Praised by Queen Victoria as the "greatest man this country has ever produced," the Duke of Wellington possessed an unmatched career in Britain as a soldier, politician, and statesman. A frail child, overshadowed by his siblings, he became a man of exacting preparation, determination, and tactical brilliance who paved the way for the creation of the British Empire.
The Duke of Wellington founded his career on three great military triumphs and helped to extend British rule in India, defeat the French in Portugal and Spain, and end Napoleon's ambitions. He twice served as Prime Minister and acted as British envoy and confidante to royalty during a crucial period of British history. Despite his authoritarian Tory instincts, he recognised the need for limited reform at home, and ushered in the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts and the Catholic Emancipation bill, thereby transforming the British political landscape.
Lavishly illustrated throughout by unique items from the British Library's unparalleled collections, this engaging biography of Britain's greatest general charts the life of a man whose reputation as the aloof "Iron Duke" masked strong passions and a keen awareness of his public persona.

The Duke of Wellington: The British Library Historic Lives

Biographies & Memoirs

Shaw, Matthew

Historical

The British Library

The French Republican Calendar was perhaps the boldest of all the reforms undertaken in Revolutionary France. Introduced in 1793 and used until 1806, the Calendar not only reformed the weeks and months of the year, but decimalised the hours of the day and dated the year from the beginning of the French Republic. This book not only provides a history of the calendar, but places it in the context of eighteenth-century time-consciousness, arguing that the French were adept at working within several systems of time-keeping, whether that of the Church, civil society, or the rhythms of the seasons. Developments in time-keeping technology and changes in working patterns challenged early-modern temporalities, and the new calendar can also be viewed as a step on the path toward a more modern conception of time. In this context, the creation of the calendar is viewed not just as an aspect of the broader republican programme of social, political and cultural reform, but as a reflection of a broader interest in time and the culmination of several generations' concern with how society should be policed.

Time and the French Revolution: The Republican Calendar, 1789-Year XIV (Royal Historical Society Studies in History New Series, 78)

History

Europe

Royal Historical Society

Great Scots: How the Scots Created Canada

Imprint unknown

Great Scots! How the Scots Created Canada by Matthew Shaw by Matthew Shaw by Matthew Shaw

Heartland Publications

&#8203;In this stunning meditative piece of prose poetry, intertwined with beautiful black and white photographs, Matthew Shaw explores the relationship between self and space, effortlessly weaving profound explorations of nature, time, history, spirituality, myth and growth in his ode to the annual cycle of seasons. Reviews It is a masterwork - from the opening majestic image to the closing one. It's a great flow of words, slowing, gathering pace, surging - as nature does. It provokes thoughts and anxieties, yet there is such joy and tenderness, a balm, 'a doorway of hope', with 'nature more determined than tarmac.' It is personal and profound, written by a man whose eyes and senses miss very little; would that I could experience all that Matthew Shaw does in his epic Atmosphere of Mona. - Shirley Collins, folk singer and author of All in the Downs Matthew Shaw channels reverse traditions into the future via music/word gnosis, landscape as character/life, and a connection to the heart that is as direct, and spontaneous, as it is unerringly true. - David Keenan, critic, musician and author England's Hidden Reverse, This is Memorial Device and For the Good Times He casts individual notes as words. Verticals which he gently demands we pause to taste; seeds, pathways, gateposts and lenses. These poems hold space and breath in a Haiku of moments; the drift of the music cupped, stopping us dead in our tracks. Now the flow and ebb, which he mastered before, watches the singularity of the moment. The stand still to breath in the actual moment. The primal zen of now. - Brian Catling, author of The Vorrh trilogy and Earwig Matthew Shaw is a magnificent voice of the nature spirit as well as the human spirit. He combines beautiful feelings with clear thoughts. I am always inspired by the depth of his powerful poems - Satish Kumar, former editor of Resurgence, ecologist and author

Atmosphere of Mona

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Annwyn House

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