General

Peace at last, after Lloyd George declared it had been 'the war to end all wars', would surely bring relief and a renewed sense of optimism? But this assumption turned out to be deeply misplaced as people began to realise that the men they loved were...

Peace at last, after Lloyd George declared it had been 'the war to end all wars', would surely bring relief and a renewed sense of optimism? But this assumption turned out to be deeply misplaced as people began to realise that the men they loved were...

During the bleak, heartbreaking days of early 1942, when beleaguered Malta was reeling under bombardment and blockade and Rommel was making his last desperate thrust towards Egypt, only one British submarine was operating in the western Mediterranean -...

Including handy maps and photographs, this illustrated guide tells the story behind the many and varied plaques to be found adorning buildings, monuments and statues around the university city of Oxford. This is a unique publication, featuring the lives...

Conditioned by a childhood surrounded by the rivalries of the Stewart family, and by eighteen years of enforced exile in England, James I was to prove a king very different from his elderly and conservative forerunners. This major study draws on a wide...

This book is a wide-ranging survey of the rise of mass movements for democracy and workers' rights in northern England from 1789 to 1848. It is a provocative narrative of the closing down of public space and dispossession from place. It offers historical...

Focusing on the British Isles, the author explores a period of huge societal change - the Neolithic, or 'New Stone Age' - through the most iconic artifact of its time: the polished stone axe, using an ancient stone axe-head brought to him by a local...

The incredible real life story of the world's first super spy'Full of stimulating detail... vivid glimpses of the world of Elizabethan espionage' GUARDIAN'Walsingham emerges from these pages as a hero of epic stature' DAILY TELEGRAPHFrancis Walsingham...

From 1917 British soldiers who were unfit or too old for front-line service were to serve unarmed and within the range of German guns for weeks or even months at a time undertaking labouring tasks. Both at the time and since they have arguably not been...

This book is a treasure trove of English oddities, crammed with the most curious stories, remarkable facts and unexpected goings-on from the country's long and convoluted history. From frogs' legs at Stonehenge to knicker elastic in the Blitz, this is...

Bourbons. Custard Creams. Rich Tea. Jammie Dodgers. Chocolate Digestives. Shortbread. Ginger snaps. Which is your favourite? British people eat more biscuits than any other nation; they are as embedded in our culture as fish and chips or the Sunday roast...

Take a cast of archaeologists and historians who inhabit different worlds. Add a medieval king who died in battle, and was revived by Shakespeare as the ultimate anti-hero. Throw in a forensic quest with almost unbelievable twists, and a theatrical...

The publication of "Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy" fifteen years ago sparked off a storm of controversy with many historians publically deriding the divisive and groundbreaking study. Dissatisfied with the counter-explanations of these...

Twenty of the most crucial moments in Britain's history.BBC History Magazine asked a selection of leading historians to choose and describe the twenty most important turning points in British history from AD 1000 to 2000. Collected together, their...

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...

Arran is an archaeological and geological treasure trove of stunning scenic beauty. Its history stretches back to the great stone circles, more than 5,000 years old, whose remnants still decorate the plains of Machrie. Runic inscriptions tell of a Viking...

Scrooby, Potters Bar, Stansted Mountfitchet, Melbury Bubb, White Ladies Aston, Lugwardine. Every name, like every word, has an origin. But how many of us really know how our towns, cities and villages got their names? In this easy-to-understand...

For nearly four centuries Britain was a province on the outer edge of the Roman Empire and developed a distinctively Romano-British culture and way of life. Using the archaeological evidence, ancient written sources and the latest research on surviving...

DISCOVER 2,000 YEARS OF ENGLISH HISTORY TOLD BY THOSE WHO LIVED IT - FROM BOUDICCA'S REVOLT TO THE ASHES WIN OF 2005. Featuring writing from Julius Caesar, Guy Fawkes, Isaac Newton, Charlotte Bronte, Winston Churchill and Jonny Wilkinson. ...

'I remember how excited I was when I saw my first diesel. I was waiting for the usual West Country Class to come through Hampden Park when a Class 33 arrived instead. It was the talk of all the trainspotters at the junior school.' Author Mick Hymans'...

A Little Gay History of Wales tells the compelling story of Welsh LGBT life from the Middle Ages to the present day. Drawing on a rich array of archival sources from across Britain, together with oral testimony and material culture, this pioneering study...

Mrs Jordan's Profession is the acclaimed biography of Dora Jordan by bestselling author Claire Tomalin'Intelligent, finely made and wonderfully readable. As gripping as the best fiction' Independent on Sunday Acclaimed as the greatest comic actress of...

Lord Derby was the first British statesman to become prime minister three times. He remains the longest serving party leader in modern British politics, heading the Conservative party for twenty-two years from 1846 to 1868. He abolished slavery in the...

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 is one of the most infamous crimes in British history. The bulk of the money stolen (equivalent to over GBP40 million today) has never been recovered, and there has not been a single year since 1963 when one aspect of the...

The Age of Railways was an era of extraordinary change which utterly transformed every aspect of British life - from trade and transportation to health and recreation. Full Steam Ahead reveals how the world we live in...

Flight Through the Ages' was the title of the first annual exhibition of the Guild of Aviation Artists in 1971. This book celebrates 50 years of exhibitions and includes paintings by some one hundred Guild artists, past and present, depicting aircraft...

Like many of the families in this book, Rex Sly follows in the footsteps of his ancestors who were also farmers in the Fens. The land was reclaimed by forebears, giving this unique bond between 'soil and soul' - each generation wishing to leave their...

Here is a real treat for lovers of English - the very first dictionary in our language. Contrary to popular opinion, this honour goes not to Samuel Johnson, whose definitive tome appeared in 1755, but to Robert Cawdrey, who published his Table...

Alf Townsend is a London cabbie with nearly fifty years' experience. In his new book, he gathers together for the first time the complete history of London's cabs in wartime - not just in the Second World War when cabs were converted for other uses...

In Yorkshire: There and Back, Andrew Martin celebrates Britain's most charismatic county, looking back at the Yorkshire of his 1970s childhood and as it is today.Journeying to every historic corner, Martin writes affectionally about its past, present and...

Gypsies, Egyptians, Romanies, and--more recently--Travellers. Who are these marginal and mysterious people who first arrived in England in early Tudor times? Are claims of their distant origins on the Indian subcontinent true, or just another of the many...

As the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne (1665-1714) received the education thought proper for a princess, reading plays and poetry in English and French while learning dancing, singing, acting, drawing, and instrumental music. As an adult, she played the...

THE TOUCHING TRUE STORYTwo young Second World War evacueesFar from home, far from family, safe from the warGwenda and Douglas Brady were among the millions of British children sent to live with new families for their own safety during the Second World...

When John Cadbury came to Birmingham in 1824, he sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate in a small shop on Bull Street. Drinking chocolate was considered a healthy alternative to alcohol, something Cadbury, a Quaker, was keen to encourage. In 1879,...

The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War may be commemorated by some as a great moment of national history. But the standard history of Britain's choice for war is far from the truth. Using a wide range of sources, including the personal ...

In a series of witty and observant short stories describing what she believes to be the stereotypical figures of the Victorian era, Catherine Gore brings to life in an engaging and entertaining manner the characters that best denote her generation of...

The first history of London to show how immigrants have built, shaped and made a great success of the capital city London is now a global financial and multicultural hub in which over three hundred languages are spoken. But the history of London has...

From heart-stopping accounts of apparitions, manifestations and related supernatural phenomena to first-hand encounters with ghouls and spirits, this collection of stories contains new and well-known spooky tales from in and around Poole. Drawing on...

London Labour and the London Poor originated in a series of newspaper articles written by the great journalist Henry Mayhew between 1849 and 1850. A dozen years later, it had grown into the fullest picture we have of labouring people in the world's...

Practise and perfect the knowledge and skills that students need to achieve their best grade in the Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History exams.Packed full of consolidation activities and exam-style questions, this time-saving Workbook makes it easier to reinforce...