Secondhand History Books

'Frightening and timely, Bradley's The Sisterhood is the book everyone should read this year. If you thought it ended with Orwell, think again . . .' CHRISTINA DALCHERVox meets The...

'That nickname . . .''"Little bird." It wasn't mine. I found out later he gave it to every little girl that came in to be injected. "Little Bird" didn't mean...

On a mild winter's evening in 1850, Isabella Robinson set out for a party. Her carriage bumped across the wide cobbled streets of Edinburgh's Georgian New Town and drew up...

Bletchley Park was where one of the war's most famous - and crucial - achievements was made: the cracking of Germany's "Enigma" code in which its most important military communications...

Peter Popham's major new biography of Aung San Suu Kyi draws upon previously untapped testimony and fresh revelations to tell the story of a woman whose bravery and determination have...

Adulteress? Sorceress? Immoral Temptress? No English Queen has been so persistently vilified as Anne Boleyn. Even after her execution in May 1536 - on trumped-up charges of adultery - the...

A masterful account, culminating in the fateful days before the most decisive event of World War II: Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union This brilliant new work by the author...

In this inspiring and original book, former editor of The Times, Sir Peter Stothard, re-traces the journey taken by Spartacus and his army of rebels. In the final century of...

In the 1760s a group of amateur experimenters met and made friends in the Midlands. Most came from humble families, all lived far from the centre of things, but they...

'Marvellously entertaining as well as thought-provoking - the finest intellectual parlour-game around.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph More What If?, the sequel to the acclaimed What If? examines history's most fascinating...

The career of this erratic genius is an extraordinary story. The son of a Cornish mine captain, Trevithick single-handed totally changed the unwieldy steam engines of Newcomen and Watt to...

Contemporary observers of politics in America often reduce democracy to demography, and presidential elections are no exception. But do differences in class, gender, race, and religion really determine the vote?...

President Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, three months after his father died in a traffic accident. When he was four years...

Also published as Empty Cradles. In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker, investigated a woman's claim that, aged four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by...

From inside a surreal bubble of pure Americana known as the Green Zone, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority attempted to rule Iraq following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Drawing...

Eva was arrested by the Nazis on her fifteenth birthday and sent to Auschwitz. Her survival depended on endless strokes of luck, her own determination and the love and protection...

Recounts the transfer of technology, ideas, and social institutions between the East and the West, and looks at the influence this transfer has had on Chinese history

From the sinking of the Titanic to the fall of the Berlin wall, the last century has seen some of the most world-changing events take place. Complete with memorable photography...

The shocking first-hand account of one man's remarkable fight for freedom; now an award-winning motion picture. 'Why had I not died in my young years - before God had given...

Not since the Roman Empire has any nation had as much economic, cultural, and military power as the United States does today. Yet, as has become all too evident through...

The devastating September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon left us stunned, angry, and uncomprehending. As it became clear that these horrifying acts had been committed...

This uplifting true story is now a major film, starring Morgan Freeman (as Mandela) and Matt Damon, directed by Clint Eastwood.As the day of the final of the 1995 Rugby...

501 Must-Read Speeches explores some of the most famous speeches of our time. Many of these speeches have inspired people to act, some have changed peoples' perceptions of the world...

Behind the Throne is, above all, a history of family life.They ate, entertained their friends and worried about money. Henry VIII kept tripping over his dogs. George II threw his...

The life of William Shakespeare, Britain's greatest dramatist, was inextricably linked with the history of London. Together, the great writer and the great city came of age and confronted triumph...

Arguing that seeds for the 'Age of Terrorism' and 9/11 were planted nearly 30 years ago, Craig Unger probes with scores of documents and sources into the Bush-Saudi connection via...

'Probably the best "buy" among recent works for one who comes to medieval history for the first time.'History (about the second edition)Consisting of two parts, this book successfully conveys the...

Brendan Simms's formidable, game-changing history of EuropeIn this marvelously ambitious and exciting book, Brendan Simms tells the story of Europe's constantly shifting geopolitics and the peculiar circumstances that have made...

The story of the men who fought their way across Europe to topple Napoleon told by those who were there. What made Arthur Duke of Wellington the military genius who...

'Taylor Downing is a wonderful historian and a wonderful history communicator' Dan Snow, History Hit'Vividly brings to life a terrible year' Max Hastings, Sunday Times'Sheds intriguing light on just how...

A powerful biography of Spain's great king, Juan Carlos. How did a playful, moody young prince, educated to sustain Franco's dicatorship, mature into the skilful, calm and brave king who...

From one of the world's most admired women, this is former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's compelling story of eight years serving at the highest levels...

For this study of the heir to the throne, Jonathan Dimbleby was given unprecedented access to his subject. As well as spending many hours in wide-ranging and candid conversation with...

Published as he approaches his 30th birthday, this biography chronicles Prince Edward's far-from-ordinary life. It considers the two sides of his career - as Edward Windsor, potential theatrical impressario, and...

'You can't really argue with much that John Simpson says - there is no foreign correspondent left on TV who has a fraction of his recognition and his credibility, a...

Spawning the years from 1998 until the chaotic aftermath of the American led invasion in 2003, RTE reporter Richard Downes has witnessed first hand the incredible changes that have occurred...