Wayward Women

Lucy Williams • £12.99
Pen & Sword

We most often think of the Victorian female offender in her most archetypal and stereotypical roles; the polite lady shoplifter, stowing all manner of valuables beneath her voluminous crinolines, the tragic street waif of Dickensian fiction or the vicious femme fatale who wreaked her terrible revenge with copious poison.

Yet the stories in popular novels and the ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ of the day have passed down to us only half the story of these women and their crimes. From the everyday street scuffles and pocket pickings of crowded slums, to the sensational trials that dominated national headlines; the women of Victorian England were responsible for a diverse and at times completely unexpected level of deviance.

This book takes a closer look at women and crime in the Victorian period. With vivid real-life stories, powerful photos, eye-opening cases and wider discussions that give us

Somewhere in England

£14.99
IWM Publications

IWM’s new photographic book Somewhere in England – published to coincide with the reopening of IWM Duxford’s American Air Museum (see page 24) – reveals stunning portrait photographs, many of which have never been published before, giving a snapshot of life as an American Airman serving in Britain in the Second World War.

Featuring over 70 images, including a rare selection of colour photographs, this book gives readers a candid glimpse into the many and varied roles of the men and women in, and associated with, the United States Air Force.

From photos of film star Clark Gable who served in Northamptonshire, Major Lloyd Mason being introduced to the Royal Family, through to Sergeant Leo Teetman Jr hungrily eating a sandwich after a long mission, this book tells the story of some of the 2 million men and women whose hard work and bravery helped to defend Britain from ‘Somewhere in England’ during the Second World War.

It includes everyone from fighter pilots and bomber crews, the navigators and gunners, through to the ground crew who ensured the aircraft kept flying and even the ‘GI brides’ who were swept off their feet by the American airmen.

Shakespeare’s Bastard

Simon Andrew Stirling • £12.99
The History Press

Sir William Davenant (1606–1668) – Poet Laureate and Civil War hero – is one of the most influential and neglected figures in the history of British theatre. Narrowly escaping execution for his Royalist activities during the Civil War, he revived theatrical performances in London. Davenant was known to boast over a glass of wine that he wrote ‘with the very spirit’ of Shakespeare and was happy to be thought of as Shakespeare’s son. By recounting the story of his eventful life backwards, through his many trials and triumphs, this biography culminates with a fresh examination of the vexed issue of Davenant’s paternity.

A Decade of Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923

Chris Paton • £7.50

Unlock the Past

A century on, in this book from Unlock the Past, Northern Irish-born family historian Chris Paton will help you to discover whether your ancestors were caught up in the extraordinary events of the 1912-23 period in Ireland – whether they were Suffragettes, unionised workers, Ulster or Irish Volunteers, fighting with the British Army and Crown forces, against them as rebels and revolutionaries, and in the ensuing civil war on both sides of the Treaty divide. With improved cataloguing by archives, and better access to the records, both online and offline, a new gateway has been opened into one of the island’s most tumultuous periods.