{"title":"Books by Mary-Ann Ochota","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780711236936","title":"Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e'A definitive classic field guide [...] Its scope is as magnificent as our countryside itself.' \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBBC Countryfile Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'This book is perfect for anyone who’s travelled through the countryside, scratched their head, and thought, ‘what on earth is that thing?'' \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTony Robinson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHave you ever driven past a lumpy, bumpy field and wondered what made the lumps and bumps? Or walked between two lines of grand trees and wondered when and why they were planted? Entertaining and factually rigorous, Hidden Histories has the answers and will help you decipher the story of Britain's landscape through the features you can see around you.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In this spotter’s guide, \u003cb\u003eMary-Ann Ochota\u003c\/b\u003e arms amateur explorers with the crucial information needed to \u003cb\u003eunderstand the landscape\u003c\/b\u003e and spot the human activities that have shaped our green and pleasant land.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePhotographs and diagrams\u003c\/b\u003e point out specific details and typical examples to help the curious spotter understand what they’re looking at, or looking for.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSpecially commissioned illustrations\u003c\/b\u003e bring to life the processes that shaped the landscape (from medieval ploughing to Roman road building).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eStand-alone capsules\u003c\/b\u003e explore interesting aspects of history (like the Highland Clearances or the coming of Christianity).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFeature boxes\u003c\/b\u003e provide definitions of jargon or handy references as required (like a glossary of what different field names mean).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEach chapter culminates in \u003cb\u003ea checklist of key details to look for\u003c\/b\u003e, other things it might be, and gives details of where to find some of the best examples in Britain.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom lumps and bumps to stones, lines and villages, \u003cb\u003eHidden Histories is the must-have spotter’s guide to the British landscape\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204026695858,"sku":"9780711236936","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780711236936.jpg?v=1786014539"},{"product_id":"9780711288850","title":"Secret Britain","description":"\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A cornucopia of our weirdest and most wonderful archaeological sites and artefacts. They make you feel proud to be a citizen of these gloriously intriguing isles.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSir Tony Robinson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn Ice Age cannibal’s skull cup, a hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold, a seventeenth century witch bottle… anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota unearths more than 70 of Britain's most intriguing ancient places and artefacts and explores the mysteries behind them.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Britain is full of ancient wonders: not grand like the Egyptian pyramids, but small, strange places and objects that hint at a deep and enduring relationship with the mystic. \u003ci\u003eSecret Britain\u003c\/i\u003e offers an \u003cb\u003eexpertly guided tour of Britain’s most fascinating mysteries\u003c\/b\u003e: archaeological sites and artefacts that take us deep into the lives of the many different peoples who have inhabited the island over the millennia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Illustrated with \u003cb\u003ebeautiful photographs\u003c\/b\u003e, the wonders include \u003cb\u003eburied treasure\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003estone circles\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003egeoglyphs\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eoutdoor places of worship\u003c\/b\u003e, caves filled with medieval carvings, and \u003cb\u003eenigmatic tools\u003c\/b\u003e to divine the future. Explore famous sites such as \u003cb\u003eStonehenge\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eGlastonbury\u003c\/b\u003e, but also discover: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The Lindow Man bog body, showing neatly trimmed hair and manicured fingernails despite having been killed 2,000 years ago \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The Uffington White Horse, a horse-shaped geoglyph maintained by an unbroken chain of people for 3,000 years \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e A roman baby’s bronze cockerel, an underworld companion for a two-year-old who died sometime between AD 100–200 \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e St Leonard’s Ossuary, home to 1,200 skulls and a vast stack of human bones made up of around 2,000 people who died from the 1200s to the 1500s \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e The Wenhaston Doom painting, an extraordinary medieval depiction of the Last Judgement painted on a chancel arch \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e Explore Britain’s secret history and discover why these places still resonate today.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294349603189,"sku":"9780711288850","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780711288850_e339933f-deee-4ae7-bdba-791feabd4d06.jpg?v=1786015074"},{"product_id":"shortest-history-of-human-life","title":"The Shortest History of Human Life","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682770952565,"sku":"9781529083057","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57504905462133,"sku":"9781529083040","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-mary-ann-ochota.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}