Europe
-
Moseley 1850-1900: Space, place and people in a middle-class Birmingham suburb
_______
During the second half of the nineteenth century, Moseley, a small hamlet just south of Birmingham, developed into a flourishing middle-class suburb. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Janet Berry’s ambitious research asks why and how this particular suburb grew and who was instrumental in its development. What influenced the types of houses that were built and the styles of their gardens? How did residents experience life in the new suburb? How did they create a community?
In analysing an extraordinary quantity of records, Dr Berry builds a notably nuanced portrait of a place and its people that goes beyond stereotypical images of the Victorians. The suburb was a physical, social, cultural, and psychological space where people conveyed messages about their identity; relationships, lived experiences, and responses to change are all revealed.
The economics of buying or renting accommodation in Moseley are addressed, showing what was involved in setting up a single-family home, the key marker of belonging to the middle class. Aspects of this, such as how the interiors of homes were demarcated, decorated and furnished, have not previously been considered in the context of suburban studies to any extent. Additionally, this book has a particular focus on the suburban middle-class woman, her achievements and opportunities, roles and responsibilities, both inside and outside the home.
By the first decades of the twentieth century Moseley had become part of the metropolis of Birmingham. This engaging account of the process from village to fully integrated suburb will be of particular interest to urban historians.
Read more
£15.10£16.10 -
Bad Taste: Or the Politics of Ugliness
A timely critique of consumer culture which captures this image-obsessed moment in history, perfect for fans of Zadie Smith’s Feel Free and Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror.
This book is not a taste, nor an anti-taste, manual.
This is an interrogation of the importance we place on seemingly objective ideas of taste in a culture that is saturated by imagery, and the dangerous impact this has on our identities, communities and politics. This book is dedicated to understanding the industries of taste. From the food we eat to the way we spend our free time, Olah exposes the shallow waters of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ taste and the rigid hierarchies that uphold this age-old dichotomy.
How did minimalism become a virtue, and who can afford to do it justice?
When did blue-collar jackets become a fashion item?
Who stands to gain from the distinction made between beauty, and sex?
Bold, original and provocative, Bad Taste is a revelatory exploration of the intersection between consumerism, class, desire and power, and a rousing call-to-arms to break free from the restrictive ways we see those around us.
‘Nathalie Olah is one of the sharpest social critics of the post-crash era and Bad Taste doesn’t disappoint.’ Sarah Jaffe
Read more
£15.20£18.00Bad Taste: Or the Politics of Ugliness
£15.20£18.00 -
Scottish History For Dummies
Explore the fascinating history of Scotland in an easy-to-read guide Want to discover how a small country on the edge of Northern Europe packs an almighty historical punch? Scottish History For Dummies is your guide to the story of Scotland and its place within the historical narratives of Britain, Europe and the rest of the world. You’ll find out how Scotland rose from the ashes to forge its own destiny, understand the impact of Scottish historical figures such as William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and David Hume and be introduced to the wonderful world of Celtic religion, architecture and monuments. History can help us make connections with people and events, and it gives us an understanding of why the world is like it is today. Scottish History For Dummies pulls back the curtain on how the story of Scotland has shaped the world far beyond its borders. From its turbulent past to the present day, this informative guide sheds a new and timely light on the story of Scotland and its people. Dig into a wealth of fascinating facts on the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages Get to know how Scotland was built into an industrial economy by inventors, explorers and missionaries Discover the impact of the world wars on Scotland and how the country has responded to challenges created by them Find up-to-the-minute information on Scotland’s referendum on independence If you’re a lifelong learner looking for a fun, factual exploration of the grand scope of Scotland or a traveler wanting to make the most of your trip to this captivating country, Scottish History For Dummies has you covered.Read more
£15.60£18.00Scottish History For Dummies
£15.60£18.00 -
Law, Liberty and the Constitution: A Brief History of the Common Law
A new approach to the telling of legal history, devoid of jargon and replete with good stories, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to know more about the common law – the spinal cord of the English body politic. Throughout English history the rule of law and the preservation of liberty have been inseparable, and both are intrinsic to England’s constitution. This accessible and entertaining history traces the growth of the law from its beginnings in Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. It shows how the law evolved from a means of ensuring order and limiting feuds to become a supremely sophisticated dispenser of justice and the primary guardian of civil liberties.This development owed much to the English kings and their judiciary, who, in the twelfth century, forged a unified system of law – predating that of any other European country – from almost wholly Anglo-Saxon elements. Yet by theseventeenth century this royal offspring – Oedipus Lex it could be called – was capable of regicide. Since then the law has had a somewhat fractious relationship with that institution upon which the regal mantle of supreme power descended, Parliament. This book tells the story of the common law not merely by describing major developments but by concentrating on prominent personalities and decisive cases relating to the constitution, criminal jurisprudence, and civil liberties. It investigates the great constitutional conflicts, the rise of advocacy, and curious and important cases relating to slavery, insanity, obscenity, cannibalism, the death penalty, and miscarriages of justice. The book concludes by examining the extension of the law into the prosecution of war criminals and protection of universal human rights and the threats posed by over-reaction to national emergencies and terrorism. Devoid ofjargon and replete with good stories, Law, Liberty and the Constitution represents a new approach to the telling of legal history and will be of interest to anyone wishing to know more about the common law – the spinal cordof the English body politic. Harry Potter is a former fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge and a practising barrister specialising in criminal defence. He has authored books on the death penalty and Scottish history andwrote and presented an award-winning series on the history of the common law for the BBC.Read more
£15.90£19.00 -
The Red Roses: Behind the Scenes with the England Women’s Rugby Team
In January 2019, England’s Red Roses became the first fully-professional women’s rugby team in the world with one mission: win back the Rugby World Cup. In 2017, they lost the final 41-32 against New Zealand. With the 2021 tournament delayed by one year due to Covid, the team had five years to complete their mission and over three years as a fully professional side. As a professional unit, the Red Roses developed a game plan so forensic and impenetrable, they secured the longest winning streak in rugby union history.
The Red Roses headed into the 2021 Rugby World Cup as clear favourites. After a clean sweep in the pool stages, and big wins in the knock-out games, England faced New Zealand, the hosts, in the final. One year before, England had defeated them with record-breaking score lines on consecutive weekends and all eyes were on Sarah Hunter, England captain, with the expectation she would lift the trophy.
Yet in the final play of the game, New Zealand stole the victory so many saw as promised to England. The Red Roses will host the Rugby World Cup in 2025, and the stakes have never been higher. Can they finally win back the trophy?
Read more
£16.10 -
Connecting History: National 4 & 5 The Era of the Great War, 1900–1928
Exam board: SQA
Level: National 4 & 5
Subject: History
First teaching: September 2017
First assessment: Summer 2018Fresh stories, fresh scholarship and a fresh structure. Connecting History informs and empowers tomorrow’s citizens, today.
Bringing together lesser-told narratives, academic excellence, accessibility and a sharp focus on assessment success, this series provides a rich, relevant and representative History curriculum.
> Connect the past to the present. Overarching themes of social justice, equality, change and power help students to understand the importance of events and issues, then and now.
> Go far beyond other resources. With respect and aspiration for the transformative power of History, this series incorporates the latest research, challenges old interpretations and embeds diverse experiences throughout.
> Follow a clear and consistent structure. The key issues in the N5 specification form the chapters in each book, and the content descriptors are subheadings within the chapters. Finding the information that you need has never been easier.
> Meet the demands of the assessments. Connecting History develops the knowledge and skills for success, with appropriate breadth, depth and pace. The narrative and sources take centre stage and the authors model the process of answering questions effectively through that narrative, ensuring that students know all the key points that they need to. Activities throughout each chapter consolidate and extend learning.
> Benefit from pedagogic and academic expertise. The authors are highly experienced teachers and examiners who know how to spark critical curiosity in students. Each book has been rigorously reviewed by an academic from the University of Glasgow, so you can rest assured that the content is accurate and up to date.
Read more
£16.10 -
Connecting History: National 4 & 5 The Wars of Independence, 1286–1328
Exam board: SQA
Level: National 4 & 5
Subject: History
First teaching: September 2017
First assessment: Summer 2018Fresh stories, fresh scholarship and a fresh structure. Connecting History informs and empowers tomorrow’s citizens, today.
Bringing together lesser-told narratives, academic excellence, accessibility and a sharp focus on assessment success, this series provides a rich, relevant and representative History curriculum.
> Connect the past to the present. Overarching themes of social justice, equality, change and power help students to understand the importance of events and issues, then and now.
> Go far beyond other resources. With respect and aspiration for the transformative power of History, this series incorporates the latest research, challenges old interpretations and embeds diverse experiences throughout.
> Follow a clear and consistent structure. The key issues in the N5 specification form the chapters in each book, and the content descriptors are subheadings within the chapters. Finding the information that you need has never been easier.
> Meet the demands of the assessments. Connecting History develops the knowledge and skills for success, with appropriate breadth, depth and pace. The narrative and sources take centre stage and the authors model the process of answering questions effectively through that narrative, ensuring that students know all the key points that they need to. Activities throughout each chapter consolidate and extend learning.
> Benefit from pedagogic and academic expertise. The authors are highly experienced teachers and examiners who know how to spark critical curiosity in students. Each book has been rigorously reviewed by an academic from the University of Glasgow, so you can rest assured that the content is accurate and up to date.
Read more
£16.10 -
The Second World War, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm
Winston Churchill’s six-volume history of the Second World War.Read more
£16.60£18.00The Second World War, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm
£16.60£18.00 -
Arctic Convoy PQ18: 25 Days That Changed the Course of the War
This superbly researched book tells the story of one of the most significant maritime operations of the Second World War. The importance of the Arctic convoys providing the Soviets with the necessary equipment needed to win the war on the Eastern Front has too often been underestimated. This book puts that right. Following PQ17, the worst Allied maritime disaster of the Second World War, it was imperative that PQ18 got through. So when the convoy left Loch Ewe on 2 September 1942 the stakes could not have been higher. The Battle of Stalingrad was hanging in the balance. Had the convoy suffered unacceptable shipping and war supply losses, the Arctic route would have had to be suspended with potentially war-changing consequences not just for the Soviets but the whole Allied war effort. Consequently, as this work vividly describes, it was both the most heavily defended and the most heavily attacked convoy of the whole war. The Author draws on contemporaneous accounts of the combatants from both sides including U-boat crews, airmen and, of course, the crews of the warships and merchantmen. Offering newly discovered facts about the convoy’s turbulent passage, this book is a valuable addition to the history of the campaign which will appeal to historians and laymen alike.Read more
£16.70£20.90 -
Life in Victorian Era Ireland
There are many books which tackle the political developments in Ireland during the nineteenth century. The aim of this book is to show what life was like during the reign of Queen Victoria for those who lived in the towns and countryside during a period of momentous change. It covers a period of sixty-four years (1837-1901) when the only thing that that connected its divergent decades and generations was the fact that the same head of state presided over them. It is a social history, in so far as politics can be divorced from everyday life in Ireland, examining, changes in law and order, government intervention in education and public health, the revolution in transport and the shattering impact of the Great Famine and subsequent eviction and emigration. The influence of religion was a constant factor during the period with the three major denominations, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian, between them accounting for all but a very small proportion of the Irish population. Schools, hospitals, and other charitable institutions, orphan societies, voluntary organisation, hotels, and even public transport and sporting organisations were organised along denominational lines. On a lighter note, popular entertainment, superstitions, and marriage customs are explored through the eyes of the Victorians themselves during the last full century of British rule.Read more
£17.30£19.00Life in Victorian Era Ireland
£17.30£19.00 -
Lost Cars of the 1940s and ’50s
Sixty diverse cars, sixty fascinating stories, sixty contrasting specifications, just one uniting factor: they’re all forgotten, neglected or misunderstood classics.
Motoring in the 1940s and ’50s spanned from post-war austerity to the you’ve-never-had-it-so-good era. It was a time when engines gained more power, suspension became more cosseting, the chassis frame was rendered a thing of the past, and styling followed jet fighters and later space rockets. Many cars found success across the world, but others barely got off the ground and quickly vanished from our collective consciousness.
In Lost Cars of the 1940s and ’50s, award-winning author Giles Chapman presents an all-new selection of the intriguing strays of the car world. Rarely seen archive and contemporary images bring daring new designs, economy models and some extraordinary luxury cars back to life … even if they misfire once again in the process.
Read more
£17.40£19.00Lost Cars of the 1940s and ’50s
£17.40£19.00 -
Royal Bingo
This majestically illustrated bingo game features portraits of 64 royal icons from around the world. Spot famous faces like William and Kate, or meet some less familiar figures such as the playboy prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein. Royal Bingo brings a fun twist to the traditional game, with all the European royal families represented, along with some more exotic courts such as Jordan, Brunei and Malaysia. Each royal is further brought to life in the accompanying booklet, which details their personalities, foibles, gaffes and romances. Who will reign supreme?Read more
£17.50£19.00Royal Bingo
£17.50£19.00 -
The Band That Went to War: The Royal Marine Band in the Falklands War
The Royal Marines are renowned for their military skill and also for having one of the finest military bands in the world. These highly trained and talented musicians are equally at home parading at Buckingham Palace, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, or on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a foreign port. Why then when the Argentines invaded the Falklands in April 1982 did these superb musicians get involved in what became a serious and deadly military campaign? The answer is that, in addition to their musical expertise, the RM Band Service members are trained for military service and fully qualified in a multitude of military and medical skills, providing support to their comrades, the fighting commandos. The Band That Went to War is a graphic first-hand account of the Falklands War as it has never been told before. It describes the roles played by Royal Marine musicians in the conflict; unloading the wounded from helicopters, moving tons of stores and ammunition, burying their dead at sea and guarding and repatriating Argentine prisoners of war. These and other unseen tasks were achieved while still ready to provide morale boosting music to their commando brethren and other frontline troops. These men are not just musicians; they are Royal Marines.Read more
£18.00£23.80 -
London Tube 101: History, Culture, and Travel on London’s Transport Network
We are thrilled to announce Anglotopia’s newest book: London Tube 101- History, Culture, and Travel on London’s Transport Network. This new publication is your complete guidebook to London’s iconic transport network’s history, culture, and guide to using the famous London Tube network. The book will be released in September and we need to start pre-orders now.
We do a deep dive into the London Tube’s fascinating history, covering the history of the tube network, fascinating stories, London’s abandoned and hidden Tube stations and so much more. This comprehensive book covers everything from the first Metropolitan Railway to the newly opened Elizabeth Line. In addition to all of this, we’ll provide useful and practical information using the network on your travels. It’s a combination of a history book, guidebook, and culture book.
Following a similar format to our previous books, such as 101 Budget Britain Travel Tips and 101 London Travel Tips it is a pleasure to read. Tube enthusiasts will adore this 300-page book, sure to learn something new about the most famous rail network in the world. From the history of every tube line, including facts about each tube line, to long-reads on the history of specific Tube-related topics, this comprehensive guide is a must-have for the Tube enthusiast.
Read more
£19.00 -
Death and the Victorians: A Dark Fascination
From spooky stories and real-life ghost hunting, to shows about murder and serial killers, we are fascinated by death – and we owe these modern obsessions to the Victorian age. Death and the Victorians explores a period in history when the search for the truth about what lies beyond our mortal realm was matched only by the imagination and invention used to find it. Walk among London’s festering graveyards, where the dead were literally rising from the grave. Visit the Paris Morgue, where thousands flocked to view the spectacle of death every single day. Lift the veil on how spirits were invited into the home, secret societies taught ways to survive death, and the latest science and technology was applied to provide proof of the afterlife. Find out why the Victorian era is considered the golden age of the ghost story, exemplified by tales from the likes of Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Oscar Wilde and Henry James. Discover how the birth of the popular press nurtured our taste for murder and that Jack the Ripper was actually a work of pure Gothic horror fiction crafted by cynical Victorian newspapermen. Death and the Victorians exposes the darker side of the nineteenth century, a time when the living were inventing incredible ways to connect with the dead that endure to this day.Read more
£19.00 -
The Times Second World War: The history of the global conflict from 1939 to 1945
The perfect gift for history fans.
Follow the conflict of World War 2 from 1939 to 1945 through a unique collection of historical maps, expert commentary and photographs. Published in association and including material from the archives of the Imperial War Museum, London.
Over 200 photographs and maps from the archives of The Imperial War Museum tell the story of how this global war was fought.
Descriptions of key historical events accompany the illustrations, giving a fascinating history of the war from an expert historian.
Key topics covered include
• 1939: Invasion of Poland
• 1940: German invasion of Low Countries & France
• 1940: Battle of Britain & German invasion threat
• Dec 1941: Pearl Harbor
• 1942: Turning points: Midway, Alamein, Stalingrad
• 1941-45: Barbarossa and the Eastern Front
• The War at Sea
• The advances to Jerusalem, Damascus and Baghdad
• The War in the Air
• 1944: Neptune & Overlord; D-Day & liberation of FranceRead more
£19.00£23.80 -
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.
Read more
£19.00£23.80 -
Uncivil War: The British Army and the Troubles, 1966–1975 (Cambridge Military Histories)
When Operation Banner was launched in 1969 civil war threatened to break out in Northern Ireland and spread over the Irish Sea. Uncivil War reveals the full story of how the British army acted to save Great Britain from disaster during the most violent phase of the Troubles but, in so doing, condemned the people of Northern Ireland to protracted, grinding conflict. Huw Bennett shows how the army’s ambivalent response to loyalist violence undermined the prospects for peace and heightened Catholic distrust in the state. British strategy consistently underestimated community defence as a reason for people joining or supporting the IRA whilst senior commanders allowed the army to turn in on itself, hardening soldiers to the suffering of ordinary people. By 1975 military strategists considered the conflict unresolvable: the army could not convince Catholics or Protestants that it was there to protect them and settled instead for an unending war.Read more
£19.00£23.80 -
The Gambling Century: Commercial Gaming in Britain from Restoration to Regency
Gambling captures as nothing else the drama of the “long eighteenth century” between the age of religious wars and the age of revolutions. The society that was confronted with games of chance pursued as commercial ventures also came to grips with unprecedented social mobility, floated by new wealth from new sources that created fortunes from trade in sugar, cotton, ivory, silk, tea, or enslaved human beings. Likewise, play for money was prominent in the
public imagination as money itself, deployed through an ever expanding and ever more sophisticated range of mechanisms, increasingly invaded public awareness, as when prospective spouses in period fiction were rated in terms of annual income as if they were municipal bonds. Similarly, the archetypal figure of the
gambler captured the imagination of the public in fiction, media, and politics. At the same time, new interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – encouraged and bankrolled by those in power – fostered a new and unprecedented appreciation for mathematical probability and its applications, opening the possibility that games of chance might be pursued as a profitable commercial venture.The Gambling Century focuses like no previous work on those who enabled, facilitated, and profited from gambling, as well as on efforts to regulate or outlaw it. Using extensive archival material as well as printed sources, it follows its subjects from the Court to the coffeehouse, to private clubs and “at homes” in townhouses, all of which prefigure that quintessentially modern gambling space, the casino.
Read more
£19.80 -
Unfabling the East: The Enlightenment’s Encounter with Asia
How Enlightenment Europe rediscovered its identity by measuring itself against the great civilizations of Asia
During the long eighteenth century, Europe’s travelers, scholars, and intellectuals looked to Asia in a spirit of puzzlement, irony, and openness. In this panoramic book, Jürgen Osterhammel tells the story of the European Enlightenment’s nuanced encounter with the great civilizations of the East, from the Ottoman Empire and India to China and Japan. He shows how major figures such as Leibniz, Voltaire, and Gibbon took a keen interest in Asian culture and challenges the notion that Europe’s formative engagement with the non-European world was invariably marred by an imperial gaze and presumptions of Western superiority. A momentous work by one of Europe’s most eminent historians, Unfabling the East brings the sights and sounds of this tumultuous age vividly to life. It takes readers on a thrilling voyage to the farthest shores, bringing back vital insights for our own multicultural age.
Read more
£19.80£20.90 -
Edexcel A Level History, Paper 3: Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914 Student Book + ActiveBook (Edexcel GCE History 2015)
This book:
- covers the essential content in the new specifications in a rigorous and engaging way, using detailed narrative, sources, timelines, key words, helpful activities and extension material
- helps develop conceptual understanding of areas such as evidence, interpretations, causation and change, through targeted activities
- provides assessment support for A level with sample answers, sources, practice questions and guidance to help you tackle the new-style exam questions.
It also comes with three years’ access to ActiveBook, an online, digital version of your textbook to help you personalise your learning as you go through the course – perfect for revision.
Read more
£19.90£21.60 -
British Transport Police: A definitive history of the early years and subsequent development
This book traces the history of the British Transport Police, the National Police Force responsible for policing the railways of England, Scotland and Wales. The roots of the Force go back almost 200 years, starting with the development of the railways during the Nineteenth Century. Hundreds of railway companies were founded and although mergers and amalgamations took place, by the end of the century, well over 100 railway companies were operating, most of which employed railway policemen. The first railway policemen were recruited to work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1826. Other railway companies quickly followed and by the 1850s, railway policemen with their smart uniforms and top hats were a common sight on Britain’s railways. During the Twentieth Century, railway companies continued to merge before being nationalised in 1948. The following year, the British Transport Commission (BTC) was created to oversee not only the newly nationalised railway network, but also the nation’s docks, shipping, inland waterways, road transport, road haulage and other companies. Also in 1949, the British Transport Commission Police (BTC Police) was created to take over the policing of these newly nationalised institutions. All the former railway, dock and canal police forces were then absorbed into the new BTC Police Force. The BTC was abolished in 1962, having incurred serious financial losses. The BTC Police was renamed the British Transport Police in 1963 and has continued to operate ever since. It no longer polices the docks, harbours and canals for reasons outlined in this book.Read more
£20.00£23.80 -
London Transport Buses in the 1960s: A Decade of Change and Transition
Just as life in Britain generally changed dramatically during the 1960s, so did London Transport’s buses and their operations. Most striking was the abandonment of London’s trolleybuses, once the world’s biggest system, and their replacement by motorbuses. Begun in 1959 using surplus RT-types, it was completed by May 1962 using new Routemasters, designed specifically to replace them. They then continued to replace RT types, too. Traffic congestion and staff shortages played havoc with London Transport’s buses and Green Line coaches during the 1960s, one-man operation was seen as a remedy for the latter, shortening routes in the Central Area for the former. Thus the ill-fated “Reshaping Plan” was born, introducing new O.M.O. bus types. These entered trial service in 1965, and after much delay the plan was implemented from September 1968 onwards. Sadly, new MB-types, also introduced in the Country Area, soon proved a disaster! Unfortunately, owing to a government diktat, Routemaster production ended at the start of 1968, forcing LT to buy “off-the-peg” vehicles unsuited to London operation and their in-house overhaul procedures. The decade ended with the loss of LT’s Country Area buses and Green Line coaches to the National Bus Company. Photographer Jim Blake began photographing London’s buses towards the end of the trolleybus conversion programme in 1961 and continued dealing with the changing scene throughout the decade. He dealt very thoroughly with the “Reshaping” changes, and many of the photographs featured herein show rare and unusual scenes which have never been published before.Read more
£20.00£23.80 -
The London Underground, 1968-1985: The Greater London Council Years
LONDON’S HISTORIC, iconic Underground railway system in the period from 1968 to 1985 was a very different place to what it is in the 2020s. Much of its rolling stock dated from before World War Two, and with the exception of the new Victoria Line and the isolated Woodford to Hainault shuttle, trains were all two-person operated as the 1970s dawned. Transport photographer Jim Blake recorded most of the system on film before it would change forever, concentrating on the older rolling stock as well as other items of interest due for replacement or modernisation, during this period when, regrettably, London Transport was often starved of much-needed funds by central government. The eminently sensible transfer of overall control of London’s buses and Underground system to the city-wide Greater London Council at the beginning of 1970 was snatched away by the Thatcher regime in 1984, after which things rapidly went downhill. This book covers the years of GLC control, including the months prior to their taking charge in order to set the scene. Many rare and unusual scenes are included in this volume, especially of the then still basically intact portion of the uncompleted Northern Line extension between Drayton Park and Highgate, which had been so close to completion when work was halted during the war, but then abandoned in the early 1950s, incurring much wasted work and expenditure. For anyone with a serious interest in London’s Underground, this book is essential reading, including as it does many pervious unpublished photographs.Read more
£20.00£23.80 -
Helicopters and North Sea Oil: A Story of Service, Danger and Survival
A series of personal accounts by highly trained helicopter pilots, including those with distinguished careers in the military and commercial flying, who with divers, ensured that essential staff could operate in North Sea oil exploration and oil supply. They were the vital link in the process and operated in the most challenging circumstances, often in high levels of danger and sometimes with loss of life, for example, the Piper Alpha Disaster which made national news. And the ferrying of essential personnel and supplies could involve rescues as well routine flying missions. The narrative is often technical but written to ensure good understanding for lay readers and it will, of course, appeal to the many with flying experience in the forces, in commercial flying and government service. Above all, it is a series of graphic personal stories as recounted by individuals faced with extremes of climate, weather, technical, engineering and aeronautical problems and often with human life at stake. The people come to life and with domestic and social concerns and interests are ‘real’ and believable people. It is history of the North Sea oil episode in UK political and economic history and in conjunction with international oil politics is of huge importance to Britain’s economy. This is a period of progress to domestic oil independence by about 1984 and so a key period with subsequent importance even to the present. All aspects of the operations are covered within individual stories, and include the broader questions of company policy, regulation, and trade union involvement.Read more
£20.00£23.80 -
Wars of the Roses: The People, Places and Battlefields of the Yorkists and Lancastrians
The Wars of the Roses, which saw England and Wales ravaged by warfare for three decades and dynasties rise and fall, decimated the nobility of an entire generation, and saw the rise of the merchant class, the decline of medieval feudalism and opened the country to the enlightened ideals of the Renaissance. Such has been its lasting effects the red and white rose of the Tudors is still a national symbol. This book is an exploration of the buildings, monuments, towns and battlefields of that turbulent era across both England and Wales – places that can still be visited and experienced today. The stories of the great battles of St Albans, Stoke Field, Wakefield, Townton, Barnet, Tewksbury and, of course, Bosworth, are told along with beautiful photographs to help guide the reader round these important sites, as well as the dozens of smaller engagements where the supporters of the Houses of York and Lancaster fought and died. Here are castles and manor houses galore, all of which played their part in this protracted struggle for the throne of England, such as Richard of York’s imposing powerbase of Lulow Castle and the magnificent Tudor stronghold of Bamburg. These are compared with the scant remains of Fotheringhay Castle, the birthplace of Richard III – the man whose remains were so dramatically uncovered in Leicester – and Micklegate Bar, York, was where Richard’s head was placed on a spike. We see the Clocktower of St Albans and ‘Gabriel’ the bell that was rung in 1455 alerting of the Yorkist advance, as well as the Tower of London where Henry VI met his death and the possible burial place of the two princes. These, and scores of other places, monuments, plaques, buildings and battlegrounds, represent not only a journey across England and Wales, but a journey back in time to the bloody conflict that was the War of the Roses.Read more
£20.00£23.80 -
The End of the Spanish Civil War: Alicante 1939
The Spanish Civil War ended in Alicante. After Catalonia fell to the Hitler and Mussolini backed military rebellion of Franco’s Nationalists at the outset of 1939, the legitimate Republican government of Dr Negrín was faced with a choice between apparently futile resistance or unconditional surrender to the triumphant Nationalists. Choosing the path of continued defiance until they could force concessions or at least implement a mass evacuation of those Republicans most at risk in Franco’s new Spain, the government withdrew to Elda in the province of Alicante. However, their plans were thwarted by a new rebellion of Republican officers, led by Colonel Segismundo Casado, who resented Negrín’s reliance on the Communist Party and the USSR and believed themselves better equipped to negotiate a peace settlement with Franco. They were misguided, Franco had no wish, and ultimately no need to negotiate. Meanwhile, faced with the imminent risk of arrest by the new junta, the Prime Minister and his cabinet were forced to abandon Spain from the tiny aerodrome of Monóvar. A relatively quiet port on the eastern, Mediterranean coast of Spain, Alicante had remained at some distance from the frontlines throughout the fighting on the ground, but swiftly became a target for Italian bombers operating out of bases in the Balearic Islands. In May 1938, at the height of the air offensive, Italian bombers attacked the marketplace, causing a massacre as tragic as the events in Guernica, yet largely ignored by historians. As the war drew towards its conclusion, Alicante became increasingly significant as attention focused on the plight of the defeated Republicans. In the second half of March 1939, the fronts collapsed, and Madrid finally fell to the insurgents. Tens of thousands of refugees descended on Alicante in the forlorn hope of rescue by French and British ships that had been promised but which failed to materialise. Amid the tragedy, as the British and French governments declined to engage in any humanitarian intervention that might offend Hitler and Mussolini, a single hero emerged; Captain Archibald Dickson, the Welsh master of the Stanbrook who ditched his cargo and transported 3,000 refugees to safety in North Africa. On 30 March 1939, Franco’s vanguard, the Italian ‘Volunteer’ Corps under General Gastone Gambara, occupied a town already under the control of the Fifth Column. Two days later the Generalísimo issued a communiqué from his headquarters in Burgos, declaring that the war was over. The bulk of the Republicans surrounded and captured in the port were marched to an improvised internment camp, known as the Campo de los Almendros (Field of Almond Trees). They were then transferred to the infamous concentration camp at Albatera to share the fate of defeated Republicans across Spain and to undergo the programme of ideological cleansing of the new fascist authorities.Read more
£20.00£23.80The End of the Spanish Civil War: Alicante 1939
£20.00£23.80 -
The RAF’s Armourers: Safely Making Aircraft Dangerous Since the First World War
It is said that one of the earliest trades in the world is that of the Armourer. Historically, it is a profession dated slightly after prostitution, but well before banking! Since the birth of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 through to the modern Royal Air Force, the role of the Armourer has been pivotal. Not for nothing did the founder of the RAF, Lord Trenchard, once declare: The Armourer – without him there is no need for an air force.’ In the years since the need for RAF Armourers was first recognised, it has been a role that has evolved with the times. What has remained constant, however, is the fact that it is still a fascinating and potentially dangerous trade with many different branches and specialisms. In this book the authors, one of whom, Tony Lamsdale, is himself a former RAF Armourer, reveal the previously untold story of how the trade has adapted to the most modern of military machines, the aircraft. The authors look at the shared history of the Armourer and the RAF through the eyes of those who served. These veterans’ stories span decades, and their first-hand accounts and insights into conflict and peace-time operations demonstrate the qualities and characteristics that make Armourers unique. The book starts with a brief history of the Armourer, then before capturing the adventures and exploits of RAF Armourers from the Second World War and on into the Cold War. The dangerous duties of the Armourers on deployment in such places as the Falklands, Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan are all explored. There is also the question of having to learn of bomb dumps, the use of small arms and the unique world of the Armourer with its own peculiar language and the camaraderie of the crew room. With each chapter brought to life through personal anecdotes and shared experiences, this book provides an insight into an utterly essential role which has remained largely hidden – until now.Read more
£20.30£26.60 -
Atlas de Paris au Moyen-Age 2018: Espace urbain, habitat, société, religion et lieux de pouvoir
Paris ― 200 000 habitants en 1300 ― est la plus grande ville de l’Occident médiéval. Elle devient au xIIIe siècle la capitale du puissant royaume de France vers laquelle affluent intellectuels, hommes d’affaires et artistes. La croissance sans précédent de la cité n’a pas manqué de laisser une empreinte durable. Dans bien des quartiers, le tracé actuel des rues reflète les opérations de lotissement qui présidèrent à l’installation des nouveaux venus au cours du Moyen Age. Si peu d’édifices médiévaux sont aujourd’hui visibles dans leur quasi-intégrité, telles Notre-Dame ou la Sainte-Chapelle, beaucoup sont conservés de manière fragmentaire, comme le Louvre de Philippe Auguste, la salle des gens d’armes de la Conciergerie ou le réfectoire du couvent des Cordeliers. Ces vestiges ― et bien d’autres ― jalonnent la trame urbaine dont les aspects changeant au fil d’un millénaire sont restitués par les images anciennes. Entre la “ville idéale” rêvée par les rois et la cité grouillante aux maisons serrées les unes contre les autres, aux ruelles étroites et nauséabondes, se dessine le visage du Paris médiéval.Read more
£21.20 -
The Laws of Alfred: The Domboc and the Making of Anglo-Saxon Law (Studies in Legal History)
Alfred the Great’s domboc (‘book of laws’) is the longest and most ambitious legal text of the Anglo-Saxon period. Alfred places his own laws, dealing with everything from sanctuary to feuding to the theft of bees, between a lengthy translation of legal passages from the Bible and the legislation of the West-Saxon King Ine (r. 688–726), which rival his own in length and scope. This book is the first critical edition of the domboc published in over a century, as well as a new translation. Five introductory chapters offer fresh insights into the laws of Alfred and Ine, considering their backgrounds, their relationship to early medieval legal culture, their manuscript evidence and their reception in later centuries. Rather than a haphazard accumulation of ordinances, the domboc is shown to issue from deep reflection on the nature of law itself, whose effects would permanently alter the development of early English legislation.Read more
£21.80 -
Gender and the Politics of History (Gender and Culture Series)
This landmark work from a renowned feminist historian is a foundational demonstration of the uses of gender as a conceptual tool for cultural and historical analysis. Joan Wallach Scott offers a trenchant critique of the compartmentalization of women’s history, arguing that political and social categories are always fundamentally shaped by gender and that questions of gender are essential to considerations of difference in history. Exploring topics ranging from language and class to the politics of work and family, Gender and the Politics of History is a vital contribution to feminist history and historical methodology that also speaks more broadly to the ongoing redefinition of gender in our political and cultural vocabularies.This anniversary edition of a classic text in feminist theory and history shows the evergreen relevance of Scott’s work to the humanities and social sciences. In a new preface, Scott reflects on the book’s legacy and implications for contemporary politics as well as what she has reconsidered as a result of her engagement with psychoanalytic theory. The book also includes a previously unpublished essay, “The Conundrum of Equality,” which takes up the question of affirmative action.
Read more
£22.40£23.80 -
Boom Cities: Architect Planners and the Politics of Radical Urban Renewal in 1960s Britain
Boom Cities is the first published history of the profound transformations of British city centres in the 1960s.It has often been said that urban planners did more damage to Britain’s cities than even the Luftwaffe had managed, and this study details the rise and fall of modernist urban planning, revealing its origins and the dissolution of the cross-party consensus, before the ideological smearing that has ever since characterized the high-rise towers, dizzying ring roads, and concrete precincts that were left behind.
The rebuilding of British city centres during the 1960s drastically affected the built form of urban Britain, including places ranging from traditional cathedral cities through to the decaying towns of the industrial revolution. Boom Cities uncovers both the planning philosophy, and the political, cultural, and legislative background that created the conditions for these processes to occur across the country.
Boom Cities reveals the role of architect-planners in these transformations. The volume also provides an unconventional account of the end of modernist approaches to the built environment, showing it from the perspective of planning and policy elites, rather than through the emergence of public opposition to planning.
Read more
£22.60 -
Asia in Flanders Fields: Indians and Chinese on the Western Front, 1914 1920
The First World War brought peoples from five continents to support the British and French Allies on the Western Front. Many were from colonial territories in the British and French empires, and the largest contingents were Indians and Chinese – some 140,000. It is a story of the encounter with the European ‘other’, including the civilian European local populations, often marred by racism, discrimination and zenophobia both inside and outside the military command, but also lightened by moving and enduring ‘human’ social relationships. The vital contribution to the Alles and the huge sacrifices involved were scarcely recognised at the Paris Peace Conference in 1918 or the post-war victory celebrations and this led to resentment – see huge media coverage in 2021. The effect of the European ‘other’ experience enhanced Asian political awareness and self-confidence, and stimulated anti-imperialism and proto-nationalism. This is a vivid and original contribution to imperial decline from the First World War. and the originality of the work is enhanced by rare sources culled from original documents and ‘local’ European fieldwork – in French, German and Flemish.Read more
£23.70 -
In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga’s Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan: 113 (Cornell East Asia)
In Little Need of Divine Intervention presents a fundamental revision of the thirteenth-century Mongol Invasions of Japan by revealing that the warriors of medieval Japan were capable of fighting the Mongols to a standstill without the aid of any “divine winds” or kamikaze. Conlan’s interpretation of the invasions is supplemented with translations of the picture scrolls commissioned by Takezaki Suenaga, a warrior who fought against the Mongols. In addition, translations of nearly seventy administrative documents are provided, thereby enabling students of Japanese history reconstruct the invasions using contemporary sources. A rare copy of Takezaki Suenaga’s Scrolls, reproduced in full, reveals hitherto unknown missing scenes. Furthermore, the scrolls’ images can be now read in tandem with its narrative passages, translated in English for the first time. Please note that the entire book was intentionally printed from back to front, so that the reproduced scrolls unfold in Japanese order, from right to left. Thus the book’s spine is on the right. This monograph will prove to be of great interest for students and scholars of medieval Japanese history, warrior culture, and the nature of Japan in an East Asian context.
Read more
£23.70 -
Bismarck’s War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
‘Compassionate and thought-provoking history’ Daily Telegraph
‘Superb on the human consequences of war, ravishing in its evocations of wartime life’ The Times
‘Fresh and compelling … a tour-de-force’ David A. Bell
Less than a month after it marched into France in summer 1870, the Prussian army had devastated its opponents, captured Napoleon III and wrecked all assumptions about Europe’s pecking order. Other countries looked on in helpless amazement. Pushing aside further French resistance, a new German Empire was proclaimed (as a deliberate humiliation) in the Palace of Versailles, leaving the French to face civil war in Paris, reparations and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine.
Bismarck’s War tells the story of one of the most shocking reversals of fortune in modern European history. The culmination of a globally violent decade, the Franco-Prussian War was deliberately engineered by Bismarck, both to destroy French power and to unite Germany. It could not have worked better, but it also had lurking inside it the poisonous seeds of all the disasters that would ravage the twentieth century.
Drawing on a remarkable variety of sources, Chrastil’s book explores the military, technological, political and social events of the war, its human cost and the way that the sheer ferocity of war, however successful, has profound consequences for both victors and victims.
Read more
£24.50£28.50 -
OCR A Level History: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993 and the Cold War in Europe 1941–95
Exam board: OCR
Level: A Level
Subject: History
First teaching: September 2015
First exams: AS: Summer 2016, A Level: Summer 2017An OCR endorsed resource
Successfully cover Unit Group 2 with the right amount of depth and pace. This bespoke series from the leading History publisher follows our proven and popular approach for OCR A Level, blending clear course coverage with focused activities and comprehensive assessment support.
– Develops understanding of the period through an accessible narrative that is tailored to the specification content and structured around key questions for each topic
– Builds the skills required for Unit Group 2, from explanation, assessment and analysis to the ability to make substantiated judgements
– Enables students to consolidate and extend their topic knowledge with a range of activities suitable for classwork or homework
– Helps students achieve their best by providing step-by-step assessment guidance and practice questions
– Facilitates revision with useful summaries at the start and end of each chapter
– Ensures that students understand key historical terms and concepts by defining them in the glossary
Read more
£24.70 -
The Great Tapestry of Scotland
The Great Tapestry of Scotland is an outstanding celebration of thousands of years of Scottish history and achievement, from the end of the last Ice Age to Dolly the Sheep and Andy Murry’s Wimbledon victory of 2013. More than 1000 stitchers spent a total of 55,000 sewing hours on the 160 panels that make up this extraordinary work of art.
This book shows in full colour all the finished panels of the tapestry – one of the biggest community arts projects ever to take place in Scotland – together with descriptive and explanatory material on each panel and lists of all the stitchers involved.
Read more
£25.50£28.50The Great Tapestry of Scotland
£25.50£28.50 -
Soldiers and Civilians, Transport and Provisions: Early Modern Military Logistics and Supply Systems During the British Civil Wars, 1638-1653: 108 (Century of the Soldier)
Until now historical works have neglected to fully consider the events of the British Civil Wars with respect to the logistics and supply systems. As such, this book evaluates and challenges these narratives of the wars by tackling historical debates through the lens of these logistics and supply systems at an operational level. How the military logistics and supply systems of the period functioned is revealed, including what methods of supply were used, what decisions and events these systems impacted, and how these related to strategic and tactical outcomes of the wars.The book investigates the facets of land, coastal, and riverine transportation, the supply of manpower to the armies, and the supply of food, clothing, and shelter to multiple forces across various conflicts throughout the British Civil Wars. With an application of a broad range of both civilian and military sources, this research employs archival and manuscript materials from national and local archives across the British Isles, contemporary tracts, letters, books, and pamphlets, as well as secondary literature from a variety of historical fields–from military history, economic and social studies, as well as reconstructive archaeology. As a result, the study outlines regional disparity in military logistics systems due to reliance on pre-existing civilian structures and methods–which had not been developed with a military purpose in mind and resulted in substantial logistical and supply differences that consequently, and heavily, favored one faction over another.
Many questions that have bedevilled previous historiography–and some that remain contentious even today–are likewise explored through this new perspective. This includes, but is not limited to, countering the simple narrative that Royalist armies were terribly supplied in comparison to Parliament, placing the Royalists’ Gloucester campaign in its correct strategic context, highlighting Catholic recruitment to Cromwell’s forces in Ireland, and providing a reasonable and informed explanation for Prince Rupert’s decision to fight at Marston Moor–all through the lens of logistics and supply. It emphasizes the absolute necessity of interactions between civil and military authority across multiple levels to supply early modern forces, providing a more nuanced history of civilian and military interactions than the popular view of soldiers imposing their will on a suffering population.
The book’s analysis of logistics and supply during the British Civil Wars, a focus not undertaken in such detail so far for the period, will provide a compelling read for those with interests in the operational realities of warfare during the seventeenth century more broadly, and the British Civil Wars in particular.
Read more
£25.80£33.30 -
Old English Legal Writings: 66 (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library)
Archbishop Wulfstan of York (d. 1023) was a powerful clergyman and the most influential political thinker of pre-Conquest England. An advocate for the rights and privileges of the Church, he authored the laws of King Aethelred and King Cnut in prose that combined the rhetorical flourishes of a master homilist with the language of law. Some works forged a distinctive style by adding rhythm and alliteration drawn from Old English poetry. In the midst of Viking invasions and cultural upheaval, Wulfstan articulated a complementary relationship between secular and ecclesiastical law that shaped the political world of eleventh-century England. He also pushed the clergy to return to the ideals of their profession. Old English Legal Writings is the first publication to bring together Wulfstan’s works on law, church governance, and political reform. When read together, they reveal the scope and originality of his thought as it lays out the mutual obligations of the church, the state, and the common people. This volume presents new editions of the Old English texts alongside new English translations.Read more
£26.90 -
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.
Read more
£27.40
