Secondhand History Books

While Obama's triumphant 'Yes we can' continued to reverberate, it was tempting to believe that a new era of opportunity had dawned. But for several million dirt-poor, disgruntled Americans the...

A haunting, evocative recounting of her life as a slave in North Carolina, and her final escape and emancipation, Jacobs' narrative, written between 1853 and 1858 and published in 1861,...

'Reading this book is like taking a ride on a marvellously exhilarating time-machine, alive with colour, surprise and sheer merriment' Jan MorrisElizabethan London reveals the practical details of everyday life...

It was May 1940 and Hitler stood on the cliffs at Calais to eye up his next conquest: England! There was a call to arms that saw the founding of...

The conservative backbencher takes the reader behind the scenes in an amusing and irreverent anecdotal account of Westminster and its MPs. The lesser-known aspects of parliamentary life are here: ideology...

Patron saint, visionary, defender of a nation, political symbol, feminist icon, martyr - Joan of Arc is all these things and more. A saviour of France who would be burned...

There are instances of heroic deeds that had no immediate witness, such as Scholls's attempt in 1943 to raise their nation's conscience, suppressed by Hitler's propaganda machine. The Canadian physicist...

An authoritative and original history of the Maginot Line that reshapes our understanding of interwar France and the events of 1940 The Maginot Line was a marvel of 1930s engineering....

In this sensitive inquiry, historian Stephen J. Whitfield probes Till's death; its ideological roots; the potent myths concerning race, sexuality, and violence; and the incident's enduring effects on American national...

Mythology of the World is a superb guide to the history of mythology in many different countries. From the ancient Greeks to the Aztecs, people across the world have created...

In this magnificent reference book, the powerful and evocative mythologies and religions of the East are revealed in all their glory. This important publication is essential reading for all those...

This book is a portrayal of the world's worst disasters, including catastrophe's from the fall of Pompeii, the Black Death and the Great Fire of London to the most recent...

Guardian Book of the DayNew Statesman Book of the YearHistory Today Book of the YearTimes Literary Supplement Book of the YearBBC History Magazine Book of the Year'Bustles impressively with detail...

The Prince of the City is at once a fascinating character study of one of America's most charismatic public figures, a history of New York over the last forty years,...

The vivid scenes on the thin, 70-metre long linen strip of the "Bayeux Tapestry" depict the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror...

In September 1996, a fourteen-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room, shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi....

Describes the emotions of Queen Elizabeth I. For although her great passion was for power, she was capable of more human feelings such as her love for the worthless Earl...

This revised second edition now extends to the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, covering the financial crisis and the related crisis in European integration, the impact...

Caius Julius Caesar remains the most famous Roman - and indeed one of the most famous people - ever to have lived. In this new biography, the first for many...

Focusing on pivotal points in Early British History, this book examines the role of folly and fortune in major events in Britain from Caesar's expeditions to the Norman Conquest. By...

FOR FANS OF THE BBC SERIES SAS ROGUE HEROES, THIS IS THE REAL STORY OF BLAIR 'PADDY' MAYNEA Waterstones Best History Book of 2023The incredible true story of the SAS'...