Secondhand History Books

Ten years ago, Angela Kiss arrived in the UK without a word of English. All she brought with her was a small bag, a sense of adventure, a desire to...

'This powerful, vividly illustrated book proudly reframes Black British history'The Guardian'... a brilliant, fascinating history book'The Week Junior, Book of the Week'I started reading and couldn't put it down. It's...

Written in 1878, The Jerilderie Letter is Ned Kelly's own account of his family's persecution and the events that led to his becoming one of the most famous outlaws in...

This work is a collection of 50 speeches from every period of British history from the medieval era to the present and a fascinating dip-in history title that will both...

The Cold War was enacted in multiple arenas: military coalitions, espionage, industrial and technological developments, an arms race, many proxy wars - and chess. Those 64 squares may seem an...

A masterful account, culminating in the fateful days before the most decisive event of World War II: Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union This brilliant new work by the author...

In 1981, while working as New Mexico State Historian, Stanley M. Hordes began to hear stories of Hispanos who lit candles on Friday night and abstained from eating pork. Puzzling...

Now covering the whole of Europe from the French Revolution to the present day, this major new edition has been completely revised and brought up-to-date. The approach embraces the whole...

The "war on drugs" in America continues to be fought with old "weapons". Harsh punishments continue to be handed out to offenders, but these measures fail to control the most...

Anthony Swofford's grandfather fought in WWII; his father fought in Vietnam; and he - a directionless, testosterone-battered teenager - became a scout/sniper in the marines and fought in the Gulf...

Consuming History examines how history works in contemporary popular culture. Analysing a wide range of cultural entities from computer games to daytime television, it investigates the ways in which society...

Asian empires led the world economically, scientifically and culturally for hundreds of years, and posed a constant challenge to the countries of Europe. How and why did those empires gain...

The remarkable life of the vivacious, clever - and forgotten - Kennedy sister, who charmed the English aristocracy and was almost erased from her family history. The favourite child of...

The author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind looks at covert operations and assassination plots in the medieval period, matching anything to be found in our...

The young George III was a poignant figure, humdrum on the surface yet turbulent beneath: hiding his own passions, he tried hard to be a father to his siblings and...

A gripping account of both an individual caught on the horns of an excruciating moral dilemma and a continent at a turning point. When Michela Wrong's Kenyan friend John Githongo...

Vera Brittain's bestselling TESTAMENT OF YOUTH was based on her own copious diaries, which have a much greater intimacy than the account written for publication. These are those diaries. They...

Eva was arrested by the Nazis on her fifteenth birthday and sent to Auschwitz. Her survival depended on endless strokes of luck, her own determination and the love and protection...

The two great financial crises of the past century are the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Recession, which began in 2008. Both occurred against the backdrop of...

In On Royalty Jeremy Paxman delves deep into Britain's royal past. What is the point of Kings and Queens? What do they do all day? And what does it mean...

The greatest 'unsolved mystery' of the American Southwest relates to the Anasazi, the native peoples who in the 11th century converged on Chaco Canyon (now New Mexico) and built a...

The Macdonald sisters -- Alice, Georgiana, Agnes and Louisa -- started life among the ranks of the lower-middle classes, with little prospect of social advancement. But as wives and mothers...

The imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, in May 1536 was unprecedented in English history. It was sensational in its day, and has exerted endless...

It's the stuff myths are made of: the story of a celebrated artefact - the 1933 twenty-dollar gold piece - and its incredible journey from the deathbed of a famous...

Death Before Glory! is a highly readable, thoroughly researched and comprehensive study of the British army's campaigns in the West Indies during the Napoleonic period and of the extraordinary experiences...

For this study of the heir to the throne, Jonathan Dimbleby was given unprecedented access to his subject. As well as spending many hours in wide-ranging and candid conversation with...

Art imitates life. Or does it? One sleepy Sunday morning in Buenos Aires, the protagonist of Martinez's brilliant new mystery finds himself unexpectedly tangled up in the story of Luciana,...

In the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in...

Two of the major conflicts of the second half of the nineteenth century, the Crimean War and the American Civil War, gave photographers their first opportunity to approach the battlefield....

The Knights Templar were the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained...

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Western India in 1869. He was educated in London and later travelled to South Africa, where he experienced racism and took up the rights...

Engaging and perceptive . . . Ms. Borman offers deft and thoughtful assessments of every reign . . . the chronological approach is enriched by details that help to humanize...

The definitive biography of the fiercely vigilant and politically astute First Lady who shaped one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century: Nancy Reagan.The made-in-Hollywood marriage of Ronald...

The hidden fabric of a Victorian woman's life told through her unique scrapbook.In 1838, Anne Sykes was given a diary on her wedding day. Using it to collect snippets of...

'Masterly' Observer'Brilliant' Independent on Sunday'Sparks of life' Daily MailThomas More is one of the great figures in English history. Pre-eminent as a courtier and as a humanist, a friend to...

This study explores the regulation of occupational health in the British asbestos industry from the recognition in the late 1890s that asbestos dust might pose a health hazard until the...

A fascinating recreation of the world of one of England's most charismatic monarchs, from award-winning author and historian Richard BarberThe destruction of the French army at Crecy in 1346 and...