An authoritative life of Edward the Confessor, the monarch whose death sparked the invasion of 1066"In putting flesh back on Edward’s bones Licence has brought a new succession story to popular attention."—Leanda de Lisle, The Times“This fine biography of Edward the Confessor is both entertaining and elegiac.”—Nicholas Vincent, The TabletOne of the last kings of An...

An authoritative life of Harold II, the king who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066Harold Godwinson is renowned as the king who lost England to the invading William the Conqueror in 1066. Infamous legends, invented by the Victorians, surround his life, corrupting our idea of him. But who was the real Harold II?In this major new biography, Tom Licence reveals the truth behind the nineteenth-century myths. Moving from Harold's childhood and his adventures...

An authoritative life of Harold II, the king who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066Harold Godwinson is renowned as the king who lost England to the invading William the Conqueror in 1066. Infamous legends, invented by the Victorians, surround his life, corrupting our idea of him. But who was the real Harold II?In this major new biography, Tom Licence reveals the truth behind the nineteenth-century myths. Moving from Harold’s childhood and his adventures...

The people who lived in England before the First World War now inhabit a realm of yellow photographs. Theirs is a world fast fading from ours, yet they do not appear overly distant. Many of us can remember them as being much like ourselves. Nor is it too late for us to encounter them so intimately that we might catch ourselves worrying that we have invaded their privacy. Digging up their refuse is like peeping through the keyhole. How far off are our grandparents in reality when we can sni...

Aelred (1110–1167) served Rievaulx Abbey, the second Cistercian monastery in England, for twenty years as abbot. During his abbacy he wrote thirteen treatises, some offering spiritual guidance and others seeking to advise King Henry II. He also wrote thirty-one sermons as a commentary on Isaiah 13–16 and 182 surviving liturgical sermons, mostly addressed to his monks.This volume contains the second half of Aelred's ninety-eight liturgical sermons from the Reading-Cluny collection, ...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A clever, lively ... splendid new book'DAN JONES*, SUNDAY TIMES*'A big gold bar of delight'SPECTATORSixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. In this sweeping and original history, renowned ...

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two 'dirty centuries'? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit?All these questions - and more - are answered in this juicy, truly intimate history of the home.Through the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, Lucy Worsley explores what people...

This is a collection of Calvin's Commentaries -- a large collection, about four times the size of a typical novel. According to Wikipedia: "John Calvin (né Jean Cauvin; 10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he suddenly converted and broke from the Roman Catholic Church in th...

Updated with the latest archaeological research new chapters on the most influential yet widely unrecognised people of the British isles, In Search of the Dark Ages illuminates the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest of 1066.In this new edition, Michael Wood vividly conjures some of the most important people in British history such as Hadrian, a Libyan refugee from the Arab conquests and arguably the most importa...

TRAVEL BACK IN TIME WITH THE BBC'S RUTH GOODMANWe know what life was like for Victoria and Albert. But what was it like for a commoner - like you or me?How did it feel to cook with coal and wash with tea leaves?Drink beer for breakfast and clean your teeth with cuttlefish?Catch the omnibus to work and do the laundry in your corset?How to be a Victorian is a radical new approach to hi...

Writing to a Roman layman and enquiring Christian named Lawrence in AD 421, Augustine intended The Handbook: A Guide on Faith, Hope, and Love as a guide for catechesis and spiritual development. In this strikingly concise book, he breaks down Christian life to its most basic elements–faith, hope, and love–and by examining these central commitments he provides one of the most accessible and direct introductions to Christianity and to his thought.The Handbook

An upstart French duke who sets out to conquer the most powerful and unified kingdom in Christendom. An invasion force on a scale not seen since the days of the Romans. One of the bloodiest and most decisive battles ever fought. This riveting book explains why the Norman Conquest was the single most important event in English history.Assessing the original evidence at every turn, Marc Morris goes beyond the familiar outline to explain why England was at once so powerful and yet so ...