Before they had an empire in the East the British travelled into the Islamic world to pursue trade & to form strategic alliances against the Catholic powers of France & Spain. First-hand encounters with Muslims Jews Greek Orthodox & other religious communities living together under tolerant Islamic rule changed forever the way Britons thought about Islam just as the goods they imported from Islamic countries changed forever the way they lived. Britain & the Islamic World tells the story of how for a century & a half merchants & diplomats travelled from Morocco to Istanbul from Aleppo to Isfahan & from Hormuz to Surat & discovered a world that was more fascinating than fearful. Gerald Mac Lean & Nabil Matar examine the place of Islam & Muslims in English thought & how British monarchs dealt with supremely powerful Muslim rulers. They document the importance of diplomatic & mercantile encounters show how the writings of captives spread unreliable information about Islam & Muslims & investigate observations by travellers & clergymen who reported meetings with Jews eastern Christians Armenians & Shi'ites. They also trace how trade & the exchange of material goods with the Islamic world shaped how people in Britain lived their lives & thought about themselves. ...

In Britain at Play" we collect the finest of William Heath Robinsons studies of the unique British character. Here we find Britain in the garden at the beach & on the golf course
- the 9th hole played with the grim reaper rotating sunbathing machines a double cross tennis match For economising space in local tournaments & generally gingering up the game. Heath Robinson perfectly captures the peculiar character of the great British nation at leisure."
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An authoritative & radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain & Ancient Ireland based on remarkable new archaeological finds. British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain & Ireland
- Stonehenge Seahenge Avebury & the Bend of the Boyne
- as well as the discarded artefacts of day-to-day life to create an astonishing portrait of our ancestors. This major re-revaluation of pre-Roman Britain made possible in part by aerial photography & coastal erosion reveals a much more sophisticated life in Ancient Britain & Ireland than has previously been supposed.

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The last Ice Age which came to an end about 12 000 years ago swept the bands of hunter gatherers from the face of the land that was to become Britain & Ireland but as the ice sheets retreated & the climate enhanced so human groups spread slowly northwards re-colonizing the land that had been laid waste. From that time onwards Britain & Ireland have been continuously inhabited & the resident population has increased from a few hundreds to more than 60 million. Britain Begins is nothing less than the story of the origins of the British & the Irish peoples from around 10 000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest. Using the most up to date archaeological evidence together with new work on DNA & other scientific techniques which help us to trace the origins & movements of these early settlers Barry Cunliffe offers a rich narrative account of the first islanders
- who they were where they came from & how they interacted one with another. Underlying this narrative throughout is the story of the sea which allowed the islanders & their continental neighbours to be in constant contact. The story told by the archaeological evidence in later periods augmented by historical texts satisfies our need to know who we are & where we come from. But before the development of the discipline of archaeology people used what scraps there were gleaned from Biblical & classical texts to create a largely mythological origin for the British. Britain Begins also explores the development of these early myths which show our ancestors attempting to understand their origins. & as Cunliffe shows todays archaeologists are driven by the same desire to understand the past
- the only real difference is that we have vastly more evidence to work with.

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The last Ice Age which came to an end about 12 000 years ago swept the bands of hunter gatherers from the face of the land that was to become Britain & Ireland but as the ice sheets retreated & the climate enhanced so human groups spread slowly northwards re-colonizing the land that had been laid waste. From that time onwards Britain & Ireland have been continuously inhabited & the resident population has increased from a few hundreds to more than 60 million. Britain Begins is nothing less than the story of the origins of the British & the Irish peoples from around 10 000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest. Using the most up to date archaeological evidence together with new work on DNA & other scientific techniques which help us to trace the origins & movements of these early settlers Barry Cunliffe offers a rich narrative account of the first islanders
- who they were where they came from & how they interacted one with another. Underlying this narrative throughout is the story of the sea which allowed the islanders & their continental neighbours to be in constant contact. The story told by the archaeological evidence in later periods augmented by historical texts satisfies our need to know who we are & where we come from. But before the development of the discipline of archaeology people used what scraps there were gleaned from Biblical & classical texts to create a largely mythological origin for the British. Britain Begins also explores the development of these early myths which show our ancestors attempting to understand their origins. & as Cunliffe shows today's archaeologists are driven by the same desire to understand the past
- the only real difference is that we have vastly more evidence to work with.

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Mark Easton's Britain Etc. looks at the UK through its relationship to 26 subjects
- one for each letter of the alphabet. From
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In 2010 the iconic British chocolate manufacturer Cadbury was taken over by the US food giant Kraft. The deal caused a public furore & prompted many to ask whether we should be allowing such a major national enterprise to fall into foreign hands. Yet despite the h&-wringing there was nothing unusual about what was going on. In recent years hundreds of billions of pounds worth of British businesses have been sold off abroad. Today foreign companies control vast swathes of the British economy from ports to bridges from the National Lottery to airlines & from high tech companies to gas & electricity suppliers. In Britain for Sale" award-winning financial journalist Alex Brummer explains why British companies are so irresistible to overseas buyers. He considers the impact of foreign deals on Britains enterprise culture. & he asks the key question: How damaging is the takeover bonanza to our future economic health?" ...

' Buy British!' we often hear & many foreign companies have done just that. US food giant Kraft bought Cadbury in 2010 Dutch group Akzo Nobel acquired ICI in 2007 Deutsche Bahn now own Arriva & that's just the beginning. The truth is that hundreds of billions of pounds' worth of British businesses have been sold off abroad in recent years. But what does this takeover bonanza mean for our future economic health? In Britain for Sale award-winning financial journalist Alex Brummer investigates this question explaining why British companies are so irresistible to overseas buyers & weighing up the true cost of these transactions. ...

About the series The Access to History series is the most popular & trusted series for advanced level history students offering:
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This is a unique & beautiful look at Britain from the skies. See Britain in a whole new light with Britain From Above Month by Month" a stunning visual portrait of the British Isles throughout the year from renowned aerial photographer Jason Hawkes. Explore every corner of Britain from majestic mountain landscapes & haunting medieval ruins to magnificent feats of engineering & dramatic coastlines & see how familiar scenes famous events & iconic monuments take on a whole new life when viewed from a different angle. Look down at the Angel of the North from a new perspective take in the glittering London skyline from on high & see a patchwork of festival tents as youve never seen them before. " Britain From Above Month by Month" is a true celebration of Britain in all its glory a beautiful special gift & a fascinating addition to any bookshelf." ...