Category Archives: Travel Guides
Hadrian`s Wall
Located at the far-flung and wild edge of the Roman Empire, Hadrian`s Wall was constructed by Emperor Hadrian in the 120s AD. Vast in size and stretching from the east to the west coast of the northern part of Britannia, it is the largest monument left by the Roman empire – all the more striking
The Full Catastrophe: Inside the Greek Crisis
Greece has always been celebrated for its classical past, whitewashed villages and cerulean seas, but in recent years the country has been at the centre of a debt crisis that has sown economic ruin, spurred panic in international markets, and tested Europe`s decades-old project of forging a closer union. With vivid character-driven narratives and engaging
The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones
Nowadays, I understand, the tourists come for miles to see Hendry Jones` grave out on the Punta del Diablo and to debate whether his bones are there or not…A stark and violent depiction of one of America`s most alluring folk heroes, the mythical doomed gunslinger. Set on the majestic coast of Southern California, Doc Baker
Ednapedia: A History of Australia in a Hundred Objects
It`s very rare that we see the emergence of a completely original idea in the world of books. Dame Edna Everage`s masterly history of Australian civilization is one such idea, and, possums, you will never think of historical writing in the same way again. `From our dainty gum nuts and towering Uluru to our world-class
Glasgow
Beloved, reviled – and not only by Glaswegians, Glasgow isn`t just the industrial revolution nor the Victorian slums. Founded in the sixth century, its forebears pushed back the Romans. The roof of its cathedral, founded in the twelfth century, survived the Reformation. Its fifteenth-century university welcomed Adam Smith and the Enlightenment. It prospered from sugar,
Fame is the Spur
`When they buried the Old Warrior there was only one small wreath to go on the coffin…John Hamer Shawcross never forgot that moment. Hamer Shawcross is born into a poor but aspirational working-class family in Manchester. Studious and hard-working, he becomes a socialist activist, goes into politics and rises to become part of the privileged
Bourbon Creams and Tattered Dreams
He promised her the earth. She found herself in hell. Handsome Frank Rossi took Matty Gilbie away from her working class roots in Bermondsey, East London and promised her fame and fortune. In America, the Cockney Canary would become a movie star. As his wife, she would be half of a power couple, feted and
Airborne
17 September 1944: the Allies have launched the largest airborne offensive in history, delivering 36,000 troops by parachute and glider to the Dutch-German Border. In what will become known as the Battle of Arnhem, half of them will fall as casualties of war. Among their number is Theo Trickey, a young paratrooper so dreadfully injured
The Earth Gazers
The most beautiful and influential photographs ever made were of the whole earth seen from space. They were taken from the moon, almost as an afterthought, by the astronauts of the Apollo space programme. They inspired a generation to think more seriously about our responsibility for this tiny oasis in space, the `blue marble` falling
These Dark Wings
After her mother is killed in the Blitz and her father in the North Sea, 12-year-old Anna Cooper is sent to live with an uncle she has never met – the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London. Amid the Tower`s old secrets and hidden ghosts, the ravens begin to disappear and Anna must brave the
What the Raven Brings
London, 1942: the Blitz is over but the war rages on. With the country still fighting for its existence, a young girl takes to the skies…After her mother was killed in an air raid, Anna Cooper was sent to live with her uncle, the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London. Now, he too is dead.
Viper`s Blood
`A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty` ROBERT FABBRI. Edward III has invaded France at the head of the greatest host England has ever assembled. But his attempt to win the French crown is futile. The Dauphin will no longer meet the English in the field and the great army is mired in
The Last Horseman
South Africa, 1900. The search for his missing son takes Joseph Radcliffe from the streets of Dublin, smouldering with rebellion, to the trackless veld of South Africa and the bloody brutality of the Anglo-Boer War. As a former cavalryman in the US army, Radcliffe is no stranger to war, but 800 miles north of Cape
The New City of London Cookbook: From Treacle Toffee to The Lord Mayor`s Banquet
With five decades of experience, catering for high-society events, including state banquets for the royal family, Peter Gladwin knows a thing or two about putting together a great menu. Here, he shares an array of his own gastronomic delights plus a host of delicious recipes submitted by notable figures and celebrities, all of which can
The Reykjavik Assignment
UN covert negotiator, Yael Azoulay, has been sent to Reykjavik to broker a secret meeting between the US President and her Iranian counterpart. Both parties want to reach agreement, but Yael soon realises that powerful enemies are preparing to sabotage the talks. Enemies for whom peace means an end to their lucrative profit streams. In
Caesar`s Footprints: Journeys to Roman Gaul
In the 50s BC, Julius Caesar conducted a brutal war against the tribes of ancient Gaul. On the pretext of curbing an imminent barbarian threat to the Roman Republic, he first defeated and decimated the Helvetii tribe, before subjugating the other Celtic peoples who occupied the territory of what is now France. Caesar laid Gallic
My Son, My Son
What a place it was, that dark little house that was two rooms up and two down …I don`t remember to this day where we all slept, though there was a funeral now and then to thin us out. This is the powerful story of two hard-driven men – one a celebrated English novelist, the
The Lost Europeans
Coming back was worse, much worse, than Martin Stone had anticipated. Martin Stone returns to the city from which his family was driven in 1938. He has concealed his destination from his father, and hopes to win some form of restitution for the depressed old man living in exile in London. THE LOST EUROPEANS portrays
The Black Prince
`A clear-eyed and thrilling vision of the man behind the legend` DAN JONES. In 1346, at the age of sixteen, he won his spurs at Crecy; nine years later he conducted a brutal raid across Languedoc; in 1356 he captured the king of France at Poitiers; as lord of Aquitaine he ruled a vast swathe
Aran: Recipes and Stories from a Bakery in the Heart of Scotland
aran (Scottish Gaelic)From the Old Irish aranNounbread, loaf (masculine noun, nominative case) `Aran` is a beautiful cookbook from an artisan bakery in the heart of Scotland with the same name. In it, Great British Bake Off star Flora Shedden shares her simple, modern recipes and a window onto a picturesque life below the highlands, with
