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The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Niall Ferguson's provocative bestseller, Civilization: The West and the Rest, read brilliantly by the author himself. If in the year 1411 you had been able to circumnavigate the globe, you would have been most impressed by the dazzling...

In 1953, the bodies of three young women are found by a tenant in the walls of a Notting Hill house. He tells the police that he chanced upon them while trying to put up a shelf for his transistor radio. As a series of further horrors are discovered, the eyes of a nation turn to 10 Rillington Place. In this riveting tale of violence, misogyny and tabloid frenzy, Kate Summerscale lifts the veil on what really happened inside the house - and suggests a new solution to one of the twentieth century's most notorious crimes.

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTELLER A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES, TELEGRAPH, DAILY MAIL, TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES ‘ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, MIND-BLOWINGLY EXPLOSIVE’ ED BALLS 'SENSATIONAL' DAILY MAIL THE UNMISSABLE, UNVARNISHED MEMOIRS OF BORIS JOHNSON Boris Johnson has always been larger...

AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOK OF 2025 'Absolutely wonderful. The book I've been waiting to read since I was ten years old. Full of surprising and piercing insights . . . The first thing I've come across that absolutely nails the extraordinary nature of the cultural phenomenon that is Doctor Who'...

A new narrative history of the Viking Age, interwoven with exploration of the physical remains and landscapes that the Vikings fashioned and walked: their rune-stones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields. To many, the word ‘Viking’ brings to mind red scenes of rape and pillage, of...

Harold Wilson's famous reference to 'white heat' captured the optimistic spirit of a society in the midst of breathtaking change. From the gaudy pleasures of Swinging London to the tragic bloodshed in Northern Ireland, from the intrigues of Westminster to the drama of the World Cup, British life...

Brought to you by Penguin. *SUNDAY TIMES AWARD WINNER* The British far right is working to dismantle our democracy. This shocking, eye-opening undercover journey reveals who they are, how they operate and how they are normalising extreme ideologies including eugenics. In summer 2024, riots swept...

Entertaining and different, this is an enjoyable study of a flawed yet characterful Prince of Wales seen through the eyes of the women in his life. Edward Vll, who gave his name to the Edwardian Age and died in 1911, was King of England for the final 10 years of his life. He was 59 when at last he came to the throne. Known as Bertie, the eldest son of Victoria and Albert, he was bullied by both his parents.

The stories and the people involved in the history of murder are stranger, darker and more compulsive than any crime fiction. There’s Richard Parker, the cannibalized cabin boy whose death at the hands of his hungry crewmates led the Victorian courts to decisively outlaw a defence of necessity to murder. Dr Percy Bateman, the incompetent GP whose violent disregard for his patient changed the law on manslaughter. Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in England in the 1950s, played a crucial role in changes to the law around provocation in murder cases.

Ten years after the walk across Central Asia and Afghanistan that he memorialized in The Places in Between, Rory Stewart set out on a new journey, traversing a thousand miles between England and Scotland. Stewart was raised along the border of the two countries, the frontier taking on poignant significance in his understanding of what it means to be both Scottish and English, of his relationship with his father, who's lived on this land his whole life, and of his ties to the rich history and culture of the region.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2017 Born into nobility and married into the royal family, Catherine Howard was attended every waking hour – secrets were impossible to keep. In this thrilling reappraisal of Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Gareth Russell’s history...

From Henry VII to Elizabeth I, Bloody, Brilliant Tudors answers all these questions and more. Come with us as we delve into the people and places behind the world-famous Tudor myths and legends. Through various tales exploring the whole of the glittering dynasty, we'll learn about the lesser-known facts and figures behind these myths. Each reign serves up a wealth of fascinating historical stories to reveal the Tudor world in a new light.

King George V predicted that his son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world’s press revealed the king was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict.

In This Golden Fleece, Esther’s unwavering fascination with this humble material takes her on an enchanting journey across the British landscape, as she unveils exactly how wool has shaped the island’s people, economy and imagination. From Fair Isle, Yorkshire, the Cotswolds and beyond, she explores the forgotten traditions, trade secrets and steadfast communities all shaped by this unique fibre. With warmth and curiosity, Esther cleverly gathers the threads that connect us to the past and each other, detailing the why, how and who behind this ancient craft.

In 410 CE, Roman rule of Britain collapsed, bringing a centuries-long occupation to an end. A century later, Britain was dividing into two areas with contrasting cultures, an expansive "Anglo-Saxon" south and east, and a shrinking Celtic west and north. How did this transition happen? And why did the customs of the Germanic incomers prevail in England, unlike elsewhere in Europe? In this account, Nicholas J. Higham addresses these questions head on. Higham draws on archaeological evidence and contemporary literature, including the writings of Gildas, to reconsider the accepted narrative.

'This was a secret war whose battles were lost or won unknown to the public . . . No such warfare had ever been waged by mortal men' Winston Churchill Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, a country house called The Firs in Buckinghamshire was requisitioned by the War Office...

'If a house could gossip, this is the book that Hampton Court would whisper. An enjoyable and readable stroll through 500 years of Hampton Court history: royal residents, common visitors, thieves, invaders and ghosts’ PHILIPPA GREGORY For centuries, Hampton Court has been a place of power...

‘Grimly fascinating … engrossing’ Daily Mail NINE HISTORIC CRIMES. ONE FAMILIAR OBSESSION. In early modern England, murder truly was most foul. Trials were gossipy events packed to the rafters with noisome spectators. Executions were public proceedings which promised not only gore, but...

In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard guides us through the tumultuous world of the late 14th century in an ingenious, informative and entertaining way. Through the assorted cast of pilgrims Chaucer selected for The Canterbury Tales, Picard brings medieval social history to life and uncovers the detail behind Chaucer's poetic portraits. These are the lives lived beyond the court circles frequented by most of his well-heeled audience.

'Ghoulishly entertaining' Jacqueline Banerjee, Times Literary Supplement 'This is a great book for dipping into . . . the cases themselves are written engagingly and with appealing dramatisation of key events.' Kim Fleet, Crime Review A grisly book dedicated to the crimes, perversions and...