In her previous two books, Professor Alice Roberts has powerfully and evocatively revived people of the past through examining their burial rites, bringing a fresh perspective on how they lived. In 'Crypt', she tells the story of Britain from 1066 to the present day - by exploring changing methods of honouring the dead. Beautifully written, vividly drawn, and expertly researched, this is a brilliant and unexpected portrait of modern Britain.
Recounting stories and legends from the dark centuries of British prehistory to the 9th century AD, Ashe shows how they interrelate and take on fresh significance from historical and archaeological research.
Peter Bellerby is the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, the world's only truly bespoke makers of globes. His team of skilled craftspeople make exquisite terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes for customers around the world. The story began after his attempt to find a special globe for his father's 80th birthday. Failing to find anything suitable, he decided to make one himself which took him on an extraordinary journey of rediscovering this...
Broadcaster Trevor Phillips and his novelist brother Mike retell the very human story of Britain's first West Indian immigrants and their descendants from 1948 to the present day. In 1948, the troop ship Windrush brought the first West Indian immigrants to Great Britain. Originally published 50 years later, Trevor and Mike Phillips' seminal book used the first-person accounts of those on the boat - as well as those of their descendants, friends, neighbours...
Created during the Second World War, the SAS was a small band of men brought together in the North African desert. They were the toughest and brightest of their cohort, the most resilient, most capable in close combat and most careful in surveillance. Winning approval for this radical new form of warfare was no small feat, but eventually it was achieved. The SAS was born, their mission to take on small-scale but often devastating raids and risks behind...
The UK is grappling with big questions about belonging, equality, and the legacies of Empire and Colonialism. We've been here before. Embracing a broader history that encompasses all British people, 'The Shoulders We Stand On' is fundamental to a better understanding of the past and gives many more people who fought for our future a voice in the present. Have you heard of the Indian Workers' Association? The Grunwick Strike? The Brixton Black Women's...
The story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history: a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation, ending just short of three years later when a husband's passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone. Missing from most accounts is how the turbulent nature of Anne and Henry's relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great...
The Women's Land Army are probably one of the lesser-known branches of the women's forces that served their country during World War Two. Thousands of women faced losing their stories to history, but in The Land Army's Lost Women, countless memoirs from members have been captured, to ensure the vital work these ladies carried out on farms across Britain is never forgotten. From friendships unbreakable by time, romances that blossomed into lifelong...
Liverpool grew rapidly in the Georgian period as it was a major port for Atlantic trade, rivalling any other city in the UK outside London in terms of prosperity and population. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the city embarked on an ambitious building programme to demonstrate its new-found wealth and power. Although some of these buildings have been lost today, much of Georgian Liverpool remains. A vital part of the city's heritage...
Perhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of leadership success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America's most eminent financial journalists, argues that GE's legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand...
A vivid journey around England's great seaside resorts, exploring their history and current struggle, and what they reveal about England, from the award-winning author of 'Love of Country'.
The Spartan hoplite enjoys unquestioned currency as history's greatest fighting man. The last stand at Thermopylae made the Spartans legends in their own time, famous for their ability to endure hardship, control their emotions, and to never surrender - even in the face of impossible odds, even when it meant certain death. Was this reputation earned? Or was it simply the success of a propaganda machine that began turning at Thermopylae in 480 BC?...
In her international best-seller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now, she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power...
Packed with stunning photography, 'The Train Book' catalogues the development of trains from early steam to diesel engines and electric locomotives, explores in detail iconic trains such as the Palace on Wheels and the Orient Express, and chronicles the social, political, and cultural backdrop against which railways were built the world over. Profiling the best loved railways and rail journeys of all time - from the Union-Pacific Railroad to the Trans-Siberian...
Journalist, academic and ex-TV producer Sheela Banerjee's fascinating first book is a blend of history, memoir and politics and tells the history of multicultural Britain. In 'What's in a Name?', Sheela tells stories of friends and family through their names and takes us from the fight against racism in Britain to an escape from Nigeria, from Jamaica in the 60s to pre-Revolutionary Russia. Each name contains centuries of history and acts as a portal...
