A completely revised and fully-updated third edition of the most comprehensive guide to warships available to the general public. Since the first edition of this book, published in 1996, there have been major changes to the world's navies. A new generation of warships is entering service, replacing the fleets built up during the Cold War. Jane's Warship Recognition Guide provides technical specifications from Jane's Fighting Ships (published since 1898 and the acknowledged world leader in naval reference). The new format also allows for additional warships and information to be featured.

Jane's Warships Recognition Guide

History

Robert Hutchinson

Military

HarperCollins, Publishers

Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day

Collins

Search for Our Beginning an Enquiry Based on Meteorite Research

Oxford University Press

Robert Hutchinson made his debut as a popular historian with the critically acclaimed and commercially successful LAST DAYS OF HENRY VIII. His biography of Sir Francis Walsingham, ELIZABETH'S SPY MASTER was published in 2006. This new biography works as both a sequel and 'prequel' to his existing books, telling the dramatic story of the Dukes of Norfolk. The richest and most powerful noble family in Britain, after the king himself, they regarded themselves as the power behind the throne and regularly tried to act as 'kingmakers'. Thomas Howard, the second duke, fought for Richard III at Bosworth and was imprisoned in the Tower by Henry VII. A brilliant politician, he negotiated his way out and became a key minister in the new Tudor regime. Late in life he commanded the English army that annihilated the Scots at Flodden in 1513. However, his descendants were a louche lot of plotters and conspirators; Henry VIII and Elizabeth I both beheaded a Norfolk for treason (although another led the Royal Navy against the Spanish Armada). The rise and fall of this mighty dynasty sheds new light on the reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth as well as providing enormous entertainment.

The House of Treason

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Elizabeth's Spy Master

Weidenfeld Military

Henry VIII always had problems with women. Born on 28 June 1491, he lived in the shadow of his elder brother Arthur and his dour and autocratic father, Henry VII. Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother, died when he was twelve and thereafter he lived under the thumb of his formidable grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who beneath a pious exterior was the arch-conspirator of the last days of the Wars of the Roses. Everything changed when Arthur died of tuberculosis at Ludlow Castle in 1502, less than six months after his marriage to the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. Henry VII died in April 1509 when his sole heir was nine weeks away from his eighteenth birthday. His grandmother acted as regent until his birthday and he married his brother's widow, Catherine on 11 June, two weeks before their joint coronation. Henry quickly swept away the musty cobwebs of his father's court. He loved magnificence, merriment and the hunting field, and could fire an arrow further than most of his professional archers. Henry could dance everyone off their feet and could drink most men under the table. But Henry became frustrated and angry at his lack of sons by Catherine and his attention began to wander. Some time in 1526 he fell passionately in love with Anne Boleyn. At the age of 35, the time for youthful frolic had ended. To achieve his heart's overpowering desire, the executions had now to begin. Young Henry provides readers with an unique and compelling vision of the splendours and tragedies of the royal court, presided over by a magnificent and ruthless monarch.

Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII

Leaders & Notable People

After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe - not least Spain. In October 1585 King Philip II of Spain declared his intention to destroy Protestant England and began preparing invasion plans, leading to an intense intelligence war between the two countries, culminating in the dramatic sea battles of 1588. Robert Hutchinson's tautly written book is the first to examine this battle for intelligence, and uses everything from contemporary eye-witness accounts to papers held by the national archives in Spain and the UK to recount the dramatic battle that raged up the English Channel. Contrary to popular theory, the Armada was not defeated by superior English forces - in fact, Elizabeth I's parsimony meant that her ships had no munitions left by the time the Armada had fought its way up to the south coast of England. In reality it was a combination of inclement weather and bad luck that landed the killer blow on the Spanish forces, and of the 125 Spanish ships that set sail against England, only 60 limped home - the rest sunk or wrecked with barely a shot fired.

The Spanish Armada

The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood: The Spy Who Stole the Crown Jewels and Became the King's Secret Agent

One morning in May 1671, a man disguised as a parson entered the Tower of London and stole the Crown Jewels. When caught, Colonel Thomas Blood, conspirator, turncoat and spy, was not executed for treason but granted a generous income in the service of the King. Against the sinister intrigues of the Stuart court, this biography paints a vivid picture of this wily, ambitious and reckless adventurer, whom Charles II found more useful alive than dead.

Europe

Henry VIII 'has no respect or fear of anyone in this world', wrote the Spanish ambassador to his court. He ruled England with Stalinist ruthlessness, executing (at a conservative estimate) 150,000 people from a population of less than 3 million souls. But after 35 years in power, he was a bloated, hideously obese, black-humoured old man, rarely seen in public. He had striven all his life to ensure the survival of his dynasty by siring legitimate sons, yet his only male heir was eight-year-old Prince Edward. It was increasingly obvious that when Henry died, real power in England would be exercised by a regent. The prospect of that prize spurred the rival court factions into deadly conflict. Robert Hutchinson has spent several years in original archival research. He advances a genuinely new theory of Henry's medical history and the cause of his death; he has unearthed some fabulous eyewitness material and papers from death warrants, ...

The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason, and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant

Phoenix

Thomas Cromwell rose from obscurity to become Henry VIII's right-hand man. It was Cromwell who orchestrated the trial and verdict that led to Anne Boleyn's execution. Ironically, he eventually met the same fate on Tower Green. This book charts his rise and fall.

Thomas Cromwell: The Rise And Fall Of Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister

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Books by Robert Hutchinson