eBooks de Historia por países, página 30 de 352

Winner of Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year 2016 They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were - thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned. Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode, involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish county. What was done in the course of that episode was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but they are by no means irrecoverable. In this book James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His researches took him to archives in Scotland, England and Canada, to the now deserted straths of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a gripping, moving, definitive account of a peoples struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster which includes experiences which have not featured in any previous such account.

The only remarkable thing people can tell of their doings these days is that they have stayed at home, declared George Eliot in 1869. In Victorian and Edwardian Britain travel became the rage. The middle classes and the aristocracy seemed in a constant flux of arrival and departure, their luggage festooned with foreign labels. The revolution in transport made this possible. The Mediterranean Passion describes how the British travelled to the South and where they went. Drawing on what these travellers wrote, and what was written for them, it enriches our understanding of the Victorians and Edwardians by exploring the medical, religious, sexual and aesthetic dimensions of their journeys and illuminates an important but neglected aspect of British social and cultural history.... combines scholarship with charm ... It could easily be taken to the Mediterranean on a holiday and read with pleasure on a sunny beach or in the shade of a church. Asa Briggs, Financial TimesI was impressed not merely by the range of his erudition - historical, cultural, literary, topographical, medical et al. - and by the depth of his enquiries into his subject but by the subtlety and refinement of his prose. He deals with very elusive, complex and culturally contradictory matters, upon which few, if any, could arrive at persuasive generalisations; yet he does so throughout the book, while his conclusion is a marvel of judgment, excelling even what his preceded. David Selbourne (author of The Principle of Duty) The Mediterranean Passion was the joint winner of the 1987 Wolfson Literary Award for History.

This is the story of Scotland as its never been told before. From the 4th millennium BC, when the first Scot was expelled from Eden, right up to the 21st century, when US intelligence identified a distillery on Islay as a possible threat to world peace, Ian Crofton presents a host of little-known tales that you wont find in conventional history books. Packed with fascinating facts and extraordinary events, Scottish History Without the Boring Bits also includes some remarkable personalities, such as the duke who ate his own fingers, the poet who sought inspiration from a tooth, the vampire-hunting children of the Gorbals, and the MP accused of stealing his ex-mistresss knickers.

The Irish Citizen Army was originally established as a defence corps during the 1913 Lockout, but under the leadership of James Connolly its aims became more Republican and the IRB, fearing Connolly would pre-empt their plans for the Easter Rising, convinced him to join his force with the Irish Volunteers. During the Rising the ICA was active in three garrisons and the book describes for the first time in depth its involvement at St Stephens Green and the Royal College of Surgeons, at City Hall and its environs and, using the first-hand account of journalist J.J. OLeary who was on the scene, in the battle around the GPO.The author questions the much-vaunted myth of the equality of men and women in the ICA and scrutinises the credentials of Larkin and Connolly as champions of both sexes. She also asserts that the Proclamation was not read by Patrick Pearse from the steps of the GPO, but by Tom Clarke from Nelsons Pillar. She provides sources to suggest that the Proclamation was not, as has always been believed, printed in Liberty Hall, and that the final headquarters of the rebels was not at number 16 Moore Street, but somewhere between numbers 21 and 26.

Jamie Moynihan had the unique distinction of being officer commanding the group of Volunteers who carried out the FIRST armed attack on crown forces in Ireland during the War of Independence, at the Mouth of the Glen, in Muskerry, on 7 July 1918, and also of the volunteers who carried out the LAST armed attack of that war, at Ceim Carraige, Carriganima, at 3pm on the day of the Truce, 11 July 1921. This is a gripping and detailed account of the War of Independence in Muskerry and in the Mid-Cork area that will capture the imagination of the reader. It covers many events not detailed elsewhere, including the hijacking of Sliabh na mBan the armoured car in which Michael Collins was later shot and the Battle of Ballyvourney, the Rath attack and the burning of the courthouse. It also includes a detailed account of Cumann na mBan in the region, several statements by some of the key participants in events of the time and details of the intelligence and communication systems and chain of command used by the rebels.It has been compiled from Moynihans extensive records of the time and will be of huge interest to anyone wanting to find out more about this turbulent time in Irelands history.

I wanted to reveal the soil, milieu, or social sphere and situation, from which the contributions of Vienna to European civilisation have sprung... I hope it is not my incurable love for my native city which makes me believe that Vienna is still important in the world of today, through all that is alive in its past, present and future... Ilsa Barea, from her Preface (1966) This fascinating, learned yet highly personal survey explores the legend of Vienna, from frontier fortress and melting pot to the culturally rich centrepiece of the Hapsburg Empire, through two world wars and the grave damage inflicted by Hitler.A fascinating account, so rich in texture, a book in which history and landscape, personalities and politics and culture combine to produce a living picture. C.V. WedgwoodNeither the treacly legend, nor the acid anti-legend, but a delicate and scholarly panorama. Arthur Koestler

Douglas Haigs popular image as an unimaginative butcher is unenviable and unmerited. In fact, he masterminded a British-led victory over a continental opponent on a scale that has never been matched before or since. Contrary to myth, Haig was not a cavalry-obsessed, blinkered conservative, as satirised in Oh! What a Lovely War and Blackadder Goes Forth. Fascinated by technology, he pressed for the use of tanks, enthusiastically embraced air power, and encouraged the use of new techniques involving artillery and machine-guns. Above all, he presided over a change in infantry tactics from almost total reliance on the rifle towards all-arms, multi-weapons techniques that formed the basis of British army tactics until the 1970s. Prior re-evaluations of Haigs achievements have largely been limited to monographs and specialist writings. Walter Reid has written the first biography of Haig that takes into account modern military scholarship, giving a more rounded picture of the private man than has previously been available. What emerges is a picture of a comprehensible human being, not necessarily particularly likeable, but honourably ambitious, able and intelligent, and the man more than any other responsible for delivering victory in 1918.

Guerrilheiras: memórias da ditadura e militância feminina nos conta uma história da memória da ditadura militar de 1964 ao longo do período democrático a partir de duas figuras emblemáticas da luta f

O presente livro traz um estudo de rara profundidade sobre a comunidade siddi, pouco conhecida ao redor do mundo e mesmo dentro de seu próprio país – até hoje, muitos indianos desconhecem a história

Monumental . . . A wonderful book. Peter FrankopanMagisterial . . . remarkable.GuardianErudite and highly readable . . . An authoritative guide to the countless ways in which Greek words and ideas have shaped the modern world.Financial TimesThe Greeks is a story which takes us from the archaeological treasures of the Bronze Age Aegean and myths of gods and heroes, to the politics of the European Union today. It is a story of inventions, such as the alphabet, philosophy and science, but also of reinvention: of cultures which merged and multiplied, and adapted to catastrophic change. It is the epic, revelatory history of the Greek-speaking people and their global impact told as never before.

Me esqueçam: Figueiredo é o relato biográfico de uma Presidência que ressignificou a vida de um oficial do Exército cuja maior aspiração era ascender na carreira militar, mas que o destino alçou ao c

Chosen as a Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph and Daily MailA masterpiece Frederick Forsyth Beautifully written... unlikely to be surpassed Simon HefferSuperbDaily Mail, Book of the WeekTerrificObserverThroughout history there have been many long-running rivalries between party leaders, but there has never been a connection like that between Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill, who were leaders of their respective parties for a total of thirty-five years. Brought together in the epoch-making circumstances of the Second World War, they forged a partnership that transcended party lines, before going on to face each other in two of Britains most important and influential general elections. Based on extensive research and archival material, Attlee and Churchill provides a host of new insights into their remarkable relationship. From the bizarre coincidence that they shared a governess, to their explosive wartime clashes over domestic policy and reconstruction; and from Britains post-war nuclear weapons programme, which Attlee kept hidden from Churchill and his own Labour Party, to the private correspondence between the two men in later life, which demonstrates their friendliness despite all the political antagonism, Leo McKinstry tells the intertwined story of these two political titans as never before.In a gripping narrative McKinstry not only provides a fresh perspective on two of the most compelling leaders of the mid-twentieth century but also brilliantly brings to life this vibrant, traumatic and inspiring era of modern British history.

Shortlisted for the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award Few causes have given rise to such dramatic tales of loyalty, passion and betrayal as the Jacobite dream of restoring the Stuarts to the British throne. Although its failure brought savage retribution from the Hannoverians, the Jacobite flame continued to burn decades after Culloden. This is the first modern history of the entire Jacobite movement in Scotland, England and Ireland, from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 that drove James II into exile and the death of his grandson, Cardinal Henry, Duke of York, in 1807. The Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlies flight through the heather are well known, but not the other risings and plots that involved half of Europe and even revolutionary America. The King Over the Water weaves together all the strands of this gripping saga into a vivid, sweeping narrative, full of insight, analysis and anecdote.

There is no crime in detecting and destroying in wartime the spy and informer...I have paid them back in their own coin. - Michael CollinsMichael Collins development of a formidable intelligence network transformed, for the first time in history, the military fortunes of the Irish against the British. The Dublin Brigade of the IRA was pivotal to this defining strategy. In 1919, Collins formed members of the brigade into two Special Duties Units. They eventually joined to form his Squad of assassins tasked with immobilising British intelligence. Eyewitness testimonies and war diaries lend immediacy and insight to this thrilling account of the daring espionage and killings carried out by both sides on Dublins streets. Dominic Price reveals how the IRA developed Improvised Explosive Devices, and experimented with chemical weapons in the form of poison gas and infecting water supplies.When the Civil War erupted, the devotion of a significant cohort of the Dublin Brigade to Collins, forged during the darkest of days, was unbreakable. Many of them, identified here for the first time, formed the backbone of the Free State in key intelligence and military roles. While not shying away from the revulsions of the Civil War, neither does Price abandon the brigades story at its conclusion. As well as revealing the disenchantment of some, who took part in the 1924 army mutiny, he exposes the personal horrors that awaited in peacetime, when psychological trauma was common. This is the stirring and poignant story of the human endeavour and suffering at the core of the Dublin Brigades fight for Irish freedom.

A fascinating glimpse into the mind of Napoleon in exile his opinions on love and war, his reflections on the most important events of his life by one of his closest confidantes In 1815, the young Dublin doctor Barry OMeara accepted the opportunity of a lifetime to look after Napoleon Bonaparte in his banishment on St Helena. In one of the most isolated places on earth, doctor and patient became intimate friends.The core of Napoleons Doctor is the diary OMeara kept, at Napoleons suggestion, while on St Helena. He records in lively detail many hours of Napoleons conversation, ranging from his views on class, religion and slavery to his love for Josephine and why Waterloo was lost.Napoleon was only fifty-one when he died on St Helena. This book ends with a detailed solution to a mystery that has plagued historians: was he poisoned by his British jailers?

The Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Viking Conquest by Cnut in 1016 both had huge impacts on the history of England and yet 1066 has eclipsed 1016 in popular culture. This book challenges that side-lining of Cnuts conquest by presenting compelling evidence that the Viking Conquest of 1016 was the single most influential cause of 1066. This neglected Viking Conquest of 1016 led to the exiling to Normandy and Hungary of the rightful Anglo-Saxon heirs to the English throne, entangled English politics with those of Normandy and Scandinavia, purged and destabilized the Anglo-Saxon ruling class, caused an English king to look abroad for allies in his conflict with over-mighty subjects and, finally, in 1066 ensured that Harold Godwinson was in the north of England when the Normans landed on the south coast. As if that was not enough, it was the continuation of the Scandinavian connection after 1066 which largely ensured that a Norman victory became a traumatic Norman Conquest.

In a land like ours, the old beliefs bring pleasure and wisdomExploring the legends, special places and treasured practices of old, Jo Kerrigan reveals a rich world beneath Irelands modern layers.So many of todays Irish traditions reach back to our ancient past, to the natural world: climbing to the summit of a mountain at harvest time; circling a revered site three, seven or nine times in a sun-wise direction; hanging offerings on a thorn tree; bringing the ailing and infirm to a sacred well.Old Ways, Old Secrets shows us how to uncover the wisdom of the past, as fresh as it is ancient.Inviting, lyrical text and beautiful, atmospheric photographs ... A fascinating read.Evening Echo on West Cork: A Place Apart

Harun al-Rashid, the legendary caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights, was the son of a Yemenite slave who cleared Haruns path to power, very probably by poisoning her eldest son.Harun reigned for a quarter of a century, his empire spreading over south-west Asia and into north Africa. He waged war on the Byzantine Empire, and dealt ruthlessly with the religious and social insurrections which threatened his kingdom, executing almost the entire Barmakid family when they threatened to become too powerful.As well as being a ruthless soldier and politician Harun was also a great patron of the arts, and highly esteemed by Charlemagne. He turned Baghdad into a brilliant centre of culture and learning, which witnessed unprecedented economic development, its merchants and navigators carrying the caliphs renown to the farthest corners of the known world.Surrounded by his wives, concubines, musicians and learned men in his palace in Baghdad, Harun the Good remains a potent symbol of the fabled Orient. In this remarkable account Andre Clot explores the man behind the legend, revealing his development as a ruler of an empire that was shaken to the core by religious and social revolt.

At the end of his court-martial on August 16th, 1920, Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, greeted his sentence of two years in jail by declaring: I have decided the term of my imprisonmentI shall be free, alive or dead, within a month.Four days earlier, British troops had stormed the City Hall in Cork and arrested MacSwiney on charges of possessing an RIC cipher and documents likely to cause disaffection to his Majesty. He immediately began a hunger strike that sparked riots on the streets of Barcelona, caused workers to down tools on the New York waterfront, and prompted mass demonstrations from Buenos Aires to Boston.Enthralled by MacSwiney breaking all previous records for a prisoner going without food, the international press afforded the case so much coverage that Irelands War of Independence was suddenly parachuted onto the world stage, and King George V was considering over-ruling Prime Minister Lloyd George and enduring a constitutional crisis.As his wife, brothers and sisters kept daily vigil around his bed in Brixton Prison, watching his strength ebb away hour by hour, MacSwineys fast had Michael Collins preparing reprisal assassinations, Ho Chi Minh waxing lyrical about the Corkmans bravery, and rumours abounding that he was being secretly fed via the communion wafer being given to him each day by his chaplain.Using newly-released archive material, Dave Hannigan has pieced together a gripping, dramatic, and poignant account of one mans courageous stand against the might of an empire.

When protesters in Egypt began to fill Cairos Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011 - and refused to leave until their demand that Hosni Mubarak step down was met - the politics of the region changed overnight. And the United States long friendship with the man who had ruled under emergency law for thirty years came starkly into question. The Road to Tahrir Square is the first book to connect past and present - from Franklin D. Roosevelts brief meeting with King Farouk near the end of World War II, to Barack Obamas 2009 speech in Cairo, and the recent fall of Mubarak - offering readers an understanding of the events and forces determining American policy in this important region. Making full use of the available records, including the controversial WikiLeaks archive, renowned historian Lloyd C. Gardner shows how the United States has sought to influence Egypt through economic aid, massive military assistance, and CIA manipulations - an effort that has immediate implications for how the current crisis will alter the balance of power in the Middle East. As millions around the world ponder how the Egyptian Revolution will change the face of the region and the world, here is both a fascinating story of past policies and an essential guide to possible futures.