The Oxford Illustrated History of the World

Edited by Felipe Fernández-Armesto • £30

This book encompasses the whole span of human history. It brings together some of the world’s leading historians, under the expert guidance of Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, to tell the 200,000-year story of our world, from the emergence of homo sapiens through to the 21st century: the environmental convulsions; the interplay of ideas (good and bad); the cultural phases and exchanges; the collisions and collaborations in politics; the successions of states and empires; the unlocking of energy; the evolutions of economies; the contacts, conflicts, and contagions that have all contributed to making the world we now inhabit.

Workhouses of London and the South East

Peter Higginbotham • £18.99
The History Press

Our image of workhouses has often been coloured by the writings of authors such as Charles Dickens. But what was the reality? Where exactly were all these institutions located? And what happened to them? People are often surprised to discover that a building in their own town, perhaps now turned into flats, or still forming part of a local hospital, was once a workhouse. This copiously illustrated book provides a comprehensive guide to the workhouses that were set up across London and the neighbouring counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire.

Scotland: A Concise History

Fitzroy Maclean • £9.99
 TEXT

Scotland has had a rough and bloodstained history. It is a complex one, too, but the late Fitzroy Maclean and Magnus Linklater disentangle the threads, and enliven their brisk account with both wit and scholarship. Pictures from authentic contemporary sources illuminate the story – its romantic figures and bloody battles, its politics and religion – and provide a record of Scotland’s art, craftsmanship and intellectual life.