Trade is the lifeblood of nations. It has provided vital goods and wealth to countries and merchants from the ancient Egyptians who went in search of gold and ivory to their 21st century equivalents trading high-tech electronic equipment from the Far East. In this beautiful book, more than 70 maps give a visual representation of the history of World Commerce, accompanied by text which tells the extraordinary story of the merchants, adventurers, middle-men and monarchs who bought, sold, explored and fought in search of profit and power. The maps are all works of art, and include Çatalhöyük and Neolithic trade Plan, c. 6200BC, Petra and the Frankincense route, Babylonian Map of the World, c. 600BC, the Amber road, Charlamagne and Carolingian trade, the trans Saharan gold trade, the Silk Road, Marco Polo, the rise of the maritime republics, Venetian trading empire, Bruges and the cloth trade, plagues and pandemics, and the voyages of Zheng He, Stone Map of China, 1136, Hereford Mappa Mundi, c. 1300, Buondelmonti Map of Constantinople, c. 1420, the Portuguese trading empire in Africa, circumnavigating the globe, Ottoman trade in the 16th century, Aztec trade, pirates and privateers, Newfoundland and the cod trade, the Dutch and Manhattan, the Hudson's Bay Company and the fur trade, trade in the birth of the United States, South America and the Spanish, the Dutch East India Company, Portugal's China trade, Sweden, Russia and the north European trade in the 16th century, the British in India, the slave trade, the sugar, cotton and coffee trade, the China tea trade and the Clippers, the age of steam, world cities, imperialism, the Suez and Panama canals, the Trans-Siberian railway, the Cape to Cairo railway, the wool, coal, coffee and oil trades, electronics and the internet, banking and finance to trade blocs, tourism, and threats to world trade. Plus The Waldseemüller Map, 1507, James Rennell Map of Hindoostan, 1782, Air Age Map, 1945 and Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Dashboard, 2020. Endlessly fascinating browsing. Colour full page maps, 21 x 27.5cm, 224 pages.

Thousands left their homelands in the Middle Ages to fight wars abroad. But how did the Crusades actually happen? From recruitment propaganda to raising money, ships to siege engines, medicine to the power of prayer, this vivid, surprising history shows holy war - and medieval society - in a lively and compelling account of how the crusades really worked, and a revolutionary attempt to rethink how we understand the Middle Ages. The story of the wars and conquests move quickly from describing the Pope's calls to arms to the battlefield. Tyerman focuses on the all-encompassing and hugely costly business of actually preparing a crusade. The efforts of many thousands of men and women, who left their lands and families in Western Europe, and marched off to a highly uncertain future in the Holy Land and elsewhere have never been sufficiently understood. Fascinating on diplomacy, communications, propaganda, the use of mass media, medical care, equipment, voyages, money, weapons, credit, wills, ransoms, animals, and the power of prayer. Superbly detailed with names, dates, battles etc. Colour plates and other illus and maps. 400 page paperback.

A swashbuckling book! Before he was secretly dispatched by Queen Elizabeth to circumnavigate the globe or was called upon to save England from the Spanish Armada, Francis Drake was perhaps the most wanted - and successful - pirate ever to sail. Nicknamed "El Draque" by the Spaniards who placed a bounty on his head, the notorious red-haired, hot-tempered Drake pillaged galleons laden with New World gold and silver, stealing a vast fortune for his queen - and himself. For Elizabeth, Drake made the impossible real, serving as a crucial and brilliantly adaptable instrument of her ambitions to transform England from a third-rate island kingdom into a global imperial power. In 1580, sailing on Elizabeth's covert orders, Drake became the first captain to circumnavigate the earth successfully (Ferdinand Magellan had died in his attempt). Part exploring expedition, part raiding mission, Drake's audacious around-the-world journey in the Golden Hind reached Patagonia, the Pacific Coast of present-day California and Oregon, the Spice Islands, Java, and Africa. Almost a decade later, Elizabeth called upon Drake again. As the devil-may-care vice admiral of the English fleet, Drake dramatically defeated the once-invincible Spanish Armada, spurring the British Empire's ascent and permanently wounding its greatest rival. The relationship between Drake and Elizabeth is the missing link in our understanding of the rise of the British Empire, and its importance has not been fully described or appreciated. Framed around Drake's key voyages as a window into this crucial moment in British history, In Search of a Kingdom is a rousing adventure narrative entwining epic historical themes with intimate passions. Plates, illus and maps. 440 deckle edge pages.

Jewels of the Nile celebrates the very first time that the Worcester Art Museum's internationally important collection of Egyptian jewellery - which has undergone conservation and cleaning - has been shown together. This strikingly illustrated book introduces the reader to the collection of an early 20th century Boston couple with a passion for ancient Egypt. The collectors, Laura and Kingsmill Marrs, were guided in their acquisitions by Howard Carter, the archaeologist who would later achieve world-wide recognition for his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (1922). Under his guidance, the Marrs's purchased an outstanding selection of scarabs, amulets, jewellery and cosmetic-related articles, including rare, blue-toned stone vessels. They also acquired a group of Carter's watercolour renditions of important Egyptian sites and royal figures. These artifacts, as well as objects from Worcester's stellar collection of Egyptian antiquities, are included in the publication. Colour illus. 24.13 x 2.54 x 29.21cm. 216 pages.
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For the nobility and gentry in later medieval England, land was a source of wealth and status. Their marriages were arranged with this in mind, and it is not surprising that so many of them had mistresses and illegitimate children. John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, married at the age of 20 to a ten-year-old granddaughter of Edward I, had at least eight bastards and a complicated love life. In theory, bastards were at a considerable disadvantage - whether they be children of unmarried parents, married parents or of members of the clergy dictated their prospects in life and career opportunities. Regarded as filius nullius' or the son of no one, they were unable to inherit real property and barred from the priesthood. In practice, illegitimacy could be less of a stigma in late medieval England than it became between the 16th and late 20th centuries. There were ways of making provision for illegitimate offspring and some bastards did extremely well: in the church; through marriage; as soldiers; a few even succeeding to the family estates. For example in 1413 Thomas Lincoln, a London draper, left the residue of his goods to be divided equally between his bastard daughters Juliana and Beatrice. There is also a bequest to Juliana Pleydon and who might perhaps be their mother. In 1428 John Pigot made a bequest of ten pounds to Matilda 'filiae meae bastard'. The Derbyshire knight Sir John Leek referred in his Will in 1522 to his daughter Anne 'got by Jane my wife' and to three further daughters plus a further child as yet unborn got by Anne Menwaryng. In this case it was fairly self-evident from the context that the latter three were illegitimate. Matthews presents the experiences of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, as a case study of the practicalities of illegitimacy. This helps the reader to understand the life and limitations of a child born outside of marriage, as well as the extraordinary lengths that parents were willing to go in order to advance the prospects of their children. This is the first book to consider the individuals who had illegitimate children, the ways in which they provided for them and attitudes towards both the parents and the bastard children. It also highlights important differences between the views of illegitimacy taken by the Church and by the English law. 216 page large well illustrated with colour plates paperback. Cross-referenced Dramatis Personae.

Camden town tube station escalator was built through a burial pit! "A fabulous boxed collection of maps and informative brochures in addition to the text I had expected to receive. A real surprise - packed full of interesting info on History of Medicine & much more. Makes me want to get down to London and seek out the Physick Garden and other sites." "The book is written in an engaging style, with glimpses into London's diseased past with themed chapters. The gazetteer is a handy guide to all of the medical institutions (apart from hospitals) such as fraternities, historic spots, museums, etc. The self-guided walks are beautifully printed and designed, but the walks only take you in the general area of the sites of interest, rather than pointing you directly to them, which had I known would have brought along the gazetteer." A unique, stunningly-presented guide to London's past and a treasure trove of information for historians, residents, medical professionals and tourists, Medical London charts the many roles that diseases, treatments and cures have played in the city's sprawling story and charts the rise of asylum and the care of the mentally ill. It also reveals how London, in turn, has shaped the professions and practices of modern medicine. The set comprises a 216 page illustrated history paperback. The hardback Anatomy of the City leads you to points of interest like the British Red Cross Museum and Archives in Moorfields, the British Optical Association Museum and Library, the Florence Nightingale Museum, the Alfred Dunhill Collection, Hogarth's house, the Galton collection, the Wellcome Library, the Ragged School Museum, Royal London Hospital archives and museum, to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The six fold out walking guides to pop in your pocket begin with along the medieval Thames from Westminster (duration 3 hours and 3 miles), the East End and the city (5 miles) with Daniel Defoe immortalising the sufferings of the Great Plague, a day in the life of an 18th century medical student, the British Empire in Greenwich in a circular walk from the Cutty Sark, Soho by Night and the slums of St. Giles, a famous bone setter, the lodgings of a notorious Regency junkie and a Crimean nurse from the Caribbean among them; and the last walk bohemian medicine in Chelsea with the Royal Hospital, the houses of Oscar Wilde, hospitals for cancer, tuberculosis and women. Two books, line art and photo illus, burgundy blood red cloth bound slipcase.

Chapters include the Prophets of Yahweh, Bruno and the Rosicrucian Witch-hunt, John Dee, magic, Kabbala and alchemy, and questions whether Nostradamus was genuine or a fraud. The ability to see into the future and to accurately predict events has fascinated and yet frightened man for thousands of years. As far back as 4000 BC, the Sumerians consulted sages who would pronounce on important matters and advise on courses of action. In this riveting, illustrated account, the predictions of the most famous sages and seers from the dawn of civilisation are looked at in detail. One of the best known of these visionaries was Nostradamus, and indeed his prophecies, in the form of the original cantos, are analysed in this book. Discover the prophecies that predicted: The French Revolution, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and The Iraq War. Nostradamus and Other Prophets and Seers examines the role of astrology, alchemy, and arcane knowledge in prophecy. It tries to answer that age-old question of whether there is such a thing as 'secret knowledge', and whether it is possible for mere mortals to access it. 300 page large well illustrated paperback.

Drawing on the latest ground-breaking research, and his own career-long engagement with the complexities of Irish identity, Sean Connolly reveals the forces that compelled millions of Irish men and women The 18th century to abandon their homeland, and explores their new lives in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. From Melbourne to Cape Town to Boston, these migrants and their descendants helped to settle new frontiers, industrialise the West, and spread Catholicism globally. What emerges is an Irish story, but also a chapter in world history. Irish emigrants fled a society blighted by poverty and lack of opportunity. But they also became part of a massive population movement, driven by the requirements of an ever more interconnected world economy, that transported the adventurous and the desperate to new parts of the globe. What distinguishes the Irish from tens of millions of other European immigrants is the position they established in their new homes. Initially treated as a despised and exploited underclass, they created a commanding position, in politics, in the labour movement, and, by the 20th century, as cultural icons. From his starting point in the grim realities of Great Famine and social crisis, Connolly takes the reader forward into the 20th century, when Ireland itself has become a receiver rather than an exporter of emigrants, and when a reimagined Irishness has become a commodity to be marketed to a global audience. Chapters cover nativism, civil war and the quest for acceptance, the making of Irish America, the politics of Irish America, and global Ireland reimagined. The book touches on contemporary debates about migration, as well as offering a unique and distinctive view of 200 years of Irish history. 2022 US 1st edition, 528 pages.

A fresh look at 3000 years of Egypt's ancient history by unveiling its famous rulers - the pharaohs - using some of the finest objects from the vast holdings of the British Museum, along with masterworks from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In an introductory essay, Margaret Maitland looks at Egyptian kingship in terms of both ideology and practicality. Then Aude Semat considers the Egyptian image of kingship, its roles and its uses. In 10 additional sections, Marie Vandenbeusch delves into themes related to the land of ancient Egypt, conceptions of kingship, the exercise of power, royal daily life, war and diplomacy, and death and afterlife. Objects, beautifully illustrated in 180 photographs, include monumental sculpture, architectural pieces, funerary objects, exquisite jewellery, and papyri. "This sumptuous publication, produced for an exhibition in Cleveland in the summer of 2016 in collaboration with the British Museum, is a combination of exhibition catalogue and study of kingship in ancient Egypt. The statues of Senusret II with their apparent realism, for example, are not intended as portraits but rather symbolise the role of the pharaoh and his responsibilities. A stela depicting Rameses II as a child sitting on a throne shaped like the akhet or horizon sign does not represent the living king but his symbolic role as a manifestation of the sun god, reborn every morning, emphasising the divine connections of the king. An ostracon showing Rameses II being suckled by a goddess serves the same purpose. Others illus are of uncommon or unique items such as a colour palette used by an official, and a flask in the shape of a scribe which may have had magical properties or may have been simply used as an ink pot. A rare papyrus from Old Kingdom Abusir, two of the famous Amarna letters and part of a king list from Abydos provide written material." Review by ancientegyptmagazine.com. 27.94 x 29.97 x 2.29cm, 176 pages.
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The bestselling biographer packs her magnificent history with incredible true stories and legendary medieval intrigue. This epic narrative history chronicles the first five queens from the powerful royal family that ruled England and France for over 300 years. The Plantagenet queens of England played a role in some of the most dramatic events in our history. Crusading queens, queens in rebellion against their king, seductive queens, learned queens, queens in battle, queens who enlivened England with the romantic culture of southern Europe - these determined women often broke through medieval constraints to exercise power and influence, for good and sometimes for ill. This second volume of Alison Weir's critically acclaimed history of the queens of medieval England now moves into a period of even higher drama, from 1154 to 1291: years of chivalry and courtly love, dynastic ambition, conflict between church and throne, baronial wars, and the ruthless interplay between the rival monarchs of Britain and France. We see events such as the murder of Becket, Magna Carta, and the birth of parliaments from a new perspective. Weir's narrative begins with the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry II established a dynasty that ruled for over 300 years and created the most powerful empire in western Christendom - but also sowed the seeds for some of the most destructive family conflicts in history and for the collapse, under her son King John, of England's power in Europe. The lives of Eleanor's four successors were just as remarkable: Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard the Lionheart; Isabella of Angoulême, queen of John; Alienor of Provence, queen of Henry III; and finally Eleanor of Castile, the grasping but beloved wife of Edward I. Through the story of these first five Plantagenet queens, Alison Weir provides a fresh, enthralling narrative focusing on these fascinating female monarchs during this dramatic period of high romance and sometimes low politics. Remainder mark, maps, colour plates. 533 pages.