Book of The Month

Did you know that: It’s against the law to check into a hotel in London under assumed names for the purpose of lovemaking? Under a statute of Edwards II all whales washed up on the shore belong to the monarch? Under a Tudor law Welshmen are not allowed into the city of Chester after dark? .. Continue Reading

How England Made the English: From Why We Drive on the Left to Why We Don’t Talk to Our Neighbours Harry Mount’s “How England Made the English: From Why We Drive on the Left to Why We Don’t Talk to Our Neighbours” is packed with astonishing facts and wonderful stories. Q. Why are English train .. Continue Reading

A Guide to London’s Literary Landmarks London is unrivalled as a source of inspiration for writers from Geoffrey Chaucer to Zadie Smith. This book will explore the capital both from the viewpoint of the many writers who have used it as a stage for their plots and their characters; and of the readers whose imagination .. Continue Reading

America’s Experiment with Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay Within weeks of the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States had captured hundreds of suspected al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and by the following January the first of these prisoners arrived at the U.S. Navy’s detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “Wall Street Journal” correspondent .. Continue Reading

Britain in the 1980s was a polarized nation. With the two main political parties as far apart as at any time since the 1930s, the period was riven by violent confrontation, beginning with the explosion of rioting that rocked England’s cities in 1981 and again in 1985; a year-long fight with the National Union of .. Continue Reading

By July 1981 four republican hunger strikers had already died in Long Kesh Prison. A fifth, Joe McDonnell, was clinging to life. To outsiders, Margaret Thatcher appeared unbending; yet, far from the prying eyes of the press, her government was making a substantial offer to the prisoners. On 5 July this offer was given to .. Continue Reading

Resistance, Repression and Revolt by Richard Gott | Published by Verso Books | £14.99 This revelatory new history punctures the still widely held belief that the British Empire was an enlightened and civilizing enterprise of great benefit to its subject peoples. Instead, Britain’s Empire reveals a history of systemic repression and almost continual violence, showing .. Continue Reading

Refreshes the parts other history books can’t reach…A bit ropy on the Renaissance? In the dark about the Enlightenment? Or, in fact, do you need a revision course on the entire history of the world and want to read a witty, irreverent, definitely not boring romp through everything that has ever happened on planet earth .. Continue Reading

Published by Phoenix | £8.99 Who were the first Britons, and what sort of world did they occupy? In A History of Ancient Britain Neil Oliver turns a spotlight on the very beginnings of the story of Britain; on the first people to occupy these islands and their battle for survival. There has been human habitation .. Continue Reading

A Guide to British Highwaymen & Highwaywomen | Published by The History Press Ltd | £12.99 Everyone loves a romantic rogue whose exciting exploits feature a cheeky disregard for the law, narrow escapes and lots of love interest. Even at the height of highway robbery activity, it was thought that the death penalty was too .. Continue Reading