Books in the National Archives series

"In sixteen hundred and sixty-five there was hardly anyone left alive."Spring 1665, LondonSam was just a young boy when his master took him out of the orphanage to be his servant. When he was old enough, he was going to become his master's apprentice, a shoemaker, able to make his own way in the world.But that was before the plague arrived.Abandoned by Alice, his master's maid and the closet thing that Sam's ever had to a mother, Sam finds himself nailed into his workshop home with only his dying master and pet dog Budge for company. The officials call it 'quarantine'. But for Sam it's a death sentence.Can Sam escape? And even if he does, will he be able to survive on London's ravaged streets?

A novel of the First World War. Alfie signs up for the army aged just 15, carried away by patriotic fervour at the start of the Great War. But life in the trenches is very far from his dreams of glory. It's hard, and cold, and it's boring. Alfie is desperate to see some action. But when he volunteers for a raid on the German trenches, against the advice of his comrades, Alfie begins to understand what war means, and to see the value of the lives that are being thrown away on the Western Front every day...

A boy works in the dockyard where the Titanic is being built, then gets a job on the ship. As he witnesses a series of mistakes, short-cuts and bad decisions, he becomes more and more worried about what could happen to the ship. But he's preoccupied by his rivalry with a fellow ship's boy...

A thrilling historical adventure based on documents from the National Archives. Orphan Sam has survived the Great Plague, but his chance at a new life goes up in smoke when a fire breaks out on Pudding Lane."In sixteen hundred and sixty-six, London burned like rotten sticks."Left alone and homeless by the Great Plague, Sam struggled to survive. He was lucky to get a job working for the Giraud family. Though Andre, the son of his boss, doesn't make life easy. And then a fire breaks out on Pudding Lane. Before anyone fully realises what's happening, London's burning... and this fire can't be put out. Now it's time for Sam to prove what he's really worth. If he can get out alive...A thrilling historical adventure produced in partnership with the National Archives. Sam's previous adventure is The Great Plague: A Cross on the Door is also available from Bloomsbury Education.