An inside look at the intricate costuming of the popular PBS series, including character costume choices and the historic fashion trends characteristic of the aristocracy during the Edwardian era. Appealing to Anglophiles, costume and sewing aficionados, and fans of the hit series, The Costumes of Downton Abbey presents—with comprehensive historical detail and beautiful imagery—the design decisions and wardrobe intricacies that shaped the glamour and elegance of the characters of Downton A...

The worldwide phenomenon and multi-award winning Downton Abbey returns to the big screen with a movie sequel starring the Crawley family and their household staff—and the Downton Abbey: A New Era: The Official Film Companion is the Downton fan’s front-row ticket to all the behind-the-scenes action. In addition to the original principal cast—including Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary, and Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Lord and Lady Grantha...

Powerful and influential kings have long dominated our view of global history, their queens often relegated to the shadows, their influence, deeds and sacrifices unacknowledged and lost in the passing of time. But not anymore…This book chronicles the forgotten queens from across the globe – those who ruled in their own right, and those who were wives or mothers of reigning kings. All of whom wielded significant power.A smattering of queens, such as Queen Elizabeth I and Cat...

THE OFFICIAL COMPANION TO THE ITV SERIESWilliam Thackeray's Vanity Fair was first published in the 1840s, but its power to entertain and provoke debate remains as strong as ever. The tales of charismatic, shrewd, and amoral Becky Sharp's journey from Miss Pinkerton's academy for young ladies to a wider world in which wealth and status is valued above all else is arguably as relevant today as it was nearly 200 years ago: Becky and her equal...

Mothers hold their children's hands for a moment, but their hearts forever.'Best friend, nurse, therapist, chauffeur, mentor, caretaker, cook, seamstress and champion. Across cultures, countries and continents, we all know that we would be nowhere without our mothers. Remind your mum just how important she is with this collection of beautifully illustrated quotes featuring everything from Jewish, Persian and Irish proverbs to the immortal words of Louisa May Alcott, Jeanette Winter...

The history of our world can be told through numbers. Numbers can illuminate the broad sweep of history, from vast movements of populations and the expansion of empires to the effects of technological achievements or climatic change. They also allow us to drill into the real detail of history, from the page count, the cost and the time it took to produce the Gutenberg Bible (the West's first mass-produced book) to the price of Virginian tobacco in the 1620s, both of which had an immediate ...

From icons of British history to geography, and the economy to the legal system, I Should Know That: Great Britain covers a wide range of topics, filling in all those embarrassing gaps in your knowledge of this fair isle.Inspired by the UK citizenship test, this useful and interesting guide includes sections such as essential British history, the current political and legal system, migration to Britain, women’s rights, geography and culture. Learn all about the Mag...

History is a rich, varied and fascinating subject, so it's rare to find the whole lot in one book...until now. "The History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks" pulls it all together, from the world's earliest civilizations in 3500 BC to the founding of the United Nations in 1945, passing by the likes of Charlemagne, the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean War, to name a few. Here's your chance to introduce yourself to the full spectrum of world history, and discover just how the modern world cam...

So many historical 'truths' handed down by teachers or historians, and repeated by the press, prove on closer scrutiny to be at best misleading, and at worst deliberately falsified. Yet they are often so deeply rooted that we take them as fact - America's Founding Fathers must have been democrats, surely, and wasn't Captain Scott 'of the Antarctic' one of history's greatest leaders?Some historical 'facts' are little more than fables, distorted in the retelling; others are the result...

Emma Marriott's The World of Poldark explores the characters, the compelling stories and the era that Winston Graham - and the television series - set out to recreate, the England that Ross Poldark returned to from the American War of Independence. England, and especially Cornwall, was then marked by social unrest and a deep division between rich and poor. It was a place of tin mines and shipwrecks, of new money versus old, of harsh justice and great kindness. And, above all, it w...

If your response to a mention of the Wars of the Roses, the Sumerians or the Reformation is, ‘Hmm, I’ve heard of that – what was that again?’, then this is the book for you.This entertaining yet informative book travels back through time to fill in those embarrassing gaps in your knowledge, from the invasions of Britain, the Renaissance and the Cold War, to the American, French and Russian Revolutions, the World Wars ... and everything else you have forgotten from your school histo...

Powerful and influential kings have long dominated our view of global history, their queens often relegated to the shadows, their influence, deeds and sacrifices unacknowledged and lost in the passing of time. But not anymore…This book chronicles the forgotten queens from across the globe – those who ruled in their own right, and those who were wives or mothers of reigning kings. All of whom wielded significant power.A smattering of queens, such as Queen Elizabeth I and Cat...