Europe

One of the most extraordinary mother and daughter stories of all time - Anne Boleyn, the most famous of Henry VIII's wives and her daughter Elizabeth, the 'Virgin Queen'....

This gripping work of contemporary history maps Boris Johnson's time in power across ten decisive moments and sheds light on the most divisive and inscrutable prime minister since Margaret Thatcher....

The gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher....

The story of Troy speaks to all of us - the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for 10 whole and very bloody years.... 

From the best-selling author of The Templars, Dan Jones' epic new history tells nothing less than the story of how the world we know today came to be built....

Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went, how we came to be on this island....

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

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

Based on first-hand accounts and extensive new research, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer presents the history of the GDR as never before—as a kaleidoscope of perspectives, experiences and stories....

Tracy Borman takes us behind the scenes to reveal the intimate secrets of the Tudor court and the private lives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and more....

Sixteen hundred years ago, Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea and established themselves as its new masters....

In the early 1970s, Britain seemed to be tottering on the brink of the abyss....

On 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine....

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....

With both authority and verve, David Starkey unmasks the personalities and achievements, the defeats and victories, that lie behind the monarchs that form the backbone of British history....

This brilliant new audiobook explores the lives of eight generations of the greatest kings and queens that this country has ever seen, and the worst. The Plantagenets - their story is the story of Britain....

Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War....

An exploration of the history of the British monarchy from 1066 to the present day, now including a new chapter on King Charles III....

An insightful and far-reaching expedition into Englishness....

Using a range of forgotten Afghan and Indian sources, William Dalrymple's masterful retelling of Britain's greatest imperial disaster is a powerful parable of colonial ambition and cultural collision, folly and hubris. Return of a King is history at its most urgent and important....

Command showcases Al Murray's passion for military history and the Second World War, as he writes an engaging, entertaining and sharp analysis of the key allied military leaders in the conflict....

From his illegitimate birth in a small Austrian village to his fiery death in a bunker under the Reich chancellery in Berlin, Adolf Hitler left a murky trail....

Acclaimed historian Anna Keay follows nine figures who made names for themselves during this time....

Bill Bryson is the world's funniest travel writer, and a master of comic observation....

Over the last decade, Britain has been rocked by a series of political revolts. But, as acclaimed political scientist Matthew Goodwin reveals in this strikingly original study, this turbulence has been a long time in the making—and it is set to continue for many years to come....

Russia's brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has attracted widespread condemnation across the West. Government and media circles present the conflict as a simple dichotomy between an evil empire and an innocent victim. In this concise, accessible and highly informative primer, Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies insist the picture is more complicated.

Our contemporary world is inescapably Greek. Whether in a word like "pandemic," a Freudian state of mind like the "Oedipus complex," or a replica of the Parthenon in a Chinese theme park, ancient Greek culture shapes the contours of our lives. Ever since the first Roman imitators, we have been continually falling under the Greeks' spell. But how did ancient Greece spread its influence so far and wide? And how has this influence changed us?

With a keen eye for the juicy anecdote, Thévoz tells the fascinating and entertaining story of the rise, decline and resurgence of London's private members' clubs, from the late-eighteenth century to the present day. In doing so he looks at cultural and political developments beyond the clubs, revealing how while the clubs may have been products of their city and country, they also exerted significant influence on London, Britain and places far beyond.

The story of the British Empire is a familiar one: Britain came, it saw, it conquered, forging a glorious world empire upon which the sun never set. But this imperial vision is based on an entirely false premise. In fact, the British Empire, far from being the story of a single nation imposing its will upon the world, came to being in spite of British weakness on the international scene. In this book, David Veevers looks beyond the myths of triumph and into the realities of British misadventures.

For nearly two centuries of creativity, luxury, excess, scandal, war and corruption, the dark and sparkling world of the Riviera was a temptation for everybody who was anybody. Often frivolous, it was also a potent cultural matrix that inspired the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Coco Chanel, Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, James Baldwin, Catherine Mansfield, Sartre and Stravinsky. In Once Upon a Time World, Jonathan Miles presents the remarkable story of the small strip of French coast that lured the world to its shores.

Here are some of the best of Churchill’s letters, many of a more personal and intimate nature, presented in chronological order, with a preface to each letter explaining the context. The recipients include a vast range of people, including his schoolmaster, his American grandmother and former President Eisenhower. They are taken from within the Churchill Archive in Cambridge, where there is a mass of Churchill’s correspondence. Several of the letters included have never appeared in book form before.

There can be no doubt that military conflict between France and England dominated European history in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Hundred Years War is of considerable interest both because of its duration and the number of theatres in which it was fought. Drawing on the latest research for this new edition, Hundred Years War expert Professor Anne Curry examines how the war can reveal much about the changing nature of warfare: the rise of infantry and the demise of the knight; the impact of increased use of gunpowder and the effect of the war on generations of people.

The word that perhaps best characterizes the Puritans and Covenanters is faithfulness. Whether Edward Dering preaching boldly before a fuming Queen Elizabeth, Sandy Peden evading the king's men on horse, or Hugh Mackail undergoing the torture of "the Boot" and then execution for his faith, the Puritans' and Covenanters' courage and conviction shines as bright as ever today.

Vienna is unique amongst world capitals in its consistent international importance over the centuries. From the ascent of the Habsburgs as Europe's leading dynasty to the Congress of Vienna, which reordered Europe after Napoleon, to bridge-building summits during the Cold War, it is the Austrian capital that has been the scene of key moments in European and world affairs. History has been shaped by scores of figures influenced by their time in Vienna, including: Empress Maria Theresa, Count Metternich, Bertha von Suttner, Theodore Herzl, Gustav Mahler, and many others.

Nestled in the northernmost corner of Europe lies a land of rugged coastlines, vast forests, and a rich cultural heritage. Step back in time and immerse yourself in the history of Scandinavia, a land of Vikings, legends, and achievements that have influenced the world.

Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Great's fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. "Byzantine" conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek.

In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world’s most important geopolitical players. It was a rise that would not truly start to wane until the 19th century.

Albertina Zimmerman, known affectionately as “Oma” by her loving grandson, Bernard, was an endless source of fascination and narrator of true stories, whose protagonists were leading figures from music, politics, and the Viennese opera.

Anne Boleyn is a subject of enduring fascination and by far the most famous of Henry VIII's six wives. For the most part, she is considered in the context of her relationship with Tudor England's monarch. Dramatic though this story is, of even greater interest - and significance - is the relationship between Anne and her daughter, the future Elizabeth I, who was less than three years old when her mother was executed. Given that she could have held precious few memories of Anne, it is assumed that her mother exerted little influence over her. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Book five in the Spirit Whirled series takes the listener to Ancient Britain and uses its languages to unlock its history. The Etrusco-Phoenician origins of the ancient Britons connect them to the ancient universal empire that was forgotten about, or covered up to preserve Mosaic history.