As the German bombing of London intensified, the docks were hit again and again. In September 1940, following a particularly severe air raid, Churchill inspected the damage by boat. He travelled along the river with his wife Clementine and both were visibly shocked by the extent of the destruction

From Churchill at War 1940-1945: His Finest Hour in Photographs (Carlton, £14.99), which combines Sir Martin Gilbert's authoritative text with the Imperial War Museum's remarkable archive photographs, to create a revealing portrait of Britain's war leader.

WITH NAVAL WINGS by John Wellham (Spellmount, £18.99)

A RESTRAINED tale of courage and endurance from a Fleet Air Arm pilot who gave distinguished service in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, East Indies and Far East and who was awarded the DSC and was Mentioned in Dispatches three times for his exploits. This autobiography is a true roll of honour, but thankfully this accurate and inspiring picture of a man ready to lay down his life to save his country is anything but gung-ho. Wellham was really a pioneer in the use of air power at sea: flying from HMS Eagle he helped to sink four ships at the Italian base at Bomb (his DSC mission), before taking part in the historic strike from HMS Illustrious on the Italian base at Torrent. Despite his Swordfish being badly damaged, he fired his torpedo at the battleship Vent and escaped. Sunderland should be proud to have such a quiet hero as a citizen.

SHAPING THE NATION: England 1360-1461 by Gerald Harris (Oxford University Press £35)

ENGLISH history has many ages that grip the imagination and overflow with great events and powerful personalities but the period 1360-1461 is truly one of the great building blocks of the modern state. It has the events - the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, The Wars of the Roses, and the characters, Edward III, Wat Tyler, Henry V, to give a vivid outline of this age, but it is the underlying social and political movements that are shown to have the most importance. The ending of serfdom, the emergence of the merchant and the gentry classes and the establishment of a legal system at the heart of the unwritten British constitution. Common/ordinary people would eventually be allowed to come into their own with the law as the protector, and it was this "century" that made it possible. Truly the People's Century.

BOMBAY TO BLOOMSBURY: A Biography of the Strachey Family by Barbara Caine (Oxford University Press, £25)

SOME families are powerful, some families are fascinating and some, like the Stracheys, are both. Looking at 13 remarkable family figures, whose lives span 100 years, from the height of the Victorian Empire to the dawn of the 1960s, Barbara Caine outlines a family who were prominent in administration, science and feminism in the 19th century, while in the 20th century they were prominent in the suffragette movement, women's education and sexual liberation. Included are Ralph (chief surveyor in India), Pippa (a full time suffragette organiser), Lytton, biographer and critic, and "black sheep" Marjorie, known as Gumbo, who veered between obscenity and morality.

Their dynasty puts Dallas into the shade, especially when you think that weird sister Marjorie's favourite party piece was to undress and recite obscene poetry.

Steve Craggs

THE BIG HOUSE: The Story of a Country House and Its Family by Christopher Simon Sykes (HarperCollins, £20)

WHEN a fire broke out at Sledmere House, in the Yorkshire Wolds, on May 23 ,1911, the elderly owner, Sir Tatton Sykes, the 5th baronet, insisted on finishing his pudding before summoning the fire brigade.

His nonchalance proved costly. The great house was reduced to a shell, though happily it rose again before the death knell sounded for many stately homes.

A strong streak of eccentricity seems to run in the Sykes family. The 4th baronet, the namesake father of the fire-defying Sir Tatton, wore 18th century dress and ate mutton fat and fruit pies for breakfast. Founder of a famous stud, he attended every St Leger for 76 years.

By putting the emphasis on the human history of his family home, Christopher Simon Sykes, a London-based writer and photographer, brother of Sledmere's present owner, vividly brings the Big House, a world within a world, to life. He pays proper attention to "Downstairs', without which the place could not function. An Irish butler, Michael, refused to bow to the Queen Mother and, in response to orders when he was busy, would shout: "Let the buggers wait.''

Harry Mead

Published: 22/03/2005