History of other geographical groupings Books

Book SynopsisUpdated for the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, this is the bestselling, highly-acclaimed and most famous account of the conflict, written by the commander of the British Task Force.On 5 April 1982, three days after the invasion of the Falkland Islands, British armed forces were ordered to sail 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic unaware of what lay ahead of them or whether they would be committed to war with Argentina.In these engrossing memoirs, Admiral Sandy Woodward, Task Force commander from the aircraft carrier Hermes, takes us from day one to day one hundred of the conflict; from sailing through the waters of the Atlantic with hopes of a political settlement fading, and war becoming increasingly likely, to the repulse of the Argentinian navy and the daring amphibious landing at San Carlos Water.The war, which cost the lives of over 1,000 men, has left a legacy of many historical debates and controversies, from the sinking of ships such as HMS Coventry, HMS Sheffield and SirTrade Review‘One of the most gripping, convincing and realistic accounts of a naval battle ever published.’ John Keegan, Daily Telegraph ‘Perceptive, vivid, engaging.’ Guardian ‘One of the clearest and frankest accounts ever written of modern naval warfare.’ Field Marshal Lord Carver, Sunday Telegraph

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Book Synopsis''Outstanding'' TIMES''Gripping'' ECONOMISTSHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAREmotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia''s North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today.Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shou

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Book SynopsisSoviet socialism was based on paradoxes that were revealed by the peculiar experience of its collapse. Focusing on the transformation of the 1950's at the level of discourse, ideology, language, and ritual, this book traces the emergence of multiple unanticipated meanings, communities, relations, and pursuits that this transformation enabled.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2015 Prosvetitel (Enlightener) Book Prize Winner of the 2007 AAASS Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies "If there is a prize for best title of the year, this book surely deserves it. Alexei Yurchak ... has written an interesting and provocative book about the way young Soviet Russians talked in the Brezhnev period and what they meant by what they said."--Sheila Fitzpatrick, London Review of Books "Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More is an important book... Everything Was Forever provides fresh paradigms that pack a hefty explanatory punch both with regard to its immediate subject matter and beyond. Its publication means that discussions of Soviet life, culture, and literature that rely on the old, rigid binarisms are going to seem instantly dated... [T]his study is a must-read."--Harriet Murav, Current Anthropology "Amidst these prolix transformations in Russian language and civilization, Yurchak's contribution has come in the form of a deep listening."--Bruce Grant, Slavic Review "The strength of Yurchak's study is in its methodological-analytical grasp of the seemingly contradictory nature of everyday existence... Yurchak provides an elegant methodological tool to explore the complex, intersecting and often paradoxical nature of social change."--Luahona Ganguly, International Journal of CommunicationTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Chapter 1: Late Socialism An Eternal State 1 Chapter 2: Hegemony of Form Stalin's Uncanny Paradigm Shift 36 Chapter 3: Ideology Inside Out Ethics and Poetics 77 Chapter 4: Living "Vnye" Deterritorialized Milieus 126 Chapter 5: Imaginary West The Elsewhere of Late Socialism 158 Chapter 6: Tr ue Colors of Communism King Crimson, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd 207 Chapter 7: Dead Irony Necroaesthetics, "Stiob," and the Anekdot 238 Conclusion 282 Bibliography 299 Index 319

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Book SynopsisGeorgina Howell began working in magazine journalism at the age of seventeen. She was Fashion Editor of the Observer, Features Editor of Vogue, Deputy Editor of Tatler and a principal feature writer for the Sunday Times. Georgina Howell died in January 2016.

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Book Synopsis'Impossible to put down' Observer'One of the great books of the century' Times Literary SupplementRebecca West's epic masterpiece not only provides deep insight into the former country of Yugoslavia; it is a portrait of Europe on the brink of war. A heady cocktail of personal travelogue and historical insight, this product of an implacably inquisitive intelligence remains essential for anyone attempting to understand the history of the Balkan states, and the wider ongoing implications for a fractured Europe.Trade ReviewThe sheer quality and depth of the writing make it one of the great books of the century * * Times Literary Supplement * *Impossible to put down, both timeless and of its time - a travel book and epic narrative history brimming with passion, anger, scholarship and intuition, hatred and love * * Observer * *One of the supreme masterpieces of the twentieth century . . . As a book about Yugoslavia it's a kind of metaphysical Lonely Planet that never requires updating -- GEOFF DYERIt is hard to convey the flavour of a book so rich in observation, history, philosophy, political ideas and ironic humour * * The Times * *It is a brilliant antidote to the disease that would have us believe that these are faraway countries about which we know nothing * * Guardian * *Such incandescent writing - you find yourself wanting to mark every sentence in order to go back and relish it again -- BRIAN ENORebecca West's magnum opus . . . one of the great books of our time * * New Yorker * *You will search in vain for a more original, assured and companionable guide to former Yugoslavia * * Financial Times * *Dame Rebecca, the finest reporter of her generation, saw everything . . . A remarkably easy read * * Sunday Telegraph * *Written with a fierce intelligence that any journalist must envy and admire * * Daily Telegraph * *

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Book SynopsisThirty years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, this book reveals how tensions between America, NATO, and Russia transformed geopolitics between the Cold War and COVIDTrade Review“Sarotte has the receipts, as it were: her authoritative tale draws on thousands of memos, letters, briefs, and other once secret documents—including many that have never been published before—which both fill in and complicate settled narratives on both sides.”—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker“Prize-winning historian Mary Elise Sarotte . . . charts all the private discussions within the western alliance and with Russia over enlargement and reveals Russia as powerless to slow the ratchet effect of the opening of Nato’s door.”—Patrick Wintour, The Guardian“Sarotte is the unofficial dean of ‘end of Cold War’ studies. . . . With her latest book, she tackles head-on the not-controversial-at-all questions about NATO’s eastward growth and the effect it had on Russia’s relations with the west. I look forward to the contretemps this book will inevitably produce.”—Daniel W. Drezner, Washington Post“‘Not one inch to the east’ . . . [is] a history so often repeated that it’s practically conventional wisdom. Mary Sarotte . . . [describes] what actually happened [between the US and Russia], and how both the reality and distortion really shape today’s events.”—Max Fisher, New York Times, from “The Interpreter” newsletter“A riveting account of Nato enlargement and its contribution to the present confrontation. Sarotte tells the story with great narrative and analytical flair, admirable objectivity, and an attention to detail that many of us who thought we knew the history have forgotten or never knew.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times“Masterful and exhaustively researched. . . . For this well-written and pacy book, [Sarotte] has uncovered previously unpublished details of former president Bill Clinton’s role in deciding Europe’s fate.”—Con Coughlin, Sunday Telegraph“Highly detailed, thoroughly researched, and briskly written.”—Fred Kaplan, New York Review of Books“There’s no one who has researched the relevant sources more thoroughly than historian Mary E. Sarotte, who has just published Not One Inch . . . successfully reconstructing the most significant days [in NATO expansion].”—Stefan Kornelius, Süddeutsche Zeitung“Sarotte weaves together the most engaging and carefully documented account of this period in East-West diplomacy currently available.”—Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs“Not One Inch is the best history to date of how American and Russian leaders went from the early post–Cold War world where dreams seemed unnecessary to our current one, in which dreams seem out of reach.”—Fritz Bartel, Journal of Contemporary HistorySelected as a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2021“The paramount influence of domestic politics on foreign policy [is] Sarotte’s forte, and she incisively portrays Clinton’s hillbilly takeover of Washington and the Monica Lewinsky affair’s impact on NATO and Russia policy. She excels at sketches of European leaders, too, especially Helmut Kohl, nailing his folksiness and sublime skill at self-promotion. . . . To see political actors who were venal and mistake-prone yet effective is what makes her history so compelling.”—Stephen Kotkin, Times Literary Supplement“Russia’s war against Ukraine is an aftershock of the earthquake of 1989–9 . . . [when] two questions dominated European security discussions. . . . The first was about how to integrate Russia into a new world order. The second was about how far, if at all, to stretch the boundaries of NATO membership into eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet states. These questions lie at the heart of M. E. Sarotte’s remarkable book on geopolitics in the final decade of the last century.”—Robert Service, Literary Review“Sarotte’s historical narrative is backed up by extensive source material. . . . The book excels in its extensive investigation of high-tension moments in the debate over NATO enlargement. . . . Indispensable for readers interested in history and international relations.”—Maria Papageorgiou, International Affairs“Multi-archival, multi-lingual, and multi-level research paired with Sarotte’s gripping narration makes Not One Inch a new centrepiece of debate for academics and policymakers alike. . . . The historiography of the 1990s is indebted to the groundwork she has laid.”—Bradley Reynolds, Cold War History“Not One Inch is the best history to date of how American and Russian leaders went from the early post-Cold War world where dreams seemed unnecessary to our current one, in which dreams seem out of reach.”—Fritz Bartel, Journal of Contemporary History“Sarotte traces the difficult course of Russia’s relations with Europe and the United States during the decade which followed the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. . . . The story has been told before, but never so fully or so well. In a remarkable historical coup, Sarotte has persuaded the German foreign ministry to open its archives to her, and the Americans to declassify thousands of documents previously closed to researchers.”—Jonathan Sumption, Spectator"[Sarotte's] nuanced account, based on new evidence, shows that the US never made a promise to Russia that Nato’s borders would move ‘not one inch’ eastwards. Sarotte doesn’t absolve the US from blame, but this should be read by those who tend to heap most blame for the Russian invasion on the west."—Irish Independent 'Best Eight Politics Books of the Year' “Sarotte’s work offers a nuanced, well-founded and comprehensive interpretation of American-Russian relations and the European security architecture after 1989.”—Lukas Baake, sehepunkte2022 Arthur Ross Silver medal winner, sponsored by the Council on Foreign RelationsShortlisted for the 2022 Cundill History Prize “A riveting account of fateful choices to expand NATO and their consequences for relations with Russia today.”—Graham Allison, author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?“Sarotte deftly unpacks one of the most important strategic moves of the post–Cold War Era: the decision to enlarge NATO. Her detailed history of the 1990s is groundbreaking, and her assessment of the impacts of NATO expansion on European security is balanced and nuanced. A major accomplishment and a must-read.”—Charles A. Kupchan, Georgetown University and the Council on Foreign Relations“Not One Inch will be considered the best-documented and best-argued history of the NATO expansion during the crucial 1989–1999 period.”—Norman Naimark, author of Stalin and the Fate of Europe: The Postwar Struggle for Sovereignty“Sarotte explores how and why NATO expanded and relations with Russia deteriorated in the post–Cold War world. It is an important book, well documented and told.”—Joseph Nye Jr., author of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump“A marvelous and timely book. This is history that policymakers, scholars, and pundits need to read right now.”—Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for A Dying Colonialism "The writing of Malcolm X or Eldridge Cleaver or Amiri Baraka or the Black Panther leaders reveals how profoundly they have been moved by the thoughts of Frantz Fanon." -The Boston Globe

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Book SynopsisA stunning history of Lebanon over five centuriesTrade Review'Puts Lebanon's long war into a context that makes it comprehensible and, perhaps, inevitable. Everyone who is curious about that beautiful and tormented country should read his history, one of the best yet' -- Charles Glass, author of The Northern Front and The Tribes Triumphant'Skillfully weaving together social, political, cultural and economic history, this deeply informed and penetrating study provides a rich understanding of the vibrant, tragic, but ever hopeful Lebanese 'door to East and West'' -- Noam Chomsky'This is a unique work. Fawwaz Traboulsi provides a compelling account of Lebanon's emergence as a state, a critical appraisal of its autonomy, a pathbreaking analysis of its social origins in the intimate and ever changing relationship of caste and class' -- Irene Gendzier, Professor of History, Boston University'Traboulsi writes what has eluded us for a long time, a history of modern lebanon that includes the civil war and post civil war periods' -- Maya Mikdashi, JadaliyyaTable of ContentsIntroduction Acknowledgements Chronology Glossary Section One: Ottoman Lebanon 1. The Emirate of Mount Lebanon (1523--1842) 2. The Bloody Death of the Muqata`ji System (1842--1861) 3. Grandeur and Misery of the Mutasarrifiya (1861--1915) 4. Beirut, Capital of Trade and Culture (1820--1918) Section Two: State and Society 5. Dialectics of Attachment and Detachment (1915--1920) 6. From Mandate to Independence (1920--1943) 7. The Merchant Republic (1943--1952) 8. The Pro-Western Authoritarianism of Kamil Chamoun (1952--1958) 9. Shihabism and the Difficult Autonomy of the State (1958--1970) 10. The Pre-War Crises (1968--1975) Section Three: the Wars of Lebanon 11. Reform by Arms (1975--1976) 12. The Longest Coup d’Etat (1977--1982) 13. The War Order (1983--1990) 14. Ambiguities and Contradictions of the Taif Agreement Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisCommunist and capitalist states alike were scarred by the economic shocks of the 1970s. Why did only communist governments fall in their wake? Fritz Bartel argues that Western democracies were insulated by neoliberalism. While austerity was fatal to the legitimacy of communism, democratic politicians could win votes by pushing market discipline.Trade ReviewWhat distinguishes the exceptionally well-researched…The Triumph of Broken Promises is [Bartel’s] parallel analysis of how the crisis was handled in the democratic West and the authoritarian East, and how it ultimately led to the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism. It is this unified framework, plus its implications for several eminently political events: the break up of the Soviet Union and other Communist federations, the unification of Germany, etc., that represents, in in my opinion, the book’s greatest strength. -- Branko Milanovic * Global Inequality and More 3.0 *The best structural account yet of the end of the Cold War, the rise of neoliberalism, and the emergence of the current world order. An elegant work of critical historical analysis, the book is essential reading for those invested in building a better, more equitable future. -- Sean T. Byrnes * Jacobin *Striking in its hardheaded realism…[A] tremendously sharp work. -- Alex Hochuli * American Affairs *As the title of the book suggests, the post–Cold War world would be indelibly marked by a retraction of social democratic commitments. Liberal democracy and neoliberal economies prevailed, according to Bartel, because ‘they were the best political and economic systems for breaking promises.’ -- Andre Pagliarini * New Republic *Why did the West win the Cold War? In this powerful new interpretation, Bartel argues that the struggle between democracy and communism was fundamentally a contest over which system of government could best harness industrial modernity to improve the lives of its people…The book’s originality lies in how it weaves together Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s program of reform, known as perestroika, and the conservative economic turn under U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. -- G. John Ikenberry * Foreign Affairs *A provocative, incisive, and lucid account of the end of the Cold War and the onset of neoliberalism. -- Melvyn P. Leffler * H-Diplo *Bartel retells the familiar narratives of nuclear and conventional arms control, the collapse of state socialism and Germany’s unification in a context where energy, finance and economic theory played a decisive role. -- John Nilsson-Wright * Global Asia *Challenging conventional narratives that focus on Reagan’s military-ideological assertiveness or Gorbachev’s openness to reform, the book gives a material and structural explanation of Western victory and Eastern defeat. This makes for fascinating history: finance and energy emerge as silent but vital battlegrounds, unlikely connections—like those between Japanese investors and Hungarian central bankers—come to the fore, and several East-West similarities surprise the reader. -- Max Krahé * Phenomenal World *How did the Cold War, which began as a competition to make promises, mutate into a race to break them? And why did the West win? Bartel offers a bold and compelling interpretation that links the history of the Cold War and neoliberalism to dramatic effect. The Triumph of Broken Promises will be essential reading. -- Adam Tooze, author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the WorldA pleasure to read with many short stories that illustrate the points being made on a more general level, thus making it more accessible to a broader audience. -- Ludoš Studený * Czech Journal of Contemporary History *If the Cold War began with a competition to provide welfare, it ended as both sides imposed austerity and discipline on their populations. Bartel’s brilliantly conceived and researched study renovates our understanding of how and why the Soviet Union was driven toward collapse precisely as the United States, faced with slowdown after the oil shock, moved toward neoliberal governance. Few books explain the makings of our times as well as this thrilling debut. -- Samuel Moyn, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in HistoryA deeply significant history of how the way in which the Cold War ended gave rise to the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism. Bartel traces this trajectory through personal narratives from East and West and through deep archival research. His book is a must-read for anyone interested in how the Cold War and its immediate aftermath produced the world we live in today. -- Odd Arne Westad, author of The Cold War: A World HistoryAn excellent work, attractively written, with a powerful argument that carries a large narrative arc from the oil shocks and international monetary confusion of the 1970s to the end of the Cold War. Promises were broken because governments could not meet the expectations of their populations, generated during the postwar economic miracle, about continuously rising incomes. The result was disaffection, but governments’ hands were tied. Well supported by fascinating archival materials, including from the IMF, this is a compelling story. -- Harold James, author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization CycleThe Triumph of Broken Promises is a stimulating book: conceptually sophisticated, full of archival finds, and profoundly illuminating of connections between the Cold War's end and neoliberalism's ascent. -- Gary Gerstle, author of The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era

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Book SynopsisSir Edmund Hillary described Douglas Mawson’s epic and punishing journey across 600 miles of unknown Antarctic wasteland as ‘the greatest story of lone survival in polar exploration’.This Accursed Land tells that story; how Mawson declined to join Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated British expedition and instead lead a three-man husky team to explore the far eastern coastline of the Antarctic continent.But the loss of one member and most of the supplies soon turned the hazardous trek into a nightmare. Mawson was trapped 320 miles from base with barely nine days’ food and nothing for the dogs.Eating poisoned meat, watching his body fall apart, crawling over chasms and crevices of deadly ice, his ultimate and lone struggle for survival, starving, poisoned, exhausted and indescribably cold, is an unforgettable story of human endurance. Grippingly told by Lennard Bickel, this is the most extraordinary journey from the brutal golden age of Antarctic exploration. Perfect for fans of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air or Michael Palin’s Erebus.

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Book SynopsisThe Heart of the Cariboo-Chilcotin anthology celebrates this beautiful and remote region of British Columbia. From the days of the gold rush through to modern times, the stories in this collection capture the spirit of a place whose beauty and wildness have inspired its people throughout its history. Legendary tales include: a husband''s promise to his dying wife that he will not let her body languish in what to her is an alien, inhospitable land how the theft of a nugget pin in Barkerville led to a murderer''s capture the ill-conceived plan to use camels on the Cariboo Road First Nations traditions and skills handed down through generations the wild and woolly early years of the Cariboo stampedes a sasquatch-sized bear that inadvertently became a cash cow for one hunting guide These accounts of Cariboo-Chilcotin life are as diverse as they are fascinating: some nostalgic, some deeply moving, and some that will tickle the funny bone in a most agreeable way.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the various Russian sources, this title covers an array of topics, including the Bolshevik rise to power and World War I as the catalyst and cradle, respectively, of the Revolution. It conveys the boldness and diversity of the revolutionaries aspirations as well as the ways in which the Revolution affected the lives of ordinary people.Trade ReviewThis much-needed collection brings to life the many layers and processes of the Russian Revolution. The individual documents are beautifully translated and well introduced. Thanks to the newly available sources provided here, we can see and understand the imagination-defying events of the Revolution more clearly and deeply. --Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist UniversityAn excellent anthology. . . . [This] book has a wide range of selections, which offers the students a deep understanding of the many different voices and groups in Russia during this time. The introductions to the selections are clear and place the documents within their historical context. The selections are very interesting and informative. I would strongly recommend this book for undergraduate classes in modern Russian history. The book makes this very complex period come to life by giving such a broad selection of documents. --Mary Louise Loe, James Madison UniversityOne of the key strengths of the work is its accessibility: the individual documents are clearly and concisely introduced; any outstanding discrepancies are annotated throughout; and a useful chronology and glossary are found at the end of the text. For the specialist, a number of the documents will be familiar, as the editors make use of old favourites. . . But there is also a significant amount of less familiar and fresh material for the expert eye. . . . This documentary history will no doubt become the key primary source collection for undergraduates and teachers of the Russian revolutions and civil war. It is organized and annotated with impressive clarity and offers an inexpensive, up-to-date, wideranging and balanced approach to the many diverse features of the revolutions. --Revolutionary RussiaTable of ContentsIntroduction; Lesson I; Lesson II; Lesson III; Lesson IV; Lesson V; Lesson VI; Lesson VII; Lesson VIII; Lesson IX; Lesson X; Lesson XI; Lesson XII; Lesson XIII; Lesson XIV; Index.

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Book SynopsisA rich and fascinating exploration of the Volga—the first to fully reveal its vital place in Russian historyTrade Review“Meticulously researched and sympathetically written. . . . ‘Without the Volga, there would be no Russia.’ The final words of Janet Hartley’s book sound sweeping. But its 400 pages make the case powerfully.”—The Economist“Well-researched and accessible to general readers. . . . Hartley has a good eye for the significant detail.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Books of the Week”“Janet Hartley’s study of the Volga, the river that symbolises Russian identity, is a worthy companion to her 2014 book Siberia: A History of the People. She is particularly good on the way that Russians and non-Russians interacted in the centuries after Ivan the Terrible’s conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan in the 1550s.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Books of 2021: History”“This is a work of masterful condensation, commanding storytelling and an invitation to marvel at the ‘gloomy grandeur’ of one of the Earth’s oldest residents.”—Matthew Janney, Spectator“Combines outstanding academic research with masterful and compelling storytelling. The result is a memorable journey into the heart of Russian social, political, and cultural history.”—Jennifer Eremeeva, Moscow Times“A vivid, human-centered story of the great river standing at a crossroad of peoples and cultures. . . . Hartley’s voyage along the serpentine river is magical and full of charm.”—Farah Abdessamad, Asian Review of Books“Accessible to the interested lay person as much as thought-provoking to experts in the field of Russian and Eurasian studies.”—Kees Boterbloem, Canadian-American Slavic Studies“The strength of The Volga is always its rich cultural and economic history. . . . Twenty-two illustrations, ten maps and a note on place names complete The Volga, and make it a welcome addition to other biographies of the world’s rivers.”—Paul Josephson, Cahiers du Monde russe“A splendid book. . . . This scholarly work provides not just a vivid chronicle of the Volga and its peoples, but an original perspective on the history of Russia as a whole.”—Maureen Perrie, European History Quarterly“Hartley does an excellent job of highlighting the many ethnic and religious groups that have lived in the shadows of Russia’s greatest river [and] creates a vivid picture of this region throughout history, and the powerful river that has shaped so many lives.”—Kit Gillet, Geographical, “Book of the Month”“Hartley treats the reader to captivating stories of conflict, conversion, trade, famine, migration and myth [and] convincingly shows that any understanding of Russian history requires an understanding of the Volga.”—Andy Bruno, History Today“A lucid and well-researched book.”—Anna Reid, Literary Review“A work of great range and erudition informed by a deep reading in published and archival sources. As I followed along, struck repeatedly by Hartley’s judicious attention to the river’s ever-flowing impact on the peoples and cultures around it, I came away impressed more than anything by the sheer scope of the story, which matches the vastness and complexity of Russia itself.”—Willard Sunderland, Slavonic and East European Review“Provides not just a vivid chronicle of the Volga and its peoples, but an original perspective on the history of Russia as a whole.”—Maureen Perrie, European History Quarterly“[This] impressive book on the Volga . . . will appeal to a wide range of readers, including specialists of Russian and Eurasian history, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and many general readers. Containing a wealth of intriguing detail and written in elegant and accessible language, it delivers new insights on Russia’s greatest river.”—Stefan B. Kirmse, Europe-Asia Studies“The Volga is an important study whose focus is the construction of Russian territorially-contiguous colonialism and its broad impacts, well worth the attention of both colleagues and the less specialist reader.”—Carol B. Stevens, Slavic Review“With clarity and commanding breadth of vision, Hartley chronicles the life of a great river through times of shocking violence and times of tranquillity.”—Rachel Polonsky, author of Molotov’s Magic Lantern“Taking a majestic sweep through centuries of turbulent history, Hartley traces in vivid detail the significance of a river that has served Russia’s multi-ethnic population as economic lifeline, strategic battleground and symbol of freedom.”—Simon Dixon, author of Catherine the Great“An impeccably documented and comprehensive history of the Volga region. It pays special attention to the ecological features of the region’s territories, and to the economic, ethnic, religious and cultural characteristics of its peoples.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Russia and the Russians“Engrossing. In lively prose Hartley tracks the not-always-easy imprint of Russian power on the peoples and environments of this vast river as it snakes through parts of the world little known to an English-speaking audience.”—Valerie A. Kivelson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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Book Synopsis''A truly majestic work of scholarship, thought and literary imagination.'' Jan Morris, The Times ''Shot through with crystalline brilliance.'' Washington Post ''Fascinating.'' Sunday Times When Captain Scott died in 1912 on his way back from the South Pole, his story became a myth embedded in the national imagination. Everyone remembers the doomed Captain Oates's last words: I'm just going outside, and I may be some time.' Francis Spufford's celebrated and prize-winning history shows how Scott's death was the culmination of a national enchantment with vast empty spaces, the beauty of untrodden snow, and perilous journeys to the end of the earth.Winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Writers'' Guild Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the Banff Mountain Book Prize.

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of the Year by The Economist ? Winner of the Peterson Literary Prize?Our Enemies Will Vanish achieves the highest level of war reporting: a tough, detailed account that nevertheless reads like a great novel. One is reminded of Michael Herr''s Dispatches . . . Frankly, it''s what we have all aspired to. I did not really understand Ukraine until I read Trofimov''s account.??Sebastian JungerA revelatory eyewitness account of Russia?s invasion of Ukraine and heroism of the Ukrainian people in their resistance by Yaroslav Trofimov, the Ukrainian chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimovhas spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war?s decisive moments?from the battle for Kyivto more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut?to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world?s great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people?people Trofimovknows very well.For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyivand his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens?doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers?risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world.This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itself.

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Book Synopsis''Bill Bryson on two wheels'' IndependentScaling a new peak of rash over-ambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9,000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike. Asking for trouble and getting it, he sets off at the Arctic winter''s brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless and massively sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finland. Haunted throughout the journey by the border detritus of watchtowers and rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream, and the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse - at a time of ratcheting East-West tension. After three months, 20 countries and a 58-degree jaunt up the centigrade scale, man and bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older and wiser, but mainly older.Trade ReviewOne hundred per cent self-inflicted … Beyond stupid … It's hilarious. -- Adrian Chiles * Radio 5 Live *Bill Bryson on two wheels. * Independent *The world's funniest travel writer. * Observer *A good, entertaining writer, laugh-out-loud funny in parts. * Irish Independent *It’s a hoot. -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year *It’s a hoot. -- Michael Kerr * Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year *

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Book Synopsis'Richly entertaining... impressively well-researched' Daily Mail, Biography of the YearThe Sunday Times bestselling biography of the glamorous couple behind the modern royal family, the aunt and uncle of Prince Philip.DICKIE MOUNTBATTEN: A major figure behind his nephew Philip's marriage to Queen Elizabeth II and instrumental in the Royal Family taking the Mountbatten name, he was Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia during World War II and the last Viceroy of India.EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN: Once the richest woman in Britain and a playgirl who enjoyed numerous affairs, she emerged from World War II as a magnetic and talented humanitarian worker loved around the­ world.From British high society to the South of France, from the battlefields of Burma to the Viceroy's House, The Mountbattens is a rich and filmic story of a powerful partnership, revealing the truth behind a carefully curated legend.Was Mountbatten one of the outstanding leaders of his generation, or a man over-promoted because of his royal birth, high-level connections, film-star looks and ruthless self-promotion? What is the true story behind controversies such as the Dieppe Raid and Indian Partition, the love affair between Edwina and Nehru, and Mountbatten's assassination in 1979?Based on over 100 interviews, research from dozens of archives and new information released under Freedom of Information requests, prize-winning historian Andrew Lownie sheds new light on­ this remarkable couple.'Painstakingly researched... genuinely enthralling' Observer'A page-turner which is also a carefully researched work of history' Spectator'A compelling new biography...superbly researched' Daily Express'Incisive... strongly recommend' The TimesTrade ReviewOne of the few joys of lockdown for me. Lownie is an unusual biographer in that he is at once a great investigative journalist, but also a fine writer. * Tim Walker, journalist and broadcaster *Richly entertaining... impressively well-researched * Daily Mail, Biography of the Year *Incisive... strongly recommend * The Times *A study in aggressive social climbing [with] quick-moving fluency * Sunday Times *Painstakingly researched... genuinely enthralling * Observer *A page-turner which is also a carefully researched work of history * Spectator *A compelling new biography...superbly researched * Daily Express *Everything a top-notch biography should be * Budapest Times *Well-researched, enjoyable, revealing * The Oldie *By dint of prodigious research, Lownie has stripped away the accretions of fable and fiction to give us an unvarnished double portrait. It is vivid, well balanced and often sympathetic * Literary Review *A well-balanced portrait of flawed individuals... The book promises scandal and does not disappoint. Lownie's book dares to go where no other Mountbatten biography has gone before. An explosive account that looks behind the façade of a celebrated couple * The Lady, 5 stars *Wherever a reader turns in this magnificent book there are new ideas to consider. Lownie's writing fits the complex nature of his subject yet is always completely unambiguous. I loved this book. * Queensland Reviewers Collective *A fine blend of political, military, and personal history. * Hindustani Times *A complex story beautifully written which never felt less like a history lesson, but I learned so much by the end. A triumph of storytelling. -- Anne SebbaA timely debunking of the golden Mountbatten myth. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Lownie's portrait of a deeply flawed man and his extraordinary marriage is an irresistible read. -- Robert BeaumontContains many fresh social and political insights into an important subject, revealed in a gripping and detailed narrative. -- Richard Thorpe, biographer of Anthony Eden and Harold MacmillanAn entertaining, knowledgeable account of the extraordinary official, sexual and social lives of royal relative, Earl Mountbatten, and his multi-millionairess wife, Lady Edwina. -- Sarah Bradford, Royal biographer'Lownie's account of things is a mixture of inevitably indulgent gossip, descriptions of lavish parties, yachts and mansions, while also evaluating Mountbatten's chequered military career and Edwina's humanitarian work. One for royal watchers.' -- Sydney Morning Herald"This glittering biography delves into the scandal-filled and history-making partnership of Lord Louis 'Dickie' Mountbatten and his wife Edwina, an heiress turned humanitarian who charmed the world." -- PeopleWherever a reader turns in this magnificent book there are new ideas to consider. Lownie's writing fits the complex nature of his subject yet is always completely unambiguous. I loved this book. * Queensland Reviewers Collective *Acute observations, careful analysis and skilful articulation * Royal History Geeks *"A juicy dual biography. Readers will be astounded by the intrigues and accomplishments of this remarkable couple." -- Publishers WeeklyWell-written and reads very easily....a valuable warts and all portrait of a couple who were centre stage in British public life for some sixty years. Recommended * The Naval Review *A brilliant book! Here's 'Uncle Dickie' as he's never been revealed before * Robert Lacey *An audacious, myth-busting book by a master biographer (determined to get to the truth). * Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang, author The Last Vicereine *A remarkable and definitive portrait -- Frederick Forsyth on Stalin's EnglishmanShrewd, thorough, revelatory * William Boyd on Stalin's Englishmen *[Lownie] manages to convey the charm as well as the turpitude * Craig Brown on Stalin's Englishmen *Exhaustively researched and absorbing book * New Statesman on Stalin's Englishman *A meticulously researched biography...an astonishing piece of research -- Sunday Times on Stalin's EnglishmenLownie certainly knows what makes a good book, and in Stalin's Englishman he has delivered one of his own - many times over * Independent on Stalin's Englishmen *A magnificent biography... a narrative as gripping as a thriller * Daily Express on Stalin's Englishmen *Scrupulous and comprehensive * The Week on Stalin's Englishmen *Everything a top-notch biography should be * Budapest Times *"A well-researched deep-dive into the lives of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten, a couple who witnessed much of the 20th Century's history - including Royal landmarks - at first hand" * Grazia *'"The Mountbattens" is most compelling as a strangely sweet tale of open marriage.' * New York Times Book of the Year *"full of detail and insight and is written in a clear, unshowy style." * The Lady *

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Book Synopsis‘A must read for anyone interested in the future of Europe and the world as a whole.’ Serhii Plokhy, author of The Last Empire An essential insight into Russia’s relations with Ukraine, the US and beyond Why did Vladimir Putin launch his catastrophic invasion of Ukraine in February 2022? And how much are failures of Western policy towards Russia since the end of Communism to blame for the bloodiest war on European soil since 1945? These are the questions at the heart of Who Lost Russia?, an updated edition of which Oneworld will be publishing this July. In the original version of this book, critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic when it appeared in 2017, Peter Conradi, Europe Editor of The Sunday Times, analysed the series of mistakes and misunderstandings on both sides since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. This new edition contains 15,000 words of original material that brings the story bang up to date, examining the events leading to the invasion and setting out what the conflict will mean for the future of Europe and the world.Trade Review‘Engrossing.’ * Mail on Sunday *‘Authoritative and readable.’ * Daily Mail *‘A timely account of the diplomatic history of what increasingly looks like a new Cold War… Nervous Europeans might like to send Conradi’s book to the White House.’ * The Times *‘Fast-paced, comprehensive, solidly researched and, most importantly, essential reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the great crises of our times…uncannily up-to-the-minute…this book couldn’t be better timed.’ * Owen Matthews, Literary Review *‘Conradi wisely examines the forest’s contours, avoiding the trees. He writes engagingly and enlivens his smart, balanced analysis with colorful anecdotes.’ * New York Times Book Review *'Essential reading.' * The Herald *‘Manages to tell a complex story…with a much-needed sense of balance. The author’s skill in seamlessly linking historical events to present-day international relations makes this book an insightful and rewarding read.’ * Prospect *‘Seamlessly written…it is fascinating to read the author’s summary of Russia’s actions in Syria in the context of recent events.’ -- Wall Street Journal‘Elegantly written, informed…provides many valuable insights into our times.’ * Evening Standard *‘Skilfully constructed.’ * Sunday Times *‘Profoundly important.’ * Country Life *‘Peter Conradi is a cool-headed and even-handed guide to the past 25 years of Western-Russian relations...It is refreshing to read so well-written and dispassionate an account.’ * New Statesman *‘A fine narrative of postcommunist Russia's relations with the United States and Europe.’ * Library Journal *‘Fast-moving and utterly compelling and spans the decades revealingly.’ * Irish Independent *‘Balanced and timely…a smooth narrative that provides welcome context for Russia’s recent revanchist behavior and insight into prospects for ongoing U.S.-Russian relations.’ * Publishers Weekly, starred review *‘To understand what went wrong in Russia over the last few decades and the impact it has had on the world, one can’t find a better guide than this well researched and argued book – a must read for anyone interested in the future of Europe and the world as a whole.’ -- Serhii Plokhy, author of The Man with the Poison Gun and The Last Empire‘Nuanced yet fast-paced, this is the essential guide to our rocky relationship with a country we ignored at our peril. Russia is back at the top of the news: and this book couldn’t be more timely.’ -- Peter Pomerantsev, author of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia‘Clear, thought-provoking, disturbing. Anyone who wants to understand the rise of Vladimir Putin and the resurgence of Russian nationalism should read Peter Conradi’s impeccably researched and impressive book.’ -- Victor Sebestyen, author of 1946: The Making of the Modern World‘The West has always struggled to comprehend the byzantine workings of Russia, not just during the Cold War but even more so in the post-communist era. This important book presents a crucial analysis of the rise of Putin and our continuing inability to read him. Few people are as well placed as Peter Conradi, who witnessed the collapse of Communist Russia 25 years ago first hand as a Moscow correspondent, to present such an important and revealing study as we approach the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. This is a book to which we all need to pay attention.’ -- Helen Rappaport, author of Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd 1917‘As NATO and the West come to terms with a Russia which, in the words of Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Moscow Carnegie Centre, believes it has been at war with the West since 2014, the risks of miscalculation and the potential for catastrophe have not been higher since the end of the Cold War. Who Lost Russia? lays out, with startling clarity and precision, the steps that have led us to the present situation. Understanding is the pre-requisite for the development of strategy. This book provides that essential understanding and should be compulsory reading for our political leadership, and the policymakers who support them, together with the general reader.’ -- General Sir Richard Shirreff, author of War with Russia‘How the world careened from one cold war into another with a friendly but all too brief pit stop between them is the subject of this quite wonderful book. Bringing to bear his seven years as a Moscow correspondent, and a gift for clear, sparkling prose, Peter Conradi’s spirited, well-informed narrative brings to life the ups and downs, colourful characters, and turning points that didn’t turn along the way.’ -- William Taubman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and his Era‘Peter Conradi takes a calm, considered look at developments in East–West relations that threaten to divide the world. In an era of inflamed partisan debate, he provides the historical context vital for a rational assessment of where we stand and where we are headed.’ -- Martin Sixsmith, author of Russia: A 1,000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East‘A systematic account of Russia’s emergence from the wreckage of the Soviet Union with a renewed sense of authoritarian mission… A cold-eyed examination of recent Russian history that seems to show that there was never a solid plan to integrate Russia into the West.’ * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisRevolution, the fourth volume of Peter Ackroyd's enthralling History of England begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory. In it, Ackroyd takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was – again – at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange, the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born. It was an era in which coffee houses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in our towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal.Trade ReviewAckroyd is a fascinating mix of a 19th-century narrative historian and modern social analyst. Elements of thisbook seem very old-fashioned and formal - in a good way. Yet the author eschews the detached third person preferred by stuffy professionals, favouring instead a more intimate "you" that brings the reader into the dark alleys of industrial towns to sniff the urine, vomit and suppurating sores of industrial England. Those perfect sentences are scattered throughout. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of illustrations Chapter - 1: What do you think of predestination now? Chapter - 2: A bull or a bear? Chapter - 3: The idol of the age Chapter - 4: Hay day Chapter - 5: The prose of gold Chapter - 6: Waiting for the day Chapter - 7: The great Scriblerus Chapter - 8: The Germans are coming! Chapter - 9: Bubbles in the air Chapter - 10: The invisible hand Chapter - 11: Consuming passions Chapter - 12: The What D’Ye Call It? Chapter - 13: The dead ear Chapter - 14: Mother Geneva Chapter - 15: The pack of cards Chapter - 16: What shall I do? Chapter - 17: Do or die Chapter - 18: The violists Chapter - 19: A call for liberty Chapter - 20: Here we are again! Chapter - 21: The broad bottom Chapter - 22: The magical machines Chapter - 23: Having a tea party Chapter - 24: The schoolboy Chapter - 25: The steam machines Chapter - 26: On a darkling plain Chapter - 27: Fire and moonlight Chapter - 28: The red bonnet Chapter - 29: The mad kings Chapter - 30: The beast and the whore Chapter - 31: A Romantic tale Chapter - 32: Pleasures of peace Section - ii: Further reading Index - iii: Index

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Book Synopsis''Man perishes; his corpse turns to dust; all his relatives pass away. But writings make him remembered''In ancient Egypt, words had magical power. Inscribed on tombs and temple walls, coffins and statues, or inked onto papyri, hieroglyphs give us a unique insight into the life of the Egyptian mind. Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson has freshly translated a rich and diverse range of ancient Egyptian writings into modern English, including tales of shipwreck and wonder, obelisk inscriptions, mortuary spells, funeral hymns, songs, satires and advice on life from a pharaoh to his son. Spanning over two millennia, this is the essential guide to a complex, sophisticated culture.Translated with an Introduction by Toby WilkinsonTrade ReviewUntil now few people beyond specialists have been able to read the texts, many of them inaccessible within tombs ... hieroglyphs were pictures but they conveyed concepts in as sophisticated a manner as Greek or Latin script, [Toby Wilkinson] said. Filled with metaphor and symbolism, they reveal life through the eyes of the ancient Egyptians. Tales of shipwreck and wonder, first-hand descriptions of battles and natural disasters, songs and satires make up the anthology. -- Dalya Alberge * The Guardian *This book offers a taste of the vast body of ancient Egyptian literature. In addition to glamorous accounts of war and royalty, it's packed with extraordinarily personal tales of life and the social anxieties of the time. -- Caitlin Hu * Quartz *

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Book SynopsisHow succession in authoritarian regimes was less a competition of visions for the future and more a settling of scoresTrade Review“[Torigian] is less interested in coalitions than the mechanics of transfers. Challenging conventional analyses of how authoritarian leaders are chosen, he argues that factors such as ideology and patronage matter less than brass-knuckle tactics.”—Ian Johnson, New York Review of Books“Do read Torigian’s Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion. . . . It’s great.”—Stuart Lau, Politico“Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion . . . is . . . useful for those interested in understanding how actors in Leninist systems fight for power.”—Martin Laflamme, Los Angeles Review of Books“[Torigian’s] ambitious first book re-examines critical junctures in Soviet and Chinese history, putting up a revisionist case against the consensus view of Deng Xiaoping and Nikita Khrushchev as reformers.”—John Delury, Global Asia“[S]pecialists will find much to ponder in this careful, detailed examination of a critical question in the functioning of authoritarian regimes.”—Mary Elise Sarotte, Engelsberg Ideas“[A] thought-provoking, rigorous contribution to the literature on elite politics under authoritarianism. . . . This book deserves to be widely read by scholars and students of Soviet and Chinese politics, communism, and authoritarianism in general.”—Cheng Chen, Russian Review“A careful and systematic comparison of the dynamics of leadership transition in the post-Stalin Soviet Union and post-Mao China.”—Peter Rutland, Political Science Quarterly“[Torigian’s] work is absolutely outstanding.”—Stephen Kotkin, ChinaTalk“The book makes a compelling case for the value of Sino-Soviet-Russian comparisons. . . . Must-reading for social scientists. . . . A major achievement.”—Thomas P. Bernstein, China Journal“Joseph Torigian makes a major contribution to the literature on authoritarian politics.”—Victor Shih, China Quarterly“There is much to ponder . . . [in] the novelty, analytical rigour and excellence of what is a demanding comparative study.”—S. A. Smith, Slavonic and Eastern European Review“The best account of the transition from Mao to Hua to Deng is Joseph Torigian’s book Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion.”—Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute“Joseph Torigian’s stellar research and personal interviews have produced a brilliant, meticulous study. It fundamentally undermines what political scientists have presumed to be the way Chinese Communist and Soviet politics operate.”—Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine“Joseph Torigian combines history and political science in a remarkably acute and innovative study of leadership politics in the Soviet Union and China. It will help us understand authoritarian regimes today.”—David Holloway, Stanford University

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Book SynopsisStep into the tumultuous age of Stuart England with Peter Ackroyd's enlightening Civil War. Beginning with James I, the first Scottish king of England, it tracks an era of massive upheaval, ending with the dramatic flight of his grandson, James II, into exile.Civil War transports you to the heart of the 17th-century Britain, where you meet figures like James I with his shrewd perspectives on diverse matters, and Charles I, whose inept rule ignited the flames of the English Civil War. Ackroyd offers a brilliant – warts and all – portrayal of Charles's nemesis Oliver Cromwell, Parliament's great military leader and England's only dictator, who began his career as a political liberator but ended it as much of a despot as the king he executed.Beyond this political turmoil, Ackroyd also explores the rich cultural and literary contributions of the Jacobean era. This was a world where Shakespeare's masterpieces were penne

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Book SynopsisWhen the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, they set themselves the task of building socialism in the vast landscape of the former Russian Empire, a territory populated by hundreds of different peoples belonging to a multitude of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groups. Before 1917, the Bolsheviks had called for the national self-determination of all peoples and had condemned all forms of colonization as exploitative. After attaining power, however, they began to express concern that it would not be possible for Soviet Russia to survive without the cotton of Turkestan and the oil of the Caucasus. In an effort to reconcile their anti-imperialist position with their desire to hold on to as much territory as possible, the Bolsheviks integrated the national idea into the administrative-territorial structure of the new Soviet state. In Empire of Nations, Francine Hirsch examines the ways in which former imperial ethnographers and local elites provided the Bolsheviks with ethnographTrade ReviewHirsch does not simply... posit another ideological or epistemological model of Soviet history. She instead provides a completely new kind of analysis. Her book is more than an innovative study of high quality; it stakes out a position that cannot fail to have a long-standing impact on the historiography of the Soviet state. -- Marina Mogil'ner * Ab Imperio *Referring to the Soviet Union as an 'empire of nations,' Hirsch demonstrates through prodigious research how ethnographers from the former tsarist regime collaborated with the Leninists to shape the new state. Hers is the tale of a modernizing, self-styled scientific state that imposed categories, names, and programs on ethnic populations with relatively little say in their own fate.... Empire of Nations is an exceptionally rich book and a significant addition to the growing literature on the construction of the Soviet state. Beautifully written and clearly presented even when the story hovers on complicated administrative matters, Hirsch's account of the Soviet Union as a 'work in progress' that neither began with a blueprint nor achieved completion reaffirms the now widely accepted view of nation-formation as a process of human intervention and invention. -- Ronald Grigor Suny * The Moscow Times *This innovative and important book reinterprets the formation of the Soviet Union in the years after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Instead of focusing on the views of the Soviet leadership and the events surrounding the official formation of the Soviet Union in 1922, Hirsch takes a broader perspective on the processes involved with establishing a nationalities policy in the Soviet Union from the prerevolutionary background through the 1930s by looking at the activities of experts and local elites, among others. Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroductionPart One. Empire, Nation, and the Scientific State1. Toward a Revolutionary Alliance2. The National Idea versus Economic ExpediencyPart Two. Cultural Technologies of Rule and the Nature of Soviet Power3. The 1926 Census and the Conceptual Conquest of Lands and Peoples4. Border-Making and the Formation of Soviet National Identities5. Transforming "The Peoples of the USSR": Ethnographic Exhibits and the Evolutionary TimelinePart Three. The Nazi Threat and the Acceleration of the Bolshevik Revolution6. State-Sponsored Evolutionism and the Struggle against German Biological Determinism7. Ethnographic Knowledge and TerrorEpilogueAppendixes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewHistory as literature, meticulously researched and masterfully written. * New York Times Book Review *A formidable achievement. . . . No historian has attempted to weave together in so subtle a manner the threads of the most complex and turbulent period of Caribbean history. * Times Literary Supplement *Brilliant. . . . Startling. * New Statesman *A remarkable book. . . . Intelligent, humane, brilliantly written. * Book World *

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Book SynopsisThe Black Watch is one of the finest fighting forces in the world and has been engaged in virtually every worldwide conflict for the last three centuries. Named after the dark tartan of the soldiers'' kilts, it is the oldest Highland regiment. As part of the British army, their first battle abroad was in Flanders in 1745 but the regiment soon moved to North America to fight the French, and then shared the capture of Montreal, the Windward Islands and Martinique. The American War of Independence saw the regiment once again in America, fighting horrific battles and eventually storming Fort Washington in 1776. Since then the regiment has held its own from the Napoleonic Wars to the Indian mutiny to Iraq. The Black Watch is the UK''s most decorated regiment, combining the proud history and tradition of an organisation that has been soldiering for over 250 years.Trade ReviewA compelling account of an often heroic history * THE SCOTSMAN *Parker laces his narrative of the broad sweep of military events with poignant snapshots * GLASGOW HERALD *A cracking tale of courage... a wonderfully readable account * FOCUS *

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Book SynopsisPresenting tales of noble intentions, novel inventions, and epic miscalculations, The Greatest Show in the Arctic brings fresh life to a unique and underappreciated story of American exploration.Trade ReviewAs this thoughtful and finely textured book makes clear, Franz Josef Land represented the spectacular final act of America's Arctic quest. A story of noble intentions, new inventions, and epic miscalculations playing out on the icy shores of an Arctic archipelago, this is a drama that once commanded the attention of the world."" - Michael F. Robinson, author of The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture""Superbly written and deftly researched, P. J. Capelotti's The Greatest Show in the Arctic is vastly more than a comic saga. It sheds considerable light on a previously obscure cast of explorers and on the history of Franz Josef Land, one of the least-studied regions in the Far North. Of all the Arctic books I've read in recent years, I'd rank Capelotti's very close to the top. It is astonishingly good. - Lawrence Millman, author of Last Places: A Journey in the North

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Book SynopsisThere have been many books about Antarctica in the past, but all have focused on only one aspect of the continent - its science, its wildlife, the heroic age of exploration, personal experiences or the sheer awesome beauty of the landscape- but none have managed to capture the whole story, until now.Gabrielle Walker, author, consultant to New Scientist and regular broadcaster with the BBC has written a book unlike any that has ever been written about the continent. Antarctica weaves all the significant threads into an intricate tapestry, made up of science, natural history, poetry, epic history, what it feels like to be there and why it draws so many different kinds of people back there again and again. It is only when all the parts come together that the underlying truths of the continent emerge. Antarctica is the most alien place on Earth, the only part of our planet where humans could never survive unaided. It is truly like walking on another planet. And yet, in its siTrade ReviewWe are all anxious Antarctic watchers now, and Walker's book is the essential primer * Guardian *The early Antarctic expeditions are thoroughly covered in this enthralling book. But, then again, so is every other aspect of a place that continues to haunt the human imagination ... Perhaps best of all, Walker gives us a fantastically vivid sense of what it's like to be in Antarctica * Readers Digest *This is a fascinating insight into one of the most inhospitable places on Earth and its implications for the world's future * Irish Examiner *Brimful of science, heroism, tragedy and laugh-out-loud humour, Antarctica is an exciting and informative read ... Walker interweaves personal accounts and in-depth research to tell an intimate captivating story -- Kathryn Jeffs * BBC Focus *

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr. first left Anarctica, he knew he would return. Both the scope of the strange land and the uncharted scientific promise it held were too much to leave behind forever. Launched during the Great Depression amid great public skepticism, and with funding at its toughest to secure, this second Antarctic journey proved as daring, eventful, and inspiring as any Byrd ever embarked upon. Reissued for today's readers, Admiral Byrd's classic explorations by land, air, and sea transport us to the farthest reaches of the globe. As companions on Byrd's journeys, modern audiences experience the polar landscape through Byrd's own struggles, doubts, revelations, and triumphs and share the excitement of these timeless adventures.

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Book SynopsisPublished to coincide with the centenary of the first expeditions to reach the South Pole, this book presents a fresh take on Antarctic exploration. By focusing on the larger purpose, it deepens our appreciation of the explorers' achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about.Trade Review"'In this fascinating book... Larson's intriguing accounts begin to reveal the bigger picture of early scientific research in Antarctica and its place in European geopolitics of the time.' (Michael Bravo, New Scientist) 'Larson is a brilliant researcher, going far beyond the standard source materials, so even devotees of polar literature will learn things' (Jennifer Kingson, The Scotsman) 'This is a great and needed book, highly worth reading whether your Antarctic focus is history or science.' (The Antarctican Society Newsletter)"

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Book SynopsisThe history of a bewilderingly exotic city, rarely written about: five hundred years of clashing cultures and peoples, from the glories of Suleiman the Magnificent to its nadir under Nazi occupation.Salonica is the point where the wonders and horrors of the Orient and Europe have met over the centuries.Written with a Pepysian sense of the texture of daily life in the city through the ages, and with breathtakingly detailed historical research, Salonica evokes the sights, smells, habits, songs and responses of a unique city and its inhabitants. The history of Salonica is one of forgotten alternatives and wrong choices, of identities assumed and discarded. For centuries Jews, Christians and Muslims have succeeded each other in ascendancy, each people intent on erasing the presence of their predecessors, and the result is a city of extraordinarily rich cultural traditions and memories of extreme violence and genocide, one that sits on the overlapping hinterlands of both Europe and the EastTrade Review‘A necessary masterpiece…a pleasure to read and curiously moreish.’ Louis de Bernieres, The Times ‘A tremendous book about a city unique not just in Europe, but in the entire history of humanity. Mazower…has done the old place proud…and has celebrated once and for all the mighty and fateful heritage of its citizens.’ Jan Morris, Guardian ‘[Mazower] sensitively analyses the internal debates and divisions which could be found within all the major communities.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘[Mazower] has produced a brilliant reconstruction of one of Europe’s great meeting places between the three monotheistic faiths.’ Economist ‘Mazower is a formidable historian…He has produced a majestic work: the biography of a city, complete with soul and ichor.’ Independent ‘Enthralling…brilliant…tragic, hopeful, beautifully written.’ Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisThe spirited stories in Heart of the Cariboo-Chilcotin capture the severity and grace of the distinct pioneer culture that resides in British Columbia''s rugged Central Interior. It''s an area with a provocative history, plenty of colourful individuals and a wealth of literary talent. The writers in this volume come from different periods, places and occupations, each bringing a unique voice that adds to the diversity of the whole. A First Nations girl escapes her kidnappers. Greenhorn settlers outgun dangerous criminals. A young cowboy confronts the terrors, and revels in the thrills, of his first roundup. Occasionally shocking and always entertaining, these people stories celebrate and preserve the Cariboo-Chilcotin way of life.

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Book SynopsisHMS Conqueror is Britain''s most famous submarine. It is the only sub since World War Two to have sunk an enemy ship. Conqueror''s sinking of the Argentine cruiser Belgrano made inevitable an all-out war over the future of the Falkland Islands, and sparked off one of the most controversial episodes of twentieth century politics. The controversy was fuelled by a war-diary kept by an officer on board HMS Conqueror, and as a young TV producer in the 1980s Stuart Prebble scooped the world by locating the diary''s author and getting his story on the record. But in the course of uncovering his Falklands story, Stuart Prebble also learned a military secret which could have come straight out of a Cold War thriller. It involved the Top Secret activities of the Conqueror in the months before and after the Falklands War.Prebble has waited for thirty years to tell his story. It is a story of incredible courage and derring-do, of men

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Book SynopsisThe full story of those who have searched for Franklin since his expedition disappeared.Trade Review"Finding Franklin is a compelling book. Potter is one of the most respected Franklin scholars in the world and this volume shows us why. He has an intimate familiarity with the vast material on the search and understands - better than anyone else - its pl " With ambitious scope and profound depth, Potter deftly demonstrates that truth can indeed be stranger and more fascinating than fiction. This seamless blend of research and captivating storytelling showcases the curiosity, frailty, and endurance of the h "What becomes increasingly evident is Potter' s own fervent interest in his subject matter... [he] creates a contagious sense of excitement." Quill & Quire

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Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanovs—and one of our pre-eminent historians—comes “a meticulously researched, authoritative biography” (The New York Times), the companion volume to the prize-winning Stalin, and essential reading for anyone interested in Russian history. This revelatory account unveils how Stalin became Stalin, examining his shadowy journey from obscurity to power—from master historian Simon Sebag Montefiore. Based on ten years of research, Young Stalin is a brilliant prehistory of the USSR, a chronicle of the Revolution, and an intimate biography.  Montefiore tells the story of a charismatic, darkly turbulent boy born into poverty, scarred by his upbringing but possessed of unusual talents. Admired as a romantic poet and trained as a priest, he found his true mission as a murderous revolutionary. Here is the dramatic story of his friendships and hatreds, his many love affairs, his complicated relationship with the Tsarist secret police, and how he became the merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image.

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Book SynopsisThe Life and Death of Theodore of Stoudios collects three important works promoting the influential Constantinople monastery of Stoudios and the memory of its founder, who is celebrated as a saint in the Orthodox Church for defending icon veneration. New editions of the Byzantine Greek texts appear alongside the first English translations.

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Book SynopsisThe true story of the greatest mystery of Arctic exploration—and the rare mix of marine science and Inuit knowledge that led to the shipwreck’s recent discovery.Trade Review"... his [Paul Watson's] account of the final uncovering of Erebus and Terror wrecks is riveting..." -- The Observer"... Watson has produced a primer for the whole sorry saga and given us a comprehensive account of a gripping story: one which, like that of Shackleton, will engross readers until the next Ice Age." -- Sara Wheeler - Times Literary Supplement"... Paul Watson’s Ice Ghosts provides a gripping account of the uncovering of the wrecks of Erebus and Terror, the lost ships of John Franklin’s doomed 19th -century expedition to sail the North west Passage." -- Science Books of the Year 2017 - The Observer"This fascinating book weaves together the story of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 and the remarkable people and events that led to the shipwreck’s discovery in 2014." -- Choice

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Book Synopsis Ten Days That Shook the World is an undisputed classic of political reportage. A stunning first-hand account overflowing with urgency and immediacy, Reed’s masterpiece lives and breathes the streets, meeting halls, posters and pamphlets of the revolution he witnessed. Like no other work, it places the reader shoulder to shoulder with the people’s militias, factory committees, propagandists and crowds which thronged St Petersburg’s squares to protest, celebrate, and strike. Rather than a coup orchestrated by a select few, the revolution here emerges in all its true energy, chaos, and creativity as a mass struggle from below for liberation, equality, and socialism. A hundred years after its initial publication, Ten Days That Shook the World remains an unparalleled account of one of the twentieth century’s most seminal events. John Reed (1887–1920) was an author, journalist, and activist.Trade Review“From its opening page, Ten Days has a tempo and a voice that sets it apart, in an era when reportage as a genre was still in its infancy.” –Robert McCrum, The Guardian “Rises above every other contemporary record for its literary power, its penetration, its command of detail … [ Ten Days That Shook the World] remembered when all others are forgotten.” –George F. Kennan

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