An ambitious history of Britain told through the stories of twenty-five notable structures, from the Iron Age fortification of Maiden Castle in Dorset to the Gherkin. Building Britannia is a chronicle of social, political and economic change seen through the prism of the country's built environment, but also a sequence of closely observed studies of a series of intrinsically remarkable structures: some of them beautiful or otherwise imposing; some of them more coldly functional; all of them with richly fascinating stories to tell. Steven Parissien tells both a national story, tracing how a growing sense of British nationhood was expressed through the country's architecture, and also examines how these structures were used by later generations to signpost, mythologise or remake British history. Rubbing shoulders with some 'expected' building choices – the Roman baths at Aquae Sulis, the early Gothic splendour of Lincoln Cathedral and the Tudor jewel that is Little Moreton Hall – are some striking inclusions that promise to open doors into what will be, for many readers, less familiar areas of social history: these include The Briton's Protection, a Regency pub close in Manchester city centre and the Edwardian Baroque Electric Cinema in Notting Hill, one of the country's oldest working cinemas. Thus as well as identifying the relevance of certain iconic structures to the unfolding of the national story, Building Britannia finds fascination and meaning in the everyday and the disregarded.

Things fall apart when empires crumble. This time, we think, things will be different. They are not. This time, we are told, we will become great again. We will not. In this new edition of the hugely successful Rule Britannia, Danny Dorling and Sally Tomlinson argue that the vote to leave the EU was the last gasp of the old empire working its way out of the British psyche. Fuelled by a misplaced nostalgia, the result was driven by a lack of knowledge of Britain's imperial history, by a profound anxiety about Britain's status today, and by a deeply unrealistic vision of our future.

By the end of Queen Victoria's reign, factories had become an inescapable part of the townscape, their chimneys dominating urban views while their labourers filled the streets, coming and going between work and home. This book is concerned with the architecture, planning and design of those factories that were part of the second wave of the industrial revolution. The book's geographical range encompasses the whole of the British Isles while its time span covers the Victorian and Edwardian eras, 1837- 1910, and the period leading up to the First World War. It also looks back to earlier buildings and gives some consideration to the interwar years and beyond, including the fate of our factory heritage in the twenty-first century. Factories, not surprisingly given their early working conditions, have had a bad press. It is sometimes forgotten that they were often the centres of thriving local communities, while their physical presence and wonderfully varied buildings enlivened our towns and cities. It is time for a new look at factory architecture. Well illustrated with 150 colour and black & white photographs.

Now in its 179th edition, Laxton’s has become a firm favourite in the UK Building Industry. With more prices and more in-depth build-ups, Laxton’s offers more practical and complete information than any other price book available This new edition takes into account major price variations that stem frm raw material costs in the last few months. * Higher-fuel costs have impacted on prices across the board, in particular costs of non-ferrous metals in increased * Copper sheet and pipe show prince increases of well above 50% in the last year, while zinc, lead and aluminium prices have also risen significantly * There are savings in plaster and drainage goods, prices are down All the prices in Laxton's are based on the new 3 year Construction Industry Joint council wage rate agreement that came into force at the end of June 2006 *Saving you time - comprehensive basic price and approximate estimating sections make putting together outline costings quicker and easier *Saving you effort - all the information you need on each measured item is clearly set out on a single page, with a full break down of costs *Saving you money - all 250,000 prices are individually checked and updated to make sure that your tender costs are precise