Brutus of Troy and the Quest for the Ancestry of the British

Anthony Adolph • £19.99
Pen & Sword

Just who did the British think they were? For much of the last 1500 years, when the British looked back to their origins they saw the looming mythological figure of Brutus of Troy. Landing at Totnes in Devon, Brutus overthrew the giants who lived in Britain, laid the foundations of Oxford University and London and sired a long line of kings, including King Arthur and the ancestors of the present Royal Family.

Invented to give Britain a place in the overarching mythologies of the Classical world and the Bible, Brutus’s story long underpinned the British identity and played a crucial role in royal propaganda and foreign policy. His story inspired generations of poets and playwrights, including Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, Dickens and Blake. Leading genealogist Anthony Adolph traces Brutus’s story from Roman times onwards, charting his immense popularity and subsequent fall from grace, along with his lasting legacy in fiction, pseudo-history and the arcane mythology surrounding some of London’s best-known landmarks.

Kings & Queens of Wales

Timothy Venning • £9.99
Amberley Books

The Welsh kings and queens who ruled prior to the Norman Conquest of Wales are shrouded in mystery. Most of what we know is from legend, names in annals, and from their opponents. This book sets out to identify what we know or can reasonably surmise about these rulers, to disentangle their history, and to assess their achievements. The Welsh ruled over large areas of Britain in the pre- and post-Roman eras, before they were pushed back into Wales itself by the Anglo-Saxons. Caratacus and Boudicca are names that stand out from early tribal states, and medieval Welsh legends refer to shadowy ‘High Kings’ who ruled after the Romans left – Vortigern, Ambrosius, and, of course, the enigmatic ‘Arthur’.

Venning explores these mysterious figures before discussing the kings and queens of each area of what we now know as Wales as well as the short-lived Welsh states in the rest of Britain. The 13th-century unifiers of Wales, Llywelyn ‘Fawr’ and his grandson Llywelyn ‘the Last’, were contemporaries of great nation-builders in England, Scotland, and France, but their political achievements did not last. The precarious Welsh state was permanently overrun by the English war machine.

The Galloping Sausage and Other Train Curiosities

Geoff & Ian Body • £14.99
The History Press

Weird schemes and designs, extravagant behaviour, reckless competition and larger-than-life characters all featured in the genuine struggle of the railway system to evolve. While the dawning of regulation and common sense brought about more uniform and responsible practices, factors like the weather and the innate complexity of railway operation continued to produce a stream of nonstandard incidents and outcomes. This book, by ex-railwaymen Geoff and Ian Body, captures over 150 entertaining snippets, stories, and strange and unusual facts from an ample supply of railway curiosities.

The Medal Yearbook 2016

£19.95
The Medal Yearbook 2016

The biggest selling guide to British and Empire medals in the world, illustrated in full colour throughout with a fully updated price guide to British, Empire and Commonwealth orders, medals and decorations including: orders of chivalry, gallantry, campaign, long service, coronation and jubilee, life-saving, unofficial medals and much more. There are also dozens of new medal entries and updates for all sections of the book. Contents include new medal entries, medal market trends, a comprehensive guide to researching medals, order of wear, bibliography, glossary, guide to current regiments and more.