History & Reference Books

Everyday life in the teeming metropolis during William Shakespeare's time in the city. Shakespeare's London was a bustling, teeming metropolis that was growing so rapidly that the government took repeated, and ineffectual, steps to curb its expansion...

In July 1998, ten statues of martyrs of the twentieth century were unveiled surmounting the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. These statues were intended to represent those millions of individuals who suffered for their faith in Christ in the...

Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Millicent Fawcett, Emmeline Pankhurst, Constance Markievicz, Nancy Astor They terrorised the establishment. They fought for the vote. They pushed back boundaries and revolutionised our world. For the...

Meet Charles Ignatius Sancho: his extraordinary story, hidden for three hundred years, is about to be told. I had little right to live, born on a slave ship where my parents both died. But I survived, and indeed, you might say I did more… It’s 1746 and...

This 24 page publication takes an in-depth look at the Tomb of the 'Unknown Warrior' at Westminster Abbey. Written by James Wilkinson, it looks at the idea behind the Unknown Soldier, the selection of the deceased, the journey of the coffin and the...

The first performance of Handel’s 'Messiah' in Dublin in 1742 is now legendary. Gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to come without hoops in their skirts in order to fit more people into the audience. Why then, did this now...

Ground-breaking new studies of Henry V's chapel, tomb and funeral service have new revelations and insights into the time.Before Henry V set out in 1415 on the campaign which culminated in victory at Agincourt, he made a will laying down precise...

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, which opened in June 2018, are an exciting new development in the history of Westminster Abbey.  The eastern triforium, which runs around the Abbey's interior 16 metres above floor level, has been transformed into...

Please note: this particular item is available on a pre-order basis therefore it is not available to collect in store. In this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the...

The Queen’s Window was designed by renowned artist David Hockney for Westminster Abbey and unveiled in autumn 2018. In an extended conversation between Hockney and fellow-artist Tacita Dean recorded specifically for this publication, the artist reflects...

Westminster Abbey contains the only surviving medieval Cosmatesque mosaics outside Italy. They comprise: the ‘Great Pavement’ in the sanctuary; the pavement around the shrine of Edward the Confessor; the saint’s tomb and shrine; Henry III’s tomb; the...

Roy Strong has written an exemplary introduction to the history of Britain, as first designated by the Romans. It is a brilliant and balanced account of successive ages bound together by a compelling narrative which answers the questions: ‘Where do we...