United Kingdom Books

Gentleman Spies: Intelligence Agents In The British Empire And Beyond by historian John Fisher is a truly fascinating and informative look at political undermining between nations since before the first world war. The evolution of a British foreign intelligence bureau, originally called SIS and which later evolved into the legendary MI6, whose mission was to specifically provide vital information about activities stemming from the furthest corners of the British empire, is presented with incredible anecdotal tales of intrigue and deceit. An amazing, deftly researched look at the cutthroat machinations of international history, Gentleman Spies is totally absorbing reading from first page to last!

Gentleman Spies: Intelligence Agents In The British Empire And Beyond by historian John Fisher is a truly fascinating and informative look at political undermining between nations since before the first world war. The evolution of a British foreign intelligence bureau, originally called SIS and which later evolved into the legendary MI6, whose mission was to specifically provide vital information about activities stemming from the furthest corners of the British empire, is presented with incredible anecdotal tales of intrigue and deceit. An amazing, deftly researched look at the cutthroat machinations of international history, Gentleman Spies is totally absorbing reading from first page to last!

I read a Hard back copy from the local library and could not believe it. I loved this bio. I have read many other biographies and books on the Stuart and Hanover Dynasties of Britain but most were from Charles II and the pretenders and George III through Victoria. George I seems to be remembered as the British King who really didn't care; He took his time accepting the throne, refused to learn English, ran away to Hanover every chance he got and only wanted English money proven by the South Sea Bubble scandal. This book gives us more. A lot more. It shows the who and why, it dispels the stories I have listed above and gives us the man, flesh, blood and emotions. He becomes a real and more understood human than just an uncaring figure from history. I highly recommend this book. It is a great read. I didn't want to put it down. It flows easy and gives enough detail and background to keep you moving through history and his life without bogging you down. All those, Jacobites included :) who do not know George I outside of the usual should read this book. I can't say enough about it.

The author's writing style is easy to follow, without being simplistic and her grasp of the historical issues of the period is excellent.

She presents a great deal of information about the women involved in the history of George, which is unusual for a historian of the Hanovers.

The book is approachable without an in-depth knowledge of the German principalities (though this obviously helps).

Solidly recommended.

This is a fine introduction to the problems of 1688/89. The discussion of quite contentious issues is admirably judicious, and Miller is very sensitive to the long-term implications of the events he describes. In addition, Miller provides a very strong collection of supporting documents: while each of the "Seminar Series" includes some primary sources, this is one of the best collections in the series. 1688 is a crucial event in political history, and Miller provides an excellent way to begin a study of the subject.

This is the best short introduction to England's 1688 revolution and the consequences that flowed from it. It is an updated version of an earlier edition, and it pays greater attention than its predecessor to the revolution in England's public finances that stemmed from 1688. It also has new material on Scotland and Ireland. The choice of original documents to accompany the text is excellent.

Loved this book. Although the book's title suggests it's about clocks, its scope is much broader and includes material about how science, mathematics and philosophy were intertwined with religion and everyday life in 12/13th century England. Personally I found the book extremely well written and a pleasure to read.

This book was recommended in a clock magazine. It describes the making of a medieval astronomical clock in England. It must be excellent, because ordered on Jan 4, it has not yet arrived (February 24). Evidently it is in great demand, or very short supply. Amazon, in inviting me to write this review, apparently does not know that it has still not arrived. Finally, ordering it elsewhere (it was delivered within a week!) I can confirm that it is excellent, though it reuires good math skills.

Volume 7 of the "Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier", Gold Rush Saints is an extensively researched history drawing heavily upon documents and primary sources to chronicle the role that Mormons played and the effect they had in California during the Gold Rush era. The text is scholarly in tone yet accessible to lay readers as it presents exciting stories of travel, cooperation, success, and destitution. Focusing especially upon influential and charismatic Mormon personalities, the hardships they endured and the legacies they contributed to, Gold Rush Saints is a welcome and seminal contribution to American and California history shelves.

From 1846-1857 Mormons shaped events in California: they were the first American settlers of San Francisco. Narrative history blends with documentary accounts on California Mormon history: first-person accounts of early pioneers provide new insights on gold rush history and experiences. Chapters survey social and political controversies of the time between Mormons and between Mormons and other groups, examine the roles they played in settling California and overcoming the state's isolation, and include insights from the pioneers themselves. An excellent addition to California history.

Actress Shirley Eaton examines her career and film history from the 1950s-60s, blending her memoirs with an insider's examination of the changing film industry and its many complications. Chapters do more than provide reviews of Eaton's experiences in film; they consider changing images of glamour and stars, and provide insights on fellow actors. Black and white photos pepper this coverage.

The beautiful Shirley Eaton has written an impressive, fascinating autobiography that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about her life and about the classic James Bond film, "Goldfinger." Miss Eaton played the "golden girl" who was suffocated to death by gold paint early in the film -- her playful scenes with Sean Connery are among the best in the whole series of Bond films, and the image of her covered in gold paint is one of the icons of '60s cinema (landing her on the cover of Life magazine in '64). Miss Eaton tells all the behind-the-scenes stories of that film, making this book a must-have for Bond fans. What's more, she chronicles her own life and long career in witty, intelligent fashion, proving herself to be not just a lovely, talented actress but an inspiration for others. Especially fun are her reviews of other actresses -- Miss Eaton's critiques are insightful and on the money. If you don't know much about Shirley Eaton, you should, and this book is the best way to see what she's really like.

One of the greatest pleasures in reading is suddenly finding out books that are absolutely flawless. That moment of realisation that there is nothing wrong with a book is what makes me keep on reading, and reading, and reading. "Good King Richard?" is such a book. It will keep you interested, engrossed, will make you laugh, but above all will make you think. How many works of historiography can boast that, I wonder?

The theme is self evident: the first chapters are an account of Richard III's life, acession to the throne and, most of all, the facts and the opinions that were current during his lifetime. After his death at Bosworth Field we move on to the treatment given to his reputation, and how it has changed during the last five centuries.

Die-hard anti-Richards will probably dismiss this book as steeped in partisanship (obviously ignoring the fact that they are deeply partisan themselves), but they are missing the whole point. Potter's work is of an erudite and scholarly tone while remaining entertaining and acute, and he does what many forget to do, which is to put events in the context of their times. Traditionalists prone to moralising should mention what they would do if they found themselves in Richard's shoes in 1483, and they should also avoid forgetting that Richard prevented an outburst of civil war by accepting the throne.

I am quite obviously a Ricardian, but what remains unique about this book is that it is one of those rare jewels that combines acessibility with knowledge, entertainment with scholarly seriousness, a contemporary acuteness with a firm grasp of the idyossincracies of other epochs. Richard has lost a great advocate with the passing of Jeremy Potter, and the world of History has lost one of its few outstanding writers.

There is adequate evidence available to doubt the "traditional" Thomas More/William Shakespeare account of King Richard III. Since 1997, there have been two mock trials (with various U.S. Supreme Court Justices as jurors) charging Richard III with the murder of "the princes in the Tower." In both instances, King Richard III was acquitted. This book's arguments give the evidence as to why Richard and his reputation should be re-examined. Sadly, Jeremy Potter passed away in Nov 97. He will be missed.

This is a 'must have' publication for anyone visiting the UK. We purchase the new edition each year because it is kept current and provides a good assessment of facilities and food at all the pubs. A great publication.

The pub is the heart of life in the United Kingdom, whether in the centre of London or the Scottish Highlands. Here's a list of the best, a bible for even the tourist quickly passing through. Updated annually, it gives prime billing to a few pubs in each area, then lists others that readers have found noteworthy in a pinch.

This is a very comprehensive guide to the varied architecture of London. London is, of course, one of the worlds great cities, and as such, it possesses some world class architecture. London architecture is not uniform and prefectly planned out out like, for instance, Paris, but it is interesting none the less. I love Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian architecture and London has this in abundance, sadly following the Blitz, London developers built hideous buildings, London got the worst of the so called "modern" architecture of the 50's and 60's. This guide is very well layed out and is easy to navigate. If you have any interest in this great city, then I highly recommend this book.

This is a thorough treatment of London architecture, covering not only iconic landmarks like Buckingham Palace (although they're here too), but as well, buildings from all eras across Greater London. Post-WWII architecture is surprisingly well represented. The region is divided into a grid of 24 squares, each of which is illustrated with a detailed map (except outlying areas), and this grid is used for organizing the book into chapters. In all, over 900 buildings are included, each with a 2 inch x 2 inch photo and a description of three or four sentences. Floor plans are shown for each of Wren's churches and for a handful of other buildings. Appendices have maps showing 'The Great Estates,' London squares in chronological order, and 'The Inns of Court.'

The wartime diaries of Guy Liddell represent an invaluable primary source for any scholar investigating the history of British Intelligence during the Second World War. Liddell, who directed Counter-Espionage for MI5, scrupulously jotted down multifarious details of on-going cases, including the continual roundups of Nazi spies and the running of the Double-Cross agents, whose controlled deception of the enemy helped Britain win the war.

Although Liddell's observations in the first volume usually stick to the intelligence business at hand, every once and a while, he briefly depicts daily life in the early days of the war. For instance, on October 15, 1939, he writes of a hysterical woman living somewhere on the east coast of England, who penned a letter complaining about the great number of "dangerous" kites being flown by children. On May 19, 1940, he relates an amusing anecdote (that illustrates the differences of language on either side of the Atlantic) about how the Americans, who had ordered "cots" from Harrods, were surprised when, instead of camp-beds for the army, they received crib-beds for infants. On September 24, 1940, Liddell gives us a glimpse of London of the Blitz, writing that as he was leaving the Reform Club, where he had been dining with Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess, the Luftwaffe dropped incendiary bombs on nearby Pall Mall. Occasionally, a limerick or poem will creep into the diary, but most of the pages are devoted strictly to the serious business of defeating the enemy.

My only reservations about the book concern Nigel West's editing, which has been done with an extremely light touch. Even though he presents a roster of personalities at the beginning of the book, Mr. West is less than informative about the hundreds of personages who appear in Liddell's diaries. BISCUIT, for instance, is identified as the cryptonym for Sam McCarthy, who is then cross-referenced only as BISCUIT (One has to consult another source to discover that Mr. Biscuit was a "reformed crook, drug smuggler, and con man" [Haufler, "The Spies Who Never Were," Penguin, 2006] 30). More and thorough annotations would make the book accessible not only to scholars but also to the interested reader. I also found Mr. West's omission of Kim Philby from the roster of personalities puzzling, since Liddell mentions him in several entries of the diary and even consults him on one occasion. Both Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess (who, like Philby, were later revealed to be unrepentant Soviet agents) are included, being identified as--respectively--"MI5 officer and Guy Liddell's personal assistant" and "Broadcasting expert employed by SIS." One hopes that the omission was accidental and that Mr. West, as an historian, has not voted Philby a damnation of memory. Since Philby was head of counter-espionage in Section V of SIS at the time, he deserves as much recognition as do Blunt and Burgess. One cannot change history by omitting the facts.

As far as I can tell, these diaries are unique in the history of secret services. Guy Liddell was Britain's MI-5, director of counter-espionage during all of World War II. And I think by any measure that he did a supurb job. His doublecross operation of capturing every Nazi agent that came into England during the war undoubtedly saved live, saved time, and was a major assist in the Normandy landings.

In most histories there's a logical flow from the beginning to the end. The trival, the mis-directions, the plain old mistakes, and perhaps above all is the shear number of different kinds of operations going on all the time. How could he have kept them straight? And while all this was going on he had all the traditional problems of budgets, finding good people, putting up with the politicians, life working for the Government.

This is likely to be one of those books that becomes a reference book for all of the books on World War II intelligence operations. It's a great companion to MI-6 and the Machinery of Spying by Davies, also published by this publisher.

This is volume one of a two volume set. The other book covers from 1942 to 1945.