Shire Publications imprint: 233 books

In 1809, thanksgiving ceremonies and feasts across Britain ushered George III into his fiftieth year as king. This was the first British celebration of a royal jubilee and set the tone for the five that have followed since: processions, fireworks, construction of monuments, the striking of special...

Cathedrals are awe-inspiring buildings. Most are grand medieval structures, while others appear simple and unpretentious – yet all were designed to reflect the glory of God and have a profound impact on us. As trailblazers of architectural development, each cathedral has distinct individual features...

In the early summer of 1914, the headmaster of Brighton College, Canon W. R. Dawson, spoke to the school in chapel. He called on every boy present to stand ready to sacrifice his life in defence of his country. No shot had yet been fired in anger, Austria's Archduke still lived, few anticipated a...

The source of tremendous power and the focus of incredible devotion, throughout history notions of beauty have been integral to social life and culture. Each age has had its own standards: a gleaming white brow during the Renaissance, the black eyebrows considered charming in the early eighteenth...

With over two-thirds of the globe covered by water, the ability to navigate safely and quickly across the oceans has been crucial throughout human history. As seafarers attempted longer and longer voyages from the sixteenth century onwards in search of profit and new lands, the tools of navigation...

The Rootes Group once dominated the British motor industry, and its legacy lives on in thousands of carefully maintained cars – most notably Hillmans, Humbers, Singers and Sunbeams. In this book, using beautiful images from the Rootes Archive Centre, Richard Loveys details the Group's history and...

Smuggling was rife in Britain between the seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, and since then smugglers have come often to be romanticised as cheeky rogues – as highwaymen of the coasts and Robin Hood figures. The reality could be very different. Cut-throat businessmen determined to make a...

In 1914 Great Britain had the largest and most powerful navy the world had ever seen – a well-known fact, but what of the everyday experience of those who served in her? This fully illustrated book looks at the British sailor's life during the First World War, from the Falkland Islands to the East...

Garments and accessories are prominent in almost all of William Shakespeare's plays, from Hamlet and Othello to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. The statement 'Clothes maketh the man' was one that would have resonated with their audiences: the rise of England's merchant class had made...

Founded in the grounds of Magdalen College 500 years ago, Magdalen College School has been educating centuries of students. Originally intended to offer free tuition in grammar, it has attracted students from all walks of life and from all around the UK during its history. From a period of initial...

At a time of imperial expansion, British forces were almost constantly in action against major powers, in wars of conquest, or in expeditions on the fringes of Empire, such as the North West Frontier, southern Africa or Burma. This book outlines the medals issued to British soldiers and sailors for military service.

Scouts have been part of the fabric of British society since the Movement's founding by Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, and Scout training continues to provide young people with 'instruction in good citizenship' to this day. Beginning with an outline of Baden-Powell's life and influences,...

This book surveys the British decorations and medals from the origins in the Crimean War of 1854-6 up to the end of the twentieth century.

An army childhood is a peripatetic childhood. Beginning with the establishment of Britain's standing army, Clare Gibson sheds light on such crucial aspects of the army-child experience as the places that they have called home and how they have been transported, housed, educated and entertained while...