Full AspenCat Catalog

Explores the cities, history, symbols, geography, ecology, economy, and culture of the United Kingdom, and highlights places to go and things to do in the United Kingdom. Includes color photographs, maps, fact boxes, a timeline, a glossary, and additional resources.

"As early as 1530, reports of El Dorado, a city of gold in the South American interior, beckoned to European explorers. Whether there was any truth to the stories remained to be seen, but the allure of unimaginable riches was enough to ensnare dozens of would-be heroes and glory hounds in the desperate hunt. Among them was Sir Walter Raleigh: ambitious courtier, confidant to Queen Elizabeth, and, before long, El Dorado fanatic. Entering the Elizabethan...

The true story of five castaways abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812--a tale of treachery, shipwreck, isolation, and the desperate struggle for survival. Fraught with misunderstandings and mistrust, the incident left three British sailors and two Americans, including the captain of the sealer, Charles H. Barnard, abandoned in the barren, windswept, and inhospitable Falklands for a year and a half. With deft narrative skill and...

A groundbreaking history of women in British intelligence, revealing their pivotal role across the first half of the twentieth century. From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And,...

"This is a previously classified story of one group of scientific researchers-men and women-who exposed themselves to extraordinary risks to make D-Day a success."--

"A young military widow, Eliza Pierce is enjoying both freedom and financial success as part of Elegant Occasions. When her late husband’s best friend, Nathaniel Stanton, the Earl of Foxstead, hires Elegant Occasions to help another young widow of an officer become part of high society, Eliza wonders why. Is the woman a relative? Or is she the earl’s mistress and her adorable toddler his child? If so, why does he take Eliza in his arms every chance...

"Penelope is a pleasant little pug who has quite the quandary: All she can remember is that she lost her Lady in the park while chasing the most dreadful squirrel. Now she dreams of one day finding a new Lady and a permanent place to stay. So when she finds herself taken in by the kind Lady Diggleton, she can’t believe her luck! But Penelope soon discovers that Lady Diggleton is searching for her previous owner and worries she will have to leave...

Follows the journey of a young boy who sets out to circumnavigate the globe, starting from his home in England and bicycling through Europe to the tip of South Africa, in a tale that mirrors the experiences of adventurer Alastair Humphreys.

"November 1866: The grisly murder site in London's East End is thronged with onlookers. None of them expect the calmly efficient young woman among them to be a medical doctor, arrived to examine the corpse. Inspector Richard Tennant, overseeing the investigation, at first makes no effort to disguise his skepticism. But Dr. Julia Lewis is accustomed to such condescension . . . To study medicine, Julia had to leave Britain, where universities still...