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Henry Crabb Robinson (1775-1867) earned his place in literary history as a perceptive diarist from 1811 onwards. Drawing substantially on hitherto unpublished manuscript sources, this book discusses his formal and informal engagement with a wide variety of English and European literature prior to this point. Robinson emerges as a pioneering literary critic whose unique philosophical erudition underpinned his activity as a cross-cultural disseminator of literature during the early Romantic period...

John André was head of the British Army’s Secret Service in North America as the Revolutionary War entered its most bitter and, ultimately, decisive phase. In 1780, he masterminded the defection of a high-ranking American officer — General Benedict Arnold. Arnold—his name for ever synonymous with treason in American folklore — had recently been appointed commander of West Point and agreed, through André, to turn over to the British this strategically vital fort on the upper reaches of the Hudson...

The American War for Independence was fought in nearly every colony, but some colonies witnessed far more conflict than others. In the first half of the war, the bulk of military operations were concentrated in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. A shift in British strategy southward after the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 triggered numerous military engagements in 1779 and 1780 in Georgia and the Carolinas. Surprisingly, Virginia, the largest of the original thirteen colonies,...

Jac Weller gives a complete account of Wellington''s career in India, the battles and sieges he undertook and the lessons he learned that prepared him for the campaigns he would later undertake against the best European armies.'

***The subject of the new major film by Mike Leigh***Unity of the oppressed can make a difference in politically uncertain times A peaceful protest turned tragedy; this is the true story of the working class fight for the vote.On August 16 1819, in St Peter’s Field, Manchester, a large non-violent gathering demanding parliamentary reform turned into a massacre, leaving many dead and hundreds more injured.This catastrophic event was one of the key moments of the age, a political awakening of the...

If you love Julia Quinn's Bridgerton, you'll fall head over heels for the family at the heart of Sabrina Jeffries' Duke Dynasty series!'Anyone who loves romance must read Sabrina Jeffries!' Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling authorFrom New York Times bestselling author, and Queen of the sexy Regency romance, Sabrina Jeffries comes a sparkling new series about an oft-widowed mother's grown children, who blaze through society in their quest for the truth about their fathers . . . and in the...

In 1758 Peter Williamson appeared on the streets of Aberdeen, Scotland, dressed as a Native American and telling a remarkable tale. He claimed that as a young boy he had been kidnapped from the city and sold into slavery in America. In performances and in a printed narrative he peddled to his audiences, Williamson described his tribulations as an indentured servant, Indian captive, soldier, and prisoner of war. Aberdeen's magistrates called him a liar and banished him from the city, but Williams...

Thanks to Boswell's monumental biography of Samuel Johnson, we remember Dr. Johnson today as a great wit and conversationalist, the rationalist epitome and the sage of the Enlightenment. But in Johnson's own day, he was best known as an essayist, critic, and lexicographer. At the center of this collection are the periodical essays from the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler. Together, these works - allied in their literary, social, and moral concerns - are the ones that continue to speak urgently to...

If you love Poldark, you'll love Jane Feather's dazzling Georgian romantic trilogy, the Blackwater Brides, which continues with A Wedding Wager.Perfect for fans of Eloisa James, Liz Carlyle and Stephanie Laurens.Lady Serena Grantley was born to the nobility, but fortune's whim placed her under the control of her gamester stepfather, who uses her beauty to lure young men to his gambling tables. Serena even dismissed her first love, the Honorable Sebastian Sullivan, at her stepfather's command....

** Selected as a Book of the Year in The Times, Sunday Times and Observer **'Compulsively readable - the pages seem to turn themselves' John Carey, Sunday Times 'Brings one of the very greatest [artists] vividly to life' Literary Review Thomas Gainsborough lived as if electricity shot through his sinews and crackled at his finger ends. He was a gentle and empathetic family man, but had a shockingly loose, libidinous manner and a volatility that could lead him to slash his paintings. James Hamilt...

This book offers an innovative account of manliness in Britain between 1760 and 1900. Using diverse textual, visual and material culture sources, it shows that masculinities were produced and disseminated through men’s bodies –often working-class ones – and the emotions and material culture associated with them. The book analyses idealised men who stimulated desire and admiration, including virile boxers, soldiers, sailors and blacksmiths, brave firemen and noble industrial workers. It also inve...

From New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries comes a sparkling new series about an oft-widowed mother’s grown children, who blaze through society in their quest for the truth about their fathers . . . and in the process find that love just might conquer all . . .   A series of stepfathers and a difficult childhood have left Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt, with a guarded heart, enviable wealth, and the undeserved reputation of a rogue. Grey’s focus on expanding his duke...

June 1776: Just a month before America declared its independence from Great Britain, a British fleet of warships and thousands of British soldiers appeared off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Following a brutal day-long battle, the most powerful navy in the world was bloodily repulsed by the Americans. In the spring of 1779, a British force brazenly marched up to Charleston from Savannah and tested the city's defenses before falling back. Finally, in the spring of 1780, a massive Brit...

Modern political culture features a deep-seated faith in the power of numbers to find answers, settle disputes, and explain how the world works. Whether evaluating economic trends, measuring the success of institutions, or divining public opinion, we are told that numbers don’t lie. But numbers have not always been so revered. Calculated Values traces how numbers first gained widespread public authority in one nation, Great Britain.Into the seventeenth century, numerical reasoning bore no specia...

The Dublin stage of the Restoration and the 18th century has largely been dismissed as "West British" and its plays for the most part have been forgotten. This book examines the works by Protestant dramatists that reveal the complex alliance and fissures of Anglo-Irish society during the age of the Penal Laws. From Richard Head's Hic et Ubique (1663) to Mary O'Brien's The Fallen Patriot (1790), Wheatley shows how selected plays demonstrate that the Irish Protestants were far from a monolithic ca...

For fans of Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Sarah MacLean, comes Isabella Bradford's enthralling new trilogy of London's most scandalous rakes, the Breconridge Brothers, who are about to lose their hearts...Though charming and handsome, Lord Rivers Fitzroy, the youngest Breconridge brother, is more inclined to dusty books than brazen women. But when his father insists he marries, he vows to make the most of his last days as a bachelor.And what better way than in the company of a troupe of Italian...

Lose your heart in this sparkling and enchanting romance, the first in the Wylder sisters series from award-winning author Isabella Bradford.Raised in the countryside, Lady Charlotte Wylder doesn't care one bit about decorum. So when the dark-haired beauty learns that she is to leave for London to wed the Duke of Marchbourne, a perfect model of aristocratic propriety, she is less than enchanted. But to her delight, their first encounters are brazenly flirtatious, and their wedding night burns wi...

An explosive chronicle of history's greatest sea battle, from the co-author of the forthcoming Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History (March 2018) In the tradition of Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, Nelson's Trafalgar presents the definitive blow-by-blow account of the world's most famous naval battle, when the British Royal Navy under Lord Horatio Nelson dealt a decisive blow to the forces of Napoleon. The Battle of Trafalgar comes boldly to life in this definitive work that re-creates...

Uncovers the life of Jane Cumming, who scandalized her contemporaries with tales of sexual deviancy but also defied cultural norms, standing up to male authority figures and showing resilience. In 1810 Edinburgh, the orphaned Scottish-Indian schoolgirl Jane Cumming alleged that her two schoolmistresses were sexually intimate. The allegation spawned a defamation suit that pitted Jane's grandmother, a member of the Scottish landed gentry, against two young professional women who were romantic fri...

A VERY DANGEROUS LIAISON! Vivacious Lady Perdita Brooke prides herself on her social poise...except when faced with devastatingly dashing Alistair Lyndon. The dreamy young man Dita once knew is now a hardened rake, who clearly does not remember their passionate night together...however much it's emblazoned on her memory! Now Dita has the perfect opportunity to remind Alistair of their sizzling chemistry. But soon she is in over her head. Provoking him...