British Library Publishing

Stanfords London Book of the Month February 2017 London: one of the great historic cities of Europe, cultural capital, centre of music and fashion, hub of politics and business, Olympic city, home and workplace of millions. The city's long history is palpable - we can still see the London of Dickens, Dr Johnson, Defoe, Wren and even Shakespeare. The very names St Paul's, Smithfield, Char...

Discover the world through the eyes of the greatest explorers in history. Find out how the world was first circumnavigated by a slave and how travellers overcame the challenge of not having enough to eat and drink whilst travelling through unknown territory. Experience the excitement of seeing a new land for the first time, tasting new fruits and discovering new animals. From Marco Polo and Magellan to Shac...

Sumptuously illustrated with eighty maps from the British Library's unrivalled collection, this gorgeous children's book whisks its reader around the globe. Like that of Jules Verne's famous hero, the journey begins and ends in London, plotting an eastwards route with stop-offs at some of the world's most fascinating places. There are extraordinary details to pore over, as well as stories about how and why ...

From the grand tour to the global village, novelists and poets have made particularly observant travellers. Many writers have been prone to wanderlust, eager to explore the world and draw inspiration from their travels. They recorded their notes in letters, journals, essays and books.

A History of the 20th Century in 100 Maps is a truly fascinating book, even for all of us in Stanfords who are well used to seeing interesting maps and posters! The 100 maps, many accompanied by additional photos and reproductions of posters or letters, show how the 20th century was a golden age of map-making and maps permeated almost every aspect of daily life.

London - A History in Maps published by the British Library in association with the London Topographical Society beautifully illustrates the development of London over the past 750 years from a small town, snuggly fitted within its walls, into one of the world’s greatest and most dynamic capitals.

Bloomsbury lies at the heart of cultural and intellectual London, famed for its museums, universities and literary heritage. Matthew Ingleby's new history ranges across the neighbourhood to explore hidden corners and reveal unexpected connections between Bloomsbury's past and present, its buildings and its people, its austere towers and its garden squares.

This landmark book is published to coincide with a major exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of Cook's first voyage. A stunningly illustrated, object-centred history, this book offers a once in a generation opportunity to discover the uniquely rich Captain Cook collection of the British Library. The authors explore a series of themes including the navigation and charting of the Pacific; first encounter...

Adrian Gray was born in May 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931. Thus begins a classic crime novel published in 1933, a riveting portrait of the psychology of a murderer. Each December, Adrian Gray invites his extended family to stay at his lonely house, Kings Poplars. None of Gray's six surviving children is fond of him; several have cause to...

Throughout history people have sought ways in which to map the heavens. From the sources of mathematics and mythology sprang the classic star chart, the finest examples of which are both scientific documents and works of art.

'When the respectable Londoner wants to feel devilish, he goes to Soho', wrote Thomas Burke in 1915 - but these words could have been uttered at any point in Soho's colourful history.

Leo Selver, a middle-aged antiques dealer, is stunned when the beautiful and desirable Judy Latimer shows an interest in him. Soon they are lying in each other's arms, unaware that this embrace will be their last. Popular opinion suggests that Leo murdered the girl, a theory Leo's wife - well aware of her husband's infidelities - refuses to accept. Ed Buchanan, a former policeman who has known the Selvers s...

A car hurtles down the driveway of a luxury villa in Switzerland. The driver is a young woman, Lucia Bernardi. Inside the house, police find the body of her lover on the bedroom floor. The dead man - Ahmed Fathir Arbil - was an Iraqi refugee, who has been tortured and killed. Lucia vanishes into hiding in the South of France.Piet Maas, a journalist for the World Reporter, sets out on Lucia's trail, hoping f...

In classic British crime fiction, dazzling detective work is often the province of a brilliant amateur - whereas the humble police detective cuts a hapless figure. The twelve stories collected here strike a blow for the professionals, with teasing mysteries to challenge hard-working police officers' persistence and scrupulous attention to detail. As in his previous anthologies for the British Library Crime ...

When a counterfeit currency racket comes to light on the French Riviera, Detective Inspector Meredith is sent speeding southwards - out of the London murk to the warmth and glitter of the Mediterranean. Along with Inspector Blampignon - an amiable policeman from Nice - Meredith must trace the whereabouts of Chalky Cobbett, crook and forger.Soon their interest centres on the Villa Paloma, the residence of Ne...

'Never had I been given a tougher problem to solve, and never had I been so utterly at my wits' end for a solution.' A signalman is found dead by a railway tunnel. A man identifies his wife as a victim of murder on the underground. Two passengers mysteriously disappear between stations, leaving behind a dead body. Trains have been a favourite setting of many crime writers, providing the mobile equival...

Bruce Attleton dazzled London's literary scene with his first two novels - but his early promise did not bear fruit. His wife Sybilla is a glittering actress, unforgiving of Bruce's failure, and the couple lead separate lives in their house at Regent's Park. When Bruce is called away on a sudden trip to Paris, he vanishes completely - until his suitcase and passport are found in a sinister artist's studio, ...

The tavern, the inn, the coffee house, the tea shop: these are places where, throughout history, we have met and socialised and where the issues of the day could be discussed over a drink. Rough Spirits and High Society shows the surprising, often subversive ways in which drinking has changed the world, and the ways in which society has struggled to control the places where people drink. Postal services dev...

'I should be very much happier if she were dead.' Edward Powell lives with his Aunt Mildred in the Welsh town of Lywll. His aunt thinks Lywll an idyllic place to live, but Edward loathes the countryside - and thinks the company even worse. In face, Edward has decided to murder his aunt. A darkly humorous depiction of fraught family ties, The Murder of My Aunt was first published in 1934.

The Cocktail Book, first published in 1900, is the earliest book devoted purely to the art of the cocktail. For thirty years including the prohibition, it was a staple of well-stocked bars, although originals are now extremely rare. This collection, in a beautiful new edition, allows a modern audience to rediscover the joy of classic cocktails, with early recipes for the Whisky Sour, Mint Julep, Manhattan, ...