{"title":"History","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"signed-copy-talking-classics-the-shock-of-the-old-by-professor-mary-beard","title":"SIGNED COPY Talking Classics : The Shock of the Old by , Professor Mary Beard","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Beard, Professor Mary\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eAncient Greece\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 16 April 2026 by Profile Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 208 pages, integrated photographs\/illustrations\u003cbr\u003e143 x 224 x 27 | 324g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF EMPEROR OF ROME AND SPQR 'EastEnders for the 1st century AD... Beard's enthusiastic sense of wonder remains undimmed' THE TIMES 'The rock star scholar of Ancient Rome' FINANCIAL TIMES 'The reigning Queen of Classics' SPECTATOR What's exciting about a piece of bread 4,000 years old? Or some pots of paint abandoned in the eruption at Pompeii? Why should we be bothered with the distant past anyway? What's the point?The life, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome have something to offer everyone. They are not the property of wealthy white men only. They make us wonder how to make sense of people who lived long ago (from angry landlords to giggling senators) - and to think harder about our own world, to look at it differently.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Talking Classics, Mary Beard points to the surprising connections between antiquity and the present. From revolutionaries to dictators, Bob Dylan to Beyoncé , she joins forces with the varied modern characters who have been transfixed by the ancient world. It's not compulsory, she argues, to be excited by antiquity, but it's a shame not to be.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter half a century teaching and studying classics, she fills the book with lively stories, curious facts and some good gossip. Talking Classics explains why the deep past does really affect us all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Book Nook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58101823406461,"sku":"9781805220312.002","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0539\/6525\/8945\/files\/9781805220312_b0d735ac-2c41-437f-838c-b1f0e4e7faec.jpg?v=1777280704"},{"product_id":"blitz-when-world-war-two-came-home-by-john-nichol","title":"SIGNED COPY Blitz : When World War Two Came Home by John Nichol","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDescription\u003cbr\u003e‘An exceptional piece of work; powerful, vivid and compelling’ Rowland White, author of Vulcan 607The Second World War was not only fought in the skies above Europe or on distant beaches. Between 1939 and 1945, Hitler’s aerial onslaught crashed into lives across the UK night after night, killing more than 60,000 civilians and leaving millions homeless. May 2026 marks the 85th anniversary of the end of the Night Blitz. But the aerial assault on Britain did not stop in May 1941. For too long, ‘The Blitz’ – from the German ‘Blitzkrieg’ or lightning war – has been framed as a few desperate months from September 1940 that mainly affected London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn reality, the scope of the attack on the home front was far more widespread, and far more devastating. Now, John Nichol tells this supposedly familiar narrative – one of the most important events in British history – afresh. Beginning with a search to understand his mother’s experiences of the blitz on Tyneside – drawing on fragments of memory and the unanswered questions she left behind – Nichol ranges outward to reveal a truly national history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Dover to Glasgow, Cardiff to Manchester, he uncovers astonishing accounts of catastrophe and resilience. Of ‘ordinary’ men, women and children catapulted into harm’s way. Of heroic firefighters battling infernos, the unflinching bravery required to defuse unexploded bombs, families wiped out in an instant, communities left bereft by a single blast. Using interviews with survivors, official records and eyewitness testimonies, Nichol gives voice to the unsung heroes who endured explosions, fire and fear, but found the courage to run towards danger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe brings the story up to date by speaking to people involved in similar situations: mass casualty events, the deadly blaze at Grenfell Tower, bomb disposal in modern warfare and individual acts of astonishing bravery. And as new military threats emerge, Nichol asks whether the country still has such resilience today. At once gripping and compassionate, BLITZ is the definitive account of a nationwide struggle that shaped the course of the war and the spirit of a generation. The book includes maps, colour endpapers, and two plate sections with 38 photos and archival images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The story of a whole nation as only Nichol can write, BLITZ is a wonderful book perfectly anchored in the human experience’ Dr Robert Lyman MBE FRHistS, co-author of Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918–40‘A truly powerful and engaging narrative. The way Nichol weaves the story of the Blitz with more recent accounts makes for an excellent read’ Andy Saunders, military historian and author‘An important book which takes the myth of the storybook Blitz Spirit and redefines it. Absolutely fantastic’ Professor Lucy Easthope, author of When the Dust Settles: Searching for Hope After Disaster\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Book Nook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58158528233853,"sku":"9781398540354.002","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0539\/6525\/8945\/files\/rn-image_picker_lib_temp_3c7bf9ee-3d02-4f76-8ba0-b054a126e91e.jpg?v=1778612876"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.booknookshop.co.uk\/es\/collections\/history-3.oembed","provider":"The Book Nook","version":"1.0","type":"link"}