History

Late one evening in March 1924, a tipsy young nun was seen trying to slip into Balliol, an all-male Oxford college, just as the gates were about to close for the night. The nun - subsequently unmasked as the son of the college bursar - was returning...

He stared desperately into the dark trying to force his eyes to see, so that they ached more than ever . . . He sensed that the eyes of men were drilling into the back of his neck, so that it felt prickly. Being lost when you are the leader is the worst...

On the march to greatness.Arrian (Flavius Arrianus), of the period ca. AD 95-175, was a Greek historian and philosopher of Nicomedia in Bithynia. Both a Roman and an Athenian citizen, he was governor of the Roman province of Cappadocia 132-137, and...

Man has always been fascinated by Equus caballus, recasting horse power into many forms: a hunk of meat, an industrial and agricultural machine, a luxury good, a cherished dancer, a comrade in arms and a symbol of a mythical past. From the wild tarpans...

Orwell was wrong. Sports are not "war without the shooting", nor are they "war by other means." To be sure sports have generated animosity throughout human history, but they also require rules to which the participants agree to abide before the contest...

This oral history of Glasgow spans most of the last century - a time of economic downturn and eventual renewal, in which the many communities making up the city experienced upheavals that tore some apart and brought others closer together. It tells of...

Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks was a legend in his lifetime. He leapt to fame as a Brigade, Divisional and Corps Commander during the Second World War where his dashing style, good luck and easy manner won him huge respect and great success. He...

This creepy collection of true-life tales takes the reader on a tour of the streets, alehouses, cemeteries and city walls of Chester the ancient city many claim is the most haunted in the North. Drawing on contemporary and historical sources, it contains...

An insightful new biography of the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, focused on the man himself and based on newly accessible documents On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfus's cries of innocence were drowned out by a mob shouting "Death to...

The Viking reputation is of bloodthirsty seafaring warriors, repeatedly plundering the British Isles and the North Atlantic throughout the early Middle Ages. Yet Vikings were also traders, settlers, and farmers, with a complex artistic and linguistic...

This detailed study of the naval Spanish Civil War describes how the Spanish Navy, torn in two and comprising a Republican and Nationalist part, fought a civil war at sea involving both Hitler's and Mussolini's navies. In July 1936, a pro-fascist coup...

This text, the classic introduction to modern China for students and general readers, emerged from Spence's highly successful introductory course at Yale, in which he traced the beginnings of modern China to internal developments beginning in the early...

Even now, the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages overwhelm us by their imagination, technical daring and sheer scale. How could such structures be built when cities had only a few thousand inhabitants and only the most primitive machinery was available?...

'A riveting take on an extraordinary relationship' - Richard Eden, Daily Mail'A fresh and original approach' - Hugo Vickers, Royal BiographerShe was 'sugar pink' innocence; he was a handsome war hero. Both had royal blood coursing through their veins...

At the end of 1941, Imperial Japan targeted The East Indies in an attempt to secure access to precious oil resources. The Netherlands East Indies Campaign featured complex Japanese and Allied operations, and included the first use of airborne troops in...

A history of Camden Town and Kentish TownBook InformationISBN 9780752429229Author Marianne CollomsFormat PaperbackPage Count 128Imprint The History Press LtdPublisher The History Press LtdWeight(grams) 340gDimensions(mm) 235mm * 165mm * 10mm

1215 - the penultimate year of the reign of a king with the worst reputation of any in our history - saw England engulfed by crisis. Weakened by the loss of Normandy, King John faced insurrection by his disgruntled barons. With the assistance of the...

In Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations, Martin Goodman explores the history of a titanic struggle whose repercussions are still felt today. In 70CE, after four years of Jewish rebellion, Roman legions devastated the great city of...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780449908709Author David HalberstamFormat PaperbackPage Count 720Imprint FawcettPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 680gDimensions(mm) 234mm * 157mm...

The Baltic States suffered more than almost any other territory during World War II, caught on the front-line of some of the war's most vicious battles and squeezed between the vast military might of the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. From an...

Whether Queen or commoner, the lives of women throughout history is a fascinating study. Elizabeth Woodville, 'The White Queen', managed to make the transition from commoner to Queen and became the epitome of medieval heroines - the commoner who married...

The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red's Saga contain the first ever descriptions of North America, a bountiful land of grapes and vines, discovered by Vikings five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Written down in the early thirteenth...

The romance of the West is built on an endless armature of shootouts and train robberies, cowboys versus Indians, white hat versus black, and everybody versus the wilderness. From John Colter's harrowing escape from the Blackfeet to Hugh Glass's six week...

Another excellent historical adventure from Susanna Gregory featuring 17th-century spy Thomas Chaloner------------------------London in the spring of 1665 is a city full of fear. There is plague in the stews of St Giles, the Dutch fleet is preparing to...

William Dalrymple, who wrote so magically about India in 'City of Djinns', returns to the country in a series of remarkable essays. Featured in its pages are 15-year-old guerrilla girls and dowager Maharanis; flashy Bombay drinks parties and...

'An epic tale of exploration, daring and tragedy told by a fine historian - and a wonderful writer' - Peter Frankopan, author of the bestselling The Silk Roads. 'The name of William Barents isn't that familiar to us these days...but this enthralling,...

As read on BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardLonglisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize'Sherman's is a special book. Every sentence, every thought she has, every question she asks, every detail she...

This volume examines the history and development of the Ju 188 twin-engined aircraft, the Luftwaffe's attempt to enhance and improve its peerless Ju 88. The Junkers Ju 188 was the epitome of mid-war German twin-engined aircraft design, representing...

The Irish revolution began with the Ulster crisis of 1912 followed by the Irish Nationalist Party securing the passage of the Home Rule Act in 1914. By then, however, the Great War had broken out: the Act was suspended for the duration of the war, with...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781782183785Author Mary McAleeseFormat HardbackPage Count 160Imprint Columba PressPublisher Columba Books

This new book reveals the part played by the eight Bustler Class Rescue Tugs built at the Henry Robb Shipyard during the Second World War and will shed more light on the almost-forgotten part played by this country's mariners. The men and women who were...

Towards the end of Caesar's Gallic War, Rome had reached the Rhine. Since the campaigns under Emperor Augustus (15 B.C.), larger troop contingents were stationed along the river, with focal points around Mogontiacum/Mainz and in northern Switzerland...

The year 1066: a battlefield in England, a mighty king lies prone on the ground, his lifeblood ebbing out of him. As he draws his last breath, the world of which he is the greatest figurehead also moves towards its end, its existence about to pass from...

A timely work of major historical importance, examining the whole spectrum of events from the 1916 Easter Rising to the current and ongoing peace process, fully updated with a new afterword for the paperback edition. 'An essential book .....

Antisemitism, as hatred of Jews and Judaism, has been a central problem of Western civilization for millennia, and its history continues to invite debate. This Very Short Introduction untangles the history of the phenomenon, from ancient religious...

Of all the infantry small arms developed during World War II, one that generated the most interest was the German 'assault rifle', the StG 44 Sturmgewehr. This innovative weapon inspired the Soviet AK-47 in 7.62x39mm calibre. In the West, the NATO...

Bestselling classical historian Barry Strauss delivers "an exceptionally accessible history of the Roman Empire...much of Ten Caesars reads like a script for Game of Thrones" (The Wall Street Journal)-a summation of three and a half centuries of the...

This book explores the Skelligs, Ireland's most dramatic and beautiful Atlantic islands, and focuses particularly on Skellig Michael, a famous UNESCO World Heritage Site. It considers why the construction of a remarkable monastic site near the peak of...

Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism is a sustained exercise in historical sociology that shows how the slave-based societies of Ancient Greece and Rome eventually became the feudal societies of the Middle Ages. In the course of this study, Anderson...

The fascinating, often surprising story of how a simple black rock altered the course of history, perfect for fans of Mark Kurlansky's Salt and Jeremy Paxman's Black Gold. 'A passionate plea for a more considered way of treating the earth, its resources...