Europe

Read more

Read more

Read more

“Masterly … A fascinating tour d’horizon of the Edwardian political scene. This must be a definitive account.” – Professor Jane Ridley, author of George V: Never a Dull Moment

“A tour de force, sympathetic in its treatment of the subject, eminently wise in its judgement and invariably fair in its verdicts. It purrs along like a Rolls-Royce engine.” – Professor T. G. Otte, author of Statesman of Europe: A Life of Sir Edward Grey

“This brilliant book from Britain’s most important constitutional historian upends the orthodoxy about the decadent Edwardians. A masterpiece of intelligent history, both forceful and subtle, which transforms how we view not just those most complex Edwardians but also our own equally complex times.” – Professor Richard Aldous, author of The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs Disraeli

“Brilliant. Instantly the leading history of this turbulent and critical period in Britain’s transition towards a modern democracy.” – Professor Robert Blackburn, King’s College London

“Vernon Bogdanor has the habit of unearthing gems that have been missed by others. He does it again in this magisterial work on post-Gladstonian Britain by challenging some of the long-established myths about this period that deserve to be cast aside.” – Professor Malcolm Murfett, King’s College London

“Professor Bogdanor argues with conviction and sometimes passion but always with judiciousness and in the light of deep reflection. The result is a masterly work which speaks to the politics of our own time.” – Alvin Jackson, Richard Lodge Professor of History, University of Edinburgh

“An extraordinary exploration of a political world whose dynamics continue to shape the future of liberal constitutionalism.” – Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University

“Crisp, authoritative and lucid.” – Nicholas Owen, associate professor of politics, University of Oxford

The turbulent years of 1895 to 1914 changed Britain’s political landscape for ever. They saw a transition from aristocratic rule to mass politics and heralded a new agenda which still dominates today. The issues of the period – economic modernisation, social welfare and equality, secondary and technical education, a new role for Britain in the world – were complex and difficult. Indeed, they proved so thorny that despite the efforts of the Edwardians they remain among the most pressing problems we face in the twenty-first century.

The period has often been seen as one of decadence, of the strange death of liberal Britain. In contrast, Vernon Bogdanor believes that the robustness of Britain’s parliamentary and political institutions and her liberal political culture, with the commitment to rational debate and argument, were powerful enough to carry her through one of the most trying periods of her history and so make possible the remarkable survival of liberal Britain.

In this wide-ranging and sometimes controversial survey, one of our pre-eminent political historians dispels the popular myths that have grown up about this critical period in Britain’s story and argues that it set the scene for much that is laudable about our nation today.

Read more

The Sunday Times bestseller

‘One of the most dramatic forgotten chapters of the war, as told in a new book by the incomparable Max Hastings’ DAILY MAIL

In August 1942, beleaguered Malta was within weeks of surrender to the Axis, because its 300,000 people could no longer be fed. Churchill made a personal decision that at all costs, the ‘island fortress’ must be saved. This was not merely a matter of strategy, but of national prestige, when Britain’s fortunes and morale had fallen to their lowest ebb.

The largest fleet the Royal Navy committed to any operation of the western war was assembled to escort fourteen fast merchantmen across a thousand of miles of sea defended by six hundred German and Italian aircraft, together with packs of U-boats and torpedo craft. The Mediterranean battles that ensued between 11 and 15 August were the most brutal of Britain’s war at sea, embracing four aircraft-carriers, two battleships, seven cruisers, scores of destroyers and smaller craft. The losses were appalling: defeat seemed to beckon.
This is the saga Max Hastings unfolds in his first full length narrative of the Royal Navy, which he believes was the most successful of Britain’s wartime services. As always, he blends the ‘big picture’ of statesmen and admirals with human stories of German U-boat men, Italian torpedo-plane crews, Hurricane pilots, destroyer and merchant-ship captains, ordinary but extraordinary seamen.

Operation Pedestal describes catastrophic ship sinkings, including that of the aircraft-carrier Eagle, together with struggles to rescue survivors and salvage stricken ships. Most moving of all is the story of the tanker Ohio, indispensable to Malta’s survival, victim of countless Axis attacks. In the last days of the battle, the ravaged hulk was kept under way only by two destroyers, lashed to her sides. Max Hastings describes this as one of the most extraordinary tales he has ever recounted. Until the very last hours, no participant on either side could tell what would be the outcome of an epic of wartime suspense and courage.

Max Hastings’ book ‘Abyss’ was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 15-05-2023.

Read more

Read more

‘No dry history, Mosquito reads like a thriller… this outstanding book is hard to put down… Unreservedly recommended’ Aviation Historian

‘White immerses the reader in the action from the first page. A must read choice for total aviation people everywhere’ Flight International

‘A captivating history… Rowland White uses the history of these operations to weave stories of courage and fortitude into the story of a great machine’ Daily Telegraph
_________________________________

Built of lightweight wood, powered by two growling Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, impossibly aerodynamic, headspinningly fast and armed to the teeth, the de Havilland Mosquito was the war-winning wonder that should never have existed: the aircraft the RAF didn’t think it wanted then couldn’t do without.

Flying on operations barely eighteen months after a single prototype was ordered off the drawing board, it was the answer to its pilots’ prayers: a stunningly versatile warplane capable of leaving the Luftwaffe in its wake to attack when and where the enemy was least expecting it.

Excelling as a spyplane, night-fighter and pathfinder for Bomber Command’s heavies the Mossie’s reputation was cemented by a series of daredevil bombing raids across occupied Europe, including on Berlin itself, where only surprise, speed and precision could ensure success.

So when Churchill’s top secret Special Operations Executive needed to destroy the Gestapo HQ in the centre of downtown Copenhagen to prevent a devastating Nazi last stand that might prolong the war for many months, there was only one machine for the job – the Mosquito.

This is the story of that legendary aircraft told through that one impossible mission.

Like Rowland White’s previous books, Mosquito is an unputdownable mix of utterly compelling storytelling, incredible human stories and fascinating technological detail, which sheds never-before-told light on a pivotal mission that helped bring the war to its bloody and brutal close.
_________________________________

Praise for Mosquito

‘Wonderful detail, intricate research and most importantly, powerful & moving human testimony, ensure the reader is gripped from the first page to the last by this incredible story’ John Nichol

‘Stunning… This is history as it should be written: adrenaline-charged, exciting, impeccably and painstakingly researched with a cast of vividly-drawn characters. Riding through it is among the greatest, most extraordinarily brilliant aircraft of them all: the Mosquito. One of the most gripping works of history I’ve ever read’ James Holland

‘Weaving together the story of its evolution with vivid accounts of the crews that flew it and the Special Operations Executive on the ground, Mosquito is both a tribute to the finest aircraft Britain produced during the war and a page-turning thriller about its use as the world’s first precision aerial weapon’ Tom Petch, author of Speed Aggression Surprise: The Secret Origins of the SAS

Read more

‘[A] captivating and dramatic account. . . Drawn from letters and diaries, Holland’s immersive narrative is told through the eye-level perspectives of dozens of subjects. Readers will be enthralled’ Publishers Weekly

‘Tells the story of the hard, bloody, muddy fighting that filled the rest of 1943… this excellent book reinforces Holland’s reputation as the busiest and most popular military historian of the second world war working today’ Spectator

‘A remarkable achievement by a historian at the height of his powers. Holland has successfully illustrated both the signi­ficance and the savagery of the Italian campaign… through a powerful and compelling narrative’ Military History Matters
_____________________

From the bestselling author of Brothers in Arms comes the story of the most pivotal Allies campaign of World War II.

With the invasion of France the following year taking shape, and hot on the heels of victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943. They expected to drive the Axis forces north and be in Rome by Christmas. And although Italy surrendered, the German forces resisted fiercely and the swift hoped-for victory descended into one of the most brutal battles of the war.

Even though shipping and materiel were already being safeguarded for the D-Day landings, there were still huge expectations on the progress of the invading armies, but those shortages were to slow the advance with tragic consequences. As the weather closed in, the critical weeks leading up to Monte Cassino would inflict a heavy price for every bloody, hard fought mile the Allied troops covered.

Chronicling those dark, dramatic months in unflinching and insightful detail, The Savage Storm is unlike any campaign history yet written. James Holland has always recounted the Second World War at ground level, but this version telling brings the story vividly to life like never before. Weaving together a wealth of letters, diaries, and other incredible documents, Holland traces the battles as they were fought – across plains, over mountains, through shattered villages and cities, in intense heat and, towards the end, frigid cold and relentless rain – putting readers at the heart of the action to create an entirely fresh and revealing telling of this most pivotal phase of the war.
_____________________

Praise for James Holland

‘Impeccably researched and superbly written’ Observer
‘Holland has something new to say…. Filled with insight and detail’ Neil Oliver
‘James Holland is the best of the new generation of WW2 historians’ Sebastian Faulks

Read more

There can be no doubt that military conflict between France and England dominated European history in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Hundred Years War is of considerable interest both because of its duration and the number of theatres in which it was fought.

Drawing on the latest research for this new edition, Hundred Years War expert Professor Anne Curry examines how the war can reveal much about the changing nature of warfare: the rise of infantry and the demise of the knight; the impact of increased use of gunpowder and the effect of the war on generations of people.

Updated and revised for the new edition, with full-colour maps and 50 new images, this illustrated introduction provides an important reference resource for the academic or student reader as well as those with a general interest in late medieval warfare.

Read more

Afghanistan was an unwinnable war. As British and American troops withdraw, discover this definitive account that explains why.

It could have been a very different story. British forces could have successfully withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2002, having done the job they set out to do: to defeat al-Qaeda. Instead, in the years that followed, Britain paid a devastating price for their presence in Helmand province.

So why did Britain enter, and remain, in an ill-fated war? Why did it fail so dramatically, and was this expedition doomed from the beginning? Drawing on unprecedented access to military reports, government documents and senior individuals, Professor Theo Farrell provides an extraordinary work of scholarship. He explains the origins of the war, details the campaigns over the subsequent years, and examines the West’s failure to understand the dynamics of local conflict and learn the lessons of history that ultimately led to devastating costs and repercussions still relevant today.

‘The best book so far on Britain’s…war in Afghanistan’ International Affairs

‘Masterful, irrefutable… Farrell records all these military encounters with the irresistible pace of a novelist’ Sunday Times

Read more

Read more

In a country fragmented by Roman withdrawal during the 5th century AD, the employment of Germanic mercenaries by local rulers in Anglo-Saxon Britain was commonplace. These mercenaries became settlers, forcing Romano-British communities into Wales and the West Country. Against a background of spreading Christianity, the struggles of rival British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were exploited by the Vikings, but eventually contained by the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred of Wessex. His descendants unified the country during the 10th century, however, subsequent weak rule saw its 25-year incorporation into a Danish empire before it finally fell to the Norman invasion of 1066.

Scholars of the early Church have long known that the term ‘Dark Ages’ for the 5th to 11th centuries in Britain refers only to a lack of written sources, and gives a false impression of material culture. The Anglo-Saxon warrior elite were equipped with magnificent armour, influenced by the cultures of the late Romans, the Scandinavian Vendel people, the Frankish Merovingians, Carolingians and Ottonians, and also the Vikings.

In this volume, co-authors Raffaele D’Amato and Stephen Pollington access their extended knowledge to paint a vivid picture of the kings and warlords of the time with the aid of colour illustrations, rare photos and the latest archaeological research.

Read more

Read more

Since its publication in 1988, Philip Larkin’s Collected Poems has become essential reading on any poetry bookshelf. This new edition returns to Larkin’s own deliberate ordering of his poems, presenting, in their original sequence, his four published books: The North Ship, The Less Deceived, The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows. It also includes an appendix of poems that Larkin published in other places, from his juvenilia to his final years – some of which might have appeared in a late book, if he had lived.

Preserving everything that he published in his lifetime, this new Collected Poems returns the reader to the book Larkin might have intended: it is, for the first time, Larkin’s ‘own’ collected poems.

Read more