Best-selling author Graham Robb finds that the 2,000-year-old map of Ptolemy unlocks a central mystery of British history. Two years ago, Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of England, near the banks of a river that once marked the southern boundary of the legendary Debatable Land. The oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain, the Debatable Land served as a buffer between Scotland and England. It was once the bloodiest region in the country, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James V. After most of its population was slaughtered or deported, it became the last part of Great Britain to be brought under the control of the state. Today, it has vanished from the map and its boundaries are matters of myth and generational memories. Under the spell of a powerful curiosity, Robb began a journey—on foot, by bicycle, and into the past—that would uncover lost towns and roads, and unlock more than one discovery of major historical significance. These personal and scholarly adventures reveal a tale that spans Roman, Medieval, and present-day Britain. Rich in detail and epic in scope, The Debatable Land takes us from a time when neither England nor Scotland existed to the present day, when contemporary nationalism and political turmoil threaten to unsettle the cross-border community once more. With his customary charm, wit, and literary grace, Graham Robb proves the Debatable Land to be a crucial, missing piece in the puzzle of British history.

"A witty, engaging narrative style…[Robb's] approach is particularly engrossing." —New York Times Book Review A narrative of exploration—full of strange landscapes and even stranger inhabitants—that explains the enduring fascination of France. While Gustave Eiffel was changing the skyline of Paris, large parts of France were still terra incognita. Even in the age of railways and newspapers, France was a land of ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communication networks, and pre-Christian beliefs. French itself was a minority language. Graham Robb describes that unknown world in arresting narrative detail. He recounts the epic journeys of mapmakers, scientists, soldiers, administrators, and intrepid tourists, of itinerant workers, pilgrims, and herdsmen with their millions of migratory domestic animals. We learn how France was explored, charted, and colonized, and how the imperial influence of Paris was gradually extended throughout a kingdom of isolated towns and villages. The Discovery of France explains how the modern nation came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France—past and present—remains to be discovered. A New York Times Notable Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book, Slate Best Book, and Booklist Editor's Choice.

"Intriguing and stimulating." —Jane Smiley, Harper's In this real-life historical treasure hunt, bestselling author Graham Robb—"one of the more unusual and appealing historians currently striding the planet (New York Times)"—reveals the mapping of ancient Gaul as a reflection of the heavens, demonstrates the lasting influence of Druid science and recharts the exploration of the world and the spread of Christianity. This "fascinating" (Los Angeles Times) history offers nothing less than an entirely new understanding of the birth of modern Europe.

The shocking story of a WWII shootout between black and white GIs in a quiet Cornish town that put the British-US “special relationship” on trial. On September 26, 1943, racial tensions between American soldiers stationed in Cornwall erupted in gunfire. Labelled a ‘wild west’ mutiny by the tabloids, it became front page news in Great Britain and the USA. For Americans, it bolstered a fast-accelerating civil rights movement, while in the UK, it exposed unsettling truths about Anglo-American relations. With new archival research, journalist Kate Werran pieces together the shocking drama that authorities tried to hush up. Her narrative examines everything from the controversy of American segregation on British soil to the shocking event itself and the resulting court martial. Extracted from wartime cabinet documents, secret government surveys, opinion polls, diaries, letters and newspapers as well as testimony from those who remember it, this story offers a rare window into a little-known dark side of the ‘American Invasion.’

Graham Robb's The Ancient Paths will change the way you see European civilization. Inspired by a chance discovery, Robb became fascinated with the world of the Celts: their gods, their art, and, most of all, their sophisticated knowledge of science. His investigations gradually revealed something extraordinary: a lost map, of an empire constructed with precision and beauty across vast tracts of Europe. The map had been forgotten for almost two millennia and its implications were astonishing. Minutely researched and rich in revelations, The Ancient Paths brings to life centuries of our distant history and reinterprets pre-Roman Europe. Told with all of Robb's grace and verve, it is a dazzling, unforgettable book.

A stunning and revelatory oral history of Queen Elizabeth II and her reign. There seems an unquenchable fascination with the British royal family on both sides of the Atlantic, borne out by the popularity of The Crown on Netflix, the spotlight on the Sussexes and Cambridges, and the media attention on the death of Prince Philip. These detailed interviews and insightful accounts range from the very early years of her reign to Prince Phillip’s death in 2021. Covering the shocking death of her father and the adjustment required of a newly married couple as well as the turmoil of the later years and her grandchildren’s families. This lavishly produced hardback with rarely seen color photos paints a full, detailed and sympathetic portrait of a life lived in service. Featuring interviews from diverse sources from private staff at Buckingham Palace and family friends, to international figures like Nelson Mandela, it contains a broad spectrum of views on Queen Elizabeth II—her story and her personality and how her life has intersected and impacted others.

In this modern age the regional and national boundaries which define Scotland seem fixed and permanent. But of course this has not always been so. In this book Alistair Moffat looks at the shifting political shape of the land long before its modern borders were created. In doing so he brings to vivid life the half-forgotten kingdoms that came and went during Roman times, the Dark Ages and the early medieval period. This is a fascinating journey into a tantalisingly little-known period of our history, yet one which is crucial to our understanding of who we are and where we came from. 'Moffat's tireless reasearch ... and commanding knowledge bring these forgotten peoples to life' – Scottish Field