The Battles that Created England 793-1100

The Battles that Created England 793-1100 written by Arthur C. Wright and

published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 256

In popular imagination the warfare of the Early Middle Ages is often obscure, unstructured,

and unimaginative, lost between two military machines, the ‘Romans’ and the ‘Normans’,

which saw the country invaded and partitioned. In point of fact, we have a considerable

amount of information at our fingertips and the picture that should emerge is one of

English ability in the face of sometimes overwhelming pressures on society, and a

resilience that eventually drew the older kingdoms together in new external responses

which united the ‘English’ in a common sense of purpose.

This is the story of how the Saxon kingdoms, which had maintained their independence for generations, were compelled to unite their forces to resist the external threat of the Viking incursions. The kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex were gradually welded into one as Wessex grew in strength to become the dominant Saxon kingdom.

From the weak Æthelred to the strong Alfred, rightly deserving the epithet ‘Great’, to the strong, but equally unfortunate, Harold, this era witnessed brutal hand-to-hand battles in congested melees, which are normally portrayed as unsophisticated but deadly brawls. In reality, the warriors of the era were experienced fighters often displaying sophisticated strategies and deploying complex tactics.

Our principal source, replete with reasonably reliable reportage, are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, comprehensive in collation though subject to oral distortion and mythological excursions. The narrative of these does not appear to flow continuously, leaving too much to imagination but, by creating a complementary matrix of landscapes, topography and communications it is possible to provide convincing scenery into which we can fit other archaeological and philological evidence to show how the English nation was formed in the bloody slaughter of battle.

A part of history that has little exposure in comparison to others, but lately even I have noticed an increase in awareness and exposure in recent years through books, films and documentaries. This book goes through various battles that would give England a solid and united basis to stand proud and become a bigger military power. The English counties that were previously staunchly independent, were united under Alfred the Great to take on the invading powers to be. The book is split into 42 chapters and all of them were a good and easy read with notes at the end of each chapter too, which I really enjoyed. Credit to the author who has done a good job and a book I have thoroughly enjoyed, in fact I can see myself re-reading this book a number of times in the future. An excellent book if you looking to get into early military history or if your a student of the subject, you will enjoy this book.

Britain’s Industrial Revolution in 100 Objects

Britain’s Industrial Revolution in 100 Objects written by John Broom and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 320

The period of Britain’s Industrial Revolution was perhaps the most transformative

era in the nation’s history. Between about 1750 and 1914, life and work, home and

school, church and community changed irreversibly for Britain’s rapidly expanding

population. Lives were transformed, some for the better, but many endured abysmal

domestic and workplace conditions. Eventually improvements were made to

Britain’s social fabric which led to the prospect of richer and more fulfilled lives for

working men, women and even children. Focusing on 100 objects that either directly

influenced, or arose from, these changes, John Broom offers a distinctive insight into

this fascinating age. With plentiful illustrations and suggestions for visits to hundreds

of places of historical interest, this book makes an ideal companion for a journey into

Britain’s industrial past.

A brilliant subject matter, a fascinating and very interesting book, but then I do love this period of history and changes so maybe I’m slightly biased. We all very much learn about the industrial revolution from our days at school and this book is a bit like a throwback to those days, where we are introduced again to elements, items, people and changes that happened and might have forgotten about in a period of great change and upheaval. The book charts political upheaval through laws and events and the movement of people from the country into the cities.

A knowledgeable book with a lot of good effort by the author, I also enjoyed the links to places

and further reading after each object, which added an extra dynamic to the book. Certainly, a

book I enjoyed very much as I do all the ‘100 object’ books, but also a good book if you want to

learn more about the industrial revolution and what it bought. Highly recommended. 

The Plot of Shame Us Military Executions in Europe During WW2

The Plot of Shame Us Military Executions in Europe During WW2 written

by Paul Johnson and published by Frontline Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 224

The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery is the last resting place of 6,012 American

soldiers who died fighting in a small portion of Northern France during the First

World War. The impressive cemetery is divided into four plots marked A to D.

However, few visitors are aware that across the road, behind the immaculate façade of the superintendent’s office, unmarked and completely surrounded by impassable shrubbery, is Plot E, a semi-secret fifth plot that contains the bodies of ninety-six American soldiers. These were men who were executed for crimes committed in the European Theatre of Operations during and just after the Second World War.

Originally, the men whose death sentences were carried out were buried near the sites of their executions in locations as far afield as England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Algeria. A number of the men were executed in the grounds of Shepton Mallet prison in Somerset – the majority of whom were hanged in the execution block, with two being shot by a firing squad in the prison yard. The executioner at most of the hangings was Thomas William Pierrepoint, assisted mainly by his more-famous nephew Albert Pierrepoint.

Then, in 1949, under a veil of secrecy, the ‘plot of shame’, as it has become known, was established in France. The site does not exist on maps of the cemetery and it is not mentioned on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s website. Visits to Plot E are not encouraged. Indeed, public access is difficult because the area is concealed, surrounded by bushes, and is closed to visitors.

No US flag is permitted to fly over the plot and the graves themselves have no names, just small, simple stones the size of index cards that are differentiated only by reference numbers. Even underground the dishonoured are set apart, with each body being positioned with its back to the main cemetery.

In The Plot of Shame, the historian Paul Johnson uncovers the history of Plot E and the terrible stories of wartime crime linked to it.

A really fascinating book that tells the tales of a group of American men, you would very rarely her about as these are the tales of US servicemen sentenced to death for crimes at the time were seen as heinous even during a time of war. The book is good in that it starts out with the Articles of War, the executioners and the plot where the majority of these men were buried in uncelebrated graves. The book then goes through the various stories on a year-by-year basis. The stories are explained in great detail and a really good amount of research has gone into this book, a very well informed book. Certainly a great book for those true crime fans.

Ann Walker - The Life & Death of Gentleman Jack's Wife

Ann Walker - The Life and Death of Gentleman Jack’s Wife written by Rebecca Batley and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 240

Lesbian. Lover. Lunatic.

These are just some of the words usually used to describe Ann Walker, the often

overlooked wife of Anne Lister, better known by some as Gentleman Jack. Ann was

one half of England’s first same-sex marriage and yet the rainbow plaque that marks

their historic union on the wall of the Holy Trinity Church, York, features Ann’s name

in a font only half the size of her wife’s. Her story has been long forgotten.

Born into wealth and privilege Ann was one of the most eligible heiresses in 19th century Yorkshire and the question on everyone’s lips in 1830’s Halifax was why a respectable young heiress, with property, fortune and connection risked everything, even her freedom, to become entangled with the notorious Gentleman Jack?

The answer to this question reveals a woman of immense courage, faith, and determination, but her voice has remained silent….until now. Within the depths of Ann’s diary - discovered by Diane Halford in 2020 - the answers to some of the above questions can be found, as can insight into Ann as an independent woman.

The life of Ann is worthy of its own narrative and it is time for Ann to step out of the shadow of Gentleman Jack and tell her own story.

This book was an excellent read that would accompany the original TV series well, although I think you get more from the book and it stands well on its own. The author has written a good book that has been well presented and written. The book reveals more about Ann Walker than the Tv series, although I only saw a couple of episodes, an excellent book about a seemingly inspiring person.

Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain

Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain written by Malcolm Clegg and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 160

The vast majority of Britain’s railways were built between 1830 and 1900 which

happened to coincide with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). By the turn

of the Nineteenth/Twentieth Century, over one hundred different railway companies

were operating in Britain on more than 22,000 miles of railway track.

Although these new railways brought prosperity to the nation and enabled goods and passengers to be speedily transported the length and breadth of the country for the first time, this remarkable feat of engineering brought with it some unwelcome side-effects, one of which was crime. Wherever crowds of people gather, or unattended goods are being transported, a few unscrupulous individuals and career criminals will usually emerge to ply their trade. Some railway staff members are also unable to resist the temptation of stealing money or goods passing through their hands.

This book gives an insight into the nature and types of crime committed on the railways during the Victorian era, incorporating such offences as theft, assaults and murder, fraud, obstructing the railways and various other infringements of the law.

Over seventy different cases mentioned in the book are true accounts of events which took place on the railway during the Victorian era, the details of which were obtained as a result of hours of researching British Newspaper Archives of that period. The author hopes that readers will get as much pleasure from analysing the various cases cited in the book, as he himself derived from researching and writing about them.

An interesting book, Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain that does exactly what it says on the tin. A wide variety of crimes were committed on the railways and surrounds. The crimes listed range from the serious right down to the almost trivial, but It’s a good read to see a lot about the social issues and crimes going on at the time. While some stories or incidents got a few pages of writing, quite a few, the least serious got a paragraph. But like I said well written and a good read about crime on the railways. Certainly one for those interested in railways or the Victorian era.

Rituals of Death - From Prehistoric Times to Now

Rituals of Death - From Prehistoric Times to Now written by Stan Beckensall

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 176

We all must die, and how society deals with the disposal is fascinating in the way it reflects the beliefs of the people of the time and ways in which they honour or do not honour the dead. Having excavated prehistoric burials, the author weighs carefully the evidence of what people might have thought of the dead through the way they buried them and what was put into the graves. These excavations were done mainly with the help of young people, and the way that this has been organised in order to get the maximum information has been an essential part of the task. The author provides much detail of this that makes it more interesting and personal.

Burial customs change, so the book includes a section on events such as the Black Death and cholera to show how such catastrophes change people's minds and customs.

The present problem of burial has been highlighted as it was then by the horror of an invisible disease, the effects of which we have to cope with. In the past the causes of the disease, when discovered, led to Public health inquiries into the causes, and to improvements in some burial grounds. The traditional burial in “God's little Acre' around a church provides with much information about people through their headstones and other monuments – something accessible to all who visit our churches today, and examples from Northumberland give a typical range of what we find there.

They say never judge a book by its cover, so my first impression was that this might be a bit of a bleak read due to its subject matter. Far from it, this book was interesting, revealing and very comprehensively research, thought out and written. The book goes from the prehistoric times of stone circles and mounds to more formal gravestones we see today. But that is only part of the story because the book looks at the rituals and the ways we celebrate life and death. For example, if you were a warrior you’d be buried in a shallow grave with your weapons and shield to show you were a warrior in life. Today this can’t really happen and so the gravestones have become more elaborate in look and design, therefore the gravestone tells the story of the person through text and ‘add ons’. An excellent and fascinating book that has been beautifully written but not in an overly sensible way. The pictures throughout the book are brilliant and actually tell the story, I’ve now learnt to look at the whole headstone including the back. I thoroughly recommend this book to all.

A Dark History of Gin

A Dark History of Gin written by Mike Rendell and published by Pen &

Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 208

A Dark History of Gin looks at the origins and development of a drink which seems 

to have a universal and timeless appeal. Historian Mike Rendell explores the origins 

of distilling in the ancient world and considers the how, when, where and why of the 

‘happy marriage’ between distilled spirits and berries from the juniper bush. The book 

traces the link between gin and the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium) and looks at 

how the drink was brought across to England when the Dutch-born William of Orange 

became king.

From the tragic era of the gin craze in eighteenth-century London, through to the emergence of ‘the cocktail’, the book follows the story of gin across the Atlantic to America and the emergence of the mixologist. It also follows the growth of the Temperance Movement and the origins of the Prohibition, before looking at the period between the First and Second World Wars – the cocktail age. From there the book looks at the emergence in the twentieth century of craft gins across the globe, enabling the drink to enjoy a massive increase in popularity.

The book is intended as a light-hearted look-behind-the-scenes at how ‘Mother’s Ruin’ developed into rather more than just a plain old ’G & T’.

I must admit that I came to this book with some preconceived ideas of how the book would run, expecting mainly a book about slavery & crime. But I must admit that I was wrong. What we have a is really comprehensive read through a timeline, that mainly focuses on Britain, but it does have a bit of America and the Scandinavian countries thrown in for good measure. The book begins with the juniper berry and follows through to being a cocktail and more mainstream drink in the modern world. We go through prohibition in America, the influence of the Low Countries, and what I really enjoyed the effect on politics and regulation through a number of acts, and some of the riots and disruptions that occurred.

I also quite enjoyed the appendices at the back of the book which have a number of gin

recipes and also the slang involved in the gin world, these quite interesting. This was

an excellent book with a lot of research and entertaining writing from Mike Rendell.

I must say a big thumbs up for the good amount of cartoons and drawings throughout

the book, these were both amusing and entertaining. I would certainly recommend this

book to any fans of gin.

A History of Insanity and the Asylum

The History of Insanity and the Asylum written by Julianna Cummings and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 232

The iconic image of the lunatic asylum is one that often leaves us wondering

what went on inside these imposing buildings.

In this new book, Juliana Cummings first questions what behaviours and characteristics define insanity and leads us through a comprehensive history of insanity and the asylum from the early treatment and care of mental illness in the Middle Ages and early modern period through to the closure of mental institutions in the twentieth century.

Throughout the years, we learn of how the treatments and institutional structures for caring for the mentally ill-developedand changed. The Age of Enlightenment and the rise of humanitarian reform was followed by the emergence of the insane asylum in the 1800s, which saw the beginning of the widespread construction of asylums.

We explore the different reasons for admittance, as well as the vast array of treatments. It shows that your treatment as an inmate of an asylum could vary depending on your gender and your social class.

Although once thought of as criminals, the mentally ill were gradually treated with care. Juliana discusses the different treatments used over time as attitudes towards the mentally ill changed, such as drug use, psychosurgery and insulin therapy. We learn of the regulations and reforms that led to the closure of asylums, how their closure affected society and consider how the mentally ill are treated today.

This insightful new history helps us to better understand the haunting past of the asylum and leads us down a fascinating road to where we come to an understanding of a time in history that is often mistaken.

This was a fascinating book in which we look at the history of the asylum system, looking at the buildings, the treatments of insanity and reasons for putting people in asylums. Also the book goes back in time to the early Middle Ages time in history, and the book goes right through to the late 20th century when thankfully society has decided to leave the days of the asylum go by.

What emerges from the book is the number of reasons for going into an asylum, often without choice for the person deemed mad. Plus some of the reasons why they were in there are so lose if not criminal, the book also covers the subject of treatment, and along with the introduction of drugs some treatments could vary from being completely spaced out to more sinister things like electric shock treatment or cases where humans were just experimented on. Luckily, society has a more grown up attitude to mental health these days and we have moved on from such draconian ways. This was a really fascinating book, in which there was lots of research and the book was well written and easy to understand, so compliments to the author Julianna Cummings. An ideal book if your are interested in mental health, and might be a bit surprising for those who know little about this subject.

Transforming Hitler's Germany

Transforming Hitler’s Germany written by Tim Heath & Annmarie Vickers and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

As the last flames of the Second World War flickered and died, Germany emerged into

an apocalyptic wasteland, where the Hitler Youth generation would be cursed with the

running sore of National Socialism. With the uncaged bear of the Soviet Union flexing

its muscles and the escalating tensions between East and West providing some

distraction from the funeral pyre of the Third Reich, those living in West Germany soon

understood that they were the geological bulkhead, a component in the prevention of

communism spreading throughout the infantile peace of post-Second World War Europe.

Despite all the destruction and political tensions which surrounded them, the young men and women of Germany were keen to experience the world beyond their own precarious borders. In August 1945, Tia Schuster and Lisa Kraus were two fourteen-year-old Berliners, and - like many - they found themselves shoehorned into what was to be the second ‘new era’ of their young lives. The first had brought about only death and destruction, yet this second had a cold unfamiliarity about it.

As the late 1940s gave way to the 1950s and ‘60s, a series of new decadent eras - of rock-n-roll, fashion, flower power and sexual revolution - was on the horizon, which posed a threat to the traditional German way of life championed by the Nazi regime and post-Second World War German government. With this heady mixture of new-found freedom, the youth of Germany unwittingly became a feature of everything that both fascism and communism despised.

This unique work tells the story of the tentative steps taken by young men and women into the ‘afterlife of Nazi Germany’. Encompassing memoirs along the way, it presents a quirky portrayal of charm, humour, mischief and personal accomplishment along with a vitally important slice of (West) Germany’s social history, which has remained hidden from the literary world for decades. 

Transforming Hitler’s Germany is a book that follows the lives of a number of young people but particularly  Tia Schuster, Lisa Kraus and friends. The book follows how they saw life whilst living under the Nazi party, but then life in Germany after WW2 in Berlin. The book through notes and letters, looks at their beliefs about life post-war ranging on a number of subjects such as music, love, relationships, sexuality, education, work, growing up and also social influences that were filtering through from the west. I believe that this is an important book that looks at the social history of young people in Germany, which I know from reading I think, five previous Tim Heath books, and I personally think that the addition of Annmarie Vickers, gives an extra balance and maybe a little more female influence to the book. I always enjoy a Tim Heath book as he often concentrates on the social side or the lives and views of women and children living through WW2 Germany, something we don’t hear much about.

I would like to say finally, that being a Dad to teenage boys 18 & 19, they could learn a lot from this book, as I got a lot out of reading this first-class book. A fine book I would highly recommend to anyone interested in social history or the lives and thoughts of young people. An early contender for one of my top ten books of the year already.

Voices of the Georgian Era - 100 Remarkable Years, In Their Own Words

Voices of the Georgian Era - 100 Remarkable Years, In Their Own Words

written by James Hobson and published by Pen & Sword Books - £22 -

Hardback - Pages 224

Voices of the Georgian Age is the story of seventeen witnesses to the remarkably

diverse Georgian century after 1720. While being very different in many ways, the

voices have two things in common: they have an outstanding story to tell, and that

story is available to all for free on the internet.

Despite the obvious constraints of surviving evidence, men and woman, rich and poor and respectable and criminal are all covered. Some wrote out their life story with deliberation, knowing that it would be read in future, while others simply put their private thoughts to paper for their own benefit. All are witnesses to their age.

This book guides you through their diaries, memoirs and travelogues, providing an entertaining insight in their lives, and a personal history of the period. It is also a preparatory guide for those wishing to read the original documents themselves.

This was a very interesting and insightful book that looked at the Georgian Period of 100 years through the words and lives of a good number of people. What was good was the wide range of people the book covers, you could say the stereotypical view of the Georgian Age is men and women dressed to the nines in big fancy clothes and covered in make up, usually socialising or taking part in leisure activities.(or maybe that’s just me) But the book covers a wide range of people from well to do, creatives, farm workers and even criminals. It reveals a lot about people, their thoughts and viewpoints and paints an excellent picture of the people rather than the events. I have read a few of James Hobson’s books and he always writes in an informative but relaxed way which is easy to read and very enjoyable. Certainly, if you want a close up view of the Georgian Era, this would be an excellent book. Highly recommended.

British Transport Police - A Definitive History of the Early Years & Subsequent Development

British Transport Police - A Definitive History of the Early Years & Subsequent

Development written by Malcolm Clegg and published by Pen & Sword Books

- £25 - Hardback - Pages 256

This book traces the history of the British Transport Police, the National Police Force

responsible for policing the railways of England, Scotland and Wales. The roots of

the Force go back almost 200 years, starting with the development of the railways

during the Nineteenth Century. Hundreds of railway companies were founded and

although mergers and amalgamations took place, by the end of the century, well over

100 railway companies were operating, most of which employed railway policemen.

The first railway policemen were recruited to work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1826. Other railway companies quickly followed and by the 1850s, railway policemen with their smart uniforms and top hats were a common sight on Britain’s railways.

During the Twentieth Century, railway companies continued to merge before being nationalised in 1948. The following year, the British Transport Commission (BTC) was created to oversee not only the newly nationalised railway network, but also the nation’s docks, shipping, inland waterways, road transport, road haulage and other companies.

Also in 1949, the British Transport Commission Police (BTC Police) was created to take over the policing of these newly nationalised institutions. All the former railway, dock and canal police forces were then absorbed into the new BTC Police Force.

The BTC was abolished in 1962, having incurred serious financial losses. The BTC Police was renamed the British Transport Police in 1963 and has continued to operate ever since. It no longer polices the docks, harbours and canals for reasons outlined in this book.

Well this was an interesting book, and quite a revealing book in that I learnt quite a bit about another part of the police force and how it has progressed over the years. I suppose to today, that we would generally think of the British Transport Police as being London centric, but it certainly didn’t start out that way, in fact its origins were in the north of the country working for specific companies. It was also intriguing to learn that it expanded its scope to include not just railways but places like docks, canals and the road network too. The book also explains the development of these and eventually the demise really as these specific workplaces were then bought under regional forces.

The book also looks into different types of crimes encountered too or those that were specific to transport hub type places. The author has done a really good job in setting this book with plenty of good level research and detail. I’ve learnt a lot from this book and it was nice to read a book about the police that was different to ‘Jack the Ripper’ and murder cases. The back of the book has lot of additional information too which I found quite moving but good to learn about. This has been a brilliant book to read and would happily recommend it to anyone, especially if you were considering joining the police force. 

The London Boys - David Bowie, Marc Bolan and the 60s Teenage Dream

The London Boys - David Bowie, Marc Bolan and the 60s Teenage Dream written

by Marc Burrows and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 264

Rock n roll fanatics, mods, beat group wannabes, underground hippies, glam rock icons:

David Bowie and Marc Bolan spent the first part of their careers following remarkably similar

paths. From the day they met in 1965 as Davie Jones and Mark Feld, rock n roll wannabes

painting their manager's office in London’s Denmark Street, they would remain friends and

rivals, each watching closely and learning from the other. In the years before they launched

an unbeatable run of era-defining glam rock masterpieces at the charts, they were both just

another face on the scene, meeting for coffee in Soho, hanging out at happenings and

jamming in parks. Here, they are our guides through the decade that changed everything,

as the gloom of post-war London exploded into the technicolour dream of the swinging sixties,

a revolution in music, fashion, art and sexuality. Part duel-biography, part social history, part

musical celebration of an era, The London Boys follows the British youth culture explosion

through they eyes of two remarkable young men on the front lines of history.

A fantastic book that looks at the early lives before super stardom of two of Britain's

biggest stars in David Bowie and Marc Bolan from the 60’s, with a good bit of social

history thrown into the mix. The book looks at the teenage years and early careers

of these two music stars during the decade of the 1960’s. London youth culture and

the music industry are all revealed here through great stories and if you're a fan of

these two guys or the sixties, you should really enjoy this book. Some good work

and research has gone into this book, and it's one I would happily recommend to

anyone.

Kitty Fisher - The First Female Celebrity

Kitty Fisher - The First Female Celebrity written by Joanne Major and published

by Pen & Sword Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 208

Generations of children have grown up knowing Kitty Fisher from the nursery rhyme,

but who was she? Remembered as an eighteenth-century ‘celebrated’ courtesan and

style icon, it is surprising to learn that Kitty’s career in the upper echelons of London’s

sex industry was brief. For someone of her profession, Kitty had one great flaw: she

fell in love too easily.

Kitty Fisher managed her public relations and controlled her image with care. In a time when women’s choices were limited, she navigated her way to fame and fortune. Hers was a life filled equally with happiness and tragedy, one which left such an impact that the fascinating Kitty Fisher’s name still resonates today. She was the Georgian era’s most famous – and infamous – celebrity.

This is more than just a biography of Kitty Fisher’s short, scandalous and action-packed life. It is also a social history of the period looking not just at Kitty but also the women who were her contemporaries, as well as the men who were drawn to their sides… and into their beds. In this meticulously researched, lively and enjoyable book we discover the real woman at the heart of Kitty Fisher’s enduring myth and legend.

An interesting read looking at the influence and some could say the start of what a celebrity culture could bring albeit a Georgian one. The book follows the story of Kitty Fisher, a celebrity made famous at the time, this book which also featured other women at the time is a fascinating look not only of women in society back then but also at the social history of the time, a time that was dominated by men, and women stayed indoors. A fascinating read.

Shipwrecks in 100 Objects

Shipwrecks in 100 Objects written by Simon Wills and published by

Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 224

The history of shipwrecks involves many shocking episodes: from men who saw shipmates eaten

by sharks, to castaways who ate each other. Learn about the cowardly captain who deserted his

passengers on a sinking ship, the obstinate ship-designer who took 480 men to their deaths, and

the first mate who wrecked his own ship for insurance money.

Historian and genealogist Dr Simon Wills is maritime adviser to BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? programme. In this fascinating book he uses objects associated with real incidents as touchstones for every tale. Our ancestors believed that sea monsters destroyed ships, but better-established causes include storms, war, pirates, human incompetence, fire and ice.

The pages of this book are packed full of tales of dramatic rescues and miraculous survivals, and as well as the stories of the innovations that have improved safety at sea. Meet the man shipwrecked three times within an hour, a coastguard still diving overboard to save lives at 79, and the lifeboat inventor who endured someone else taking credit for his work. Ships can have character too: refusing to sink despite overwhelming odds, or even returning to haunt us as ghost ships.

The dangerous life afloat stimulated pioneers to create the lifeboat service, offshore lighthouses, and lifejackets. Vessels lost at sea also inspired rewards for bravery, and artists and writers such as J.M.W. Turner, William Wordsworth, and Yann Martel the author of Life of Pi.

Featuring famous wrecks such as Mary Rose and Titanic, this book introduces other less well-known but equally remarkable events from our nautical heritage, some of which seem almost too extraordinary to be true.

Shipwrecks in 100 Objects is fast becoming one of my favourite book series, and the reason for this is that it shows how much you can learn about something just from small, seemingly inanimate objects or places. This is probably the 4th 100 Objects book that I have read, and this book is just as good as the others. They are all very interesting to read, the information is always insightful and intriguing, the authors always seem to do so much research and put plenty of detail into the book. This book covers a plethora of shipwrecks or problems at sea, ranging from wrecks through the weather, ‘monsters’, pirates and collisions with ships and the rocks. The objects are also wide-ranging and obscure too, such as paintings, medals, stained glass windows, tickets, photos and much more. I fully enjoyed this book and in quite a way it gets you hooked on the sea-faring life, if you are into life on the waves, you’ll love this book.

Factory Girls - The Working Lives of Women & Children

Factory Girls - The Working Lives of Women & Children written by Paul Chrystal

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

Ever since there have been factories, women and children have, more often than not, worked in

those factories. What is perhaps less well known is that women also worked underground in coal

mines and overground scaling the inside of chimneys. Young children were also put to work in

factories and coalmines; they were deployed inside chimneys, often half-starved so that they

could shin up ever-narrower flues.

This book charts the unhappy but aspirational story of women and children at work through the Industrial Revolution to 1914. Without women, there would have been no pre-industrial cottage industries, without women the Industrial Revolution would not have been nearly as industrial and nowhere near as revolutionary.

Many women, and children, were obliged to take up work in the mills and factories – long hours, dangerous, often toxic conditions, monotony, bullying, abuse and miserly pay were the usual hallmarks of a day’s work – before they headed homeward to their other job: keeping home and family together.

This long overdue and much-needed book also covers the social reformers, the role of feminism and activism and the various Factory Acts and trade unionism.

We examine how women and children suffered chronic occupational diseases and disabling industrial injuries – life changing and life-shortening – and often a one-way ticket to the workhouse. The book concludes with a survey of the art, literature and music which formed the soundtrack for the factory girl and the climbing boys.

My word what a fantastic book about the history of women and children in the workplace really from the early civilisation times. Some of the conditions and standards in which both women and children had to work in were just crazy and disgusting, it beggars belief more weren’t killed on a regular basis. Especially children who were often forced into small, cramped and very dangerous positions often to eek out the minoucha of what was possible. I really enjoyed this book and I’ve learnt a lot as the author Paul Chrystal has written a very detailed and comprehensive account. I would say this book is fantastic and a must for anyone who wants to learn more about women or children in the workplace. I’m really looking forward to the second book in this pairing, and hope I get a chance to review it.