By any measure, Julius Caesar is one of the most significant and famous figures in Roman history. Self-identified as a "popular" politician, he advocated for effective government to better the lives of average Romans,Âbut believed such a government could not be based upon the existing democracy. Only through his personal authority and the massive organization he built to overthrow the government could the prosperity of all Rome's citizens be ensured. Through a careful analysis of the ancie...

Newcastle United are a team that really should do better. They have a football-mad city all to themselves and fans as numerous and passionate as you will find anywhere. Yet their recent record is mediocre at best and poor at worst, with every fan painfully aware that 1955 was the last time they won a major English trophy. But it wasn't always like that. In the Magpies' glory days of well over 100 years ago, they were considered the best team in the world. They won the English league three ...

The rise of Celtic's Bobby Murdoch mirrored his club's emergence in the Sixties. With Murdoch in midfield, the Hoops became one of the most formidable teams in British football history - winning an unprecedented 9 Scottish titles in a row, 5 Scottish Cups, 5 Scottish League Cups to add to their immortal triumph in Lisbon in 1967.

This year Christians worldwide will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of Constantine's conversion and victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. No Roman emperor had a greater impact on the modern world than did Constantine. The reason is not simply that he converted to Christianity but that he did so in a way that brought his subjects along after him. Indeed, this major new biography argues that Constantine's conversion is but one feature of a unique administrative style that enabled him...

The Emperors of Rome charts the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through profiles of the greatest and most notorious of the emperors, from the autocratic Augustus to the feeble Claudius, the vicious Nero to the beneficent Marcus Aurelius, through to the maniac Commodus and beyond. Interwoven with these are vivid descriptions of sports and art, political intrigues and historic events.In this entertaining and erudite work, acclaimed classical scholar David Potter brings Imp...

How do things change? The question is critical to the historical study of any era but it is also a profoundly important issue today as western democracies find the fundamental tenets of their implicit social contract facing extreme challenges from forces espousing ideas that once flourished only on the outskirts of society. This books argues that radical change always begins with ideas that took shape on the fringes. Throughout time the "mainstream" has been inherently conservative, allowi...

The 25th of May, 1967, is a date ingrained into the DNA of every Celtic supporter. Their club will always be the first British winners of the European Cup, having beaten Inter Milan in the final with a late Stevie Chalmers goal, on a balmy Lisbon night—but for some, grainy YouTube clips and faded news cuttings of that glorious 1960s evening are their main insight into the club's finest day. Launched ahead of the 50th anniversary of the triumph, Remembering 67 brings to life the le...

The Great Days of Sunderland should be compulsory reading for every Black Cats fan. After a grim few years, it's important to remember that things were once very different for the club. David Potter transports us back to Sunderland's past glories - from the 'team of all the talents' that dominated English football in the 1890s, to the side that almost won the double in 1913, the great team of the 1930s that challenged the riches of Arsenal and the most recent success of 50 years a...

The South African tour of England in 1960 was far from ordinary. The Springboks, under captain Jackie McGlew - and with fine players like Roy McLean, Hugh Tayfield and Neil Adcock - arrived full of confidence, but that confidence was quickly shaken. The tour began a few weeks after the Sharpeville massacre of April that year, and the cricket took place just as the world was waking up to the evils of apartheid. Then there was the 'no-balling' of Geoff Griffin, a controversy that had a great...

The Scottish League Cup is often wrongly described as the 'Cinderella' of Scottish football, as distinct from its two ugly sisters, the Scottish League and the Scottish Cup. Dating from the Second World War, it is certainly the youngest. The trophy is unusual, if not unique, in having three handles. It is a major part of the Scottish season, and has been keenly contested for 75 years. Sixteen teams have won the cup. Unsurprisingly, the big Glasgow clubs have won it the most, but Aberdeen, ...

The Celtic v Rangers clash in Glasgow is one of football's major events, attracting a huge TV audience worldwide. Author David Potter revels in the joy that a victory over the old rivals brings to the Celtic support, reliving some of the club's greatest ever derby-day triumphs from the 1890s right up to date.

'I am proud to say that I knew Jock Stein as a football manager, as a colleague and as a friend . . . he was the greatest manager in British football . . . men like Jock will live forever in the memory' - Sir Alex FergusonDuring his long reign at Celtic, Jock Stein was a legendary figure in the world of football. He led a youthful Celtic side to a memorable European Cup triumph in Lisbon in 1967 and was in charge of the home-grown Celtic teams which won nine Scottish league champio...