The History Press – förlag

The Vikings hold a particular place in the history of the West, both symbolically and in the significant impact they had on Northern Europe. Magnus Magnusson''s indispensable study of this great period presents a rounded and fascinating picture of a people who, in modern eyes, would seem to embody striking contradictions. They were undoubtedly pillagers, raiders and terrifying warriors, but they were also great pioneers, artists and traders - a dynamic people, whose skill and daring in their exploration of the world has left an indelible impression a thousand years on.

Borley Rectory in Essex, built in 1862, should have been an ordinary Victorian clergyman''s house. However, just a year after its construction, unexplained footsteps were heard within the house, and from 1900 until it burned down in 1939 numerous paranormal phenomena, including phantom coaches and shattering windows, were observed. In 1929 the house was investigated by the Daily Mail and paranormal researcher Harry Price, and it was he who called it ''the most haunted house in England.'' Price also took out a lease of the rectory from 1937 to 1938, recruiting forty-eight ''official observers'' to monitor occurences. After his death in 1948, the water was muddied by claims that Price''s findings were not genuine paranormal activity, and ever since there has been a debate over what really went on at Borley Rectory. Paul Adams, Eddie Brazil and Peter Underwood here present a comprehensive guide to the history of the house and the ghostly (or not) goings-on there.

The Normans were a relatively short-lived cultural and political phenomenon. The emerged early in the tenth century and had disappeared off the map by the mid-thirteenth century. Yet in that time they had conquered England, southern Italy and Sicily, and had established outposts in North Africa and in Levant.Having traced the formation of the Duchy of Normandy, Trevor Rowley draws on the latest archaeological and historical evidence to examine how the Normans were able to conquer and dominate significant parts of Europe. In particular he looks at their achievements in England and Italy and their claim to a permanent legacy, as witnessed in feudalism, in castles, churches and settlement and in place-names. But equally from the political stage. The reality is that, even within this short time-span, the Normans changed as time and place dictated from Norse invaders to Frankish crusaders to Byzantine monarchs to Feudal overlords. In the end their contribution to medieval culture was largely as a catalyst for other, older traditions.

Wales is a Celtic country and the Celts have always treasured oral learning and recitation, with a passion for committing facts to memory rather than the written word. It is no surprise then, that Welsh folklore and story-telling is so rich and varied.The landscape is studded with the remains of ancient monuments, which were seen as the creation of gods and heroes. Every lake had its legend, whether inhabited by a grim, monstrous afanc, or by a beautiful, enchanted maiden. Giants stalked the land, while fairies could be dangerous, demanding propitiation. Omens of potential marriage partners were avidly sought by girls, while ghostly death-lights – corpse candles – could be seen moving relentlessly towards those doomed to die. A whole world of the past can beIndividual chapters examine the role of the medieval church in oral tradition; legends associated with place-names; calendar customs; giants and monsters; omens and second sight; witches, ghosts and fairies; supernatural birds and animals; folk healing and herbal remedies.

Anthony Poulton-Smith takes the reader on a fascinating A-Z tour of the haunted hotspots of Worcestershire. Contained within the pages of this book are strange tales of spectral sightings, active poltergeists and restless spirits appearing in streets, inns, churches, estates, public buildings and private homes across the area. They include tales from Worcester, Bewdley, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Tenbury Wells and Stourport-on-Severn. This new collection of stories, a product of both historical accounts and numerous interviews conducted with local witnesses, is sure to appeal to all those intrigued by Worcestershire''s haunted heritage.

This fascinating book contains over forty-five spine-chilling accounts from in and around central Newcastle. Take a tour of this ancient city and discover poltergeists, apparitions, curses, hauntings and even the ghost of a living person! From the ancient city walls to the cobbled back streets and chares of old Newcastle, and including graveyards, museums, stately halls, pubs, parks and monasteries, this book includes many pulse-raising narratives that are guaranteed to make your blood run cold.

The Peak District of Derbyshire is said to experience more bizarre happenings and unexplainable encounters than any other part of England. This chilling collection of true-life tales details many terrifying accounts of spectres and apparitions which have been documented over the years. Ranging from private residences and graveyards to public houses, tourist attractions, theatres and museums, this book includes many pulse-raising narratives that are guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Containing over sixty illustrations, Haunted Peak District will appeal to everyone with an interest in the supernatural history of this part of Derbyshire.

Kentish folklore reflects the curious geography and administrative history of Kent, with its extensive coastline and strong regional differences, which are reflected in distinctive cultural traditions. Bounded by sea on three sides, Kent has the longest coastline of any English county and was the base for much maritime activity, giving rise to communities rich in sea-lore.Fran and Geoff Doel explore the folklore, legends, customs and songs of Kent and the causative factors behind them. From saints to smugglers, hop-pickers to hoodeners, mummers to May garlands and wife sales to witchcraft, this book charts the traditional culture of a populous and culturally significant southern county.

A compendium of fascinating information about Devon past and present, this book contains a plethora of entertaining facts about the county''s famous and occasionally infamous men and women, its towns and countryside, history, natural history, literary, artistic and sporting achievements, agriculture, transport, industry and royal visits.A reference book and quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Did You Know?- There are more castles in Kent than in any other county in England.- The village of Coxheath near Maidstone hosts an annual custard pie-throwing contest in aid of charity. The event was first held in 1967.The Little Book of Kent is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia).Alex Tulloch''s new book gathers together a myriad of data on Kent. This is an ideal book to have by your bedside or to while away the hours on a long train journey, and if you like to take part in pub quizzes (or set them), you will find this book a veritable treasure trove of useful information. Who knew, for instance, that Laurel and Hardy cut the ribbon when the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch narrow gauge railway was reopened after the war?

The Little Book of Sussex is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). David Arscott''s new book gathers together a myriad of data on Sussex. There are lots of factual chapters but also plenty of frivolous details which will amuse and surprise. With chapters on folklore, history, geography, celebrity Sussexians and much more, this is an ideal book for all those who know and love this quintessentially English county.

A Grim Almanac of South Yorkshire is a collection of stories from the county''s past, some bizarre, some fascinating, some macabre, but all equally absorbing. Revealed here are the dark corners of the county, where witches, body snatchers, highwaymen and murderers, in whatever guise, have stalked. Accompanying this cast of gruesome characters are old superstitions, omens, strange beliefs and long-forgotten remedies for all manner of ailments. Within the Almanac''s pages we visit the dark side, plumb the depths of past despair and peer over the rim of that bottomless chasm where demons lurk, with only a candle''s light to see by... metaphorically speaking of course. You are invited to take that journey, if you are brave enough, and meet some of the people that populated the past... while author Kevin Turton holds the candle at arm''s length.

From heart-stopping accounts of apparitions, manifestations and supernatural phenomena, to first-hand encounters with phantoms and spirits, this collection of spooky sightings from around the city of Plymouth is guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Richly illustrated with over 100 pictures, Haunted Plymouth contains a chilling range of tales. From the ghost of Sir Francis Drake on Plymouth Hoe, poltergeist activity in one of the city''s Elizabethan inns and the shade of a lady in white at Widey Court, to French prisoners of war at Devonport Dockyard and a phantom pair legs at a Mutley house, this gathering of ghostly goings-on is bound to captivate everyone interested in the paranormal history of Plymouth and will chill all but the sturdiest of hearts.

The Orkney Islands are a place of mystery and magic, where the past and the present meet, ancient standing stones walk and burial mounds are the home of the trows.Orkney Folk Tales walks the reader across invisible islands that are home to fin folk and mermaids, and seals that are often far more than they appear to be. Here Orkney witches raise storms and predict the outcome of battles, ghosts seek revenge and the Devil sits in the rafters of St Magnus Cathedral, taking notes!Using ancient tales told by the firesides of the Picts and Vikings, storyteller Tom Muir takes the reader on a magical journey where he reveals how the islands were created from the teeth of a monster, how a giant built lochs and hills in his greed for fertile land, and how the waves are controlled by the hand of a goddess.

The five Tudor monarchs – Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I – were some of the most influential rulers in British history. This volume explores all aspects of life in the Tudor age, from life at court (and at the grand country estates where Queen Elizabeth paused during her famous ''progresses'') to the day-to-day activities at the teeming taverns and plague-ridden cities of the Tudor kingdom. With chapters on the people, palaces and pastimes of the age, some amusing secrets of the Tudor medicine cabinet and closet, and stories from some of the most fabulous, eccentric and opulent entertainments of the age, it will delight anyone with an interest in Tudor history – or indeed, in British history as a whole.

From heart-stopping accounts of apparitions, poltergeists and related supernatural phenomena, to first-hand encounters with phantoms and spirits, this collection of stories contains both new and well-known spooky tales from around Stirling. A whole chapter is dedicated to the mysterious goings-on at Stirling Castle, where cleaners in the King''s Old Building claimed to have heard footsteps coming from the third floor — which hasn''t existed since a fire in the nineteenth-century; while a 1930s photograph purports to capture the shadow of a phantom guardsman — possibly the same ''Highland Soldier'' often reportedly mistaken by tourists for a castle guide.The town itself has no shortage of fascinating tales, including the story of the Old Town''s most famous phantom, seventeenth-century merchant John ''Auld Staney Breeks'' Cowane, whose spirit is said to inhabit his statue each Hogmanay. A playful ghost supposedly throws pots and pans around the kitchens of the Darnley Coffee House, while frequent power failures and mishaps in the Tolbooth Theatre — originally the eighteenth-century Burgh jail — are blamed upon the malicious spirit of the last man hanged, Alan Mair. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, Haunted Stirling is guaranteed to intrigue and chill both believers and sceptics alike.

The ''steel rape'' of women is a scandal that is almost forgotten today.In Victorian England, police forces were granted powers to force any woman they suspected of being a ''common prostitute'' to undergo compulsory and invasive medical examinations, while women who refused to submit willingly could be arrested and incarcerated. This scandal was exposed by Josephine Butler, an Evangelical campaigner who did not rest until she had ended the violation and helped repeal the Act that governed it. She went on to campaign against child prostitution, the trafficking of girls from Britain to Europe, and government-sponsored brothels in India. In addition, Josephine was instrumental in raising the age of consent from 13 to 16.Josephine Butler is the poignant tale of a nineteenth-century woman who challenged taboos and conventions in order to campaign for the rights of her gender. Her story is compelling – and unforgettable.

The President who ''freed'' the slaves and held the Union together in the face of the slaveholding South''s bid to create a separate Confederacy. The teller of ribald stories, and the author of the most sublime speeches in the English language. A clever, complex, secretive man who rose from frontier obscurity to become the central figure at the moment when the United States of America came close to disintegration.Was Lincoln the ''Great Emancipator'', whose wartime leadership helped free four million enslaved people? Or was he a nationalist who jumped late on the antislavery bandwagon? Was his intransigence the cause of much bloodshed? Or was he a pragmatist whose leadership minimised the destruction of the war?This concise biography situates Lincoln in his time and place. A very human figure who, after his assassination by a leading Shakespearean actor, was turned into an icon.

Cardinal Wolsey is a controversial figure: a butcher''s son, a man of letters and the Church, a divisive political expert, a man of principle – yet, to some, an arrogant upstart. As Lord Chancellor to the incorrigible Henry VIII he achieved much both at home and abroad, but his failure to achieve the mighty monarch''s divorce from Catherine of Aragon saw him brought to his knees. John Matusiak explores the pragmatic cardinal''s life and career to uncover a man of contradictions and extremes whose meteoric rise was marked by an equally inexorable descent into desperation, as he attempted in vain to satisfy the tempestuous master whose ambition ultimately broke him. Far from being another familiar portrait of an overweight and overweening spider or cautionary tale of pride preceding a fall, this is the gripping story of how consummate talent, noble intentions and an eagle eye for the main chance can contrive with the vagaries of power politics to raise an individual to unheard of heights before finally consuming him.

*2 February 1101: Ranulf Flambard, the first person to be locked in the Tower of London, chose this day to make his escape. *24 March 1873: Mary Ann Cotton, thought to have poisoned three husbands, a lover, eight children and seven stepchildren, is taken to be hanged. *9 November 1888: The mutilated body of Mary Jane Kelly, thought to be the fifth victim of Jack the Ripper, is found in her room in Whitechapel. This volume contains 365 amazing and incredible true crimes from British history. With infamous names – Crippen, Seddon, Haigh, Ellis – alongside lesser-known examples from the British pantheon of crime, it will fascinate, chill and surprise readers everywhere.

Monsters, lunatics, vampires, werewolves and evil dolls, stones entombing bodies, faces appearing in walls, curses and meetings with the Devil – all this and more are contained within this book of myths and ancient legends. Well-known storytellers Grace Banks and Sheena Blackhall recount a range of intriguing tales from the top to the bottom of Scotland, from ancient times to the present day. Folklore embeds itself in a local community, often to the extent that some people believe all manner of mysteries and take them as fact. Whether they''re stories passed around the school playground, through the Internet, or round a flickering campfire, such legends are everywhere. Scottish Urban Myths and Ancient Legends is a quirky and downright spooky ride into the heart of Celtic folklore.

Western Isles Folk Tales is a representative collection of stories from the geographical span of the long chain of islands known as the Outer Hebrides. Some are well-known tales and others have been sought out by the author, but all are retold in the natural voice of a local man. You will find premonitions, accounts of uncanny events and mythical beings, such as the blue men of the stream who test mariners venturing into the tidal currents around the Shiant Islands. Also included are tales from islands now uninhabited, like the archipelago of St Kilda, in contrast to the witty yarns from bustling harbours. The author was the inaugural winner of the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship (1995) and his Acts of Trust collaboration with visual artist Christine Morrison won the multi-arts category in the first British Awards for Storytelling Excellence (2012). Both author and illustrator live in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 is a story of intrigue, plot and counter-plot, religious rivalry and nationalist fervour. It tells of the stubborn and bigoted king, James II, in conflict with his subjects – a conflict in which he was finally forced to put aside his crown, making way for his daughter, Mary, and her husband William of Orange. Less than thirty years after Charles II had been restored to the throne, a king was once more deposed (although this time with rather less bloodshed),effectively creating the form of government that we have today. After the Revolution it was no longer possible for British monarchs to ride roughshod over the wishes of their people or to impose religion upon them. Yet, as well as creating a constitutional monarchy, the Revolution also led in time to such events as the Jacobite Rebellions in Scotland and the Orange Order marches in Northern Ireland. This book tells the story of those momentous days and sets them against the turbulent backdrop of seventeenth-century life.

Britain has an incredible history, steeped in all manner of blood, death, disease and horror. From cannibals to concentration camps, Geoff Holder covers events both great and gory from Britain''s terrible past, with kings, queens and pretenders to the throne; sea battles, massacres and attacks from the air. This collection explores it all, with hundreds of amazing true stories, including seven ill-judged attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria and the Gestapo''s secret plans to bring a conquered Britain to its knees. There will be blood ...

The Knights Templar were among the most famous of Christian military orders. Created after the First Crusade of 1096 and endorsed by the Catholic Church in 1129, the Order grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights were some of the best equipped, trained and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades. But when the Holy Land was lost and the Templars suffered crushing defeats, support for the Order faded and rumours about their secret initiation ceremony created mistrust. When the Order suddenly disappeared, disbanded by the Pope, it gave rise to speculation and legends which have kept the name ''Templar'' alive.From Aaron to Zion, The A–Z of the Knights Templar is an invaluable reference of the places, people, and themes of the Crusades, the Knights Templar and their legacy.

In November 1938 about 30,000 German Jewish men were taken to concentration camps where they were subjected to torture, starvation and arbitrary death. In Four Thousand Lives, Clare Ungerson tells the remarkable story of how the grandees of Anglo-Jewry persuaded the British Government to allow them to establish a transit camp in Sandwich, East Kent, to which up to 4,000 men could be brought while they waited for permanent settlement overseas. The whole rescue was funded by the British Jewish community, with help from American Jewry. Most of the men had to leave their families behind. Would they get them out in time? And how would the people of Sandwich – a town the same size as the camp – react to so many German speaking Jewish foreigners? There was a well-organised branch of the British Union of Fascists in Sandwich. Lady Pearson, the BUF candidate for Canterbury, was President of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce and Captain Gordon Canning, a prominent Fascist and close friend of Oswald Mosley, lived there and he and his grand friends used to meet there to play golf. This background adds to the drama of the race against time to save lives.Four Thousand Lives is not just a story of salvation, but also a revealing account of how a small English community reacted to the arrival of so many German Jews in their midst.

Compiled by paranormal investigator Della Farrant, this new book contains a chilling range of spooky tales from around Highgate. From haunted public houses and private homes taken over by malevolent poltergeists to a top-hatted fiend who hisses at passers-by and the ''vampire'' sightings of the 1970s at Highgate''s world-famous cemetery, this collection of ghostly goings-on is sure to appeal to everyone interested in North London''s supernatural residents. Richly illustrated, Haunted Highgate is the ideal guide for anyone who wishes to delve deeper into the area''s mysterious history.

Did you know?- Annie Chapman''s uterus and Mary Jane Kelly''s heart were removed by the killer.- A prince of England is amongst the suspects.- Some believe the killings were covered up by the Masons.The Jack the Ripper mystery is one of the greatest whodunnits the world has ever known. With a backdrop of swirling fog, top hats and dark alleys, it is easy to see why this fascinating tale still continues to capture the imagination. The Little Book of Jack the Ripper explores the world of Victorian London, examining the case from every angle and including witness statements, reports and the reactions of the press. Richly illustrated, it is a book that you can dip in and out of during the twilight hours (but only if you''re brave enough!). Compiled by the Whitechapel Society and drawing on their incredible expertise, it will delight true-crime enthusiasts everywhere.

In 2015, Ireland will hold a referendum on the subject of extending marriage rights to same-sex people in the State. This referendum is the culmination of one of the most rapid and transformative changes in Irish society over the last century. In this book, Una Mullally charts the development of the debate from its origins to the present day. Based on interviews with all the key figures involved, from politics and activism to journalism and the media, the book paints a vivid picture of where we have come from and how we have arrived at this defining moment for Ireland.