Böcker i Shire Library-serien

In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, canals formed the arteries of Britain. Most waterways were local concerns, carrying cargoes over short distances and fitted into regional groups with their own boat types linked to the major river estuaries. This new history of Britain's canals starts with the first Roman waterways, moving on to their golden age in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and ends with the present day, describing the rise and fall of canal building and use in the UK. It tells the story of the narrow boats and barges borne by the canals, and the boatmen who navigated them as well as the wider tale of waterway development through the progress of civil engineering. Replete with beautiful photographs, this a complete guide to some of the most accessible and beautiful pieces of Britain's heritage.

John Ruskin, one of the most prolific of nineteenth-century authors, first made a name as a writer on art with Modern Painters. His study of art and architecture in Britain and Europe led him to a consideration of the conditions of the people who lived in the same world as his art. His interests broadened to embrace social and political economy, and ideas which he propounded in such books as Unto This Last have had a profound effect on life today. William Morris, Bernard Shaw and many othe rearly socialists practised what Ruskin had preached. His Utopian Guild of St. George sought to establish a community where life was fair and the Companions found happiness and satisfaction through the work of their hands. Meanwhile in art he championed J.M.W. Turner, introduced the English to Tintoretto and other early Italian artists and helped the Pre-Raphaelites on their way. The effects of his teaching can be see today in green belts, town planning, smokeless zones, the Rent Restrictions Act and the National Trust. Ruskin was truly one of the prophets on the nineteeth century.

The name Lancelot 'Capability' Brown has become synonymous with the eighteenth-century English landscape garden: between 1751 and 1783 his consultancy handled over 170 major commissions. Ruthlessly efficient, he could stake out the 'capabilities' of a particular terrain within an hour on horseback.

During the Second World War women proved themselves indispensable to the war effort serving in both military uniformed units abroad and in home front organisations through the darkest hours of the Blitz. This book tells the stories of these women in their own words.

With the end of the Second World War it was not long before increasing wealth, cheaper cars, and social pressures made a family car the aspiration of thousands. Ford, Hillman, Standard, Morris and Vauxhall became household names. This illustrated book looks at the British cars that were available to the post-war family.

A beautifully illustrated guide to timber-framed buildings and how they have been constructed from medieval times to the nineteenth century.Timber-framed buildings are a distinctive and treasured part of Britain''s heritage. The oldest of them are medieval but their numbers peaked in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a revival again in the nineteenth. The majority of timber-framed buildings are houses, but timber was used in all kinds of other buildings, including shops, inns, churches, town halls and farm buildings. This book outlines the history of timber-framed buildings, including their construction techniques, regional variations in style, and their social status. It also shows how the buildings have been treated in subsequent centuries and guides the reader in identifying timber-framing that is concealed behind later work. Illustrated with color photographs, it is the ideal primer for anyone interested in timber-framed buildings who wants to explore them further.

Perhaps more so than any other decade, the sixties had the broadest impact on the twentieth-century Western world. Across society, culture and the arts, youth voices rose to prominence and had a significant influence on new trends. Mature polished elegance was replaced by young liveliness as the fashionable ideal. Although only the most daring young followers of fashion wore the tiny miniskirts and borderline-unwearable plastic and metal outfits publicised in the press, stylish and smart fashion was increasingly available to all, with an emphasis on self-expression. New style icons such as Twiggy combined girl-next-door looks with trendy, aspirational and accessible outfits, and popular culture heavily influenced mainstream fashion. This beautifully illustrated book offers a concise guide to changing styles across the decade.

The broader Regency period 1795 to 1820, stands alone as an incredible moment in fashion history, unlike anything that went before it. This book explores the fashion revolution and the innovation that inspired a flood of fashions taking influence from far afield.

A brief history of the design and construction of bridges in the UK from medieval times to the modern day, including famous and notable examples such as Tower Bridge and the Forth Bridge. From the famous bascules of Tower Bridge and the august span at Westminster, through the engineering masterpieces at Ironbridge and the Forth, bridges are some of the most iconic landmarks of Britain. From the smallest arch to the largest overpass, they have a rich architectural, economic, social, and sometimes even religious history. This beautifully illustrated introduction by Richard Hayman explains how piety built and maintained bridges in the Middle Ages; how economic forces inspired a new generation of road bridges in the eighteenth century, including Iron Bridge in Shropshire and the Menai Bridge in North Wales; and how technological prowess gave us the soaring railway viaducts of the nineteenth century and road bridges of the twentieth.

A short guide to the intriguing structures and artifacts that can be found along the routes of disused railways. The drastic railway closures of the 1960s led to the slow decay and re-purposing of hundreds of miles of railway infrastructure. Though these buildings and apparatus are now ghosts of their former selves, countless clues to our railway heritage still remain in the form of embankments, cuttings, tunnels, converted or tumbledown wayside buildings, and old railway furniture such as signal posts. Many disused routes are preserved in the form of cycle tracks and footpaths. This colorfully illustrated book helps you to decipher the fascinating features that remain today and to understand their original functions, demonstrating how old routes can be traced on maps, outlining their permanent stamp on the landscape, and teaching you how to form a mental picture of a line in its heyday.

Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart may be the most famous trailblazing women within the world of early aviation, but there were many others. From the Wright brothers' sister Katherine, who was awarded the Légion d'honneur, to Mary, Lady Heath, the first woman to pilot a light aircraft from South Africa to England, the history of aviation is peppered with pioneering women who broke down the barriers of this male-dominated field. This is the story of those female aviators: not only the widely celebrated records of Johnson and Earhart, but also the now lesser-known exploits of those such as Mary, Lady Bailey, who was awarded an OBE in 1930. This essential guide also covers the new opportunities carved out for women during the Second World War, the age of space flight and women's ongoing work in aviation in the modern age of equality.

The 1970s was a decade of style contrasts: every extreme of fashion was met by an equally trendy opposite reaction. Ankle-length maxi skirts vied for attention with super-short hot-pants. Outfits in vibrant prints and obviously man-made fabrics contrasted with subtly-colored ensembles in wool jerseys and silky crepes. Delicate floral cottons, hand-knits and hand-tooled leather came up against boldly synthetic and plastic looks perched atop platform shoes--for men and women alike. More so than at any other time, fashion looked backwards in order to dress the future with quirkily ironic retro looks, while alternative street-style movements such as Punk used appearance to startle and challenge the establishment. In this book, Daniel Milford-Cottam uses colorful photographs to illustrate an eye-opening introduction to the bold fashions that still have such resonance today.

More complex and imposing than any other vehicle in the British emergency services, the fire engine has a long and interesting history. The earliest water pumps had been developed by the eighteenth century - basic manual pumps that had to be hauled around by people or horses, and were often only used on fire-insured premises. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engines, and eventually motorised fire engines, came to revolutionise firefighting, offering far greater versatility and the brigades came to be run by the municipalities. In this beautifully illustrated introduction, Eddie Baker charts the history of fire engines and their variants, and the increasingly complex equipment they have carried, such as high-rise ladders and high-pressure hoses. He also explains the wider history of the fire service and how the engines have been shaped by its needs and, most importantly, those of the firefighters themselves.

The London and North Eastern Railway, or LNER as it was familiarly known, was one of the Big Four companies that took control of Britain''s railway network following the "Grouping" in 1923. This network represented a challenging mixture of mainline and rural passenger routes, suburban services, and freight and industrial lines across the east coast of England and Scotland. Despite this challenge, the LNER became famous for its style, speed, and efficiency, with record-breaking high-speed routes capturing the public''s imagination, supported by iconic locomotives such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard. Full of beautiful photographs, this is a perfect introduction to one of Britain''s best-loved railway operators during the Age of Steam.

Victorian pumping stations are colourful cathedrals of utility. Their imposing and striking exteriors enclose highly decorative cast-iron frames, built to encage powerful steam engines. They are glorious buildings which display the Victorians' architectural confidence and engineering skills. More than that, they represent a key part of the story of urban development and how our towns and cities were shaped in this period of ground-breaking invention and civic pride. In this illustrated guide, Trevor Yorke tells the story of Victorian pumping stations and explains why they were built in such a flamboyant manner, describing their architectural features and showing how their mighty steam engines worked. He includes examples of their glorious interior decoration from pumping stations across the country and provides a detailed list of those which are open to visitors.

Designed to dominate the surrounding area, to house powerful garrisons, offer sumptuous quarters for local nobility, and to discourage and repel enemy attacks, castles dominated England and Wales for more than half a millennium. Though some were built before 1066, the Norman Conquest left a lasting legacy in the form of fortifications ranging from small earthworks now barely discernible, to mighty and dominating stone fortresses. This book examines why castles were so essential to medieval warfare, their importance in domestic politics, and the day-to-day lives of those who lived and worked within them. It also shows how the development of new technologies affected their construction and design, and why they eventually fell into disrepair in the late Middle Ages. Beautifully illustrated with stunning photographs, this is the perfect guide for any castle enthusiast seeking to discover more about medieval fortifications and their inhabitants.

The source of tremendous power and focus of incredible devotion, throughout history notions of beauty have been integral to social life. Each age has had its own standards: a gleaming white brow during the Renaissance, the black eyebrows considered charming in the early eighteenth century, and the thin lips thought desirable by Victorians.

In the 1950s and 1960s, British sports car ruled the road, and their charge was led by Triumphs. From the TR2, its first modern sports car, Triumph went on to produce a host of classic sports designs such as the Spitfire, GT, and Stag, as well as more TR models, ending with the TR7 in the late 1970s. These represented the epitome of the contemporary classic British sports car. Fast, nimble, and gorgeous to behold, Triumphs offered the everyday motorist an exhilarating drive at a price that they could afford. Popular both in the UK and the US, the Triumph range helped define the entire genre, with sports cars today like the Mazda MX-5 having their roots in models like the Stag. Illustrated throughout and written by acclaimed motoring writer and historian Graham Robson, this book guides the reader through the history of this classic British marque from its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s through to its eventual demise in the 1980s.

The SOE (Special Operations Executive) was one of the most innovative British creations of the Second World War. This book looks at the men and women who made up the SOE, the rigorous training to which they were subjected, and their lives during and after the war.

Matchbox toys were ubiquitous items for children across the Western world. Originally labelled Christmas-cracker trash by retailers and shopkeepers, the small-scale 1-75 series soon began to see unprecedented worldwide sales in the 1950s. Smaller and cheaper than most of its competitors'' toys, Matchbox models were also far more accurately modelled, but the company has nevertheless seen its own share of competition and challenging times over the years. In this beautifully illustrated book, Matchbox collector Nick Jones tells the story of Matchbox and its most famous toys, from the Coronation Coach to the Batmobile, and complements the story with beautiful, previously unpublished photographs.

With an introduction to the world of bells and bell-ringing, this book explains how bells are made and how a ringing installation works. It explains the nature of change ringing, which has mathematical as well as musical aspects. It provides insights into the ringing community, and more.

Provides a catalogue of commonly encountered coins, dating from ancient times until the modern day, explaining their historical context, how they might have come to be lost and where they may be found today.

A vibrant illustrated history of Grinling Gibbons, the master carver of the Restoration era. Master Carver Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) is famous for his breathtakingly delicate, intricate and realistic carvings, both in wood and stone. Tantalizing cascades of fruit and flowers, puffy-cheeked cherubs, crowds of figures and flourishes of architecture are all trademark features of his energetic, animated carvings that grace stately homes, palaces, churches and colleges across the country. His work can be found in some of Britain's most beloved buildings, including St Paul's Cathedral and Hampton Court Palace. From his early work in the Low Countries to his "discovery" by the diarist John Evelyn in London, and his appointment as the king's Master Carver, this book celebrates Grinling Gibbons' unequaled talent, his visionary genius, and his ability to transform humble pieces of wood into some of the most exquisite artworks of his day.

Illuminated manuscripts are among the most beautiful, precious and mysterious works of Western art. Before the printing press was invented, books were produced by hand, and their illustration using brightly colored pigments and gold embellishments was a labor of love and an act of piety in itself. The results are stunning. The works emanating from the scriptoria of monasteries were mainly religious texts, including illuminated bibles, psalters, and works for private devotion known as books of hours. Illuminated Manuscripts describes the origin and history of illumination in the Middle Ages, covering the artists and their techniques, and the patrons who commissioned them. It explains the subject matter found in medieval works, such as saints and Bible stories and the use of ornamental flourishes, and is illustrated with many fine examples of the genre including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells.

Few cars have achieved the iconic status of Volkswagen's classic and much-loved Beetle - yet its origins are intertwined with the dark days of Nazism. This book looks at those origins, at the marque's initial post-war rescue by the British.

Garden Cities: the phrase is redolent of Arts and Crafts values and nineteenth-century utopianism. But despite being the culmination of a range of influential movements, and their own influence, in fact there were only ever two true garden cities in England. This book offers a guide to the movement and to the communities which are its legacy.

The British industry was exhorted to 'export or die', and until well into the 1950s the majority of the British bikes were sold abroad. During this period, the industry continued to develop various exciting machines. This book tells the story of the British post-war motorcycle during this golden age of the industry.

An illustrated introduction to the military airfields of Britain and the essential roles they played in the Second World War.The Second World War airfields peppered around Britain are among the most visible and widespread reminders of this devastating conflict. Some are now almost forgotten or built over; others have become museums, industrial estates or parkland; and some have been adapted and remain in operation today. In this beautifully illustrated history, aviation historian Stuart Hadaway explains the crucial part airfields played between 1939 and 1945, detailing their construction and expansion; their facilities and equipment; the many functions they housed from command and control to maintenance and bomb-loading; how the airfields were used both for defense and offence; and how they changed during the war. He also explores what life was like on the airfields, as well as listing some of the remaining sites and what can be seen today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, luxury car buyers, from government ministers to captains of industry, almost invariably bought British. These were stately, dignified, and grand vehicles, with many featuring leather interiors and wood trim. Unfortunately, that market has now largely disappeared and, with it, so have the car-makers themselves. The book covers cars in the over-3-litre class from the biggest names in British luxury motoring including Alvis, Daimler, and Lagonda, and high-end models from Austin, Rover, and Jaguar. It examines the features and characteristics of these classic cars, as well as explaining why they fell from prominence in the 1970s. Replete with beautiful photography throughout, this book is a loving portrait of the British luxury car, a dearly missed saloon defeated by foreign imports.

By learning how to identify the stylistic phases that resulted from shifts in architectural fashion, it is possible to date each part of a church to within a decade or two. This book introduces key features of each succeeding style, from Anglo-Saxon and Norman through to the three great gothic styles, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular.