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Is it true that the trans-Atlantic slave trade, about which so much
has been heard in recent years, would have been impossible without
the willing and enthusiastic cooperation of African leaders?
Slavery was a common practice in Africa long before the arrival of
Europeans, with the trade in black slaves, who were transported
from Africa to America and the islands of the Caribbean, aided by
the African traders who benefited from the arrangement. Even when
Europe and America outlawed slavery and the slave trade, those
living in Africa clung tenaciously to their old ways and refused to
relinquish what was, to them, a time-honoured custom. It is for
this reason that slavery lingers on in Africa to this day. In this
book, Simon Webb explores the history of slavery in Africa and
finds that it was not necessarily imposed upon the continent by
Europeans, but was rather an integral part of many, perhaps most,
cultures. Even when the British deployed their army and navy to try
to suppress the trade in slaves during the nineteenth century,
their efforts were largely ineffectual because many societies saw
no reason to give up such an old, useful and profitable system. At
a time when the subject of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seldom
out of the news, this book provides a vital corrective to the
popularly accepted view of the matter. Nobody reading it will ever
view slavery and the slave trade in quite the same light again.
This book relates a chapter of American military history which many
people would rather forget. When the United States came to the aid
of Britain in 1942, the arrival of American troops was greeted with
unreserved enthusiasm, but unfortunately, wartime sometimes brings
out the worst, as well as the best, in people. A small number of
the soldiers abused the hospitality they received by committing
murders and rapes against British civilians. Some of these men were
hanged or shot at Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset, which had been
handed over for the use of the American armed forces. Due to a
treaty between Britain and America, those accused of such offences
faced an American court martial, rather than a British civilian
court, which gave rise to some curious anomalies. Although rape had
not been a capital crime in Britain for over a century, it still
carried the death penalty under American military law and so the
last executions for rape in Britain were carried out at this time
in Shepton Mallet. _Fighting For America, Executed in Britain_
tells the story of every American soldier executed in Britain
during the Second World War. The majority of the executed soldiers
were either black or Hispanic, reflecting the situation in the
United States itself, where the ethnicity of the accused person
often played a key role in both convictions and the chances of
subsequently being executed.
This book tells the fascinating story of the origin of our ideas
about wizards, witches and fairies. We all have a clear mental
image of the pointed hats worn by such individuals, which are based
upon actual headgear dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age.
Carefully sifting through old legends, archaeological evidence and
modern research in genetics, Simon Webb shows us how our notions
about fairies and elves, together with human workers of magic, have
evolved over the centuries. This exploration of folklore, backed by
the latest scientific findings, will present readers with the image
of a lost world; the one used as the archetype for fantasy
adventures from _The Lord of the Rings_ to _Game of Thrones_. In
the process, the real nature of wizards will be revealed and their
connection with the earliest European cultures thoroughly
documented. After reading this book, nobody will ever be able to
view Gandalf the wizard in the same light and even old fairy tales
such as _Beauty and the Beast_ will take on a richer and deeper
meaning. In short, our perception of wizards, witches and fairies
will be altered forever.
In the years leading up to the First World War, the United Kingdom
was subjected to a ferocious campaign of bombing and arson. Those
conducting this terrorist offensive were members of the Women's
Social and Political Union; better known as the suffragettes. The
targets for their attacks ranged from St Paul's Cathedral and the
Bank of England in London to theatres and churches in Ireland. The
violence, which included several attempted assassinations,
culminated in June 1914 with an explosion in Westminster Abbey.
Simon Webb explores the way in which the suffragette bombers have
been airbrushed from history, leaving us with a distorted view of
the struggle for female suffrage. Not only were the suffragettes
far more aggressive than is generally known, but there exists the
very real and surprising possibility that their militant activities
actually delayed, rather than hastened, the granting of the
parliamentary vote to British women. AUTHOR: Simon Webb is the
author of many non-fiction books, ranging from academic works on
education to popular history. He has also written dozens of
westerns under both his own name and a variety of pseudonyms, such
as Harriet Cade, Fenton Sadler and Jay Clanton. He works as a
consultant on the subject of capital punishment to television
companies and filmmakers and also writes fro various magazines and
newspapers, including the Times educational Supplement, Daily
Telegraph and The Guardian. 16 b/w illustrations
Taking you through the year day by day, The Colchester Book of Days
contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts
from different periods in the history of Britain's oldest recorded
town. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep
you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of
information gleaned from the vaults of Colchester's archives, it
will delight residents and visitors alike.
There is an ancient and quite baseless myth that the use of torture
has never been legal in Britain. This old wives' tale arose because
torture had been neither endorsed nor forbidden by either statute
or common law. In other words; the law has, until the late
twentieth century, never had anything to say on the subject. In
fact, torture, inflicted both as punishment and as an aid to
interrogation, has been a constant and recurring feature of British
life; from the beginning of the country's recorded history, until
well into the twentieth century. Even as late as 1976, the European
Court of Human Rights ruled that the British Army was guilty of the
systematic torture of suspected terrorists. In 'A History of
Torture in Britain' Simon Webb traces the terrible story of the
deliberate use of pain on prisoners in Britain and its overseas
possessions. Beginning with the medieval trial by ordeal, which
entailed carrying a red-hot iron bar in your bare hand for a
certain distance, through to the stretching on the rack of
political prisoners and the mutilation of those found guilty of
sedition; the evidence clearly shows that Britain has relied
heavily upon torture, both at home and abroad, for almost the whole
of its history. This sweeping and authoritative account of a grisly
and distasteful subject is likely to become the definitive history
of the judicial infliction of pain in Britain and its Empire.
This is not a guidebook. This little book brings together past and
present to offer a taste of Kingston upon Thames. Learn about the
movers and shakers who shaped this fantastic borough. The great and
the good; the bad and the ugly. Small wonders, tall stories.
TRIUMPH and tragedy. Best places - worst places. Local lingo,
architecture, green spaces, events, traditions, fact, fiction.
Origins, evolution, future. Written by a local who knows what makes
Kingston upon Thames tick.
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