Historical

Some years ago a stash of family records was handed down to Michael Palin, among which were photos of an enigmatic young man in army uniform, as well as photos of the same young man as a teenager looking uncomfortable at family gatherings....

A thrilling Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians - now with a new afterword.... 

One of the most famous accounts of living under the Nazi regime comes from the diary of a 13-year-old Jewish girl, Anne Frank.... 

The best-selling revisionist biography of one of the great women of the 16th century. Orphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune....

J. Robert Oppenheimer, an iconic figure of the 20th century, was a brilliant physicist who led efforts to build an atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress....

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400....

For over six decades, Queen Victoria ruled a great empire. Beside her for more than 20 of those years was her beloved husband and the father of their nine children, Prince Albert....

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science....

Drawing on new archival documents, startling artefactual discoveries and reinterpretations of long-misunderstood sources, John Guy and Julia Fox unearth the truth of two extraordinary lives and their tumultuous times....

The first comprehensive oral history of 9/11, deftly woven and told in the voices of ordinary people grappling with extraordinary events....

The riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time....

Longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein's powerful memoir explores both his mother and his father’s devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War....

Medical historian Dr Suzie Edge examines 1,000 years of royal deaths to present a humorous deep-dive into the varied—and oft-gruesome—deaths of the king and queens of England and Scotland....

A reissue of this classic title, updated with never-before-published material from the original taped interviews and with a new introduction by Andrew Morton...

There have been over a thousand previous biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over 40 new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, used in no previous Churchill biography, to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors.... 

This is a 9/11 book like no other. Masterfully weaving together multiple strands of the events in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Fall and Rise is a mesmerising, minute-by-minute account of that terrible day....

This is the incredible tale of Operation Fifth Column, a Second World War MI5 operation so secret that its existence was revealed by the National Archives for the first time only in 2014....

At Victoria station the R.T.O. gave me a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler marked 'This is your enemy'. I searched every compartment, but he wasn't on the train....

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings....

This thrilling biography of Stalin and his entourage during the terrifying decades of his supreme power transforms our understanding of Stalin as Soviet dictator, Marxist leader and Russian tsar....

Lancater and York is a riveting account of the Wars of the Roses, from the beloved and best-selling historian Alison Weir....

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface....

This excellent audiobook is the first of its kind and has been selected by a number of organisations as a worthy introduction to the life of Prophet Muhammad....

This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country....

Gandhi's nonviolent struggles against racism, violence and colonialism in South Africa and India had brought him to such a level of notoriety and adulation that when asked to write an autobiography midway through his career, he took it as an opportunity to explain himself....

This biography draws heavily on the personal diaries of the subject, Robert Hichens (or ‘Hitch’ as he was universally known). After a brief description of his early life, time at Oxford, his motor racing achievements (including trophies at Le Mans in his Aston Martin), and RN training, the book focuses on his exceptional wartime experiences. Hitch was the most highly decorated RNVR officer of the war with two DSOs, three DSCs and three Mentions in Despatches. He was recommended for a posthumous VC.

The Third Reich's Luftwaffe began World War II with significant advantages over other European air forces, playing a critical role in the German war machine's swift, powerful advance. By war's end, however, the Luftwaffe had been decimated by combat losses and crippled by poor decisions at the highest levels of military decision-making, and it proved unable to challenge Allied air superiority despite a last-minute upsurge in German aircraft production.

Populism has become a global movement associated with nationalism and strong-man politicians, but its root causes remain elusive. Mud, Blood, and Ghosts exposes one deep root in the soil of the American Great Plains. Julie Carr traces her own family’s history through archival documents to draw connections between US agrarian populism, spiritualism, and eugenics, helping listeners to understand populism’s tendency toward racism and exclusion.

While the journey was long and brutal, Lavinia found time to keep a daily journal of the entire adventure. Later in life, upon the urging of her children and grandchildren, she wrote this book to share her overland journey in great detail with anyone who wanted to learn what it was like for those old pioneers. They risked everything for a new land and a new start, and many died on the way, but for many who made it, the risk was well worth the reward.

Delve into the hidden underbelly of crime as we unveil the secrets of the Los Angeles Mafia Crime Family. From its elusive origins to its far-reaching influence, prepare to uncover the tangled web of power, intrigue, and betrayal that defined this criminal empire.

From the creator of the critically acclaimed Irish History Podcast comes a ground-breaking exploration of the past, casting its gaze beyond the chambers of power and carnage of battle, and into the lives of the everyday people that lived through those violent centuries. From the desperate retributions of the Land War of the nineteenth century, through the unprecedented tumult of the revolutionary years, to the causes that helped to shape contemporary Ireland, these previously overlooked cases of human tragedy offer a fresh perspective on a history we think we know.

Biographer and acclaimed historian Charlotte Gray breathes new life into Sara and Jennie, two famous women whose sons, Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt, would change the course of the 20th century. Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons offers a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.

On a rainy night in December 1938, former Nazi official Max Immanuel climbed into his car in Berlin and set out on a harrowing mission. Over the course of a single night, he planned to travel to the gates of Dachau—Nazi Germany’s first concentration camp—to rescue a Jewish prisoner. Max’s mission was profoundly dangerous, and unusual, because this former Third Reich official was a Jew himself. Born Imanuel Rosenfeld, Max had changed his name and his religion, living in fear that his truth would be discovered.

Belisarius and Antonina were titans in the Roman world some 1,500 years ago. Belisarius was the most well-known general of his age, victor over the Persians, conqueror of the Vandals and the Goths, and as if this were not enough, wealthy beyond imagination. She made a name for herself by traveling with Belisarius on his military campaigns, deposing a pope, and scheming to disgrace important Roman officials. This unadulterated power and wealth did not mean that Belisarius and Antonina were universally successful in all that they undertook.

Life on the Mississippi expresses the full range of Twain's literary personality. It remains the most vivid, boisterous, and provocative account of the cultural and societal history of the Mississippi Valley, from 'the golden age' of steamboating to the violence wrought by the Civil War.

William Lilly (May 11, 1602–June 9, 1681), was a famed English astrologer and occultist during his time. Lilly was particularly adept at interpreting the astrological charts drawn up for horary questions, as this was his specialty. He caused much controversy in 1666 for allegedly predicting the Great Fire of London some 14 years before it happened. For this reason, many people believed that he may have started the fire, but there is no evidence to support these claims.

More than any other individual, James Stevenson-Hamilton can be credited with the creation of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. In 1902, when the South African War ended, Stevenson-Hamilton swapped his military career for the more uncertain calling of a game warden. Under his supervision the small, neglected and war-ravaged Sabi Game Reserve expanded in stature and size. By the time he retired in 1946, the Kruger National Park had become one of the great national parks of the world.

In all the annals of military history, no commander-in-chief has ever been blessed with so many talented generals as Napoleon. These magnificent 26 Marshals of France under his command gave Napoleon the scope and ability to carry out his brilliant campaigns.

With his delicate phraseology and deft massaging of truth and deception, Joseph Goebbels was the mouthpiece of a monstrous regime, dishing out propaganda for Nazi Germany throughout World War II. It was his mission to entirely subsume the consciousness of the German people with the warped ideals of the Nazi Party. Through this means, he convinced everyday Germans to look the other way while some of the worst atrocities in history were committed.

Step into a time machine of words and embark on an epic journey through the annals of history. Chronicles of the Past: A History Nerds Anthology is a treasure trove for history enthusiasts, a literary tapestry woven from the threads of time, offering you a front-row seat to some of the most pivotal moments and fascinating figures in human history.