Britain
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10 Scotland Street
This is a triumph. A love letter to the ghosts of Edinburgh. I feel its hand upon my shoulder. -Sara Sheridan
As a writer of fiction, I found myself itching to lift some of these characters from the page into the fertile fields of my own imagination. -Val McDermid
About the book
10 Scotland Street – the story of an Edinburgh home and its cast of booksellers, silk merchants, sailors, preachers, politicians, cholera and coincidence and its widespread connections over two centuries across the globe.
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£24.7910 Scotland Street
£24.79 -
A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Life
In this delightful and engagingly eccentric treasury of life lessons, redoubtable Victorian Elspeth Marr (1871-1947) reflects on the fundamental topics of life as well as the nuts and bolts of everyday living.
Part journal, part commonplace book, among many gems you will find enlightenment and advice on everything from Dreams to Garlic; Patriotism to Wrinkles.
Written throughout her life but only discovered after her death, by her great-great nephew, Christopher Rush, Elspeth’s (known as Aunt Epp) journal was never intended for publication but her style of writing and the subject matter she covers nonetheless reaches a universal audience. Not afraid to put forth views on the big topics – religion, evolution, and ethical issues – she also tackles the nuts and bolts of living – food, sex and health.
Vital, refreshingly frank and always amusing, A Victorian Lady’s Guide to Life provides a wealth of sound advice.
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Admiral of the Narrow Seas: The Life of Bertram Ramsay
Bertram Ramsay has acquired almost mythical status in the history of the Second World War, firstly as the principal organizer of the Dunkirk evacuation and then as naval commander of the Allied invasion of Normandy – in the eyes of many, ‘the organizer of victory’. But because Ramsay was killed in January 1945 and never wrote his own memoirs, his life has until now been difficult to pin down.
Andrew Gordon, prize-winning author of The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command, writing with the help of Ramsay’s descendants, now describes the career of this intense and territorial man in full, for the first time establishing his true role in the two great tests of his life and conveying his very particular personality. This is a superb biography of a naval officer, which also illuminated afresh British history in the first half of the twentieth century.
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£26.20£28.50 -
Arthur Gould: Rugby’s First Superstar
Arthur Gould is the definitive biography of the record-breaking Welsh international player who is widely acknowledged as the first superstar of rugby. Such was his fame and renown, that upon his tragic, early death in 1919, aged just 54, Gould’s funeral in Newport was reported as the biggest Wales had ever seen. Nicknamed ‘Monkey’ due to his childhood fondness for climbing trees, Gould played the majority of his club rugby for Newport RFC and won a then-record 27 Welsh caps; 25 of which were at centre (a record only bettered by Steve Fenwick in 1980); and captained his country 18 times (a record only beaten in 1994 by Ieuan Evans). A true sporting sensation, when he retired in 1899 Gould had played more first-class matches and scored more tries and drop goals than any other player. Gould’s superstar status was illustrated late in his career when a testimonial appeal received widespread public support and resulted in the Scottish and Irish unions cancelling their fixtures with Wales in protest at the apparent breach of the game’s strict amateur ethos. The controversy deepened when the Welsh Football Union (now the WRU) stood firmly behind their iconic player and withdrew from the International Rugby Board. Fearing that lucrative fixtures with Welsh clubs might be lost and that Wales might join forces with the newly established Northern Union of professional rugby, England’s Rugby Football Union brokered a ‘one-off’ dispensation which enabled Gould to benefit from the testimonial while retaining his amateur status, and ensured that international fixtures were resumed. Comprehensively researched and written by acclaimed rugby historian, Gwyn Prescott, with the full support and encouragement of the Gould family, Arthur Gould – Rugby’s First Superstar includes over 100 illustrations and will be enjoyed by all who love rugby and treasure its sporting and cultural heritage.Read more
£14.80£17.10Arthur Gould: Rugby’s First Superstar
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At Home with the Queen: Life Through the Keyhole of the Royal Household
Behind the scenes of the private world at the heart of royalty, as revealed by a distinguished royal commentator.
This is the real story of what goes on inside the royal palaces, as witnessed by members of the royal staff and household past and present. Buckingham Palace is effectively an independent kingdom with its own rules and customs, now explained by Brian Hoey. Hundreds of anecdotes reveal the conditions in which the staff live and work and also their relationship with the Royals they serve.
How does one get a job as personal footman to the Queen? Why does Prince Charles still have to send a note to her Page of the Backstairs requesting a meeting with his mother? How much do members of the household earn? Why does the Queen hate men in three-piece suits? Why are the Queen’s bedsheets six inches longer than Prince Philip’s? Why do her maids have to vacuum walking backwards? Why doesn’t the Queen allow square ice-cubes to be put in her drinks?
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£6.20£8.50 -
BACK STREET KID: Growing up in Royal Leamington Spa
Part memoir and part local history, this book tells the story of a little girl who was born and raised in one of Leamington’s back-street slums during the middle years of the twentieth century.Most of the books written about the Spa tend to be of a more serious nature, concentrating on its history, its buildings, and the lives of the great & the good who provided the wealth that built the town; but little is written about the lives of the hard-working folk who lived in poverty behind the elegant facades.
Those who lived in the back-streets, or former pupils of St. Peter’s School, Leamington Girls College or Clapham Terrace Senior School may find the book of particular interest.
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Battle of Brothers: You’ve heard from one side – now read the full, true story of the royal family in crisis
The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller
‘THE ROYAL BOOK OF THE YEAR … You’ve read their side of the story, now read the real story’ Daily Mail
THIS CRISIS IS AS BIG AS THE ABDICATION – SAYS LACEY, HISTORICAL ADVISOR TO THE CROWN.
The world has watched Prince William and Prince Harry since they were born. Raised by Princess Diana to be the closest of brothers, how have the boy princes grown into very different, now distanced men?
From royal expert and bestselling author Robert Lacey, this book is an unparalleled insider account of tumult and secrecy revealing the untold details of William and Harry’s early closeness then estrangement. It asks what happens when two sons are raised for vastly different futures – one burdened with the responsibility of one day becoming king, the other with the knowledge that he will always remain spare.
How have William and Harry each formed their idea of a modern royal’s duty and how they should behave? Were the seeds of damage sowed as Prince Charles and Diana’s marriage painfully unraveled for all the world to see? In the previous generation, how have Prince Charles and Prince Andrew’s lives unfolded in the shadow of the Crown? What choices has Queen Elizabeth II made in marshalling her feuding heirs? What parts have Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle played in helping their husbands to choose their differing paths? And what is the real, unvarnished story behind Harry and Meghan’s dramatic departure?
In the most intimate vision yet of life behind closed doors, with the family’s highs, lows and hardest decisions all laid out, this is a journey into royal life as never offered before.
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£5.70£19.00 -
Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the Royal Household
Behind the Throne is, above all, a history of family life.
They ate, entertained their friends and worried about money. Henry VIII kept tripping over his dogs. George II threw his son out of the house. James I had to cut back on the drink bills.
The great difference is that royal families had more help with their lives than most.
Charles I maintained a household of 2,000. Victoria’s medical establishment alone consisted of thirty doctors, three dentists and a chiropodist. Even today, Elizabeth II keeps a full-time staff of 1,200.
A royal household was a community, a vast machine. Everyone, from James I’s Master of the Horse down to William IV’s Assistant Table Decker, was there to smooth the sovereign’s path through life while simultaneously confirming their status.
Here, Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the reality of five centuries of life at the English court, taking you on a remarkable journey, exploring life as it was lived by clerks and courtiers and clowns and crowned heads.
Behind the Throne is a true domestic history of the royal household, a reconstruction of life behind the throne.
‘The most interesting and informative book on British royalty for many years’ Literary Review
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Billington: Victorian Executioner
‘An insightful and gripping account that will take you into the dark but fascinating world of a Victorian executioner.’ – Stewart P. Evans
Between 1884 and 1905 James Billington and his three sons, Thomas, William and John, were responsible for 235 executions in Victorian Great Britain and Ireland. They hanged many notorious murderers, but equally fascinating is the story of the family. Did James really feel he served society and justice, or did this position satisfy something more personal?
Billington: Victorian Executioner provides a complete account of the stories behind James Billington’s executions, as well as the real man behind the rope – a man whose business was death. This enthralling biography is an exciting addition to any true crime bookshelf.Read more
£11.60£12.30Billington: Victorian Executioner
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Black and British: An Illustrated History
This beautiful hardback gift book is a stunning visual journey through Black British history for younger readers by award-winning historian and broadcaster David Olusoga and illustrated by Jake Alexander and Melleny Taylor.
The essential starting place for anyone who wants to learn about Black British History. David Olusoga’s thought provoking text charts the forgotten histories of Black people in Britain from Roman times right through to the present day.
From Roman Africans guarding Hadrian’s Wall, to an African trumpeter in the court of Henry the Eighth, Black Georgians fighting for the abolition of slavery, Black soldiers fighting for Britain in the First World War, Windrush and right up today. These are the stories that brought us all together in this country.
When did Africans first come to Britain?
Who are the well-dressed black children in Georgian paintings?
Why did the American Civil War disrupt the Industrial Revolution?
These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history.
This children’s edition of the bestseller Black and British: A Forgotten History is beautifully illustrated in full-colour with maps, portrait galleries, timelines, photos and portraits.
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£10.40£16.10Black and British: An Illustrated History
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Black Victorians: Hidden in History
A landmark history exploring and celebrating the lives of Black Victorians.
Beyond the patrician vision of Victorian Britain traditionally advanced in our textbooks, there always existed another, more diverse Britain, populated by people of colour marking achievements both ordinary and extraordinary.
In this deeply researched and dynamic history, Woolf and Abraham reach into the archives to recentre our attention on marginalised Black Victorians, from leading medic George Rice to political agitator William Cuffay to abolitionists Henry ‘Box’ Brown and Sarah Parker Remond; from pre-Raphaelite muse Fanny Eaton to renowned composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. While acknowledging the paradoxes of Victorian views of race, Black Victorians demonstrates, with storytelling verve and a liberatory impulse, how Black people were visible and influential, firmly rooted in British life.
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£11.40£12.30Black Victorians: Hidden in History
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Britain’s Royal Heritage: An A to Z of the Monarchy
This book is more than a biography of kings and queens; it is an encyclopaedic work on every aspect of monarchy in Britain from semi-legendary times to the present day. Arranged in an A-Z format, it includes mini biographies on each of the forty-two kings and queens who have ruled since the Norman Conquest, details of the royal lines in Scotland before the Act of Union, the background to the royal houses of Britain and the consorts – largely foreign – who have married into the monarchy. Royal scandals, wars, ceremonies, households, tombs and insignia make fascinating reading, and this book is the ideal reference work for all those who want to know more about individual monarchs and the impressive legacy of myths, traditions, beliefs and practices that have grown up around the institution of the monarchy.
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British Royal Tombs
- The classic guide to all burials of the kings, queens and lords protector of England, Scotland and the United Kingdom, with photographs, drawings and detailed appendices
Aidan Dodson’s British Royal Tombs covers all the burials of the kings, queens (and lords protector) of England, Scotland and the United Kingdom, from the occupant of the great Sutton Hoo ship burial, to George VI, last Emperor of India, including of course the long-lost Richard III. This fully revised edition of a book that became an immediate classic of its kind will be equally interesting to the interested visitor and the student. The career of each ruler is briefly described, followed by what is known about his or her burial arrangements and the subsequent history of the tomb and its contents. Each tomb is illustrated as far as possible by at least one photograph or drawing.
The posthumous fate of royal spouses is also included, together with information on each of the cathedrals, churches, chapels and other structures that house or once housed royal tombs; there are detailed diagrams for the major sites. A list of monarchs, family trees and an extensive bibliography complete the book.
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£10.40£16.10British Royal Tombs
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Endgame: 2023’s new biography from the bestselling author telling the true story of the royal family and looking to the future for King Charles III after the death of Elizabeth II
The explosive new book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, Endgame a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy.
An unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to great lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor – and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by incidents involving antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world.
Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.
This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?
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£10.50£20.90 -
Endgame: 2023’s new biography from the bestselling author telling the true story of the royal family and looking to the future for King Charles III after the death of Elizabeth II
The explosive new book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, Endgame a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy.
An unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to great lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor – and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by incidents involving antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world.
Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.
This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?
Read more
£11.00£22.00 -
Endgame: 2023’s new biography from the bestselling author telling the true story of the royal family and looking to the future for King Charles III after the death of Elizabeth II
The explosive new book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, Endgame a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy.
An unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to great lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor – and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by incidents involving antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world.
Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.
This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?
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£6.60 -
Executioner: The Chronicles of a Victorian Hangman
James Berry, a dour and somewhat pious ex-policeman who hailed from Yorkshire, was Britain’s hangman from 1884 to 1892 and was responsible for carrying out 200 executions. As an amateur criminologist he built his own black museum and kept scrapbooks relating to his activities. He was also something of a showman, and not averse to publicity, whose press coverage caused the government acute embarrassment. Capable of cold, even callous detachment, Berry’s sensitivity meant that he was often too upset before and after one of his 200 executions to be able to speak.There were also a few horrific incidents on the gallows and his job evidently had its effect on him as, in retirement, Berry became so depressed that he took steps to commit suicide. In this biography, Stewart Evans here takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the world of Victorian crime and punishment. Evans is a leading crime historian, widely considered one of the Victorian era. His previous books include Jack the Ripper, Letters From Hell and Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders. He lives in Cambridgeshire.Read more
£11.60£17.10Executioner: The Chronicles of a Victorian Hangman
£11.60£17.10 -
Fleet Air Arm Boys Volume Three: Helicopters – True Tales From royal Navy Men and Women Air and Ground Crew (Fleet Air Arm Boys, 3)
Helicopters have been going to sea with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm for over 70 years. Initially used for search and rescue (SAR) duties from aircraft carriers, the rapid development of both the helicopters and service experience resulted in them taking on the vital anti-submarine (and later anti-ship) attack roles.
The 1956 Suez campaign saw the first operational use of Whirlwind helicopters for the insertion of troops by air into a battle zone, a capability which was expanded with more helicopters such as the Wessex, Sea King and today’s Merlin. Through their vital role in the 1960s Indonesian Confrontation, the Commando helicopter force became universally referred to as the ‘Junglies’, by which name they are still known today.
It is often said that if either of the 1982 Task Force aircraft carriers had been lost the Falklands War could not have been won. The same would surely have been true without helicopters. Their vital tasks, including inserting Special Forces behind enemy lines, protecting the Task Force from Exocet missile attack and recovering wounded troops whilst under enemy fire, are rightly hailed as being instrumental. At home, the essential SAR effort by both the Royal Navy and their RAF counterparts has resulted in incredible stories of saving lives against the odds.
Royal Navy destroyers and frigates have also long since benefitted from having their own helicopter Flight aboard. Frequently operating in extremes of weather, flying a Wasp, Lynx or today’s Wildcat from and back to a heaving deck is every bit as risky as flying fixed-wing aircraft off the carriers of old using the cat and trap system.
Once dismissed as a novelty, the helicopter has more than proved itself. Indeed, for ten years until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, the Fleet Air Arm’s operational force was entirely rotary-wing. Today’s Merlins and Wildcats, with their dedicated aircrew, maintenance and support staff continue to demonstrate just how vital an asset the helicopter has become.
Here are the words of the men and women themselves, skilfully brought to life by Steve Bond and profusely illustrated in colour and b/w.
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£19.00£23.80 -
From the Mill to Monte Carlo: The Working-Class Englishman Who Beat the Monaco Casino and Changed Gambling Forever
This is the story of a man who went from Yorkshire mill worker to Monte Carlo millionaire. Amongst the men ‘who broke the bank at Monte Carlo’, Joseph Hobson Jagger is unique. He is the only one known to have devised an infallible and completely legal system to defeat the odds at roulette and win a fortune. But he was not what might be expected. He wasn’t a gentleman or an aristocrat, he wasn’t a professional gambler, he was a Yorkshire textile worker who had laboured in the Victorian mills of Bradford since childhood. What led a man like this to travel nearly a thousand miles to the exclusive world of the Riviera when most people lived and died within a few miles of where they were born? The trains that took him there were still new and dangerous, he did not speak French and had never left the north of England. His motivation was strong. Joseph, his wife and four children, the youngest of whom was only two, faced a situation so grave that their only escape seemed to be his desperate gamble on the roulette tables of Monte Carlo. Today Jagger’s legacy is felt in casinos worldwide and yet he is virtually unknown. Anne Fletcher is his great-great-great niece and in this true-life detective story she uncovers how he was able to win a fortune, what happened to his millions and why Jagger should now be regarded as the real ‘man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo’.Read more
£8.70£9.50 -
Get It On: How the ’70s Rocked Football
SHORTLISTED FOR BEST SPORTS WRITING AT THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023
“Sheer joy” – Patrick Barclay
“Exhilarating” – When Saturday Comes
“Perfect” – Josh Widdicombe
“★★★★★” – FourFourTwo
Four years after the crowning glory of 1966, and a decade after the abolition of the maximum wage, a brash new era dawned in English football. As the 1970s took hold, a new generation of larger-than-life players and managers emerged, appearing on television sets in vivid technicolour for the first time.
Set against a backdrop of strikes, political unrest, freezing winters and glam rock, Get It On tells the inside story of how commercialism, innovation, racism and hooliganism rocked the national game in the 1970s.
Packed with interviews with the legends of the day, this footballing fiesta charts the emergence of Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Kevin Keegan and the fall of George Best, Alf Ramsey and Don Revie, presenting a vibrant portrait of the most groundbreaking decade in English football history.
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£11.20£12.30Get It On: How the ’70s Rocked Football
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Gunpowder and Geometry: The Life of Charles Hutton: Pit Boy, Mathematician and Scientific Rebel
August, 1755. Newcastle, on the north bank of the Tyne.
In the fields, men and women are getting the harvest in. Sunlight, or rain. Scudding clouds and backbreaking labour. Three hundred feet underground, young Charles Hutton is at the coalface. Cramped, dust-choked, wielding a five-pound pick by candlelight. Eighteen years old, he’s been down the pits on and off for more than a decade, and now it looks like a life sentence. No unusual story, although Charles is a clever lad – gifted at maths and languages – and for a time he hoped for a different life. Many hoped.
Charles Hutton, astonishingly, would actually live the life he dreamed of. Twenty years later you’d have found him in Slaughter’s coffee house in London, eating a few oysters with the President of the Royal Society.
By the time he died, in 1823, he was a fellow of scientific academies in four countries, while the Lord Chancellor of England counted himself fortunate to have known him. Hard work, talent, and no small share of luck would take Charles Hutton out of the pit to international fame, wealth, admiration and happiness. The pit-boy turned professor would become one of the most revered British scientists of his day. This book is his incredible story.
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£5.50£9.50 -
Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1): 1918-38
The Sunday Times bestselling edition of Chips Channon’s remarkable diaries.
‘The greatest British diarist of the 20th century. An astonishing achievement. By turns frivolous and profound.’ Ben Macintyre, The Times
‘Wickedly entertaining. Genuinely shocking, and still revelatory.’ Andrew Marr, New Statesman
‘An irresistible, saucy read . . . One of the most impressive editions of our time.’ The Telegraph
‘They’re among the most glittering and enjoyable diaries ever written’ Observer
____________________________________Born in Chicago in 1897, ‘Chips’ Channon settled in England after the Great War, married into the immensely wealthy Guinness family, and served as Conservative MP for Southend-on-Sea from 1935 until his death in 1958. His career was unremarkable. His diaries are quite the opposite.
Elegant, gossipy and bitchy by turns, they are the unfettered observations of a man who went everywhere and who knew everybody. Whether describing the antics of London society in the interwar years, or the growing scandal surrounding his close friends Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson during the abdication crisis, or the mood in the House of Commons in the lead up to the Munich crisis, his sense of drama and his eye for the telling detail are unmatched. These are diaries that bring a whole epoch vividly to life.
________________________________‘Fascinating and sometimes a key historical record. And the man could write.’ Daily Mirror
‘Fascinating stuff.’ The Spectator
‘Gripping reading.’ The Sunday Times
‘Chips perfectly embodied the qualities vital to the task: a capacious ear for gossip, a neat turn of phrase, a waspish desire to tell all, and easy access to the highest social circles across Europe.’ Jesse Norman, Financial Times
‘A masterpiece of storytelling and character assassination.’ Guardian
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£14.71£15.99 -
History of Britain and Ireland: The Definitive Visual Guide
Discover the pivotal political, military, and cultural events that shaped British and Irish history, from Stone Age Britain to the present day, in this revised and updated book.
Combining over 700 photographs, maps, and artworks with accessible text, the History of Britain and Ireland is an invaluable resource for families, students, and anyone seeking to learn more about the fascinating story of the England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Spanning six distinct periods of British and Irish history, this book is the best way to find out how Britain transformed with the Norman rule, fought two world wars in the 20th century, and faced new economic challenges in the 21st century.
DK’s visual guide places key figures – from Alfred the Great to Winston Churchill – and major events – from Roman invasion to the Battle of Britain – in their wider context, making it easier than ever before to learn how they influenced Britain and Ireland’s development through the age of empire into the modern era.
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£19.80£23.80 -
Hunter Killers: The Dramatic Untold Story of the Royal Navy’s Most Secret Service
HUNTER KILLER: a submarine designed to pursue and attack enemy submarines and surface ships using torpedoes.
HUNTER KILLERS will follow the careers of four daring British submarine captains who risked their lives to keep the rest of us safe, their exploits consigned to the shadows until now. Their experiences encompass the span of the Cold War, from voyages in WW2-era submarines under Arctic ice to nuclear-powered espionage missions in Soviet-dominated seas.
There are dangerous encounters with Russian spy ships in UK waters and finally, as the communist facade begins to crack, they hold the line against the Kremlin’s oceanic might, playing a leading role in bringing down the Berlin Wall. It is the first time they have spoken out about their covert lives in the submarine service.
This is the dramatic untold story of Britain’s most-secret service.
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King Charles III: A special commemorative souvenir book for the 2023 royal coronation
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Stunning, photographic King Charles III memorabilia gift for royal fans
As the nation celebrates the coronation of a new monarch, The Sun looks back on 100 moments in the life of the man who would be king.
The longest heir apparent in British history, King Charles has lived a remarkable life during his 70-year wait to be king. From his childhood to his later years, each day of Charles’s life has led up to the moment he ascended to the throne. With exclusive articles from The Sun’s archives, rarely seen photographs and a foreword written by celebrated royal photographer Arthur Edwards MBE, this book paints a unique portrait of the man behind the monarch.
Featuring the ups and downs, highs and lows, and the key moments that have shaped the life of a son, father, grandfather and king, including:
- The birth of a prince, 1948
- From Balmoral to boarding school, 1958
- Investiture of the Prince of Wales, 1969
- Blazing a trail for the environment, 1970
- Charles meets Camilla, 1972
- Wedding of the century, 1981
- ‘I’m a dad’, 1982
- The end of a fairytale, 1992
- Cool Charles stares down gunman, 1994
- The death of Diana, 1997
- Official: he’s world’s best dressed man, 2009
- Proud Charles walks Meghan up the aisle, 2018
- Charles’s tearful farewell to Papa, 2021
- God save the Queen, 2022
- All hail the King, 2022
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£9.00£14.20 -
Oliver Cromwell: The brave, bad man of British history
Not since Antonia Fraser’s major biography (1975) has there been a life of Cromwell so sympathetic to its subject and based on so many years of scholarship and research.
As General Editor for Oxford University Press of the five-volume edition of all the recorded words (writings and recorded speech acts) of Oliver Cromwell, Professor Morrill is perfectly equipped to write this biography. He argues that Cromwell has been seriously misinterpreted by historians, not least by left-wing thinkers such as Tony Benn claiming Cromwell as their own and thus misunderstanding the nature of Cromwell’s political thought. This was a product of his religious ideas, and, argues the author, in this Cromwell was entirely sincere.
Cromwell felt propelled by God to become head of state but in the process the savagery and cruelty he meted out to his opponents – especially the Irish and the Scots – seems today to be beyond human imagining. And yet he described this as the ‘cruel necessity’ of God’s will. After the Siege of Drogheda he murdered 3,000 people and Catholic clergy and the religious were killed on sight. He cast a long shadow over Irish history which is still remembered to this day even in popular songs. To many this would appear to verge on genocide but with this and the signing of the act of execution of Charles I, Cromwell never doubted that he was doing God’s will.
Morrill’s book sheds exciting new light on Cromwell, both political and religious, and is based on the latest scholarship of the highest quality. Morrill argues against contemporary critics and claims that Cromwell was a man of fundamental sincerity and devotion to high Puritan principles.
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Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places That Changed British Politics
‘’F *** ing brilliant. I would describe it as like a bag of political nuts – moreish and fabulously salty’ JOE LYCETT
Forget Westminster bust-ups and PMQs, some of the key events that have shaped modern British politics happened not in the cloisters of parliament or Downing Street’s many corridors of power, but in car parks, village halls and seaside resorts where the mundane have played host to the mighty. From Pitt the Younger’s Putney Heath duel to finding Margaret Thatcher a voice coach on a train, Harold Wilson’s ‘Scilly’ season holidays to John Major’s dental appointment clearing his path to No10 – these (and many more) are the places where chance meetings, untimely deaths and snap, sometimes daft, decisions changed the course of politics.
Matt Chorley has spent almost two decades covering Westminster, interviewing prime ministers, mocking ministers and chronicling the serious, and sometimes unintentionally absurd, events which act as unlikely turning points in the direction of a nation. Illustrated by award-winning political cartoonist Morten Morland, Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors combines Matt’s insider-knowledge, smart analysis and detailed research with his background in comedy to create an hilarious history of how politics actually happens.
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£18.70£23.80 -
Politics On the Edge: The instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller from the host of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
A political journey through turbulent times
Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister – before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.
Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow and inadequate our democracy and government had become. Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.
Politics On the Edge invites us into the mind of one of the most interesting actors on the British political stage. Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, this is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life; a new classic of political memoir and a remarkable portrait of our age.
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Politics On the Edge: The instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller from the host of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
A searing insider’s account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of breakout hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
‘The most exceptional political memoir I’ve ever read’ ALAN JOHNSON
‘An instant classic’ MARINA HYDE
‘At last a politician who can write’ SEBASTIAN FAULKSThe Times pick for *The Biggest Books of the Autumn*
Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister – before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.
Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow our democracy and government had become.
Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.
Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, Politics On the Edge is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life and a remarkable portrait of our age.
The perfect Christmas gift for anyone who wants to understand our current political climate.
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£14.30£20.90 -
Politics On the Edge: The instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller from the host of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
A searing insider’s account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of breakout hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
‘The most exceptional political memoir I’ve ever read’ ALAN JOHNSON
‘An instant classic’ MARINA HYDE
‘At last a politician who can write’ SEBASTIAN FAULKSThe Times pick for *The Biggest Books of the Autumn*
Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister – before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.
Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow our democracy and government had become.
Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.
Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, Politics On the Edge is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life and a remarkable portrait of our age.
**A FINANCIAL TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, CHURCH TIMES AND SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023**
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Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled
Elegant and sophisticated biography of Princess Margaret, the controversial sister of Queen Elizabeth II, the Princess Diana of her day
‘A fascinating insight into the life of the party girl who became an icon in postwar Britain’ DAILY EXPRESS
‘She was a witty, intelligent, stimulating companion – happily Tim Heald captures all these qualities in his admirably well-balanced biography’ LITERARY REVIEW
The almost universal conception is that the life of Princess Margaret (1930-2002) was a tragic failure, a history of unfulfilment.
Tim Heald’s vivid and elegant biography portrays a woman who was beautiful and sexually alluring – even more so than Princess Diana, years later – and whose reputation for naughtiness co-existed with the glamour. The mythology is that Margaret’s life was ‘ruined’ by her not being allowed to marry the one true love of her life – Group Captain Peter Townsend – and that therefore her marriage to Lord Snowdon and her well-attested relationships with Roddy Llewellyn and others were mere consolation prizes. Margaret’s often exotic personal life in places like Mustique is a key part of her story.
The author has had extraordinary help from those closest to Princess Margaret, including her family (Lord Snowdon and her son, Lord Linley), as well as three of her private secretaries and many of her ladies in waiting. These individuals have not talked to any previous biographer. He has also had the Queen’s permission to use the royal archives.
Heald asks why one of the most famous and loved little girls in the world, who became a juvenile wartime sweetheart, ended her life a sad wheelchair-bound figure, publicly reviled and ignored. This is a story of a life in which the private and the public seemed permanently in conflict. The biography is packed with good stories. Princess Margaret was never ignored; what she said and did has been remembered and recounted to Tim Heald.
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£9.60£10.40Princess Margaret: A Life Unravelled
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Queen Consort: The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller: the Biography of Queen Consort Camilla
THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘A gripping story of human frailty, love, loss, sadness, and tragedy’ Daily Mail
She is the most public and least understood woman in Britain. Diana called her a Rottweiler. Prince Harry said she was a villain. But spend two minutes with Camilla and you understand why Charles fell for her.
The relationship between King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, is one of the most extraordinary, star-crossed love stories of the past fifty years. It has endured against all the odds, and in the process nearly destroyed the British monarchy.
In this compelling biography, Britain’s top royal author paints an intimate portrait of the Queen Consort, revealing for the first time why the King went against his mother and risked everything to have Camilla by his side.
Previously published as The Duchess.
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Queen Elizabeth II: A Celebration of Her Life and Reign in Pictures (BBC Books)
An official BBC book that celebrates the life of Queen Elizabeth II through photographs, some rarely seen, drawn largely from archives of the BBC.
The longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II has been at the centre of British life for almost a century. She’s led a very public life, seen by millions through photographs, film and television, from the time of her birth in 1926 to the final years of her reign. The embodiment of Britain, she has been a constant, knowledgeable presence in our politics and culture since she came to the throne in 1952.
This book celebrates the life of Queen Elizabeth II through photographs and still images, drawn largely from the archives of the BBC, an organisation that received its royal charter only one year after she was born. From her earliest days and first moments of public life, to her Platinum Jubilee and the weddings of her children and grandchildren, this is a lavish tribute to the most public of monarchs, an iconic figure in the hearts and minds of millions throughout the world.
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Queen Elizabeth II: A Glorious 70 Years
Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne for a glorious 70 years. This book pays tribute to this long serving monarch charting her journey, in words and pictures, from the 25 year old young woman who ascended to the throne in 1953 to the much loved elder stateswoman of today. This celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II offers the definitive illustrated story of her public and private life spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Featuring the incredible tradition, history, glamour, and culture of Her Majesty, this book also follows the international tours, state functions, royal weddings, and jubilees, and showcases the glorious royal photography of some of the most well known Royal photographers and archives.Read more
£13.90£20.00Queen Elizabeth II: A Glorious 70 Years
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Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II
A Sunday Times Book of the Year
Queen Of Our Times is the definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth II by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities, Robert Hardman. This commemorative edition includes an epilogue reflecting upon Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, her passing and her funeral.
‘Sensational’ – Kirsty Young, The Platinum Pageant (BBC)
With fascinating revelations from those who knew her best and special access to unseen royal papers granted by Elizabeth II herself, author and royal expert Robert Hardman explores the full, astonishing life of our longest reigning monarch in this authoritative yet intimate biography.
The book also charts the way in which the Queen raised the future King Charles III as both son and heir.
Elizabeth was not born to be queen, being third in line to the throne. Yet from her accession as a young mother of two in 1952 to the age of Covid-19, she proved an astute and quietly determined figure, leading her family and her people through more than seventy years of unprecedented social change. She faced constitutional crises, confronted threats against her life, unified the Commonwealth, saw fifteen British prime ministers come and go, charmed world leaders, and steered her family through a lifetime in the public eye. Her Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in June 2022 and her death mourned months later, both events a reminder of the huge impact she had made.
Queen of Our Times is a must-read study of dynastic survival and renewal, spanning abdication, war, romance, danger and tragedy. It is a compelling portrait of a leader whose legacy of steadfast service lives on.
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Red Devils: The Trailblazers of the Paras in World War Two
‘Riveting . . . Full of daring action, standout characters and cutting edge operations, this is unputdownable’ Damien Lewis
‘Gripping and authoritative. Family men, circus performers, solicitors, communists, and reactionaries all fought together and shed blood for their country – a true and moving story of war’ Andy McNab
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Their German enemies called them the ‘Red Devils’. Montgomery described them as ‘men apart – every man an Emperor’. The cards they received on qualifying began: ‘You are the elite of the British army’.
The Parachute Regiment.
In this gripping, authorized account, bestselling historian Mark Urban tells the story of the wartime creation and development of Britain’s elite airborne infantry – who ranged from circus performers to solicitors, policemen to gravediggers, Christians and Jews to communists.
Through the fates of six men – including recently widowed Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, who had to leave his little boy at home to head to the front, and Mike Lewis, whose photographs became iconic images of war – Urban vividly shows what it took to succeed in this new regiment. All six men would shed blood for their country in daring actions at D-Day, Arnhem and across the Second World War; two would not survive, and one would face disgrace.
Based on deep archival research, British and German sources and new material from the men’s families, and giving overdue recognition to the North African campaign, Urban’s unvarnished history is a compelling and moving depiction of the highs and lows of battle.
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Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women
From the tennis court to the boxing ring, the athletics track to the football pitch, the visibility of women in sport has been gathering pace. Women’s competitions are increasingly popular.
In Roar Sam takes a deep dive into the experiences of some of sport’s most high-profile female athletes – some have overcome heartbreaking adversity to reach the top of their game; others have succeeded in the face of prejudice. Like Sam, all have been propelled by sheer grit and determination to succeed. Many now campaign for women’s equality and acceptance in sport, knowing the confidence it can bring young girls and the message that they can achieve anything.
Featuring a series of candid interviews from some of sport’s most successful women, Sam lifts the lid on what it takes to reach those heights: from coping with puberty to foregoing teenage fun to pursue a dream; from the punishing physical training schedule to the mental power needed to win or bounce back from defeat; and coping with the pressure of the media spotlight. And, what it feels like in that magical moment when you step up to the podium knowing every sacrifice has been worth it.
Roar is a celebration of the bold and fearless – the women empowering future generations to follow in their footsteps – but it is also an inspiring look at how sport can change lives and challenge society.
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£17.30£19.00Roar: A Celebration of Great Sporting Women
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Running with the Firm: My Double Life as an Undercover Hooligan
‘Of course I’m a f**king hooligan, you pr**k. I am a hooligan…there I’ve said it…I’m a hooligan. And, do you know why? Because that’s my f**king job.’
In 1995, a film called I.D., about an ambitious young copper who was sent undercover to track down the ‘generals’ of a football hooligan gang, achieved cult status for its sheer brutality and unsettling insight into the dark and often bloody side of the so-called beautiful game.
The film was so shocking it was hard to believe the mindless events that took place could ever happen in the real world. Well, believe it now…
Almost twenty years on, the man behind the film has explosively revealed that the script was largely a true story. That man, James Bannon, was the ambitious undercover cop. The football club was Millwall F.C. and the gang that he infiltrated was The Bushwackers, among the most brutal and fearless in English football.
In Running with the Firm, Bannon shares his intense and dangerous journey into the underworld of football hooliganism where sickening levels of violence prevail over anything else. He introduces you to the hardest thugs from football’s most notorious gangs, tells all about the secret and almost comical police operations that were meant to bring them down, and, how once you’re on the inside, getting out from the mob proves to be the biggest mission of all.
A disturbing but compelling read, this is the book that proves fact really is stranger than fiction.
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Surviving the Storms: Extraordinary Stories of Courage and Compassion at Sea
‘There’s water in the engine,’ he said. ‘The engine has stopped.’
This changed everything…Surviving the Storms brings together incredible first-hand accounts of rescues carried out by the remarkable RNLI lifesavers.
In this collection of heart-wrenching and life-affirming missions, we hear blow-by-blow descriptions of some of the most dramatic rescues from the last twenty years. We experience these through the eyes of the lifesavers as they must make life-or-death decisions, face fierce conditions and tackle difficult and dangerous situations. But we also see the optimism, passion and courage that is crucial to a successful rescue, and experience the genuine joy felt by the volunteer crews and lifeguards in being a part of something so important.
Each remarkable story is one of bravery, jeopardy and an unrelenting commitment to battling the forces of nature and saving every life. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the RNLI – men, women, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers, all forming one big crew determined to protect perfect strangers. They are ordinary people doing the truly extraordinary.
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The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
The bestselling author of STALINGRAD and BERLIN: THE DOWNFALL on the Spanish Civil War, drawing on masses of newly discovered material from the Spanish, Russian and German archives.
The civil war that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939 and attracted liberals and socialists from across the world to support the cause against Franco was one of the most hard-fought and bitterest conflicts of the 20th century: a war of atrocities and political genocide and a military testing ground before WWII for the Russians, Italians and Germans, whose Condor Legion so notoriously destroyed Guernica.
Antony Beevor’s account narrates the origins of the Civil War and its violent and dramatic course from the coup d’etat in July 1936 through the savage fighting of the next three years which ended in catastrophic defeat for the Republicans in 1939. And he succeeds especially well in unravelling the complex political and regional forces that played such an important part in the origins and history of the war.
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