{"title":"Books by Stephen Butt","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"leicester-a-potted-history","title":"Leicester: A Potted History","description":"\u003cp\u003eLeicester’s history can be traced back to an Iron Age settlement by the River Soar and a subsequent Roman town where the Fosse Way crossed the river. Medieval Leicester flourished around its Norman castle, merchants and religious houses but was also subject to plagues and civil war. Industrialisation and coal mining brought wealth into Leicester in the nineteenth century but also prepared the ground for welfare movements and radical politics in the city. Today’s Leicester is a bustling city with a diverse economy – the largest in the East Midlands.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIllustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Leicester has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the area.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57503787647349,"sku":"9781398130289","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398130289.jpg?v=1786867499"},{"product_id":"the-history-of-leicester-in-100-people","title":"The History of Leicester in 100 People","description":"From Verecunda, a girl in love with a Roman gladiator, who etched his name on a love token, to the footballer and television presenter Gary Lineker, and popular fashion consultant Gok Wan, it is characters such as this that have contributed to Leicester's long and exciting history, and sent its name around the world. It was in Leicester that DNA fingerprinting was invented and Thomas Cook pioneered his dream of tourism for the masses. Sir David Attenborough met his first dinosaur and Alfred Russel Wallace formulated the concept of natural selection, possibly before Charles Darwin. Images now recognised around the world, such as Thomas the Tank Engine, and the polar bear that promotes Fox's Glacier Mints, were created in Leicester, as were the diaries of Adrian Mole and Walker's crisps. Joseph Merrick, also known as the Elephant Man, was born in the town, and it was here that a young apprentice in Leicester's largest textile factory learned how to build bicycles and gave his name to Curry's retail stores.  The stories of the men and women who were at the forefront of invention, scientific discovery and entertainment, politics and faith are inextricably linked with the bigger picture of the development and growth of a major English city over two thousand years, and are celebrated in The History of Leicester in 100 People.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57705609134453,"sku":"9781445616858","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781445616858.jpg?v=1793377319"},{"product_id":"leicester-in-the-1950s","title":"Leicester in the 1950s","description":"At the beginning of the 1950s, Leicester was an industrial city picking itself up from the debris of the Second World War. Compared with nearby Coventry, Leicester has been a relatively safe place, but the effects of the Blitz were still very evident in New Walk and in the residential areas of Highfields and Stoneygate.After years of operating on a wartime economy, Leicester’s major industries – textiles, hosiery and machine tools – faced the challenge of returning to domestic production, and in assimilating a large male workforce returning from the battlefields of Europe and beyond to civilian life. In Leicester in the 1950s, Stephen Butt traces the vibrant lives of those recovering from the destruction of the Second World War.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57705610412405,"sku":"9781445640457","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781445640457.jpg?v=1793377328"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-stephen-butt.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}