British Middle Ages

The New York Times bestseller that tells the story of Britain’s greatest and worst dynasty—“a real-life Game of Thrones” (The Wall Street Journal)—by the author of Powers and Thrones. The first Plantagenet king inherited a blood-soaked kingdom from the Normans and transformed it into...

NEW AND IMPROVED SECOND EDITION - 2025 Initially published by Peter Owen Publishers, 2013 When nine-year-old Henry III ascended to the throne of a kingdom on the verge of collapse, none could have predicted his fifty-six-year reign would become the longest in medieval England. The first child king to inherit the English throne since the Norman Conquest, his reign (1216–72) transformed the kingdom politically and culturally during one of the most turbulent periods in its history. Though often overshadowed by his father, King John, and his son, Edward I, Henry III was one of England’s ...

In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class.

A.D. 1172. Henry II’s three eldest sons conspire against him and align themselves with his greatest enemy, King Louis of France, but it’s Eleanor of Aquitaine’s involvement in the plot to overthrow her husband that proves to be the harshest betrayal. As a royal family collapses and a...

Two outcasts in medieval England are brought together and share a destiny of passion in the third of the Velvet Montgomery Annals Quadrilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Duchess. With her father murdered, her home burned, lovely Alyx Blackelt fled to the woods and found...

Read by the author. An extraordinary historical journey through England with Alice Loxton, author of the acclaimed bestseller Eighteen. ‘Alice Loxton is the star of her generation’ – Dan Snow, historian and host of History Hit ‘Beautiful, elegiac, honest and compelling . . . a modern-day...

Brought to you by Penguin. What can a twelfth-century monk teach us about burnout, envy, or despair? Far more than we might imagine. In Self-Help from the Middle Ages, historian Peter Jones travels through Europe’s archives and libraries to uncover a lost psychology: a world where confession...

"Narrator JD Jackson addresses his listener as "bro" in this decidedly contemporary retelling of the classic saga...His brilliant performance captures all the artistry, wit, and immediacy of this fresh translation, and breathes new life into what for most has been a literary fossil." --...

Until Scandinavia converted to Christianity and came under the rule of powerful kings, the Vikings were a dominant force in the medieval world. Outfitted with wind-powered sailing ships, they left their mark, spreading terror across Europe, sacking cities, deposing kings, and ransacking economies. But as much as we know about this culture, there is a large missing piece: its women. In this revisionist portrait, science journalist Heather Pringle turns those assumptions on their head, using the latest archaeological research and historical findings to reveal this group as they actually were.

After coming perilously close to blowing his life savings on a convertible he can't afford, Rob Temple shares his tragic journey through the absurd impulses, bold reinventions, and utter cringe of the midlife crisis - a wild ride we all face if we're lucky enough to keep on aging. Are you...

Bloomsbury presents Crécy by Michael Livingston, read by Rupert Farley. Like Crécy itself, this book is a triumph and the tale it tells gives an old story new life.’- Bernard Cornwell, bestselling author of The Last Kingdom series A groundbreaking new study of the battle of Crécy, in which...

A Waterstones Best History Book 2025 A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 2025 ‘Learned, entertaining and highly approachable’ BOB MORTIMER ‘A treat’ ALICE LOXTON ‘Five stars from me…’ AL MURRAY An unmissable collaboration between two comedy legends – an irresistible...

Dark Age Demons - A Historical Horror Thriller. Britain, 540 AD. Britons, Saxons, Jutes and Angles war with each other for land. They have no idea they are all just meat to the monsters that dwell in the abandoned Roman city of Londinium. The monster's leader, a former Roman soldier turned demon, sends his creatures across the land to forage for food and increase their numbers. When one of these creatures destroys their village, two brave Saxon sisters and their stubborn but determined brother form an unlikely team-up with a Briton bandit who has knowledge of the island's darkness. Saxon ...

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ""BEST HORROR FICTION OF 2024"" From Eliza Clark, the author of the brilliant novels Boy Parts and Penance and one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, comes a fierce, visionary and darkly comic story collection. A woman welcomes a parasite into her body. A...

The British Isles have long been seen as a place of mystery & magic. For many thousands of years successive waves of invaders each brought their own gods & goddesses with them, often assimilating the beliefs of the tribes they conquered. The Celtic races merged with the indigenous people, in turn conquered by the Romans, who brought with them deities from all over the Roman Empire including Greece & Egypt. After them came the Saxons & other Germanic tribes, further adding to the rich tapestry that forms part of our spiritual heritage today. The Isles of the Many Gods brings together, for ...

From The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wife of Henry VIII comes a powerful and moving novel about Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, who married him only days after the execution of Anne Boleyn and ultimately lost her own life in giving him the son he badly needed to...

The Dowager Viscountess Cleo Wynton is living a lie, and the gilding is starting to crack. To the world, Cleo is the epitome of Regency grace: wealthy, poised, and untouchable. In reality, she is drowning in her late husband’s debts and selling off the family silver just to keep the candles lit. Her last hope is the pride of the Wynton collection: a Renaissance portrait worth a king’s ransom. But when she summons an expert to appraise it, her carefully constructed façade shatters. Mr. Thomas Montague deals in beauty, but he knows an ugly truth when he sees one. At fifty-three, Thomas ...

The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy, and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real—and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the "long-lost" history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin's prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain's path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history.

Adrian Mole is 39 and a quarter. Due to his financial situation he has been forced to move next door to his parents. And his numerous nightly visits to the lavatory lead him to suspect prostate trouble. As his worries multiply, a phone call to his old flame ignites powerful memories and makes...

In the tumultuous year 1190 AD, Elric is known as many things: a thug, a thief, a bully, a bigot, a murderer—a truly despicable piece of gallows bait. The people of York have long yearned for respite from his reign of terror and receive it when Elric takes the cross and joins King Richard’s Crusade to the Holy Land. Elric isn’t going alone; after an unforgivable act of violence on the grounds of York Castle, a discorporated demon, deprived of its body in a fierce battle fought over a century prior, manages to possess Elric and give him a mission. Elric and the demon, now sharing the ...