Simon Webb

The White European Slaves of Islam

Forgotten Slave Trade

In the last few decades, steampunk has blossomed from being a rather obscure and little-known subgenre of science fiction into a striking and distinctive style of fashion, art, design and even music. It is in the written word however that steampunk has its roots and in this book Simon Webb explores and examines the real inventions which underpin the fantasy. In doing so, he reveals a world unknown to most people today. The Real World of Victorian Steampunk shows the Victorian era to have been a surprising place; one of steam-powered aeroplanes, fax machines linking Moscow and St Petersburg, steam cars travelling at over 100 mph, electric taxis and wireless telephones. It is, in short, the nineteenth century as you have never before seen it; a steampunk extravaganza of anachronistic technology and unfamiliar gadgets. Imagine Europe spanned by a mechanical internet; a telecommunication system of clattering semaphore towers capable of transmitting information across the continent in a matter of minutes. Consider too, the fact that a steam plane the size of a modern airliner took off in England in 1894. Drawing entirely on contemporary sources, we see how little-known developments in technology have been used as the basis for so many steampunk narratives. From seminal novels such as The Difference Engine, through to the steampunk fantasy of Terry Pratchett's later works, this book shows that steampunk is at least as much solid fact as it is whimsical fiction.

Steam Planes and Radiophones

The Real World of Victorian Steampunk

Judicial hanging is regarded by many as being the quintessential British execution. However, many other methods of capital punishment have been used in this country; ranging from burning, beheading, and shooting to crushing and boiling to death. Execution explores these types of executions in detail. Readers may be surprised to learn that a means of mechanical decapitation, the Halifax Gibbet, was being used in England five hundred years before the guillotine was invented. Boiling to death was a prescribed means of execution in this country during the Tudor period. From the public death by starvation of those gibbeted alive, to the burning of women for petit treason, this book examines some of the most gruesome passages of British history. This carefully researched, well-illustrated, and enthralling text will appeal to those interested in the history of British executions.

A History of Capital Punishment in Britain

Execution

Unearthing London reveals the almost-forgotten ritual landscape which lies hidden beneath the streets of the modern capital. It is the city nobody knows, a vast and intricate network of hilltop shrines, tracks, sacred rivers, mounds, ditches, enclosures and manmade hills, all well over 2000 years old. This prehistoric landscape, moulded and shaped by early men and women, determined the position of landmarks such as St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. However, it has not been completely obliterated by the concrete and tarmac of the modern city, and Simon Webb traces the forgotten history of the capital to explore what remains of these early sites. He also examines the religious beliefs and mythology of the pre-Roman area which became London and looks at how the legends tie in with the various ancient features of the city. The book also features a guide to walking the ritual landscape today - routes that take in both twenty-first century architecture and ancient mystery. Whether a lifelong Londoner or a curious visitor, Unearthing London will reveal things you never knew about the global city.

The Ancient World Beneath the Metropolis

Unearthing London

Thousands of children in the UK and millions in the USA are educated at home by their parents. The book presents an overview of the phenomenon of elective home education in the United Kingdom, contrasting it with the situation in the USA. It examines the history of the practice and discusses why more and more parents are choosing not to send their children to school.

Elective Home Education

Everybody knows about the transatlantic slave trade, which saw black Africans snatched from their homes, taken across the Atlantic Ocean and then sold into slavery. However, a century before Britain became involved in this terrible business, whole villages and towns in England, Ireland, Italy, Spain and other European countries were being depopulated by slavers, who transported the men, women and children to Africa where they were sold to the highest bidder. This is the forgotten slave trade; one which saw over a million Christians forced into captivity in the Muslim world. Starting with the practice of slavery in the ancient world, Simon Webb traces the history of slavery in Europe, showing that the numbers involved were vast and that the victims were often treated far more cruelly than black slaves in America and the Caribbean. Castration, used very occasionally against black slaves taken across the Atlantic, was routinely carried out on an industrial scale on European boys who were exported to Africa and the Middle East. Most people are aware that the English city of Bristol was a major center for the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century, but hardly anyone knows that 1,000 years earlier it had been an important staging-post for the transfer of English slaves to Africa. Reading this book will forever change how you view the slave trade and show that many commonly held beliefs about this controversial subject are almost wholly inaccurate and mistaken.

The Forgotten Slave Trade

What was it like being a teenager in a world without computers, smartphones, DVD players, games consoles or the Internet? Imagine a time when sharing music meant taking a record round to your friend's house; when making a quick phone call could involve queuing outside a red telephone box! This book looks at the fads and fashions, music, hobbies and TV programmes which defined the '70s for many youngsters. If you remember riding a chopper, reading Jackie during the 'Winter of Discontent' or watching the Bay City Rollers on Top of the Pops during the long, hot summer of 1976; this book is for you. A 1970s Teenager is a nostalgic and colourful account of what it was like to be young in the most exciting decade of all!

From Bell-Bottoms to Disco Dancing

A 1970s Teenager

Taking you through the year day by day, The Colchester Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of Britain's oldest recorded town. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Colchester's archives, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

The Colchester Book of Days

This book tells the fascinating story of the origin of our ideas about wizards, witches and fairies. We all have a clear mental image of the pointed hats worn by such individuals, which are based upon actual headgear dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age. Carefully sifting through old legends, archaeological evidence and modern research in genetics, Simon Webb shows us how our notions about fairies and elves, together with human workers of magic, have evolved over the centuries. This exploration of folklore, backed by the latest scientific findings, will present readers with the image of a lost world; the one used as the archetype for fantasy adventures from The Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones. In the process, the real nature of wizards will be revealed and their connection with the earliest European cultures thoroughly documented. After reading this book, nobody will ever be able to view Gandalf the wizard in the same light and even old fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast will take on a richer and deeper meaning. In short, our perception of wizards, witches and fairies will be altered forever.

The Origins of Wizards, Witches and Fairies

Judicial hanging is regarded by many as being the quintessentially British execution. However, many other methods of capital punishment have been used in this country; ranging from burning, beheading and shooting to crushing and boiling to death. This book explores these types of execution in detail. Readers may be surprised to learn that a means of mechanical decapitation, the Halifax Gibbet, was being used in England five hundred years before the guillotine was invented. Boiling to death was a prescribed means of execution in this country during the Tudor period. From the public death by starvation of those gibbeted alive, to the burning of women for petit treason, this book examines some of the most gruesome passages of British history.

This book relates a chapter of American military history which many people would rather forget. When the United States came to the aid of Britain in 1942, the arrival of American troops was greeted with unreserved enthusiasm, but unfortunately, wartime sometimes brings out the worst, as well as the best, in people. A small number of the soldiers abused the hospitality they received by committing murders and rapes against British civilians. Some of these men were hanged or shot at Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset, which had been handed over for the use of the American armed forces. Due to a treaty between Britain and America, those accused of such offences faced an American court martial, rather than a British civilian court, which gave rise to some curious anomalies. Although rape had not been a capital crime in Britain for over a century, it still carried the death penalty under American military law and so the last executions for rape in Britain were carried out at this time in Shepton Mallet. Fighting For the United States, Executed in Britain tells the story of every American soldier executed in Britain during the Second World War. The majority of the executed soldiers were either black or Hispanic, reflecting the situation in the United States itself, where the ethnicity of the accused person often played a key role in both convictions and the chances of subsequently being executed.

US Soldiers Court-Martialled in WWII

Fighting for the United States, Executed in Britain

When blind runner Simon Webb was training for his first marathon in London 2011, aware that he wouldn't be able to pass the time during the race by admiring the sights of the city, he researched a few facts about some of the points of interest around the 26.2 mile course.Using the route which has changed little since its first running in 1981 and which has been completed by over 800,000 people, this book focuses on London's history, culture and sport, famous and not so famous landmarks, people and pubs – lots of pubs. From climbing the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster, which houses Big Ben, to going underground into what the Victorians branded the 8th Wonder of the World, better known as the former entry hall to the Brunel Tunnel in Rotherhithe, this book is as much an alternative tour guide to London as a sport book.During every mile there are stories to tell and reflect on: the location for England's first home rugby international on Blackheath, the restoration of the Cutty Sark after a devastating fire, the Deptford pub which hosted early gigs for Squeeze and Dire Straits and how the Chinese in Limehouse gained literary notoriety.When it does focus on running, we learn how it feels to run when you can't see, what the guide runner experience is like and are left in no doubt that 'hitting the wall' is no fun at all.“What Simon has achieved is incredible. His story is truly compelling.” Michael Dobbs, author of House of Cards

An Alternative View of the London Marathon

Running Blind

Many British baby boomers are very nostalgic about a supposed golden age; a vanished world when children were generally freer, happier and healthier than they are now. They wandered about all day; only returning home at teatime when they were hungry. Nobody worried about health and safety or 'stranger danger' in those days and no serious harm ever befell children as a result.In Post-War Childhood, Simon Webb examines the facts and figures behind the myth of children's carefree lives in the post-war years, finding that such things as the freedom to roam the streets and fields came at a terrible price. In 1965, for example, despite there being far fewer cars in Britain, 45 times as many children were knocked down and killed on the roads as now die in this way each year.Simon Webb presents a 'warts and all' portrait of British childhood in the years following the end of the Second World War. He demonstrates that contrary to popular belief, it was by any measure a far more hazardous and less pleasant time to be a child, than is the case in the twenty-first century.

Growing Up in the Not-So-Friendly 'Baby Boomer' Years

Post-War Childhood

In the last few decades, steampunk has blossomed from being a rather obscure and little-known subgenre of science fiction into a striking and distinctive style of fashion, art, design and even music. It is in the written word however that steampunk has its roots and in this book Simon Webb explores and examines the real inventions which underpin the fantasy. In doing so, he reveals a world unknown to most people today. The Real World of Victorian Steampunk shows the Victorian era to have been a surprising place; one of steam-powered airplanes, fax machines linking Moscow and St Petersburg, steam cars traveling at over 100 mph, electric taxis and wireless telephones. It is, in short, the nineteenth century as you have never before seen it; a steampunk extravaganza of anachronistic technology and unfamiliar gadgets. Imagine Europe spanned by a mechanical internet; a telecommunication system of clattering semaphore towers capable of transmitting information across the continent in a matter of minutes. Consider too, the fact that a steam plane the size of a modern airliner took off in England in 1894. Drawing entirely on contemporary sources, we see how little-known developments in technology have been used as the basis for so many steampunk narratives. From seminal novels such as The Difference Engine, through to the steampunk fantasy of Terry Pratchett’s later works, this book shows that steampunk is at least as much solid fact as it is whimsical fiction.

Steam Planes & Radiophones

The London Blitz and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are iconic myths for Britain and America. Few in either nation realise, however, that these artfully constructed narratives of heroic resistance to aerial bombardment both conceal appalling massacres of their own citizens. In Britain, thousands of civilians were killed when the army shelled London and other cities in an effort to prevent those living there from fleeing the German bombs. At Pearl Harbor, American warships fired their heavy guns at the city of Honolulu, with devastating results. In this book, Simon Webb reveals one of the last secrets of the Second World War; the casualties which ‘friendly fire’ from heavy artillery inflicted upon British and American civilians. In the case of the British, these deaths were part of a quite deliberate policy which was devised to ensure that those living in big cities remained there, despite the dangers of enemy bombing. There were times during the German bombing of London when more people were being killed by British shells than were dying as a result of enemy bombs. Although this book traces the history of bombing and anti-aircraft guns from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, through to the First World War, its chief concern is with the events of the Second World War; particularly the Blitz. Nobody reading this book will ever view Pearl Harbor or the Blitz in quite the same way again.

Uncovering the Civilian Deaths from Friendly Fire

Secret Casualties of World War Two

H. G. Wells

Vincent Smith

Over twenty-two centuries ago, Ashoka Maurya, lord of a vast Indian empire, won a crushing victory in war. Filled with remorse, he embraced compassion, and tried to build a Buddhist utopia throughout India and beyond.The Book of Ashoka is intended as a source-book, reader and introduction to this unique historical figure. Simon Webb's introductions to the various sections tell the story of the re-discovery of Ashoka by nineteenth-century European colonisers, and explore the lasting significance of Ashoka for modern Indians.Published by the Langley Press

Warrior Prince to Emperor of Peace

The Book of Ashoka

For many of us, the very expression Concentration Camp is inextricably linked to Nazi Germany and the horrors of the Holocaust. The idea of British concentration camps is a strange and unsettling one. It was however the British, rather than the Germans, who were the chief driving force behind the development and use of concentration camps in the Twentieth Century.The operation by the British army of concentration camps during the Boer War led to the deaths of tens of thousands of children from starvation and disease. More recently, slave-labourers confined in a nationwide network of camps played an integral role in Britains post-war prosperity. In 1947, a quarter of the countrys agricultural workforce were prisoners in labour camps.Not only did the British government run their own concentration camps, they willingly acquiesced in the setting up of such establishments in the United Kingdom by other countries. During and after the Second World War, the Polish government-in-exile maintained a number of camps in Scotland where Jews, communists and homosexuals were imprisoned and sometimes killed.This book tells the terrible story of Britains involvement in the use of concentration camps, which did not finally end until the last political prisoners being held behind barbed wire in the United Kingdom were released in 1975. From England to Cyprus, Scotland to Malaya, Kenya to Northern Ireland; British Concentration Camps; A Brief History from 1900 to 1975 details some of the most shocking and least known events in British history.

A Brief History from 1900–1975

British Concentration Camps

One of the most influential books on chess ever published now in digital format. The Tiger is a vicious beast. He doesnt care about the aesthetic side of chess. He doesnt even care about making the best moves. All he cares about is winning. Do you want to win more games? Then become a Tiger. 'Chess for Tigers' tells you how to make the most of your playing strength, how to play upon your opponents weaknesses, how to steer the game into a position which suits you and not your opponent, how to get results against strong opposition and how to avoid silly mistakes. This is a cult classic that is as relevant to today's generation of chess players as the first edition was. Regularly voted in the top 10 best chess books of all time, this book should be read by all chess players, especially beginners who want to win at all costs. Author Information Mr Webb started to make an impact on the chess world in the 1960s. He learned the game at the age of seven and ten years later, in 1966, he was under-18 champion in Britain and fourth in the European junior Championship. He married and moved to Sweden in the 1970s and became one of the few correspondence chess Grand Masters. The first edition of Chess for Tigers was first published in 1978. The sad death of Simon Webb in March 2005 shocked the chess community.

Simon Webb

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