* The official book to accompany the BBC4 6 x 30min series Britain by Bike *

Includes:: extensive photography

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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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Theres a magical romance about train travel that no other form of transport can capture. Unlike other rail-based guides this is not a backpackers manual on how to travel cheaply & quickly & what to do once you get there. Instead this is a leisurely sojourn around the country an indulgent care-free & relaxing journey which notices
- & explains
- what other guides dont. What to see from the train historical anecdotes about the development of the railways explanations of how the rail system works railway traditions branch line explorations descriptions of the most scenic routes & a whole lot more are covered in a style which makes for a perfect armchair read whether from home or on the rails.

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The war was over new technologies & fashions were springing up; it was to be the beginning of a new & prosperous era & all was to be bright & joyous in Britain again. In many ways it was: women were granted new freedoms & rights motorcars became more accessible & houses were filled with electric gadgets. But that was only one side of the story. High unemployment led to extreme poverty workers were badly done by & inflation was high. However there was a cure for all: jazz that new upbeat music from across the Atlantic with its infectious rhythms & sensuous tones. Jazz took Britain by the hand & swung it well & truly into the twentieth century. This book explores many different aspects of an amazing decade through its highs & lows; from innovations in swimwear to the invention of Winnie-the-Pooh from the Great Strike of 26 to the Wall Street crash of 29 & the beginning of the Great Depression. Whether your interests are in fashion or politics there is something of interest for everyone in this accessible & entertaining work on all things related to Britain in the 1920s. ...

As in ' Britain B.C.' & ' Britain A.D.' (also accompanied by Channel 4 series) eminent archaeologist Francis Pryor challenges familiar historical views of the Middle Ages by examining fresh evidence from the ground. The term ' Middle Ages' suggests a time between two other ages: a period when nothing much happened. In his radical reassessment Francis Pryor shows that this is very far from the truth & that the Middle Ages (approximately 800-1550) were actually the time when the modern world was born. This was when Britain moved from Late Antiquity into a world we can recognize as more or less familiar: roads & parishes became fixed; familiar institutions such as the church & local government came into being; industry became truly industrial; & international trade was now a routine process. Archaeology shows that the Middle Ages were far from static. Based on everyday often humdrum evidence it demonstrates that the later agricultural & industrial revolutions were not that unexpected given what we now know of the later medieval period. Similarly the explosion of British maritime power in the late 1700s had roots in the 15th century. The book stresses continuous development at the expense of 'revolution' though the Black Death (1348) which killed a third of the population did have a profound effect in loosening the grip of the feudal system. Labour became scarce & workers gained power; land became more available & the move to modern farming began. The Middle Ages can now be seen in a fresh light as an era of great inventiveness as the author examines such topics as 'upward mobility'; the power of the Church; the role of the Guilds as precursors of trade unions; the transport infrastructure of roads bridges & shipbuilders; & the increase in iron production. ...

Primary History: Britain since 1948 encourages pupils to examine the developments in post-war Britain & to consider how they have contributed to today's society. Stimulating activities cover economic developments & industrialisation recreational & religious choices & Britain's relations with other communities & countries. * Choose from a range of activities to suit your class. * Differentiate using a variety of writing-based tasks. * Explore history topics through creative role-plays & art & design work. * Ideal as accessible research resources for topic work. ...

The third in this series on the history of British airlines since the Second World War this volume starts with the return of Harold Wilson in 1964 & continues through the Thatcher years to deregulation in 1992. As the government the state-owned airline corporations & the independent airlines all jostled for position in a demanding & unforgiving world Guy Halford-Mac Leod explains how the airlines made & remade themselves ducking & diving in a slippery & difficult ring & records the exploits of some well-known heavyweights Harold Bamberg Richard Branson & of course Freddie Laker. This readable book offers both structure & expert analysis of the dramatic events of the time: the collapse of Court Line; the rise & fall of Laker & his Skytrain; the protracted saga of the governments attempts to privatise British Airways; the demise of the second force airline British Caledonian; & the passing from the scene of a few favourites like Air Europe British Eagle BUA & Dan-Air. This book concludes with a chapter that tells what happened to the players new & old as they tried to adapt to the new freedoms that deregulation gave them. Guy Halford-Mac Leod a veteran of twenty-five years in the airline industry & four British airlines now works as a researcher in the Smithsonians National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. ...