Dividing the county of Hertfordshire into four broad regions—the "champion" countryside in the north, the Chiltern dip slope to the west, the fertile boulder clays of the east, and the unwelcoming London Clay in the south—this volume explains how, in the course of the middle ages, natural characteristics influenced the development of land use and settlement to create a range of distinctive landscapes. The great diversity of Hertfordshire's landscapes makes it a particularly rewarding area ...

This book is about the map of an English county – Hertfordshire – which was published in 1766 by two London mapmakers, Andrew Dury and John Andrews.For well over two centuries, from the time of Elizabeth I to the late 18th century, the county was the basic unit for mapping in Britain and the period witnessed several episodes of comprehensive map making. The map which forms the subject of this book followed on from a large number of previous maps of the county but was greatly superio...

'...Without surpriseI see him now in evil company.A wicked face – but oh those eyes could charm –Heart, sudden heart, don’t beat me to my knees.'**Long hidden in an attic, vivid and revelatory poems shine a new light on the life and loves of Iris Murdoch.*As seen in the Guardian***With an introduction by Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Hall, and an essay from the editors.***In the dusty attic o...

This largely chronological study of Iris Murdoch's literary life begins with her fledgling publications at Badminton School and Oxford, and her Irish heritage. It moves through the novels of the next four decades and concludes with an account of the biographical, critical and media attention given to her life and work since her death in 1999.

When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie--Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith--often refers to the great twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden. This is no accident: McCall Smith has long been fascinated by Auden. Indeed, the novelist, best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, calls the poet not only the greatest literary discovery of his life but also the best of guides on how to ...

This is the first fully documented and detailed account, produced in recent times, of one of the greatest early migrations of Scots to North America. The arrival of the Hector in 1773, with nearly 200 Scottish passengers, sparked a huge influx of Scots to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. Thousands of Scots, mainly from the Highlands and Islands, streamed into the province during the late 1700s and the first half of the nineteenth century.Lucille Campey traces ...

THE SECRETS OF SITE RESEARCH FINALLY REVEALED…Now you can quickly learn how to put your metal detector's search-coil in the right place every time.Find productive sitesIf nothing much ever happened where you search, then all you can expect your finds bag to contain is — nothing much. So to bring home the finds you need to search sites where human activity took place in the past. But how do you locate such sites? You could try your local library but you can't go into a ...

A full and revealing biography of one of the century’s greatest English writers and an icon to a generation.Dame Iris Murdoch has played a major role in English life and letter for nearly half a century. As A.S.Byatt notes, she is ‘absolutely central to our culture’. As a novelist, as a thinker, and as a private individual, her life has significance for our age. There is a recognisable Murdoch world, and the adjective ‘Murdochian’ has entered the language to describe situations whe...

This "absorbing history of the Ordnance Survey"—the first complete map of the British Isles—"charts the many hurdles map-makers have had to overcome" ( The Guardian, UK).Map of a Nation tells the story of the creation of the Ordnance Survey map, the first complete, accurate, affordable map of the British Isles. The Ordnance Survey is a much beloved British institution, and this is—amazingly—the first popular history to tell the story of the map an...

Discover the fascinating history of this coastal English city from its Medieval origins to its status today as a world-renowned cultural destination.In The Making of Liverpool, Mike Fletcher tells the story of this historic city and highlights the significant changes that have made it what it is today. It all begins with King John's 1207 charter and the construction of Liverpool castle to protect this new town. Liverpool's development throughout the medieva...

To consider comedy in its many incarnations is to raise diverse but related questions: what, for instance, is humour, and how may it be used (or abused)? When do we laugh, and why? What is it that writers and speakers enjoy - and risk - when they tell a joke, indulge in bathos, talk nonsense, or encourage irony? This Very Short Introduction explores comedy both as a literary genre, and as a range of non-literary phenomena, experiences and events. Matthew Bevis studies the classics of comic...

'An extraordinary history' - Peter Ackroyd, The Times'A lively account of (Bazalgette's) magnificent achievements. . . graphically illustrated' - Hermione Hobhouse'Halliday is good on sanitary engineering and even better on cloaca, crud and putrefaction . . . (he) writes with the relish of one who savours his subject and has deeply researched it. . . splendidly illustrated' - Ruth Rendell...