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A landmark publication: the first-ever history of Scotland told from the perspective of women - the half of history that we forgot
Robert Burns, born in 1759 and who died young in 1796, is the national bard of Scotland. His poems and songs are performed and sung the world over to this day.
When several children from the same village start succumbing to a mysterious illness, the quest to discover the cause has devastating and extraordinary consequences. 'Absolutely MAGNIFICENT: dark, witty, charming. I LOVED it.' MARIAN KEYES 'Utterly absorbing' LISA MCINERNEY 'Heart-rending, hilarious . . . it's a belter' LOUISE KENNEDY 'Blistering...glorious...written from the guts and from the heart.' LUCY CALDWELL 'An original and exciting work that's equal parts terrifying, hilarious and memorable.' SUNDAY TIMES It is late June in Ballylack. Hannah Adger anticipates eight long weeks' reprieve from school, but when her classmate Ross succumbs to a violent and mysterious illness, it marks th...
'Dan Rhodes is a true original' – Hilary Mantel 'I read this novel right through the day I got my hands on it, laughing like a banshee.' - David Sexton, Sunday Times When the sleepy English village of Green Bottom hosts its first literary festival, the good, the bad and the ugly of the book world descend upon its leafy lanes But the villagers are not prepared for the peculiar habits, petty rivalries and unspeakable desires of the authors. And they are certainly not equipped to deal with Wilberforce Selfram, the ghoul-faced, ageing enfant terriblewho wreaks havoc wherever he goes Sour Grapes is a hilarious satire on the literary world which takes no prisoners as it skewers authors, agents, publishers and reviewers alike
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR A riveting narrative history that shows for the first time how the campaign to end slavery divided Britain, convulsed its politics and was almost thwarted by some of the most powerful and famous figures of the era. In 1807, Parliament outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire. But for the next 25 years more than 700,000 people remained enslaved, due to the immensely powerful pro-slavery group the 'West India Interest'. This ground-breaking history discloses the extent to which the 'Interest' were supported by nearly every figure of the British establishment - fighting, not to abolish slavery, but to maintain it for profit. Gripping and unflinching, The Interest is the long-overdue exposé of one of Britain's darkest, most turbulent times. 'A critical piece of history and a devastating exposé' Shashi Tharoor, author of Inglorious Empire 'Thoroughly researched and potent' David Lammy MP 'Essential reading' Simon Sebag Montefiore
A sweeping history of nineteenth-century Britain by one of the world's most respected historians. "An evocative account . . .[Cannadine] tells his own story persuasively and exceedingly well.” —The Wall Street Journal To live in nineteenth-century Britain was to experience an astonishing and unprecedented series of changes. Cities grew vast; there were revolutions in transportation, communication, science, and work--all while a growing religious skepticism rendered the intellectual landscape increasingly unrecognizable. It was an exhilarating time, and as a result, most of the countries in the world that experienced these changes were racked by political and social unrest. Britain, howev...
Dacre's War is a story of personal and political vengeance. Ten years after the battle of Flodden, Adam Crozier, head of his clan and of an increasingly powerful alliance of Borderers, learns for sure that it was Lord Thomas Dacre - now the most powerful man in the north of England - who ordered his father's murder. He determines to take his revenge. As a fighting man, Crozier would like nothing better than to bring Dacre down face to face but his wife Louise advises him that he must use more subtle methods. So he sets out to engineer Dacre's downfall by turning the machinery of the English court against him. A vivid and fast-moving tale of political intrigue and heartache, Dacre's War is a fascinating portrait of the historical Scottish and English borderlands, a place were there is never any chance of peace.
Patrick Paniter was James IV's right-hand man, a diplomatic genius who was in charge of the guns at the disastrous battle of Flodden in September 1513 in which the English annihilated the Scots. After the death of his king he is tormented by guilt as he relives the events that led to war. When Louise Brenier, daughter of a rogue sea trader, asks his help in finding out if her brother Benoit was killed in action, it is the least he can do to salve his conscience. Not satisfied with the news he brings, Louise sets off to find out the truth herself, and swiftly falls foul of one of the lawless clans that rule the ungovernable borderlands. After Flodden is a novel about the consequences of the b...
From Chaucer to Chatwin, this guide presents characters from novels, plays and poems in vivid summaries. It contains more than 6,500 detailed entries, and is fully cross-referenced
Boosted by the success of naval campaigns in the Western Isles and support for the Danes, James IV, in a misguided attempt to support France when that country was invaded by Henry VIII's troops, ordered the Scottish army across the Border. At Flodden he faced English troops under the Earl of Surrey, and although having a big advantage in terms of numbers, suffered a defeat so humiliating that it dented Scotland's confidence for centuries. James IV lost his life at Flodden, and also took with him the flower of the Scottish nobility, in addition to as many as 10,000 Scottish soldiers, both Highland and Lowland. It was nothing less than catastrophe. In this re-assessment of one of Europe's last medieval battles, Peter Reese considers Flodden against the patterns of both countries' traditional military rivalry and the personal animosity that existed between James and Henry. He discusses the men who made up both armies, their contrasting weaponry, systems of command and military tactics, and considers the major part the battle played in the road to the unification of Scotland and England. A number of maps allow the reader to follow the events of the battle in close detail.