History

A dazzling, globe-spanning history of humankind's greatest invention: the city. From its earliest incarnations 7,000 years ago to (read more)

A dazzling, globe-spanning history of humankind's greatest invention: the city. From its earliest incarnations 7,000 years ago to the megalopolises of today, the story of the city is the story of civilisation. Although cities have only ever been inhabited by a tiny minority of humanity, the heat they generate has sparked most of our political, social, commercial, scientific and artistic revolutions.

It is these world-changing, epoch-defining moments that are the focus of Ben Wilson's book, as he takes us on a thrilling global tour of the key metropolises of history, from Urk, Athens, Alexandria and Rome, to Baghdad, Lubeck and Venice, to Lisbon, Amsterdam, London, Paris, New York, LA, Shanghai and Lagos. Managing and re-imagining the city is already one of the most pressing issues of the twenty-first century. (hide)

The story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing (read more)

The story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, this book makes for a masterful non-fiction thriller. Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. (hide)

According to the great diarist, John Evelyn, Charles II was 'addicted to women', and throughout his long reign a great many succumbed (read more)

According to the great diarist, John Evelyn, Charles II was 'addicted to women', and throughout his long reign a great many succumbed to his charms. Clever, urbane and handsome, Charles presided over a hedonistic court, in which licence and licentiousness prevailed. Mistresses is the story of the women who shared Charles's bed, each of whom wielded influence on both the politics and cultural life of the country.

From the young king-in-exile's first mistress and mother to his first child, Lucy Walter, to the promiscuous and ill-tempered courtier, Barbara Villiers. From Frances Teresa Stuart, 'the prettiest girl in the world' to history's most famous orange-seller, 'pretty, witty' Nell Gwynn and to her fellow-actress, Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king's fifteen illegitimate children. From Louise de Keroualle, the French aristocrat - and spy for Louis XIV - to the sexually ambiguous Hortense Mancini. (hide)

'An authoritative study of one of history's most feared and successful armies...May concludes this definitive study by tracing the (read more)

'An authoritative study of one of history's most feared and successful armies...May concludes this definitive study by tracing the Mongol legacy to modern mechanized warfare.' Publishers Weekly. 'The Mongol Art of War reflects the state of the field in Mongol military history. May expertly balances his narrative and analysis with little-known vignettes that bring the Mongol conquests to life.

An indispensable resource for specialists, the books is written in a lively and engaging style that make it accessible to students and the interested public alike.' Scott C. Levi, Ohio State University. 'Enlightening, well written and informative...It has great sections on medical care and logistics, so often ignored by other authors, and really captures the feel of the nature of eastern warfare in the 13th century.' Military Illustrated. (hide)

***Stocked 20 November 2014*** The secrets of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, may be destined to remain hidden forever. (read more)

***Stocked 20 November 2014*** The secrets of Queen Victoria's sixth child, Princess Louise, may be destined to remain hidden forever. What was so dangerous about this artistic, tempestuous royal that her life has been documented more by rumour and gossip than hard facts? When Lucinda Hawksley started to investigate, often thwarted by inexplicable secrecy, she discovered a fascinating woman, modern before her time, whose story has been shielded for years from public view. Louise was a sculptor and painter, friend to the Pre-Raphaelites and a keen member of the Aesthetic movement.

The most feisty of the Victorian princesses, she kicked against her mother's controlling nature and remained fiercely loyal to her brothers - especially the sickly Leopold and the much-maligned Bertie. She sought out other unconventional women, including Josephine Butler and George Eliot, and campaigned for education and health reform and for the rights of women. She battled with her indomitable mother for permission to practice the 'masculine' art of sculpture and go to art college - and in doing so became the first British princess to attend a public school. (hide)

The Grande Armee of Napoleon Bonaparte is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever deployed. With it the (read more)

The Grande Armee of Napoleon Bonaparte is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest fighting forces ever deployed. With it the French scored a streak of historic victories that gave them an unprecedented grip on power over the European continent. At its peak it was made up of 680,000 men, a huge multi-national force of officers, infantry and cavalry, artillery and support services masterminded by a superior and highly flexible system of corps, divisions, brigades and regiments, commanded by officers in which Napoleon placed a huge degree of trust and autonomy to operate within the outlines of his strategic objectives.

Published:7 Jan 2019 (hide)

Richard Vinen's National Service is a serious - if often very entertaining - attempt to get to grips with the reality of that extraordinary (read more)

Richard Vinen's National Service is a serious - if often very entertaining - attempt to get to grips with the reality of that extraordinary institution, which now seems as remote as the British Empire itself. With great sympathy and curiosity, Vinen unpicks the myths of the two 'gap years', which all British men who came of age between 1945 and the early 1960s had to fill with National Service. This book is fascinating to those who endured or even enjoyed their time in uniform, but also to anyone wishing to understand the unique nature of post-war Britain. (hide)

Renowned World War Two historian James Holland presents an entirely new perspective on one of the most important moments in recent (read more)

Renowned World War Two historian James Holland presents an entirely new perspective on one of the most important moments in recent history, unflinchingly examining the brutality and violence that characterised the campaign.

D-Day and the 76 days of bitter fighting in Normandy that followed have come to be seen as a defining episode in the Second World War. Its story has been endlessly retold, and yet it remains a narrative burdened by both myth and assumed knowledge. In this reexamined history, James Holland presents a broader overview, one that challenges much of what we think we know about D-Day and the Normandy campaign. (hide)

On which day was history's shortest war waged and won (in roughly 40 minutes)? How was Napoleon bested by a group of rabbits in 1807? (read more)

On which day was history's shortest war waged and won (in roughly 40 minutes)? How was Napoleon bested by a group of rabbits in 1807? Why did a dispute about beer in an Oxford pub lead to over 100 deaths and 470 years of penance? Why in 1752 did Britain go to bed on 2nd September and wake up on the 14th? How did a women's march in 1917 set off the Russian Revolution?On This Day in History brings to life a key event that happened on each day of the year. (hide)

Eighteenth-century London was teeming with humanity, and poverty was never far from politeness. Legend has it that, on his daily (read more)

Eighteenth-century London was teeming with humanity, and poverty was never far from politeness. Legend has it that, on his daily commute through this thronging metropolis, Captain Thomas Coram witnessed one of the city's most shocking sights-the widespread abandonment of infant corpses by the roadside. He could have just passed by.

Instead, he devised a plan to create a charity that would care for these infants; one that was to have enormous consequences for children born into poverty in Britain over the next two hundred years. Orphans of Empire tells the story of what happened to the thousands of children who were raised at the London Foundling Hospital, Coram's brainchild, which opened in 1741 and grew to become the most famous charity in Georgian England. It provides vivid insights into the lives and fortunes of London's poorest children, from the earliest days of the Foundling Hospital to the mid-Victorian era, when Charles Dickens was moved by his observations of the charity's work to campaign on behalf of orphans. (hide)