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Immerse yourself in history through our reading lists, featuring the best selections to deepen your knowledge and appreciation of the past.

Medieval Women: A Reading List

The History Behind Wolf Hall: A Reading List

Halloween Reading: Magical Histories

Second World War Reading List

A Georgian and Regency Reading List

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MerryWeisnerHanksNotJustTheTudors

Professor Merry Wiesner-Hanks discusses how women's influence and actions were crucial factors in the Reformation.

History Extra talks to Sara Lodge about the exploits of women detectives in the Victorian era.

Mary L. Shannon discusses busking and Billy Waters on BBC Radio 4.

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👑 MONARCH OF THE MONTH 👑 HENRY THE YOUNG KI

👑 MONARCH OF THE MONTH 👑

HENRY THE YOUNG KING

The eldest surviving son of Henry II, Young Henry was chief heir to the Angevin empire, one of the Greatest agglomerations of territories seen since the days of Charlemagne. In 1170 he had been anointed king, the first heir to be crowned in the lifetime of his father in England since 796. The desire to have his son created as an anointed king had been a driving factor in Henry II’s policies from at least 1162, and in 1170 he had pushed through his son’s coronation by the archbishop of York in highly contentious circumstances, which would lead, unwittingly but directly, to the murder of Thomas Becket only six months later.

For thirteen years, England was to have two kings. Yet within three years of his coronation the young Henry was at the head of a powerful coalition of rebel nobles and external enemies leagued against his father, precipitating a bitter two-year war which marked the gravest crisis of
Henry II’s reign. Reconciled with his father after his failed rebellion, the Young King had by the late 1170s become an international celebrity, fêted for his feats of arms in the tournament circuit of northern France and renowned as an open-handed patron of knights. After a decade of uneasy peace, however, and still with no territories to call his own, he had answered the call of the nobles of Aquitaine, chafing under the iron- fisted rule of his younger brother Richard, to be their duke. His campaign had come close to wresting the duchy from Richard when young Henry was seized by his fatal illness. Healing miracles were reported at his tomb and he was hailed by some as a saint – the only Angevin ruler ever to have been so regarded. Handsome, athletic and with a winning character, young Henry was seen by many as the embodiment of chivalry and as possessing the virtues of an ideal prince. To those closer to Henry II, the
younger Henry appeared more as a reckless and divisive ingrate who had stirred up unmerited and illicit war against a doting father.

From HENRY THE YOUNG KING by Matthew Strickland
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Explore our reading list of books foregrounding me

Explore our reading list of books foregrounding medieval women as active leaders in political, religious and cultural history.

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📚 OUT NOW 📚 THE DARK PATH: THE STRUCTURE OF

📚 OUT NOW 📚

THE DARK PATH: THE STRUCTURE OF WAR AND THE RISE OF THE WEST | Williamson Murray

From an esteemed military historian, a sweeping history of the revolutions in war-fighting that have shaped the modern world

Heraclitus wrote that “war is the father of all,” and it has formed much of the modern world. Although the fundamental nature of war has not altered over the centuries, constant change, innovation, and adaptation have repeatedly reshaped how wars are fought in the West. Revolutions in military practice cannot be separated from larger social developments in areas like logistics, finance and economics, and the culture of military organizations.

In The Dark Path, Williamson Murray argues that the history of warfare in the West hinged on five revolutions, which both reflected the social, political, and economic conditions that produced them and in turn influenced how those conditions evolved. These five key turning points are the advent of the modern state, which formed bureaucracies and professional militaries; the Industrial Revolution, which produced the financial and industrial means to sustain and equip large armies; the French Revolution, which provided the ideological basis needed to sustain armies through continent-sized wars; the merging of the Industrial and French Revolutions in the U.S. Civil War; and the accelerating integration of technological advancement, financial capacity, ideology, and government that unleashed the modern capacity for total warfare.

An ambitious work of synthesis, this book shows how the world continually re-creates war—and how war, in turn, continually re-creates the world.

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📚 OUT NOW 📚 WHY I BECAME AN X-TROOP COMMAND

📚 OUT NOW 📚

WHY I BECAME AN X-TROOP COMMANDO | Helen Fry (@drhelenfry)

'I am delighted that the story of X Troop is becoming more broadly known. Each one of these brave men deserves their own story and Helen Fry's book is a welcome addition'—Leah Garrett, author of X Troop

A fascinating and moving biography of Colin Anson, the German refugee who became an elite British commando

Born in Germany in 1922, Colin Anson’s (Claus Ascher) childhood was marked by the trials of Nazism. His father was arrested by the Gestapo in 1937 and transported to Dachau, where he died shortly after. Colin, aged just seventeen, escaped to Britain in the Kindertransport. As soon as he was old enough, Colin volunteered in the Pioneer Corps. Then, in 1942, he was recruited for the elite commando unit X-Troop.

Colin took part in the invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943, where he sustained a near-fatal injury. But just months later, he returned to duty. He fought in the Yugoslav islands, became the first Allied soldier to liberate Corfu, and was stationed in postwar Frankfurt.

In this unique biography, Helen Fry traces the remarkable story of Colin’s life. Drawing on extensive interviews, Fry recounts his actions in X-Troop and beyond in his own words—and sheds new light on the experience of refugees in the British forces.

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