First published in 1935*, Queen Elizabeth and Her Subjects* presents a comprehensive history of the Elizabethan Age. Most of the sketches in the book were with exception of the last, originally delivered as talks for the B.B.C. The main bulk of the book, Chapters II-IX, consists of the series on "Queen Elizabeth’s Subjects" delivered in spring of 1934; of which Chapter III, V, VII and IX are by G, B. Harrison and the rest are by A.L. Rowse. It brings topics such as William Cecil and Lord B...

First published in 1987, The Poet Auden is a personal memoir by A.L. Rowse, who knew Auden from the time he was an undergraduate at Oxford and kept some touch with him all his life until his final return to Oxford. From those early days he had no doubt of Auden’s genius, and from his own long periods in America he has been able to place the poet’s life and work in the double, perhaps twin, perspective of England and the United States. How far did this dichotomy enrich or disadvant...

First published in 1927, On History offers an overview of the ternds in historical thought in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Rowse starts with an analogy between historical and political thought and discusses the style and method of history writing. He argues that the chief value of the conception of history is in that it provides a principle proper to the age for its summary of the past and in the light of which we may survey the whole of the social process and not on...

Sir Richard Grenville (1542-1591), English sea captain and explorer, became a legendary figure in the resistance to the Spanish Armada, dying as a result of wounds sustained at the helm of the galleon Revenge in the Battle of Flores: a fight in which he struggled against overwhelming odds.First published in 1937, Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge was A.L. Rowse's first full-length historical monograph.'There is no doubt that Mr Rowse's book will establi...

This book, originally published in 1963, discusses the place of history in education and general culture, methods of teaching and how to tackle reading. It deals with problems that are among the most pressing intellectual issues of the twentieth century as well as being a practical handbook, on how to read history.

Reflections on the Puritan Revolution (1986) examines the damage done by the Puritans during the English Civil War, and the enormous artistic losses England suffered from their activities. The Puritans smashed stained glass, monuments, sculpture, brasses in cathedrals and churches; they destroyed organs, dispersed the choirs and the music. They sold the King’s art collections, pictures, statues, plate, gems and jewels abroad, and broke up the Coronation regalia. They closed down t...

What is the connection between God and East Sheen? How do you talk your way out of an Albanian jail? Why do dictators love to make comic books? How does a missed penalty-kick lead to a bloody war? Theodore Dalrymple, a psychiatrist who gives expert witness in murder cases, has a passion for sideways thinking. In The Pleasure of Thinking he takes us on a witty and erudite voyage along the hidden pathways that bring ideas together. At once light-hearted and enlightening, it is an amusing fli...

In her highly praised The Six Wives of Henry VIII and its sequel, Children of England, Alison Weir examined the private lives of the early Tudor kings and queens, and chronicled the childhood and youth of one of England's most successful monarchs, Elizabeth I.This book begins as the young Elizabeth ascends the throne in the wake of her sister Mary's disastrous reign. Elizabeth is portrayed as both a woman and a queen, an extraordinary phenomenon in a patriarchal a...

Collected Essays contains nearly eighty essays, reviews and occasional pieces composed between novels, plays and travel books over four prolific decades. From Henry James and Somerset Maugham to Ho Chi Minh and Kim Philby, the range of subjects is eclectic and stimulating; his subjects brought vividly to life. The resulting collection is as revealing as autobiography and characteristically rich in humour, insight and doubt.

In this provocative but balanced essay, Kenneth Minogue discusses the development of politics from the ancient world to the twentieth century. He prompts us to consider why political systems evolve, how politics offers both power and order in our society, whether democracy is always a good thing, and what future politics may have in the twenty-first century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subjec...

Peter Ackroyd, one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, brings the age of the Tudors to vivid life in this monumental book in his The History of England series, charting the course of English history from Henry VIII's cataclysmic break with Rome to the epic rule of Elizabeth I.Rich in detail and atmosphere, Peter Ackroyd's Tudors is the story of Henry VIII's relentless pursuit of both the perfect wife and the perfect heir; of how the brief reign of the teenage king, Edward...

The new bestseller from one of Britain's most pre-eminent philosophers and arguably the best known, A.C. GraylingEveryone wishes to live a life that is satisfying and fulfilling, in which there is achievement and pleasure, and which has the respect of people one, in turn, respects. And one of the fundamentals to living such a life is to reflect on the choices we make.In this new collection, A.C. Grayling invites the reader into a conversation with ideas. Fr...