Search results for ""The History Press Ltd""

Discover the rise of the motorhome and caravan over the past 100 years.Follow the story of the UK’s motorhomes, from a slow start in 1913 and the father-and-son team who began commercially producing ‘motorised caravans’ from 1920. Through a collection of beautiful images, Andrew Jenkinson looks at the evolution of the motorhome and its accessories over time. Featuring reminiscences from motorhome users, this illustrated book is full of detail and nostalgia.

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The historian Carol Harris has collected together a remarkable series of accounts from the war's darkest days, with heart-warming stories of survival, perseverance, solidarity and bravery, the preservation of which becomes increasingly important as the Blitz fades from living memory. War with Germany seemed increasingly likely throughout the 1930s. The British Government and the general population believed that bombs and poison gas would be dropped on civilians in major towns and cities with the aim of terrifying them into surrendering. Today the Blitz, far from breaking civilian morale, is seen as achieving the opposite; it helped galvanise public opinion to carry on fighting the war. But in 1937, preparations to protect the population were hopelessly inadequate, and the British government was far from confident that people would respond in this way.

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It seems that forests have never been more in the news than they are today. The part played by the tropical forests in sustaining the world’s climate is well understood, but they are in drastic decline. Our own prehistoric forest was mostly destroyed thousands of years ago to make way for farming. Only since the First World War have practical measures been taken to reverse this trend of decline, and a century of tree planting has more than doubled Britain’s forest cover. Most of the early thinking on tree planting in Britain was about boosting timber production in the aftermath the two World Wars, when submarine blockades froze out imports. But times have changed. Planting today is inspired not just by the need for timber, but by environmental and social initiatives that are working to strengthen the partnership between people and nature. David Foot reveals the story of twentieth-century forest creation, and the Eureka moment in the 1980s that challenged foresters and conservationists to work together on new ideas.

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The Little Book of Galway is a compendium of fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts about County Galway. Here you will find out about Galway’s history, its literary heritage, its cathedrals and castles, its festivals and fairs, and its famous (and occasionally infamous) men and women. Through quaint villages and bustling towns, this book takes the reader on a journey through County Galway and its vibrant past. A reliable reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of this fascinating county.

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The Second World War is famed for being the conflict that changed the face of warfare, and it is the last that changed the face of the world. In addition to remembering those that passed away in those dark days of war, a sincere debt of gratitude is owed to all those now in their twilight years who gave all that they had for King and Country. Here Gary Bridson-Daley presents forty-two of over a hundred interviews he conducted with veterans over recent years, adding to the history books the words and the original poetry of those that fought and supported the war effort to ensure freedom, peace and prosperity for generations to come. From each corner of the British Isles and every armed service, from Dam Buster George ‘Johnny’ Johnson through to riveter Susan Jones: heroes, all.

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Not so many years ago most of the cars featured in this book were familiar sights on Britain’s roads. Now, the remaining examples – the ones that weren’t crashed, bashed, thrashed, stolen or scrapped – are reminders of simpler times and simpler technology.During Britain’s spring and summer, thousands of owners polish their cherished motors before driving them to classic car shows and lining them up for inspection by an adoring public. Cars that were once seen so often they blended into the street furniture are now rare enough to rub fenders with the more obvious classics of the age. There are 1.5 million older motors that are still regularly driven around Britain today, and The Classic Car Spotters’ Guide takes you through more than fifty prime examples, from Ford Cortinas and Austin 1100s to Borgward Isabellas and Austin Nash Metropolitans. Complete with rarity ratings and backstories for each one, this book is the perfect companion for your next event.

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Dianne D'Cotta has always liked making records of her travel and local surroundings and a few years ago started to put together grids of 9 photos on different themes, to save space and tell a story. One day she posted one of them on social media and before long had a following, which has continued to grow.Interspersing small details like palm trees and signs with larger views of familiar places, this book includes the areas visitors know and love, such as the quirky shops along the high street, the long seafront and beautiful beaches, but also the places local people will recognise, such as Jacob's Ladder, Little Dennis and the Docks Choir. People love how she captures the historically interesting, seaside, arty, university, botanically diverse, foodie, community minded, working port town that is Falmouth.

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In the darkest days of the Second World War, with Europe falling under German occupation and Britain facing invasion, a 36-year-old refugee from the Nazis, Louis de Wohl, made a curious offer to British Intelligence. Based on the widely-held belief that Hitler’s every action was guided by his horoscope, de Wohl claimed he could reveal precisely what advice the Fuhrer’s astrologers were giving him. Rather than being dismissed out of hand as a crank, Churchill could see de Wohl's worth for himself. He was subsequently made an army captain and quartered in the Grosvenor House Hotel, from where he passed detailed astrological readings to the War Office and Naval Intelligence, before being transferred to work for the SOE in the United States. Was it possible that senior military and naval intelligence officers could take the ancient and arcane practice of astrology seriously? And was de Wohl genuine or merely a charlatan? In The Astrologer, author James Parris examines the evidence, including recently released files, and reaches remarkable conclusions about this bizarre aspect of the war.

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Waterford harbour has centuries of tradition based on its extensive fishery and maritime trade. Steeped in history, customs and an enviable spirit, it was there that Andrew Doherty was born and raised amongst a treasure chest of stories spun by the fishermen, sailors and their families. As an adult he began to research these accounts and, to his surprise, found many were based on fact. In this book, Doherty will take you on a fascinating journey along the harbour, introduce you to some of its most important sites and people, the area’s history, and some of its most fantastic tales. Dreaded press gangs who raided whole communities for crew, the search for buried gold and a ship seized by pirates, the horror of a German bombing of the rural idyll during the Second World War – on every page of this incredible account you will learn something of the maritime community of Waterford Harbour.

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In July 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran a front-page story headlined: PEER AND A GANGSTER: YARD ENQUIRY. While the article withheld the names of the subjects, the newspaper reported that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police had ordered an investigation into an alleged homosexual relationship between ‘a household name’ from the House of Lords and a leading figure in the London underworld. Lord Boothby was the Conservative lord in question, and Ronnie Kray the infamous gangster. Yet within a couple of weeks the story had been killed off, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. Lord Boothby and the Krays carried on with business as usual. For the first time the full saga of the cover-up and its consequences can be revealed. Drawing upon recently released MI5 files, government papers, extensive interviews, and a wide array of contemporary reports and secondary sources, Daniel Smith pieces together how eminent figures from the political firmament, the Security Service, the Metropolitan Police, the legal profession and the media saw to it that the Sunday Mirror’s story was crushed almost as soon as it emerged.

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If you think about it, all languages are made up - some are just more open about it than others.In The Universal Translator, Yens Wahlgren heads up an expedition through time, space and multiple universes to explore the words that have built worlds. From the classic constructed languages of Star Trek and Tolkien to (literally) Orwellian Newspeak and pop-culture sensations such as Game of Thrones, The Witcher and The Mandalorian, this is your portal to over a hundred realms and lexicons – and perhaps the starting point to creating your own.

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The ‘Big Four’ railways had experimented with diesel-powered shunting locomotives from 1933 with the Great Western Railway seeing the advantages of operating diesel-powered railcars, and doing so successfully from the same date. The 1955 ‘Modernisation Report’ predicted the end of steam power and laid out the basis of the ‘Pilot Scheme’ for the introduction of main-line diesel locomotives to British Railways. A number of these hastily designed classes of locomotives were found wanting in terms of power and especially reliability, but pressure to forge ahead with their introduction meant that the numbers constructed were unrealistic and, in consequence, many had very short operating lives. Fortunately, the ‘Pilot Scheme’ did bring forward some excellent reliable classes of locomotives that were produced in large numbers, with examples surviving into the modern railway operating companies and the preservation scene. Early and First Generation Green Diesels in Photographs brings together the work of four photographers – Ron Buckley, Robert Butterfield, Andrew Forsyth and Hugh Ramsay – charting the development of diesels in their photographs from 1949 to 1966.

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In Stars and Wars, Oscar-nominated Art Director Alan Tomkins reveals his unpublished film artwork and behind-the-scenes photographs from an acclaimed career that spanned over fifty years in both British and Hollywood cinema. Tomkins’ art appeared in celebrated films such as Saving Private Ryan, JFK, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, The Empire Strikes Back, which would earn him his Oscar nomination, Lawrence of Arabia, Casino Royale, Battle of Britain and Batman Begins, and he shares his own unique experiences alongside these wonderful illustrations and photographs for the very first time. Having worked alongside eminent directors such as David Lean, Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick, Franco Zeffirelli and Clint Eastwood, Tomkins has now produced a book that is a must-have for all lovers of classic cinema.

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All I am is a fisherman. That’s all I’m guilty of, Your Honour.On 31 May 2010 eleven holdalls were discovered along the shore near Freshwater on the Isle of Wight; when opened they contained £53m worth of cocaine – the biggest haul ever found in UK waters. A local fishing crew was accused of waiting in the Channel for the bags to be thrown from a passing cargo ship in an operation allegedly masterminded by a local scaffolder.The Freshwater Five is a true story that cuts to the heart of the British judicial system. Did five men really attempt one of the world’s biggest drug smuggling operations – or were they simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time? Why did the police hastily alter key surveillance statements, why were logs blacked out or mysteriously left empty – and why was crucial evidence never disclosed at trial? All five men fiercely denied the allegations, but a jury rejected their version of the events.This is the story of what actually happened as told by the skipper of the crew. It’s a story that reveals the human misery of brutal prison sentences and a story that leaves the reader with one question: Does the British legal system really dispense justice?

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This miscellany explores the fascinating and enigmatic world created by the undisputed ‘Queen of Crime’, Agatha Christie. Examining her place in literary history, her books and her iconic characters, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, this unique collection includes facts, trivia and quotes that feature in Christie’s legendary stories and the subsequent film and television adaptations. The Agatha Christie Miscellany will also delve into the secrets, mysteries and tricks that made Christie the most sensational and successful mystery writer of her time. For example, how is it that she managed to keep us guessing the murderer until the very end? Looking at her life and the influences on her writing, this entertaining and informative miscellany will, above all, unravel the secrets of Agatha Christie’s phenomenal success.

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Already a decorated heroine of the First World War, British-born Mary Lindell, Comtesse de Milleville, was one of the most colourful and courageous agents of the Second World War, yet her story has almost been forgotten. Evoking the spirit of Edith Cavell, and taking the German occupation of Paris in 1940 as a personal affront, she led an escape line for patriotic Frenchmen and British soldiers. After imprisonment, escape to England, a secret return to France and another arrest, she began to witness the horrors of German-run prisons and concentration camps. In April 1945, a score of British and American women emerged from the Women’s Hell – Ravensbrück concentration camp – who had been kept alive by the willpower and the strength of one woman, Mary Lindell. She combined a passion for adventure with blunt speech and persistently displayed the greatest personal bravery in the face of great adversity. To counter German claims that they had no British or American prisoners, Mary smuggled out a plea for rescue and produced her list from her pinafore pocket, compiled in secret from the camp records. This vital list contained the names of captured women, many of whom were agents of British Military Intelligence, the Special Operations Executive or the French Resistance. Poignantly supported by first-hand testimony, Lindell’s List tells the moving story of Mary Lindell’s heroic leadership and the endurance of a group of women who defied the Nazis in the Second World War.

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ferroequinologist (noun) Someone who studies the ‘Iron Horse’ (i.e. trains and locomotives). From the Latin ferrus ‘iron’ and equine ‘horse’ + -logist As the British steam era drew to a close, a young Keith Widdowson set out to travel on as many steam-hauled trains as possible – documenting each journey in his notebooks. In Confessions of a Steam Age Ferroequinologist, he cracks these books open and blows off the dust. His self-imposed mission, that of riding behind as many Iron Horses as possible prior to their premature annihilation, led to hours of nocturnal travels, extended periods of inactivity in station waiting rooms, missed connections and fatigue. However, any downsides of his quest were compensated by the camaraderie found amongst a group of like-minded colleagues who congregated on such trains. This is a book that no self-respecting ferroequinologist should be without.

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The suburbs – long sneered at for being dreary and stultifying – have always been far livelier and more entertaining than they’re given credit for. In this witty and sharply observed account of what it was like to grow up in one in the 1950s and ’60s, David Randall gives the other side of suburbia: full of absurdities and happiness, scandals and follies, and inhabitants both sage and silly. Here, at last, is the truth about what life was really like behind the often-closed (but not always net) curtains of our semi-detacheds. This is that rare book: a most unmiserable memoir.

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John Richardson is an Oscar-winning special effects supervisor and designer, who has been involved in over 100 movies, including nine James Bond adventures, all eight Harry Potter films, Aliens, Superman, A Bridge Too Far, Straw Dogs, The Omen, Cliffhanger, Far and Away, Willow . . . and many, many more. In creating the magic that flows through these films – by creating huge explosions, beheading people, producing futuristic gadgets, making a man fly or breathing life into creatures that amaze and haunt us – Richardson has come to hold a unique place in cinema history. The son of pioneering FX technician Cliff Richardson, he learned his trade at the feet of a master of the craft. With over five decades of adventures under his belt, and a vast photographic collection of unseen pictures, Richardson now lifts the lid on his exciting and fascinating career of making movie magic.

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Come one, come all for a ride upon Dame Fortune’s wheel! Join many a medieval character as some ride high on good luck, while others fall foul of greed, jealousy and anger. For in this book, storyteller Dave Tonge has adapted traditional tales of proud princes, discontented doctors, mean merchants, covetous cooks, heroic hounds and many more besides. Mixing them with morsels of history, Medieval Folk Tales for Children will give young readers a fair and fine flavour of the ups and downs of life from 500 to 1,000 years ago.

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Banbridge gets its name from the bridge built across the River Bann in 1712. It’s a thriving modern town, rife with history and culture, surrounded by beautiful scenery that provided an iconic location for the internationally acclaimed television series Game of Thrones. It’s the setting of the well-known folk song ‘The Star of the County Down’, contains Europe's first flyover bridge and an ancient church founded by St Patrick himself. Travel from Ballievey along the Lower Bann, discover ancient Celtic sites, the remains of old linen mills and a Second World War aeroplane factory. Look, too, for the famous names attached to Banbridge, including Ernest Walton, the first person to see an artificially split atom; F.E. McWilliam, the renowned sculptor; and Captain Francis Crozier, the explorer who discovered the North West Passage.

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Stoke Newington has long been one of London's most intriguing and radical areas. Famous residents included Daniel Defoe, Mary Wollstonecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, and it was home to a variety of religious dissenting groups, such as Puritans, Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Quakers. In more recent years, it was associated with the Kray Twins, the Angry Brigade and the Provisional IRA, as well as with a range of creative individuals including Harold Pinter, Paul Foot and Marc Bolan.Today, the neighbourhood is inhabited by a richly eclectic blend of nationalities and cultures. It is a home for inner-city dwellers of all types, from writers and artists to musicians, journalists and actors. Its appeal has led to its contemporary gentrification, making it a rather different place to the somewhat down-at-heel neighbourhood of the 1960s and 1970s.This book reveals, through anecdote, historical fact and cultural insight, how this often perverse, argumentative yet tolerant ‘village’ has become today's fashionable and desirable Stoke Newington.

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Dublin is a unique, multi-layered city, where ancient and youthful meet to form a community rich in culture, creativity and song. With picturesque seaside villages and romantic medieval castles, you are guaranteed a warm Irish welcome. This beautiful collection of images will take you past Dublin’s famous landmarks – the bridge, the Liffey, the pubs – and into the hidden gems waiting around every corner. From secluded mews to artisan outlets, vintage markets and tree-lined streets, prettycitydublin champions the quiet, gentle moments that allow you to escape in a bustling capital city like Dublin. Full of the unexplored and less-appreciated areas of Dublin, this stunning guide also includes tips on how to plan and capture your own prettycitydublin experience, whether on foot or dreaming from afar.

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D-Day was the pivotal turning point of the Second World War. The assault on the beaches of Normandy was an astounding feat of logistical prowess, technological innovation and heroism. Allied Command secretly planned an invasion of unprecedented scale by sea and air, which saw the tide of the war shift irrevocably. Following the landing, over a million men, alongside vehicles, ammunition and equipment were coming ashore, all to support the bloody campaign to liberate Europe. A story of ingenuity and devastating loss of life, the moving history of D-Day – its impact and its cost – is captured here in vivid detail. Compiled from the Mirrorpix archives, this collection charts the planning, action and aftermath of Operation Overlord, with a foreword by Philip Hamlyn Williams.

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She was the most powerful woman in the world. Victoria had ruled through more than six decades, watching her kingdom spread to become the world’s biggest empire and witnessing massive change in society and leaps forward in technology. Many of her people had known no other monarch. It is little surprise, then, that her death resulted in chaos, shock and mass outpourings of grief across the world. Here author and researcher Stewart Richards has delved through the archives to put together the definitive view of Victoria in her drawn-out final days of illness, through the immediate reaction to and aftermath of her death, to the state funeral on 2 February 1901. Based entirely on fascinating first-hand accounts, Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s offers a remarkable insight into the events of those tumultuous few days, and a truly unique perspective on the life and impact of one of history’s great monarchs.

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In the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the ensuing guerrilla war reached its peak in August 1920, in the garrison town of Templemore, when a series of extraordinary events occurred. 16-year-old farm labourer Jimmy Walsh claimed that he was experiencing Marian apparitions, and that religious statues owned by him were moving and bleeding. Miraculous cures were claimed and the religious fervour that gripped Ireland led to an influx of thousands of pilgrims. The phenomenon of the ‘Templemore miracles’ or ‘bleeding statues’ lasted for several weeks and an informal ceasefire arose while the rebels, the police, military and civilian population struggled to comprehend the surreal situation. With the logistics of conducting the war disrupted by the flood of pilgrims, the IRA stepped in. They interrogated Walsh and, with the direct involvement of Michael Collins, planned to deter further pilgrimages to Templemore. In due course, Walsh had left Ireland, never to return, and the war resumed with an even greater degree of ferocity. Here, John Reynolds charts the bizarre goings-on that intersected the spiritual, social and martial fixations of early twentieth-century Ireland based around a small town and a boy with visions.

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A century on from its original Edwardian construction, this contemporary portrait of a street in inner Manchester tells the stories of today’s residents. Born in eighteen countries from four continents, the accounts told by the residents themselves narrate their journeys from nomadic herding in Somalia to conscientious objection in post-war Germany and the UK, and from arranged marriages in South Asia to arriving from rural Ireland to find work. With a common theme of making a new life in Manchester, this is an important account of a successful multicultural community in an ever-divided world. Profiling today’s residents alongside those who occupied their homes at the time of the 1911 census, Stories of a Manchester Street provides a colourful reflection on the changes, resilience and sense of community that lives just around the corner on our inner-city streets.

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Black Plaques are not to be found proudly mounted on a wall – and for good reason. What with their commemoration of a brutal execution outside Westminster Abbey, the selling of sex toys in St James’s Park and an intruder at Buckingham Palace with Royal undergarments stuffed down his trousers, this is not sort of historical subject matter that authorities choose to grace a building’s facade or depict on a visitor information board. In fact, many might hope that such indecorous and inconvenient episodes remain quietly overlooked. But this book jogs such artful lapses of memory and at more than one hundred locations across London, Black Plaques lift the carefully placed rug to discover an unsightly, but strangely beckoning, stain.

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December 1941. After setting up one of the first resistance organisations in Vichy France and escaping over the Pyrenees into Spain, brothers Henry and Alfred Newton received devastating news. The SS AVOCETA, carrying their parents, wives and children to the safety of Britain, had been torpedoed by a German U-boat. All of their family were dead. From that moment on, the Newton brothers were consumed by revenge. Recruited by SOE, and known to everyone simply as the Twins, they returned to France and waged their own personal war against the Nazis. For nine months they lived on the edge before they were betrayed, and the net finally closed. They were caught by the Gestapo and tortured at the hands of Klaus Barbie, known as the Butcher of Lyon, before being taken to the dreaded Buchenwald concentration camp. For the first time in over sixty years, acclaimed historian Peter Jacobs reveals the full story of Henry and Alfred Newton. Drawing on personal archives and new research, The Twins is a dramatic tale of courage steeped in vengeance – and of the bonds of brotherhood in the face of hell on earth.

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Artisan Edinburgh is the culmination of interviews and studio visits with some of the city’s finest makers, giving a unique insight into their individual workspaces and the inspirations behind their craft. From ceramicists to weavers, silversmiths to kiltmakers, here traditional methods blend with modern, cutting-edge techniques to create wonderful and unique objets d’art.

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‘You capture so much in one frozen moment of time, and the fact that this tiny moment will now last forever makes it so much more profound…’ Immortalised through the BBC's 'Peaky Blinders', and now in the throes of HS2 development, Birmingham's up and coming creative quarter is in the spotlight as Nigel Parker documents the unique people and places of Digbeth.

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Concorde – named for the English and French word for ‘unity’ – was like no other aircraft. It is perhaps the most iconic airliner of all time, its name a byword for speed, comfort and extravagance. It captured the public’s imagination and hearts, instilling them with a fervent passion. Concorde: An Icon in the News is a look at both the plane and its people. Using photos from Mirrorpix, one of the world’s largest picture libraries, it tracks the airliner from the Anglo-French drawing board to the final flight, through the eyes of the people who loved it most.

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The Little History Of Coventry packs into its pages the colour and incident of a thousand years, telling the story of a city that has perhaps been overlooked by mainstream historians, but has often been at the heart of this country’s great events. From the testing ground of the saintly Godiva to fourteenth-century boom town, from Second World War Blitz victim to the next UK City of Culture, Coventry has always been an inventive place with an unerring ability to bounce back from misfortune and make its mark. This is a truly eye-opening journey through the events and characters that have shaped its story and made the city one of England’s hidden jewels.

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Notting Hill has inspired a large number of books and has often made national news – though not always for the right reasons. It has forever been an area of contrast between rich and poor, and has undergone almost constant change since it was developed from farmland in the mid-nineteenth century to today’s urban landscape. Roger Rogowski’s book records the memories of people who lived in working-class Notting Hill in their own words, before the substantial changes of the 1960s, including the mass demolition of slums, the construction of the Westway, the growth of the Notting Hill Carnival and the area’s enthusiastic embrace of the swinging sixties. The Other Side of Notting Hill delves into everyday urban, working-class life as it was, which in many respects is almost unrecognisable today, and how people began to be affected by the changes taking place around them.

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Follow the story of the static caravan from post-war Britain all the way to the present day. Expert author Andrew Jenkinson collects a wealth of images highlighting the joy static caravans have brought throughout the years. He charts their varied history and shares happy memories from static caravan enthusiasts. Revel in the period fashion and experience the nostalgia, looking back over the static caravan story.

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One of Britain’s most famous and longest serving rulers, Queen Victoria saw widespread change across her empire. During her sixty-three-year reign, in which she became one of the most powerful and influential people in the world, Victoria met everyone from Florence Nightingale to ‘Buffalo Bill’, as well as royalty from around the world with whom she exchanged truly unique gifts. After meeting the exalted monarch her subjects often recorded their impressions of her, sometimes favourable and sometimes not, and she wasn’t shy with her opinion either. The records range from her less than enamoured assessment of ‘Greatest Showman’ P.T. Barnum and her opinions about Jack the Ripper, to how much she enjoyed Jane Eyre and the affection she held for her family. An Audience with Queen Victoria examines the meetings and letters exchanged between the Queen and a veritable ‘who’s who’ of her time. Through brand-new archival research, newspapers and interviews with descendants, sit right alongside Victoria and, for the first time, experience queenship from her perspective.

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By the end of 1943 the Japanese had occupied most of South-East Asia. On 6 March 1944, the first units of the Japanese 15 Army crossed the inhospitable border of what was then Burma, and invaded India. At the township of Kohima they were met by a small, hastily assembled force of Indian and British troops, later reinforced by 2 Division of Slim's 14 Army, who fought valiantly and forced the Japanese to retreat. Described by Mountbatten as 'the British/Indian Thermopylae', Kohima was a turning point in Japanese fortunes, heralding their continued defeat in battle until their formal surrender on 2 September 1945. Using extensive research in primary sources and many previously unpublished first-hand accounts, Leslie Edwards presents a definitive analysis of this pivotal battle.

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Blood, guts, dust and hatred: the real history of the American West. Today is a Good Day to Fight covers the period from the initial penetration of the region by settlers and prospectors in the 1840s until the end of the Indian Wars in the 1890s. It explains the history of white-Indian conflict from the military point of view, showing how the United States used its army to wage terrible wars of conquest upon Native American peoples in order to take the land from them and enrich the growing nation, and how the Indians never really stood a chance in trying to defend their homelands. Highlighting the fractious and bitter relations between tribes unable and unwilling to unite in time to stave off their common enemy, it tries to portray the utter bitterness of the conflict between white and Indian, and how both sides resorted to increasingly foul acts of war and slaughter as the conflict progressed. A dirty, underhanded and scrappy conflict, the outrages committed by both sides fuelled bitterness and resentment that still exists in America today.

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During the history of the White Star Line there were two international disputes – the Boer Wars and the First World War. White Star Line vessels valiantly served in both, including the Big Four: Celtic, Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic. After the merger of White Star with Cunard in 1934, several of the company’s vessels served once again in the Second World War, helping move people and supplies around the world. Sadly, not all vessels returned from conflict, with many beautiful liners lost while performing their duty, but behind every engagement and wreckage there are tales of great heroism and endeavour. Here, author and collector Patrick Mylon has compiled the first book to concentrate on what happened to the White Star ships during wartime, weaving together ship histories and human stories to create a poignant and evocative book filled with rare imagery.

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How did a spider change the course of history? What would a body in the chimney want with a lonely old woman? And what terrible deed could make a Celtic warrior cry? North of Ireland Folk Tales for Children is full of mermaids and pishogues, haunted dolmens and plenty of ghosts, rude Celts and bloodthirsty warriors. This collection of weird, wonderful and irreverently told tales from award-winning storyteller Doreen McBride is not for the faint of heart – and certainly not appropriate for adults.

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The Little Book of Bray & Enniskerry is a compendium of fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts. Here you will find out about Bray and Enniskerry's history, their famous faces, their buildings and streets, their sporting heritage and their myths and legends. Through main thoroughfares and twisting back streets, this book takes the reader on a journey through the area's past. A reliable reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of these ancient settlements.

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The townships of Urmston, Flixton and Davyhulme nestle neatly in a triangular area bordered on the south by the River Mersey, on the north-west by the River Irwell/Manchester Ship Canal and on the east by the M60 motorway. In this, the first substantial book on the area since 1898, local historian Michael Billington draws on census records, newspaper reports, antiquarian books, church accounts, Victorian church magazines, trial records, OS maps, burial records, Industrial School Act records and conversations with local historians and residents. The author, himself an Urmstonian, takes the reader on a journey of discovery in his portrayal of old houses (many now demolished due to disrepair or to make way for the motorway), churches, farms, weaving, the arrival of the railway, children and education, entertainment, sport, customs, culture, the war years and more. There are many previously unpublished photographs, maps and stories to take older residents on a nostalgic journey down memory lane whilst also introducing younger readers to a fascinating trio of townships some seven miles or so to the south-west of Manchester, itself immersed in the glory of the Industrial Revolution.

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The adventures of some sixty pilots and ground crewmen who flew or worked on the Spitfire during the Second World War. The Spitfire was perhaps the most successful fighter design of all time. It remained at the forefront of its genre from the biplane era until well into the jet age, a period including the Second World War, which saw a faster rate of technological advance than in any comparable period in history. Yet the Spitfire was more than just a superb flying machine. During the war it carved a unique place in the psyche of the British people, and many believe it played a major part in saving the nation from defeat during the grim days of 1940. When Spitfire at War first appeared in 1974 it enjoyed critical acclaim as one of the first detailed accounts of a much-loved plane. It was followed by two further volumes, all three of which were hailed as classic works on the subject. In Spitfire: Pilot’s Stories, Dr Alfred Price condensed his three acclaimed books into one, bringing the story together in the form of many pilots’ memories and recollections of flying this iconic aircraft. This gripping collection of pilots’ stories and evocative photographs reveals what it was like to fly the world’s most famous aircraft, undoubtedly the finest fighter of the Second World War.

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The life, crimes and bloody end of John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer were straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster – and Marnie Palmer, his wife of forty years, had a front row seat. The poor Solihull lad, whose childhood home was so cold the goldfish froze, fought his way up to a lifestyle of private jets, yachts and Ferraris, thanks to a home-made gold smelter in his back garden and a multi-million-pound timeshare empire. By the turn of the millennium, Palmer was 105th on the Sunday Times Rich List, but Goldfinger had a long list of enemies. In Goldfinger and Me, his widow Marnie shares her unique insight into his roller coaster life, from dealing scrap in Bristol, to the Brink’s-Mat raid that changed their lives – ending with his downfall of betrayals, jail stints and his still unsolved assassination.

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‘Crazy’ Chris Lewis played in thirty-two Test Matches and fifty-three One-Day Internationals for England. At one point he was regarded as one of the best all-round cricketers the country has ever produced. However, feeling at odds with the middle-class nature of the sport, he regularly courted controversy when off the field – and the tabloids happily lapped it up. His naming of England players involved in a match-fixing scandal led to his early retirement at the age of just 30. After this, he withdrew from the limelight until, in 2008, he was arrested for importing cocaine from the Caribbean and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. In Crazy, Lewis recounts his remarkable, redemptive story, from his arrival in England from Guyana, through his colourful cricketing career, his arrest and subsequent trial, his time in prison and how he finally put his life back together.

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In the past, Luton was a market town and, for many years, was also a centre for the brewing industry. In the 19th century it became famous for hat making, and more recently it has grown into a thriving industrial centre. During the Second World War it played an important part in the manufacture of army vehicles, and children bound for school had to dodge the Churchill tanks on their way to various theatres of conflict. Nowadays, Luton Airport is the gateway for all types of traveller and the town is well known for its famous football team. Luton has always provided visitors with a warm welcome and many have stayed and made the town their home. Local industry offered employment opportunities in the early 20th century and many had cause to be grateful for its relative prosperity during the Great Depression. Following the Second World War, immigrants from the Indian subcontinent and from the West Indies brought with them colourful new cultures that are celebrated in the annual Carnival. This fascinating and illustrated account of Luton’s past will inform and delight anyone who lives in the town and inspire those who grew up here.

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If we scratch beneath the surface of the Suffolk we know today, there are numerous surprising, touching and alarming tales which bring to life the rich history of this county. The Little History of Suffolk reveals the devastating effect of the dissolution of the monasteries, the decline of the once-booming cloth trade, drastic erosion of the coastline, and the disappearance of large country houses and estates. Here you will also find the rise of the chic Victorian seaside resorts, the captains of the brewing and iron industries who put Suffolk firmly on the post-industrial revolution map, and the key wartime role the county played over many centuries. No corner of Suffolk is left unturned in this small book with a huge punch.

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The area of King’s Cross has witnessed a dramatic transformation, with a new city rising above, alongside and within some of the country’s most compelling railway heritage. The former Railway Lands remain extraordinarily rich in historical features, yet those who now reside, work, study, dine or play in this new world will find their origins hard to decipher. The Great Northern Railway, with its stations, goods depots, locomotive sheds, coal yards and stables at King’s Cross, served the needs of the ever-growing metropolis, experiencing growth in the nineteenth century, competition for trade, weakness between the wars, and the high age of steam. After the demise of steam, the decaying industrial landscape was colonised by a variety of new enterprises, invaded by clubbers, contested by developers and the community, and captured by artists and photographers. In The King’s Cross Story Peter Darley explores and illuminates the fascinating history of the Railway Lands over the last 200 years, tracing the evolution of its historical features through time and space.

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