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As one of the twelve founding Football League clubs in 1888/89, Everton Football Club has a long, proud history. Having played more top-flight League games than any other English team, the Toffees have won the League championship nine times - the fourth best record of any team. The first occasion was in the third season of League football, 1890/91 when the Blues became the first club from Liverpool to collect the League championship trophy from their then base, Anfield. In achieving their success, Everton knocked the winners of the first two championships, the Invincibles of Preston North End, off their throne. But how did they do it? Who were the players in this momentous season, what sort of football did they play and who did they beat?
HMS Royal Oak was a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, infamously torpedoed at anchor by the German submarine U-47 on 14 October 1939. Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland when she became the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battle cruisers sunk in the Second World War. The loss of life was heavy: of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero out of the German U-boat commander, Gunther Prien, who became the first submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. To the British, the raid demonstrated that the Germans were capable of bringing the naval war to their home waters, and the shock resulted in rapidly arranged changes to dockland security. Now lying upside-down in 30 m of water with her hull 5 m beneath the surface, Royal Oak is a designated war grave. Includes 103 Photographs
Flying boats have been a familiar sight in the Solent since the dawn of aviation. Two of Britain's major manufactures, Saunders-Roe and Supermarine, were based in Cowes and Woolston respectively. The area has been home to flying boats of Imperial Airways and, latterly, BOAC and Aquila Airways. With a terminal at Hythe and then Southampton Docks, one could view not just majestic ocean liners but huge flying boats too, from the Empire boats of Imperial Airways to the majestic Saunders-Roe Princess, built in the post-war period. During wartime, BOAC operated their vital flying boat services from Poole Harbour. In fact, BOAC was based at Poole for longer than Southampton - a fact frequently overlooked, mostly due to wartime censorship. Post-war route expansion was also undertaken while still at Poole. Military aviation in the area saw flying boats operated from RAF Calshot and RAF Hamworthy, with types ranging from elderly biplanes to Sunderlands. Mike Phipp takes us on a tour of the Solent area and Poole Harbour's flying boat heritage using many previously unpublished images of the aircraft plus the men and women that flew and maintained them.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was Britain's greatest engineer, he was the man who built everything on a huge scale, he built Britain's biggest ship, some of Britain's most spectacular bridges, a tunnel under the Thames and the finest railway line in Britain, the London to Bristol route of the Great Western Railway. Everything he did was on a scale not seen before, not just in Britain, but in the world. Brunel left a legacy of industrial architecture and design, from the vaulted roof of Paddington station to the SS Great Britain, the first true ocean greyhound, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge to the Tamar Bridge, which bears his name on its approaches. His life was one of superlatives - bigger, wider, taller and faster. Nearly drowning in the Thames Tunnel, he eventually suffered a stroke aboard his Great Eastern, the world's largest vessel for almost half a century, and died two days before her maiden voyage. As the historian Dan Cruikshank put it, Brunel was quite simply 'a one-man Industrial Revolution'. Here, John Christopher tells the story of the man and his tunnels, bridges, railways, ships and buildings, with many new illustrations accompanying the old, showing the changes time has made to Brunel's greatest legacy - the things he designed and built that we still take for granted and use every day, over a century and a half since his death.
'I saw that ship sink, I never closed my eyes. I saw it, I heard it, and nobody could possibly forget it. I can remember the colours, the sounds, everything. The worst thing I can remember were the screams.' EVA HART This is the amazing story of how Eva survived the sinking of the Titanic - the disaster that claimed the life of her father. The events of a few hours during her childhood had a huge impact on Eva. Her vivid memories of being bundled into a lifeboat and of watching the unsinkable ship slip beneath the surface remained with her for the rest of her life, although it was nearly forty years before she could talk openly about the tragedy. A Girl Aboard the Titanic is the only eyewitness description we have from a child of this famous maritime disaster.
Created in the late 1960s, fashionable in the early 1970s and hated in the 1980s, Progressive Rock has a colourful and eventful story. Many of the genre's main protagonists, including Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, remain as popular as ever, while lesser-known names like Camel, Caravan, Renaissance, Van der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant retain cult status. In this completely revised and updated edition, Stephen Lambe guides the reader through the early years as the music developed out of the British Progressive Music boom of the late 1960s into its own genre, and reached full maturity in the early 1970s. He also discusses how the music was received and developed outside the UK, particularly in the USA and Europe. Received wisdom has it that punk swept Progressive Rock away in the late 1970s, yet the genre never died. An early 1980s revival, spearheaded by major label signings Marillion, IQ and Pallas, burned brightly but fell away sharply later in the decade. However, in the early 1990s, the movement began to re-establish itself, largely below the radar, led by Swedish band The Flower Kings and American group Spock's Beard. The rise of the internet and the decline of the worldwide pop industry allowed niche music - as Progressive Rock had now become - to flourish once again in the new millennium. Stephen Lambe has been co-promoter of the Summer's End Progressive Rock festival since 2006. He helps promote Welsh band Magenta, and is Secretary of the Classic Rock Society, whose patrons include Steve Hackett and Roger Hodgson. He writes regularly for the magazine Rock Society.
Doomed queen of Henry VIII, mother to Elizabeth I, the epic story of Anne Boleyn.Anne Boleyn was the most controversial and scandalous woman ever to sit on the throne of England. From her early days at the imposing Hever Castle in Kent, to the glittering courts of Paris and London, Anne caused a stir wherever she went. Alluring but not beautiful, Anne's wit and poise won her numerous admirers at the English court, and caught the roving eye of King Henry. Anne was determined to shape her own destiny, first through a secret engagement to Henry Percy, the heir of the Earl of Northumberland, and later through her insistence on marriage with the king, after a long and tempestuous relationship as his mistress. Their love affair was as extreme as it was deadly, from Henry's 'mine own sweetheart' to 'cursed and poisoning whore' her fall from grace was total.
RAF Coastal Command was founded in 1936 when the Royal Air Force restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands. During the preceding inter-war years, maritime aviation had been seriously neglected due to the disagreements between the Royal Navy and the RAF over the ownership, roles and investment in maritime air power. Consequently, the new Command quickly became known as the 'Cinderella Service'. However, the Command played a key role in the Allied Victory during the Second World War, particularly during the Battle of the Atlantic. From a modest beginning, the Command blossomed into a powerful anti-submarine force when protecting Allied convoys from the German submarine force, while also protecting that shipping from attacks by the Luftwaffe. Equipped with legendary aircraft such as the Sunderland, Wellington, Catalina and Liberator, along with advances in radar technology such as the new Mark III ASV (Air-to-surface vessel), it was able to locate, attack and destroy an increasing number of U-boats that had fast become the scourge of the convoys. By the end of the Second World War, Coastal Command had flown more than a million flying hours, completed 240,000 operations and destroyed 212 U-boats - but suffered an ever higher loss rate than Bomber Command with 2,060 aircraft lost, along with the lives of 5,866 personnel. Post-war, Coastal Command saw a significant rundown but still made a contribution to the Berlin Airlift. When equipped with the new Shackleton aircraft, their activities shifted to anti-submarine patrols against the Soviet Navy and other fleets of the Warsaw Pact, particularly in the Atlantic. In 1969, Coastal Command was absorbed into the newly formed Strike Command. Illustrated with images from the Air Historical Branch - many of which have never previously been published.
Launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini-Metro, the Metro was a critically important car for British Leyland and was hailed as the car that saved the company. This book looks in detail at the car's design, development and sales success from its initial design stage to the end of production in 1998, by which time it had evolved into the Rover 100 - an astonishing eighteen-year production run. As well as looking at the cars in detail, the book also includes interviews with some of the key people involved in its design and development. Craig Cheetham covers the full story of the Metro from the initial rough sketches in 1975, including the engineering developments. The launch of the car and its reception by the media and the public is featured, as well as the rebranding process as the company was reorganised under the Rover badge. A revised Metro was fitted with a new K-Series engine. The launch of the turbo-charged MG Metros, as well as the GTA and GTi versions, are covered alongside the Metro's circuit racing successes. The author also reveals some of the design ideas for a Metro replacement that never made it to production. Including advice for both current and prospective Metro owners and what to look out for, Austin and Rover Metro: The Full Story is a gold mine of information about one of Britain's most significant car models.
Prof. Angus Winchester provides an illustrated history of the history and heritage of dry stone walling in Britain.
How do you fly a Spitfire, or a Messerschmitt or even a Hurricane? Using original Pilots Notes, Campbell McCutcheon introduces you to the famous aircraft of the Battle of Britain.
A carefully curated collection of sixty medieval objects, from the marvellous to the bizarre, is explored and accompanied by captivating pen-and-ink drawings.
A fascinating exploration of Warwickshire's historic churches. Will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting this attractive county in England.
Explore the town of Scarborough in this fully illustrated A-Z guide to its history, people and places.
Explore the rich history of Macclesfield in this guided tour through its most fascinating historic and modern buildings.
An illustrated guide to the heyday of American Grand Prix racing. This book is an essential guide for all formula 1 fanatics.
A fascinating and important exploration of Bristol's historic churches over the centuries, will be of interest to all those who live in or are visiting this city.
Colin J. Howat documents Class 43 locomotives in Scotland from the late 1970s in the BR era through to privatisation and beyond.
Dave Hewitt's book illustrates a selection of North American steam and heritage railways traversing stunning landscapes.
Explore the Hertfordshire town of Hitchin in this fully illustrated A-Z guide to its history, people and places.
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