A lavishly illustrated tribute to Britain's oldest largest & most famous trees told through legends history & literature. Trees have always inspired awe & wonder & some of our ancient trees have been standing for over a thousand years. In this fascinating & lovingly researched book the author selects the most interesting of them & compares archive photographs & engravings with contemporary colour photographs. Some of the trees featured have changed drastically over the centuries while others seem to have hardly changed at all. Each tree has its own distinct shape & character which it carries through its lifetime. Many of the trees in Britain's Tree Story are still standing & there is a gazetteer of where to see them including in various National Trust properties. Britain's Tree Story is a fascinating & beautifully illustrated celebration of Britain's trees & the intriguing legends & stories that surround them. Ancient trees are a living link to our past & they often provide a fragile constant in an ever-changing world. This is their story but in equal measure it is also ours. ...

This beautiful book showcases the very best of Britain with remarkable imagery of the landscapes settlements & people that make this nation unique. The photographs reveal the diversity of the land from Southwest England to the Scottish Highlands. Special fold-out sections make the most of fabulous images showing the seaside splendour of Brighton the breathtaking waterscapes of the Lake District the picturesque Cotswolds & the distintive wildlife of the Mull. The book records & celebrates Britains loveliest countryside & some of its most appealing towns villages & historic buildings. ...

Britains Historic Railway Buildings is a magisterial reference work on the historic structures on Britains railways in England Scotland & Wales. First published in 2003 by OUP the author will bring the book fully up to date to provide a new book on the subject. In the last few decades the value of Britains railway heritage has become increasingly important & today thousands of structures are listed or scheduled. This book

Includes:: over 2 300 of these structures each of which is given a detailed description supported by photographs maps a survey of the evolution of structures summary of the listing process a list of important buildings lost biographical details of leading railway engineers & architects glossary of terms; bibliography & index. Many structures still play an active part in railway operations but this book also covers structures no longer in active use. In this book the reader will find detailed information about the history of all the surviving historic railway structures in Britain arranged in geographical order large & small from Brunels pioneering Thames Tunnel to the modernist Tooting Bec Underground station the monumental Forth Bridge to the small but delightful footbridges; gasworks & stations; viaducts & signalboxes
- a multitude of structures paying tribute to the verve & drive of one of Britains great industries of the last 200 years.


...

King Canute Lady Godiva Guy Fawkes Bonnie Prince Charlie Grace Darling & other famous names from 3000 years of history live again in these 100 tragic comic stirring tales of adventure folly & wickedness. These stories many of them virtually forgotten are Britain's heritage told & illustrated with such verve & colour that they are the perfect way to give present-day children a sense of the excitement of history. ...

This book brings together the often separated histories of diplomacy defence economics & empire in a provocative reinterpretation of British decline. It also offers a broader reflection on the nature of international power & the mechanisms of policymaking. For this Second Edition David Reynolds has added a new chapters & extends his lively & incisive analysis to the beginning of the new millennium. ...

Stay informed about todays world
- its constant change the significant events & the memorable moments that made history. The fascinating
...

A classic collection showing our national foibles by the celebrated & much-loved cartoonist An assertion of the importance of tea. A keen interest in the weather. A fondness for laughing at your own anecdotes. A weakness for oak beams. A tendency to over-indulge dogs. The British havent changed much since the 1930s when Ponts first witty & hilarious observations on the national character appeared in Punch" magazine. Ponts plump rolling-pin wielding cooks & solar-topeed imperialists capture a distinct moment in British inter-war history but his observations of character are timeless. In the nursery at the opera or in the bath in tweed or tennis whites or bowler hat Pont conjures distinct complete personalities with a few strokes of his pen. Charming idiosyncratic &
- above all
- wonderfully funny this unforgettable collection will bring Ponts extraordinary talent to a new generation in a beautiful single volume."

...

The 1970s witnessed more changes to the trucking industry in Europe than any previous decade. Whilst European truck builders had been developing powerful vehicles capable of operating at between 35 to 38 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW) & equipped with comfortable sleeper cabs for long haul international journeys in the UK the truck builders were playing catch up. The 70s witnessed a number of amalgamations mergers & take-overs that would change the face of the pan-European trucking industry. It saw the birth of the infamous British Leyland empire which was to have far-reaching & disastrous consequences for all the manufacturers it engulfed. In the face of booming sales of European heavyweights both Ford & Bedford launched heavyweight models aimed at this key sector but like most other British truck manufacturers it was too little too late... This is a unique account of a turbulent period in trucking history. ...

This is a price-guide reference book containing up-to-date values & lots of historical information on all campaign medals & related items awarded to British & Irish citizens from the second Boer War in 1899 to the current Iraq conflict. Every campaign is covered including details of the various clasps awarded. Also covered are UN & NATO engagements where British or Irish troops were involved. A separate section is also devoted to the medals of Eire from 1916 onwards. The images are full colour & are often full page sized. ...

A total of eleven British armoured divisions were formed during the 1939-1945 war but as this highly informative book reveals just eight saw action. In 1940 only 1st Armoured Division faced the overwhelming German blitzkrieg & it was in the North African desert that the armoured division concept came of age. The terrain was ideal for armoured warfare & six divisions of 8th Army fought Rommel's panzers to a standstill. Three were disbanded prior to the invasion of Sicily & Italy. D-Day saw the Guards Armoured the Desert Rats 11th & the unique 79th Armoured Divisions in action. Of particular interest is the influence of the men who led these formations & the way their characters contributed to the success or failure of operations. While some went on the greater heights others were dismissed either fairly or unfairly. The stakes were high. The author describes many fascinating aspects of armoured warfare from the reluctance to replace the horse the development of tactics or the different & improving tanks be they infantry support (I-Tank) or the faster cruiser tanks. Due to British design failure great reliance was placed on the US Grant & Sherman with the Comet coming late & the Centurion too late. The combination of historical narrative & well researched analysis & fact make this an invaluable book for the student of WW2 & armoured warfare. ...