Search results for ""the history press ltd""

How did a tiny wren manage to be crowned King of the Birds? Why did giant Finn McCool’s favourite dogs change into mountains? What happened to turn a friendly cat into a cruel fiend who plotted to destroy mankind? Irish Animal Tales for Children is packed with ghostly goings-on, weird characters and wonderful animals. Irreverently told by award-winning storyteller Doreen McBride, these stories are not for the faint of heart!

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Robert Butterfield had a lifelong passion for railways. He devoted his career to working for British Railways and was a dedicated enthusiast, photographer and railway modeller. He travelled extensively in the London Midland, Eastern, North Eastern and Scottish Regions and on these journeys accumulated a large collection of stunning photographs, often featuring his favourite classes: Princess Coronations, Royal Scots and Jubilees. After forty-three years of service he spent his retirement happily chasing steam specials, particularly on the Carlisle to Settle line. Here Brian J. Dickson has compiled a beautiful collection of Robert Butterfield’s railway photographs, providing a window into the past looking back at steam in the 1950s.

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Wokingham sits on the edge of Windsor Great Forest. Originally settled by the Wocingas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe, the town grew steadily – but its early prosperity was cut short when half of the houses were destroyed during the English Civil War. Wokingham has hosted bull-baiting, highwaymen and a multitude of beer houses. The town’s people have played their part in both world wars. Its rich history is interwoven with the history of England: a story of good times and bad, from the Beaker people to the Victorians to the present day. Wokingham is the quintessential English county town.

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From the Victorian cloth mills to contemporary studios, the people of Stroud have a long and noble history of making things by hand. All around the valleys, makers are engaged in creating beautiful and useful objects, works of art and installations.Here, Clare Honeyfield, multi-award-winning business owner and coach, brings to life the conversations she’s had with the many wonderful and talented makers and artists of the ever-popular Stroud.

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In the 1930s Lucy, Lady Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government. But politics had been far from her mind when, as young Fanny Radmall, she had set out to conquer the world. Armed with only looks and self-confidence, she exploited the wealth and status of successive lovers to push her way into high society. Brushing off scandal, she achieved public recognition as an ardent suffragette, war worker and philanthropist.She enjoyed the trappings of wealth – but she wanted more. Lady Houston financed the first flight over Mount Everest, backed secret military research and facilitated the development of the Spitfire as she strove for influence in national politics. She sought her own public voice and so purchased a newspaper, engaging with famous contemporaries such as Winston Churchill and Oswald Mosley. Seeking to expose the Prime Minister as a Soviet agent and promote Edward VIII as England’s dictator, Lucy was loved as a patriot but loathed as a troublemaker.Adventuress draws upon hitherto unpublished archival material to reveal how Lucy Houston achieved her fame and fortune, and how she exploited them.

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When everything is lost, imagination is the only place of true freedom. The New Art Studio, co-founded in 2014 by art psychotherapist Tania Kaczynksi, is a unique space in London set up as a lifeline for refugees and asylum seekers so they can experience art therapy in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Who Am I? is a poignant look at the state of the dispossessed, and at how creating art can provide a last bastion of hope for those who have lost everything. Alongside the unique and touching artwork of the studio’s members are their true stories of bravery, loss and redemption.

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Between the outbreak of the Second World War and the end of the century, life changed dramatically for the working-class people of the Black Country. Having survived the hardships of war, they found themselves facing a slew of social issues, all the while playing a vital role in manufacturing to stabilise the country’s struggling economy. Innovations such as the wireless, television and cinema also brought huge societal changes that would move them closer to the present day. As well as a nostalgic look at the past, this book details the appalling health conditions, pollution, morality and crime in the region, before finally taking a look at the decline of crucial industries. Tom Larkin takes us back to the good old days and asks the question – whatever happened to the real Black Country? The author's royalties are being donated to the Wolverhampton charity Let Us Play.

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This selection of Times obituaries from 1872 to 2014 revisits the lives of 125 women who have all, in their own way, played an important part in women’s educational, professional, social, cultural and emotional journey over the best part of two centuries. The anthology starts with the obituary of 91-year-old pioneering mathematician and scientist Mary Somerville (d. 1872) and concludes with that of 110-year-old concert pianist and Holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer (d. 2014). In between come a formidable trio of later scientists: the discoverer of radium Marie Curie; the unsung heroine of DNA, Rosalind Franklin; and the only British woman to win a Nobel Prize for science, Dorothy Hodgkin. Plus a further quintet of great pianists: Clara Schumann, Myra Hess, Eileen Joyce, Tatiana Nikolayeva and Moura Lympany. Among campaigners, there is nursing reformer Florence Nightingale (d. 1910), along with suffragists Emmeline, Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst (d. 1928, 1958 and 1960), the 20th century’s best-known promoter of contraception (Marie Stopes, d. 1958), civil rights worker Rosa Parks (d. 2005), founder of the hospice movement Cicely Saunders (d. 2005), anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman (d. 2009) and Nobel Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai (d. 2011). Interspersed are women prime ministers from Golda Meir of Israel (d. 1978) to Margaret Thatcher (d. 2013); actresses from Sarah Bernhardt (d. 1923) to Marilyn Monroe (d. 1962) and Elizabeth Taylor (d. 2011); novelists from George Eliot (d. 1880) to Doris Lessing (d. 2013); singers from Jenny Lind (d. 1887) to Joan Sutherland (d. 2010); plus aviators, a mountaineer, a Channel swimmer, war correspondents, ballerinas, sportswomen, botanists, US first ladies, iconic members of the British royal family, and more.

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‘Since man uttered his first word he has been telling stories for entertainment, to serve as warnings and to simply pass the time.’Huddled up against the end of Hadrian’s Wall, the county of Tyne and Wear is known for its wealth of historical sites, for castles, the Venerable Bede, and stotty cakes. But did you know about Sunderland’s brush with the greatest liar on earth, or the widespread mesmerism of the Victorian era? And what’s the connection with all these Americans?This is an eclectic collection of local characters and historical oddities, of short (and tall) tales that perfectly illustrate just how weird Tyne and Wear can truly be.

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Traders are the heart, soul and backbone of our high streets. Their shops provide a focus for community, a friendly face and in hard times a helping hand. This project recognises the personalities and services we rely on and which add to the layers of history already laid down with Gloucester Road as the Great Bristol High Street. Following a single first photo post on social media, dozens of people who run, or know people who run, indie businesses have come forward to tell Colin their stories. Now a major project promoted by Visit Bristol and Destination Bristol, this project tells the community story of local heroes and showcases Bristol’s indie spirit to a wider field.

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The story of Bletchley Park’s codebreaking operations in the Second World War is now well known, but its counterparts in the First World War – Room 40 & MI1(b) – remain in the shadows, despite their involvement in and influence on most of the major events of that war. From the First Battle of the Marne, the shelling of Scarborough, the battles of Jutland and the Somme in 1916, to the battles on the Western Front in 1918, the German naval mutiny and the Zimmermann Telegram, this cast of characters – several of them as eccentric as anyone from Bletchley Park in the Second World War – secretly guided the outcome of the ‘Great War’ from the confines of a few smoke-filled rooms. Using hundreds of intercepted and decrypted German military, naval and diplomatic messages, bestselling author Paul Gannon reveals the fascinating story of British codebreaking operations. By drawing on many newly discovered archival documents that challenge misleading stories about Room 40 & MI1(b), he reveals a sophisticated machine in operation.

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For years hillwalkers and climbers have struggled to understand the complexities of weather systems. Written by a professional weather forecaster, Weather for Hillwalkers provides invaluable insight to the beginner and veteran alike. Now in a new edition, Malcolm Thomas offers an understanding of the principles of the elements – the causes of wind, rain, snow, cloud, fog, thunder and clear skies – and looks at how they are affected by mountains and high ground. Readers will learn the terminology of depressions, warm and cold fronts, air masses and more; how to interpret weather maps; and how to make short-term weather forecasts from observations. This is essential reading for those tackling the elements amongst the hills.

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‘Henry III is generally classed among the weakest and most incompetent of England’s medieval kings. Darren Baker tells a different story.’- Michael Clanchy, author of England and Its Rulers, 1066–1307‘A personal and detailed narrative…bring[s] alive the glamour and personalities of thirteenth-century England.’- Huw Ridgeway, author of ‘Henry III’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography‘Enterprising, original and engaging.’ - David Carpenter, author of The Reign of King Henry IIIHenry III (1207–72) reigned for 56 years, the longest-serving English monarch until the modern era. Although knighted by William Marshal, he was no warrior king like his uncle Richard the Lionheart. He preferred to feed the poor to making war and would rather spend time with his wife and children than dally with mistresses and lord over roundtables. He sought to replace the dull projection of power imported by his Norman predecessors with a more humane and open-hearted monarchy. But his ambition led him to embark on bold foreign policy initiatives to win back the lands and prestige lost by his father King John. This set him at odds with his increasingly insular barons and clergy, now emboldened by the protections of Magna Carta. In one of the great political duels of history, Henry struggled to retain the power and authority of the crown against radical reformers like Simon de Montfort. He emerged victorious, but at a cost both to the kingdom and his reputation among historians. Yet his long rule also saw extraordinary advancements in politics and the arts, from the rise of the parliamentary state and universities to the great cathedrals of the land, including Henry’s own enduring achievement, Westminster Abbey.

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The many influences of the past on our diet make the concept of ‘British food’ very hard to define. The Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans each brought ingredients to the table, and the country was introduced to all manner of spices following the Crusades. The Georgians enjoyed a new level of excess and then, of course, the world wars forced us into the challenge of making meals from very little. The history of cooking in Britain is as tumultuous as the times its people have lived through. Tasting the Past: Recipes from the Middle Ages to the Civil War documents the rich history of our food, its fads and its fashions, combined with a practical cookbook of over 120 recipes from the early Middle Ages up to the Civil War. Jacqui Wood guides us through the recipes brought ashore by the Normans, the opportunities brought by the food harvested in the New World during the Renaissance, and the decadent meals of the Royalist gentry outlawed by the puritanical Parliamentarians.

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On 7 May 1945, Grand Admiral Donitz, named in Hitler's will as head of state, authorised the unconditional surrender of all German forces to the Allies on the following day. World War II in Europe was at an end. But many of the German people would continue to endure hardships, as both the country and the capital were to be divided between France, the UK and the USA in the west and the USSR in the east. East and West Germany, and East and West Berlin, would remain divided until 1989. By October 1990, however, the two countries were reunited, and the Berlin Reichstag was once again the seat of government. Here, politicians would put East and West back together again, marrying a totalitarian, atheist, communist system with a democratic, Christian, capitalist one. How did this marriage affect the everyday life of ordinary Germans? How did combining two telephone systems, two postal services, hospitals, farm land, property, industry, railways and roads work? How were women's rights, welfare, pensions, trades unions, arts, rents and housing affected? There had been no warning of this marriage and no preparation for it - and no country had ever tried putting two completely opposite systems together before. This is the story of what happened, in the words of the people it happened to - the people's story of an incredible unification.

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When war was declared in September 1939, young people around the world were expected to put on a uniform and fight in a conflict not of their making. They may have been dressed in regulation khaki or air force blue, or restricted by rationing, but driven by angst, patriotism and survival, they took every opportunity to express themselves by adapting their clothing. Away from the war their lives were shaped by swing music and its fashions, allowing individualism to flourish despite repression and offering a rebellious reaction to the fearful sound of jackboots marching in unison. It was a time of new identities, factions and hierarchies. From the British Tommies and the American GIs, to the ‘Glamour Boys’ of the RAF, the ‘Spitfire Girls’ of the ATA and members of the French Resistance, Kitted Out is a fresh take on the history of the Second World War through a fashionable eye. The poignant and inspiring stories behind the uniforms, styles and self-expression in Britain, the United States, North Africa and occupied Europe will be painfully resonant to a new generation of young people.

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On a bright July morning in 1870 the British explorer George Hayward was brutally murdered high in the Hindu Kush. Who was he, what had brought him to this wild spot, and why was he killed? Told in full for the first time, this is the gripping tale of Hayward's journey from a Yorkshire childhood to a place at the forefront of the 'Great Game' between the British Raj and the Russian Empire. Driven by 'an insane desire' Hayward crossed the Western Himalayas, tangled with despotic chieftains and ended up on the wrong side of both the Raj and the mighty Maharaja of Kashmir. Tim Hannigan explores the conspiracies and controversies that surrounded his death, travelling in Hayward's footsteps to bring the story up to date, and to reveal how the echoes of the Great Game still reverberate across Central Asia in the twenty-first century.

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The modern history of London’s East End has been well-documented – but what of its ancient roots? From embryonic beginnings in the Stone Age, through Roman rule and civil wars, all the way to its jam-packed twentieth-century timeline, the East End has always been a place of innovation, diversity and change. Written by an East Ender with a love of her roots, The Little History of the East End is an engaging look at the area’s history through the people that made it, one that will enthral and surprise both residents and visitors alike.

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Just over eighty years ago on the East Coast main line, the streamlined A4 Pacific locomotive Mallard reached a top speed of 126mph – a world record for steam locomotives that still stands. Since then, millions have seen this famous locomotive, resplendent in her blue livery, on display at the National Railway Museum in York. Here, Don Hale tells the full story of how the record was broken: from the nineteenth-century London–Scotland speed race and, surprisingly, traces Mallard’s futuristic design back to the Bugatti car and the influence of Germany’s nascent Third Reich, which propelled the train into an instrument of national prestige. He also celebrates Mallard’s designer, Sir Nigel Gresley, one of Britain’s most gifted engineers. Mallard is a wonderful tribute to one of British technology’s finest hours.

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In Tudor times the ‘common sort’ were no different from us, laughing together, mocking each other and sharing bawdy tales in tavern yards, marketplaces and anywhere else that people came together. These stories were later collected in the cheap print of the period, and professional storyteller Dave Tonge has sought them out to assemble here. Within these pages hide smooth-talking tricksters, lusty knaves, wayward youths and stories of the eternal struggle to wear the breeches in the family, for a sometimes coarse but often comic telling of the everyday ups and downs in Tudor life.

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The stories of Finn MacCoull and his warriors were once told at every fireside in Scotland and Ireland. After centuries in obscurity, this collection brings the tales soaring to life again.Here you will find Diarmuid, whom no woman can help but fall in love with, and Ossian, a warrior-poet raised in the woods by a wild deer. There is Grainne, ancient ancestor of Iseult and Guinevere, and Finn himself, whose name was once a byword for wisdom, generosity and beauty.Enter a world of feasting and fighting, battles and poetry, riddles and omens; join Finn and the Fianna on their never-ending quest to drink deeper and deeper of the cup of life.

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A bundle of passionate but unclaimed love letters written a century ago and found in a London bank vault have led to the uncovering of an extraordinary story. Research has revealed the adventures of a spirited young woman who by the standards of the time, or perhaps any time, behaved scandalously. Yet she managed to avoid disgrace, get her man, and go on to lead a respectable life. At first sight Ellen Nelsen’s behaviour appears shocking. Among other misdeeds she appears to have been bigamously married twice. Given her circumstances, however, her survival is a triumph of fortitude over betrayal.

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Peter A. McCue examines intriguing reports of people experiencing uncanny events in Britain’s woods and forests, from mysterious lights and strange animal encounters to ghostly experiences. Much of the reported witness testimony was obtained first-hand by McCue or other researchers. While he draws sceptical conclusions about some of the alleged incidents, he takes others seriously and considers possible explanations. Fully illustrated and written in McCue’s inimitable style, Britain’s Paranormal Forests will make you think again about your next walk in the woods.

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Undisturbed in an old First World War trunk were medals, logbooks, plane parts . . . and an old manuscript. This was the memoir of Captain Frederick Williams, who flew D.H.4s in photo reconnaissance and bomber raids over Germany. Starting when he was stationed in Nancy in 1918 and ending with his return home with a Croix de Guerre and a DFC to his name, Captain Williams’ vivid descriptions place the reader right in the air alongside him, relaying the thoughts running through his head as events unfolded around him. It is an important insight into the early development of bomber raids within the RAF.

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We think of the Stephensons and Brunel as the fathers of the railways, and their Liverpool and Manchester and Great Western Railways as the prototypes of the modern systems. But who were the railways’ grandfathers and great-grandfathers? The rapid evolution of the railways after 1830 depended on the juggernauts of steam locomotion being able to draw upon centuries of experience in using and developing railways, and of harnessing the power of steam. Giants the Stephensons and others may have been, but they stood upon the foundations built by many other considerable – if lesser-known – talents. This is the story of those early pioneers of steam.

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The partnership of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace was one that would change science forever. They were an unlikely pair – one the professor son of a banker, the other the only child of an acclaimed poet and a social-reforming mathematician – but perhaps that is why their work was so revolutionary. They were the pioneers of computer science, creating plans for what could have been the first computer. They each saw things the other did not: it may have been Charles who designed the machines, but it was Ada who could see their potential. But what were they like? And how did they work together? Using previously unpublished correspondence between them, Charles and Ada explores the relationship between two remarkable people who shared dreams far ahead of their time.

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‘To call Alice “just another pig” would be the gravest insult.’ Alice the Large Black pig was Paul Heiney’s best friend, his confidante and his therapist. This is the story of their tempestuous relationship with all its ups-and-downs, from her arrival as a ‘large, black and expensive’ Christmas present for his wife to her last days as the matriarch of his traditional farm. In A Pig Called Alice, Heiney walks us through why lop-eared pigs are the best to raise (they can’t see you coming), how to escape a sow that’s decided you’re her next mate (throw a bucket and run), and how, actually, pigs might have just got this whole ‘life’ situation sorted out.

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The North East is probably England’s most distinctive region. A place of strong character with a very special sense of its past, it is, as William Hutchinson remarked in 1778, ‘truly historical ground’. This is a book about both the ancient Anglian kingdom of Northumbrian, which stretched from the Humber to the Scottish border, and the ways in which the idea of being a Northumbrian, or a northerner, or someone from the ‘North East’, persisted in the area long after the early English kingdom had fallen. It examines not only the history of the region, but also the successive waves of identity that that history has bestowed over a very long period of time. Successful nations write about themselves in these terms; so why not regions? Northumbria existed before ‘England’ began but is still with us in name, and in the way we think about ourselves. A series of sections, entitled Christian Kingdom, Borderland and Coalfield, New Northumbria, Cultural Region and Northumbrian Island, explore the region on the grand scale, from the very beginning, and bring a sharp sense of history to bear on the various threads that have influenced the making of modern regional identity. The book is a work of exceptional scholarship. Never before have so many acclaimed historians addressed together the issues which have affected this special region. Clearly written, and rich in ideas, chapters explore the physical origins of Northumbria and consider just how the pressing political and military claims of adjoining states shaped and tempered it. There are further chapters on art, music, mythology, dialect, history, economy, poetry, politics, religion, antiquarianism, literature and settlement. They show how Northumbrians have lived and died, and looked forward and back, and these accounts of the North East’s past will surely help in the shaping of its future.

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Historically seen as figures of pity and foreboding – poverty stricken receivers of charity, tragic figures dressed in black and even sometimes sexually voracious predators or witches – widows have been subject to powerful stereotypes that have endured for centuries. But for many women, widowhood unfolded into a vastly more complex story. From being property of men and housekeepers – the owners of nothing – they found themselves suddenly enfranchised, empowered and free to conduct themselves however they wished. From suffrage campaigners and politicians, to entrepreneurs and newly self-made women, the effect of widows’ might can be seen throughout history. In Widows historians Maggie Andrews and Janis Lomas pull together the stories of fascinating women, both famous and unknown, and their exploits after being widowed. They show how throughout history widows have carried on with everyday life in the face of poverty or isolation, their struggles for political power and the ways that many of them have contributed to improving the lives of women today.

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It was inevitable that the Allies would invade France in the summer of 1944: the Nazis just had to figure out where and when. This job fell to the Abwehr and several other German intelligence services. Between them they put over 30,000 personnel to work studying British and American signals traffic, and achieved considerable success in intercepting and decrypting enemy messages. They also sent agents to England – but they weren’t to know that none of them would be successful.Until now, the Nazi intelligence community has been disparaged by historians as incompetent and corrupt, but newly released declassified documents suggest this wasn’t the case – and that they had a highly sophisticated system that concentrated on the threat of an Allied invasion. Written by acclaimed espionage historian Nigel West, Codeword Overlord is a vital reassessment of Axis behaviour in one of the most dramatic episodes of the twentieth century.

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On every street there is a story. Roll up, roll up for a circus adventure in Edwardian Yarmouth, merry-go-race through King’s Lynn history with fabulous fairground animals, get swept back in time with the marvellous mice of Wymondham, meet the magical medieval dragon of Norwich and the musical Owl of Holt, discover the magnificent street procession of a Tudor Queen and get ready to be bedazzled by the delightful dancer of a Georgian theatre. Inspired by collections at Norfolk Heritage Centre and the history of Norfolk streets, this book consists of imaginative short stories where love and friendship take centre stage.

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Amid the bustling streets of Spitalfields, East London, there is a piece of real estate with a bloody history. This was once Dorset Street: the haunt of thieves, murderers and prostitutes; the sanctuary of persecuted people; the last resort for those who couldn’t afford anything else – and the setting for Jack the Ripper’s murderous spree. So notorious was this street in the 1890s that policemen would only patrol this area in pairs for their own safety. This book chronicles the rise and fall of this remarkable street; from its promising beginnings at the centre of the seventeenth-century silk weaving industry, through its gradual descent into iniquity, vice and violence; and finally its demise at the hands of the demolition crew. Meet the colourful characters who called Dorset Street home.

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Many men and boys from Leeds enlisted as volunteer soldiers at the outset of the First World War as part of the national phenomenon of ‘Pals’ that sprang up across the Britain. The Leeds Pals, who made up the 15th Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own) West Yorkshire Regiment (the City Battalion), trained in rugged Colsterdale and at Ripon, guarded the Suez Canal and were changed irrevocably by their experiences during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 when, on the first day, the battalion was devastated. Who were these men? How did their experiences resonate in Leeds? What impact did they have on the city itself? Using unpublished archive sources and original research, this book adds to our knowledge of the Leeds Pals through case studies and historical overview, revealing how the city treated this one battalion at the expense of others.

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At the end of the First World War, British power in the colonies was at an all-time low. That was until a ragtag band of visionaries, including Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence, proposed that the aeroplane, the wonder weapon of the age, could save the empire. Using the radical strategy of air control, the RAF tried to subdue vast swathes of the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Wings of Empire is a compelling account of the colonial air campaigns that saw a generation of young airmen take to the skies to battle against warlords, jihadists and hostile tribes. For the first time ever, this book chronicles the full story of the RAF’s most extraordinary conflict.

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In 1854 Britain and France were at war to save ‘poor little Turkey’, the crumbling Ottoman Empire, from the menace of Russian expansionism. On 25 October they were nine days into what would become an eleven-month siege, with little to show for it. Suddenly, from behind them came the unmistakeable sound of cannon. The Russians had arrived. Vastly outnumbered, the British gained an unlikely upper hand with the charge of the Heavy Brigade and the efforts of the Thin Red Line. But then, within two hours of achieving near victory, the British squandered it in dramatic style with the charge of the Light Brigade. Using eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, acclaimed military historian Robert Kershaw presents a new, intimate look at the Battle of Balaclava, from the perspective of the men who ‘saw little and knew even less’. Come down from the Heights and see the real story of one of the most ill-fated military expeditions in British history.

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What was the first real ‘automobile’? And what actually constitutes an automobile, anyway? SUCH questions are not easy to answer, but Keith Ray has embraced the challenge and compiled a myth-busting book packed with fascinating facts. Ranging from the ‘firsts’ in motoring technology such as the disc brake, fuel injection and four-wheel drive, through the legislation that brought in the driving test, speed limit and first conviction, all the way to the first roundabout, dual carriageway, motorway, motoring organisation and fatality, Ray not only reveals what happened first but rights historic wrongs along the way. The V8 engine did not originate in America, as most people believe, and Rudolf Diesel certainly did not invent the diesel engine. Packed with photographs, First Gear is the perfect gift for any motoring enthusiast.

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SS Nomadic was commissioned by White Star Line to serve the Olympic-class liners Olympic, Titanic and Britannic when they called in Cherbourg. Built in Belfast alongside Titanic, she was made with the same steel, built by the same workers and decorated by the same craftsmen. Because her duties were to serve first- and second-class passengers, she was fitted out far more luxuriously than other tenders of that time and she was considered by the White Star Line as a window into the sumptuous new transatlantic liners. While Titanic is commonly described as the ill-fated White Star Liner, SS Nomadic can without any doubt be qualified as the lucky tender, having survived both world wars and escaped destruction many times. She is now restored to her former glory as a tourist attraction in Belfast.

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‘Fake news.’ ‘Dishonest press.’ ‘Racist.’ ‘Mentally unstable.’ The insults President Donald Trump and the American news media hurl at each other are nothing new. In Tudor England, printed papers branded the monarch a ‘horrible monster’ and were in turn accused of publishing ‘false fables’. Ever since the invention of the printing press, those in power have seen mass communication as a dangerous threat that usurps their ability to tell people what to think and is capable of stirring up discontent – or even rebellion. In Fayke Newes, historian and international journalist Derek Taylor tracks this long and bloody fight between the press and those in power, through the lives of the men and women who got caught up in the battle. On a journey through the centuries, we criss-cross the Atlantic between Britain and America and discover that neither governments nor journalists have always told the truth.

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Merrion and Booterstown is a noted residential area on Dublin’s south side, close to Dublin Bay. Its leafy streets cover a multitude of historical connections. A reliable reference book, this can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of this important area.

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Delve into London's architectural curiositites and discover the unexpected gems waiting around every corner.London is full of extraordinary, enigmatic and, above all, unexpected buildings: a pirate castle in Camden, an art gallery made of shipping containers, underground ghost stations, and much more. Here David Long reveals the very best of the capital’s extraordinary buildings, some of which are passed by every day, hidden in plain sight.

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The London Underground has always been key to the lives of Londoners, from when its stations and stairwells offered refuge from the barrage of the Blitz through to its unique ability across the years to transport people safely all around the capital. It has remained strong in the face of devastation, surviving horrors like the Moorgate Tube crash and the 7/7 bombings. An icon throughout the world, the Tube is as resilient as any Londoner, and is the thread that holds the capital together. These stunning photographs from the Mirrorpix archives present its changing face over time.

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Few would imagine that one man links Ridley Scott’s visionary sci-fi classic Blade Runner; The Deer Hunter, that searing study of lives ruined by the Vietnam War; and The Italian Job, the much loved British caper that made an icon of Michael Caine. But Michael Deeley has worked with some of the toughest film-makers, and lived to tell the tale, in this frank and humorous rollercoaster-ride through the ways and wiles of getting great movies made.

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The Crimean War was the most destructive conflict of Queen Victoria’s reign, the outcome of which was indecisive; most historians regard it as an irrelevant and unnecessary conflict despite its fame for Florence Nightingale and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Here Hugh Small shows how the history of the Crimean War has been manipulated to conceal Britain’s – and Europe’s – failure. The war governments and early historians combined to withhold the truth from an already disappointed nation in a deception that lasted over a century. Accounts of battles, still widely believed, gave fictitious leadership roles to senior officers. Careful analysis of the fighting shows that most of Britain’s military successes in the war were achieved by the common soldiers, who understood tactics far better than the officer class and who acted usually without orders and often in contravention of them. Hugh Small’s mixture of politics and battlefield narrative identifies a turning point in history, and raises disturbing questions about the utility of war.

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One of Britain’s most loved cruise ships, Aurora was built by Meyer Werft and entered service in 2000. Named by HRH The Princess Royal, she was specifically designed for the British cruise market. Since entering service her annual world cruises have made her famous all over the world. Aurora’s interior spaces are quintessentially British, and pay tribute to the long heritage of the P&O Line. From Anderson’s to the Curzon Theatre, Alexandria Restaurant to the Uganda Room, Aurora is a much-loved modern classic. Written and photographed by well-known maritime historians Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross, this beautiful book is a must-have keepsake for anyone who has sailed aboard Aurora as well as those with a love of cruising.

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From 1972 onwards, Andy Sparks sought to capture the different scenes unfolding on the railways of Britain. With his camera at the ready, he travelled wherever and whenever he could, amassing an impressive portfolio of over 1,000 images. The 1970s and ’80s was truly an era of change, of decay and dereliction gradually giving way to the onset of new order and organisation. British Rail Scene Remembered recreates the atmosphere of this gritty and distinct period, documenting the people, infrastructure, activities, trains and locomotives of this time.

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These spooky ghost tales from one of Britain’s most ancient counties are vividly retold by local storyteller Janet Dowling. Their origins lost in the oral tradition, these stories are as eerie and mysterious as the windswept moorland, wild shorelines and rugged landscapes from which they derive. Here you will find stories of a voice beyond the grave, a ghost on the pivot between heaven and hell, and the spectres of Viking princes on moonlit roads. Richly illustrated by Vicky Jocher with original drawings, these atmospheric tales are perfect for reading aloud in front of a roaring fire or alone under the covers on dark, stormy nights.

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From dark dangerous dogs and wily wicked wyrms, to poor penniless pedlars and lanky, long-limbed lads, Norfolk is steeped in stories. Some had their beginnings here, growing in the telling until they were as big as Norfolk’s skies. Others were brought here by travellers from far away — even Viking raiders long ago. Stories that in time would change to suit our Norfolk ways, for as everyone knows — we do different! This is a collection of tales reworked and rewritten by Dave Tonge so that children might learn something of this most special county: its places and people, its strange and wondrous dialect. In this collection of stories, each introduced with snippets of local history, we journey to a place where fact, fiction, truth and lies become as one.

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This is a fact-packed compendium of snippets from the past and present, including historical tales, legends and myths of the Lake District and the rest of the region from Barrow to Carlisle. The towns and villages all have their stories to tell of industries past and present, of natural and man-made disasters, of battles, of law and order, crimes and punishments. In The Little Book of Cumbria you will read of the people, their traditions, their heritage, language and folklore. The topics range from amusing trivia to great events that changed things forever. You can read the book from cover to cover or dip in at your leisure.

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