Social History

A fast-paced, character-filled history that brings the unique American saga to life for readers of all ages "This is a little history with a big heart, meant to be savored more than studied, read out loud like poetry, or perhaps sung like a hymn...

'An extraordinary history' PETER ACKROYD, The Times'A lively account of (Bazalgette's) magnificent achievements. . . graphically illustrated' HERMIONE HOBHOUSE'Halliday is good on sanitary engineering and even better on cloaca, crud and putrefaction . . ...

FOREWORD BY ADAM KAY, AUTHOR OF THIS IS GOING TO HURTPortion of proceeds go to NHS Charities Together.A beautiful and heart-warming collection of stories, this landmark publication tells, for the first time ever, the rich history of the NHS through the...

Sex and Punishment tells the story of the struggle throughout millennia to regulate the most powerful engine of human behaviour: sex. From the savage impalement of an Ancient Mesopotamian adulteress to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde for `gross...

A Waterstones Best History Book of 2022 The bestselling history of the North of England as told through the lives of its inhabitants. 'Entertaining' The Times ...

Christmas in Tudor times was a period of feasting, revelry and merrymaking 'to drive the cold winter away'. A carnival atmosphere presided at court, with a twelve-day-long festival of entertainments, pageants, theatre productions and 'disguisings', when...

Geoffrey Hosking is one of the foremost historians of Russia and its people. The result of a lifetime's knowledge, this monumental and authoritative work has been acclaimed as the definitive single-volume history of Russia, tracing its story from the...

In Pop Goes the Weasel, Albert Jack explores the strange and fascinating histories behind the nursery rhymes we thought we knew, showing that their real meanings are far from innocent.Who were Mary Quite Contrary and Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle...

One woman's investigation into the nature of memory, the past, and above all, love. All families have their myths and Juliet Nicolson's was no different: her flamenco dancing great-great-grandmother Pepita, the flirty manipulation of her...

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ORDINARY ANIMAL. EVERY ONE HAS A HEROIC STORY TO TELL. Discover how . . . Able Seacat Simon rescued the crew of HMS Amethyst Bobby the Wonder Dog crossed a continent to find his family Galipolli Murphy carried 250 wounded...

Forging our identities, setting our moods and impacting our culture, any music admirer understands there's a sheer breadth of musical tastes. From the classical era to modern day, here you will discover a curation of lines from composers, musicians and...

'Absorbing . . . an intelligent and clear-eyed account of much that goes on in our country' Sunday TimesGetting to grips with Great Britain is harder than ever. We are a nation that chose Brexit, rejects immigration but is dependent on it, is getting...

- 'Illuminating . . . an important book' Sunday Times- 'A fascinating journey through the social, cultural and historical meanings of breastfeeding. A sublime book' Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women- 'Erudite, intimate and compelling . . . a...

Although nearly 90% of the population of Great Britain remained civilians throughout the war, or for a large part of it, their story has so far largely gone untold. In contrast with the thousands of books on military operations, barely any have concerned...

The photographs in this book capture the gritty reality of life in East London during the Swinging Sixties. As the images graphically illustrate, the pop revolution and the early stirrings of flower power had little discernible impact on the...

People, not abstract ideas, make history, and nowhere is this more revealed than in A. N. Wilson's superb portrait of the Victorians, in which hundreds of different lives have been pieced together to tell a story - one which is still unfinished in our...

The lives of the three daughters of Lord Curzon: glamorous, rich, independent and wilful.Irene (born 1896), Cynthia (b.1898) and Alexandria (b.1904) were the three daughters of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India 1898-1905 and probably the grandest and most...

'Pain and pleasure are simple ideas, incapable of definition.' In 1757 the 27-year-old Edmund Burke argued that our aesthetic responses are experienced as pure emotional arousal, unencumbered by intellectual considerations. In so doing he overturned...

The first complete history of Southwark, London's stubbornly independent community over the Thames Southwark's fortunes have always been tied to those of the City of London across the river. But from its founding in Roman times through to flourishing...

Before It Went Rotten takes a trip back to the world before punk. When Anarchy in the UK appeared, London enjoyed one of the most vibrant music scenes in the world. A network of mainly Irish owned pubs and clubs provided music every night, much of it...

THE CRIMES. THE STORIES. THE LAW 'Fascinating' - Sunday Times 'Masterful' - Judith Flanders 'A page-turning read' - Prof. David...

It's an extraordinary tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotal prime ministers; of how pale ale fuelled an Empire and weak bitter won a world war; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket and a Canadian bloke who changed the dringking...

Acclaimed by the Daily Mail as 'definitive and harrowing', this is the final volume of 'The People's Trilogy', begun by the Samuel Johnson prize-winning Mao's Great Famine. 'The seminal English language work on the subject' Sunday Times 'A major...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780553384901Author Toby WilkinsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 656Imprint Random House Trade PaperbacksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams)...

A labourer, journalist and a professor who lived through four successive periods of German political history - from the German Empire, through the Weimar Republic and the Nazi state through to the German Democratic Republic - Victor Klemperer is regarded...

In this poignant and personal tribute, Roger Scruton gives an account of England which is both an illuminating analysis of its institutions and culture, and a celebration of its virtues. Covering all aspects of the English inheritance, and informed by...

'Breathtakingly entertaining, endlessly instructive, irresistibly enjoyable' THE TIMES'A tour de force ... breathtaking' SPECTATOR'A magnificent achievement' LITERARY REVIEWTERRIBLE BEAUTY presents a unique narrative of the twentieth century. Unlike more...

"It is all free fighting here. Even some of the windows do not open, so it is useless to cry for help. Dampness and misery, violence and wrong, have left their handwriting in perfectly legible characters on the walls."(Manchester Guardian, 1870...

The Secret History of Our Streets explores six roads spread across inner London - from Camberwell, Holland Park and Islington to Shoreditch, Deptford and Bermondsey - through the experiences of the people who lived there. Stories of poverty and violence,...

'Compassionate and thought-provoking history' Daily Telegraph'Superb on the human consequences of war, ravishing in its evocations of wartime life' The Times'Fresh and compelling ... a tour-de-force' David A. BellLess than a month after it marched into...

Uncontrollable, anarchic, separate and alienated from mainstream England, the Liverpool of popular imagination is a hotbed of radicalism and creativity. But is that reputation really justified? Starting in 1911, a year which saw a warship on the...

In a melding of the fun style of the 'Style Me Vintage' series with a traditional cookery book, Style Me Vintage: Tea Parties is a vintage and thematic take on a traditional afternoon tea book. The current trend for retro styled events and...

'Engaging, smart and wise, Mini-Philosophy is a diverse taster menu of ideas on life, the mind and the world. Nutritious, bite-sized portions of philosophy that whet the appetite for more' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks Why...

For fans of Thinking, Fast and Slow and The Power of Habit, a groundbreaking new study of how disrupting our well-worn routines, both good and bad, can rejuvenate our days and reset our brains to allow us to live happier and more fulfilling lives.Have...

Following on from Terence Donovan: 100 Fashion Photos, this new compact edition of collected photographs features over 100 of Terence Donovan's best portraits.Terence Donovan (1936-1996) was one of the foremost photographers of his generation, with a...

'No brief survey can do justice to the richness, complexity and detail of Foucault's discussion' New York Review of BooksThe second volume of Michel Foucault's pioneering analysis of the changing nature of desire explores how sexuality was perceived in...

In 1973 a group of North Wales building workers were arrested for picketing-related offences during the first and only national building workers strike in Britain the year before. It was a turning point for halting the growth of trade unionism in the...

A Sunday Times Book of the YearQueen Of Our Times is the definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth II by one of Britain's leading royal authorities, Robert Hardman. This commemorative edition includes an epilogue reflecting upon Her Majesty's Platinum...

Handel called Britain 'The Ringing Isle' because he heard bells ringing everywhere he went. Behind the quintessentially English sound of bells ringing lies a unique way of hanging bells and a special way of ringing them that evolved in the late sixteenth...

Four stunning pocket-sized fashion books in one box set. Includes Little Book of Chanel, Little Book of Dior, Little Book of Gucci and Little Book of Prada - telling the stories of four iconic fashion houses. With images of the four houses' most timeless...