"A solid introduction and useful survey of slaving activity by the Muslims of North Africa over the course of several centuries." — ChroniclesEverybody knows about the transatlantic slave trade, which saw black Africans snatched from their homes, taken across the Atlantic Ocean and then sold into slavery. However, a century before Britain became involved in this terrible business, whole villages and towns in England, Ireland, Italy, Spain and other European...

"Simon Webb's eminently readable book may draw gasps of horror, disbelief, or disdain . . . a mind-blowing and fascinating journey through history." — On: Yorkshire MagazineAll nations and peoples have a body of legendary tales and semi-historical episodes which explain who they are and help to define their place in the world. The British are no exception, and in this book, Simon Webb explores some of the most well-known episodes from British history; stor...

The little-known true story of rioting and rebellion among British veterans and workers after the end of World War I.On the August Bank Holiday of 1919, the government in London dispatched warships to the northern city of Liverpool in an overwhelming show of force. Thousands of troops, backed by tanks, had been trying without success to suppress disorder on the streets.Earlier that year in London, a thousand soldiers had marched on Downing Street before bei...

An analysis of the impact of new communication technology on early 20th century British society, with comparisons to the digital revolution of today.We are all familiar with the digital revolution that has swept across the developed world in recent years. It has ushered in an age of smartphones, laptop computers and ready access to the internet. A little over a century ago, a similar explosion took place in the field of information and communication technology. This...

Judicial hanging is regarded by many as being the quintessentially British execution. However, many other methods of capital punishment have been used in this country; ranging from burning, beheading and shooting to crushing and boiling to death. Execution: A History of Capital Punishment in Britain explores these types of execution in detail. Readers may be surprised to learn that a means of mechanical decapitation, the Halifax Gibbet, was being used in England f...

"Webb takes what we know about these magical beings via pop culture and explores their origins and how their respective images have changed over time." — The PortalistThis book tells the fascinating story of the origin of our ideas about wizards, witches, and fairies. We all have a clear mental image of the pointed hats worn by such individuals, which are based upon actual headgear dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age. Carefully sifting through old le...

One of the most influential books on chess ever published – now in digital format. The Tiger is a vicious beast. He doesn't care about the aesthetic side of chess. He doesn't even care about making the 'best' moves. All he cares about is winning.Do you want to win more games? Then become a Tiger. 'Chess for Tigers' tellsyou how to make the most of your playing strength, how to play upon youropponent's weaknesses, how to steer the game into a position which suits you...

Do you remember playing in streets free of traffic? Dancing to the Beatles? Watching a man land on the Moon on TV? Waking up to ice on the inside of the windows? If the answer is yes, then the chances are that you were a child in the 1960s.This delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in the East End during the Swinging Sixties. With chapters on games and hobbies, school and holidays, this wonderful volume is sure to jog memories for all who...

This revealing history explores Britain's use of concentration camps from the Boer War to WWII and the Troubles in Northern Ireland.The term concentration camp will forever be associated with the horrors of Nazi Germany. But the British were the true driving force behind the development of these notorious facilities. During the Boer War, British concentration camps caused the deaths of tens of thousands of children from starvation and disease. In the years after Wor...

In the years since the 7/7 attacks on the London transport system, many people in Britain seem to have become convinced that we live in uniquely dangerous times and that the threat from terrorism has never been greater. In fact, terrorist attacks have been a feature of life in London for many years. The worst terrorist bombing in the capital before 7/7 took place in 1867, when twelve people were killed in an explosion in Clerkenwell. The first person to be killed by a bomb...

Many British baby boomers are very nostalgic about a supposed golden age; a vanished world when children were generally freer, happier and healthier than they are now. They wandered about all day; only returning home at teatime when they were hungry. Nobody worried about health and safety or 'stranger danger' in those days and no serious harm ever befell children as a result.In Post-War Childhood, Simon Webb examines the facts and figures behind the myth of children's carefree lives in the...

Is it true that the trans-Atlantic slave trade, about which so much has been heard in recent years, would have been impossible without the willing and enthusiastic cooperation of African leaders? Slavery was a common practice in Africa long before the arrival of Europeans, with the trade in black slaves, who were transported from Africa to America and the islands of the Caribbean, aided by the African traders who benefited from the arrangement. Even when Europe and America outlawed slavery...