Kirjahaku

The Scum of the Earth explores the common soldiers the Duke of Wellington angrily condemned as ‘scum’ for their looting at Vitoria, from their great victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 to their return home to a Regency Britain at war with itself. It follows men like James Graham, the Irishman hailed as the bravest man in the British Army for his heroic action in closing the north gate at Hougoumont, and fresh documentary evidence that he was forced to plead for charity because he was so poor; Francis Styles, who went to his grave claiming that he had captured the eagle that was credited to his superior officer; and John Lees, a spinner from Oldham who joined up at 15, braved shell and shot to deliver ammunition to the guns at Waterloo and was cut down four years later at the Peterloo Massacre by some of the cavalry with whom he served. All this is set against a backdrop of civil unrest on a scale unprecedented in British history.The Regency age is famous for its elegance, its exuberance, the industrial revolution that made Britain the powerhouse of Europe and the naval might that made it a global superpower. But it was also an age of riots and the fear that the mob would win control just as it had done in Paris. Britain came closer to bloody revolution than ever before or since, as ordinary men – including some of the men whom Wellington called the scum of the earth – took to the streets to fight for their voices to be heard in Parliament. The riots were put down by a series of repressive measures while Wellington stood like a bastion against the tide of history. He was defeated with the passage of the Great Reform Act in 1832.There is no one better placed to take a cold, hard look at the battle and its aftermath in order to save us from a bicentenary of misty-eyed backslapping than a former political editor with a reputation for myth busting. Colin Brown provides original research into the heroes of Waterloo and the myths that have clouded the real story.

From Socrates and the Sophists to Kant, from Augustine to Aquinas and the Reformers, Colin Brown traces the turbulent, often tension-filled, always fascinating story of the thinkers, ideas and movements that have shaped our intellectual landscape. Is philosophy the "handmaiden of faith" or "the doctrine of demons"? Does it clarify the faith or undermine the very heart of Christian belief?Brown writes, "This book is about the changes in preconceptions, world views and paradigms that have affected the ways in which people have thought about religion in general and Christianity in particular in the Western world. . . . It is a historical sketch, written to help students--and anyone else who might be interested--to get a better grasp of the love-hate relationship between philosophy and faith that has gone on for close to two thousand years."Students, pastors and thoughtful Christians will benefit from this rich resource. The first in a three-volume work, Brown's easy-to-read, hard-to-put-down introduction to Christianity and Western thought focuses on developments from the ancient world to the Age of Enlightenment.

Colin Brown surveys the thought of over four hundred philosophers from the Middle Ages to the present day. This clear and concise guide shows how various thinkers and ideas have affected Christian belief and brings together the lessons Christians can learn from philosophy.

At a time of emerging women leaders, the life of Elizabeth Milbanke, Viscountess Melbourne, the shrewdest political hostess of the Georgian period, is particularly intriguing. It was Byron who called her ‘Lady M’ and it was Byron’s tempestuous and very public affair with Elizabeth’s daughter-in-law Lady Caroline Lamb that was the scandal of the age. Lady M rose above all adversity, using sex and her husband’s wealth to hold court among such glittering figures as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the Whig leader and wit Charles James Fox and the playwright Sheridan. Her many lovers included Lord Egremont, Turner’s wealthy patron, and the future George IV. Elizabeth schemed on behalf of her children and her ambitions were realised when her son William Lamb (‘Lord M’) became the young Queen Victoria’s confidant and Prime Minister. Based upon primary research - diaries, archives and extensive correspondence between Lady M and Lord Byron - Colin Brown examines the Regency period and its pre-Victorian code of morals from the perspective of a powerful and influential woman on the 200th anniversary of her death.

This is the dramatic story of the death of the only English professional footballer deemed by law to have been murdered. A key member of Aston Villa's 1923 all-star team, Tommy Ball rose from the obscurity of Durham pit village football to play a starring role in the world's most famous team and was considered a likely future England international. His killer, Somerset man George Stagg, was a former soldier and policeman who became his landlord and neighbour. A difficult relationship culminated in their fateful meeting on the evening of Armistice Day in 1923. Sentenced to death in controversial circumstances, Stagg escaped the noose by the intervention of the country's first Labour Home Secretary. The exact circumstances of the shooting were never legally established and, for almost a century, have been the subject of considerable speculation. After diligent research, Colin Brown believes he may have the answers.

In one asy-to-read volume Colin Brown provides a sweeping survey of Christianity and Western thought from the ancient world to the Age of Enlightenment. Students, pastors and thoughtful Christians should benefit from this rich source that sketches the history of philosophers, ideas and movements that have influences and been influenced by Christian thought. From Socrates and the Sophists to Kant, from Augustine to Aquinas and the Reformers, Brown tells the often tension-filled story of the people and ideas that have shaped our intellectual landscape. Is philosophy the "handmaiden of faith" or "the doctrine of demons"? Does it clarify the fiath or undermine the very heart of what Christians believe? This volume is the first of a projected two-volume work that in its breadth and readability will make it a standard reference and text for years to come.

Did the longbow secure victory at Agincourt or are the English just better in mud? Did Queen Elizabeth I know the Armada had capitulated when she delivered one of the most inspiring speeches in all history? Where did Wellington meet his Waterloo? Was the vote to leave the European Union Britain’s modern Peasants’ Revolt? Colin Brown travels to the sites of some of the most significant events in British history to skewer inaccuracies embedded in popular parlance and reveal the truth behind the stories that make Britain great.

This succinct work of history charts the growth of Indonesia, a remarkable nation of more than 6,000 inhabited islands. With lucid originality, the text incorporates more than 2 million years of history with depth and brevity--particularly focusing on Indonesia's development into a microcosm of a multi-ethnic modern world. Many current concerns are perceptively addressed, such as the legacy of European-Asian trade, Dutch colonialism, and the emergence of what has become the largest Muslim population in the world.