Stuart History

For centuries, the Droods have been fighting the monsters in the shadows so that the rest of you lot can go about your everyday lives. These days, I’m the head of the family, and it’s fallen to me to deal with a bit of a mess left over from World War II.

From poverty to pets, from medicine to magic, from slang to sex, from wallpaper to women's rights. A glorious portrait of life in London from 1660-1670 by the bestselling author of ELIZABETH'S LONDON.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Charles I: An Abbreviated Life by Mark Kishlansky, read by John Sackville. The tragedy of Charles I dominates one of the most strange and painful periods in British history as the whole island tore itself apart over a deadly, entangled series of religious and political disputes. In Mark Kishlansky's brilliant account it is never in doubt that Charles created his own catastrophe, but he was nonetheless opposed by men with far fewer scruples and less consistency who for often quite contradictory reasons conspired to destroy him.

The story of the Stuart dynasty is a breathless soap opera played out in just a hundred years in an array of buildings that span Europe from Scotland, via Denmark, Holland and Spain to England. Life in the court of the House of Stuart has been shrouded in mystery: the first half of the century overshadowed by the fall and execution of Charles I, the second half in the complete collapse of the House itself. Lost to time is the extraordinary contribution the Stuarts made to the fabric of sovereignty.

Will abortion be legal? Should people of the same sex be allowed to marry? May colleges prefer black applicants over white ones? These are among the most bitterly contested issues in the United States today. We answer these questions, and many more, by presenting them to nine lawyers—the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. No other nation commits so many important questions to its highest court. Stuart Banner’s The Most Powerful Court in the World is an authoritative history of the United States Supreme Court from the Founding era to the present.

Regal and dazzlingly beautiful, Mary Stuarts succumbed to the irresistible impulses of passion and gambled away her throne for love in a deadly game of power against her envious cousin, Elizabeth I. She not only lost her kingdom, but also her life. Betrayed by those she trusted most, pampered and adored even as she was led to her own beheading, she remained an enigma five centuries after her death.

Millions of words of scholarship have been expended on the world's most famous author and his work. And yet a critical part of the puzzle, Shakespeare's library, is a mystery. For four centuries people have searched for it: in mansions, palaces, and libraries; in riverbeds, sheep pens, and partridge coops; and in the corridors of the mind. Yet no trace of the Bard's manuscripts, books, or letters has ever been found.

As Robert E. Lee's army moved into Pennsylvania in June 1863, Stuart's cavalry screened his movements, thereby engaging in the more traditional cavalry roles. This time, however, as Lee began his march north through the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia, it is highly unlikely that is what he wanted or expected.

The Battle of Culloden in 1746 has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between the English Royal Army and the Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English: The battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion.

"Did I not tell you this would happen? I knew they would never allow me to live, I was too great an obstacle to their religion." - Mary, Queen of Scots The position in history of Mary Queen of Scots is a paradoxical one. Her fame as a monarch lies less in her personality or achievements than in her position within the dynastic maneuvers and political-religious upheavals taking place in northwest Europe in the 16th century. Most monarchs spend their early years learning in preparation to rule and then spend the latter part of their lives wielding power and status.

The global coffee industry, which fuels the livelihoods of farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers around the world, rests on fragile ecological foundations. In Coffee Is Not Forever, Stuart McCook explores the transnational story of this essential crop through a history of one of its most devastating diseases, the coffee leaf rust. In the process, he illuminates the progress and prognosis of the challenges - especially climate change - that pose an existential threat to a crop that global consumers often take for granted.

John Stuart Mill was the most influential British philosopher of the 19th century. His works spanned a startling variety of topics including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and social theory. All of Mill's writings were aimed at the support and expansion of philosophical radicalism, and he had a significant influence on social theory, political theory, and political economy.

The Venezuelan revolutionary Simón Bolívar, also known as El Libertador, sought to lead Latin America to independence from the Spanish in the early nineteenth century. Ever since he has been held as a model for subsequent Latin American radicals; Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, has dubbed his own programmes of social reform the Bolívarian Revolution . In his introduction to this collection of Bolívar s writings, Chávez explains why Bolívar continues to inspire.

Anden bog i den spændende og dramatiske beretning om Australiens kolonisering – et land skabt af blod, passion og drømme. Livet i den nye koloni, Australien, er hårdt - hårdt for dem, der er frie og endnu hårdere for dem, der er fanget. Mange bukker under for sygdom og sult. Mange forsøger at flygte, men kun få lykkes, og de, der fejler, får en brutal straf. Alligevel forsøger nogle, inklusive Jenny Taggart, at gøre dette vilde land til deres eget. Hun bliver forrådt i venskab og kærlighed, men hun mister aldrig sin vision: en fremtid som en fri kvinde.

Sjette bog i den spændende og dramatiske beretning om Australiens kolonisering – et land skabt af blod, passion og drømme. Tyve tusinde kilometer og fire måneders sejlads er det, der står mellem England og kolonien Australien. I sine kampe for at bringe orden i kolonien og for at beskytte dens bosættere mod magtmisbrug og uretfærdighed, er guvernør Bligh oppe imod nogle magtfulde fjender og drilske planlæggere. Tre viljestærke guvernører har mislykkedes i at fuldføre opgaven før ham... Og England ser ud til at have fået nok af krigen mod Frankrig.

Witches—whether broomstick-riding spell-casters or Wiccan earth-worshippers—have been culturally relevant for centuries. For centuries, too, belief in the potency of witchcraft has been debated; accused witches have been hunted and punished; and film productions have brought the witch and the witch-hunter to the heights of popular culture. But where did our perception of witches—good and bad—come from? What motivated wide-scale panics about witchcraft during certain periods? How were alleged witches identified, accused, tortured, and punished?

The East India Company was the largest commercial enterprise in British history, yet its roots in Tudor England are often overlooked. The Tudor revolution in commerce led ambitious merchants to search for new forms of investment, not least in risky overseas enterprises-and for these "adventurers" the most profitable bet of all would be on the Company. Through a host of stories and fascinating details, David Howarth brings to life the Company's way of doing business—from the leaky ships and petty seafarers of its embattled early days to later sweeping commercial success.

Niende bog i den spændende og dramatiske beretning om Australiens kolonisering – et land skabt af blod, passion og drømme. Justin Broome, søn af to af de mest legendariske fanger i New South Wales, lærer, at dygtighed og mod ikke har en chance mod fordomme. Bitterhed og skuffelse blandes med hans hverdags hårde arbejde, alt imens skibsladninger af elendige fanger og frie nybyggere fortsætter med at ankomme fra en krigstræt England.

Die Zeit von Shakespeare und Königin Elisabeth I. gilt als »goldenes Zeitalter«. Aber wie war es eigentlich wirklich, im England des 16. Jahrhunderts zu leben? Wir reisen mit Ian Mortimer zurück und spazieren durch die Straßen Londons.

The British Empire is unique in world history. How did this small island come to rule a full quarter of the globe? No other nation has matched this achievement.