A Tyneside Heritage is a detailed local socio-economic history, developed through the lives of three generations of the author's family. The story begins in the early nineteenth century with the author's great-great-grandfather Robert Chapman JP, draper, South Shields Borough Councillor and sailing collier owner. It continues with his son Henry Chapman JP, founder of a chartered accountancy firm and building society. It ends with the author's distinguished...

Did you know? ? William IV was wont to speak his mind and could sometimes lack tact, which is said to have inspired the nickname ?Silly Billy?? ? Edward III banned all sports, including football, on Sundays, so that his subjects could be free to concentrate solely on their archery? ? Coronation chicken was invented for foreign guests to enjoy at Elizabeth II?s coronation? This rich miscellany celebrates the fascinating history of the British Royal...

David Olusoga's Black and British is a rich and revealing exploration of the extraordinarily long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa. Drawing on new genetic and genealogical research, original records, expert testimony and contemporary interviews, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination and Shakespeare's Othello. Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto unknown scandals,...

Did Neil Armstrong really set foot on the moon? Was the United States government responsible for the 11 September attacks? Should we doubt the accidental nature of Diana's death? Voodoo Histories entertainingly demolishes the absurd and sinister conspiracy theories of the last 100 years. Aaronovitch reveals not only why people are so ready to believe in these stories but also the dangers of this credulity. *Includes a new chapter investigating the...

Between January and August 1947 the conflicting political, religious and social tensions in India culminated in independence from Britain and the creation of Pakistan. Those months saw the end of ninety years of the British Raj, and the effective power of the Maharajahs, as the Congress Party established itself commanding a democratic government in Delhi. They also witnessed the rushed creation of Pakistan as a country in two halves whose capitals...

India defies definition, and the story of medicine in India is similarly rich and complex: shaped by unique challenges and opportunities, uniting cutting-edge technological developments with ancient cultural traditions, fuelled by political changes which transformed the lives of millions and moulded by the energy of forceful individuals. Here, Aarathi Prasad investigates how Indian medicine came to be the way it is. Her travels will take her to bonesetter...

In this history we see how thin the line was between a royalty chartered privateer and a pirate, most notably epitomised by Francis Drake. Then there were the Renegades: Europeans captured by the Barbary corsairs who converted to Islam and became pirate captains in their own right. Some were simply cut-throat drunkards, but many pirate ships were run on surprisingly progressive, democratic principles. The 'golden age' or piracy is examined afresh...

?The future of all life on this earth depends on our willingness to take action now? - David Attenborough With a foreword by Sir David Attenborough, breathtakingly beautiful still photography, specially commissioned maps and graphics, and compelling text expanding on the remarkable TV stories and giving the reader a depth of information that is impossible on screen, this companion to the groundbreaking NETFLIX series presents a whole new view of the...

A major reassessment of world history, 'The Silk Roads' is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east.