A gripping account of the Wars of the Roses battle of Towton - the most brutal day in English history. 'Vivid, humane and superbly researched' David Starkey 'The story has never been told so well or so excitingly' Desmond Seward The Battle of Towton in 1461 was unique in its ferocity and brutality, as the armies of two kings of England engaged with murderous weaponry and in appalling conditions to conclude the first War of the Roses. Variously described as the largest, longest and bloodiest battle on English soil, Towton was fought with little chance of escape and none of surrender. Fatal Colours includes a cast of strong and compelling characters: a warrior queen, a ruthless king-making earl, even a papal legate who excommunicates an entire army. Combining medieval sources and modern scholarship, George Goodwin colourfully recreates the atmosphere of 15th century England and chronicles the vicious in-fighting as the increasingly embittered royal factions struggle for supremacy.

The relationship of England and Scotland became defined by events on 9 September 1513 in a battle of great size, bloodshed and finality - the Battle of Flodden. On the back of historian George Goodwin's critically acclaimed debut, FATAL COLOURS, comes FATAL RIVALRY, providing the first in-depth examination of the Battle of Flodden, the biggest and bloodiest in British history. This book captures the importance of the key players in the story - the kings and their respective queens, their nobles, diplomats and generals - as the rivalry brought the two countries inexorably to war. Fatefully, it would be an error by James, that most charismatic of commanders, and in the thick of engagement, that would make him the last British king to fall in battle, would condemn the bulk of his nobility to a similarly violent death and settle his country's fate.

"Mytilene," he told them, "is a pleasure world. Or, rather, I should say worlds. You can fly from any planet to any other in the atmosphere. "The whole ball, which is much larger than Jupiter, is held together by electromagnetic forces created and maintained by the machines and the robot brains on the centre planet - which spins of itself, but does not move within the gaseous envelope.

This is the first anthology of British travel writing on Italy which traces the development of the genre and the history of the British perception of Italy from the Renaissance to the present. As an anthologie raissonnéeit presents the texts in thematic clusters and chronological order, providing commentary and annotations for each of them and their nearly hundred authors (some of them, like Smollett, Byron, Dickens or Huxley, well-known, others virtually unknown, amongst them many unduly neglected women writers). Further features are a substantial introduction to the travelogue and the writing of Italy, more than thirty illustrations visualizing the British experience of Italy, and an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

'These Benson and de Vere stories are unputdownable... A five star bravura performance. This writer gets better and better' A.N. Wilson The Hither Green murder... William Benson knows what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do - the fear, the vulnerability and the nightmare of watching your life unravel. Now he speaks on behalf of those who have no voice, defending anyone who claims to be innocent. This time, it's Karmen Naylor, estranged daughter of a south London crime boss, fighting a murder charge and desperate to be believed. But Benson becomes trapped into a grudge match between two rival clans, endangering himself and those he loves. Tess de Vere is by Benson's side but she's keeping something from him. A stranger on the trail of a secret death squad operating in Northern Ireland during the Troubles brings a terrible secret into the heart of her own life. And he won't go away. Can Tess and Will find their way through all the secrets and the lies? Should justice always be served - and if so, at what cost? Praise for the Benson and de Vere series 'Assured storytelling and highly intriguing moral complexity. I tore through it' Chris Brookmyre 'The courtroom scenes are brilliant, and Benson really comes alive under pressure. Stubborn, fitful and contradictory, he's a highly individualised creation' Spectator 'Punchy dialogue and devious plotlines . . . compelling' The Times

When Rose sees Joe in an Oxford bar, for her it is instant infatuation. He is everything she could ever want: gifted musician, wit and high achiever. In her mind, at least, they are ideally matched and a burning desire for him takes hold. Fate, however, has other plans and Joe has no intention of settling down. All Rose will ever be to him is part of his student past. Instead he embarks on a dazzling career which takes him abroad for a number of years, leaving Rose alone with shattered dreams. She knows what true happiness can be like. Her parents have always been very well married, and the late arrival of her kid sister, Lily, helped make the family complete. But when Joe returns and falls for Lily, unaware that Rose still has feelings for him, a dangerous rivalry ensues . . . one that can only lead to murder.