The History Press imprint: 4918 books

The industrial town of Wigan has a long and distinguished history. However, it also harbours some disturbing secrets. Discover the spooky side of Wigan with this terrifying collection of true-life tales from the town. From the old cotton mills to hospitals, stately houses and public houses, there...

Since prehistoric times, mankind has had a fascination with death and ghosts. Whether we regard them as just tales others tell or encounter them ourselves, they cannot easily be dismissed. The folk of Hartlepool are a practical lot—best known for their pragmatic hanging of a monkey as a Napoleonic...

The real story of the SS, unlike its popular mythology, is so complex as to almost defy belief: it is a tale of intrigue and nepotism, of archaeology and Teutonism, of art and symbolism. This is a story of street fighters and convicted criminals becoming Ministers of State and police commanders; the...

“Weaves exciting tales with historical and diving facts, peppered with antique illustrations of ships and photographs of their remains” (Courier-Post). An estimated three thousand shipwrecks lie off the coast of New Jersey—but these icy waters hold more mysteries than sunken hulls. Ancient...

What was the nature of the Brontes' strange genius? Where did it spring from and what inspired it? Patrick Bronte, father of the Bronte sisters, came from Ireland, changing his name from Brunty to Bronte when he won a scholarship to Cambridge. His children never met their Irish relatives. This work deals with this subject.

Amelia took her first flight as a passenger at an air show and that 10-minute experience sealed her future career. In 1921 she purchased her first aircraft, bright yellow, which she nicknamed the "Canary." She later sold it because it seemed unlikely she could make a living from flying,...

His name might not have the same notoriety that belonged to Al Capone or John Wayne Gacy, but Silas Jayne’s life carved a similarly brutal arc through the Windy City’s history. Even the mob was reluctant to compete with a man who burned his own horses alive for insurance money and ordered the assassination...

The exciting early days of the railways were tempered with danger, as the Victorian concept of health and safety was rather different to ours. Going "into the dark" was a frightening experience and tunneling under the ground and under water was a death-defying activity in nineteenth-century...

Taking you through the year day by day, The Plymouth Book of Days contains a quirky, eccentric, amusing, or important event or fact from different periods of history. Find out when Plymothians elected the first woman to take her seat at Westminster, when Sir Francis Chichester sailed back into the...

Tiverton and Little Compton sit perched off the mainland of Rhode Island, where they have carved out a unique culture and history for centuries. The sketches contained in this book provide an in-depth look at the region, tracing its evolution through architecture, like the Nathaniel Briggs House, believed...

Founded in 1570, Chatham Dockyard quickly became one of the most important naval yards for the repair and building of warships, maintaining a pre-eminent position for the next 400 years. Located on the River Medway, the yard was responsible for the construction of over 500 warships in all, these ranging...

Wexford has always had a long and close relationship with the sea. One of the county's most famous sons, John Barry, is known as the Father of the US Navy and, in Maritime Wexford, journalist Jack O'Leary and local historian Nicky Rossiter take the reader on a voyage that touches on this and many...

In 1947 the Great  Western Railway (GWR) was at the lowest ebb of its entire history. Worn out by war, there had been no maintenance for 6 years and the government couldn’t supply the steel they needed for repair. The staff coped with rationing, a desperately cold winter and blazing hot summer,...

This chilling collection brings together true-life historical murders that shocked not only the city but frequently made headline news throughout the country. Cases featured here include riots in 1791, a bank robbery in 1844, and an arson attack in 1912. Murder most foul also raises its ugly head,...