Historical
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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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Extraordinary Nurses Throughout History: In Honour of Florence Nightingale
Extraordinary Nurses Throughout History is a fascinating collection that includes insightful writings on eight notable nurses of the past and celebrates their brilliant contributions to medicine.
Many incredible women made invaluable improvements to modern nursing and this collection celebrates their lives and achievements through a series of essays. This volume sheds a light on the women who have helped create and improve the modern nursing we are familiar with today and demonstrates how the practice has evolved. Collated in honour of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday, this collection is an enlightening exposition of eight notable nurses including:
– Dorothea Dix
– Mary Seacole
– Florence Nightingale
– Clara Barton
– Sarah Emma Edmonds
– Linda Richards
– Edith Cavell
– Violetta Thursten
Republished Read & Co. Books as part of the Brilliant Women series, this beautiful volume features an introductory essay entitled ‘Representative Women – The Free Nurse’, by Ingleby Scott. An ideal book for those with an interest in the history of nursing, this collection is not one to be missed.
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Stakeknife’s Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA’s Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War
In this sensational exposé of British Intelligence’s top informer in the upper ranks of the IRA, Richard O’Rawe delivers the most definitive account yet of the Troubles’ most enigmatic, notorious and sinister figure, Freddie Scappaticci.
Codenamed Stakeknife, from the late 1970s through to his eventual exposure in 2003 he was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of a British infiltration system designed to cause mayhem and chaos in the IRA’s military operations. O’Rawe gained unprecedented access to Scappaticci’s former comrades, who reveal extraordinary details of the inner workings of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit. Headed by Scappaticci, this secretive group was known locally as the ‘Nutting Squad’ owing to its fearsome reputation for the abduction, interrogation, torture and execution of volunteers suspected of working for the British or the RUC. The political scandal at the heart of this story is that Scappaticci’s intelligence handlers were aware of almost every abduction and execution he carried out prior to it taking place; a scandal that became the subject of the British government sponsored inquiry, Operation Kenova.
In this compelling and extraordinary story of state-sanctioned murder and extreme moral ambiguity in the overriding quest for the protection of ‘national security’, the truth is truly stranger than fiction.
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50 LGBTQI+ who changed the World
Marsha P. Johnson, Keith Haring, Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, RuPaul… the names of pioneers and trailblazers who have advanced the LGBTQI+ cause and helped bring about new human rights. This book pays tribute in 50 portraits to the activists, personalities, writers and artists who have advanced the LGBTQI+ movement and celebrates those who have fought and are fighting every day to create a more inclusive and tolerant world.Read more
£14.20£17.1050 LGBTQI+ who changed the World
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Remarkable Women of the Second World War: A Collection of Untold Stories
They were told to hold the fort. They did far more than that.
When the Second World War broke out, the task of keeping society afloat fell on the shoulders of the women left behind. Women the world over stepped into boots they’d never worn before – becoming engineers, labourers and intelligence experts. Their houses were razed to the ground, they fled their enemy-occupied countries and they picked up guns to defend their homes, but their stories are rarely told.
Remarkable Women of the Second World War is a collection of twelve of these stories, all carefully gathered and retold by Victoria Panton Bacon. These are the stories of Galina Russian navigator who flew on the front line for the Red Army alongside the feared Night Witches; Ena, an ATA engineer who didn’t think much of the Spitfires and Hurricanes she worked on; and Lee, a Jewish girl who fled Frankfurt and arrived in Coventry on a Kindertransport train. These women weren’t remarkable because of high rank or status, but because of their grit, resilience and determination. These are the tales of ordinary women who did extraordinary things.
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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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The Complete War Walks
This one-volume edition comprises both Richard Holmes’ well-loved War Walks and War Walks 2. Dates such as 1066 and names such as Dunkirk often strike a chord of nostalgia, but the details of the historic events associated with them are forgotten. In The Complete War Walks Richard Holmes takes us on fascinating journey through time to visit twelve battlefields throughout Britain, Northern France and Belgium that mark crucial moments in Britain’s bloody and turbulent history. From Hastings to Dunkirk, Agincourt to The Somme, Richard vividly recreates the atmosphere of these key battles in our history. With his expert knowledge of weapons and warfare and using specially commissioned maps, Richard Holmes provides a brilliantly clear picture of the events which led up to each battle, the conflicts themselves, and the people who fought them. Using practical ‘views of the field’, he travels the battlefields as they exist today, pointing out their places of interest, paying tribute to the men who fought there, and bringing history to life. This book focuses on a selection of battles, six fought in Britain – or, in one case, on a struggle that straddled the Channel. A further six are set in a few hundred square miles of northern France and southern Belgium, a space so confined that a single day’s drive could take us across all our battlefields. Choosing the battles from a long list of potential candidates was far from easy, but a certain logic prevails. Battles that had far-reaching consequences, historically and politically, were brought to the forefront of the possible choices. In some cases, because of a battle’s importance, it entered part of an enduring mythology that demands attention. There were other obvious considerations that favoured certain battles over others: battles that were particularly decisive, or ones that were well documented, or have battlefields that remain striking today. I shied away from some battles that had already been described so well in print or on film, that I felt there was nothing new to add. In the twentieth-century France: Hastings, Agincourt, Bosworth, Naseby, The Boyne, Waterloo, Mons and Le Cateau, the Somme, Arras, Dunkirk, the Blitz and Operation Goodwood.Read more
£13.60£16.10The Complete War Walks
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Scandals of the Royal Palaces: An Intimate Memoir of Royals Behaving Badly
George Orwell once said that the British love a really good murder. He might have added that the only thing the British love more than a good murder is a really good scandal, and best of all are the sexual and political scandals that take place behind the gilded doors of Britain’s royal palaces. From Edward II’s intimate relationship with Piers Gaveston to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s dramatic exit from the royal family, the royal residences have seen it all.
This glorious romp of a book contains new information on well-known and not-so-well-known scandals, including those that have only recently been revealed through the release of previously secret official papers. Exploring surviving palaces such as Kensington as well as long-vanished residences including Whitehall, Scandals of the Royal Palaces is the first in-depth look at the bad behaviour of not just the royals themselves but also palace officials, courtiers, household servants and hangers-on.
Delving into the bitter hatreds that generations of King Georges nursed for their eldest sons, Queen Victoria’s opium-fuelled rages and Edward VII’s near-miss perjury conviction, royal expert Tom Quinn reveals that scandal and the royal family have always been bedfellows. And if the behaviour of today’s royals is anything to go by, the glittering palaces will continue to house intriguing, embarrassing and outrageous scandals for centuries to come.
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Women of Means: The Fascinating Biographies of Royals, Heiresses, Eccentrics and Other Poor Little Rich Girls (Stories of the Rich & Famous, Famous Women) (Celebrating Women)
A Glimpse Behind the Façade of Rich and Famous Women
“…wild, witty, gossipy, and glamourous. A sheer delight.” ―Becca Anderson, author of Badass Women Give the Best Advice
#1 Best Seller in Women’s Studies and Biographies of the Rich & Famous and Royalty
An intimate portrait of women of privilege. As Becca Anderson recommends, read about “heiress Barbara Hutton’s outrageous lifestyle, Jackie O as a step-mom, Patty Hearst’s many adventures, Peggy Guggenheim’s collection of art (and men), and Almira Carnarvon, the real-life counterpart to Lady Cora of Downton Abbey.”
The grass isn’t greener on the other side. Heiresses have always been viewed with eyes of envy. They were the ones for whom the cornucopia had been upended, showering them with unimaginable wealth and opportunity. However, through intimate historical biographies, Women of Means shows us that oftentimes the weaving sisters saved their most heart-wrenching tapestries for the destinies of wealthy women.
Happily never after. From the author of Behind Every Great Man, we now have Women of Means, vignettes of the women who were slated from birth―or marriage―to great privilege, only to endure lives which were the stuff Russian tragic heroines are made of. They are the nonfictional Richard Corys―those not slated for happily ever after.
Women of Means is a non-fiction best seller, full of the best biographies of all time. Some of the women whose silver spoons rusted include:
- Liliane Bettencourt, whose chemist father created L’Oreal… and was a Nazi collaborator
- Nica Rothschild, who traded her gilded life to become the Baroness of Bebop
- Jocelyn Wildenstein, who became a cosmetology-enhanced cat-woman
- Ruth Madoff, the dethroned queen of Manhattan
- Patty Hearst, who trod the path from heiress… to terrorist
Fans of Women of Means will want to try other Marlene Wagman-Geller books including Fabulous Female Firsts, Great Second Acts, Still I Rise, Unabashed Women, and Women Who Launch.
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Messi: The must-read biography of the World Cup champion, now fully updated (Guillem Balague’s Books)
‘I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi’ Diego Maradona
FULLY UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 2022 WORLD CUP TRIUMPH & MESSI’S TRANSFER TO INTER MIAMI
As Lionel Messi raised the World Cup triumphantly into the air, the world watched on in awe. Messi’s final peak conquered; his final dream achieved. It was the fairy tale ending to a glittering career. Yet despite delivering Argentina their third World Cup, Messi’s time at Paris Saint-Germain came to a dramatic conclusion, and Miami awaited the Argentinian legend.
Guillem Balagué has had unprecedented access to Messi’s inner circle including the player himself: his coaches, team-mates and family. From tracing the origins of Messi’s precocious talent in Rosario, Argentina, to chronicling his peerless seventeen-season career at Barcelona, and his tumultuous Parisian adventure, Guillem takes us behind-the-scenes of Messi’s World Cup triumph and his long-desired move to the MLS. This is an epic, authoritative and compelling account of an enigmatic footballing genius.
‘I can tell my grandkids one day that I coached Lionel Messi’ Pep Guardiola
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Jerusalem: The Biography
A new, updated, revised edition of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY, the wider history of the Middle East through the lens of the Holy City, from King David to today.
The story of Jerusalem is the story of the world.
Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilisations. How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the ‘centre of the world’ and now the key to peace in the Middle East? Drawing on new archives and a lifetime’s study, Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem.
A classic of modern literature, this is not only the epic story of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and co-existence, but also a freshly-updated history of the entire Middle East, from King David to the twenty-first century, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wars of today. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem – the only city that exists twice – in heaven and on earth.
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£12.90£14.20Jerusalem: The Biography
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Belgium in the Second World War
When the Nazis invaded neutral Belgium in May 1940, defeat and occupation were inevitable but Belgian armed forces held out against a vastly superior enemy for 18 days. The elected Government went into exile in London but King Leopold III controversially remained with his people as a prisoner. As described in this authoritative book, Belgians continued the fight both outside and inside their country. There were eventually two complete Belgian RAF squadrons. The Colonial Army defeated the Italians in East Africa and the Belgian Brigade fought from Normandy to Germany. The Belgian Resistance organized escape routes, sabotaged their occupiers activities and spied for the Allies. 17,000 died or were executed and a further 27,000 survived detention. Meanwhile others collaborated and fought for the Nazis and large numbers were tried post-war for war crimes and treason. About half the Jews in Belgium in 1940 died in the Holocaust and there are many stirring stories of courage, as well as tragic ones. This is an overdue and honest account of one Nations very varied experiences during five years of Nazi occupation and oppression.Read more
£12.60£14.20Belgium in the Second World War
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Johnson at 10: The Inside Story: The Bestselling Political Biography of the Year
***THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
‘Excellent… first class… both fair and damning.’ Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
‘Authoritative, gripping and often jaw-dropping’ Andrew Rawnsley, Observer
‘Invaluable’ New Statesman
‘Explosive’ Isabel Hardman, The i
After his dramatic rise to power in the summer of 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock, Boris Johnson presided over the most turbulent period of British history in living memory. Beginning with the controversial prorogation of Parliament in August and the historic landslide election victory later that year, Johnson was barely through the door of No. 10 when Britain was engulfed by a series of crises that will define its place in the world for decades to come. From the agonising upheaval of Brexit and the devastating Covid-19 pandemic to the nerve-shredding crisis in Afghanistan, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the Partygate scandal, Johnson’s government ultimately unravelled after just three years.
This gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history maps Johnson’s time in power from start to finish and sheds new light on the most divisive Prime Minister to have led the United Kingdom since Thatcher. Based on more than 200 interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, Johnson at 10 gives the first full account of Johnson’s premiership, the shockwaves of which are still felt today.
***A WATERSTONES BEST POLITICS BOOK OF 2023***
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The Empress Frederick Writes to Sophie Her Daughter: Victoria, Princess Royal and Later Queen of the Hellenes; Letters of German Royalty, 1889-1901
The letters of Empress Frederick shed light on German politics and society during the late 19th century, and the outlook Germany’s royal family held on matters domestic and foreign.
Famed for her charity work and promotion of social welfare, Victoria, Princess Royal – also styled as ‘the Empress Frederick’ – demonstrates a refined and sensitive soul. She is watchful and sensitive to political developments, both in Germany and elsewhere, and provides commentary and opinion on the events of her time. The letters were originally written in English – which is the language that Victoria and her daughter Sophie would habitually speak amongst themselves.
Thought lost amid the maelstrom of the Second World War, the letters of the Empress were salvaged by servants of a household ransacked during the conflict which devastated much of Europe. Thus, readers may gain insight into the period ranging from 1889 to 1901; these were the Empress’s mature years, wherein her wisdom and eloquence was at its height. Her views upon the retirement of Chancellor Bismarck, the rising ambitions of the headstrong Kaiser Wilhelm II, the elderly Queen Victoria of England, and others, are candidly spoken about. The book concludes on a tragic note; in great pain from the advanced stages of cancer, the Empress struggles to correspond with her beloved daughter, but nevertheless makes the greatest effort to do so.
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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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The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion
Muhammad: a frank look at his influential (and violent) life and teachings In The Truth about Muhammad, New York Times bestselling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest and telling portrait of the founder of Islam-perhaps the first such portrait in half a century-unbounded by fear and political correctness, unflinching, and willing to face the hard facts about Muhammad’s life that continue to affect our world today. From Muhammad’s first “revelation” from Allah (which filled him with terror that he was demonpossessed) to his deathbed (from which he called down curses upon Jews and Christians), it’s all here-told with extensive documentation from the sources that Muslims themselves consider most reliable about Muhammad. Spencer details Muhammad’s development from a preacher of hellfire and damnation into a political and military leader who expanded his rule by force of arms, promising his warriors luridly physical delights in Paradise if they were killed in his cause. He explains how the Qur’an’s teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed-with constant war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law as the last stage. Spencer also gives the truth about Muhammad’s convenient “revelations” justifying his own licentiousness; his joy in the brutal murders of his enemies; and above all, his clear marching orders to his followers to convert non-Muslims to Islam-or force them to live as inferiors under Islamic rule. In The Truth about Muhammad, you’ll learn – The truth about Muhammad’s multiple marriages (including one to a nine-year-old) – How Muhammad set legal standards that make it virtually impossible to prove rape in Islamic countries – How Muhammad’s example justifies jihad and terrorism – The real “Satanic verses” incident (not the Salman Rushdie version) that remains a scandal to Muslims – How Muhammad’s faulty knowledge of Judaism and Christianity has influenced Islamic theology–and colored Muslim relations with Jews and Christians to this day. Recognizing the true nature of Islam, Spencer argues, is essential for judging the prospects for largescale Islamic reform, the effective prosecution of the War on Terror, the democracy project in Afghanistan and Iraq, and immigration and border control to protect the United States from terrorism. All of which makes it crucial for every citizen (and policymaker) who loves freedom to read and ponder The Truth about MuhammadRead more
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Untapped Potential: Born in Scotland, Found in the Royal Signals
“Untapped Potential follows George’s career in the army, from the age of 16 when he joined the Army Apprentices College, of which he became the Junior Regimental Sergeant Major, to the moment, 27 years later, that he reluctantly decided to leave.
The story, told with great frankness, relates the good times and the less good times, the ups and downs, the sad events as well as the happy ones; but the characteristic sense of humour is never far below the surface – indeed, seldom below it at all!
It is also an account that graphically illustrates what it was like to serve in the British Army at the time.”
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Kings and Queens of Britain, Illustrated History of: A visual encyclopedia of every king and queen of Britain, from Saxon times through the Tudors and Stuarts to today
In this beautifully illustrated and updated edition, just prior to the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles Phillips charts the complete history of the royal families of Britain. Beginning in the earliest times with the legend of King Arthur, Eric Bloodaxe and the real-life history of Macbeth, he describes the lives and legends of the kings and queens of Britain, their consorts and children, and the pretenders, usurpers and regents who played a role in the making of the United Kingdom. Fact boxes highlight the essential events of each reign, as well as maps, charts and family trees. Over 500 fine art paintings, sculptures, engravings, artefacts, photographs, maps and illustrations reveal the heritage and pageantry of royal Britain. A valuable reference book for any historian, this guide will fascinate every reader interested in one of the longest-running monarchies in the world.Read more
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A Gambling Man
Charles II was thirty when he crossed the Channel in fine May weather in 1660. His Restoration was greeted with maypoles and bonfires, like spring after long years of Cromwell’s rule. But there was no going back, no way he could ‘restore’ the old. Certainty had vanished. The divinity of kingship fled with his father’s beheading. ‘Honour’ was now a word tossed around in duels. ‘Providence’ could no longer be trusted. As the country was rocked by plague, fire and war, people searched for new ideas by which to live. Exactly ten years later Charles II would stand again on the shore at Dover, laying the greatest bet of his life in a secret deal with his cousin, Louis XIV.
The Restoration decade was one of experiment: from the science of the Royal Society to the startling role of credit and risk, from the shocking licence of the court to the failed attempts at toleration of different beliefs. Negotiating all these, Charles II, the ‘slippery sovereign’, played odds and took chances, dissembling and manipulating his followers. The theatres were restored, but the king was the supreme actor. Yet while his grandeur, his court and his colourful sex life were on display, his true intentions lay hidden.
A Gambling Man is a portrait of Charles II, exploring his elusive nature through the lens of these ten vital years – and a portrait of a vibrant, violent, pulsing world, racked with plague, fire and war, in which the risks the king took forged the fate of the nation, on the brink of the modern world.
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£12.20£14.20A Gambling Man
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The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II
The astonishing, never before told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II–when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia…During a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes–without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back–without getting shot down themselves.
Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery is now being told for the first time ever. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.
“Amazing [and] riveting.”–James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers
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Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation
The First Graphic Adaptation of the Multi-Million Bestseller
’12th June, 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.’
In the summer of 1942, fleeing the horrors of the Nazi occupation, Anne Frank and her family were forced into hiding in the back of an Amsterdam warehouse.
Aged thirteen when she went into the secret annexe, Anne Frank kept a diary in which she confided her innermost thoughts and feelings, movingly revealing how the eight people living under these extraordinary conditions coped with the daily threat of discovery and death.
Adapted by Ari Folman, illustrated by David Polonsky, and authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation in Basel, this is the first graphic edition of the beloved diary of Anne Frank.
‘Faithful to the spirit and often the language of the diary… Mr Polonsky’s beautiful artwork offers a charming and convincing view of Anne on the page’ THE ECONOMIST
‘Folman and Polonsky have reclaimed Anne Frank in all of her humanity, and they allow us to witness for ourselves her beauty, courage, vision and imagination. And, in doing so, they have elevated the tools of the comic book to create an astonishing work of art.’ JEWISH JOURNAL
‘The illustrations [. . .] retell Anne’s diary with great compassion, wit and ebullience’ StANDPOINT
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£12.00£14.20Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation
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Unruly: The Number One Bestseller ‘Horrible Histories for grownups’ The Times
Discover who we are and how we got here this holiday season in comedian David Mitchell’s UNRULY: A History of England’s Kings and Queens – a thoughtful, funny exploration of the entitled and enthroned.
‘JUST FANTASTIC. DELIGHTFULLY CONTRARY AND HILARIOUSLY CANTANKEROUS. VERY, VERY FUNNY’ JESSE ARMSTRONG, CREATOR OF SUCCESSION AND PEEP SHOW
‘CLEVER, AMUSING, GLORIOUSLY BIZARRE AND RAZOR SHARP. MITCHELL – A FUNNY MAN AND A SKILLED HISTORIAN – TELLS STORIES THAT ARE INTERESTING AND FUN. HERE IS HORRIBLE HISTORIES FOR GROWNUPS’ GERARD DEGROOT, THE TIMES
‘CLEVER, FUNNY, MAKES YOU THINK QUITE DIFFERENTLY ABOUT HISTORY’ DAN SNOW, HISTORIAN AND BROADCASTER
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Think you know your kings and queens? Think again.
In UNRULY, David Mitchell explores how England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky sods who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.
Taking us right back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn’t exist), David tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It’s a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and at least one total Cnut, as the population evolved from having their crops nicked by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed king.
How this happened, who it happened to and why it matters in modern Britain are all questions David answers with brilliance, wit and the full erudition of a man who once studied history – and won’t let it off the hook for the mess it’s made.
A funny book about a serious subject, UNRULY is for anyone who has ever wondered how we got here – and who is to blame.
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‘Mitchell clearly knows his history, with a book that owes as much to Monty Python as it does to Simon Schama’ ANDREW MARR, BROADCASTER
‘I don’t think anyone other than David Mitchell could have written this book. It’s clever, funny and makes you think quite differently about history we thought we knew’ DAN SNOW, HISTORIAN AND BROADCASTER
‘Who knew a history of England’s rulers could be this hilarious? A brilliantly entertaining romp through monarchs’ i
‘By turns fascinating and funny – there is a jewel of an insight or a refreshing blast of clarifying wit on every page. David brings a delightfully contrary and hilariously cantankerous eye to the history of the English Monarchy. Informative, illuminating and very very funny’ JESSE ARMSTRONG, CREATOR OF SUCCESSION AND PEEP SHOW
‘I can’t recommend this book enough. Very funny and interesting, it is above all a proper work of history’ CHARLIE HIGSON
*The Times Number One Bestseller October 2023*
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Rough Seas: The Life Of A Deep-Sea Trawlerman
A trawlerman’s life was hard, often up against bad weather, rough seas and black frosts, although on calm days it was a pleasure to be at sea. In this eventful memoir, deep-sea trawlerman James Greene relates his life at sea, from his childhood when his father would take him out in some of the worst gales and hurricanes imaginable (and he loved every minute of it!), to his early careers as a deckhand learner, obtaining his skipper’s ticket, and the many experiences – both disastrous and otherwise – to occur throughout his time at sea. During his career he was involved in ship collisions and fires, arrested for poaching, fired upon by Icelandic gunboats, in countless storms and even swept overboard in icy conditions off the Russian coast. The British trawling industry is now a by-gone age and people are beginning to forget the adventures and hardships that characterised this profession. This book seeks to keep the memories of a once great industry alive.Read more
£11.70£14.20Rough Seas: The Life Of A Deep-Sea Trawlerman
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Royal Witches: From Joan of Navarre to Elizabeth Woodville
‘An important and timely book.’ – Philippa Gregory
Joan of Navarre was the richest woman in the land, at a time when war-torn England was penniless.Eleanor Cobham was the wife of a weak king’s uncle – and her husband was about to fall from grace.
Jacquetta Woodville was a personal enemy of Warwick the Kingmaker, who was about to take his revenge.
Elizabeth Woodville was the widowed mother of a child king, fighting Richard III for her children’s lives.
In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives of these four unique women, looking at how rumours of witchcraft brought them to their knees in a time when superstition and suspicion was rife.
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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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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
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Iron Spy: The True Story of the Greatest Double Agent in World War II
Known as Fritz to his German spy-handlers and Zig-Zag to the British secret service, Eddie Chapman was a man of many faces. While his early life was rife with petty crime, gang activity and a dishonourable discharge from the British military, Chapman’s unique skills were eventually sought out by Nazi Germany, and after convincing them he could use his criminal contacts to sabotage the English forces, he was quickly recruited.But Chapman’s loyalty to his country knew no limits. A talented, handsome, and reckless Englishman, Chapman was a traitor on the surface but a fearless patriot on the inside. After cracking Germany’s military code, the British sought Chapman for their own affairs, and Chapman was happy to oblige.
Eventually being awarded the prestigious Nazi Iron Cross for services to Germany while acting as a double agent for Britain, Chapman’s espionage efforts involved masterful deceit and feats which few men alive could ever boast of.
Eddie Chapman’s life story is an unbelievable journey of crime, jail-breaks, treachery, and love. He was responsible for saving countless lives during his career, cementing himself as the ultimate double agent during World War II.
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The Princess Royal: From Princess Mary to Princess Anne (The Royal House of Windsor)
An engrossing account of the life of Princess Anne and how her role was shaped by the six women who served as Princess Royal before her.Ideal for readers of Gyles Brandreth, Ingrid Seward and Hugo Vickers.
To understand what it is to be a Princess Royal, the ‘doyenne of royal biographers’ Helen Cathcart skilfully portrays the lives of the foremost royal daughters from the days when princesses were ‘ladyes’ and the King’s eldest son was styled Prince Royal, through to our present Princess Royal.
There have been seven Princess Royals throughout British history, the inaugural of whom was Princess Mary, the eldest daughter of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, followed by Princess Anne (daughter of King George II), Princess Charlotte (daughter of King George III), Princess Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria), Princess Louise (daughter of King Edward VII), and Princess Mary (daughter of King George V). The current holder of the title, Princess Anne, emerges from this background, clearly demonstrating how the role or Princess Royal has evolved over the generations into one of duty and personal achievement.
Drawing on royal letters, journals and associated material, the author’s fascinating pen captures the first four decades of Princess Anne’s life, from playful child and stylish teenager to champion rider and tireless campaigner for good causes. Along the way are royal engagements and regimental dinners, a love affair with a Dragoon and a terrifying kidnap attempt.
The Princess Royal is the definitive account of what it means to be the first and most royal of royal daughters and how Princess Anne is truly a Princess Royal for our times.
‘Wide acclaim as a royal biographer … objective, uninhibited and penetrating’ – Sunday Express
‘Helen Cathcart writes about royalty as if she were one of them’– The Daily Mail
‘The doyenne ofroyal biographers’ –The Daily Telegraph
‘A tireless chronicler of royalty’–The Guardian
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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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The Jersey: The All Blacks: The Secrets Behind the World’s Most Successful Team
The phenomenal international number one bestseller with exclusive interviews with Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter, The Jersey is the definitive story behind the greatest sports team on the planet.
‘Extremely well written. Compelling, accurate, insightful and brilliant in the way it captures the New Zealand way’ – John Hart, former All Blacks coach.
With a better winning record than any other sports team in history, they stand head and shoulders above their nearest rugby rivals. How did a country of just 4.8 million people conquer the world?
Peter Bills, who has reported on international rugby for more than forty years, was given exclusive access to all the key figures in New Zealand rugby as he set out to understand the secrets behind the All Blacks success. Peter talked at length with ninety people, both in New Zealand and around the world, with intimate knowledge of what makes the All Blacks tick.
The Jersey goes to the heart of the All Blacks success. It is also an epic story of not just a rugby team but a nation, whose identities are inextricably linked.
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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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The Royal Puzzle Book: 300 Challenges and Teasers from Alfred the Great to Charles III
Test your knowledge of kings and queens by attempting to answer some 300 questions across 25 topics, from early kingdoms to the realms of England, Scotland and Wales and the British Royal Family of the modern era.
The topics range from Coronations to Sports and Pastimes – from the first English queen crowned in her own right to the only royal to have won an Olympic Medal. Do you know which country’s national anthem uses the same music as ‘God Save the King’? Whose corpse is said to have exploded in its coffin? What was Queen Victoria’s first name? These hundreds of puzzles are accompanied by a wealth of illustrations from the collections of the British Library. Accept the challenge and see how much more you can learn.
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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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Irish Rugby Top 50 Players
We talked to leading rugby journalists, we talked to ex-players, we talked to fans and we looked at the playing records of all the stand-out internationals to have played rugby for Ireland before compiling a list of the 50 greatest Irish rugby players in the sport s history.
Many players were impossible to leave out such as Rory Best, Mike Gibson, Jamie Heaslip, Jack Kyle, Paul O’Connell, Brian O Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara, Jonnie Sexton and Keith Wood. While Lions’ legends such as Willie John McBride, Tom Kiernan, Syd Millar and Tony O’Reilly were also a shoo-in.
There is also a hefty selection of modern-day players including Keith Earls, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Rob Kearney, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahoney and the new whizkid winger Jacob Stockdale. While there is also space for the great characters of the game, none more so than Peter ‘The Claw’ Clohessy, Willie Duggan and Moss Keane, who didn’t win the most caps but were fans’ favourites because of the spirit in which they played.
With a foreword by Ollie Campbell, the Ireland and British and Irish Lions flyhalf, each entry lists the key facts, statistics and achievements that help show why the selected players are part of the game s elite.
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£10.80£12.30Irish Rugby Top 50 Players
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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 -
The First World War: An Illustrated History
A. J. P. Taylor was one of the most acclaimed and uncompromising historians of the twentieth century. In this clear, lively and now-classic account of the First World War, he tells the story of the conflict from the German advance in the West, through the Marne, Gallipoli, the Balkans and the War at Sea to the offensives of 1918 and the state of Europe after the war. Containing photographs and maps, this an essential history of the war that ‘cut deep into the consciousness of modern man’.Read more
£10.40£12.30The First World War: An Illustrated History
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The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero who Infiltrated Auschwitz – Costa Book of the Year 2019
One of the Sunday Times paperbacks of the Year 2020
One of the Financial Times best books of 2020‘Totally gripping’– Simon Sebag Montefiore
‘Pilecki is perhaps one of the greatest unsung heroes of the second world war … this insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life’ — Economist
Would you sacrifice yourself to save thousands of others?
In the Summer of 1940, after the Nazi occupation of Poland, an underground operative called Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to uncover the fate of thousands of people being interned at a new concentration camp on the border of the Reich.
His mission was to report on Nazi crimes and raise a secret army to stage an uprising. The name of the detention centre — Auschwitz.
It was only after arriving at the camp that he started to discover the Nazi’s terrifying plans. Over the next two and half years, Witold forged an underground army that smuggled evidence of Nazi atrocities out of Auschwitz. His reports from the camp were to shape the Allies response to the Holocaust – yet his story was all but forgotten for decades.
This is the first major account to draw on unpublished family papers, newly released archival documents and exclusive interviews with surviving resistance fighters to show how he brought the fight to the Nazis at the heart of their evil designs.
The result is an enthralling story of resistance and heroism against the most horrific circumstances, and one man’s attempt to change the course of history.
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A Brief History of the British Monarchy: From the Iron Age to King Charles III
The British monarchy is at a turning point. Concise and engaging, this book charts the very beginnings of British reign through to the longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – and looks forward to the reign of King Charles III.Much more than a linear history, this is the intertwined story of royalty and state, of divisions, invasions, rivalries, death and glory; the story of nation fates deeply tied with the personal endeavours of monarchs through the ages. Black expertly weaves together thematic chapters from the origins of monarchy, medieval times and sixteenth-century developments, to the crises of the seventeenth-century, settlement and imperialism, and the challenges of the modern age. Exploring the House of Wessex, the Norman Conquest, Henry VIII and the Tudors, Victorianism and key events such as abdication of Edward VIII, this book is a necessary and comprehensive guide to the British Monarchy and how it has shaped history – and our lives today.
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National Geographic Queen Elizabeth II: A Life in Photographs
This unique look at the life and legacy of Elizabeth II, modern Britain’s most unlikely but much beloved queen, features scores of stunning images, including more than 20 exclusive photographs from the National Geographic archive. Please note that this product is an authorized edition published by the Meredith Corporation and sold by Amazon. This edition is printed using a high quality matte interior paper and printed on demand for immediate fulfillment.Read more
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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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