This lively & far-reaching account of the politics religion & culture of England in the century & a half after the Norman Conquest provides a vivid picture of everyday existence & increases our understanding of all aspects of medieval society. This was a period in which the ruling dynasty & military aristocracy were deeply enmeshed with the politics & culture of France. Professor Bartlett describes their conflicts & their preoccupations
- the sense of honour the role of violence & the glitter of tournament heraldry & Arthurian romance. He explores the mechanics of government; assesses the role of the Church at a time of radical developments in religious life & organization; & investigates the peasant economy the foundation of this society & the growing urban & commercial activity. There are colourful details of the everyday life of ordinary men & women with their views on the past on sexuality on animals on death the undead & the occult. The result is a fascinating & comprehensive portrayal of a period which begins with conquest & ends in assimilation.
...

Jim & Milly. Stan & Jane. Jonathan & Fiona. Winter 1959. Three married couples: each living in Englands Lane each with an only child & each attending to family & their livelihoods
- the ironmonger the sweetshop & the butcher. Each of them hiding their lies coping in the only way they know how.
...

Of all the photographs in the Country Life archive none are more poignant than the images of houses that have been lost through demolition or fire. In a great number of cases the photographs taken by the magazine for their weekly feature on country houses are the only record of many of the most important houses & interiors that were destroyed. From Uffington House Lincolnshire a fine Restoration house burnt in 1904 to the Rococo magnificence of Nuthall temple Nottinghamshire its site now buried under the M1 motorway this book provides a moving testimony to one of the saddest chapters in English 20th century history. Giles Worsleys incisive text makes this more than just an elegy for lost glories. By studying the circumstances behind one hundred houses that have gone he is able to explain why such a large number were destroyed in the last century. He explains how many houses were lost as great landowners responding to economic & political changes sold off secondary estates & demolished palatial houses of the nineteenth century. He also examines how chance played its part with fire emerging as one of the chief causes of destruction. As the twentieth century recedes into history the story of the country house over the past hundred years becomes increasingly fascinating. Englands Lost Houses is essential reading for all those seeking to understand what really happened. ...

A dramatic sparkling tale of sex glamour intrigue romance & heartbreak Englands Mistress" traces the rise & rise of the gorgeous Emma Hamilton. Born into poverty she clawed her way up through Londons underworlds of sex for sale to become Englands first media superstar. Nothing could stand in the way of her dreams
- except her self-destructive desires. Drawing on hundreds of previously undiscovered letters & told with a novelists flair " Englands Mistress" captures the relentless drive innovative style & burning passion of a true heroine. In a world of tabloid fame & three-minute wonders Emmas life is truly a tale for our time."
...

Nearly eighty women have sat on the throne of England either as queen regnant or queen consort & the voices of all of them survive through their own writings & those of their contemporaries. The primary role of the queen over the ages was to provide an heir. Catherine of Aragon found this to her cost divorced by Henry VIII for failing to produce a healthy son. The birth of an heir was also a route to power for a queen & Eleanor of Aquitaine became the most powerful woman in Europe during the reigns of her sons. Strong relationships could also develop between the queens & their husbands. Edward VIII even abandoned his throne when forced to choose between the crown & his lover Wallis Simpson. Not all marriages were happy & queens such as Isabella of France & Catherine Howard took lovers to escape their marriages. The unhappy Sophia Dorothea of Celle was imprisoned for over thirty years by her husband George I when her affair was discovered. Her lover Count von Konigsmarck was murdered. Most queens made arranged marriages & were used by their families to build alliances. Some queens were able to break away from this control. Queen Victoria spent her childhood secluded with her overprotective mother even sharing the same bedroom until the day when she was proclaimed queen & finally freed herself from her mothers control. For the first time the voice of each individual queen can be heard together charting the course of English queenship through nearly two thousand years of history ...

Details the turbulent period of history between the late Anglo-Saxons to the English Civil war. This work helps to learn how to identify the denominations kings & mint marks of those little historical documents that are likely to have stood the test of time
- the coins.
...

Simon Jenkins has travelled the length & breadth of England to select his thousand best churches. Organised by county each church is described
- often with delightful asides
- & given a star-rating from one to five. All of the county sections are prefaced by a map locating each church & lavishly illustrated with colour photos from the Country Life archive. Jenkins contends that these churches house a gallery of vernacular art without equal in the world. Here he brings that museum to public attention.

...

A hymn to good architecture an ode to authentic domestic interiors buy beg borrow or steal a copy to keep in the car. No other ...

Mike Engleby has a secret... This is the story of Mike Engleby a working-class boy who wins a place at an esteemed English university. But with the disappearance of Jennifer the undergraduate Engleby admires from afar the story turns into a mystery of gripping power. Sebastian Faulks's new novel is a bolt from the blue unlike anything he has ever written before: contemporary demotic heart-wrenching
- & funny in the deepest shade of black.
...

The fifth English Basic Skills book provides plenty of practice questions to work through to build confidence & improve English skills at Key Stage 2. Written by educational experts Practice in the Basic Skills English Book 5 saves your valuable time with ready-to-practice questions that comprehensively cover the basics of reading writing comprehension grammar & spelling for KS2 English. Packed with engaging pictures & clear practice questions it provides a strong foundation in English for Key Stage 2 & builds on English skills learnt in Book 4. Content
Includes:: pronouns adverbs adjectives direct & indirect speech contractions comprehension prefixes & prepositions as well as spelling & vocabulary.
...