John Matusiak • £9.99/20
The History Press

This compelling account of Henry VIII is by no means yet another history of the ‘old monster’ and his reign. The ‘monster’ displayed here is, at the very least, a newer type, more beset by anxieties and insecurities, and more tightly surrounded by those who equated loyalty with fear, self-interest and blind obedience.

This ground-breaking book also demonstrates that Henry VIII’s priorities were always primarily martial rather than marital, and accepts neither the necessity of his all-consuming quest for a male heir nor his need ultimately to sever ties with Rome. As the story unfolds, Henry’s predicaments prove largely of his own making, the paths he chooses neither the only nor the best available. For Henry VIII was not only a bad man, but also a bad ruler who failed to achieve his aims and blighted the reigns of his two immediate successors.

Five hundred years after he ascended the throne, the reputation of England’s best known king is being rehabilitated and subtly sanitized. Yet Tudor historian John Matusiak paints a colourful and absorbingly intimate portrait of a man wholly unfit for power.

Life in the Victorian Asylum

Mark Stevens • £19.99
Pen & Sword

Have you ever wondered what life was like for the thousands of ordinary people who experienced Victorian mental health care?

Life in the Victorian Asylum is the story of those ordinary people. It details their daily routine, the treatments they were offered and the rules to which they had to conform.

Immerse yourself in the period detail of ward life. Meet the staff and other patients. Seek a diagnosis for your illness. Tour the hospital and take part in the activities on offer.

In Life in the Victorian Asylum, Mark Stevens reconstructs the lost world of the 19th century public asylums. Why were they built? Who were they for? And what is the legacy of these remarkable institutions? You may be surprised at what you discover.

Read an exclusive extract of this book in Issue 4 of Discover Your Ancestors, our latest print edition out in late February: see discoveryourancestors.co.uk .

The Lie at the Heart of Waterloo

Nigel Sale • £20
The History Press

Waterloo has, perhaps, a greater claim to have left its mark on Europe than any single battle before it, yet, even after two hundred years, there is confusion about how the battle ended. The Lie at the Heart of Waterloo is not the customary eulogy but a critical analysis of the carefully engineered misinformation that has often totally misled historians and students of military history for so long. The author uses quotations from eyewitnesses – not only those published shortly after the battle but also the most modern academic work – to tell the true story. The truth is as complicated and dramatic as anyone could desire.

Letters from the Trenches

Jacqueline Wadsworth • £19.99
Pen & Sword

Even after 100 years, World War One is not easy to look back on, with its haunting battlefields and trenches full of filth and disease. So what was it like for those who were there? The answer lies in the letters they wrote which show, perhaps that surprisingly, that most accepted the fighting as a necessary evil. For them, the war was not the sweeping nightmare that we now survey – it had become their normality.

Using letters and diaries, the majority of which have never been published before, Jacqueline Wadsworth follows servicemen and their families through the years of conflict, telling their stories in their own words. They wrote to each other with humour and hope as well as worry, fear and despair.

A century later, these moving letters are still as fresh as if they had been written yesterday.