Roy McMillan

Which pirate incubated chickens in camel-dung? What would Blackbeard do if you didn't hand over your jewellery (it wasn't nice)? Which pirate was called 'The Exterminator'? Where's the treasure buried? Why were two women dressed as men on the same pirate ship? Who made the Jolly Roger famous? And who was the greatest pirate ever? This history answers all these questions and many more; it is the ideal introduction to the facts behind the great legends...

For almost two millennia, cathedrals have been among the most imposing, astonishing and inspiring buildings in Europe. Regardless of faith, their scale and architectural daring has never ceased to spark wonder. This guide traces the development of the cathedral from its earliest beginnings as a Bishop's house, through the Romanesque and Gothic periods and up to the most extravagant contemporary designs around the world. In doing so, it sheds light...

A dark, fantastical satire of Communist utopianism by the author of The Master and Margarita. Lauded Russian author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov's A Dog's Heart (sometimes translated as The Heart of a Dog) is a zany, violent, and whimsical satire of the failures inherent in the dream of a Communist utopia, following dog-turned-human Sharik as he tries and fails utterly to live a life of goodness and virtue-but goodness and virtue as defined by...

The Pax Britannica trilogy is Jan Morris' magnificent history of the British Empire from 1837 to 1965. This final volume charts the decline and dissolution of what was once the largest empire the world had known. From the first signs of decay in the imperial ambition in the Boer Wars, through the global shifts in power evident in the two World Wars, it offers a perspective that is honest, evocative and occasionally elegiac.

April 1982. Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. In response, Britain dispatches a naval Task Force. Eight thousand miles from home, its fate hinges on just twenty Sea Harrier fighters against the two hundred-strong might of the Argentine Air Force. The odds against them are overwhelming. British Defense Chiefs' own estimates suggest that half the Harriers will be lost within a week. Against this background, 809 Naval Air Squadron is reformed,...

A snapshot of the Empire at the Diamond Jubilee of 1897. It looks at what made up the Empire, from adventurers and politicians to communications and infrastructure, as well as anomalies and eccentricities. This humane overview also examines the muddle of jumbled ideologies behind it, and how they affected its 370 million people.

Amid the lush beauty of Jamaica's northern coast lies the true story of Ian Fleming's iconic creation: James Bond.For two months every year, from 1946 to his death eighteen years later, Ian Fleming lived at Goldeneye, the house he built on a point of high land overlooking a small white-sand beach on Jamaica's stunning north coast. All the James Bond novels and stories were written here.This book explores the huge influence of Jamaica on the creation...

"Fired with a fearless iconoclasm which surpassed the wildest dreams of contemporary free thought" - The New York Times Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most scathing and powerful critiques of philosophy, religion, science, politics and ethics ever written - an essential summary of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy. One of the most iconoclastic philosophers of all time, Nietzsche dramatically rejected notions of good and evil, truth and God....

The thrilling debut of Bulldog Drummond, England's bravest veteran  In the waning days of World War I, four men gather in a Swiss hotel. Two are German, one is American-and the last is a citizen of the world and a master of disguise. To enter this exclusive club, there are only two requirements: a desire to see England destroyed and the means to make it happen. In London, Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, formerly of His Majesty's Royal Loamshire...