Author who discovered his ancestors were slave owners in Jamaica after finding a box of centuries-old papers pens fascinating tome charting the history of their rum business which made the family rich Richard Atkinson uncovers the history of his ancestors in a new history book He was inspired after discovering a box revealing his family … Read more
Fascinating speeded-up driver’s-eye footage shows a train hurtling through the Scottish Highlands at the equivalent of 830mph LNER has released time-lapse footage of a trip from Carrbridge to Edinburgh The journey would normally take three hours – the clip lasts seven minutes There is also drone footage of an Azuma on the highest point in … Read more
The world can be a spectacular place up top – and just as fascinating down below, as these pictures show. Photographer Mark O’Neill, from Berkshire, has taken a series of incredible images showing forgotten subterranean wonders beneath our feet. His collection captures an amazing underground airbase in Croatia designed to withstand nuclear blasts, vast flood relief … Read more
Florence Nightingale, born 200 years ago this month, was the original nursing heroine who dedicated her life to healthcare reform, and over two weeks we’re telling her extraordinary story through fascinating objects. Last week we revealed how she invented the nurse’s uniform and kept an owl called Athena as a pet – today Andrew Preston … Read more
Prague has lots to offer at street-level – and plenty, it turns out, to fascinate a bit higher up. Top photographer Amos Chapple has taken a set of fascinating photographs of the city’s (mostly) rooftop statues and sculptures, from the beautiful to the bizarre and from the elegant to the grotesque. He’s a New Zealander, … Read more
Escape a sinking car, burglar-proof a hotel room and land a falling jet: Fascinating new Lonely Planet infographic book reveals how to do EVERYTHING Lonely Planet’s Bigger Book of Everything ‘prepares you for any surprising situation you may find yourself in’ The visual guide, by Michael Holmes, includes handy how-to infographics that are in ‘bitesize … Read more
BEST OF BIOGRAPHY AND SCIENCE Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin The greatest of English novelists deserves a great biography and Claire Tomalin delivers handsomely. And what a life it was. Dickens packed a load in before his untimely death at the age of 58, burnt out by constant activity, heavy drinking and smoking, … Read more
Blood, guts and junk food! Fascinating new book delves into the lives of fishermen on trawler boats Lamorna Ash recounts the months she spent living with Cornish fishermen A playwright in London, she lodged with a couple in the village of Newlyn Almost everyone she met in the fishing village has lost someone to the … Read more
Railways stretch for more than a million kilometres (620,000 miles) around the world. And some of the track takes in some pretty jaw-dropping scenery – as these incredible pictures show. They feature in new book Rail Journeys, by David Ross, which celebrates with 200 photos the most unusual, romantic and remarkable landscapes in the world … Read more
An airport in midtown Manhattan, a Gothic tower in Union Square and a Grecian-inspired monument on Roosevelt Island. They might seem like wacky throwaway ideas. But they were all once ambitious, considered plans that could have changed the face of New York forever. Of course, none of these schemes went ahead – the amount of … Read more