A sumptuously written people’s history and a major retelling and reinterpretation of the story of the English ReformationCenturies on, what the Reformation was and what it accomplished remain deeply contentious. Peter Marshall’s sweeping new history—the first major overview for general readers in a generation—argues that sixteenth-century England was a society neither desperate for nor allergic to change, but one open to ideas of “reform” in various competing guise...

Navigating the broad “river of anarchy,” from Taoism to Situationism, from Ranters to Punk rockers, from individualists to communists, from anarcho-syndicalists to anarcha-feminists, Demanding the Impossible is an authoritative and lively study of a widely misunderstood subject. It explores the key anarchist concepts of society and the state, freedom and equality, authority and power, and investigates the successes and failure of the anarchist movements throughout the world. While...

In the late 16th century the greatest philosophers, alchemists, astronomers, painters, and mathematicians of the day flocked to Prague to work under the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, an emperor more interested in the great minds of his times than in the exercise of his immense power. Rarely leaving Prague Castle, he gathered around him a galaxy of famous figures: among them the painter Arcimboldo, the astronomer Tycho Brahe, the mathematician Johannes Kepler, the philosoph...

'A surprising page-turner, full of humour and startling details' THE TIMES**'If I read a better history this year, I will be lucky' TOM HOLLAND'An astonishing tour de force’ SPECTATORShortlisted for the HWA Nonfiction Crown AwardLonglisted for the Highland Book PrizeFrom Peter Marshall, winner of the 2018 Wolfson Prize, Storm’s Edge is a n...

'A surprising page-turner, full of humour and startling details' THE TIMES**'If I read a better history this year, I will be lucky' TOM HOLLAND'An astonishing tour de force’ SPECTATORShortlisted for the HWA Nonfiction Crown AwardLonglisted for the Highland Book PrizeFrom Peter Marshall, winner of the 2018 Wolfson Prize, Storm’s Edge is a n...

Now in its third edition, Reformation England 1480-1642 provides a clear and accessible narrative account of the English Reformation, explaining how historical interpretations of its major themes have changed and developed over the past few decades, where they currently stand, and where they seem likely to go.This new edition brings the text fully up-to-date with description and analysis of recent scholarship on the pre-Reformation Church, the religious policies of Henry V...

Halloween 1636: sightings of the ghost of an old woman begin to be reported in the small English coastal town of Minehead, and a royal commission is sent to investigate. December 1640: a disgraced Protestant bishop is hanged in the Irish capital, Dublin, after being convicted of an 'unspeakable' crime. In this remarkable piece of historical detective work, Peter Marshall sets out to uncover the intriguing links between these two seemingly unconnected events. The result is a compelling tale...

Did Columbus believe that God called him west to undiscovered lands? Does American democracy owe its inception to the handful of Pilgrims that settled at Plymouth? If, indeed, there was a specific, divine call upon this nation, is it still valid today? Was this continent the stage for a new act in the drama of redemption?The Light and the Glory answers these questions and many more for anyoe interested in the founding of the great experiment called America, visiting American histo...

William Godwin has long been known for his literary connections as the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, the father of Mary Shelley, the friend of Coleridge, Lamb, and Hazlitt, the mentor of the young Wordsworth, Southey, and Shelley, and the opponent of Malthus. Godwin has been recently recognised as the most capable exponent of philosophical anarchism, an original moral thinker, a pioneer in socialist economics and progressive education and a novelist of great skill. Basing his work on ext...

A window into the rich Christian heritage of our nationDid Columbus believe that God called him west to undiscovered lands? Does American democracy owe its inception to the handful of Pilgrims that settled at Plymouth? If, indeed, there was a specific, divine call upon this nation, is it still valid today?The Light and the Glory answers these questions and many more for history buffs. As readers look at their nation's history from God's point of vi...

This is another spy thriller from former BBC journalist Peter Marshall in which the secret services of Russia and the West pit their wits against each other in the murky world of international espionage – and the events in the story also provide a now too familiar portent of current events. In "The Russian Bear's Revenge" the key operators in Russia's GUR agency have become frustrated by the successes of America's CIA and the UK's MI5/MI6, and they set out on a four-point plan of reprisals...

The Reformation transformed Europe and left an indelible mark on the modern world. But what actually was the Reformation and how should it be defined? Historians have long wrangled over whether it represented a force leading to progress, liberty, and modernity, or to conflict, division, and repression. What is certain is that the relationships between Church and State, between subjects and rulers, between men and women, between parents and children, and between Europe and the rest of the w...