Interregnum offers an alternative history of the country’s—and Winston Churchill’s—finest hour.Britain is occupied by Nazi Germany. All seems lost—until the February Rising sees off Hitler. The Fuhrer’s death triggers a struggle for power among the Nazis, revolt across the Occupied Continent, and schism in the Oval Office in Washington.Caught in this maelstrom are the teenage princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. For Churchill, what price the lives of...

Interregnum offers an alternative history of the country’s—and Winston Churchill’s—finest hour.Britain is occupied by Nazi Germany. All seems lost—until the February Rising sees off Hitler. The Fuhrer’s death triggers a struggle for power among the Nazis, revolt across the Occupied Continent, and schism in the Oval Office in Washington.Caught in this maelstrom are the teenage princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. For Churchill, what price the lives of...

Immortalized as the author of The Riddle of the Sands, Erskine Childers led a life quite as enigmatic and adventurous as his classic novel.Childers was orphaned at an early age. Though he was brought up in County Wicklow, he received an English education that culminated in a clerkship to the House of Commons, voluntary service in the Boer War, and the writing of his great novel. Thus far he appeared patriotic, imperialist and largely conformist. But marriage to a strong-wi...

The Riviera has inspired countless novelists and artists, attracted as much by its visitors as by its location (Somerset Maugham called it 'a sunny place for shady people'). But for the majority of the English, the Riviera was made famous by rumour and report: it was the scene of the romance of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson; and, post-war, became the vacation spot of Hollywood starlets.But the Côte d'Azur has a long history of attracting foreign celebrities and royalty, since the ...

A fascinating insight into Breaker Morant and the question of morality and human life. The question of "The Breaker's" innocence is still being fiercely debated more than a century after Lieutenant Harry Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock were shot on a lonely veldt outside Pretoria at dawn on 27 February, 1902, by a British military firing squad. Shoot Straight, You Bastards! is a universal account of greed, ambition and the power of the political machine that crushes anyone wh...

"Gripping. . . . In the deftest prose, Picardie plots one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth Century. . . . Lavishly illustrated." — Mail on SundayCoco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor, conjuring up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, bestselling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time. But she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life with the s...

This true and very funny story involving six colleagues, some retired, proves the saying that we never really grow up - we just learn how to behave in public.On a sudden whim six men, mostly writers, decided to embark on a 1 000 kilometre cycle ride down the River Danube believing it would be downhill all the way. This was the first of many assumptions that proved to be not terribly correct.None had cycled since childhood nor even owned a bike.That first hilarious journey o...

Lost London is the story of the city as told through the buildings, parks and palaces that are no longer with us. Places like the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, the leading venue for public entertainment in the city for over 200 years, or the Palace of Whitehall whose 1500 rooms made it the largest royal residence in Europe until it was destroyed by fire at the end of the 17th century. From bull rings to ice fairs, plague pits to molly houses, this is a fascinating journey through London's for...

Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera were the two most charismatic leaders of the Irish revolution. This joint biography looks first at their very different upbringings and early careers. Both fought in the 1916 Easter Rising , although it is almost certain they did not meet during that tumultuous week. Their first encounter came when Collins had been released from jail after the rising but de Valera was still inside. Collins was one of those who wanted to run a Sinn Féin candidate in the L...

The New York Times–bestselling biography of Manet, Cezanne, Degas, and others—a "revealing group portrait . . . lively, required reading" (People).Though they were often ridiculed or ignored by their contemporaries, their paintings are now revered around the world. Their dazzling works are familiar to even the most casual art lovers—but how well do we know the Impressionists as people? The first book to offer an intimate and lively biography of the world's ...

The streets of London flourish like possibly no other city on earth, with stories from its rich history, stories of death - fire - disease, of riots, and grisly murders, but also of tales of hope, happiness, determination and success. Behind every story and every street however, are the people who lived, worked, played, and even murdered there. Did you know for instance that when Great Scotland Yard was being built in 1890, that the dismembered body of a woman was discovered by workmen, du...

In this riveting and extensively researched account, Peter Conradi the celebrated author of The Kings Speech, on which the Oscar award-winning film of the same name was based offers an uncompromising portrayal of Europes royals and reveals the scandals, excesses, conflicts and interests hidden behind the pomp of the ceremonial garb and the grandeur of official functions.At a time when Western society appears to be demanding more equality and democracy, peoples fascination with monarchies s...