Pen & Sword Books Ltd strana 25 z 41

For nearly a century, the relationship between Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan has been viewed through the lens of scandal, defined by rumours of a hidden love affair. But what if history’s assumptions are wrong? This groundbreaking analysis dares to ask a question that no biographer has ventured to explore: could Ellen Ternan have been Dickens’ daughte? xamining Dickens''s letters and his works from Oliver Twist through to Edwin Drood, this book provides the first comprehensive look at the possibility of a filial bond between the two. Unlike previous biographers, who have focused on the years after 1857, Brian Ruck traces Ellen’s potential impact on Dickens’ life and relationships from her earliest days, casting new light on his increasingly strained marriage to Catherine Dickens. Through careful reinterpretation of existing material, the author uncovers a plausible and previously unexplored explanation that challenges the prevailing narrative.This thought-provoking work does not claim new evidence but offers a rigorous alternative interpretation of Dickens'' life, one that weighs the probabilities and presents a fresh hypothesis grounded in literary analysis.

We can now celebrate the 200 years anniversary of railways, which have served to connect communities across this country and across world countries. Our railways started with steam power in 1825, until steam was phased out by British Railways in 1968.Nowadays the preservation movement continues to provide the glorious spectacle of steam trains at work in many parts of the U.K. The preserved railways and the preserved locomotives running on the main line are making their own history, and it is part of this history that is covered by this book, which records many of the steam activities from 1986 to 2000. There are numerous locomotives pictured here which may never steam again as the costs of refurbishment, coupled with very much stricter safety requirements, preclude the reappearance of some old favourites.This book contains colour pictures from the author’s collection of large format slides and latterly some 35mm slides. The style is similar to the author’s previous books, using approximately of 200 pictures with informative captions to describe the scenes depicted, presented in chronological order. The enormous work of volunteers in continuing the development of the preservation movement cannot be underestimated, because without those efforts, there would be no history to record. This book is a further salute to the volunteer movement, in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

The story of the Titanic has been told countless times, but very few books talk in detail about the numerous expeditions that have visited the wreck; even less will talk about the personal stories associated with these underwater trips. Now, for the first time, details are given of some of the less well-known deep diving expeditions to the world’s most famous shipwreck, focusing on the people who lead them, the equipment being used and the background stories of the research vessels that have carried these teams out to the cold, dark Atlantic swells.From the failed expeditions in the early 1980s to the tragic loss of a submersible four decades later, this is the story of the searches and the dives to the wreck of a ship which has become synonymous with disaster. Using interviews with people who were there at different times, we rediscover a shipwreck that has captivated the imagination of people from around the world to the point where they are willing to risk their lives just to have a glimpse.But it is this glimpse of the Titanic that has cost so much money and affected so many lives.

When the B-52 Stratofortress entered operational service with the US Air Force in 1955, work was already underway on de?ning its successor. The B-70 Valkyrie, a Mach 3 jet bomber, was one option. Although two XB-70A prototypes ?ew, the B-70 never went into production. Out of the subsequent Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft program came the B-1A bomber, which ?ew at high speed and low altitude to evade enemy air defenses. The B-1A was cancelled in favour of ?tting the B-52 with cruise missiles. The B-1, known as the BONE, was revived in 1981 as the improved B-1B to boost American military power and be a symbol of American strength at the peak of Cold War tensions. The B-1B entered service in 1986 with several de?ciencies. The resolution of most of these issues coincided with the end of the Cold War.After the Cold War, the B-1B lost its primary nuclear mission but remained relevant by transforming into a high-speed, long-range, high-payload delivery platform for conventional precision-guided munitions. The ?rst combat use of the B-1B was in 1998 in Iraq. The BONE has proved a highly effective combat aircraft in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the former Yugoslavia.This superbly researched and illustrated book traces the BONE’s long development and operational history in fascinating detail.

The projecting of military force to a distant shore has come to be seen as a uniquely British way of waging war. To be sure, many of these operations would now be classed as administrative landings with battle, if occurring at all, only following sometimes afterward. Others, of course, merit the label of opposed landings. To contemporaries of the period covered by this study, the evolutions went by the appellation of conjoint or combined operations. Less important than how they were styled remains the thought and the purpose giving rise to these ventures. In the decades before the First World War, professionals appreciated the myriad difficulties and dangers associated with amphibious operations. The laity, including statesmen, thought rather less of these matters but could recount numerous examples of their occurrence before 1914. Indeed, whatever operational failings Britain demonstrated during the World War a corpus of relevant experience was the least of these.What is now styled joint amphibious operations were difficult because they were never of a single type. Naval support to a military force standing on the defensive, raids, feints, blocking operations, riverine operations, and, yes, an opposed landing, spoke to a series of joint operations of ever-increasing complexity. Meanwhile, as every operation must at some point end, even the manner of evacuation came to be viewed as a special type of combined operation to be understood and learned. Finally, it remained that in a campaign of the grandest scale, examples of each might feature at differing moments along the way. Landings before 1914 were difficult and what military and naval authorities thought feasible before the onset of the World War in the realm of joint operations is a neglected field of study—a surprising omission given the ink that has been spilt retelling the debacles experienced at Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, and East Africa. Every campaign has its context—operational and strategic to be sure—but also political, doctrinal, and bureaucratic. How Britain elected to wage war in 1914 proved a product of these variables just as surely as the military and naval capabilities it could muster. Tying the strands of pre-war military experience and thought in the realm of joint operations is the chief purpose of this study which takes as its starting point 1882 and the British assault against Egypt. The choice is far from arbitrary as the moment saw several earning their spurs who would later play a central role in the amphibious operations executed during the Great War.To the extent learning is more than the product of self-experience, this work pays special attention to the Russo-Japanese War. Thinking officers appreciated that fundamental changes were occurring in the nature and style of war. A learned public also appreciated this courtesy of works such as Ivan Bloch’s Is War Now Possible? Notwithstanding what British officers understood on the eve of the World War, the problem of time and scale remained. This alone should give one pause before chiding others over past mistakes. This study looks at what was thought, what was taught, what was expected, and what occurred in the thirty years before Britain found herself facing a scale of conflict not witnessed in a century.

What does it mean to be a philosopher? Being a deep thinker? Taking a stand against the norms of society? Being really good at winning an argument? The beauty of philosophy is that there is no one answer and that it’s worth asking that question across every aspect of the human condition.In History’s Greatest Philosophers: Classical Wisdom for Modern Times, Jamie Ryder journeys through the lives of some of the world’s most radical thinkers, leaders, politicians and creatives to uncover the truth of philosophy and different wisdom traditions.From the political arenas of Cicero and Niccolo Machiavelli to the everyday living of Mary Wollstonecraft and Sojourner Truth, get a bird’s eye view into what it means to live and die by what you believe in. Discover ageless truths about the nature of the world and human relationships. Learn how to practice philosophy and not just talk about it.

Between 1800 and 1960, gardening underwent a massive transformation, changing almost beyond recognition. It was a period when the concept of gardening as a leisure activity emerged, along with a vast array of changes in garden styles, plant breeding, the arrival of horticultural societies and shows, brands such as Suttons Seeds, and mass market tourism to garden sites. New retail styles even emerged with the advent of garden centres and containerised plants. Entrepreneurs took advantage of new technology to create products such as lawnmowers, the Wardian case terrarium and the strawberry canopy. Plant specialists searched out exotic plants from far-flung corners of the earth, risking their lives to bring back unusual specimens. Women took up gardening creating careers in a sector that had previously regarded them as little more than capable of doing light weeding or arranging flowers. New standards were established for training, products, plants and seed quality, resulting in the arrival of seeds such as Tom Thumb lettuce and frilly edged sweet peas that are still grown today.As recognition grew of the need for a green environment, green spaces and public parks accessible to all, gardening styles underwent considerable changes. This resulted in the creation of designs that have become extremely familiar such as carpet bedding so beloved of municipal gardens, rockeries, vegetable rotation, shrubberies, walled gardens, cottage gardens, roof and window gardens. It was a period which even saw garden gnomes taking up residence in gardens large and small.

In the years leading up to the Second World War, the world focussed heavily on Nazi Germany’s growing military power, but few grasped the true danger of Adolf Hitler and his regime. Why Appeasement Failed argues that the critical insight into Hitler''s intentions was already available, yet largely ignored.The author starts by examining the turbulent political climate of the 1930s, the tensions with Germany and the issues between the French and the British, as well as the Munich Conference and its successes and failures.Drawing attention to the overlooked warnings in Mein Kampf and several publications from the 1930s, this book reveals that these texts clearly outlined Hitler’s vision for expansion and conquest long before it became a global reality. Mein Kampf made sinister references to what Hitler called defective people, namely, both mentally and physically handicapped, and his racist obsession. He dwelled on the Party’s philosophy, propaganda, and projected a unified pan-Germany based on military power — evidence that should have sounded alarm bells but was dismissed.Attention that moves to an outstanding but neglected book published in Germany in 1937 written by an Australian academic investigating 1936 Germany. While appreciated by some, the findings were dismissed by Chamberlain. In places, this writer’s almost prophetic forecasts read almost like a post-war analysis of the situation. He met most Nazi leaders, studied the political paramilitary, the German Army and attended a Nuremberg rally. Having studied German economics, he saw for himself the indoctrination of Nazism from the schools to Hitler Youth, to young men in the Labour Service all trained in military discipline. He observed that the public mind was controlled, and the laws changed to suit Nazism. Had political leaders paid closer attention to these early clues, they might have heeded Winston Churchill’s urgent call to rearm.Why Appeasement Failed sheds light on the missed opportunities to understand and counter the Nazi threat before it was too late.

In northern Britain and parts of Wales and Scotland, your life might well be dominated throughout the 1930s by unemployment, low wages, poor nutrition, ill health, and slum housing. But if you lived in the Midlands, London or the South-East, by the latter 1930s you would probably be enjoying a far better life, as you benefited from the spread of electric power, new factories and products, a greater variety of food, a huge private and public house-building programme and expansion of all sorts, much of it created by the sums spent on rearmament.For people living in prosperous areas, real wages rose substantially between 1936 and 1939, as was shown by their increased consumption of food and clothes. The latter 1930s were years of ever more widespread leisure pursuits, among them near-universal cinema-going, newspaper reading and, for many millions, holiday-making. A well-paid working man or office worker might even be able to buy a car. Even so, most working-class wages, especially for women, remained below those of the middle classes, and class differences were still clearly marked in housing, food, clothing, education, medical treatment, and purchasing power in general. Your views on religion, marriage, sex, and behaviour in general remained sharply defined and changed slowly, and only at the end of the decade could the beginnings of change be seen.At the same time the Second World War, which began on 3 September 1939, was the climax of a long period of increasing anxiety, during which the press, the wireless and the cinema newsreel brought foreign affairs more and more into your daily life.Using varied sources, including personal memories and daily life as pictured in newspapers and novels, Michael Alpert presents a broad picture of life for ordinary people in Britain nearly a century ago.

They were often half-starved, marching through an alien land with few signposts and no maps. They were often suffering from dysentery, their legwear rolled down and they sometimes fought naked from the waist down. They were paid 6d a day – the same as a civilian craftsman – and they swore like the troopers they were. That was why the French called them the Goddamns and king and peasant alike were terrified of them. With their yew wood bows and ash arrows a clothyard long, they were the victors in countless clashes during the Hundred Years War and in the three great battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt.They robbed, pillaged, raped and murdered, often in their king’s name. Yet they won battles and it is no exaggeration to say that England became a powerful nation state because of them. If they were caught in action by the enemy, they would have their bow fingers cut off and their throats slit. We know the names of very few of them. They were not worthy of ransom, unlike the knights they fought for. Most of them ended up in mass burial pits or some unmarked plot beside a French road. The vast majority was illiterate, so we have no firsthand accounts of their campaigns from the bowmen themselves. For all they won battles and renown, for all they helped indirectly to increase the power of the common man, they are like ghosts drifting over the battlefield.They were the bowmen.

The word ''pirate'' conjures up images of the swashbuckling men featured in the likes of Black Sails and Pirates of the Caribbean, but the world of piracy has a centuries-long history that is filled with little-known women who wielded real power in a man''s world long before they were able to even vote in democratic elections.Their stories are compelling and encompass women of all ethnicities and cultures. From Sayyida al Hurra, Queen of the Barbary Pirates, a muslim woman who successfully preyed on the shipping of her enemies and became governor of Tétouan, to Zheng Shi, an outlawed Tanka woman born in a brothel who rose to successfully command seventeen thousand men in the Red Flag fleet, which at the time outrivaled the Imperial Chinese Navy.During the Golden Age of Caribbean Piracy, many transgendered women joined pirate crews even though the presence of a woman aboard ship meant death. Their stories have largely been ignored by history but A History of Women in Piracy uncovers the lives and loves of these daring women who flaunted convention and proved themselves to be every bit as capable (or more so) as their male brethren.

Though less famous than Rommel or von Manstein, Hermann Balck was considered by peers and enemies to be among the most talented German commanders of the Second World War. He was a veteran of the First World War, in which he served as a junior officer on the Western, Eastern, Italian and Balkan fronts and was wounded seven times. In 1940 he led the successful crossing of the River Meuse with dramatic consequences.Balck led from the front in the new and very dynamic and aggressive command style of Auftragstaktik- continuously touring forward HQs to brief officers personally, regardless of personal risk. He refused two offers to join the General Staff preferring to remain in combat roles. Balck was a pivotal moving force behind the growth of the Panzer forces. In 1942 he commanded a depleted division against massive odds, virtually destroying Soviet 5th Tank Army. He was rewarded with the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (one of only 27 recipients) He briefly commanded Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division and suggested Hitler was wrong in how the Waffen-SS was constructed. Philip Kay-Bujak argues that, had Hitler ignored Balck''s criticisms of the Waffen-SS and promoted him Field Marshal, Balck might have changed the course of the war on the Eastern Front. It was also Balck that nearly defeated the Americans at Salerno in 1943.Commanding Army Group G, in 1944 he came up against General Patton but could not halt his advance in Alsace. First sacked then reinstated by Hitler, he fought on until surrendering to US forces on 8 May 1944 to avoid capture by the Soviets. Post-war, as a convicted war criminal, Balck chose obscurity and refused to take part in US interviews but by the 1980''s he changed his mind on both and advised NATO on how to win a land war against Russia - his tactics are still relevant today.

There has been speculation over the loss of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic ever since the tragic event of her sinking, which occurred during the night of Sunday 14 to Monday 15 April 1912. Could it have been the fault of her captain, Edward J. Smit? itherto, no one has managed to explain the mindset of Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith, and thereby comprehend why, on a pitch-black night in April 1912, he drove his ship full tilt into an ice field, when he knew that there were icebergs present? Was the captain mentally ill? No, not in the sense of having one of the traditional major psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, etcetera, because this would have manifested itself earlier on in his lifetime. Captain Smith was aged 62 at the time of the disaster. Was he suffering from dementia? There is no evidence that this was the case.In fact, Captain Smith’s state of mind provides a classic example of what was described by the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, As the reader will shortly discover!This book contains hitherto unpublished photographs, for example of Laura May Cribb, from the author''s hometown of Poole in Dorset, who survived the sinking, and of her father John Hatfield Cribb, who perished.

Medieval Nuns at War by Elizabeth Quillen uncovers the extraordinary lives of nuns who defied expectations, embracing roles that went far beyond contemplation and prayer. From the rebellion of Princess Clothild and her sister Basina, who led mercenaries to storm their abbey, to Queen Radegund’s quest for autonomy within the cloistered world of Poitiers, these stories reveal women unafraid to wield power in times of crisis. "These women made their marks briefly, but brightly in the pages of chronicles, poems, and letters," Quillen writes, bringing to life their audacity and ambition in shaping medieval society.Quillen’s deeply researched narrative explores how these nuns balanced spiritual devotion with an intense drive for influence, often clashing with both secular and ecclesiastical authorities. Not content to remain within convent walls, women like Leoba, who served as an imperial regent, and Hildegund von Schonau, who disguised herself as a monk to escape persecution, exemplify the resilience of medieval nuns. Quillen illustrates how convents functioned as political centres, not isolated enclaves, with nuns as pivotal figures in military defence, treaty negotiations, and even political rebellion.For readers fascinated by the hidden currents of medieval history, Medieval Nuns at War is a rare treasure. Quillen’s captivating prose and meticulous scholarship shed new light on these “rebellious, resilient, and rowdy women,” who not only fought for survival but also left indelible marks on their societies. Through letters, chronicles, and centuries-old biographies, this book finally gives these fearless women the recognition they deserve as warriors, leaders, and guardians of their communities.

The life of Honor, Lady Lisle, follows a dizzying narrative arc. Born into a West Country family, her second marriage propelled her into Anne Boleyn''s court, as the new step-aunt to Henry VIII. Her husband, Arthur, was the illegitimate son of Edward IV, bearing the dangerous surname Plantagenet, one of a few survivors of the old regime. At his side, Honor witnessed tumultuous change in England, before heading out to run the Tudor enclave of Calais. Her surviving letters speak of a happy family, domestic arrangements, clothes and food, as well as including snippets of news about Henry''s love life and the unfolding Reformation. A devout Catholic, Honor found herself in a difficult position when instructions arrived to carry through religious reforms in a reluctant, rebellious town. As the pressure increased upon the couple, and one by one, the giants of the Tudor court fell, did Honor ever fear that she may suffer the same fate? What exactly caused accusations to be made against Honor and Arthur? What role did Honor''s faith play? Just how close did she come to dishonour? This is the first complete biography of Honor, presenting the story of a significant Tudor woman against the backdrop of immense political change.

In October 1941, 19-year-old Dennis Varey volunteered for the RAF, despite being in a reserved occupation as an engineer. The bombing of his hometown had pushed him to fight back. After basic training, he became an Observer in December 1941, and by June 1942, he was accepted for pilot training under the Empire Air Training Scheme. He trained in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), then moved to Cairo before joining the Italian campaign. Dennis participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, in 1944.As the Allied forces struggled in Normandy, Dennis flew sorties to support the landings, providing air cover and ground attacks. Promoted to Flight Sergeant, he continued flying over Italy, Crete, and the Balkans until he was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Wounded and captured, Dennis escaped captivity and returned to his unit, later being posted home to train future pilots.This book recounts the story of Dennis and his comrades in 260 Squadron, whose multi-national crew supported key battles across North Africa and Europe. Using letters, diaries, and first-hand accounts, it highlights the sacrifices of these young men, many of whom never returned or were forever changed by their experiences.