Showing results by author "Liam Dale" in All Categories

The Tide Begins to Turn October – December 1942 After so many years of German supremacy, as 1942 drew to a close, the Allies were really beginning to make headway. The British made a crucial breakthrough in North Africa, and the Americans pushed the Japanese out of Burma and New Guinea, while in Russia the Germans found themselves surrounded, as the winter snow set in over Stalingrad.

Anybody who visits London at the height of the summer will soon realize that the United Kingdom’s capital city attracts sightseers from every far-flung corner of the globe. And what’s on their list of attractions to see? Nine times out of ten it will be Buckingham Palace, often followed by the Tower of London, and since the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997, her former residence, Kensington Palace. In an age when the monarchy, British or otherwise, is accused of being an outdated institution, the tourists still flock in their millions to follow in the footsteps of Royalty...

The Race for Berlin January – March 1944 While the Russians moved towards Germany from the East, and the Western allies attacked from the opposite direction, the Japanese continued their battle in the Pacific, fighting American Marines to the death on the island of Iwo Jima. As the endgame came into sight, there were desperate measures taken by both sides, and the casualties kept on rising.

New Challenges October – December 1943 While Hitler faced frustrations on all fronts, and the Japanese were kept at bay by the Americans, despite heavy US casualties, the Allied leaders faced a new challenge. Although Churchill and Roosevelt had always been comfortable working together, the Russian leader Joseph Stalin had in the past been regarded more as a foe than a friend. With the invasion of France imminent, plans made at the Teheran Conference were a minefield of diplomatic negotiations.

Onwards, ever Onwards October – December 1944 Despite the fact that Hitler’s position was worsening by the day, the Nazis were still capable of inflicting terrible damage, and when the Germans attempted a breakthrough in the Ardennes region of France, the ensuing Battle of the Bulge resulted in terrible US casualties. Even so, the Germans failed to achieve their objectives, and as the year came to an end, so did Hitler’s last hopes of victory.

Churchill’s Finest Hour April – June 1945 It fell to the Russians to enter Berlin first, and as Hitler took his own life in his bunker, the war in Europe finally came to an end. Winston Churchill led the people of Britain in the VE Day celebrations, but the fighting continued in the Pacific. Sadly, President Roosevelt died in April, just weeks before VE Day, and the task of finishing the task in hand passed to the new American President, Harry S Truman.

Jack the Ripper; In the footsteps of the notorious serial killer - Looking deeper than the victims and suspects themselves, this journal explores the conspiracies behind one of the world's most intriquing of true tales with reports of the day right up to the findings of 21st century journalists and sleuths. A must read for all Ripperologists and those who want a powerful insight to this timeless tragedy.

The unforgettable history of World War II presented in a chronological timeline format. This is THE definitive guide to WW2 in 24 chapters - each chapter covers a three-month period throughout the war years of 1939-1945.

Islamic dominance and control of the Western World is imminent. Terrorism has cowed the native populations into abject submission. A suicide bomber kills a child – the child of the most influential man in the British military. Revenge can lead to powerful and uncontrollable emotions. The military takeover of Britain begins. Full scale civil war surfaces. The watching Western World follows Britain’s lead. Tensions escalate into action between the Islamic World and the Western World. The world’s nuclear powers become involved as the domino theory gathers momentum. Orwell’s 1984 morphs...

Once upon a time, as all good stories with happy endings begin, a penniless young mother walked the streets of Edinburgh with her beloved baby daughter, hoping to make her fortune. In truth, “fortune” is probably over-exaggerating; enough money to feed and clothe the two of them and put a decent roof over their heads was all this young mother asked, but it was proving to be incredibly difficult. Yet this is no fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, it’s the true story of one of the most successful women the world has ever known, who in 1990 came up with the ...

If I asked you how many Robin Hoods you could name, what would the list be like? I’m sure you’d reel off a whole host of famous actors, like Errol Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks, Kevin Costner, Michael Praed, Sean Connery, and John Cleese, to name but six. All of these men have played the role of Robin Hood in various television and movie adaptations of the famous story. But that’s not what I meant. I’m talking about Robin Hood himself; the ever popular and ever noble outlaw hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, with his trusty bow and arrow as his weapon of choice. The ...

When it comes to 20th Century history, there are few names as well known as that of Adolf Hitler, Germany’s leader building up to, and during World War II. However, unlike so many of history’s heroes, Adolf Hitler has gone down in the record books for all the wrong reasons. The atrocities committed in his name resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people, and images of emaciated figures fighting for survival in concentration camps are synonymous with the reign of terror that Hitler dictated, leaving mankind struggling to make sense of how such a situation could have arisen. ...

There is no one, the whole world over, who doesn’t enjoy a good story, and many of our best-loved traditional tales have been passed down through countless generations to the present day. This is especially true of the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, including such classics as “The Elves and the Shoemaker”, “Cinderella”, “Hansel and Gretel” and “Snow White”. But who were these famous brothers, and how did two studious young men who were destined to be Lawyers become perhaps the Greatest Storytellers the world has ever known? All these questions and many more will be ...

There are some names that just fall off the tongue with the lilting promise of great things, and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (usually abbreviated to JRR Tolkien) is a perfect example. In his own lifetime this softly spoken, pipe smoking, tweed clad Oxford College Professor, the quintessential Englishman, caused a tremendous stir when he wrote first “The Hobbit” and then “The Lord of the Rings”. But Tolkien could never have guessed the impact his beloved books would continue to have on future generations of readers, and since Peter Jackson’s wonderful 21st Century movie adaptations ...

Of all the legends of Ancient Greece, the story of Troy and the great battle for the beautiful Helen has to be the most famous, known and loved the whole world over. This is a tale suspended somewhere between fact and fiction, though few of us would ever be prepared to let the truth get in the way of this truly romantic, heroic story. We’re talking epic here, so be prepared for an amazing journey of discovery to a long, lost land, (if it ever really existed at all) where the search for Troy will inevitably lead us. Follow in the footsteps of the mighty heroes; Achilles, Hector, Paris, ...

“A dog began to howl somewhere in a farmhouse far down the road, a long, agonized wailing, as if from fear. The sound was taken up by another dog, and then another and another, till, borne on the wind which now sighed softly through the pass, a wild howling began, which seemed to come from all over the country, as far as the imagination could grasp it through the gloom of the night.” With howling dogs, a shimmering moon and a chill wind through a darkened landscape, these words could only come from one novel; the great horror classic, Dracula, penned by the Irish born writer Bram Stoker...

There are few amongst us who have not heard of the great romantic poet William Wordsworth, an artist who has for centuries, enchanted his readers with his eloquent verse and magnificent imagery. As a man who revelled in the beauty of nature, his love of the natural world shines through his stirring words, while all the while he attempted to unveil the hidden magic of the countryside. From the beautiful sites of the Lake District where he spent most of his life to the Scottish Lowlands and beyond, Wordsworth created unforgettable images, which would change people’s vision of rural Britain ...

The Gods were angry. All attempts to control the dominant species of the planet had failed. Disease, Famine, Pestilence and Warfare had all been unsuccessful. THEY NEEDED TO BE CULLED. Allah proclaimed The Lost Scriptures to his Prophet Mohammad. This Jihada returned to implement them. The Christian God returned HIS Prophet to prevent the coming Islamic dominance. ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY were set on a collision course. The cull of the dominant species began. ONLY ONE RELIGION WOULD SURVIVE.

Few women in history have stood the test of time, but the true story surrounding the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots has ensured that her story lives on to intrigue and fascinate. Who was this 16th-century lady and what role did she play in the history of Great Britain? Piece together the Queen of Scots’ turbulent relationship with her cousin Elizabeth I of England, which ultimately proved to be her downfall. When the Queen of England signed Mary’s death warrant, the Queen of Scots, dressed in blood red, played out her final act under the executioner’s axe.

When you look back in history at royal romances, surprising as it may seem, few have happy ever after endings, and in many instances the idea of “Love and Marriage” being inextricably linked is not quite as common as you might at first think. In fairy stories handsome Kings and Princes regularly sweep fair maidens off their feet, transforming them into Princesses and Queens, and although a rarer occurrence, a Royal Princess can create a Prince out of the most unpromising of characters! From King Arthur through to Prince Charles and Diana, Royal Romances - The British Monarchy gives you ...