Download or read book An Alternative History of Britain written by TIMOTHY. VENNING and published by Pen & Sword Military. This book was released on 2024-05-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continuing his exploration of the alternative paths that British history might so easily have taken, Timothy Venning turns his attention to the Hundred Years War between England and France. Could the English have won in the long term, or, conversely, have been decisively defeated sooner? Among the many scenarios discussed are what would have happened if the Black Prince had not died prematurely of the Black Death, leaving the 10-year-old Richard to inherit Edward IIIs crown. What would have been the consequences if France's Scottish allies had been victorious at Neville's Cross in 1346, while most English forces were occupied in France? What if Henry V had recovered from the dysentery that killed him at 35, giving time for his son Henry VI to inherit the combined crowns of France and England as a mature (and half-French) man rather than an infant controlled by others? And what if Joan of Arc had not emerged to galvanize French resistance at Orleans? While necessarily speculative, all the scenarios are discussed within the framework of a deep understanding of the major driving forces, tensions and trends that shaped British history and help to shed light upon them. In so doing they help the reader to understand why things panned out as they did, as well as what might have been in this fascinating period that still arouses such strong passions on both sides of the Channel.

Download or read book Invasion written by Kenneth Macksey and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-01-19 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The WWII historian’s bracingly accurate analysis of what might have happened if Hitler ordered Operation Sea Lion to breech the shores of England. In June 1940, German troops gathered just across the English Channel, poised for the invasion of Britain. With France defeated and Britain cowed, Hitler seemed ready for his greatest gamble. In this compelling alternative history, the Germans launch the invasion that, in reality, was never more than a plan. Landing between Dover and Hythe, German troops push inland supported by the Luftwaffe and the impregnable panzers, and strike out towards London. The British, desperate to defeat the invaders, rally and prepare for a crucial confrontation at Maidstone. Realistic, carefully researched and superbly written, Invasion is a classic of alternate history and a thought-provoking look at how Britain’s war might have been. “Macksey’s blend of what actually happened and what might have been makes for a piece of writing comparable to Frederick Forsyth at his best.” —Jack Higgins “Convincingly described and excellently illustrated.” —The Daily Telegraph, UK

Download or read book Buried written by Alice Roberts and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘Tender, fascinating … Lucid and illuminating’ Robert Macfarlane Funerary rituals show us what people thought about mortality; how they felt about loss; what they believed came next. From Roman cremations and graveside feasts, to deviant burials with heads rearranged, from richly furnished Anglo Saxon graves to the first Christian burial grounds in Wales, Buried provides an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain. As she did with her pre-history of Britain in Ancestors, Professor Alice Roberts combines archaeological finds with cutting-edge DNA research and written history to shed fresh light on how people lived: by examining the stories of the dead. PRE-ORDER CRYPT, THE FINAL BOOK IN ALICE ROBERTS' BRILLIANT TRILOGY – OUT FEBRUARY 2024.

Download or read book Ruled Britannia written by Harry Turtledove and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-11-05 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year is 1597. For nearly a decade, the island of Britain has been under the rule of King Philip in the name of Spain. The citizenry live under an enforced curfew—and in fear of the Inquisition’s agents, who put heretics to the torch in public displays. And with Queen Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London, the British have no symbol to unite them against the enemy who occupies their land. William Shakespeare has no interest in politics. His passion is writing for the theatre, where his words bring laughter and tears to a populace afraid to speak out against the tyranny of the Spanish crown. But now Shakespeare is given an opportunity to pen his greatest work—a drama that will incite the people of Britain to rise against their persecutors—and change the course of history.

Download or read book The People s Flag and the Union Jack written by Gerry Hassan and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Labour Party has at times been a force for radical change in the UK, but one critical aspect of its makeup has been consistently misunderstood and underplayed: its Britishness. Throughout the party's history, its Britishness has been an integral part of how it has done politics, acted in government and opposition, and understood the UK and its nations and regions. The People's Flag and the Union Jack is the first comprehensive account of how Labour has tried to understand Britain and Britishness and to compete in a political landscape defined by conservative notions of nation, patriotism and tradition. At a time when many of the party faithful regard national identity as a toxic subject, academics Gerry Hassan and Eric Shaw argue that Labour's Britishness and its ambiguous relationship with issues of nationalism matter more today than ever before, and will continue to matter for the foreseeable future, when the UK is in fundamental crisis. As debate rages about Brexit, and the prospect of Scottish independence remains live, this timely intervention, featuring contributions from a wealth of pioneering thinkers, offers an illuminating and perceptive insight into Labour's past, present and future.

Download or read book The English Civil War written by Timothy Venning and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-02-28 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With hindsight, the victory of Parliamentarian forces over the Royalists in the English Civil War may seem inevitable but this outcome was not a foregone conclusion. Timothy Venning explores many of the turning points and discusses how they might so easily have played out differently. ?What if, for example, Charles I had capitalized on his victory at Edgehill by attacking London without delay? Could this have ended the war in 1642? His actual advance on the capital in 1643 failed but came close to causing a Parliamentarian collapse Ð how could it have succeeded and what then? Among the many other scenarios, full consideration is given to the role of Ireland (what if Papal meddling had not prevented Irish Catholics aiding Charles?) and Scotland (how might Montrose's Scottish loyalists have neutralized the Covenanters?). The author analyses the plausible possibilities in each thread, throwing light on the role of chance and underlying factors in the real outcome, as well as what might easily have been different.

Download or read book Farthing written by Jo Walton and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2006-08-08 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An influential family’s weekend party is the stage for murder in this alternative history trilogy opener set in a post-WWII England where the Nazis won. Eight years have passed since the upper-crust “Farthing Set” overthrew Winston Churchill and led Britain into a separate peace with Hitler. Now those families have gathered for a weekend retreat. Among them is estranged scion Lucy Kahn, who can’t understand why she and her husband, David, were so enthusiastically invited. But all becomes clear when the eminent Sir James Thirkie is found murdered—with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest. Lucy realizes that her Jewish husband is about to be framed for the crime, an outcome that would be altogether too politically convenient, given the machinations underway in Parliament in the coming week. The Farthing Set are determined to pass laws further restricting the right to vote, and a new outcry against Jews and foreigners would suit them fine. But whoever’s behind the murder and the frame-up didn’t count on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being so prone to look beyond the obvious—or his being a man with his own private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs . . . Praise for Farthing “If le Carré scares you, try Jo Walton. Of course her brilliant story of a democracy selling itself out to fascism sixty years ago is just a mystery, just a thriller, just a fantasy—of course we know nothing like that could happen now. Don’t we?” —Ursula K. Le Guin “Walton . . . crosses genres without missing a beat with this stunningly powerful alternative history set in 1949. . . . While the whodunit plot is compelling, it’s the convincing portrait of a country’s incremental slide into fascism that makes this novel a standout. Mainstream readers should be enthralled as well.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Download or read book Ha penny written by Jo Walton and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-10-02 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb. The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler. Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control. In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book The Unknown 1930s written by Jeffrey Richards and published by I.B.Tauris. This book was released on 1998-12-31 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: British film historians reassess the films, stars, genres, and directors omitted from conventional accounts of the decade and evaluate its forgotten and recently rediscovered films. They consider audiences, producer Julius Hagen and his independent Twickenham Film Studios, how MGM deal with the Films Acts, the shocker and musical genres, class and gender issues, national identity, and other dimensions. Distributed by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book The Ultimate Time Team Companion written by Tim Taylor and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is a companion to Channel Four's programme, Time Team and includes all the sites excavated up to the publication date. These sites and the archaeological treasures they have yielded serve as a starting point for a quirky, yet fascinating view of British history.

Download or read book The Alteration written by Kingsley Amis and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BOOKER PRIZE–WINNING AUTHOR Set in a world in which the Reformation failed, this award-winning science fiction tale is “one of the best . . . alternate-worlds novels in existence” (Philip K. Dick) In Kingsley Amis’s virtuoso foray into virtual history it is 1976, but the modern world is a medieval relic, frozen in intellectual and spiritual time ever since Martin Luther was promoted to pope back in the sixteenth century. Stephen the Third, the king of England, has just died, and Mass (Mozart’s second requiem) is about to be sung to lay him to rest. In the choir is our hero, Hubert Anvil, an extremely ordinary ten-year-old boy with a faultless voice. In the audience is a select group of experts whose job is to determine whether that faultless voice should be preserved by performing a certain operation. Art, after all, is worth any sacrifice. How Hubert realizes what lies in store for him and how he deals with the whirlpool of piety, menace, terror, and passion that he soon finds himself in are the subject of a classic piece of counterfactual fiction equal to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. The Alteration won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science-fiction novel in 1976.

Download or read book Jackboot Britain written by Daniel S. Fletcher and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-05-19 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Alternate History - What if Hitler beat the Brits? JACKBOOT BRITAIN is a new novel set in an alternate 1940 in which Nazi Germany was victorious over the British Empire. Jackboot Britain is a nightmare world; the book tells a harrowing tale of militarisation, dehumanisation, prejudice, power and war, as it follows the trials and tribulations of a range of characters from various walks of life, as they struggle to exist in a Europe - and occupied UK - ruled by the Germany of Adolf Hitler. From a platoon of captured British troops held as prisoners of war, to Major Jochen Wolf and the conflicted, and conflicting men of the SS in whose care they are placed; to the band of auxiliary partisans in the underground British resistance, anti-fascist veterans of the Spanish Civil War; to Naomi, a young, female Jewish teacher in Leeds and her clever, quirky male friend; Maisie a London shopgirl and Hans, an unwilling German soldier drafted to the Wehrmacht; Bill Wilson; ageing, monosyllabic alcoholic in a Bloomsbury pub; a humanist-libertarian journalist of renown; four young conscripts to the German Wehrmacht occupation force; Charlie, a disabled cockney street kid; the men of the SS Einsatzgruppen (action groups), whose 'police' work in occupied countries was a euphemism for murder and suppression; to the SS leaders themselves and their machinations for power and internecine intrigues, including "The Blond Beast", one of the 20th century's most notorious villains in SS and Police General Reinhard 'The Hangman' Heydrich himself... The tapestry of their lives is woven through the powerful tale of a dystopian world that could have been... Every aspect of ugliness and suppression associated with the barbarism of Nazi policy - from the genocidal aggression of the Security Police and SD in occupied territories to the devilish work in the shadows of the Gestapo secret police; the dehumanisation of entire races and those otherwise 'unsuitable' deemed 'life unworthy of life'; the institutionalisation of scientific racism, the glorification of war and military conquest and its effects on a generation raised under its influence; the persecutions, the lust for power; the awful internment system of the concentration camps and the savage lethality of German policy in every sphere of life is explored in this wide-ranging alternate history novel; a book that harkens to the hellish years of German atrocities across continental Europe, by showing the terrifying possibilities of what could have been in a Nazi-occupied Britain... Jackboot Britain depicts the grim realities of a Nazi Britain and Hitler's Europe through the lives and deaths, triumphs, setbacks and tragedies of this diverse range of characters, all of whom are caught up in the carnage and chaos of war in this story of love and loss, hope and fear, prejudice, cruelty and power. Each tale runs its course through a nightmare that seems unimaginable to the modern British sensibility, but that at one, disquieting moment in modern history, threatened to engulf the world whole. As each character manoeuvres in the dark shadow of National Socialism and its jackbooted armies, we see each story unfold as they near their own powerful conclusions, each trapped by the malevolent force that brought unparalleled suffering and chaos to the world. Jackboot Britain, by Daniel S. Fletcher (2011) - a debut novel.

Download or read book Refighting the Pacific War written by James C Bresnahan and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Refighting the Pacific War looks at how World War II in the Pacific might have unfolded differently, giving historians, authors and veterans the opportunity to discuss what happened and what might have happened. Contributors to this alternative history include noted military historians William Bartsch, John Burton, Donald Goldstein, John Lundstrom, Robert Mrazek, Jon Parshall, Douglas Smith, Peter Smith, Barrett Tillman, Anthony Tully, and H. P. Willmott. In all more than thirty Pacific War experts will provide commentary, employing a roundtable panel discussion format. The reader will hear from the experts on how history could and could not have been altered during the course of the war in the Pacific. With multiple opinions, the reader will be provided with an interesting collection of divergent views about the outcome of the war. Refighting the Pacific War focuses largely on naval battles and campaigns, including Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. While the main concentration is on the major naval actions, the book also delves into key island battles, like Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, as well as pre-war and post-war political issues The panelists debate questions like whether the Japanese could have inflicted even greater damage on the U. S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and how Yamamoto might have won at Midway and how such a victory might have impacted the direction of the war. The book extensively studies the opening year of the war when the Japanese war machine seemed unstoppable. Also explored is whether the Pacific War was inevitable and whether the conflict could have ended without the use of the atomic bomb.Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.), provides the book's Introduction.

Download or read book Stars Stripes Forever written by Harry Harrison and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On November 8, 1861, a U.S. navy warship stopped a British packet and seized two Confederate emissaries on their way to England to seek backing for their cause. England responded with rage, calling for a war of vengeance. The looming crisis was defused by the peace-minded Prince Albert. But imagine how Albert's absence during this critical moment might have changed everything. For lacking Albert's calm voice of reason, Britain now seizes the opportunity to attack and conquer a crippled, war-torn America. Ulysses S. Grant is poised for an attack that could smash open the South's defenses. In Washington, Abraham Lincoln sees a first glimmer of hope that this bloody war might soon end. But then disaster strikes: English troops have invaded from Canada. With most of the Northern troops withdrawn to fight the new enemy, General William Tecumseh Sherman and his weakened army stand alone against the Confederates. Can a divided, bloodied America defeat England, or will the United States cease to exist for all time?

Download or read book The Time Team Guide to the History of Britain written by Tim Taylor and published by Channel 4. This book was released on 2010 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all know that the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, London's 'one big burning blaze' tore through the capital in 1666 and that Britain declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939, but many of us remember the most important moments in our history by the folk stories which are attached to them. So we remember Henry VIII for his wives rather than the Reformation and Charles II for climbing a tree rather than the Civil War. But if we set aside these stories, do we really know what happened when, and why it's so important? Which came first, the Bronze Age or the Stone Age? Why did the Romans play such a significant role in our past? And how did a nation as small as Britain come to command such a vast empire? Here, Tim Taylor and the team of expert historians behind Channel 4's Time Team, answer these questions and many more, cataloguing British history in a way that is accessible to all. This book will give you and your family a clear and concise view of what happened when, and why.

Download or read book Luftwaffe Victorious written by Mike Spick and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold reimagining of the Luftwaffe’s successes during World War II At the outbreak of World War II the Luftwaffe was considered by many to be the world’s most powerful air force. Driven by the new strategy of blitzkrieg, or lightning war, it stormed across Europe in a very short time. Opposing air forces were swept aside as the Luftwaffe blasted a path for the panzers and protected their flanks as they raced for the sea. Flushed with victory, its formidable reputation apparently justified, the Luftwaffe regrouped in occupied Western Europe for a final showdown with its one remaining enemy—Britain. Supremely confident, the odds seemed to be on their side. But in the summer of 1940 they suffered a dramatic defeat during the Battle of Britain, and by May 1945 the Germans had surrendered to the Allies and the Third Reich collapsed. What went wrong? How could things have been different? What if Göring, the brilliant yet flawed Luftwaffe commander, had died prematurely in September 1940? What radical alterations in the pattern of command would have transpired? What if a Luftwaffe strategic bomber force had become a reality? In this engagingly written and thought-provoking addition to the world of alternate history, aviation enthusiast Mike Spick asks these very questions, envisaging an altogether different series of events that culminate in a dramatic new conclusion to the war. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Download or read book The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories written by Ian Watson and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2010-02-25 with total page 757 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has one thing in common: each features some alteration in history, some divergence from historical reality, which results in a world very different from the one we know today. As well as original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics such as Kim Stanley Robinson's story of how World War II atomic bomber the Enola Gay, having crashed on a training flight, is replaced by the Lucky Strike with profoundly different consequences. Praise for the editors: 'Mr Watson wreaks havoc with what is accepted - and acceptable.' The Times 'One of Britain's consistently finest science fiction writers.' New Scientist