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By The Waters Of Liverpool By
Helen Forrester

At seventeen, Helen's
parents are as
irresponsible as ever,
wasting money while their
children still lack
adequate food and
clothing. But for Helen,
having won a small
measure of independence,
things are looking up.
Having educated herself
at night school and now
making friends in her
first proper job, she
meets a handsome seaman
and falls in love for the
first time. But the storm
clouds of war are
gathering and Helen
experiences at first hand
the horror of the blitz
and the terrible toll
that the war exacted on
ordinary people.

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Never Surrender, Lost Voices
Of A Generation At War By
Robert Kershaw, Historic Book

In Never Surrender Robert
Kershaw captures the
authentic voices of the
ordinary heroes of the
Second World War, from
the soldiers fighting
abroad to those battling
on the home front, and
creates an extraordinary
portrait of a generation
fighting for survival.
Beginning with first-hand
accounts of the reaction
to Chamberlain

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Civil War, The War Of The
Three Kingdoms 1638-1660 By
Trevor Royle, Historic Book

One late summer's day in
1642 two rival armies
faced each other across
the rolling Warwickshire
countryside at Edgehill.
There, Royalists
faithful to King Charles
I engaged in a battle
with the supporters of
the Parliament. Ahead lay
even more desperate
battles like Marston Moor
and Naseby. The fighting
was also to rage through
Scotland and Ireland,
notably at the siege of
Drogheda and the decisive
battle of Dunbar. Few
periods in English
history are more
significant than that to
which acclaimed author
Trevor Royle turns his
attention in CIVIL WAR.
From his shrewd analyses
of the characters who
played their parts in the
wars to his brilliantly
concise descriptions of
battles, Trevor Royle
has produced a vivid and
dramatic narrative of
those turbulent years.
His book also reveals how
the new ideas and
dispensations that
followed from the wars -
Cromwell's Protectorate,
the Restoration of
Charles II and the
'Glorious Revolution' of
1689 - made it possible
for England, Ireland and
Scotland to progress
towards their own more
distant future as
democratic societies.
This book has 888 pages
and is 12.6 x 4.7 x 19.6
cm

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Nazi Germany And The Jews, The
Years Of Persecution
1933-1939, Nazi Germany And
The Jews 1933-1939, Years Of
Persecution, 1933-39 Vol 1 By
Saul Friedlander, Historic
Book

Himself a survivor,
Friedlander has been a
leading figure in
'Holocaust Studies' for
decades and this book
represents a magesterial
summing up of his
research and that of
hundreds of other
historians. It should
remain a standard work
for students and others
for many years NAZI
GERMANY AND THE JEWS is
perhaps the richest
examination of the
subject yet written,
and, crucially, one
that never loses sight of
the experiences of
individuals in its
discussion of Nazi
politics and the terrible
statistics and
technological and
administrative
sophistication of the
Final Soloution. This
book has 436 pages and is
13.5 x 3.2 x 21.6 cm

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Defend The Realm: The
Authorized History Of MI5 By
Christopher Andrew, Historic
Book

An unprecedented
publishing event: to mark
the centenary of its
foundation, the British
Security Service, MI5,
has for the first time
opened its archives to an
independent historian.
The book reveals the
precise role of the
Security Service in
twentieth-century British
history, from its
foundation by Captain
Kell of the British Army
in October 1909, through
two world wars, up to
and including its present
roles in counterespionage
and counterterrorism. The
book describes how MI5
has been managed, what
its relationship has been
with government, where
it has triumphed, and
where it has failed. In
all of this no
restriction has been
placed on the judgments
made by the author.
Defend the Realm also
adds significantly to our
knowledge of many
celebrated events and
notorious individuals and
definitively lays to rest
a number of persistent
myths. Above all, it
shows the place of this
previously extremely
secretive organization
within the United
Kingdom. Few books could
make such an immediate
and extraordinary
increase to our
understanding of British
history over the past
century. This book has
1032 pages and is 16.8 x
5.4 x 24.4 cms

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Hons And Rebels: Hons & Rebels
By Jessica Mitford, Historic
Book

Whenever I read the words
Peer's Daughter in a
headline, ' Lady
Redesdale once sadly
remarked, 'I know it's
going to be something
about one of you
children.' The Mitford
family is one of the
century's most enigmatic,
made notorious by
Nancy's novels, Diana's
marriage to Sir Oswald
Mosley, Unity's
infatuation with Hitler,
Debo's marriage to a duke
and Jessica's passionate
commitment to communism.
Hons and Rebels is an
enchanting and deeply
absorbing memoir of an
isolated and eccentric
upbringing which conceals
beneath its witty,
light-hearted surface
much wisdom and depth of
feeling. This book has
259 pages and is 19.7 x
12.7 x 1.9 cms

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Nella Last's War Edited By
Richard Broad And Suzie
Fleming, Biography

In September 1939, Nella
Last, a housewife and
mother, started a diary
that would last her 30
years. The account she
left behind gave an
fascinating and unique
insight into life during
the Second World War.
While Nella's younger son
joins the army, she and
the rest of her family
try to adapt to the
rhythms of life in
Barrow-in-Furness, which
suffered terribly from
bombing raids. Writing
each day for the
'mass-observation'
project, Nella grows in
confidence as the result
of her work. and her
diary entries tell a
powerful story about the
war years, covering
everything from sex to
the genuine fear of
invasion. The dairy
covers the period in
which she turned 50, saw
her children leave home
and reviewed her life and
marriage - which she
eventually compared to
slavery. This is the war
as Nelly Last lived it.
This book has 311 pages
and is 19.8cm x 12.9cm x
2cm.

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Shackleton By Roland Huntford,
Historic Biography

Ernest Shackleton was the
quintessential Edwardian
hero. A contemporary -
and adversary - of Scott,
he sailed on the
'Discovery' expedition of
1900, and went on to
mount three expeditions
of his own. Like Scott,
he was a social
adventurer; snow and ice
held no particular
attraction, but the
pursuit of wealth, fame
and power did. Yet
Shackleton, and
Anglo-Irishman who left
school at 16, needed
status to raise money for
his own expeditions. At
various times he was
involved in journalism,
politics, manufacturing
and City fortune-hunting
- none of them very
effectively. A frustrated
poet, he was never to be
successful with money,
but he did succeed in
marrying it. At his
height he was feted as a
national hero, knighted
by Edward VII, and
granted

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On Secret Service East Of
Constantinople: The Plot To
Bring Down The British Empire
By Peter Hopkirk, Historic
Book

Under the banner of a
Holy War, masterminded
in Berlin and unleashed
from Constantinople, the
Germans and the Turks set
out in 1914 to foment
violent revolutionary
uprisings against the
British in India and the
Russians in Central Asia.
It was a new and more
sinister version of the
old Great Game, with
world domination as its
ultimate aim. Here, told
in epic detail and for
the first time, is the
true story behind John
Buchan's classic wartime
thriller Greenmantle,
recounted through the
adventures and
misadventures of the
secret agents and others
who took part in it. It
is an ominously topical
tale today in view of the
continuing turmoil in
this volatile region
where the Great Game has
never really ceased. This
book has 431 pages and is
15.9 x 2.7 x 24.1 cm

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Nella Last's Peace Edited By
Richard Broad And Suzie
Fleming

Nella Last's War
established the housewife
and mother from
Barrow-in-Furness as one
of the most powerful and
moving voices of the
Second World War, and
inspired the
award-winning television
drama Housewife, 49. In
this next instalment of
her unique diaries,
Nella Last describes how
ordinary people re-built
their lives after the
war. The allies' victory
was a cause for hope and
celebration, much
privation and anxiety
remained. In her
sensitive and playful
account of daily life in
the austerity years,
written for the Mass
Observation project,
Nella Last captures the
thoughts and feelings of
post-war Britain. This
book has 306 pages and is
19.8cm x 12.9cm x 2cm.

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Nella Last In The 1950s Edited
By Richard Broad And Suzie
Fleming

60 years on, after Nella
Last started her diary on
2nd September 1949, tens
of thousands of people
have read and enjoyed the
first 2 instalments of
her wonderfully detailed
and moving diaries,
written during and after
the Second World War.
This 3rd compelling
volume sees Nella, now
in her 60s, writing of
what ordinary people felt
during the early 1950s in
a modernising Britain. It
is an account that's full
of surprises, as we
learn more about her
attitude towards changes
in society, her fears of
nuclear war, and her
relationship with 'my
husband' - she rarely
used his name. Her
childhood dream of
becoming a published
writer, which was not
fulfilled in her
lifetime, has now been
realised. This book has
296 pages and is 19.8cm x
12.9cm x 2cm.

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The Adventures Of Arthur Conan
Doyle By Russell Miller

As the creator of
Sherlock Holmes, 'the
world's most famous man
who never was', Arthur
Conan Doyle remains one
of our favourite writers;
his work is read with
affection - and sometimes
obsession - the world
over. Writer, doctor,
cricketer, public figure
and family man, his life
was no less fascinating
than his fiction. During
his lifetime Conan Doyle
wrote more than 1, 500
letters to members of his
family, most notably his
mother, revealing his
innermost thoughts,
fears and hopes: Russell
Miller is the first
biographer to have been
granted unlimited access
to Conan Doyle's private
correspondence. He also
makes use of the writer's
personal papers, unseen
for many years, and is
the first book to draw
fully on the Richard
Lancelyn Green archive,
the world's most
comprehensive collection
of Conan Doyle material.
Told with panache, this
book is an unprecedently
full portrait of an
enduringly popular
figure.

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Wild Romance By Chloe Schama
Book

In 1852, on a steamer
from France to England,
nineteen-year-old Theresa
Longworth met William
Charles Yelverton, a
soldier destined to
become the Viscount of
Avonmore. The flirtation
that began on board soon
blossomed into a
clandestine, epistolary
affair, and five years
after their first meeting
they married secretly in
Edinburgh. Then, that
same summer, at
Theresa's urging, they
married again in Dublin -
or did they? Separated by
circumstance soon after
they were wed, Theresa
and Charles would never
live together as man and
wife. And when Yelverton
then married another
woman, an abandoned
Theresa found herself
forced to prove the
validity of her marriage.
Multiple trials ensued -
in Ireland, England and
Scotland - and for months
their scandal captivated
society: every detail of
the proceedings was
reported in the press,
songwriters dedicated
ballads to Theresa, and
novelists, Wilkie
Collins among them,
borrowed the courtroom
melodrama for their
plots. Over the course of
a very public ordeal,
Theresa lost all hope of
the private married life
she so prized. Thrust
into the spotlight, she
travelled the globe and
made a name for herself
as a writer, blazing a
trail for independent
women and their rights -
and the changes in
attitude the twentieth
century would later
bring. In this brilliant
debut, Chloe Schama
unearths both a forgotten
tabloid spectacle full of
steamy intrigue and the
chronicle of how one
woman made a life for
herself as an unmarried
woman in a society that
made no allowance for
her. Wild Romance is the
inspiring tale of a woman
who never gave up, and
who held on to her ideals
of independence,
self-reliance and -
despite everything -
love. The size of this
book is 22.2cm in height
and 14.1cm wide with 249
pages

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Pol Pot, The History Of A
Nightmare By Philip Short,
Historic Book

Pol Pot was an
idealistic, reclusive
figure with great
charisma and personal
charm. He initiated a
revolution whose radical
egalitarianism exceeded
any other in history. But
in the process, Cambodia
descended into madness
and his name became a
byword for oppression. In
the three-and-a-half
years of his rule, more
than a million people, a
fifth of Cambodia's
population, were
executed or died from
hunger and disease. A
supposedly gentle,
carefree land of
slumbering temples and
smiling peasants became a
concentration camp of the
mind, a slave state in
which absolute obedience
was enforced on the
'killing fields'. Why did
it happen? How did an
idealistic dream of
justice and prosperity
mutate into one of
humanity's worst
nightmares? Philip Short,
the biographer of Mao,
has spent four years
travelling the length of
Cambodia, interviewing
surviving leaders of Pol
Pot's Khmer Rouge
movement and sifting
through previously closed
archives. Here, the
former Khmer Rouge Head
of State, Pol's
brother-in-law and scores
of lesser figures speak
for the first time at
length about their
beliefs and motives. This
book has 560 pages and is
13 x 3.7 x 19.9 cm

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Victorian London, The Life Of
A City 1840-1870 By Liza
Picard, Historic Book

Like her previous books,
this book is the product
of the author's
passionate interest in
the realities of everyday
life - and the conditions
in which most people
lived - so often left out
of history books. This
period of mid Victorian
London covers a huge
span: Victoria's wedding
and the place of the
royals in popular esteem;
how the very poor lived,
the underworld,
prostitution, crime,
prisons and
transportation; the
public utilities -
Bazalgette on sewers and
road design, Chadwick on
pollution and sanitation;
private charities -
Peabody, Burdett Coutts
- and workhouses; new
terraced housing and
transport, trains,
omnibuses and the
Underground; furniture
and decor; families and
the position of women;
the prosperous middle
classes and their new
shops, e.g. Peter Jones,
Harrods; entertaining
and servants, food and
drink; unlimited
liability and bankruptcy;
the rich, the marriage
market, taxes and
anti-semitism; the
Empire, recruitment and
press-gangs. The period
begins with the closing
of the Fleet and
Marshalsea prisons and
ends with the first
(steam-operated)
Underground trains and
the first Gilbert &
Sullivan. This book has
444 pages and is 12.9 x
3.1 x 19.8 cm

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Bosworth 1485, The Psychology
Of A Battle By Michael K.
Jones, Historic Book

It's 1485. The battle of
Bosworth marked an epoch
in the lives of two great
houses: the house of York
fell to the ground when
Richard III died on the
field of battle; and the
house of Tudor rose from
the massacre to reign for
the next hundred years.
Michael Jones rewrites
this landmark event in
English history with
startling evidence to
suggest that the site of
the battle recognized for
over 500 years is wrong.
He not only shifts the
location of the battle,
but shifts our
perspective of its heroes
and villains and its
place in history. This
book has 255 pages and is
19.6 x 13 x 2.3 cm

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The Great British Bobby, A
History Of British Policing
From 1829 To The Present By
Clive Emsley, Historic Book

The Victorians called him
'Bobby' after Sir Robert
Peel, the Home Secretary
who created the
Metropolitan Police in
1829. The generations
that followed came to
regard the force in which
he served as 'the best
police in the world'. If
twenty-first century
observers sometimes take
a more jaundiced view of
his efforts, the
blue-helmeted, unarmed
policeman remains an icon
of Britishness, and a
symbol of the relatively
peaceful nature of our
social evolution. In The
Great British Bobby,
Clive Emsley traces the
development of Britain's
forces of law and order
from the earliest
watchmen and constables
of the pre-modern period
to the police service of
today. He examines in
detail such milestones in
police history as the
establishment of the Bow
Street Runners in the
1740s, the Police Acts
of 1839, the
introduction of women
police officers during
the First World War, and
the Macpherson Report of
1999 into the death of
Stephen Lawrence.
Threaded through his
narrative are
case-studies of real-life
Bobbies, drawn from
police archives, evoking
the day-to-day reality of
the policeman's lot over
two and a half centuries:
the boredom of patrolling
on foot in all weathers,
the threats to life and
limb of policing rough
areas, and the diverse
historical challenges of
industrial unrest, the
growth of cities, the
arrival of the motor car
and the ethnic
diversification of
society. From Robert
Grubb, patrolling the
mean streets of Georgian
London with rattle and
cudgel, to Norwell
Roberts, the first black
officer to be appointed
to the Metropolitan
Police, The Great
British Bobby presents a
cast of mostly honest
coppers performing a
testing role to the best
of their ability. A
distinguished historian
and criminologist, Clive
Emsley is ideally placed
to tell - candidly but
affectionately - the
fascinating story of
Britain's police force.
The Great British Bobby
is nothing less than a
social history of Britain
over the last 250 years,
viewed through the prism
of one of its most
remarkable and
distinctive institutions.
This book has 337 pages
and is 19.3 x 12.7 x 2.3
cm

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Millennium, The End Of The
World And The Forging Of
Christendom By Tom Holland,
Historic Book

Of all the civilisations
existing in the year
1000, that of Western
Europe seemed the
unlikeliest candidate for
future greatness.
Compared to the
glittering empires of
Byzantium or Islam, the
splintered kingdoms on
the edge of the Atlantic
appeared impoverished,
fearful and backward. But
the anarchy of these
years proved to be, not
the portents of the end
of the world, as many
Christians had dreaded,
but rather the birthpangs
of a radically new order.
MILLENNIUM is a stunning
panoramic account of the
two centuries on either
side of the apocalyptic
year 1000. This was the
age of Canute, William
the Conqueror and Pope
Gregory VII, of Vikings,
monks and serfs, of the
earliest castles and the
invention of knighthood,
and of the primal
conflict between church
and state. The story of
how the distinctive
culture of Europe -
restless, creative and
dynamic - was forged from
out of the convulsions of
these extraordinary times
is as fascinating and as
momentous as any in
history. This book has
476 pages and is 12.5 x
3.8 x 19.6 cm

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Secret Britain, The Hidden
Bits Of Our History By Justin
Pollard, Historic Book

Some of our most
intriguing history is
missing. Perhaps there
has been a conspiracy, a
cover-up? Or maybe some
stories have been lost,
forgotten or were just
too embarrassing to talk
about at the time? But
now they are back,
revealed in all their
glory: secret passages,
events, societies,
loves, identities and
even dark secrets of the
grave. After much
sleuthing, Justin
Pollard takes us into
undisclosed historical
waters to discover why
the city of Burlington
isn't on the map; how
'Agent Pickle' saved the
lost treasure of Bonnie
Prince Charlie; what Sir
Thomas Overbury knew in
1613 that got him
murdered with a poisoned
enema and how Virginia
Woolf sweet-talked her
way aboard HMS
Dreadnought dressed as
Abyssinian Prince. Secret
Britain will also reveal
the tragic love story
behind the Rolls Royce
mascot; how agent Garbo
managed to get an MBE and
an Iron Cross; the
sinister properties of
the Hand of Glory; the
lost smuggling ship
Peggy; the Mystery Runner
of Nos Galan; the
extraordinary history of
the Fairy Flag of
Dunvegan; London's only
Nazi war memorial and the
secrets of the WWII
Monopoly board. This book
has 316 pages and is 12.9
x 2.3 x 19.7 cm

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The Autobiography Of Jack The
Ripper By James Carnac,
Historic Book

In Whitechapel in 1888 at
least five women were
horribly murdered and
mutilated. Their killer
quickly became known as
Jack the Ripper. Though
there were many suspects,
no one was ever caught,
and over a hundred years
later the world is still
fascinated by the
mystery. This book
introduces a new suspect.
It is a recently
discovered memoir written
in the 1920s by James
Willoughby Carnac, a man
who claims to have been
Jack the Ripper. It
covers his life from
childhood to death,
including his account of
those terrible few months
in 1888. There is
information in this
account that does not
appear to be derived from
contemporary newspapers
or other publications,
and the events of the
time and the intricate
geography of Whitechapel
in 1888 are described
with pinpoint accuracy.
James gives a credible
motive for becoming the
murderer Jack, as well
as for ending the
murders. These all point
to this account being
genuine. This is a
fascinating and
intriguing piece of
writing. Ultimately it is
for you, the reader, to
decide whether you
believe the mystery has
been solved at last, or
whether this is one of
the very earliest
imaginings of the Ripper
case. If so, as it was
written in the 1920s, it
is a fascinating piece of
period writing and a
worthy addition to the
Ripper canon. We believe
it is more than that. We
believe you are about to
read the words of Jack
the Ripper himself. The
size of this book is
23.4cm in height and
15.6cm wide with 297
pages

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The Retreat, Hitler's First
Defeat By Michael Jones,
Historic Book

The thrilling history of
the turning point of the
Second World War, when
Hitler's armies were
halted on the Eastern
Front. At the moment of
crisis in 1941 on the
Eastern front, with the
forces of Hitler massing
on the outskirts of
Moscow, the miraculous
occurred: Moscow was
saved. Yet this turning
point was followed by a
long retreat, in which
Russian forces, inspired
by old beliefs in the
sacred motherland,
pushed back German forces
steeled by the vision of
the ubermensch, the
iron-willed fighter. Many
of Russia's 27 million
military and civilian
deaths occurred in this
desperate struggle. In
THE RETREAT, Michael
Jones, acclaimed author
of LENINGRAD, draws upon
a mass of new eye-witness
testimony from both sides
of the conflict

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Twopence To Cross The Mersey
By Helen Forrester

When Helen Forrester's
father went bankrupt in
1930, she and her six
siblings were forced from
their comfortable
middle-class life into
utmost destitution in
Depression-ridden
Liverpool. The running of
the household and the
care of her younger
siblings all fell to
twelve-year old Helen. In
slum surroundings and
with little food or
support from her feckless
parent, Helen was forced
on her own resources.
Told with compassion,
humour and a remarkable
lack of self-pity, this
is a fascinating picture
of life in Britain before
the welfare state, and
the moving story of one
young girl's courage.

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Crimea, The Great Crimean War
1854-1856 By Trevor Royle,
Historic Book

The Crimean War is one of
the most compelling
subjects in British
history. Everyone knows
about the Charge of the
Light Brigade and men
like Raglan and Cardigan,
have become household
names. The story of
Florence Nightingale,
'the Lady with the Lamp',
and the heroic reporting
of William Russell, THE
TIMES' intrepid
correspondent, and the
sonorous names of the
battles, are ingrained
deep within the British
military consciousness -
Sebastopol, Inkerman,
Balaclava and the Alma.
Trevor Royle demonstrates
how the Crimean War was a
watershed in world
history: coming between
the defeat of Napoleon in
1815 and the opening
shots of the First World
War in 1914 it pointed
the way to what mass
warfare would be like for
soldiers in the twentieth
century. This book has
564 pages and is 12.6 x
19.8 x 3.8 cm

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£4.99

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