NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING SALLY HAWKINS AND STEVE COOGAN.

The official inside story of the discovery of history’s most controversial monarch.

On 22 August 1485, Richard III was killed at Bosworth Field, the last king of England to die in battle. His victorious opponent, Henry Tudor, went on to found one of our most famous ruling dynasties. Fifty years later, the king’s grave was lost and Richard III’s reputation buried under a mound of Tudor propaganda.

Philippa Langley and Michael Jones trace the remarkable story of the search for the lost king, leading to the incredible moment when the 500-year-old mystery was solved by Philippa Langley as his remains were uncovered beneath a car park in Leicester. The Lost King is the astonishing true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country’s most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial king’s in England’s history.

‘As brilliant a history of the Vikings as one could possibly hope to read’ Tom Holland

The ‘Viking Age’ is traditionally held to begin in June 793 when Scandinavian raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria, and to end in September 1066, when King Harald Hardrada of Norway died leading the charge against the English line at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. This book, the most wide-ranging and comprehensive assessment of the current state of our knowledge, takes a refreshingly different view. It shows that the Viking expansion began generations before the Lindisfarne raid, and traces Scandinavian history back centuries further to see how these people came to be who they were.

The narrative ranges across the whole of the Viking diaspora, from Vinland on the eastern American seaboard to Constantinople and Uzbekistan, with contacts as far away as China. Based on the latest archaeology, it explores the complex origins of the Viking phenomenon and traces the seismic shifts in Scandinavian society that resulted from an economy geared to maritime war. Some of its most striking discoveries include the central role of slavery in Viking life and trade, and the previously unsuspected pirate communities and family migrations that were part of the Viking ‘armies’ – not least in England.

Especially, Neil Price takes us inside the Norse mind and spirit-world, and across their borders of identity and gender, to reveal startlingly different Vikings to the barbarian marauders of stereotype. He cuts through centuries of received wisdom to try to see the Vikings as they saw themselves – descendants of the first human couple, the Children of Ash and Elm. Healso reminds us of the simultaneous familiarity and strangeness of the past, of how much we cannot know, alongside the discoveries that change the landscape of our understanding. This is an eye-opening and surprisingly moving book.

‘Astonishing and compelling’ Bernard Cornwell

‘Replete with witches, human sacrifice, Greek fire and funeral orgies? one of the most thrilling works of archaeological detective work I have ever read’ William Dalrymple, FT

Follow bioarchaeologist Cat Jarman – and the cutting-edge forensic techniques central to her research – as she uncovers epic stories of the Viking age and follows a small ‘Carnelian’ bead found in a Viking grave in Derbyshire to its origins thousands of miles to the east in Gujarat.

Dr Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist, specialising in forensic techniques to research the paths of Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet, and thereby where a person was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death date down to the range of a few years. And her research offers new visions of the likely roles of women and children in Viking culture.

In 2017, a carnelian bead came into her temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace its path back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, discovering along the way that the Vikings’ route was far more varied than we might think, that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, and all the way to Britain.

Told as a riveting story of the Vikings and the methods we use to understand them, this is a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologised voyagers of the north, and of the global medieval world as we know it.

An exciting World War II adventure from acclaimed author Ally Sherrick – blending her trademark rip-roaring historical storytelling with mythology and magic!

FROM THE WINNER OF THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION’S YOUNG QUILLS AWARD

‘This is a thrilling, atmospheric story full of heart-stopping moments and mystical elements’ PRIMARY TIMES

‘This fast-paced adventure zips along’ BOOKTRUST

‘A stunning historical story embroiled in magic, myth and legend’ THE PHOENIX COMIC

It’s World War II and Britain is on the brink of invasion.

Londoner George has been sent to live in the countryside while his brother and guardian, Charlie, trains to be a pilot – but he’s very far from safe.

An ancient burial ground nearby contains a priceless treasure, a magical Anglo-Saxon crown Hitler is desperate to possess.

Alongside Kitty, the granddaughter of a Jewish archaeologist, George must find and protect the crown from the Nazi invaders before it’s too late …

• From the award-winning author of Black Powder and The Queen’s Fool
• A rip-roaring World War 2 adventure combining adventure and magic – perfect for readers aged 9 and up
• Takes inspiration from real-life history to create a thrilling story