The A-Z of Curious Sussex PDF Download

Author: Wendy Hughes
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750986433
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
In this engaging book, Wendy Hughes takes you on a grand tour of the curious and bizarre, the strange and the unusual from Sussex's past. Read about the Alfriston Star – the hostelry for medieval package tours with its unusual ship's figurehead, the Russian memorial to Finnish soldiers, Crazy Jack who couldn't stop building and who is buried in a pyramid, the inventor of vapour baths and the lady who fooled the army. Along the way you will meet scandalous residents, inventors, and smugglers galore. The A-Z of Curious Sussex is guaranteed to fascinate both resident and visitor alike.

Author: Fiona Collins
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752493698
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
The Four Branches of the Mabinogion are a rich treasure trove of tales. These magical, quintessentially Welsh stories are confusing, but it would be hard to match their splendid strangeness. The Four Branches tell of the kings and queens of Wales in the time of' 'Once upon a time'. Only one character appears in all Four Branches. He is Pryderi, and the story of his life journey is told in this book. Pryderi is brave and bold: sometimes foolhardy, always fiercely loyal. The stories of two beautiful, powerful women entwine with his: Rhiannon of the Birds, his mother, and Cigfa, his wife. Both accompany him on his life path. But, at the last, Pryderi must go on alone. Here, for the first time, his tale is told from beginning to end.

Author: Neil R Storey
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752494600
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
The Little Book of Norfolk is a repository of intriguing, fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts and trivia about one of England's most colourful counties. It is an essential to the born and bred Norfolk folk or anyone who knows and loves the county. Armed with this fascinating tome the reader will have such knowledge of the county, its landscape, people, places, pleasures and pursuits they will be entertained and enthralled and never short of some frivolous fact to enhance conversation or quiz! A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Author: Simon Heywood
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752493701
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
'My name is Vortigern ... ' Generations before Arthur's birth, a British warlord looks back on his life: his rise from humble roots to shake the thrones of a dying empire; his stand against chaos amid the aftermath of Rome; his struggle with the greedy, embittered princes of church and kingdom; his loves and his losses, and his last encounter with his own mysterious destiny, on a mountain where the world we know is beginning to take shape before his eyes. Vortigern's voice speaks from the heart of a forgotten darkness, telling a story of courage and cowardice, glory and crime, tragedy and treason.

Author: Peter Matthews
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750964073
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
St Ermin's Hotel has been at the centre of British intelligence since the 1930s, when it was known to MI6 as 'The Works Canteen'. Intelligence officers such as Ian Fleming and Noel Coward were to be found in the hotel's Caxton Bar, along with other less well-known names. Winston Churchill allegedly conceived the idea of the Special Operations Executive there over a glass (or two) of his favourite champagne in the early days of the Second World War, and the operation was started up in three gloomy rooms on the hotel's second floor, with the traitorous Cambridge Spies among its founders. When Stalin's Russia turned to a peacetime enemy in the Cold War that followed, Kim Philby and Guy Burgess handed over intelligence to their Russian counterparts in the dark corners of the hotel, while MI6 man George Blake operated as a Soviet double agent just across the road in Artillery Mansions. Meanwhile, St Ermin's proximity to government offices ensured its continued use by both domestic and foreign secret agents. In this first book on St Ermin's, Peter Matthews, a witness to the intelligence battle for supremacy between MI5, MI6 and the KGB, explores this remarkable true history that is more riveting than any spy novel.

Author: Henry Buckton
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752477374
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
In England today we enjoy a rich diversity of folk traditions, many of which can trace their beginnings back hundreds of years. They stem from every phase of our antiquity and embody all the peoples who have traditionally enriched our culture. In this book we visit some of the best known examples, including mumming, cheese rolling, tree dressing, rushbearing, beating the bounds, flitch trials and Wassailing, among many other customs, festivals and traditions. Covering all aspects of English folklore and tradition, including myths, legends, traditional song and dance, games, seasonal events and calendar customs, this volume encompasses the history of many of England's best-loved folk traditions.

Author: Mike Osborne
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752497529
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Throughout history, Cambridgeshire (including Huntingdon and Peterborough) has figured in many of the conflicts which have shaped our nation. Doomed Roman legionaries marched from Longthorpe to defeat by Boudicca's Iceni; Saxons and Danes fought over the edges of the Danelaw; the Normans came this way to crush Hereward's Fenland resistance; in the Civil War it provided the defended frontier between Parliamentarian and Royalist; in Napoleonic times French prisoners of war were incarcerated here; and in the twentieth century its flat expanses were home to numerous airfields and missile bases. This book describes the function and purpose of these defensive structures and reveals the evidence which many of these major events left on the ground: the earthworks of hill forts, medieval castles and moats; the masonry of later forts and strong-houses; drill halls and militia barracks; and the lines of anti-invasion defences from 1940.

Author: Stuart Hylton
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752494015
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Did You Know? In 1824 a Pendleton tollkeeper set up Britain's first true public bus service, thought to be one of the first in the world. Communism can claim to have been conceived, if not born, in Manchester as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx used to meet in the city. Manchester has the grim distinction of being the place where the first death of the English Civil War occurred. The Little Book of Manchester is an intriguing, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of places, people and events in the city, from its Roman origins to the present day. Here you can read about the important contributions the city made to the history of the nation, learn about the individual communities and how they came together to form the modern city and meet some of the great men and women, the eccentrics and the scoundrels with which its history is littered. A reliable reference book and quirky guide, its bite-sized chunks of history can be dipped into time and again to reveal some new facts about the story of this amazing city. This is a remarkably engaging little book.

Author: Patricia Rennoldson Smith
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752494589
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
On a stormy evening in January 1953, Peggy Morgan kissed her five-year-old son goodnight, blissfully unaware of the impending catastrophe. Before sunrise the next morning the North Sea had destroyed her home and Peggy was a childless widow. There had been no prediction, no warning. Men, women and children lost their lives in Essex on that fateful night and the lives of survivors were changed forever. The lucky ones awoke when ice-cold seawater burst through their doors and windows. Those not so lucky slept on towards death. This book captures, in the words of the survivors, the essence of life in the low-lying coastal areas before the disaster. Those who lived tell how, with dogged determination, they prevailed against unimaginable adversity: their stories of courage and fortitude are told simply and without self pity. And for the first time those who died have their story told. Illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs, the awe-inspiring and heartrending stories of survivors and victims of the 1953 Essex floods are told here for the first time.

Author: Judy Paterson
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750981997
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
A giant sea monster ... trees that can dance ... a water-horse ... a girl so clever she outwits a giant ... Welcome to the world of the Scottish folk tale – a world of talking animals, mischief-making witches, giants, trolls, bold girls, reckless boys and, of course, the Wee Folk. These stories – specially chosen to be enjoyed by 7 to 11-year-old readers – burst with adventure and glitter with magic. As old as the mountains and the glens, these well- loved tales are retold by storyteller Judy Paterson.