History

14/7/2015 - Speed on steel wheels has fascinated engineers for nearly two centuries, and a string of stunning records in the last (read more)

14/7/2015 - Speed on steel wheels has fascinated engineers for nearly two centuries, and a string of stunning records in the last twenty-five years has pushed railway engineering towards new frontiers. Japan - pioneer of high-speed train technology - set the precedent with its legendary bullet trains in 1964; since then a dozen countries have joined the high-speed revolution. Today, China is setting the pace as it crafts a nationwide network of super-railways, and Morocco and Saudi Arabia are on the cusp of launching trains that travel at 300km/h.

The USA lags far behind, outpaced by Asia and Western Europe, where Eurostar links London to the international high-speed network - although a new-generation railway to northern England is still missing. Here is the full story of high-speed trains, retold in a journey across countries and continents. The Second Age of Rail is railway history in the making. (hide)

'Silent Cities' depicts the history of the 230 war cemeteries around Ypres, in the Salient and the rest of West Flanders. The most (read more)

'Silent Cities' depicts the history of the 230 war cemeteries around Ypres, in the Salient and the rest of West Flanders. The most special graves are described and illustrated, sorted by cemetery. The stories of the most famous soldiers are highlighted in separate frameworks, giving the history of their origins and their lives. (hide)

This is the incredible true story of a wartime sisterhood of women pilots: a group of courageous pioneers who took exceptional risks (read more)

This is the incredible true story of a wartime sisterhood of women pilots: a group of courageous pioneers who took exceptional risks to fly Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters to the frontlines of World War II. The women pilots of Air Transport Auxiliary came from all countries and backgrounds. Although not allowed into combat, they demonstrated astonishing bravery in their supporting role: flying unarmed, without radios or instruments, and at the mercy of the weather and enemy aircraft, they delivered battle-ready planes to their male counterparts, the fighter pilots of the RAF.

The story of these remarkable women pilots - among them Amy Johnson and Lettice Curtis - is a riveting account of women in wartime, and a fitting tribute to their spirit and valour. (hide)

Standing in the nave of a cathedral, it is hard not to wonder how ordinary human beings could have created sky-scraping, dizzyingly (read more)

Standing in the nave of a cathedral, it is hard not to wonder how ordinary human beings could have created sky-scraping, dizzyingly high buildings on which even the top-most parts were delicately decorated, in an age before even the simplest of power tools. Stone on Stone presents the full story of the men who built the cathedrals of the medieval era: who they were, how they lived and how with the simplest of hand tools they created the astonishing buildings that hundreds of years later still stand as monuments to their ingenuity and skill. Topics covered include the context for building such huge places of worship; the men who built: who they were, and the challenges they had to face; finding the materials; construction techniques; building control and finally, who paid for it all.

Published:26 Nov 2018
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The book the MoD doesn't want you to read' Daily Mail Soon after British and American forces invaded Iraq they faced an insurgency (read more)

The book the MoD doesn't want you to read' Daily Mail Soon after British and American forces invaded Iraq they faced an insurgency that was almost impossible to understand, let alone reverse. Facing defeat, the Coalition waged a hidden war within a war. Major-General Stan McChrystal devised a campaign fusing special forces, aircraft, and the latest surveillance technology with the aim of taking down the enemy faster than it could regenerate.

Guided by intelligence, a small British special forces team met the car bombers' fire with fire and accounted for thousands of insurgents. (hide)

Terry Jones' Barbarians takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. Not only does it offer us the chance to see the Romans (read more)

Terry Jones' Barbarians takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. Not only does it offer us the chance to see the Romans from a non-Roman perspective, it also reveals that most of those written off by the Romans as uncivilized, savage and barbaric were in fact organized, motivated and intelligent groups of people, with no intentions of overthrowing Rome and plundering its Empire. This original and fascinating study does away with the propaganda and opens our eyes to who really established the civilized world.

Delving deep into history, Terry Jones and Alan Ereira uncover the impressive cultural and technological achievements of the Celts, Goths, Persians and Vandals. In this paperback edition, Terry and Alan travel through 700 years of history on three continents, bringing wit, irreverence, passion and scholarship to transform our view of the legacy of the Roman Empire and the creation of the modern world. (hide)

In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish in his richest provinces a new (read more)

In August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish in his richest provinces a new administration run by English merchants who collected taxes through means of a ruthless private army - what we would now call an act of involuntary privatisation. The East India Company's founding charter authorised it to `wage war' and it had always used violence to gain its ends.

But the creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be a conventional international trading corporation dealing in silks and spices and became something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business. In less than four decades it had trained up a security force of around 200,000 men - twice the size of the British army - and had subdued an entire subcontinent, conquering first Bengal and finally, in 1803, the Mughal capital of Delhi itself. The Company's reach stretched until almost all of India south of the Himalayas was effectively ruled from a boardroom in London. (hide)

From the author of 'Wartime' comes an outstanding history of the most sustained onslaught ever endured by Britain's civilian population (read more)

From the author of 'Wartime' comes an outstanding history of the most sustained onslaught ever endured by Britain's civilian population - the Blitz. September 1940 marked the beginning of Nazi Germany's aerial attack on civilian Britain. Lasting eight months, the Blitz was the form of warfare that had been predicted throughout the 1930s, and that the British people had feared since Neville Chamberlain's declaration that Britain was at war.

Images of Britain's devastated cities are among the most iconic of the Second World War. Yet compared with other great moments of that war - Dunkirk, the North African campaign, D-Day - the Blitz remains curiously unexamined. Apart from fragmentary accounts and local records, there is little in the way of a comprehensive account of the experience that so many British civilians went through - as well as the social, political and cultural implications of the bombardment.
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By the time the First World War ended in 1918, eight million people had died in what had been perhaps the most apocalyptic episode (read more)

By the time the First World War ended in 1918, eight million people had died in what had been perhaps the most apocalyptic episode the world had known. This Very Short Introduction provides a concise and insightful history of the 'Great War', focusing on why it happened, how it was fought, and why it had the consequences it did. It examines the state of Europe in 1914 and the outbreak of war; the onset of attrition and crisis; the role of the US; the collapse of Russia; and the weakening and eventual surrender of the Central Powers.

Looking at the historical controversies surrounding the causes and conduct of war, Michael Howard also describes how peace was ultimately made, and the potent legacy of resentment left to Germany. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. (hide)

Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London - the untold lives of the women killed by Jack (read more)

Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London - the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. 'An angry and important work of historical detection, calling time on the misogyny that has fed the Ripper myth. Powerful and shaming' GuardianPolly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met.

They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers. What they had in common was the year of their murders- 1888.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become far more famous than any of these five women. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, and gives these women back their stories. (hide)