Nigel Cawthorne – författare

Did you know that: It''s against the law to check into a hotel in London under assumed names for the purpose of lovemaking? Under a statute of Edwards II all whales washed up on the shore belong to the monarch? Under a Tudor law Welshmen are not allowed into the city of Chester after dark?In THE STRANGE LAWS OF OLD ENGLAND, Nigel Cawthorne unearths an extraordinary collection of the most bizarre and arcane laws that have been enacted over the centuries. Some of the laws, incredibly, are still in force. It is still illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour . . . This elegant and amusing book is perfect for everyone fascinated by the eccentric history of these islands.

Did you know that a child can be cured of the whooping cough by passing it under the belly of a donkey?The history of medicine in Britain is filled with the most bizarre and gruesome cures for many common ailments. Although enthusiastically supported by doctors of the time, many of these cures were often useless and often resulted in the death of the patient.But strange and alarming though many of the cures may seem, some of them did in fact work and provide the basis of much of the medicine we take for granted nowadays. The use of herbs by medieval monks was remarkably effective - and still is today.This highly entertaining and informative book will fascinate anyone who has ever wondered whether doctors really know what they are talking about - just don''t try any of the cures mentioned at home!Or that weak eyes can be cured by the application of chicken dung - or alternatively be large draughts of beer taken in the morning?Or that the juice extracted from a bucketful of snails covered in brown sugar and hung over a basin overnight was once used to cure a sore throat?

Throughout history the English have been a warlike lot. Often we fight among ourselves - there have been a good few civil wars - and when we were not slaughtering each other, we practiced on our neighbours, the Scots, the Irish, the French . . . When that got too easy, we set off around the world to find other people to fight. This was usually done with a hubris that invited some ludicrous pratfall. In THE BEASTLY BATTLES OF OLD ENGLAND, Nigel Cawthorne takes us on a darkly humorous journey through some of our ill-advised military actions. From the war over a severed ear to a general seeking out his rival''s mistresses to even the score, it is a miscellany of insufferable arrogance, reckless gallantry, stunning stupidity, massive misjudgements and general beastliness.

The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But we don''t ask for their love - only for their fear - Heinrich Himmler, leader of the Waffen-SS.The Waffen-SS were the armed division of the feared Schutzstaffel, and the private army of Adolf Hitler. They developed a reputation as brutal soldiers, willing to carry out any order, no matter how terrible. Fanatically devoted to Nazism and unswervingly loyal to the Führer, they were committed some of the most horrific atrocities of World War II as they sought to enforce the racial policies of the Nazi state.In this unflinching and engrossing account, Nigel Cawthorne provides a detailed look at one of the most chilling organizations ever conceived by the human imagination. He examines their elite position under the Nazi regime, the superior weapons they were afforded, their involvement in the murderous crimes of the Holocaust, and the way they thrust their claws into every aspect of German life.Illustrated with reportage photographs, this is the story of the rise and fall of one of the most evil organizations the world has ever seen.

Great battles mark history''s turning points where cultures and ideologies clash. Some battles are won by inspired leaders, some by superior weaponry, while others are won by a sheer dogged refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds.This gripping account introduces 40 battles which changed the course of history, from the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC to the Vietnamese defeat of the French army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. It includes the extraordinary generalships of Napoleon, Wellington and Marlborough, among others, as well as the victories of ordinary soldiers who, through their courage, determination and sacrifice, changed the course of history.Includes:• Siege of Jerusalem, 79 CE• The Battle of Hastings, 1066• The Battle of Yorktown, 1781• The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863• D-Day, 1944Brought to life by photographs, maps and artwork of the battles, this book gives an expansive account of the most pivotal battles in the history of war and how they were lost or won.

How did a former Austrian corporal in the Bavarian army with no obvious gift for leadership or strategy become the leader of one of the most civilized countries in Europe? This is a penetrating analysis of the personality of Adolf Hitler, perhaps the most enigmatic figure of the 20th century. Drawing on psychological studies of the time, Hitler: The Psychiatric Files presents fascinating insights into one of history''s most murderous dictators. This book explains the tyrant that ran the Third Reich and the demons that haunted him, with remarkable revelations about his sex life.

Agatha Christie’s 80 novels and short-story collections have sold over 2 billion copies in more than 45 languages, more than any other author. When Christie finally killed off her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, the year before she herself died, that ‘detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep’ in Christie’s words, received a full-page obituary in the New York Times, the only fictional character ever to have done so. From her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a Poirot mystery, to her last, Sleeping Murder, featuring Miss Marple, Crawford explores Christie’s life and fiction. Cawthorne examines recurring characters, such as Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot’s Dr Watson; Chief Inspector Japp, his Lestrade, as well as other flat-footed policemen that Poirot outsmarts on his travels; his efficient secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon; another employee, George; and Ariadne Oliver, a humorous caricature of Christie herself. He looks at the writer’s own fascinating: her work as a nurse during the First World War; her strange disappearance after her first husband asked for a divorce; and her exotic expeditions with her second husband, the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. He examines the author’s working life – her inspirations, methods and oeuvre – and provides biographies of her key characters, their attire, habits and methods, including Poirot’s relationships with women, particularly Countess Vera Rossakoff and Miss Amy Carnaby. In doing so, he sheds light on the genteel world of the country house and the Grand Tour between the wars. He takes a look at the numerous adaptations of Christie’s stories for stage and screen, especially Poirot’s new life in the eponymous long-running and very successful TV series.

London abounds with all manner of ludicrous laws, and not all of these curious statutes have been relegated to the past. Despite the efforts of the Law Commission there are medieval laws that are still in force, and the City of London and its livery companies have their own legal oddities. Laws are made in the capital because parliament is here; so are the Old Bailey, the Law Courts, the House of Lords and, now, the Supreme Court. The privy council, which sometimes has to decide cases, also sits in London, and there were other courts that used to sit in London, from prize courts concerning war booty to ecclesiastical courts. Having maintained its ''ancient rights and freedoms'' under Magna Carta, the City felt free to enact its own laws, many of which seem to have had to do with what people could wear. Until quite recently, for example, a man could be arrested for walking down the street wearing a wig, a robe and silk stockings - unless he was a judge. And all human folly has been paraded through the law courts of London, to the extent that it is difficult to know where the serious business of administering justice ends and where farce begins. As law is made in the courtroom as well as in parliament and elsewhere, judges like to keep a firm hand, but sometimes so-called jibbing juries will simply not do what they are told. All sorts of oddities get swept up into the law. Legislators particularly love to pass Acts about sex. If sexual services are being offered in a London massage parlour, for example, a police officer must then search the premises for school children. According to The Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 it is against the law for children and ''yowling persons'' between the age of four and sixteen to frequent a brothel. A writ was introduced under both Edward III and Henry IV to ban lawyers from parliament as there were too many of them, the reason being that it was easier for a lawyer to spend his time in London attending parliament that it was for a knight of the shires. But because parliament was already packed with lawyers it was difficult to make any such rule stick. Then an effective way of excluding them was found. They were denied the wages paid to members in those days. Sadly, these days, parliament and the government are packed with lawyers once again. And they are being paid.A law passed in 1540 - and still in force today - makes it illegal for barbers in the City of London to practise surgery; with impeccable impartiality, the Act also forbids surgeons to cut hair. Finally, never forget that under the Vagrancy Act of 1824, you can be convicted of being ''an idle and disorderly person, or a rogue, vagabond, or incorrigible rogue''. The same act also outlaws people ''professing to tell fortunes'', including ''palmistry''. Under the Act, it is an offence merely to be suspected.