Secret Britain

Secret Britain
Author: Mary-Ann Ochota
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2020-09-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0711253463

In Secret Britain, join anthropologist and broadcaster Mary-Ann Ochota for a tour of more than 70 of Britain's most intriguing archaeological sites and artefacts.

Britain's Secret Treasures

Britain's Secret Treasures
Author: Mary-Ann Ochota
Publisher: Headline
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2013-09-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0755365747

For hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors have walked these isles burying, dropping and throwing away their belongings, and now these treaures lie waiting for us, keeping their secrets until we uncover them once more. Every year, hundreds of vaulable artefacts are discovered by ordinary members of the British public. Here in Britain's Secret Treasures, which accompanies the ITV series, the British Museum chooses eighty of the most fascinating finds ever reported and Mary-Ann Ochota shares with us the moving histories that bring each piece to life. There is also a detailed chapter showing you how you can get involved in archaeology too. From hoards of Roman gold and Bronze Age drinking vessels to tiny Viking spindle whorls and weapons from dozens of wars, all manner of treausres are described here. Some help prove that our ancestors were alive over half a million years ago, some saw their modern-day finders receive a generous reward, all provide an insight into the wodnerful, dynamic, colourful history of our nation.

Mysterious Britain

Mysterious Britain
Author: Janet Bord
Publisher: HarperThorsons
Total Pages: 287
Release: 1995
Genre: British Isles
ISBN: 9781855384613

Britain's Secret Propaganda War

Britain's Secret Propaganda War
Author: Paul Lashmar
Publisher: Alan Sutton Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release: 1998
Genre: History
ISBN:

Britain's Secret Propaganda War is the first book to be written about The Foreign Office's Information Research Department (IRD) -- an important chapter in the history of the Cold War. The narrative is driven by actual accounts of IRD covert operations and includes a number of "exclusives." The IRD was set up under the Labour Government in 1948 and clandestinely financed from the Secret Intelligence Service budget. A large organisation with close links to MI6 -- with whom it shared many personnel -- it waged a vigorous covert propaganda campaign against Eastern Bloc Communism for nearly thirty years using journalists, politicians, academics and trade unionists -none of whom were "unwitting." Such famous names as George Orwell, Denis Healey, Stephen Spender, Bertrand Russell and Guy Burgess helped or backed the work of IRD.

Pagan Britain

Pagan Britain
Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 496
Release: 2014-05-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300198582

Britain's pagan past, with its mysterious monuments, atmospheric sites, enigmatic artifacts, bloodthirsty legends, and cryptic inscriptions, is both enthralling and perplexing to a resident of the twenty-first century. In this ambitious and thoroughly up-to-date book, Ronald Hutton reveals the long development, rapid suppression, and enduring cultural significance of paganism, from the Paleolithic Era to the coming of Christianity. He draws on an array of recently discovered evidence and shows how new findings have radically transformed understandings of belief and ritual in Britain before the arrival of organized religion. Setting forth a chronological narrative, Hutton along the way makes side visits to explore specific locations of ancient pagan activity. He includes the well-known sacred sites—Stonehenge, Avebury, Seahenge, Maiden Castle, Anglesey—as well as more obscure locations across the mainland and coastal islands. In tireless pursuit of the elusive “why” of pagan behavior, Hutton astonishes with the breadth of his understanding of Britain’s deep past and inspires with the originality of his insights.

Undercover

Undercover
Author: Paul Lewis
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2013-06-25
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0571302181

'Undercover lays bare the deceit, betrayal and cold-blooded violation practised again and again by undercover police officers - troubling, timely and brilliantly executed.' Henry Porter The gripping stories of a group of police spies - written by the award-winning investigative journalists who exposed the Mark Kennedy scandal - and the uncovering of forty years of state espionage. This was an undercover operation so secret that some of our most senior police officers had no idea it existed. The job of the clandestine unit was to monitor British 'subversives' - environmental activists, anti-racist groups, animal rights campaigners. Police stole the identities of dead people to create fake passports, driving licences and bank accounts. They then went deep undercover for years, inventing whole new lives so that they could live incognito among the people they were spying on. They used sex, intimate relationships and drugs to build their credibility. They betrayed friends, deceived lovers, even fathered children. And their operations continue today. Undercover reveals the truth about secret police operations - the emotional turmoil, the psychological challenges and the human cost of a lifetime of deception - and asks whether such tactics can ever be justified.

Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape

Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape
Author: Mary-Ann Ochota
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2018-04-05
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0711240086

For the times when you’re driving past a lumpy, bumpy field and you wonder what made the lumps and bumps; for when you’re walking between two lines of grand trees, wondering when and why they were planted; for when you see a brown heritage sign pointing to a ‘tumulus’ but you don’t know what to look for… Entertaining and factually rigorous, Hidden Histories will help you decipher the story of our landscape through the features you can see around you. This Spotter’s Guide arms the amateur explorer with the crucial information needed to ‘read’ the landscape and spot the human activities that have shaped our green and pleasant land. Photographs and diagrams point out specific details and typical examples to help the curious Spotter ‘get their eye in’ and understand what they’re looking at, or looking for. Specially commissioned illustrations bring to life the processes that shaped the landscape - from medieval ploughing to Roman road building - and stand-alone capsules explore interesting aspects of history such as the Highland Clearances or the coming of Christianity. This unique guide uncovers the hidden stories behind the country's landscape, making it the perfect companion for an exploration of our green and pleasant land.

Strange and Familiar

Strange and Familiar
Author: Alona Pardo
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Great Britain
ISBN: 9783791382326

Twenty-three photographers from countries around the world offer their own perspectives on British society. British photographer Martin Parr has selected works, dating from the 1930s to today, that capture the social, cultural, and political identity of the UK through the camera lens. These images range from social documentary and street photography to portraiture and architectural photography and offer a reflection of how Britain is perceived by those outside its borders.

Julius Caesar's Invasion of Britain

Julius Caesar's Invasion of Britain
Author: Roger Nolan
Publisher: Frontline Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781526747914

Two thousand years ago Julius Caesar came, saw and conquered southern Britain, but just where he landed and the precise routes his army marched through the south of the country have never been firmly established. Numerous sites have been suggested for the Roman landings of 55BC and 54BC, yet, remarkably, the exact locations of the first major events in recorded British history remain undiscovered - until now. After years of careful analysis, Roger Nolan has painstakingly traced not only the places where the Romans landed, but he has also discovered four temporary marching camps Caesar's army built as it drove up from the south coast in pursuit of the British tribal leader, Cassivellaunus. This advance took Caesar across the Thames to Cassivellaunus' stronghold at Wheathampstead in present-day Hertfordshire. These marching camps are placed almost equidistant from each other and, most importantly, are in a straight line between the coast and Wheathampstead. Roger Nolan's research has also enabled him to identify the place mentioned in Caesar's Commentaries, where the Roman legions were ambushed by the British whilst foraging and where a large battle then ensued - the first known land battle in Britain. Without doubt, this groundbreaking study is certain to prompt much discussion and reappraisal of this fascinating subject.