Great Britain

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two 'dirty centuries'? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint?...

Despite a supreme belief in itself, the Royal Navy of the early eighteenth century was becoming over-confident and outdated, and it had more than its share of disasters and miscarriages including the devastating sickness in Admiral Hosier's fleet in...

Disrupt and Deny is the untold story behind Britain's secret scheming against both enemies and friends from 1945 to the present day. British leaders use spies and Special Forces to interfere in the affairs of others discreetly and deniably. Since...

The story of Britain's colourful maritime past seen through the changing fortunes of the Cornish port of Falmouth. Within the space of few years, during the 1560s and 1570s, a maritime revolution took place in England that would contribute...

The story of Frank Whittle - RAF pilot, mathematician of genius, inventor of the jet engine and British hero. 'Wonderful' David Edgerton, TLS 'A fascinating account' Aeroplane Monthly 'Casts new light on the intense, heroic character of Frank...

Discover the vivid stories of Britain's iconic rulers, from 600 CE to the present day.From the Saxons to the Windsors, Britain's royal lineage is brought to life in the pages of this visual guide. Confused about which Henry had six wives and which was...

For fifteen hundred King Arthur has remained a mystery. For the first time, King Arthur - The True Story discovers the historical King Arthur, his Camelot and his final resting place. The authors uncover vital evidence for Arthur's historical existence...

'History as it should be written' Alison Weir, bestselling author of the Six Tudor Queens seriesA groundbreaking and fascinating biography of England's most famous queen, viewed through the women who influenced her life.Elizabeth I is often portrayed as...

Winner of the 2015 International IMPAC Dublin Literary AwardWinner of the 2014 James Tait Black PrizeShortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker PrizeShortlisted for the 2013 Goldsmiths PrizeShortlisted for the 2014 Walter Scott Prize for Historical FictionAs...

Dickensian London is brought to real and vivid life in this Wolfson History Prize-shortlisted portrait by a rising-star historian and New Generation Thinker Until now, our view of bustling late Georgian and Victorian London has been filtered through...

This book is part of the Images of London series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in England, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.Book InformationISBN 9780752400266Author Patrick...

Royally confused about kings and queens? Never sure what happened when? Or where - England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales? Learn the people and events that shaped British history British History For Dummies, 3rd Edition is full of rip-roaring stories of...

There is a greater difference between life in Sussex today and life one hundred years ago than there was between the times of our great-grandparents and of Queen Elizabeth, for in 1900 Sussex away from the seaside resorts had more in common with the...

When the brilliant classical architect Charles Barry won the competition to build a new, Gothic, Houses of Parliament in London he thought it was the chance of a lifetime. It swiftly turned into the most nightmarish building programme of the century...

How are great turning points in history experienced by individuals?As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. These writers include novelists, writers of books for children, of comic...

From the bestselling author of The Long Weekend: a wild, sad and sometimes hilarious tour of the English country house after the Second World War, when Swinging London collided with aristocratic values.'Preposterously entertaining' Observer'Brilliant'...

Surveying the life and times of Aidan of Lindisfarne, this book draws insights into missional approaches to inspire both outreach and discipleship for today's Church. As in his previous BRF book, Hilda of Whitby, Ray Simpson shows that such figures from...

A bold new analysis of one of history's most misrepresented women. History has lied. Anne Boleyn has been sold to us as a dark figure, a scheming seductress who bewitched Henry VIII into divorcing his queen and his church in an unprecedented...

THE ALL-NEW DIARIES; "Alastair Campbell's diaries have the quality of Pepys ...people will be looking for insights and finding them in 100 years' time." Lord Alex CarlileLaunched to a blaze of critical acclaim, Alastair Campbell's explosive diaries...

Newly opened by Queen Elizabeth II herself, discover the history and secret stories of the people who've lived above London's newest trainline.Crossrail, or the 'Elizabeth' line, is just the latest way of traversing the very old east-west route through...

The Tower of London has over two million visitors a year, with the Crown Jewels as its centrepiece. This paperback edition of the official illustrated history of the Crown Jewels, the most famous jewelry collection in the world, incorporates spectacular...

Everyone loves a good ghost story and the city of Sheffield seems to have plenty of them. The tales contained in this book are told by the Steel City Tours ghost walkers themselves, Mr and Mrs P. Dreadful, collected over the years and now brought...

For most of recorded history, women have been sidelined, if not silenced, by men who named the built environment after themselves. Now is the time to look unflinchingly at Scotland's heritage and bring those women who have been ignored to light. Can...

'Fascinating' The Times'Tantalising . . . Low's conclusion is a valuable one.' The TelegraphThe gripping account of how the Royal family really operates from the man who has spent years studying them in his role as Royal correspondent for The Times...

Twins, Scarlett and Tom, are studying the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons at school and they have a homework project to do. When Tom’s struggling for inspiration, Grandad comes to the rescue with his time machine. Tom is catapulted onto a Viking long ship and...

Exam Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR & WJECLevel: A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and...

In 50 Things About Us, Mark Thomas combines his trademark mix of storytelling, stand-up, mischief and really, really well-researched material to examine how we have come to inhabit this divided wasteland that some of us call the United Kingdom. Based on...

This best-selling title is a handy-format, fully comprehensive guide to the rulers of the British nations and their chequered histories, from pre-Roman times to the present day. From King Kenneth I and Henry VIII through to Princess Diana, the Queen...

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...

This book, a selection of folk tales, true tales, tall tales, myths, gossip, legends and memories, celebrates and honours unique Welsh stories. Some are well known, others from forgotten manuscripts or out-of-print volumes, and some are contemporary oral...

A remarkable medieval woman's life and the earliest surviving autobiography in English, now updated with new materialThe story of the eventful life of Margery Kempe - medieval wife, mother, businesswoman, pilgrim and visionary - is the earliest surviving...

The Little Book of Norfolk is a repository of intriguing, fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts and trivia about one of England's most colourful counties. It is an essential to the born and bred Norfolk folk or anyone who knows and loves...

A stunning collection of essays and memoir from twice Booker Prize winner and international bestseller Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London...

Along the coast of Fife, in villages like Culross and Pittenweem, history records that some women were executed as witches. Nevertheless, the reality of what happened the night that Janet Cornfoot was lynched at Pittenweem is hard to grasp as one sits by...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA Daily Mail Royal Book of the Year, 2021'Darkly compelling...hundreds of eye-popping details...Gripping ... damning portrait of the Windsors' Daily Mail 'Book of the Week''Briskly written and compulsively readable...' - A.N...

Paul Bruce was a tough, idealistic young trooper in the SAS when he was dispatched to Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles. His top secret mission was to execute IRA suspects in cold blood. Bruce and his SAS comrades shot down one terrified...

Longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Historical Fiction Dagger, 2019A Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Read 2019'Rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure, leaving you wrung out with terror. Historical fiction at its most sumptuous.'...

Following on from Foundation, Tudors is the second volume in Peter Ackroyd's astonishing series, The History of England.Rich in detail and atmosphere and told in vivid prose, Tudors recounts the transformation of England from a settled Catholic country...

Exam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Target success in Edexcel A-level History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision; key content coverage is combined with exam...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY JANET MASLIN, THE NEW YORK TIMES'Victoria the Queen, Julia Baird's exquisitely wrought and meticulously researched biography, brushes the dusty myth off this extraordinary monarch' The New York Times Book Review...