An essential biography of Queen Anne Boleyn! Perfect for readers on Alison Weir, Eric Ives and John Guy.

‘A very readable account of all the strands in the complicated tapestry of politics, religion, and that very uncertain quality, the King’s love’ The Times

Few queens of England are as famous as Anne Boleyn.

Yet, who was this woman? What was her life like before Henry VIII became infatuated with her? And just how influential was she in reshaping English religious and political life during the early years of the Reformation?

Marie Louise Bruce’s engrossing account of Anne Boleyn charts the rise and fall of this remarkable young woman through the course of her short life, from her early days at Hever Castle to the luxurious courts of France and England to her terrifying last days in the Tower of London.

By utilising a wealth of primary sources, including the love letters between Henry and Anne along with innumerable documents written by courtiers and ambassadors, Bruce brings to life the splendour of the Tudor court and its most famous king and queen.

‘A fine biography. She perceptively traces the development of Anne Boleyn’s character from its formative years in the French court.’ The Times Literary Supplement

‘Traces sympathetically and in great detail the life of Henry VIII’s second queen. What a woman, and what a terrible time to be her kind of woman! Beautiful, clever, talkative and strong-willed, in this book Anne Boleyn lives and dies vividly, leaving behind the proud and inescapable fact that her daughter became England’s greatest queen’ She Magazine

‘A readable and balanced portrait.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Invaluable as an insight into this complex period and it has the rather rare virtue of being a good read.’ The Teacher

‘Eminently readable… Marie Louise Bruce is admirably fair (and) makes good use of Henry’s letters to Anne during their courtship’ The Sunday Telegraph

The Crusades shook the world. But why did they happen?

Their origins are revealed in a new light. As part of a medieval world war that stretched from Asia to Europe. At its centre was an ancient empire – Byzantium.

Told for the first time as a single, linked narrative are three great events that changed history: the fall of Byzantium in the eleventh century, the epic campaign of the First Crusade and the origins of modern Turkey.

Nick Holmes not only presents the First Crusade in a wider global context but he also puts forwards new interpretations of the original sources, suggesting that its success was in fact largely accidental, and that the central role of Byzantium in the Crusades has been underestimated.

An engrossing account of working in the top-secret world of Bletchley Park during World War Two. Perfect for fans of Sinclair McKay, Tessa Dunlop and Andrew Hodges.

In 1938, Sarah Baring was enjoying life as a young debutante. Only a few years later, at the height of World War Two, she was working alongside some of the greatest minds of Britain in their code-breaking operations at Bletchley Park.

How did she end up in the top-secret world of cyphers and codes?

And what did she do within the confines of Bletchley’s Hut 4 that allowed the British Navy to be always one step ahead of their foes?

Like many young men and women across all levels of British society, the outbreak of war in 1939 dramatically altered the course of Sarah’s life.

Knowing that she could not stand by while others were enlisting, she left her position in Vogue magazine and signed up to work as a telephonist at an Air Raid Precautions Centre before working in a fighter plane factory to do her bit. The women that she worked alongside were unlike those she had known in her high society life and opened her eyes to a completely different world.

Yet, after just a few months, she was requested to leave the factory behind and was thrust into the world of intelligence, code-breaking and huge computers, rubbing shoulders with awkward geniuses like Alan Turing.

The Road to Station X provides a window into the life of a young woman that shifted from being a carefree debutante to factory girl to working with code-breakers in Bletchley Park as a result of the turbulent events of World War Two.

As the Daily Mail stated, “her natural modesty meant she hardly mentioned her vital contribution to Britain’s war effort.” However, shortly before she died she wrote her memoir which “revealed the truth about her role in the war.”