In the words of The Times. 'Rome's history is written in blood, and Addis, who has a vivid, pacey writing style, spares not the squeamish as he describes three millennia of violence from the first kings to Il Duce.' Snappy paragraphs are underpinned by serious reading in this history comprising of a series of vignettes from Rome's ancient foundation to the Second World War, via Gauls, ghettos and gladiators, and its 22 chapters bring to life in 22 scenes from its 2,500 year history. Each is a self-contained narrative whether it is the murder of Caesar, the near-destruction of the city by the Gauls in 387BC, the construction of the Colosseum and the fate of the gladiators, Bernini's creation of the Baroque masterpiece that is St Peter's Basilica, the brutal crushing of Republican dreams in 1849, the sinister degeneration of Mussolini's first state, or the magical, corrupt Rome of filmmaker Fellini's La Dolce Vita. From Chapter 17 Judgement, the Sack of Rome 1527: 'The Peasants' War became a massacre. The peasant leader Thomas Müntzer, a preacher and old admirer of Luther's, was tortured and killed...Bourbon too was preoccupied: his dreams of conquering France had failed. His promised bride, the emperor's sister, was now being married off to King Francois as part of the post-Pavia peace deal. Mustering his wounded dignity, he set off for Spain, hoping at least to be rewarded with the Duchy of Milan.' Personal, easy to read, 632 magnificent pages with colour and black and white photos.

'The Belle Epoque is brought to life through three colourful lives in this sparkling account stuffed with top fin-de-siècle tittle-tattle.' - The Times, The Best Books of 2019. Handsomely published with colour plates and in heavyweight hardback, we have the US edition of this fine history. In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London for a few days' intellectual shopping - a prince, a count, and a commoner with an Italian name. Our guide through the backdrop of Belle Epoque Paris is Samuel Pozzi, society doctor, free thinker, and man of science with a famously complicated private life and who was the subject of one of John Singer Sargent's greatest portraits. In this vivid tapestry of people - Henry James, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and James Whistler among others - place and time, we are not merely an epoch of glamour and pleasure, but also one of violence, prejudice and nativism, with more parallels to our own age than we might imagine. The beautiful age of glamour and pleasure more often showed its ugly side - hysterical, narcissistic, decadent and a time of rampant prejudice and bloodshed. Bourbons and Orleanists, wicked paper editors, salonnieres and famous whores seen through the eyes of the humane gynaecologist and general surgeon Pozzi. Illustrated endpapers, colour and other plates. 270pp, remainder mark.

The compelling story of how the first transatlantic cable was laid, the people who dared, the people who lost, and the people who profited, the book tells the dramatic attempts to cross the Atlantic during the 1850s and 1860s, from the first failed attempts to the project that finally succeeded. An inconceivably audacious attempt to overcome the forces of nature in the name of human progress and technology, the laying of the cable was to change forever our means of communication. The speed with which information could now be transmitted was unprecedented and revolutionised the face of news and the global economy, revolutionised our understanding of electricity and created a new global trade. Gillian Cookson is an industrial historian specialising in the origins of engineering and is a research fellow at Durham University. Full of facts and easy to read, this is a fantastic journey with some excellent diagrams and photographs in the colour plate section. 160pp, paperback.

The Times has been synonymous with news for well over 200 years since the time of the French Revolution, reporting from the frontline of history covering conflicts that shaped the nation, among them World War One and World War Two, and tragedies such as the sinking of the Titanic and the Messina earthquake that stunned the world. Divided into Georgian Times, The Age of Victoria, The Edwardian Era, The Great War, The Twenties and Thirties, The Second World War, From Austerity to Astronauts, The Seventies and Eighties and Modern Times, and then there are the scoops. It was The Times that broke the news of Everest's conquest, just in time for the Coronation, and it was William Howard Russell's reports from the Crimea that changed the nation's opinion of the War, of soldiers and of their right to be nursed. The government first learned of Russia's proposals for peace from the paper. And while The Times may not have stooped to cover the first international football match, it did write up the first cricket Test Match in Australia in 1877. Each extract is limited to approximately 500 words recounting events rather than editorial opinion or comment. With views of the day which were tolerated, the original language, style and format as they appeared in the newspaper, the date the article first appeared and an index of people, places and events. The volume begins with the Fall of the Bastille on 20th July 1789 and the commentary is that for Britons, those property-owners that read the Times at any rate, the French Revolution was the most astonishing and shocking event of their era. The next page is the Battle of Trafalgar 8th November 1805. "It has taken more than a fortnight for news of the battle to be conveyed to London from the waters near Gibraltar." The Abolition of Slavery, the Battle of Waterloo, Peterloo, we move swiftly on until the Fall of the Berlin Wall 10th November 1989, 43 years after Winston Churchill proclaimed that an 'Iron Curtain' had descended across Europe. Within hours, thousands of people had moved backwards and forwards through the formidable barrier with a festive air. The last entry is George Floyd 30th May 2020. 448pp in big glamorous hardback.

'The Writings that Shaped the US Constitution' is the sub-title of these essays which first appeared in 1787-88 as a series of articles in New York City's newspapers to explain and defend the proposed Constitution of the United States. Ever since they have been read and studied around the world. The authors were three of the greatest politicians in American history - Alexander Hamilton and John Jay of New York, and James Madison of Virginia. Hamilton and Madison were delegates to the Federal Convention, which framed the Constitution, and Jay helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which won British recognition of American Independence. Each paper appears from The Federalist, numbers 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 37, 39, 40, 47, 48, 49, 51, 70, 78, 84 and 85 plus an Address to the People of the State of New York and the Constitution of the US. The Federalist no.37 saw Madison present a careful analysis of the difficulties the Convention faced while not disclosing his part in framing the Constitution, posing as an anonymous citizen of New York. These were tough-minded, practical politicians and sophisticated political and constitutional theorists who saw each role as a valuable buttress for the other. 255 page new full price paperback.

Each huge page is a delight and an artwork of great beauty. Joan Blaeu (1596 Alkmaar-1673 Amsterdam) was a leading Dutch cartographer and member of the Amsterdam council. Son of Willem Blaeu, also a famed cartographer, Joan and his brother Cornelius took over his father?s workshop in 1638. He became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company and would gain further fame with a collection of Dutch city maps entitled Tooneel der Steeden, the first atlas of Scotland, and the masterwork Atlas Maior. Superlatives tend to fail in the face of Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior, one of the most extravagant feats in the history of mapmaking with its exquisitely decorated borders in colourful crests and queens and houses and peoples. The original Latin edition, completed in 1665, was the largest and most expensive book to be published during the 17th century. Its 594 maps across 11 volumes in Latin spanned Arctica, Africa, Asia, Europe, and America. Taschen's meticulous reprint brings this luxurious Baroque wonder into the hands of modern readers. In an age of digitised cartography, it celebrates the steadfast beauty of quality print and restores the wonder of an exploratory age, in which Blaeu's native Amsterdam was a centre of international trade and discovery. The edition derives from the Austrian National Library's complete coloured and gold-heightened copy of Atlas Maior, assuring the finest detail and quality. University of Amsterdam's Peter van der Krogt introduces the historical and cultural significance of the atlas while providing detailed descriptions for individual maps, revealing the full scale and ambition of Blaeu's masterwork. 25 x 38cm, 4.13 kg, 512 pages. Text in English, French, German. Another gorgeous and collectable Taschen publication.

A rewarding view of more than five millennia of artistic achievements, this stunningly beautiful Metropolitan Museum of Art publication has been specially imported by Bibliophile. The Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030-1650 B.C.), the second great era of ancient Egyptian culture following the great "Pyramid Age" of the Old Kingdom, was a transformational period during which the artistic conventions, cultural principles, religious beliefs, and political systems formed during earlier dynasties were developed and reimagined. This comprehensive volume presents a detailed picture of the least known of Egypt's three kingdoms yet a time of remarkable prosperity and unprecedented change. International specialists present new insights into how Middle Kingdom artists refined existing forms and iconography to make strikingly original architecture, statuary, tomb and temple relief decoration, and stele. Thematic sections explore art produced for different strata of Egyptian society, including the pharaoh, royal women, the elite, and the family, while other chapters provide insight into Egypt's expanding relations with foreign lands and the themes of Middle Kingdom literature. Statues in their settings, artists and workshops, elite tombs connecting the living and the dead, Thebes during the Eleventh Dynasty, the Pharoah, Royal Women, Courts and Provinces, conquest and colonisation, the supernatural, Abydos and Osiris, excavations and selected archaeological sites, more than 250 objects from major collections around the world are sumptuously illustrated, many with new photography undertaken specifically for this exhibition catalogue publication. Dripping in 365 colour and 42 mono illus, heavyweight quality, six maps, chronology. 24.13 x 3.18 x 30.48cm. 400 pages.
Click YouTube icon to see this book come to life on video.

History, Organization, and Uniforms. Gabriele Esposito presents a detailed overview of the military history of Colonial North America during its earliest period, from the first colonial settlement in Jamestown to the end of the first continental war fought in the Americas. He follows the development of organization and uniforms not only for the British Colonies of North America but also for the French ones of Canada. Every colonial unit formed by the Europeans in the New World, as well as the regular troops sent to America by Britain and France, is covered in detail, from the early militias of the Thirteen Colonies to the expeditionary forces formed during the War of the Spanish Succession. Great military events like King Philip's War or Bacon's Rebellion are analysed, and the evolution of tactics employed in this theatre are discussed, showing how much warfare was influenced by the terrain and conditions in North America. Dozens of illustrations, including colour art works, show the first military uniforms ever worn in North America, as well as interesting details of weaponry and equipment used. "Good general historical background to these units, their equipment and organisation." Certainly this is a rare topic and great for wargaming and modellers. Many full page colour illus, and line art and photos. 17.78 x 25.15cm, 180 pages.

Juxtaposing the literature of jest against court records, sermons, and conduct books, Brown employs a witty, entertaining style to propose that non-elite women used jests to test the limits of their subjection. She also shows how women's mocking laughter could function as a means of social control in closely watched neighbourhoods. While official culture beatified the sheep-like wife and disciplined the scold, jesting culture often applauded the satiric shrew, whether her target was priest, cuckold, or rapist. Brown argues that listening for women's laughter can shed light on both the dramas of the street and those of the stage: plays from The Massacre of the Innocents to The Merry Wives of Windsor to The Woman's Prize taught audiences the importance of gossips' alliances as protection against slanderers, lechers, tyrants, and wife-beaters. Other jests, on the ale-house, cuckold jokes, female gossip, cony-catching pamphlets, ballads, jigs, and plays show women revelling in tales of female roguery or scoffing at the perverse patience of Griselda. As Brown points out, some women found Griselda types annoying and even foolish: better be a shrew than a sheep. Medieval line art illus, Cornell University Press 280 page paperback.

The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule. Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet - in 6th century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport - these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe. The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war-against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne's empire. Yet after the queens' deaths - one gentle, the other horrific - their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend. Shelley Puhak resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture's stubbornest myths about female power. Chapters include A Missive to Byzantium, the Loss of Sanctuary, the Regency, the Vexations of King Guntram, and The Defiant Nuns. Incorporated are primary sources and accounts of men like the Bishop Gregory of Tours, the poet Fortunatus, the Pope Gregory the Great and assorted emperors and kings. Remainder mark, illus including colour, 384 pages.