Najnovšie - Encyklopédie populárno-náučné - História strana 87 z 168

Edmund and Richard de la Pole were the last princes of the House of York to actively seek the English throne – their epic thirty year struggle against Henry VII and Henry VIII saw them plunged into a murderous maelstrom of international intrigue. Although the brothers were nephews of Richard III, England’s last Yorkist king, neither had been born to rule and they were forced into rebellion by the relentless scheming of their Tudor rivals.During their miserable years of exile, both men would be pursued by assassins, beset by spies and betrayed by friends; but when Edmund found himself trapped by the shifting sands of medieval alliances, Richard took on the mantle of ‘White Rose’. Being far more shrewd than his irascible brother, Richard successfully recruited the French and Scottish kings to the Yorkist cause and his attempts to depose the Tudors would win him fame and fortune on battlefields from Naples to Northumberland - but not the crown he so desperately desired.

Afghanistan, at the meeting place of the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Central Asia, holds a key place in the spread of ancient civilizations. Its remarkable cultural heritage includes the Bronze Age Helmand civilization, the Greek kingdom of Bactria, the Kushan Empire and the Ghaznavid Empire – yet much of its history remains unknown to a general audience. This beautifully illustrated book unveils Afghanistan’s ancient cities, temples, stupas, monasteries and other monuments set against breathtaking landscapes, presenting them to a wider audience. Incorporating the latest research and discoveries, it is a captivating journey through Afghanistan’s rich antiquities, brought to life with the author’s vivid, full-colour photographs.

Gloucestershire is a county rich in beauty, history and a high level of spiritual, mysterious and paranormal activity. With a profusion of haunted inns, castles, houses and landscape features, the presence of the past is absorbed into the fabric of places as diverse as the Neolithic burial chamber of Belas Knap Long Barrow, the prisons at Gloucester and Littledean and the twelfth-century Ancient Ram Inn at Wotton-under-Edge. Hauntings have been reported at Sudeley Castle, Chavenage House, St Briavels Castle, Woodchester Mansion and Owlpen Manor, and many report unsettling experiences at the abbeys in Gloucester and Tewkesbury, the villages of Prestbury and Arlingham, and in the Montpelier and Pittville areas of Cheltenham. In this book author S. C. Skillman visits eerie locations around Gloucestershire to unearth a selection of chilling tales about them and explores the strangeness of the hauntings of this fascinating county.Paranormal Gloucestershire takes the reader into the world of ghosts and spirits in the county, following their footsteps into the unknown. These tales of haunted places, supernatural happenings and weird phenomena will delight the ghost hunters and fascinate and intrigue everybody who knows Gloucestershire.

"Stellar . . . Spectacular . . . [A] heartfelt, painstaking account." —Nell Irvin Painter, The Washington Post"An extraordinary collaboration . . . A profound achievement . . . Downs is a superb, even lyrical writer." —David W. Blight, Los Angeles TimesA Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year | One of Literary Hub''s 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the YearA bold reinterpretation of the causes and legacy of Nat Turner''s rebellion—and the new definitive account. In August 1831, a group of enslaved people in Southampton County, Virginia, rose up to fight for their freedom. They attacked the plantations on which their enslavers lived and attempted to march on the county seat of Jerusalem, from which they planned to launch an uprising across the South. After the rebellion was suppressed, well over a hundred people, Black and white, lay dead or were hanged. As news of the revolt spread, it became apparent that it was the idea of a single man: Nat Turner. An enslaved preacher, he was as enigmatic as he was brilliant. He was also something more—a prophet, one who claimed to have received visions from the Spirit urging him to act. Nat Turner, Black Prophet is the fullest recounting to date of Turner’s uprising, and the first that refuses to tame or overlook his divine visions. Instead, it takes those visions seriously, tracing their emergence from the world of nineteenth-century Methodism, with its revivals, camp meetings, interracial churches, and Black preachers. The rebellion and its aftermath would hasten the end of this world, as Southern states further restricted the personal freedoms of the enslaved, even as the ongoing threat of revolt shaped the country’s politics. With this work of narrative history, the late historian Anthony E. Kaye and his collaborator Gregory P. Downs have given us a new understanding of one of the nineteenth century''s most decisive events.

This book is not only intended for a general readership, but also for military researchers and historians who often find that they get lost in the huge and arcane raft of terminology employed by the army during the conflict. It is an essential guide resting on the elbow of every serious historian as they undertake research using primary and secondary sources, and of every reader exploring secondary sources about the war. No such reference book as this exists. The author is an experienced military historian with a background in British Army history, and yet even he often found himself stumped when reading War Diaries, National Archive documents, and other primary sources.The text consists of the following main sections:- Abbreviations and acronyms- Units, regiments and corps- A full glossary of military concepts and terminology- British army slang- Operational namesAs well as general military terms, a great deal of effort has gone into looking at the often deeply technical and even arcane terminology used not only by the commanders and their staff and the combat units, but also by the multitude of supporting organisations, including artillery, engineering, supply and transport, and medical. What''s a BM? It''s a Band Master, a Beach Master, a Brigade Major and a Bending Moment in bridging!

Britain’s key importance in world history was a product of its constitution and its empire, but both, in turn, were sustained and supported by Britain’s role in achieving the first Industrial Revolution. In part this was a matter of coal and steam but far more was involved. Alongside the ‘push’ factors of entrepreneurs and resources came the ‘pull’ factors of consumerism, fashion and an ability to purchase goods. There was also the context of parliamentary government, the rule of law, a society open to talent, and no internal tariff boundaries.The combination of these factors produced vital synergies. They also ensure that the history of the Industrial Revolution is the history of a country, a people, and of the factors that made them exceptional.

From humble beginnings as slaves in Egypt, the Mamluks trained as soldiers and rose in status to seize control of the largest empire in Islam. They ruled over Egypt and Syria for over two centuries. They saved the region from devastation by the Mongols and expelled the last of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. The Mamluks presided over the last flowering of the culture of medieval Islam, when scientific and artistic achievements were at least preserved, if not greatly advanced.The first Mamluks were Turks, chosen for their reputed pugnacious nature. A Turk and his horse always made a formidable combination, according to writings from the early period of the Arab conquests. As author John Brunton explains, ‘The tibaq system made soldiers of slaves. As a hybrid of the harsh nomadic tribesman and the well-trained knight, a Mamluk faris (cadet trooper) could certainly produce results.’Conquest by the Ottomans of 1517 may have ended the Mamluke Sultanate, but the Mamluks themselves continued as a powerful military class until modern times. They fought Napoleon when he invaded Egypt in 1798. Their alleged end in 1811 was as bloody as the rest of their history, but there is even evidence of the Mamluks continuing longer, possibly until the later nineteenth century.

For the first time, the detailed course of events has been reconstructed and the reasons for the defeat of the Russian army are analysed. This account is based on the author?s own observations and first-hand interviews with hundreds of Ukrainian participants in the battle as he found himself cut off and surrounded in the city of Chernihiv during the crucial first months of the war.War in Ukraine Volume 10: The Battle of Chernihiv, February-March 2022 is extensively illustrated with the author?s own photographs of these pivotal events, along with specially commissioned colour artworks and maps.

The modern city of Southend-on-Sea has come a long way since its eighteenth-century origins as an oyster fishing hamlet at the south end of Prittlewell parish. Now Southend is a regional employment, shopping and educational centre, attracting 6.5 million visitors a year and housing 180,000 permanent residents. The construction of the Royal Hotel in the 1790s began Southend’s transformation into a resort, but it was the arrival of the railway in 1856 that was the real catalyst for growth. The town’s boundaries expanded three times: in the 1890s, 1910s and 1930s. During the Second World War, Southend played a key part in the defence of London and in the organisation of merchant shipping convoys. By the 1950s and 1960s the town was known far and wide as a mecca for leisure and entertainment. The awarding of city status in 2021, following the senseless murder of Southend West MP Sir David Amess, who had long campaigned for it, was bittersweet but it was also the latest symbol of how Southend has grown.Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Southend has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the city.

Fighter Aircraft of World War II features more than 100 of the greatest and most important aircraft to serve in the Axis and Allied forces during the Second World War. Classics such as the Supermarine Spitfire, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier fighter are displayed in vivid detail. Important but lesser-known types, such as the barrel-shaped Polikarpov I-15 and Heinkel He 162 jet fighter provide a wide-ranging assessment. Each aircraft is illustrated with three artworks and a photograph, showing the markings and camouflage of each model. Accompanying text puts the type?s development, production and service history into context. There is also a specifications table for each aircraft detailing dimensions, performance, weight, powerplant and armament. Presented in a compact, pocket-size volume, Fighter Aircraft of World War II is a vivid and authoritative guide to the greatest fighter types of the Second World War. More than 100 military aircraft featured, each one illustrated by three artworks and a photograph Includes dimensions, weight, armament and powerplant details for each type Features background text on each aircraft?s development and service history

Modern Military Aircraft features more than 100 of the most important and influential military aircraft serving today, ranging from the latest F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter and Chinese Shaanxi KJ-500 AWACS aircraft, to the venerable Soviet era Tu-160 heavy bomber and Mitsubishi F-2, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force?s development of the American F-16 multirole fighter. The book also includes the most important helicopters to serve over the last 30 years, such as the UH-60 Black Hawk, Kamov Ka-50 attack helicopter and the ever-adaptable Mil Mi-17. Each aircraft is illustrated with three artworks and a photograph, showing the markings and camouflage of each model. Accompanying text puts the type?s development, production and service history into context. There is also a specifications table for each aircraft detailing dimensions, performance, weight, powerplant and armament. Presented in a compact, pocket-size volume, Modern Military Aircraft is a vivid and authoritative guide to the greatest military aircraft in service today. More than 100 military aircraft featured, each one illustrated by three artworks and a photograph Includes dimensions, weight, armament and powerplant details for each type Features background text on each aircraft?s development and service history

The continuation of Alexis de Tocqueville’s great meditation on the origins and meanings of the French Revolution. With his monumental work The Old Regime and the Revolution, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–59)—best known for his classic Democracy in America—envisioned a multivolume philosophical study of the origins of modern France that would examine the implications of French history on the nature and development of democratic society. Volume I, which covered the eighteenth-century background to the Revolution, was published to great acclaim in 1856. On the continuation of this project, he wrote: "When this Revolution has finished its work, [this volume] will show what that work really was, and what the new society which has come from that violent labor is, what the Revolution has taken away and what it has preserved from that old regime against which it was directed." Tocqueville died in the midst of this work. Here in Volume II is all that he had completed, including the chapters he started for a work on Napoleon, notes and analyses he made in the course of researching and writing the first volume, and his notes on his preparation for his continuation. More than ever before, readers will be able to glean how Tocqueville's account of the Revolution would have come out, had he lived to finish it. This handsomely produced volume completes the set and is essential reading for anyone interested in the French Revolution or in Tocqueville’s thought.

SHORTLISTED FOR MILITARY HISTORY MATTERS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024Includes all the key individuals that inspired the final season of Netflix''s Vikings: Valhalla and the brand-new BBC drama King and Conqueror. Bloody battles, political intrigues and dynastic marriages all played a part in shaping a nascent England. Battle for the Island Kingdom is a rich history of the violent six decades when Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and ultimately Normans vied for the English crown before the seismic Battle of Hastings determined the fate of England for centuries. Discover the defining personalities of the age, from the English king Aethelred and his nemesis Viking Svein Forkbeard to Cnut who forged an empire across England and Scandinavia only for his Norman queen Emma and Saxon consort Aelfifu to pit his sons against each other. We discover how the power-hungry Earl Godwin plays all sides until his own son Harold eventually seizes the crown and why Harold''s brother Tostig chose to betray both him and his people for the Norman William the Bastard, who would become William the Conqueror. This is a gripping tale of divided loyalties, treason and military might by master storyteller Don Hollway, author of the critically acclaimed The Last Viking.

The prehistoric sites of Britain and Ireland are places of wonder and wondering. Who made these structures? What did they mean to them? And what do they mean to us now?Bestselling author Peter Ross journeys from midwinter at Stonehenge to midsummer at Sycamore Gap. Along the way he encounters bog bodies in Dublin, a wooden goddess in Edinburgh and a chalk giant in Dorset. He asks what it is like to live within the great stone circle at Avebury, what rituals occurred in an Anglesey tomb and what draws volunteers to care for the Uffington White Horse.These objects and structures speak of the long human story. They offer the comfort of recognition and the pleasure of mystery. There is something about ancient places that fills a hollow in our souls.Upon A White Horse is a celebration of landscape and people - and all that is beautiful, strange and old.PRAISE FOR STEEPLE CHASING:''A delicious treat'' - Financial Times''A charming odyssey'' - The Times''Lovely, lyrical, whimsical, elegiac'' - TLS''Engaging'' - New Statesman''A wonderful book'' - Daily Telegraph

The life of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain''s extraordinary and longest-lived monarchThe reign of Queen Elizabeth II was exceptional for many reasons: among them her remarkable longevity, her enduring marriage to Prince Philip, her astonishing success in concealing her opinions on virtually any contentious subject, and the many representations of her in many media, which meant she was the most depicted human being ever to have lived in the entire history of the world. Elizabeth II was a global superstar who met almost any person who mattered, she was Head of the Commonwealth, head of state of such realms as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and queen of the United Kingdom. She embodied dutifulness and service and continuity in a rapidly changing world. During the course of her reign, the United Kingdom ceased to be a great power in the world, and evolved into a multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-ethnic society, and the country in which she died was very different from that in which she had been born. This book offers a concise but authoritative account of her life and reign, set against the background of these extensive and disruptive domestic and international changes.

On the 250th anniversary of America''s founding - a landmark history of the US Constitution for a troubling new era. The US Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world - and one of the most difficult to amend. Although nearly twelve thousand amendments have been proposed since 1789, only twenty-seven have ever been ratified. Tellingly, the Constitution has not been meaningfully amended since 1971. Without amendment, the risk of political violence rises. So does the risk of constitutional change by presidential power. Leading Harvard historian Jill Lepore captures the stories of generations of ordinary people who have attempted everything from abolishing the Electoral College to guaranteeing environmental rights, hoping to mend their nation. Recounting the history of America through centuries of efforts to realize the promise of the Constitution, we witness how nearly all those bids have failed.We the People is the sweeping account of a struggle, arguing that the Constitution was never intended to be preserved, but was expected to be gradually altered. At a time when the risk of political violence is all too real, it hints at the prospects for a better, amended America.

''The true and fascinating story of Easter Island and its amazing statues'' KEN FOLLETTWhere did they come from? How did they get there? Why did they carve the island’s colossal iconic statues – and how? What happened to the civilisation they created?These are just a few of the questions about Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, that have puzzled generations.Europeans first encountered the Islanders in the early eighteenth century, bringing back astonishing tales from one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. They told fantastic stories of lost continents, cannibalism, giants and aliens. Thor Heyerdahl claimed that the island was discovered by pale-skinned sailors from South America, ignoring the rightful claims of the greatest explorers the world has ever known. Recently, the idea that Islanders cut down all the trees, causing mass starvation and social collapse, has been espoused by scientists, broadcasters and politicians. Now, in archaeologist Mike Pitts’s superb investigation, Island at the Edge of the World, he provides authoritative new insights into what really happened.Using the latest scientific and archaeological research, plus a huge range of historical accounts, Pitts builds a fascinating new portrait of the Islanders’ story. In particular, Pitts revives the life work of Katherine Routledge, who spent sixteen months on the island in 1914-15, surviving revolution and war, assembling a priceless but largely ignored archive of excavations and interviews - and whose legacy reveals the rapacious interference that spawned generations of false histories. Many questions still remain, but this is the most compelling and comprehensive account yet published of the extraordinary story of Easter Island.

Delve into the history, politics, literature and popular culture that defined the Cold War era. Matching superb narrative storytelling with scholarly analysis and visually stunning photography from the archives of the Imperial War Museum, this book gives a fascinating insight into a period that shaped the fabric of British society.The Cold War defined the history of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century as much as it did that of the US and the Soviet Union. Cold War Britain is an exploration into the multifaceted dimensions of Britain’s experience during the Cold War era. By weaving together history, politics, literature, and popular culture, this book invites readers to immerse themselves in the vibrant tapestry of Cold War Britain, offering fresh insights and perspectives into how this global conflict shaped the fabric of British society.Chapter One: OriginsDive into the tumultuous aftermath of World War II, where Britain grappled with its status as a world power amidst economic devastation. Explore pivotal moments such as the carving up of Europe and the influential voices of figures like Orwell and Churchill in defining the Cold War era.Chapter Two: The Special RelationshipUncover the deep political and cultural ties between the UK and the USA, navigating through testing times that nevertheless strengthened their bond. Examine how this special relationship influenced Britain’s Cold War trajectory.Chapter Three: The BombEngage in the debates surrounding Britain’s pursuit of an independent nuclear deterrent, amidst the backdrop of cloak-and-dagger intrigue epitomised by the Cambridge Spies. Explore the moral dilemmas and strategic imperatives that shaped Britain’s nuclear policy.Chapter Four: The Peace MovementDelve into the grassroots movements advocating for peace amidst Cold War tensions. Through oral histories and archival photographs, witness the voices and faces of those who sought to challenge the status quo, examining the establishment of CND, Aldermaston, and Greenham Common.Chapter Five: Hot WarsExplore Britain’s entanglements in global conflicts with a Cold War context, from Cyprus and Korea to Northern Ireland and the Falklands. How did Britain avoid the quagmire of Vietnam? Uncover the geopolitical complexities and ideological battles that defined these conflicts.Chapter Six: Popular CultureExperience the Cold War through the lens of popular culture, from the dystopian visions of George Orwell to the glamorous espionage of James Bond. Explore how cultural artifacts reflected and influenced public perceptions of the Cold War era.Chapter Seven: Endings and LegaciesNavigate through the tumultuous events that marked the end of the Cold War, from Thatcher and Gorbachev to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Reflect on the lasting legacies of this era and examine how institutions like the Imperial War Museums interpret and commemorate the Cold War.

France is the only country that never decolonised its colonies, emotionally, financially or strategically. In the aftermath of losing the Second World War, notwithstanding de Gaulle''s attempts to convince his people otherwise, the French knew the game was up. (The Resistance fighters were heroes; but heroes are lonely.) For France, after 1945, the Second World War blended into the early Cold War, which Paris jumped into the day before it began. It fought in Indochina, and lost again. The independence war dragged on in Algeria. Then France lost there, too--painfully, with millions of its ordinary citizens expelled to a homeland that many of them hardly knew. But Sub-Saharan Africa was still there. France produced a postcolonial antidote: ''Françafrique'', France''s sphere of influence (or ''backyard'') over its former West and Central African colonies. France loved Africa. Some Frenchmen died for ''Françafrique''; others made millions from it. The entire toxic edifice is now crumbling away. Young Africans are happy about this--but not so many of their parents, who often live in France. In his inimitable style, Gérard Prunier recounts a tragic transcultural saga, with one leg in the past and one in the future: the end of ''Françafrique''.