Books by Jonathan Oates

Graphic reconstructions of unsolved London murders of the interwar years. Shows how the murderers got away with their crimes.

Graphic account of the life and crimes of 1950s thief and double-murderer Donald Hume.

Comprehensive military history of the Jacobite rebellions - covers the principal uprisings of 1715 and 1745 in graphic detail.

Practical, accessible guide to researching East End history with full details of records researchers can consult-online sites, archives, libraries, books, museums.

This book covers the campaign of 1715-1716 in Scotland which had as its defining moment the battle of Sheriffmuir on 13 November 1715.

An essential introduction to one of the most rewarding sources for family historians.

Whilst much has been written about the Jacobites, most works have tended to look at the Rebellion of 1745, rather than the earlier attempt to reinstate the Stuart dynasty. As such this book provides a welcome focus on events in 1715, when Jacobites in both England and Scotland tried to oust George I and to replace him with James Stuart. In particular it provides a detailed narrative and analysis of the campaign in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the north of England that led to the decisive battle at Preston and ended the immediate prospects of the Jacobite cause. Drawing upon a wealth of under-utilised sources, the work builds on existing research into the period to give weight to the community and individual dimensions of the crisis as well as to the military ones. Contrary to popular myth, the Jacobite army contained both English and Scots, and because it surrendered almost intact, an analysis of the surviving list of Jacobite prisoners captured in the North West England reveals much information about their origins, occupations, unit structure and, sometimes, religion, as well as the quality of the soldiers'' arms and equipment, their experience and that of their leaders. Through this study of the last major battle to be fought on English soil, a clearer picture emerges of the individuals and groups who sought to mould the direction of the freshly created British state and the dynasty that should rule it.

The trail that an ancestor leaves through the Victorian period and the twentieth century is relatively easy to follow the records are plentiful, accessible and commonly used. But how do you go back further, into the centuries before the central registration of births, marriages and deaths was introduced in 1837, before the first detailed census records of 1841? How can you trace a family line back through the early modern period and perhaps into the Middle Ages? Jonathan Oatess clearly written new handbook gives you all the background knowledge you need in order to go into this engrossing area of family history research.