The establishment of the Roman fort of Mamucium in AD79 is the first known record of any military construction, or presence, in the area that is now the Castlefield district of the city. The Roman auxiliary units posted here used the fort as a garrison, located at Mamucium for the purpose of protecting the Roman road from Chester (Deva Victrix) to York (Eboracum). The site was previously occupied, as a defensive hill fort, by the ancient Britons, or Brigantes, who were native to the area.The next epoch of military activity at Manchester occurred in the Civil War and the Siege of Manchester in 1642. Manchesters declaration as a Parliamentarian town had far-reaching consequences, in terms of its military legacy, on the voting rights of Mancunians. Upon his restoration Charles II removed Manchesters two MPs from Parliament and Manchester was not to receive any political representation until the Reform Act of 1832.The Peterloo Massacre, of August 1819, was the scene of a mass rally brought about by a desire to repeal the Corn Laws, introduce universal suffrage and reform other repressive legislation. The cavalry charge which resulted in the deaths of an estimated eighteen innocent protesters and the wounding of over 500, took place at St. Peters Field (now Square) in the heart of the city. Its legacy resulted in the establishment of the Manchester Guardian and the rise of radical freethinking in the city, not always welcomed by those in authority.Both World Wars have had a profound influence on the city. The establishment of the Manchester Regiment is detailed and later the Manchester Pals are recalled through the pages of the local press. Heaton Park became their base, whilst General Kitchener visited the city, in order to boost recruitment. Later the Luftwaffes bombing campaign of December 1940, the Manchester Blitz, left the city with a legacy that has changed it beyond all recognition into the twenty-first century.

'A really fun idea for a book - and full of great stuff.' Greg Jenner, Public HistorianThis is the perfect guide for any writer who wants to recreate the Roman world accurately in their fiction. It will aid any novelist, screenwriter, games designer or re-enactor in populating their story with authentic characters and scenes, costumes and locations. Written from a historian's perspective, this guide pulls back the curtain to show the reader what life in Ancient Rome was really like: what they wore, what they ate, and how they spent their time at work, at home, at war, and at play. Individual chapters focus on different aspects of Romans' lives, to give you specific knowledge of what they looked like and how they behaved, as well as a broad appreciation of what held their civilisation together, from religion, to the economy, to law and order. You may wish to work your way through the book from cover to cover, or focus specifically on individual chapters as you hone your creative writing skills. Covering the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE, A writer's guide to Ancient Rome surveys the vast amount of sources and scholarship on the Classical world so you don't have to! It outlines current scholarly debates and changing interpretations, suggests further reading, and recommends particular resources to mine for each topic. It gives you plenty to consider while you construct your own Roman world.

Enchanted meets BMX in this hilarious, spellbinding adventure! Trust me, the fairy tales have it so wrong. Dingy towers and wicked step-mums are the least of my worries: it's the boredom that will kill me. Thank the good goblin I discovered BMX. If it wasn't for BMX, nothing would have changed ...

Anthony Burgess draws upon an autobiographical episode to create Beard's Roman Women, the story of a man haunted by his first wife, presumed dead. But is she? A marvellously economical book, full-flavoured, funny, and heartfelt, showing its author at the height of his powers. This new edition is the first to be published with David Robinson's photographs for over 40 years. The text of the novel has been restored using the original typescripts, and Graham Foster's new introduction provides valuable insight into the fictional and biographical contexts of the novel. The text is fully annotated with a detailed set of notes and this edition includes the previously unpublished script for Burgess's television film By the Waters of Leman: Byron and Shelley at Geneva, and a rare piece of Burgess's writing about Rome.

This landmark book shows how much Victorian and Edwardian Roman archaeologists were influenced by their own experience of empire in their interpretation of archaeological evidence. This distortion of the facts became accepted truth and its legacy is still felt in archaeology today. While tracing the development of these ideas, the author also gives the reader a throrough grounding in the history of Roman archaeology itself.

A "lively and engaging" history of the Middle Ages (Dallas Morning News) from the acclaimed historian William Manchester, author of The Last Lion. From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth: the dense explosion of energy that spawned some of history's greatest poets, philosophers, painters, adventurers, and reformers, as well as some of its most spectacular villains. "Manchester provides easy access to a fascinating age when our modern mentality was just being born." --Chicago Tribune