Secret Britain: The Hidden Bits of Our History - Hardcover

3.69

98 ratings by Goodreads

9781848541986: Secret Britain: The Hidden Bits of Our History

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848541988 ISBN 13: 9781848541986

Publisher: John Murray

Some of our most intriguing history is missing. Perhaps there has been a conspiracy, a cover-up? Or maybe some stories have been lost, forgotten or were just too embarrassing to talk about at the time? But now they are back, revealed in all their glory: secret passages, events, societies, loves, identities and even dark secrets of the grave. After much sleuthing, Justin Pollard takes us into undisclosed historical waters to discover why the city of Burlington isn't on the map; how 'Agent Pickle' saved the lost treasure of Bonnie Prince Charlie; what Sir Thomas Overbury knew in 1613 that got him murdered with a poisoned enema and how Virginia Woolf sweet-talked her way aboard HMS Dreadnought dressed as Abyssinian Prince.Secret Britain also reveals the tragic love story behind the Rolls Royce mascot; how agent Garbo managed to get an MBE and an Iron Cross; the sinister properties of the Hand of Glory; the lost smuggling ship Peggy; the Mystery Runner of Nos Galan; the extraordinary history of the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan; London's only Nazi war memorial and the secrets of the WWII Monopoly board.

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About the Author:

Justin Pollard read archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge. He is an historical writer and consultant in film and TV. His credits include the films Elizabeth and Atonement and the BBC TV Drama The Tudors, as well as more than twenty-five documentary series such as Channel 4's Time Team. He is a writer and researcher for QI and the author of seven books including The Interesting Bits and Charge!

Review:

I sometimes wish that my school history lessons had given a bit less time to important things such as the repeal of the Corn Laws and a bit more to the sort of by-the-way history told here . . . amusing * Sunday Telegraph * Gems you won't have heard about at school * Daily Mail Scotland * 'Ideal for history buffs and fact lovers' * Scottish Sunday Post * The parts of our past they didn't teach in school * Express * Amusingly and energetically told...his best. Pollard has the QI knack of knowing what's funny or interesting * Spectator * An endlessly fascinating book, and dull would he or she be who didn't find it hard to put down, once picked up . . . The really clever part is the tone, which is never facetious, always respectful to the subject matter, even when there is a faintly detectable Jeevesian smile to the prose. It is hard not to say: "Oh, just one more, then." * Guardian *

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