Bedlam: London’s Hospital for the Mad
Paul Chambers • £10.99
The History Press
Bethlem Hospital is the oldest mental institution in the world, but to many it is famous only as ‘Bedlam’, a chaotic madhouse that brutalised its patients. This book, now in paperback for the first time, explores the 800-year history of Bethlem and reveals fascinating details of its ambivalent relationship with London and Londoners, the life and times of the hospital’s more famous patients, and the rise of a powerful reform movement which forced the government to take the issue of Bedlam seriously. Paul Chambers brings the whole story of Bethlem Hospital to a new audience, charting its well-intended beginnings to its final disgrace and reform.
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires
Sara Cockerill • £25
Amberley Books
In the competition for remarkable
queens, Eleanor of Aquitaine tends to
win. The headlines: orphaned as a
child, Duchess in her own right,
Queen of France, crusader, survivor of
a terrible battle, kidnapped by her
own husband, captured by pirates,
divorced for barrenness, Countess of
Anjou, Queen of England, mother of
at least five sons and three daughters,
supporter of her sons’ rebellion
against her own husband, his prisoner
for 15 years, ruler of England in her
own right, and traveller across the
Pyrenees and Alps in winter in her
late sixties and seventies.
In this biography Sara Cockerill has gone back to the primary sources, and the wealth of recent first-rate scholarship, and assessed which of the claims about Eleanor can be sustained on the evidence. The result is a complete re-evaluation of this remarkable woman’s even more remarkable life.
The Scudamores of Kentchurch and Holme Lacy
Heather Hurley • £12.95
This tells the story of two branches of
this prominent and important Herefordshire
family – the senior branch
originating in the 11th century and
still living at Kentchurch in the
Monnow Valley, and the younger
branch from the 14th century based at
Holme Lacy until the early 20th
century. Clear contrasts exist between
the two families, with the more liberal
‘quiet and home-keeping people’ of
Kentchurch taking little part in
national affairs, becoming overshadowed
by the ambitious and powerful
Holme Lacy family. A wealth of
interesting characters emerge, people
of fame, fortune and failure, some
strong and flamboyant, others quiet
and reflective – and with them their
stories.
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Life in Medieval Europe
Danièle Cybulskie • £14.99
Pen & Sword
Have you ever found yourself
watching a show or reading a novel
and wondering what life was really
like in the Middle Ages? What did
people actually eat? Were they really
filthy? And did they ever get to marry
for love? Here you’ll find fast and fun
answers to all these questions.
Hanly: a brief history of the noble name (at home and abroad)
Gearoid O’Brien and John Hanly • €14.99
The Hanly clan originated in Co.
Roscommon and spread, initially,
throughout Ireland – the River
Shannon providing an artery of
communication that would reach as far
as Limerick and Cork. In the first
published history of the clan, authors
Gearoid O’Brien and John Hanly trace
that story, from the earliest entries in
the ancient annals to the present day.
Fascinating nuggets of historical information come to light, such as the figure of St. Berach, the 6th century monk and patron saint of the Hanly clan, whose crozier can today be found on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
There is a section devoted to famous Hanlys and persons of distinction bearing the family name, who made their mark in many different spheres.