This is the first full length study of the threat to the life of Edward VIII. James Parris uses material from MI5 and police files at the National Archives to reach explosive conclusions about the British Establishment's determination to remove Edward from the throne. On 16th July 1936, a man in a brown suit stepped from the crowd on London's Constitution Hill and pointed a loaded revolver at the King as he rode past. The monarch was moments from death, but MI5 and the Metropolitan Police Special Branch had known for three months an attack was planned - the man in the brown suit himself had warned them. This mysterious man, lost to history, was George McMahon, a petty criminal with a record of involvement with the police, an MI5 informant who provided intelligence on Italian and possibly German espionage in Britain. Dismissed by the rest of the world as a drunken loser and fantasist, he saw his life as an epic drama. But why did MI5 and the Police fail to act? Was it a simple blunder on the part of the security services, or something far more sinister? The 32 year old Irish gunman at his Old Bailey trial in September 1936 was dismissed by the Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell as an attention-seeking eccentric acting in pursuit of a petty grievance against the police. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison with hard labour. But McMahon had met his MI5 handler on the 13th July and named the day and place that the regicide attempt would be made. They neither placed him under observation nor tailed him as he set out on 16th July carrying a .36 calibre revolver loaded with four bullets and with more ammunition in his pocket. He even had the nerve to ask a mounted policeman to shift out of his line of vision and he took the gun from his pocket, yards from the King. The King had no doubt that the threat to his life had been real and he and his future wife Wallis Simpson wrote after the incident, 'The shot at HM and the upset summer plans have all been very disturbing...No place seems very safe for Kings'. 276pp.

In this era, women were often beaten and abused at home by husbands exercising their legal right and were whipped, branded, exiled and burned alive by the courts. This extraordinary work records the many kinds of violent physical and verbal abuse perpetrated against women in Britain and her colonies and their treatment at the hands of the patriarchy. This distressing and fascinating read catalogues sexual violence, libel and slander, clandestine marriages and abductions, women sent to prison for minor misdemeanours including cross dressing, held in disgusting conditions, publicly whipped in front of a crowd who attended for erotic satisfaction - and not just the men. Women were subject to ducking in the village pond or river, and Quakers had a particularly bad time at the hands of the legally sanctioned religious fanatics. The worst legal punishment for women was execution by burning which was replaced by hanging under the notorious Bloody Code, punishment far greater than for guilty men who would be hung. There are details on specific cases and a list of whipping offences in Jamaica from 1858 and in the 20 chapters, Pimm explains a little about witchcraft but a lot about his sources including some surprising perpetrators of misogyny such as James Boswell, Jonathan Swift and especially Samuel Pepys. There were many instances of him recounting how he would beat his wife and female servants and violence against women he encountered going about the streets of London. It was an era when girls were largely barred from education and few women who were educated were permitted to enter professions. The social turbulence of the first half of the 17th century afforded women new opportunities and freedoms. Sects were established that offered a voice to women in the roles of preaching and teaching and many women saw no reason that they shouldn't voice their opinions alongside men, publishing their own books and pamphlets. But these new and unprecedented liberties were perceived as a threat by the leaders of society, and thus arose an unlikely masculine alliance against the new feminine assertions. This reaction resulted in the brutal treatment of women who were seen to have stepped out of line whether legally, socially or domestically. 196pp in large softback, illus.

Sub-titled 'Mohammed bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power.' The Al Saud family are absolute rulers of Saudi Arabia, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is one of the most powerful men in the world. The two authors, both investigative journalists, have focused on the part played by international finance in Salman's ruthless ascent to power. The book starts with his 2017 purge of hundreds of influential Saudi businessmen and politicians. Summoned to an audience with the King, Salman's father, the victims were diverted to the Ritz-Carlton hotel and in its incongruously luxurious surroundings were interrogated and tortured as enemies of the state. By the end of the process, Salman controlled the military, the police, intelligence agencies, government ministries and many of the country's largest businesses. Salman's father had manoeuvred himself onto the throne by outwitting the head of the previous king's court, Khalid al-Tuwaijri, and Muhammed bin Salman has inherited his father's ruthless cunning. One of the most controversial international incidents since 2017 was the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi had initially been a supporter of the regime and had been close to Osama bin Laden, embedding himself as a journalist with al Qaeda. However, Khashoggi had also occasionally criticised the Saudi government and became concerned for his safety, fleeing to the United States. Khashoggi had a huge following on Twitter, which was the only source of information for the Saudi royal family on their popularity, and on this basis they decided to act. The author describes the events leading up to the murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, and the international fallout followed by a renewed bid for international credibility in 2018. 346pp, paperback, colour photos.

Who can ever forget the pretty little face of the little girl Madeline McCann who was abducted in Portugal? Or the vindication of Colin Stagg, convicted of having murdered Rachel Nickell; Hadden Clark who killed and ate a six year old child in Maryland; Robert Pickton, the Vancouver farmer who fed his female victims to his pigs; the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia (was Amanda Knox guilty?); Lindsay Hawker's gruesome death in Japan; Josef Fritzl and the cellar in which he imprisoned and raped his daughter? Marilyn Monroe - was she murdered by the Mafia, the FBI, or the CIA? And Snowtown where body parts were found in a disused bank in South Australia, leading the police to mass murderers. With his forensic eye, the excellent researcher Nigel Cawthorne provides fascinating accounts of crime scene experts with shocking evidence revealed. Relying on cutting edge technology including genetic fingerprinting, blood-spatter analysis, laser ablation, toxicology and ballistics analysis, here you will find detailed accounts of these high-profile contemporary investigations and older cases recently reopened. 453pp, paperback.

Pursued by a very charming man during her divorce, mother of three Chrissy Handy entered into a three year relationship with a man purporting to be named Alexander de Rothschild. It turned out he was a serial fraudster and she was duped into selling her family home and backing him in a dream to create a new life for themselves in Switzerland with the children. Then after one night when she was persuaded by him to have unprotected sex, she fell pregnant. Giving birth without him there, she endured a series of lies and deceptions with Alexander saying he is called away on business in Geneva. Funding the academic life that she believed he was pursuing and his business interests, she handed over tens of thousands of pounds and eventually sold her house and took on a rented accommodation, seeing him only when it suited him and for short periods of time. With her tiny baby and with three children under eight years old, Chrissy had by the end of three and a half years handed over more than £500,000 to this 'international financier', the seemingly wealthy smooth-talking Alexander Marc D'Ariken de Rothschild-Hatton. And then he vanished, along with her money. After months of detective work she finally tracks him down in the USA, but the reality of his true identity is much darker than she could ever have imagined. He was finally brought to justice on charges of rape and indecent assault with a minor. Chrissy's story is heart-breaking, but she is a survivor and sadly one of many victims of this convicted fraudster. 262pp, paperback.

Sub-titled 'Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector', clutching on psychology, technology and the science of the truth, this very well received best-selling title is a vibrant, atmospheric true-life thriller. Be careful what you believe. Henry Wilkens burst through the doors of A&E covered in his wife's blood, but was he a grieving husband, or a ruthless killer? To find out, the San Francisco Police turned to technology, and a new machine that had just been invented by a rookie detective, a visionary police chief, and a teenage magician with a showman's touch. They hoped it would make the justice system fairer, but it poisoned their lives, turned friends into bitter enemies, and transformed our relationship with the truth in ways that are still being felt. As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, the book reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph through gripping true-case crimes featuring explosive gunshots, shocking twists and high-stakes courtroom drama. Katwala details the birth of the polygraph post World War Two and its sponsorship by August Vollner, a postman turned revolutionary police chief who was busy inventing modern policing, and we are drawn into the world of exploitation in 1920s and 1930s Chicago - bootlegging, passion, murder and all the tentacles of the criminal world. Includes newspaper clippings and photographs and quotations from written documents and interviews and based on thousands of private letters, diaries, academic journals, court documents, prison records and more. 337pp.

Delivering air support for law enforcement, here are brilliant insights into police aviation in GB, the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit, police helicopter aircrews, equipment and tactics. They cover terrorist attacks, royal weddings and state occasions, US presidential visits, the London Riots of 2011, the Olympic Games of 2012, a transition into MPAS and all about the pilots, crew training and tactical flight officers. Then we take a detailed look at enclosed area searching, vehicle pursuits, ASU liaison role, Eagle One, using infrared and the electromagnetic spectrum. There are case studies and a look at maintenance, recruitment, media and PR. As we expect from Haynes manuals, there are hundreds of colour photographs, maps, many overlayed with diagrammatic lines, and explanations of the Met's EC145 helicopters which take to the skies over London for around 2700 flying hours each year and attend around 7500 operational tasks. Brandon describes the evolution of police aviation plus the Wescam MX15 camera, Skyforce Observer Moving Map, Video Management System, Vislink Digital Downlink, and Airwave Digital Police Radio. With exciting case studies, 200 colour photos and illus., many in print for the first time. 180pp.

Sub-titled 'Four Decades of Doping, Intimidation and Violent Crime', between the two world wars and after there was a dramatic upsurge of violence as rival criminal gangs vied for rich pickings from bookmakers at race tracks throughout England. With ready access to cash, 'bookies' were a magnate for mobsters' blackmailing demands. Refusal to pay resulted in severe punishment. Their justified fears spawned a ready 'protection' market. Conflict between rival gangs was frequent and increasingly violent. Charles 'Darby' Sabini with his brothers ran 'The Italian Mob' who clashed with Billy Kimber and his Brummagen Hammers. Uneasy partnerships were formed but seldom lasted. The Sabinis were friendly with the Cortesi family until a rift resulted in one of the Cortesis shooting Harryboy Sabini. Other gangs such as The Titanics and The Nile Mob were ready to fill voids. Internal friction and changing sides resulted in bloodshed on the streets, in pubs and clubs and on the racecourses. Public order was so threatened that the Flying Squad was set the task of the eradication of the problem and in 1936 the celebrated Battle of Lewes Racecourse brought matters to a bloody conclusion. Together they were responsible for a period of approximately 30 years of some of the worst gang warfare - blackmail, wounding, and murders ever seen. The gang shot, slashed, clubbed and hacked each other anywhere they pleased, often in plain view of the police, many of whom reacted with exemplary bravery; others did nothing and some took bribes. Gangsters terrified witnesses and employed lawyers as crooked as they were to bamboozle juries and although the book deals with horrendous violence between the gangs. There is more - the gangs who doped horses to either go faster or slower, and those who introduced 'ringers' on the race track. 222pp in large softback, photos.

Christopher Hill was an undisputed giant among scholars of the 17th century, and this 1996 book was his last published work. In it he investigates the lives of those who operated outside the law, including highwaymen, smugglers and pirates, and devoting a chapter to the phenomenon of Robin Hood. Starting with the 17th century drama A Jovial Crew, and comparing it with the better-known Beggar's Opera a century later, Hill examines the paradoxical claim that a beggar may be more free than a wealthy and landed person. The claim is disproved by all the evidence, but the political point is made that courtiers are parasites on their own society. Playwrights had to be careful in satirising kings and rulers, and in many Shakespeare plays the Fool is licensed to expose corruption under the guise of jesting. Vagabondage was a live issue in the era when the enclosure of common land meant that many ordinary people were left without means of supporting themselves. Vagabonds came to be regarded as anti-religion and anti-government and therefore a public threat, and an act of 1597 included itinerants such as jugglers, tinkers, pedlars and actors in the category of vagabond. Players like Shakespeare's company made a point of getting royal or aristocratic patronage in order to escape being apprehended as rogues. Although stories about Robin Hood started in the 15th century, there was an explosion of Robin Hood ballads in the early 17th century, and their provenance is so wide that the author to concludes they are unlikely to have been inspired by just one individual. The forest symbolises freedom and Robin's character as a benefactor emerged over time. The book examines the Ranters and Diggers of the English Revolution, together with later responses to similar issues, such as the poetry of John Clare. 354pp, footnotes, paperback.

If you use a mobile phone, connect to a WiFi network, withdraw cash from an ATM, or watch a film on Netflix, you are using cryptography. Cryptography secures 7 billion bank cards, 55 billion daily WhatsApp messages and three quarters of the connections made on the world wide web. This go-to book on the subject explains the technology and its implications in a way that the averagely intelligent person can understand. Cryptography is essentially an application of mathematics and has indirectly given rise to popular movies such as Enigma and Skyfall. You can get by without being aware of it, but in a series of imaginary day to day scenarios the author explains that knowing a bit about how it works can help make you more secure. Around 30% of fraud in the business world concerns cybercrime, and the cybersecurity firm Norton estimates that in 2017 there were 978 million global victims. The downside of cryptography is that on the one hand it protects the ordinary user in cyberspace, but it can also be used to protect organised crime, terror cells and child pornographers. In 2017 in the UK forty hospitals found their computer systems had been disabled by attackers who wanted a ransom to return the systems to normal, raising moral questions about the way we handle crime. Cryptography is political and there are no simple answers between freedom and control. The author explains keys and algorithms, bits and bytes. An encryption algorithm takes two core ingredients - plain text and key - and mixed them up to produce a cyphertext. If the text does not fit the bytes, padding is used. Then the bytes, columns and rows are all scrambled more than once. But who exactly is threatening us out there? The author considers an imaginary child, twelve year old Chloe, who uses social media, and the potential dangers. The book concludes by looking at possible future scenarios. 308pp.