Showing titles in Great Britain

1189. The long-awaited goal of Richard Plantagenet, the Lionheart, comes true as he is crowned King of England. Before he can set off on crusade and retake Jerusalem from the Saracens, he must set his own kingdom in order and deal with his half-brother Geoffrey and younger brother John, both of whom pose threats to the throne.

HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine. Despite this the convoy fought its way through.

King George V predicted that his son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world’s press revealed the king was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict.

Here is the first full-length biography of a much maligned but astonishingly colourful Queen of England. In Newgate Street, in the city of London, stand the meagre ruins of Christ Church. On the same site once stood a royal mausoleum set to rival Westminster Abbey in the 14th century. Among the many crowned heads buried there was Isabella of France, Edward II's queen - one of the most notorious femme fatales in history. But how did she acquire her evil reputation? And is it justified?

Peter Ratcliffe served in the SAS for 25 years. Blooded in Oman in the 1970s, he also saw action in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands War, and in the Gulf campaign. From his early days in the Paras to his time as Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Gulf, he has lived and fought by the motto 'who dares wins'. Eye of the Storm is his insider's account of that exceptional career.

Reissued for the twentieth anniversary of Diana’s death, this sensational bestseller is an explosive account of her life, from the man who was by her side throughout its most turbulent period. In 1981 Lady Diana Spencer was seen by many as a lifeline for the outdated Windsor line. But Diana...

‘Grimly fascinating … engrossing’ Daily Mail NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION. In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but...

On Tuesday 4 May 1926, two million workers downed tools in the only nationwide all-hands strike ever held in Britain. The General Strike had begun, and the country braced itself for what many believed was a moment akin to the Russian Revolution, which had shaken the world only a decade earlier. Industry was deprived of gas and electricity; the buses, trains and trams all stopped; newspapers ceased publication; and workers abandoned mines and iron, steel and chemical works around the country. The General Strike has entered our national mythology.

July 1346. The Hundred Years' War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through France. But this war belongs to the men on the ground. Swept up in the bloody chaos, a tight-knit company from Essex must stay alive long enough to see their home again. With sword, mace and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy.

A young pretender raises an army to take the throne. Learning of his father’s death, the adolescent, dashing and charismatic and descended from the old kings of the North, vows to avenge him. He is supported in this war by his mother, who has spirited away her two younger sons to safety. Against them is the queen, passionate, proud, and strong-willed and with more of the masculine virtues of the time than most men. She too is battling for the inheritance of her young son, not yet fully grown but already a sadist who takes delight in watching executions.

For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. The Royal Art of Poison is a hugely entertaining work of popular history that traces the use of poison as a political - and cosmetic - tool in the royal courts of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the Kremlin today.  

Covering the Ice Age to the recent Scottish Referendum, the acclaimed historian and author explores the history of the Scottish nation. Focusing on key moments such as the Battle of Bannockburn and the Jacobite risings, Moffat also features other episodes in history that are perhaps less well documented. From prehistoric timber halls to inventions and literature, Moffat's epic explores the drama of battle, change, loss, and innovation interspersed with the lives of ordinary Scottish folk, the men and women who defined a nation.

Elizabeth I is one of England's most famous monarchs, whose story as the ‘Virgin Queen' is well known. But queenship was by no means a certain path for Henry VIII's younger daughter, who spent the majority of her early years as a girl with an uncertain future. Before she was three years old Elizabeth had been both a princess and then a bastard following the brutal execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn. 

'A rich treasure-chest of a book' ANTHONY HOWARD, Sunday Telegraph 'A spectacular history of the sixties' NICK COHEN, Observer 'Sandbrook's book is a pleasure to read ... he is a master of the human touch' RICHARD DAVENPORT-HINES, TLS 'Rivetingly readable' GODFREY SMITH, Sunday Times From the...

The thrilling third instalment in the epic LIONHEART series from Sunday Times Bestselling author, Ben Kane! 'A rip-roaring epic' PAUL FINCH 'A truly vibrant and gripping read' HELENA GUMLEY-MASON 'An epic tale' MATTHEW HARRFY 'Historical fiction has never been more visceral' JAMES ROLLINS 'A...

READ THE SUNDAY TIMES AND RICHARD AND JUDY BESTSELLER, AND THE FIRST INSTALMENT IN PETER MAY'S SENSATIONAL, MILLION-SELLING LEWIS TRILOGY. A brutal killing takes place on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland: a land of harsh beauty and inhabitants of deep-rooted faith. A MURDER Detective Inspector Fin...

Winner of the Audie Award 2022 for Best History/Biography Audiobook. Earphones Award Winner 2021. A road trip book with a difference. Stars of Outlander - Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish - explore Scotland, a land of raw beauty, poetry, feuding, music, history, and warfare. Narrated by Sam Heughan...

Brought to you by Penguin. THE NO 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER NOW FEATURING EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL ABOUT CHARLES III's CORONATION WITH ADDED PHOTOGRAPHS A personal account of the life and character of Britain's longest-reigning monarch, from the writer who knew her family best 'Compelling...

Brand-new historical fiction from the author of the Sunday Times-bestselling Six Tudor Queens series. This is the spellbinding, untold story of Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen. 'Alison Weir gives us her most compelling heroine yet... This is where the story of the Tudors begins and is...

A Sunday Times Book of the Week and Top 10 Bestseller A Times bestseller A Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024 A Spectator Book of the Year What kind of country is England today? What does it mean to be English? Are we hungry for change or seeking old certainties? Join Stuart Maconie on an...