Showing results for "Rachel" in Europe

Bismarck's War tells the story of one of the most shocking reversals of fortune in modern European history. The culmination of a globally violent decade, the Franco-Prussian War was deliberately engineered by Bismarck, both to destroy French power and to unite Germany. It could not have worked better, but it also had lurking inside it the poisonous seeds of all the disasters that would ravage the twentieth century.

June, 1877: the petite 29-year-old Annie Besant stands motionless before the 75-year-old Judge towering over her in the Palace of Westminster. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn is presiding over the scandalous 'trial of the century' where Annie Besant and her confidante Charles Bradlaugh have been charged with the unforgiveable crime of publishing and selling a guide to birth control. Charged with obscenity, she argued—controversially and outrageously, for the time—that it was a woman's right to be able to choose to have children.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE A TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE CONVERSATION'S 5 BEST NON-FICTION BOOKS OF 2024 'A truly radical book; radical in subject, radical in form. For the most tragic reasons, it...

“A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure.” —Ilyon Woo A riveting biography of Alexander the Great’s final years, when the leader’s insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy. By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great...

Wallis Simpson stole the king's heart and rocked the monarchy - but she was not Edward VIII's first or only love. Before Wallis dominated his life, he adored three other women: Rosemary Leveson Gower, the girl he wanted to marry; Freda Dudley Ward, the Prince's long-term mistress; and Thelma Furness, his twice-married American lover. Each one of the three women in this book could have changed the course of history. In examining their lives and impact on the heir to the throne, Rachel Trethewey questions whether he ever really wanted to be king....

Bright, attractive and well-connected, in any other family the Churchill sisters - Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary - would have shone. But they were not in any other family; they were Churchills, and neither they nor anyone else could ever forget it. From their father - ‘the greatest Englishman’ - to their brother, golden boy Randolph, to their eccentric and exciting cousins, the Mitford Girls, they were surrounded by a clan of larger-than-life characters which often saw them overlooked.

During World War II, Heinz Drossel saved Soviet prisoners of war and several Jews, including Marianne Hirschfeld. Again and again, he wasn't afraid to risk his own life when others' safety was at risk. Nearly all of Hirschfeld's family members were murdered by Nazis; she survived in hiding - and met Heinz again by coincidence after the war was over. They married in 1946. At that time, starting over was difficult. In the judicial service, Drossel witnessed Nazis continuing with their careers....

Four days after Germany's surrender in May 1945, a young British officer took a jeep and headed east into Germany. But this was no ordinary soldier. Manfred Gans was searching for his family. As a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany, Gans had fled to England. As soon as he could, he signed up to fight, serving in the legendary British 'Three Troop', an elite unit made up of German-speaking refugees, and joining in the D-Day Normandy landings. Working undercover, he obtained vital intelligence, helped liberate occupied France and the Netherlands, and saved countless lives on both sides of the front.

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de’ Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country’s long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century.

The Sunday Times Bestseller 'Quite simply the most important book you will read this year' Hazel Gaynor 'An extraordinary read' Lorraine Kelly 'Deeply moving' Daily Mail 'Mama, it's me.' I held her hand in mine, hoping it would give her the strength to hold on. Finally, she spoke, her voice...

The Queue tells the unforgettable story of three strangers, nineteen-year-old Abbie, 40-year-old Mike and 63-year-old Janet, who meet in Southwark Park on 17th September 2022 on a day that will change their lives forever. Over the next twenty-four hours, alongside 250,000 others, friendships are formed, celebrities are spotted and rom-com dreams are ignited. As the unlikely trio wind along the Thames, edging ever closer to Westminster and the Queen, it's clear that they have unknowingly become a part of history.

Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche - Princess of Mycenae - will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society's traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny. But she is soon caught up in powers beyond her control, when the jealous Aphrodite sends the God of Desire, Eros, to deliver a fatal love-curse. 

SPIES... FAMILIES... SECRETS - perfect for anyone who enjoyed A SPY AMONG FRIENDS Originally published as LOOKING FOR MR NOBODY A fascinating true story of one man's connection to the Cambridge Spy Ring and his daughter's search for the truth. 'A book which deserves nothing but praise' SUNDAY...

Wedlock is the remarkable story of the Countess of Strathmore and her marriage to Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary Eleanor Bowes was one of Britain's richest young heiresses. She married the Count of Strathmore, who died young, and, pregnant with her lover's child, Mary became engaged to George Gray. Then in swooped Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary was bowled over and married him within the week. But nothing was as it seemed. Stoney was broke and his pursuit of the wealthy Countess a calculated ploy.

The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they’re dismissed as something existing only in books and song - those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy. Not so. In this groundbreaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty.

When Pauline Terreehorst bid for a vintage Gucci suitcase at Sotheby's Amsterdam, she had no idea what was inside. The case turned out to be full of fine dresses, furs, and lace, with boxes of postcard albums showing grand castles and churches in Austria, France, England, and Scotland. The curious correspondence revolved around Austrian philanthropist Countess Margarethe Szapary, and her daughter.

Winner of the Sports Book Awards 2022 The huge Sunday Times number one bestselling inspirational memoir from rugby league legend Rob Burrow on his extraordinary career, his incredible friendship with fellow Rhino Kevin Sinfield, and his battle with motor neurone disease. ‘A pocket rocket of a...