Historical

'Damien Lewis is both a meticulous historian and a born storyteller' Lee ChildSAS Great Escapes Two recounts the hitherto untold stories of six of the most dramatic and daring escapes executed by the world's most famous fighting force during WWII. From...

Sayo Masuda's story is an extraordinary portrait of rural life in japan and an illuminating contrast to the fictionalised lives of glamorous geishas.At the age of sis Masuda's poverty-stricken family sent her to work as a nursemaid. At the age of twelve,...

The authorised life story of the king who gave up his throne for love, by one of our most distinguished biographers. In this masterly authorized biography, Philip Ziegler reveals the complex personality of Edward VIII, the only British monarch...

'Meticulous... Probably the most disturbing portrait of Hitler I have ever read' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday TimesBy the summer of 1939 Hitler was at the zenith of his power. Yet despite initial triumphs in the early stages of war, the Fuhrer's fortunes...

Like No Other Soldier continues the true story told in Fishers of Men of Rob Lewis's life after he leaves the Force Research Unit (FRU). Staying on in Northern Ireland as a civilian after years of working on undercover missions against terrorists, Rob...

If you remember my love in your prayers as strongly as I adore you, I shall hardly be forgotten, for I am yours,' - Henry Rex, forever Written by King Henry VIII to his sweetheart, the seductive and vivacious Anne Boleyn, his passion for her would be...

Giuseppe Garibaldi was praised for his military genius, his courage, and his charisma. Known as the "Hero of Two Worlds," Garibaldi's military prowess extended to the Americas, where he played a major role in the Brazilian struggle for...

"These Poor Hands: The Autobiography of a Miner Working in South Wales", was first published in June 1939. It was an instant bestseller, and its fame catapulted its author into the front rank of 'proletarian writers'. B. L. Coombes, an English-born...

At the summit of his power, John Law was the most famous man in Europe. Born in Scotland in 1671, he was convicted of murder in London and, after his escape from prison, fled Scotland for the mainland when Union with England brought with it a warrant for...

*Longlisted for the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History, 2022*A spectacular biography of the great designer, entrepreneur, abolitionist and beacon of the Industrial Revolution, from acclaimed historian and Director of the Victoria and Albert...

Chosen as a Book of the Year in The Times and the Daily Mail'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times'Enthralling' Daily TelegraphFor more than six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great Empire at the height of its power. Beside her for more than twenty of those...

A fascinating portrait of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the darkest figures of Hitler's elite, featuring words with those who knew him best, including in-depth and rare interviews with his wife, Lina. He was called the 'Hangman of the Gestapo' and the...

Napoleon Bonaparte: a man of intense emotion, iron self-discipline, acute intelligence and immeasurable energy. Michael Broers brings this remarkable man to life, from his dangerous Corsican roots to the epic battles of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland...

How should history judge the life and career of Erwin Rommel, the most famous German general of the Second World War, 70 years after his death on 14 October 1944? In his own time and in the years immediately after the war his reputation as a great and...

Tornado Boys is the latest in the ever-popular Boys series, and differs from earlier titles. With the introduction of female pilots to the RAF in 1994, the Tornado was among the first aircraft to be flown by both men and women. This is acknowledged in...

In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, apparently notorious among the locals, in fact came as a blessed relief...

In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, apparently notorious among the locals, in fact came as a blessed relief...

One of the best-known figures of British history, collective memory of Henry VIII presents us with the image of a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and...

'The greatest biography of our era ... Essential reading for those who want to comprehend power and politics' The TimesRobert A. Caro's legendary, multi-award-winning biography of US President Lyndon Johnson is a uniquely riveting and revelatory account...

Plutarch traces the fortunes of Athens through nine lives - from Theseus, its founder, to Lysander, its Spartan conqueror - in this seminal workWhat makes a leader? For Plutarch the answer lay not in great victories, but in moral strengths. In these nine...

'Remarkable and compelling. I loved this book' EDMUND DE WAAL'An exemplary sleuth, both astute and open-minded . . . Manera Sambuy writes with impassioned style and insight' TELEGRAPHA lost princess and a vanished world: a remarkable true story that...

A delightful memoir of Mary Elizabeth Lucy and her life at Charlecote.Mary Elizabeth Williams, an heiress from North Wales, was only twenty when in 1823 she reluctantly married George Lucy and became mistress of Charlecote Old Hall in Warwickshire. Sixty...

A delightful memoir of Mary Elizabeth Lucy and her life at Charlecote.Mary Elizabeth Williams, an heiress from North Wales, was only twenty when in 1823 she reluctantly married George Lucy and became mistress of Charlecote Old Hall in Warwickshire. Sixty...

This Very Short Introduction provides a concise, accurate, and lively portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte's character and career, situating him firmly in historical context. David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility--for both good...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781916572294Author Nitram DribFormat PaperbackPage Count 192Imprint UK Book PublishingPublisher Consilience MediaWeight(grams) 215gDimensions(mm) 203mm *...

A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020 'Radical Wordsworth deserves to take its place as the finest modern introduction to his work, life and impact' Financial Times ...

The best political biography of the year' Jonathan Sumption, Spectator 'Wonderful . . . A Life so nearly complete it need never be written again' Ferdinand Mount, Times Literary Supplement By the author of the Orwell Prize-winning Citizen Clem Damned in...

Ernest Shackleton was the quintessential Edwardian hero. A contemporary - and adversary - of Scott, he sailed on the 'Discovery' expedition of 1900, and went on to mount three expeditions of his own. Like Scott, he was a social adventurer; snow and ice...

When Gao Wenqian first published this ground-breaking, provocative biography in Hong Kong, it was immediately banned in the People's Republic. Using classified documents spirited out of the China, he offers an objective human portrait of the real Zhou...

Richard III, the most notorious and most discussed of English kings, was also unusual among his contemporaries in regularly signing his books. This characteristic, among others, has enabled Anne Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs to reconstruct his library,...

'The experience of insecurity, it turned out, would shape one of the most remarkable monarchs in England's history' In the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image of monarchical power. But this image is as much armour as a...

Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperbackOn Christmas Day 1066, William, duke of Normandy was crowned in Westminster, the first Norman king of England. It was a disaster: soldiers outside,...

The prequel to The Crown: the first truly candid portrait of George V and Mary, the Queen's grandparents and creators of the modern monarchyShortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Historical Biography prize and the History Reclaimed Book of the Year...

Volume one of Spike Milligan's legendary memoirs is a hilarious, subversive first-hand account of WW2'The most irreverent, hilarious book about the war that I have ever read' Sunday Express'Close in stature to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in his command...

_________________________ An intensely moving personal record of the experiences of children who were evacuated in World War II, with an introduction by Michael Caine _________________________ 'This vivid collection of memories recreates the...

_________________________ An intensely moving personal record of the experiences of children who were evacuated in World War II, with an introduction by Michael Caine _________________________ 'This vivid collection of memories recreates the...

Two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, depict the sixth-century emperor Justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, Theodora (497-548). This majestic portrait gives no inkling of Theodora's...

* THE INTERNATIONAL AND SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER *'Even in the darkest of Dickens novels, no family comes across quite as mendacious, grasping and avaricious as the Trumps' Financial Times A REVELATORY PORTRAIT OF DONALD J. TRUMP AND THE TOXIC...

The first sustained analysis of the cult of the legendary Italian hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian revolutionary leader and popular hero, was among the best-known figures of the nineteenth century. This book seeks to examine his life and the making...

The first modern biography of the most powerful politician in late Tudor England William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598), was the closest adviser to England's Queen Elizabeth I and-as this revealing and provocative biography shows-he was the driving...