Showing titles in History

Books about the Kennedys are legion. Yet missing until now has been the exploration of the bond between Jack and Bobby, and the part that it played in their rise and fall. Richard D. Mahoney gives us Jack and Bobby in all their hubris and humanity, youthfulness and fatalism. Here is American history as it unfolds. The Kennedy Brothers is a fresh and masterful account of the men whose legacy continues to hold the American imagination.

A fresh and vivid account of the unexplored relationship between two of England's best-known queens Anne Boleyn is a subject of enduring fascination. By far the most famous of Henry VIII's six wives, she has inspired books, documentaries and films, and is the subject of intense debate even today...

Operation Mongoose is the untold story of America’s most relentless covert campaign against Fidel Castro’s Cuba, launched in the bitter aftermath of the Bay of Pigs disaster. What began as a demand for payback became a secret war of sabotage, infiltration, propaganda, and plots—an invisible struggle conducted in the shadows, yet powerful enough to shake the entire Cold War. With vivid narrative clarity, this book takes you behind closed doors where intelligence officers and political leaders convinced themselves that pressure could break a revolution.

True Crime Garage: Your Weekly Dive into Real-Life Mysteries Grab a chair, crack open a cold one, and join hosts Nic and the Captain for an immersive journey into the world of true crime. True Crime Garage isn’t just a podcast—it’s a deep dive into some of the most fascinating and chilling cases, all delivered with smart storytelling, sharp banter, and a beer in hand. Each week, Nic and the Captain dissect a new case—from infamous international crimes to haunting hometown mysteries. Whether it’s an unsolved disappearance, a cold case, or the dark psychology behind serial killers, ...

A podcast about the fascinating true stories behind each element on the periodic table.

This highly entertaining BBC Radio 4 series is written and presented by Bill Bryson and based on his bestselling book, 'Mother Tongue'. In it he romps through the history of Britain to reveal how English became such an infuriatingly complex – but ultimately world-beating – language. But why...

The Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana in 1876 has become known as the quintessential clash of cultures between the Lakota Sioux and whites. The men who led the battle, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Colonel George A. Custer, have become the stuff of legends.

Leo McKinstry tells the story of the remarkable plane from its designers to the first-hand testimonies of those brave pilots who flew it; he takes in the full military and political background but always keeps the human stories to the fore - to restore the Hawker Hurricane to its rightful place in history. 

Socrates the lover. Socrates the warrior. An innovative and insightful exploration of the passionate early life of Socrates and the influences that led him to become the first and greatest of philosophers. Socrates - the man whose logic and questioning gave birth to the ideas of Western thought, and whose execution heralded the end of the Athenian Golden Age. Despite his preeminence among the great thinkers of the past, precious little of his story is known, and what is often begins and ends with his trial and death.

We tend to think about the Middle Ages as a dark and backward time, characterised by violence, ignorance and superstition. We believe that life was unchanging over the period, so if a peasant fell asleep in in the year 1000 and woke up six hundred years later, he would return to a world that was instantly recognisable. We hold that change is facilitated by science and technological innovation, and that it was the inventions of recent centuries, from the steam engine to the Internet, that created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.

The Anglo-Saxon period, stretching from the fifth to the late eleventh century, begins with the Roman retreat from the Western world and ends with the Norman takeover of England. Between these epochal events, many of the contours and patterns of English life that would endure for the next millennium were shaped. In this authoritative work, N. J. Higham and M. J. Ryan reexamine Anglo-Saxon England in the light of new research in disciplines as wide ranging as historical genetics, paleobotany, archaeology, literary studies, art history, and numismatics.

Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong. 

'The tree is the hero in his book.' The Times 'A thrilling journey of discovery' -- Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree 'Levison Wood has done the impossible. To tell the story of trees in a single book is a Herculean task, but one that he has resoundingly achieved.' -- Merlin...

Putting history into a perspective, Irish History for Dummies is an engaging, entertaining and educational trip through time, packing in equal parts fun and facts, providing listeners with a riveting history of this ancient land. The history of Ireland has shaped the world far beyond its borders. And few stories have a greater need for a balanced and light-hearted telling than the complex and often controversial saga of Ireland and her people.

Between January and July 1919, after the war to end all wars, world leaders converged on Paris for the Peace Conference. At its heart were three great powers - Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau. The peacemakers, so it has been said, failed dismally - failed above all to prevent another war. Margaret MacMillan argues that they have unfairly been made scapegoats for the mistakes of those who came later.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs and Steel examines the rise of civilization and the issues its development has raised throughout history. Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped...

'A superb book’ – Observer ‘Gripping, vivid and compelling’ – The Critic ‘Humane, absorbing and meticulous’ – New Statesman ‘An extraordinary book’ James O’Brien, TLS Three Weeks in July is the extraordinary and definitive account of the events of the 7/7 London bombings...

The most terrible emergency in Britain's history, the Second World War, required an unprecedented national effort. An exhausted country had to fight an unexpectedly long war and found itself much diminished amongst the victors. The outcome of the war was nonetheless a triumph, not least for a political system that proved well adapted to the demands of a total conflict and for a population who had to make many sacrifices but who were spared most of the horrors experienced in the rest of Europe.

Penguin presents the unabridged audiobook edition of Empire by Niall Ferguson, read by Jonathan Keeble. Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red and Britannia ruled not just the waves, but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane, read by Roy McMillan SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE From the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS 'Few books give such a...