Visar resultat för..."Amberley Publishing"

As England’s most celebrated royal dynasty, it’s often overlooked that the Tudors have their origins in rural Wales, far from the urban centres of English power where they dared to become great. When Henry Tudor won the English crown by defeating Richard III in battle, he was a stranger to the people he now ruled, an ‘unknown Welshman’ in the words of his defeated foe. In his native Wales, however, Henry had long been championed as the Son of Prophecy, a foretold national messiah who would free his oppressed people from their lengthy misery. How had this remarkable situation come about?In this lucid and riveting account, Nathen Amin deftly explores how one redoubtable Welsh family thrived during lean years of political chaos, national instability, and inter-generational bloodshed to leave behind a complex legacy that changed the face of England and Wales forever. It is a passionately told tale of treachery, cunning, love, and heartbreak. From Penmynydd to Bosworth, this is the enthralling, action-packed story of the Tudors, but not as you know it.

Adriatic spans over two thousand years of history and the whole of the eastern Mediterranean region around the Adriatic Sea and part of the neighbouring Ionian Sea. Ever since the Romans, these lands and their peoples have experienced the coming and going of great empires, including occupation by the British in recent centuries, and the demise of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War, which had its origins in this combustible region. The book untangles a rich and complex history into the twentieth century, before the former Yugoslavia once again fractured.The fascinating and highly accessible account emphasises the interplay between different parts of the Adriatic: on the plus side, the alliances that countries formed, often through trade or royal marriage, and on the negative side, the rivalries that divided states and ended in war, invasion or the overthrow of government. The narrative is filled with personal stories of individuals from many different periods that illuminate the real issues of their day, and explores the political, cultural and economic developments, together with the major conflicts from earliest Roman times, through the Crusades, right up to the battles of the Second World War.

This book traces the design, development and production history of the iconic classic Saab 900 model, manufactured from 1978 to 1993, looking at every variant from the basic single carburettor Saab 900 GL to the blisteringly fast turbocharged Saab 900 turbo 16S.This unique car accelerated Saab into the global executive car market, and was its most successful model ever, with more than 900,000 sold across the world. A combination of attractive Swedish styling, reliability, balanced handling, safety and performance endeared the Saab 900 to loyal owners who kept coming back for more over its long production run. Today, the model that enthusiasts and casual observers immediately identify as ‘the Saab’ is fast becoming a collector’s car, and deservedly so, with good examples fetching premium prices. This book is an essential reference for all the classic Saab 900s produced.This book features dozens of rare and previously unpublished photographs that the author, a Saab enthusiast and owner for twenty-five years, has researched and obtained from archives in the UK and Scandinavia. There is growing interest in this modern-day classic from enthusiasts and investors, and prices for the best survivors are steadily rising. This book will act as a useful, concise and attractive single reference point to this audience.

The 1970 merger of Northern Pacific; Great Northern; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; and Spokane, Portland & Seattle created a new super railroad spanning the northern and central United States over a 25,000-mile network. For twenty-five years, BN was one of United States’ premier railroads. In its first decade BN had its hands full, paring down duplicate lines and forming a cohesive system from all the predecessor railroads, as well as investing in the explosive growth of Powder River Basin coal shipments. By the early 1980s though, BN had clearly become its own railroad, decked out in uniform Cascade green and black paint. The BN of the 1990s experienced continued growth in intermodal, grain and coal traffic, along with adding more hues to the company colours.With wonderful original photographs, Mike Danneman takes a look at the last dozen years of the Burlington Northern before the merger with Santa Fe to form BNSF in 1995.

In the early 1970s the shipping industry around the world was facing a crisis following competition from new forms of transport, package holidays and the introduction of the giant Boeing 737. People were able to fly across the Atlantic and to Australia in hours and the large ocean liners were soon running at a loss and were laid up. Ian Collard recounts the story of two friends who seized the opportunity to form and develop a cruise line which is now the largest and most successful of its kind in the world. Arison and Riklis borrowed capital and bought a number of the redundant ocean liners at bargain basement prices and provided cruise holidays for ordinary working people. They had a completely new business model and branded their concept as ‘fun cruises’ based on ‘a boatload of vision, a second-hand ship and just enough fuel to make the one-way trip from Miami to San Juan’.Ian Collard presents a vibrant selection of images to tell the fascinating story of Carnival Cruises, now known as ‘The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line’.

The Baltic Story recounts the shared history of the countries around the Baltic, from the events of a thousand years ago to today. It shows the ties of blood and commerce that have bound the different lands which now lie in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Western Russia and eastern Germany. The narrative encompasses the foundation of some of Europe’s greatest cities, including St Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Gdánsk. The earliest settlers created a commercial network. As these Hansa merchants became wealthier, they began to impose on the political affairs of their neighbours.In Poland, descendants of her first rulers eventually united their territories and created a state offering religious tolerance and an elective monarchy. Meanwhile, one of Europe’s most ancient dynasties, the Oldenburgs, assumed power in Denmark, but the king was deposed after his massacre of Swedish nobles. When Gustav Vasa takes the Swedish throne, the Kalmar Union collapses. The Catholic king of Poland invades Russia and his son is elected tsar. Russia’s turmoil ends with the election of Michael, the first of the Romanovs. As the feud between the Poles and Swedes continues, Karl X ravages Poland and moves on to Denmark, where he crosses the frozen sea to attack Copenhagen. Having stood firm against further Swedish assault, the Danish king attains absolute power.This history shows the growth of autocracy, from Denmark’s absolutist kings to the opulent world of the eighteenth-century Russian empresses. It analyses the period of the Enlightenment, in particular the achievements of Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine II of Russia and the problems facing Poland that ended with the country’s collapse. And it shows how Enlightenment thinking influenced Denmark and Sweden and rocked the monarchies. It also explores the threat of Napoleon’s France to the Baltic and the impact of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, which led to the radical re-shaping of the region.

Sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf have long been celebrated for their central roles in the development of modernism in art and literature. Vanessa’s experimental work places her at the vanguard of early twentieth-century art, as does her role in helping introduce many key names – Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso – to an unsuspecting public in 1910. Virginia took these artistic innovations and applied them to literature, pushing the boundaries of form, narrative and language to find a voice uniquely her own.Yet their private lives were just as experimental. Vanessa’s marriage to art critic Clive Bell was shaken early on by his flirtation with her sister, and Virginia’s marriage to Leonard Woolf placed him more in the role of carer than husband as he tried to meet the needs of his wife’s fragile mental health. However, forming the core of the Bloomsbury Group, they welcomed into their London and Sussex homes a host of their talented peers, and caused speculation and scandal by following their hearts, not society’s norms, in their continued pursuit of love.In Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles, Amy Licence explores the brave, passionate and innovative lives these remarkable women lived, and discovers where their strength and talent came from.

Nowadays, with concerns about air quality in our town centres, many new cars, vans and buses are hybrid or fully electric. However, over a century ago zero-emission public transport dominated our towns and cities in the form of electric trams and trolleybuses. Yet, in the post-war era these fell out of favour and were replaced by diesel buses. Now trams have made a comeback in some cities, although trolleybuses no longer operate in Britain.Many examples of trams and trolleybuses have survived into preservation. There are even a handful of specialist museum sites where wiring has been installed so that these vehicles can once again operate, while many examples can be found on static display in other museum collections.Malcolm Batten presents a fascinating selection of the vehicles preserved and locations where trams and trolleybuses can be found at work or on display.

A World Heritage Site since 1999, the New Forest is not that new and not really a forest. Only half is wooded with the rest being mainly gorse, heathland, mudflats and farms. It was created around 1079 for William the Conqueror as an exclusive royal hunting ground, especially for deer, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ‘Nova Foresta’. Still 90 per cent of the forest is Crown land, although King James II was the last monarch to hunt there, in 1686. It has also retained its ancient governing system of Verderers, Agisters and 500 Commoners.In Secret New Forest, author Martin Brisland has unearthed fascinating facts, little-known personalities and places in the history of the New Forest and reveals the history below its surface. With tales of remarkable characters, unusual events and tucked-away or disappeared historical buildings and locations, Secret New Forest will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of this area of southern England.

'Go where we will throughout England, there is no spot which is not boundup with our history. The New Forest is, perhaps, as good an example as could be wished of what has been said of English scenery, and its connection with our history. It remains after some eight hundred years still the New Forest. True, its boundaries are smaller, but the main features are the same as on the day when first afforested by the Conqueror.' The words of John R. Wise, author of The New Forest: Its History and its Scenery, echo across one and a half centuries since its first publication in 1863. The Forest boundaries are still tweaked and altered today but the 'essential Forest' remains. The illustrations in this book celebrate the things which make the New Forest unique and the contrasting images chronicle the similarities as well as the changes that have taken place over time.

Despite – or perhaps because of – the privations of war, the 1940s was one of the greatest decades for fashion in Britain. The designs and fashions of the 1930s would linger on through the early years of the Second World War but with shortages and rationing firmly in place, the Utility clothing available in the shops had to overcome these restrictions and still look new and vivid. Because so much of the war effort depended on Britain’s women, fashion was considered important for morale.Fashion in the 1940s ranged from military uniforms (for men and women) to siren suits to be worn to keep warm in air raid shelters at night and the demob suits issued to those leaving the services at the end of the war. The mantra of ‘make-do and mend’ would spawn a decade of creativity, and a generation who would not let austerity prevent them from looking good. Transatlantic and military influences were everywhere, and after the war was over Dior’s ‘New Look’ set the scene for the fashions of the prosperous 1950s.This book is part of the Britain’s Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain’s past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with 1940s fashion in all its variety.

The Triumph Razoredge cars were the last of the traditionally styled British coach-built cars to be produced in the post-war period. In this, the first book to be devoted to the various models under the Razoredge name between 1946 and 1954, Triumph Razoredge expert John Bath describes the development of the models after the acquisition of Triumph by the Standard Motor Company in 1944. The models, which were designed to compete with upmarket cars produced by Rover, Jaguar and others, included the 1800 saloon, the 2000 saloon, both versions of the Triumph Renown and the limousine version. The various evolutions and changes in the models, such as the use of a Standard chassis and the Standard Vanguard drivetrain, as well as both interior and exterior design modifications, are documented here. A smaller model produced by Triumph, known as the Mayflower, which was largely aimed at the American market, is also touched on.Published to coincide with the golden anniversary of the Triumph Razoredge Owners Club, this book is a unique tribute to a series of Triumph traditional coach-built cars.

In this book, MG Y Type owner and expert Neil Cairns provides the reader with a detailed history of the development of the MG Y as well as descriptions of the different models – the YA, the YT and the YB. Based on his own twenty-five years’ experience of owning and driving an MG Y, the book is packed with advice, hints and tips for buying and owning this classic post-war MG saloon.Although based on a pre-war body design, the MG Y Type was more radical than it looked. It was the first MG with independent front suspension, the first MG with rack and pinion steering and the first with a left-hand drive option.This book covers the development of the XPAG engine as well as other mechanical information covering the gearbox, chassis and rear axle. There is also a chapter on restoration and how to deal with corrosion.

Manchester in the century between 1850 and 1950 witnessed extraordinary growth and changes. In the mid-nineteenth century, Manchester was the world’s first industrialised city, home of the Industrial Revolution and known as ‘Cottonopolis’. It was a city of immigrants from the countryside, Ireland, Scotland and further afield, where slums and poverty existed in close proximity to great wealth. The unique conditions in the city made it a breeding ground for crimes of all kinds, from the ‘high crimes’ of murder and large-scale robberies, frauds and theft, to ‘low-level’ crimes such as pickpocketing, mugging and other street crimes. ‘Snoozer’ gangs robbed hotels in Victorian Manchester and the city was home to numerous jewel thieves over the years including ‘Lucky Edgar’. Some crimes were even politically motivated, such as the suffragette law breaking, while others such as youth crime, which is often portrayed as a recent phenomenon, actually has a long history stretching back to the teenage scuttler gangs of the late nineteenth century.This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Manchester in years gone by. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime, as well as those who want to know more about the history of Manchester.

Electro-Motive Division of General Motors was North America’s leading locomotive builder from 1945 to 1983. After the early years of custom-built motive power and trains, EMD took to the rails in a big way when it built its first freight locomotives in 1939. The FT locomotive put the future of steam locomotion on notice, and the classic bulldog nose styling became an icon of locomotive design. In 1949, the GP (for general purpose) was born of functionalism, with the Geeps morphing into a whole line of purely utilitarian freight locomotives that became staples on nearly every railroad in North America. Railroading’s desire for more horsepower introduced further refined series of locomotives with four-and-six-axle (and traction motor) versions available.Over the years, EMD locomotives have worn just about every colour of the spectrum. Within these pages is a vivid survey of thirty-five years of Mike Danneman photographs illustrating the EMD locomotive.

Windswept vistas. Scorched canyons. Glorious scenes of snow and ice. This book shows the North American landscape in all its breathtaking glory, cleaved by the continent’s powerful locomotives and captured in a series of stunning original photographs by leading railway artist Mike Danneman.Evoking the romance, drama and beauty of the railways, this wonderful collection of images presents the full breadth of jaw-dropping backdrops offered by this vast expanse of land. The contrast between raw motive power and bucolic peace creates scenes that will delight anybody who wants to enjoy the full majesty of North America from their own home.

In 1066 the English were conquered by the infamous William the Conqueror. However, the English did not just roll over and die before their oppressors; far from it. For over five years the English violently rebelled against the invading Normans, murdering quislings, burning towns and sacking cathedrals. Peter Rex tells the story of each rebellion, their often colourful leaders (including Hereward the Wake, Edgar the Aetheling and Eadric the Wild) and the rebels themselves, whom the Normans called 'silvatici' or forest dwellers. He also considers William's attempts at pacifying the English, especially his notorious 'harrying' of the North, which amounted to genocide. For those who thought it was all over with King Harold's death, this book reinforces the view that the English are not so easily overcome.

Since its completion in 1811, the Bell Rock Lighthouse has been revered as an industrial wonder of the world. The iconic tower was built on the Inchcape Rock, a submerged reef some 12 miles off the coast of Arbroath, and now stands as the oldest sea-washed tower in the world, surviving over 200 years of violent storms and crashing waves. The construction of the Bell Rock made the name of the Stevenson family, a dynasty of lighthouse engineers who dominated Scottish lighthouse engineering for 150 years. Robert Stevenson was the first man on the reef and the last man off, a personal commitment which saw the Bell Rock’s actual Chief Engineer, John Rennie, almost deleted from the building’s history. The Bell Rock is, however, more than just Stevenson and Rennie. Not only was it a remarkable feat of engineering, but one which played host to a remarkable way of life. The light-keepers undertook nightly vigils on the rock for 177 years, their often mundane and monotonous duties occasionally being punctuated by technological improvements and world events.The keepers are now all gone but the Bell Rock continues to show its familiar flash for the safety of all.

In the 1970s, Honda broke the mould again by creating a series of motorcycles that would rule the road for over forty years: the Gold Wing, Honda’s premier touring motorcycle. From its super-smooth horizontally opposed engine to its faux tank and low centre of gravity, the Honda Gold Wing is a machine that combines reliability, comfort and style; it can take you hundreds of miles in one day. Through the 1980s and into the twenty-first century, the Gold Wing dominated the touring segment of motorcycling, originally being built for the American market and later being manufactured there.In this book, Peter Rakestrow tells the story of the Honda Gold Wing from the original engineering concept through to 1987, when Honda built the last four-cylinder Gold Wing. Covering detailed changes through the years, this book will appeal to buyers, restorers and collectors alike.

In the 1960s, Japanese motorcycle manufacturers were eating into the markets in Europe and the United States with genuinely new designs and modern technology. In 1968, Honda dropped its four-cylinder bombshell in the form of the CB750, complete with electric starter, five-speed gearbox and front disc brake. More than that, it offered speed, convenience, reliability and oiltightness, features that were normally mutually exclusive. The first ‘superbike’ had arrived.In this book, Rod Ker tells the story of the Honda CB750 and its development during the 1970s. The author also covers the Four’s subsequent rebirth as a classic, its present iconic status and includes buying advice for the twenty-first century.

Step back into the ring and recapture the golden days of wrestling as we look back on the legendary action figures from the early 1990s. Check out the toy line that rocked the world, featuring wrestling legends such as Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ric Flair.As well as lavish illustrations of the heroes and villains themselves, Kevin Williams follows the story of how these action figures developed a large number of dedicated followers who have turned these toys into highly collectible items. A nostalgic journey back to the heyday of professional wrestling and a golden era of action figures, this book is sure to delight fans and collectors both young and old.

Rising from the Wreckage is the definitive story of Manchester United’s resurgence, from the ashes of a German runway to a balmy May evening at Wembley and the pinnacle of European football.Jimmy Murphy arrives back in Manchester unaware of the disaster at Munich, but soon discovers that he is now at the helm of a shattered club. Distraught but a fighter, the Welshman uses the resources at hand and supervises the necessary rebuilding of Manchester United from scratch, and as Matt Busby returns to the fore, together they begin to create yet another outstanding United team.As relegation threatens, the FA Cup is won and becomes a springboard for further success, with a team boasting of not one, but three European Footballers of the Year. Being crowned European Champions was always the ultimate dream and this became a reality ten years after Munich. It was arguably the most memorable decade in the history of Manchester United, with numerous highs and lows, and here for the first time in print is the story of Manchester United rising from the wreckage.

On 22 August 1485, Henry Tudor emerged from the Battle of Bosworth victorious. His disparate army vanquished the forces of Richard III and, according to Shakespeare over a century later, brought ‘smooth-faced peace, with smiling aplenty and fair prosperous days’ back to England. Yet, all was not well early in the Tudor reign. Despite later attempts to portray Henry VII as single-handedly uniting a war-torn England after three decades of conflict, the kingdom was anything but settled. Nor could it be after a tumultuous two-year period that had witnessed the untimely death of one king, the mysterious disappearance of another, and the brutal slaughter of a third on the battlefield.For the first time in one compelling and comprehensive account, Nathen Amin looks at the myriad of shadowy conspiracies and murky plots which sought to depose the Tudor usurper early in his reign, with particular emphasis on the three pretenders whose causes were fervently advanced by Yorkist dissidents ‒ Lambert Simnel, Perkin Warbeck, and Edward, Earl of Warwick. Just how close did the Tudors come to overthrow long before the myth of their greatness had taken hold on our public consciousness?

The Wars of the Roses saw family fight family over the greatest prize – the throne of England. But what gave the eventual victor of these brutal and complex wars, Henry Tudor, the right to claim the crown? How exactly did an illegitimate line come to challenge the English monarchy?While the Houses of York and Lancaster fought brutally for the crown, other noble families of the kingdom also played integral roles in the wars; grand and prestigious names like the Howards, Mowbrays, Nevilles and Percys were intimately involved in the conflict, but none symbolised the volatile nature of the period quite like the House of Beaufort. Their rise, fall, and rise again is the story of England during the fifteenth century, a dramatic century of war, intrigue and scandal, both at home and abroad.This book uncovers the rise of the Beauforts from bastard stock of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, to esteemed companions of their cousin Henry V, celebrated victor of Agincourt, and tracks their chastening fall with the House of Lancaster during the 1460s and 1470s. The hopes and fortunes of the family gradually came to rest upon the shoulders of a teenage widow named Margaret Beaufort and her young son Henry. From Margaret would rise the House of Tudor, the most famous of all England’s royal houses and a dynasty that owed its crown to the blood of its forebears, the House of Beaufort. From bastards to princes, the Beauforts are medieval England’s most captivating family.

These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation.Heroines of the Tudor World focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the threats and challenges they faced and how they overcame them. Studying regents, writers, nuns and queens, and taking in the likes of Elizabeth Barton, Anne Boleyn, Catherine de Medici, Bess of Hardwick and Elizabeth I, Sharon Bennett Connolly shines the spotlight on the women who helped to shape Early Modern Europe.

The remarkable Battle of Britain experiences of Spitfire pilot Brian Lane, DFC. Brian Lane was only 23 when he when he wrote his dramatic account of life as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. Lane was an 'ace' with six enemy 'kills' to his credit and was awarded the DFC for bravery in combat. The text is honest and vibrant, and has the immediacy of a book written close the event, untouched, therefore, by the doubts and debates of later years. Here we can read, exactly what it was like to 'scramble', to shoot down Messerschmitts, Heinkels, Dorniers and Stukas and how it felt to lose comrades every day. Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC was not only an exceptional fighter pilot but likewise a gifted leader, at all levels. In what was still a hierarchical and class conscious culture, 'Chiefy' Lane was different: he knew everyone under his command by first names, no matter how lowly their rank or status, and in the air he was always unflappable, calmly making the right tactical decision and in the process earning unlimited respect amongst pilots and aircrew. All these years later the survivors still speak of him with an unparalleled affection and respect bordering upon a holy reverence. High drama has never before been so characteristically understated, written, as it was, by the 'Finest of the Few'.

The Anglo-French war of 1294-1303 has not been the subject of a major study since the early 1900s. Recent histories tend to treat it as a sideshow compared to Edward I’s wars in Wales and Scotland, which gives a false impression. In reality the Welsh and Scottish campaigns were distractions, and Edward regarded the war against France as his main focus. The main issue at stake was the defence and recovery of Aquitaine, the last substantial piece of the so-called ‘Angevin empire’. To that end Edward spent enormous sums of money on recruiting allies in the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire. Edward’s rival, Philip IV, also recruited allies to counter Edward, until the conflict engulfed much of Western Europe.The result was a series of military stalemates, demonstrating that neither England nor France could achieve outright victory in a head-to-head conflict. There were plenty of bloody incidents and much hard fighting: the hanging of Gascon prisoners from the walls of Rions in 1295, for instance, or the epic thirteen-week siege of Saint Sever.David Pilling places the war in its proper context and argues it was a vital step on the road to the more famous conflict we remember as the Hundred Years War.

How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War. An amazing array of leaflets, books and manuals were issued by the War Office during the Second World War to aid pilots in flying the Supermarine Spitfire, here for the first time and using the original 1940s setting, they are collated into a single book. An introduction is supplied by expert aviation historian Dilip Sarkar. Other sections include aircraft recognition, how to act as an RAF officer, bailing out etc.

There is plenty of information about military dress in Roman Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire, but the evidence for civilian dress has not been comprehensively looked at since the 1930s.In this richly illustrated survey, Alexandra Croom describes the range and style of clothing worn throughout the Western Empire and shows how fashions changed between the first and the sixth centuries. After a short introduction to the evidence (from archaeology, art and literature), and to the manufacture of clothing and its use in status display, she systematically treats male and female dress, looking at the tunic, toga (for men), mantle (for women) and cloaks; underwear, footwear and specialist wear; hats, hairstyles and jewellery. The book concentrates on the clothing work in the Mediterranean region, but includes a section on provincial fashions.A fine and varied corpus of illustrations (including colour plates) helps to bring the everyday world of the Roman Empire to life.