History

To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons (read more)

To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers.

Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom. Charles spent most of his wealth and his intellect on gaining and keeping the company of women, from the lowest sections of society such as the actress Nell Gwyn to the aristocratic Louise de Kerouaille. Some of Charles' women played their part in the affairs of state, colouring the way the nation was run.

Pub Date:05/05/2016 (hide)

When Charles I was executed, his son Charles II made it his mission to search out retribution, producing the biggest manhunt Britain (read more)

When Charles I was executed, his son Charles II made it his mission to search out retribution, producing the biggest manhunt Britain had ever seen, one that would span Europe and America and would last for thirty years. Men who had once been among the most powerful figures in England ended up on the scaffold, on the run, or in fear of the assassin's bullet. History has painted the regicides and their supporters as fanatical Puritans, but among them were remarkable men, including John Milton and Oliver Cromwell.

Don Jordan and Michael Walsh bring these remarkable figures and this astonishing story vividly to life in an engrossing, bloody tale of plots, spies, betrayal, fear and ambition. (hide)

Stocked 15 July 2014 - We of this age behold with amazement the sweep and range of the great Victorians. - Morning Post, May 1921 (read more)

Stocked 15 July 2014 - We of this age behold with amazement the sweep and range of the great Victorians. - Morning Post, May 1921 Ever since the publication of Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians in 1918 it has been fashionable to ridicule the great figures of the nineteenth century. From the long-reigning monarch herself to the celebrated writers, philanthropists and politicians of the day, the Victorians have been dismissed as hypocrites and frauds - or worse.

Yet not everyone in the twentieth century agreed with Strachey and his followers. To a handful of eccentrics born during Victoria's reign, the nineteenth century remained the greatest era in human history: a time of high culture for the wealthy, 'improvement' for the poor, and enlightened imperial rule for the 400 million inhabitants of the British Empire. They were, to friend and foe alike, 'the last Victorians' - relics of a bygone civilisation. (hide)

In THE COLDITZ STORY, Pat Reid told the story of the escape academy that sprang up inside the most impregnable German POW camp of (read more)

In THE COLDITZ STORY, Pat Reid told the story of the escape academy that sprang up inside the most impregnable German POW camp of the Second World War, ending appropriately with his own incredible escape from Colditz. But Reid's own break-out was by no means the last. In this enthralling sequel, he follows the fortunes of the escape academy right up until the arrival of the allied forces in April 1945.

These tales of fantastic bravery and stunning ingenuity are every bit as mesmerising as the original. A true classic, LATTER DAYS AT COLDITZ is the bestselling conclusion to the story of the infamous German P.O.W. camp. (hide)

Pub Date:13/01/2015 - Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps one of the most controversial and divisive monarchs in regal history. Her story (read more)

Pub Date:13/01/2015 - Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps one of the most controversial and divisive monarchs in regal history. Her story reads like a particularly spicy novel, with murder, kidnap, adultery, assassination and execution. To some she is one of the most wronged women in history, a pawn used and abused by her family in the great monarchical marriage game; to others, a murderous adulteress who committed regicide to marry her lover and then spent years in captivity for the crime, endlessly plotting the demise of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

This book covers the entire breath-taking scope of her amazing life and examines the immense cultural legacy she left behind, from the Schiller play of the 1800s to the CW teen drama Reign. Temptress, terrorist, or tragic queen, this book will give you the lowdown on one of history's most misunderstood monarchs. (hide)

The book is about Liverpool docks and the dockland area its history, strategic importance in times of peace and war; the kinds of (read more)

The book is about Liverpool docks and the dockland area its history, strategic importance in times of peace and war; the kinds of cargoes carried into the docks including slaves! The book provides a complete timeline from the very earliest days right up to the modern time a time when a new and even larger container dock is being built and the advent of the new cruise liner terminal this terminal having been at the center of a political and economic argument between Southampton, Liverpool and the EU. The book also speculates as to the future of Liverpool docks, and also, to a lesser extent, the city itself." (hide)

From its inception in 1932, overseas broadcasting by the BBC quickly became an essential adjunct to British diplomatic and foreign (read more)

From its inception in 1932, overseas broadcasting by the BBC quickly became an essential adjunct to British diplomatic and foreign policy objectives. For this reason, the World Service was considered the primary means of engaging with attitudes and opinions behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Although funded by government Grant-in-Aid, the Service's editorial independence was enshrined in the BBC's Charter, Licence and Agreement.

London Calling explores the delicate balance of power that lay in the relations between Whitehall and the World Service during the Cold War. This book also assesses the nature and impact of the World Service's programmes on listeners living in the Eastern bloc countries. In doing so, it traces the evolution of overseas broadcasting from Britain alongside the political, diplomatic and fiscal challenges that the country faced right up to the Suez crisis and the 1956 Hungarian uprising.
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Life in Europe was fundamentally changed in the 16th century by the astonishing discoveries of the New World and of direct sea routes (read more)

Life in Europe was fundamentally changed in the 16th century by the astonishing discoveries of the New World and of direct sea routes to Asia. To start with England was hardly involved and London remained a gloomy, introverted medieval city. But as the century progressed something extraordinary happened.

Stephen Alford's evocative, original and fascinating new book uses the same skills that made his widely praised The Watchers so successful, bringing to life the network of merchants, visionaries, crooks and sailors who changed London forever. In a sudden explosion of energy English ships were suddenly found all over the world - trading with Russia and the Levant, exploring Virginia and the Arctic, and fanning out across the Indian Ocean. London's Triumph is above all about the people who made this possible - the families, the guild members, the money-men who were willing to risk huge sums and sometimes their own lives in pursuit of the rare, exotic and desirable. (hide)

21/10/13 - In 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at a price of approximately three cents (read more)

21/10/13 - In 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land from France at a price of approximately three cents per acre, dramatically altering the young nation's geography and its political future. President Thomas Jefferson had struggled for three years over the purchase, which many believed to be unconstitutional, during which time the land changed hands between the French and the Spanish. In perhaps the nation's most formative development since the Revolutionary War, the deal secured the U.S.territory that would become fifteen new states, sparked intense public argument about the American Frontier, and ensured Jefferson a complicated legacy in American history. With special attention to the diplomatic and constitutional background of the purchase, The Louisiana Purchase examines the event in the context of the Atlantic world, including the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars in Europe, colonial revolutions in the Caribbean, and the westward expansion of the U.S. population.
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PThis remarkable work pulls the lid off one of the legendary air forces in history at the very peak of its power-unveiling the and (read more)

PThis remarkable work pulls the lid off one of the legendary air forces in history at the very peak of its power-unveiling the and machines as they truly existed day-to-day, underneath the propaganda of their own regime and the scare stories of their enemies. In Hitler's Germany, colour photography was primarily co-opted for state purposes, such as the military publication Signal, or the Luftwaffe's own magazine, Der Adler (Eagle). But a number of men had cameras of their own, and in this painstakingly acquired collection, originally published in France, we can witness true life on Germany's airfields during the period of the Luftwaffe's ascendancy.

Thus not only do we see famous planes such as the Me-109, Ju-87 or He-111, but the wide variety of more obscure types with which the Germans began the war. The array of Arados, Dorniers, Heinkels - not to mention elegant 4-engine Condors - that were initially employed in the war are here in plain sight and full colour, providing not only an insight into WWII history but a model maker's dream. Just as fascinating are the shots of the airmen themselves, along with their groundcrews - full of confidence and cheer as they bested every other air force in Europe during these years, with the single exception of the RAF's Fighter Command in late-summer 1940.

Published on 31/10/2016 (hide)