Pen Sword Books: 303 books

An in-depth account of the 1968 London air tragedy that claimed five lives—includes interviews with cabin crew, passengers, and air traffic controllers.   One and a half minutes after takeoff on the clear and sunny afternoon of April 8, 1968, the Number 2 engine of BOAC Boeing 707 G-ARWE broke...

A kidnapping, an elopement gone wrong, and a sensational nineteenth-century trial are only the beginning of this Regency mystery.   England, 1817. Barrister George Tuckett wakes to discover that his sixteen-year-old niece Maria Glenn, reputed heiress to West Indian sugar plantations, is missing....

“A graphic and moving account of an artilleryman’s experience on the Western Front. An interesting book for those who like artillery and WWI” (English Heritage).   If the First World War had not happened when it did, Channel Islander Clarence Ahier would almost certainly have led a mostly unremarkable...

The opening battles of WWI’s Western Front and the world-changing advances in warfare are reexamined through eyewitness accounts from the trenches. The 1914 campaign of World War I, sparked by the German Army’s invasion of Luxembourg, Belgium, and France, marked a watershed in military...

The author of Falklands Hero follows the Third Parachute Battalion through a ferocious battle to secure a key strategic position during the Falklands War.   This, the first in a series on Special Operations, tells the story of Three Para and the often-neglected struggle for Mount Longdon. It was...

The true story of the seemingly respectable woman convicted of a murderous spree in Victorian-era Brighton, England. In 1871, when the news broke of a series of mysterious poisonings in the popular resort town of Brighton, shock and horror gripped the public. Even more disturbing was the revelation...

A comprehensive look at World War II battle sites in the German capital. On April 16, 1945, the Red Army unleashed a colossal offensive against Berlin with the aim of destroying Hitler’s armies in the East and capturing the German capital before the Western Allies. Over two million soldiers...

A “crisply written, well researched . . . superb piece of scholarship about one of the most dramatic and decisive battles in the ancient world” (Journal of Military History).   At Zama (in what is now Tunisia) in 202 BC, the armies of two great empires clashed: the Romans under Scipio Africanus...

True crime that “will appeal to readers interested in gaining an insight into the lives of women accused of murder in the mid 19th century” (Essex Family Historian). For a few years in the 1840s, Essex was notorious in the minds of Victorians as a place where women stalked the winding country...

A “practical and thought provoking” study of the ancient military tactic known as the phalanx—the classic battle formation used in historic Greek warfare (The Historian). In ancient Greece, warfare was a fact of life, with every city brandishing its own fighting force. And the backbone...

The story of one momentous year in World War II. The epic story of 1940 is not confined to the great air battle over England that summer, the Battle of Britain. While that battle was indeed a major turning point in the course of the Second World War, it was only fought because of the ultimate...

The fascinating story of Charles Darwin’s friend, fellow scientist, and champion.   Sir John Lubbock was an important Darwinist, witness to an extraordinary moment in the history of science and archaeology—the emotive scientific, religious, and philosophical debate which was triggered by the...

A “meticulously documented” account that covers the RAF’s controversial attempt to end World War II by the aerial bombing of Berlin (Kirkus Reviews). The Battle of Berlin was the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against one target in the Second World War. Bomber Command Commander-in-Chief,...

An A-to-Z genealogy reference for those who want to research their family trees.   Part encyclopedia, part dictionary, part almanac, this is a practical, easy-to-use reference, filled with thousands of fact-filled A-to-Z entries. You’ll find:   *definitions of genealogy terms *timelines *details...