Max Adams

Collingwood went to sea as a 13-year-old and died at sea aged 62 - he literally gave his life to the Navy. Based on original log books and diaries, this biography details his life story, from the American War of Independence to the victory over Napoleon's navy.

The five centuries between the end of Roman Britain (410) and the death of Alfred the Great (899) have left few voices save a handful of chroniclers, but Britain's 'Dark Ages' can still be explored through their material remnants: buildings, books, metalwork, and, above all, landscapes. Max Adams explores Britain's lost early medieval past by walking its paths and exploring its lasting imprint on valley, hill and field. From York to Whitby, from London...

As a material, wood has no equal in strength, resilience, adaptability and availability. It has been our partner in the cultural evolution from woodland foragers to engineers of our own destiny. Tracing that partnership through tools, devices, construction and artistic expression, Max Adams casts light on our own history as an imaginative, curious, resourceful species. He begins with the material properties of various species of wood, and the influence...