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Following on from Andrew’s A Visual History of Caravans, this new title takes a look at the motorhome’s heritage, spanning over 100 years. The motorhome is a popular leisure vehicle with an ever-growing demand in the UK as well as abroad. From the early designs often built by one-man bands, this book shows how the motorhome was to evolve in the 1920s but was to be outsold by the popularity of the touring caravan. Images from all decades are mainly from the author’s own vast archives, while some have been loaned and supplied from motorhome industry personnel. These pictures demonstrate how the motorhome developed with the advent of smaller chassis cabs from the 1950s major manufacturers such as Bedford, Austin, Morris and Ford.Covering UK-brand motorhomes as well imported models, the book shows how different UK tastes were to the imported makes. Although not an A-Z of motorhomes book, the author has chosen images that represent as many manufacturers as possible. Andrew includes some rare images of coachbuilt motorhomes and shows how the motorhome boom began in the mid-1960s. With the further development of chassis cab designs in the 70s with brands such as Commer, Toyota and Leyland more manufacturers of motorhomes would emerge as the boom carried on.Caravan’s International motorised division was re-named Autohomes, and became the biggest UK manufacturer of coachbuilt motorhomes, going on to also be built in Germany. Well-known maker Dormobile concentrated on campervans, though several coachbuilt motorhomes such as the classic-looking Debonair were produced. From those early days, A Visual History of Motorhomes will make interesting reading to motorhome users, showing how the leisure vehicle took shape.

Since nearly every aspect of Keaton’s story and work has been written about in some form, it is the goal of this book to present a new perspective on Keaton’s early life in the entertainment business, beginning before vaudeville and moving through the Comique films, Keaton’s first foray into the industry. A microscopic approach to this early period has the goal of illuminating in great detail the formative years of Keaton’s career, in order to better understand the brilliance of his ‘independence’ and the tragedy of his years at MGM, bringing him to a place in entertainment history that celebrates the little gems and sparks of brilliance in his later creative life and career. This study will utilize the minute detail provided by industry rags, such as The New York Clipper and The Moving Picture World and the publication of rare archival photos to differentiate itself from other works by delving deeper into each moment during the specified twenty-four early years of Keaton’s life and career, up to and including the transition to his ‘independent’ productions with Joseph Schenk, beginning with The High Sign (1920), The Saphead (1920) and One Week (1920), his first efforts in the new era.

The area of Hispania, this being the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces, had a great influence on the development of the history of Ancient Rome. In part this was because some of Rome’s main emperors, such as Trajan or Hadrian, politicians, including Lucius Cornelius Balbus the first consul of the Republic born outside of Italy, writers and poets like Martial or Lucanus, and philosophers, like Seneca, came from the Iberian Peninsula.It was also a consequence of the enormous commercial flow that existed between the colony and the metropolis, and because some of the events that took place in Hispania deeply marked Rome. For this reason, many of the main protagonists of its history, at some point in their lives lived, and fought, in Hispania, including such individuals as Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus, among many others.Iberia became a battleground between Rome and Carthage in the Second Punic War, followed by the endless bloody struggle against the Iberian and Celtic tribes that turned Hispania into a kind of Vietnam for the Romans. It was also the scene of bitter fighting during the Civil Wars that led to the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire, with the great battles between Julius Caesar and the sons of Pompey, as well as the final defeat of Quintus Sertorius who had held out in Spain for over a decade. There was also three years of struggle by the Emperor Augustus trying to quell the revolts of the Cantabrian tribes.Lastly, Spain, as with other parts of the Empire, had to battle the barbarian incursions. Those by the Mauri came from the south, while from the north poured the Goths. At first, they became foederati of the Romans, fighting for the Empire in exchange for land, but when Rome ended up collapsing, the Goths occupied the space of power left by the Romans.This, though, did not mean the disappearance of the Hispano-Romans, but rather that they began to collaborate with the new occupiers of Hispania, and their influence and legacy can still be felt today. This is seen not only through its language and culture, but also through a multitude of public works and an enormous amount of historical heritage that we can still enjoy.

The Real Charles Dickens is an insightful look into the world of the life and work of the great 19th-century writer. Dickens led one of the most colourful and interesting lives of any author and this book delves into his difficult early life, his emergence as a major novelist, his troubled marriage and suspected relationship with another woman, his trips abroad to Italy and the United States, his late blossoming as a theatrical performer and his work as a social reformer. The book takes a detailed look at each of his major works, tracing the development of his fiction through one of the most productive periods of world literature. To complement this are original photographs of locations associated with Dickens and the opportunity to follow in his footsteps with some expertly crafted walks around the parts of London most associated with him. There are sections on Dickens’ enduring relationship with the theatre and one detailing the ten children that he and his wife Catherine had together. From his first foray into serialised novels, The Pickwick Papers, to his last, great, unfinished work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, each of his books is given special attention.  Full of biographical detail and analytical insight, The Real Charles Dickens takes the reader on a journey into the heart of the world that nurtured some of the greatest stories ever written.

In a single volume, Roman Republic at War catalogues and offers a brief description of every significant battle fought by the Roman Republic between 480 and 31 BC (and most of the minor ones too). The information in each entry is drawn exclusively from Ancient texts, in order to offer a brief description of each battle based solely on the information provided by the earliest surviving sources which chronicle the event. This approach provides the reader a concise foundation of information to which they can then confidently apply later scholarly interpretation presented in secondary sources in order to achieve a more accurate understanding of the most likely battlefield scenario. In writing the battle descriptions, the author has not sought analyse the evidence contained in the surviving accounts, nor embellish them beyond that which was necessary to provide clarity to the modern reader. He allows the original writers to speak for themselves, presenting the reader with a succinct version of what the ancient chroniclers tell us of these dramatic events. It is an excellent first-stop reference to the many battles of the Roman Republic.

Amsterdam is a dream destination for art lovers, attracting thousands of visitors to its stunning museums and art galleries each year.The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum contain internationally renowned collections of art works such as Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. There are many lesser known, stunning art collections ranging from fluorescent art to cat paintings, murals and outdoor sculptures including work by Picasso and Keith Haring. There are also many new art destinations to see.Applied arts are much in evidence with many unusual locations offering hidden treasures such as funeral art, WW2 Resistance Art, Jewish art, gargoyle sculptures, cat themed art, diamond sculptures and Van Gogh’s starry night portrayed in diamonds. There is a vast array of art related destinations to be explored in Amsterdam.Short distances and good transport make it easy to combine Amsterdam with exploring the art on offer in nearby towns and cities Haarlem, Rotterdam, Den’Boch, Delft or Utrecht as well as areas lVolendam and Amstelveen.The Netherlands has an impressive art history that has led to the development of major art movements such as the Dutch Golden Age and De Stijl. This is the country of Rembrandt, Hieronymous Bosch, Piet Mondrian, Vincent Van Gogh, Frans Hals, Rachel Ruysch and Vermeer.

On 2 November 1952, two teenagers, Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig, tried to break into a warehouse in Croydon, Surrey. The police were called and in the minutes that followed, Craig wounded one policeman and shot another dead.At 16, Craig was too young to hang, but Bentley, at 19, was not. Even though he had not fired a shot or carried a gun and was under arrest at the time PC Sidney Miles died, Bentley was deemed to be guilty of murder. The law – of joint felonious enterprise – was unjust and Bentley had an IQ of 66 (the national average is 100). Even so, he was hanged at Wandsworth in February 1953.Nearly forty years later, PC Claude Pain, who was there at the time of the shooting, told a different story. He was on the warehouse rooftop and saw the whole thing. What really hanged Bentley were the words he allegedly used, ‘Let him have it, Chris’. And Pain did not hear those words.M.J. Trow''s Let Him Have It, Chris, published in 1990, was based on Pain’s new evidence. Eight years later, the conviction against Bentley was overturned – not as a result of police corruption, but because of the appallingly partial performance of the trial judge, Lord Goddard.At the time, access to any material relating to the case was denied and only now, with the Freedom of Information Act, can Pain’s testimony be refuted. He was not on the roof. His original deposition is still in The National Archive.This book aims to put the record straight. There was indeed a dreadful miscarriage of justice in 1952 – one of many before and since – and, in a way, Claude Pain was part of it.

London has been a favourite city for film directors to shoot on location for decades, as it houses some of the most iconic British landmarks as well as beautiful historic buildings. With the constant regeneration of the city, there are also inevitably some shifty-looking derelict sites just perfect for despicable criminal activities to be shot. That is what this book is about.Have you ever wondered where Hatchet Harry’s office was in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, where Mitchel gets stabbed in London Boulevard, where the final fight took place between the Millwall and Chelsea gangs in the Football Factory, or where Poirot’s flat was in the iconic TV serie? ou will be able to visit all of these locations using this book. You can also take a tour of your favourite movie’s locations, go on a crime movie pub crawl (although be warned - there are a lot of pubs in crime movies), take a chilled walk through cemeteries and churches or even create your own tours based on postcode.In this book you will find more than 630 locations from 76 crime movies and 12 crime-related TV shows. The book also has more than 100 images taken around the city showing the locations as you will see them today to help you channel your inner Danny Dyer, Poirot or even Kingsman.

This is an original interpretation of domestic patriotism and limitations of wartime mobilization in rural and urban communities of the British Home Front at a local level from 1914-1918. It is a critical examination of the wartime role of the local elite as ''superintendents of patriotism''. The reader is immediately drawn into the riveting human and social interest with an account of ''khaki fever'' leading to ''moral panic'' resulting from the attraction of military uniforms and a perceived need for elite guidance and control while expanding mobilisation. Author is a local writer and commentator, with rare local sources with national relevance, he defines the local elite groups as ''provincial patriots'', a hugely patriotic class who compared their patriotism with that of the local populace. They were the elite ''police-men and women'' of patriotism and who tried to enforce their concept of patriotism and code of ideal conduct in wartime on the local population and to further mobilisation. They served on tribunals set to deal with appeals against enlistment following conscription, and elite pressure could be decisive. These attempts to mobilise for military service met with limited success and ''humanitarian'' mobilisation in the of philanthropy was widespread. The essential national role for agriculture and fishing - very much part of Devon and most of the country - continued as essential and the military contribution continued. The book uses Devon as a case study but reaches out to the whole United Kingdom in total war and with similar examples in Europe, notably France and Germany. It shows the tensions between elites - landed gentry and urban professionals - and the local populations, rural (mostly) and urban. The ''provincial patriots'', if not their families, were above military service age. The study analyses orthodox views about mobilization, dissent, and domestic patriotism on the Home Front in the First World War and roles of local elites. There was, no doubt, flocking to the colours, but also resistance and alternative forms of patriotic contribution.

In The Women Writers'' Revolution, embark on a captivating journey through the dynamic social fabric of Britain from the aftermath of the First World War through to the burgeoning regional writing movement of the 1950s. This illuminating account not only delves into the literary achievements of women writers but also offers a profound exploration of the social realities they navigated.From the early post-war years to the dawn of expanded women''s franchise in 1928, aspiring women writers faced a landscape fraught with both challenges and opportunities. Through meticulous research and insightful analysis, this book vividly portrays the aspirations, struggles, and triumphs of these pioneering women who dared to make their mark in the literary world.Discover the myriad experiences and skills required for success as a woman writer during this transformative era. From navigating the patriarchal structures of publishing to honing their craft in clubs and societies, these women defied societal norms and carved out space for their voices to be heard.As the 1930s unfolded, a wave of documentary and realism provided a platform for depicting the lives of working-class women in politicized ways, captivating audiences through magazines and journals. Against this backdrop of social change, luminaries like Storm Jameson, Winifred Holtby, Dorothy Edwards, and Eleanor Farjeon emerged as trailblazers, leaving an indelible mark on British literature.The Women Writers'' Revolution is not just a literary chronicle but a compelling social history that offers profound insights into the experiences of women aspiring to get into print during a revolutionary period in Britain.

From his offices at Basinghall Street in the City of London, Henry Slater presided over Britain''s best-known private detective agency, king of all he surveyed. In the late Victorian era, and into the twentieth century, his name was synonymous with the Golden Age of private detection; he was a truly modern operator, utilising the press and technology, and creating innovative publicity campaigns to keep his agency in the public eye.One of the key skills of the private detective was the ability to make friends - to infiltrate the lives of individuals, and to get them to trust them with their secrets. Slater, however, would make one mistake: to befriend the wrong person and to entrust them with his secrets. When that friendship ended, competition in the private detective world would lead to a trial so infamous that Winston Churchill himself came to watch proceedings play out at the Old Bailey. The trial would destroy Henry Slater''s career, and expose his real identity.This is the first in-depth study of private detective work in nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain, looking at the ''Golden Age'' of private detectives and the work they did. It provides a fascinating look at the type of person who became a private detective, the people who wanted to be their clients - and the crimes that could be committed along the way. This book sheds new light on this profession, building on the author''s previous work on female private detectives in order to enable the reader to gain a better understanding of a job that people of all classes desired to do. But it is also about the career of one man. Sherlock Holmes may have been the most famous fictional private detective, but Henry Slater was, for twenty years, the real star of the private detective world.

The Hundred Years'' War is one of the most famous conflicts in British history, featuring such renowned battles as Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. It is a period littered with such legendary names as the Black Prince, Henry V and Joan of Arc, and a fascinating one for the development of warfare, weapons and armour.Gabriele Esposito puts the conflict in context with an overview of earlier Anglo-French conflicts and the roots of the dispute between the Plantagenet and Valois dynasties. He then devotes several chapters to giving a concise overview of the dramatic events of the war, before moving on to describe in detail the organization, tactics, weapons, armour and equipment of all the varied forces. Those drawn in by various alliances, such as Scottish, Spanish and Burgundian troops are not forgotten. He shows the evolution of warfare across the period, from the early dominance of the longbowmen over the French knights to the increasing importance of artillery in the Valois recovery. As usual for The Armies of the Past series, Gabriele Esposito’s informative text is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs of replica weapons, armour and clothing in use.

The light Railways Act 1896 marked the final phase in the development of the traditional railway in Britain, being designed to open up rural areas of Britain that had been bypassed by the larger railway companies.The promoting and construction of light railways allowed many parts of Britain and Ireland, to have an outlet to the outside world and major cities, which previously they had not enjoyed.The Light Railway is not designed to be a definitive history, but a pictorial tribute to the brave attempt to develop a rural network of lines to serve some of the areas of the British Isles and Ireland that had sadly been neglected by the large main line companies throughout the initial and later railway development period from 1825 to 1896.This volume looks at the railways themselves, motive power and infrastructure that made up these small but important lines, promoted by our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors.

The Wehrmacht won a quick victory in the West in 1940, the Netherlands and Belgium capitulated in May, and France signed an armistice on June 22.Heeresgruppe A remained in France and Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt and his staff established themselves at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and they soon worked on drawing up provisional instructions for Operation ''Seelöwe'', the invasion of Great Britain. In October, von Rundstedt was appointed Commander-in-Chief West (Oberbefehlshaber West or Ob. West for short) and made responsible for all the German-occupied territory in western Europe.In April 1941, he and his staff were secretly moved to the East to take command of the right wing of the offensive against Russia and the function of Ob. West was taken over by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin von Witzleben. In March 1942 von Witzleben took leave of his command due to ill health and from the 8th, von Rundstedt returned as Commander-in-Chief in the West.It was from Saint-Germain that the Ob. West, von Rundstedt, faced the Allied landing in Normandy in June 1944, the invasion as the Germans called it. The German forces were unable to stop the Allied operation, Hitler found fault with the local commanders and decided to relieve von Rundstedt of his command. Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge was then appointed Ob. West and it was a grim situation that he inherited upon his arrival at Saint-Germain on July 3.Saint-Germain thus saw four of the most important Field Marshals of the Third Reich successively assuming command of the Ob. West, and a fifth, the famous Erwin Rommel, was also part of the story. Of these five Generalfeldmarschalls, three died for their involvement in the plot to eliminate Hitler, or for their sympathy with the conspiracy: von Witzleben was executed after an express judgment, and von Kluge and Rommel committed suicide.The Ob. West has left Saint-Germain with some remarkable constructions, most of which are still visible today, nestled in the city, witnesses to this strange episode in the history of the city.