Non-Fiction Books
The decline of London after the Romans scarpered: • What did the new Lundenwic look like? • Viking invasion • What did people wear, how did they make a living? • Where did Alfred the Great burn his cakes? • Viking invasion • Why was Ethelred so Unready? • The Battle of London Bridge • Viking invasion • King Canute • Edward the Confessor and his French mates • Norman invasion A sane (honest) guide to London’s most confusing period—including an archaeological trail for present–day readers, some of the funniest names in English history, the markets, the slaves, the endless changes of power and the everyday life of an average confused Saxon Londoner.
It’s all here: • Just who was Shakespeare? • What drew him to London and what did he find here? • A pub crawl with John Falstaff, Shakespeare’s fat felon • A day in the life of an Elizabethan actor • How to cope with Elizabethan heckling • Reviews of Shakespeare’s plays by Cecil Arduous, arts critic of The Great Fart • Which play did Queen Elizabeth ban? • Shakespeare’s mates—Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson • Life at the Globe Theatre • How to be an Elizabethan celebrity William Shakespeare lived in one of the city’s most exciting periods—during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. He is our greatest writer and this book recreates what life must have been like for him—from the low life of the taverns and the brothels, to the life of the court, all of which he experienced and all of which he put into his magnificent works.
In 1894, Charles Miller arrived in Brazil with a pair of boots, a book of rules and a football. When he reached Sao Paulo, he was shocked to discover that no-one knew how to play. So he marked out a pitch, gathered 20 young men, and divided them into two teams.
When he was a little boy everyone despaired of Arthur he was no good at his lessons, no good at music, no good at languages. But then he went to military school, and it soon became clear that Arthur would grow into a great man and do his bit for Britain though no one yet knew just how great he would turn out to be. For Arthur, the Duke of Wellington, battle and victory for England was everything. Determined, courageous and disciplined, he would stop at nothing to defeat Napoleon as he struggled to gain control of Europe.
Pele, Garrincha, Socrates, Romario, Ronaldinho - all of them can trace their lineage to a young man, half English, half Scottish, who carried a football from Sao Paulo and taught Brazil how to play the beautiful game.In 1894, Charles Miller arrived in Brazil with a pair of boots, a book of rules and a football. When he discovered that no one knew how to play, he marked out a pitch, gathered twenty young men and divided them into two teams...Today, Brazil is the greatest football-playing nation in the world, admired everywhere for its skill, passion, flair and commitment to attacking play - but Charles Miller has been forgotten. This is his story; a gripping narrative of one man's love of football and the clash between two very different cultures: the foxtrot versus the samba; the stiff upper lip versus swinging hips. Josh Lacey tells the profoundly moving story of a man who gave Brazil its greatest gift but lost everything - his heart, his soul and even his wife - to that seductive country.