Burning the Big House, Terence Dooley ( paperback April 2023)
£11.99
Burning the Big House : The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution
The gripping story of the tumultuous destruction of the Irish country house, spanning the revolutionary years of 1912 to 1923 During the Irish Revolution nearly three hundred country houses were burned to the ground. These "Big Houses" were powerful symbols of conquest, plantation, and colonial oppression and were caught up in the struggle for independence and the conflict between the aristocracy and those demanding access to more land. Stripped of their most important artifacts, most of the houses were never rebuilt, and ruins such as Summerhill stood like ghostly figures for generations to come.
Terence Dooley offers a unique perspective on the Irish Revolution, exploring the struggles over land, the impact of the Great War, and why the country mansions of the landed class became such a symbolic target for republicans throughout the period. Dooley details the shockingly sudden acts of occupation and destruction-including soldiers using a Rembrandt as a dart board-and evokes the exhilaration felt by the revolutionaries at seizing these grand houses and visibly overturning the established order.
You might also like
Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari (paperback 2015)
£12.99
THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER
Fire gave us power. Farming made us hungry for more. Money gave us purpose.
Science made us deadly. This is the thrilling account of our extraordinary history - from insignificant apes to rulers of the world. Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it: us. In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where we're going. `I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who's interested in the history and future of our species' Bill Gates
The Moth: This is a True Story ( paperback)
£9.99
With a fascinating introduction by Neil Gaiman on the oral tradition of storytelling.
The Moth is a non profit organisation trying to maintain this craft, helping storytellers hone their stories and then telling them live.
Before television and radio, before penny paperbacks and mass literacy, people would gather on porches, on the steps outside their homes, and tell stories. The storytellers knew their craft and bewitched listeners would sit and listen long into the night as moths flitted around overhead. The Moth is a non-profit group that is trying to recapture this lost art, helping storytellers - old hands and novices alike - hone their stories before playing to packed crowds at sold-out live events.
The very best of these stories are collected here: whether it's Bill Clinton's hell-raising press secretary or a leading geneticist with a family secret; a doctor whisked away by nuns to Mother Teresa's bedside or a film director saving her father's Chinatown store from money-grabbing developers; the Sultan of Brunei's concubine or a friend of Hemingway's who accidentally talks himself into a role as a substitute bullfighter, these eccentric, pitch-perfect stories - all, amazingly, true - range from the poignant to the downright hilarious.
Farewell to the Horse : The Final Century of Our Relationship, by Ulrich Raulff (2018)
£12.99
THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR
A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the role of the horse in creating our world' James Rebanks'
For millennia horses provided the strength and speed that humans lacked. How we travelled, farmed and fought was dictated by the needs of this extraordinary animal. And then, suddenly, in the 20th century the links were broken and the millions of horses that shared our existence almost vanished, eking out a marginal existence on race-tracks and pony clubs.
Farewell to the Horse is an engaging, brilliantly written and moving discussion of what horses once meant to us. Cities, farmland, entire industries were once shaped as much by the needs of horses as humans. The intervention of horses was fundamental in countless historical events.
A well researched, entertaining book for anyone with an interest in the horse.
From Crime to Crime, by Richard Henriques ( paperback 2021)
£10.99
If Henriques were a fictional character, he would be a celebrity, the kind of dashing, hawkish QC who turns up in Agatha Christie novels and is recognised by everybody... There is an undeniable, lawyerly authenticity about Henriques's book. He takes us meticulously through his cases...
After taking silk in 1986, over the course of the next 14 years he appeared in no fewer than 106 murder trials, including prosecuting Harold Shipman, Britain's most prolific serial killer, and the killers of James Bulger. In 2000 he was appointed to the High Court Bench and tried the transatlantic airline plot, the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers, the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, and many other cases.
He sat in the Court of Appeal on the appeals of Barry George, then convicted of murdering Jill Dando, and Jeremy Bamber, the White House Farm killer. In From Crime to Crime he not only recreates some of his most famous cases but also includes his trenchant views on the state of the British judicial system; how it works - or doesn't - and the current threats to the rule of law that affect us all.
