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Alexander the Great is one of the most famous men in history, and many believe he was the greatest military genius of all time (Julius Caesar wept at the feet of his statue in envy of his achievements). Most of his thirteen year reign as king of Macedon was spent in hard campaigning which conquered half the then-known world, during which he never lost a battle. Besides the famous set-piece battles (Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes), Alexander's...
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In Florence cathedral hangs a remarkable portrait by Uccello of Sir John Hawkwood, the English soldier of fortune who commanded the Florentine army at the age of 70 and earned a formidable reputation as one of the foremost mercenaries of the late middle ages. His life is an amazing story. He rose from modest beginnings in an Essex village, fought through the French campaigns of Edward III, went to Italy when he was 40 and played a leading role in...
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Caracalla has one of the worst reputations of any Roman Emperor. Many ancient historians were very hostile and Edward Gibbon later dubbed him the common enemy of mankind. Yet his reign was considered by at least one Roman author to be the apogee of the Roman Empire. Guilty of many murders and massacres (including his own brother, ex-wife and daughter) he was, however, popular with the army, improving their pay and cultivating the image of sharing...
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Lucius Cornelius Sulla is one of the central figures of the late Roman Republic. Indeed, he is often considered a major catalyst in the death of the republican system. the ambitious general whose feud with a rival (Marius) led to his marching on Rome with an army at his back, leading to civil war and the terrible internecine bloodletting of the proscriptions. In these things, and in his appropriation of the title of dictator with absolute power, he...
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In England in the eighth century, in the midst of the so-called Dark Ages, Offa ruled Mercia, one of the strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. For over 30 years he was the dominant warlord in the territory south of the Humber and the driving force behind the expansion of Mercias power. During that turbulent period he commanded Mercian armies in their struggle against the neighboring kingdoms of Northumbria and Wessex and against the Welsh tribes. Yet the...
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Marcus Agrippa personified the term 'right-hand man'. As Emperor Augustus' deputy, he waged wars, pacified provinces, beautified Rome, and played a crucial role in laying the foundations of the Pax Romana for the next two hundred years but he served always in the knowledge he would never rule in his own name. Why he did so, and never grasped power exclusively for himself, has perplexed historians for centuries.
In his teens, he formed a life-long...
7) Alcibiades
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While the Americans were fighting in Vietnam, a struggle of even greater strategic significance was taking place in the Middle East: the Sultanate of Oman guards the entrance to the Arabian Gulf, and thus controls the movement of oil from that region. In the 1960s and 70s, the Communists tried to seize this artery and, had they succeeded, the consequences for the West and for the Middle East would have been disastrous - and yet, few people have ever...
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When, after a brutal civil war, the dictator Sulla took power in Rome (82 BC), among the many who refused to accept his rule was a young army officer called Quintus Sertorius. Sertorius fled, first to Africa and then to Spain, where he made common cause with the native people who had been savagely oppressed by a succession of corrupt Roman governors. Discovering a genius for guerilla warfare (he claimed he received divine guidance from Artemis via...
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On 13 September 1356 near Poitiers in western France, the small English army of Edward, the Black Prince crushed the forces of the French King Jean II in one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years' War. Over the centuries the story of this against-the-odds English victory has, along with Crcy and Agincourt, become part of the legend of medieval warfare. And yet in recent times this classic battle has received less attention than the other...
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1 July 1997 marked the end of British rule of Hong Kong, whereby this territory was passed into the hands of the Peoples Republic of China.
In 1992, Chris Patten, former chairman of the Conservative Party, was appointed Hong Kong's last governor, and was the man to oversee the handover ceremony of this former British colony.
Within the last five years of British rule, acclaimed journalist Jonathan Dimble by was given unique access to the governor...
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Justin MacCarthy (later Lord Mountcashel) was born into a notable family of Irish Jacobites, loyal to the exiled Stuarts, and grew up in France. Their Irish land was regained after the Restoration of Charles II but Justin, as the youngest surviving son, sought a career in the French army (as both his father and oldest brother had done). In 1673 he joined an Irish regiment in French service. He served under the legendary French marshals Turenne and...
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A concise history of each of the UK's twentieth-century Prime Ministers, from Robert Gascoyne-Cecil to Tony Blair, featuring archival images and documents.
This book gives an overview of each of the British Prime Ministers of the twentieth century, summarising their premierships, their policies, and the key events. It is lavishly illustrated with images of documents from The National Archives which give a fresh dimension to the study of the Prime...
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This historical study sheds new light on the partnership and rivalry between two of the UK's most significant political leaders from WWII to the Cold War.
For more than two decades, Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden worked closely together. As Churchill's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Eden took over leadership of the nation when Churchill resigned from office. But while one is revered as a great leader and national icon, the other...
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Neville Chamberlain has gone down in history as the architect of appeasement, the prime minister who by sacrificing Czechoslovakia at Munich in September 1938 put Britain on an inevitable path to war.
In this radical new appraisal of one of the most vilified politicians of the twentieth century, historian Nicholas Milton claims that by placating Hitler, Chamberlain not only reflected public opinion but also embraced the zeitgeist of the time. Chamberlain...
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