Birmingham was a village worth only one pound in the Domesday Survey yet it rose to become the second city of the British Empire with a population that passed a million. Its growth began when Peter de Birmingham obtained a market charter in 1154 for his little settlement by an insignificant river with all roads leading to its all-important market-place the great triangular Bull Ring with the parish church of St Martins in the middle. In the succeeding centuries Birmingham has been a product of market forces as a market of agriculture trade & metal work. By the 18th century Birmingham overtook Coventry as the biggest town in Warwickshire & by 1800 it was the toy shop of Europe having cornered the markets for gun-making jewellery buttons & buckles with a bewildering variety of specialist craftsmen & traders. The factory system had already begun & men like James Watt Matthew Boulton Joseph Priestley & William Murdock made Birmingham the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution selling their wares in vast quantities to the entire world. The middle of the 19th century saw Birmingham pioneering political reform education & municipal government. In this first single-volume history of the city for half a century Dr Upton looks at why Birmingham grew & what it has become. It has always been a place in which to experiment from the steam engine to the factory in a garden; from the Bull Ring to Spaghetti Junction. To some the story of Birmingham is one of great industries: Boulton & Watt Dunlop Cadburys G.K.N. Lloyds Bank & Austin Rover. But there are many lesser known tales: of the Bull Ring Riots the Onion Fair the first floodlit football matches & the tripe sellers. It is a story of communities too. The Quakers settles in the 17th century the Irish & Italians in the 19th & more recently people from the Caribbean the Indian subcontinent China & Vietnam have all made Birmingham their home. As Birmingham makes it marks on the map of Europe again one thing is certain...the story of the city that brought us Joseph & Neville Chamberlain Thomas the Tank Engine Fu Manchu & Mendelssohns Elijah can hardly be dull. Chris Uptons lively account ensures that Birminghams fascinating story loses nothing in telling. ...

History clings tight but it also kicks loose writes Simon Schama at the outset of this the first book in his three-volume journey into Britains past. Disruption as much as persistence is its proper subject. So although the great theme of British history seen from the twentieth century is endurance its counter-point seen from the twenty-first must be alteration. Change
- sometimes gentle & subtle sometimes shocking & violent
- is the dynamic of Schamas unapologetically personal & grippingly written history especially the changes that wash over custom & habit transforming our loyalties. At the heart of this history lie questions of compelling importance for Britains future as well as its past: what makes or breaks a nation? To whom do we give our allegiance & why? & where do the boundaries of our community lie
- in our hearth & home our village or city tribe or faith? What is Britain
- one country or many? Has British history unfolded at the edge of the world or right at the heart of it? Schama delivers these themes in a form that is at once traditional & excitingly fresh. The great & the wicked are here
- Becket & Thomas Cromwell Robert the Bruce & Anne Boleyn
- but so are countless more ordinary lives: an Irish monk waiting for the plague to kill him in his cell at Kilkenny; & a small boy running through the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth I. They are all caught on the rich & teeming canvas on which Schama paints his brilliant portrait of the life of the British people: for in the end history especially British history with its succession of thrilling illuminations should be as all her most accomplished narrators have promised not just instruction but pleasure.





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This is the definitive visual guide to 5 000 years of British history. The History of Britain & Ireland" traces the key events that have shaped the British Isles. From the Elizabethan age of Shakespeare to the Iraq & Afghan wars of the 21st century this beautifully illustrated book offers a definitive visual chronicle of the most colourful & defining episodes in British history. Packed with visually arresting illustrations & clear concise text you can now explore the long & fascinating story of the British Isles. It

Includes:: profiles of key people in history such as Geoffrey Chaucer Alfred the Great Charles Dickens Queen Elizabeth I & Winston Churchill. " The History of Britain & Ireland" is ideal as a family reference for the home as well as a key history companion for schools."

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In this fascinating & informative new book Professor David Wilson tells the stories of Britains serial killers from Jack the Ripper to the extraordinary Suffolk Murders case. David Wilson has worked as a Prison Governor & as a profiler & has been described as the UKs leading expert on serial killers. His work has led him to meet several of the UKs deadliest killers & build up fascinating insights into what makes a serial killer
- & who they are most likely to target. A vivid narrative history & a timely call for prison & social reform Professor Wilsons new book is a powerful & gripping investigation of Britains serial murderers.
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John O' Farrell author of The Man Who Forgot His Wife An Utterly Impartial History of Britain & Things Can Only Get Better turns his comedic genius to the problem of capitalism encapsulated in a Tube train full of passengers stuck underground
- part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin. It is also available in a boxset. Authors include the masterly John Lanchester the children of Kids Company comic John O' Farrell & social geographer Danny Dorling. Ranging from the polemical to the fantastical the personal to the societal they offer something for every taste. All experience the city as a cultural phenomenon & notice its nature & its people. Read individually they're delightful small reads pulled together they offer a particular portrait of a global city". (Evening Standard). " Exquisitely diverse". (The Times). " Eclectic & broad-minded.. .beautifully designed". (Tom Cox Observer). "A fascinating collection with a wide range of styles & themes. The design qualities are excellent as you might expect from Penguin with a consistent look & feel while allowing distinctive covers for each book. This is a very pleasing set of books". (A Common Reader blog). " The contrasts & transitions between books are as stirring as the books themselves.. .A multidimensional literary jigsaw". (Londonist). "A series of short sharp city-based vignettes
- some personal some political & some pictorial.. .each inimitable author finds that our city is complicated but ultimately connected full of wit & just the right amount of grit". (Fabric Magazine). "A collection of beautiful books". (Grazia). [ Praise for John O' Farrell]: " Comic genius". (Mirror). "A consistently humorous writer". (Mail on Sunday). John O' Farrell is the bestselling author of four novels including The Man Who Forgot His Wife. He has also written comic non-fiction such as An Utterly Impartial History of Britain the political memoir Things Can Only Get Better & three collections of his popular Guardian column."

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Diarmaid Mac Cullochs epic acclaimed history A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years" follows the story of Christianity around the globe from ancient Palestine to contemporary China. How did an obscure personality cult come to be the worlds biggest religion with a third of humanity its followers? This book now the most comprehensive & up to date single volume work in English describes not only the main facts ideas & personalities of Christian history its organization & spirituality but how it has changed politics sex & human society. Taking in wars empires reformers apostles sects churches & crusaders Diarmaid Mac Culloch shows how Christianity has brought humanity to the most terrible acts of cruelty
- & inspired its most sublime accomplishments. "A stunning tour de force". (Simon Sebag Montefiore " Sunday Telegraph" Books of the Year). "A landmark in its field astonishing in its range compulsively readable full of insight... It will have few if any rivals in the English language". (Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury " Guardian"). "A prodigious thrilling masterclass of a history book". (John Cornwell " Financial Times"). " Essential reading for those enthralled by Christianity & for those enraged by it". (Melvyn Bragg " Observer" Books of the Year). " Magnificent.. .a sumptuous portrait alive with detail & generous in judgement". (Richard Holloway " The Times"). Diarmaid Mac Culloch is Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. His " Thomas Cranmer" won the Whitbread Biography Prize the James Tait Black Prize & the Duff Cooper Prize. He is the author most recently of " Reformation: Europes House Divided 1490-1700" which won the Wolfson Prize for History & the British Academy Prize."
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Cosmetics have been used to increase attraction since Ancient times whilst Compacts have been a symbol of love for generations but especially since the 1920s. In this fascinating book vintage accessories expert Madeleine Marsh discusses just what makes compacts so desirable & reveals their hidden secrets from cameras to cigarettes. Madeleine shows what to buy & where what to spot when buying & how to make the most of your compacts vintage cosmetics or beauty accessories. ...

This innovative new book presents the vast historical sweep of engineering innovation & technological change to describe & illustrate engineering design & what conditions events cultural climates & personalities have brought it to its present state. Matthew Wells covers topics based on an examination of paradigm shifts the contribution of individuals important structures & influential disasters to show approaches to the modern concept of structure. By demonstrating the historical context of engineering Wells has created a guide to design like no other inspirational for both students & practitioners. ...

From battlefield to sacred building from castle to cottage from the Bridgwater Canal to Blackpool Pier acclaimed historian John Julius Norwich tells the political cultural social religious & economic story of England through one hundred key places you can still visit today. Part narrative history part exploration of our national heritage his wide-ranging selection of sites will stimulate entertain inform
- & certainly provoke
- a debate about the most significant moments in English history.

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In this magnificent guide to Englands cuisine the inimitable Clarissa Dickson Wright takes us from a medieval feast to a modern-day farmers market visiting the Tudor working mans table & a Georgian kitchen along the way. Peppered with surprises & seasoned with wit A History of England Food" is a classic for any food lover." ...