Oliver Cromwell was the pivotal figure of the English Revolution. He emerged from relative obscurity to become Parliament’s greatest commander of cavalry in the Civil War, the leader of the radical wing of the mainstream revolutionary movement, and, eventually, the…
his Archaeopress volume represents the long-awaited full publication of Philip Rahtz’s 1994-2004 investigations at Kirkdale parish church, where the famed sundial records Orm Gamalson’s c.1060 rebuilding of a ‘broken and fallen’ minster. Rahtz’s work was initiated with a trench dug…
In April 1753, a British frigate called the Assurance sank on the Needles, off the coast of the Isle of Wight. Its remains were rediscovered in 1969, complete with cannon, silver coins, and many other artefacts. Designated the sixth protected…
This new study of tools from Roman London is a hefty volume, but it more than justifies the bookshelf space. Thorough coverage of dozens of crafts and tool types will ensure that it becomes a standard reference work for artefact…
Crucks, curving roof timbers that in their purest form go from the ground to the apex of the roof, have long been a puzzle. They superficially appear to be a primitive form of roof framing, but we have no real…
‘Dreamer, can you cast your mind back to before you were islanded?’ This thoughtful and thought-provoking book-length poem is described by its author, Richard Skelton, as a ‘call-and-response from the present to the past’. The text drifts into a dream-like…
The London we know today traces its roots directly back to the modest settlement developed on the banks of the Thames in the late 9th century, in the time of the Saxon king Alfred the Great. In spite of fires,…
Few people have recently had as much face time with the ghosts of the Roman emperors as Mary Beard, a well-known professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge. Her latest book – Twelve Caesars: images of power from the…
Throughout history, scripts have become established by communicating language and meaning as transparently as possible to literate readers. But, of course, scripts have an aesthetic dimension, too, which both enhances their appeal and distracts readers from their meaning – as…
Five hundred years ago, the spectacular city of Tenochtitlan, power centre of the Aztec empire, upon which modern Mexico City was later built, fell decisively to the Spanish. The conquistador Hernán Cortés had entered the city in 1519 without much…
This well-illustrated book on Breton identity is a development of Cunliffe’s Facing the Ocean (2001), in which he successfully carves out a broad Atlantic cultural identity, separate to that of central Europe. Echoing the great Cyril Fox, Cunliffe’s opening chapter…
Although Bronze Age finds make up just a fraction of the Portable Antiquities Scheme database, the discoveries recorded still number over 12,000. The objects presented here, in the latest publication in the 50 Finds series, reflect both the most common…
Britain has a rich maritime history, a key part of which involves seaside resorts. This book showcases a collection of black-and-white photographs taken by Aerofilms Ltd between 1920 and 1953, illustrating scenes across England and the Isle of Wight. Each…
This excellent volume addresses two key questions of archaeological research. First, can archaeology create the grand narratives practised by public historians? Second, what is the return on the long history of archaeological research, accumulating big data, often funded by the…
In this latest book by Alice Roberts, we are taken on a tour of prehistoric Britain through an in-depth exploration of seven of the most famous burials from this period found on these shores. Each main chapter of the book…
In her latest book, Miranda Aldhouse-Green argues that we can broadly accept the portrait made of the Druids by ancient Greek and Roman writers, including their alleged practice of human sacrifice; and that many archaeological finds – cherry-picked from all…
This gloriously illustrated volume takes readers on a tour of 100 archaeological sites around the world. While many of the selections are familiar entries in lists of great sites – such as the Giza plateau, Machu Picchu, and Hadrian’s Wall…
This book provides a brief history of Christianity in the eastern Peloponnese (including ancient sites in Corinth, such as Kenchreai and Lechaion, as well as Isthmia, Nemea, Sikyon, and Epidauros) and in Athens, from its beginnings but with a focus…
The Archaeology of Medieval Towns is an interesting proposition: a book which aims to act as a bridge between the medieval worlds of Europe and Japan, introducing each to the specialists of the other. The editors are careful to make…
For many thousands of years, humans have inscribed their presence on the landscape. They drew or pecked images of the fanciful, representational, or sacred on the walls of caves, rock shelters, rock faces, and boulders, as well as on structures,…
Whether you like this book will depend on whether you like archaeology. If you do – as well as liking military history – and you therefore choose to read it, you will discover something quite extraordinary. Let me explain. Generally…
This book convincingly argues that Stalin’s war began long before the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, and can really be said to have begun in the late 1920s. Initially, this was a war of suppression at home, combined…
In the autumn of 1939, after they signed a pact agreeing to carve up Poland, Hitler and Stalin were depicted in a cartoon as a newly wed couple walking down the aisle. Hand in hand, with Stalin the bride and…
Heinrich Severloh was a good soldier. On 6 June 1944, the 20-year-old Wehrmacht private manned a machine-gun overlooking Omaha Beach. He did his job without complaint: mowing down American soldiers as they disembarked on to the shore more than 500…
The most highly decorated combat unit in the history of the United States Army is the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, with its distinctive motto ‘Go for Broke’ – a reference to a term in gambling meaning that one stakes all…
World War I Illustrated Atlas In fine and comprehensive detail, this book plots key battles and the exact course of the global land, sea, and air campaigns that made the First World War, enabling the reader to trace the ebb…
Adam Morgan Ibbotson has successfully brought together around 100 prehistoric sites from across Cumbria into a much-needed single volume. Home to a range of prehistoric monuments, Cumbria has more than just stone circles, with notable examples including the Mayburgh Henge…
This book presents the results of excavations at the Dix Pit quarry near the village of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, which revealed one of the largest and most-remarkable Pleistocene assemblages yet to be found in Britain, with finds spanning over c.200,0000…
The arrival of the Viking Great Army on British soil in AD 865 had an immeasurable impact on England. No longer content with hit-and-run raids, this force – which was far greater than any previously seen in Britain – aimed…
In this latest book in the 50 Finds series, Arwen Wood, Finds Liaison Officer for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, presents Britain’s history through the objects found across the county and recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Sadly lacking in…
Belonging and Belongings is the latest BAR publication in the Archaeology of Roman Britain series. Focusing on the portable archaeology of the ‘Iceni’, Natasha Harlow presents an enormous volume of work that challenges the traditional, Roman historians’ accounts of the…
It is always interesting to find a new book about bricks. Often ignored, these little marvels need to be celebrated, and, for this reviewer at least, there can never be too many opportunities to do so. The ability to manufacture…
The history of the Mesopotamian city of Babylon had a powerful legacy even within antiquity. Today, many are familiar with the city, situated in modern Iraq, for its numerous appearances in the Bible and for the fabled wonder of the…
Over the last decade, revolutions in the scientific analysis of archaeological material have allowed us to delve deeper into the origins and migrations of modern humans. Through the lens of Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary…
In the 19th century, mudlarks were people (mainly children) who would scour the muddy banks of the Thames for items like coal and metal that they could sell on. Nowadays, mudlarks set out at low tide (with mandatory licences from…
Have you ever wondered why there is often a big hole in the wall just inside a medieval church doorway? This book is primarily a study of the bar locks they were made to hold. Some were huge – like…