Behind every castle wall, history is waiting. Some say the dead are waiting too.Britain's castles have witnessed royal executions, brutal sieges, political betrayal and centuries of private grief. Long after the battles ended, stories remained—of headless queens, phantom children, warning drums and women in white, grey and green.In Haunted Castles of Britain, Tracey Humphrey journeys through twelve of the country's most atmospheric fortresses. From Chillingham Castle and th...

From William Shakespeare's series of history dramas to Sir Walter Scott and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, not to mention the smash-hit TV show Game of Thrones, the British civil war of 1455 to 1485 has inspired writers more than any other.Ed West's My Kingdom for a Horse illuminates the bloody war fought for thirty long years between the descendants of King Edward III in a battle for the throne. Named after the emblems used by the two leadi...

The official inside story of the discovery of the bones of Richard III now a major motion picture starring Sally Hawkins and Steve CooganThe mystery of who Richard III really was has fascinated historians, readers and audiences familiar with Shakespeare's dastardly portrait of a hunchbacked monster of royalty for centuries. In 2012, the remains of a man with a curving spine, who possibly was killed in battle, were discovered underneath the paving of a parking lot i...

Forty-five gruesome but not gratuitous accounts from the Tudor reign, including the death of Richard III and the botched execution of Mary Queen of Scots.This decidedly darker take on the Tudors, from 1485 to 1603, covers a whole host of horrors from the Tudor reign. Particular attention is paid to the various gruesome ways in which the Tudors despatched their various villains and lawbreakers, from simple beheadings, to burnings and of course the dreaded hanging, d...

Britain's reputation for its ghostlore remains as intriguing as ever. This book is for those interested in ghostlore – and castles – and for those who wish to visit the scenes of paranormal legend. It could easily be said that in the UK we are spoilt for choice when it comes to atmospheric historic buildings and certainly Britain's many castles are liberally scattered all over the country. The castles selected in this book have been chosen for their prevalence of spectral ...

Sir John Pryce of Newtown Hall died in 1761. He kept the embalmed bodies of his first two wives on either side of his bed – until his third wife insisted that they were removed.In 1856 Ronald Rhys from the Vale of Neath disappeared for a week after seeing a strange light in a field and hearing a loud noise. He remembered being examined by small creatures who took a sample of his blood.Oh yes, and America is named after a Welshman and the Holy Grail is kept in a bank vault i...

Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps one of the most controversial and divisive monarchs in regal history. Her story reads like a particularly spicy novel, with murder, kidnap, adultery, assassination and execution. To some she is one of the most wronged women in history, a pawn used and abused by her family in the great monarchical marriage game; to others, a murderous adulteress who committed regicide to marry her lover and then spent years in captivity for the crime, endlessl...

Tried and tested ghosthunting trails - mainly in the rural areas of Yorkshire.Discerning ghosthunters will enjoy following the trails - many published for the first time in any form - and enjoying Yorkshire at its spooktacular best.

Rosslyn Chapel has fuelled controversy and debate, and is probably most famous for being the setting of the finale of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Revered by Freemasons as a vital part of their history, believed by some to hold evidence of pre-Columbian voyages to America, assumed by others to hold important relics, from the Holy Grail to the Head of Christ, the Scottish chapel is a place full of mystery. The history of the chapel, its relationship to Freemasonry and the family behind ...

In this vividly descriptive short study, Peter Ackroyd tunnels down through the geological layers of London, meeting the creatures that dwell in darkness and excavating the lore and mythology beneath the surface.There is a Bronze Age trackway below the Isle of Dogs, Anglo-Saxon graves rest under St. Pauls, and the monastery of Whitefriars lies beneath Fleet Street. To go under London is to penetrate history, and Ackroyd's book is filled with the stories unique to this underworld: t...

A new investigation into the most infamous crime of the Middle Ages: the supposed murders of Edward V and his brother Richard of York in the 15th century.The disappearance of two boys during the summer of 1483 has never been satisfactorily explained. They were Edward, Prince of Wales, nearly thirteen at the time, and his brother, Richard of York, nearly ten. With their father, Edward IV, dying suddenly at forty, both boys had been catapulted into the spotlight of fi...

Mysterious Cambridgeshire is the next volume in the Mysterious Counties series, joining best-selling titles Mysterious Cornwall and Mysterious Lincolnshire. Exhaustively researched by the author and fully illustrated throughout, this book is designed to show the reader a Cambridgeshire they never knew existed a county full of supernatural secrets and strange lore.Covering a county with four distinct regions Cambridge, Huntingdon, Fenland and the Soke of Peterborough the author has unearthe...