El lunes 16 de julio de 1212, en un paraje de Sierra Morena, las Navas de Tolosa, un ejército cruzado dirigido por el rey de Castilla, Alfonso VIII, y en el que figuraban otros dos reyes hispanos, Pedro II de Aragón y Sancho VII de Navarra, al frente de los contingentes reclutados en sus respectivos reinos, las huestes de las órdenes militares de Santiago, Calatrava, el Temple y el Hospital, así como multitud de voluntarios -leoneses y portugueses,...

This is the history of York as you have never encountered it before! Travel back to a time when Erik Bloodaxe was resident monarch, or when William the Conqueror was in the middle of his relentless 'harrying of the north'. There are no tea rooms or hanging baskets in this York, but the severed heads on the walls have a certain decorative effect and there are plenty of places to stay if you don't mind risking cholera, plague and typhus! York has been...

Swansea has long been a busy industrial port and has always had an edgy history. Explore the hidden stories from its long and dangerous past, with tales of rebellion, shipwreck and murder. From Romans to the Red Lady, Viking raids to English attacks, deadly diseases, slums, cholera and Nazi bombs, you'll never see the city in the same way again. Why were all those men trapped in the hold when the Caesar hit the rocks at Pwlldu? What happened when...

Graverobbing was a dark but profitable industry in pre-Victorian Scotland – criminals, gravediggers and middle-class medical students alike abstracted newly-buried corpses to send to the anatomy schools. Only after the trials of the infamous murderers Burke and Hare and the passing of the Anatomy Act of 1832 did the grisly trade end. From burial grounds in the heart of Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh to quiet country graveyards in the Scottish Borders...

In the past, the east shore of Lincolnshire's long coastline was well adapted for smuggling and the rural quality of the county aided the transport and hiding of contraband goods. In addition to the pirates, coastal criminals and countryside rogues, there was also murder and mayhem aplenty in such cities as Lincoln, Grimsby, Boston and Stamford. Moreover, being near to the north/south routes from London meant that Lincolnshire was a haven for highwaymen...

A stunning look at Napoleon's campaign across the Iberian peninsula from historian Charles Esdaile. At the end of the 18th century Spain remained one of the world's most powerful empires. Portugal, too, was prosperous at the time. By 1808, everything had changed. Portugal was under occupation and ravaged by famine, disease, economic problems and political instability. Spain had imploded and worse was to come. For the next six years, the peninsula...

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world – with one of the darkest histories on record. Sweeping through the centuries in a blood-soaked catalogue of assaults, assassinations and all-out attempts at annihilation, this volume reveals the hideous tapestry of death, disease and disaster that lies beneath Edinburgh's stunning façade. You'll never see the city in the same way again…

Bendecida por los dioses del Mediterráneo, Menorca parece la isla perfecta. Sus 700 kilómetros cuadrados dan para localizar dos ciudades encantadoras y diferentes entre sí, y dos porciones de litoral antitéticos: uno salvaje, vertical, rocoso y batido por el viento; otro suave, de arenales cuasi tropicales y aromatizado por los pinos. También para hallar un paisaje interior salpicado de pueblecitos que son un prodigio de arquitectura tradicional....

Recently there has been a seemingly endless stream of books praising the glories of ancient and modern Rome, fretting over Venice's rising tides and moldering galleries, celebrating the Tuscan countryside, wines and cuisine. But there have been curiously few writings that deal directly with Italy as the country of origin for the grand- and great-grandparents of nearly twenty-six million Americans. The greatest majority-more than eight out of ten-of...

This chilling collection brings together true-life historical murders that shocked not only the town of Bury but also made headline news across the country. Cases featured here include a woman roasted alive on a fire by her enraged husband, a young boy who had his head smashed in by his father, a troubled man who shot his neighbour for no apparent reason, and the drunk who murdered his father's ploughman for money. Sean Frain's well-illustrated and...