Historical

Forthright, witty and deliciously opinionated, Jean Trumpington's Coming Up Trumps is a wonderfully readable account of a life very well lived. In this characteristically trenchant memoir, the indomitable Jean Trumpington looks back on her long and...

The Wittgenstein family was one of the richest, most talented and most eccentric in European history. The domineering paternal influence of Karl Wittgenstein left his eight children fraught by inner antagonisms and nervous tension. Three of his sons...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780143117995Author Paul JohnsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 192Imprint Penguin USAPublisher Penguin Putnam IncWeight(grams) 157g

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780312302399Author Hugo VickersFormat PaperbackPage Count 477Imprint St. Martins Press-3PLPublisher St. Martins Press-3PLWeight(grams) 567gDimensions(mm)...

The meeting of Voltaire, successful financier, famous poet and troublemaker, and the enchanting amateur physicist and countess Emilie du Chatelet, was a meeting of both hearts and minds. In the Chateau de Cirey, the two brilliant intellects scandalised...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780471758853Author Angus KonstamFormat HardbackPage Count 336Imprint John Wiley & Sons IncPublisher Turner Publishing CompanyWeight(grams)...

The revelatory, poignant story of Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest and eventually secreted-away Kennedy daughter, and how her life transformed her family, its women especially, and an entire nation."[Larson] succeeds in providing a well-rounded portrait of a...

Claude Monet's water lily paintings are among the most iconic and beloved works of art of the past century. Yet these entrancing images were created at a time of terrible private turmoil and sadness for the artist. The dramatic history behind these...

Following his first three successful books, describing his long career as a military pilot, Mike Brooke completes the story with more tales of test flying during the 1980s and '90s. During this period his career changed to see him take control of flying...

Forming a critical introduction to the history of women's autobiography from the mid 18th-century to the present, this book analyses the most important changes in women's autobiography, exploring their motivation, context, style, and the role of life...

A harrowing yet uplifting account of Stalin's persecution of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1930s, and of one man - Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), whose poetry, in spite of the unfolding tragedy of his life, preserved its unique creative gaiety...

'The definitive biography' Roy StrongThe remarkable story of Bess of Hardwick, her ascent through Elizabethan society and the houses she built that shaped British architectural history.Born in 1521, Bess of Hardwick, businesswoman, money-lender and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781861515667Author Rupert WielochFormat PaperbackPage Count 381Imprint Mereo BooksPublisher Mereo BooksWeight(grams) 425gDimensions(mm) 203mm * 127mm * 40mm

'An incredible story crackling with royal passion, envy, ambition and betrayal ... A tour de force' Lucy WorsleySarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was as glamorous as she was controversial. Politically influential and independently powerful, she...

'An incredible story crackling with royal passion, envy, ambition and betrayal ... A tour de force' Lucy WorsleySarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was as glamorous as she was controversial. Politically influential and independently powerful, she...

Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first bride, has become an icon: the betrayed wife, the revered Queen, the devoted mother, a woman callously cast aside by a selfish husband besotted by his strumpet of a mistress. Her sister, Juana of Castile, wife of...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780684848280Author Mark MathabaneFormat PaperbackPage Count 368Imprint ScribnerPublisher Simon & Schuster LtdWeight(grams) 331g

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780684848280Author Mark MathabaneFormat PaperbackPage Count 368Imprint ScribnerPublisher Simon & Schuster LtdWeight(grams) 331g

'David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human' Tim HarfordCan you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising...

'A lyrical, engrossing and essential read' - Sathnam Sanghera 'A superbly nuanced reclamation of history and family secrets' - Brian Van Reet, author of SpoilsWhat does it mean to be on the wrong side of history?Svenja O'Donnell's beautiful, aloof...

'A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently.' Ben Macintyre, The TimesOn the face of it, the three characters here seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed...

'Compassionate and compelling, this is not a political story but a quest for love in the heart of darkness' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'A biography on an epic scale, with a combination of tragedy and history worthy of a Russian novel' Independent ...

Jean-Paul Marat's role in the French Revolution has long been a matter of controversy among historians. Often he is portrayed as a violent, sociopathic demagogue. This biography challenges that interpretation and argues that without Marat's contributions...

'Glorious... Scurr is one of the most gifted non-fiction writers alive' Simon Schama, Financial TimesA revelatory portrait of Napoleon written for our own time, exploring his love of nature and the gardens that gave his revolutionary life its light and...

'This is the most gripping book I've read in ages ... It is beautifully written, fascinating, disturbing and often very funny.' Roddy Doyle The childhood world of Hugo Hamilton, born and brought up in Dublin, is a confused place. His father, a...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781910294611Author Christopher BriceFormat HardbackPage Count 616Imprint Helion & CompanyPublisher Helion & Company

Edith Cavell was born on 4th December 1865, daughter of the vicar of Swardeston in Norfolk, and shot in Brussels on 12th October 1915 by the Germans for sheltering British and French soldiers and helping them escape over the Belgian border. Following a...

This compelling Icelandic history describes the life of King Harald Hardradi, from his battles across Europe and Russia to his final assault on England in 1066, less than three weeks before the invasion of William the Conqueror. It was a battle that led...

In 1952 Alberto Granado, a young doctor, and his friend Ernesto Guevara, a 23-year-old medical student from a distinguished Buenos Aires family decided to explore their continent. They set off from Cordoba in Argentina on a 1949 Norton 500cc motorbike...

In 1952 Alberto Granado, a young doctor, and his friend Ernesto Guevara, a 23-year-old medical student from a distinguished Buenos Aires family decided to explore their continent. They set off from Cordoba in Argentina on a 1949 Norton 500cc motorbike...

During the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the Christian Church will take centre stage once again, as the established religion in England. But why does the Church have such prominence in state affairs, and should it keep this privileged...

Creative genius, war artist, adventurer, lover. These are just some of the words that can be used to describe Aberdeenshire-born painter and printmaker James McBey (1883-1959). McBey was a Scottish superstar amongst the creative spirits that fuelled...

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the forces of resistance were disparate and divided mujahideen groups, as interested in fighting each other and competing for Western arms as opposing the Russians. The exception was Ahmed Shah Massoud, the...

The 'Greatest Black Briton in History' triumphed over the Crimea and Victorian England. "The Times" called her a heroine, Florence Nightingale called her a brothel-keeping quack, and Queen Victoria's nephew called her, simply, 'Mammy' - Mary Seacole was...

In 1980, at the age of ten, Loung Ung escaped a devastated Cambodia and flew to the US as a refugee. She and her eldest brother, with whom she escaped, left behind their three surviving siblings, and her book is alternately heart-wrenching and...

In 1980, at the age of ten, Loung Ung escaped a devastated Cambodia and flew to the US as a refugee. She and her eldest brother, with whom she escaped, left behind their three surviving siblings, and her book is alternately heart-wrenching and...

WINNER OF THE 2019 PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE The fascinating history of Christopher Columbus's illegitimate son Hernando, guardian of his father's flame, courtier, bibliophile and catalogue supreme, whose travels took him to the...

'I had thought that for me there could never again be any elation in war. But I had reckoned without the liberation of Paris - I had reckoned without remembering that I might be a part of that richly historic day. We were in Paris on the first day - one...

In this expansive new biography of George Reisner, Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian examines the life and work of America's greatest archaeologist. Manuelian presents Reisner's undeniable impact and considers his life within the context of Western...

Discover one family's fascinating story in this beautiful, sweeping, multigenerational memoir, spanning 19th century south China to modern day Singapore'A captivating, compelling story of history, family loyalty, and personal sacrifice. A fascinating and...