Bretwalda Books: 85 books

At Talavera a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) tried to link up with a Spanish army under General Cuesta to ambush a French corps under Marshal Victor. But things went wrong and the British had to fight their way to safety. This book forms part of the Bretwalda...

A gripping account of the Corby Parliamentary By-Election written by a Corby-based journalist and published just 7 days after Polling Day.The sudden and unexpected resignation of high-profile Conservative Member of Parliament Louise Mensch threw the national spotlight on to the quiet Northamptonshire...

A book about the bloody Battle of Lewes, fought in 1264 that was a key victory for the rebels under Simon de Montfort who sought to limit the powers of the king.The sweeping victory of the rebels at Lewes had a profound effect on England. A Parliament was summoned that for the first time included...

At Gerona in 1808 the French for the first time ran into a Spanish army that neither ran away nor surrendered. The epic defence of Gerona lasted for over a year and saw the French throw everything that they had at the old walls around the city. The Spanish fought back gallantly, using their bare hands...

On 2 May 1808 the Spanish capital of Mardrid erupted into savage violence. The citizens of Madrid had had enough of the French army in thier city and were rising up to throw them out. Artillery blasted down narrow streets, cavalry charged across the plazas and infantry slaughtered each other in the...

It was the Battle of Vimeiro that established the reputation of Sir Arthur Wellesley, later to be the Duke of Wellington. This book forms part of the Bretwalda Battles series on The Peninsular War. The book outlines the Peninsular War up to the start of the Gerona Campaign. It then analyses...

While the RMS Titanic was sinking more than a dozen ships were racing to the rescue. This is the story of the rescue mission, including the search for bodies that followed.The story of the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic is well known, but less well known today are the frantic efforts made by more...

A retelling of the classic fairy tale for 21st century youngsters by a master storyteller.We are all familiar with Jack and his Beanstalk, of course, but there is a lot more to him than a giant with bags of gold. What about the young lady dressed in green or the shipwreck? The story as we usually...

A retelling of the classic fairy tale for 21st century youngsters by a master storyteller.We are all familiar with Goldilocks, of course, but there is a lot more to her than a bowl of porridge and a broken bed. What awas she doing in the woods in the first place, and what did she do after she...

An ebook containing eyewitness accounts of the RAF’s first big night raid on Germany. Complete with explanatory text and background on the men and machines involved.By March 1940 World War II was six months old and yet the RAF had still not launched a major night raid on Germany. They had been...

Author: Vladimir Lenin, new introduction by Rupert Matthews In August 1917 Vladimir Lenin was in temporary exile in Finland, having fled the Russian police. While there he wrote this highly influential book with the specific aim of stirring up the Russian people to support a Communist Revolution...

An ebook contianing contemporary newspaper reports and eyewitness accounts of what it was like to live through the Blackout during World War IIOn the day war broke out the Blackout was imposed. It was illegal to show a light outside at night for any reason at all. Cars drove without headlights, windows...

The sweeping victory of the Welsh at Cardigan (Crug Mawr) was historic. It not only put the victor, Owain Gwynedd in a position to rule Wales free of English domination, it also marked the arrival on the battlefields of Europe of a new, deadly and uniquely Welsh weapon. The longbow had arrived. A...

There are many people who would like Britain to leave the European Union. But the question is rarely asked if Britain would be allowed to do so. In this booklet historian Rupert Matthews looks at previous multinational associations such as the League of Delos and the United States America. He traces...