This week's new books

The Wives of Henry Oades, Johanna Moran (Harper Press)
Based on a real-life court case, the story of Henry Oades who, in 1890, travelled to New Zealand with his wife and children to find their fortune. He returned home one day to find his home burnt down and his family gone. He eventually remarried, but years later his first wife turned up on his doorstep having survived five years in captivity at the hands of a Maori tribe…


Martial Power and Elizabethan Political Culture, Rory Rapple (Cambridge University Press)
A study of the careers and political thinking of English martial men who, until the mid-1580s, faced unemployment and official disparagement and were left frustrated as Elizabeth I’s quietest foreign policy destroyed the ambitions that the wars of the mid-16th century had excited in them.


Containing trauma: Nursing work in the First World War, Christine E. Hallett (Manchester University Press)
This analysis of the work of nurses from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the United States during the First World War explores a wide range of nursing practices, examining the physical, emotional and spiritual care and support these women offered to their patients.


Books for Sale, ed. Robin Myers, Michael Harris and Giles Mandelbrote (Oak Knoll Press)
This collection of essays examines the advertising and promotion of print since the 15th century, exploring themes such as the marketing techniques of booksellers and publishers across early modern Europe, the increasing use of newspaper and periodical advertisements in England in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the more recent impact of online marketing on the book trade.