It is generally accepted that Karl Benz was the inventor of the motor-car in 1885 - what is less well known is that his car was a three-wheeler. In the motor-industry's early years, the threeand four-wheeled types were developed side by side, but the...

After the close of the First World War, the British motorcycle industry rose to prominence as British motorcycles became almost unbeatable in competitions. However, a shortage of these new model bikes pushed prices to a premium and most people were...

As a journalist for the Independent, Emma Bamford is swept along with the London rat race, lost amongst the egos of Fleet Street. Surrounded by budget cuts and bullies, the thrill of a breaking news story is no longer enough. And at 31, still struggling...

Am I of the growing world, bound to the everlasting root, or am I simply a red-blooded man, destined to die? -Weed The seductive central character from the internationally acclaimed Poison Diaries, Weed, re-awakens in this book to a world where he must...

Katie Hickman went to Mexico looking for magic. She found it in the circus -- Big Top, clowns, elephants, and all -- where cheap, torn materials and tarnished sequins are transformed into nights of glittering illusion. Gradually adjusting to the harsh...

'She's experienced wealth, cultural alienation, homelessness, brushes with fame, prison, rehab, record deals, a million blown second chances, a dozen broken hearts and one bloody-knuckled ultimate spiritual redemption. She even died once in the process,...

Bletchley Park, known to those who worked there as Station X, was the scene of one of the greatest Allied triumphs of the Second World War. The breaking of the Nazi Enigma cyphers by Britain's wartime code-breakers continues to fascinate, with well over...

Developments in microelectronics in the early 1970s meant that computers at home seemed about to become commonplace- the kitchen computer would hold all of the family's recipes and keep a record of food in the larder; the study computer would manage the...

This is a book about a little known element in the history of motive power, the animal powered machine. Windmills and watermills survive in most parts of Britain, but animal-powered machines, whether vertical treadwheels or horizontal horse engines, are...

The central importance of Marx's concept of nature in the formulation of historical materialism has been largely neglected in the extensive literature on Marx. Alfred Schmidt, philosophical successor to Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno in Frankfurt,...

Narrow gauge railways, so well suited to difficult, mountainous terrain, were built in many of the UK's most scenic locations. Their genesis was in mines and quarries where they replaced man- or horse-pulled wagons, but their adaptability meant that by...

Executions have played a crucial - if grisly and controversial - part in British history and provided the bloody climax to many a life, from Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles I and Dick Turpin to untold thousands of anonymous wretches whose names are now...

The blacksmith was once crucial to village life, whether commissioned for the humblest repair, the most luxurious ironwork or even the odd anvil marriage. Occupying prime position in the village, the forge attracted custom from miles around and was a...

The monarchy has made many concessions to the modern age, but the affirming rituals of the coronation - the pageantry, the theatre and the symbolism - are centuries old. Looking at the British coronation from its beginnings, Lucinda Gosling takes the...

This book outlines the development and important events in the history of 500cc motor racing, and it is hoped that it will stimulate or revive interest in an important era in motor-racing evolution.

Eighteenth-century Emma Hamilton was a woman ahead of her time. Her rise to fame and fortune seemed unstoppable - until she began her famous, doomed love affair with Admiral Lord Nelson. Beloved Emma traces Emma Hamilton's journey from Liverpool to...

The aristocratic Duc de Richleau faces new, sinister challenges in this macabre tale of the dark arts. When his good friend Simon Aron s na?ve curiosity is tested, the Duc, along with his ever-patient friends Rex Van Ryn, and Richard Eaton, must...

Model engineering was popularised by pioneering steam enthusiasts, and rapidly grew into an exciting world-wide hobby for amateur engineers. This book describes how model steam engines work, outlines the development of the machine tools used to build the...

Growing up as a child during the Second World War could be a frightening, strange or even an exciting experience. For many city children the war brought evacuation to the countryside and a way of life very different from the one they were used to. For...

In 1967 Beaulieu held the first autojumble in the United Kingdom and collectors of anything remotely connected with motoring found they had a huge market place. Now anything to do with petrol retailing is a collectable item and this book outlines some of...

Covers the history, development, use and fall from favour of many types of exotic instruments, from pocket-sized musical boxes to roll-playing pipe organs and everything else in between. This book describes pianolas, organettes, roller organs,...

Over three hundred years ago, the first steps were made towards the use of steam power. Most of the steps went beyond the boundary of available technology. The reliable drainage of metal and coal mines was the incentive. Thomas Newcomen using...

Coaching young cricketers is a demanding role no matter how experienced you are. Youth Cricket Coaching provides an authoritative, practical, one-stop guide for all cricket coaches, teachers and players looking for ways to improve both young players'...

Outlines the history of the gunpowder industry.

In 1886 Elisabeth Nietzsche, Friedrich's bigoted, imperious sister, founded a 'racially pure' colony in Paraguay together with a band of blond-haired fellow Germans. Over a century later, Ben Macintyre sought out the survivors of Nueva Germania to...

Jasper' refers to the highly distinctive blue-and-white wares that have been produced by the Wedgwood company for more than two centuries. It was arguably Josiah Wedgwood's most important contribution to ceramic art and was a direct result of several...

Native American pottery of the U.S. southwest has long been considered collectible and today can fetch many thousands of dollars per piece. Authors, collectors, and dealers Carol and Allen Hayes provide readers with a concise overview of the pottery of...

The source of tremendous power and the focus of incredible devotion, throughout history notions of beauty have been integral to social life and culture. Each age has had its own standards- a gleaming white brow during the Renaissance, the black eyebrows...

Gargoyles are an architectural feature designed to throw rainwater clear of the walls of a building. Widely used on medieval churches, these water spouts were often richly decorated and fashioned as serpents' heads and grotesque demons. Today, the term...

The building-block has been a familiar and much-loved presence in children's toy-boxes for centuries. In the twentieth century, however, new production techniques allowed it to evolve into a multiplicity of systems which enabled any child to be both...

In the popular mind, the history of the railway begins in 1830 with the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. In fact, by that time the concept of the railway in Britain was already more than 250 years old. The interim is a fascinating but...

The Flying Scotsman is probably the most famous railway locomotive in the world. It first caused a sensation for its beauty and its speed in 1923, and it soon became a national icon. The fastest and most comfortable way of travelling between London and...

Austin, Hillman, Morris, Standard and Wolseley are just a few of the myriad marques that once constituted Britain's indigenous motor industry. Born in 1896 into the high summer of Victorian prosperity, the industry survived until the collapse of MG Rover...

From lumbering house-shakers on solid tyres to smooth turbo-power in the 1970s, the lorry has come a very long way in a remarkably short time. In the early competition between steam, petrol and electricity, the internal combustion engine had more or less...

The slate industry has left an indelible mark on the history of our society. Slate quarries and the associated masses of waste have an awe-inspiring impact. It was an phenomenon of the nineteenth century, a product of the industrial revolution. This book...

In 1202, a 32-year old Italian finished one of the most influential books of all time, which introduced modern arithmetic to Western Europe. Devised in India in the seventh and eighth centuries and brought to North Africa by Muslim traders, the...

In 1988 Dirk Bogarde returned from two idyllic decades in France to live in England. Shortly afterwards, the then Literary Editor of the Daily Telegraph, admiring the 'lucid frankness' of Bogarde's memoirs, invited him to review some books for the...

The fourth volume of Dirk Bogarde's highly acclaimed biography, Backcloth is also one of the most intimate and searching. Based on personal letters, notebooks and diaries, it explores the patterns of happiness and pain that have made up this life. From...

In this third edition, bestselling author Sue Cowley offers advice on improving skills and confidence, and getting studentsexcited about writing-not just in literacy or English, but across the curriculum. This book is full of engaging and creative...

Capturing the disbelief, the chaos and the terror of the fateful night the Titanic sank 100 years ago, Titanic on Trial brings to life the tragedy through the voices of those who survived it. Stories about the sinking have become legendary - how the band...