In May 1857, with the Indian Mutiny reaching boiling point, Sir Henry Lawrence summoned from their homes two sets of pensioners, one of sepoys and one of artillerymen, to defend the Lucknow British Residency. Lawrence would not clear the mosques surrounding the 60-acre site, which provided cover for rebel sharpshooters and artillery – ‘Spare the holy places’ – and was almost immediately killed by a shell. Thus began one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the British Empire: truly a Victorian epic. Hundreds of women and children cowered in the complex as the bombs and bullets flew. The first relief attempt led by Maj Gen Havelock failed. The tens of thousands of besiegers undermined the defences and food was running out. With massive loss of life and after 87 days, the relief force reached the Residency – to become besieged themselves for another six weeks. The 64-year-old Sir Colin Campbell led the second relief column through the rebels, the 4th Punjab Infantry Regiment emptying their muskets and resorting to the bayonet. After 148 days under siege, retreat was the only option and the whole garrison moved to Cawnpore. The following March, Lucknow was retaken. Victorian military history expert William Wright returns to primary sources to tell the extraordinary story.

Alabama has a storied history: Fewer than ten generations ago, Alabama was owned by the Spanish (who claimed Mobile until 1813), then the British, and then the United States, after failing to secede into a Confederacy. Following the Civil War, Alabama suffered economic collapse and depended on the few crops it could sell or export to exist as a unified state. Today, the state thrives, but its troubled history has left a mark that, with hope, fades with time, compassion, and understanding. Alabama is among the most naturally dynamic states in the nation, its ecosystems ranging from Appalachian mountains, through rolling Piedmont, to the vast Gulf Shore. In this tenth volume of The Southern Poetry Anthology, the editors have achieved a remarkable task; they have revealed another wide variegation that makes Alabama so dynamic: poets in the Yellowhammer State with both established and new voices. They have elucidated the impressive and exciting diversity of poets who consider or have considered Alabama home.

A stimulating and highly readable account of the world of genetic research and molecular biology and its findings over the last half-century. Challenges common assumptions and theories of what determines our personality and behaviour.

Originally published in 1901, this book contains the first half of the catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the collection of the University Library, Cambridge. Each record includes the provenance of the manuscript in question, where possible, and the introduction provides a small account of the formation of the Library's collection. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the collections of the University Library or in Syriac literature.

Originally published in 1901, this book contains the second half of the catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the collection of the University Library, Cambridge. Each record includes the provenance of the manuscript in question, where possible. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the collections of the University Library or in Syriac literature.

Who were the men who commanded the British Army in the numerous small wars of the Victorian Empire? Today, many are all but forgotten, save the likes of Cardigan, Kitchener, Baden-Powell and Gordon of Khartoum. Yet they were a disparate and fascinating assemblage, made up of men of true military genius, as well as egoists, fools and despots. In Warriors of the Queen, William Wright surveys over 170 of these men, examining their careers and personalities. He reveals not only the lives of the great military names of the period but also of those whom history has overlooked, from James 'Buster' Browne, who once fought a battle in his nightshirt, to Jack Bisset, who had fought in three South African wars by his twenty-third birthday. Based on original research and complemented by over sixty photographs, Warriors of the Queen provides new insight into the men who built (and sometimes endangered) the British Empire on the battlefield.

This work, first published in 1895, and here republished in facsimile, tells of the author's travels on horseback throughout that region of the Middle East centring on the oasis of Palmyra. Though largely a narrative of the author's travels, the true value of the work lies in the wealth of detailed information on the archaeological features of the area, and particularly important are the large number of plates and engravings of historical sites and artefacts, many of which are now lost. The republication of this work will be widely welcomed by historians and students of Middle Eastern history.