History

China's Great Wall north of Beijing is one of the world's most famous sights. Millions every year climb the line of stone snaking over mountains. We all feel we know the Wall. But we are wrong. It is too big, too varied, too complex to be captured by a few images or a day-trip. Myths surround it. Many believe that the stone b... read more

Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and Mies Giep: these are names that most of us recognize. What is less well known is the story of the thousands of other ordinary non-Jews all over occupied Europe who similarly risked their own lives and those of their families, and sometimes their whole community, to save Jews from the Nazi... read more

England's medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the nation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic marriages placed English queens at the very centre of power - the king's bed. From Matilda of Flanders, the Conqueror's queen, to Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor consort, England's quee... read more

Eighteenth-century Venetian adventurer Giacomo Casanova, history's most famous seducer, talked his way into the beds of more than 200 women. Charming, brilliant and devastatingly attractive, the compulsive womaniser claimed to like and understand his conquests. But he could also be ruthless, cruel, selfish and dishonest. Who ... read more

Pre-war debutantes were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them, the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence and the shock of the new, and daily exposure to customs and attitudes that ... read more

When Henry VIII dies in 1547 he left three highly intelligent children to succeed him in turn - Edward, Mary and Elisabeth - to be followed, if their lines failed, by the descendants of his sister Mary Tudor, one of whom was the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey, Edward was nine years old, Mary thirty-one and Jane ten. Edward, Elizabe... read more

Emilie du Chatelet was one of the greatest thinkers of the 18th century, a woman whose work was of vital use to Einstein and who, until now, has been largely ignored by history. Fiercely intellectual and passionate, Emilie's relationship with Voltaire was as radical as her thinking; only after swordfights, wild affairs and ri... read more

The story of the unsung heroines who flew the newest, fastest, aeroplanes in World War II -- mostly in southern England where the RAF was desperately short of pilots. Why would the well-bred daughter of a New England factory-owner brave the U-boat blockades of the North Atlantic in the bitter winter of 1941? What made a Sout... read more

The currents of history run deep and often unseen beneath the everyday ripple of events. But now and again the current rises to the surface, and the events of a single day shed an exceptional light on the meaning of the past. Such events are the subject of "Days that Changed The World". Some of the 50 days described here mark... read more

The eagerly awaited new book from Deborah Cadbury, released to coincide with her prime-time BBC 2 series. This is the story of how our modern world was forged

Paris, 1917, and war is raging across Europe. Lise Rischard, an ordinary housewife stranded in the city, is desperate to return to her husband in Luxembourg. But her homeland is occupied by the enemy and she must pay a high price to get there: undertaking a dangerous spying mission for intelligence officer George Bruce of 41 ... read more

Between 1455 and 1485, during the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, four kings lost their thrones; more than forty noblemen lost their lives either on the battlefield or on the block; and thousands of men who followed them met violent deaths. While all this was going on, a Norfolk gentry family, the Pastons, were writi... read more

First-hand account of life with Hitler from 1942 until his death. Traudl Junge shared Hitler's bunker but claimed ignorance of the Holocaust. 'To have such an uncomplicated, unaffected witness present at some of the key defining moments of the 20th century was fortunate for historians. Frau Junge's book has sold 100,000 c... read more

More than 400 years after her death, Mary Queen of Scots remains one of the most romantic and controversial figures in British history. This reissue of her biography explores all areas of her life, particularly her time in France, her marriages, imprisonment and her execution at the age of 44. Paperback (B-Format)

How history's great pacifists changed society for better - and for worse

After the mutiny on the Bounty on 28 April 1789, led by Fletcher Christian, Captain William Bligh and 18 others were forced onto a 7-metre-long open boat and cast adrift. It was the beginning of a 47-day, 6700-kilometre journey from Tofua (a volcanic island in the Tonga group) to Timor. On this amazing voyage of survival, Bli... read more

In this fascinating book, Chris Abbott, a leading political analyst, takes a close look at 21 key speeches which have shaped the world today. He examines the power of the arguments embedded in these speeches to inspire people to achieve great things, or do great harm. Abbott draws upon his political expertise to explain how o... read more

Lt Cdr Julian Stockwin shares his love and knowledge of the sea in this entertaining collection of maritime stories and little-known trivia. Featuring nautical facts and feats, including superstitions at sea, the history of animals on the waves - until 1975 when all animals were banned from Royal Navy ships - and how the inve... read more

During the Victorian age, British collectors were among the most active, passionate and eccentric in the world. Magpies, Squirrels and Thieves tells the stories of some of the nineteenth century's most intriguing collectors following their perilous journeys across the globe in the hunt for rare and beautiful objects. From art... read more

For at least two and a half millennia, the figure of Orpheus has haunted humanity. Half-man, half-god, musician, magician, theologian, poet and lover, his story never leaves us. He may be myth, but his lyre still sounds, entrancing everything that hears it: animals, trees, water, stones, and men. In this extraordinary work An... read more