The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith & the Pursuit of anancient Bible
Matti Friedman
Scribe Publications, PB, 9781921844805
This true-life detective story unveils the journey of a sacred text – the tenth-century annotated bible known as the Aleppo Codex – from its hiding place in a Syrian synagogue to the newly founded state of Israel. Based on documents kept secret for 50 years, as well as personal interviews with key figures, Matti Friedman proposes a new theory of what ... More/Buy
Foundation: The History of England Volume 1
Peter Ackroyd
Pan, PB, 9780330544283
The first volume in a new six-part history of England from acclaimed author Peter Ackroyd. Having written enthralling biographies of London and of its great river, the Thames, Peter Ackroyd now turns to England itself. This first volume of six takes us from the time that England was first settled, more than 15,000 years ago, to the death in 1509 of ... More/Buy
Frankland: The Franks and the World of the Early Middle Ages
Paul Fouracre, David Ganz
Manchester University Press, PB, 9780719087721
This collection of highly original essays by leading early medieval historians honours the work and career of Dame Janet (Jinty) Nelson, one of the most respected and influential scholars of her generation. The essays build on the spirit of Janet Nelson’s work by linking the study of Francia with at least one other area or general theme of early medieval history. ... More/Buy
A History of England in 100 Places: From Stonehenge to the Gherkin
John Julius Norwich
John Murray, PB, 9781848546097
From battlefield to sacred building, from castle to cottage, from the Bridgwater Canal to Blackpool Pier, historian John Julius Norwich tells the political, cultural, social, religious and economic story of England through one hundred key places you can still visit today. Part narrative history, part exploration of our national heritage, his wide-ranging selection of sites will stimulate, entertain, inform - and ... More/Buy
London Under
Peter Ackroyd
Vintage, PB, 9780099287377
London Under is a wonderful, atmospheric, imaginative, oozing short study of everything that goes on under London, from original springs and streams and Roman amphitheatres to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts and modern Tube stations. The depth below is hot, warmer than the surface, and tunnels down through the geological layers, meeting the creatures that dwell in darkness, real and fictional - ... More/Buy
Notes on a Century: Reflections of A Middle East Historian
Bernard Lewis
W & N Non Fiction, HB, 9780297867029
NOTES ON A CENTURY is a great historian's vivid and insightful episodic reflections on his life, from his childhood as a confident, clever little boy to his energetic old age in the present day. He is always at pains to explain the importance of the role of a historian: in contrast to other academic disciplines he unwittingly breaks his own mould, ... More/Buy
Opium: Reality’s Dark Dream
Thomas Dormandy
Yale University Press, HB, 9780300175325
Opium and its derivatives morphine and heroin have destroyed, corrupted, and killed individuals, families, communities, and even whole nations. And yet, for most of its long history, opium has also been humanity’s most effective means of alleviating physical and mental pain. Thomas Dormandy’s book encompasses the entire history of the world’s most fascinating drug, from the first evidence of poppy cultivation ... More/Buy
A People's History of London
John Rees, Lindsey Termain
Verso, PB, 9781844678556
Hub of empire, world port and seat of government, London has a political history that is nevertheless entwined with the lives of its people, a multitude often dismissed throughout the centuries as a mob. This gripping new counter-history reveals how London's poor and its immigrant population have shaped its history and identity over the ages: from apprentices closing the city gates ... More/Buy
The Popes: A History
John Julius Norwich
Vintage, PB, 9780099565871
Well known for his histories of Norman Sicily, Venice, the Byzantine Empire and the Mediterranean, John Julius Norwich has now turned his attention to the oldest continuing institution in the world, tracing the papal line down the centuries from St Peter himself - traditionally (though by no means historically) the first pope - to the present Benedict XVI.Of the 280-odd holders ... More/Buy
The Second World War
Antony Beevor
W & N Non Fiction, HB, 9780297844976
The Second World War began in August 1939 on the edge of Manchuria and ended there exactly six years later with the Soviet invasion of northern China. The war in Europe appeared completely divorced from the war in the Pacific and China and yet events on opposite sides of the world had profound effects. Using the most up-to-date scholarship and research ... More/Buy
The Shortest History of Europe: Revised and Updated
John Hirst
Black Inc, PB, 9781863955652
Celebrated historian John Hirst offers a fascinating exploration of the qualities that made Europe a world-changing civilisation. The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid overview of European civilisation, describing its birth from an unlikely mixture of classical learning, Christianity and German warrior culture. Over the centuries, this unstable blend produced highly distinctive characters -pious knights and belligerent popes, romantics ... More/Buy
Spanish Gold: Captain Woodes Rogers and the Pirates of the Caribbean
David Cordingly
Bloomsbury, PB, 9781408822166
When the Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713, there was an explosion of piracy across the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard of North America. Hundreds of unemployed sailors roamed the seaports and many were tempted to take to piracy. Unable to attack enemy targets any longer, they replaced their national flags with the black ... More/Buy
Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England
Thomas Penn
Penguin, PB, 9780141040530
It is 1501. Henry VII - a fugitive with Machiavellian charm - has won the throne of England through luck, guile and ruthlessness. But for many he remains a usurper. Now, his elder son is to marry a great Spanish princess in a wedding upon which the fate of the country will hang . . . Winter King vividly recreates ... More/Buy