The South Downs has throughout history been a focus of English popular culture. With chalkland, their river valleys and scarp-foot the Downs have been shaped for over millennia by successive generations of farmers, ranging from Europe's oldest inhabitants right up until the 21st century. '... possibly the most important book to have been written on the South Downs in the last half-century ... The South Downs have found their perfect biographer.' Downs Country

The Somerset town of Frome is something of a paradox. Since being founded at the end of the sixth century its fiercely independent nature has been unchanging. A nature which, as one columnist has noted: 'seems to have revolved around the eminently sensible attitude of "To hell with national events! We will stay as we are."' And yet a century ago, when called on by its country to do its duty in the Great War, it rose to the task admirably. Men from Frome and the surrounding area experienced action in all the theatres of war that the global conflict encompassed, and they took part in the numerous battles and campaigns, on land and at sea, that have become synonymous with that conflict: Ypres, Gallipoli, Jutland, the Somme. At the same time, its civilian population received a special commendation after the war for its effort throughout it. However, the town's contribution did not stop there, as many of the returning soldiers helped to create several of the national and international monuments and memorials that would pay eternal tribute to their comrades who fell on the fields of Flanders and elsewhere.Using letters, diaries, photographs, newspaper reports and eyewitness accounts, along with other archive material, local historian and author David Lassman has assembled the story of Frome during the Great War; a story which charts the transformation of this once rich and powerful textile centre and manufacturing town, along with its people, through the life-changing events of 1914 to 1918.

Ghost signs - those faded advertisements for long defunct businesses on the walls of old buildings - are among the most potent reminders of a bygone age - and nowhere are they found in greater abundance or variety than on the streets of Bath.Long a source of fascination for visitors and residents alike, signs for forgotten trades such as brushmakers, corn factors and perfumers still jostle for attention alongside modern shopfronts. Canalside coal wharves, a pump room where Jane Austen's brother took the waters, the sinister-sounding Asylum for Teaching Young Females Household Work, and a Regency tea warehouse - all still proclaim their ghostly presence a century or more after they closed their doors for ever.This book tells the story behind these tantalising echoes from the past. Trawling through old newspapers, deeds and documents to discover when and why the signs were painted, the authors have revealed a hidden history of the city.Over 160 ghost signs are featured, arranged by area into a series of short walks, with historic maps to guide you through the city streets. Ghost signs in the suburbs and surrounding villages, as well as in Bradford on Avon and Corsham, are also included, and the book ends with an intriguing look at Bath's lost ghost signs.

Cornwall through Magic Lantern Slides is a quality book of 287 superb professional photographs of bygone Cornwall from the later years of Queen Victoria and through the reign of Edward VII. The book transports the reader back to the nostalgic, but hard times of our forefathers. The original photographs are all positives printed on glass of subjects varying from men at work underground in the Cornish mines to chocolate box views of Cornish harbours. Many images will have been made available commercially at the time of production whilst others are taken by private individuals for lectures at their local social evenings. Photographs of Rocks or cliffs at the time would have looked dramatic to the photographer, but to the present day viewer they may seem less interesting, so these are generally not included unless something else of interest is happening in the scene. The reader will find the variety of the subjects both fascinating and of great social interest. Logistic difficulties of the cumbersome, and technically difficult equipment is discussed. This is a book for anyone interested in Magic Lantern slides or the photographic, social and topographical history of Cornwall.

Cornwall has a long and fascinating history of ghost stories, from ghostly ships seen traversing the coastline, phantom smugglers and pirates to grisly murders and lonely suicides. Those who live in Cornwall or visit the county are never far from a place associated with the paranormal. In this book author David Scanlan investigates the myriad ghost stories that are to be found in Cornwall. These tales of phantoms, spooks and spectres include the multiply haunted Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor and its Smugglers Museum, made famous by Daphne du Maurier; the mermaid who spirited a man away at Zennor and took him for her husband; and the lonely and eccentric vicar of St Bartholomew's Church in Warleggan whose ghost haunts the pathway leading to the vicarage. Paranormal Cornwall contains these and many other narratives which will delight the ghost hunters and the spiritualists, make the sceptical think again, and send chills up and down every spine.

With a history going back 2000 years it is hardly surprising that so many of London's streets are known throughout the globe. Even today, several Roman roads pass through the capital and London's financial centre, The City of London is full of winding alleys and ancient ways with names from times gone by. Over the years the City's streets have become less familiar than roads in and around the West End and for this reason The Streets of London: The story behind London's most famous streets is primarily about roads in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Dr Philip MacDougall, local historian, takes you on a journey through the City of Chichester revealing much of its lesser-known history. Here you will find the story behind the city's nineteenth-century banking crisis, the activities of a London mob of criminals who targeted the Goodwood races, a fascinating collection of letters written during the First World War and even how local politicians once bribed potential voters with lashings of beer. Blending the serious and the not so serious and drawing heavily on primary sources, including newspapers and original documents, Secret Chichester gives a fascinating look at this city's past with images from long ago and today.

Hoosier Beginnings tells the story of Indiana University athletics from its founding in 1867 to the interwar period. Crammed full of rare images and little-known anecdotes, it recounts how sport at IU developed from its very first baseball team, made up mostly of local Bloomington townsfolks, to the rich and powerful tradition that is the "Hoosier" legacy. Hoosier Beginnings uncovers fascinating stories that have been lost to time and showcases how Indiana University athletics built its foundation as a pivotal team in sports history. Learn about the fatal train collision that nearly stopped IU athletics in its tracks; IU's first African American football player; the infamous Baseball Riot of 1913; how a horde of students grabbed axes and chopped down 200 apple trees to make way for a new gymnasium; and the legendary 1910 football team that didn't allow a single touchdown all season-but still lost a game. Most importantly, it attempts to answer the burning question, where did the "Hoosiers" get their mysterious name?

This volume edits the correspondence of Sir Francis and Lady Acland of Killerton, Devon. It brings together a unique collection of written sources for politics in the early twentieth century, ranging from the administrative worldof high politics to constituency electioneering in Cornwall and Devon. The Aclands made a prominent contribution to Liberal party politics in this period and their correspondence covers topics such as the pre-war campaign for female suffrage, the key events of the First World War and the party divisions that followed the fall of Asquith. These letters therefore offer fresh insight into the changing fortunes of Liberalism in this period. They also challenge the assumption that the South West of Britain was a political backwater, covering the remarkable rise and fall of Labour in Cornwall and the tensions generated in rural Devon by Lloyd George's land campaign in the mid-1920s. Notions of family tradition, territorial politics and constituency representation were played out against the competing influences of Devon, Cornwall and Westminster.

Over the past century, the Wolverines have created heroes and legends that excite both the young and old. From the first football game in 1879 to the hundreds of thousands of faithful fans that cheer on the most triumphant program in college football history, University of Michigan football has an undeniable legacy. In Michigan Motivations: A Year of Inspiration with the University of Michigan Wolverines, authors Cyle Young and Del Duduit relive the most famous moments and show readers how they too can overcome adversity, find success, understand true teamwork, and much more. A year's worth of weekly stories will motivate and inspire, showcasing legendary players like Tom Harmon, Anthony Carter, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, and Tom Brady. Along the way, readers will also appreciate the Wolverine persistence that drove a 1934 team MVP to become the 38th President of the United States, and they will learn to apply that same Michigan character in their own life. Michigan Motivations is for every fan that bleeds Maize and Blue. Rejoice at the stories that reveal come-from-behind victories, sigh at surprise losses, and scratch your head at how Ohio State went to the Rose Bowl in 1974.

Matching archive photos with their modern viewpoint, London Then and Now gives a fascinating insight into the history of Europe's financial capital. London has changed rapidly in the last 150 years. The Luftwaffe helped modify many parts of central London and the East End in the 1940s, but some of the most dramatic changes have come in the last 20 years. Stretching from Hampton Court and Kew Gardens in West London, the book takes a winding route along the river Thames to the soaring spires of Canary Wharf in Dockland and the stately Royal Naval College at Greenwich. Sites include: Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens, Hammersmith Bridge (Boat Race), Kings Road Chelsea, Battersea Power Station, Lambeth Palace, The Tate, Palace of Westminster, Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), Whitehall, Horseguards Parade, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Albert Memorial, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Festival Hall, Savoy Hotel, Oxo Tower, Covent Garden, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Royal Opera House, Soho, Tate Modern, Bank of England, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, HMS Belfast, Samuel Pepys' Church, London Bridge/Shard, Docklands, Greenwich Observatory (GMT) and the Royal Naval College