A series of pen portraits of some 40 individuals who helped shape the foundations of English prehistoric study including army officers, reverends, country squires and gentry, bankrupts, suicides, a probable illegitimate royal, a high clergyman, a tradesman and a farmer. As well as portraits, short biographies of each personality are embellished with appropriate illustrations, including digs, artefacts, archaeological sites and some of their more interesting tombs and connected activities. It's an entertaining and instructive who's who of pioneers of English archaeology beginning with John Yonge Akerman (1806-1873) whose investigations focussed mainly on the prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon periods. His unusual method of illustrating a series of Bronze Age urn burials found in a Wiltshire barrow and ring ditches he discovered at Standlake in 1857 are illustrated. With two to four pages per entry depending on the number of illustrations, 128pp in large softback.

Scrolls from the Middle Ages is a beautifully illustrated, full-colour guide which celebrates the paper phenomenon, highlights the most interesting items in the period and represent the people who made, commissioned and used them. The author, Thomas Forrest Kelly is a historian and professor of music at Harvard University who has estimated there are about 600 scrolls in Latin and European vernacular languages. The book transports readers to Ancient Egypt where papyrus scrolls were an exclusive product for the country as the plant was cultivated along the Nile, and then travels on to Ancient Greece and Rome where Ionic capitals on pillars resembled a scroll partially opened. Learn that a scroll usually represented audible, often important, speech such as the words of angels, evangelists and prophets including in depictions of the Annunciation scene where the angel Gabriel might appear with a scroll on which is written 'Ave Maria' and a similar one rests on the Virgin Mary with the response 'Ecce ancilla domini'. Discover the most famous map in scroll form, Tabula Peutingeriana (Peutinger's map) from the 13th century, which shows the itineraries of the late Roman world and attempts to put everything about travel into a single document. The book also gives thorough insight into the use of scrolls among performers during the Middle Ages as medieval plays, moralities, mysteries and farces would give each actor their own part written out separately on a scroll which could be held inconspicuously. The author also notes that the scroll itself became associated with the part so we now refer to characters in performances as actors' roles'. But the most spectacular part of the book is the collection of photos of medieval scrolls. There is a photo of a 15th century Indulgence Roll which consists of seven little prayers to be said with Hail Mary and Our Father in order to gain indulgence. The 16th century Ripley Scroll is featured in detail and depicts an alchemist as a 'Philosophical Tree' growing from a fountain in which nude male and female figures cavort. There are also photos of two mosaics from the 6th century church of San Vitale in Ravenna which shows the prophet Jeremiah displaying his scroll in classical fashion while evangelist Saint Luke holds a codex that reads 'Secundum lucam' (according to Luke) while a container full of scrolls sits at his feet. Colour photographs, 194pp.

Step back in time to experience the might of the Romans. This short history is an accessible and authoritative introduction to how Rome's legions were a force to be reckoned with as they conquered, subdued and ruled on behalf of the empire. The legionary was an elite soldier who, clad in a helmet and banded iron armour, carried a body shield, lead-weighted javelins and a vicious stabbing sword. This book looks at the Principate legionary of the 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD when the empire was at its peak. Chapters include a look at the Republic and empire, the legionary, the soldier on campaign and in battle, non-conflict roles, and a brief look at other Roman troops. Learn that soldiers marched 'on their stomachs', according to 4th century military author Vegetius who decreed they should never be without corn, wine, vinegar and salt. Discover that the fighting style of the legionary was predominantly martial, with drills using wooden replica swords and wicker shields to practice thrusting the weapon rather than slashing as it was a more difficult blow to anticipate. Illustrations and photographs celebrate the success of the Roman forces, from a cross-section diagram of siege lines at Alesia in 52 BC, to an artistic rendering of the legionary legate overseeing the deployment of Legio II Augusta and a photograph of Severan land walls of London near Tower Hill tube station which was built by Roman military. This is a bitesize rundown of every aspect of Roman legionaries and the empire's military success. Paperback, black and white images, 160pp.

Sub-titled 'Networks and Power, From the Freemasons to Facebook', this is a brilliant recasting of the turning points in world history including the one we are living through, as the struggle between old power hierarchies and the new social networks continues. Most history is hierarchical, about popes, presidents, prime ministers and other potentates. It's about states, armies and corporations, it's about orders from on high, but what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the less visible social networks that are the true drivers of change, leaving them to the conspiracy theorists, with their dreams of all-powerful Illuminati? The 21st century has been hailed as the Age of Networks but Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to Freemasonry. It is through networks that revolutionary ideas can spread like contagions. From the cults of Ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the Founding Fathers to Facebook, Ferguson argues that our era is the Second Networked Age, with the personal computer in the role of the printing press. He shows how network theory, concepts such as homophily, degrees of separation, weak ties, viral contagions, and phase transitions can transform our understanding of both the past and the present. The book looks at Silicon Valley as storm clouds gather over the tech titans, those who prophesize a global community of interconnected netizens are in for a shock, and Ferguson warns as he shows unnerving parallels today in the time of Facebook, the Islamic State and Donald Trump. Chapters include Pizarro and the Inca, When Gutenberg Met Luther, Networks of Enlightenment, The Houses of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Rothschild, The Union of South Africa, The Plague, Henry Kissinger's Network of Power, Breaking the Bank of England, Tweeting the Revolution, Cambridge Analytica and Brexit As A Dress Rehearsal for the US Presidential Election of 2016 and much more. A fascinating read, 563pp, colour photos and diagrams. Remainder mark.

Publius Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (AD56-AD117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works, the Annals and the Histories, examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. The works span the history from the death of Augustus in AD14 to the death of Emperor Domitian in AD96. Tacitus as a young man studied rhetoric in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics. In 112 or 113 he held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman province of Asia in Western Anatolia and wrote and published the Agricola and Germania and is considered one of the greatest Roman historians, living in what was called the Silver Age of Latin literature. As well as the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, he is known for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics. Here, the text to 'Tribes of Ancient Britain' and 'A Treatise on the Situation, Manners and Inhabitants of Germany' has been edited and introduced by historian Bob Carruthers. With footnotes, 105pp in softback.

In the mid-18th century the actor, dramatist, theatre manager - and shameless self-promotor - David Garrick was the most famous man in Britain after the king. Garrick had built his career around the performance and promotion of Shakespeare, and while the Bard was highly acclaimed 150 years after his death in 1616 it took one event to lift him from one great writer amongst many to the "Blest Genius of the Isle", a national icon and literary deity - and this event was Garrick's Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769. Held at Stratford-upon-Avon in September, among the 3,000 attendees were the rich and powerful, the fashionable and curious, eligible ladies and fortune hunters and a horde of journalists, profiteers and hangers-on. For three days they paraded through garlanded streets, listened to songs, poetry and oratorios and enjoyed masked balls in a unique cultural event that was to elevate Shakespeare to the throne of genius. Except it was a disaster. Poorly planned, it imposed an army of Londoners on a backwater hamlet of hostile and superstitious locals who were both unable and unwilling meet their demands. The rain fell in sheets, flooding tents, dampening the much-vaunted fireworks, turning the town into a quagmire and this along with corruption, a poor press, dubious relics and even a giant sea turtle should have seen the event consigned to the bin marked greatest PR disasters. Yet, against all the odds, it was not, Garrick and company somehow wresting a triumph from the catastrophe it clearly was. This is the whole wonderful story, rich with wit, humour, gossip and political intrigue, told from the dual perspectives of organiser Garrick and attendee James Boswell. Packed with minute and often hilarious detail, Stott's recounting of the absurd and chaotic events of those three days is an absolute joy to read. 270pp, b/w illus.

Sub-titled 'How Britain Played the Greater Game From Afghanistan To Africa', much has been written about espionage, secret agents and MI6 missions abroad, but what of the origins of British Intelligence as we know it today? This is the story of intelligence at the height of the British Empire, and the characters that shaped its narrative. Beaver writes with authority and spritely wit about the men who ensured that Victorian Pax Britannica was intelligence-based and intelligence-led and demonstrates convincingly how its gifted operatives influenced and even created imperial policy. He unveils the men who staffed the War Office's Intelligence Division, and above all looks at their tenacity and imagination. He looks at their shrewd observations and analysis of international events which provided the basis for modern military espionage and changed the landscape of the British Empire from India to South Africa. He focusses on the years between the Crimean War and the formation of MI5 and MI6 at the start of the 20th century and charts the Intelligence Division's course from a misunderstood army unit to an elite body, central to the British military. The book is a rollicking adventure into the minds behind the muscles of the British Army, their successes, sacrifices and expertise in weaving a global net of information. 340pp, paperback, photos.

A treasure trove for history buffs, Marsh fleshes out the context behind famous quotations associated with each day of the year, sending us back and forth in history from the time of the Ancient Egyptians to the world we live in today. 'You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war.' (25th April 1898) newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst urges war artist Frederick Remington to stay in Cuba while Hearst publishes lurid tales of an imaginary conflict. 'I am tasting the stars!' (4th August 1693). The monk Dom Pérignon tests the result of his new techniques in the making of a sparkling wine, and champagne is born. 'I shall hear in heaven.' (26th March 1827), the profoundly deaf Ludwig van Beethoven dies leaving us with those poignant last words. 'It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.' (10th April 1919), Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata lives up to his own dictum by dying on his feet in a hail of bullets. 'From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step.' (18th October 1812), Napoleon's all-conquering Grande Armée begins its slow and ignominious retreat from Moscow. From 1st January 404AD the last gladiator fight: 'Hail, Caesar! They who are about to die salute you.', 2nd January 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella capture Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain: 'You do well to weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man' to 31st December 192AD: Emperor Commodus is assassinated: 'A befuddled drunkard shall not outwit a woman deadly sober.' The book is a real feast to enjoy day after day, the text containing hundreds of quotes in all about 1,200. Morsels of history to tempt you day after day, a hefty tome of 680pp with pagemarker.

University of Oxford and Professor of History, University of Toronto, Margaret Macmillan's book is based on her 2018 Reith Lectures, The Mark of Cain. Despite the 'long peace' enjoyed by much of the world since 1940, there has been war somewhere in the world every year. Is war an essential part of being human? Macmillan explores the deep links between society and war and the questions they raise. As societies have changed and technologies have developed, we have fought wars differently and often over greater distances and for longer periods of time. In turn, war has brought huge changes to society, for better and worse. Economies, science, technology, medicine, culture - all are instrumental in war and have been shaped by it. Without war we would not have had centralised states, penicillin, radar or rockets. Throughout history, writers, artists, composers and philosophers have been inspired by war and we have tried again and again to limit and even outlaw war, but if we want to understand our own history and create a peaceful world, we must think about war. The writing style is crisp and there is an enviable clarity of thought as Macmillan cogently explains via colourful historical anecdotes how we understand what war means, our emotions, our ideas and capacity for good as well as cruelty. Winner of the Sunday Times Best Book for Autumn 2020. 328pp, colour and other photos.

Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, is the undisputed masterpiece of English historical writing which can only perish with the language itself. Its length alone is a measure of its monumental quality; 71 chapters, of which 28 appear in full in this edition. With style, learning and wit, Gibbon takes the reader through the history of Europe from the 2nd century to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 - an enthralling account by 'the greatest of the historians of the Enlightenment'. This edition includes Gibbon's footnotes and quotations, here translated for the first time, together with brief explanatory comments, a précis of the chapters not included, 16 maps, a glossary and a list of emperors. 1,088pp, paperback. Great value.