Paul Chrystal – författare

The British passion for chocolate is centuries old and shows no signs of abating.Paul Chrystal here tells the story of chocolate in Britain, from its arrival in the late sixteen hundreds, through the glory days of such brands as Cadbury's, Fry's and Rowntree's in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the way companies have weathered the storms of foreign competition (spearheaded by Mars, Toblerone and Nestlé) and takeovers (Nestlé and Kraft) in more recent years.The book is colourfully illustrated with images of chocolate factories and their products, photographs of chocolate boxes and wrappers, and, of course, the advertisements that made household names of so many manufacturers.

John (‘Jack’) Scott Youll (June 1897- 27 October 1918) was a colliery electrician from a small village near Hartlepool, County Durham, before volunteering for the Army in 1915. Joining 1st Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, he showed early promise and was selected for officer training. He first saw action on the Western Front and was mentioned in dispatches for his conduct during the heavy fighting around Polygon Wood in the Third Battle of Ypres. But it was after redeployment to Italy that he earned the Victoria Cross for his exceptional valour and leadership near Asiago, during the Third Battle of the Piave.The medal citation for 2nd Lieutenant Youll describes how throughout the fighting ‘his complete disregard of personal safety and very gallant leading set a magnificent example to all’. This was during an extended action which included his single-handedly charging an Austrian machine gun post that had his unit pinned down, killing most of the crew and turning the weapon on the enemy. Tragically, Lieutenant Youll VC was killed soon after during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the final battle of the Italian campaign, just twenty-four hours before the ceasefire on this front and a mere fortnight before the end of the wider war.Jack Youll’s example of dutiful service, leadership and courage has hitherto received little recognition beyond a dignified graveyard memorial in his hometown. This well-researched and detailed account, written by his relative , Nina Youll, and historian Paul Chrystal, provides at last a fitting testimonial to a true hero of the Great War.

Bridgerton Revisited is the first book to place the hugely successful Netflix production Bridgerton in its historical context, the Regency Period of English history which ran from around 17295 until 1837.This eagerly anticipated book is in three parts: Part One examines in detail the social history of the Regency, and is obviously the most recognizable to viewers of the series released so far by Netflix. As such it takes in all aspects of Regency society as enjoyed by the landowning and titled aristocracy in their opulent houses, with their lavish fashions and impeccably prescribed conduct and manners. We learn of the affairs, adultery, sport, leisure and the ardent pursuit of illicit sex in brothels, gambling houses and taverns, of Regency LGBTQ and the endless scramble for the best marriage match as played out in the extravagant balls and at the endless visits and soirées.Part Two takes a close look at the production itself and discusses its historical accuracy in relation to what we discovered in Part One, and the divergences from that history. Using first-hand evidence from the creators and writers of the production we explore the ‘alternate history’ underscoring the series, not least the controversial issue of racial diversity in the casting. Part Three looks at the other side of the coin: the plight of the vast majority living and just surviving in Regency England, amidst the routine squalor, poverty, vagrancy, prostitution and occupational disease, workhouses and domestic and sexual abuse navigated daily, particularly by the women of the day.

We hear a lot about the contribution of men to the brave new world which began to emerge in the mid-18th century with the start of the Industrial Revolution; and we can read the uplifting story of the tens of thousands of women who clocked on at the mills, mines and factories to resolutely power that revolution.But a lot less has been written of the women who were just as instrumental and important as the factory- owning men and politicians in these momentous developments and changes to our social and industrial fabric: these were the innovative and empowered women who pioneered developments in engineering and science, business, nursing, pharmacy and medicine, education and literature, music, art, politics and women’s rights, labour law and the trade unions, philanthropy and entrepreneurship.This book changes that great cover up, that virtual erasing of many women from our history: Trailblazing Women Empowered in the Industrial Revolution is the rarely told story of 200 or so of these women, some familiar, but most, at best, languishing until now in the obscure and obscuring footnotes of British history. This is the story of how those 200 women, and others, helped power the Industrial Revolution and change British society and labour relations for ever.It was never, however, the case that all men were intent on obstructing women’s progress or achievements. Indeed, a number of enlightened men did acknowledge wholeheartedly the contribution women could and did make. These are described in the book, likewise the long struggle inspirational and innovative women of colour endured while overcoming male discrimination, sexism, racism and sexual violence.This highly-researched, entertaining and fascinating history of women in the time of industrial and societal revolution is the first to guide readers through one of the most crucial times in the history of women, women and work, women in the professions, women and the vote and the juggling they did to change British society forever and lay the foundation for the more equable society we all live in today. There is, of course still much more to do, more action and fewer words…

Huddersfield History Tour offers an insight into the fascinating history of this town in West Yorkshire. Author Paul Chrystal guides us around its well-known streets and buildings, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they have changed over the years, as well as exploring its lesser-known sights and hidden corners. With the help of a handy location map, readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and discover for themselves the changing face of Huddersfield.

This revelatory book charts and explains the impact and consequences of successive pandemics, plagues and epidemics on the course of world history - all through the lens of today's ongoing global experience of COVID 19\. Ranging from prehistory to the present day, it first defines what constitutes a pandemic or epidemic then looks at 20 guilty diseases: including cholera, influenza, bubonic plague, leprosy, measles, smallpox, malaria, AIDS, MERS, SARS, Zika, Ebola and, of course, Covid-19\. Some less well-known, but equally significant and deadly contagions such as Legionnaires' Disease, psittacosis, polio, the Sweat, and dancing plague, are also covered.The book is ordered chronologically. Each chapter features an explanation and description of epidemiology, sources and vectors, morbidity, mortality, governmental response and reaction, societal response and impact as well as psychological issues where known - and the political, legal and scientific consequences it had or has for each locus at a local and international level. In short - the book explains how each of the events both made and influenced subsequent history in its own way, particularly how each shaped future medical and scientific research and vaccine development programmes. It also examines myths about infectious diseases, the role of the media and social media. Perhaps most importantly, Paul Chrystal asks what lessons have been learnt. Will we be better prepared next time? Because, if one thing is sure, there is going to be a 'next time'.

Ever since there have been factories women and children have, more often than not, worked in those factories. What is perhaps less well known is that women also worked underground in coal mines and overground scaling the inside of chimneys. Young children were also put to work in factories and coalmines; they were deployed inside chimneys, often half-starved so that they could shin up ever narrower flues.This book charts the unhappy but aspirational story of women and children at work through the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the 20th century. Without women there would have been no pre-industrial cottage industries, without women the Industrial Revolution would not have been nearly as industrial and nowhere near as revolutionary.Many women, and children, were obliged to take up work in the mills and factories - long hours, dangerous, often toxic conditions, monotony, bullying, abuse and miserly pay were the usual hallmarks of a day's work - before they headed homeward to their other job: keeping home and family together.This long overdue and much needed book also covers the social reformers, the role of feminism and activism and the various Factory Acts and trade unionism.We examine how women and children suffered chronic occupational diseases and disabling industrial injuries - life changing and life shortening - and often a one way ticket to the workhouse. The book concludes with a survey of the art, literature and the music which formed the soundtrack for the factory girl and the climbing boys.

Much has been written about the great extent encompassed by the Roman Empire's borders, their armies’ attempts to expand and defend them, and about the extent to which ‘Romanization’ imposed a uniform culture within them. But far less attention has been lavished on Rome's relations with the wider world that lay beyond these porous borders. A citizen shopping in the jostling market of a Roman city could buy amber or fur from Scandinavia, ivory from sub-Saharan Africa, spice from India or Chinese silk, among a host of other exotic foods and luxuries. These goods did not just show up at the nearest port; they were the result of centuries of trade missions, trade deals and a general compulsion to explore the outside and largely unknown world.Paul Chrystal examines Rome’s relations with the world it never conquered, describing what the Romans knew of it, how trade relations were established and commerce conducted. He explores the major trade routes such as the fabled Silk Road to China and the sea routes to India, as well as many more. He details embassies and exploratory missions conducted across thousands of miles to open trade and diplomatic links, such as that of Chinese general Bao Chao sent to contact the Romans. Importantly he discusses trade in both directions and emphasizes that along with goods went a two-way exchange of people, ideas, knowledge, and culture. Along the way, topical themes such as immigration, inclusion and xenophobia are raised.From Finland to Lake Chad, and from Ireland to India and China, the Romans left their mark upon the wider world, a world that in turn left its indelible mark upon their Empire.

Formed in 1881 through the amalgamation of two line infantry regiments, 72nd Regiment and 78th (Highland) Regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders fought in various late colonial wars in Africa (invasion of Egypt, Mahdist War, 2nd Boer War) and India (Hazara Campaigns and Chitral Expedition, Northwest Frontier) as well as serving in the Far East.In the First World War its battalions saw service in the Middle East (Mesopotamia, Kut, Baghdad, Palestine) as well as most of the major battles of the Western Front, from Le Cateau in 1914 to the breaking of the Hindenberg Line in 1918 (and including Aubers Ridge, Messines, 2nd Ypres, The Somme and Passchendaele in between). Between the wars they were involved in ‘colonial policing’ again on the Northwest Frontier, Palestine and elsewhere.During the Second World War, 1st Battalion fought in the East throughout (Malaya, Burma, India) while 2nd Battalionsaw action in the Battle of France and was forced to surrender to Rommel’s troops at St. Valery-en-Caux.A particular strength of this book is the personal story of one of the regiment’s soldiers - his time on the North West Frontier and coverage of his four years of captivity and forced labour in PoW camps as suffered by many 2nd Battalion veterans during World War 2. This comes courtesy of exclusive access to this PoW’s correspondence home. Meanwhile, the reconstituted 2nd Battalion redeemed itself through its participation in the Second Battle of El Alamein, the invasions of Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, D-Day and the Normandy Battles, and the invasion of Germany (operations Veritable and Plunder). Overall, this is an excellent and overdue account of the loyal service and many campaigns and battles of the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment across eighty years, from its raising to its amalgamation into the Queen’s Own Highlanders in 1961.

Countless books have been written about prominent women in Greece and Rome, so we know all about Medea, Sappho, Lucretia, Boudica and Cleopatra and their significant actions and achievements. This book extends the invaluable story of women in early history to pre-classical civilisations, ancient Egypt and Israel to include prominent women in those civilisations as well, thus introducing them, and their roles and places in their respective societies and social histories, to a wide audience.The aim of this book is to demonstrate how 150 women (most little known) significantly influenced, informed and changed the worlds in which they lived. We show how a small, disparate body of women in each of these periods, united by their determination and strength of mind, were able to break free from the norms and values of the patriarchal societies which confined and restricted them to make a valuable difference to their individual societies, cultures, politics and foreign policies; in so doing they have changed perceptions of women and the role women were subsequently allowed to play. Some of the women are well known, others less so. The book reinforces the reputations of those who have endured popularity over the centuries and, where necessary, realigns those reputations after years of prejudice and the vicissitudes of sexism, misogyny, Hollywood and sensationalist literature. For those who have been written out of mainstream history and relegated to footnotes at best, this is a chance to re-introduce them and the impact they have made on their and our world. Their relative anonymity does not mean that they are less important - on the contrary, they are equally significant and the more we know about them, the better if we want a rounded picture of the civilisations to which they contributed so much.Each chapter is followed by suggestions for further reading to encourage further research.

This book is about women in World Wars I & II - women working in factories and on farms, or toiling perilously in field stations just behind the front lines, in inhospitable hospitals and convalescent homes. It is, therefore, about the prodigious contribution women made to the war efforts from 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, standing in for the men who had left their places of work for the various theatres of war from Greece and Italy to Belgium, from Mesopotamia to France. Their tasks were many and various: keeping the troops supplied with shells, bullets and explosives, keeping the nation from starving to death, keeping hundreds of thousands of wounded troops alive so that they might fight another day. The book is, in short, the uplifting but sometimes tragic story of the many women who stepped up to work in the factories, hospitals, field stations, in transport and in civil defence, on the farms and shipyards, or signed up to the various military and civil services during the two world wars of the 20th century, ‘wars to end all wars…’.The book is different because it deals with women’s labour in both world wars and in all occupations, it covers the discrimination and prejudice they faced from men at every level, military and civilian, even when they had demonstrated beyond doubt that they were quick learners, industrious and proficient, and usually as good as any man. The book raises the embarrassing question why it has it taken so long for the prodigious contribution women made in both wars to be recognised, and why some women workers still remain air brushed from our military history after more than a century.As it turned out, little was beyond their capabilities and it is reasonable to suppose that without their huge efforts and accomplishments both wars might have turned out very differently for us.

This is the story of the 1st Air Landing Light Regiment RA and its role in the Italian campaign and at the Battle of Arnhem. It is also the story of one of its soldiers: 14283058 Gunner Eric Wright Chrystal, father of the authors. Eric joined the army in September 1942 and, after training, joined the newly formed glider-borne regiment the following year. He first saw action in Italy in 1943, where he was seriously wounded. On 17 September 1944, two years to the day since he enlisted, he and the regiment were landed by glider near to Arnhem in the Netherlands.The authors recount set their father's experiences in context by describing the formation of the unit and the many months of training in England. Their involvement in the Italian campaign, where Eric served with E Troop, 3 Battery, is then recounted, detailing their actions at Rionero, Foggia and Campobasso, where Eric was wounded. It then moves on to describe 1st Air Landing Light Regiment's preparation for and involvement in Operation Market (the Airborne half of Market Garden). This very detailed account of the fighting highlights the regiment's pivotal (but often neglected) role near Arnhem bridge. Here, after nine days of intense combat, Eric was among the many captured and held until the end of the war. The inclusion of Eric's own eyewitness testimony lends a very personal touch to this excellent account of the regiment's experience of combat and life in the PoW camps.

This important, disturbing and timely book focuses on on the use of disease and germs as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) and the threat bioterrorism poses in an increasingly unpredictable and volatile future for the world.For context it traces developments from the earliest primitive but effective days of infectious rams, poison-tipped arrows and plague-infected corpses used as toxic, disease-spreading projectiles, to the twenty-first-century industrial scale weaponization of biomedicine.Paul Chrystal shows how biological weapons and acts of bioterrorism are especially effective at instilling terror, panic, death, famine and economic ruin on a large scale, shredding public confidence in governments and civilization itself. For the disaffected, lethal biological agents are comparatively easy to manufacture and obtain, and they have the benefit of being almost invisible and easy and quick to administer in lethal quantities through a variety of discreet delivery systems. Just what the terrorist wants.We explore the sinister connection between the industrial-scale proliferation of biological weaponry by state actors and the greater opportunities these growing bio-arsenals give to the increasingly scientific-minded and determined terrorist to manufacture his or her weapon of choice, taking advantage also of the state of the art sophisticated delivery systems.The epilogue analyses the concerted but groundless 2022-2023 disinformation campaign conducted by Russia, with support from China, relating to the claim that public health facilities in Ukraine are 'secret U.S.-funded biolabs', purportedly developing biological weapons.

This is both a history of books as objects and artefacts but also a social history about the use and transmission (or restriction) of knowledge in the ancient world. The author sets the scene by discussing the invention of writing and the development of the various alphabets. He then surveys the book's precursors, the evolution of writing materials through clay tablets, papyrus scrolls, parchment, wooden and bronze tablets, culminating in the codex - the book as we know it.The author then takes us on a fascinating 900-year journey through the classical world, describing the recording, preservation and dissemination of knowledge and literature for the edification, delectation and systematic instruction for contemporary and future cultures and societies. He looks at the processes of textual transmission of notable books and explains how that portion of the great literary and scientific writings of Greece and Rome that survived (often a matter of pure chance and only a small portion) informed and influenced later cultures through the Middle Ages, Renaissance and right down to the present day. Along the way Paul Chrystal explores a number of important but often neglected genres of ancient books, such as propaganda, paradoxography and the publishing of specialist military, scientific, technical and medical manuals, as well as catalogues of famous men and heroic women. The ways Greek and Roman authors described their work and the functioning of the great libraries and the Classical equivalent of the publishing and bookselling trades, in which public readings (recusatio) played a crucial part, are also examined.

Harrogate Through Time is a wonderful collection of old and new photographs of Harrogate. The older images are printed alongside a contemporary full colour photograph, which illustrates the same scene. The contrasting illustrations show how the area has changed and developed during the last 100 years. The photographs illustrate shops, schools, garages, churches, houses and street scenes, each photograph is captioned and the book has an introduction which gives a brief overview of the history of the area. As you browse through the photographs, you will notice the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads and the number of residents, how shops and other businesses have evolved and the changes and developments in modes of transportation and the architecture of the area.

A fascinating and informative look at one of Europe's finest cities and some of the delightful villages which surround it. The book uniquely features a selection of images from the renowned Evelyn Collection of Slides, which depict the city in a highly atmospheric way; they were collected by a man who was passionate about preserving what was, and largely still is thanks to him, best and special about the City of York.The book gives today's residents and visitors a revealing insight into how York and its villages used to look over the last hundred years or so. Villages included here are Bishopthorpe; Bulmer; Claxton; Escrick; Flaxton; Heslington; Nether Poppleton; Osbaldwick; Sand Hutton; Sheriff Hutton; Stillington; Shipton; Skelton; Stockton-on-the-Forest; Sutton-on-the-Forest; Upper Poppleton.

Redcar, Marske & Saltburn Through Time is a wonderful collection of old and new photographs of this historic area of Yorkshire. The older images are printed alongside a contemporary full colour photograph, which illustrates the same scene. The contrasting illustrations show how the area has changed and developed during the last 100 years. The photographs illustrate shops, schools, garages, churches, houses and street scenes, each photograph is captioned and the book has an introduction which gives a brief overview of the history of the area. As you browse through the photographs, you will notice the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads and the number of residents, how shops and other businesses have evolved and the changes and developments in modes of transportation and the architecture of the area.

The ubiquitous cup of tea is as much a part of British life as indifferent weather, the BBC or the queue at the post office. Look at the facts: we Britons drink 62 billion cups per year; 70 per cent of the population (over age ten) drank tea yesterday; over 25 per cent of milk consumed in the UK goes into your cup of tea. Tea, since its arrival here in the seventeenth century, has shaped our lives, our history, our work, our culture and even our bodies. Not surprisingly for a drink that we take throughout the day, every day, there is a fascinating story to tell about its origins and how it took Britain by storm to become our second most-popular beverage after tap water.This book begins with the early history of tea and goes on to chart its development as something quintessentially British with it slowly but surely insinuating itself into our culture, language and society. Our loss of the American colonies, the Opium Wars, female emancipation and victory in the Second World War all owe something to a nice cup of tea.Tea is synonymous with Britain. The story of our intimate relationship with tea is in effect the social history of Britain, reflecting aspects of the nation’s trade, manners, fashion, art, drinking habits, industrial legislation, foreign policy, and its health. Like Samuel Johnson, we just can’t get enough of it: ‘You cannot make tea so fast as I can gulp it down.’ So, put the kettle on, and read the amazing tale of tea …

Hartlepool Through The Ages is a sister volume to Paul Chrystal’s Hartlepool Through Time, produced this time with Stan Laundon. Stan not only provides many of the old images but has taken care of the modern photography and, in so doing, has given us some stunning images of Hartlepool as it is today. Hartlepool Through the Ages offers a further 200 pictures or so, none of which appeared in the earlier volume. As before, the book explores the three towns that make up Hartlepool (‘Old Hartlepool’, West Hartlepool and Hartlepool), along with outlying villages, this time including Wolviston, Blackhall and Crimdon.In this selection you will meet Chick Henderson, Joe Brown, Terry Bell, Henry Smith, Captain Perry, Egbert the tank, Winston Churchill and Miss Great Britain, among others. The authors will take you to the steelworks north and south, to Blackhall Rocks, Steetley Magnesite, Greatham Co-op and to the top of Christ Church, and will show you parts of the town by night and by day; you’ll learn how to street dance on the pier and will watch a rehearsal of The Wizard of Oz. Altogether, Hartlepool Through the Ages is a warm and colourful celebration of a warm and colourful town, past and present.

Home to the largest medieval gothic cathedral north of the Alps, York is one of Europe’s most historically interesting cities. However, there is still more to be discovered – much that is shrouded in mystery and that has been kept secret.This clandestine aspect of York’s history has been difficult to unearth and, for that reason, it is not always included in standard histories or guides to the city. Join author Paul Chrystal on an exciting and dramatic journey through the cobbled streets of this picturesque city as he exposes and unravels some of the more arcane aspects of York’s chequered past.

Knaresborough has many secrets, and as you walk down the streets you are walking through history. There are clear reminders of the town’s past everywhere, waiting for you to stop, look and listen to their intriguing stories. Situated on the River Nidd, this town, famous for its market and spa, has witnessed many of the key episodes of English history. Granted a castle by William the Conqueror, the town went on to house, among others, John of Gaunt, Mary Shipton and Guy Fawkes. As well as Knaresborough’s famous locals, the surrounding landscape also has significance. The caves, woods and rivers that frame the town each have their own stories.On a journey through this ancient market town, local historian Paul Chrystal recounts these untold tales. A history that spans centuries, these stories offer an intriguing insight into the area, as well as showcasing the role Knaresborough has played in British history. You may think you know Knaresborough, but take a look around and you will find more than you could possibly imagine.

One way or another the Romans spent quite a lot of time in bed, in between conquering and civilising the known world. The men were intent on demonstrating their power and virility; the women were busy conceiving, delivering and raising as many children as possible, in order to keep Rome topped up with soldiers, politicians and workers.In Bed with the Romans takes the clothes off Roman society to reveal the truth about sex and sexuality. It describes love and marriage; the role of the wife in the family and in religion, as well as in bed; and sexual medicine, homosexuality, pornography and pederasty. All manner of sexual behaviour is covered in this comprehensive and balanced discussion of the Roman relationship with sex.Paul Chrystal vividly describes the sexual predilections and debauchery of the Roman emperors and their empresses and mistresses, and draws his conclusions from literature, ancient graffiti, inscriptions and the visual arts that form the bedrock of this book.

The history of women in ancient Rome is fascinating and exhilarating. It gives a unique insight into one of the world’s most dynamic, successful superpower civilisations and illuminates a considerable number of admirable, exciting, evil, slatternly and dangerous women fighting to be heard and seen against insurmountable odds in a world run by men for men.‘Silent’ is a word that is sometimes used to describe these women, because of the paucity of their own first-hand evidence for their lives; ‘silent’ can also be used to describe how the typical Roman male liked his women. Some women, though, broke that silence and forged an identity of their own in a largely suspicious, paranoid, patronising and critical world.It is those women whom we meet in this intriguing book. Paul Chrystal examines aspects of the Roman woman’s lifestyle and her evolving role in the family. We meet the assertive, brave, pernicious and outrageous women in the public arena; we learn about women’s education and of artistic, cultured women; we meet women soothsayers, witches and ghosts; we examine the role of women in religion and in the mystery cults. We learn of women as health professionals; women’s medicine; women’s sexuality; woman as mistress, prostitute and pimp.

Middlesbrough may have only been a hamlet in the early nineteenth century, but that all changed with the arrival of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which led to the former farmstead soon becoming a cauldron of industrial activity. It is also home to many impressive works of architecture that are recognised the world over, including the truly iconic Transporter Bridge and Tees Newport Bridge, both living, and still working, testaments to the town’s industrial past.Middlesbrough can also boast an impressive musical and artistic heritage, being the birthplace of Chris Rea and Paul Rodgers, and home to the world-famous Linthorpe Pottery gallery and the unique Christopher Dresser collection in the Dorman Museum. Yet there is much that is less well known and more obscure in this historical town by the Tees: Secret Middlesbrough delves into this hidden past and reveals tantalising tales, traditions and trivia that will fascinate and inform anyone interested in what is still one of the great towns of the north.

In these days of ubiquitous, non-stop media and information you would think that there were few secrets anywhere left to reveal: but when it comes to Harrogate there remain a surprising number of facts and idiosyncrasies which, over the years, have remained obscure, to say the least. Secret Harrogate is an historical journey through one of England’s most visited towns, unearthing nuggets of its early history and spectacular development into one of Europe’s foremost spas.This book reveals and unravels scores of fascinating and little-known details about Harrogate that will fascinate and inform its many visitors as well as its current inhabitants, many of whom probably thought they knew it all. The book gives a unique perspective on the many less-obvious aspects of Harrogate’s history and will go a long way to explaining why today’s Harrogate is as it is, and how it may develop in the future.

From what the Ancient Greeks might have talked about in bed to women’s health and the intricacies of Greek marriage, Paul Chrystal shines a much-needed light on sex and sexuality in ancient Greece, one of the world’s most influential civilizations.This is a balanced, comprehensive and well-researched analysis of the many aspects of sexual desire and activity in the various Greek societies – from the Minoan civilisation, Athens and the other city states, to Sparta and Hellenistic Greece.It examines attitudes to, and the practice of, sex in Greek mythology, literature and real life; in love, marriage, and adultery; in religion and philosophy; in the visual arts; of sexual medicine and erotic magic; and the vocabulary of sex. A wealth of primary sources are called upon to provide evidence of the antics of the ancient Greeks.

Buildings are among the crucial features that define a city. They create the cityscape and form the horizon while, at a more personal level, they provide the homes for its citizens, their places of education, worship, entertainment, arts and commerce.The fifty buildings described in this book chart the history of Leeds from its pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution as a major producer of wool and white broadcloth at the White Cloth Hall, Marshall’s Mill and the stunning Corn Exchange. Leeds boasts four universities, the Brotherton Library taking pride of place with the Rose Bowl Building. The Thackray museum of medical history, the City Museum and the Armouries provide cutting edge culture along with the Art Gallery, the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Arena. For sport there is Headingley and Elland Road while the beautifully elegant Victoria Arcades provide a special shopping experience. The skyline is pierced with windy Bridgewater Place, the Electric Press and Broadcasting Tower. Fine churches and mosques abound, as do old pubs like Whitelocks, the Whip and the Angel, and further afield are the splendours of Kirkstall Abbey, Temple Newsam and Harewood House.All of these buildings and many more are covered in this fascinating book: their history and the role they play today in one of England’s leading cities provide an enthralling historical narrative for the Leeds of yesterday and of today.

The story of Hartlepool is, of course, the story of three towns: the ancient Hartlepool clustered around the Headland, the thriving new Victorian town of West Hartlepool and the amalgamated Hartlepool comprising old and West Hartlepool.Hartlepool History Tour is a unique insight into the illustrious history of these three north-eastern towns in one, their well-known streets and famous faces, and explains what they meant to local people throughout the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and watch the changing face of Hartlepool as authors Paul Chrystal, Stan Laundon and Simon Crossley guide us through the local streets.

Ancient Greece was never just one nation: it was a disparate collection of independent city-states, often embroiled in war with each other, with separate governments, their own armies and distinct politics, economies and societies. However, together these vibrant and diverse peoples made one of the greatest civilisations the world has ever known, endowing the western world with cuttingedge philosophy, science, literature, architecture, visual arts, military prowess and democracy – to name but a few of their enduring contributions to the modern world.The Ancient Greeks in 100 Facts tells the story of this fascinating civilisation, from its earliest Bronze Age beginnings as described by Homer and Hesiod, to the wars with and eventual subjugation by the Romans. Visit the Minoans and the Spartans, the Macedonians and the Athenians; meet Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Socrates; follow Alexander the Great to the end of the world; and witness the birth of historical writing through Herodotus and Thucydides.These 100 gripping facts provide an enjoyable and accessible introduction to one of the world’s great civilisations.