History

Divided into chapters for each reigning monarch. a history of how English costume has evolved and changed in the nearly 800 years covered. Ranging from the elaborate dress of royalty and the aristocracy to that of labouring people. One particularly interesting sequence of chapters describe how dress changed from the flamboyance of King Charles I and the Cavaliers to that of the plain and monochrome Puritans under Cromwell; and then mostly back again after the restoration.

Spanning early civilian air transport, WWII and post-war airlines. Each chapter contains an individual story which together provide a pilot's history of aviation. Compared at the time to Hemingway in style.

Cecil Beaton's personal history of fashion and those who have influenced it in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Witty and wise, a most knowledgeable book about fashion and it's designers. Full of anecdotes and the authors own drawings and photographs.

A description of the witches and their covens who were tried and often executed in the Aberdeen trials of 1596-7. The book attempts to pass no judgement and rather relates the facts as discovered of a very far away time.

In the period covered by the book, several thousand French and Dutch prisoners of war were incarcerated in Great Britain. As funds were only provided for a very meagre food ration, prisoners without wealthy families turned to producing handicrafts to raise a little income. Markets were allowed in the prisons, and some of the work produced was of a very high quality, especially by those who had been artisans such as cabinet makers in civilian life. This book describes many of the typical wares produced, from wood, bone and horn to lace and model ships. 

A charming little guide to both some well-known and more hidden attractions of the Isle of Wight. From Osborne House to Newport Quay, Blackgang Chine Bazaar to Alum Bay and the St Lawrence Topiary boat. Please see our journal entry, "Island Quirks," for further elaboration.