Ebooks de historia, página 97 de 2229

The events of 1000-1130 were crucial to the successful emergence of the medieval kingdom of the Scots. Yet this is one of the least researched periods of Scottish history. We probably now know more about the Picts than the post-1000 events that underpinned the spectacular expansion of the small kingdom which came to dominate north Britain by the 1130s. This expansion included the defeat and absorption of other significant cultural and political groups to the north and south of the core kingdom, and was accompanied by the introduction of reformed monasticism. But perhaps the most momentous process amongst all these political and cultural changes was the move towards the domination of the kingship by just one segment of the royal kindred, the sons of King Mael Coluim mac Donnchadas second marriage to Queen Margaret. The story of how these sons managed to achieve political supremacy through machination, murder and mutilation runs like an unsavoury thread throughout this book. The book also investigates the building blocks from which the kingdom was constructed and the various processes which eventually allowed the kings of the different peoples of north Britain to describe themselves as Rex scottorum. It is a hugely rewarding voyage of discovery for anyone interested in the formation of the kingdom of the Scots.

Norman Gashs magnificent two-volume life of Sir Robert Peel - Mr Secretary Peel (1961) and Sir Robert Peel (1972) - is the standard work on the great statesman, and is widely considered one of the great biographies of nineteenth-century prime ministers. Faber Finds is delighted to return both to print.In this second volume, Gash focuses on the years between 1830 and 1850, the height of Peels political career, which included his two terms as prime minister, the controversial repeal of the Corn Laws, and his reform of the Conservative Party.In ... his masterly biography, covering Peels career from the Reform Crisis to his untimely death in 1850, Professor Gash shows himself not merely an admirer but an emulator - brilliant intellect, master of detail, man of conservative but humane conscience. Harold Perkin, GuardianNorman Gashs Sir Robert Peel shows how high and austere academic writing about a major figure is compatible with an outstanding general biography. Roy Jenkins, ObserverIn Mr Secretary Peel, the first volume of this biography, he provided a rich and perceptive portrait of a statesman in the making. Now at last he has completed one of the great biographies of our time. Philip Ziegler, Daily TelegraphSir Robert Peel by Norman Gash ranks with the great political biographies of the past, a classic work in both scholarship and presentation. A. J. P. Taylor, New Statesman

A gorgeous new edition of Fiona MacCarthys ground-breaking biography of the artist-craftsman, typographer, and lettercutter, master wood-engraver, and sculptor: Eric Gill.Fascinating on the work and fair to the man; a brilliant biography. IndependentScrupulous and sensitive . . . A wise and foolish English eccentric in full glory. ObserverFull of insight and interest . . . A considerable addition to modern biography. TimesEric Gill was the greatest English artist-craftsman of the twentieth century: a typographer and lettercutter of genius and a master in the art of sculpture and wood-engraving. He was a devoted family man and key figure in three Catholic art and craft communities: yet he also believed in complete sexual freedom. In her controversial, landmark biography, originally published in 1989, celebrated biographer Fiona MacCarthy delves into the complex, dark, and contradictory sides of the man and the artist for the first time - and the result is his definitive portrait.

Divided Houses is a tale of contrasting fortunes. In the last decade of his reign Edward III, a senile, pathetic symbol of Englands past conquests, was condemned to see them overrun by the armies of his enemies. When he died, in 1377, he was succeeded by a vulnerable child, who was destined to grow into a neurotic and unstable adult presiding over a divided nation. Meanwhile France entered upon one of the most glittering periods of her medieval history, years of power and ceremony, astonishing artistic creativity and famous warriors making their reputations as far afield as Naples, Hungary and North Africa. Contemporaries in both countries believed that they were living through memorable times: times of great wickedness and great achievement, of collective mediocrity but intense personal heroism, of extremes of wealth and poverty, fortune and failure. At a distance of six centuries, as Jonathan Sumption skilfully and meticulously shows, it is possible to agree with all of these judgments.

Like Charles II, the sick man of Europe was an unconscionable time dying. Time and time again from the seventeenth century observers predicted the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, yet it outlived all its rivals. As late as 1910 it straddled three continents. Unlike the Romanovs, Hohenzollerns or Habsburgs, the House of Osman was still recognised as an imperial dynasty during the peacemaking which followed the First World War.This book offers a fascinating overview of the Ottoman Empires decline from the failure to take Vienna in 1683 to the abolition of the Sultanate in 1922 by Mustafa Kemal, after a revolutionary upsurge of Turkish national pride. It deals with constantly recurring problems: competing secular and religious authority; acceptance or rejection of Western ideas; greedy neighbours; population movements; and the strength or weakness of successive Sultans. The book also emphasises the challenges of the early twentieth century, when railways and oilfields gave new importance to Ottoman lands in the Middle East. Recent events have put the problems that faced the later Sultans back upon the world agenda. Names like Basra and Mosul again make the headlines. So, too, do the old empires outposts in Albania and Macedonia in the west and the mountainous Caucasus in the east. Alan Palmers narrative reminds us of the long, sad continuity of conflict in the Lebanon. We read of the Kurdish struggle for survival, of Armenian aspirations for independence, of the lingering interests of the Ottomans in their Libyan provinces, and of the Muslim character of Sarajevo in the troubled country that was once Yugoslavia. The Ottoman past has great relevance to the changing patterns of eastern Europe and western Asia in the twentieth century.

Marshal Philippe Pétain was, in the words of historian Andrew Roberts, the most controversial Frenchman of the twentieth century. A truly distinguished soldier who rose from humble origins, he commanded French forces at Verdun in 1916 and became a national hero. But though by 1940 he had become French Deputy Prime Minister his political abilities were meagre. And after France fell to the Nazis it was Petain who signed the armistice and, from the spa town of Vichy, ruled over the Etat Francais Hitler had left him. Richard Griffiths tells this sorry story in outstanding detail, all the way to Petains ignominious end, and not stinting to show his culpability in the Vichy persecution of French Jews and its suppression of the internal Resistance.Petain, utterly obscure until the age of 58, was hurled to fame by his defence of Verdun in 1916. This saved his countrys bacon (he would say her honour) at a crisis point of the Great War. Thereafter he became an almost monarchical figure, more revered than any living Frenchman, even after the disaster of 1940. But then, as head of the puppet Vichy government, he slid into ignominy after failing to square honour with military humiliation. Griffithss durable biography... paints not a devil but a courageous, misguided man with a hole where others keep their political acumen. Robin Blake, Independent

Compulsively readable (History), this is the first volume in a series that details the long and violent endeavour of the English to dismember Europes strongest state, a succession of wars that is one of the seminal chapters in European history. Beginning with the funeral of Charles IV of France in 1328, it follows the Hundred Years War up to the surrender of Calais in 1347. It traces the early humiliations and triumphs of Edward III: the campaigns of Sluys, Crecy and Calais, which first made his name as a war leader and the reputation of his subjects as the most brutally effective warriors of their time. Trial by Battle is an account of the events of a pivotal period in both French and British history, from Wolfson History Prize-winning author and historian Jonathan Sumption.A new and immensely impressive history of the war.Daily Telegraph

Flying at 18, demobbed at 20, Semples astonishing experience has been meticulously put into context. How do you fly a Handley Page across France in total darkness? The answer is the Lighthouse system, just one of the revelations in this unique record of ingenuity and courage.

Thomas Fennell provides an account, previously unpublished, of life in the Royal Irish Constabulary during the turbulent 30-year period, 1875-1905. His early accounts begin during the Land Wars, and continue up to the Irish War of Independence, although by that time he was no longer serving in the force himself. Fennell was always an ardent nationalist, conscious that the RIC was a conservative body, supporting the Ascendancy and the landowning class. He criticises the repressive behaviour of the large police force dispersed in the countryside in some of its day-to-day activities. Yet he retained a loyalty to the force and explains that during the Land War the population at large understood that the police were carrying out work which they often found distasteful.

War is now generally regarded as organised conflict waged by armed forces, with superior weaponry usually seen as the main reason why one side prevailed. This emphasis on the material culture of war is not confined to modern times but reaches as far back as the Bronze and Iron Ages, where the superior cutting power of iron and the relative ease of making iron weapons are seen as the reason for the change in civilisations. While not denying that weaponry plays a major role in the history of war, Jeremy Blacks new book gives due importance to other factors often ignored or undervalued by military historians.Conflicts such as the Vietnam war and the Soviet attempt to dominate Afghanistan show it is not always the best armed who prevail. The willingness of a nation to suffer losses, organisational issues - such as how troops are organised on the battlefield, the nature of force structures and the organisation of societies for conflict - and the political context can all make the difference between victory and defeat. Nor is it correct to assume that war is essentially a struggle between organised regular forces: civil conflict, terrorism and guerrilla activities are types of warfare which are too often excluded from discussions of military history.In War: An Illustrated World History, Jeremy Black has created a powerful work with a truly world-wide scope. Encompassing warfare from ancient times to medieval, from the nineteenth century to the future, and from West to East, this is a book which will appeal to all interested in military history. With many original insights into the course of warfare in all parts of the world and a refreshing tendency to turn accepted interpretations on their head, Jeremy Black offers something that other military historians do not: a truly global history of war.

This account of the Christian world, East and West, from AD 312 - 1500 challenges the usual Euro-centric view of medieval Christianity. The author reconstructs the faith and heritage of medieval Christendom, revealing its extraordinary impact in both great empires and tiny enclaves.

People have been enchanted by elephants for centuries. For Gerry Creighton, this fascination began at an early age. His father was a keeper at Dublin Zoo, and he instilled in Gerry a love and respect for animals. It wasnt long before Gerry followed in his footsteps, joining the zoo at 15, where he would spend the next 36 years.Joyful and life-affirming, Raised by the Zoo is the story of a life spent in service to elephants, and how by watching and listening to them how they interact and care for each other, form relationships and teach the next generation they can show us what it really means to be human.

Conheça a verdadeira história por detrás da lenda dos VikingsNa Era Viking – entre os séculos VII e XI – assistimos a uma expansão sem precedentes dos povos escandinavos pelo resto do mundo. Como com

"A raw, riveting look into the hidden frontlines of the Iraq War and an indispensable first-person account of the secret lives of the mercenaries and contractors who fought and died overseas Rice does something few have attempted, taking us on an emotional journey that is at once unsettling and revelatory. Excellent." Mark Boal, Oscar-winning screenwriter and producer of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty"A riveting tale of a brotherhood of warriors and their descent into hell. Visceral, brutal, raw and very real, We Were Blackwater is a rollercoaster ride of combat on the frontline of death and bloodshed. Unputdownable. Unforgettable. The untold true story." Damien Lewis, author of SAS Ghost Patrol and Churchills Secret Warriors"We Were Blackwater puts your boots right on the ground in a place youd never want to be, except in the safety of a book. Barrie Rice is a natural storyteller: clear-eyed, funny, wise, honest and humble. Reading this book feels like making a new friend. Fresh and exhilarating." Hugo Lindgren, former editor of the New York Times Magazine***The aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion is a story that has yet to be told by those who fought their own war against a brutal insurgency: the private security contractors. Risking life and limb, often side by side with the US military but far more exposed, they were never to receive a heros homecoming. They remained in the shadows, often with good cause, but that would change for ever on 31 March 2004, when a security convoy was ambushed in Fallujah and the charred bodies of two American operators were strung from a road bridge. Those events would ensure notoriety for the company involved: Blackwater.This is the untold story of the security industry and its private war, recounted by a man who witnessed it first hand: SAS veteran and New Zealand national Barrie Rice. His visceral, no-holds-barred account of his time with Blackwater is brought to life in scenes that lead to a reckoning with both the war and himself. This gripping account delivers a compelling slice of reality the inside story of the private contractors war.

Exeter is one of the oldest cities in Britain: people have lived here without a break for more than two thousand years. The High Street has been in continuous use as a thoroughfare throughout that long period. For centuries Exeter was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the kingdom and has always been the mother city of the South West.In this book, first published in 1960 and acclaimed as a small masterpiece, the author traces the essential historic development and character of a leading provincial centre. He describes its adventure from a Roman camp to a modern city, with particular reference to its social history, to the lives and surroundings of ordinary people, to the buildings and landscapes of the past. Above all, he is concerned with the recent past and devotes three thorough chapters to the 19th and 20th centuries.W. G. Hoskins died in 1992. The task of bringing the work up to date and preparing text and illustrations for this new edition of a classic work has been undertaken by Hazel Harvey, a distinguished local historian of Exeter. Much of Exeter has been destroyed, but much of the historic past of this entrancing city still remains. Hoskins incomparable text is supported by a new selection of illustrations and maps, with an appendix on the street names of the city and place names in the neighbourhood.This book will be as valuable to the visitor as to the citizen of Exeter, for it tells where to look for the memorials of the past and for the history that lies behind them.

From the moment the iceberg was spotted to the moment Titanics fate was realised, it was a race against time for the 2,208 souls on board.At 11:40 p.m. on 14 April 1912, Titanic collided with an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic. Less than three hours later, it had disappeared completely beneath the waves.From the second the iceberg hove into view, the ship was on a collision course with destiny, those on board embarking on a race against time to inspect the damage and determine their fates.11:40: Analysis of Evasive Manoeuvres & Damage Assessment on RMS Titanic is a comprehensive new study that breaks down and forensically analyses every event on that fateful night, order by order, moment by moment. With the backing of an exhaustive collection of both historical and modern data, along with over twenty years of personal research, Brad Payne separates fact from myth, revealing the truth about what really happened on board Titanic during its critical last moments.

**A brilliant new history of Georgian Britain through the eyes of the artists who immortalised it, by one of the UKs most exciting young historians**Alice Loxton is the star of her generation ... the next big thing in history Dan Snow London, 1772: a young artist called Thomas Rowlandson is making his way through the grimy backstreets of the capital, on his way to begin his studies at the Royal Academy Schools. Within a few years, James Gillray and Isaac Cruikshank would join him in Piccadilly, turning satire into an artform, taking on the British establishment, and forever changing the way we view power. Set against a backdrop of royal madness, political intrigue, the birth of modern celebrity, French revolution, American independence and the Napoleonic Wars, UPROAR! follows the satirists as they lampoon those in power, from the Prince Regent to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Their prints and illustrations deconstruct the political and social landscape with surreal and razor-sharp wit, as the three men vie with each other to create the most iconic images of the day.UPROAR! fizzes with energy on every page. Alice Loxton writes with verve and energy, never failing to convince in her thesis that Gillray and his gang profoundly altered British humour, setting the stage for everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Private Eye and Spitting Image today. This is a book that will cause readers to reappraise everything they think they know about genteel Georgian London, and see it for what it was - a time of UPROAR!

NEW AND UPDATED EDITIONA magisterial and profoundly perceptive survey of Britains post-war role on the global stage, from Suez to Brexit.The fullest long-run political and diplomatic narrative yet of Britains fateful, tragi-comic road to Brexit.DAVID KYNASTONAn instant classic . . . Stephens is a master of historical codebreaking.PETER HENNESSEYAward-winning Financial Times journalist Philip Stephens paints a fascinating portrait of sixty years - from Suez to Brexit - as Britain struggles to reconcile its waning power with its past glory. Drawing on decades of personal contact and interviews with senior politicians and diplomats in Britain, the United States and across the capitals of Europe, Britain Alone is a magisterial and deeply perceptive history of our nation and how we arrived at the state we are in.Commanding . . . Rarely if ever, in the history of the British state since 1707, has one half of Britains ruling elite committed an act of policy viewed with such absolute contempt by the other half; and rarely has that contempt been expressed with such elegance, such fluency, and such a devastating wealth of supporting detail, as in this mighty survey.SCOTSMANProfoundly knowledgeable.CHRIS PATTENCompelling.LAWRENCE FREEDMANA fascinating history.IRISH TIMESA magnificent, exhilarating bookPROSPECT

In 1915, and for the next decade or so, P.G. Wodehouses fictional world mushroomed within his imagination. His best-known creations, Jeeves and Bertie, arrived in that year, as did Lord Emsworth and many of the Blandings circle; the Oldest Member teed off in 1919; the Drones Club threw open its doors in 1921; a new, thoroughly improved Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge returned to the fold in 1923, and Mr Mulliner sipped his first hot scotch and lemon at the bar parlour of the Anglers Rest in 1926. Plum would steadily re-visit these characters and locations for another half-century, interspersing his tales with one off novels, stories and further, less voluminous sub-series until his death in 1975. These were truly golden years, with Plum at the height of what he called his "mid-season form".Paul Kent continues his groundbreaking study of Wodehouses imagination by casting a fresh eye over his created world, whose characters and stories have made our world feel better about itself for well over a century.

Stourbridge came into existence in the early Middle Ages. It has seen much development from Roman and Saxon times and during the reigns of Elizabeth and Victoria. More changes followed in the 20th century; though an agricultural market town it is also renown for its glass-making.