History & Reference Books

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...

The Queen’s Coronation, on 2 June 1953, should have been celebrated in blazing sunshine. Instead, it was one of the coldest June days in years, and it poured with rain. The enthusiasm of the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the streets waiting...

In our increasingly secular world, holy texts are at best seen as irrelevant, and at worst as an excuse to incite violence, hatred and division. The Quran, the Torah and the Bible are often employed selectively to underwrite arbitrary and subjective...

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...

With testimonies from historic figures such as Winston Churchill, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, and Margaret Thatcher, this tribute explores the faith of the world's most famous Queen. Nearing seven decades on the throne, the Queen has faced many personal...

'How refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel's divinity.' - Donna Leon,...

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...

The Bible is the central book of Western culture. For the two faiths which hold it sacred, it is the bedrock of their religion, a singular authority on what to believe and how to live. For non-believers too, it has a commanding status: it is one of the...

'As we contemplate the coming months, not knowing when we can breathe again, it's worth thinking about how already the foundations have been laid for whatever new opportunities God has for us on the far side of this crisis.'Rowan Williams offers these...

111 Churches in London That You Shouldn't Miss takes you through the doors of 111 rarely visited churches, but which, with the help of this informative guide are now on the map! With their spires, towers, columns and capitals, vaults and arches, carvings...

Who made modern Britain the country it is today? How do we sum up the kind of people we are? What does it mean to be the new Elizabethans? In this wonderfully told history, spanning back to when Queen Elizabeth became queen in 1953, Andrew Marr traces...

Tudor monarchs have consistently attracted more popular and scholarly attention than any other royal dynasty in British history. The peculiar origins of the Tudor family and the improbable saga of their rise and fall and rise again in the centuries...