The History Press Ltd – The Bell Bookshop

Before Wallis: Edward VIII’s Other Women

Emma — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Wallis Simpson is known as the woman who stole the king’s heart and rocked the monarchy – but she was not Edward VIII’s first or only love. This book is about the women he adored before Wallis dominated his life. There was Rosemary Leveson-Gower, the girl he wanted to marry and who would have been the perfect match for a future king; and the Prince’s long-term mistress, Freda Dudley Ward, who exerted a pull almost equal to Wallis over her lover, but abided by the rules of the game and never expected to marry him. Then there was Thelma Furness, his twice-married American lover, who enjoyed a domestic life with him, but realised it could not last forever and demanded nothing more than to be his mistress – and fatefully introduced him to Wallis. In each love affair, Edward behaved like a cross between a little boy lost and a spoilt child craving affection, resorting to emotional blackmail to keep his lovers with him. Each of the three women in this book could have changed the course of history. By examining their lives and impact on the heir to the throne, we question whether he ever really wanted to be king.

Little Book of the Cotswolds

Emma — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Little Book of the Cotswolds is a veritable smorgasbord of Cotswold miscellany, packed with fascinating titbits and all manner of factual frippery – from Cotswold lions to puppy dog pies. The region’s strangest traditions, its most eccentric inhabitants, blood-curdling murders and right royal connections combine with humorous cartoons to make this quirky little book difficult to put down.

The Normans

Emma — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Normans were a relatively short-lived cultural and political phenomenon. The emerged early in the tenth century and had disappeared off the map by the mid-thirteenth century. Yet in that time they had conquered England, southern Italy and Sicily, and had established outposts in North Africa and in Levant. Having traced the formation of the Duchy of Normandy, Trevor Rowley draws on the latest archaeological and historical evidence to examine how the Normans were able to conquer and dominate significant parts of Europe. In particular he looks at their achievements in England and Italy and their claim to a permanent legacy, as witnessed in feudalism, in castles, churches and settlement and in place-names. But equally from the political stage. The reality is that, even within this short time-span, the Normans changed as time and place dictated from Norse invaders to Frankish crusaders to Byzantine monarchs to Feudal overlords. In the end their contribution to medieval culture was largely as a catalyst for other, older traditions.

Jane Austen: Inspiring Lives

Emma — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Jane Austen is the world’s bestselling novelist. Two hundred years after her death we seem to have a never-ending appetite for the swooning of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY and the smouldering passion of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, resulting in a near constant supply of film adaptations and spin-off books. The fan market for Austen – the Austenites – is huge and international. This book, previously published as THE JANE AUSTEN MISCELLANY and republished in an attractive new gift edition, reveals the real Jane: bitchy, gossipy and badly behaved at times, as well as showing the side we all love: the writer, sister and true romantic.

Origins and Growth of Henley

Emma — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Set amidst the rolling tree-covered slopes of the south-west Chilterns at a picturesque bend in the river, Henley-on-Thames is best known for its attractive timber and brick buildings, its graceful 18th-century bridge, and its annual Regatta, established in 1839. The Regatta reflected Henley’s 19th-century emergence as an inland resort and fashionable social centre. But the town’s relationship with the river and the surrounding Chilterns landscape is much older and much more varied. This book traces the history of the town and river over time, from Henley’s origins as a planned medieval market town and inland port shipping grain to London, through to its 18th-century development as a coaching centre and its present-day role as a small service, tourist and commuting town. Ordinary townspeople and river-workers feature prominently, alongside merchants, landowners, and prosperous incomers. Separate chapters summarise the development of the Thames river trade, and the town’s striking buildings are fully discussed and set in context. The book draws on extensive research over several years, some of it carried out with the help of volunteers and local groups. Its broad perspective casts new light on the town and its relationship with the river, allowing visitors, residents and specialists to view it with new eyes.