Search results for ""the history press ltd""

Life at sea in the nineteenth century was demanding and perilous. Seamen had to be able to rely on those around them. This was easier said than done. The sea could be, and still is, a place of constant and unpredictable danger, whether by storm, shipboard disease or threat from the crew. Stories of unimaginable cruelties inflicted upon crews by savage officers and treacheries committed by mutinous crews were the soap operas of the day. People followed the trials in the newspapers, hanging hungrily on to each new piece of detail. Tales of suffering, hardship and treachery were thrilling to those on land but also replete with piteous infamy.

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Royal Bargemasters have been serving their monarchs for over 800 years, yet their story has never been told. Always working in close proximity to their sovereigns, they have witnessed and played their part in many of the important events in our country’s history. They have been close witnesses to rebellions and coronations, to initial courting and grand royal weddings, and added their colourful presence to the splendour of celebrations and pageants. Painstakingly researched by ex-Royal Bargemaster Robert Crouch and professional researcher Beryl Pendley, this beautifully illustrated book offers a colourful insight into the role of the Bargemasters over the centuries, revealing the part they have played in both the day-to-day lives of the Royal Family and their contribution to great ceremonial occasions from the Plantagenets to our present Queen.

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Celebrate the women who helped win the Second World War. With so many of the nation’s men fighting in Europe or further afield, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), Women’s Land Army (WLA), Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) were essential parts of the Home Front. From taking care of farmland and animal husbandry to testing weapons with live ammunition and transporting aircraft across the country, women from all over the nation stepped up to serve King and Country. They set a precedent for female integration into the military, with the WAAF and WRNS continuing in some form until they were absorbed into the main armed forces at the end of the twentieth century. The lives of these servicewomen are presented and commemorated here through a collection of images taken from Mirrorpix’s formidable archive.

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On 16 July 1936 a man in a brown suit stepped from the crowd on London’s Constitution Hill and pointed a loaded revolver at King Edward VIII as he rode past. The monarch was moments from death. But MI5 and the Metropolitan Police Special Branch had known for three months an attack was planned: the man in the brown suit himself had warned them. This mysterious man, lost to history, was George McMahon, a petty criminal with a record of involvement with the police. He was also an MI5 informant, providing intelligence on Italian and possibly German espionage in Britain. Dismissed by the rest of the world as a drunken loser and fantasist, he saw his life as an epic drama. Why did MI5 and the police fail to act? Was it a simple blunder on the part of the security services, or was something far more sinister involved? In this first full-length study of the threat to the life of Edward VIII, James Parris uses material from MI5 and police files at the National Archives to reach explosive conclusions about the British Establishment’s determination to remove Edward from the throne.

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Coconuts have been around for longer than Homo sapiens; they have been turned into art, taken part in religious rituals and been a sign of wealth and success. They have saved lives, not only by providing nourishment, but also as part of the charcoal filers in First World War gas masks. It was coconuts that triggered the mutiny on the Bounty, and coconuts that saved the life of the man who went on to become the 35th President of the United States. The coconut has long been the unseen player in the endeavours of industrialists and bomb makers, physicians and silversmiths, smugglers and snake charmers. To this day, coconuts shape the lives of people around the world. At a time when coconut products crowd the shelves of supermarkets, health food shops and beauty salons, Robin Laurance looks beyond the oils and health drinks to uncover the unexpected, often surprising, and vital roles played by the coconut palm and its nut in times past and present.

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We have been cruising and exploring polar waters since the nineteenth century, but very little has been written about them. Drawing on expert research, Of Penguins and Polar Bears seeks to rectify this, and looks at activity in both the Antarctic and Arctic waters – the homes of the penguins and the polar bears – to provide insight into how the passenger trades developed in these regions. With over a hundred stunning pictures, this is a must-have gazetteer for anyone thinking about cruising the Earth’s ‘last frontier’. From William Bradford’s cruise to Greenland in a seal-hunting boat in 1869 to the newest builds of the twenty-first century, let Arctic expert Christopher Wright take you on a journey through lands less travelled.

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Do you think that legends are all about princes and princesses, knights and heroes, giants and monsters? Well, they aren’t always. The stories in this book are about girls like you and girls you might know: clever, strong, brave and resourceful. Here you can read the story of Vasilisa, who wasn’t afraid of the deep dark forest; Mollie Whuppie, who knew how to trick a giant; Tipingi, who was able to call on her friends to help her get out of trouble; Seren, who used her love of singing to help others; and many more fearless characters. Storyteller Fiona Collins has chosen the best of the old tales from all around the world and reworked them into new and exciting versions to be enjoyed by everyone, accompanied by magical illustrations by talented artist Ed Fisher.

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Norman Cross was the site of the world’s first purpose-built prisoner-of- war camp constructed during the Napoleonic Wars. Opened in 1797, it was more than just a prison: it was a town in itself, with houses, offices, butchers, bakers, a hospital, a school, a market and a banking system. It was an important prison and military establishment in the east of England with a lively community of some 7,000 French inmates. Alongside a comprehensive examination of the prison itself, this detailed and informative book, compiled by a leading expert on the Napoleonic era, explores what life was like for inmates and turnkeys alike – the clothing, food, health, education, punishment and, ultimately, the closure of the depot in 1814.

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‘Enthralling . . . an essential read, particularly for fans of 007.’ - Cinema Retro‘When Harry Met Cubby is a fitting tribute to two extraordinary men. If you love behind the scenes stories about the making of movies, there’s plenty of drama to sate you here.’ - Entertainment FocusAlbert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry Saltzman remain the most successful producing partnership in movie history. Together they were responsible for the phenomenally successful James Bond series; separately they brought kitchen-sink drama to the screen, made a star out of Michael Caine in the Harry Palmer films and were responsible for the children’s classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But their relationship was fraught almost from the very beginning. With such contrasting personalities, their interactions often span out of control. They managed to drive away their coveted star, Sean Connery, and ultimately each other.Loved and hated in equal measure, respected and feared by their contemporaries, few people have loomed as large over the film industry as Broccoli and Saltzman, yet their lives went in very different directions. Broccoli was feted as Hollywood royalty, whereas Saltzman ended up a forgotten recluse. When Harry Met Cubby charts the changing fortunes and clashing personalities of two titans of the big screen.

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The television set – the humble box in the corner of almost every British household – has brought about some of the biggest social changes in modern times. It gives us a window into the lives of people who are different from us: different classes, different races, different sexualities. And through this window, we’ve learnt that, perhaps, we’re not so different after all. Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British TV looks at gay male representation on and off the small screen – from the programmes that hinted at homoeroticism to Mary Whitehouse’s Clean Up TV campaign, and The Naked Civil Servant to the birth of Channel 4 as an exciting ‘alternative’ television channel. Here, acclaimed social historian Stephen Bourne tells the story of the innovation, experimentation, back-tracking and bravery that led British television to help change society for the better.

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Kent has been the gateway to Britain since prehistoric man first set foot on our soil. Its people have repelled invaders including Julius Caesar, the Vikings and William the Conqueror, while welcoming migrants from countries such as France, Austria and the Netherlands. In turn, men from Kent played a part in invading and conquering such faraway places as Canada and the USA, leaving their stamp on the world at large. This volume is a tribute to those who have shaped our society and the world around us: from the long barrow at Trottescliffe and the medieval abbey of St Augustine to the Channel Tunnel and Bluewater Shopping Centre, it is plain to see that the landscape around us is itself a monument to those who went before.

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On 14 June 1919 – eight years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic – two men from Manchester took off in an open-cockpit Vickers Vimy and flew into the history books. They battled through a sixteen-hour journey of snow, ice and continuous cloud, with a non-functioning wireless and a damaged exhaust that made it impossible to hear each other. And then, just five hours away from Ireland and high above the sea, the Vimy stalled. Yesterday We Were in America is the incredible story of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, and how they gave hope to a post-war world that was in grave need of it.

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Do you remember the docks? In its heyday, the Port of London was the biggest in the world. It was a sprawling network of quays, wharves, canals and basins, providing employment for over 100,000 people. From the dockworker to the prostitute, the Romans to the Republic of the Isle of Dogs, London’s docklands have always been a key part of the city. But it wasn’t to last. They might have recovered from the devastating bombing raids of the Second World War – but it was the advent of the container ships, too big to fit down the Thames, that would sound the final death knell. Over 150,000 men lost their jobs, whole industries disappeared, and the docks gradually turned to wasteland. In London’s Docklands: A History of the Lost Quarter, best-selling historian Fiona Rule ensures that, though the docklands may be all but gone, they will not be forgotten.

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That's one small step for man… The Moon has always fascinated humans, and thoughts on how to get there occupied minds for hundreds of years. During the space race, setting foot on the Moon was the ultimate goal and the Apollo missions to the Moon are amongst the most successful and well-remembered manned space flights that NASA ever accomplished. In Project Apollo Norman Ferguson reveals fascinating facts and figures, and recounts amazing stories about the astronauts and their spacecraft, and how they made the giant leap for mankind.

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After the guns fell silent in May 1945, the USSR resumed its clandestine warfare against the western democracies. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin installed secret police services in all the satellite countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Trained by his NKVD – a predecessor of the KGB – officers of the Polish UB, the Czech StB, the Hungarian AVO, Romania’s Securitate, Bulgaria’s KDS, Albania’s Sigurimi and the Stasi of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) spied on and ruthlessly repressed their fellow citizens on the Soviet model. When the resultant hatred exploded in uprisings – in GDR 1953, Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia 1968 – they were put down by brutality, bloodshed and Soviet tanks. What was at first not so obvious was that these state terror organisations were also designed for military and commercial espionage in the West, to conceal the real case officers in Moscow. Specially trained operatives undertook mokrye dyela or ‘wet jobs’, including assassination of émigrés and other anti-Soviet figures. Perhaps the most menacing were the sleepers who settled in the West, married and had children while waiting to strike against their host countries. Many of them are still among us. Here, historian and author Douglas Boyd explores for the first time the relationship between the KGB and its ghastly brood of ‘daughters’ – a true family from hell.

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Darren O'Brien documents two developing communities of Sheffield as gentrification begins to take place. Both areas are seeing an influx of outsiders and changing community dynamics.

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Oriana was the first in a new generation of British-based cruise ships specifically designed for the UK market. She was built by Meyer Werft in Germany and was named by HM the Queen, giving her fame and recognition from day one. Entering service in 1995, Oriana’s elegant design and sophisticated on-board ambiance meant she quickly became a firm favourite for cruise passengers both in the UK and abroad. Today, nearly twenty-five years after her launch, she is a much-loved modern classic. Her active cruising schedule has seen her visit ports across the globe including Hong Kong, Sydney and Cape Town, as well as countless calls to Southampton. Written and photographed by well-known maritime history authors Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross, Oriana: A Photographic Journey is an engaging visual tour of this remarkable ship, all from the comfort of your own living room. With Oriana’s 2019 departure from P&O Cruises, this book is a must-have keepsake for anyone who has sailed aboard Oriana or seen her during one of her calls, as well as all readers with an appreciation for cruise ships and the sea.

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When Ronald Waters bought 90 acres of farmland adjacent to the Gatwick racecourse in 1930 in order to set up a private airfield, little did he know how that airfield would evolve over the next eighty-nine years to become the world’s busiest single-runway airport. Back in the 1960s and ’70s it became a hub for aircraft enthusiasts and photographers who, thanks to the viewing decks, could get up close to the aircraft and enjoy the eclectic mix of new jetliners and old propeller airliners. Tom Singfield, ex-Gatwick Air Traffic Controller and a fan of all classic airliners, has long dreamt of a book showcasing the glory days of Gatwick’s classic airliners. After thirty years of searching out the very best colour images of that time, he is now able to publish the results of his searches in this book. These stunning pictures celebrate those wonderful times and the amazing and much missed ‘propliners’ that operated from Gatwick for the first twenty years after its reopening in 1958.

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Formed in 1918, the Royal Air Force is the oldest independent air force in the world. This long history has seen operations conducted across a variety of terrains in vastly different aircraft, from biplanes to bombers, from jet to delta wing, through to the fighter, surveillance, and air mobility aircraft of today. This book charts the story of the RAF through its aircraft and its most significant events, remembering and highlighting such key milestones as the Battle of Britain and the Dams Raid. The RAF Colouring Book is the perfect gift for children and RAF enthusiasts, and will keep them occupied and educated for hours.

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Borley Rectory in Essex, built in 1862, should have been an ordinary Victorian clergyman's house. However, just a year after its construction, unexplained footsteps were heard within the house, and from 1900 until it burned down in 1939 numerous paranormal phenomena, including phantom coaches and shattering windows, were observed. In 1929 the house was investigated by the Daily Mail and paranormal researcher Harry Price, and it was he who called it 'the most haunted house in England.' Price also took out a lease of the rectory from 1937 to 1938, recruiting forty-eight 'official observers' to monitor occurences. After his death in 1948, the water was muddied by claims that Price's findings were not genuine paranormal activity, and ever since there has been a debate over what really went on at Borley Rectory. Paul Adams, Eddie Brazil and Peter Underwood here present a comprehensive guide to the history of the house and the ghostly (or not) goings-on there.

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On 16 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster aircraft from the RAF’s 617 Squadron set off to attack the great dams in the industrial heart of Germany. Flying at a height of 60ft, they dropped a series of bombs which bounced across the water and destroyed two of their targets, thereby creating a legend. The one-off operation combined an audacious method of attack, technically brilliant flying and visually spectacular results. But while the story of Operation Chastise is well known, most of the 133 ‘Dambusters’ who took part in the Dams Raid have until now been just names on a list. They came from all parts of the UK and the Commonwealth and beyond, and each of them was someone’s son or brother, someone’s husband or father. This is the first book to present their individual stories and celebrate their skill, heroism and, for many, sacrifice.

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D-Day was unprecedented. An invasion of this scale and magnitude had never been carried out before. The landings in North Africa, Sicily and Italy were of limited scope by comparison; if they had failed it would not have been a complete disaster, whereas Normandy heralded the long-awaited Second Front. This dramatic new study investigates the great feats of unique problem-solving that enabled the success of such an important invasion. Military historian Anthony Tucker-Jones brings his expert eye to bear on the D-Day landings and subsequent Normandy campaign. He reassesses the technical ingenuity required through the eyes of those who fought there, and vividly reveals how each side managed, whether dealing with the challenges of crossing the Channel safely or in defence of the French coast. Including first-hand accounts, D-Day 1944 places the reader in the thick of the action.

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No place sums up the Bristol attitude of artistic creation and rebellion as Stokes Croft and Montpelier. With its world-renowned street art, thriving local scene and diverse cultural history, Stokes Croft has for decades been resisting the inevitable creep of corporate interests, but more importantly offers up an alternative. Colin’s photographs take you under the skin of the people, cultures, and place in this unique area of the city, where lives intersect and a new world is being created every day.

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Following the four books describing his successful career as a military and civilian pilot, in Flying Past Mike Brooke gives the reader a fascinating insight into his experiences flying historic aircraft at airshows in the UK and Europe. From the highs to the lows he takes us through the feeling of flying a Spitfire, working with the Red Devils Parachute Team, flying with The Shuttleworth Collection and in the Harvard Formation Team, and the pressures put on display pilots – as well as the importance of preparation, discipline and safety. This entertaining and informative collection of stories will not only delight the many who have enjoyed Mike’s series of memoirs so far, but also appeal to anyone with an interest in classic historic aircraft, aerobatics and airshows.

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Wexford is one of the few towns or cities in Ireland where Main Street is still the main retail and commercial street of the town. In Dublin this honour goes to O’Connell and Grafton Street; in Cork it is Patrick Street; but in Wexford, Main Street is the hub and the site of Wexford’s hidden historical gems. Main Street: Heart of Wexford contains little-known photographs, interesting advertisements and intriguing information about the street, such as the presence of a bag factory on South Main Street, Frank Hall of Radio Telefis Eireann being the official opener of the Book Centre in Wexford on 13 June 1975, and that Lamb House was a shop at the top of Anne Street on the south side and had a life-size lamb as its shop sign. Both insightful and comprehensive, this book is a wonderful history concentrating on the principal street of Wexford.

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While the heroic exploits of ‘The Few’ of Fighter Command are rightly lauded, those of ‘The Many’ of Bomber Command often remain overlooked. Night after night, the bomber crews ranged across Europe seeking out and attacking targets in an all-out effort to undermine the German war effort against Britain and prevent invasion. The Other Battle of Britain tells the stories of the young men who carried out dangerous missions on a nightly basis, battling against both the enemy and the elements, relying on a mix of nerve, skills and luck to hit their target and make it home. Faced with flak and fighters, exposed to the harsh weather conditions and operating at the edge of their capabilities, for the young men of Bomber Command, this was ‘The Other Battle of Britain’.

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These true stories drawn from historical sources and local reminiscences, have been brought together and retold by Eamonn Henry. This collection is a heady mix of tragic, funny, passionate and moving stories. Included here are tales of well-known events such as the Night of the Big Wind and the Flight of the Wild Geese as well as less well-known occurrences such as the Doolough Tragedy and the Lough Mask Murders and recalls local characters such as confidence trickster Old Neddy and the universally reviled Shaun na Soggarth.

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In 1943, as war raged along the Eastern Front, the German forces attempted to push further east in the brutal Operation Citadel, which saw one of the largest armoured clashes in history: the Battle of Prokhorovka.Countered by two Soviet attacks, this operation saw the tide turn on the Eastern Front. For the first time a German offensive was halted in its tracks and the Soviets ended the conflict as the decisive victors. With a loss of over 200,000 men on both sides, this two-month clash was one of the costliest of the war. In this dramatic study, Anthony Tucker-Jones reassesses this decisive tank battle through the eyes of those who fought, using translated first-person accounts. Kursk 1943 is one volume that no military history enthusiast should be without.

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This book traces the development of the four coastal villages – often referred to as ‘the Four Sisters’ – that make up the eastern part Dublin 4 from their foundation to the present day. Richly illustrated with modern and historic images, this work looks at the social, political, religious and economic history of Ringsend, Irishtown, Sandymount and Merrion, recalling the significant events, vanished industries and local characters.

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Do you know what Áine’s tiny spoon was used for? What was hiding up Mrs O’Flaherty’s chimney? How did the fairy man help the tailor’s apprentice? Who was the little flower of Castleknock Castle? What looks just like the skin of a rainbow? You’ll find all the answers and loads more useful stuff inside this book. Dublin Folk Tales for Children is full of imagination, with stories specially selected for the enjoyment of 7- to 11-year-old readers. These tales are reshaped and created by writer and storyteller Órla Mc Govern, and illustrated by Gala Tomasso. They are made to be read, told, and passed on. Inside you’ll find tales like ‘Filou, Filou’, ‘G’wan Oura Dat’ and ‘The Two Trees’, and each dances off the page with magic and adventure.

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The plot could have been inspired by Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies, but unlike Waugh’s novel – which parodies the era of the ‘Bright Young Things’ – The Mistress of Mayfair is a real-life story of scandal, greed, corruption and promiscuity at the heart of 1920s and ’30s high society, focusing on the wily, wilful socialite Doris Delevingne and her doomed relationship with the gossip columnist Valentine Browne, Viscount Castlerosse. Marrying each other in pursuit of the finer things in life, their unlikely union was tempestuous from the off, rocked by affairs (with a whole host of society figures, including Cecil Beaton, Diana Mitford and Winston Churchill, to name but a few) on both sides, and eventually degenerated into one of London’s bitterest, and most talked about, divorce battles. In The Mistress of Mayfair, Lyndsy Spence follows the rise and fall of their relationship, exploring their decadent society lives in revelatory detail and offering new insight into some of the mid-twentieth century’s most prominent figures.

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Mention Ringsend to any Dubliner and they will immediately talk about the iconic twin Poolbeg chimneys. They might even mention the Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium or the South Bull Wall. But they may need to be reminded about the former Pigeon House Fort, the Poolbeg Lighthouse, the Isolation Hospital or the Cats and Dogs Home on Grand Canal Quay. It is this and more that you will find out about within the pages of this illustrated history.

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St Ermin’s Hotel has been at the centre of British intelligence since the 1930s, when it was known to MI6 as ‘The Works Canteen’. Intelligence officers such as Ian Fleming and Noel Coward were to be found in the hotel’s Caxton Bar, along with other less well-known names. Winston Churchill allegedly conceived the idea of the Special Operations Executive there over a glass (or two) of his favourite champagne in the early days of the Second World War, and the operation was started up in three gloomy rooms on the hotel’s second floor, with the traitorous Cambridge Spies among its founders. When Stalin’s Russia turned to a peacetime enemy in the Cold War that followed, Kim Philby and Guy Burgess handed over intelligence to their Russian counterparts in the dark corners of the hotel, while MI6 man George Blake operated as a Soviet double agent just across the road in Artillery Mansions. Meanwhile, St Ermin’s proximity to government offices ensured its continued use by both domestic and foreign secret agents. In this first book on St Ermin’s, Peter Matthews, a witness to the intelligence battle for supremacy between MI5, MI6 and the KGB, explores this remarkable true history that is more riveting than any spy novel.

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Following the Armistice of 1918, the British Air Industry and the newly founded RAF held a low place in national priorities. The RAF was rapidly run down, with the infant airlines being given the least possible help, and this neglect continued during the 1920s. The RAF’s role was questioned and civilian air travel remained a dream for most and the province of the well-heeled few. But the breakdown of the Geneva Disarmament Talks led to renewed interest in the National Air Force, and the rise of the European dictators brought calls for rapid modernisation and interceptor aircraft, together with the development of further European civilian air routes. Here, Peter Reese charts the dramatic changes that swept aviation across the dynamic interwar period, revealing the transformative last-minute preparations for defence in a world where much depended on the contributions of some outstanding individuals.

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Artist Tony Both worked in Liverpool during the early 1960s, just around the corner from The Cavern Club and close to the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein's office in Whitechapel. Tony's work caught Epstein's eye, and he would go on to produce posters, printed leaflets and a wide variety of publicity and display materials for Epstein's artists, most notably for a young four-piece beat combo called the Beatles. Alongside his work for Epstein, Tony produced hand-painted gig posters for many promoters, including Sam Leach, Allan Williams and The Cavern Club's DJ Bob Wooler, who also promoted many of the big events. Tony's original posters now fetch a considerable sum of money, and The Beatles in Posters features these as well as exact replicas of those that have been lost to time. This is the first book of its type and is a must-buy for all fans of the Fab Four and the Merseybeat scene.

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The coasts of Scotland are a goldmine for fishing boats new and old, and this latest selection from James Pottinger covers a huge variety of them – from early trawlers to seine net boats, to modern twin rig side and stern trawlers. As it does so, it demonstrates the changes that evolved in the design of the boats themselves, as progress marches on: the numbers of handsome wooden boats have declined, while the smaller boats have flourished, now rigging themselves for trawling, lining and shellfish catching. With over 200 photographs, many previously unpublished, Scotland’s Fishing Boats is a photographic journey through time at a variety of locations around Scotland and the Isles.

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Celebrating Edinburgh’s diverse riches, this quiz book invites you to come on a wide-ranging exploration of Scotland’s hilly capital. Peel away its many layers in the company of one of Edinburgh’s top Blue Badge tourist guides. These 22 tours will inspire you, your family, colleagues and friends to leap from page to pavement in the entertaining company of a local expert. Have fun!

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Once hailed by John Osborne as ‘the greatest actor since Brando’, latterly known as a ruined genius whose unpredictable, hellraising behaviour was legendary, Nicol Williamson always went his own way. Openly dismissive of ‘technical’ actors, or others who played The Bard as if ‘their finger was up their arse’, Williamson tore up the rule book to deliver a fast-talking canon of Shakespearean heroes, with portrayals marked by gut-wrenching passion. According to one co-star, Williamson was like a tornado on stage – ‘he felt he was paddling for his life’. Fiercely uncompromising, choosy about the roles he accepted, contemptuous of the ‘suits’ who made money from artists, and a perfectionist who never accepted second best from himself or others, Nicol sometimes alienated those around him. But even his detractors still acknowledge his brilliance. After an extraordinary career on both stage and screen, Williamson was burnt out as an actor by the age of 60. Yet, as Gabriel Hershman explains in this authorised biography, a premature end was perhaps inevitable for an actor who always went the extra mile in every performance.

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In 1465, the Nevills must have thought they’d reached the pinnacle of power and influence in England. Richard Nevill was the king’s right-hand man and married to the richest woman in the kingdom; John Nevill was an accomplished soldier who’d done much to stabilise the new dynasty; and George Nevill was not only chancellor but newly enthroned as Archbishop of York. The Nevill women were as active as their male counterparts. As sisters and wives, daughters and daughters-in-laws, they had the ears of the elite in England and were not afraid of wielding their influence. And they were not always on the same side. Cracks in the stability of the most powerful family in England began to show. Rivalries led to serious conflict that worsened when King Edward IV impulsively married Elizabeth Wydeville, a choice of bride that did not please everyone. The Nevills had already lost a great deal for the Yorkist cause. Within six years, as the Wars of the Roses turned into one of the bloodiest periods of English history, they’d lose even more for the Lancastrians.

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Between 1835 and the 1850s, railway mania blossomed around Britain. Crime emerged as the railways developed, at first opportunistic crimes such as fare evasion and robberies, but gradually more inventive forms evolved, notably the minor clerk Redpath in the 1850s, whose shameless cooking of the books to live the high life exposed the lack of any kind of accountancy across the railway industry. The first train murder was not until the 1840s, and sparked great fear of foreigners as a German was charged and hanged for the crime. The outcry resulted in the communication cord being introduced to the railway carriages, so that no longer would they exist as completely separate spaces and passengers could alert the driver to any assault within. This fascinating history covers all varieties of crime on the railways and how it has changed over the years, from assaults and robberies, to theft of goods, murder, vandalism, football and other crowd activity, suicide on the line, fraud and white collar crime, and also looks at the use of railway crime in film and literature.

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The Remembrance Poppy is a haunting reminder of the ultimate cost of war. Worn by millions around the world every year, the Poppy compels us to remember war’s dead, wounded and bereaved, regardless of nationality or conflict. As we reflect on the centenary of the First World War, this book charts the history of the Remembrance Poppy, from its origins in the battle-tortured landscape of Flanders in 1915 to its enduring relevance in the present day. It sets the Poppy in its context of tragedy and sacrifice, always acknowledging that our war dead are gone, but not forgotten.

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Anglo-Saxon invaders first settled at the point where the ancient Barton Street trackway forded the river Lud in the late fifth or early sixth century. Following the arrival of Christianity, the little settlement became an important religious centre and the location, in the eighth century, of a monastery. This was destroyed by Danish invaders, and the last Bishop of Lindsey, Herefrith, died a martyr’s death at Viking hands, but the settlement flourished under Danish rule as a centre for the surrounding agricultural area, and by the time of the Norman Conquest had established a weekly market. A planned new town was developed on the level terrace south of the river and grew as England’s wool trade prospered, assisted by the entrepreneurial activities of the Cistercian monks of nearby Louth Park Abbey. Its wealth in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was reflected in the rebuilding of the parish church, which culminated in the completion of the magnificent spire in 1515. A number of local men were hanged in Louth market place for their part in the Lincolnshire Rising, and successive plagues had a devastating effect in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but growth returned following the arrival, first, of the turnpike roads, and then the building of the canal and the railway. Today the town is still an important home for light industry and the market centre for the surrounding district. This fully illustrated account of the town’s history combines a useful overview of the major influences upon Louth’s development with a wealth of detail which brings to life the community in times past. It will be enjoyed by all those with an interest in Lincolnshire history as well as those keen to find out more about the place in which they live.

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‘Inch by inch, he moved the gun out from underneath his stomach, over to his right side. He rolled over just enough to get the gun in the clear, slowly raised the barrel aimed at the engineer’s heart, then changed his mind, aimed to the ceiling above the engineer’s shoulder, and pulled the trigger.’ On the afternoon of Friday 13 July 1956, seven desperate young people boarded a plane in the People’s Republic of Hungary with the intention of hijacking it, diverting it to West Germany and claiming political asylum. One of the seven was Frank Iszak, a young journalist at the apex of the Communist terror in Hungary, whose controversial articles had landed him in a uranium mine for ‘re-education’. He broke out, but remained a fugitive within the country’s heavily guarded borders. In order to escape, he put together a boxing team, and en route to the regional championship they diverted their flight across the Iron Curtain. They had no weapons, no map, and no idea whether the plane carried enough fuel to get them there. They would have to brave the gun of the security officer on board, the wild manoeuvres of the pilot, the Russian MiG fighters in hot pursuit, and a harrowing flight over the stormy Alps without navigation. Such a feat had never before been attempted, and they all knew that failure would mean certain death.

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The British soldier of the Great War has been depicted in many books. Invariably, a pen picture paints him as stoic, joining the army in a wave of patriotic fervour, and destined to serve four years on the Western Front in some of the most costly battles in history. Yet often the picture is difficult to resolve for the reader. How did the soldier live, where did he sleep? What was it like to go over the top, and when he did, what did he carry with him? For many, the idea of trench life is hazy, and usually involves ‘drowning in mud’, in, as one writer put it, ‘the pitiless misery’ of Passchendaele. Remembering Tommy pays tribute to the real British soldier of the Great War. In stunning images of uniforms, equipment and ephemera, it conjures the atmosphere of the trenches through the belongings of the soldiers themselves – allowing us almost to reach out and touch history.

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As Milton Keynes celebrates its 50th birthday, Maker-Artists of Milton Keynes delves into the lives and work of twenty-five makers of hand-crafted artistic objects who are based in the city today. The featured maker-artists are chosen for the ways in which their use of the traditional materials of ceramics, wood, metal, glass and textiles, in the words of William Morris, ‘beautifies the familiar matters of the everyday’. As well as exploring their skills and displaying the delightful objects they make, this book uncovers the maker-artists’ networks of local links to people and places. Illustrated with beautiful colour photographs, this book explores how the landscape of Milton Keynes, from the recently built ultra-modern to the enduring pockets of historic buildings, stimulates and enhances the artistic lives of the makers.

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The First World War claimed over 995,000 British lives, and its legacy continues to be remembered today.Great War Britain: Manchester offers an intimate portrayal of the city and its people living in the shadow of the Great War. A beautifully illustrated and highly accessible volume, it explores the city's regiments, the background and fate of the men on the frontline, the changing face of industry, the vital role of women, conscientious objectors, hospitals for the wounded and rehabilitation, peace celebrations, the fallen heroes and war memorials. The Great War story of Manchester is told through the voices of those who were there and is vividly illustrated with evocative images.

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Founded in 1825 by the 21-year-old George Thompson Jnr, the Aberdeen Line developed over 100 years into one of the best-respected shipping lines in Britain. Initially engaged in the UK coastal, Baltic, North American, South American, China and Antipodean trade routes, before settling to become the longest-serving line on the Australian trade via the Cape, the name of Thompson’s Aberdeen was synonymous with the highest professional standards, with such jewels as the clipper Thermopylae and their first steamer, SS Aberdeen. The Aberdeen name navigated commercial takeovers by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, Shaw Savill and Albion, Lord Kylsant’s Royal Mail Group and Furness Withy, before becoming all but forgotten when it finally furled its sails in 1957. Here Peter King seeks to bring this once prominent shipping line’s history to light once more for the enjoyment of shipping enthusiasts and maritime historians everywhere.

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A ballad is a poem or a song that tells a popular story and many traditional British ballads contain fascinating stories – tales of love and jealousy, murder and mystery, the supernatural and the historical. This anthology brings together nineteen original retellings in short story form, written by some of the country’s most accomplished storytellers, singers and wordsmiths. Here you will find tales of cross-dressing heroines, lusty pirates, vengeful fairy queens, mobsters and monsters, mermaids and starmen – stories that dance with the form and flavour of these narrative folk songs in daring and delightful ways. Richly illustrated, these enchanting tales will appeal to lovers of folk music, storytelling and rattling good yarns.

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