Harold Godwinson, King of England, was unable to defend his realm from William the Conqueror's invading Norman army in 1066. The Normans wreaked havoc across the country and changed the history of
During the early 16th century, England would have been ruled by King Arthur Tudor, not Henry VIII, had the first-born son of Henry VII lived into adulthood. The history of England would have been very
In 1998 a petition was presented to the then Home Secretary Jack Straw asking for the witches of Pendle, Lancashire (executed in 1612) to be pardoned. It was decided their convictions should stand! T
What are the ingredients of our great British public parks? We often think of the wider landscape of trees, grass, lakes, meandering footways, bedding displays and herbaceous borders. But they are muc
At the very beginning of the Second World War Germany invaded and occupied Belgium. Yet less than a year later some of Belgium's citizens volunteered to join the Waffen-SS and go and fight on the newl
During the nineteenth century Folkestone changed from being a small fishing village to a fashionable resort and busy cross-Channel port. The town expanded dramatically and by the turn of the century l
Few English monarchs had to fight harder for the right to rule than King Edward IV – Shakespeare’s glorious son of York. Cast in the true Plantagenet mould, over six feet tall, he was a naturally char
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been a powerhouse franchise ever since the debut of the indie comic book back in 1984. The TMNT have captivated kids and those young at heart for over thirty years
Isabella of France married Edward II in January 1308, and afterwards became one of the most notorious women in English history. In 1325, she was sent to her homeland to negotiate a peace settlement be
The Battle of Passchendaele was the most gruesome yet fought during World War I. The British offensive was launched on the Belgium battlefield at 3:30 am on July 31, 1917, as a massive effort by Gener
On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union’s famous satellite Sputnik was launched into orbit, and the Space Age began. Or did it? Sputnik may have marked the beginning of humanity’s physical exploration of
The Brady Street and Alderney Road cemeteries are among the oldest Jewish burial grounds in the UK, dating back to not long after the arrival of the Jewish immigrants in the time of Oliver Cromwell.
Like its near neighbour (and long-time rival) Southampton, the twentieth century has not been kind to Portsmouth. Much of the historic High Street, once said to be one of most attractive in the countr
Taking in the variety of breath-taking landscapes and climates India has to offer, from the heat of Madras to the chill of the mountain ranges, George Woods offers a truly fascinating, full color look
In 1918, David Lloyd George’s post-war government passed the Representation of the People Act, and for the first time women were included in the political process. Women now accounted for nearly
He is one of the most reviled English kings in history. He drove his kingdom to the brink of civil war a dozen times in less than 20 years. He allowed his male lovers to rule the kingdom. He led a gre
One way or another the Romans spent quite a lot of time in bed, in between conquering and civilizing the known world. The men were intent on demonstrating their power and virility; the women were busy
At around 7 p.m. on May 26, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave the order for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of British troops from the harbor and beaches of Dunkirk. The German forces that
The Wars of the Roses call to mind bloody battles, treachery and deceit, and a cast of characters known to us through fact and fiction: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, Richard III, Warwick the Kingmak
On the first night of the Second World War the Royal Air Force flew a mission to drop more than five million leaflets over the industrial heartland of Germany. The leaflets called upon the German peop
The city of Leicester can boast a long and distinguished history and has been at the very heart of the country's political and economic development for over two millenia. Evidence of Roman occupation
The city of Liverpool is famous throughout the world. This once-small fishing village was transformed into a mighty commercial powerhouse, seen by many as the second city of the British Empire. In 171
Cheltenham Caravans were made by one of the smallest caravan manufacturing companies and are still used across Europe by members of the longest established one-marque caravan owners' clubs, forty year
The great religions, civilizations, peoples and empires of the world and how they interacted are all folded here into a narrative of what happened when, how and why. The book eschews the Eurocentric a
The evacuation of Britain’s cities during the Second World War was the largest and most concentrated mass movement of people in the nation’s history. The various experiences of the many children who l
Newcastle History Tour is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this famous city. This new book guides us through the streets and alleyways, showing how its famous landmarks used to look an
As Hitler’s Germany spread her wings across Europe in the late 1930’s, nations across the continent began preparing their own defences. The threat of invasion on home soil seemed unlikely at first, bu
P&O was established in 1837 and maintained a schedule of routes to India, the Far East and Australia, being the first choice for the majority of passengers traveling to that part of the world. P&O lat
This book covers the facinating history of British Airways Engineering, from the earliest development of commercial civil aviation engineering in the early 1920s up to the present day. As the UK&rsquo
The story of the Queensway and Kingsway road tunnels, together known as the Mersey Road Tunnels, is a story of progress and growth as the area around them developed and changed. No tunnel of comparabl
As familiar as the ubiquitous deckchair seller and ice cream stands, the humble beach hut is a recognisable stalwart of today’s seaside landscape. It is hard to imagine a time when their often colour
The Roy F. Burrows Midland Railway Collection was started by Roy F. Burrows in the 1940s and is now generally recognised as a railway collection of national significance devoted to one particular pre-
Why do we have so many dialects in England? Why do we not all speak in standard English? How has our history shaped and influenced the language we speak today? 'In a Manner of Speaking' is a fun a
Post-1945 items include a Warsaw Pact ZIL radio lorry, an example of a G-Wagon used by British Military Mission (BRIXMIS) in East Germany, a model of Smokey Joe's—a listening post manned by Intelligen
Henry III became King of England within days of his ninth birthday. His father, King John, had overseen a disastrous period in English history and the boy king inherited a country embroiled in a bitte
Great disasters always attract conspiracy theories and this is just as true of disasters at sea as it is of those on land or in the air. The sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania, two of the great
The loss of the Costa Concordia in 2012 shocked Europe when thirty-two passengers died on a luxury liner. Yet in mid-Victorian times, more lives than this were lost in shipwrecks every week. This book
Pirates have fascinated people for several centuries. The master terrorists of their age, the sailors of the early 18th century, who went "on the account" hoping to gain fortune and fame, often led a
Founded in 1873, the Holland America Line provided services carrying passengers and freight between the Netherlands and North America. When the Second World War ended, only nine of Holland America Lin
Under the Tudors, London was a vibrant, growing city, whose population quadrupled during the course of the sixteenth century, despite devastating epidemics. It was by far the largest city in the count
