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The Vikings famously took no prisoners, relished cruel retribution, and prided themselves on their blood-thirsty skills as warriors. But their prowess in battle is only a small part of their story, which stretches from their Scandinavian origins to...

There is a little Neanderthal in all of us. Although they have been extinct for 40,000 years, our genetic inheritance means that they are not entirely gone. Since the publication of the first Neanderthal genome in 2010, our understanding of the...

The 'fatal charm of Italy' has held Lord Byron - and millions of tourists ever since - in its spell. Yet, beneath 'the brilliant and vivacious surface', what are the realities of Italian life? Few writers have ever painted a portrait of their compatriots...

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER - REISSUED WITH A NEW FOREWORD FOR THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY 'Magnificent, vivid, moving, superb' Max Hastings, Sunday Times ______________This is the closest you will ever get to war - the taste, the smell, the noise and the fear...

Is a tower block, your unmade bed, your lavatory basin, or the bicycle chained to the gate next door a work of art? Why should a novel have a beginning, a middle, and an end; or even a story? Whether we recognise it or not, virtually every aspect of our...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings. Operation Chastise was one of the most extraordinary episodes of the Second...

The first in a series on key historical periods, launching with the Romans and Ancient Egyptians and followed by the Vikings and Ancient Greeks. Each spread explores a different theme or topic specific to Ancient Egyptian culture, such as pharaohs,...

The essential survival guide for novice soldiers about how to stay alive in the Roman Army. Reveals all the gruesome truths of life in the Roman army, including what soldiers ate, what they wore and how they lived. Witty illustrations complement the...

The life of William Shakespeare, Britain's greatest dramatist, was inextricably linked with the history of London. Together, the great writer and the great city came of age and confronted triumph and tragedy. Triumph came when Shakespeare's company, the...

An anthology of 17th and 18th century travel writing that inspired the hugely popular Aubrey/Maturin series, collected and introduced by Patrick O'Brian, beautifully repackaged to mark the centenary of his birth. Patrick O'Brian has unearthed...

For the first time, the Sunday Times bestseller Austerity Britain is available in one complete paperback volume. Coursing through Austerity Britain is an astonishing variety of voices - vivid, unselfconscious, and unaware of what the future holds. A...

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA concise, sharp-witted and illuminating account of the lives of Britain's prime ministers from Walpole to May, illustrated by Martin Rowson.For the reader who has heard of such giants as Gladstone and Disraeli, and has drunk...

The book the MoD doesn't want you to read' Daily MailSoon after British and American forces invaded Iraq they faced an insurgency that was almost impossible to understand, let alone reverse.Facing defeat, the Coalition waged a hidden war within a war...

Arthur Ransome was, from 1930 to the early 1960s, what J.K. Rowling is today: author of a series of children's books which shaped the imagination of a generation. Rooted in the heyday of the British Empire, Swallows and Amazons and its sequels described...

'A must read. Honesty, integrity and real experience that puts you in the thick of the action.' Billy Billingham'The story that needed to be told' Jason Fox'The attention to detail is unbelievable' Tim Lovejoy'Thrilling' ExpressThere were three patrols...

The Six-Day War was an extraordinary human drama. It swept up a generation of Israelis and Arabs whose children still cannot live peacefully in the world the war created. Today, Israel is the superpower of the region. It has nuclear weapons but has never...

The Spitfire Story, published in association with Imperial War Museums, is a fascinating anthology of first-hand stories from Spitfire heroes and heroines, as well as the people behind the scenes.The Spitfire is the world's most iconic aeroplane. Coming...

Discover unrelenting spirit and strength in the extraordinary true story of Franci: a woman who survived the holocaust against all of the odds'Achingly moving, gives much-needed hope. Deserves the status both as a valuable historical source and as a...

On 7 December 1941, an armada of 354 Japanese warplanes launched a surprise attack on the United States, killing 2,403 people and forcing America's entry into the Second World War. With vivid prose and astonishing detail, Craig Nelson combines thrilling...

It was 2004, and Sean McFate had a mission in Burundi: to keep the president alive and prevent the country from spiraling into genocide without anyone knowing that the United States was involved. The United States was, of course, involved, but only...

Former Tornado Navigator John Nichol tells the incredible story of the RAF Tornado force during the First Gulf War in 1991; the excitement and the danger, the fear and the losses. It is an extraordinary account of courage and fortitude.'We were doing...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!Military History Matters Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner'Compelling... sensitive, colourful and moving' -- Saul David, Telegraph'Fascinating and utterly gripping' -- James Holland'Absorbing' -- Daily Mail Book of the...

Discover what it was like to be a barber surgeon in the sixteenth century and why it was a terrible time for people to be sick. Sharpen your saw before amputating an infected leg, learn how to make false noses and ears for patients injured on the...

A comprehensive history of social, political, economic, and cultural trends in Britain between the Franco-Prussian War and World War I.ReviewsIt would be difficult to praise this book too highly. Packed with information, the narrative is throughout lucid...

Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic. Cherry undertook an epic journey in the Antarctic winter to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. The temperature fell to seventy...

The amazing story of one of the 'Few', fighter ace Tom Neil who shot down 13 enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain. This is a fighter pilot's story of eight memorable months from May to December 1940. When the Germans were blitzing their way across...

Published in association with the Imperial War Museums, this book will provide the ultimate challenge to even the most knowledgeable military historian.You might think you know a great deal about World War II but have you ever really tested your...

In The English Jeremy Paxman sets out to find about the English. Not the British overall, not the Scots, not the Irish or Welsh, but the English. Why do they seem so unsure of who they are?Jeremy Paxman is to many the embodiment of Englishness yet even...

A fascinating and hilarious gallop through twentieth-century British history, by comedian Al Murray.An awful lot has happened in the last 100 years or so. In fact, when you look at how much went on in the 20th century, it's amazing it didn't take longer...

The vast crescent of British-ruled territories from India down to Singapore appeared in the early stages of the Second World War a massive asset in the war with Germany, providing huge quantities of soldiers and raw materials and key part of an...

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE covers the history of British expansion overseas from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Narrative and analysis are interwoven with revealing eyewitness quotation to provide keen insight into the minds of...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings. Operation Chastise, the overnight destruction of the Moehne and Eder dams in...

Using wide-ranging evidence, Martyn Whittock shines a light on Britain in the Middle Ages, bringing it vividly to life in this fascinating new portrait that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary.Thus we glimpse 11th-century rural society...

Patrick Bishop looks at the lives and the extraordinary risks that the painfully young pilots of Bomber Command took during the air-offensive against Germany from 1940-1945. As featured on the BBC 1 documentary BOMBER BOYS, presented by Ewan McGregor. ...

The classic account of the war on the Eastern Front between the Russians and the Germans - the greatest clash of arms the world has ever seen.Carefully researched and beautifully written, this book is a classic of military history. Alan Clark vividly...

Jeremy Paxman's unique portrait of the Victorian age takes readers on an exciting journey through the birth of modern Britain. Using the paintings of the era as a starting point, he tells us stories of urban life, family, faith, industry and empire that...

From Henry VII's capture of the crown at Bosworth in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, Tudor England witnessed far-reaching changes in politics and religion under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth herself. John Guy's compelling new...

Magnificent history of the common British soldier from 1700 to 1900 by one of Britain's best-known and accomplished military writers and broadcasters. Red Coat is non-fiction Sharpe, filled with anecdote and humour as well as historical analysis. ...

Bess of Hardwick was one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. Gently-born in reduced circumstances, she was married at 15, wedded at 16 and still a virgin. At 19 she married a man more than twice her age, Sir William Cavendish, a senior auditor...

The final stage of Simon Schama's epic voyage around Britain spans centuries, crosses the breadth of the empire and covers a vast expanse of topics - from the birth of feminism to the fate of freedom.The Fate of the Empire asks crucial questions about...