Bøker av Timothy Venning

In contrast to most of Scotland, the north-western coast and the islands beyond were a region of mixed political control as well as culture into the sixteenth century. The divergent influences of Celtic and Scandinavian culture were more marked here than in the evolving mainland kingdom of Scots. It was a physically remote region of substantial autonomy under its own dynasties. Timothy Venning explores the whole of the lordship of the Isles at its widest extent, under Somerled MacGillebride (ruled c. 1130-64), encompassing the kingdom of Man during its independent history, plus the mainland domains of Somerled's family in the western Highlands. He also covers the jarldom of Orkney, a Scandinavian lordship divided between involvement in and allegiance to Scotland and Norway until the later fifteenth century. This book traces the complex story of the kings and lesser lords who ruled the region and the continuing autonomy of the area's clans until the catastrophe of 1745-46 when those clans loyal to their traditional sovereigns were decimated for backing the Stuart invasion. The London government then suppressed an entire culture. The story shows the dynamics of a richly varied world alien to centralised modern Britain.

The Anglo-Saxon era is one of the most important in English history, covering the period from the end of Roman authority in the British Isles to the Norman Conquest of 1066 in which the very idea of England was born. In The Kings& Queens of Anglo-Saxon England, Venning examines the rulers of Anglo-Saxon England, beginning with the legendary leaders of the Anglo-Saxon invasion as Hengest and Horsa or Cerdic and Cynric and moving on through such figures as Aethelbert of Kent, the first king to be converted to Christianity and his daughter Aethelburh, whose marriage began the conversion of Northumbria, to Alfred of Wessex and his dynasty, the Viking invasions, and the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, Harold Godwineson.

This is not a success story but one of transition and ultimate fall. It is detailed, hugely researched, full of action, peronality, and a vivid narrative of political struggle for imperial power as Roman Emperor. It is especially impresive on the role of women, the tangled personal lives, of the elite family competition. And all against the backdrop of transition and decline. But struggle and competition take the Roman Empire and its agents, military and civil, to action on a global scale, to extreme northern Europe, Europe, the Balkaons, Near and Middle East, South and East Asia, Africa and even fringes of (later) America. And all to defend or extend imperial interest. But defence against declne is always presnent and a consant plea is for 'Something to be done' to keep the show on the road. The actual history is set out in brief with the time lines, original Original Time Lines (OTL). Here is the changing and struggling Empire with Western and Eastern Empires and emperors and popes, and Catholic and Orthordox churches, and with theology, philosophy and culture emerging from a Classical world . The list of emperors and empresses runs from AD 496-950 - from mid-empire to imperial evening and fall.

An alternative history of success rather than decline anf fall. The actual history is set out and the alternative history with Old Time Lines (OTL) for reference. It is a vivid narrative, deeply researched, full of events and people, great and minor igur6es who come to life. It is a story of division and controversy concerning imperial and dynastic ambition and struggle, often caustic family relationships, cultural and religious disputes with surviving paganism and the classical philosophy of Neo-Platonism, and exandng Christianity in church and state in both Empires. The Empires are expanding in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Division and crisis is followed by restoration, more division but finally re-unification.

Continuing his exploration of the alternative paths that British history might so easily have taken, Timothy Venning turns his attention to the Hundred Years War between England and France.

A revisionist history showing a gradual build-up of opposition and a drift to conflict which few expected or wanted. And this was despite growing Stuart absolutism, threats to Parliament and the accepted civil order and religious controversy. It is forensic study, full of fascinating and even unexpected details, principal actors come to life and readers will feel involved in an existential crisis of the British state(s).The study of the three Kingdoms covers the major themes of religious dispute with Laud, Wentworth and Strafford - towering figures - church reform, 'godly' religions and explosion of 'news' and pamphlets, the King and Lords and Commons, the Queen's, often suspect influence, King Charles' absolutism and rigidity, and iconic events like the Grand Remonstance, arrest of the Five Members, Charles' departure from London and the raising of the Royal Standard for war.

A collection of royal mysteries of the Tudor period.

A collection of royal mysteries from the Stuart and Georgian Periods.

For a medieval English king, delegation was a necessary evil; and nowhere more necessary - nor more potentially disastrous - than on the Anglo-Welsh borders. The Marcher lords first empowered by William I were relied upon by subsequent Norman and Plantagenet kings to protect the dangerous frontiers of the realm. In Wales, as in Ireland, the smaller size and military weakness of divided neighbouring states encouraged conquest, with the seized lands enhancing the power of the aggressive English lords. They were granted ever greater authority by the monarch, to the point where they believed they ruled like kings. They intermarried, schemed for extra lands and snatched power in a complex and often violent political process. Owing to their resources and unparalleled military effectiveness, they soon came to overawe kings and dominate national events. The strength of the Marcher lords would come to the fore at numerous times in the nation's history in the shape of notorious figures such as Simon de Montfort and Roger Mortimer. The civil war of King Stephen's reign, the baronial resistance to King John, the overthrow of Edward II and Richard II; all of these crises turned upon the involvement of the lords of the Marches. Timothy Venning explores their mentality and reveals the dramatic careers both of those who prospered from their loyalty to the king and those whose power was gained by treachery - from the Norman Conquest to the beginnings of the Tudor dynasty.

This book completes the series of studies of the 'British Revolution of the Three Kingdoms of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland' and covers the period from the fall of the 'failed state' and Protectorate in 1657 to the restoration of the Stuart monarchy.

Royal mysteries never fail to intrigue readers and TV viewers. The 'mysteries', unravelled and analysed, are of enduring fascination and full of tragedy, suffering and pathos but also heroism and romance.

Based on latest historical research and authentic sources, historiography, archaeology and DNA evidence, this book is a collection l of wonderful stories full of human pathos. tragedy, heroism and romance.

Explores how the survival of Rome might have altered world history.

Continues a series that has received good reviews. Fascinating discussion of plausible what if scenarios grounded in real history

The Compendium of British Office Holders provides a comprehensive guide to holders of British Political, Administrative, Military and Ecclesiastical offices since the Roman conquest, giving names, dates and the length offices were held for governmental positions.

The kingdom of Scots was the last of the non-Anglo-Saxon states of Britain to survive as a political entity. Alone of the 'Celtic' nations, it was not absorbed into England by conquest. James VI of Scotland came to the throne of England in 1603, and when union with England finally came in 1707 during the reign of Queen Anne, it was technically on equal terms. This success owed much to the abilities and tenacity of a succession of rulers. The story of the rulers of Scotland's constituent states and then of the united kingdom of Scots from Kenneth MacAlpin onwards is complex and often violent. It is full of rapid reversals of fortune, brilliant and incompetent leadership, family strife, and triumph and tragedy closely intertwined. The obscure earlier history is often as fascinating as the better-known stories of the Bruce and Queen Mary, though less familiar. This saga of a thousand years is a tribute to the qualities of Scotland's rulers.

The Welsh kings and queens who ruled prior to the Norman Conquest of Wales are shrouded in mystery. Most of what we know is from legend, names in annals, and from their opponents. This book sets out to identify what we know or can reasonably surmise about these rulers, to disentangle their history, and to assess their achievements. The Welsh ruled over large areas of Britain in the pre- and post- Roman eras, before they were pushed back into Wales itself by the Anglo-Saxons. Caratacus and Boudicca are names that stand out from early tribal states, and medieval Welsh legends refer to shadowy 'High Kings' who ruled after the Romans left - Vortigern, Ambrosius, and, of course, the enigmatic 'Arthur'. Venning explores these mysterious figures before discussing the kings and queens of each area of what we now know as Wales - the north, the centre and south-west, and the south-east - as well as the short-lived Welsh states in the rest of Britain. The thirteenth-century unifiers of Wales, Llywelyn 'Fawr' and his grandson Llywelyn 'the Last', were contemporaries of great nation-builders in England, Scotland, and France, but their political achievements did not last. The precarious Welsh state was permanently overrun by the English war machine.

The Compendium of British Office Holders provides a comprehensive guide to holders of British Political, Administrative, Military and Ecclesiastical offices since the Roman conquest, giving names, dates and the length offices were held for governmental positions.