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Guy Fawkes, born on 13th April 1570 in Yorkshire, is a name almost everyone in the UK will know. After his father’s death in 1579, his mother remarried and it is known the family were then against, and resisting, the authority of the Church of England. Guy Fawkes finally converted to Catholicism when in his mid teens. At this period, religion was a big part of life and Catholicism was not the religion to be in. Catholics were openly persecuted, with harsh punishments. For example, Margaret Clitherow was caught harbouring Catholics and was punished by being crushed to death.

The Black Death has his many countries around the world killing millions. An estimated 100 million at it's height, may be more, in the mid 14th century. The Black Death is commonly thought to be an out break of bubonic plague, although this has been questioned.

The Commodore Story: A Company on the Edge by Brian Bagnall is, as the name suggests, all about the history of Commodore. Commodore was seen by many in the 70’s and 80’s as a pioneering computer company with cutting edge machines that were on a par with the likes of the Apple Mac and Lisa.

What If: Charles Darwin had never developed and/or published his theory of evolution by natural selection? This year, 2009, is Darwin’s 200th birthday, having been born on 12 February 1809 and 150 years since the publication of "On the Origin of Species." Darwin took on various studies and interests and eventually ended up studying nature. He formed varying ideas; he looked at the transmutation of species, which was essentially the forerunner to evolution, as well as other areas.

What if: The English Civil War, consisting of three distinct conflicts took place between the Royalist (Cavalier's) and Parliamentarians (Roundheads). The conflict was brought about, partly due to King Charles I wanting to unite England, Ireland and Scotland in to one Kingdom, which Parliament saw as a threat. Problems and differences in opinion between various issues gradually built up until Civil War broke. This conflict saw the creation of the Common Wealth of England followed by the appointment of Oliver Cromwell as the Lord Protector.
What If: Civil War never took happened?

What: The Gutenberg press, created by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 (or thereabouts) was the first movable type printing press in the world. There were other movable type systems around during this period, but as far as Europe is concerned, this was invented independently by Johannes Gutenberg. The system used metal blocks with letters on them, which could easily be moved or changed and were very durable. This led to the mass publication of books, including the Bible.

Others were independently working on movable type in China and Korea, so it is without a doubt that by the end of the 15th Century, someone would have got the same system. But what if that system had not reached Europe, or at least was delayed?

Most of you know that I love my history, especial local and ancient. The book I am reviewing this week is 110 years old, written in 1899 by Samuel Barfield and in my opinion is the best reference material for the history of Thatcham. The full title of the book is "Thatcham, Berks, and its manors." The author passed away before having it published and so James Parker arranged for its publication in 1901. The book constists of two volumes, the second of which contains copies of the source materials he used.

What: Dinosaurs were animals that dominated the land from 235 to 65 million years ago, which included the, Jurassic and Triassic periods. Not all of the animals from this period that are thought of as Dinosaurs are actually Dinosaurs. For example, Plesiosaurs and Mosasaurs are commonly called Dinosaurs but are not, they are marine reptiles, well almost.
Around 65 million years ago, the Dinosaurs along with a significant portion of other life was wiped out. There are several theories as to what wiped them out, the most common being a comment or meteor hitting the Earth, but at the same time there were volcanic eruptions happening on a large scale. It may well have been a combination of the two which wiped them out. Either way, this raises two possible what ifs:

Longitude, is the story of the solving of how to accuratley and reliably calculate Longitude. This is based through the eyes of a Navy Commander, Rupert Gould who is played by Jeremy Irons. He discovers some of Harrison's time pieces and lovingly restores them whilst he suffers a break-down. This is placed together with flashbacks to the past showing Harrison's enthusiasm and unending devotion to solving the problems he faced. Well worth a viewing.

Apple Confidential 2.0 is a book detailing the history of Apple and includes detailed information on many of the Apple products including List and the Macintosh. The history includes the making of Apple, the CEO issues and the fall of Apple, then the rise isdetailed with the return of Steve Jobs. A fantastic read for any Mac fan or indeed anyone in to the history of computing.