This narrative history masterfully weaves together the sweeping events surrounding the so-called “Babylonian captivity” of the popes into the broader story of 14th-century Europe, a turbulent time of transition between Middle Ages and Renaissance when seven successive popes resided in Avignon in the south of France.

     Serving under Wellington with the 95th Rifles Leach saw action in Denmark, Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium. Leach’s memoir of his years of service provides fascinating insight into life serving on the frontlines across Europe as Wellington and his men attempted to end Napoleon’s domination of the continent. Through the course of the memoir Leach gives in depth analysis of various battles that he served in, including Roleia, Vimeira, Barba Del Puerco, the Coa, Buzaco, Sabugal, Fuentes D’Onoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Nivelle, Toulouse, Quatre Bras, and of course Waterloo. Yet he also gives insight into what life was like as a soldier away from the heat of battle whilst serving in the Napoleonic Wars, how they entertained themselves, how they trained, and how the local populations viewed them. Jonathan Leach’s Captain of the 95th (Rifles) an Officer of Wellington's Sharpshooters During the Peninsular, South of France and Waterloo Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars is essential reading for any student of the Napoleonic era. No other memoir of this period provides such brilliant insight into the life of a fighting man serving under Wellington. Jonathan Leach was captain of 1st Battalion in the 95th Rifles during the Napoleonic Wars. His book Captain of the 95th (Rifles) was first published in 1831 and Leach passed away in 1855.

    He won spectacular military victories (most notably at Brunanburh), forged unprecedented political connections across Europe, and succeeded in creating the first unified kingdom of the English. To claim for him the title of "first English monarch" is no exaggeration.In this nuanced portrait of Æthelstan, Sarah Foot offers the first full account of the king ever written. She traces his life through the various spheres in which he lived and worked, beginning with the intimate context of his family, then extending outward to his unusual multiethnic royal court, the Church and his kingdom, the wars he conducted, and finally his death and legacy. Foot describes a sophisticated man who was not only a great military leader but also a worthy king. He governed brilliantly, developed creative ways to project his image as a ruler, and devised strategic marriage treaties and gift exchanges to cement alliances with the leading royal and ducal houses of Europe. Æthelstan's legacy, seen in the new light of this masterful biography, is inextricably connected to the very forging of England and early English identity.

    Over sixty men were murdered, including the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, James "Buddy" McLean. The leadership of one of the most influential non-Italian crime organizations in the United States was inherited by his childhood friend, Howard T. "Howie" Winter. In CITIZEN SOMERVILLE the events during his tenure offer a true picture of an era in Boston's pre-Whitey Bulger history when the streets were protected by a close-knit group of Irish-Italian "businessmen." The son of one of Winter's closest friends, BOBBY MARTINI has laid his own history bare to depict a life of survival in the rough streets of Somerville, stopping just short of entering the Mob life. The death of Martini's two brothers as well as the murders and suicides of scores of others reveal the darker personal side of a small New England town. CITIZEN SOMERVILLE slices a layer deeper than a crime memoir by allowing a usually ostracized faction to speak - the women. After decades of silence, three strong and very different females lift the Mob veil and voice their own struggle to survive in Somerville's criminal circle. Often painfully poignant and yet frequently hilarious, CITIZEN SOMERVILLE is a microscopic view of a generation struggling to walk the moral tightrope between societal decency and the loyalty of criminality.

    Leofwine must fight for his position and influence amongst an unruly mob of self-interested nobles, while coming to terms with his life changing injuries and new responsibilities, as both a husband, father and ealdorman. To make England safe again, he must also force his frightened king to combat a new wave of Viking Raiders with an offensive attack on those who aid the Raiders.The Earl of Mercia’s Father is the first book in the epic Earls of Mercia series charting the final century of Anglo-Saxon England, as seen through the eyes of Ealdorman Leofwine, the father of Earl Leofric, the Earl of Mercia, and ally of Lady Elfrida, England’s first queen.The Earl of Mercia's Father is where readers of The First Queen of England, and The King's Mother trilogies will first encounter Leofwine, the ealdorman of the Hwicce, and ally of Lady Elfrida.The Earls of Mercia Series The Earl of Mercia's FatherThe Danish King's EnemyNorthman Part 1Northman Part 2The King's EarlThe Earl of MerciaThe English EarlThe Earl's KingViking King (coming soon)PRAISE FOR THE EARLS OF MERCIA SERIES"This is a fantastic series of books, by an author who certainly knows his subject. I was into the Roman invasions but am rapidly converting to the Britons!" Amazon Reviewer"A must-read for fans of Viking age England. This promises to be a very good series of which I can't wait for the next instalment." Amazon Reviewer"Intriguing, well-written stories about the early days of Great Britain between Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror... at the time Athelred was King... the story is written from the perspective of one the emerging Earl's who sits on the Witan (counsel). The time period show the interplay between Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries (Viking raiders) as well." Amazon.com ReviewerABOUT THE AUTHORI'm an author of fantasy (Viking age/dragon-themed) and historical fiction (Anglo-Saxon, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest), born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since the end of Anglo-Saxon England. Raised in the shadow of a strange little building and told from a very young age that it housed the bones of the long-dead kings of Mercia, it's little wonder that my curiosity in the Anglo-Saxons ran riot. I can only blame my parents!I write A LOT. You've been warned!Find me at www.mjporterauthor.com and @coloursofunison on twitter

    The intellectual and spiritual worlds of women are also explored.Based on an abundance of research from the last twenty-five years, Medieval Women describes the diversity and vitality of English women's lives in the Middle Ages.

    Her husband served in the Ulster cabinet and was Air Minister in the National Government of 1934-5. Edith founded the Women's Legion during the First World War and was also an early campaigner for women's suffrage. She created the renowned Mount Stewart Gardens in County Down that are now owned by the National Trust.All her life, Edith remained at the heart of politics both in Westminster and Ireland. She is perhaps best known for her role as 'society's queen' - a hostess to the rich and famous. Her close circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Lady Astor, Neville Chamberlain and Harold Macmillan who congregated in her salon, known as 'The Ark'. Other members included artists and writers such as John Buchan, Sean O'Casey. Britain's first Labour prime minister, Ramsey MacDonald, became romantically obsessed by her.

    This text presents a new reading of the Bayeux tapestry that radically alters our understanding of the events of 1066 and reveals the astonishing story of early Medieval Europe's greatest treasure.

    Sunday lives for Saturday nights, when she makes the most of her Betty Grable looks at the Athenaeum Dance Hall. But Sunday's recklessly lived life is changed dramatically when, one summer morning in 1944, the laundry receives a direct hit from one of Hitler's V-1s, and she finds she is - and it seems permanently - deaf...

    In Search of the Dark Ages vividly conjures up some of the most famous names in British history, such as Queen Boadicea, leader of a terrible war of resistance against the Romans, and King Arthur, the 'once and future king', for whose riddle Wood proposes a new and surprising solution. Here too, warts and all, are the Saxon, Viking and Norman kings who laid the political foundations of England - Offa of Mercia, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, and William the Conqueror, whose victory at Hastings in 1066 marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England.Reflecting recent historical, textual and archaeological research, this revised edition of Michael Wood's classic book overturns preconceptions of the Dark Ages as a shadowy and brutal era, showing them to be a richly exciting and formative period in the history of Britain.—'With In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood wrote the book for history on TV.' The Times—'Michael Wood is the maker of some of the best TV documentaries ever made on history and archaeology.' Times Literary Supplement

    The small, poignant touches are riveting." -"Kirkus Discoveries""I think about what I want and what makes me happy, But orderly and quietly to myself. Because my thoughts tear down fortresses and walls, My thoughts are free. -German folk song, author unknown"The beautiful, safe, joyful places in young Tilli's imagination were her only refuge from the bombing that tore through the sky above her during World War II. Her thoughts were her only freedom from Hitler's Nazi tyranny, and they were her strength to survive after the war ended, when Russians invaded her tiny farming village in eastern Germany; forced her into months of hiding in a dark attic crawlspace; and took her innocence, her childhood, and nearly her life.Tilli's dreams-of a time when she could think and act freely, and travel, work, write, worship, and live however she wished-were what fueled the sixteen-year-old to courageously and single-handedly escape the terror of Stalin's harsh Communist rule and create her own happy ending in a free America.This true tale of sorrow and terror, hope and triumph, is Tilli's story-but it's also the story of the unthinkable suffering and untold bravery of countless innocent children who have lived through a war and its aftermath.

    In this book, award-winning author Richard Fletcher illuminates English society and politics in the years around the Norman Conquest, threading together scanty documentary evidence to produce a rich narrative.

    From difficult childhoods to fashion icons, from love matches to divorces, and from unrehearsed coronations to assassination attempts and untimely deaths.Curiosity about Britain’s rulers and their next of kin never seems to wane, and it is this compendium about the lives of the members of the Royal Family that makes this so utterly compelling.

    Offered here are tales of battle, travel, and adventure, but also songs of heartache and longing, pearls of lusty innuendo and clear-eyed stoicism, charms and spells for everyday use, and seven "hoards" of delightfully puzzling riddles.Featuring all-new translations by seventy-four of our most celebrated poets—including Seamus Heaney, Robert Pinsky, Billy Collins, Eavan Boland, Paul Muldoon, Robert Hass, Gary Soto, Jane Hirshfield, David Ferry, Molly Peacock, Yusef Komunyakaa, Richard Wilbur, and many others—The Word Exchange is a landmark work of translation, as fascinating and multivocal as the original literature it translates.

    Claire, Duke of Thornton, never cared much for society. He flew in the face of tradition whenever he could, but from the moment he met the strange artisan shouting out a rallying call, his curiosity is piqued. Jules Kelley's opinion of high society is pretty low. When a noble playing commoner stumbles upon her and gets wind of her secret, she is all but certain that things could not get worse! Together they stumble into a mystery surrounding a fire that should never have happened, and get pulled into the darker corners of society and forbidden love.The Captain of Her Betrayed HeartAfter what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life turned tragic, Gwyn decides to run away from England and everything she knew and loved. Four years ago, Jack decided to join the army, when the woman he had loved fiercely had fled with no sign as to why. Now it's time Jack returns home, to find himself in an unexpected situation. The announcements of Jack's impending betrothal and Gwyn's own ardent suitor seem to mean the end for everything that Jack and Gwyn might rekindle... but can this love really be buried?The Mystery of the Hunted LadyVera Ladislaw, a third generation Polish aristocrat, lives a quiet life in England, with her father dabbling in political reform and agricultural innovations, and her mother always on the hunt for a good husband. When the unthinkable happens, Vera's life is torn apart. Lord James Stanley, despite his extravagant balls and his rakish ways, is a rather lonely figure. When he finds a confidant in the alter ego of young Vera, a strong bonding is to come. Vera finds there is more to him than meets the eye and soon finds herself caught in a complicated web of romance, intrigue, and danger.Each book features a standalone, clean and sweet story of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after.