Bøger af Simon Webb

The ideas for Shakespeare's plays did not just spring from his head fully formed: there had to be some reading and research before the playwright put pen to paper. In this highly accessible book, Simon Webb looks at how the man from Stratford 'borrowed' ideas from a wide range of sources - from the Bible and the Greek and Roman classics to traveller's tales and even plays written by his rivals. A graduate of the Shakespeare Institute, author Simon Webb has been fascinated by the playwright and his world since the age of twelve.

Quakers have been writing poetry about their extraordinary faith and way of life since the beginning of the Society of Friends, in the middle of the seventeenth century. This book brings together poems about Quakerism by Quakers and non-Quakers from the first 250 years of the Society. With introduction and notes.

George Chapman, also known as Severin Klosowski, was a London poisoner who was hanged in 1903. During his trial, a number of people began to suspect that he was, or had been, Jack the Ripper. These people included Frederick Abberline, who had been an important detective on the Ripper case back in 1888. Abberline became convinced that Chapman was his man. This novel takes Abberline's theory and runs with it.

'Near the south side, where the river fetches itself around, stands the cathedral church high up, making a solemn and a sightly show, with a high tower in the middle, and two spires at the west end.'William Camden's description of Durham, published in 1610, provides a fascinating snapshot of the county as it was over four hundred years ago. Camden's account also delves into the history of the bishopric, 'out of the depth of antiquity'.

Quakers were involved with the Old Bailey court-house and the notorious Newgate Prison for over two hundred years. Their number included Quaker criminals, victims of injustice and prison reformers such as Elizabeth Fry. Drawing on The Newgate Calendar, The Proceedings of the Old Bailey and other sources, this book tells the true story of Quakers, crime, justice and reform from 1652 to 1851.

'On the 27th of the sixth month, called August, 1725, my husband and all our men-servants being abroad, eleven Indians, armed with tomahawks and guns, who had some time before been skulking about the fields, and watching an opportunity of our men's absence, came furiously into the house...' Thus begins the story of the captivity of Elizabeth Hanson, 'taken in substance from her own mouth' by the English Quaker Samuel Bownas. This book contains the complete text of Bownas's 1760 edition, with an introduction and notes designed to explain the background to this extraordinary true story.

A combined guidebook to, and history of, Roman London.

The father of Marxism spent roughly half his life in the English capital. Simon Webb's new book takes a fresh look at where and how he lived, who he knew and the effect the Victorian city had on himself and his family.

At a time when the subject of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seldom out of the news, this book provides a challenge to the popularly accepted view of the matter.

Sometimes irascible and intolerant, John Cosin suffered years of poverty and exile before he became bishop of Durham in 1660. Simon Webb's new biography, the first for over a century, attempts to give equal weight to the different aspects of Cosin's character: incorrigible bookworm, gifted administrator and re-builder of the diocese after the ravages of the Interregnum.Simon's book also takes a fresh look at the story that Cosin possessed a secret box, the contents of which, if revealed, would have changed the course of British history.

1895: an enigmatic American has come to live in the English cathedral city of Durham. What is the nature of his hold over the widows and spinsters of the city? What is his interest in 'Tiger' Terris, the young Durham Light Infantry veteran? Is there a connection between the American and the strange ape-like creature seen down by the river? And more to the point, who killed the mysterious foreigner? A tale of plumbing, elephants, photography, vegetarianism, and murder.

Celtic Christianity continues to exert a powerful fascination for modern believers. Simon Webb's new book re-tells the stories of the best-loved saints of the Celtic tradition, including Patrick, Brigid, Columba and Aidan.

In October 1346 the Scottish king David II invaded England with as many as thirty-two thousand men at his back. The outcome of the battle he was soon forced to fight at Neville's Cross outside Durham was to influence English, Scottish and Continental power-politics for centuries.This volume includes Simon Webb's 2016 account of the battle, its causes and its aftermath. It also includes a generous selection of the most important historical sources on the battle, some in modern English versions by Simon Webb and William Duggan.Previously published by the Langley Press as 'The Battle of Neville's Cross' and 'Tales of the Battle of Neville's Cross'.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest wood engravers who ever lived, Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) is still little-known outside his native Northumbria. Simon Webb's new book offers an introduction to this fascinating artist, and reproduces many of his finest engravings.

Explores the history of Europe and the earliest legends about magic and religion.

Explores a forgotten chapter in the history of the Second World War. The first book ever published to contain a detailed account of every American military execution carried out in Britain.

This would be the first collection of true criminal cases that took place in Britain during World War I. It offers a fresh perspective on the Home Front during the First World War, and blends wartime history with popular crime.

In the years leading up to the First World War, the United Kingdom was subjected to a ferocious campaign of bombing and arson. Those conducting this terrorist offensive were members of the Women's Social and Political Union; better known as the suffragettes. The targets for their attacks ranged from St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England in London to theatres and churches in Ireland. The violence, which included several attempted assassinations, culminated in June 1914 with an explosion in Westminster Abbey. Simon Webb explores the way in which the suffragette bombers have been airbrushed from history, leaving us with a distorted view of the struggle for female suffrage. Not only were the suffragettes far more aggressive than is generally known, but there exists the very real and surprising possibility that their militant activities actually delayed, rather than hastened, the granting of the parliamentary vote to British women. AUTHOR: Simon Webb is the author of many non-fiction books, ranging from academic works on education to popular history. He has also written dozens of westerns under both his own name and a variety of pseudonyms, such as Harriet Cade, Fenton Sadler and Jay Clanton. He works as a consultant on the subject of capital punishment to television companies and filmmakers and also writes fro various magazines and newspapers, including the Times educational Supplement, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. 16 b/w illustrations

Reveals the shocking anti-Semitism which underpinned and permeated the ideology of the suffragette movement. Examines the reasons why the ferocious campaign of bombing and arson conducted by the suffragettes appeared to be directed almost exclusively against working-class men and women.

The London Blitz and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour are iconic myths for Britain and America.

The first book ever devoted solely to torture as practiced in Britain and its empire.

Taking you through the year day by day, The Colchester Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of Britain's oldest recorded town. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Colchester's archives, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

Following the disruption, hardship and challenges of the Second World War, the post-war years brought a sense of optimism and excitement, with families at last enjoying peacetime.

Do you remember playing in streets free of traffic? This delightful compendium of memories will appeal to all who grew up in the East End during the Swinging Sixties. With chapters on games and hobbies, school and holidays, this wonderful volume is sure to jog memories for all who remember this exciting decade.

This little book brings together past and present to offer a taste of Kingston upon Thames. Learn about the movers and shakers who shaped this fantastic borough. Best places - worst places. Local lingo, architecture, green spaces, events, traditions, fact, fiction. Written by a local who knows what makes Kingston upon Thames tick.