Charles Spencer

The sinking of the White Ship is one of the greatest disasters in English history. Here, Sunday Times bestselling author Charles Spencer tells the real story behind the legend to show how one cataclysmic shipwreck changed England's course. In 1120, the White Ship was known as the fastest ship afloat. When it sank sailing from Normandy to England it was carrying aboard the only legitimate heir to King Henry I, William of Atheling. The raucous, arrogant young prince had made a party of the voyage, carousing with his companions and pushing wine into the eager hands of the crew. It was the middle of the night when the drunken helmsman rammed the ship into rocks. The next day only one of the three hundred who had boarded the ship was alive to describe the horrors of the slow shipwreck. William, the face of England's future had drowned along with scores of the social elite. The royal line severed and with no obvious heir to the crown, a civil war of untold violence erupted. Known fittingly as 'The Anarchy', this game of thrones saw families turned in on each other, with English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders and Scottish invaders all playing a part in the bloody, desperate scrum for power. One incredible shipwreck and two decades of violent uncertainty; England's course had changed forever.

The White Ship

Examines the lives of the men who signed Charles I's death warrant and the far-reaching consequences for them, those present at the trial, and England itself.

The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

Killers of the King

How did the most wanted man in the country outwit the greatest manhunt in British history?

To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape

‘A terrific book ... written like a thriller ... Once you start reading it you’re completely gripped’ BILL BRYSON ‘A brilliant read ... Spencer has a real facility for getting these characters to leap fully formed from the page. I’m loving every word of it ... Game of Thrones but in the real world’ Anthony Horowitz

The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream

A Very Private School

How did the most wanted man in the country outwit the greatest manhunt in British history? In January 1649, King Charles I was beheaded in London outside his palace of Whitehall and Britain became a republic. When his eldest son, Charles, returned in 1651 to fight for his throne, he was crushed by the might of Cromwell's armies at the battle of Worcester. With 3,000 of his supporters lying dead and 10,000 taken prisoner, it seemed as if his dreams of power had been dashed. Surely it was a foregone conclusion that he would now be caught and follow his father to the block? At six foot two inches tall, the prince towered over his contemporaries and with dark skin inherited from his French-Italian mother, he stood out in a crowd. How would he fare on the run with Cromwell's soldiers on his tail and a vast price on his head? The next six weeks would form the most memorable and dramatic of Charles' life. Pursued relentlessly, Charles ran using disguise, deception and relying on grit, fortitude and good luck. He suffered grievously through weeks when his cause seemed hopeless. He hid in an oak tree - an event so fabled that over 400 English pubs are named Royal Oak in commemoration. Less well-known events include his witnessing a village in wild celebrations at the erroneous news of his killing; the ordeal of a medical student wrongly imprisoned because of his similarity in looks; he disguised himself as a servant and as one half of an eloping couple. Once restored to the throne as Charles II, he told the tale of his escapades to Samuel Pepys, who transcribed it all. In this gripping, action-packed, true adventure story, based on extensive archive material, Charles Spencer, bestselling author of Killers of the King, uses Pepys's account and many others to retell this epic adventure.

Charles II's Great Escape

To Catch a King

Memoirs of an English Art Critic in Greece

Charliko in Greece--

Portly showbiz writer Will Benson has left Theatre World for the loucher but less life-threatening environment of soft-porn publishing. Now settled down in connubial bliss with the lovely Kim, life, it seems is a bed of roses. But certain aspects of his marriage necessitate the occasional visit to 'a tart with a heart' in Pimlico . . . and on one such visit Will finds the man ahead of him in the queue has overstepped the mark, to say the least, and Will once again is forced into the role of reluctant private eye . . .

Full Personal Service

From the bestselling author Charles Spencer, a brilliant insider’s history of the Spencer family.

The Spencer Family

Romain de Tirtoff 1892-1990

Erté

Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream

The definitive history of one of England’s greatest houses: Althorp, where for five hundred years the Spencer family have made their home.

Althorp: The Story of an English House

How two men brought about the defeat of Louis XIV's previously unbeaten army and saved Europe from French domination - A Sunday Times Bestseller By the summer of 1704 Louis XIV's vast armies dominated Europe. France defeated every alliance formed against her and Louis was poised to extend his frontier to the Rhine and install a French prince on the throne of Spain. Two men saved Europe from French military domination: the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Marlborough masterminded a brilliant campaign, working with Eugene to surprise the French invaders inside Germany. The rival armies clashed in August and the hitherto unbeaten French were utterly destroyed. Blenheim was a major turning point in European history. Charles Spencer's narrative is drawn from original sources and moves seamlessly from the deliberations of Kings and princes to the frontline soldiers. This is the battle that creates the enduring reputation of the British redcoat and shatters the image of the 'Sun King' and his mighty army.

Battle for Europe

Blenheim

Gillian Ayres ... Llewellyn Xavier

Alecto International

For Will Benson, life on Theatre World has its compensations, although they are mostly to be found in the nicely rounded shape of Kim, the chief sub-editor. But there are drawbacks, too: the Wednesday morning hangovers after the Tuesday night sessions at the typesetters; stroppy Martha, receptionist from hell; Colin the odious star reporter; having to review fat-headed avant-garde productions of Romeo and Juliet in smelly Cambden Town basements. And, of course, the death threats. Somewhere out there is Will's own personal psychotic, who is really very displeased with him, and pretty handy with a crossbow into the bargain. It's not all that easy to work out who it is, either, as the list of candidates starts to grow alarmingly. Does getting drunk and handing your girlfriend a few home truths really warrant this kind of reaction? Or stumbling on a loudmouth comic's dirty little secret? In his amateurish attempts to stay alive Will lumbers from posh West End crush bars to suburban roadhouses, where they hold Talent Nites and wet T-shirt contests, from the antiseptic pleasures of the Docklands Light Railway to the wild thrills of the Big Dipper, while Kim turns out to be helpful in all sorts of amusing and stimulating ways. Fast-paced and funny, with a vivid sense of place and sharply drawn characters, I Nearly Died is Charles Spencer's vastly entertaining debut novel.

I Nearly Died

Cecil Beaton, Stage and Film Designs

André Theo Aart Volten

Antje von Graevenitz

André Volten

Oeuvre Grave, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery Wales, Museum of Modern Art, Delhi, Leicester City Art Gallery, 1979

Charles Spencer

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