Showing results by author "Simon Webb" in All Categories

A century before Britain became involved in this terrible business, whole villages and towns in European countries were being depopulated by slavers, who transported the men, women, and children to Africa, where they were sold. This is the forgotten slave trade, one which saw over a million Christians forced into captivity in the Muslim world. Starting 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.

Though he features in the first of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, Nicholas Flamel was a real person who lived in medieval Paris. Simon Webb's new book attempts to reconstruct his life, and also looks into the legends that have attached to his name over the centuries. Was he an alchemist, could he make gold from mercury, and are Nicholas and his wife Perenelle still alive after over six hundred years? Published by the Langley Press.

Historian, saint, scientist, monk and biblical scholar, the Venerable Bede was one of the most remarkable figures to come out of the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. Simon Webb's book gives an introduction to the life of this extraordinary man: an eighth-century Northumbrian whose works are still read throughout the world. Illustrated. For the paperback version of this book, please search Amazon for ISBN 978-0-9564551-2-3

A humble tailor and apple-grower from New Jersey, John Woolman became one of the leading voices against the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century. Simon Webb's highly accessible new biography takes a fresh look at the life of this inspirational figure.

Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women re-tells the stories of some of the most fascinating women in history and mythology, including Cleopatra, Medea and Dido, Queen of Carthage. This edition includes Simon Webb’s highly accessible prose translation, and an introduction which examines how this neglected work has been rediscovered as a key text for understanding the medieval view of women.

The Letter to the Governor of Barbados, written by ‘George Fox and others’ in 1671, continues to be a controversial document among Quakers. In this book, Simon Webb presents a complete version of the Letter, together with a detailed assessment of both the the Letter and Fox’s journey to Barbados. ‘The title makes the book sound like an Enid Blyton book, the latest of George’s adventures around the world. Such a series would be a fine idea if it is written in the same vivid way as this little book by Simon Webb’ Claire Marie White in The Friend For the print edition of this book,...

Born in Ukraine in 1879, Lev Davidovich Bronstein (known as Leon Trotsky) became one of the most significant figures in the crowded history of the twentieth century. Simon Webb’s biography, written after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, places particular emphasis on Trotsky as a Ukrainian, and sets his life against the background of Ukrainian, Russian and British history and culture, and the story of Russian colonialism.

Ruthless tyrant, nervous diplomat, victim of circumstance, or something else? The figure of Pontius Pilate has puzzled Bible readers for centuries. Simon Webb's new book takes a fresh look at our sources of information on Pilate, in the New Testament and beyond, and assesses what modern archaeology and historical research can tell us about the man who crucified Jesus.

In 2013 the bones of as many as twenty-nine young men and boys were discovered under a disused courtyard in Durham City. A team of experts later determined that these were the remains of some of the hundreds of Scottish prisoners of war who died in Durham Cathedral over three hundred and sixty years ago. Simon Webb's highly accessible new book offers an up-to-date account of the Dunbar Martyrs - so called because they were taken prisoner after the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. The book also follows the later history of some of the survivors, who were dispatched from Durham to new lives in the ...

A highly accessible biography of Elias Hicks, a nineteenth-century Quaker from Long Island who campaigned against slavery and was at the centre of some painful political developments among American Quakers. Revised and corrected edition.

'It was revealed to Eadmar, a devout monk, that Durham was to be Cuthbert's final resting-place.' Robert Hegge's 1624 book tells the story of St Cuthbert with humour, insight and accuracy. Simon Webb's highly accessible modern English version draws back the curtain on a masterpiece that has remained unpublished for 200 years. Illustrated. For the paperback version of this book, search Amazon for ISBN 9780954475963.

After Pope Clement IV died in 1268, the college of cardinals took nearly three years to elect a new pope. Simon Webb’s book investigates the longest papal conclave in history, revealing a tale of politics, intrigue and murder.

Courtier, scholar, politician and, finally, monk, Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator was a sixth-century Roman who tried to keep the ideal of civilization alive at a time when the empire he served was in its death-throes. Simon Webb’s book is the first new stand-alone biography of this fascinating figure to be published for over forty years.

An English Quaker from County Durham, in 1763 Jeremiah Dixon became the joint architect of one of the most important boundaries in history: the Mason-Dixon line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, which still marks the division between the North and the South in the United States. The author is a Quaker who lives near Dixon's home at Cockfield in County Durham, and his book offers unique insights into the life and achievements of 'Jerry the Astronomer'. Illustrated.

The Quakers were just one of the new religious groups that emerged during the turbulent seventeenth century in England. Patricia Brown and Simon Webb's new book looks at these groups from the female point of view, and compares the lives of early Quaker women with those of women from other sects. Illustrated. For the paperback version of this book, search Amazon for ISBN: 9780956925916.

The father of Marxism spent roughly half his life in the English capital. Simon Webb’s new book takes a fresh look at where and how he lived, who he knew and the effect the Victorian city had on himself and his family.

The tale of the 'Famous Lambton Worm' is the best-known of the many monster stories of the North of England. Simon Webb's book re-tells the story, speculates on its origins, and compares John Lambton's Worm to other local dragons such as the Sockburn Worm and the Laidley Worm of Spindlestone Heugh. Illustrated: includes the complete text of the Lambton Worm song. For the paperback version, please search Amazon for ISBN 978-0-9569259-0-9.

Based on the biography of Aelred written by his old friend Walter Daniel, Simon Webb’s new book tells the story of a much-loved Northern Saint. Abbot of Rievaulx in Yorkshire for some twenty years, and an important author in his own right, Aelred was one of the most inspiring characters of twelfth century Europe.

Join Oco as he uses his wit and his magic to locate his mischievous older brother. Will he find Ogun before he causes mayhem and havoc wherever he goes? Find out in A Spirits Tale: The Journey Begins.

'Dear Boss - I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they won't fix me just yet.' Was Jack the Ripper an American, or had he lived in the United States? Did he commit any of the Ripper-style murders carried out in the U.S. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Simon Webb's first non-fiction book about the Whitechapel killer re-tells the stories of the murders usually attributed to this mysterious figure, and re-examines the evidence surrounding a number of suspects with American connections.