By the former editor of the London Times, a vivid, evocative, and deeply knowledgeable history of this unique world capital. London: a settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes, and ruled by the Normans. This transformative place became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be checkered with grand estates of Georgian splendor. It swelled with industry and became the center of the largest empire in history. And having risen from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world. From the prehistoric occupants of the Thames Valley to the preoccupied commuters of today, Simon Jenkins brings together the key events, individuals and trends in London's history to create a matchless portrait of the capital. He masterfully explains the battles that determined how London was conceived and built—and especially the perennial conflict between money and power. Based in part on his experiences of and involvement in the events that shaped the post-war city, and with his trademark color and authority, Simon Jenkins shows above all how London has taken shape over more than two thousand years. Fascinating for locals and visitors alike, this is narrative history at its finest, from the most ardent protector of British heritage.
The heroes and villains, triumphs and disasters of English history are instantly familiar -- from the Norman Conquest to Henry VIII, Queen Victoria to the two World Wars. But to understand their full significance we need to know the whole story. A Short History of England sheds new light on all the key individuals and events in English history by bringing them together in an enlightening account of the country's birth, rise to global prominence, and then partial eclipse. Written with flair and authority by Guardian columnist and London Times former editor Simon Jenkins, this is the definitive narrative of how today's England came to be. Concise but comprehensive, with more than a hundred color illustrations, this beautiful single-volume history will be the standard work for years to come.
Fascinating and timely. Required reading for every developer, planner or councillor who holds London in trust today' Griff Rhys Jones 'Accessible, clear and readable' Rowan Moore, The Observer ________________________ LONDON: a settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes and ruled by the Normans. This unremarkable place - not even included in the Domesday Book - became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be chequered with grand estates of Georgian splendour. It swelled with industry and became the centre of the largest empire in history. And rising from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world. From the prehistoric occupants of the Thames valley to the preoccupied commuters of today, Simon Jenkins brings together the key events, individuals and trends in London's history to create a matchless portrait of the capital. ________________________ 'A vivid and deeply well-informed account of London's history' Charles Saumarez Smith, Professor of Cultural History, Queen Mary University of London 'Extremely informative and witty' Roy Porter, author of London: A Social History on Landlords to London 'A short, invigorating gallop over two and a half thousand years' Scotsman on A Short History of Europe
From the invaders of the dark ages to the aftermath of the coalition, one of Britain's most respected journalists, Simon Jenkins, weaves together a strong narrative with all the most important and interesting dates in a book that characteristically is as stylish as it is authoritative. A Short History of England sheds light on all the key individuals and events, bringing them together in an enlightening and engaging account of the country's birth, rise to global prominence and then partial eclipse.There have been long synoptic histories of England but until now there has been no standard short work covering all significant events, themes and individuals. Now updated to take in the rapid progress of recent events and beautifully illustrated, this magisterial history will be the standard work for years to come.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks the very best views from the heart of England, including Broadway Tower, Chipping Campden, Clee Hill, Ironbridge Gorge, Malverns, Tyndale Monument, Chatsworth, Kinder Downfall, and more - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to the Midlands' breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks the very best views from South West England, including Dartmouth, Dartmoor's Haytor, Plymouth Hoe, Tintagel, Bath (Royal Crescent and Prior Park), Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge, Chesil Beach, Exmoor, Glastonbury Tor, Little Bredy, Lyme Regis, Salisbury, Stourhead, and much more - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to South West England's breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks London's very best views, including Greenwich, The Monument, Parliament Square, Primrose Hill, Richmond Hill and Waterloo Bridge - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to London's breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, urban vistas and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. With his usual insight and authority, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks 100 of the very best from the white cliffs of Dover to Hadrian's Wall - and explains the fascinating stories behind each. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to breathtaking sights - all beautifully illustrated - both iconic and undiscovered. From Gold Hill, the Dorset village street so famously picturesque it was used in a Hovis advert, to the view of the City of London famously depicted by Canaletto and the wilds of the Yorkshire moors. This book will inspire you to discover the treasures of England's sea, city and landscapes for yourself. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it. The perfect guide to Britain's landscape - now available in paperback.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks the very best views from North West England, including the Lake District and Hartside, High Cup Nick and Liverpool Pierhead - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to North West England's breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
A WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2022 'Simon Jenkins, as ever, writes with clarity and insight' Times 'One of the liveliest commentators in Britain, always worth reading and pleasingly contrarian' Jeremy Paxman, Guardian Who were the Celts? Were they a people, a civilisation, an empire, or a fiction of historical imagination? They flit as ghosts through Europe's ancient past, purported ancestors of the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and Bretons. Yet they have never been identified with any one land, or with any one history or language. Simon Jenkins argues compellingly that the 'Celts' is a misleading concept, bundling together quite distinct peoples. The word keltoi first appears in Greek, applied generally to aliens or 'barbarians' - and theories of Celticism continue to fuel many of the prejudices and misconceptions that divide the British Isles to this day. Fascinating and increasingly relevant, who the Celts were - or weren't - goes to the heart of the ongoing argument over the future of a dis-United Kingdom.
A sweeping, illustrated history of Europe--a continent whose imperial ambitions, internal clashes, and existential threats are as vital today as they were during the conquests of Alexander the Great In just a few hundred years, a modest peninsula off the northwest corner of Asia has seen the rise and fall of several empires; served as the crucible for scientific dynamism, cultural innovation, and economic revolution; and witnessed cataclysms and bloodshed that have almost destroyed it several times over. This is Europe: a continent whose identity emerged not so much by virtue of geographic or ethnic continuity, but by a long and storied struggle for power. Studded with infamous figures--from Caesar to Charlemagne and Machiavelli to Marx--Simon Jenkins's history of Europe travels briskly from the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and the Reformation through the French Revolution, the World Wars, and the fall of the USSR. What emerges in this thrilling and expansive telling is a continent as defined by its continually clashing cultural identities and violent crises as it is by its tireless drive for a society based on the consent of the governed -- which holds true right up to the present day.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks the very best views from South and East England, including Arundel, the Chilterns (Coombe Hill and Turville Down), the white cliffs of Dover, North Downs' Devil's Kneading Trough, Oxford (The High and Radcliffe Square), Stowe, Windsor Great Park, Cambridge's The Backs, Holkham, Lavenham and Sheringham, and more - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to South and East England's breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
England's views are remarkable for their beauty and variety. In this illustrated, first-of-its-kind guide, bestselling author Simon Jenkins picks the very best views from North East England, including Bempton cliffs, Gordale Scar, Hebden Bridge, Richmond, Rievaulx, Saltaire, Whitby Harbour, Durham, Hadrian's Wall, Lindisfarne and Newcastle's Grey Street, and more - and explains the fascinating stories behind them. Jenkins' entertaining and erudite entries provide the rich historical, geographical, botanical and architectural background to North East England's breathtaking sights both iconic and undiscovered. Filled with roman roads, cliff-tops, follies, mountains, ancient castles, rolling forests and heart-stopping moments, you'll soon wonder how you chose walks, mini-breaks or spontaneous diversions without it.
England's cathedrals are the nation's glory. They tower over its landscape, outranking palaces, castles and mansions. They attract roughly half the nation's population each year. For a millennium they have been objects of pilgrimage for those seeking faith, consolation and beauty. Still at the start of the twenty-first century, they remain unequalled in their size and splendour. More than any other English institution, cathedrals reflect the vicissitudes of history and should be treasured as such. They are custodians of culture and of the rituals of civic life. They offer welfare and relieve suffering. They uplift spirits with their beauty. In a real sense they are still what they were when first built a millennium ago, a glimpse of the sublime. Gloriously illustrated throughout, England's Cathedrals not only offers us a companion to England's Thousand Best Churches, it takes us on an enthralling tour of the nation and its history, through some of our most astonishing buildings.
Why do politicians send troops to foreign soil, to fight battles they rarely win? Is it old-fashioned imperialism tainted with a crusader complex? Or is the West a partisan for the helpless? The fall of the Soviet Union left the West aimless. With no conflicting dogma to reinforce its sense of justice the West assumed the role of global policeman - aid graduated from charitable to economic and, finally, military. Ideological struggle was replaced by a vague and confused concept of international justice, shrouded in real-politik. Yet scepticism now pervades the interventionist debate. Simon Jenkins traces the rise of 'liberal interventionism' from Kosovo and the 'war on terror' to present day conflicts in Libya, Syria and Ukraine, asking: what can we learn from the miscalculations, mistakes, and mendacity of 'the age of intervention'? As ISIS sweeps through Middle-East, calls for a military solution are increasing. By exposing interventionist rhetoric and highlighting past mistakes, Jenkins gives us an invaluable contribution to the active and essential debate on the West's role in global conflicts.
Landlords to London was originally published in 1975, the first book by Simon Jenkins, later to be editor of the London Evening Standard and the Times, and in 2008 the Chairman on the National Trust. The book is a collective biography of the men who mapped out the metropolis of London as we see it today - also the story of the people of London, who have never sat idly by any argument over 'their' city. The Great Estates of London were carved out of the fields surrounding the medieval City and made their owners fabulously rich, but led also to a remarkable flowering of urban design in the squares, crescents and terraces of Bloomsbury, Belgravia, Islington, Kensington et al. These wealthy families are shadowy figures in London's history, but Simon Jenkins brings their tastes and endeavours to light, while also recording the popular protests and petitions that have led to the ceaseless reform, revision, conservation and regeneration of London's landscape and skyline. 'Extremely informative and witty.' Roy Porter, London: A Social History
Europe's cathedrals are magnificent. They outstrip palaces and castles. They are the most sensational group of structures anywhere in the world - which everyone should 'see before they die'. They are also hugely popular, most of them absolutely packed. They are humankind's greatest creations. In Europe's 1oo Best Cathedrals, Simon Jenkins has travelled the continent - from Chartres to York, Cologne to Florence, Toledo to Moscow and Stockholm to Seville - to illuminate old favourites and highlight new discoveries. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of Europe's history tells the stories behind these wonders, showing the cathedral's central role in the European imagination. Readers will be inspired to make their own pilgrimage to all one hundred of them.
The architecture of Britain is an art gallery all around us. From our streets to squares, through our cities, suburbs and villages, we are surrounded by magnificent buildings of eclectic styles. A Short History of British Architecture is the gripping and untold story of why Britain looks the way it does, from prehistoric Stonehenge to the lofty towers of today. Bestselling historian Simon Jenkins traces the relentless battles over the European traditions of classicism and gothic. He guides us from the gothic cathedrals of Lincoln, Ely and Wells to the ‘prodigy’ houses of the Tudor renaissance, and visits the great estates of Georgian London, the docks of Liverpool, the mills of Yorkshire and the chapels of south Wales. The arrival of modernism in the twentieth century politicised public taste, upheaved communities and sought to reconstruct entire cities. It produced Coventry Cathedral and Lloyd’s of London, but also the brutalist monoliths of Sheffield’s Park Hill, Glasgow’s Cumbernauld and London’s South Bank. Only in the 1970s did the public at last give voice to what became the conservation revolution – a movement in which Jenkins played a leading role, both as deputy chairman of English Heritage and chairman of the National Trust, and in the saving of iconic buildings such as St Pancras International and Covent Garden. Jenkins shows that everyone is a consumer of architecture and makes the case for the importance of everyone learning to speak its language. A Short History of British Architecture is a celebration of our national treasures, a lament of our failures – and a call to arms.
Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller 'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris Evans It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before. 'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times 'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian
A valuable reference source for professionals and academics in this field, this is an encyclopedia-dictionary of the many scientific and technical terms now encountered in kinesiology and exercise science.
A valuable reference source for professionals and academics in this field, this is an encyclopedia-dictionary of the many scientific and technical terms now encountered in kinesiology and exercise science.
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