The English Civil War is one of the most hotly contested areas of English History & John Miller is one of the experts on the period. Amid dramatic accounts of the key battles & confrontations Miller explores what triggered the initial conflict between crown & parliament & how this was played out in England Scotland & Ireland in the lead-up to war. As the war developed personalities & innovations on the battlefield became increasingly important culminating in the rise of Oliver Cromwell & the radical New Model Army. The wars changed the political social religious & intellectual landscape of the country for ever. Using a lifetimes knowledge & study on the period John Miller brings this extraordinary turning point in British history to life. ...

Religion politics & fear: how England was transformed by the Tudors. The English Reformation was a unique turning point in English history. Derek Wilson retells the story of how the Tudor monarchs transformed English religion & why it still matters today. Recent scholarly research has undermined the traditional view of the Reformation as an event that occurred solely amongst the elite. Wilson now shows that although the transformation was political & had a huge impact on English identity on Englands relationships with its European neighbours & on the foundations of its empire it was essentially a revolution from the ground up. By 1600 in just eighty years England had become a radically different nation in which family work & politics as well as religion were dramatically altered. Praise for Derek Wilson: Stimulating & authoritative." (John Guy). " Masterly. [ Wilson] has a deep understanding of.. .characters reaching out across the centuries." (" Sunday Times")." ...

For over a hundred years England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. France was a large unwieldy kingdom England was small & poor but for the most part she dominated the war sacking towns & castles & winning battles
- including such glorious victories as Crecy Poitiers & Agincourt but then the English run of success began to fail & in four short years she lost Normandy & finally her last stronghold in Guyenne. The protagonists of the Hundred Year War are among the most colourful in European history: for the English Edward III the Black Prince & Henry V later immortalized by Shakespeare; for the French the splendid but inept John II who died a prisoner in London Charles V who very nearly overcame England & the enigmatic Charles VII who did at last drive the English out. Desmond Sewards account traces the changes that led to Frances final victory & brings to life all the intrigue & colour of the last chivalric combats as they gave way to a more brutal modern warfare.
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Much has been written about the Knights Templar in recent years. A leading specialist in the history of this legendary medieval order now writes a full account of the Knights of the Order of the Temple of Solomon to give them their full title bringing the latest findings to a general audience. Putting many of the myths finally to rest Nicholson recounts a new history of these storm troopers of the papacy founded during the crusades but who got so rich & influential that they challenged the power of kings. ...

In 1215 the Barons of England forced King John to sign a revolutionary document which would change the political landscape of Britain & beyond for the next 800 years. Magna Carta was the forerunner of the Constitution that limited the powers of the crown & its echoes can be found in the seventeenth century Civil Wars the struggles for American Independence the work of Thomas Paine & in the bedrock of all contemporary liberal nations. As civil liberties & the rule of law are increasingly under question as part of the War on Terror it has never been more essential to return to the original document signed at Runnymede in June 1215. Leading medieval historian Geoffrey Hindley retells the story of events leading up to the conference & looks at the document itself showing how it has resonated over centuries & throughout the world. ...

From the arrival of Henry Tudor & his army at Milford in 1485 to the death of the great Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 this was an astonishingly eventful & contradictory age. All the strands of Tudor life are gathered in a rich tapestry
- London & the country costumes furniture & food travel medicine sports & pastimes grand tournaments & the great flowering of English drama juxtaposed with the stultifying narrowness of peasant life terrible roads a vast underclass the harsh treatment of heretics & traitors & the misery of the Plague.
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From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us O Lord. Between the eighth & eleventh centuries the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade raid & invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence & expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad their battles were as far-flung as Africa & the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts noble heathens or oafish pirates the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles Norse sagas & Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic genetic profiling & climatology. It

Includes:: biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf & King Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; & how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders. Extending beyond the traditional Viking age of most books A Brief History of the Vikings" places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings explaining both their swift expansion & its supposed halt. Supposed because ultimately the Vikings didnt disappear: they turned into us."

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This is a classic account of the bloody rivalry between the dynasties of York & Lancaster for the throne of Engl&. During the fifteenth century England was split in a bloody conflict between the Houses of York & Lancaster over who should claim the crown. The civil wars consumed the whole nation in a series of battles that eventually saw the Tudor dynasty take power. In A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses" Desmond Seward tells the story of this complex & dangerous period of history through the lives of five men & women who experienced the conflict first h&. In a gripping narrative the personal trials of the principal characters interweave with the major events & personalities of one of the most significant turning points in British history." ...

In this colorful new history of Venice Elizabeth Horodowich one of the leading experts on Venice tells the story of the place from its ancient origins & its early days as a multicultural trading city where Christians Jews & Muslims lived together at the crossroads between East & West. She explores the often overlooked role of Venice alongside Florence & Rome as one of the principal Renaissance capitals. Now as the resident population falls & the number of tourists grows as brash new advertisements disfigure the ancient buildings she looks at the threat from the rising water level & the future of one of the great wonders of the world. ...

In his startling & singular new short story collection David Foster Wallace nudges at the boundaries of fiction with inimitable wit & seductive intelligence. Among the stories are The Depressed Person a dazzling & blackly humorous portrayal of a womans mental state; Adult World which reveals a womans agonised consideration of her confusing sexual relationship with her husband; & Brief Interviews with Hideous Men a dark hilarious series of portraits of men whose fear of women renders them grotesque. Wallaces stories present a world where the bizarre & the banal are interwoven & where hideous men appear in many different guises. Thought-provoking & playful this collection confirms David Foster Wallace as one of the most imaginative young writers around. Wallace delights in leftfield observation mining the ironic the surprising & the illuminating from every situation. His new collection will delight his growing number of fans & provide a perfect introduction for new readers. ...