Britain

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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History re-written: has the 540-year-old mystery been solved?

‘The totality of evidence revealed is astonishing. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in a car park in Leicester in 2012, The Missing Princes Project will again rewrite the history books, redrawing what we know about Richard III and Henry VII and pressing the reset button of history.’ – Philippa Langley

In the summer of 1483, two brothers were seen playing in the grounds of the Tower of London, where they’d been lodged by the King’s Council – their uncle, the future Richard III, its chief member. From there the boys seem to vanish from the historical record, and so one of the greatest and most intriguing mysteries of British history was born. Over the centuries, historians have debated tirelessly about the fate of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York: did they die in the Tower? Did they escape? Were they murdered?

After astonishing success in locating and laying to rest Richard III, Philippa Langley turns her forensic focus onto this enduring case, teaming up with criminal investigative experts, historians, archivists and researchers from around the world in her groundbreaking The Missing Princes Project. Following years of extensive research, investigation and formidable dedication, this landmark study has finally reached completion, with stunning conclusions.

In The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case, join Langley as she records the painstaking investigative work undertaken and lays out the evidence to reveal the remarkable untold story. Here she is able, finally, to address any injustice and solve the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower once and for all.

Compelling in breadth and detail, this book asks its readers to re-examine what they thought they knew about one of our greatest historical mysteries. Perfect for fans of the period and the likes of Dan Jones, Philippa Gregory and Janina Ramirez.

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History re-written: has the 540-year-old mystery been solved?

‘The totality of evidence revealed is astonishing. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in a car park in Leicester in 2012, The Missing Princes Project will again rewrite the history books, redrawing what we know about Richard III and Henry VII and pressing the reset button of history.’ – Philippa Langley

In the summer of 1483, two brothers were seen playing in the grounds of the Tower of London, where they’d been lodged by the King’s Council – their uncle, the future Richard III, its chief member. From there the boys seem to vanish from the historical record, and so one of the greatest and most intriguing mysteries of British history was born. Over the centuries, historians have debated tirelessly about the fate of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York: did they die in the Tower? Did they escape? Were they murdered?

After astonishing success in locating and laying to rest Richard III, Philippa Langley turns her forensic focus onto this enduring case, teaming up with criminal investigative experts, historians, archivists and researchers from around the world in her groundbreaking The Missing Princes Project. Following years of extensive research, investigation and formidable dedication, this landmark study has finally reached completion, with stunning conclusions.

In The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case, join Langley as she records the painstaking investigative work undertaken and lays out the evidence to reveal the remarkable untold story. Here she is able, finally, to address any injustice and solve the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower once and for all.

Compelling in breadth and detail, this book asks its readers to re-examine what they thought they knew about one of our greatest historical mysteries. Perfect for fans of the period and the likes of Dan Jones, Philippa Gregory and Janina Ramirez.

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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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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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The hidden fabric of a Victorian woman’s life – from family and friends to industry and Empire – told through her unique textile scrapbook.

‘Irresistable’ The Times

‘The story of a singular woman… Kate Strasdin’s forensic detective work has finally let Mrs Sykes – and her book – speak again’ JUDITH FLANDERS

In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of her life and times. Her name was Mrs Anne Sykes.

Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Strasdin spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within the album’s pages.

Piece by piece, she charts Anne’s journey from the mills of Lancashire to the port of Singapore before tracing her return to England in later years. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life: pirates in Borneo, the complicated etiquette of mourning, poisonous dyes, the British Empire in full swing, rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britain’s cotton industry.

This is life writing that celebrates ordinary people: the hidden figures, the participants in everyday life. Through the evidence of waistcoats, ball gowns and mourning outfits, Strasdin lays bare the whole of human experience in the most intimate of mediums: the clothes we choose to wear.

‘An extraordinarily rich record of middle-class Victorian life.. [a] fascinating book’ Guardian

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For seventy years, Queen Elizabeth ruled over an institution and a family. During her lifetime she was constant in her desire to provide a steady presence and to be a trustworthy steward of the British people and the Commonwealth. In the face of her uncle’s abdication, in the uncertainty of the Blitz, and in the tentative exposure of her family and private life to the public via the press, Elizabeth became synonymous with the crown.
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But times change. Recent years have brought grief and turmoil to the House of Windsor, and even as England celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there were calls for a changing of the guard.

In The New Royals, journalist Katie Nicholl provides a nuanced look at Elizabeth’s remarkable and unrivalled reign, with new stories from Palace courtiers and aides, documentarians, and family members. She examines King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla’s decades in waiting and beyond-where “The Firm” is headed as William and Kate present the modern faces of an ancient institution. In the wake of Harry and Meghan leaving the Royal Family and Prince Andrew’s spectacular fall from grace, the royal family must reckon with its history, the light and the dark, in order to chart a course for Britain beyond its Queen and to show that it is an institution capable of leadership in an ever-changing modern world.

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Make room Herodotus, stand down Bede, pipe down Pepys – there’s a new history book in town.

From the chart-topping podcast The Rest is History, a whistle-stop tour through the past – from Alexander the Great to Tolkien, the Wars of the Roses to Watergate. The nation’s favourite historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take on the most curious moments in history, answering the questions we didn’t even think to ask:

– Did the Trojan War actually happen?
– What was the most disastrous party in history?
– Was Richard Nixon more like Caligula or Claudius?
– How did a hair appointment almost blow Churchill’s cover?
– Why did the Nazis believe they were descended from Atlantis?

Whether it is sending historical figures to Casa Amor in a series of Love Island, ranking history’s most famous eunuchs and pigeons (including Winkie, the unsung hero of the Second World War), or debating the meaning of greatness, there is nothing too big or too small for Tom and Dominic to unpick.

So run your Egyptian milk bath, strap up your best Spartan sandals, and prepare for a journey down the highways and byways of the human past. . .

WATERSTONES’ BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: HISTORY

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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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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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• 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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‘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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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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This popular history of the English Civil War tells the story of the bloody conflict between Oliver Cromwell and Charles I from the perspectives of those involved.

The compelling narrative draws on new sources such as letters, memoirs, ballads and plays to bring to life the Roundheads and Cavaliers, the foot soldiers, war widows and witchfinders of one of the most significant turning points in British history, culminating in Oliver Cromwell s triumph and the execution of Charles I.

By blending the political and the personal, Diane Purkiss illuminates both the ideologies behind the English Civil War and the fears of those who fought in it; the men who were destroyed by the conflict and those, such as Oliver Cromwell, who were defined by it.

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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 FAULKS

The 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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