is it there at all? Whom does it serve? This companion volume to the author's successful titles on the smallest churches of Wales and England is a county-by-county guide to the smallest gems of Scottish ecclesiastical architecture. John Kinross provides the reader with descriptions of over 50 of the country's loveliest and most interesting churches and chapels, many of which have a fascinating history and their own unique features. These buildings deserve our attention and further study, and the book offers maps and directions on how to find these churches for those inspired to seek them out.

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Today pollution-free transport is high on the political agenda yet it is sometimes forgotten that electric vehicles ran on the streets of London from the early 1900s until 1962. This book tells the story of that period and describes both the vehicles themselves and the effect they had on the development of the suburbs. Local historian David Berguer has endeavoured to paint a picture of what life was like in the capital during this golden age, travelling and working on the trams and trolleybuses, and includes material based on newspaper reports, council and official minutes and oral histories from those involved. With many previously unpublished photographs and detail on the vehicles and routes themselves, there is even a chapter on the colourful pirate buses which competed against trams in the 1920s. Full of local interest and insights into daily life on north London trams and trolleybuses, this celebration of the glory days of electric street traction in the suburbs of North London is bound to capture the imagination of both transport and local historians alike.

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This book gathers together the stories of the 123 prisoners who were executed at Gloucester between 1792, when the first prisoner was hanged on the roof over the entrance gate of the newly-built prison, and 1939, when the last convict was executed within the prison's walls. Infamous cases include the Berkeley poachers who shot and killed the Earl of Berkeley's gamekeeper; Rebecca Worlock, who poisoned her husband with arsenic; notorious robbers Matthew and Henry Pinnell; Charlotte Long, the last woman to be hanged for arson in England; and Herbert Rowse Armstrong, the Hay-on-Wye solicitor who was found guilty of poisoning his wife and attempting to murder a fellow solicitor. Famous executioners - including William Calcraft, William Marwood, William Billington and the Pierrepoints - also played their part in the history of the prison. Also included in this volume is an appendix listing all the men and women hanging at Over, near Gloucester, between 1731 and 1790. Fully illustrated, Hanged at Gloucester is sure to appeal to everyone interested in true crime history and the shadier side of Gloucestershire's past.

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This book gives a fascinating insight into the dramatic changes that have taken place in Rotherham over the past 100 years. It recalls houses and public buildings, shops, factories and pubs that have vanished or been changed almost beyond recognition. The pictures show changing types of transport and fashion, and the developing character of streets and districts as they took on the form that is familiar today. The astonishing periods of growth that occurred during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, and since the Second World War, are particularly well illustrated. Many aspects of the changing town are recalled - hospitals and schools, places of work and recreation, parks and squares, suburban streets and the main thoroughfares - and the pictures record the ceaseless building and rebuilding that characterises the town today.The author has combined a remarkable selection of archive photographs with modern views of the same scenes in order to record the transformation that has occurred. The book will add to the knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of all those who take an interest in this distinctive town.

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Barbara Cherish’s upbringing in Nazi-occupied Poland was one of relative wealth and comfort. But her father’s senior position in the Nazi Party meant that she and her brothers and sisters lived on a knife edge. In 1943 he became commandant of perhaps the most infamous of all the concentration camps: Auschwitz. The author tells her father’s story with clarity and without judgement, detailing his relationship with his family and his unceasing love for his mistress, as well as the very separate life he led as a senior officer of the SS. Captured by the US Army at the end of the war, he was held at Dachau and Nuremberg before being extradited to Poland. He was tried in the ‘Auschwitz Trial’ at Krakow, found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed in January 1948. A unique insider’s view of the dark heart of the Third Reich, it is also a heartbreaking tale of a family torn apart that will open the eyes of even the most well-read historian.

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At the time of her construction in the late 1920s, His Majesty’s Airship R101 was the largest flying object ever made – as big and luxurious as an ocean liner, a Titanic of the skies designed to link the far-flung corners of the British Empire within days. As Britain recovered from the horrors of the trenches, R101’s graceful lines, vast size and luxurious accommodation came to represent the supreme self-confidence and hopes of a nation. But that unclouded vision was fatally coloured by personal ambition, heroism, weakness and political intrigue that touched many lives and reached a terrible climax on a storm-lashed hillside in France in the early hours of 5 October 1930. This book is the first to tell her story through contemporary photographs, and actual material used during her construction. By returning to original sources, Nick Walmsley challenges the long-held view that R101 was a bad aircraft built by careless people. Atmospherically capturing the heady days of the 1920s, R101: A Pictorial History has wide appeal to aviation enthusiasts, social historians and anyone fascinated by a tale of an heroic dream with a horrific end.

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The summer of 1940 witnessed the greatest air battle in history, as the men Winston Churchill dubbed ‘The Few’ fought over the skies of Britain to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority, which would have paved the way for Hitler to invade our island. Graham Pitchfork charts the development of the epic battle fought by Fighter Command as it reacted to the changes in the Luftwaffe’s strategy, reaching a climax on 15 September before finally coming to a conclusion in October 1940. In addition to the exploits of the pilots in the air, the contribution of the many ground organisations that played such a crucial role is also highlighted in this lavishly illustrated book.

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Oxford University is famed for the intelligence and innovation of its students. However, not all the undergraduates have devoted their talents to academia; instead they spent their time devising ingenious and hilarious pranks to play on their unsuspecting dons. This fascinating volume recalls some of the greatest stunts and practical jokes in the university’s history, including those by Oscar Wilde, Percy Shelly, Richard Burton and Roger Bacon. Ranging from the stunt that gave Folly Bridge its name and a nineteenth-century jape that resulted in the expulsion of all the students from University College, to the long-running rivalry between Town and Gown and the exploits of the infamous Bullington Club, this enthralling work will amaze and entertain in equal measure – and may well prove a source of inspiration for current students wishing to enliven their undergraduate days.

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For nearly 700 years debate has raged over the true nature of William Wallace and his role in Scotland’s turbulent history. Was he the Braveheart of Blind Harry’s legendary account, the bold, but savage, hero of the Scottish wars? Or, as some contemporary chroniclers attested, nothing but a villainous thief and vagrant fugitive? This book draws on a wide range of contemporary and modern sources to look behind the figure of legend to find Wallace’s true character. Through superb photographs, we trace the journey of Wallace from his modest upbringing in south-west Scotland and his first victory as a ‘guerilla’ leader and military commander at Stirling Bridge to his painful death seven years later. We see his ‘invasion’ of Northumberland and Cumberland. This is an essential travelling companion for a journey through Wallace’s kingdom and to learn more about the myth and the man.

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Waltham Memories is the unique and fascinating result of many conversations and interviews with local people, recalling life in the village over the past century. Compiled by Local History Librarian Jennie Mooney, vivid memories are recounted, including childhood and schooldays, work and play, sport and leisure, and the war years. Illustrated with 80 previously unpublished photographs and art work, this volume also demonstrates the humour, courage and indomitable spirit of the local population and paints a revealing picture of life in this North East Lincolnshire village. Anyone who knows Waltham, as a resident or a visitor, will be amused and entertained, surprised and moved by these stories, which capture the changes that have taken place in the village through the eyes of its residents.

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We all know that the UK goes crazy during Wimbledon fortnight. In fact so much seems to be packed into those two weeks that Spencer Vignes collected the most interesting aspects of the tournament into a fun, accessible book. The Wimbledon Miscellany is essential reading for all tennis enthusiasts. Full of wacky facts, curious history, famous games, charismatic personalities and bizarre lists, those with a passion for tennis are sure to find it engrossing reading. With a heritage of more than 130 years, there are plenty of untold Wimbledon stories to be revealed, as well as unusual statistics, humorous quotes and all the goings-on from Centre Court and beyond. This is the perfect companion for all tennis spectators during those interminable rain delays!

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Born the child of an agricultural labourer in Dorset’s Blackmore Vale, by self-education William Barnes (1801-1886) rose to be a lawyer's clerk, a schoolmaster, a much-loved clergyman, and a scholar who could read over seventy languages. He also became the finest example of an English poet writing in a rural dialect. In this book, Alan Chedzoy shows how, uniquely, he presented the lives of pre-industrial rural people in their own language. He also recounts how Barnes’s linguistic studies enabled him to defend the controversial notion that the dialect of the labouring people of Wessex was the purest form of English. Serving both as an anthology and an account of how the poems came to be written, this biography is essential reading for anyone who wants to discover more about the man who, in an obituary, Thomas Hardy described as ‘probably the most interesting link between present and past life that England possessed’.

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This is the story of a plain silver chalice from the first century AD that now rests in the heart of England. From its momentous beginnings as the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, and as the vessel used to catch His blood at the Crucifixion, to its unrecognised discovery in the late nineteenth century, the chalice has passed through the hands of saints, crusaders, kings, queens, Templar knights and ‘Guardians.’ This account revisits the beginnings of the Knights Templar and their rise to incredible wealth and power; it introduces a completely new version of the origins of the Arthurian legends; and it disputes the supposed loss of the Crown Jewels in the Wash and the cause of King John’s subsequent death. It re-examines the murder of Thomas Becket and resurrects the forgotten story of a knight who went from disregarded son and child hostage to Regent of England and Guardian of the Grail. The story reveals the reason behind one of England’s greatest church mysteries: an early thirteenth-century clue that has taken over 700 years to be deciphered. Most importantly of all, however, it establishes where the Holy Grail is now.

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Generation after generation has come up with new forms of punishment to inflict on those guilty (and sometimes innocent) of crimes against property and person. From the stocks and pillory, to flogging, ducking and transportation to foreign lands, this volume brings to life those turbulent times of long ago. Even after suffering the ultimate in punishments — death — the bodies of the convicted could still be punished. Stories of dissection, when the body of the deceased criminal was publicly carved up, or gibbeting, when the corpse would be coated in tar and canvass and displayed in an iron frame on a pole 30ft high, are gruesome in the extreme. Pity poor John Spencer, whose rotting remains were gibbeted for over sixty years until the cage was finally blown down in a storm. Richly illustrated, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into the dark world of punishments through the centuries and will appeal to all those wishing to discover more about Nottinghamshire’s intriguing past.

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‘Yours Ever, Charlie’ is the fascinating account of Charles Crowther, one of many British men who volunteered to fight for king and country in the First World War. When Charles volunteered he was almost forty-three and devoted to his family; this book demonstrates how his and an entire generation’s sense of duty to the nation overpowered their fears of fighting abroad and, for many, the possibility of never coming home. Charles’ granddaughter explores his journey from the idyllic village of Wilden, Worcestershire, to the battlefields of France and then Gallipoli, where he was fatally wounded. Using the fluent, vivid and moving letters sent home to his family, together with the few replies that ever reached him, this book reflects upon Charles’ ideals, the people who inspired him, and those whom he loved and was fighting to protect.Illustrated by rare photographs and original letters, and with a Foreword by Al Murray which provides an overview of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, this book is a poignant reminder of how beneath the staggering statistics of the First World War lie innumerable personal and tragic stories.

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Patrick Moore is Britain’s most respected and best-loved astronomer. But under his nom de plume R. T. Fishall, he is also the scourge of bureaucratic incompetence, exposing stupidity wherever he finds it, especially amongst tax inspectors and traffic wardens. From humorous (and genuine) examples of how they can make a mountain of paperwork (in triplicate) out of a molehill to essential tips on how to counter their machinations and give them a taste of their own medicine, it also includes an explanation of the Fundamental Laws of Bureaucracy and the Twit Percentage. The Twitmarsh Files, combining both Bureaucrats: How to Annoy Them and The Twitmarsh File, is the perfect tonic for anyone who has ever had to contend with the more ridiculous aspects of officialdom.

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Nottingham, in common with many other English cities, experienced great changes during the twentieth century. This book illustrates the major buildings and many of the minor structures which were lost during that period. The Blitz of the Second World War destroyed a number of important buildings, but most of the losses were the result of either slum clearance, road-widening, redevelopment or areas of rebuilding. Churches were demolished when attendances declined, and cinemas were pulled down of converted to other uses in the 1960s when audiences began to dwindle. Dozens of pubs, many of them with opulent Victorian edifices, were sacrificed when whole districts were cleared of sub-standard dwellings, and the construction of Nottingham’s two major shopping centres were both controversial, each causing the loss of historic buildings. This book will revive memories of much-loved buildings in the city, and provide a valuable record of what has been lost.

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Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort had nine children who despite their very different characters, remained a close-knit family. Inevitably, as they married into European royal families their loyalties were divided and their lives dominated by political controversy. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact, but also of their own personal achievements, their individual contributions to public life in Britain and overseas and in their roles as the children of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.

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This fascinating selection of historic photographs documents the dramatic transformation that has taken place over the last 150 years in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The book gives an unforgettable impression of familiar streets and districts as they developed, and it offers an insight into the lives and living conditions of the residents in the last years of Queen Victoria's reign and the early years of the twentieth century. The pictures tell the story of how a cluster of nineteenth-century villages became one of the best-known and most populous areas of London.The Royal Borough has since been noted as a centre of arts, commerce and fashion, as the scene of many historic occasions and as the home of famous personalities from public life. But the book also preserves the memory of ordinary people - passengers crowded into a horse-drawn bus, road sweepers standing with their brooms, a schoolgirl crossing the street carrying a violin case, a baker's boy pulling a handcart. The charming collection of historic photographs will add to the knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of anyone who takes an interest in this part of London.

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In January 1870, Johnny Arkwright was the largest landowner in Herefordshire. From the processions and balls which celebrated his coming of age, to facing financial ruin at his own sons birthday and the eventual sale of the estate, this book shows, through the example of a prominent family, the downfall of the landed classes.

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This fascinating volume reveals the real men – and women – behind some of the most infamous London villains ever to appear in fiction. Fagin, Professor Moriarty, Moll Cutpurse and the notorious 'cracksman' A.J. Raffles were all rooted in the lives and deaths of a litany of real-life criminals, agitators and activists. With a special emphasis on the city that spawned them, this book brings together their stories for the first time, and shows how they were woven into fiction by some of Britain’s greatest writers, including Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle. Containing prison escapes, sensational trials, daring art thefts, vicious attacks, roaring boys, black magicians and private detectives, Masters of Crime explores both the real underworld of British crime history, and its fictional counter-parts. It will delight fans of true crime and crime fiction alike.

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Stepping Stones to the Stars is the story of manned spaceflight from its inception to the era of the Space Shuttle. It begins with a short history of the evolution of the rocket, before describing the first manned rocket flights by both the Americans and the Russians. There is also the little-known story of what is thought to be the earliest manned rocket flight, said to have taken place in 1933 on the island of Rügen in the Baltic under the control of the German War Ministry. The story continues through Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space and Neil Armstrong’s ‘giant leap for mankind’ to the first space stations, Skylab, Salyut and Mir. With the development of the Shuttle, the USA moved ahead in the ‘space race,’ but the Americans and Russians soon realised that it was easier to co-operate than compete, and the two nations began to work together for the first time. Terry C. Treadwell’s book is a non-technical history of human spaceflight, that tells the exciting and dramatic story of how we took our early steps towards the stars.

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Maritime historian Mike Smylie takes the reader on a wonderfully comprehensive journey through the history of fishing in and around Morecambe Bay in this first book to be devoted to fishing in the locale. It spans a wide area covering places such as Barrow, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands, Morecambe, Glasson and Fleetwood. Focusing on an area that was brought to national attention after the tragic deaths of twenty-one cockle pickers there in 2004, it covers a wide variety of topics – from salmon and shrimps to Lancashire nobbies and fishing on horseback – ensuring there is something of interest to everyone. Featuring over 170 photographs, many of which have been locally sourced, this book is packed full of interesting facts, such as the use of horses to drag trawl-nets through shallow waters – a practice unique to the British coast. Recounting the history of the fisheries by boat, horse and hand, Fishing around Morecambe Bay is sure to appeal to both fishing industry enthusiasts and those with an interest in the history of the local area.

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Alastair Sim was an enigmatic character both on and off the screen. His idiosyncratic style of acting in films such as The Belles of St Trinian's endeared him to a cinema-going audience desperate to escape the day-to-day dreariness of an invasive, bureaucratic post-war Britain. In private, he was a curiously contradictory character, prejudiced and yet tolerant, thoughtful but sometimes inconsiderate. To examine the life of this extraordinary man, this biography contains original contributions from around thirty actors and actresses, including Sir Ian McKellen and Ronnie Corbett.It is supported by extensive research, including interviews with the playwright Christopher Fry, the television producer John Howard Davies and actors who appeared on stage with Alastair as far back as the 1940s. This book also explores Alastair's life outside of films, including his marriage to Naomi Sim (whom he first met when she was twelve), his career as an elocution teacher, his extensive work on stage (including his theatrical endeavours with James Bridie), his championship of youth and his stalwart refusal to sign autographs. Alastair Sim offers a rare and fascinating insight into the life of one of Britain's most respected and best-loved actors.

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After almost two thousand years of eventful but mostly unrecorded lives, a few Cheltenham folk first began to see themselves, and their town, captured by early photographers soon after 1841. Thereafter the medium of photography advanced relentlessly from pewter plates to glass plates, through film and finally into today’s digital world. David Hanks’ new book gathers together a wonderful collection of some of the earliest images of this stunning Regency town, and compares the scene with modern images. He tells the story of Cheltenham’s history within his informative captions. Featured here are illustrations of the town centre and its more famous buildings, along with once-outlying settlements which have now been absorbed into the town itself. This intriguing photographic collection is a must-have for all Cheltenham residents.

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