Discover London’s ancient Riverside pubs, set in an area that was for centuries home to pirates, smugglers, shipbuilders, pilgrims & the infamous Execution Dock. The pubs & the sites are in the Wapping &, across the Thames, the Rotherhithe area of east London, & where appropriate the guide provides information on opening hours & phone numbers. To see other titles in this series of thematic walks in London please click on the series link. ...

This definitive, multi-volume history of the world`s first known state reveals that much of what we have been taught about Ancient Egypt is the product of narrow-minded visions of the past. Drawing on a lifetime of research, John Romer chronicles the history of Ancient Egypt from the building of the Great Pyramid through the rise & fall of the Middle Kingdom: a peak of Pharaonic culture & the period when writing first flourished. He reveals how the grand narratives of nineteenth & twentieth-century Egyptologists have misled us by portraying a culture of cruel monarchs & chronic war. Instead, based in part on discoveries of the past two decades, this extraordinary account shows what we can really learn from the remaining architecture, objects & writing: a history based on physical reality. ...

With the character of the Arctic in a dramatic state of flux, & arguments over sovereignty once again rising to the surface, it is timely that a history of the exploration of this remote region be published. Wide-reaching in its scope & beautifully presented with artworks, maps & charts from the Nurminen Foundation & numerous European museums, private collections & archives, this is a full account of the many explorers from both East & West who attempted to find the North-West & North-East Passages, & to chart & document the region to enable the mythical North to gradually take shape & become part of the world picture. The story of man`s skill & initiative in bringing an understanding to such an inhospitable part of the globe is described through the daring adventures of Viking sailors such as Erik the Red, navigators Barents & Bering, & explorers of the wilds such as Chelyuskin & Franklin. Equally, the stories of those disasterous voyages in search of the North-West & North-East Passages are presented in detail. The journeys of the great scientific explorers
- Cook, Nordenskiold & Amundsen
- remind the reader of the bravery of those who set their sights towards the uncharted North. Bravery & endurance were not sufficient for the almost incredible feats of Nansen & Peary. Success in extreme conditions was only achieved by those expeditions that appreciated the ferocity of nature & took example from the indigenous peoples
- those who had lived in the North long before the coming of the Europeans.


...

Boadicea battled the Romans. Nancy Astor fought in Parliament. Emmeline Pankhurst campaigned for female suffrage. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became a pioneering physician in a man`s profession. Mary Quant revolutionised the fashion industry. Britain has traditionally been defined by its conflicts, its conquests, its men & its monarchs. It`s high time that it was defined by its women. In this unique history, Jenni Murray tells the stories of twenty-one women who refused to succumb to the established laws of society, whose lives embodied hope & change. Famous queens, forgotten visionaries, great artists & trailblazing politicians
- all pushed back boundaries & revolutionised our world. In Murray`s hands their stories are enthralling & beguiling; they have the power to inspire us once again.
...

They were famous queens, unrecognised visionaries, great artists & trailblazing politicians. They all pushed back boundaries & revolutionised our world. Jenni Murray presents the history of Britain as you`ve never seen it before, through the lives of twenty-one women who refused to succumb to the established laws of society, whose lives embodied hope & change, & who still have the power to inspire us today. ...

` History clings tight but it also kicks loose, ` writes Simon Schama at the outset of this, the first book in his three-volume journey into Britain`s past. ` Disruption as much as persistence is its proper subject. So although the great theme of British history seen from the twentieth century is endurance, its counter-point, seen from the twenty-first, must be alteration.` Change
- sometimes gentle & subtle, sometimes shocking & violent
- is the dynamic of Schama`s unapologetically personal & grippingly written history, especially the changes that wash over custom & habit, transforming our loyalties. At the heart of this history lie questions of compelling importance for Britain`s future as well as its past: what makes or breaks a nation? To whom do we give our allegiance & why? & where do the boundaries of our community lie
- in our hearth & home, our village or city, tribe or faith? What is Britain
- one country or many? Has British history unfolded `at the edge of the world` or right at the heart of it? Schama delivers these themes in a form that is at once traditional & excitingly fresh. The great & the wicked are here
- Becket & Thomas Cromwell, Robert the Bruce & Anne Boleyn
- but so are countless more ordinary lives: an Irish monk waiting for the plague to kill him in his cell at Kilkenny; &, a small boy running through the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth I. They are all caught on the rich & teeming canvas on which Schama paints his brilliant portrait of the life of the British people: `for in the end, history, especially British history with its succession of thrilling illuminations, should be, as all her most accomplished narrators have promised, not just instruction but pleasure.`





...

` While Britain was losing an empire, it was finding itself...` The compelling opening words to ” The Fate of the Empire”, set the tone & agenda for the final stage of Simon Schama`s epic voyage around Britain, her people & her past. Spanning two centuries, crossing the breadth of the empire & covering a vast expanse of topics
- from the birth of feminism to the fate of freedom
- he explores the forces that shaped British culture & character from 1776 to 2000. The story opens on the eve of a bloody revolution, but not a British one. The French Revolution never quite crossed the Channel, though its spirit of fiery defiance & Romantic idealism did, sparking off a round of radical revolts & reforms that gathered momentum over the coming century
- from the Irish Rebellion to the Chartist Petition. The great question of the Victorian century was how the world`s first industrial society could come through its growing pains without falling apart in social & political conflict. Would the machine age destroy or strengthen the institutions that held Britain together, from the family to the farm? And if the British Empire helped to make Britain stable & rich, did it live up to its promise to help the ruled as well as the rulers? On the way to answering these questions, ” The Fate of the Empire” makes stops at both celebrations, like the Great Exhibition, & catastrophes, like the Irish potato famine & the Indian Mutiny. Amidst the military & economic shocks & traumas of the 20th century, & through the voices of Churchill, Orwell & H. G. Wells, it asks the question that is still with us
- is the immense weight of our history a blessing or a curse, a gift or a millstone around the neck of our future? It is a vast compelling epic, made more so by the lively storytelling & big bold characters at the heart of the action. But alongside flamboyant heroes, like Nelson & Churchill, Schama recalls unsung heroines & virtually unknown enemies. Alongside the grand ideas, he exposes the grand illusions that cost untold lives. Schama looks head on at the facts & asks, ` What went wrong with the liberal dream?` The answers emerge in ” The Fate of the Empire”, which reveals the living ideals of Britain`s long history, `a history that tied together social justice with bloody-minded liberty`.



...

This candid assessment, covering over 2000 years of Cambodian history, focuses on transformations & historic implications of myths surrounding these changes. In this clear & concise volume, author David Chandler provides a timely overview of Cambodia, a small but increasingly visible Southeast Asian nation. Praised by the ” Journal of Asian Studies” as an ”original contribution, superior to any other existing work”, this acclaimed text has now been completely revised & updated to include material examining the early history of Cambodia, whose famous Angkorean ruins now attract more than one million tourists each year, the death of Pol Pot, & the revolution & final collapse of the Khmer Rouge. The fourth edition reflects recent research by major scholars as well as Chandler`s long immersion in the subject & contains an entirely new section on the challenges facing Cambodia today, including an analysis of the current state of politics & sociology, & the increasing pressures of globalization. This comprehensive overview of Cambodia will illuminate, for undergraduate students as well as general readers, the history & contemporary politics of a country long misunderstood. ...

It has been said that the twenty-first century will be China`s century. Such a remark highlights the importance of being informed about China`s long & tumultuous history. J. A. G. Roberts traces the main course of that history, from the earliest times, through the centuries of imperial government, to the present day. Chapters on China`s imperial history identify the main political & economic changes, whilst introducing key social themes. Turning to the modern period, Roberts then traces the dramatic events of the Opium Wars, the 1911 Revolution & the Republican era. The book ends with a detailed discussion of China under Communist rule & a wide-ranging review of new developments, including China`s economic achievements & its costs. Thoroughly revised & expanded in the light of the latest research, & now featuring a helpful chronology, this up-to-date, authoritative overview of China`s past is ideal for students & general readers alike. ...

An alternative insight into the cycling revolution Have you ever wondered why the leader`s jersey at the Tour de France is yellow? Where Graeme Obree`s record-breaking bike ` Old Faithful` got its nickname? Or the role of bloomers in bicycle design? Find out in this absorbing & quirky look at the history of cycling & the development of bike-related design through 100 pivotal objects. Charting the journey from the laufmaschine to the Brompton, through the early prototypes & the two-wheeled toys of the aristocracy, to the speed machines we know today. Filled with fascinating photographs & illustrations, immerse yourself in the history of cycling
- from the boneshaker via the bicycle powered washing machine, to cuddly lions & ball bearings.
...