British & Irish history

  • The facemaker

    £10.99

    From the moment the first machine gun rang out over the Western Front, one thing was clear: mankind’s military technology had wildly surpassed its medical capabilities. The war caused carnage on an industrial scale, and the nature of trench warfare meant that thousands sustained facial injuries. In ‘The Facemaker’, award-winning historian Lindsey Fitzharris tells the true story of the pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies, who dedicated himself to restoring the faces of a brutalized generation.

  • The invention of Essex

    £16.99

    Essex. A county both famous and infamous: the stuff of tabloid headlines and reality television, consumer culture and right-wing politicians. England’s dark id. But beyond the sensationalist headlines lies a strange and secret place with a rich history: of smugglers and private islands, artists and radicals, myths and legends. It’s where the Peasants’ Revolt began and the Empire Windrush docked. And – from political movements like Brexit to cultural events like TOWIE – where Essex leads, the rest of us often follow. Deeply researched and thoroughly engaging, this book shows that there is more to this fabled English county than meets the eye.

  • Great hatred

    £10.99

    A gripping investigation into one of Irish history’s greatest mysteries, ‘Great Hatred’ reveals the true story behind one of the most significant political assassinations to ever have been committed on British soil.

  • Courses for horses

    £22.00

    Rather like the regions intoned on BBC Radio’s ‘Shipping Forecast,’ the names of Britain’s sixty or so racecourses are regularly broadcast on TV and Radio sports programmes. But what are the racecourses actually like? Britain, where the thoroughbred evolved and where the sport of horseracing developed, has the most varied racing in the world and 60 racecourses in Britain have distinctive, intriguing and often eccentric atmospheres. Some are in parkland (Kempton, Sandown), and some follow the contours of rolling downs (Epsom, Goodwood). Some adjoin housing (Aintree, Ayr), some are bang next to busy roads (Doncaster, Wetherby), and some offer the racegoer uninterrupted views of gorgeous scenery (Cheltenham, Goodwood again).

  • A thief’s justice

    £16.99

    London, 1716. Revenge is a dish best served ice-cold. The city is caught in the vice-like grip of a savage winter. Even the Thames has frozen over. But for Jonas Flynt – thief, gambler, killer – the chilling elements are the least of his worries. Justice Geoffrey Dumont has been found dead at the base of St Paul’s cathedral, and a young male sex-worker, Sam Yates, has been taken into custody for the murder. Yates denies all charges, claiming he had received a message to meet the judge at the exact time of death. The young man is a friend of courtesan Belle St Clair, and she asks Flynt to investigate. As Sam endures the horrors of Newgate prison, they must do everything in their power to uncover the truth and save an innocent life, before the bodies begin to pile up. But time is running out. And the gallows are beckoning.

  • The Red Arrows

    £10.99

    It’s now over 50 years since the Red Arrows first took to the skies, transfixing the British public with their astonishing displays of daredevil precision and aerial aerobatics. Manned by some of the best pilots in the world, their jaw-dropping displays are world-famous, and their incredible aerial feats have cemented their status as national treasures. The Red Arrows represent the very best speed, agility and precision of the Royal Air Force, and the pilots behind the planes are rigorously selected for their nerves of steel, lightning reflexes, and millisecond-perfect timing. Each one has years of distinguished service in the Royal Air Force under their belts, and plenty of stores to tell.

  • The seaside

    £20.00

    A vivid journey around England’s great seaside resorts, exploring their history and current struggle, and what they reveal about England, from the award-winning author of ‘Love of Country’.

  • George V

    £14.99

    The lasting reputation of George V is for dullness. He was a crack shot, and an outstanding stamp collector, but that’s about it. The flamboyance and hedonism of his father, Edward VII, defined an era whose influence and magnetism is still felt today. The contrast between the two could hardly be greater. But is that really all there was to King George, a monarch who faced a series of crises thought to be the most testing faced by any twentieth-century British sovereign? As Tommy Lascelles, one of George’s most senior advisors, put it: ‘He was dull, beyond dispute – but my God, his reign never had a dull moment’. Jane Ridley is one of the finest royal biographers, celebrated for her research, highly entertaining style, and piercing insights. How this supposedly limited man managed to steer the crown through so many perils and adapt a Victorian institution to the modern world is a great story in itself.

  • Tory nation

    £16.99

    The story of the most successful political party in the world, and a nation made in its image.
     

  • The battle for North Africa

    £12.99

    In showing how the nature and conduct of battles developed during this three-year desert campaign, John Strawson brings together the strategic considerations, the changing tactics and the impressions of those who did the actual fighting. The soldiers of many nations give their impressions.

  • Imagining England’s past

    £25.00

    ‘Imagining England’s Past’ takes a long look at the country’s invented histories, from the glamorous to the disturbing, from the eighth century to the present day. England has long built its sense of self on visions of its past. What does it mean for medieval writers to summon King Arthur from the post-Roman fog; for William Morris to resurrect the skills of the medieval workshop and Julia Margaret Cameron to portray the Arthurian court with her Victorian camera; or for Yinka Shonibare in the final years of the twentieth century to visualise a Black Victorian dandy? By exploring the imaginations of successive generations, this book reveals how diverse notions of the past have inspired literature, art, music, architecture and fashion. It shines a light on subjects from myths to mock-Tudor houses, Stonehenge to steampunk, and asks how – and why – the past continues so powerfully to shape the present.

  • One fine day

    £20.00

    This is the story of Ian Marchant’s great (x7) grandfather, Thomas Marchant who left a detailed diary from 1714 to 1728. Life-loving Thomas – who liked a drink and game of cards – feels recognisably Marchant to Ian. Thomas wrote about his family farm and fishponds; about dung, horses and mud, and about the making and drinking of cider. But, as Ian discovers, he was also a Fifteener, a Jacobite sympathiser determined to bring down the monarchy. Ian Marchant tells the story of uncovering a new relative and digs deep into the daily life and political concerns of the 1720s.