Bøker av Tony Sullivan

In the early hours of 14th June 2017, a fire began in a kitchen on the fourth floor of a twenty-four-storey block of flats in West London. A fire that should have been contained within the original compartment ripped up the outside of the building within minutes. Procedures and systems that had worked for decades failed resulting in the loss of seventy-two lives. Yet this was not the first time a breakdown of compartmentation had caused a loss of life. Just eight years earlier, a fire at Lakanal House in South London had claimed the lives of six people. How then could this happen again? Nor was it just one failure as panels, inadequate fire-stopping, construction of the windows, failure of fire doors and the smoke ventilation system all contributed to the rapid fire spread. This book gives a firefighter's perspective of the deregulation that caused the tragedy and describes what firefighters were confronted with that June night in 2017. It places that deregulation chronologically alongside a career that spanned three decades including nine years in the training department of the London Fire Brigade. It proposes the causes are far deeper and wider than many think. A systemic deterioration of standards in testing of materials, building control, maintenance, inspections, fire safety and enforcement.

To anyone scanning the sea from the southern coast of Britain in the year 43 AD, the sight of hundreds of ships appearing one by one as dots on the horizon would have filled them with awe and dread. On a leading warship, a hundred and twenty oarsmen heaved at their work as one of the four legionary legates scanned the cliff tops expecting to see them lined with warriors as Julius Caesar had described nearly a hundred years before. Vespasian would lead the Second Augusta in the initial invasion and in a remarkable campaign across southern Britain, capturing a score of strongholds, oppida, such as the formidable Maiden Castle, along the way.His career later suffered from the intrigues of court politics during the reign of Nero, at one point making the near-fatal mistake of falling asleep during one of the emperor's artistic performances. Vespasian's fortunes were revived by the outbreak of revolt in Judea.Thus Vespasian found himself in the right place at the right time commanding a vast battle-hardened victorious army as the empire descended into civil war and chaos. The year 68-69 became known as 'The Year of the Four Emperors' as, after Nero's suicide, Galba, Otho and Vitellius seized the throne in quick succession. When Vitellius emerged as the victor Vespasian took his chance.It would prove a pivotal moment in Rome's history, stabilizing the political and economic situation, and establishing the Flavian dynasty.

King Arthur and the Battle for Britannia is the last in a series of three books. The first, King Arthur: Man or Myth, weighed the evidence for and against a historical figure. The second, The Battles of King Arthur, looked in detail at the famous battle list from the Historia Brittonum. Having looked at the questions of whether and where, this final book takes on the different question of who was Arthur? The book is intended to save readers time and money wading through the scores of competing theories. It explains the problems with many of these theories to date, their failure to gain widespread support and why many historians remain sceptical about the existence of a historical Arthur.There is however a reasonable consistency in medieval genealogies and a good reason why Arthur does not appear in any of the list of kings of early kingdoms. Instead he is placed in the context of a fragmenting post-Roman provincial structure, alongside the emergence of petty kingdoms with new cultural identities. A heroic Brythonic culture in the west and north and a Germanic culture in the east and south.The book looks at the evolution of the legend comparing the chivalric French Romances with the Arthur of the darker Welsh tradition. A mythical figure may have emerged from the mead halls and war band culture of the sixth century. However the book describes how a historical figure may have been mythologized and who such a warrior may have been.

Gives a unique take on the history of Roman Britain covering the Emperors, usurpers and tyrants who set foot in Britain.

The first book detailing the history of the Sixth Legion in Britain.

The book takes a new look at the archaeological and literary evidence and focuses on the fragmenting Diocese, provincial and civitas structures of post-Roman Britain.

Demonstrates that some of the battles can be located. Describes the provincial and political fragmentation of the fifth century. Details the emergence of new cultural identities including that of the war-band. Places Arthur in a more realistic historical context. Concludes with a new theory as to what sort of man Arthur was and the battles he fought.

Covers a fascinating period of Roman history from the stability and competence of Marcus Aurelius to the chaos after Commodus. From a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust as the contemporary Cassius Did described it.

The book is an investigation of the evidence for King Arthur based on the earliest written sources rather than later myths and legends.