British & Irish History

Tom Bolton's account of how Harry Ferguson and his inventions changed the world of farming forever.

***By the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE*** 'A fascinating expose of the seamy side of eighteenth century life' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Rubenhold's pages practically reek with smelly, pox-ridden Georgian Soho' GUARDIAN --------------------------------------------------...----- In 1757, a down-and-out Irish poet, the head waiter at the Shakespear's Head Tavern in Covent Garden, and a celebrated London courtesan became bound together by the publication of a little book: Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies. This salacious work - detailing the names and 'specialities' of the capital's prostitutes - became one of the eighteenth century's most scandalous bestsellers. Yet beyond its titillating passages lies a glimpse into the lives of those who lived and died by its profits - a tragicomic opera of the Georgian era, motivated by poverty, passionate love, aspiration and shame. In this modern and visceral narrative, historian Hallie Rubenhold reveals the story behind Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, and the legion of ordinary women whose lives in the sex trade history has chosen to ignore. 'A fascinating expose of the seamy side of eighteenth-century life' MAIL ON SUNDAY __________________________________________ 'Scrupulously researched' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Crackles with drama and tension' GUARDIAN 'Compelling and ingenious' INDEPENDENT WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: 'This book is an absolute 'must'-read for any person interested in English social history' 5 **** 'Fascinating' 5 **** 'Brilliant. Full of intelligent insight which brings this period to vibrant life' 5 ****
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In a brilliantly entertaining, living history of the modern United Kingdom, Andrew Marr traces how radically we have transformed through the course of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

In the latest volume of his celebrated series of Time Traveller's Guides - after the Middle Ages, Elizabethan England and Restoration Britain - Ian Mortimer turns to what is arguably the most-loved period in British history: the Regency (aka Georgian England).

The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, queen seductresses, learned queens, queens on the battlefield, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of s...outhern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval restrictions to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill. Alison Weir's ground-breaking history of the queens of Medieval England now moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry, dynastic ambition, conflict with the church, baronial wars, and the all-pervading bonds of feudalism. We see events such as the murder of Becket, Magna Carta and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective. Her narrative begins with the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry II establishes a dynasty which rules for over three hundred years and creates the most powerful empire in western Christendom - but also sows the seeds for some of the most destructive family conflicts in history and for the collapse, under her son King John, of England's power in Europe. The lives of Eleanor's successors were just as remarkable: Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard the Lionheart, Isabella of Angouleme, queen of John, and Alienor of Provence, queen of Henry III, and finally Eleanor of Castile, the grasping but beloved wife of Edward I. Through the story of these first five Plantagenet queens, Alison Weir provides an enthralling new perspective on a dramatic period of high romance and sometimes low politics, with determined women at its heart.
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