Richard Holmes, highly acclaimed military historian and broadcaster, tells the exhilarating story of Britain's greatest-ever soldier, the man who posed the most serious threat to Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington's remarkable life and extraordinary campaigns are recreated with Holmes' superb skill in this compelling book. Richard Holmes charts Wellington's stellar military career from India to Europe, and in the process, rediscovers the reasons Queen Victoria called him the greatest man the nineteenth century had produced. Combining his astute historical analysis with a semi-biographical examination of Wellington, Holmes artfully illustrates the rapid evolution in military and political thinking of the time. Wellington is a brilliant figure, idealistic in politics, cynical in love, a wit, a beau, a man of enormous courage often sickened by war. As Richard Holmes charts his progress from a shy, indolent boy to commander-in-chief of the allied forces, he also exposes the Iron Duke as a philanderer, and a man who sometimes despised the men that he led, and was not always in control of his soldiers. Particularly infamous is the bestial rampage of his men after the capture of Cuidad Rodgrigo and Badajoz.

A small British army is stranded when the French invade northern Portugal and Lieutenant Richard Sharpe meets the future Duke of Wellington. Sharpe is stranded behind enemy lines, but he has Patrick Harper, his riflemen and he has the assistance of a young, idealistic Portuguese officer. When he is joined by the future Duke of Wellington they immediately mount a counter-attack and Sharpe, having been the hunted, becomes the hunter once more. Amidst the wreckage of a defeated army, in the storm lashed hills of the Portuguese frontier, Sharpe takes his revenge. Soldier, hero, rogue – Sharpe is the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears.

Spain, August 1810 The English army faces ruin in Spain – and the Duke of Wellington is desperate for money to fund the war. Only a cache of hidden Spanish gold can save them. And only Captain Richard Sharpe has the cunning to capture it. In the treacherous terrain of the Portuguese hills, with rain sweeping the peninsula, a powerful guerrilla leader holds possession of the gold. And risking everything for the ultimate prize – for his honour, for his army’s fate – is Sharpe . . .

SHARPE IS BACK.The global bestseller Bernard Cornwell returns with his iconic hero, Richard Sharpe.If any man can do the impossible it's Richard Sharpe . . .Lieutenant-Colonel Sharpe is a man with a reputation. Born in the gutter, raised a foundling, he joined the army twenty-one years ago, and it's been his home ever since. He's a loose cannon, but his unconventional methods make him a valuable weapon.So when, the dust still settling after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington needs a favour, he turns to Sharpe. For Wellington knows that the end of one war is only the beginning of another. Napoleon's army may be defeated, but another enemy lies waiting in the shadows - a secretive group of fanatical revolutionaries hell-bent on revenge.Sharpe is dispatched to a new battleground: the maze of Paris streets where lines blur between friend and foe. And in search of a spy, he will have to defeat a lethal assassin determined to kill his target or die trying . . .Sharpe's Assassin was a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback the w/c 4th October 2021.

SHARPE IS BACK.The global bestseller Bernard Cornwell returns with his iconic hero, Richard Sharpe.If any man can do the impossible it's Richard Sharpe . . .Lieutenant-Colonel Sharpe is a man with a reputation. Born in the gutter, raised a foundling, he joined the army twenty-one years ago, and it's been his home ever since. He's a loose cannon, but his unconventional methods make him a valuable weapon.So when, the dust still settling after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington needs a favour, he turns to Sharpe. For Wellington knows that the end of one war is only the beginning of another. Napoleon's army may be defeated, but another enemy lies waiting in the shadows - a secretive group of fanatical revolutionaries hell-bent on revenge.Sharpe is dispatched to a new battleground: the maze of Paris streets where lines blur between friend and foe. And in search of a spy, he will have to defeat a lethal assassin determined to kill his target or die trying . . .Sharpe's Assassin was a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback the w/c 4th October 2021.

Страна: ГернсиАверс : 2002 / BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY / ELIZABETH IIПортрет королевы Елизаветы II направленный вправо.Реверс : 1769 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON 1852 / FIVE POUNDSПортрет герцога Веллингтона с кавалеристами.Авторы : Ian Rank-Broadley, Willem Vis

‘This is a man’s world, Jacquetta, and some women cannot march to the beat of a man’s drum. Do you understand?’ 1435. Rouen. Jacquetta of Luxembourg is left a wealthy young widow when her husband, the Duke of Bedford, dies. Her only friend in the great household is Richard Woodville, the Duke’s squire, and it is not long before the two become lovers and marry in secret. The Woodvilles return to the Lancaster court, where Jacquetta becomes close friends with young King Henry VI’s new queen. But she can sense a growing threat from the people of England, and the danger of royal rivals. The king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret, his queen, turns to untrustworthy favourites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the whole kingdom for his rival dynasty, the House of York. Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen and her daughter Elizabeth Woodville, for whom she senses an extraordinary future.

The story of the death, in sinister circumstances, of the boy-king Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, is one of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history. It is a tale with profound moral and social consequences, rich in drama, intrigue, treason, scandal and violence. In this gripping book Alison Weir re-examines all the evidence - including that against the Princes' uncle, Richard III, whose body was recently discovered beneath a Leicester car park. She brilliantly reconstructs the whole chain of events leading to their murder and reveals how, why and by whose order they died. Previously published as The Princes in the Tower

Travelling home from the bloody battlefields of the Holy Land, the Crusader King Richard the Lionheart is shipwrecked in the Mediterranean after an encounter with pirates. He should be protected by a papal decree, but he is betrayed and captured by the Duke of Austria - a man who has good reason to loathe him - and is immediately claimed by the Holy Roman Emperor, who also bears him a bitter grudge. Richard is to spend fifteen months imprisoned, much of it in the notorious fortress at Trefils, which few men ever left. Meanwhile, his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is moving heaven and earth to raise a staggering ransom, travelling across Europe herself to buy the release of her favourite son. But her determination may not be enough. At the eleventh hour, the Duke announces that he has had a better offer from the French king, Philippe, and Richard's own treacherous brother, John. They will pay an even larger sum to continue Richard's captivity - or to turn him over to their tender mercies. Told with masterful insight and rich historical detail, A King's Ransom is a striking portrayal of the darker, troubled years of Richard - a man whose courage, compassion and intelligence became the stuff of legend.

William Shakespeares timeless tragedy follows the bloody path of the rudely stamped Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who uses his murderous guile to achieve the throne of England. This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as: - An overview of Shakespeares life, world, and theater - A special introduction to the play by the editor - Selections from the source from which Shakespeare derived Richard III - Dramatic criticism - A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions - Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text - And more...

William Shakespeares timeless tragedy follows the bloody path of the rudely stamped Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who uses his murderous guile to achieve the throne of England. This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as: - An overview of Shakespeares life, world, and theater - A special introduction to the play by the editor - Selections from the source from which Shakespeare derived Richard III - Dramatic criticism - A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions - Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text - And more...

Winter 1461. Richard Duke of York is dead, his ambitions in ruins, his head spiked on the walls of the city. King Henry VI is still held prisoner. His Lancastrian Queen rides south with an army of victorious northerners, accompanied by painted warriors from the Scottish Highlands. With the death of York, Margaret and her army seem unstoppable. Yet in killing the father, Margaret has unleashed the sons. Edward of March, now Duke of York, proclaims himself England's rightful king. Through blood and treason, through broken men and vengeful women, brother shall confront brother, king shall face king. Two men can always claim a crown. But only one can keep it...

Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for secondary and adult students the Oxford Bookworms Library has seven reading levels from A1-C1 of the CEFR. Dr Huxtable has a school for boys in the north of England. When the Duke of Holdernesse decides to send his young son there, that is good news for the school. The Duke is a very important person, and Dr Huxtable is happy to have his son in the school. But two weeks later Dr Huxtable is the unhappiest man in England. Why? And why does he take the train down to London and go to Baker Street? Why does he need the help of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes? Because someone has kidnapped the Duke's son... Retold by Jennifer Bassett.

Redcoat is the story of the British soldier from c.1760 until c.1860 - surely one of the most enduring and magnetic subjects of the British past. Solidly based on the letters and diaries of the men who served and the women who followed them, the book is rich in the history of the period. It charts Wolfe's victory and death at Quebec, the American War of Independence, the Duke of York's campaign in Flanders, Wellington's Peninsular War, Waterloo,the retreat from Kabul, the Sikh wars in 1845-9, the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny.The focus of Redcoat, however, is the individual recollection and experience of the ordinary soldiers serving in the wars fought by Georgian and early Victorian England.Through their stories and anecdotes - of uniforms, equipment,'taking the King's shilling', flogging, wounds, food, barrack life, courage, comradeship, death, love and loss - Richard Holmes provides a comprehensive portrait of a fallible but extraordinarily successful fighting force. 'Such a scene of mortal strife from the fire of fifty men was never witnessed…' writes Harry Smith of the 95th Rifles, recounting the death of a brother officer in Spain in 1813. 'I wept over his remains with a bursting heart as, with his company who adored him, I consigned to the grave the last external appearance of Daniel Cadoux. His fame can never die.' Smith's account is typical of the emotions and experiences of the men who appear on every page of this book, sporting their red uniforms to fight for King and country.

King Henry V - the great Lion of England - is dead. It's up to his son to take the throne, but frail in body and mind, he is dependent on his supporters to run his kingdom. Richard, Duke of York, believes that without a strong king England will fall. And as the threat from France grows, and rebellion on home soil spreads, his fears seem justified. Who can save the throne? Who will defend the kingdom?

Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books, Richard Holmes’s dazzling portrait of the age of great scientific discovery is a groundbreaking achievement. The book opens with Joseph Banks, botanist on Captain Cook’s first Endeavour voyage, who stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769 fully expecting to have located Paradise. Back in Britain, the same Romantic revolution that had inspired Banks was spurring other great thinkers on to their own voyages of artistic and scientific discovery – astronomical, chemical, poetical, philosophical – that together made up the ‘age of wonder’. In this breathtaking group biography, Richard Holmes tells the stories of the period’s celebrated innovators and their great scientific discoveries: from telescopic sight to the miner’s lamp, and from the first balloon flight to African exploration.