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During her 70 years on the throne, few got to know the Queen well, but there is one body of work that sheds new light on her thoughts, personality and the issues that really concerned her: the Queen's own speeches. Based on in-depth research and interviews with many of those who knew the Queen best, this audiobook sheds new light on the life and career of our much-missed monarch.

Far-right groups are now the most regular perpetrators of terrorist activity in the UK according to Prevent and are more visible than ever: on the streets, in the corridors of power. But how much do we really know about the myriad shadowy political collectives that have insinuated themselves into every stratum of British society? Harry Shukman, a researcher with HOPE not hate, set out to explore this secretive world that seemingly hides from us in plain sight.

During the 15th century England was split in a bloody conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster over who should claim the crown. The civil wars consumed the whole nation in a series of battles that eventually saw the Tudor dynasty take power. In A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses, Desmond Seward tells the story of this complex and dangerous period of history through the lives of five men and women who experienced the conflict firsthand.

If you want to discover the captivating history of the Celts, then keep reading...while Celtic culture has stayed alive in Ireland, its roots run much deeper, and they extend much farther than the small island nation off the coast of modern-day Great Britain. The story of the Celts is one of a rapid rise to prominence followed by a slow decline due to the influence of the Romans. But even so, Celtic culture has remained strong in Europe and has been able to persist to this day.

Alcatraz, the Maze, Rikers, Bangkwang, Sabaneta, ADX Florence - the names alone can chill the blood. Along with La Santé, Diyarbakir, Tadmor, and Carandiru, these are 10 of the toughest prisons in the world. Their walls have housed those guilty of some of the most heinous crimes in history - and frequently served as virtual torture chambers for those whose only crime is to fight for their political beliefs. Some have been the scene of massacres and other atrocities, while others house their inmates in conditions judged inhumane and degrading.

Great castles are invaluable historical artifacts, that give us an incredible window into the medieval world. Castles were part of the very fabric of medieval society, and profoundly influenced the political, economic, demographic, and social evolution of Europe. In the 24 compelling lectures of Great Castles of Europe, Professor Victoria L. McAlister, of Towson University guides you through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, highlighting outstanding and historically significant castles of these extraordinary times.

At the age of 21, Edith Chaplin married one of the most eligible bachelors of the day, the eldest son of the sixth Marquess of Londonderry. Her husband served in the Ulster cabinet and was Air Minister in the National Government of 1934-5. Edith founded the Women's Legion during the First World War and was also an early campaigner for women's suffrage. She created the renowned Mount Stewart Gardens in County Down that are now owned by the National Trust.

The Victorian era has dominated the popular imagination like no other period, but these myths and stories also give a very distorted view of the 19th century. The early Victorians were much stranger than we usually imagine, and their world would have felt very different from our own. It was only during the long reign of the Queen that a modern society emerged in unexpected ways.

Arguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain's economic progress, Eric Williams' landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism and has influenced generations of historians ever since. Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the 18th and 19th centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision.

Known to millions as the imperious matriarch of Bridgerton's court, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was still a teenager when she was chosen to be the bride of King George III. Shy, innocent, and sheltered, the orphaned princess and her groom carried the hopes of a nation on their shoulders. The unassuming young couple symbolized a new beginning, but soon those hopes began to sour. Charlotte and George's marriage lasted for nearly sixty years and produced more than a dozen children, but it was beset by unrest at home, war in the colonies, and the king's encroaching madness.

1217 charts the nascent sense of national identity that began to swell. Three key battles would determine England’s destiny. The fortress of Dover was besieged, the city of Lincoln was attacked, and a great invasion force set sail and, unusually for the time, was intercepted at sea. Catherine Hanley expertly navigates medieval siege warfare, royal politics, and fighting at sea to bring this remarkable period of English history to life.

One of Britain's most distinguished biographers turns her focus on one of the most vilified woman of the last century. Historian Anne Sebba has written the first full biography of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, by a woman which attempts to understand this fascinating and enigmatic American divorcee who nearly became Queen of England. 'That woman', as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British king.

The explosive love story and full details behind Diana and Charles's relationship have never been revealed...until now. Their breakup sent shock waves around the world, as growing suspicions were officially confirmed: Their fairy-tale marriage was just that—a fairy tale. Not only was the lily-white veil stripped away from their private lives, but the British monarchy itself was suddenly under scathing scrutiny. After all the headlines, the whispers, the rumors, the damaging claims and counterclaims by intimate friends of each, the full inside story of Diana, Charles, and their doomed union.

When a husband killed his wife he was charged with committing murder, and if found guilty he was hanged. When a wife killed her husband she was charged with petty treason, a crime that was analogous with high treason, and if found guilty she was burned at the stake. Unlike murder, petty treason was indefensible and there could be no plea for manslaughter or self-defence.

The six true-crime stories included in this collection are dark and chilling, and will leave you with a new understanding of just how fragile the human mind can be.

The history of the Spitfire contains many hitherto hidden or little-known stories of the men and women behind the plane - not only the gifted creators and inventors who brought the Spitfire to life or the brave fighter pilots from many countries who triumphed in battle but also the thousands of other people whose lives were affected by their personal connection to it - engineers, ground crew, factory or office workers, and their families. Spitfire Stories recounts the memories and stories of these people, from the birth of the iconic Spitfire in the 1930s to the present day.

Nigel Hamilton's Mantle of Command, long-listed for the National Book Award, drew on years of archival research and interviews to portray FDR in a tight close-up as he determined Allied strategy in the crucial initial phases of World War II. Commander in Chief reveals the astonishing sequel - suppressed by Winston Churchill in his memoirs - of Roosevelt's battles with Churchill to maintain that strategy.

In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and understand as never before the society that shaped them: among them, Diana's sexually charged mother, bad-girl sister-in-law Fergie, and, most formidable of them all, her mother-in-law, the Queen. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana broke out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.

Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined into a living whole the private Burke and the public Burke. He gives us a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy, showing how it revealed itself in concrete historical situations in the 18th century and how Burke, through his philosophy, "speaks to our age".

In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie walks from north to south, retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade. Following history's footsteps, Maconie is in search of what modern Britain is really like today.