Thomas explored why so many of the greatest thinkers were Nonconformists and the rise of the rejection of orthodox religion and the rise in literacy and role of women in spreading reading are the subjects of her book. She explores the evolution of dissenting thought and how Nonconformity shaped the transformation of England from a rural to an urban, industrialised society. The foundations for the Industrial Revolution were in place from the late Middle Ages when the early development of manufacturing processes and changes in the structure of rural communities began to provide opportunities for economic and social advancement. Successive waves of Huguenot migrants and the influence of Northern European religious ideology also played an important role in this process. The Civil Wars provided a catalyst for the dissemination of new ideas and helped shape the emergence of a new English Protestantism and divergent dissident sects. The persecution which followed strengthened the Nonconformist cause, and for the early Quakers it intensified their unity and resilience, qualities which would prove to be invaluable for business. In the years following the Restoration, Nonconformist ideas fuelled enlightened thought creating an environment for enterprise but also a desire for more radical change. Reformers seized on the plight of a working poor alienated by innovation and frustrated by false promises, the vision which was at first the spark for innovation would ignite revolution. B/w illus. 280 pages.

Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (1927-2011) made some of the most daring, disturbing, establishment-baiting and beautifully-shot films of all time. His films have been drawn from a wide range of historic, religious and literary references and have offered the viewer not just brazen sensationalism but also food for thought - they horrify yet inspire. Deranged Ursuline nuns, the demons of Mary Shelley and Byron, the sexual angst of Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Mahler, Tommy the messianic pinball wizard, prostitutes, Lady Chatterley, lesbian vampires and frightening sex toys, not to mention Alan Bates and Oliver Reed wrestling in the buff, the list of morally deleterious images to his credit kept Mary Whitehouse and friends in a state of constant outrage, but people kept on coming to his films in their droves. Throughout all this, Russell's puckish and intellectual sense of humour was never far from view, and in this first full biography, far from being a dry film-by-film analysis, we see how Russell's real life was often just as engaging and vibrant as the films he created. As you would expect, the list of characters here is a veritable Who's Who of 20th century film. 365pp, with a wealth of b/w stills and other photos.

Hergé, otherwise known as Georges Prosper Remi, is one of the best-loved authors in history, yet also one of the most controversial. He created only 24 Tintin books, but The Adventures of Tintin have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 110 languages and are considered to be one of the greatest comic series of all time. Now nearly 40 years after his death, Hergé remains an enigma and a phenomenon. He survived a barrage of scandals, including accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. He was also attacked for appearing to collaborate with the Nazis during WWII. His personal life was no easier. In his later years he would hint at surviving abuse from a relative and would also mention the abuse that was rife within his former Scouting troop. Indeed his original stories do feature racially offensive caricatures, unacceptable by today's standards, but Hergé was a product of a different time. In fact ahead of his time, he introduced Europe to the American style of cartoon strip which incorporated speech bubbles and captured the imagination of millions of children and adults alike. Reluctant to attend book signing sessions in person, he was fiercely loyal to his fans and would write long personal letters in reply, even going so far as to loan money to some of his fans when asked. Privately he battled a debilitating depression and was unhappy with his achievements. Later in life he would say that he hated Tintin, and would have much preferred to have been an artist in the more traditional sense. He had numerous affairs and wanted to leave his marriage, but felt riddled with guilt from his Catholic upbringing and Boy Scout ethos. He was unable to have children and did not want to have a family in any case as they would have disturbed his work too much. Interested in new ideas and people, he loved jazz music and by the 1950s his latest passion was Pop Art. The paranormal always held a fascination for him and in later life he would rely on the opinion of a clairvoyant and even consulted a Jungian psychoanalyst for help when he recorded his most traumatic dreams. This started a lifelong interest in Eastern philosophy, particularly the writings of Tao. The biography looks at the enduring appeal of his phenomenally successful series: 'By believing in his dreams, man turns them into reality' he once said. 172pp for all Captain Haddocks out there. 16 pages of black and white illus.

Egypt was the last of the Macedonian Successor states to be swallowed up by Roman expansion. Besides being neighbours, Egypt and Judaea were deeply involved in the final paroxysms of the Roman civil wars which destroyed the Republic, as participants, exploiters and eventually victims. The responses of the two were however different, the Egyptian submitting with scarcely a murmur, the Jews of Judaea fiercely and repeatedly resisting. It was already clear in 64 BC that Rome was capable of conquering the land from the Taurist Mountains to the deserts of Egypt probably in a single campaign but instead it took 170 years to complete the task. Chapters here include Judaea: Pompey's Conquest, Gabinus, The Emergence of Antipater and Kleopatra, The Arabian Expedition, The Jewish Rebellions and the Desert Frontier. The Ptolemaic rulers had allied themselves to Rome while their rivals went down fighting. However, Cleopatra's famous love affair with Marc Antony ensured she was on the wrong side of the Roman civil war between him and Octavian (later to become Caesar Augustus). After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the naval battle of Actium, Octavian swiftly brought it under direct Roman control, though it took several campaigns to fully subjugate the whole country. These campaigns have previously been largely neglected. Judaea was a constant source of trouble for the Romans, as it had been for the Seleucids, the previous overlords of the region. The Romans at first were content to rule through client kings like the infamous Herod but were increasingly sucked in to direct military involvement to suppress religiously-inspired revolts. This book gives a clear narrative of the course of these campaigns, explaining how the Roman war machine coped with formidable new foes and the challenges of unfamiliar terrain and climate. Specially-commissioned colour plates by the renowned Graham Sumner bring the main troop types vividly to life in meticulously-researched detail. 18 illus, 7 maps including Herod's Kingdom and Alexandria and Genealogy of the family of Herod. Paperback, 206 pages.

Organised in a presentation tin with an Impressionist harbourside view with ladies and parasols and men in Panama hats, flags in the breeze and sailboats and steamboats out to sea, the protective box contains 24 ready sharpened coloured pencils. The set is in colours of sumptuous tones for professional, children or adult artists. There are four browns, five shades of green, two red, two pink, two orange, one yellow, two blues, two purples, two dark blues, one grey and one black. The tin tray is easy to open and snap shut, and the whole product would make a lovely gift item. An incredible bargain price.

This appealing journey through the British countryside takes us from place to place and back in time, starting with prehistoric Shetland where the red-necked phalarope has made a comeback and ending with the habitat creation project on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset. The author is fascinated by the way wildlife has taken advantage of human habitation and transformed it for its own needs. Since WWII pollution, intensive farming and the global climate emergency have contributed to a loss of habitats for adders, stoats, lizards, orchids, bush crickets, peregrine falcons and great crested grebes, to name a few. However, these endangered species have found unexpected havens in abandoned transport networks, places of worship and industrial sites. The author visits the Shetland iron age settlement on the island of Mousa, where the broch, a round lookout post, is as solid now as when it was built. Since then there have been four conquests of the British Isles, the Romans, Saxons Vikings and Normans, each one bringing its distinctive technology. Rare lichens now spread themselves on Hadrian's Wall, wheatears and ring ouzels return from Africa and perch on granite boulders, while the Emperor Moth is again an upland speciality. Following the Industrial Revolution, visiting the countryside became a specialised activity, with walking and rambling set apart from everyday life, but there are signs that we are once again embracing nature. Our railway network of 10,000 miles was more than twice that at beginning of the 20th century, and old railway lines are now becoming wildlife corridors, with some of the most popular to be found in urban settings such as Finsbury Park to Highgate and Bristol to Bath. 260pp paperback.

First-rate suspense to devour in one sitting by the writer with a growing reputation for twisty and cunningly plotted thrillers. On the eve of his college graduation, Harry is called home by his stepmother Alice following the unexpected death of his father. But who really is Alice, his father's much younger second wife, and how much is known about her past? In a confusion of emotions, Harry must work out whether Alice's concern for him is purely maternal, or whether there is something darker and more threatening at work. Packed with suspense from the off, the real mystery underpinning this gripping tale concerns the strange relationships, deceit and trickery divided into a story of 'then' and 'now' and creating great tension and a few good surprises. A companion to another bestseller by this author Her Every Fear code 93571. 364pp, paperback.

In the words of the Daily Mail, 'a worthy testament to a fine man and a simply marvellous footballer', this is the new edition of the bestselling definitive and authorised biography. Yet another World Cup has come and gone but still Bobby Moore remains the only England captain whose hands have reached out to grasp football's Holy Grail and raise it aloft. Mexico 1970 saw him captain England in an epic duel in the sun against the greatest of Brazil teams, then in a quarter-final thriller, lose to the Germans in extra time. Bobby, the blonde Adonis was, with Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest defenders football has ever seen, and each had a deep reading and profound understanding of the game. They pitted wits in 1966 and 1970, becoming close friends. Bobby Moore was the embodiment of all that was great in English football leading England to glory in 1966 and West Ham to victory in several major tournaments. He was loved and respected throughout the world as football's golden boy. His extraordinary story includes exciting accounts of his World Cup triumph to candid memories of his friendships with Beckenbauer, Eusébio and Pelé. The East End war baby with his fresh-faced universal appeal and his upright bearing in defiance of the class system transcended all barriers to become the champion not just of the working class, but of all the people. He had the style, the charm and the intelligence to walk with kings and retained his compassion for others and attachment to his roots. Bobby died 47 days short of his 52nd birthday of bowel cancer, and an acute sense of loss swept the length and breadth of England. Award winning sportswriter Jeff Powell was a close friend and confidante to the Moore family and here has created a powerful and fitting tribute to this great sporting hero. 336pp, paperback, eight pages of photos.

'The Psychology of Courage and How to Be Brave', this powerful book explains why good people so often do nothing. Have you ever regretted being silent? Who hasn't? In the face of discrimination, bad behaviour, evil and abuse, why do so many good people fail to act? Pioneering psychologist Catherine Sanderson uses real-life examples, neuroscience and the latest psychological studies to explain why we might be good at recognising bad behaviour, but bad at taking action against it. With practical strategies to transform your thinking, this book shows how we can all learn to speak out, intervene, think outside the group mentality and ultimately become braver, more decisive versions of ourselves. She explains the misperception of stacked odds and personal powerlessness that stops individuals challenging bad behaviour and discrimination on public transport, workplace fraud, sexual harassment, school bullies and more. She uses insights from academia, the torture chambers of Abu Ghraib, and crime scenes of police brutality, and analyses the powerful forces that drive human beings to act against cruelty, injustice and human suffering. With a sweeping breadth of research, Sanderson also gives us hope. 260pp, paperback.

If you use a mobile phone, connect to a WiFi network, withdraw cash from an ATM, or watch a film on Netflix, you are using cryptography. Cryptography secures 7 billion bank cards, 55 billion daily WhatsApp messages and three quarters of the connections made on the world wide web. This go-to book on the subject explains the technology and its implications in a way that the averagely intelligent person can understand. Cryptography is essentially an application of mathematics and has indirectly given rise to popular movies such as Enigma and Skyfall. You can get by without being aware of it, but in a series of imaginary day to day scenarios the author explains that knowing a bit about how it works can help make you more secure. Around 30% of fraud in the business world concerns cybercrime, and the cybersecurity firm Norton estimates that in 2017 there were 978 million global victims. The downside of cryptography is that on the one hand it protects the ordinary user in cyberspace, but it can also be used to protect organised crime, terror cells and child pornographers. In 2017 in the UK forty hospitals found their computer systems had been disabled by attackers who wanted a ransom to return the systems to normal, raising moral questions about the way we handle crime. Cryptography is political and there are no simple answers between freedom and control. The author explains keys and algorithms, bits and bytes. An encryption algorithm takes two core ingredients - plain text and key - and mixed them up to produce a cyphertext. If the text does not fit the bytes, padding is used. Then the bytes, columns and rows are all scrambled more than once. But who exactly is threatening us out there? The author considers an imaginary child, twelve year old Chloe, who uses social media, and the potential dangers. The book concludes by looking at possible future scenarios. 308pp.