"The prehistoric past of the British Isles has long been a source of wonder. In this new and richly illustrated book, John Manley makes full use of all the latest discoveries to provide an up-to-date, informative and highly readable account of prehistoric Britain and Ireland, from the first meagre evidence of hunter-gatherers to the sophisticated society that the Romans encountered on their invasion of Britain in 43 AD"--Book jacket.

This illustrated history of the development of British society looks particularly at the properties of the National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland. These include Avebury in Wiltshire, Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire and Kellie Castle in Fife. The text includes cameo pieces on life at Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire, monasticism at Mount Grace Priory and the medieval diet, while maps help convey historical and archaeological information with clarity.

This book traces the development of British society and culture from prehistory to the present day.

A spectacular and mesmerizing collection of aerial photographs of Britain’s most extraordinary prehistoric sites. Drawing on years of travel around Britain’s most extraordinary prehistoric sites, David Abram’s aerial photographs reveal the ancient wonders hiding in plain sight around the country, from Neolithic tombs on the Wessex chalklands to Iron Age crannogs in Hebridean lochs. Breathtaking photos reveal Neolithic enclosures, cairns, and stone circles; Bronze Age villages, farmsteads, tombs, and burial mounds; and Iron Age hillforts, all captured in spectacular bird’s-eye-view detail. Stone cairns and circles evoke lost rituals and religious ceremonies; Iron Age ramparts hint at former strongholds; and tangible geographical clues reveal the scars of real or mythical battles. The eye-in-the-sky perspective unveils both the unseen forms of these ancestral monuments as well as their relationship to their wider landscapes, capturing subtle symmetries and forgotten sight lines. Many of Abram’s images have an abstract quality that momentarily disrupts one’s sense of perspective, allowing the shapes carved thousands of years ago to evoke an emotional resonance—an experience at once pleasurable and instructive. This is an inspiring way to discover the beauty and history of the British landscape, revealing the visible traces of our ancestors, from such famous monuments as Stonehenge to little-known gems that have never before been seen from the air.

This illustrated volume traces the social and cultural history of Britain from the early 15th to the late 18th century. The maps and photographs focus on archaeological and historical sites held by the British National Trust and the book develops themes including wealth and status, agriculture and rural society, town and industry, population and the family, religion and education, and also spotlights particular events such as the Wars of the Roses, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Great Plague and Jacobitism. A full list of National Trust sites is provided to encourage readers to visit these and other properties where visual remains consolidate the investigations in the atlas itself.