Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them
Lessons from History is a joyful romp through the obscurest parts of the past. The annals have been scoured for overlooked figures and events that nonetheless made an impact, and within these pages they are brought hilariously and often poignantly back to life.

Alex Deane began tweeting about quirky tales as a distraction from the monotony of lockdown. Now with over 2 million views online, the #deanehistory stories are a social media sensation. These tongue-in-cheek tales about eccentricity and endeavour have been comprehensively reworked and expanded for this book – which also contains many new neglected stories from the past.

It will introduce you to figures as diverse as Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France, who died fighting for the British Army in South Africa; Stanislav Petrov, who, sat in his control bunker in Moscow, fatefully ignored his faulty computer’s advance warning of nuclear attack and thereby saved the world; James Barry, who, despite being born Margaret Ann Bulkley at a time when women were barred from university, became a highly skilled surgeon and the UK’s first female-born doctor; and Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, the first person to raise the alarm about Ebola, who played a vital role in containing the disease and paid the price by losing her life.

The book also tells the story of obscure but remarkable events, such as the Aroostook War (also known as the Pork and Beans War), the Houlton Airlift, the Texel Rebellion and the Day of the Tiles. Readers will even be transported to the tiny Greek city state of Plataea in its heyday, before learning about its terrible fate.

1139371900
Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them
Lessons from History is a joyful romp through the obscurest parts of the past. The annals have been scoured for overlooked figures and events that nonetheless made an impact, and within these pages they are brought hilariously and often poignantly back to life.

Alex Deane began tweeting about quirky tales as a distraction from the monotony of lockdown. Now with over 2 million views online, the #deanehistory stories are a social media sensation. These tongue-in-cheek tales about eccentricity and endeavour have been comprehensively reworked and expanded for this book – which also contains many new neglected stories from the past.

It will introduce you to figures as diverse as Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France, who died fighting for the British Army in South Africa; Stanislav Petrov, who, sat in his control bunker in Moscow, fatefully ignored his faulty computer’s advance warning of nuclear attack and thereby saved the world; James Barry, who, despite being born Margaret Ann Bulkley at a time when women were barred from university, became a highly skilled surgeon and the UK’s first female-born doctor; and Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, the first person to raise the alarm about Ebola, who played a vital role in containing the disease and paid the price by losing her life.

The book also tells the story of obscure but remarkable events, such as the Aroostook War (also known as the Pork and Beans War), the Houlton Airlift, the Texel Rebellion and the Day of the Tiles. Readers will even be transported to the tiny Greek city state of Plataea in its heyday, before learning about its terrible fate.

22.99 In Stock
Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them

Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them

by Alex Deane
Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them

Lessons From History: Hidden heroes and villains of the past, and what we can learn from them

by Alex Deane

Hardcover

$22.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 2-4 days.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

Lessons from History is a joyful romp through the obscurest parts of the past. The annals have been scoured for overlooked figures and events that nonetheless made an impact, and within these pages they are brought hilariously and often poignantly back to life.

Alex Deane began tweeting about quirky tales as a distraction from the monotony of lockdown. Now with over 2 million views online, the #deanehistory stories are a social media sensation. These tongue-in-cheek tales about eccentricity and endeavour have been comprehensively reworked and expanded for this book – which also contains many new neglected stories from the past.

It will introduce you to figures as diverse as Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France, who died fighting for the British Army in South Africa; Stanislav Petrov, who, sat in his control bunker in Moscow, fatefully ignored his faulty computer’s advance warning of nuclear attack and thereby saved the world; James Barry, who, despite being born Margaret Ann Bulkley at a time when women were barred from university, became a highly skilled surgeon and the UK’s first female-born doctor; and Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, the first person to raise the alarm about Ebola, who played a vital role in containing the disease and paid the price by losing her life.

The book also tells the story of obscure but remarkable events, such as the Aroostook War (also known as the Pork and Beans War), the Houlton Airlift, the Texel Rebellion and the Day of the Tiles. Readers will even be transported to the tiny Greek city state of Plataea in its heyday, before learning about its terrible fate.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781785907104
Publisher: Biteback Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date: 05/10/2022
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 5.25(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alex Deane is a former Conservative Party aide and a non-practising barrister. He is a regular commentator on political events on UK and international news channels. A partner in a global business consultancy based in the Square Mile, he was for some time a local councillor until he received some extremely robust advice from his electorate.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte 1

Chapter 2 Lord Haw-Haw's Capture 3

Chapter 3 John the Blind 5

Chapter 4 Payne Best and the Venlo Incident 7

Chapter 5 Plataea 12

Chapter 6 The Georgian Uprising 15

Chapter 7 Legionnaires on the Tarmac 18

Chapter 8 The Aroostook War 21

Chapter 9 The Houlton Airlift 23

Chapter 10 The Prince Imperial 25

Chapter 11 The Calcutta Light Horse 28

Chapter 12 Sousa Mendes 33

Chapter 13 You Are Not to Feel Bad About This 36

Chapter 14 Prince Roy of Sealand 38

Chapter 15 George H. W. Bush 43

Chapter 16 Diana Rowden 45

Chapter 17 Jan Masaryk 48

Chapter 18 Jan Palach 52

Chapter 19 The Die Hards 54

Chapter 20 The Day of the Tiles 57

Chapter 21 Gordievsky and Rudeness 61

Chapter 22 The Antarctic Appendix 64

Chapter 23 What is the One City…? 67

Chapter 24 The Family Story 69

Chapter 25 Karpov vs Korchnoi vs Death Rays vs Hypnotism 71

Chapter 26 There's No Place Like Home 81

Chapter 27 They Also Serve Who Only Stand and Wait 83

Chapter 28 Advice Is Seldom Truly Free 86

Chapter 29 Rub for Luck 88

Chapter 30 The Silent and Unseen 91

Chapter 31 I've Got to Be Me 94

Chapter 32 Life as a Highwire Act 97

Chapter 33 High Score 102

Chapter 34 The Rise and Fall of a Raider 105

Chapter 35 The White Mouse 114

Chapter 36 A Göring 117

Chapter 37 Jean Bart 121

Chapter 38 The Falcon of Malta 123

Chapter 39 Africa's First Bishop 127

Chapter 40 A Doctor Acts 129

Chapter 41 Bishop Benno Doesn't Like an Argument 131

Chapter 42 Clive's Greatest Victory 134

Chapter 43 Washington's Horses 136

Chapter 44 Budge Budge 138

Chapter 45 Where the Heart Flies 141

Chapter 46 The First Female Doctor? 142

Chapter 47 Stern Daughter of the Voice of God 144

Chapter 48 Beware the Large Ironic Object 146

Chapter 49 Our Most Decorated Officer Never Fired a Shot 149

Chapter 50 Sing Us a Song, You're a Belgian 152

Chapter 51 The Most Complete Possible Victory 156

Chapter 52 The Heroine of Warsaw 158

Chapter 53 The Sins of the Father 160

Chapter 54 The Last Sailing Ship of War 163

Chapter 55 Caesar Means It 169

Chapter 56 William the Exploder 171

Chapter 57 He Passed this Way 174

Chapter 58 Yogi and the Bomb 175

Chapter 59 Petrov in the Bunker 178

Chapter 60 Remember the Spartans 181

Chapter 61 La Sagesse Normande 182

Chapter 62 Broadswords. In a Pit. 184

Chapter 63 The Most Unusual Diplomatic Letter 186

Chapter 64 An Afternoon Spent Fishing 189

Chapter 65 Decompression 192

Chapter 66 Temporary Measures 196

Chapter 67 The Fighting Dentist 198

Chapter 68 What Comes After a Leap into Freedom? 200

Chapter 69 Batting On 204

Chapter 70 The Arc Light Flight 208

Chapter 71 Reagan and the Air Traffic Controllers 211

Chapter 72 The Forgotten Fairfax 213

Chapter 73 Lazowski's Private War 216

Chapter 74 Operation Source 220

Chapter 75 What if the Chickens Aren't Hungry? 224

Chapter 76 The Lion of Africa 227

Chapter 77 Non-Stop 231

Chapter 78 Goodbye, Boys 234

Chapter 79 After All, He's Just a Man 236

Chapter 80 Knight of the Shires 238

Chapter 81 Twinset, Pearls, World Records 241

Chapter 82 One. Last. Time. 243

Chapter 83 How Very Dare You 246

Chapter 84 The Flying Sikh 249

Chapter 85 The Irish Crown Jewels 252

Chapter 86 Creative Differences 256

Chapter 87 When Lepidorae Attack 262

Chapter 88 Broke of the Shannon 264

Chapter 89 Flying Down the Avenue 269

Chapter 90 Your Turn 272

Chapter 91 Fantasia 273

Chapter 92 The Unkillable Adrian 275

Chapter 93 LBJ Vignettes 282

Chapter 94 A Higher Authority 285

Acknowledgements 287

Bibliography 289

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews