Book picks similar to
Vindolanda by Robin Birley


history
roman
non-fiction
greeks-and-romans

Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy


Charles Pellegrino - 2012
    When it sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people, the world was forever changed and the public has been spellbound ever since. Now, a century later, the "Titanic" is about to disappear again: its infrastructure is set to collapse in the next few years. In this book, scientist Charles Pellegrino offers what may be the last opportunity to see the ship before it is lost to the seas for eternity. The last book to be written while survivors were still alive and able to contribute details, "Farewell, Titanic" includes many untold stories about the sinking and exploration of the unsinkable ship.Author Charles Pellegrino provided source material for James Cameron's Oscar-winning "Titanic" film, which is being re-released in 3D at the same time as the bookIncludes 16 pages of never-before-published full-color photographs of the sunken vesselIncludes all-new information about the "Titanic" research that has been carried out in the last decadeWritten by a "New York Times" bestselling author who participated in the post-discovery analysis of the "Titanic"'s remains during the expedition that immediately followed Robert Ballard's "Titanic" discovery in 1985

Impossible Truths: Amazing Evidence of Extraterrestrial Contact


Erich von Däniken - 2018
    • Assess for yourself the stunning visual evidence presented in some 200 photographs. • Examine previously unpublished testimony from expert informants. • Discover new research undertaken by von Däniken after the opening up of previously inaccessible regions, such as the jungle city “Buritaca 200” in Colombia.

LRRP Team Leader


John Burford - 1994
    All of Sergeant John Burford's missions with F Company, 58th Infantry were deep in hostile territory. As leader of a six-man LRRP team, he found the enemy, staged ambushes, called in precision strikes, and rescued downed pilots. The lives of the entire team depended on his leadership and their combined skill and guts. A single mistake—a moment of panic—could mean death for everyone.Whether describing ambushes in the dreaded A Shau Valley or popping smoke to call in artillery only yards away from his position, Burford demonstrates the stuff the LRRPs are made of—the bravery, daring, and sheer guts that make the LRRPs true heroes. . . .

The Cover-Up at Omaha Beach: D-Day, the US Rangers, and the Untold Story of Maisy Battery


Gary Sterne - 2013
    They were to lead the assault on Omaha Beach and break out inland. Simultaneously, other Ranger units would scale the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc to destroy the ostensibly huge gun battery there and thus protect the invasion fleet from being targeted. But was the Pointe du Hoc mission actually necessary? Why did the Allies plan and execute an attack on a gun battery that they knew in advance contained no field guns? And more importantly, why did they ignore the position at Maisy that did? Using personal interviews with the surviving Rangers who fought on the beach and at Pointe du Hoc, The Cover-Up at Omaha Beach presents exceptionally detailed new research that takes the reader into the middle of the action with the Rangers.Gary Sterne has made a painstaking study of what the Allies actually knew in advance of D-Day, including what was known about Maisy Battery. Maps, orders, and assault plans have been found in US, UK, and German archives, many of which have only been recently released after having been classified for more than sixty years. Radio communications of the Rangers as they advanced inland have been found, and Royal Air Force intelligence evaluations of bombing missions directed at the site have now been released. All these combine to make The Cover-Up at Omaha Beach one of the most up-to-date references on the subject.

Kings and Castles


Marc Morris - 2012
    In this stimulating collection of articles and essays, the best-selling historian and broadcaster Marc Morris answers those fundamental questions - and many more. He explores some of Britain’s favourite castles, such as Framlingham, Goodrich and Castle Acre, and the castle-building campaigns of famous kings like William the Conqueror and Edward I. And he addresses issues such as the origins of the cult of St George, the changing role of the medieval English earl and the riddle of the Winchester Round Table. Two articles – one on Edward I’s reputation, another on Lanercost Priory – appear here for the first time.Dr Marc Morris is a best-selling historian and broadcaster. In 2003 he presented the six-part TV series Castle and wrote its accompanying book. His other books include a critically acclaimed biography of Edward I, A Great and Terrible King, and a major new history of The Norman Conquest.Praise for Marc Morris: ‘Morris’s socio-architectural take on the past is a treat’ (Guardian)'Uncommonly good ... a true historian' (Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph) ‘Marc Morris makes it look easy: he knows instinctively how to tell a good story and strikes a fine balance between the colloquial and the erudite, the wry and the informative’ (The Times) 'Insightful, compelling and highly readable' (Robyn Young) ‘Marc Morris is a first-rate historian, original and conscientious: one of the few people with a doctorate who can communicate to a wide audience. He does not just communicate but enthuses people, and constantly asks new and provocative questions that really make you think’ (Ian Mortimer) Endeavour Press is the UK's leading publisher of digital books.

Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction


Peter Salway - 2000
    He charts life in Roman Britain from the first Roman invasion under Julius Caesar to the final collapse of the Roman Empire in the West around AD 500.

The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary


John Simpson - 2016
    And there is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments than the former chief editor of the OED, John Simpson. Simpson spent almost four decades of his life immersed in the intricacies of our language, and guides us through its history with charmingly laconic wit. In The Word Detective, an intensely personal memoir and a joyful celebration of English, he weaves a story of how words come into being (and sometimes disappear), how culture shapes the language we use, and how technology has transformed not only the way we speak and write but also how words are made. Throughout, he enlivens his narrative with lively excavations and investigations of individual words -- from deadline to online and back to 101 (yes, it's a word) -- all the while reminding us that the seemingly mundane words (can you name the four different meanings of ma?) are often the most interesting ones. But Simpson also reminds us of the limitations of language: spending his days in the OED's house of words, his family at home is forced to confront the challenges of wordlessness. A brilliant and deeply humane expedition through the world of words, The Word Detective will delight and inspire any lover of language.

Tainted Ladies: Female Outlaws, Renegade Women and Soiled Doves of the Wild West


Vickie Britton - 2012
    

Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall


Chris Welch - 2001
    The eccentric group who satirised trad jazz, pop and rock, reached Number five with ‘I’m The Urban Spaceman’ in 1968. A punishing schedule of tours and television followed, including work with the future Monty Python team. The following year, broke and burned out, the Bonzos split up, leaving behind a loyal cult following.Vivian launched into myriad solo projects in music, film and theatre, giving himself several nervous breakdowns in the process. His comic masterpiece, ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’, was heard in radio, on an album, and then hit the big screen. Vivian wrote the musical ‘Stinkfoot’, was narrator on ‘Tubular Bells’ and provided lyrics for Steve Winwood. In person, he was just as multi-faceted, by turns the erudite artist and the truculent Teddy Boy, breathtakingly rude. A powerful figure, tall, red-haired and never less than extravagant in his fashion, Vivian Stanshall was a hell-raiser of legendary reputation – ably assisted through much of the 1970s by Who drummer Keith Moon. Vivian drove the many who loved him to the limit, struggling with terrible tranquilliser and alcohol dependency. He died at home in a house fire in 1995. The story of his turbulent life is utterly compelling.

Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story


Jean Manco - 2015
    It then traces their story back in time into prehistory to their deepest origins and their ancestors, before bringing the narrative forward to the present day. Each chapter also has a useful summary in bullet points to aid the reader and highlight the key facts in the story.

Pope Francis


Matthew E. Bunson - 2013
    Read Pope Francis for the first and most comprehensive perspective of the man, the man he replaces as Bishop of Rome, and the global challenges Pope Francis faces in the universal church.

An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire, 54 BC - AD 409


David Mattingly - 2006
    David Mattingly draws on a wealth of new findings and knowledge to cut through the myths and misunderstandings that so commonly surround our beliefs about this period. From the rebellious chiefs and druids who led native British resistance, to the experiences of the Roman military leaders in this remote, dangerous outpost of Europe, this book explores the reality of life in occupied Britain within the context of the shifting fortunes of the Roman Empire.

911 Finding the Truth


Andrew Johnson - 2010
    A study of the available evidence will challenge you and much of what you assumed to be true. "Now we are discovering that there is a highly-sophisticated black-ops weaponization of free energy technology and it was responsible for the bizarre, low-temperature pulverization of the Twin Towers. Dr. Judy Wood has pieced together the physical evidence and Andrew Johnson has highlighted who is working to silence or smear whom, as the powers that be rush to impede or at least contain the dissemination of these startling findings." - Conrado Salas Cano, M.S. in Physics ** NOTE: Book is sold at the cheapest possible price on the Amazon Kindle Store - if you hunt round, you can find it for free. **

Engel's England: Thirty-nine counties, one capital and one man


Matthew Engel - 2014
    And, as he travels through each of the historic English counties, he discovers that's just the start of it. Every county is fascinating, the product of a millennium or more of history: still a unique slice of a nation that has not quite lost its ancient diversity. He finds the well-dressers of Derbyshire and the pyromaniacs of Sussex; the Hindus and huntsmen of Leicestershire; the goddess-worshippers of Somerset. He tracks down the real Lancashire, hedonistic Essex, and the most mysterious house in Middlesex. In Durham he goes straight from choral evensong to the dog track. As he seeks out the essence of each county - from Yorkshire's broad acres to the microdot of Rutland - Engel always finds the unexpected . Engel's England is a totally original look at a confused country: a guidebook for people who don't think they need a guidebook. It is always quirky, sometimes poignant and often extremely funny.

The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption, and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India


James Astill - 2012
    International cricket was still controlled from London, where they played the long, slow game of Test cricket by the old rules. Indians had traditionally underperformed in the sport but the game remained a national passion. Adopting the highly commercial American model of sporting tournaments, and throwing scantily clad western cheerleaders into the mix, Modi gave himself three months to succeed. And succeed he did--dazzlingly--before he and his league crashed to earth amid astonishing scandal and corruption.The emergence of the IPL is a remarkable tale. Cricket is at the heart of the miracle that is modern India. As a business, it represents everything that is most dynamic and entrepreneurial about the country's economic boom, including the industrious and aspiring middle-class consumers who are driving it. The IPL also reveals, perhaps to an unprecedented degree, the corrupt, back-scratching, and nepotistic way in which India is run.A truly original work by a brilliant journalist, The Great Tamasha* makes the complexity of modern India--its aspiration and optimism straining against tradition and corruption--accessible like no other book has.*Tamasha: a Hindi world meaning "a spectacle."