Shire Publications imprint: 233 books

More complex and imposing than any other vehicle in the British emergency services, the fire engine has a long and interesting history. The earliest water pumps had been developed by the eighteenth century – basic manual pumps that had to be hauled around by people or horses, and were often only...

The Land Speed Record is a fascinating story of human endeavour – of man and machine battling time to be the fastest. Since 1898 many have dreamed of being the fastest on earth, first with electric, then steam, then petrol, moving forward to the jet car, and into the present and future with rocket...

This concise history tells the fascinating story of how three generations of the Christie family have grown a small opera house in the South Downs into an internationally acclaimed Festival and Tour, reflecting founder John Christie's insistence on doing 'not the best we can do but the best that can...

New College School is one of the oldest continually functioning schools in the United Kingdom and, indeed, the world. It was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, to provide choristers for the chapel of New College, Oxford. Since then the School has had a peripatetic existence,...

St Edmund's Church in the beautiful village of Warkton, Northamptonshire is an unassuming place – but it holds some of the most exquisite sculptures in all of Britain. Commissioned by the local Montagu family, these four Baroque marble statues commemorate the lives of four of their members. Two...

As towns and cities rose and fell in dominance and road transport became a heavy contender, many railway lines were closed during the twentieth century. Though much of their architecture is lost, countless clues to our railway past still remain, in the form of embankments, cuttings, tunnels, converted...

Designed to dominate the surrounding area, to house powerful garrisons, offer sumptuous quarters for local nobility, and to discourage and repel enemy attacks, castles dominated England and Wales for more than half a millennium. Though some were built before 1066, the Norman Conquest left a lasting...

Though the prospect may fill us with dread, most of us need dental treatment at some stage – and the reality is that better care has never been available, as this fully illustrated book shows. Early dentistry was amateurish and limited to barber-surgeons, travelling tooth-pullers and blacksmiths,...

Ever wondered why a goat's eyes have rectangular pupils? Or what happened to Thor's goats each day after they finished pulling his thunderous chariot? Do goat's milk, cheese and meat represent more ethical food choices than cow and sheep products, and if so, can goat farming play an important role...