Buckingham Palace is one of the most familiar buildings in the world, but who knows the real tales hidden behind its ceremonial gates? Who was the witch that once lived in the royal courtyard? How could courtesans once have plied their trade in front of the present royal windows? How dare a prime minister call the palace a monstrous insult to the nation? This text presents a detailed exploration of the ordinary and sometimes extraordinary people who owned or lived on the l...

I Am England is an epic historical novel that sweeps across 1,500 years of English history, capturing the passion, struggles, and triumphs of generations. Set in a single village in the Sussex Weald, this masterfully woven tale follows warriors, artisans, and dreamers who shaped England's destiny. From ancient forest dwellers to the ironmasters who forged England's weapons, their lives unf...

The book addresses two key barriers to school improvement that are currently impacting educators and school leaders. The first is the churn of constant change in the form of multiple initiatives and compliance overload experienced by today’s educators. It is not uncommon to hear a teacher say, “I can’t focus on the kids; there are just too many things to do. I’m overwhelmed.” Has change itself become a distraction? Has it forced educators to move not toward but away from their primary focu...

Sweeping through fifteen centuries of life in the heart of southern England, this epic novel records the lives of the ordinary folk of Britain from the end of the Roman occupation through to the late 16th century. The author has brought to life a colorful range of characters, from serfs to kings, from slave girls to bishops and from honest working families to murderers, to illustrate what it must have been like to live through some of the most challenging periods of English history, includ...

Before primatologist Patricia Chapple Wright became the world's foremost expert on lemurs, she was enchanted by another primate—Aotus, the owl monkey, or "monkey of the night." But along her journey to discover the behavior of these unique nocturnal creatures, Wright finds more than she expected about family, human nature, and herself. It all starts in a New York City pet shop when Wright and her husband buy an owl monkey whose lively and rambunctious ways soon lead the young couple to South ...

Which king's guards massacred a group of his supporters by mistake? Who had an oversized tongue and had to slobber when they ate food? Who was so large when they died that they had to be buried in a square coffin? Who survived seven assassination attempts? As you can tell from the bizarre questions above, it wasn't all thrones and sceptres for British kings and queens. Some of them were completely batty, and others were downright vicious. On the other hand, some monarchs were an icon to th...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE BOOK BEHIND THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONESNAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADEHere is the fifth book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece in the making.A DANCE WITH DRAGONSIn the aftermath of a colossal battle, Daenerys Targaryen rules with her ...

The past is a foreign country: this is your guidebook.If you could travel back in time, the period from 1660 to 1700 would make one of the most exciting destinations in history. It is the age of Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London; bawdy comedy and the libertine court of Charles II; Christopher Wren in architecture, Henry Purcell in music and Isaac Newton in science - the civil wars are over and a magnificent new era has begun.But what would it really...

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*The tenth book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions.A hero will be forged from this broken land.As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.From the day it was stolen from me I had dreamed of recapturing Bebbanburg. The great fort was built on a rock that was almost an island, it ...

The House of Tudor changed the history of Britain forever. The Tudor monarchs have been immortalised in novels and films for generations. However, the true history of this incredible dynasty is often romanticised and fact is overlooked. Alison Plowden's accessible and beautifully written history traces the family's turbulent reign of power from Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, who fathered the great Henry VIII. Henry VIII went onto revolutionise England's armed...

HBO’s hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R R Martin’s internationally bestselling series A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age.A DANCE WITH DRAGONS: AFTER THE FEAST is the SECOND part of the fifth volume in the series.‘Vivid, rich, multi-layered and utterly addictive’ Daily ExpressThe future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance.In King’s Landing the Queen Regent, Cersei Lannister, awaits trial, abandoned by al...

Who invented the 'House of Windsor' as a royal name? Who founded Westminster Abbey? Which king had twenty-one illegitimate children? David Halliam answers all these questions and more. Here is a continuous history of the English monarchy, showing how the nine dynasties rose and fell.The book describes the most memorable features of the life and times of each king or queen - from Egbert, crowned in 802 and considered the first king of England, to Queen Elizabeth II ...