European history Books

Book SynopsisWinner of the Duff Cooper Prize for History, the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography, the American Library in Paris Award, the Franco-British Society Literary Prize and the Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique du TouquetA SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES, TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR''Masterly ... awesome reading ... an outstanding biography'' Max Hastings, Sunday TimesIn six weeks in the early summer of 1940, France was over-run by German troops and quickly surrendered. The French government of Marshal Pétain sued for peace and signed an armistice. One little-known junior French general, refusing to accept defeat, made his way to England. On 18 June he spoke to his compatriots over the BBC, urging them to rally to him in London. ''Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.'' At that moment, Charles de Gaulle entereTrade ReviewJulian Jackson's biography is a worthy monument to this extraordinary figure. He has a good eye for the telling quotation and a magnificent capacity to place de Gaulle, one of the most fascinating subjects in twentieth-century politics, in his historical and political setting. The result is a wonderful history of modern France disguised as the biography of a statesman. -- Mark Mazower * New York Review of Books *Scholarship of the highest class ... a truly great book, for after this all other biographies can be cast aside. -- Simon Heffer * Sunday Telegraph *Only a great biography could do justice to such a man. This one does it, magnificently. -- Noel Malcolm * Daily Telegraph *More than just another, bigger, biography ... he has the skill and style to maintain a dramatic narrative over nearly 800 pages of text -- Robert Tombs * Spectator *A suitably monumental achievement. -- Lewis Jones * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Irish famine that began in 1845 was one of the nineteenth century''s greatest disasters. By its end, the island''s population of eight million had shrunk by a third through starvation, disease and emigration. This is a brilliant, compassionate retelling of that awful story for a new generation - the first account for the general reader for many years and a triumphant example of narrative non-fiction at its best.The immediate cause of the famine was a bacterial infection of the potato crop on which too many the Irish poor depended. What turned a natural disaster into a human disaster was the determination of senior British officials to use relief policy as an instrument of nation-building in their oldest and most recalcitrant colony. Well-meaning civil servants were eager to modernise Irish agriculture and to improve the Irish moral character, which was utterly lacking in the virtues of the new age of triumphant capitalism. The result was a relief programme more concerned with fostering change than of saving lives.This is history that resonates powerfully with our own times.

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Book Synopsis** SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **'Astonishing' ANTONY BEEVOR 'One of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years' MAX HASTINGSA thrilling new history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy and parliamentary infighting that enabled Hitler and the Nazis to dominate Europe.On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, 'peace for our time'. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Drawing on previously unseen sources, Appeasing Hitler sweeps from the advent of Hitler in 1933 to the beaches of Dunkirk, and presents an unforgettable portrait of the ministers, aristocrats and amateur diplomats whose actions and inaction had devastating consequences. 'Brilliant and sparkling . . . Reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down' Peter Frankopan 'Vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating . . . This is political drama at its most compelling' James Holland 'Bouverie skilfully traces each shameful step to war . . . in moving and dramatic detail' Sunday TelegraphTrade ReviewAppeasing Hitler is an astonishingly accomplished debut. Bouverie writes with a wonderful clarity and we will no doubt hear a lot more of his voice in future -- Antony BeevorA brilliant and sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian. Tim Bouverie has written an account of the build-up to the Second World War that reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put it down. -- Peter FrankopanThis is the debut of an unusually talented writer, one of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years -- Max HastingsEvery so often I've been escaping to the corner of my garden and losing myself in Tim Bouverie's brilliant Appeasing Hitler. It's a compelling read that combines detailed research with a flair for narrative -- Nick Robinson * Radio Times *Drawing on an impressive and interesting range of sources and characters, Tim Bouverie has written a fascinating and scholarly portrait of a decade when credulity, self-interest and poor judgement prevailed tragically and inexorably over morality and good sense: this is the reporting of history at its best -- Caroline MooreheadAppeasing Hitler is the stunning debut of a major new narrative historian. A riveting and depressing story which has resonance today as the democracies again face dictatorships -- Professor Margaret MacmillanIn meticulous detail and with moments of novelty and insight… [Appeasing Hitler] should become a standard text on this inglorious episode… an exceptionally promising debut. He has great narrative abilities and his research has been extensive -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph *Sparkling and witty... The best account of the subject that I have ever read -- Professor Sir Michael HowardThis gripping book is…valuable because it illuminates some eternal truths -- Andrew Rawnsley * Observer *Tim Bouverie tells the story of appeasement with skill, verve and panache, using contemporary accounts to great effect in exploring the mentalities that lay behind the political decisions -- Ian KershawWith enormous flair and confidence, Tim Bouverie has brought his subject to life, elegantly drawing out the historical parallels while also presenting a gripping and well-paced narrative. Lively, nuanced, and full of surprising details, this is a stunning debut -- Henry HemmingWith tremendous narrative flair and impeccable judgement, Bouverie illuminates the wishful thinking, the gullibility and the appalling amateurishness that led us to the precipice -- Simon Griffith * Mail on Sunday *An eye-opening narrative which makes for exciting but at times uncomfortable reading as one reflects on possible lessons for the present -- Antonia FraserTruly impressive and enjoyable. Tim Bouverie writes with verve and wit, gives us an often moving and always human angle on the story, and removes the tarnish from the word ‘appeasement’ to make us look anew at one of the most important, and salutary, periods of modern times -- Roland PhilippsNo previous book on Appeasement has managed to cast such a vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating light on the incredible political machinations that were being played out in the late 1930s. Tim Bouverie has brilliantly brought alive the tension, political brinkmanship and immense drama of those days... This is political drama at its most compelling, and one whose relevance sits with the reader long after the book has been put down. Superb. -- James HollandTim Bouverie breathes new life into this familiar story. His vivid narrative is compelling, even exciting, as it hurtles towards its tragic conclusion. This is a superb book that deserves to be widely read -- Adam Sisman * Literary Review *Vivid, engaging... pacy, personality driven -- Susan Pedersen * Guardian *Bouverie… retells [the story of appeasement] with gusto -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Bouverie gives a lucid account… [and] skilfully traces each shameful step to war… which he describes in moving and dramatic detail -- Lewis Jones * Sunday Telegraph *Gripping.. Bouverie has written a searching, wide-ranging, and above all readable chronology of a shameful era of British history… a very cautionary tale -- Nigel Jones * Spectator *[An] impressive and very readable account -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail *Tim Bouverie’s first historical work… is a well-argued, lucid case for the prosecution of the appeasers -- David Aaronovitch * The Times, *Book of the Week* *So assured is Bouverie’s writing, and so sound his judgments, that it is hard to believe that Appeasing Hitler is his first book. It is a wonderful debut that marks the arrival of a young historian to watch -- Saul David * Evening Standard, *Book of the Week* *[An] accomplished and lucid account -- Josh Ireland * Prospect *Bouverie’s well-written Appeasing Hitler aims to provide a timeless lesson on the challenges of standing up to aggression. -- Jo Johnson * Financial Times *Bouverie has mined an impressive range of sources and quotes from them judiciously. His narrative is lucid, his prose efficient, his put-downs witty… [he] tells an important story well. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * New Statesman *The skill with which Tim Bouverie navigates here through the worlds of politics, officialdom and diplomacy is quite exemplary… his explanations of complex issues are always lucid; his narrative style is thoughtful, unshowy and always a pleasure to read… This is, quite simply, the best book ever to have appeared on this whole subject -- Noel Malcolm * Oldie *Bouverie’s Appeasing Hitler provides a meticulous picture of a Britain that faced very different problems from our own -- Thelma Lovell * Catholic Herald *Scrupulously fair, [and a] readable account… [an] excellent book -- Marcus Tanner * Tablet *Appeasing Hitler…is a staggeringly good account of the build-up to the Second World War… gripping, dramatic and revelatory -- Christian May * City AM *Bouverie’s prose is fluent and assured throughout. Those in search of an entertaining read will find one… an admirable retelling of traditional history -- Robert Crowcroft * History Today *An enthralling, nuanced tale… the narrative is absolutely compelling * Times Literary Supplement *An elegantly written account by a rising young historian * The Times, *Summer reads of 2019* *This is a gripping account of the wishful thinking that led us to the precipice -- Neil Armstrong and Hephzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday, *Summer reads of 2019* *There is a sure command of narrative and judgment in faultlessly lucid prose, with subtexts of pathos -- Bruce Anderson * Spectator *A fascinating narrative on the politics of wishful thinking and the law of unintended consequences in international relations -- Ali Ansari * History Today, *Books of the Year* *[A] finely researched and well-argued book * Daily Mail, *Books of the Year* *[A] phenomenal book -- William Keegan * Observer *Excellent -- Andrew Roberts * Wall Street Journal *Excellent and compelling -- William Leith * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE FINANCIAL TIMES * TELEGRAPH * PROSPECT'The best account of the ongoing conflict — its preconditions and its present-day horrors' Prospect Do you know what is at stake in Ukraine? Urgent, compelling reading from the author of Chernobyl on the defining conflict of our timesOn 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine. In the midst of checking on the family and friends who were now on the front lines of Europe's largest conflict since the outbreak of the Second World War, acclaimed Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy inevitably found himself attempting to understand the deeper causes of the invasion, analysing its course and contemplating the wider outcomes.The Russo-Ukrainian War is the comprehensive history of a war that has burned since 2014, and that, with Russia's attempt to seize Kyiv, exploded a geo-political order that had been cemented since the end of the Cold War. With an eye for the gripping detail on the ground, both in the halls of power and down in the trenches, as well as a keen sense of the grander sweep of history, Plokhy traces the origins and the evolution of the conflict, from the collapse of the Russian empire to the rise and fall of the USSR and on to the development in Ukraine of a democratic politics.Based on decades of research and his unique insight into the region, he argues that Ukraine's defiance of Russia, and the West's demonstration of unity and strength, has presented a profound challenge to Putin's Great Power ambition, and further polarized the world along a new axis. A riveting, enlightening account, this is present-minded history at its best.BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2023: FINANCIAL TIMES * THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE * TLSTrade ReviewHow did we get here? Serhii Plokhy, a professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University, looks for an answer to Putin's irrational war in this important and magisterial account. . . He is excellent on the dangers of perverse history * The Times and Sunday Times Best Books for Summer *The foremost historian of Ukraine turns his attention to contemporary events. He argues that Russia's invasion is an act of old-fashioned imperialism. Plokhy uses his historical perspective to provide an original erudite and very readable account of the roots of the war and its course so far -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times Best Summer Books *Vladimir Putin's full invasion of Ukraine has made 2021 look like "vegetarian times", to borrow Anna Akhmatova's phrase. I'll be spending three weeks among the scrabbly pitch pines of Cape Cod, and of the stream of new books about the war itself, I plan to bring ... Serhii Plokhy's The Russo-Ukrainian War (Allen Lane), for its historical perspective on Ukraine and the Russian imperial project -- Rebecca Reich * TLS Summer Books *The great chronicler of Ukraine breaks new ground in his rigorous and elegant analysis of Europe's biggest conflict since 1945. Wonderfully readable and deeply personal -- Luke Harding * Observer *This magisterial book by a leading historian explains how long-held Russian imperial delusions lay behind the attack on Ukraine. It brilliantly outlines the dangers of perverse history -- David Patrikarakos * The Times *Erudite, objective and immensely readable. A compelling rejoinder to those who, reductively, still blame Putin's war of aggression on western provocations, and an expression of faith in Ukrainian resilience -- Ben Hall * Financial Times *Plokhy, a Harvard historian who has authored many respected books, is himself Ukrainian. . . this book represents an impassioned plea for his country * Sunday Times *The world's foremost historian of Ukraine. . . the chronicler of a country on the front lines of a seismic European war * Financial Times *Impressive and valuable... A clear, reliable and (in the circumstances) remarkably calm account of how we got here -- John Simpson * Guardian *Plokhy has become an international celebrity. His books on Ukrainian history fly off the shelves as a domestic and international audience look to understand the history and culture of the country at the heart of the clash. His writings introduce readers to a history that is rarely taught in the West and explain the region's complex and difficult past * Daily Telegraph *This is one of those wars rooted deep in the past, and it takes an outstanding historian to make sense of its antecedents without falling into partisan cheerleading or cartoonish oversimplification. Fortunately, Serhii Plokhy is such a historian. His evident sympathy for his homeland never overpowers his scholarly instincts -- Mark Galeotti * TLS *A feat of scholarship under pressure -- Patrick Hudson * Tablet *Plokhy is a fine, crisp writer and does brilliant research. . . . There is so much more here to inform this huge and important debate that I can only urge anybody who cares about the matter to buy and read the book -- Peter Hitchens * Mail on Sunday *A masterpiece of historical research that will give Western readers a much better understanding of Russia's motivations and the conflict's early months * Independent.ie *The horrific war in Ukraine rumbles on, and perhaps it's a strange time for a history of the conflict to come out, but Serhii Plokhy is the perfect historian to write it. Plokhy has lost relatives and friends in the conflict, and The Russo-Ukrainian War details with well-constructed arguments the causes and consequences of Putin's gamble. It may be current affairs, but it's difficult not to argue the invasion is historic -- Oliver Webb-Carter * Aspects of History *An utterly compelling account, deeply personal, persuasively authoritative, surely the must-read book for this challenging moment -- Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetFor those trying to understand the roots of the war in Ukraine, there is no better guide than Serhii Plokhy. It's impossible to make sense of the Russian invasion of 2022 without knowing something of the history - recent and less recent - and the struggle for Ukrainian national identity; this compelling and lucid book illuminates both -- Lindsey Hilsum, author of In ExtremisThe essential book for the Russia-Ukraine war - superb, accessible and erudite - by the world's chief expert. The must-read work -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family HistoryThe thread of history is central to understanding Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Serhii Plokhy outlines this in fascinating detail and reminds us of the constant fragility of peace -- David Lammy

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Book SynopsisLeon Battista Alberti was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. Biographical and Autobiographical Writings includes On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Literature, The Life of St. Potitus, My Dog, My Life, and The Fly. It presents the first collected English translations of these works and an authoritative Latin text.

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Book SynopsisStephen Bungay’ s magisterial history is acclaimed as the account of the Battle of Britain. Unrivalled for its synthesis of all previous historical accounts, for the quality of its strategic analysis and its truly compulsive narrative, this is a book ultimately distinguished by its conclusions – that it was the British in the Battle who displayed all the virtues of efficiency, organisation and even ruthlessness we habitually attribute to the Germans, and they who fell short in their amateurism, ill-preparedness, poor engineering and even in their old-fashioned notions of gallantry. An engrossing read for the military scholar and the general reader alike, this is a classic of military history that looks beyond the mythology, to explore all the tragedy and comedy; the brutality and compassion of war.Trade Review‘Stephen Bungay delves into new ground. These threads have been woven together to form an eloquent and informative tapestry€¦ It will be difficult for a new work on this subject to add any more to our knowledge of those months in 1940’ ‘The magnitude and vital importance of the Battle of Britain has found a superb chronicler in Stephen Bungay, whose book is the best single-volume history to be published in over a decade’'A fascinating case history in illusion and reality. He dispels the myths and kills the cliches... Admirable''The most exhaustive and detailed account of the Battle of Britain that has yet appeared''A fascinating case history in illusion and reality. He dispels the myths and kills the cliches... Admirable'‘The magnitude and vital importance of the Battle of Britain has found a superb chronicler in Stephen Bungay, whose book is the best single-volume history to be published in over a decade’‘Stephen Bungay delves into new ground. These threads have been woven together to form an eloquent and informative tapestry… It will be difficult for a new work on this subject to add any more to our knowledge of those months in 1940’

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Book SynopsisThe terrible months between the arrival of the Red Army on German soil and the final collapse of Hitler's regime were like no other in the Second World War. The Soviet Army's intent to take revenge for the horror that the Nazis had wreaked on their people produced a conflict of implacable brutality in which millions perished. From the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of East and West Prussia to the final surrender in the Vistula estuary, this book recounts in chilling detail the desperate struggle of soldiers and civilians alike. These brutal campaigns are brought vividly to life by a combination of previously untold testimony and astute strategic analysis recognising a conflict of unprecedented horror and suffering.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations /List of Maps /Author’s Note /Preface /Introduction: the Slavs and the Teutons /1 Fritz and Ivan: The Opposing Forces /2 Memel /3 Nemmersdorf /4 The Last Christmas /5 The House of Cards - the Great January Offensive /6 Cherniakhovsky and the Pregel Valley /7 Rokossovsky reaches the Coast /8 Encircled in East Prussia /9 Hannibal - The Baltic Evacuation Begins /10 The Riviera of Hades and the Fall of Pomerania /11 Heiligenbeil - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea /12 Konigsberg /13 Danzig /14 The Last Command /15 The Long Road Home /Notes /Bibliography /Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for * René Girard *The explosion of social media, the resurgence of populism, and the increasing virulence of reciprocal violence all suggest that the contemporary world is becoming more and more recognizably "Girardian" in its behavior -- Robert Pogue Harrison * The New York Review of Books *The man who helped us perhaps more than any other social thinker of our time to understand violence, death and martyrdom -- Jerry Bowyer * Forbes *Praise for * Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard by Cynthia L. Haven *Influential and comprehensive. Haven's Evolution of Desire is exemplary in its sensitivity ... Her readers are challenged but left free to make up their own minds -- Jonathan Benthall * TLS *A penetrating account of an important thinker - and as agile, profound, and affecting as its subject * Kirkus *Essential reading for Girard devotees and a perfect entrée for newcomers. Rich with details and ideas, Cynthia Haven's book gives everything it promises and something more: a personal account of a close friend. Highly recommended -- Maria StepanovaHere is a book that gives us Girard in all his genius and generosity. I can't recommend it enough -- Morgan Meis * The New Yorker *René Girard's provocative theories on violence, religion, desire, and scapegoating are intensely relevant to contemporary American society. Cynthia Haven offers an account of Girard's life and ideas that is as compelling as a good detective story. It should receive the widest possible readership -- David Streitfeld * Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative account of political and military history, art, architecture and culture, fully illustrated throughout.Table of ContentsThe Glory that was Greece 8 Part One The Rise and Fall of Ancient Greece 10 Introduction 12 Timeline 14 Classical Greece 18 I: The Greek Awakening, c.2000-500bc 20 II: The Persian Wars, 499bc-478bc 42 III: Athens at its Zenith, 478-431bc 58 IV: World War in Miniature, 431-404bc 72 V: The Greeks: The First Individuals, c.650bc-ad147 88 VI: The Struggle for Supremacy, 404-322bc 112 Alexander the great and his Heirs 132 VII: The Rise of Macedonia, 359-336bc 134 VIII: The Young Alexander, 356-336bc 146 IX: The Great Victories, 334-330bc 164 X: The Lord of Asia, 330-323bc 184 XI: Arms and Armour, c.2000bc-ad138 202 XII: From Alexander to Hadrian, 323bc-ad138 218 Part Two The Ancient Greek World 254 Introduction 256 Timeline 260 Architecture and Art 264 XIII: The Rise of Greek Architecture 266 XIV: Building Styles and Techniques 294 XV: Cities of the Greeks 306 XVI Sculpture 324 XVII Vase Painting 356 XVIII Wall Paintings and Mosaics 368 Greek Society 378 XIX Religion and Mythology 380 XX Theatre 404 XXI Literature 416 XXII Philosophy and Science 430 Chapter XXIII Athletics and Sport 458 Chapter XXIV Work and Leisure 468 Index 500 Acknowledgements 511

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Book SynopsisThis biography of Atatürk aims to strip away the myth to show the complexities of the man beneath. Born plain Mustafa in Ottoman Salonica in 1881, he trained as an army officer but was virtually unknown until 1919, when he took the lead in thwarting the victorious Allies'' plan to partition the Turkish core of the Ottoman Empire. He divided the Allies, defeated the last Sultan and secured the territory of the Turkish national state, becoming the first president of the new republic in 1923. He imposed coherence, order and mordernity and in the process, created his own legend and his own cult.Trade ReviewSurely definitive ... I enjoyed every page and recommend this book highly * Simon Sebag Montifiore, Mail on Sunday *A fluent, thorough and enjoyable biography, which for comprehensiveness, balance and deftness of touch outclasses all the alternatives for the English reader * Mark Mazower, New Statesman *The best concise account I have ever seen of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The narrative is gripping. It does not merely present all the facts of Ataturk's career but paints a credible picture of the whole man * Geoffrey Lewis *The profundity of Mango's analysis and his empathy with the years of national regeneration lift Ataturk to a higher level of biography than any previous account * Alan Palmer, Literary Review *Takes its place at the top * Norman Stone, Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Second World War was the WI's finest hour. The whole of its previous history - two decades of educating, entertaining and supporting women and campaigning on women's issues - culminated in the enormous collective responsibility felt by the members to 'do their bit' for Britain. With all the vigour, energy and enthusiasm at their disposal, a third of a million country women set out to make their lives and the lives of those around them more bearable in what they described as 'a period of insanity'. Jambusterstells the story of the minute and idiosyncratic details of everyday life during the Second World War. Making jam, making do and mending, gathering rosehips, keeping pigs and rabbits, housing evacuees, setting up canteens for the troops, knitting, singing and campaigning for a better Britain after the war: all these activities played a crucial role in war time.

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Book SynopsisWas the outcome of the First World War on a knife edge? In this major new account of German wartime politics and strategy Holger Afflerbach argues that the outcome of the war was actually in the balance until relatively late in the war. Using new evidence from diaries, letters and memoirs, he fundamentally revises our understanding of German strategy from the decision to go to war and the failure of the western offensive to the radicalisation of Germany''s war effort under Hindenburg and Ludendorff and the ultimate collapse of the Central Powers. He uncovers the struggles in wartime Germany between supporters of peace and hardliners who wanted to fight to the finish. He suggests that Germany was not nearly as committed to all-out conquest as previous accounts argue. Numerous German peace advances could have offered the opportunity to end the war before it dragged Europe into the abyss.Trade Review'All future historians of the First World War will have to engage with Holger Afflerbach's important and authoritative book, and his powerful and provocative case that the conflict was more of a 'close run thing' than previously thought.' Jonathan Boff, author of Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front'A fascinating and provocative account – Afflerbach argues that the First World War could have ended in a draw and that the German leadership committed serious mistakes to lose it.' Annika Mombauer, author of The Origins of the First World War'Holger Afflerbach provides a comprehensive reassessment of Germany's conduct of the 1914-18 war. Drawing on fresh archival sources and an impressive command of the immense secondary literature, he offers a thought-provoking reappraisal of the entire history of that terrible conflict.' David Stevenson, author of With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918'Boldly argued and beautifully written, Holger Afflerbach's On a Knife Edge vividly portrays Germany's strategic desperation in 1914-18 and reveals how the Allies' uncompromising pursuit of total victory radicalised the conflict and destroyed all hope of a lasting peace. Thought-provoking and sure to spark controversy – this is one of the most important and exciting new interpretations of the First World War!' Alexander Watson, author of Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914-1918'WWI scholars and enthusiasts will relish this exhaustive deep dive.' Publishers Weekly'… a highly readable account not only of the German side of the war but to some extent a retrospective on the war as a whole, one both enthusiasts and specialists can enjoy and fruitfully debate.' Avi Woolf, The Washington Examiner'This book is a political study of Germany's war effort, not a campaign narrative, though it tells the 1914–18 story very well … Afflerbach gathers many strands into a coherent argument, and offers a host of details that are likely to be unfamiliar even to veteran students of the conflict.' Max Hastings, The Sunday Times'… a revisionist spin … Afflerbach argues that Germany's defeat in 1918 was not inevitable. It could have gone either way on the battlefield, but internal turmoil was to blame for the defeat, leading to a peace not 'based on justice but instead … too harsh'.' Simon Heffer, Best History Books of the Year, Daily Telegraph'An impressive, well-researched and readable book which advances an important argument.' Military History Magazine'The author's knowledge … is nothing short of stupendous … Highly recommended.' Klaus Schmider, British Army ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Hybris: 1. The Road to War; 2. 'It can hardly go wrong now': The Schlieffen Plan and its Failure; 3. Tannenberg and the Rise of Hindenburg; 4. The European Stalemate; 5. A Strategy of Muddling Through? The War in 1915; 6. 'An Unparalleled Act of Barbarism': The Naval Blockade, Submarine Warfare and the Battle for American Neutrality; 7. 'Potato-bread Spirit': The German Home Front in 1914-16; 8. Squaring the Circle: Falkenhayn and Verdun 1916; 9. Summer 1916: The Allied Attack on all Fronts and its Failure; Part II. Climax: At the apex of war: 10. 'Only a Miracle can Save us Now': Germany and the War in the autumn of 1916; 11. Action Stations, Panic Stations: The Radicalisation of Germany's Strategy under the Third OHL; 12. 'A Stroke of Genius': Tentative Offers of Peace in December 1916; 13. The misjudged stand-off: Unrestricted submarine warfare and the USA's entry into the war; Part III. Nemesis: The defeat of the Central Powers and the destruction of the European Order: 14. Military Developments in the First Half of 1917; 15. The First Russian Revolution and the Opportunity for a Peace Agreement with the Russian Democracy; 16. 'War Psychosis?' The Reichstag's Peace Offer and Bethmann Hollweg's Demission; 17. 'The Unmasking of the Central Powers?' Victory and Peace in the East; 18. 'Glorious, but hopeless': Germany's Position at the Turn of the Year 1917/18; 19. 'Ludendorff's Hammer': The Western Offensive of 1918; 20. 'Now the War was Lost': The Military Collapse of the Central Powers; 21. 'Savage in Victory, Contemptuous in Defeat': Germany's Route out of the War; The Final Reckoning: A Terrible Debt that Must be Paid.

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Book SynopsisSunday Times History Book of the Year 2014Winner of the 2014 Wolfson History Prize, the 2014 Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History, the Society for Military History''s 2015 Distinguished Book Award and the 2015 British Army Military Book of the YearFor the empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary the Great War - which had begun with such high hopes for a fast, dramatic outcome - rapidly degenerated as invasions of both France and Serbia ended in catastrophe. For four years the fighting now turned into a siege on a quite monstrous scale. Europe became the focus of fighting of a kind previously unimagined. Despite local successes - and an apparent triumph in Russia - Germany and Austria-Hungary were never able to break out of the the Allies'' ring of steel.In Alexander Watson''s compelling new history of the Great War, all the major events of the war are seen from the perspective of Berlin and Vienna. It is fundamentally a history of oTrade ReviewIn a year dominated by memories of the First World War, this supremely accomplished book stands out. Not only does it look at the conflict from the perspective of the losing Central Powers, imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary, but it brings together political, military, economic and cultural history in an enormously impressive narrative. Although Watson's book is based on archival research in Germany, Austria and Poland, his scholarship is never suffocating. His accounts of the terrible struggle on the vast Eastern Front are brisk and well-judged, while he is particularly good at bringing alive the mood on the German and Austrian home fronts, from soldiers' letters to children's nursery rhymes. Above all, his book could not be a more powerful reminder that, as bad as the war was for Britain, it was far, far worse for the losers -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times, History Book of the Year 2014 *Will be revelatory to most British readers -- Simon Heffer * New Statesman BOOKS OF THE YEAR *British historians have tended to view the Great War predominantly from the side of the Allies. Watson has done our understanding an inestimable service by examining these familiar events from the perspective of the Central Powers ... Watson's shift of perspective offers illuminating sidelights ... Watson's balance is at its most strikingly effective in a superlative chapter on Germany's catastrophic decision to launch its U-boat campaign. But it is the lost hordes of East European refugees who create the most haunting images in the immense canvas of this outstanding book -- Miranda Seymour * Telegraph *A truly indispensable contribution . . . It is a mark of talent in a historian to take familiar narratives and open them to new interpretation. Mr. Watson's book is a brilliant demonstration of this skill . . . Ring of Steel is a history as much of the emotions that hardship and war produced as of politics or diplomacy . . . Watson manages to mesh his dense bottom-up description with the grand narrative of the war's key moments of decision -- Adam Tooze * Wall Street Journal *An immensely authoritative new history of Germany and Austria-Hungary between 1914 and 1918. Watson writes fluently and compellingly, and his remarkable command of the sources offers new insight and information on almost every page. Soundly judged on the many controversial aspects of his topic, Watson is particularly ground-breaking in evoking the popular experience of the conflict and when investigating the atrocities that all too frequently were its accompaniment -- David Stevenson (author of 1914-1918)In Ring of Steel Alexander Watson shows us what it was like to be pierced by the sharp end of the Allied juggernaut. He takes us on an illuminating tour of the German and Austrian trenches, their querulous headquarters, their cold, starving towns, and their increasingly desperate government ministries. This is a fascinating account of the Great War from 'the other side of the hill,' but also an explanation for the chaos that followed: communism, fascism, depression, and Europe's plunge into a Second World War -- Geoffrey Wawro (author of A Mad Catastrophe)The Central Powers' Great War was not waged from the top down. Instead, as Alexander Watson's comprehensively researched and clearly presented analysis demonstrates, in both Germany and Austria-Hungary popular support was vital to mobilizing and sustaining an increasingly-futile conflict -- Dennis Showalter (author of Tannenberg: Clash of Empires 1914)An immensely authoritative new history of Germany and Austria-Hungary between 1914 and 1918. Watson writes fluently and compellingly, and his remarkable command of the sources offers new insight and information on almost every page. Soundly judged on the many controversial aspects of his topic, Watson is particularly ground-breaking in evoking the popular experience of the conflict and when investigating the atrocities that all too frequently were its accompaniment -- David Stevenson (author of 1914-1918)This book offers Anglo-Saxon students of the First World War a usefully original perspective -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *Alexander Watson's remarkable history of the first world war makes clear as never before how this unparalleled conflict impacted on and changed the societies of central Europe, particularly Germany and Austria-Hungary -- PD Smith * the Guardian *

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Book SynopsisBorn in Sofia, Kapka Kassabova grew up under the last years of Cold War Communism in the 1980s, emigrated after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and has loved and hated her homeland in equal measure ever since. Thirty years later, as Bulgaria was joining the EU club, Kapka revisited the country of her childhood and her own relationship to it to discover just how much it - and she - had changed. With the irreverence of an expat, the curiosity of a visitor, and the soul of a poet, Kassabova brings to life the past and present of Bulgaria, as well as probing the complicated connection between place and mind, between geography and fate.Trade ReviewA fascinating book - at once evocative, disturbing and chock-a-block full of charm -- Jan MorrisA unique memoir of what it was like to grow up in a Communist satellite country. In the mosaic of books about the bad old days, this book is the piece that was always missing. Now we have it, and it shines -- Clive JamesNot many books on the travel shelves have the force of revelation, but this one does ... Kapka Kassabova leads us into a country most of us have hardly read about with an elegant assurance, an acid wit and a heart-rending precision that can make you see the world quite differently. This book is a treasure -- Pico Iyer

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Book SynopsisTHE STUNNING NEW BOOK FROM THE HOST OF BBC 2'S VILLAGES BY THE SEAEngland's villages have survived, developed, and thrived over hundreds of years. But what makes a village and how has that changed over time? Take a charming and unexpected journey through the quirks of England's villages throughout the ages in the excellent company of Dr Ben Robinson, expert archaeologist. Join him in visiting villages from prehistoric, to Roman, to medieval times, all the way through to today's modern, urban villages. Discover how landowners, governments and communities have shaped villages, why village greens, village pubs and village halls exist, and the real meaning behind names like Bunny, Yelling, Lover, Great Snoring and Slaughter. A compelling study of archaeology, history and architecture, England's Villages is a thoughtful, enlightening and informative look at our oldest homes, uncovering and revealing the extraordinary heritage of the places that surround us.Trade Review'Villages are the ancient heart and soul of rural England. Ben Robinson's book vividly explains the complexity of their history and why we must cherish them for future generations.' * Francis Pryor *'Dr Ben Robinson reveals how England's Villages have a dynamic and turbulent history which belies their sleepy image.' * Choice Magazine *'A fascinating, often surprising history, full of twists and turns, of something as apparently simple as a village. I was raised in a village (though I left it for the big city) so this book helped me understand the village part of my childhood.' * Rachel Morris, author of The Museum Makers *

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Book SynopsisTHE NO 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA personal account of the life and character of Britain''s longest-reigning monarch, from the writer who knew her family best''Compelling . . . Fascinating'' DAILY MAIL''The writer who got closest to the human truth about our long-serving senior royals'' THE TIMES''The book overflows with nuggets of insider knowledge'' TELEGRAPHPaints a unique picture of the remarkable woman who reigned for seven decades. Fascinating insights'' HELLO!__________Gyles Brandreth first met the Queen in 1968, when he was twenty.Over the next fifty years he met her many times, both at public and at private events. Through his friendship with the Duke of Edinburgh, he was given privileged access to Elizabeth II.He kept a record of all those encounters, and his conversations with the Queen over the years, his meetings with her family and friends, and hTrade ReviewCompelling . . . Fascinating * Daily Mail *The book overflows with nuggets of insider knowledge * Telegraph *Paints a unique picture of the remarkable woman who reigned for seven decades. Offers fascinating insights into her life * Hello! *What Brandreth can uniquely offer us are verbatim replies to the questions he asked the Queen and Philip over many years * The Times *[Brandreth] paints a vivid picture of the Queen . . . Don't miss this trusted account of the incredibe life of the most famous and arguably best-loved Head of State on Earth * This England *

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Book SynopsisExam board: OCRLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level)Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years.Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period.- Develop strong historical knowledge: In-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible- Build historical skills and understanding: Downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework- Learn, remember and connect important events and people: An introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework- Achieve exam success: Practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams- Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: Students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians

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Book Synopsis'A witty, gossipy, sparkling history, full of bright jewels of anecdote... Magnificent Rebels is a triumph' THE TIMES, Book of the Week'Extraordinary... A thrilling intellectual history that reads like a racy, intelligent novel, with a cast of unforgettable characters' SUNDAY TIMES'Magnificent Rebels is a magnificent book: a revelation which could easily become an obsession' SPECTATOR'A thrilling page-turner, by turns comical & tragic... My book of the year so far' TOM HOLLAND'Elegantly written, deeply researched and totally gripping' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIOREIn the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry, drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first Romantics.Their way of understanding the world still frames our lives and being.We're still empowered by their daring leap into the self. We still think with their minds, see with their imagination and feel with their emotions. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of our community and our responsibilities towards future generations who will inhabit this planet. This extraordinary group of friends changed our world. It is impossible to imagine our lives, thoughts and understanding without the foundation of their ground-breaking ideas.Trade ReviewThis is ridiculous. No book about German philosophy has any right to be this fun. This witty, gossipy, sparkling history . . . fizzed with creative energy * The Times, Book of the Year *Magnificent Rebels is - well - magnificent. This is how such books should be written, with clarity, passion and delight. A thrilling intellectual adventure -- John Banville, Book of the YearThis is indeed an electrifying book, in its illuminated portraits, its dynamic narrative and its sparking ideas * Observer *A witty, gossipy, sparkling history, full of bright jewels of anecdote . . . Magnificent Rebels is a triumph * The Times *In a gripping account of what she calls the "Jena Set" (which was intellectually and emotionally as complex as the Bloomsbury Group), Wulf brings the dramatis personae compellingly to life * Financial Times *An ambitious, engaging and effusive account . . . a considerable achievement * Times Literary Supplement *Magnificent Rebels is a magnificent book: a revelation which could easily become an obsession * Spectator *Magnificent Rebels is a thrilling intellectual history that reads more like a racy but intelligent novel or even a very superior soap opera where the characters are almost all oddballs, but geniuses * Sunday Times *Andrea Wulf is that rare historian who makes the past feel present and turns distant lives into gripping stories of the human heart. Magnificent Rebels is an absolute masterpiece: mesmerising, heartbreaking and incredibly timely, it is an important reminder that the desire to be true to oneself transcends time and borders -- AMANDA FOREMANThis is a magnificent book, fascinating in its focus and breathtaking in its scope and sweep. It is a work of formidable scholarship worn lightly; of complex intellectual history told evocatively, absorbingly, compellingly. Wulf's superb prose draws us deeply into the lives and minds of this remarkable circle of people, who together explored the breathtaking possibilities - and tremendous risks - of free will, individual creativity and liberty -- ROBERT MACFARLANEThe Jena Set was a group of philosophers, artists, and thinkers so earthquakingly brilliant that we feel the tremors that their ideas set off under our feet today. Nobody but Andrea Wulf, with her exquisite grasp of ideas and personalities, with her meticulous, sensitive and acutely observed prose, could make the reader feel as if they were in the room with them, bearing personal witness to their insights and their vanities and rages. Her storytelling had me immediately in her thrall -- LAUREN GROFF, bestselling author of MatrixTruly extraordinary, an intellectual history, group portrait, and elegy to Romanticism, which reads at times like a prizewinning novel. You feel you're there in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Germany, experiencing the debates, disputations, and deep emotional interconnections between the most profound philosophers and greatest writers of the era, as they grapple with the birth of the modern -- ANDREW ROBERTSThrumming with all the red-hot frenzy, wild passion and radical ideas of a free new world created out of poetry, sex and Romanticism, Magnificent Rebels, Andrea Wulf's superb group biography is elegantly written, deeply researched and totally gripping -- SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIOREA big, thrilling and constantly surprising book . . . Brilliantly orchestrating a mass of original letters, diaries, and archival documents, Wulf revives a whole world of intense friendships, shifting intellectual alliances, furious philosophical arguments, inspirational suppers (including the cooking), theatrical first nights, seductive carriage journeys, hypnotic candlelit lectures and, of course, non-stop love affairs and betrayals (including the ecstatic love-making and equally ecstatic rows) . . . It is a glorious piece of work, both thought-provoking and magical, and I loved it -- RICHARD HOLMESMagnificent Rebels is a beautiful group biography, celebrating the lives and loves of Germany's most brilliant minds: Goethe, Schiller, Fichte, Novalis, Schlegel, Schelling and Hegel. At the centre of their group in the small university town of Jena was a free-spirited, thrice married, single-mother named Caroline Michaelis-Böhmer-Schlegel-Schelling. She carried her father's and husbands' names but her life was entirely her own. Caroline is Andrea Wulf's soulmate. This is a perfect pairing of author and subject - a joyful, life-affirming, freedom-loving tour de force -- RUTH SCURR, author of Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and ShadowsDelightful and invigorating... a worthy successor to [Wulf's] acclaimed study of Von Humboldt, The Invention of Nature... Magnificent Rebels is a triumph of unseen toil, hardly suspected by the reader, in the midst of the sociable whirl of the main narrative... This delightful history captures the "vibe" of 1790s Jena where parties, feuds and gossip fuelled a great intellectual flowering * The Times *Andrea Wulf advances the argument that the very birth of modern individuality . . . took place in those houses and narrow streets, in those taverns and university lecture halls. It is a bold claim. The remarkable thing about the book is that Wulf not only stands it up but in the process weaves a thrilling page-turner of a story * New Statesman *Wulf's book is a magnificent achievement. It is a testament to the powers of the mind, certainly, but also to the power of friendship, free will and the possibility of snatching delight from the jaws of despair * BBC History Magazine *Magnificent Rebels is a revelation. For it shows how one small group of intellectuals paved the way for much of modernity * The Week *Bringing... neglected thinkers vividly to life * The Economist *Drawn from meticulously detailed research . . . Wulf weaves the stories of these individuals together, showing (sometimes exactly - there are maps) where their paths crossed and how these individuals rubbed off on each other . . .It is details such as this that bring Wulf's story of the 'Jena Set' - their lives and legacy - so vividly to life * History Today *Andrea Wulf's substantial yet pacey new book concerns itself with a dazzling generation of German philosophers, scientists and poets who between the late 18th and early 19th centuries gathered in the provincial town of Jena and produced some of the most memorable works of European romanticism * Prospect *I greatly admired Magnificent Rebels, about the intellectual powerhouse ofJena that exploded like a firework in the late 1790s. History writing at its best. -- Peter Frankopan * Spectator, Books of the Year II *A rollicking romp . . . enormous fun * Sunday Times, Book of the Year *A buoyant work of intellectual history. Wulf's chronicle of the German Romantics is written as what was once termed 'the higher gossip' * New Yorker, Book of the Year *Arresting . . . It reads as if Iris Murdoch had set a novel during an especially muddy phase of German metaphysics * Economist, Books of the Year *

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Book SynopsisWhen Dreams Collide is Nicholas Allan's intimate pilgrimage across the former states of Yugoslavia. Shedding the received knowledge of headlines, he explores the splintered co-evolution of these lands over the last ten centuries, guided by the inimitable Rebecca West's masterpiece, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. Written 80 years in the past, West's account serves as a fascinating reference for the optimistic interwar years of the 20th century between the Ottoman decline and the Nazi onset. The evolving balancing act of Tito's Yugoslav experiment and the atrocities following its break-up were still to come. Collapsing empires and proud young nations, monasteries and mosques, brotherhood, hatred, war, music, frescoes, food, costume, people, mountains, rivers and seas, the distant rumbles of the centuries take many forms. At a turning point in his own life, Allan is drawn to explore this complex area, through the lens of his part Eastern European heritage. He records personal encounters and richly drawn characters interwoven with history and art, politics and religion (too often one and the same). Enhanced with delightful hand-drawn maps of the Balkans including Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. 73 informative photograph's showing some the areas key historical figures including Ibrahim Rugova, Hitler, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Tito, Draza Mihailovic, Slobodan Milosevic, Alecksandar Vucic, Alija Izetbegovic, Radovan Karadzic, Ante Pavelic, Franjo Tudjman, and Fitzroy Maclean.Table of ContentsAuthor's Note. Introduction. MONTENEGRO. KOSOVO. SERBIA. NORTH MACEDONIA. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. CROATIA. Epilogue. Acknowledgements. List of Key Events. List of Selected Rulers. Nemanjic Dynasty. Petrovic-Njegos Dynasty. Karadjordjevic Dynasty. Obrenovic Dynasty. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book will give you an insight into one of the greatest tyrant of this century, his political ideals, beliefs and motivation, and his struggle to consolidate Germany into one great nation.

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Book SynopsisSince the mid-nineteenth-century abolition of slavery, the call for reparations for the crime of African enslavement and native genocide has been growing. In the Caribbean, grassroots and official voices now constitute a regional reparations movement. While it remains a fractured, contentious and divisive call, it generates considerable public interest, especially within sections of the community that are concerned with issues of social justice, equity, civil and human rights, education, and cultural identity. The reparations discourse has been shaped by the voices from these fields as they seek to build a future upon the settlement of historical crimes.This is the first scholarly work that looks comprehensively at the reparations discussion in the Caribbean. Written by a leading economic historian of the region, a seasoned activist in the wider movement for social justice and advocacy of historical truth, Britain’s Black Debt looks at the origins and development of reparations as a regional and international process. Weaving together detailed historical data on Caribbean slavery and the transatlantic slave trade with legal principles and the politics of postcolonialism, the author sets out a solid academic analysis of the evidence. He concludes that Britain has a case of reparations to answer which the Caribbean should litigate.The presentation of rich empirical historical data on Britain’s transatlantic slave economy and society supports the legal claim that chattel slavery as established by the British state and sustained by citizens and governments was understood then as a crime, but political and moral outrage were silenced by the argument that the enslavement of black people was in Britain’s national interest. International law provides that chattel slavery as practised by Britain was a crime against humanity. Slavery was invested in by the royal family, the government, the established church, most elite families, and large public institutions in the private and public sector. Citing the legal principles of unjust and criminal enrichment, the author presents a compelling argument for Britain’s payment of its black debt, a debt that it continues to deny in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.Britain’s Black Debt brings together the evidence and arguments that the general public and expert policymakers have long called for. It is at once an exciting narration of Britain’s dominance of the slave markets that enriched the economy and a seminal conceptual journey into the hidden politics and public posturing of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. No work of this kind has ever been attempted. No author has had the diversity of historical research skills, national and international political involvement, and personal engagement as an activist to present such a complex yet accessible work of scholarship for both activists and academics.

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Book SynopsisMay We Be Spared to Meet on Earth collects the private correspondence of the officers and sailors who set out in May 1845 on the Erebus and Terror for Sir John Franklin’s fateful Arctic expedition, providing new insights into the personalities of those on board, the voyage’s significance, and the dawning realization that they might never return.Trade Review“Graced with an appropriately light editorial touch, May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a worthy enterprise that will be read and used by a growing cohort of scholars and Franklin sleuths on both sides of the Atlantic.” Shane McCorristine, Newcastle University“May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth provides insight into the hopes and fears of the two crews, linking the officers and men to lives already lived: friendships and family connections of considerable complexity, magnetic and other scientific research, career prospects and reputation, and prospective marriages. Though the subject has inspired media interest around the globe, there is no other collection that assembles this material in a single volume, and the book will attract a wide readership.” Andrew Lambert, King’s College London“This is an exceptional collection of letters, offered complete, with exhaustive endnotes for most, explaining terms, expanding on the subject matter, adding details concerning the sender or receiver and tying letters to other letters in this collection and/or other archives. The opening essay is an excellent synopsis of the present historiography of the Franklin Expedition and the numerous efforts to find them. It details the twists and turns in telling the story from the disappearance up to present day. Touching on historical and fictional accounts the essay reminds the reader of the cultural impact the story of this misadventure has had. May We Be Spared To Meet On Earth, is an essential source for future historians and other writers, exploring the Franklin Expedition.” The Canadian Nautical Research Society 2023 Keith Matthews Prize jury“May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a labour of love. For those who are seriously interested in Arctic exploration, it is a must-have.” Canada’s History

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Book Synopsis'Every Scot should read it. Scotland now has the lively, provocative and positive history it deserves.' Irvine Welsh, Guardian A dramatic and intriguing history of how Scotland produced the institutions, beliefs and human character that have made the West into the most powerful culture in the world. Arthur Herman argues that Scotland's turbulent history, from William Wallace to the Presbyterian Lords of the Covenant, laid the foundations for 'the Scottish miracle'. Within one hundred years, the nation that began the eighteenth century dominated by the harsh and repressive Scottish Kirk had evolved into Europe's most literate society, producing an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it. He follows the lives and work of thinkers such as Adam Smith and David Hume, writers such as Burns and Boswell, as well as architects, technicians and inventors, and traces their legacy into the twentieth century. Written with wit, erudition and clarity, The Scottish Enlightenment claims the Scots' rightful place in the history of the western world.Trade Review'Herman's book tells an exciting story with gusto … entertaining and illuminating.' Jenny Uglow, Sunday Times 'Stimulating. A work which deserves to be bought by any interested reader.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'Compulsively readable.' Paul Henderson Scott, Sunday Herald 'Herman carries his thesis off with brio.' Arnold Kemp, Observer 'A sparkling book. Herman argues his case with an impressive accumulation of evidence.' New Statesman

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Book SynopsisChina Miéville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: The Communist Manifesto. 'It's thrilling to accompany Miéville... as he wrestles – in critical good faith and incandescent commitment – with a manifesto that still calls on us to build a new world' Naomi Klein 'Read this and be dazzled by its contemporaneity' Mike Davis 'A rich, luminous reflection of and on a light that never quite goes out' Andreas Malm 'Reading with [Miéville] today sharpens our senses to contemporary internationalist movements from below' Ruth Wilson Gilmore '[Written] with diligence and a ruthlessly critical eye worthy of Marx himself' Sarah Jaffe In 1848, a strange political tract was published by two German émigrés. Marx and Engles's apocalyptic vision of an insatiable system, which penetrates every corner of the globe, reduces every relationship to that of profit, and bursts asunder the old forms of production and of politics, remains a picture of our world. And the vampiric energy of that system is once again highly contentious. The Manifesto shows no sign of fading into antiquarian obscurity, and remains a key touchstone for modern political debate. China Miéville is not a writer hemmed in by conventions of disciplinary boundaries or genre, and this is a strikingly imaginative take on Marx and what his most haunting book has to say to us today. Like the Manifesto itself, this is a book haunted by ghosts, sorcery and creative destruction.Trade ReviewThe Manifesto is one of history's most profound prophecies. In Miéville's brilliant interpretation it is like a great comet whose periodic return blinds the sky with its light and urgency. Read this and be dazzled by its contemporaneity -- Mike DavisChina Miéville's elegant book patiently explains composition – style, structure, class – to reveal the Communist Manifesto's spectral energies. Reading with him today sharpens our senses to contemporary internationalist movements from below -- Ruth Wilson GilmoreAn excellent book, very lively and engaging, written in clear and readable prose... For today's readers Miéville does excellent work presenting and reviewing a huge amount of twentieth-century history -- Professor Terrell CarverIt's thrilling to accompany Miéville, one of the greatest living world-builders, as he wrestles – in critical good faith and incandescent commitment – with a manifesto that still calls on us to build a new world -- Naomi KleinVery enjoyable and well done... Properly scholarly and thorough in its apparatus of discussion and issue-identification... Lively, politically driven appreciation -- Professor Gregor McLennanWith diligence and a ruthlessly critical eye worthy of Marx himself, China Miéville expands upon the Communist Manifesto, calling us into renewed struggle for the best of what humanity could be. Against the million little cruelties and death-making of capitalism, this book builds a case for the value of the Manifesto to today's struggles without demanding fealty. It turns long-standing complaints about Marx on their heads to challenge the reader even while seducing with luminous prose. I didn't know I needed this book, but I did -- Sarah JaffeA book about another book might sound boring, but The Communist Manifesto is more than a book: it represents a bulging galaxy of historical struggle, ever moving and shining, even if only on the periphery of our vision. Here, China Miéville opens up the pages of the Manifesto and transmits the energy of communism across the pallid present. Close reading, historical essay, political commentary and a manifesto of sorts: A Spectre, Haunting is a rich, luminous reflection of and on a light that never quite goes out -- Andreas MalmChina Miéville, mind, soul and pen ablaze, guides his readers through Marx and Engels's unignorable, inextinguishable, eternally uncomfortable and always essential Manifesto. This is both a history of critical thought and a magnificent exemplar of reading and thinking critically. Miéville has written a thrillingly lively and lucid exegesis on the Manifesto, its contents and its discontents. He's gathered together an astonishingly heterogenous array of voices and responses, making a case for the Manifesto as a locus of politically engaged analysis and argument for nearly two centuries. Miéville adjudicates and synthesizes with unfailing clarity, wit, courage, decency and passion, writing brilliantly about nationalism, race, gender, literary style, and – my particular favorite section – about the perils and necessity of hate. He gives us a Manifesto that is simultaneously a central artifact of our species and a means for understanding our present, hazardous moment, a historical work that remains absolutely, ferociously alive -- Tony Kushner, author of Angels in AmericaA rare combination, both scholarly and exciting to read * The Prisma *Whatever the reader's position on these questions, A Spectre, Haunting ultimately succeeds. It is a clear, fair, and non-doctrinaire introduction * TLS *

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Book SynopsisProfessor Saraiva's multi-volume History of Portugal is a celebrated scholarly standard work. Yet, when he published a one-volume Historia Concisa, it proved a run-away best seller in Portugal, and the television series that went with it became a chart-topper. His latest book, produced especially for Carcanet's Aspects of Portugal series, is a history of his country, brief, acute and illuminating, written with scholarly insight and with non-specialist foreign readers specifically in mind. To this main text Ian Robertson, author of the well-known Blue Guide to Portugal, has added a historical gazeteer, brief biographies, chronological tables, maps and other elements which make this an essential Companion, the sort of book that a reader in need of accurate, brief and lucid reference will find useful, and every visitor to Portugal will find rewarding. The book is generously illustrated.

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Book Synopsis''The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing''s great projects'' New StatesmanThe world known as the ''Dark Ages'', often seen as a time of barbarism, was in fact the crucible in which modern Europe would be created.Chris Wickham''s acclaimed history shows how this period, encompassing peoples such as Goths, Franks, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, was central to the development of our history and culture. From the collapse of the Roman Empire to the establishment of new European states, and from Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean, this landmark work makes sense of a time of invasion and turbulence, but also of continuity, creativity and achievement.Trade ReviewA work of tremendous authority and breadth. With this book, as with Charlemagne's empire, one feels that an extraordinary range of things have been brought together -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *Intensely rewarding -- Jonathan Sumption * Spectator *Almost every page is full of arresting details and insights ... and a sharp eye for a revealing anecdote, illuminating even the murkiest corners of the so-called Dark Ages -- Dominic Sandbrook * Daily Telegraph *The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects * New Statesman *With five volumes now out, the Penguin History of Europe series ... is shaping up to be the best general account available, superseding all previous ones * Economist *

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Book SynopsisMisha Glenny''s acclaimed account of the war in former Yugoslavia contains substantial new material that discusses the end of the five-year conflict and looks ahead to an uneasy future in this turbulent region. Writing in the Evening Standard, Fitzroy Maclean said Misha Glenny's deeply disturbing book is, to my mind, essential reading for anyone trying to understand, or even just follow, events in what was once Yugoslavia'.

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Book SynopsisIn the middle of the First World War, the British War Cabinet approved and issued a statement in the form of a letter that encouraged the settlement of the Jewish people in Palestine. Signed by the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, the Balfour Declaration remains one of the most important documents of the last hundred years. Jonathan Schneer explores the story behind the declaration and its unforeseen consequences that have shaped the modern world, placing it in context paying attention to the fascinating characters who conceived, opposed and plotted around it - among them Lloyd George, Lord Rothschild, T.E. Lawrence, Prince Faisal and Aubrey Herbert (the man who was Greenmantle''). The Balfour Declaration brings vividly to life the origins of one of the world''s longest lasting and most damaging conflicts.Trade Review'Splendid ... A marvellously well-researched, balanced, and clear-sighted guide to this hideously controversial territory' * Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard *'Jonathan Schneer's lively new account is very much a tale for our times ... his book is interspersed with delightful vignettes' * David Cesarini, Literary Review *‘Why did Britain offer the Jews a home in Palestine? Had they not already offered Palestine to the Arabs, two years earlier? This extraordinarily well-documented and revealing book gives the answers' * Martin Gilbert, Mail on Sunday *‘An excellent and compelling portrait of the intrigues, characters and diplomacy that created the modern Middle East' * Simon Sebag Montefiore *

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Book SynopsisONE OF THE GREATEST SPY STORIES OF ALL TIME Nothing can stop an enemy from picking wireless messages out of the free air - and nothing did. In England, Room 40 was born . . .In January 1917, with the First World War locked in terrible stalemate and America still neutral, German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman gambled the future of the conflict on a single telegram.But this message was intercepted and decoded in Whitehall''s legendary Room 40 - and Zimmerman''s audacious scheme for world domination was exposed, bringing America into the war and changing the course of history.The story of how this happened, and the incalculable consequences are thrillingly told in Barbara Tuchman''s brilliant exploration.Trade ReviewA most exciting book, full of vivid pen portraits and curious episodes * Sunday Times *As thrilling as a John Buchan novel * Times Literary Supplement *Its 200 pages are worth more than all the thrillers and whodunits of the fiction writers put together * Herald *A fine exciting book told with intense drama. A thriller of real life * Observer *Brilliant. Told with great literary and dramatic talent * New York Times *All the ingredients of an Eric Ambler spy thriller * Saturday Review *Dazzling -- Max Hastings on 'Guns of August'Magnificent. A masterpiece of the historian's art -- on 'Guns of August' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisHighly illustrated history of the Italian Front during the Great War with over 130 rare archive photographs of the campaign and the battlefields.

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Book SynopsisThe epic bestselling biography of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin, her outrageous lover and co-rulerTrade ReviewOne of the great love stories of history in a league with Napoleon and Josephine and Antony and Cleopatra ... Excellent, with dazzling mastery of detail and literary flair * THE ECONOMIST *A rather wonderful book ... -- Mick Jagger * SUNDAY TIMES *If you want a good racy historical read, CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN certainly provides it! Book of the Year -- Antonia FraserIt is a wonderful story, and Simon Sebag Montefiore tells it with joyful verve. He evidently warms to Potemkin's overblown personality and relishes the adventurers who swarmed around him. He has a firm grasp of the politics at the Russian court and of the diplomatic context, which is not easy, since the centre of gravity of this story shifts between St Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin and Istanbul. He is very good on the relationship between Potemkin and Catherine. His explanation of the day-to-day mechanics of the unusual ménage is light-handed, movingly told and psychologically credible -- Adam Zamoyski * THE TIMES *This well researched and highly ambitious biography has succeeded triumphantly in re-creating the life of an extraordinary man of mixed moods... Sebag Montefiore also provides a remarkably good panorama of the period -- Antony Beevor * SUNDAY TIMES *Clearly what fascinates Sebag Montefiore is the man himself - his personality, his achievements, his lifelong relationship with his sovereign/lover - and that fascination shines through every page of this book. Although more than 500 pages long, it could easily have been double the length, so enjoyable is it to read * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *With great industry and huge enthusiasm he has combed the archives to give us a detailed account of a gigantic but, until now, almost forgotten figure. The writing is fluent, the sympathy obvious * SUNDAY EXPRESS *This exhaustive and beautifully-written biography... Montefiore vividly brings to life his supporting cast of envious conspirators, aristocratic mistresses, dandies, diplomats and adventurers * DAILY MAIL *The contradictions in Potemkin's character are beautifully brought out in this magnificent biography * INDEPENDENT *Montefiore's reputation so far has been for lively journalism and a couple of novels. With this lavish biography he has announced himself as a historian who deserves to be taken seriously * EVENING STANDARD *This splendid biography, as sprawling, magnificent and exotic as its subject, provides for the first time in English a fully researched, accurate and immensely readable history of this extraordinary man * LITERARY REVIEW *Magnificent ... Montefiore's passionate and committed revisionism on behalf of his hero is just one of a host of excellent things about this book. Massively researched in Russian archives, it is a work of fine scholarship ... This is a superb biography and it is hard to see how it can ever be superseded * FINANCIAL TIMES *Exhilarating ... In describing Potemkin's career, Sebag Montefiore succeeds admirably in capturing its scale and ambition -- Stella Tillyard * MAIL ON SUNDAY *This gripping and richly researched biography ... CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN makes it easy to see why novelists are often seduced away from fiction to write biography - where, just sometimes, implausible reality exceeds plausible fantasy many times over * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *An example of how to make a page-turner out of the most profound scholarship * NEW STATESMAN *Impeccably researched, beautifully written and handsomely presented, it takes us at an unslackening pace through the colourful life of one of the most legendary of all Russians, a war hero, consummate politician, visionary and lover of Catherine the Great * DAILY MAIL *A triumph of research and a joy to read -- Antony Beevor * INDEPENDENT *This book is a conspicuous achievement. The author's researches have been extensive and his command of his subject exemplary. His writing has the quality of a vivid soap-opera of the highest class, more than equal to his subject. He brings out Potemkin's personality perfectly... Potemkin is depicted in this work as the giant he undoubtedly was, and the biography will secure him a new audience, and a renewed place in history * COUNTRY LIFE *This irresistible biography is history from above. To write this stupendous, engaging tour de force, the first biography of Potemkin in any language since 1891, Montefiore has devoted many hours in the archives of Moscow and Petersburg and covered thousands of miles of the former Russian empire * SPECTATOR *One of the great love stories of history in a league with Napoleon and Josephine and Antony and Cleopatra ... Excellent, with dazzling mastery of detail and literary flair * Economist *A rather wonderful book ... -- Mick Jagger * Sunday Times *If you want a good racy historical read, CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN certainly provides it! Book of the Year -- Antonia FraserIt is a wonderful story, and Simon Sebag Montefiore tells it with joyful verve. He evidently warms to Potemkin's overblown personality and relishes the adventurers who swarmed around him. He has a firm grasp of the politics at the Russian court and of the diplomatic context, which is not easy, since the centre of gravity of this story shifts between St Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin and Istanbul. He is very good on the relationship between Potemkin and Catherine. His explanation of the day-to-day mechanics of the unusual ménage is light-handed, movingly told and psychologically credible -- Adam Zamoyski * The Times *This well researched and highly ambitious biography has succeeded triumphantly in re-creating the life of an extraordinary man of mixed moods... Sebag Montefiore also provides a remarkably good panorama of the period -- Antony Beevor * Sunday Times *Clearly what fascinates Sebag Montefiore is the man himself - his personality, his achievements, his lifelong relationship with his sovereign/lover - and that fascination shines through every page of this book. Although more than 500 pages long, it could easily have been double the length, so enjoyable is it to read -- Anne Applebaum * Sunday Telegraph *With great industry and huge enthusiasm he has combed the archives to give us a detailed account of a gigantic but, until now, almost forgotten figure. The writing is fluent, the sympathy obvious -- Nigel Jones * Sunday Express *This exhaustive and beautifully-written biography... Montefiore vividly brings to life his supporting cast of envious conspirators, aristocratic mistresses, dandies, diplomats and adventurers -- Christopher Hudson * Daily Mail *The contradictions in Potemkin's character are beautifully brought out in this magnificent biography -- Petronella Wyatt * Independent *Montefiore's reputation so far has been for lively journalism and a couple of novels. With this lavish biography he has announced himself as a historian who deserves to be taken seriously -- Victor Sebestyen * Evening Standard *This splendid biography, as sprawling, magnificent and exotic as its subject, provides for the first time in English a fully researched, accurate and immensely readable history of this extraordinary man -- Nikolai Tolstoy * Literary Review *Magnificent ... Montefiore's passionate and committed revisionism on behalf of his hero is just one of a host of excellent things about this book. Massively researched in Russian archives, it is a work of fine scholarship ... This is a superb biography and it is hard to see how it can ever be superseded -- Frank McLynn * Financial Times *Exhilarating ... In describing Potemkin's career, Sebag Montefiore succeeds admirably in capturing its scale and ambition -- Stella Tillyard * Mail on Sunday *This gripping and richly researched biography ... CATHERINE THE GREAT & POTEMKIN makes it easy to see why novelists are often seduced away from fiction to write biography - where, just sometimes, implausible reality exceeds plausible fantasy many times over -- Peter Nasmyth * TLS *An example of how to make a page-turner out of the most profound scholarship * New Statesman *Impeccably researched, beautifully written and handsomely presented, it takes us at an unslackening pace through the colourful life of one of the most legendary of all Russians, a war hero, consummate politician, visionary and lover of Catherine the Great -- Simon Heffer * Daily Mail *A triumph of research and a joy to read -- Antony Beevor * Books of the Year, Independent Weekend Review *This book is a conspicuous achievement. The author's researches have been extensive and his command of his subject exemplary. His writing has the quality of a vivid soap-opera of the highest class, more than equal to his subject. He brings out Potemkin's personality perfectly... Potemkin is depicted in this work as the giant he undoubtedly was, and the biography will secure him a new audience, and a renewed place in history * Country Life *POTEMKIN opened up a whole world ... to me. Book of the year -- Alain de Botton * Independent *This irresistible biography is history from above. To write this stupendous, engaging tour de force, the first biography of Potemkin in any language since 1891, Montefiore has devoted many hours in the archives of Moscow and Petersburg and covered thousands of miles of the former Russian empire ... -- Philip Mansel * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisProvides an account of the bitter fighting by the Hampshires and Dorsets in the villages of Eterville and Maltot with Tiger tanks and SS panzergrenadiers.

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Book SynopsisTHE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Shortlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards for 2019 'A beautifully textured tour around the cheeseboard' Simon Garfield 'Full of flavour' Sunday Times 'A delightful and informative romp' Bee Wilson, Guardian 'His encounters with modern-day practitioners fizz with infectious delight' John Walsh, Sunday Times Every cheese tells a story. Whether it's a fresh young goat's cheese or a big, beefy eighteen-month-old Cheddar, each variety holds the history of the people who first made it, from the builders of Stonehenge to medieval monks, from the Stilton-makers of the eighteenth-century to the factory cheesemakers of the Second World War. Cheesemonger Ned Palmer takes us on a delicious journey across Britain and Ireland and through time to uncover the histories of beloved old favourites like Cheddar and Wensleydale and fresh innovations like the Irish Cashel Blue or the rambunctious Renegade Monk. Along the way we learn the craft and culture of cheesemaking from the eccentric and engaging characters who have revived and reinvented farmhouse and artisan traditions. And we get to know the major cheese styles - the blues, washed rinds, semi-softs and, unique to the British Isles, the territorials - and discover how best to enjoy them, on a cheeseboard with a glass of Riesling, or as a Welsh rarebit alongside a pint of Pale Ale. This is a cheesemonger's odyssey, a celebration of history, innovation and taste - and the book all cheese and history lovers will want to devour this Christmas.Trade ReviewA delightful and informative romp through centuries of British cheesemaking ... it would make a fine Christmas present, along with a wedge of Sparkenhoe red leicester' * Guardian *Palmer writes with pace and passion, and his encounters with modern-day practitioners fizz with infectious delight ... Full of flavour * Sunday Times *Part history, part travelogue and part tasting menu ... an utter delight, rousing, infectiously impassioned and inspiring * Stephanie Sy-Quia, The Spectator *We are taught in school that history is about kings and queens and posh people sitting on horses, but Ned Palmer teaches us that in fact, correctly understood, history is mainly about cheese. I hugely enjoyed his engaging, learned, funny, surprising book. Palmer wears his extraordinary range of knowledge lightly, but he is serious too. His book is history from below, from the perspective of daily life; it talks about the food and the life and the needs of unfamous people. A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles is the best kind of social history, the kind you can eatA beautifully textured tour around the cheeseboard.A fabulous, fascinating Cheese Odyssey.Following the history of cheese from its neolithic beginnings right up to the modern day, Ned takes you on an entrancing journey through cheese and British history itself, meeting dozens of dedicated cheesemaker's along the way. Ned Palmer is a erudite, charming guide to all things cheese - and his book will make you want to eat nothing but cheese all day long.As an author of historical fiction, I was impressed by Ned's command of history but also delighted by his light, fluid and professional writing style - which was, in turn, funny, fascinating, and sometimes even profound. From Medieval monastic cheese-making to the horrors of the Milk Marketing Board, Ned charts a gripping and often mouth-watering course through the culture behind bacterial cultures. He has the true food-writer's gift of inspiring wild cravings in the reader. Reading late into the night, I constantly had to fight the urge to raid the cheese box in the fridge. Not always successfully. This book is a triumphant paean to the fine art of cheese-making, past and present, and a must-buy for anyone who appreciates good food - and good history. A truly cheese-mongous achievement!Palmer's writing is loquacious; it is as if he has leant across the counter to regale you with tales of when he was a 'younger monger'. His history is an utter delight, rousing, infectiously impassioned and inspiring of pride * Spectator *Palmer is both a cheesemonger and a cheese historian - encyclopedic, forensic and geekily obsessed with the stuff. He writes in a jolly patter: warm, wry and deliciously digressive. * Financial Times *Ripe with fascinating facts and anecdotes * Sunday Telegraph *The book is a treasure trove of amusing asides and anecdotes, such as the one about the 17th-century Welsh justice of the peace who assessed a defendant's guilt by his ability to swallow "enchanted" cheese. * The Times *One of the best cookery books to get you through lockdown... fab -- The Scotsman

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Book Synopsis''With these vivid, wistful memoirs, he joins the great chroniclers of Europe - the Prousts, Zweigs, Lampedusas, Leigh-Fermors and Bassanis - and shows how some of the things those writers loved persisted as late as 1989.'' (Economist)Selected as a Book of the Year in the TLS and SpectatorIn 1979 Richard Bassett set out on a series of adventures and encounters in central Europe which allowed him to savour the last embers of the cosmopolitan old Hapsburg lands and gave him a ringside seat at the fall of another ancien regime, that of communist rule. From Trieste to Prague and Vienna to Warsaw, fading aristocrats, charming gangsters, fractious diplomats and glamorous informants provided him with an unexpected counterpoint to the austerities of life along the Iron Curtain, first as a professional musician and then as a foreign correspondent.The book shows us familiar events and places from unusual vantage points: dilapidated mansions and boarding-houses, train carriages and cafes, where the game of espionage between east and west is often set. There are unexpected encounters with Shirley Temple, Fitzroy Maclean, Lech Walesa and the last Empress of Austria. Bassett finds himself at the funeral of King Nicola of Montenegro in Cetinje, plays bridge with the last man alive to have been decorated by the Austrian Emperor Franz-Josef and watches the KGB representative in Prague bestowing the last rites on the Soviet empire in Europe.Music and painting, architecture and landscape, food and wine, friendship and history run through the book. The author is lucky, observant and leans romantically towards the values of an older age. He brilliantly conjures the time, the people he meets, and Mitteleuropa in one of the pivotal decades of its history.Trade ReviewIf Oscar Wilde was correct that "history is gossip," then Bassett serves up a delicious cocktail of the very best kind-polite, learned, and insightful, merely leavened with touches of history and geopolitics, making one thirsty for more. ... A memoir can breathe life into history, and this is indeed Bassett's achievement as he breathes new life into shattered kingdoms, their now-moldering cast of characters, and all of the fascinating stories that would otherwise vanish with them. -- Kevin J. McNamara * Kirk Centre *With these vivid, wistful memoirs, he joins the great chroniclers of Europe - the Prousts, Zweigs, Lampedusas, Leigh-Fermors and Bassanis * Economist *A charming, imaginative and elegantly written memoir of his adventures in central Europe -- Victor Sebestyen * Evening Standard *A gem of a book ... a charming and engaging memoir of a world now gone -- Clovis Meath Baker * Standpoint *

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Book Synopsis''Brisk and thoughtful, this book could hardly be more timely'' Dominic Sandbrook, BBC History Magazine, Books of the YearFrom a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prize-winning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialismIn 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this violation of national sovereignty was in fact only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the merging of imperialism and nationalism in Russia today by delving into its history.Spanning over two thousand years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin have exploited existing forms of identity, warfare and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy. A strikingly ambitious book, Lost Kingdom chronicles the long and belligerent history of Russia''s empire and nation-building quest.Trade ReviewLost Kingdom tells the story of how the history of Russia was being written when that history was being made. . . A singularly fascinating account of Russian nationalism through the ages -- Charles Clover * Financial Times *A sweeping study. . . Not merely an intellectual exercise but one closely linked to contemporary geostrategic debates * Wall Street Journal *Brisk and thoughtful, this book could hardly be more timely -- Dominic Sandbrook * BBC History Magazine *Lost Kingdom is an erudite exploration of the contradictions of Russian nationalism. . . A master historian on top of his game, Serhii Plokhy lays out the challenges this past presents for transforming Russia into a better country for its people and its neighbours -- Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World HistoryIn Lost Kingdom, Serhii Plokhy does for Russia what only great historians can do-make the connections between the distant past and vital present feel relevant and alive. . . With Russia everywhere in the news today, and every pundit pretending to be an expert, Lost Kingdom is essential reading for those wishing to understand Russia beyond the headlines -- Garry Kasparov

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Book Synopsis''A fast-moving, entertaining and finely written story'' Simon Schama''Masterly ... a remarkable portrait of a brilliant complex and tragic genius'' William Dalrymple, Los Angeles TimesGeorge Nathaniel Curzon''s controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of the British Empire to the traumatized years following the First World War. As Viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and Foreign Secretary under George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour''s lucid and elegant biography is a brilliant assessment of Curzon''s character and achievements, offering a rich and dramatic account of the infamous vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, reckless love affairs that complicated and enriched his life.''A magnificent work ... entirely convincing in its evocation of Curzon''s extraordinary character ... It is, in short, the definitive life'' Trade ReviewIt is a magnificent work ... entirely convincing in its evocation of Curzon's extraordinary character. It is, in short, the definitive life -- David Cannadine * Observer *A superb new biograpahy ... a tragic story, brilliantly told -- Andrew Roberts * Literary Review *Masterly ... a remarkable portrait of a brilliant, complex and tragic genius -- William Dalrymple * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisThe contribution of the Ancient Greeks to modern western culture is incalculable. In the worlds of art, architecture, myth, literature, and philosophy, the world we live in would be unrecognizably different without the formative influence of Ancient Greek models. Ancient Greek civilization was defined by the city - in Greek, the polis, from which we derive ''politics''. It is above all this feature of Greek civilization that has formed its most enduring legacy, spawning such key terms as aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny and - last but by no means least - democracy. This stimulating Very Short Introduction to Ancient Greece takes the polis as its starting point. Paul Cartledge uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language around 1400 BCE, through the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire in around CE 330. Covering everything from politics, trade, and travel to slavery, gender, religion, and philosophy, it provides the ideal concise introduction to the history and culture of this remarkable civilization that helped give birth to the world as we know it.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Paul Cartledge, Cambridge don and doyen of Classicists, once again shows why he is the surest and most engaging guide tot he ancient world. 'Ancient Greece: A history in Eleven Cities' is a tremendously readable tour d'horizon that goes far beyond Athens and Sparta to explore the roots of Greek civilisation. * Justin Marozzi, Evening Standard *Paul Cartledge has here pulled off a remarkably clever feat of compression and organization, and will once again place very many readers in his debt. Brilliantly carried through. * Simon Hornblower, co-editor of ^iThe Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization^r *A wonderfully concise - and witty - introduction to an ever-popular subject. * Sir John Boardman, co-editor of ^iThe Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World^r *A rare work, a compelling historical narrative that is also a useful guidebook * Peter Stothard, Wall Street Journal *Cartledge's success lies in his ability to negotiate a path between similarity and difference; with proper scholarly detachment, he stresses how different the Greeks were; with an eye to broader historical trajectories, he reflects on the grounds for their continuing fascination. * Tim Rood, Times Literary Supplement *A rare work, a compelling historical narrative. * Peter Stothard, Wall Street Journal *Thoroughly stimulating book. * Tom Holland, BBC History *Cartledge is master of his subject. * Peter Jones, Literary Review *Paul Cartledge... once again shows why he is the surest and most engaging guide to the ancient world. * Justin Marozzi, Evening Standard *A tremendously readable tour d'horizon that goes far beyond Athens and Sparta to explore the roots of Greek civilization. * Justin Marozzi, Evening Standard *There are many pleasures to be had along Cartledge's mind-broadening route through time and space. * Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Knossos ; 3. Mycenae ; 4. Argos ; 5. Sparta ; 6. Massalia ; 7. Miletos ; 8. Athens ; 9. Thebes ; 10. Alexandria ; 11. Byzantium ; 12. Conclusion ; Preface ; Glossary ; Timeline

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Book SynopsisThis biography is a frank account of Charles Kennedy's political career that began in triumph and ended in tragedy.Trade Review'An excellent account of how a highly attractive and popular politician self-destructed' Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer; 'Greg Hurst's admirably thorough and even-handed account of Kennedy's career marshals evidence and is punctuated by shrewd, pithy judgements' Michael White, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisFEATURING A BRAND NEW CHAPTER ON KING CHARLES III AND HIS CORONATION''Fascinating'' The Times''Tantalising'' TelegraphThe gripping account of how the royal family really operates. Valentine Low, royal correspondent for The Times, asks the important questions: who really runs the show and, with Charles now crowned as King, what will happen next?Today, as ever, a vast team of people hidden from view steers the royal family''s path between public duty and private life. The question of who is entrusted to guide the royals has never been more vital, and yet the task those courtiers face has never been more challenging.With the departure of both Harry and Meghan and the disgraced Prince Andrew from royal life, the complex relationship between modern courtiers and royal principals has been exposed to global scrutiny. William and Kate - equipped with a very twenty-first-century approach to prTrade ReviewLow's enjoyable account... chronicles, and explains, the role of those courtiers whose role comes closest to public accountability... [and] there are tantalising unattributed snippets from private interviews... Low's conclusion is a valuable one * The Telegraph *Fascinating * The Times *This book is riveting. Extraordinarily well written, it canters along, packed with impeccable inside information. Low . . . is one of the exceptional minds writing about the British monarchy today -- Thomas Blaikie * Literary Review *Courtiers is an excellent royal romp based on fact. -- SphereCourtiers is a suave history of the monarchy over the past century, seen through the prism of those who serve it . . . a remarkable insight . . . and an important addition -- Mark Bolland * The Spectator *

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Book SynopsisWhen Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) began writing in 1660 he was a young clerk living in London, struggling to pay his rent. Over the next nine years as he kept his journal, he rose to be a powerful naval administrator. He became eyewitness to some of the most significant events in seventeenth-century English history, among them, the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 (he was in the ship that brought back Charles II from exile), the plague that ravaged the capital in 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666, described with poetry and horror. Pepys's diary gives vivid descriptions of spectacular events, but much of the richness of the diary lies in the details it provides about the minor dramas of daily life. While Pepys was keen to hear the King's views, he was also ready to talk with a soldier, a housekeeper, or a child rag-picker. He records with searing frankness his tumultuous personal and professional life: the pleasures and frustrations of his marriage, together with his infidelities, his ambitions, and his power schemes. All of this was set down in shorthand, to protect it from prying eyes. The result is a lively, often astonishing, diary and an unrivalled account of life in seventeenth-century London.

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Book SynopsisHow do you predict eclipses using Stonehenge? Why were `blue' stones brought all the way from Wales? What is the secret geometry of seven eights? Packed with rare old engravings, clear explanations and exciting new research, this beautiful and enlightening little book for wizards of all ages by renowned author and lecturer Robin Heath will leave you fascinated, educated, amused and amazed. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisThis is the definitive and most authoritative book ever published on the glories of English gardening--historically and horticulturally, a tour de force.An unprecedented in-depth look at the English garden by one of Britain's foremost garden writers and authorities, this book showcases the enduring appeal of the English garden whose verdant lawns and borders of colorful plants are the inspiration for garden lovers worldwide. Kathryn Bradley-Hole--the longtime garden columnist for Country Life--takes a fresh look at more than seventy gardens from across England and distills the essence of what makes the English garden style so sought after.Seasonal photographs capture the gardens--some grand, some personal, some celebrated, some rarely photographed--at their finest moments, accompanied by sparkling, insightful text. Featuring photographs from the unparalleled archives of Country Life, the full story of the English garden is here, from medieval monastTrade ReviewAt a time when the very idea of travel is inconceivable, what a gift to be taken on an armchair tour of the great English gardens, courtesy of the magnificent “English Gardens: From the Archives of Country Life Magazine” (Rizzoli, 491 pages, $85). Kathryn Bradley-Hole, the illustrated British weekly’s garden editor for 18 years, has chosen 62 garden profiles from the nearly 900 she wrote during her tenure. Her selection—featuring gardens and country houses large and small, from the ancient to the lately established—is divided into 17 thematic sections, from topiary, formal and cottage gardens to decidedly postmodern gardens designed to “succeed in an environmentally challenging world.” The concise profiles are accompanied by full-color images by many of today’s outstanding English landscape photographers, and some also by fascinating archival materials. Section headers and picture captions provide historical context, addressing the impact on gardens of changing styles, design, economics and technology...The current Duke of Devonshire wrote the book’s foreword; his estate, Chatsworth House (profiled here twice), is one of the grandest of them all. —WALL STREET JOURNAL An instant classic, Kathryn Bradley-Hole’s ENGLISH GARDENS: From the Archives of Country Life (Rizzoli, 491 pp., $85) contains a lifetime of travel itineraries. Great Dixter in East Sussex is vibrant with experiments in color and texture; tulips dance through a box parterre at Broughton Grange, an Oxfordshire garden recently designed by Tom Stuart-Smith — who has also been invited to refresh parts of the garden at Chatsworth for the Duke of Devonshire. —NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW With its history and portraits of more than 70 beautiful gardens, this book is an instant classic. The author is the former garden editor of the revered British magazine, and uses its exceptional photographs. Many of these gardens, new and old, are open to the public. —BOSTON GLOBE

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Book SynopsisOne of our most provocative military historians, Victor Davis Hanson has given us painstakingly researched and pathbreaking accounts of wars ranging from classical antiquity to the twenty-first century. Now he juxtaposes an ancient conflict with our most urgent modern concerns to create his most engrossing work to date, A War Like No Other.Over the course of a generation, the Hellenic city-states of Athens and Sparta fought a bloody conflict that resulted in the collapse of Athens and the end of its golden age. Thucydides wrote the standard history of the Peloponnesian War, which has given readers throughout the ages a vivid and authoritative narrative. But Hanson offers readers something new: a complete chronological account that reflects the political background of the time, the strategic thinking of the combatants, the misery of battle in multifaceted theaters, and important insight into how these events echo in the present.Hanson compellingly portrays the ways Athen

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Book SynopsisThe most important historical source on one of the most powerful leaders of the ancient world, Arrian''s The Campaigns of Alexander illustrates how Alexander the Great came to rule over a vast empire of his own making, translated from the Greej by Aubrey de Sélincourt, and revised with an introduction and notes by J.R. Hamilton in Penguin Classics.Although written over four hundred years after Alexander''s death, Arrian''s Campaigns of Alexander is the most reliable account of the man and his achievements we have. Arrian''s own experience as a military commander gave him unique insights into the life of the world''s greatest conqueror. He tells of Alexander''s violent suppression of the Theban rebellion, his total defeat of Persia and his campaigns through Egypt, India and Babylon - establishing new cities and destroying others in his path. While Alexander emerges from this record as an unparalleled and charismatic leader, Arrian succeeds brilliantly in creating an objective and fully-rounded portrait of a man of boundless ambition, who was exposed to the temptations of power and was worshipped as a god in his own lifetimeAubrey de Sélincourt''s vivid translation is accompanied by J.R. Hamilton''s introduction, which discusses Arrian''s life and times, his synthesis of other classical sources and the composition of Alexander''s army. This edition also contains appendices, maps, a list for further reading and a detailed index.The details of Arrian''s life (b. 86) are uncertain, though the shape of it indicates a man of wide and varied talents. He was governor to the Emperor Hadrian, the author of a number of works of non-fiction and an Athenian citizen. In 145 he rose to become a chief magistrate of Athens and thereby part of the governing body of the city. His date of death is not known.If you enjoyed The Campaigns of Alexander, you might like Thucydides'' History of the Peloponnesian War, also available in Penguin Classics.

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Book Synopsis

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