Books by Matthew Parker

At the beginning of the 1650s, England was in ruins - wrecked, impoverished, grief-stricken by plague and civil war. What started out as a heaven was soon to become one of the cruellest places on earth. The history of Willoughbyland is a microcosm of empire, its heady attractions and fatal dangers.

For 200 years after 1650 the West Indies were the most fought-over colonies in the world, as Europeans made and lost immense fortunes growing and trading in sugar - a commodity so lucrative that it was known as white gold.

Traces a heroic dream that spanned four centuries: to build a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This book explores the fierce geo-political struggle behind the heroic vision of the canal, and the immense engineering and medical battles that were fought.

The compelling account of one of the most ferocious and costly battles of World War Two, including interviews with hundreds of veterans who have never spoken publicly before