Social History

A uniquely data-rich analysis of the British elite from the Victorian era to today: who gets in, how they get there, what they like and look like, where they go to school, and what politics they perpetuate.Think of the British elite and familiar...

"Five thousand years have now elapsed since the creation of the world, and still it is undecided whether or not there has even been an instance of the spirit of any person appearing after death. All argument is against it; but all belief is for it."...

'MASTERFUL' Time Out'REVELATORY' Scotland on Sunday'GLORIOUSLY READABLE' Metro'FASCINATING' Independent 'EXCELLENT' Telegraph'ABSORBING' GuardianWinner of the British Sports Book AwardsFootball Book of the YearThe fifteenth anniversary edition, fully...

'His finest work and one that was both symptom and engine of the concept of "history from below" ... Here Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Muggletonians, the early Quakers and others taking advantage of the collapse of censorship to bid for new kinds of...

Historically, women have been an integral part of spreading our Deen. They have contributed as mothers, wives, supporters, and defenders of our religion. This book allows the reader to take a glimpse into the lives of thirty-seven amazing women. Starting...

'[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion.' - Kwasi Kwarteng, Sunday TimesIn this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David...

Since its purchase in 1604 by Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, the house at Knole, Kent, has been inhabited by thirteen generations of a single aristocratic family, the Sackvilles. Here, drawing on a wealth of unpublished letters, archives and...

A beautiful new hardback anniversary edition of the multi-million copy sensationINCLUDES A NEW AFTERWORD FROM YUVAL NOAH HARARIWhat makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens?One of the world's preeminent historians and thinkers,...

The woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deepThe revolutionary writings of Audre Lorde gave voice to those 'outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women'. ...

'Intriguing' - Sunday Times'A rousing read' - Irish Times'A bright light of Francophone feminism' - New York TimesRenowned journalist Mona Chollet recasts the witch as a powerful role model: an emblem of strength, free to exist beyond the narrow limits...

The first history of all the English cathedrals, from Birmingham and Bury St Edmunds to Worcester and York Minster England's sixty-two Anglican and Catholic cathedrals are some of our most iconic buildings, attracting millions of worshippers and...

'Quite simply, this book is a work of genius' Matthew Parris, SpectatorThe second in a major two-part anthology uncovering the rich reality of life for queer men in London, from the end of the Second World War to decriminalization in 1967In the 1940s, it...

'Rich and wonderful . . . This is the world as you've never seen it before' Ian Mortimer'A joyful, erudite book . . . A global Middle Ages for our times' Jerry Brotton'Wisdom fills the pages of this immensely entertaining history' The New...

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION******SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE******SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE***A Book of the YearThe Times * Sunday Times * Telegraph * New...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2012Almost six hundred years ago, a short, genial man took a very old manuscript off a library shelf. With excitement, he saw what he had discovered and ordered it copied. The book was a miraculously surviving...

The classic investigation - inspiration for a major HBO series - revealing the true horror of Europe's racist colonial past in Africa. Over a quarter of a century ago historian Sven Lindqvist set out across Central Africa. Obsessed with a single line...

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Every time Churchill took to the airwaves it was as if he were injecting adrenaline-soaked courage directly into the British people ... Larson tells the story of how that feat was accomplished .....

In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most...

Unrivalled in scope and brimming with human drama, A People's Tragedy is the most vivid, moving and comprehensive history of the Russian Revolution available today.'A modern masterpiece' Andrew MarrOpening with a panorama of Russian society, from the...

Dominic Sandbrook's magnificent account of the late 1970s in Britain The late 1970s were Britain's years of strife and the good life. They saw inflation, riots, the peak of trade union power - and also the birth of home computers, the rise of the ready...

After 10 years of austerity, the 1950s saw rationing draw to an end. Gathered together in this colourful creation of over 1,000 products and images, The 1950s Scrapbook conjures up the life and times of the Coronation of Elizabeth II to the abundance of...

This achingly jawdropping book follows the evolution of dentistry throughout the world from the Bronze Age to the present day, presenting captivating and grim illustrations of the tools and techniques of dentistry through the ages. Organized...

'An incredible photographer and good friend' -RINGO STARR The definitive collection of the breathtaking Beatles photographs of Terry O'Neill.Iconic photographer Terry O'Neill worked with the Beatles across five decades, capturing the band at the...

Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. For him it is a living organism, with its own laws of growth and change, so London is a biography rather...

For anyone interested in the history of the Scottish people, in Scotland and North America, this book is essential reading. In Canada and the United States today there are tens of thousands of descendants of Highland Scots who left Lochaber around 1800...

An epic history of the 'other' Europe, a place of conflict and coexistence, of faith and folklore. 'Do not rush to bid farewell to eastern Europe until reading this book. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this very personal story of the...

'One of the greatest codebreakers of the twentieth century' Suzannah Lipscomb An astounding story of codebreaking, personal sacrifice and a life lived in the shadows. The history of British codebreaking is often considered a men-only preserve, ignoring...

The dramatic story of Scotland - by charismatic television historian, Neil Oliver.Scotland is one of the oldest countries in the world with a vivid and diverse past. Yet the stories and figures that dominate Scottish history - tales of failure,...

Rory Stewart explores his love for the UK in this account of history, memory and landscape as he traverses the the borderlands between England and Scotland.'This beautifully written book is a haunting reflection of identity and our relationships with the...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA beautiful book to connect us after such a challenging time.'Dark clouds were looming in the distance. We watched them gather, and we wondered... When will it come? How long will it last?' A monumental storm brings huge and...

A rich and vivid history of Britain's second city through the people who made it 'What Manchester thinks today, England thinks tomorrow.' Long before Manchester gave the world...

The West and Islam--the sword and the scimitar--have clashed since the mid-seventh century, when, according to Muslim tradition, the Byzantine emperor rejected Prophet Muhammad's order to abandon Christianity and convert to Islam, unleashing a...

'Irresistibly fascinating' MARIE CLAIRE GREECE 'Essential' VICTORIA HISLOP 'Brilliantly conceived' PAUL CARTLEDGE An enormous bestseller in Greece, this is a bold,...

Explore the wonderful world of some of the most incredible natural forms on our planet - fungi.At the centre of countless superstitions, folkloric tales and magical beliefs, as well as appearing in recipes and medicines both traditional and modern,...

Winner of the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-FictionShortlisted for the Wellcome Book PrizeA Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellerForeword by Oliver SacksWhat is autism: a devastating developmental condition, a lifelong disability, or a naturally...

Fully revised edition with updated information on the surviving members of the orca pod. In 2014, marine biologist Dr Natalie Sanders joined the crew of the research vessel Silurian to seek out Britain's West Coast Community of orca and study them...

An extraordinary tale of family feuds, forbidden love, civil unrest and the downfall of a mining dynasty Wentworth in Yorkshire was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men. It is the finest and largest Georgian house in Britain and...

From the bestselling historian and acclaimed broadcaster 'A rich social history ... Paxman's book could hardly be more colourful, and I enjoyed each page enormously' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES ...

Lukacs explores problems of consciousness and organization, drawing on Luxemburg and Lenin. "When the proletariat proclaims the dissolution of the existing social order," Marx declares, "it does no more than disclose the secret of its own existence, for...

Bletchley Park was where one of the war's most famous - and crucial - achievements was made: the cracking of Germany's "Enigma" code in which its most important military communications were couched. This country house in the Buckinghamshire countryside...