European history

A biographical history of Aleister Crowley’s activities in Berlin from 1930 to 1932 as Hitler was rising to power • Examines Crowley’s focus on his art, his work as a spy for British Intelligence, his colorful love life and sex magick exploits, and his...

The history and philosophy of the mysterious Cathar religion and its lost treasure• Demonstrates that Catharism is not simply a heretical Christian cult as it is often portrayed• Examines the evidence for the existence of a lost Cathar treasure and its...

Wales is a land with a vast wealth of ghost stories, including fantastical animals, flickering death omens and unseen things that go bump in the night. Whether these tales are based on true events, or are the creations of active imaginations, is known...

Human civilisation was not just created by humans: we had the help of many creatures, and foremost among these were sheep. From Argentina to Australia and from Mesopotamia to Mongolia, just about every country with hills and meadows has adopted and then...

My hair is a statement and always will be, even when I no longer have any.The social revolution of the Swinging Sixties led to a renaissance of unchecked hair growth, and long hair, especially on men, was worn as a political or countercultural symbol of...

An accessible biography of the venerable Bede, regarded as the father of English history.This book investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673735), the foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and the 'father of English history.'...

A fresh reading of Aldus Manutius, preeminent in the history of the printed book.Aldus Manutius is perhaps the greatest gure in the history of the printed book: in Venice, Europe's capital of printing, he invented the italic type and issued more rst...

Eighty years after the fall of Benito Mussolini, controversy remains about what his dictatorship represented. This reflects the different sides to the Duce's leadership: while adept at nurturing and enforcing his personal political power, Mussolini's...

A common view is that the Second World War in Europe ended in May 1945. But fighting continued for over a decade in the Baltic states. Stuck between two totalitarian regimesStalin's USSR and Hitler's Reichthe populations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania...

Field marshal and statesman Gustaf Mannerheim (1867-1951) was the most acclaimed and the most hated Finn of the twentieth century. After three decades of loyal and distinguished service in the Russian Tsarist army, he returned to his homeland in 1917 to...

A landmark new history of the great English county of Lancashire, exploring its people's impact on Britain and beyond.This popular history explores the cultural heritage and identity of Lancashire, stretching from the Mersey to the Lake District. Paul...

In this expanded edition of a widely praised book, now available for the first time in North America, the renowned journalist Patrick Cockburn looks at his experience of contracting polio as a child in the context of a new pandemic, that of COVID-19. The...

This is the late 1970s and '80s as explained through the urgent and still-relevant songs of the Clash, the Specials, the Au Pairs, the Style Council, the Pet Shop Boys, and nearly four hundred other bands and solo artists.Each chapter presents a mixtape...

Republican passions demonstrates the crucial role of family and friendship networks in the creation of the French Third Republic. Based on the family archives of Lon Laurent-Pichat, journalist, Deputy and Life Senator, this study paints a rich picture of...

This book uses amputation and prostheses to tell a new story about medicine and embodied knowledge-making in early modern Europe. It draws on the writings of craft surgeons and learned physicians to follow the heated debates that arose from changing...

Socialist Republic is a timely account of 1980s left-wing politics in South Yorkshire. It explores how Sheffield City Council set out to renew the British Left. Through careful analysis of the Council's agenda and how it interacted with trade unions,...

St Columba is one of the most important figures in the early history of the British Isles. A native of Donegal and a nobleman of royal ancestry, his outstanding religious career spanned both sides of the Irish Sea. On the Scottish island of Iona he...

The only comprehensive history of Iceland available in English.The only comprehensive history of Iceland available in English.Unique among European societies, Iceland was founded late, in the Viking Age, and has copious written and archaeological sources...

Sicily was the jewel of the Mediterranean, and Sicilians were the first civilized people of the Western World-here is their rich and diverse history in crisp prose and lively illustration. This concise history relates how Sicily rose to become the first...

A unique look at how classical notions of ascent and flight preoccupied early modern British writers and artistsBetween the late sixteenth century and early nineteenth century, the British imagination - poetic, political, intellectual, spiritual and...