British Memoirs

In 1922 Agatha Christie set sail on a 10-month voyage around the British Empire with her husband as part of a trade mission to promote the forthcoming British Empire Exhibition. Leaving her two-year-old daughter behind with her sister, Agatha set sail at the end of January and did not return until December, but she kept up a detailed weekly correspondence with her mother, describing in detail the exotic places and people she encountered as the mission travelled through South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Canada.

Fue el hombre más popular y criticado de Inglaterra, y a veces ambas cosas en los tiempos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Considerado como el último de los grandes estadistas, siempre será recordado por su rara habilidad para predecir los acontecimientos futuros, y encontrar la solución en los momentos más apremiantes.

Durante años, el tema de la Compañía Británica de las Indias Orientales ha fascinado a historiadores, así como a economistas, antropólogos, sociólogos y otros tipos de estudiosos. Algunos consideran que la Compañía es un ejemplo perfecto de un imperio que drena los recursos de las personas desfavorecidas y destruye sus culturas enteras en un abrir y cerrar de ojos.

After being captured in Singapore and transported to the infamous Burma railway, Colonel Owtram was appointed the British Camp Commandant at Chungkai, one of the largest POW camps. Many ex-prisoners testified to the mental and physical courage that he showed protecting POWs from the worst excesses of their captors. Of course his account does not admit to this, but what is clear is that in addition to the deprivation and hardship suffered by all POWs, the author bore heavy responsibility for those under his charge and the daily trauma of dealing with the unpredictable Japanese.

As has happened with many of history's greatest writers, Jane Austen (1775-1817) did not earn the credit she was due until well after her death. Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, have earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature over the last 150 years. Austen's romantic fiction was an interesting genre. Her writing was laden with realism and scathing critiques of both society and the role women played in society.

Sir Winston Churchill is often cited as Britain's greatest prime minister for leading the United Kingdom against Hitler's Nazi war machine during World War II, and indeed he was the idol of the one person who many think might have surpassed him: Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher not only became Britain's first female prime minister; she also became its longest serving prime minister.

Sir Jack Drummond, with his wife, Lady Anne, and their 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, were on holiday on the French Riviera when they stopped to make camp just off the road near a farm called La Grand' Terre in Provence. The family was found murdered the next morning. More than two years later, the barely literate, 75-year-old proprietor of La Grand' Terre, Gaston Dominici, was brought to trial, convicted, and condemned to death by guillotine.

The hilarious and pubescent debut book from your favourite British Muslim comedian (that's Tez Ilyas, by the way). You may know and love Tez from his stand-up comedy, his role as Eight in Man Like Mobeen, his Radio 4 series TEZ Talks, or panel shows such as Mock the Week and The Last Leg. Where you won't know him from is 1997, when he was 13¾. (But now you will—because that's what the book is about.) In this suitably dramatic rollercoaster of a teenage memoir, Tez takes us back to where it all began.

At ten years old, young Douglas M. Gebbie witnessed the igniting spark of World War II firsthand. As Douglas and his family listen intently to the BBC radio broadcast, the world-altering news rings out: Hitler has invaded Poland.

Spying and treachery are as much a part of warfare as weapons and death. This has always been the case since the earliest battles and is not likely to change in the future. And yet, even within this irregular system, there are certain rules, especially in past eras such as the American Revolution. First, while spying on behalf of one's country is perfectly respectable, betraying one's nation is treason. Second, honorable men do not involve those too innocent to understand the consequences of their actions in their schemes.

In 1942 the young soldier Arthur Dodd was taken prisoner by the German Army and transported to Oswiecim in Polish Upper Silesia. The Germans gave it another name, now synonymous with mankind’s darkest hours. They called it Auschwitz. Forced to do hard labour, starved and savagely beaten, Arthur thought his life would end in Auschwitz. Determined to go down fighting, he sabotaged Nazi industrial work, risked his life to alleviate the suffering of the Jewish prisoners and aided a partisan group planning a mass breakout.

'A Boy Named Henry – British Boxing Legend Sir Henry Cooper's Story 'by Stu Armstrong is a captivating journey through the life of one of Britain’s most cherished sporting heroes. From humble beginnings in Bermondsey, South London, to his iconic battles in the ring, this compelling biography shines a light on the extraordinary man behind the gloves.

For many, she was simply the last of King Henry VIII’s many wives, but Catherine Parr was much more than that. She had a unique and incredible history all of her own. Catherine was a dynamic figure who survived more than her fair share of hardship. Even before she married Henry, she found herself caught up in the drama of England’s Reformation, and at one point, she was even held hostage in her own home by religious radicals.

Born the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, young William rose against his controversial origins to become a powerful leader. He fought to establish his power as a Duke and then used that power to take England by storm. He faced off against King Harold in the Battle of Hastings, ultimately winning the English crown. William’s legacy as “the Conqueror” is not a nice one—he achieved greatness through brutal means. What he did not only secured his own reign, however, it paved the way for the future of England.

In the spring of 2021, as the UK's latest pandemic lockdowns were lifted, Nick Butter set out from the Eden Project to become the fastest person to cover every mile of Britain's mainland coastline on foot. Battling the most extreme winds Britain had seen in 100 years, days of torrential rain and the unrelenting hills of Western Scotland and Cornwall, Nick suffered two broken bones and countless injuries, whilst taking on two marathons a day, every day, for 100 days.

Charles II of England remains one of the most easily identifiable and best known of England’s monarchs. Deprived of his throne following the execution of his father, he contended with hardship and exile before achieving a peaceful restoration and the beginning of what would be remembered as a colorful period of English history. His reign also led to the creation of the two-party system that would shape English and later British politics for centuries to come.

The biggest annual sports event in the world is the Tour de France. In the wake of its overwhelming popularity, it’s easy to forget that there is much more to cycling than whoever gets to wear the yellow jersey. Cycling is rich with legends and pioneers, and it is their stories which light up this compelling account of the sport. This is the story of British cycling as told through the lives of the people who built it. From the first recorded race in a Paris park in 1868 to the present day, Great British Cycling Legends profiles the true originals.

For fans of all things traditionally British… Eccentric professors. Black dinner gowns. Leather chairs in old libraries. It’s the mid-1990s. Age nineteen, J.A. Jernay arrives at Oxford University as an innocent abroad and begins keeping a meticulously written diary of his experiences. Plunging into nearly a thousand years of English literature and history, this young American leads the reader through daily life at the world’s third-oldest university. From drinking warm beer at back-alley pubs to standing for dinner in a formal black gown at the college dining hall— From punting on ...

In diesem Podcast widmet sich die dänische Journalistin und Krimiautorin Lone Theils sechs der bekanntesten und grausamsten Serienmörder, die es in Großbritannien je gegeben hat. Lone Theils Romane, wie z.B. "Die Rückkehr", sind oft von wahren Begebenheiten inspiriert, doch dieser Podcast beweist, dass die Realität noch viel grausamer sein kann als jede Fiktion.

Queen Victoria, a woman of diminutive stature and superabundant temperament, gave her name to something more than an age. Elizabeth Longford's classic biography won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize when it was first published in 1964. The author's grasp of the era's politics, and her understanding of the problems which confront a woman who is not only a queen but also a mother of a large high-spirited family, make this audiobook unique to this day.