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'She imagines the experiences of the sisters with empathy and patience ... and ably manages to coax the few sparks of evidence into flames of personality ... Whoop, whoop! If anyone can find me another clutch of rebel princesses, let's get crowd-funding.' Hermione Eyre, Spectator Virginal, chaste, humble, patiently waiting for rescue by brave knights and handsome princes: this idealized – and largely mythical – notion of the medieval noblewoman still lingers. Yet the reality was very different, as Kelcey Wilson-Lee shows in this vibrant account of the five daughters of the great English king, Edward I. The lives of these sisters – Eleanora, Joanna, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth – ran ...
After the Restoration the men who signed Charles I's death warrant fled to New England, becoming folk heroes for America's earliest historians and novelists. This is the story of the lives and afterlives of these regicides, and the truth behind the attempts by King Charles II's government to bring the 'king-killers' to justice.
Nominated for the Folio Prize Famed beauty Venetia Stanley is so extravagantly dazzling she has inspired Ben Jonson to poetry and Van Dyck to painting, provoking adoration and emulation from the masses. Stampedes follow her arrival in town. But as she approaches middle age, the attention turns to scrutiny. Her adoring husband Sir Kenelm Digby âe" philosopher, alchemist and time-traveller âe" wishes she would age naturally, but Venetia discovers a potent and addictive elixir of youth, Viper Wine. Set on the eve of the English Civil War, and based on a true story, this brilliant novel asks a very contemporary question: what is the cost of beauty? 'Dazzling' Observer 'Intoxicating' Independent on Sunday 'Wickedly funny' The Times
The untold story of the remarkable woman behind England's greatest medieval king, Edward I
'An important and timely book.' - Philippa Gregory Joan of Navarre was the richest woman in the land, at a time when war-torn England was penniless. Eleanor Cobham was the wife of a weak king's uncle – and her husband was about to fall from grace. Jacquetta Woodville was a personal enemy of Warwick the Kingmaker, who was about to take his revenge. Elizabeth Woodville was the widowed mother of a child king, fighting Richard III for her children's lives. In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives of these four unique women, looking at how rumours of witchcraft brought them to their knees in a time when superstition and suspicion was rife.
The life and times of one of the most unforgettable figures of the Middle Ages.
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘An absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year’ Sunday Telegraph ‘On nearly every page a random passage takes one’s breath away’ The Times Have you ever heard the march of legions on a lonely country road?
A pioneering book highlighting the dynamic environmental dimensions of towns and villages and spatial connections with surrounding land.
‘Impossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley’s book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year’ Sunday Times A luminous journey through a thousand years of folklore and English history.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE PRIZE 'The most formidable spy in history' IAN FLEMING 'His work was impeccable' KIM PHILBY 'The spy to end spies' JOHN LE CARRÉ Born of a German father and a Russian mother, Richard Sorge moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. In the years leading up to and during the Second World War, he became a fanatical communist - and the Soviet Union's most formidable spy. Combining charm with ruthless manipulation, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society. His intelligence proved pivotal to the Soviet counter-offensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war itself. Drawing on a wealth of declassified Soviet archives, this is a major biography of one of the greatest spies who ever lived.