Pen Sword Books: 303 books

“[A] unique account of British threat responses to potential German conflict . . . Strongly recommended” (Firetrench). In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, it was expected that international disputes could be settled by arbitration through the creation of the League of Nations....

A celebration of Yuletide food through the centuries. This mouthwatering book celebrates classic Christmas stories and their food and feasts. Each chapter covers a different era and the important foodie tales of time, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Jane Austen’s festive celebrations,...

“A vast amount of information on the German Naval Security Fleet, sicherungsstreitkräfte, producing what is a unique review in depth.” —Firetrench.com   This study of the Kriegsmarine’s Sicherungsstreitkräfte, their security forces, fills a glaring gap in the study of the German navy in...

The author of Food Through the Ages presents a festive overview of Dickens-era Christmas traditions—from decorations and songs to games and recipes. Anna Selby discusses how the Victorians invented many of the Christmas traditions we enjoy today from Christmas trees and cards to carols and...

The author of The A-Z of London Murders takes readers behind the bars of the city’s numerous jails and tells the tales of their most infamous inmates.   London has had more prisons than any other British city. The City’s “gates” once contained prisons but probably the most notorious of all...

This west London town has its own character—and its own deadly criminal history—from the author of Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London.   Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths Around Uxbridge takes the reader on a sinister and sad journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy,...

The definitive investigation, “full of colorful details and sensational speculations—for those who enjoy whodunits with a bit of real history” (Book News).   For more than a hundred and twenty years, the identity of the Whitechapel murderer known to us as Jack the Ripper has both eluded us...

The author of The A-Z of London Murders delves into the long and storied past of South Yorkshire to reveal infamous crimes and killings.   Geoffrey Howse explores the darker and sinister side of South Yorkshire’s history in this diverse collection of true crime tales—from Victorian to modern...

The author of A History of London’s Prisons reveals the ugly criminal past of one of England’s most beautiful cities.   It hardly seems surprising that what has become England’s fourth city has within its rich history a sinister and darker side. Take a journey to discover cases of petty crime,...

The true story of the iconic teddy bear who became a beloved children’s book character and continues to inspire children around the world.   In this captivating biography, author Shirley Harrison follows the journey of Winnie-the-Pooh, the world’s most famous silly old bear, from his first appearance...

London’s most exclusive neighborhoods sit on sites of the some of the most sinister and scandalous crimes in British history.   Stories of violent death will always hold us in a grim but thrilling grip. The dreadful crimes related in Foul Deeds in Kensington & Chelsea are shocking examples...

Charles Manson, Aileen Wuornos, Burke & Hare, the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer, and other remorseless serial murderers whose crimes made history.   From Victorian era graveyards to a rented room in Paris to an isolated Indian farm and the California hills, the shocking murders collected...

“A useful and practical field guide” to finding delicious, indigenous edibles—full of color photos and including a forager’s calendar (The Countryman).   Long before there were convenient supermarkets, foraging for edible plants was as essential to survival as hunting and farming. For today’s...

The body snatcher who inspired Psycho, the noblewoman known as Countess Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and other killers for whom murder was just the beginning.   From Gilles de Rais’ castle in fifteenth-century France to “the Bloody Benders’” eighteenth-century Kansas farm to Jeffrey Dahmer’s...