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1945: Victory in the West
‘Magisterial . . . [a] fine, balanced and superb account. It deserves to be read for many years to come.’ TELEGRAPH
March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into Germany. Victory is at last within their grasp. But if they believe this victory can be easily won, they face swift disillusionment. The final I00 days of the Second World War will prove to be bitterly and bloodily fought, village by village, town by town.
This is the extraordinary and gripping story of those final I00 days.
_________________________________________________‘Superbly written and full of wisdom and deep understanding, this will stand as a defining work on these darkest months of the conflict.’ JAMES HOLLAND
‘This is the most vivid and detailed narrative of the subject that we are likely to see.’ MILITARY HISTORY MAGAZINE
‘An impressive work. Lively, informative and comprehensively researched.’ CAROLINE MOOREHEAD, SPECTATOR
‘An important contribution to military history. A great read and powerful reminder of how the Second World War in Europe was definitely not over until the final surrender.’ BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
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£11.10£12.301945: Victory in the West
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1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India
The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people’s homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, its liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the ‘Fall of Dacca’, the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India’s rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower.
Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people’s history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which the year is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.
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A Brief History of the Dynasties of China (Brief History) (Brief Histories)
Although China’s great empire lasted for longer than any other, no country has suffered so great an imbalance between the fame of its art and obscurity of its history. The names of the great dynasties are familiar, yet who can actually locate a T’ang horse or a Ming vase in its social or cultural context?
By focusing on the key colourful characters of the eight major dynasties, Bamber Gascoigne brings to life 3500 years of Chinese civilization. His bird’s-eye view starts on the borders of myth. It moves swiftly on to the greatest achievements of language and thought, the cultural treasures and imperial palaces, wars won and lands lost to the Mongols, finally to arrive at the 1912 Revolution, which contained within it the seeds of Communism that ensured the overthrow of the last emperor. Via this portrait of an empire and its peoples he has opened the door to a world for too long inaccessible to the West.
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A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s
“Superb” NICK COHEN, author of What’s Left?
“Tremendously entertaining” DOMINIC SANDBROOK, Sunday Times
“Like his previous histories of the Seventies and Eighties, A Classless Society is an extraordinarily comprehensive work. Turner writes brilliantly, creating a compelling narrative of the decade, weaving contrasting elements together with a natural storyteller’s aplomb… engaging and unique” IRVINE WELSH, Daily Telegraph
“Ravenously inquisitive, darkly comical and coolly undeceived… Turner is a master of the telling detail” CRAIG BROWN, Mail on Sunday
When Margaret Thatcher was ousted from Downing Street in November 1990 after eleven years of bitter social and economic conflict, many hoped that the decade to come would be more ‘caring’; others hoped that the more radical policies of her revolution might even be overturned. Across politics and culture there was an apparent yearning for something the Iron Lady had famously dismissed: society.
The ‘New Britain’ to emerge would be a contradiction: economically unequal but culturally classless. Whilst Westminster agonised over sleaze and the ERM, the country outside became the playground of the Ladette. It was also a period that would see old moral certainties swept aside, and once venerable institutions descend into farce – followed, in the case of the Royal Family, by tragedy.
Opening with a war in the Gulf and ending with the attacks of 11 September 2001, A Classless Society goes in search of the decade when modern Britain came of age. What it finds is a nation anxiously grappling with new technologies, tentatively embracing new lifestyles, and, above all, forging a new sense of what it means to be British.
“Deserves to become a classic” EDWINA CURRIE
“Rich and encyclopaedic” ROGER LEWIS, Daily Mail
“Excellent” D.J. TAYLOR, Independent
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A Concise History of the World for Teens: A concise history of the story of humans so far, and my predictions for what the future holds for the coming generations of our species.
My thirst for information was unquenchable as a teenager. Not just any knowledge, though—the type that could provide a comprehensive explanation of the whole history of humanity in a single glance. I wanted an overview of the entire programme, a quick reference to human history, and to quickly find out what all the knowledgeable individuals were talking about. Congratulations if, like the super-smart teen I know you are, you’re impatient and full of questions! You’ve hit a literary gold mine. If you want to know how we, the ever-complex Homo sapiens, got to be where we are now, this book is your perfect guide.
You see, history is a fun journey full of surprising heroes, twists in the plot, and yes, even a few villains. It’s not just a collection of dusty dates and long-dead figures. With a cast of billions, it’s a tale that spans from the first soup kitchens to the cloudy digital heavens. The best thing, though? Regardless of your feelings towards it, you are a part of this epic story.
So grab a seat, because we are going to take you on a quick tour across human history in one bite-sized chunk. We’ll cross continents, jump through historical periods, and delve into the thoughts of some of history’s greatest thinkers and achievers. And we’ll accomplish it all without the tiresomeness of footnotes or the lethargy of academic jargon that puts you to sleep.
Prepare yourselves, as we will be delving deeply into the mysteries of ancient civilizations in the upcoming chapter. Have you ever pondered the true nature of the Spartans or how the Egyptians constructed those pyramids? Be ready to have your mind blown, then.
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A Dictionary of Pub, Inn and Tavern Signs: An A-Z Reference Guide to Pub Names – Their meaning, origin and history
There are few things that symbolise British culture better than the good old-fashioned pub. Over centuries, their colourful hanging signs have become an integral part of the country’s backdrop. But how much do you really know about the names of these pubs, and how they came to have them?
Have you ever found yourself at the Red Lion, the Swan with Two Necks, the Jolly Roger, the Golden Fleece or the Beetle & Wedge, and stopped to wonder how it came by its name? Or what that name might reveal about the history of the building?
The answers to all these questions, and hundreds more, are contained with A Dictionary of Pub, Inn and Tavern Signs.
Here you’ll find out how public drinking houses have changed through history, progressing from the simple custom of hanging grapes outside to boards depicting a name and illustration; how, after the Norman Conquest, some inn-keepers found themselves obliged to display elements of their new lord’s coat of arms – a lion, griffin, deer or hart; how some pubs’ names (the Plough & Harrow or the Three Horseshoes, for example), came to represent the livelihoods of many of the inn’s customers.
This illustrated reference book, arranged alphabetically, provides a brief guide to the meaning, origin and history of these names and sheds light on an important part of Britain’s heritage.
Colin Waters is also the author of A Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations and A Dictionary of Saints’ Days, Fasts, Feasts & Festivals.
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A History of Central Asia (‘In Brief’ Books for Busy People)
For most of its history, Central Asia has been ruled by powerful dynasties, fallen under the vassalage of neighbouring empires or been invaded by foreign powers. Only the more remote, inaccessible tribal areas have maintained a degree of independence. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, five distinct independent nation states have emerged that are now generally referred to as ‘Central Asia’, namely Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Regardless of who has been in power over the centuries, the one constant has been the significance of the land bridge that straddles the region connecting Europe and Asia, otherwise known as the Silk Road, or Roads. In ancient times, silks and spices travelled westwards, while furs, wools and precious metals took an eastward route. Consequently, those who controlled the trade-route accrued immense wealth and built great cities such as ancient Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
The ancient Silk Road is now being revitalised. But rather than silks and spices, today the commodities being transported include natural gas, oil, minerals and communication systems.
This book tells the story of conquest and invasion, of empire building and colonialism. The earlier chapters include the great Persian/Iranian Empires, such as the Achaemenids, the Sassanids and the Safavids, as well as the exploits of Alexander the Great. Further chapters cover the Turkic migrations, arrival of Islam and the invasion of the Mongols. The final chapters tell of the conflict between the imperial powers of Russia and Britain, which was an event known as the Great Game. The 20th Century period of Soviet rule in Central Asia marks the final chapter and the book concludes with an Epilogue that brings the reader up to current events.
As with other books in the ‘In Brief’ series, this book is aimed at the general reader who wants to understand a particular historical topic but does not have the time or inclination to read a heavy academic tome. With this mind, footnotes have been omitted.While there will inevitably be gaps in a book of this size, the intention is to cover the most significant events that moulded Central Asia’s history. Should the reader be inspired to further reading on the subject, a small selection of the main works that have been consulted is provided at the end.
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A History Of South East Asia,
A History of Southeast Asia narrates the history of the region from earliest recorded times until today, covering present-day Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia and East Timor. Concisely written and filled with historical anecdotes of key individuals and events, this authoritative volume is presented in three parts, covering both mainland and maritime Southeast Asia: *Part 1 – Early Southeast Asia (the earliest civilizations)*Part 2 – Late Southeast Asia (including the colonial period)*Part 3 – Modern Southeast Asia (the present-day era, following the Pacific dimension of the Second World) Superbly supported by over 200 illustrations, photographs and maps, this volume provides real insight into one of the world’s most distinctive but complicated regions, at a time when Asian countries are beginning to set the pace in the global economy.Read more
£16.20£19.00A History Of South East Asia,
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A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Blackwell History of the World)
2016 PROSE Award Honorable Mention for Textbook in the HumanitiesA History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads presents a comprehensive history of Southeast Asia from our earliest knowledge of its civilizations and religious patterns up to the present day.
- Incorporates environmental, social, economic, and gender issues to tell a multi-dimensional story of Southeast Asian history from earliest times to the present
- Argues that while the region remains a highly diverse mix of religions, ethnicities, and political systems, it demands more attention for how it manages such diversity while being receptive to new ideas and technologies
- Demonstrates how Southeast Asia can offer alternatives to state-centric models of history more broadly
Part of The Blackwell History of the World Series
The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.
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A History of the First World War
Liddell Hart’s History of the First World War first appeared in 1930 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most cogent accounts of the conflict ever published.
A leading military strategist and historian who fought on the Western Front, Liddell Hart combines astute tactical analysis with compassion for those who lost their lives on the battlefield. He provides a vivid and fascinating picture of all the major campaigns, balancing documentary evidence with the testimony of personal witnesses to expose the mistakes that were made and why.
From the political and cultural origins of war to the twists and turns of battle, to the critical decisions that resulted in such devastating losses and to the impact on modern nations, this magnificent history covers four brutal years in one volume and is a true military classic.
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£13.60£16.10A History of the First World War
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A History of War Surgery
Since antiquity, war surgery has been a profession demanding a special kind of human: one able to face seemingly insurmountable problems; one able to keep a lucid mind and steady hands in extraordinary circumstances; one able to shoulder tremendous burdens; and one able to harden himself or herself, time and again, to failure and self-doubt. It is, and always has been, a harrowing business, and only for the brave. Dr John Wright charts the evolution of war surgery from ancient times to the present day, investigating its breakthroughs, its pitfalls, and the people and conflicts that have shaped it. But above all, this is a personal history, calling on the first-hand accounts of the surgeons, soldiers, medics, nurses, stretcher-bearers, and many others who have served in battle and come face-to-face with its most appalling horrors. This is not a book for the faint-hearted. It is one that searches for and delivers the truth about those who, with unerring skill, courage and determination, endeavour to undo the terrible damage we habitually inflict upon ourselves.Read more
£7.30A History of War Surgery
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A History of Women in 101 Objects: A walk through female history
A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: POLITICS
This is a neglected history. Not a sweeping, definitive, exhaustive history of the world but something quieter, more intimate and particular. A single journey, picked out in 101 objects, through the fascinating, too-often-overlooked, manifold histories of women.
Open up this cabinet of curiosities and you’ll find objects that have been highly esteemed – even, like the Bayeux tapestry, fought over by nations – and others that are humble and domestic. Some (like a sixteenth century glass dildo) are objects of female pleasure, some (a thumbscrew) of female subjugation. There are artefacts of women celebrated by history and of women unfairly forgotten by it; examples of female rebellion and of self-revelation; objects that are inspiring, curious or (like radium-laced chocolate) just fundamentally ill-conceived.
Through the variety and nuance in all these 101 objects, Annabelle Hirsch has created a new history – teeming, unexpected, witty and always illuminating. This overdue corrective reveals what a healed femur says about civilisation, what men have to fear from hat pins, and it shows that the past has always been as complicated and fascinating as the women that peopled it.
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A is for Arsenic: An ABC of Victorian Death
Written by Chris Woodyard, the author of The Victorian Book of the Dead, A is for Arsenic is a guide to the the basics of Victorian mourning and death all illustrated by the incomparable Landis Blair. Each entry includes a pen and ink illustration along with 19th century anecdotes ranging from macabre stories to jokes from the Victorian press. (Plus sinister little poems in homage to Edward Gorey.)
“A is For Arsenic” covers topics including post-mortem photography, embalming, bodysnatching tips, what to wear when in mourning, and how long to mourn for someone who has left you money in their will. The book also debunks several Victorian mourning myths.
There are 26 alphabetical entries-from Arsenic to Zinc, (see below) along with an informative glossary, appendix, and detailed bibliography. Here are the topics: A – Arsenic; B – Bier; C – Crape; D – Death Token; E – Embalming; F – Fisk Burial Case; G – Gates Ajar; H – Hearse; I – Ice Box; J – Jet; K – Keen; L – Lychgate; M – Mute; N – Necropolis; O – Obelisk; P – Post Mortem; Q – Queen Victoria; R – Resurrection Men; S – Shroud; T – Tear Bottle; U – Undertaker; V – Veil; X – Sexton; W – Weepers; Y – Churchyard; Z – Zinc
Appendix: Mourning Etiquette
Glossary
Bibliography
Chris Woodyard, author of The Victorian Book of the Dead, answers your dead-serious questions including:
How long should you mourn for someone who left you money in their will?
Why did body snatchers strip a body beforecarrying it away?
What was a coffin torpedo?
Were mourning clothes poisonous?
What is inheritance powder?
Who killed off keening?
What is dead water?
An A to Z delight for lovers of the macabre!
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£13.50£16.20A is for Arsenic: An ABC of Victorian Death
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A Little History of the World: Illustrated Edition (Little Histories)
A special edition of the international bestseller that is “sumptuously illustrated. . . . Perfect for reading to alert and curious children, but it’s even better as a secret pleasure, read alone, with no children in sight.” (Philip Kennicott, Washington Post)E. H. Gombrich’sA Little History of the World, an engaging and lively book written for readers both young and old, vividly brings the full span of human experience on Earth to life, from the stone age to the atomic age. Gombrich’s text paints a colorful picture of wars and conquests; of grand works of art; of the advances and limitations of science; of remarkable people and remarkable events.
But Gombrich was, first and foremost, the best-known art historian of his time; his beloved Little Historysuggests illustrations on every page. Featuring more than two hundred illustrations—most in color—this beautiful edition incorporates a wide range of images, showing us the earliest cave paintings, the classic sculptures of the ancient Greeks, beautiful Islamic calligraphy, oil portraits of the mighty through the ages, and much more. With a high-grade design, fine paper, and classic binding, this enhanced edition will have an important place on family bookshelves for many years to come.
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A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom (Pivotal Moments in World History)
The Albigensian Crusade, the first in which Christians were promised salvation for killing other Christians, lasted twenty bloody years–a long savage war for the soul of Christendom. In A Most Holy War, historian Mark Pegg has produced a swift-moving, gripping narrative of this horrific crusade. Pegg draws in part on thousands of testimonies collected by inquisitors in the years 1235 to 1245, accounts of ordinary men and women remembering what it was like to live through such brutal times. In responding to heresy with a holy genocidal war, Innocent III fundamentally changed how Western civilization dealt with individuals accused of corrupting society. This change, Pegg argues, led directly to the creation of the inquisition, the rise of an anti-Semitism, and even the holy violence of the Reconquista in Spain.“A bold, erudite, engaging, and superbly written study of what has long been one of the most central topics in medieval and Mediterranean history.”
–Teofilo F. Ruiz, Professor of History, UCLARead more
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A Nasty Little War: The West’s Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution
‘A vivid and sparkling account, full of colour and dark drama’ The Observer
‘Chillingly original’ Max Hastings, ‘Pick of the Week’, The Times
‘Brilliantly depicts a disastrous failure’ Antony Beevor
‘Witty and elegant . . . Excellent background to today’s events’ Anne Applebaum
‘Britain’s most forgotten war, brilliantly remembered’ Simon Jenkins
‘Vivid and remarkably timely’ Martin Sixsmith
From the bestselling author of Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine
The extraordinary story of how the West tried to reverse the Russian Revolution.
In the closing months of the First World War, Britain, America, France and Japan sent arms and 180,000 soldiers to Russia, with the aim of tipping the balance in her post-revolutionary Civil War. From Central Asia to the Arctic and from Poland to the Pacific, they joined anti-Bolshevik forces in trying to overthrow the new men in the Kremlin, in an astonishingly ambitious military adventure known as the Intervention.
Fresh, in the case of the British, from the trenches, they found themselves in a mobile, multi-sided conflict as different as possible from the grim stasis of the Western Front. Criss-crossing the shattered Russian empire in trains, sleds and paddlesteamers, they bivouacked in snowbound cabins and Kirghiz yurts, torpedoed Red battleships from speedboats, improvised new currencies and the world’s first air-dropped chemical weapons, got caught up in mass retreats and a typhus epidemic, organised several coups and at least one assassination. Taking tea with warlords and princesses, they also turned a blind eye to their Russian allies’ numerous atrocities.
Two years later they left again, filing glumly back onto their troopships as port after port fell to the Red Army. Later, American veterans compared the humiliation to Vietnam, and the politicians and generals responsible preferred to trivialise or forget. Drawing on previously unused diaries, letters and memoirs, A Nasty Little War brings an episode with echoes down the century since vividly to life.
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A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65
WATERSTONES’ BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: HISTORY
A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR
The early sixties in Britain told as only David Kynaston (‘the most entertaining historian alive’ Spectator) can. Running from 1962 to 1965, A Northern Wind is the anticipated new volume in the landmark ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’ series.‘Addictively readable . . . Kynaston’s tireless research turns up plenty of gems’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
‘A breathtaking array of treasures’ TLS
‘Magisterial’ Financial Times
‘Here is an intricate tapestry that conveys the essence of time’ Literary ReviewHow much can change in less than two and a half years? In the case of Britain in the Sixties, the answer is: almost everything. From the seismic coming of the Beatles to a sex scandal that rocked the Tory government to the arrival at No 10 of Harold Wilson, a prime minister utterly different from his Old Etonian predecessors.
A Northern Wind, the keenly anticipated next instalment of David Kynaston’s acclaimed Tales of a New Jerusalem series, brings to vivid life the period between October 1962 and February 1965. Drawing upon an unparalleled array of diaries, newspapers and first-hand recollections, Kynaston’s masterful storytelling refreshes familiar events – the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Big Freeze, the assassination of JFK, the funeral of Winston Churchill – while revealing in all their variety the experiences of the people living through this history.
Major themes complement the compelling narrative: an anti-Establishment mood epitomised by the BBC’s controversial That Was The Week That Was; a welfare state only slowly becoming more responsive to the individual needs of its users; and the rise of consumer culture, as Habitat arrived and shopping centres like Birmingham’s Bull Ring proliferated. Multi-voiced, multi-dimensional and immersive, Tales of a New Jerusalem has transformed how we see and understand post-war Britain. A Northern Wind continues the journey.
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A Photographic History of Dungarvan (The Waterford History Series)
“A pleasure to read, with more laughs than most history books”.This book is a photographic history of Dungarvan and the people who live in the town. A Dungarvan book, for Dungarvan people. The content originally appeared as the “Waterford County Museum Remembers” column in the Dungarvan Leader newspaper. These articles are now gathered together in one volume of almost 400 pages featuring over five hundred photos black and white photos from the museum archive. Factories, shops, politicians, streets, sports, trades, and music are just a few of the topics explored in the book. The introductions and captions are sometimes whimsical, often nostalgic but are packed with historical information gleaned from the author’s thirty-year involvement in local history.
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A Short History of England: Simon Jenkins
From the invaders of the dark ages to the aftermath of the coalition, one of Britain’s most respected journalists, Simon Jenkins, weaves together a strong narrative with all the most important and interesting dates in a book that characteristically is as stylish as it is authoritative.
A Short History of England sheds light on all the key individuals and events, bringing them together in an enlightening and engaging account of the country’s birth, rise to global prominence and then partial eclipse.There have been long synoptic histories of England but until now there has been no standard short work covering all significant events, themes and individuals.
Now updated to take in the rapid progress of recent events and beautifully illustrated, this magisterial history will be the standard work for years to come.
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£4.70£9.50A Short History of England: Simon Jenkins
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A Short History of Laos: The land in between (Short History of Asia)
Laos, perhaps the least known country in mainland Southeast Asia, stands at the region’s crossroads. This small ‘land in between’ is surrounded by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma-countries that, in pre-modern times, provided Lao kings with a field for territorial expansion. But more often, Laos has been a bridge between these powerful neighbours, and an arena in which they and their allies have interfered.Here, Grant Evans brings Lao history vividly into focus. From ancient times when the dynastic states of the region waxed and waned, to the 20th century and the turmoil of independence from France and the Vietnam War and its aftermath, Evans traces the compelling story of the emergence of Laos as a modern nation.
A Short History of Laos is an ideal introduction to Laos for travellers, businesspeople and students. For those familiar with Lao history, Evans investigates key events in new ways and presents serious challenges to conventional views about Laos’ intriguing history. country’s past.
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A Short History of South-East Asia
Explore the fascinating history of south-east AsiaA Short History of South-East Asia, Sixth Edition is the latest in a series of updated texts spotlighting this fascinating region. With revised chapters for all of the countries in this geographic area, this interesting text paints a remarkable overview of the characters and events that have shaped this part of the world. Founded upon a deeply perceptive observation of the late founding Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, this book brings shape to the idea that ‘to understand the present and to anticipate the future, one must know enough of the past, enough to have a sense of the history of a people.’ With an approachable writing style and comprehensive content, this unique text was written for business readers interested in improving their understanding of this important region.
With globalization continuing to gain momentum, south-east Asia is emerging as an important business sector for many industries. Not only does this open up professional opportunities, it exposes individuals in other parts of the world to the unique histories and cultures of the area. If you are interested in learning more about the region, this abbreviated text is a wonderful resource.
- Explore historic and political developments that have taken place throughout south-east Asia
- Quickly navigate text organized by country, allowing you to dive into the events that have shaped Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
- Gain an important global perspective, which can prove valuable on personal and professional levels
- Leverage your new understanding of the region’s past to better understand its present and anticipate its future
A Short History of South-East Asia, Sixth Edition is an abbreviated history of south-east Asia written with business readers in mind.
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A Victorian Christmas Treasury
What do you love most about Christmas? Is it the trees? The lights? The glittering baubles? The cards? The carols? Do you love revisiting the story of Scrooge, or delight in playing “Santa” for your little ones? Chances are, your favorite Christmas traditions have their roots in the Victorian period! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could travel back in time and experience an authentic Victorian Christmas? This book is your ticket to exactly that. It gives you a unique opportunity to experience Christmas, Victorian style. It offers rare glimpses into the Victorian home, revealing how Christmas was celebrated in houses great and small. You’ll discover authentic Victorian recipes, decorating ideas, and gift suggestions. Discover Victorian Christmas carols, and find out how some of your favorite Victorian traditions came about. Explore Christmas history and folklore, and see how Christmas was celebrated in other lands during the 19th century as well! This volume brings together dozens of never-before-anthologized articles from a host of Victorian magazines, ranging from the 1840’s to the turn of the century. It’s your ticket to the past — and an opportunity to create your own Victorian-style traditions for years to come!Read more
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A Victorian Workhouse – The Lives Of The Paupers: Mildenhall Suffolk (History of Mildenhall, Suffolk)
“It is obvious that Danny Pearson, author, has thoroughly researched the history of Mildenhall Workhouse, and has succeeded in writing a book that shines a light on part of Suffolk’s hidden past.
But, instead of being a tedious diary of chronological events, Danny has managed to bring history alive by looking into the lives of certain inmates, and how they did, or did not survive. Sometimes the writing is gory . . . But It’s real! This book is a highly readable account and an intriguing but sometimes gruesome chronicle of life during Victorian times in Suffolk.”Charlie Haylock, Voice Dialect Coach on “The Dig
“Pearson’s account of the lives of Mildenhall Workhouse residents has a well-structured narrative and conversational tone. Not just a chronicle of people and events, Pearson also injects a modern perspective and sense of humour into these stories. As a result, A Victorian Workhouse indirectly asks readers to consider how we can care for people today by laying bare the humanity of those who suffered through poverty in the Victoria era. This is an excellent and well-researched book for both casual readers and lovers of Victorian history.”
Devon Driver
100 Years on since the demolition of the grand Victorian mansion that was the Mildenhall Union Workhouse, this book tells the story of the “Paupers” unfortunate enough to have found themselves confined within it’s walls. The book takes you on a time travelling experience to meet former residents of this market town in rural Suffolk. Discovering grave robbery, disease, suicide, violence and misunderstood mental illness along the way. Discover their story.
Many individuals heartbreakingly fell into the poverty trap, created by the new poor law of 1834, desperate individuals who would never live outside the workhouse again. Any “Paupers” unfortunate enough to die within the workhouse, could find themselves sold to Cambridge University, their bodies used to train Medical students. Even in death the Paupers were owned by the workhouse. Read their story.
However there were inmates who walked proudly away from the institution and these stories can also be found in this book too. Such as the young Mildenhall lad, who had just a few years earlier walked the streets with his mum and sisters, dressed in rags without any food, toes poking out of his worn down shoes. This family tramped the streets looking for shelter on a freezing cold November evening. The same young man a decade later created a new life for himself, literally chasing away the Workhouse shadows in Sunny California, a real life Suffolk cowboy! Read his story.
Who ran the workhouse? Who were the Master and Matron of the Mildenhall Union? Who and what were the Board of Guardians? As well as the stories of the poor, this book reveals the lives of those tasked with caring for the poor. You will discover that the Master has some skeletons in his closet! Discover his story.
If you were to take a short stroll through Mildenhall you would soon discover many of the street names and buildings named after former wealthy residents. Names such as Hanmer, Bunbury, North, Aldrich, famous names not just in Mildenhall but throughout Britain. The poor walked the very same streets as theses famous families, leaving behind little evidence that they were ever here. These lives now carefully pieced back together through years of research using historical records and newspaper archives.
The poor were here too, read their story
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A WAAF AT WAR: OR BALLOONS TO BLETCHLEY PARK
This is Margaret’s story, an ordinary young woman from the shires who voluntarily joined the war against Germany and the Nazi Party.
It is a story that takes us from a small rural coal mining town to the sheer hard graft of handling highly hazardous barrage balloons, a sojourn at an operational bomber base.
From there we are taken into the almost monastic world of signals intelligence collection at Bletchley Park. Not for her the interminable copying of sacred texts, rather the transcribing of enemy signal traffic.
To this day Margaret will not talk about her work at Bletchley Park in any detail. This has caused frustration amongst historians, including Bletchley Park itself.
Winston Churchill described the young women at Bletchley as ‘the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled.’
And so it has proved.
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£7.10 -
Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece: Kid pro quo?
This book presents a committed quest to unravel and document the postwar adoption networks that placed more than 3,000 Greek children in the United States, in a movement accelerated by the aftermath of the Greek Civil War and by the new conditions of the global Cold War. Greek-to-American adoptions and, regrettably, also their transactions and transgressions, provided the blueprint for the first large-scale international adoptions, well before these became a mass phenomenon typically associated with Asian children. The story of these Greek postwar and Cold War adoptions, whose procedures ranged from legal to highly irregular, has never been told or analyzed before. Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece answers the important questions: How did these adoptions from Greece happen? Was there any money involved? Humanitarian rescue or kid pro quo? Or both? With sympathy and perseverance, Gonda Van Steen has filled a decades-long gap in our understanding, and provided essential information to the hundreds of adoptees and their descendants whose lives are still affected today.Read more
£14.30 -
Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940
It has become impossible to imagine our culture without advertising. But how and why did advertising become a determiner of our self-image? Advertising the American Dream looks carefully at the two decades when advertising discovered striking new ways to play on our anxieties and to promise solace for the masses.As American society became more urban, more complex, and more dominated by massive bureaucracies, the old American Dream seemed threatened. Advertisers may only have dimly perceived the profound transformations America was experiencing. However, the advertising they created is a wonderfully graphic record of the underlying assumptions and changing values in American culture. With extensive reference to the popular media—radio broadcasts, confession magazines, and tabloid newspapers—Professor Marchand describes how advertisers manipulated modern art and photography to promote an enduring “consumption ethic.”
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£31.60 -
African Religion: Anunian Theology: ANUNIAN THEOLOGY & THE MYSTERIES OF RA: Volume 1 (Mysteries of Ra and the Secrets of the Creation Myth)
Detalis the religious theology of the most anicnet city of Ancient Egypt. The Philosophy of Anu and The Mystical Teachings of The Ancient Egyptian Creation Myth Discover the mystical teachings contained in the Creation Myth and the gods and goddesses who brought creation and human beings into existence. The Creation Myth holds the key to understanding the universe and for attaining spiritual Enlightenment.Read more
£13.50£16.90 -
After the Final Whistle: The First Rugby World Cup and the First World War
When Britain’s empire went to war in August 1914, rugby players were the first to volunteer: they led from the front and paid a disproportionate price. When the Armistice came after four long years, their war game was over; even as the last echo of the guns of November faded, it was time to play rugby again. As Allied troops of all nations waited to return home, sport occupied their minds and bodies. In 1919, a grateful Mother Country hosted a rugby tournament for the King’s Cup, to be presented by King George V at Twickenham Stadium. It was a moment of triumph, a celebration of military victory, of Allied unity and of rugby values, moral and physical. Never before had teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Britain and France been assembled in one place. Rugby held the first ever ‘World Cup’ – football would not play its own version until 1930. In 2015 the modern Rugby World Cup returns to England and Twickenham as the world remembers the Centenary of the Great War. With a foreword by Jason Leonard, this is the story of rugby’s journey through the First World War to its first World Cup, and how those values endure today.
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£10.40£12.30 -
Afterlives of War: A Descendants’ History (Cultural History of Modern War)
Afterlives of war documents the lives and historical pursuits of the generations who grew up in Australia, Britain and Germany after the First World War. Although they were not direct witnesses to the conflict, they experienced its effects from their earliest years. Based on ninety oral history interviews and observation during the First World War Centenary, this pioneering study reveals the contribution of descendants to the contemporary memory of the First World War, and the intimate personal legacies of the conflict that animate their history-making.Read more
£23.80 -
Air Transport Auxiliary at War: 80th Anniversary of its Formation
This book looks at the invaluable work carried out by members of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the course of the Second World War. Comprised of both men and women, it was a civilian organisation tasked with the collection and delivery of military aircraft from the factories to the RAF and Royal Navy stations. Men who undertook the role had to be exempt from having to undertake war time military service due to health or age, but other than that there were very few restrictions on who who could join, which accounted for one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed and short sighted pilots being accepted. Initially it was only men who were allowed to carry out this service, but by December 1939, British authorities were persuaded by Pauline Gower (the daughter of Sir Robert Vaughan Gower, a wartime Conservative MP, and an accomplished pilot in her own right), to establish a women’s section of the Air Transport Auxiliary, of which she was put in charge. The first eight women were accepted in to the service, but it would not be until 1943 that its male and female members received the same pay. By the end of the war 147 different types of aircraft had been flown by the men and women of the Air Transport Auxiliary, including Spitfire fighter aircraft and Lancaster bombers. These brave pilots were not just British, but came from 28 Commonwealth and neutral countries and their efforts sometimes came at a price: 174 Air Transport Auxiliary pilots, both men and women, died during the war whilst flying for the service.Read more
£11.60£14.20 -
Aircraft and Aviation Stamps: A Collector’s Guide (Transport Philately Series)
The author has combined his two greatest interests: Transport and Stamp Collecting and brought them together in this series of books looking at the way postage stamps have led him to increase his knowledge of our world via his interest in all forms of transport world-wide. Philately (the collecting of stamps) itself is a fascinating hobby looking at the development of postal services in all its forms, designs of stamps that have evolved the Victorian Penny-Black to today’s creations, often artistic but dependant more and more on photography with greater or lesser degrees of digital manipulation. In his quest he has covered many unusual places that have only become more accessible with the advent of cheap air travel but has still found it necessary to use his own contacts, library of related books and more recently the internet to research his subject. Like all books in this series, they been laid out as global tour starting naturally in the UK and then travelling in an easterly direction through every continent – without, it should be added, crossing the International Date Line! Readers will not find every country included but a differing selection in each volume.Read more
£6.10£16.10 -
Aircraft, Tanks and Artillery of the Ukraine War (Technical Guides)
Illustrated with accurate artworks of aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles, Aircraft, Tanks & Artillery of the Ukraine War is a detailed guide to all the weaponry currently being deployed in the War in Ukraine. The War in Ukraine is being fought using tanks, aircraft and artillery dating from the Cold War deployed alongside state-of-the-art weapons systems supplied by Western powers. Arranged chronologically by type, Aircraft, Tanks & Artillery of the Ukraine War offers a complete survey of the weapons deployed, from the venerable Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlifter and T-64 medium tank to the latest American-made M142 HIMARS rocket artillery and the Bayraktar TB2 combat drone. The guide is illustrated with accurate profile artworks of fighter aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, tanks, APCs, artillery systems, missile launchers and unmanned aerial vehicles from Russian, NATO, Turkish and other sources. Illustrated with more than 100 detailed artworks, Aircraft, Tanks & Artillery of the Ukraine War is an essential reference guide for those who want to understand the war being fought in Europe today.
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£17.10 -
Al Capone’s Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago during Prohibition
Although much has been written about Al Capone, there has not been–until now–a complete history of organized crime in Chicago during Prohibition. This exhaustively researched book covers the entire period from 1920 to 1933. Author John J. Binder, a recognized authority on the history of organized crime in Chicago, discusses all the important bootlegging gangs in the city and the suburbs and also examines the other major rackets, such as prostitution, gambling, labor and business racketeering, and narcotics. A major focus is how the Capone gang — one of twelve major bootlegging mobs in Chicago at the start of Prohibition–gained a virtual monopoly over organized crime in northern Illinois and beyond. Binder also describes the fight by federal and local authorities, as well as citizens’ groups, against organized crime. In the process, he refutes numerous myths and misconceptions related to the Capone gang, other criminal groups, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and gangland killings. What emerges is a big picture of how Chicago’s underworld evolved during this period. This broad perspective goes well beyond Capone and specific acts of violence and brings to light what was happening elsewhere in Chicagoland and after Capone went to jail. Based on 25 years of research and using many previously unexplored sources, this fascinating account of a bloody and colorful era in Chicago history will become the definitive work on the subject.Read more
£15.20 -
Alexandria: The City that Changed the World: ‘Monumental’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Monumental and vividly imagined . . . a fitting tribute to a city that has survived, changed and grown for so many centuries’
Daily Telegraph‘A cornucopia of fascinating details, every page revealing a new delight’
Paul Strathern, author of The Medici: Godfathers of the RenaissanceA city drawn in sand.
Inspired by the tales of Homer and his own ambitions of empire, Alexander the Great sketched the idea of a city onto the sparsely populated Egyptian coastline. He did not live to see Alexandria built, but his vision of a sparkling metropolis that celebrated learning and diversity was swiftly realised and still stands today.
Situated on the cusp of Africa, Europe and Asia, great civilisations met in Alexandria. Together, Greeks and Egyptians, Romans and Jews created a global knowledge capital of enormous influence: the inventive collaboration of its citizens shaped modern philosophy, science, religion and more. In pitched battles, later empires, from the Arabs and Ottomans to the French and British, laid claim to the city but its independent spirit endures.
In this sweeping biography of the great city, Islam Issa takes us on a journey across millennia, rich in big ideas, brutal tragedies and distinctive characters, from Cleopatra to Napoleon. From its humble origins to dizzy heights and present-day strife, Alexandria tells the gripping story of a city that has shaped our modern world.
‘A multifaceted history of an enthralling city’
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, author of Persians: The Age of the Great KingsRead more
£23.70£28.50 -
Allied Fighter Aircraft 1939–45: American, British, French, Soviet, Dutch, Polish (Identification Guide)
Allied Fighters 1939–45 offers an highly-illustrated guide to Allied fighter aircraft that fought in Europe during World War II. Featuring all the main models flown by the Allied air forces from 1939 to 1945, the book offers a wealth of detail, including unit markings, organization, numbers of aircraft flown by campaign and exhaustive specifications for each model. The book is arranged first by country and then chronologically by campaign so that every aspect of the air war in Europe is covered. The guide features fighters from throughout World War II, including early models, such as the Morane Saulnier MS.406C.1, Hawker Hurricane Mk I and Fokker D XXI, and the most advanced fighters of the period, such as the Lavochkin La-7, P-51K Mustang and Gloster Meteor Mk I.The book also covers aircraft that were used for air-to-air combat (Supermarine Spitfire), ground attack (P-47 Thunderbolt), bomber escort (P-51B Mustang), night defence (Bristol Beaufighter) and photographic reconnaissance (P-38 Lightning). Packed with more than 200 profiles and dozens of archive photographs of every major Allied fighter aircraft, Allied Fighters 1939–45 is a core reference volume for modellers and World War II aviation enthusiasts.Read more
£15.60£19.00 -
American Bomber Aircraft of World War II: 1941-45 (Technical Guides)
The United States built the best strategic bombers of World War II, and by the end of the conflict America’s bombers dominated the skies in both Europe and the Pacific. American Bomber Aircraft of World War II is a detailed guide to all the bombers deployed by the USAAF and US Navy from 1941 to 1945.
Organised chronologically, this book includes all the great types of the era, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress, which led the daylight bombing campaign against German industrial targets; the B-24 Liberator, which carried out the famous raid on the Ploesti oil refinery in Romania in 1943; the rugged Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber, flown by US Navy pilots at the Battle Midway in that key turning point in the Pacific War; and the B-29 Superfortress, the aircraft most responsible for degrading Japan’s ability to wage war with their constant aerial attacks throughout 1944 and 1945.
The guide is illustrated with profile artworks and three-views, as well as two-page dynamic artworks of some of the more famous aircraft in service, such as the highly- adaptable B-25 Mitchell, which served in every theatre in a variety of roles, the Douglas Dauntless SBD naval scout plane, and the Martin B-26 Marauder, one of the fastest medium bombers of its era.
Illustrated with more than 100 authentic artworks with accurate markings and camouflage, American Bomber Aircraft of World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and military aviation enthusiasts.Read more
£13.70£17.10 -
American Civil War For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Take a walk through history with this guide for lifelong learnersThe American Civil War is one of the most fascinating and impactful periods in American history. Besides bringing about the end of slavery, the war had many important economic and social effects that continue to shape the history and present-day realities of the American people.
In American Civil War For Dummies, you’ll get an accessible, bird’s-eye view of one of history’s greatest conflicts. All the must-know details of the war are covered here, from the Battle of Gettysburg to the Emancipation Proclamation. You’ll also find:
- Descriptions of the experiences of Black Americans, in both the North and the South, during the war
- Explorations of how slavery and civil rights fit into the social, political, and economic context of the time
- Profiles of some of the most famous generals in the war, including Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant
Take a moment to get a hands-on education in this critical point in American history. Get American Civil War For Dummies now!
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£13.70£17.10American Civil War For Dummies, 2nd Edition
£13.70£17.10 -
American Fighter Aircraft of World War II: 1941-45 (Technical Guides)
The United States Army Air Force (USAAF) came into its own during World War II, building some of the premier fighters of the era. American Fighter Aircraft of World War II is a detailed guide to all the fighter aircraft types deployed by the USAAF and US Navy from 1941 to 1945.
Organised chronologically, this book includes all-time greats, such as the highly- adaptable P-51 Mustang bomber escort, the carrier-based F6F Hellcat – which outperformed the legendary Japanese A6M Zero fighter – and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, with its distinctive twin-boom design; as well as lesser-known types, such as the Boeing P-26 Peashooter, the high-altitude Republic P-43 Lancer, and the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the USAAF’s only operational jet fighter during the war. The entries are accompanied by exhaustive captions and specifications.
The guide is illustrated with profile artworks and three-views, as well as two-page dynamic artworks of some of the more famous aircraft in service, such as the P-40 Warhawk ground-attack variant, the twin-engined P-61 Black Widow night-fighter, and the robust P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber.
Illustrated with more than 100 authentic artworks with accurate markings and camouflage, American Fighter Aircraft of World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and military aviation enthusiasts.Read more
£13.70£17.10 -
An Empire of Laws: Legal Pluralism in British Colonial Policy (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference)
A compelling reexamination of how Britain used law to shape its empire
For many years, Britain tried to impose its own laws on the peoples it conquered, and English common law usually followed the Union Jack. But the common law became less common after Britain emerged from the Seven Years’ War (1754–63) as the world’s most powerful empire. At that point, imperial policymakers adopted a strategy of legal pluralism: some colonies remained under English law, while others, including parts of India and former French territories in North America, retained much of their previous legal regimes.
As legal historian Christian R. Burset argues, determining how much English law a colony received depended on what kind of colony Britain wanted to create. Policymakers thought English law could turn any territory into an anglicized, commercial colony; legal pluralism, in contrast, would ensure a colony’s economic and political subordination. Britain’s turn to legal pluralism thus reflected the victory of a new vision of empire―authoritarian, extractive, and tolerant―over more assimilationist and egalitarian alternatives. Among other implications, this helps explain American colonists’ reverence for the common law: it expressed and preserved their equal status in the empire. This book, the first empire-wide overview of law as an instrument of policy in the eighteenth-century British Empire, offers an imaginative rethinking of the relationship between tolerance and empire.Read more
£52.30 -
An Historical Map of Cambridge: University and County Town (Town & City Historical Maps)
A full colour map, based on a digitised OS map of Cambridge published in 1927, with its medieval, Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian past overlain and important buildings picked out. Cambridge is one of England’s two ancient university towns. It was an important trading centre for the Romans and then the Anglo-Saxons. The town was the location for a castle built on rising ground above the flood plain of the River Cam, by William I in about 1068. In about 1209 the first students of what was to become the University arrived from Oxford, and the first college (Peterhouse) was founded in 1284. The city (it became a city only in 1951) is home to some of the best-known and most familiar university buildings in the country including King’s College Chapel, the University Church and the Senate House, Trinity College’s Wren Library and the Victorian chapel of St John’s College. From the 16th century, many of the colleges created extensive grounds along both sides of the river, resulting in the famous Cambridge ‘Backs’ of today. But the town was also the county town of Cambridgeshire with a Shire Hall, and it developed its own identity and status as a town through various charters, with a guildhall to serve its local government. It transformed from a service economy supporting the university, with a substantial publishing presence, when, in the 19th century, it developed an industrial base (milling, malting, brewing, iron-founding, brick-making and cement manufacture); it also became a major railway centre. As a result, its suburbs expanded, especially to the east of the town centre. The historical map shows the sites of the town’s major buildings, both existing in 1927 and lost by then, its vanished medieval buildings, the site of the castle and shire hall. The map’s cover has a short introduction to the town’s history, and on the reverse an illustrated and comprehensive gazetteer of Cambridge’s main sites of historical interest.Read more
£8.90
