In February 1943, when the course of World War II hung in the balance, 68-year-old Prime Minister Winston Churchill was stricken with pneumonia. Doris Miles, from St. Mary's Hospital in London, wa
Anne Boleyn, the femme fatale whose unconventional beauty inspired poets, and so entranced Henry VIII with her wit, allure and style that he was prepared to set aside his wife of over 20 years and ris
Diana Rowden was a woman of the finest character. As an agent with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), she was dropped into France alongside Noor Inayat Khan and worked in the Resistance stronghol
The tragic news of numerous ISIS-inspired massacres around the world, in conjunction with the recent failed political coup against Erdogan in Turkey, have raised the specter of an ideological struggle
After his death, Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, the beautiful widow of a Lancastrian knight, was called in to question, with claims made that he had previously married Eleanor Talbot. Edwar
Stonehenge presents us with one of the greatest archaeological mysteries from pre-history. With each new breakthrough in field research and technological innovation, the full scale and significance of
The Stuart era was a turbulent time in a world on the brink of change. Diarists from the famous Samuel Pepys to the gardener John Evelyn here brush shoulders with anonymous household accounts and well
Chaloner achieved much during his short life. After university he served in the household of Thomas Cromwell, and later he was entrusted with increasingly delicate missions in France, Scotland, Flande
With background information and commentary provided by expert Adrian Greenwood, meticulously footnoted, this is a worthy addition to the literature of the Napoleonic Wars.
The story of the last surviving 'Desert Rats' in their own words and their experience of war in North Africa. From 1940-3 Britain was engaged in a life and death struggle with the Axis powers in North
The first ever complete history of MI5. Covers the entire history of MI5 from its creation in 1909 to its present day battles with Al Qaeda. Includes the amazing stories of MI5 agents during WW1 and W
Focusing on the late 19th and early 20th century obsession with woman as femme fatale, this book looks at beliefs about women’s bodies and sexuality. Dancer Maud Allan came to embody the im
When did the term "Princes in the Tower" come into usage, who invented it, and to whom did it refer? To the general public the term is synonymous with the boy King Edward V and his younger b
The centrepiece of this memoir by Sir Christopher Mallaby, former British Ambassador in Germany and France, is the unification of Germany in 1990, the culmination of years of work by Sir Christopher a
In the summer of 1845, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, catapulted to fame by his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, arrived in Liverpool for the start of a
The first book that focuses on the staggering achievements of hundreds of thousands of civilian volunteers and charity workers, the majority of them women, during the Great War, both at home and abroa
The Historia Regum Britanniae, or History of the Kings of Britain, was written in around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth and purports to tell the story of the kings of Britain from the settlement of the
One of the great beauties of Georgian society, Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, was a woman of enormous style and spirit whose life revolved around her pleasures. Clever and witty, her charm was
The Victorian age, the age of industrial revolution and expansion of cities, was also the age of an explosion of interest in the practice of gardening. This was not merely a private pastime. For the f
From the idea that the Earth could be hollow, to the notion that bees were far too religious to bother with sex, to the claim that a dying civilization might inhabit Mars, there have been many crackpo
Focusing on key events and episodes, this book shows the ties of blood and commerce that have bound the different lands that lie today in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Western R
This fascinating compendium is comprised of three parts. "Words and Their Meanings that Time Forgot" will delight anyone who is interested in the evolution, humor and eccentricity of the Eng
John Morton (c. 1420 - 1500) was one of the most important men in the land from the Wars of the Roses to the start of the Tudor dynasty. He served three kings as a councillor, Master of the Rolls, Lor
D-Day began on the night of June 5-6 1944, and would prove to be the most pivotal battle of World War II. At 07.00 hours on the 6th, Britain's First Corps and XXX Corps came ashore on Sword a
Paris, Christmas Eve 1800. The fuse of an improvised bomb was lit, and the enormous explosion wreaked havoc. The target for this early act of terrorism was Napoleon Bonaparte, who had seized power the
King Richard III remains one of the most controversial figures in British history. Matthew Lewis’s new biography aims to become a definitive account of his life by exploring what is known of his
No island is more deeply steeped in ancient history than Britain. The megalithic monuments are mute testimony to the mysterious foundations of "British" culture, and the inhabitants’ k
Many people know about Wessex, the "Last Kingdom" of the Anglo-Saxons in defense against the Northmen, But another kingdom, Mercia, once enjoyed supremacy over not just Wessex, but all the A
What common theme can be found across 250 years of English history? What thread runs throughout the Plantagenet Royal House, including as it does the "cadet: Houses of Lancaster and York, to the
These extraordinary stories of 144 pirates throughout history include Norman privateers, Barbary Corsairs, Elizabethan adventurers, Chinese pirates, "the Brethren of the coast," and of cours
The Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1953-58, organized by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary, was one of the most successful exploits ever undertaken in Antarctica, but it has been largely forgotte
Politically active gays, Jewish academics, French celebrities, uneasy alliances of feminists and conservatives, politicians hungry for power—and the only thing they have in common is a belief Is
This is the story of a man who went from Yorkshire mill worker to Monte Carlo millionaire. Joseph Hobson Jagger was not a gentleman or an aristocrat; he was a working class Victorian man who entered t
During the wars which followed in the wake of the French Revolution, France’s armies turned on Britain’s last ally in Italy, the kingdom of Naples. The French chased out King Ferdinand and
This is an innovative, controversial history of Scotland and Britain in the early modern period. Its originality lies in new research pin-pointing Fife, especially St Andrew's, as the area where a
For anyone interested in the air war 1939-45, the information provided here is of inestimable value. There are no more than a handful of WW2 Luftwaffe members alive today. Patrick Eriksson had the for
Catherine Parr called her 'that hell', while Queen Mary I called her 'my good Nann'. Lady-in-waiting to each of Henry VIII's six queens, Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, witnessed the reigns of Henr
At a time of emerging women leaders, the life of Elizabeth Milbanke, Viscountess Melbourne, the shrewdest political hostess of the Georgian period, is particularly intriguing. It was Byron who called
Joan of Arc’s life and death mark a turning point in the destiny both of France and England and the history of their monarchies. It is a great shame,’ wrote Étienne Pasquier in
