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The Speculations of Country People
By Majella Kelly. 2023
'Ruminative and enigmatic . . . powerful' Simon Armitage'Tenderly inquisitive . . . a powerful poetry of witness . .…
. full of discovery' Alycia Pirmohamed'Majella Kelly offers so much: ecstatic lyricism . . . emotional excavation and virtuosic skill' Kathryn Maris The astonishing poetry debut exploring hidden histories, mythical landscapes and self-discovery in the face of limits on women's bodily autonomyIn 2017, the presence of a mass grave was confirmed in a disused sewage system in Tuam, County Galway. In it were the bodies of infants - wards of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, where from 1925 to 1961 the children of unmarried women were sent to live their lives in the care of nuns. Their deaths were the result of a conservative culture which, under the influence of the Church, took a prurient interest in women's private lives and bodies.In The Speculations of Country People, her hauntingly lyrical debut collection, Majella Kelly reckons with that legacy. She traces the journeys of women in our own day, from controlling relationships to sexual reawakening and new happiness. The speculations of the title are in part those of gossip, the chatter of small communities everywhere; but they are also those of a local, very Irish mythos, in which pagan and Christian - and truth and legend - blend and blur.Here, then, are hares and selkies, a seductive 'master otter' of 'fabulous elegance' who might carry a woman away in the night; here is the last man on Omey Island; here a retired stuntman, dragging his bed of rusty nails along the beach. And here - quiet, against the beauty and loneliness of the Connemara landscape - are the little bones that wash up on shores or stick from the earth to speak of what has been.Speak for Britain!: A New History of the Labour Party
By Martin Pugh. 2010
Written at a critical juncture in the history of the Labour Party, Speak for Britain! is a thought-provoking and highly…
original interpretation of the party's evolution, from its trade union origins to its status as a national governing party. It charts Labour's rise to power by re-examining the impact of the First World War, the general strike of 1926, Labour's breakthrough at the 1945 general election, the influence of post-war affluence and consumerism on the fortunes and character of the party, and its revival after the defeats of the Thatcher era.Controversially, Pugh argues that Labour never entirely succeeded in becoming 'the party of the working class'; many of its influential recruits - from Oswald Mosley to Hugh Gaitskell to Tony Blair - were from middle and upper-class Conservative backgrounds and rather than converting the working class to socialism, Labour adapted itself to local and regional political cultures.The Spanish Armada: A Ladybird Expert Book (The Ladybird Expert Series #30)
By Sam Willis. 2018
Part of the ALL-NEW LADYBIRD EXPERT SERIES.____________Why did the Spanish launch their Armada on England?How did Francis Drake counter the…
Spanish threat?And why were so many ships lost at sea?In 1585 Spain was the most POWERFUL Empire in the known world.As tensions between PROTESTANT England and CATHOLIC Spain rose . . . SPAIN decided to INVADE ENGLAND. And launched the SPANISH ARMADA This raises the question: how did England manage to overthrow the Spanish invasion? Was it luck or judgement? Discover the answers and more inside Sam Willis's Ladybird Expert - The Spanish Armada, the thrilling and accessible account that explains what happened, who the key figures were and the tactics, triumphs and failures on both sides . . .Small Island: 12 Maps That Explain The History of Britain (New History of Britain #1)
By Philip Parker. 2022
Discover the 12 crucial moments in Britain's past that will answer the greatest questions for our future in this richly…
insightful and fascinating history'A richly entertaining canter through the country's past. Engrossing' INDEPENDENT___________What is Britain?Where lie its boundaries?Why are they always changing?Are we a small island or a big idea?What will we look like next?In Small Island: 12 Maps that Explain the History of Britain, Philip Parker answers these and other crucial questions about this country and its peoples.By pondering our intertwined geography and history, he shows how the past has made Britain and how we might yet shape its future.Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer: One Pilot’s Extraordinary Account of the Battle of France
By Alastair Panton. 2014
'DESERVES TO JOIN REACH FOR THE SKY AND THE LAST ENEMY AS ONE OF THE GREAT RAF BOOKS OF THE…
SECOND WORLD WAR' - ANDREW ROBERTSAs I write, I can clearly recall the stinging heat of aburning Blenheim, smells, tastes, expressions, sounds of voices and, most ofall, fear gripping deep in me.Flying Officer Alastair Panton was just twenty-three when his squadron deployed across the Channel in the defence of France. They were desparate days.Pushed back to the beaches as the German blitzkrieg rolled through the Low Countries and into France, by June 4th 1940 the evacuation ofthe Allies from Dunkirk was complete. A little over two weeks later France surrendered.Flying vital, dangerous, low-level missions throughout the campaign in support of the troops on the ground, Panton's beloved but unarmed Bristol Blenheim was easy meat for the marauding Messerschmitts. At the height of fighting he was losing two of his small squadron's crews to the enemy every day.Discovered in a box by his grandchildren after his death in 2002, Alastair Panton's Six Weeks of Blenheim Summeris a lostclassic. One of the most moving, vivid and powerful accounts of war inthe air ever written. And an unforgettable testament to the courage, stoicism, camaraderie and humanity of Britain's greatest generation.'THE BEST ACCOUNT OF THE CHAOS AND CONFUSION OF WAR OUTSIDE THE PAGES OF EVELYN WAUGH' BORIS JOHNSON'ONE CAN'T HELP FEELING AWE AND REVERENCE. THERE ARE ENOUGHEDVENTURES HERE FOR A LIFETIME'LOUIS DE BERNIERES'SIMPLY WONDERFUL. ONE OF THE BEST ACCOUNTS OF WWii I HAVE EVER READ'JOHN NICHOLSir Francis Drake
By Dr John Sugden. 2006
How well do you know the life of one of Britain’s great maritime heroes? Discover the truth behind a man…
who remains a legendary figure of history more than four hundred years after his death.Sir Francis Drake’s career is one of the most colourful on record. The most daring of the corsairs who raided the West Indies and Spanish Main, he led the English into the Pacific, and cirumnavigated the world to bring home the Golden Hind laden with Spanish treasure. His attacks on Spanish cities and ships transformed his private war into a struggle for surivival between Protestant England and Catholic Spain, in which he became Elizabeth I's most prominent admiral and marked the emergence of England as major maritime nation.‘Excellent...It deserves to become the standard Drake life. His scholarship is impeccable’ Frank McLynn, Sunday TelegraphSink the Belgrano
By Mike Rossiter. 2007
On the evening of 30 March, 1982, Commander David Hall, chief engineer of the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror received…
a telephone call giving him the order to 'store for war'. At first he didn't believe it. In the early hours of 2 April, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Isles.The sinking of the Belgrano was one of the most dramatic moments of the Falklands conflict. For many it signalled Britain's entry into the war and it has been seen as a politically motivated decision deliberately designed to take the country irrevocably into the fight. Now Mike Rossiter - with unprecedented access to sailors from the Belgrano and HMS Conqueror - gives us a dramatic and definitive retelling of the events that led up to the sinking.With all the pace and tension of a thriller, Sink the Belgrano takes us inside the battle for the South Atlantic and shows us the human drama behind the famous, and controversial, Sun headline 'Gotcha!' We track the collision course between the British submarine Conqueror and the Argentine warship - as the two sides and everyone aboard head towards the climactic moment just outside the exclusion zone set up by the British around the Falkland Isles. We witness the behind-the-scenes arguments , discussions and powerbroking that led to the decision to fire the three torpedoes. And, for the first time, we hear from the sailors on both sides - the personal testimony of the hunt for and attack on the Belgrano, and from the Argentine side the experience of being under attack and the sinking that left 340 members of her crew dead.A Short Residence in Sweden & Memoirs of the Author of 'The Rights of Woman'
By Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin. 2012
In these two closely linked works - a travel book and a biography of its author - we witness a…
moving encounter between two of the most daring and original minds of the late eighteenth century: A Short Residence in Sweden is the record of Wollstonecraft's last journey in search of happiness, into the remote and beautiful backwoods of Scandinavia. The quest for a lost treasure ship, the pain of a wrecked love affair, memories of the French Revolution, and the longing for some Golden Age, all shape this vivid narrative, which Richard Holmes argues is one of the neglected masterpieces of early English Romanticism.Memoirs is Godwin's own account of Wollstonecraft's life, written with passionate intensity a few weeks after her tragic death. Casting aside literary convention, Godwin creates an intimate portrait of his wife, startling in its candour and psychological truth. Received with outrage by friends and critics alike, and virtually suppressed for a century, it can now be recognized as one of the landmarks in the development of modern biography.A Short History of Brexit: From Brentry to Backstop (Pelican Books)
By Kevin O'Rourke. 2018
A succinct, expert guide to how we got to BrexitAfter all the debates, manoeuvrings, recriminations and exaltations, Brexit is upon…
us. But, as Kevin O'Rourke writes, Brexit did not emerge out of nowhere: it is the culmination of events that have been under way for decades and have historical roots stretching back well beyond that. Brexit has a history.O'Rourke, one of the leading economic historians of his generation, explains not only how British attitudes to Europe have evolved, but also how the EU's history explains why it operates as it does today - and how that history has shaped the ways in which it has responded to Brexit. Why are the economics, the politics and the history so tightly woven together? Crucially, he also explains why the question of the Irish border is not just one of customs and trade, but for the EU goes to the heart of what it is about. The way in which British, Irish and European histories continue to interact with each other will shape the future of Brexit - and of the continent.Calm and lucid, A Short History of Brexit rises above the usual fray of discussions to provide fresh perspectives and understanding of the most momentous political and economic change in Britain and the EU for decades.A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
By Bartolome Las Casas. 1992
Bartolomé de Las Casas was the first and fiercest critic of Spanish colonialism in the New World. An early traveller…
to the Americas who sailed on one of Columbus's voyages, Las Casas was so horrified by the wholesale massacre he witnessed that he dedicated his life to protecting the Indian community. He wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542, a shocking catalogue of mass slaughter, torture and slavery, which showed that the evangelizing vision of Columbus had descended under later conquistadors into genocide. Dedicated to Philip II to alert the Castilian Crown to these atrocities and demand that the Indians be entitled to the basic rights of humankind, this passionate work of documentary vividness outraged Europe and contributed to the idea of the Spanish 'Black Legend' that would last for centuries.Shadows: Inside Northern Ireland's Special Branch
By Alan Barker. 2004
In the early hours of 30 April 2003, twelve armed and uniformed officers accompanied by four plain-clothes detectives burst into…
Alan Barker's house. They stayed for hours, turning over rooms, seizing documents, impounding computers, files and anything else that interested them. The family were treated as terrorist suspects, the operation resembling so many others in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. But Alan Barker was and is no terrorist. In fact, he has spent his adult life fighting terrorism on the streets of his native province. Barker belonged to the Special Branch, the RUC's elite unit dedicated to fighting the IRA, the INLA and loyalist terrorists. He gives a gripping insider's account of life on the frontline and demonstrates how the RUC used sophisticated listening devices and informants, including the notorious supergrass Raymond Gilmour, in their fight to gain the upper hand. After nearly 30 years of loyal service, Barker retired angry and disillusioned about what he views as the government's capitulation to the terrorists. This is the book that Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office don't want you to read. It is a story of courage under fire, guile, Le Carré-esque plots and treachery.The Dissolution of the Monasteries: A New History
By James Clark. 2021
The first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty years—exploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor…
England "This is a book about people, though, not ideas, and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands, it is an exceptional piece of historical writing."—Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement Shortly before Easter, 1540 saw the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in England. Until then religious houses had acted as a focus for education, literary, and artistic expression and even the creation of regional and national identity. Their closure, carried out in just four years between 1536 and 1540, caused a dislocation of people and a disruption of life not seen in England since the Norman Conquest. Drawing on the records of national and regional archives as well as archaeological remains, James Clark explores the little-known lives of the last men and women who lived in England’s monasteries before the Reformation. Clark challenges received wisdom, showing that buildings were not immediately demolished and Henry VIII’s subjects were so attached to the religious houses that they kept fixtures and fittings as souvenirs. This rich, vivid history brings back into focus the prominent place of abbeys, priories, and friaries in the lives of the English people.Selected Letters
By Madame Sevigne. 1982
One of the world's greatest correspondents, Madame de Sévigné (1626-96) paints an extraordinarily vivid picture of France at the time…
of Louis XIV, in eloquent letters written throughout her life to family and friends. A significant figure in French society and literary circles, whose close friends included Madame de La Fayette and La Rochefoucauld, she reflected on both significant historical events and personal issues, and in this selection of the most significant letters, spanning almost fifty years, she is by turns humorous and melancholic, profound and superficial. Whether describing the new plays of Racine and Molière, speculating on court scandals - including the intrigues of the King's mistresses - or relating her own family concerns, Madame de Sévigné provides throughout an intriguing portrait of the lost age of Le Roi Soleil.The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora
By Billy Kay. 2006
'Thaim wi a guid Scots tongue in their heid are fit tae gang ower the warld'In The Scottish World, renowned…
broadcaster Billy Kay takes us on a global journey of discovery, highlighting the extraordinary influence the Scots have had on communities and cultures on almost every continent. While others have questioned the self-confidence of the Scots, Kay has travelled the world from Bangkok to Brazil, Warsaw to Waikiki and found ringing endorsements for the integrity and intellect, the poetry and passion of the Scottish people in every country he has visited. He expands people's view of Scotland by relating remarkable stories of the wealthy Scottish merchant community in Gdansk; of national geniuses of Scots descent, such as Lermontov in Russia and Grieg in Norway; of an American Civil War blamed on Sir Walter Scott and initiated in the St Andrew's Society of Charleston; of inspirational missionaries in Calabar and Budapest; of Scotch professors establishing football in soccer strongholds such as Barcelona and São Paulo; of pioneers like Sandeman and Cockburn, and the Scottish roots of many of the great wines of Europe; and of their amazing involvement in liberation movements in Malawi, Chile, Peru, Greece, Corsica and India. The Scottish World is a celebration of the enormous contribution the Scots have made to the modern world.“The first 150 years of one of the British Army's most renowned regiments Archibald Forbes was a notable author, journalist…
and special correspondent during the British colonial wars of the Victorian era, so he was well positioned by personal experience to pen this history of a famous Scottish Highland regiment. 'The Black Watch, ' 'The Forty-Twa, ' the '42nd Regiment of Foot, ' 'The Royal Highlanders'—First to come, Last to go. The titles of this legendary regiment are many and its fame well and hard earned on many a bloodily contested ground from its birth to the present day. Forbes wrote his own history from the perspective of his own time-—a decade before the close of the nineteenth century. We join the regiment in these pages during the Seven Years War in Europe and in its theatre of the New World—popularly known as the French and Indian War—where the regiment would pay dearly before Ticonderoga. The Black Watch had not done with Indians as it fought to secure the backwoods frontier, notably at Bloody Run and Bushy Run. The American War of Independence was followed by the war against Napoleonic France which would see the regiment in service in Egypt, in battles across the Peninsula, at Corunna with Moore and, as the epoch came to an end with the Emperor's fall, with great loss at Quatre Bras and Waterloo with Wellington. More hard soldiering came in the Crimea and this valiant force was the hand of retribution in the Indian Mutiny. The book closes with encounters with the Ashanti and the expedition to relieve Gordon in Khartoum.”-Print ed.Sapper Dorothy: 51st Division, 79th Tunnelling Co. During the First World War
By Dorothy Lawrence. 2024
The adventures of an intrepid young woman on the Western FrontIt would not be quite accurate to portray Dorothy Lawrence…
as a bona fide soldier of the British Army. Dorothy was in fact a young woman with great aspirations to embark upon a career in journalism and she knew it would be a coup to give a female perspective of the activities of men on the front line-as it were-from within their own ranks. So she devised a scheme to bring her objectives about and its success was marked by a 10 day stint in the line at Albert in 1915 with the Royal Engineers during the opening stages of the battle of Loos. Dorothy certainly saw action—the trench she occupied lay less than 400 yards from the German front line. She was eventually discovered and the entire story of how she pulled off her subterfuge, her time in the trenches and what befell her thereafter is told in this delightful account.-Print ed.“The first volume of a two volume anniversary history of the early Royal Marines.The Royal Marines can trace their origins…
back to the formation of 'The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot' in 1664…The Royal Marines as we know them today were formed in 1755 and since that time they have distinguished themselves in many conflicts fought by the British to the present day. Numerous books have been written about the exploits of the Royal Marines, particularly in the 20th century, but this special two volume edition concentrates on the earliest period of their history. The presence of red-coated marines was inseparable from the blue uniform of their naval comrades during the great age of sail and this book covers that period in detail including the American War of Independence. The great contest of the early 19th century was against Revolutionary, Consulate and Napoleon Bonaparte's First Empire of the French. The Royal Marines fought in every major naval engagement of that long war, all of which are detailed in these pages together with many minor engagements, the War of 1812 and the imperial campaigns including the Chinese Opium Wars.”-Print ed.Gordon: the Career of Gordon of Khartoum
By Demetrius Charles Boulger. 2024
“A great British soldierThis is the biography of one of the most famous soldiers of the Victorian age—Major-General Charles Gordon.…
Certainly he is now known as Gordon of Khartoum, but highly regarded in his own lifetime, he was to many also Chinese Gordon and Gordon Pasha. Commissioned as a Royal Engineer, Gordon first saw action during the Crimean War taking part in the siege of Sebastopol, the assault on the Redan and the expedition to Kinburn. In 1860 the Second Opium War broke out in China and it was here and during the Taiping Rebellion that Gordon earned his reputation and the recognition that set him towards high military rank. But it was Africa where he achieved his greatest fame. Gordon was engaged in much vital and interesting service before he found himself behind the walls of Khartoum in an unequal struggle against the religious fervour of the Mahdist forces. This is a thorough account of the man and his times which will be of great interest to those who wish to learn more about Gordon than just his martyrdom in the Sudan.”-Print ed.Under The Red Crescent – Plevna 1877
By Charles C Ryan, John Sandes. 2024
In "Under The Red Crescent, Plevna 1877," readers are transported to the heart of one of the most pivotal moments…
in European history. Set against the backdrop of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, this gripping narrative chronicles the epic struggle for the Bulgarian town of Plevna.As the Russian Empire seeks to expand its influence in the Balkans and challenge Ottoman dominance, the small garrison town of Plevna becomes the focal point of a fierce and relentless battle. Led by the indomitable Ottoman commander, Osman Pasha, the defenders of Plevna are faced with overwhelming odds as they confront the might of the Russian army.Against the backdrop of political intrigue, military strategy, and personal drama, the fate of Plevna hangs in the balance. Will Osman Pasha and his valiant defenders withstand the onslaught of the Russian forces, or will the town fall, signaling a turning point in the course of history?"Under The Red Crescent, Plevna 1877" is not just a tale of warfare, but a testament to the human spirit in the face of adversity. It is a story of courage, honor, and the enduring struggle for freedom and independence. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in military history, the Balkans, or the complex dynamics of 19th-century Europe.“The birth of 'New War' in ItalyIt is easy to consider the Renaissance as a time of enlightenment typified principally…
by the artistic and scientific genius of Leonardo da Vinci and his peers; but giant leaps forward are never confined to one aspect of society and the application of new ideas is always adapted to various purposes and the meeting of differing objectives. The creation of modern political science by Niccolo Machiavelli is a prime example of how new ways of thinking and doing impacted on the advancement and securing of power. These changes were inevitably accompanied by significant developments in making war more effectively, strategically and tactically-with corresponding advances in weaponry and other equipage. This excellent book considers these developments through the changes to traditional military strategy and the use of infantry, cavalry and artillery, in both open battle and fortification and siege-craft, at the turn of the sixteenth century.”-Print ed.