Derbyshire Extremes is a unique record of over 600 extremes in Derbyshire. They could be the first in the county or perhaps the oldest, the longest, the fastest, the finest or even the only one of a particular item. The subject is wide and varied but entries must be special. Do you know Derbyshire has the oldest megalithic tomb, the world's first travel agent, the first astronomer royal, the man with the largest collection of bar towels, the first National Park, the league's first football mascot, the first oilwell, etc. Whatever your interest you'll find something you didn't know, with an index in three sections, villages, people, and the items themselves. This is a book to be left on the coffee table, to be dipped into or to be followed through the comprehensive index, tracing subject, people and places that feature in the book. For those wishing to visit some of the entries, there is information where visiting is possible. In the introduction the author also invites your additions to swell the 600 or so entries in this unique collection of Derbyshire Extremes.

DERBYSHIRE EXTREMES.

David Fearnehough

Amberley

This is a much revised and expanded edition of Hugh Small’s Florence Nightingale, Avenging Angel (1998), the book that first revealed the historic cover-up that had prevented Florence Nightingale from telling us what really happened in her Crimean War hospitals. This new edition subverts Nightingale’s emotionally repressed image by revealing that she had a romantic entanglement during the war, which had historic consequences for her country.Hugh Small’s new research also sheds light on the source of her power over politicians, which made her a Cabinet Minister for a whole decade when history says that such a thing was impossible for a woman. He shows for the first time how her leadership of the public health movement made a huge contribution to the unprecedented rise in life expectancy in Britain.Nightingale is one of history’s most enigmatic and controversial figures, a polymath whose combination of boundless energy and chronic illness has confounded biographers. Small debunks the latest conventional wisdom – based on a misreading of technical literature – that a chronic infection caused her to be depressed. Such theories of mental aberration marginalize Nightingale and conveniently avoid controversial analysis of her greatest achievements, which go completely against the grain of history as it is taught.

The Passion of Florence Nightingale

Biographies & Memoirs

Small, Hugh

Historical

During the late 1980s, a collection of sixteenth century merchant letters appeared for sale. Over four sales at Christies, the letters, all addressed to the Corsini firm of London merchants, were scattered to the four corners of the Earth. Thankfully, copies were made of each of the letters, which gave an insight into Tudor life both in Britain and abroad, and these were placed in the Guildhall Library, London.Comprising some 3,600 letters and other documents, the Corsini letters comprised the largest extant archive for any English merchants of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Although philatelic essays have been published on aspects of the archive, the Corsini Letters is the first book to look at the archive as a whole, detailing why it is important, giving a breakdown of the contents of the letters, and yielding a fascinating insight into Elizabethan life. From letters about pirates and spices to one of the first communications from the small West African island of St Thomas, the archive is destined to become an important research tool for those interested in this period of history.

The Corsini Letters

Beale, Philip

Almond, Adrian

The Anglo-Saxon era is one of the most important in English history, covering the period from the end of Roman authority in the British Isles to the Norman Conquest of 1066 in which the very idea of England was born. Starting off with an examination of the problematic textual sources and the historiography, Timothy Venning argues that is time to return to a more linear view of this period and to re-examine ideas about the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England. In The Anglo-Saxon Kings, the author examines the rulers of Anglo-Saxon England, those whom the sources tell us most about, beginning with the legendary leaders of the Anglo-Saxon invasion such as Hengest and Horsa or Cerdic and Cynric and moving on through such figures as Æthelberht of Kent, who received the mission led by Augustine of Canterbury to re-Christianize England, Saint Oswald of Northumbria, to Alfred of Wessex and his dynasty, the Viking invasions, and the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, Harold Godwineson.

The Anglo-Saxon Kings

Venning, Timothy

For sixty-five years, from its creation in 1869, until 1934, when it amalgamated with the Cunard Line, White Star was one of the most important of all transatlantic steamship lines. Famous (or is that infamous?) today for its Olympic-class vessels, two of which were lost without ever completing a fare-paying voyage, the line also operated numerous Blue Riband-winning steamships, and provided such luxuries as some of the earliest ships to have baths and electricity, as well as swimming pools. Its second Britannic had the largest reciprocating engines ever made for a steamship, and its Teutonic was the first armed merchant cruiser. The majority of its ships were built in Belfast, with the line operating from London, Liverpool and Southampton to the USA, Canada, Australasia and South Africa. Roy Anderson updates his seminal 1965 publication on the White Star Line, illustrated with many new images.

White Star: the Titanic Line

History

Anderson, Roy.

Military

• Weaves into the narrative the voices of those who were there• First book to cover this decade in London’s history• Covers evacuation, the Blitz, US forces, rationing, as well as crime, entertainment and the 1948 OlympicsThis was perhaps the most turbulent decade for our iconic capital. It started in fear of what was to come and ended with a sense of huge disappointment that so much sacrifice appeared to have achieved so little. Sandwiched in between live theatre was played out by a cast of millions.Death and danger brought out the best and the very worst of human behavior. Bravery and cowardice were daily bedfellows, as was greed and a sense of duty that would seem alien to us today. Life was a rollercoaster ride. It was a time of massive class divide, yet one where the population joined as one in their distrust of foreigners. This feeling was overcome by some with the arrival of US forces, but was reinforced years later with an influx of West Indian immigrants.Hutton sets out to let the reader really know what it was like living in those heady times by providing as a backdrop stories and memories of those who grew up in wartime London and the bleak years that followed.

1940s London

Hutton, Mike

Europe

• Weaves into the narrative the ‘voices’ of women living in the British country house• Author a renowned expert social historian.• Complemented by numerous contemporary photographs.• 'Pamela Horn has used original sources to investigate the times of these privileged women before society was utterly changed by the First Word War and its aftermath' THE LADY, 'A must. Based largely on diaries, letters and reminisces' THE WI MAGAZINE.• Huge interest in ITV's period drama DOWNTON ABBEY which is set in Edwardian Britain, the third series which covers the first years of the 1920s starts in September.In the world of the late-Victorian and Edwardian country house the mistress and her daughters had many social duties and responsibilities to carry out both in their home community and in London, where they spent the Season and where the girls officially entered Society by being presented at Court. Pamela Horn's book examines the lives of these real 'Downton Abbey' ladies from their childhood and marriage to their role as a 'Lady Bountiful'. It covers their leisure pursuits, sporting activities, country-house weekends, and much more besides, up to the life-transforming years of the First World War.

The Real Life Women of Downton Abbey

HORN, Pamela

• The only up-to-date biography available.• The Tudors have never been so popular – HILARY MANTEL'S new novel about the downfall of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn, Bring Up the Bodies, is publishing in 19 May 2012 and will increase interest in the life of Henry VIII once more.• The subject of PHILIPPA GREGORY'S next book is Elizabeth of York, the title is THE WHITE PRINCESS, publication autumn 2013. This will raise the profile of this forgotten queen.As Tudors go, Elizabeth of York is relatively unknown. Yet she was the mother of the dynasty, with her children becoming King of England (Henry VIII), Queens of Scotland (Margaret) and France (Mary Rose) and her direct descendants included three Tudor monarchs, two executed queens and ultimately, the Stuart royal family.Although her offspring took England into the early modern world, Elizabeth’s upbringing was rooted firmly in the medieval world, with its courtly and religious rituals and expectations of women. The pivotal moment was 1485. Before that, her future was uncertain amid the turbulent Wars of the Roses, as she was considered as the bride of first one man then another and witnessed the humiliation and murder of her family. Surviving the blood bath of her uncle’s reign, she slipped easily into the role of devoted wife, mother and Queen to Henry VII, venerated ever since for her docility and beauty. Yet was she as placid as history has suggested? In fact, she may have been a deeply cultured and intelligent survivor who learned to walk a difficult path through the twists and turns of fortune. Perhaps she was more of a modern woman than historians have given her credit for.

Elizabeth of York

Licence, Amy

Community & Culture

Thomas Cromwell, chief architect of the English Reformation, served as principal minister of Henry VIII from 1532 to 1540, the most tumultuous period in Henry's thirty-seven-year reign. Many of the momentous events of the 1530s are attributed to Cromwell's agency; the Reformation, the dissolution of the monasteries and the fall of Henry's second wife, the bewitching Anne Boleyn. Cromwell has been the subject of close and continuous attention for the last half-century, with positive appraisal of his work and achievements by historians. This new biography shows the true face of a Machiavellian Tudor statesman without equal.

Thomas Cromwell

Coby, J. Patrick

For the past two hundred years, lifeboats have been stationed around the coasts of Wales, ready to rescue the shipwrecked. In times past, shipwrecks were much common and there was little provision to help those stranded at sea. Places such as the west coast of Scotland would see hundreds of wrecks per year, from small sailing vessels to large steamers. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, volunteer lifeboats began to be stationed around the coast in the most dangerous areas and soon, the Royal National Lifeboat Association began to provide new stations and lifeboats. With the introduction of these lifeboats, many lives have been saved over the intervening two centuries. Wales has seen more than its fair share of wrecks because of its location, with many vessels foundering after a tortuous journey across the Atlantic, as well as coastal traders lost in storms or accident. War has played a part too, with the Irish Sea being the graveyard of many a torpedoed or mined vessel. Nicholas Leach tells the story of each Welsh station, both onshore and in the islands, using photographs of the lifeboats, houses and rescues. His book provided a valuable record of two centuries of lifesaving along the Welsh coast.

Lifeboat Service in Wales: Station by Station

LEACH, Nicholas

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