Latest Reviews
A Short History of the World According to Sheep, Sally Coulthard
What’s truly joyful about 'A Short History of the World According to Sheep' is how Coulthard has woven together so many different disciplines – history, literature, archaeology, etymology, genetics, current affairs and politics, earth sciences and astrophysics – into such a witty and entertaining narrative, so that the reader comes away not just more knowledgeable about sheep, but about the world in general.
The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park
The National Museum of Computing, situated within the Bletchley Park complex, is heaven for geeks and computer enthusiasts. Charting the development of computing from the first Turing-Welchman Bombe machine (used to break Enigma messages) to modern day, it provides a bewildering array of equipment that will make the visitor wonder.
Verulamium Museum, St Albans
The Verulamium Museum, named after the Roman town around what is now St Albans, is perfectly placed to tell the story of life before and during the Roman occupation.
The Hitler Years: Triumph, 1933-1939, Frank McDonough
The first volume of 'The Hitler Years' is not just another popular history of the Third Reich: it is a masterclass in the history of Nazi Germany, with an internationally renowned expert as the teacher. As such, it is essential reading for any student of the subject.
London Mithraeum
Bloomberg rescued the London Mithraeum when it purchased the site of its current European headquarters, and in the process brought what was little more than a pile of stones back to awe-inspiring life.
Elizabeth I: A Study in Insecurity
Elizabeth I is one of England’s most recognisable monarchs.
Coughton Court, Warwickshire
Coughton Court near Alcester in Warwickshire is a National Trust-owned Tudor manor house built on land that has been home to the Throckmorton family for over 600 years.
Falling in love with the Chalke Valley History Festival
Chalke Valley History Festival is designed to inspire, excite, and inform. Established in 2011 as a fundraiser for the local cricket club, the festival has rapidly grown in size to become the largest festival dedicated to history in the UK. With a comprehensive programme of speakers lined up for the whole week, it also has living history, ‘pop-up’ free talks, air displays, and family activities, including sword school and interactive First World War trench experiences.
The Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands
The Black Country Living Museum is the UK's third largest open-air museum, covering the history of the area from the 1850s to the 1950s. Set within 26 acres of land, it has a range of period buildings, shops and workshops, carefully transported to and reconstructed at the site, as well as working trams and buses, a 1930s fairground, its own mine shaft and a working replicaan exact copy of something.an exact copy of something. of Thomas Newcomen's 1712 steam engine
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads provides a new economic perspective on world history, taking as its centre not Europe, but the 'true middle of the world', 'the halfway point between east and west, running broadly from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea to the Himalayas'. In so doing, it provides 'a major reassessment of world history', by firmly taking the action away from the West and placing it, as Frankopan would argue, back in its proper place: the crossroads of civilisations.
