The essential introduction to the Middle Ages by the author of The Time Traveller's Guide series— " the most remarkable medieval historian of our time" ( The Times, UK).We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance and superstition. By contrast we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuri...

From an award-winning historian: "A new and convincing likeness of medieval England's most iconic king" ( The Sunday Times).This biography by the bestselling author of The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England takes an insightful look at the life of Henry V, casting new light on a period in history often held up as legend.A great English hero, Henry V was lionized by Shakespeare and revered by his countrymen for his religious commitmen...

The real life story of the Plantagenet ruler, by "the most remarkable medieval historian of our time" ( The Times, London).The talented, confident, and intelligent son of John of Gaunt, Henry IV started his reign as a popular and charismatic king after he dethroned the tyrannical and wildly unpopular Richard II. But six years into his reign, Henry had survived eight assassination and overthrow attempts.Having broken God's law of primogenit...

A look at the brutal, brilliant fourteenth-century ruler, by the bestselling author of The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.Holding power for over fifty years starting in 1327, Edward III was one of England's most influential kings—and one who shaped the course of English history. Revered as one of the country's most illustrious leaders for centuries, he was also a usurper and a warmonger who ordered his uncle beheaded. A brutal man, to be sure, b...

The author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England takes you through the world of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth IFrom the author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, this popular history explores daily life in Queen Elizabeth’s England, taking us inside the homes and minds of ordinary citizens as well as luminaries of the period, including Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake.O...

An award-winning historian's guide to writing about history, in both fiction and nonfiction.Is history absolute? Is writing about the past an exact science, or is it more of a nebulous discipline open to different interpretations and points of view? These are important questions that noted historian Ian Mortimer says all serious writers of history must reflect on.This new collection explores those ideas, providing an analysis on how the immensity of chronic...

In this important new work Ian Mortimer examines some of the most controversial questions in medieval history, including whether Edward II was murdered, his possible later life in Italy, the weakness of the Lancastrian claim to the throne in 1399 and the origins of the idea of the royal pretender. Central to this book is his ground-breaking approach to medieval evidence. He explains how an information-based method allows a more certain reading of a series of texts. He criticises existing m...

He is one of the most reviled English kings in history. He drove his kingdom to the brink of civil war a dozen times in less than twenty years. He allowed his male lovers to rule the kingdom. He led a great army to the most ignominious military defeat in English history. His wife took a lover and invaded his kingdom, and he ended his reign wandering around Wales with a handful of followers, pursued by an army. He was the first king of England forced to abdicate his throne. Popular legend h...

"A compelling page-turner" about the medieval English baron who invaded his own country and deposed a king (Alison Weir, New York Times–bestselling author of Queen Isabella).One night in August 1323, a captive rebel baron, Sir Roger Mortimer, drugged his guards and escaped from the Tower of London. With the king's men-at-arms in pursuit he fled to the south coast and sailed to France. There he was joined by Isabella, the French-born queen of Englan...

The New York Times bestselling history of early Christianity in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—from "one of America's best scholars of religion" ( The Economist).In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores a vast and forgotten network of the world's largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became...

“Vivid with a Mesozoic bestiary” (Tom Holland), this on-the-ground, page-turning narrative weaves together the chance discovery of dinosaurs and the rise of the secular age.When the twelve-year-old daughter of a British carpenter pulled some strange-looking bones from the country’s southern shoreline in 1811, few people dared to question that the Bible told the accurate history of the world. But Mary Anning had in fact discovered the “first” ichthyosaur, and over t...

Discover hundreds of intriguing, entertaining & often hilarious origins to the English language's most curious phrases in this trivia book from a bestselling author.English is filled with interesting phrases. This book reveals the surprising, captivating and even hilarious origins behind 400 of them, including:• Read between the Lines• Cat Got Your Tongue?• Put a Sock in It• Close, but No Cigar• Bring Home the Bacon• Caught Red-Handed• Under the Wea...