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History Books

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It is only from studying the past that we can learn about the present and so great history books are essential reading for anyone with an interest in the modern world. From the traditions of the ancient world, expertly recounted by Mary Beard and Tom Holland, to reflections on the twentieth-century by the likes of Andrew Marr and David Kynaston – not to mention pioneering works by David Olusoga on Black British history – here are books that illuminate previous centuries and help us to understand our shared past.

British History
Military History
European History
World History
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Our Bestselling History Books

Johnson at 10
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£25.00   £21.99
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Femina
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£10.99   £9.49
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Abyss
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£10.99   £9.49
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The Wager
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£20.00   £16.99
Hardback
The Escape Artist
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£9.99   £7.99
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The Russo-Ukrainian War
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£25.00   £20.99
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The Restless Republic
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£9.99   £8.49
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Shadowlands
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£10.99   £8.99
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The Premonitions Bureau
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£9.99   £8.49
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The Full English
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£20.00   £15.99
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Killing Thatcher
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£25.00   £20.99
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The Ruin of All Witches
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£9.99   £8.49
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The Earth Transformed
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£30.00   £26.99
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A Village in the Third Reich
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£10.99   £9.49
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The Anglo-Saxons
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£10.99   £9.49
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Berlin
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£8.99   £7.49
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The Shortest History of the Soviet Union
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Buried
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£9.99   £8.49
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Our Bestselling New History Hardbacks

Eject! Eject!
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£20.00   £16.99
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The Wager
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£20.00   £16.99
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The Russo-Ukrainian War
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£25.00   £20.99
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Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I
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£25.00   £21.99
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Foreign Bodies
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£30.00
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Goodbye Eastern Europe
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£22.00   £18.99
Hardback
The Middle Kingdoms
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£35.00   £30.99
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The Second World War
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£30.00   £24.99
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Letters for the Ages
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£20.00   £16.99
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The Battle of the Beams
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Fake Heroes
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£18.99   £16.99
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X Marks the Spot
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£25.00   £19.99
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The Great Defiance
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1923
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£25.00
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The Rooster House
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£20.00   £16.99
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Why Empires Fall
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£20.00
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Young Queens
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£25.00   £21.99
Hardback
Fatherland
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£25.00   £20.99
Hardback

£25.00
Hardback
Coming soon - 28/09/2023
Awaiting publication
From King Arthur to Elizabeth I, the hugely popular comedian and author of Thinking About it Only Makes it Worse delivers a typically side-splitting yet highly informative history of England's most powerful rulers.
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Our Bestselling New History Paperbacks

Colditz
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£10.99   £9.49
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Russia
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£10.99   £9.49
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The Escape Artist
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£9.99   £7.99
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The Theory of Everything Else
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£9.99   £8.49
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Northerners
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£10.99   £9.49
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Berlin
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£8.99   £7.49
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1945: Victory in the West
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Bad Gays
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£10.99   £8.99
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The Shortest History of the Crown
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£8.99   £7.49
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The Daughter of Auschwitz
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£8.99   £7.49
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The Red Arrows
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£10.99   £9.49
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Magnificent Rebels
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£12.99   £10.99
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The Siege of Loyalty House
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£12.99   £10.99
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The House of Dudley
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How Civil Wars Start
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£10.99   £9.49
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Putin
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£16.99   £13.99
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Growing Up
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£10.99   £8.99
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Tutankhamun's Trumpet
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£12.99   £10.99
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Luxury Editions & Gift Books

Why Women Grow
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£16.99   £13.99
Hardback
Woman's Lore
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£27.99
Hardback
The Oxford History of the Book
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Anatomical Oddities
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London
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£50.00
Hardback
Inside Ukraine
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£25.00
Hardback
Imagining England's Past
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Secret Britain
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£20.00
Hardback
Murder Maps
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£25.00
Hardback
The Irish Civil War in Colour
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The Castle
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£18.99
Hardback
Treasures of Ukraine
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History of the World Map by Map
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On This Day in Politics
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Country Church Monuments
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The Madman's Library
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A History of Britain in 100 Maps
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Coming Soon

Unruly
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£25.00
Hardback
Rural
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£18.99
Hardback
Divine Might
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£20.00
Hardback
Emperor of Rome
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£30.00   £26.99
Hardback
Politics On the Edge
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Pax
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Pax
£30.00
Hardback
The Facemaker
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£10.99   £9.49
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Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad
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£25.00   £21.99
Hardback
Space
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£22.00
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Great-Uncle Harry
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£22.00
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Normal Women
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£25.00   £21.99
Hardback
End Times
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£25.00   £21.99
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Cinderella Boys
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£25.00   £21.99
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Winkle
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£25.00   £21.99
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Witchcraft
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£16.99
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Kairos
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£16.99
Hardback
SAS Brothers in Arms
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£9.99   £8.49
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The Making of a Monarch

Our Best King Charles III Biographies

Charles III
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£45.00
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Charles III
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£14.95
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Rebel King
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£9.99
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King Charles III
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£14.99
Hardback
Charles: The Heart of a King
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Charles III
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£22.00
Hardback
The King
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£25.00
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Pocket King Charles Wisdom
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Our King: Charles III
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£22.00   £19.99
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King Charles III
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£12.99
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His Majesty King Charles III
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King Charles III
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£21.99
Hardback
Charles: The King and Wales
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The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Russo-Ukrainian War
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£25.00   £20.99
Hardback
Putin's People
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£10.99
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Red Notice
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£10.99
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The Gates of Europe
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A Message from Ukraine
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You Don't Know What War Is
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£9.99   £7.99
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Lost Kingdom
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£10.99
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Putin's War on Ukraine
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Diary of an Invasion
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Ukraine Diaries
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£12.99
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Borderland
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£10.99
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In Wartime
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£10.99
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Putin
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£30.00
Hardback
Mafia State
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£9.99
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How to Lose the Information War
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The Ukrainians
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£16.99
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Our Bestselling Military History Books

Operation Pedestal
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£9.99   £8.49
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The Art of War
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£6.99
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The Traitor of Colditz
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SAS
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SAS
£9.99
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Operation Mincemeat
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The Spy and the Traitor
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£10.99   £9.99
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A Woman of No Importance
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Lancaster
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£9.99
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Aftermath
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£12.99   £10.99
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The Crew
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£9.99
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Spitfire
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£8.99
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The Bomber Mafia
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Agent Sonya
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£8.99
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Resistance
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£20.00   £15.99
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The Pathfinders
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£12.99
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The Flame of Resistance
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£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
SAS Bravo Three Zero
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The Escape Artist
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£30.00 £26.99
Hardback
Coming soon - 28/09/2023
Awaiting publication

In her customary lively yet scholarly style, the eminent historian and author of SPQR presents an authoritative account of the role of Roman Emperor and the colourful personalities who occupied that position over the centuries.

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Our Bestselling British History Books

Johnson at 10
Added to basket
£25.00   £21.99
Hardback
The Restless Republic
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£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
Northerners
Added to basket
£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
The Shortest History of England
Added to basket
The Anglo-Saxons
Added to basket
£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
Buried
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£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
We Don't Know Ourselves
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Black Gold
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£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
The Siege of Loyalty House
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£12.99   £10.99
Paperback
Elizabeth
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£25.00   £19.99
Hardback
A Short History of Europe
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A Short History of England
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The Plantagenets
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£10.99
Paperback
Revenge
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£10.99   £9.49
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The White Ship
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£9.99
Paperback
Viking Britain
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£9.99
Paperback
Devil-Land
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£14.99   £12.99
Paperback
The Road
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£20.00   £16.99
Hardback

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Our Bestselling European History Books

A Village in the Third Reich
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£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
Say Nothing
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£10.99
Paperback
River Kings
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£9.99
Paperback
Putin's People
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£10.99
Paperback
Stasiland
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£10.99
Paperback
The Gates of Europe
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Colonialism
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£25.00   £21.99
Hardback
The Stasi Poetry Circle
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£9.99   £8.49
Paperback
Homelands
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£22.00   £19.99
Hardback
A Short History of Russia
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The Burgundians
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£12.00
Paperback
After the Romanovs
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£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
The Dream of Europe
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£10.99   £9.49
Paperback
Espana: a Brief History of Spain
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Aftermath
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£12.99   £10.99
Paperback
The Shortest History of Greece
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The Escape Artist
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Between Two Hells
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Our Bestselling American History Books

Killers of the Flower Moon
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£8.99   £7.49
Paperback
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
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The Witches
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£10.99
Paperback
Alexander Hamilton
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£15.99
Paperback
The American Civil War
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One Summer
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£10.99
Paperback
Gimson's Presidents
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The Earth is Weeping
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The American West
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£9.99
Paperback
JFK
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JFK
£14.99
Paperback
Black Spartacus
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Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11
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The British Are Coming
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King Richard
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£18.99
Paperback
How to Hide an Empire
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Populista
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£9.99
Paperback
Devil Dogs
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£25.00
Hardback

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Our Bestselling Asian History Books

The Japanese Myths
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The Anarchy
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£12.99
Paperback
The Shortest History of China
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The Story of China
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£12.99
Paperback
The Hong Kong Diaries
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Vietnam
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£12.99
Paperback
The Great Empires of Asia
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Wild Swans
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£10.99
Paperback
Genghis Khan
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£14.99
Paperback
Inglorious Empire
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£10.99
Paperback
The Japanese
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£12.99
Paperback
Dispatches
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£10.99
Paperback
The Patient Assassin
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The Opium War
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£12.99
Paperback
Istanbul
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£14.99
Paperback
Himalaya
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£12.99
Paperback
The Korean War
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£16.99
Paperback
The Great Game
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£12.99
Paperback

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Our Bestselling Ancient History Books

SPQR
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£10.99
Paperback
Rubicon
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£12.99
Paperback
The Egyptian Myths
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Venus and Aphrodite
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Ravenna
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£16.99
Paperback
The Histories
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£9.99
Paperback
Celts, The - Search for a Civilisation
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The Histories
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£10.99
Paperback
Babylon
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£12.99
Paperback
The Spartans
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£12.99
Paperback
The Great Empires of the Ancient World
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Britain BC
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£12.99
Paperback
Philip and Alexander
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A History of Ancient Britain
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Confronting the Classics
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A History of the Middle East
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Augustus
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£14.99
Paperback

The Waterstones Round Up: June's Best Books

Embrace the summer sun and top up your to-be-read pile with our essential guide to June's most exciting publishing.

Serhii Plokhy on the True Causes of the Russian Aggression Against Ukraine

The award-winning author and historian discusses his latest book, The Russo-Ukrainian War.

Countdown to the Chalke Valley History Festival 2023

Jane Simpson talks about the bookish delights in store for this year's festival.

Peter Ross on the Secrets of a Fenland Church

Peter Ross, author of Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church, reveals the wonderful, terrible secret of Holy Trinity, Stow Bardolph.

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