Penguin Books

If Ethelred was notoriously 'Unready' and Alfred 'Great', King George VI should bear the designation of 'George the Dutiful'. Throughout his life he dedicated himself to the pursuit of what he thought he ought to be doing rather than what he wanted to do. Inarticulate and loathing any sort of public appearances, he accepted that it was his destiny...

On Christmas Day 1066, William duke of Normandy was crowned in Westminster, the first Norman king of England. The ceremony was a disaster: Norman soldiers, mishearing English shouts of acclamation as treachery, torched and looted the surrounding buildings. At the very moment God had been called upon to bless William's rule, all around were scenes...

Charles II has always been one of the most instantly recognisable British kings - both in his physical appearance, disseminated through endless portraits, prints and pub signs, and in his complicated mix of lasciviousness, cynicism and luxury. His father's execution and his own many years of exile made him a guarded, curious, unusually...

In a very short time the queen was in a furious passion, and went stamping about, and shouting off with his head!' or 'Off with her head!' about once in a minute....

He began to wonder if he himself didn't suffer from the ingrained, morbid apathy he liked to draw in others.'Tod Hackett is a brilliant young artist - and a man in danger of losing his heart. Brought to an LA studio as a set-designer, he is soon caught up in a fantasy world where the cult of celebrity rules.But when he becomes besotted by the...

Jamie returns to cooking the food he loves the most, getting right to heart of the Italian kitchen in his ultimate go-to Italian cookbook. He shows you that truly authentic Italian cooking is simple, beautiful and achievable.Jamie's Channel 4 series Jamie Cooks Italy is on every Monday at 8:30pm . . . find all of the recipes and more inside.This...