Showing titles in Medieval

"A compelling page-turner" about the medieval English baron who invaded his own country and deposed a king (Alison Weir, 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 England, who threw herself into his arms. A year later, as lovers, they returned with an invading army: King Edward II's forces crumbled before them and Mortimer took power.

An authoritative life of Harold II, the king who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold Godwinson is renowned as the king who lost England to the invading William the Conqueror in 1066. Infamous legends, invented by the Victorians, surround his life, corrupting our idea of him. But who...

Olivia Swarthout, creator of the viral sensation Weird Medieval Guys, turns her idiosyncratic and humorous eye to the fascinating roots of the English language. Here, she introduces readers to wordspotting, a hobby for those who love words and their peculiarities, origins and histories. From the...

Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas. 

The Tudor dynasty died out because there was no heir of Elizabeth I's body to succeed her. Henry VIII, despite his six marriages, had produced no legitimate son who would live into old age. Three of the reigning Tudors (Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I) died without heirs apparent, the most...

Bruised and battered from a disastrous raid, Ulf and his companions are set to return to their home. But the gods have other ideas. A violent sea storm pushes them back onto the treacherous land of Francia. With their ship damaged, Ulf and his Norse brothers are left stranded.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Athelstan: The Making of England by Tom Holland, read by Roy McMillan. The formation of England happened against the odds - the division of the country into rival kingdoms, the assaults of the Vikings, the precarious position of the island on the edge of...

During the first millennium AD the most northerly part of Britain evolved into the country known today as Scotland. The transition was a long process of social and political change driven by the ambitions of powerful warlords. At first these men were tribal chiefs, Roman generals, or rulers of small kingdoms. Later, after the Romans departed, the initiative was seized by dynamic warrior-kings who campaigned far beyond their own borders. Armies of Picts, Scots, Vikings, Britons, and Anglo-Saxons fought each other for supremacy.

Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) - one of the most prominent Catholic authors of his time - gives a common-sense explanation of why the Crusades were necessary and why they ultimately failed. Writing in 1937, following the demise of the Ottoman Empire, Belloc believed that the West had finally gained the advantage over its mortal foe; however, he also includes a prophetic warning concerning the eventual resurgence of Islam and its enduring desire to destroy Christendom. 

The Byzantine Empire survived as a self-contained political entity longer than any other in the history of Christianity. This history by Charles Oman is a catalog of good, bad, and indifferent emperors who either pushed Byzantine Civilization to new heights or savagely drove it to defeat and dissolution. It is a strange tale populated by some of the most interesting men and women who have ever lived.

Katherine Pangonis explores five forgotten cities of the Mediterranean: Syracuse, Antioch, Ravenna, Tyre and Carthage. Each of these of these ancient cities has a claim to have been the centre of the world in its own time. Their fascinating entwined history takes in Alexander the Great, the Byzantine general Maniakes, and the Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Norman conquests. All were once major power centres that have declined into relative obscurity - but their glory still lingers for those who seek it out.

A fascinating new portrait of Medieval Britain that brings together the everyday and the extraordinary. Using wide-ranging evidence, Martyn Whittock shines a light on Britain in the Middle Ages, bringing it vividly to life. Thus we glimpse 11th century rural society through a conversation between a ploughman and his master. The life of Dick Whittington illuminates the rise of the urban elite.

Drawing from both Christian and Islamic sources, Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain demonstrates that the clash of arms between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian peninsula that began in the early eighth century was transformed into a crusade by the papacy during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Successive popes accorded to Christian warriors willing to participate in the peninsular wars against Islam the same crusading benefits offered to those going to the Holy Land.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts written and read by Christopher de Hamel. This is a book about why medieval manuscripts matter. Coming face to face with an important illuminated manuscript in the original is rather like meeting a very famous person...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF 2021 'Astonishing and compelling' Bernard Cornwell ‘This superb book is like a classical symphony, perfectly composed and exquisitely performed’ THE TIMES Books of the Year Follow bioarchaeologist Cat Jarman – and the cutting-edge...

Let one of the greatest theologians in the history of Christianity be your spiritual guide. St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (1224-1274) towers in the history of Christian thought as a mystic, spiritual master, theologian, philosopher, teacher, and preacher. Along with St. Augustine, his synthesis of...

A fascinating account of the Fifth Crusade, the campaign to conquer Egypt and regain the Holy Land In 1217, the crusader states were in a highly fragile condition. The Fourth Crusade had failed, and Jerusalem had not been recovered. The crusaders now set their sights on Egypt. If the breadbasket...

Bloomsbury presents Tyrants and Traders: Tintagel, Arthur and the Lost Kings by Ken Dark, read by Edward Rowe. Discover exciting new research illuminating the most mysterious centuries of British history. How Roman Britain ended is one of the most controversial questions in British history...

Welcome to Medieval England, where a widow and her daughters are about to come face to face with danger and adventure...and love. This collection from award-winning author Emily Larkin includes four tales of peril and romance featuring courageous heroines, gallant heroes, and a dash of dangerous magic - Maythorn's Wish, Hazel's Promise, Ivy's Choice, and Larkspur's Quest. If you love sexy and heartwarming Medieval romances filled with courage, love, and adventure then this collection is for you!

In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.