Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses to the door of the
Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 is one of the most famous events
of Western history. It inaugurated the Protestant Reformation, and has for
centuries been a powerful and enduring symbol of religious freedom of
conscience, and of righteous protest against the abuse of power. But did it
actually really happen?
In this engagingly-written, wide-ranging and insightful
work of cultural history, leading Reformation historian Peter Marshall reviews
the available evidence, and concludes that, very probably, it did not.
The theses-posting is a myth. And yet, Marshall argues, this
fact makes the incident all the more historically significant. In tracing how -
and why - a 'non-event' ended up becoming a defining episode of the modern
historical imagination.
Marshall compellingly explores the multiple ways in which
the figure of Martin Luther, and the nature of the Reformation itself, have
been remembered and used for their own purposes by subsequent generations of
Protestants and others - in Germany, Britain, the United States and elsewhere.
As people in Europe, and across the world, prepare to remember, and celebrate,
the 500th anniversary of Luther's posting of the theses, this book offers a
timely contribution and corrective. The intention is not to 'debunk', or to
belittle Luther's achievement, but rather to invite renewed reflection on how
the past speaks to the present - and on how, all too often, the present creates
the past in its own image and likeness.
A History of Britain
in 21 Women, Jenni Murray - £9.99
They were famous queens, unrecognised visionaries, great
artists and trailblazing politicians. They all pushed back boundaries and
revolutionised our world. Jenni Murray presents the history of Britain as
you've never seen it before, through the lives of twenty-one women who refused
to succumb to the established laws of society, whose lives embodied hope and
change, and who still have the power to inspire us today.
Six Minutes in May, Nicholas Shakespeare - £20
London, early May 1940: Britain is on the brink of war and
Neville Chamberlain's government is about to fall. It is hard for us to imagine
the Second World War without Winston Churchill taking over at the helm, but in Six Minutes in May Nicholas Shakespeare shows how easily events could have gone
in a different direction. The first land battle of the war was fought in the
far north, in Norway.
It went disastrously for the Allies and many blamed
Churchill. Yet weeks later he would rise to the most powerful post in the
country, overtaking Chamberlain and the favourite to succeed him, Lord Halifax.
It took just six minutes for MPs to cast the votes that brought down
Chamberlain.
Shakespeare shows us both the dramatic action on the
battlefield in Norway and the machinations and personal relationships in
Westminster that led up to this crucial point. Uncovering fascinating new
research and delving deep into the backgrounds of the key players, he has given
us a new perspective on this critical moment in our history.
The Crown, Robert Lacey - £20
The official book to the Golden Globe and BAFTA
award-winning Netflix drama, The Crown, with extensive research, additional
material and beautifully reproduced photographs. Elizabeth Mountbatten
never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her with a
throne to fill and a global institution to govern. Crowned at 25, she was
already a wife and mother.
The official book to the Golden Globe and BAFTA
award-winning Netflix drama, The Crown, with extensive research, additional
material and beautifully reproduced photographs. Elizabeth Mountbatten
never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her with a
throne to fill and a global institution to govern. Crowned at 25, she was
already a wife and mother.
Follow the journey of a woman learning to become a queen. As
Britain lifted itself out of the shadow of war, the new monarch faced her own
challenges. Her mother doubted her marriage; her uncle-in-exile derided her
abilities; her husband resented the sacrifice of his career and family name;
while her rebellious sister embarked on a love affair that threatened the
centuries-old links between the Church and the Crown. This is the story of how
Elizabeth II drew on every ounce of resolve to ensure that the Crown always
came out on top.Netflix's original series The Crown dramatised Peter Morgan's
powerful portrayal of Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
Written by royal biographer Robert Lacey, The Crown: The
Inside History adds expert and in-depth detail to the events of the series,
painting an intimate portrait of life inside Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing
Street. Here is Elizabeth II as we've never seen her before.
Chaucer's People :
Everyday Lives in Medieval England, Liza
Picard - £25
The Middle Ages were turbulent times. In the fourteenth century alone, England was ravaged by war, plague, revolt and the overthrow of a king. Among the surviving records, the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer is the most vivid.
The Middle Ages were turbulent times. In the fourteenth century alone, England was ravaged by war, plague, revolt and the overthrow of a king. Among the surviving records, the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer is the most vivid.
But what does it tell us about the everyday lives of
medieval men and women? What did people eat, wear, read and think?Through the
assorted cast of pilgrims Chaucer selected for The Canterbury Tales, Liza
Picard brings medieval social history to life. These are lives led beyond the
court circles frequented by most of Chaucer's well-heeled audience - lives
spent at the pedal of a loom or in uncharted waters on the high seas.Chaucer
would sometimes raise a thought-provoking query in an apparently simple
portrait.
The Prioress was a sweet, pretty, well-mannered young nun; what was
she doing on the road to Canterbury with a mixed band of men, instead of
staying in her convent to pray? The Knight was 'a very perfect gentle knight';
but why had his military service landed him in such distant places as Lithuania
and Spain? By providing these characters with a three-dimensional framework -
the times in which they lived - Picard opens up the fourteenth-century world to
us.
Drawing on contemporary experiences of a vast range of
subjects including trade, religion, toe-curling remedies and hair-raising
recipes, Chaucer's People recreates the medieval world in all its glorious
detail.
Queens of the
Conquest : England's Medieval Queens, Alison
Weir - £20
The story of England's medieval queens is vivid and
stirring, packed with tragedy, high drama and even comedy. It is a chronicle of
love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow,
peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers. In the first
volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic
mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England's queens in the century
after the Norman Conquest.
The story of England's medieval queens is vivid and
stirring, packed with tragedy, high drama and even comedy. It is a chronicle of
love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow,
peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers. In the first
volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic
mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England's queens in the century
after the Norman Conquest.
Beginning with Matilda of Flanders, who supported William
the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, and culminating in the
turbulent life of the Empress Maud, who claimed to be queen of England in her
own right and fought a bitter war to that end, the five Norman queens emerge as
hugely influential figures and fascinating characters. Much more than a series
of individual biographies, Queens of the Conquest is a seamless tale of
interconnected lives and a rich portrait of English history in a time of flux.
In Alison Weir's hands these five extraordinary women reclaim their rightful
roles at the centre of English history.
The Templars, Dan Jones - £25
The Knights Templar were the wealthiest, most powerful - and
most secretive - of the military orders that flourished in the crusading era.
Their story - encompassing as it does the greatest international conflict of
the Middle Ages, a network of international finance, a swift rise in wealth and
influence followed by a bloody and humiliating fall - has left a comet's tail
of mystery that continues to fascinate and inspire historians, novelists and
conspiracy theorists.
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