Visar resultat för..."Margaret MacMillan"

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2020Sunday Times best books for Autumn 2020Guardian critics' pick for Autumn 2020Wall Street Journal notable book of 2020The time since the Second World War has been seen by some as the longest uninterrupted period of harmony in human history: the 'long peace', as Stephen Pinker called it. But despite this, there has been a military conflict ongoing every year since 1945. The same can be said for every century of recorded history. Is war, therefore, an essential part of being human? In War, Professor Margaret MacMillan explores the deep links between society and war and the questions they raise. We learn when war began - whether among early homo sapiens or later, as we began to organise ourselves into tribes and settle in communities. We see the ways in which war reflects changing societies and how war has brought change - for better and worse.Economies, science, technology, medicine, culture: all are instrumental in war and have been shaped by it - without conflict it we might not have had penicillin, female emancipation, radar or rockets. Throughout history, writers, artists, film-makers, playwrights, and composers have been inspired by war - whether to condemn, exalt or simply puzzle about it. If we are never to be rid of war, how should we think about it and what does that mean for peace?

‘Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.’Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell’s magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune Rhett Butler.Widely considered the Great American Novel, and often remembered for its epic film version starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind is a superb piece of storytelling. It vividly depicts the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction and is a sweeping story of tangled passion and courage.Since its first publication in 1936, Gone with the Wind has endured as one of the bestselling novels of all time, in spite of its problematic subject matter. This edition of the classic love story features an introductory essay offering a context to the novel, by critically acclaimed, Sunday Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory.

Chosen as one of BookTrust's Best Bedtime Reads for Newborns, and read by superstar Kylie Minogue as a CBeebies Bedtime Story.This gentle bedtime story, which has lulled generations of children to sleep, is the perfect first book to share at bedtime.In a great green room a little bunny is tucked up snugly and safely in bed and is getting ready to say goodnight to all the familiar things in his room, one by one.Margaret Wise Brown's comforting, rhythmical text accompanied by the warmth of Clement Hurd's classic mid-century illustrations make Goodnight Moon a timeless picture book, which is known and loved around the world. Printed with a beautifully vivid orange pantone ink to preserve the magic of the 1947 original, Goodnight Moon makes the perfect birthday or christening gift.

The past is capricious enough to support every stance - no matter how questionable. In 2002, the Bush administration decided that dealing with Saddam Hussein was like appeasing Hitler or Mussolini, and promptly invaded Iraq. Were they wrong to look to history for guidance? No; their mistake was to exaggerate one of its lessons while suppressing others of equal importance. History is often hijacked through suppression, manipulation, and, sometimes, even outright deception. MacMillan's book is packed full of examples of the abuses of history. In response, she urges us to treat the past with care and respect.

A. J. P. Taylor was one of the most acclaimed and uncompromising historians of the twentieth century. In this clear, lively and now-classic account of the First World War, he tells the story of the conflict from the German advance in the West, through the Marne, Gallipoli, the Balkans and the War at Sea to the offensives of 1918 and the state of Europe after the war. Containing photographs and maps, this an essential history of the war that 'cut deep into the consciousness of modern man'.

Imagine you could eavesdrop on a dinner party with three of the most fascinating historical figures of all time. In this landmark book, a gifted Harvard historian puts you in the room with Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt as they meet at a climactic turning point in the war to hash out the terms of the peace. The ink wasn't dry when the recriminations began. The conservatives who hated Roosevelt's New Deal accused him of selling out. Was he too sick? Did he give too much in exchange for Stalin's promise to join the war against Japan? Could he have done better in Eastern Europe? Both Left and Right would blame Yalta for beginning the Cold War. Plokhy's conclusions, based on unprecedented archival research, are surprising. He goes against conventional wisdom-cemented during the Cold War- and argues that an ailing Roosevelt did better than we think. Much has been made of FDR's handling of the Depression; here we see him as wartime chief. Yalta is authoritative, original, vividly- written narrative history, and is sure to appeal to fans of Margaret MacMillan's bestseller Paris 1919.

Edited by Niall Ferguson, Virtual History applies 'counterfactual' arguments to decisive moments in modern history.What if Britain had stayed out of the First World War?What if Germany had invaded Britain in 1940?What if Nazi Germany had defeated the Soviet Union?How would England look if there had been no Cromwell?What if there had been no American Revolution?And what if John F. Kennedy had lived?In this acclaimed book, leading historians from Andrew Roberts to Michael Burleigh challenge the complacency of traditional accounts, exploring what might have been if nine of the most decisive moments in modern history had never happened.'Quite brilliant, inspiring for the layman and an enviable tour de force for the informed reader ... A wonderful book ... lucid, exciting and easy to read' - Literary Review'Ferguson constructs an entire scenario starting with Charles I's defeat of the Covenanters, running through three revolutions that did not happen and climaxing with the collapse of the West, ruled by an Anglo-American empire, in the face of a mighty transcontinental, tsarist Russian imperium ... A welcome, optimistic assault on an intellectual heresy' - Sunday Times'A talented and imaginative team who tackle with counterfactual verve a series of turning points' - Daily Telegraph

The fourteenth century was a time of fabled crusades and chivalry, glittering cathedrals and grand castles. It was also a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.Here, Barbara Tuchman masterfully reveals the two contradictory images of the age, examining the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes and war dominated the lives of serf, noble and clergy alike.Granting her subjects their loyalties, treacheries and guilty passions, Tuchman recreates the lives of proud cardinals, university scholars, grocers and clerks, saints and mystics, lawyers and mercenaries, and, above all, knights. The result is an astonishing reflection of medieval Europe, a historical tour de force.

‘Sensational’ Daily MailPublished for her centenary, Elizabeth II is a brilliant new portrait of the late Queen, full of fresh revelations. From the Sunday Times number one bestselling author of Charles III, it is the essential story of her life and record-breaking reign.Biographer and royal commentator Robert Hardman has had unique access to the world of the late Queen – including family, staff, advisers and even the last state visitor of her record-breaking reign, President Donald Trump himself.As daughter, wife, mother and sovereign, Elizabeth lived fascinating parallel lives, both in private and in public. But she remained something of a mystery – beloved, even revered, modest yet daunting, naturally shy but globally recognizable, inscrutable and also authentic. She was grand but so familiar that we felt we knew her. Yet we would always be left asking the same question: ‘What’s she really like?’The only biographer to have interviewed all the senior members of the Royal Family, some of them several times, no one has written more authoritatively on Queen Elizabeth II than Robert Hardman. Here he has crafted a gripping story of drama, devotion, triumph, tragedy, humour and conflict; of an outwardly stoical, inwardly complex woman whose love of family, love of country and duty to the Crown might have pulled her in different directions but never derailed her; a global stateswoman who wielded her great authority with charm and understatement.Elizabeth II will explain why the Queen was not merely the most famous woman in the world. She was one of history’s all-time greats.‘If you read one biography on Elizabeth II, this is the one . . . magnificent’ – Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History

This book offers an evocative cross-cultural exploration into the everyday lives and music practices of young people from their own broad social, cultural and ethnic perspectives. Youth from seven urban locales in Australia, the UK, the US and Europe document and reflect on their own learning processes and music activities.

Corporate social responsibility is examined in this book as multi-stakeholder approach to corporate governance. This volume outlines neo-institutional and stakeholder theories of the firm, new rational choice and social contract normative models, self regulatory and soft law models, and the advances from behavioural economics.

A new exploration of the relationship between the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan administrations in domestic policy. Using recently released documentary material and extensive research interviews, James Cooper demonstrates how specific policy transfer between these 'political soul mates' was more limited than is typically assumed.

Margaret, saint and 11th-century Queen of the Scots, remains an often-cited yet little-understood historical figure. Keene's analysis of sources in terms of both time and place – including her Life of Saint Margaret , translated for the first time – allows for an informed understanding of the forces that shaped this captivating woman.

Drawing on a close reading of nearly forty years' worth of personal letters and her will, and incorporating new archival material, Margaret Paston emerges from this study as the best example we have of how lay piety was negotiated and integrated into daily medieval life.

Kitty Clegg has always accepted the hard work in her job as a kitchen maid at the Manor Farm. But now, at sixteen, she seizes the chance to go up in the world and to become a lady's maid.Handsome Jack Thorndyke has more than once held Kitty's adoring gaze. As he prepares his gleaming threshing engine for its winter work, he finally asks her to be his chosen Harvest Nell when the last of the golden Lincolnshire corn is cut.Carried away be her excitement, Kitty fails to heed the warnings whispered into her ear. Jack is far from the marrying kind. Worse still, his playful charm has attracted another - a young girl far above his station. Will Kitty's dreams be scattered like chaff upon the wind? Or can she hold on to a very special kind of love: a love which will bring both heartache and joy to the Manor in the turbulent decades to come?Set in the epic years before and after the First World War, Chaff Upon The Wind, Margaret Dickinson's novel of Lincolnshire life, is a spellbinding story of courage, loyalty and love.

Flame-haired Jeannie Buchanan has spent all her life in the shadow of the dark North Sea. Working with freezing fingers to gut the precious herring, she follows the fleet south, travelling far away from her Scottish home.When her beloved father's trawler goes missing, Jeannie must face up to life on her own. But her fiery temper and fierce independence attract powerful and devious enemies.By standing up to the Hayes-Gorton family, she could be threatening the future of those she cares for most. By denying a man prepared to sacrifice all his privileges for a chance to offer his devotion, she could be facing years of unhappiness. Amidst the great social upheaval of the inter-war years, Jeannie must search again for the real love she has always denied herself . . .Margaret Dickinson's The Fisher Lass brilliantly evokes the dramas of those who are born to the fishing way of life.

The River Folk is a spellbinding story of Lincolnshire life in the inter-war years, by the author of The Fisher Lass, Margaret Dickinson.For twelve-year-old Mary Ann Clark life has always been tough. The pretty daughter of a wife-beating drunk, it is no surprise that she has grown up afraid of her own shadow. That is until 'Battling Bessie Ruddick' takes the young girl under her wing and into the heart of her bustling family.Growing into an attractive young woman, Mary Ann yearns to be loved and when her affection for Bessie's son, Dan, is finally returned she becomes a skipper's wife. But the arduous life aboard ship is clearly not for her and only the arrival of a daughter, Lizzie, seems to hold the marriage together. Yet, tragically, the family is torn apart when Mary Ann is seduced by the promise of a happier life.Although bewildered by her mother's disappearance, it is now up to Lizzie to help her father. For she, unlike Mary Ann, has inherited Dan's love of the river. But then, disturbingly, her life starts to follow the same pattern as her mother's . . .

This is the story of England’s most famous, and notorious, king. The facts of Henry VIII’s life and reign were more astonishing, poignant and outlandish than the plot twists of most fiction.Henry’s character was complex: he was a charismatic, ardent – and brash – young lover who married six times; a scholar with a deep love of poetry and music; an energetic hunter who loved the outdoors; a monarch whose lack of a male heir haunted him incessantly; and a ruthless leader who would stop at nothing to achieve his desires. His monumental decision to split from Rome and the Catholic Church was one that would forever shape the religious and political landscape of Britain.Combining magnificent storytelling with an extraordinary grasp of the pleasures and perils of power, Margaret George delivers a vivid portrait of Henry VIII and Tudor England and the powerhouse of players on its stage: Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More and Anne Boleyn. It is also a narrative told from an original perspective: Margaret George writes from the King’s point of view, injecting irreverent comments from Will Somers – Henry’s jester and confidant.

An engrossing and painstakingly researched novel about an unforgettable heroine

The mesmerizing story of Queen Cleopatra in her own words - by bestselling novelist Margaret George, author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles.Told in the first person - from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world - this is an enthralling saga of ambition and power.It is also a tale of passion that begins when the twenty-one-year-old Cleopatra, desperate to return from exile, seeks out the one man who can help her: Julius Caesar. And it does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death . . .'The author's impeccable research brings a long-ago civilization thoroughly to life, and her portraits of Cleopatra, Caesar and Antony are wonderful. A spellbinding book' Barbara Taylor Bradford, book of the year in the Sunday Times

Bestselling author Margaret George brings to life the beguiling tale of Helen of Troy, a pivotal figure in Greek mythology whose beauty ignited the fabled Trojan War.George uncovers the complexity of Helen's character, as her mortal and divine identities intertwined – flesh and blood certainly, but also immortal, as the daughter of Zeus. Her beauty, is so overwhelming and dangerous that, as a child, she is protected from seeing her reflection. Both enchanting and hazardous, it garnered her the attention of powerful men, leading to unforeseen alliances and monumental adversities.Kings and princes compete for her hand in marriage. When she falls for Paris of Troy it is assumed that he has taken her by force, when her actions are far more complex. But so the Trojan War begins – the most pivotal event in the history of ancient Greece.Exploiting meticulous research, Helen of Troy is an intoxicating, tragic and passionate saga of the individuals who shaped ancient Greek history.‘An epic novel . . . If only history lessons had been like this’ – Cosmopolitan

Arriving at the great houses of 1920s London, fifteen-year-old Margaret’s life in service was about to begin…As a kitchen maid – the lowest of the low – she entered an entirely new world; one of stoves to be blacked, vegetables to be scrubbed, mistresses to be appeased, and even bootlaces to be ironed. Work started at 5.30am and went on until after dark. It was a far cry from her childhood on the beaches of Hove, where money and food were scarce, but warmth and laughter never were.Yet from the gentleman with a penchant for stroking the housemaids’ curlers, to raucous tea-dances with errand boys, to the heartbreaking story of Agnes the pregnant under-parlourmaid, fired for being seduced by her mistress’s nephew, Margaret’s tales of her time in service are told with wit, warmth, and a sharp eye for the prejudices of her situation.Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants, Below Stairs is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman, who, though her position was lowly, never stopped aiming high.'Enormous gusto, salty humour, wisdom' Evening Standard'Shrewd, unabashed, wickedly funny, a unique front-line report of her life's experiences' Jack De Manio, BBC

1588. In the height of her power is the legendary Elizabeth Tudor, history's most enigmatic queen. She is the virgin with many suitors; the victor of the Armada who hated war; the jewel-bedecked woman always pinching pennies.Elizabeth's flame-haired cousin, Lettice Knollys, is her bitter rival. In love with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and mother to the Earl of Essex, the mercurial nobleman who challenged Elizabeth's throne, Lettice has been intertwined with Elizabeth since childhood.This is a story of two women of fierce intellect and desire: one trying to protect her country and throne; the other trying to regain power and position for her family. Their rivalry soon involves everyone close to Elizabeth – from the famed courtiers who enriched the crown to the legendary poets and playwrights.And, for Elizabeth, to be married to her people meant she must rule as much with her heart as with her head . . .

Featuring some of the characters from Sons and Daughters, Jenny's War is an epic story of loss and heartbreak from Margaret Dickinson.Is it possible for a ten-year-old girl to fall in love? Jenny Mercer thought so. Evacuated to Lincolnshire from the East End of London at the outbreak of war, she is frightened of the wide open spaces and the huge skies. The kindly Thornton family soon makes her feel welcome and no one more so than Georgie, the handsome RAF fighter pilot, who is caught up in the battle for Britain's survival. When Georgie is posted missing, presumed killed, Jenny is devastated and there is more heartbreak when her mother demands that she return home to the dangerous city streets now under almost daily attack from enemy bombers.The family flees in the night under the protection of the blackout, heading north out of the city. But to Jenny's disappointment, it is not back to Lincolnshire but into the hills and dales of Derbyshire where they are always on the move, always on the run. There, Jenny is caught up in a life of deception when all she really wants is to go back to Lincolnshire. For Jenny has never given up hope that one day, Georgie will come back . . .