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The Viking Myth:  If you read popular histories of the Scandinavians it is easy to assume that one-day in 790AD a new phenomenon was unleashed upon Christendom in the form of a sea-borne raid by northern barbarians upon a settled shore. This, however, could not be further from the truth. The peoples of the far north of Europe had been raiding civilisations to the south for a thousand years, first continental Celts then Baltic Germans assaulted the British Isles, followed by the Saxons, Jutes, Angles and other motley adventurers. Recent research suggests that even the Picts may have originally sailed...

By John French Shop our English Civil War range here.  The Bishop's Wars 1639 & 1640 Eleven Years' Tyranny The years 1629-40 were the so called 'Eleven Years' Tyranny', when Charles used his Prerogative Powers to govern the country largely without the aid of Parliament. Various grievances on both sides led to Charles dissolving Parliament. He instead used a small council of advisors including William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury) and Thomas Wentworth. This was known as the Conciliar System. Laud wanted to impose uniformity within the Church and persuaded Charles to make it compulsory for Scotland to use the English Prayer...

Shop our English Civil War & Thirty Years War ranges here. While England was in the midst of fighting its own Civil War, most of mainland Europe was fighting out the final rounds of a longer, more widespread and bloody conflict. The Thirty Years War raged from 1618 to 1648 and was the proving ground in which many of the English and Scottish soldiers fighting in the English Civil War learned their trade. Most of these soldiers were members of Swedish mercenary companies and regiments. The Thirty Years War comprised a series of conflicts fought between great dynastic powers, religious...

Shipping Cost Changes Good news! We have made the move to a faster and more reliable delivery service, which includes fully trackable orders for our overseas customers. We hope this change will make the ordering process more enjoyable and ensure that your models reach you as quickly as possible.Because of this change, our postage prices are increasing to reflect how much faster our packages of weighty metal models will reach you. For most of our overseas customers, you will have the added assurance of knowing where your parcel is and when it will arrive by checking it’s progress through our tracked service.Thanks...