A glorious illustrated history of sixteen of the world's greatest cathedrals, interwoven with the extraordinary stories of the people who built them. 'An impeccable guide to the golden age of ecclesiastical architecture' The Times 'Vivid, colourful and absorbing' Dan Jones 'An epic ode to some of our most beautiful and beloved buildings' Helen Carr The emergence of the Gothic in twelfth-century France, an architectural style characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, large windows and elaborate tracery, triggered an explosion of cathedral-building across western Europe. It is this remarkable flowering of ecclesiastical architecture that forms the central core of Emma Wells's authoritative but accessible study of the golden age of the cathedral. Prefacing her account with the construction in the sixth century of the Hagia Sophia, the remarkable Christian cathedral of the eastern Roman empire, she goes on to chart the construction of a glittering sequence of iconic structures, including Saint-Denis, Notre-Dame, Canterbury, Chartres, Salisbury, York Minster and Florence's Duomo. More than architectural biographies, these are human stories of triumph and tragedy that take the reader from the chaotic atmosphere of the mason's yard to the cloisters of power. Together, they reveal how 1000 years of cathedral-building shaped modern Europe, and influenced art, culture and society around the world.

Engage, support and develop confident historians This Student Book covers the key knowledge for Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Option 13 Migrants in Britain, c800-present and Notting Hill c.1948-1970. Written by an experienced author team (Rosemary Rees, Tony Warner, Joshua Garry and series editor Angela Leonard), with a wealth of experience and knowledge, together, they bring this fascinating journey through British history to life. Key features for students include: clear and accessible language to appeal to students of all abilities a wealth of contemporary images and sources differentiated activities and checkpoint activities recap pages to help with consolidating and retaining knowledge a Preparing for the exam section, with exam advice and annotated sample answers an Extend your knowledge section for students wishing to conduct further research into this topic. The student book also incorporates tried and tested teaching approaches: Thinking Historically activities throughout tackle some of the key misconceptions that can hold student thinking back. Writing Historically spreads, based on the Grammar for Writing approach used by many English departments, explain how students can improve their writing, making their answers more sophisticated, clear and concise. About the series editor: Angela Leonard taught history in secondary schools for over 20 years and was also a teacher trainer at the University of London Institute of Education for over a decade. She has extensive experience as a senior GCSE examiner and as an author and series editor of history textbooks. About the authors: Rosemary Rees taught history in primary and secondary schools for many years and has been involved in teacher training at St Martin's College, Lancaster as well as teaching for the Open University. She has worked as a GCSE external assessor and has extensive experience as a senior examiner at GCSE and GCE levels. She has authored and series edited numerous history books for KS3, GCSE and GCE. Tony Warner is the founder of Black History Walks which leads tours in areas across London, including Notting Hill. The walks are designed to uncover the 3500 years of black history in London. He spent several years running workshops on institutional racism and has created community partnerships with, and lectured at, The Imperial War Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Museum of Docklands and British Film Institute. He is currently Activist in Residence and Honorary Research Fellow at UCL's Sarah Parker Remond Centre. Joshua Garry, Joshua is a Deputy Head of History at a school in London with a passion for creating a more diverse and inclusive history curriculum. "I think first and foremost you want your history curriculum to represent the experiences of the people inside the classroom or the people inside Britain. I always like to start in my classroom first. What does my classroom look like? I want my students to be able to connect with those stories. To see where they fit in." - Joshua Garry

Gamal Abdel Nasser, the larger-than-life Egyptian president who ruled for eighteen years from the coup d'etat he led in 1952, is best known for wresting the Suez Canal from the British and French empires and befriending such iconic revolutionaries as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Yet there is a darker side to Nasser's regime. He was a brutal authoritarian, whose legacy lies at the heart of the violent and repressive order that still prevails throughout the Arab world today. In We Are Your Soldiers, Alex Rowell focuses on seven countries – Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Libya – to reassess Nasser's impact in the Arab sphere. Drawing on a deep reading of Arabic sources, extensive interviews, and material never before published in English, Rowell offers a radical reexamination of Nasser's rule and a new understanding of Middle Eastern politics.  

‘In the beginning was the Word,’ says the Gospel of John. This sentence – and the words of all four gospels – is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind. Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered. There were many different Jesuses, among them the aggressive Jesus who scorned his parents and crippled those who opposed him, the Jesus who sold his twin into slavery and the Jesus who had someone crucified in his stead. Moreover, in the early years of the first millennium there were many other saviours, many sons of gods who healed the sick and cured the lame. But as Christianity spread, they were pronounced unacceptable – even heretical – and they faded from view. Now, in Heretic, Catherine Nixey tells their extraordinary story, one of contingency, chance and plurality. It is a story about what might have been.

In this extraordinary literary debut, Christie-Miller traces the history and present of Istanbul by walking along its crumbling defensive walls and talking to those he passes. Caught between two seas and two continents, with a contested past and an imperiled future, Istanbul represents the precipitous moment civilizations around the world are currently facing. To the City seamlessly blends two narratives: the fragile optimism of the present-day and its inhabitants, and the story of Mehmet’s siege and capture of the city in 1453. Those events still loom over the city, as Erdogan—a kind of latter-day sultan—invokes their memory as part of his effort to transform Turkey and resurrect its imperial past. Istanbul stands at the centre of the most pressing challenges of our time. Environmental decay, rapacious development and a refugee crisis are straining the city to breaking point, while its civil society gutters in the face of resurgent authoritarianism. Yet, Istanbul has endured despite centuries of instability. Christie-Miller introduces us to people who are experiencing the looming crisis and fighting back, sometimes triumphing despite the odds. This is a meditation on the soul of Istanbul, of its resilience and fortitude. In the defensive walls of Turkey’s largest and most fabled city, Christie-Miller finds a distillation of the country’s history and a mirror of its present. Walk with him and see the danger, beauty and hope.

The Super-Afrikaners, originally published in 1978, scandalised a nation as it exposed the secret workings of the Broederbond. Out of print for over three decades, this edition with an introduction by Max du Preez is available for a new generation.

Formed in Johannesburg in 1918 by a group of young Afrikaners disillusioned by their role as dispossessed people in their own country, the first triumph of this remarkable organisation was the fact that it was largely responsible for welding together dissident factions within Afrikanerdom and thereby ensuring the accession of the National Party to power in 1948. This highly organised clique of Super-Afrikaners, by sophisticated political intrigue, waged a remarkable campaign to harness political, social and economic forces in South Africa to its cause … and succeeded.

Political journalists Hans Strydom and Ivor Wilkins traced, at great personal risk, its development from the earliest days to the present. The book includes the most comprehensive list of Broeders ever published.

A Times Political Book of the Year 2022 A powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate endgame, and the war’s echoing legacy. Elliot Ackerman left the American military ten years ago, but his time in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marines and, later, as a CIA paramilitary officer marked him indelibly. When the Taliban began to close in on Kabul in August of 2021 and the Afghan regime began its death spiral, he found himself pulled back into the conflict. The official evacuation process was a bureaucratic failure that led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Ackerman was drawn into an impromptu effort to arrange flights and negotiate with both Taliban and American forces to secure the safe evacuation of hundreds. These were desperate measures taken during a desperate end to America’s longest war, but the success they achieved afforded a degree of redemption: and, for Ackerman, a chance to reconcile his past with his present. The Fifth Act is an astonishing human document that brings the weight of twenty years of war to bear on a single week at its bitter end. Using the dramatic rescue efforts in Kabul as his lattice, Ackerman weaves in a personal history of the war's long progress, beginning with the initial invasion in the months after 9/11. It is a play in five acts with a tragic denouement. Any reader who wants to understand what went wrong with the war’s trajectory will find a trenchant accounting here. And yet The Fifth Act is not an exercise in finger-pointing: it brings readers into close contact with a remarkable group of characters, who fought the war with courage and dedication, in good faith and at great personal cost. Understanding combatants’ experiences and sacrifices demands reservoirs of wisdom and the gifts of an extraordinary storyteller. In Elliot Ackerman, this story has found that author.The Fifth Act is a first draft of history that feels like a timeless classic.

Being Human is history made flesh. It will change the way you see the world. We are a wonder of evolution. Powerful yet dextrous, instinctive yet thoughtful, we are expert communicators and innovators. Our exceptional abilities have created the civilisation we know today. But we're also deeply flawed. Our bodies break, choke and fail, whether we're kings or peasants. Diseases thwart our boldest plans. Our psychological biases have been at the root of terrible decisions in both war and peacetime. This extraordinary contradiction is the essence of what it means to be human - the sum total of our frailties and our faculties. And history has played out in the balance between them. Now, for the first time, Lewis Dartnell tells our story through the lens of this unique, capricious and fragile nature. He explores how our biology has shaped our relationships, our societies, our economies and our wars, and how it continues to challenge and define our progress. Praise for Lewis Dartnell's Origins and The Knowledge: 'Stands comparison with Yuval Harari's Sapiens ... A thrilling piece of big history' Sunday Times on Origins 'The most inspiring book I've read for a long time' Independent on The Knowledge

The new book from bestselling author Omid Scobie shedding light on the Royal Family, with unique insight and exclusive access. On September 8, 2022, the world stood still as news broke of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Her death dismantled the protective shield around the world’s most famous family, and saw a long-simmering crisis of confidence in the British monarchy begin to resurface. Now, with unique insight, deep access and exclusive revelations, journalist Omid Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil—exposing the chaos, family dysfunction, distrust and draconian practices threatening its very future. This is the monarchy’s endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?

'Powerfully argued... Fascinating and pacy' Sunday Times, Book of the Week 'Superbly written... sure to please readers of Yuval Noah Harari or Rutger Bregman' The Times 'Full of amazing facts' Observer 'A humbling story for humankind' Spectator Challenges some of the greatest cliches about colonialism... A revelation' SATHNAM SANGHERA 'Thrilling and eye-opening' LEWIS DARTNELL 'Science and history at its best' MARK HONIGSBAUM 'Unpicks everything we thought we knew... Mind blowing' CAL FLYN In this revelatory book, Dr Jonathan Kennedy argues that germs have shaped humanity at every stage, from the first success of Homo sapiens over the equally intelligent Neanderthals to the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam. How did an Indonesian volcano help cause the Black Death, setting Europe on the road to capitalism? How could 168 men extract the largest ransom in history from an opposing army of eighty thousand? And why did the Industrial Revolution lead to the birth of the modern welfare state? The latest science reveals that infectious diseases are not just something that happens to us, but a fundamental part of who we are. Indeed, the only reason humans don't lay eggs is that a virus long ago inserted itself into our DNA, and there are as many bacteria in your body as there are human cells. We have been thinking about the survival of the fittest all wrong: evolution is not simply about human strength and intelligence, but about how we live and thrive in a world dominated by microbes. By exploring the startling intimacy of our relationship with infectious diseases, Kennedy shows how they have been responsible for some of the seismic revolutions of the past 50,000 years. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story, revealing how the crisis of a pandemic can offer vital opportunities for change.

In hierdie boek word ook op interessante wyse uitgebrei oor die generaal se verbintenis met sy psigiese vriend, Siener van Rensburg. Die boek is saamgestel deur die bekende historikus Lappe Laubsher, wat aan die einde van hierdie sketse die laaste maande van die generaal se lewe uit beskikbare bronne konstrueer. Menings word so onpartydig as moontlik gestel en slegs in spesifieke gevalle word na onwaarskynlikhede of teenstrydighede verwys. Die publikasie word opgeluister deur 13 swart en wit foto's, onder andere van die baadjie wat De la Rey aangehad het en die Daimler waarin hy gereis het toe hy doodgeskiet is.

A riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan-a crucial turning point in World War II and geopolitical history-with you-are-there immediacy by the New York Times bestselling author of Ike's Bluff and Sea of Thunder.

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ALL BIBLIOMANIACS A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR AND DAILY MAIL A WATERSTONES BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK 2022 Plunge into this rich and surprising A-Z compendium to discover how our fixations have taken shape, from the Middle Ages to the present day, as bestselling author Kate Summerscale deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political. 'Fascinating ... Phobias and manias create a magical space between us and the world' Malcolm Gaskill, author of the No. 1 bestseller The Ruin of All Witches 'Fascinating' Observer 'An endlessly intriguing book ... All the bibliomanes (book nutters) I know will love it' Daily Mail

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Absolutely gorgeous. It blew my socks off' Jay Blades 'A beautiful book' Edmund de Waal 'Bewitching and brilliant' Lara Maiklem An intricate and personal history of watches and time from an extraordinary watchmaker and historian Timepieces are one of humanity's most ingenious innovations. Their invention was more significant for human culture than the printing press, or even the wheel. They have travelled the world with us, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest, and even to the Moon. They regulate our daily lives and have sculpted the social and economic development of society in surprising and dramatic ways. In Hands of Time watchmaker and historian Rebecca Struthers welcomes us into the hidden world of watchmaking, offering a personal history of watches that spans centuries and continents. From her workshop bench, Rebecca explores the ways in which timekeeping has indelibly shaped our attitudes to work, leisure, trade, politics, exploration and mortality, and introduces us to some extraordinary and treasured devices, each with their own story to tell. Hands of Time is an intricate and uniquely personal exploration of the history, science, philosophy, and craft of timekeeping.

Time correspondent Simon Shuster delivers the unmissable account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, written and reported from inside the presidential compound in Kyiv, based on Shuster's unparalleled access to President Zelensky and his top aides.

The authorised illustrated history of the SAS by the number one bestselling author of Dunkirk, Joshua Levine. With never-before-seen photographs and unheard stories, this is the SAS’s wartime history in vivid and astonishing detail. The SAS began as a lie, a story of a British parachute unit in the North African desert, to convince the Axis they were under imminent threat. The lie was so effective that soon a small band of men were brought together to make it real. These recruits were the toughest and brightest of their cohort, the most resilient, most dynamic and most self-sufficient. Their first commanders, David Stirling and Paddy Mayne, would go down in history as unorthodox visionaries. Yet this book tells much more than the usual origin story of the unit and seeks out less well-known leaders like Bill Fraser, who was essential in helping the SAS achieve fame for their devastating raids. By looking beyond the myth, this book brings back to life a group of men who showed immense bravery and endured unimaginable risks behind enemy lines. Written with the full cooperation of the SAS and with exclusive access to SAS archives, Levine draws on individual stories and personal testimony, including interviews with veterans and family members. On every page, the book gives a visceral sense of what it was like to fight and train in the SAS in both North Africa and Europe during the Second World War, focusing on their failures as well as their successes. This book is vivid with the characters of the men, their eclectic personalities, their strengths, weaknesses and many disagreements. Levine has uncovered a remarkable portrait of this enigmatic unit with photographs and stories long thought lost to history

The Moon feels like it is ours - it belongs to all of humanity. Every human culture, in both hemispheres, shares the Moon. Our Moon shows that our relationship with the Moon is far more powerful, and far more ancient, than Apollo's postcards and bags of sand. Apollo and modern efforts to return humans to the Moon's surface are just one chapter in the larger love story of humans and our eternal companion. In this cultural and scientific history of the Moon from prehistory to the present day Rebecca Boyle takes us from exciting archaeological finds, to cultural and spiritual interpretations, from the monumental Apollo landing in 1969, to the latest scientific discoveries about the make-up of the moon, its origins and those of our own planet. It takes in archaeology, anthropology, sociology, cultural relevance, history of science, time and the planet, technological advances and that persistent desire to know where we come from and how we got here.

First published in 2018 This Hollow Land was reprinted in 2021 due to popular demand. A third edition will be available shortly - please check website regularly for updates. For many the folklore of Norfolk consists of little more than the Swaffham Pedlar, Black Shuck and Babes in the Wood. Why is there such an apparent dearth of material? Were the old beliefs suppressed here more effectively by the new Puritan faith or, as Peter Tolhurst suggests, was it simply that Norfolk has had no folklore collector like Enid Porter in the Fens or George Ewart Evans in Suffolk? In this absorbing work, the first of its kind devoted entirely to the county, the author has unearthed a rich legacy of beliefs and customs once widespread in the Norfolk.

The enthralling story of the German Empire, from its violent rise to its spectacular fall. Before 1871, Germany was not a nation but an idea. Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring thirty-nine individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? Could the young European nation build enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France? In a unique study of five decades that shaped the course of modern history, Katya Hoyer tells the story of the German Empire from its violent beginnings to its defeat in the First World War, a dramatic tale of national self-discovery that ended, as it started, in blood and iron. AUTHOR: Katja Hoyer is Head of History at the Judd School, one of the UK's leading state schools. She studied at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena and graduated with a master-level degree in history with distinction. She was born in Germany and lives in Sussex. Blood and Iron is her first book. 15 b/w illustrations

See London in a completely new light in this guide to the city's hidden secrets, untold stories and special places laden with history which you can discover for yourself! London is famous for its museums, each one full of treasures and relics – but the biggest museum in the capital is the city itself. From the stories behind unusual street names, to the trees in our parks; railings made from recycled WWII stretchers, to shrapnel damage on walls; the hidden symbols on post boxes, to prehistoric tree trunks – there is a rich history hidden in the oft-overlooked details of the city's streets, gardens, parks and buildings. This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated book provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital. Whether you’ve always wondered why there are cattle troughs on your route to work, why bollards often look like upside down cannons or wanted to know what a Victorian stink pipe is – this book will provide the tools to decipher London’s secret code, and introduce you to a treasure trove of hidden spots to explore. The book comes complete with maps so you can spot these details yourself on walks through the capital. So, pop on a sturdy pair of shoes and get ready to turn the city into the museum you never knew you had.