Böcker av William D. Rubinstein

A comprehensive study of Britain's 250 richest people in history, from the time of William the Conqueror to the present.In this book, Philip Beresford, the author of The Sunday Times annual 'Rich List' and history expert William D. Rubinstein, have turned their attention to the wealthiest individuals in British history, revealing how they made their fortunes, the role played by luck, contacts and violence, and how successful they were in hanging on to their gains.People like:- William of Warenne, the Earl of Surrey in the 1050s, who if he were alive today would be worth nearly £74bn - over three times richer than Britain's current richest man (steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal).- Archbishop Thomas Beckett, who took 250 servants with him on a visit to Paris in 1158, and was worth over £24bn. Not that his fortune was much use when he was murdered in his own cathedral on the orders of Henry II.- Robert Spencer, forebear of Princess Diana, who made a fortune in the wool trade, owned vast tracts of land in the colony of Virginia. and accumulated a fortune equivalent to £19bn in today's money.- John Scott, a celebrated gambler whose skills and luck helped him to a £500,000 (£3.1bn) fortune. "As rich as Scott" was a popular saying of eighteenth century society.The authors provide a fascinating account of personal wealth and influence, noting how, throughout history, the opportunities for aggrandising wealth have been changed by technology, demographics, taxation, politics and war. If you are interested in business, society and the shifting patterns of advantage then you will find this book absorbing, intriguing and insightful.

Who wrote the works of Shakespeare? Revealing newly discovered evidence, John Casson and William D. Rubinstein definitively answer this question, presenting the case that the man from Stratford simply did not have the education, cultural background and breadth of life experience necessary for him to write the plays traditionally attributed to him. Instead, the most credible candidate is Sir Henry Neville, who certainly did have all the necessary qualifications. A colourful Renaissance man educated at Merton College, Oxford, Neville's life experience precisely matches that revealed in the plays. Casson and Rubinstein take us on a breath-taking journey of discovery through the development of Shakespeare's plays and poetry, compellingly drawing close parallels between the works and events in Neville's life. They reveal how Neville's annotated library books, manuscripts, notebooks and letters show he was the hidden author, who survived dangerous political times by keeping his authorship secret. The book contains a great deal of remarkable new evidence, expertly presented, that will challenge anyone's ideas about who really wrote the Shakespeare plays.

Genocide is a topic beset by ambiguities over meaning and double standards. This book sets out to clarify the meaning of the term genocide and its historical evolution, and provides a working definition. It makes the argument that each instance of genocide is best understood within a particular historical framework.

This comprehensive study describes the major political events of the Twentieth-century in Britain in a cogent, lucid way. Ideal for both students and general readers, Rubinstein's book provides a detailed examination of Britain's political evolution in the Twentieth-century.

Who wrote the works of William Shakespeare? This is the question at the heart of the Shakespeare Authorship debate, and one that has been hotly debated by scholars and enthusiasts for over 150 years. This book introduces an answer to one of the longest-standing enigmas in literary history.

The great man's career was riddled with contradictions. This new book highlights these, and shows the difficulties he experienced as well as his ultimate successes.; Until now, little or nothing has been said about the many contradictory and anomalous positions Churchill took throughout his career.

Tracing the political, social and economic cultures of the period, as well as what might have been, this book uncovers how this century of change impacted the British people and their sense of identity.