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A timely and provocative account of the fall of New Labour, the rise of Corbyn, and what it means for the left in Britain. ‘Lewis Goodall is one of the most exciting voices in British politics right now’ Emily Maitlis ‘Hugely illuminating, thought-provoking and moving in its seriousness...

Ackroyd portrays London from the time of the druids to the beginning of the twenty-first century, noting magnificence in both epochs, but this is not a simple chronological record. It is a comprehensive account, animated by Ackroyd's concern for the close relationship between the present and the past as well as by what he describes as the peculiar "echoic" quality of London whereby its texture and history actively affect the lives and personalities of its citizens.

BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'A teeming chronicle of those scorching months. Superbly researched.' THE TIMES 'Scorching, animated and essential reading. Superb.' THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Grippingly captures the three months that shook Britain's cultural landscape' PAULINE BLACK 'Scorching, seething...

An authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance as the king who stood at the turning point of Anglo-Saxon history Offa ruled the Mercian heartland of the west midlands from 757 to 796. But while Alfred the Great and his dynasty are seen as agents of a new beginning that...

The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) dominated life in England and France for well over a century. It became the defining feature of existence for generations. This sweeping book is the first to tell the human story of the longest military conflict in history. Historian David Green focuses on the ways the war affected different groups, among them knights, clerics, women, peasants, soldiers, peacemakers, and kings. 

For more than 20 years, the most intense and prolonged gang war in British history raged on the streets of Manchester. Warring factions left at least 40 dead and made headlines across the world. This best-selling account tells how vicious battles for control of drugs, turf, and protection rackets blighted the reputation of one of Europe's most dynamic cities and saw the coining of the sinister epithet "Gunchester".

Hilarious, insightful and endlessly entertaining, discover the unspoken rules of English behaviour The unofficial guidebook to the English national character by anthropologist Kate Fox. From the class system to conversation etiquette, Kate Fox picks apart and exposes the bizarre codes of...

Bloomsbury presents Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women by Hetta Howes, read by Amy Noble 'A welcome addition to medieval history, giving us a window into the lives of women that many people only know by name, if at all.' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of The Other...

The long-awaited portrait of a literary master from one of our generation's greatest biographers. Anthony Powell: the literary genius who gave us A Dance to the Music of Time, an undisputed classic of English literature. Spanning 12 spectacular volumes and written over 25 years, his comic masterpiece teems with idiosyncratic characters, capturing 20th-century Britain through war and peace. Drawing on Powell's letters and journals, and the memories of those who knew him, Hilary Spurling explores his life.

Read by the author, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, and his co-author, Matt Whyman. Including an audio-exclusive Q&A between Paul and Matt. This is the story of a simple idea that turned into a global movement. This is the story of parkrun, told for the very first time from the man who started it all...

In this fascinating account, Margarette Lincoln charts the impact of national events on an ever-growing citizenry with its love of pageantry, spectacle, and enterprise. In addition to events at court and in parliament, she evokes the remarkable figures of the period, including Shakespeare, Bacon, Pepys, and Newton, and draws on diaries, letters, and wills to trace the untold stories of ordinary Londoners. Through their eyes, we see how the nation emerged from a turbulent century poised to become a great maritime power with London at its heart—the greatest city of its time. 

Every queen had ladies-in-waiting. Her confidantes and chaperones, they are the forgotten agents of the Tudor court. Ever present and yet hidden behind the scenes, these women held the secrets and the hearts of some of the Tudor period's most powerful men and women. Experts at survival, negotiating the competing demands of their families and their queen, the ladies-in-waiting of Henry VIII's wives were far more than decorative 'extras': they were serious political players who changed the course of history, and four of them became queen themselves.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Murder by the Book by Claire Harman, read by Andy Secombe. Early in the morning of 6 May 1840, on an ultra-respectable Mayfair street, a footman answered the door to a panic-stricken maid from a nearby house. Her elderly master, Lord William Russell, was...

Bloomsbury presents this Unabridged recording of The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple, read by Sagar Arya In May 1857 India’s flourishing capital became the centre of the bloodiest rebellion the British Empire had ever faced. Once a city of cultural brilliance and learning, Delhi was reduced...

A collection of Tony Benn’s private audio diaries, documentaries and archive interviews Tony Benn was the patriarch of the Labour left, a radical statesman, orator and anti-war campaigner who spent over 50 years as an MP, serving in the Cabinet under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. A...

British television has hosted some celebrated double acts over the years. But none of these acclaimed duos come within a million miles of challenging the cherished place in television's golden age occupied by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, whose partnership lasted from 1941 to Morecambe's death in 1984. Icons of British television in the 1970s, Eric and Ernie were, in the words of one commentator, 'the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced'.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The award-winning author of The Memphis Murders presents “a rich and vibrant tapestry” (The Star-Ledger) of the fabled Tudor dynasty—and some of the most enigmatic figures to ever rule a country. “A thoroughly readable and often compelling narrative...

Now a Major Motion Picture starring Dame Judi Dench from director Stephen Frears. History’s most unlikely friendship—this is the astonishing story of Queen Victoria and her dearest companion, the young Indian Munshi Abdul Karim. In the twilight years of her reign, after the devastating...

A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett, read by David Monteath. Summer, 1551, and Francis Crawford of Lymond is in Malta to assist the Knights of St John defend the island from an invading Turkish fleet. But under a weak leader there is dissension in the...