City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology

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.A History of Modern Britain
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Andrew Marr

May 02, 2008
This book was updated for its paperback release and having read it carefully I suspect that many of the errors referred to by other reviewers were removed at that point. Having lived out of Britain for a sizeable chunk of my adult life, I found that I had much to learn from the pages - several large gaps in my knowledge were filled in.

I found it difficult to detect any signs of bias, and Andrew Marr's easy writing style made it a pleasure to read. This is almost as far removed from the dry history textbook that I wrestled with as a young student as it is possible to be. For anyone wanting a crash course on British modern history, this could not be bettered. Well researched and referenced, this deserves to become a standard. ... Read More:
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.The Six Wives of Henry VIII
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Alison Weir

November 22, 2007
An extremely readable book. The author gives a wonderfully real picture of the wives and the King and why the various relationships ultimately ended. History comes alive in this book and I can't pay a higher compliment than that.
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.Bedlam: London and Its Mad
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Catharine Arnold

August 04, 2008
An extremely readable book. The author gives a wonderfully real picture of the wives and the King and why the various relationships ultimately ended. History comes alive in this book and I can't pay a higher compliment than that.
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Used Price: £8.60

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.The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Sarah Wise

June 01, 2008
I have seldom read such an affecting book. It is a model of accessible, informative and gripping social history. Through meticulous research, it tells the lives of those people who lived in the area known as "The Nicol" in East London in the late 19th c. there are countless individual stories of heartbreaking poverty, set against the bigger picture of social, political and religious reforms and the history of urban victorian slums. Contemporary photographs and etchings are really illustrative and help bring the area to life. I have ancestors who lived in the area and it provided a fascinating and humbling glimpse of their lives but this book is so well written and informative, in a very accessible style that anyone interested in history will enjoy it. ... Read More:
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.London: The Biography
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Peter Ackroyd

August 21, 2008
Rambling, unfocused, poorly researched, and little real history. An enjoyable holiday read perhaps, but those looking to learn about the origins of this great city should look elsewhere. Most of the discussion centers on the 17th and 18th centuries and most of the anecdotes come from only two souces. The author could have taken the trouble to do a little more research! Very disappointing.
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.The Gaol: The Story of Newgate - London's Most Notorious Prison
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Kelly Grovier

July 10, 2008
A well researched, intelligent, thorough history of Newgate prison, beautifully presented. As someone who does not read a lot of factual books, I found this an enjoyable read. I got the book after listening to some of the "Book of the Week" episodes on BBC Radio 4. Who knew so much could go on behind a jails four walls, I certainly didn't!
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.Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Patrick Bishop

March 03, 2008
It is very easy to lament the work done by Bomber Command in the mid to end years of the Second World War in Europe. This book does just that. But it also delves into the hearts of those who flew the bombers, the emotions of those who let loose the bomb doors, the feelings of those who shot at night-fighters. And the book's great achievement is in presenting a view that not only helps us understand the great personal sacrifice these men made, but the even greater emotional sacrifice they have suffered since the end of the war.
With some glaring grammatical mistakes, the book's editors should be sacked, but all in all, this is a highly endearing yet incisive account of one of the ugliest aspects of war, yet an aspect that greatly hastened the end of ... Read More:
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.Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Catherine Bailey

March 06, 2008
Absolutely gripping mixture of social history and details of life above and below stairs in the grandest of grand houses - with a dash of celebrity gossip and scandal thrown in. Written with a novelists' light touch and delightful to read.
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.I Never Knew That About London
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Christopher Winn

October 04, 2007
This is an excellent 'by the bed' book for dipping in and out of. Each section has a generous selection of interesting gems and more bizarre nuggets about the capital that will make any reader an instant London Bore or a valued member of any pub-quiz team (admittedly only for the London questions!). Certainly a book worth having even if you don't have a huge thirst for knowledge about London - this will gently change that without you even noticing.
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.Thames: Sacred River
City Travel Guides > Books > Archaeology
by: Peter Ackroyd

August 07, 2008
Chapeau! Kudos! Peter Ackroyd has done a terrific job with this book. From his early novel _Hawksmoor_, Ackroyd has evolved into the chronicler par excellence of London, both through his book of the same name and by the flavour of London life in his biographies of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Sir Thomas More, Dickens, Blake, and other works (both fictional and non).

This cornucopia has history, geography, geology, spirituality, sociology, literary and cultural referencing, psychology, life cycles, transport, trade, ecology, hedonism, commercialism. It's a staggeringly accomplished chronicle and a worthy tribute to the liquid heart of London.

Ackroyd ranges masterfully from facts and statistics - some of them fascinating - through to dreams and ... Read More:
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