Journey across the UK and experience its hidden gems in different cities, from cosmopolitan London, Birmingham and Newcastle and see its mountains, rivers, valleys and beaches through the pages of these books.
Read more from this series of blog posts covering Europe, Asia, African and the Americas.
You can also check out the reading list on languages, biographies or PressReader with newspapers from all around the world in OverDrive Magazines.
So, get your library card ready!
Books
A Short History of England
Simon Jenkins, 2015.
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.
Simon Jenkins, 2015.
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.
A History of Private Life
by Amanda Vickery, 2010.
An engrossing BBC Radio 4 series spanning the history of the home and domestic relationships over the past 500 years, presented by Amanda Vickery.
Professor Amanda Vickery is one of the most charismatic historians in Britain today. In 'A History of Private Life' she reveals the intimate secrets of life at home, from the Tudor mansion to the modern bedsit. Through letters, diaries and other first-person accounts, we hear the voices of men and women from very different backgrounds telling their stories.
Men behaving badly, adulterers on the sofa, servants running amok, bashful bachelors and glamorous widows - all are revealed in their own words, providing a revealing portrait of how these long-dead people lived day to day and illuminating the problems, pleasures, successes and catastrophes of domestic life.
Among the actors bringing this history to life are Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Jasmine Hyde, Jeremy Young, Simon Tcherniak and Madeleine Brolly. The series also features songs from the 18th and 19th century specially arranged and performed by David Owen Norris, who is accompanied on keyboards by singers Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie.
by Amanda Vickery, 2010.
An engrossing BBC Radio 4 series spanning the history of the home and domestic relationships over the past 500 years, presented by Amanda Vickery.
Professor Amanda Vickery is one of the most charismatic historians in Britain today. In 'A History of Private Life' she reveals the intimate secrets of life at home, from the Tudor mansion to the modern bedsit. Through letters, diaries and other first-person accounts, we hear the voices of men and women from very different backgrounds telling their stories.
Men behaving badly, adulterers on the sofa, servants running amok, bashful bachelors and glamorous widows - all are revealed in their own words, providing a revealing portrait of how these long-dead people lived day to day and illuminating the problems, pleasures, successes and catastrophes of domestic life.
Among the actors bringing this history to life are Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Jasmine Hyde, Jeremy Young, Simon Tcherniak and Madeleine Brolly. The series also features songs from the 18th and 19th century specially arranged and performed by David Owen Norris, who is accompanied on keyboards by singers Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie.
The Secret History of Our Streets
London
by Joseph Bullman, Neil Hegarty, 2012.
The Secret History of Our Streets explores six roads spread across inner London - from Camberwell, Holland Park and Islington to Shoreditch, Deptford and Bermondsey - through the experiences of the people who lived there.
Stories of poverty and violence, faith, love and hope, this is an intimate examination of our capital and the changing lives of its inhabitants. The history of over a hundred years of social change, this is the untold history of the streets beneath our feet.
You'll never look at your own street the same way again.
London
by Joseph Bullman, Neil Hegarty, 2012.
The Secret History of Our Streets explores six roads spread across inner London - from Camberwell, Holland Park and Islington to Shoreditch, Deptford and Bermondsey - through the experiences of the people who lived there.
Stories of poverty and violence, faith, love and hope, this is an intimate examination of our capital and the changing lives of its inhabitants. The history of over a hundred years of social change, this is the untold history of the streets beneath our feet.
You'll never look at your own street the same way again.
How the Scots Invented the Modern World
by Arthur Herman, 2017.
Mention of Scotland and the Scots usually conjures up images of kilts, bagpipes, Scotch whisky, and golf. But as historian and author Arthur Herman demonstrates, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland earned the respect of the rest of the world for its crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics - contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since.
by Arthur Herman, 2017.
Mention of Scotland and the Scots usually conjures up images of kilts, bagpipes, Scotch whisky, and golf. But as historian and author Arthur Herman demonstrates, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland earned the respect of the rest of the world for its crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics - contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since.
Lost London
by Richard Guard, 2012.
Lost London is the story of the city as told through the buildings, parks and palaces that are no longer with us. From bull rings to ice fairs, plague pits to molly houses, this is a fascinating journey through London's forgotten past, unearthing the extraordinary stories that lie beneath familiar streets as well as shining a light in the city's darkest corners.
by Richard Guard, 2012.
Lost London is the story of the city as told through the buildings, parks and palaces that are no longer with us. From bull rings to ice fairs, plague pits to molly houses, this is a fascinating journey through London's forgotten past, unearthing the extraordinary stories that lie beneath familiar streets as well as shining a light in the city's darkest corners.
Long Road From Jarrow: A Journey through Britain Then and Now
by Stuart Maconie, 2017.
In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched the 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their town and industries. Precisely eighty years on, Stuart Maconie retraces the route of this emblematic English journey, romantically dubbed the Jarrow Crusade, to chart how much Britain has changed since.
He moves through a country that is in some ways very much the same, one that looks and sounds strangely familiar with its mood of austerity, political turbulence, contentious north/south divide, global instability, the threat of extremism and war, food banks and football mania. But in other ways, it is hardly recognisable-a nation utterly transformed, with its pound shops, electric cars, e-cigarette vendors, boutique hotels, smoothie bars, tech start-ups and Twitter.
Walking on the corresponding days of the March, Maconie travels down the spine of England to meet with people with stories to tell and whose voices tell the stirring, funny, sad, complex, perplexing and entertaining tale of Britain then and now. He finds a country of huge diversity and difference, of natural beauty and urban blight, affluence and poverty, revival and decline. The journey reflects these contrasts, taking us through great cites and sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways, along towpaths and branch lines, to the very heart of London, to see what welcome awaits in Downing Street and Westminster.
by Stuart Maconie, 2017.
In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched the 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their town and industries. Precisely eighty years on, Stuart Maconie retraces the route of this emblematic English journey, romantically dubbed the Jarrow Crusade, to chart how much Britain has changed since.
He moves through a country that is in some ways very much the same, one that looks and sounds strangely familiar with its mood of austerity, political turbulence, contentious north/south divide, global instability, the threat of extremism and war, food banks and football mania. But in other ways, it is hardly recognisable-a nation utterly transformed, with its pound shops, electric cars, e-cigarette vendors, boutique hotels, smoothie bars, tech start-ups and Twitter.
Walking on the corresponding days of the March, Maconie travels down the spine of England to meet with people with stories to tell and whose voices tell the stirring, funny, sad, complex, perplexing and entertaining tale of Britain then and now. He finds a country of huge diversity and difference, of natural beauty and urban blight, affluence and poverty, revival and decline. The journey reflects these contrasts, taking us through great cites and sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways, along towpaths and branch lines, to the very heart of London, to see what welcome awaits in Downing Street and Westminster.
Dunkirk
The History Behind the Major Motion Picture
by Joshua Levine, 2017.
In 1940, at the French port of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 trapped Allied troops were dramatically rescued from destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany by an extraordinary seaborne evacuation. The true history of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians involved in the nine-day skirmish has passed into legend.
Now the story Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle' is narrated by best-selling author Joshua Levine in its full sweeping context, including new interviews with veterans and survivors. Told from the viewpoints of land, sea and air, Dunkirk is a dramatic account of a defeat that paved the way to ultimate victory and preserved liberty for generations to come.
The History Behind the Major Motion Picture
by Joshua Levine, 2017.
In 1940, at the French port of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 trapped Allied troops were dramatically rescued from destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany by an extraordinary seaborne evacuation. The true history of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians involved in the nine-day skirmish has passed into legend.
Now the story Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle' is narrated by best-selling author Joshua Levine in its full sweeping context, including new interviews with veterans and survivors. Told from the viewpoints of land, sea and air, Dunkirk is a dramatic account of a defeat that paved the way to ultimate victory and preserved liberty for generations to come.
Viking Britain: A History
by Thomas Williams, 2017.
A new narrative history of the Viking Age, interwoven with exploration of the physical remains and landscapes that the Vikings fashioned and walked: their rune-stones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields.
To many, the word 'Viking' brings to mind red scenes of rape and pillage, of marauders from beyond the sea rampaging around the British coastline in the last gloomy centuries before the Norman Conquest. It is true that Britain in the Viking Age was a turbulent, violent place. The kings and warlords who have impressed their memories on the period revel in names that fire the blood and stir the imagination: Svein Forkbeard and Edmund Ironside, Ivar the Boneless and Alfred the Great, Erik Bloodaxe and Edgar the Pacifier amongst many others. Evidence for their brutality, their dominance, their avarice and their pride is still unearthed from British soil with stunning regularity.
But this is not the whole story.
In Viking Britain, Thomas Williams has drawn on his experience as project curator of the British Museum exhibition of Vikings: Life and Legend to show how the people we call Vikings came not just to raid and plunder, but to settle, to colonize and to rule. The impact on these islands was profound and enduring, shaping British social, cultural and political development for hundreds of years. Indeed, in language, literature, place-names and folklore, the presence of Scandinavian settlers can still be felt, and their memory - filtered and refashioned through the writings of people like J.R.R. Tolkien, William Morris and G.K.Chesterton - has transformed the western imagination.
This remarkable book makes use of new academic research and first-hand experience, drawing deeply from the relics and landscapes that the Vikings and their contemporaries fashioned and walked: their runestones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields, poems and chronicles. The book offers a vital evocation of a forgotten world, its echoes in later history and its implications for the present.
by Thomas Williams, 2017.
A new narrative history of the Viking Age, interwoven with exploration of the physical remains and landscapes that the Vikings fashioned and walked: their rune-stones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields.
To many, the word 'Viking' brings to mind red scenes of rape and pillage, of marauders from beyond the sea rampaging around the British coastline in the last gloomy centuries before the Norman Conquest. It is true that Britain in the Viking Age was a turbulent, violent place. The kings and warlords who have impressed their memories on the period revel in names that fire the blood and stir the imagination: Svein Forkbeard and Edmund Ironside, Ivar the Boneless and Alfred the Great, Erik Bloodaxe and Edgar the Pacifier amongst many others. Evidence for their brutality, their dominance, their avarice and their pride is still unearthed from British soil with stunning regularity.
But this is not the whole story.
In Viking Britain, Thomas Williams has drawn on his experience as project curator of the British Museum exhibition of Vikings: Life and Legend to show how the people we call Vikings came not just to raid and plunder, but to settle, to colonize and to rule. The impact on these islands was profound and enduring, shaping British social, cultural and political development for hundreds of years. Indeed, in language, literature, place-names and folklore, the presence of Scandinavian settlers can still be felt, and their memory - filtered and refashioned through the writings of people like J.R.R. Tolkien, William Morris and G.K.Chesterton - has transformed the western imagination.
This remarkable book makes use of new academic research and first-hand experience, drawing deeply from the relics and landscapes that the Vikings and their contemporaries fashioned and walked: their runestones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields, poems and chronicles. The book offers a vital evocation of a forgotten world, its echoes in later history and its implications for the present.
The Last London
True Fictions from an Unreal City
by Iain Sinclair, 2017.
Iain Sinclair has been documenting the peculiar magic of the river-city that absorbs and obsesses him for most of his adult life. In The Last London, he strikes out on a series of solitary walks and collaborative expeditions to make a final reckoning with a capital stretched beyond recognition.
Here is a mesmerising record of secret scholars and whispering ghosts. Of disturbing encounters. Night hospitals. Pits that become cameras. Mole Man labyrinths. And privileged swimming pools, up in clouds, patrolled by surveillance helicopters. Where now are the myths, the ultimate fictions of a many times revised city? Travelling from the pinnacle of the Shard to the outer limits of the London Overground system at Croydon and Barking, from the Thames Estuary to the future ruins of Olympicopolis, Sinclair reflects on where London begins and where it ends. A memoir, a critique and a love letter, The Last London stands as a delirious conclusion to a truly epic project.
True Fictions from an Unreal City
by Iain Sinclair, 2017.
Iain Sinclair has been documenting the peculiar magic of the river-city that absorbs and obsesses him for most of his adult life. In The Last London, he strikes out on a series of solitary walks and collaborative expeditions to make a final reckoning with a capital stretched beyond recognition.
Here is a mesmerising record of secret scholars and whispering ghosts. Of disturbing encounters. Night hospitals. Pits that become cameras. Mole Man labyrinths. And privileged swimming pools, up in clouds, patrolled by surveillance helicopters. Where now are the myths, the ultimate fictions of a many times revised city? Travelling from the pinnacle of the Shard to the outer limits of the London Overground system at Croydon and Barking, from the Thames Estuary to the future ruins of Olympicopolis, Sinclair reflects on where London begins and where it ends. A memoir, a critique and a love letter, The Last London stands as a delirious conclusion to a truly epic project.
Underground, Overground
A Passenger's History of the Tube
by Andrew Martin, 2011.
Why is the Victoria Line so hot? What is an Electrical Multiple Unit? Is it really possible to ride from King's Cross to King's Cross on the Circle line? The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch-jobs and improvisations.
Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year - and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure. Blending reportage, humour and personal encounters, Andrew Martin embarks on a wonderfully engaging social history of London's underground railway system (which despite its name, is in fact fifty-five per cent overground). Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube.
A Passenger's History of the Tube
by Andrew Martin, 2011.
Why is the Victoria Line so hot? What is an Electrical Multiple Unit? Is it really possible to ride from King's Cross to King's Cross on the Circle line? The London Underground is the oldest, most sprawling and illogical metropolitan transport system in the world, the result of a series of botch-jobs and improvisations.
Yet it transports over one billion passengers every year - and this figure is rising. It is iconic, recognised the world over, and loved and despised by Londoners in equal measure. Blending reportage, humour and personal encounters, Andrew Martin embarks on a wonderfully engaging social history of London's underground railway system (which despite its name, is in fact fifty-five per cent overground). Underground, Overground is a highly enjoyable, witty and informative history of everything you need to know about the Tube.
A History of Britain, Volume 2
The British Wars 1603 - 1776
by Simon Schama, 2005.
The British Wars is a compelling chronicle of the changes that transformed every strand and strata of British life, faith and thought from 1603 to 1776. It explores the forces that tore Britain apart during two centuries of dynamic change.
The British Wars 1603 - 1776
by Simon Schama, 2005.
The British Wars is a compelling chronicle of the changes that transformed every strand and strata of British life, faith and thought from 1603 to 1776. It explores the forces that tore Britain apart during two centuries of dynamic change.
Amazing & Extraordinary Facts
London
by Editors of David & Charles, 2012.
A unique collection of strange laws, heroic deeds, surprising revelations and other quirky stories that have shaped the unique history of Britain's capital. London's long history is an extraordinarily rich source of amazing facts, whether your interest is political, social, architectural or historical, you will find a variety of topics in this alternative guide to London.
London
by Editors of David & Charles, 2012.
A unique collection of strange laws, heroic deeds, surprising revelations and other quirky stories that have shaped the unique history of Britain's capital. London's long history is an extraordinarily rich source of amazing facts, whether your interest is political, social, architectural or historical, you will find a variety of topics in this alternative guide to London.
Newspapers
With your library card you can search through thousands of quality newspapers without adverts, paywalls, content split over multiple pages or signing in and out of multiple sites.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Over 60,000 biographies, 72 million words, 11,000 portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history
John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera
This collection provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Categories include Nineteenth-Century Entertainment, the Booktrade, Popular Prints, Crimes, Murders and Executions, and Advertising
Access
John Johnson
John Johnson
Times Digital Archive 1785 to 2007
First published in 1785, The Times of London is widely considered to be the world's 'newspaper of record'. The Times Digital Archive allows users to search over 200 years of this invaluable historical source.
Access
Times Digital Archive
Times Digital Archive
Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842 to 2010
With its debut in 1842 the Illustrated London News became the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper, sparking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. The publication presented a vivid picture of British and world events including news of war, disasters, royalty, social affairs, the arts and science. Containing over 260,000 full colour pages, fully searchable and browseable, the ILN Historical Archive 1842-2003 provides users with unprecedented access to the entire run of this unique historical record.
Access
Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Contains full runs of influential national and regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments of the 19th century British society.
Copies
19th Cent Newspapers
19th Cent Newspapers
Comments