20 History


67934 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROBIN HOOD by Nigel Cawthorne Robin Hood and his merry men. Everyone knows he was a famous outlaw and unrivalled archer living with his band of yeomen in Sherwood Forest, near the town of Nottingham, where they feasted on the King’s venison washed down with warm English ale. However, Robin was no outlaw by nature. When he was just 18, back in the reign of Henry II, the Sheriff of Nottingham organised an archery contest to find the best archer in the county. The prize was a butt of ale. In the nearby village of Locksley, Robin heard about this, picked up his bow and arrows and set off for Nottingham. The story grew out of a pagan legend of the ‘Green Man’ but found its home in England during the reign of Richard II, the Lionheart. The hooded man was a symbol of liberty in the face of tyranny, challenging the despotic Sheriff. We also find out who Maid Marian really was. 248pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £5


68936 WOMEN ALL ON FIRE: The Women of the English


Civil War by Alison Plowden In the war between King and Parliament, the women of England played an active and important part. Here historian Alison Plowden reveals the untold story of the women of the English Civil War, featuring illustrations and personal accounts from both Royalist and Parliamentarian supporters. She


illustrates how the conflict unfolded, how it affected the lives of women of all classes and how they coped with unfamiliar or frightening responsibilities, loss and bereavement, divided families, exile and financial ruin. Queen Henrietta Maria went abroad to raise money for the cause and her loyal supporter Mary Banks held Corfe Castle for the King by heaving stones and hot embers over the battlements at the opposing Roundheads. Included also are the oyster wenches of London who laboured beside the men as trenches were dug around the city, and the many women who loaded muskets and passed ammunition. 254pp in paperback, b/w plates. £8.99 NOW £3


67986 THE FREEMASONS by Jasper Ridley Jasper Ridley attempts to separate truth from myth and follows the original lodges of ‘Freestone Masons’, expert carvers who were the élite of the skilled labour force, through to their position in society today. This broad history takes in the ‘Gentlemen Masons’ and speculative lodges of the 18th century, formation of Grand Lodge in London in 1717, and the Papal Bull of 1738 condemning Freemasonry, which was the beginning of a 250 year war between the Freemasons and the Catholic church. He also looks at Freemasons in the American Revolution of 1776 and the creation of the US, their responsibility for the French Revolution and their persecution by the Nazis. Incidents of murder, the effect of their secrecy and controversial attitude to women are all covered. Reprint of a now-classic work. 357pp. $28.95 NOW £6


68005 ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT EGYPT


by Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson


New revised and enlarged edition in association with the British Museum. Packed with hundreds of facts, illustrations and insights, this fully comprehensive companion to ancient Egypt will answer all your questions on a diverse range of topics from Abydos and ankh to Zoser and zodiac. There are more than 600 clear and concise A-Z entries accompanied by photos, maps, site plans and charts. All the entries are cross-referenced and indexed, and each entry is followed by a short bibliography. Now included are the new discoveries in the Valley of the Kings, the geophysical and excavation work in the Nile Delta and new diggings on important sites such as Tell el-Amarna, Gurob and Memphis. 368 large pages, 500 illus in gorgeous colour, charts, maps, chronology.


£25 NOW £8.50 68027 MAMMOTH BOOK OF EYEWITNESS


ANCIENT EGYPT edited by Jon E. Lewis Using primary sources, from the unification of the Kingdoms in c.3150BC to the conquest by Rome, here is a picture of the Egyptians as vividly colourful as their hieroglyphics. Marriage contracts and trials for tomb robbery, magic and spells, mummification, the building of the Temple at Karnak, burials at the Valley of the Kings, how Cleopatra bewitched Antony, Pepi II and the dancing dwarf, Alexander the Great marching on to Egypt, the palace coup of the priest Herihor and hunting crocodiles on the Nile - and history, culture and religion. 519 page paperback. $12.95 NOW £3.75


68476 ON THE SPARTACUS ROAD: A Spectacular Journey


Through Ancient Italy by Peter Stothard The lot of the slave in the final century of the first Roman Republic was not a happy one. While insurrection was extremely rare, it eventually came to pass between 73 and 71BC. The leaders were slaves, but not just any slaves. Highly skilled fighters and, given that they were being trained to die


anyway, with nothing to lose, they were gladiators, led by the Thracian Spartacus, who escaped from his training school in Capua. Some 70,000 flocked to his banner, and this rebel army outfought the greatest army of the ancient world until it was finally put down. The Spartacus Road is the route along which the rebels fought, stretching across 2,000 miles of Italian countryside and 2,000 years of world history. 353pp, illus.


£18.99 NOW £3


68028 ANCIENT WORLD IN YOUR POCKET: Over 3,000 Essential Facts edited by Paul Bahn


From the first written records around 5,000 years ago to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, the ancient world is the backbone of modern civilisation. This book explores the key cultural, political and social events of this fascinating era, including urban centres in Mesopotamia, deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Terracotta Army, earliest African rock art, North American mound cities and cliff dwellings, the world’s


oldest mummies in Chile and much, much more. Contains the charismatic personalities, surprising facts and momentous events of the past. 144 pages illus in colour and b/w, with maps, timelines and charts. ONLY £2.75


68044 FORTIFICATIONS OF THE INCAS


1200-1531 by H. W. and J. E. Kaufmann From the mountain stronghold of Cuzco, three kings subjugated the surrounding kingdoms and territories, absorbing their civilizations and their peoples. By 1525, they dominated much of the west of the continent, relying on fortified strongholds, an extensive system of roads and bridges, and obligatory military service to control local populations. This book takes a detailed look at the development of Incan fortification techniques, the history of the key fortresses, the strategic positions and defensive systems, and examines how they were ultimately overrun by the Spanish conquistadors. 64 large paperback pages, colour maps, photos, colour artwork, line drawings, chronology and list of internet sites.


£11.50 NOW £5 68083 REMEMBER, REMEMBER: The History of


Britain in Bite-Sized Chunks by Judy Parkinson The aim of this brilliant book is to encapsulate British history in no more than 150 entries, each no more than 250 words long. The entries range from the Roman Invasion to the Founding of the United Nations, via Boudicca, the Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, Oliver Cromwell, the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Queen Victoria, the Suffragettes, the Battle of the Somme, the Abdication Crisis, Sir Winston Churchill and numerous other famous people and events. 192pp, decorative line-drawings, timeline, list of monarchs. £9.99 NOW £5


68229 BRITISH CHIMNEY SWEEPS: Five


Centuries of Chimney Sweeping by Benita Cullingford


From the 12th century when chimneys replaced the open cooking fire in a smoke-filled room with a hole in the roof, to the patenting of mechanical devices in the late 19th century, all is revealed. The personalities who dominated the profession, which surprisingly included several women, are vividly portrayed, along with many illustrations of the tools of the trade. Also examined are sweeping techniques, the impact of social reform and the place of the sweep in literature, of which there are numerous instances. 251 paperback pages with many illus and line drawings. $16.95 NOW £6


68475 GREEK STONES SPEAK: The Story of


Archaeology in Greek Lands by Paul MacKendrick A chronological approach to Greek archaeological history, beginning with the Aegean in Prehistory (finds dating before 1900BC), before Greece in the late Bronze Age (1900-1125BC), Mycenaean Athens (1250-700BC), the Lyric Age (700- 480BC), the Classical Age (480-


400BC), which includes much of the Athenian treasures around the Acropolis and Parthenon, the Fourth Century (400-322BC), the Hellenistic Age (322-146BC), arguably the zenith of Greek culture, but short-lived before the Romans finally came to dominate the Mediterranean, as examined in the final chapter, The Greek World Under Roman Sway (146BC-AD267). Photos and maps. 534pp, paperback. £10.99 NOW £2.75


68482 WORDS THAT RING THROUGH TIME edited by Terry Golway


In this compelling volume Terry Golway selects 51 of the most important speeches ever made ranging across some 30 centuries, from Moses addressing the Israelites to Barack Obama’s confrontation of race and religion in March 2008. Others in Golway’s selection including Jesus, Mohammed, Pericles, Cicero, Martin Luther, Thomas More, Elizabeth I, Cromwell, Washington, Robespierre, Napoleon, Daniel O’Connell, Marx, Lincoln, Gandhi, Haile Selassie, Roosevelt, Hitler, Churchill, Hirohito, Khrushchev, JFK, Anwar Sadat, Reagan, Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. This is a series of windows into our past. 416 roughcut pages. £16.99 NOW £5


68549 BOUDICA’S LAST STAND by John Waite


Subtitled ‘Britain’s Revolt Against Rome AD60-61', this book examins a period when Britain was threatened by a bloody revolt led by one of the most iconic figures in British history. Legend dictates that Boudica destroyed three Roman towns and thousands of lives in response to Roman cruelty and betrayal of herself and her family. Rather than a profile of the queen herself, the book reassesses the documentary and archaeological evidence to explore the mechanics of the revolt itself, the tactics used by both Boudica and her Roman opponent Paulinus and a look at where the final battle actually took place. 251pp in paperback, b/w plates. £9.99 NOW £4.50


68242 PALENQUE: Eternal City of the Maya by David Stuart and George Stuart On 15 June 1952, having spent the previous four years in the sweltering heat and humidity of the tropical rainforest of southeastern Mexico meticulously clearing and cleaning out a secret passage inside Palenque’s Temple of the Inscriptions, Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz gazed into a vaulted chamber. There, under a gigantic carved stone block, he made a spectacular discovery - the intact burial of King Pakal (603-683), the greatest ruler of ancient Palenque, complete with jade jewellery and exquisite death mask. K’inich Janab Pakal (to give him his full name) was the most prominent ruler in a long line of monarchs who held sway at Palenque, up in the Mexican mountains, from 300 to 800. Known as “the queen of Maya cities”, it fell into ruin when the Mayan civilisation mysteriously collapsed over 1,000 years ago, along with the other great Mayan urban centres. Here we are taken along with the pioneer artists and archaeologists from the 18th century onwards as they rediscovered Palenque to see ornate palaces, temples, bas-reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions. They reveal a lost world of palace intrigue, war and peace, brilliant architects, artists and sculptors, patron gods and revered ancestors. 27 colour and 140 b/w illus, 23x16cm, chronology, biogs of monarchs, family trees. 272 heavyweight paper pages. £20 NOW £8


Bibliophile Books Unit 5 Datapoint, 6 South Crescent, London E16 4TL TEL: 020 74 74 24 74 68579 OSMAN’S DREAM: The Story of the


Ottoman Empire 1300-1923 by Caroline Finkel


At its height in the 16th century, the formidable Ottoman Empire spanned three continents, stretching from Hungary to the Persian Gulf and from North Africa to the Caucasus. Many of the key events of European history were played out against its backdrop and are revealed in this compelling new book that provides details of its six turbulent centuries. 674 paperback pages with illus, list of Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and chronology. £16.99 NOW £5.50


68905 DUELLING


HANDBOOK 1829 by Joseph Hamilton


In this engrossing historical record of the codes and conduct of the duel, originally written in 1829 as ‘The Only Approved Guide Through All the Stages of a Quarrel’, every aspect of the arcane practice is brought to life. It offers authentic advice on such subjects as withdrawal of challenges, weapons, distance and the fate of survivors.


It brims with vivid anecdotes recounting duels between brothers, between friends, and arising from disagreements over religion, women, gambling and other volatile standpoints. A genuine historical treasure, 167pp in paperback.


£9.99 NOW £3.75 68586 SCANDALOUS SOCIETY: Passion and


Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century by Nick Foulkes


The Count D’Orsay was the first modern celebrity, famous for being famous as a man-about-Europe in the 1830s and 40s. Six foot three, beautiful, dramatically dressed, everything stopped when he swept into a room in the wake of his patrons Lord and Lady Blessington, with both of whom he was probably having affairs. After Lord Blessington’s death, the Count moved into Lady Blessington’s home Gore House, having briefly married her stepdaughter, and became a close friend of Disraeli, Carlyle and other political big players. D’Orsay was offered a post of director at the Paris Beaux-Arts, which he held until his death. 467pp, paperback, b/w photos.


£9.99 NOW £2.50


68253 TOMB OF AGAMEMNON by Cathy Gere


Mycenae, the fabled city of Homer’s King Agamemnon, stands in a remote corner of mainland Greece and is one of the most haunting and impressive sites in Europe. From Homer to Himmler, through Thucydides to Freud, Mycenae has always occupied a singular place in Western imagination. As an archaeological site it has given its name to the splendours of one of Europe’s earliest civilisations - the Mycenaean Age. From the Cult of the Hero that sprang up in the shadow of the great burned walls in the 8th century BC to Agamemnon’s 20th century reincarnation as an Aryan military genius and the distinctly anti-heroic conclusions of modern archaeology, cultural analysis, biography and archaeological history. 202pp in illus paperback. £8.99 NOW £3.75


68369 EDGE OF EMPIRE: Conquest and


Collecting in the East 1750-1850 by Maya Jasanoff


From Cleopatra’s Needle to the fabulous jewels of Seringapatan, Jasanoff asks what British people brought to eastern domains, what they took away, and what it was that motivated them - ambition, opportunism, curiosity, attraction or greed. She follows those who travelled, the collections they purchased, plundered and preserved, and uncovers an original and intimate history of imperialism in an exhilarating cocktail of history and travelogue. 404pp, illus. £9.99 NOW £2.50


68946 BEDLAM: London and


its Mad by Catharine Arnold Bethlehem Hospital or Bedlam as it became in cockney slang, is the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital. Founded in 1247, it developed from a ramshackle hovel to the magnificent ‘Palace Beautiful’ where visitors could pay to gawp at the chained inmates, through to the great Victorian hospital in Lambeth, now the Imperial War Museum.


Catharine Arnold takes us on a tour and looks at the capital’s attitude to madness along the way. We travel from the barbaric ‘exorcisms’ of the medieval era to the Tudor belief that a roast mouse, eaten whole, was the cure. We see the reforming zeal of 18th century campaigners and the development of the massive Victorian asylums. This was the era of the private madhouse, run by ‘traders in lunacy’ who ask no questions and locked up insane and sane alike at the behest of greedy relatives. It was also the age of determined reformers who eventually made their way into Bedlam and exposed its brutal conditions. A finely written and humane book which is tastefully conceived. 306pp in paperback. Woodcuts and illus. £7.99 NOW £4


68471 EDWARD S. CURTIS - THE NORTH


AMERICAN INDIAN by Hans Christian Adam At the turn of the century, the American photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) started on his 30-year project to produce a monumental study of North American Indians. He recorded, in words and pictures, the traces of the traditional Indian way of life that was already beginning to die out. His photographic life’s work was printed in 20 volumes between 1907 and 1930 as The North American Indian. There were only 272 copies in total, so original copies are now extremely rare. A talented historian, photographer, artist and ethnographer, the goal of Edward Curtis was to capture ‘the vanishing Indian’. He started on the project in 1900 and, 30 years later, had taken 40,000 photographs and completed a massive 20-volume work, at the cost of a failed marriage, depleted finances and broken health. He shot families, daily life, costumes, rituals and stunning individual portraits, registering the full range of human emotion. Here are Slow Bull, Black Eagle and Iron Breast and hundreds more, staring at the viewer from a world that no longer exists. Hundreds of sepia images. Softback, 14 x 19.5cm, 576 pages. ONLY £10


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68234 EIFFEL’S TOWER: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris’s Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World’s Fair that Introduced It by Jill Jonnes


Here is the stirring tale of one of the world’s great landmarks, from the Parisian tastemakers who fought Eiffel’s brash design to the parade of luminaries who attended the World’s Fair over which the majestic tower loomed. The colourful narrative captures the excitement and allure of La Belle Epoque France. Here are Thomas Edison, who became a count, artists such as Gauguin and Whistler who quarrelled, and Buffalo Bill, who was beguiling Paris with his Wild West Show. A richly textured portrait of a visionary, an architectural icon and an era at the dawn of modernity. 354 paperback pages with b/w archive photos. £11.99 NOW £5


68510 BATTLE OF


HASTINGS: The Fall of Anglo- Saxon England


by Harriet Harvey Wood The reader is introduced to the widespread misconceptions of the many people who believe that the Norman invaders brought culture and enlightenment to England. In fact, the author asserts, the Normans’ aggressive and illegal invasion destroyed a long- established and highly developed


civilisation, one which was far ahead of other European peoples in its political institutions, art and literature. The book explores the background and lead-up to the invasion and the motives of the leading players, the state of warfare in England and Normandy in 1066, and the Battle of Hastings itself. By all the laws of probability, King Harold ought to have won the battle without difficulty and should have enjoyed a peaceful and enlightened reign. 257 pages with maps, colour plates.


£17.99 NOW £9


68604 EXPLORING THE WORLD OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS


by John Camp and Elizabeth Fisher Around 3,500 years ago the Greeks set out from their mountainous homeland at the end of the Balkan peninsula and within 1,000 years they had colonised and settled almost the entire Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. They were a remarkable people who have left their imprint on politics, art, science, theatre, medicine, philosophy, architecture and athletics. Here the world of the ancient Greeks is presented through time, from the Palaeolithic Age to the mid-15th century, when Greece was swallowed up into the Ottoman Empire. Of key importance is how they interacted, both peaceably and otherwise, with other cultures, such as the Minoans, Phoenicians, Lydians, Persians and Romans. The great historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC, starts his account of the Persian wars by saying that the trouble all started 700 years previously with the Trojan War! Individual chapters examine gods and heroes, art and architecture, theatre and literature, and many eyewitness accounts of momentous events are included. A grand, sweeping and authoritative survey. 376 illus (107 in colour), maps and site plans, 224pp. £17.95 NOW £8.50


68768 OLD STONE MONUMENTS IN ALL COUNTRIES: Their Age and Uses by James Fergusson


Originally titled Rude Stone Monuments, this highly illustrated text, first published in 1872, is required reading for any serious student of ancient history and architecture. It is a classic study of megaliths around the world, and includes examples - many now long gone - not only from India, Ceylon, North Africa and Europe but also from Western Asia, North America, Central America and Peru. One of the most interesting of antiquarian studies is that which relates to the origin and purpose of the many ancient mounds and monuments to be found in almost every country. A thick 559 paperback pages in facsimile reprint with 234 b/w illus and three appendices: Glens Columbkills and Malin, Oden’s Howe, Upsala and Antiquities of Caithness. £9.99 NOW £4.50


68770 1415: Henry V’s Year


of Glory by Ian Mortimer Henry V is regarded as a great British hero - victory against a huge numerical disadvantage over the French at a rain-sodden Agincourt on 25 October 1415, his piety and rigorous application of justice, plus his elevation to heroic status by Shakespeare have ensured that he has been regarded as a champion of English nationalism for generations. But how true is all of this? Does he


actually deserve to be lionised in this way? The story is told against the background of concurrent developments in Europe, particularly the power struggle within the Church and official attempts to eradicate any deviant religious beliefs, which provide eye-opening new explanations as to why Henry tried to unite the kingdoms of England and France, and why he was prepared to burn heretics alive publicly. At the centre of events is Agincourt, a slaughter ground designed not directly to advance England’s interests, but more to demonstrate God’s approval of Henry’s claim to authority on both sides of the Channel. 640pp, colour plates


£20 NOW £10 68865 DEFINING MOMENTS IN HISTORY


edited by Bianca Jackson and Jonathan Morton This chunky 800pp softback bears the subtitle “Over a Century of the People, Discoveries, Disasters and Political and Cultural Events that Rocked the World”, and is the work of a team of over 80 historians, political commentators, activists, academics and journalists who have selected the 1,000 most important events of the 20th century, and in so doing have created a unique timeline of the modern world. Divided into 11 chapters by decade (the final one is 2000-2007), each event is cited chronologically and classified as either a key cultural event, person, discovery or political event with a quick reference sidebar, and then fully described with relevant background information and why he, she or it was so significant. 250 colour and b/w illus. £18.99 NOW £6.50


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