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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 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 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 SynopsisA Sunday Times Book of the Week and Top 10 Bestseller A Times bestseller A Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024 A Spectator Book of the Year

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Book SynopsisPhilip Matyszak has a doctorate in Roman history from St John's College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous books on the ancient world, including the highly successful Thames & Hudson titles Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day, Legionary: The Roman Soldier's (Unofficial) Manual, The Greek and Roman Myths, Ancient Magic and Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome, all published by Thames & Hudson.

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Book SynopsisA Waterstones Travel Book of the Year 2023A funny, warm and timely meditation on identity and belonging, following the scenic route along the EnglandWales border: Britain's deepest faultline.There is a line on the map: to one side Wales, small, rugged and stubborn; on the other England, crucible of the most expansionist culture the world has ever seen. It is a line that has been dug, debated, defined and defended for twenty centuries.All the Wide Border is a personal journey through the places, amongst the people, and across the divides of the border between England and Wales. Taking in some of our loveliest landscapes, and our darkest secrets, this is a region of immeasurable wonder and interest. It is here that the deepest roots and thorniest paradoxes of Britishness lie. The border between the countries, even as a concept, is ragged, jagged and many-layered.Garlanded author Mike Parker has adored and explored these places his entire life. Born in England but settled in Wales, he finTrade Review‘I loved this book. Mike Parker weaves together a great deal of wide reading, hard thinking and soulful tramping in his funny, thoughtful and evocative investigation of the Welsh–English border.’ Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession and Peep Show ‘Delightful and perceptive … Poses searching questions about identity, culture and political power.’ Waterstones Books of the Year ‘A joyful canter through the Marches. Delightfully engaging. Blending history, literature and personal anecdote, Mike Parker writes with energy and wit.’ TLS ‘No-one maps the secrets of the UK quite like Mike Parker.’ Ayesha Hazarika ‘A brilliant, fascinating book; Parker is funny and lyrical whilst always choosing brutal truth over sentimentality.’ Miles Jupp 'Classic Parker – a delicious, learned tour through a fascinating place.' Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen ‘Genuinely great.’ Adrian Chiles 'I gobbled this up.' Jude Rogers ‘A beautifully written journey through the history and landscape of the border country and a clear-eyed analysis of its physical and psychological dividing line – the best kind of travelogue.’ Richard King, author of Brittle with Relics: A History of Wales, 1962–97 ‘This enthralling journey beautifully celebrates our ancient frontier land and is a present-day reminder of its’ enduring duty.’ Tudur Owen, BAFTA winning comedian and presenter ‘I was often overcome by “fierce wonder”. Fine writing indeed.’ John Sam Jones, author of The Journey is Home ‘Engaging, entertaining and very readable.’ Nation.Cymru ‘A likeable, highly literate companion.’ New Welsh Review ‘A kind of mini-biography of the British psyche emerges from Parker's work, its learning lightly worn and its tales well told, full of interest and incident’ Horatio Clare

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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 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 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 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 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''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 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 SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringThe Arctic is demanding global attention. It is warming, melting, and thawing in a manner that threatens fundamental state-change. For communities that call the Arctic ''home'' this is unwelcome. A warming Arctic brings with it the spectre of costly disruption and interference in indigenous lives and communal welfare. For others, the disappearance of sea ice makes the Arctic appear more accessible and less remote. This also brings with it dangers such as the prospect of a new era of great power rivalries involving China, Russia, and the United States. Submarine and long-range bomber patrolling are now commonplace. New terms such as ''global Arctic'' are being used to capture the dynamic of change while others muse about the ''return of a Cold War''.The reality is inevitably more complex. The physical geography of the Arctic is highly varied and variable. Environmental change brings opportunities for indigenous and non-indigenous life-forms to survive and even thrive. The Arctic''s four million people are not helpless pawns in a game of global geopolitics. The Arctic is not only a resource hotspot but also a place where sustainable energy systems are being introduced. A warming Arctic with less ice and permafrost is not unique in the longer history of the Earth either. The Arctic is a complex space. In this Very Short Introduction, Klaus Dodds and Jamie Woodward consider the major dimensions of the region and the linkages beyond - from the geopolitical to the environmental. They examine the causes, drivers, and effects of cultural, physical, political, and economic change, and ponder the future of the Arctic. As they show, it is a future which will affect us all.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 ReviewThis book is an excellent introduction to the region and will appeal to almost every geographer. * Robert A. Francis, Progress in Physical Geography (2022) *This book will be of significant use to students and publics new to the Arctic. The authors have achieved exactly what is suggested by the title: a short but detailed introduction to the Arctic. Accessible and concise but comprehensive, tackling both physical and human Arctic worlds, The Arctic is a strong and necessary addition to the Very Short Introduction series. * Alice Oats, The Polar Journal *Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Arctic world Chapter 2: The physical environment Chapter 3: Arctic ecosystems Chapter 4: Peoples of the Arctic Chapter 5: Exploration and exploitation Chapter 6: Arctic governance Chapter 7: The Arctic carbon vault Chapter 8: Arctic futures

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Book SynopsisA SPECTATOR AND SCOTSMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR''So well researched, pacily written and sympathetic to the Auld Cause that it almost makes one a Jacobite'' Andrew Roberts, SpectatorEnthralling . . . Throws us straight into the fresh air, heather, rain and midges of the Hebrides, followed by the swamps and creeks of North America . . . Full of unforgettable glimpses' The TimesThe year is 1746. The Jacobite rebellion has failed catastrophically and Scotland is reeling in the devastating aftermath of the battle of Culloden. Far to the west, on an island in the Outer Hebrides, twenty-four-year-old Flora Macdonald is woken in the dead of night by a messenger with urgent intelligence. Bonnie Prince Charlie is outside, begging for her help. With Flora''s assistance, the Stuart prince is disguised as an Irish maid and smuggled to the Isle of Skye, evading government troops. Flora's bravery and determination will see her immortalised in ballads Trade ReviewIn this enthralling book, which throws us straight into the fresh air, heather, rain and midges of the Hebrides, followed by the swamps and creeks of North America, Fraser fleshes out what for most of us is a sketchy and romanticised area of our general knowledge . . . Full of unforgettable glimpses * The Times *Flora Fraser’s new biography stylishly updates MacDonald’s story -- Nicholas Harris * The Mail on Sunday *Flora Macdonald has met her ideal biographer. Flora Fraser has a born grasp of the mists and tides of high feeling that swirl about her subject to this day. As in all her biographies, she conveys in scholarly fashion a spellbinding sense that rationality and romance are not remotely incompatible but may compose the heart of a life. -- Candia McWilliamFlora Fraser unpicks the whys and wherefores of what happened, the tragic outcome of their enterprise and how Flora Macdonald’s gifts as a survivor and shrewd operator came again and again to the rescue of her family … In the meticulous and deep-delving research for the hugely readable Pretty Young Rebel, Flora says she has built a picture of Flora Macdonald as sure of herself, uncowed by royalty, and egalitarian, a gracious, charming yet artful and grounded product of her island roots. * Press and Journal *Detailed and enjoyable … This is a full and always interesting book, a rich picture of Highland society at a time of change as well as a persuasive and always pleasing account of Flora’s life, a social study as well as a fine telling of a well-known tale, and of the less familiar story of the Scots who chose loyalty to the Crown in America -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *[Flora Macdonald’s] entire life story is interesting, as Flora Fraser shows in this thoroughly researched biography … Fraser tells the story of Flora Macdonald’s life very well, with sympathy, respect and understanding * Literary Review *[In] her well-researched and enthusiastic biography, Flora Fraser recounts Macdonald's life based on facts culled from published and archival sources on both sides of the Atlantic * New York Times *This is a full and always interesting book ... a fine telling of a well-known tale -- Books of the Year 2022 * Scotsman *Flora Fraser, in Pretty Young Rebel, tells the story of those days well and in some detail … Fraser is keen to underline the high personal risk Flora ran throughout … [Flora Macdonald] carried out her own mission with courage, daring and, as Flora Fraser reminds us, unfaltering good sense. * TLS *This new biography by Flora Fraser (who is named after her subject) intends to sift out a 'real Flora' from the spoil heap of sentimental history . . . Nothing in this book is more fascinating that what it suggests about the concept of loyalty . . . After plenty of enterprising research in Britain and in North Carolina, Fraser makes a fresh and exciting narrative * London Review of Books *Fraser's finely detailed and well-researched biography looks behind the legend to unveil a strong and determined woman -- June Sawyers * Booklist *This is one of those lives immortalized by a single decision … the skilful historian Flora Fraser has produced a detailed, dynamic account of her namesake’s colourful cameo role. It will hold surprises for anyone apart from those already utterly enveloped in the heathery Highland mists of this story … In Ms. Fraser’s hands, myth becomes thrilling reality … eye-opening … Ms. Fraser has done a remarkable job of explaining the glamour of this fascinating figure without diminishing it -- Catherine Ostler * Wall Street Journal *A riveting read ... thrilling, while based on intensive archival research as well as local knowledge and tradition ... Fraser's closely researched book not only strips away accretions and elisions, to reconstruct an iconic moment in history. She widens out the canvas to take in the marketing of memory and the creation of factoids ... masterly * Oldie *A lively and highly readable study of the iconic Jacobite heroine. -- Murray Pittock, author of CullodenThis affecting history gives due credit to the real woman at the centre of a captivating legend * Publishers Weekly *PRAISE FOR GEORGE & MARTHA WASHINGTON: Scrupulously researched ... Fraser paints a wonderfully detailed picture of American family life at the end of the pioneering colonial period. -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *Flora Fraser tells the story of a couple, a family and country with sympathy and huge skill ... She is a respectful biographer, scholarly, unshowy and unsensational * Sunday Telegraph *An intimate portrait of America's original power couple ... Impeccably researched and entertaining * The Lady *Elegant ... Fraser mines the sources available to her to reveal the depth of her subjects' attachment to one another * Literary Review *Flora Fraser has provided an insightful portrait in elegant prose with a dash of wit. The book is based on a mastery of the original sources and brings to life, with much imagination, a wonderful marriage in a period of revolution and war. It is written with a light touch, but is a serious account in every respect. This is a book worthy of its subject -- Robert MiddlekaufVivid and detailed ... Carefully researched and clearly argued * The Oldie *

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Book SynopsisThe second volume of a new narrative history of the rise and fall of the Nazi regime, by an expert on the Third Reich. 'This book is like a time machine because McDonough writes so vividly' History of War 'McDonough writes clearly and readably with just enough detail on the huge canvas that he covers' Spectator 'A book of big themes, big ideas and world changing events […] a masterpiece' History of War Magazine At the beginning of 1940 Germany was at the pinnacle of its power. By May 1945 Hitler was dead and Germany had suffered a disastrous defeat. Hitler had failed to achieve his aim of making Germany a super power and had left her people to cope with the endless shame of the Holocaust. In The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945, Professor Frank McDonough charts the dramatic change of fortune for the Third Reich, and challenges long-held accounts of the Holocaust and Germany's ultimate defeat. Despite Hitler's grand ambitions and the successful early stages of the Third Reich's advances into Europe, Frank McDonough argues that Germany was only ever a middle-ranking power and never truly stood a chance against the combined forces of the Allies.Trade ReviewThis book is like a time machine because McDonough writes so vividly [...] One minute you're dining in private with Churchill and Stalin, the next you're watching the Wehrmacht advance and retreat in the east * History of War Magazine *An impressive tome, beautifully presented with a body of illustrations... McDonough's narrative rattles along, constantly engaging and enlightening and thankfully free from turgid academic jargon... Rarely has the odious story of the Third Reich been so elegantly presented' * History Today *I have read many books on the period and Frank McDonough's ranks above them all. Bravo -- Danny BakerMcDonough is not content with repeating age-old arguments but seeks to challenge mainstream historiography, bringing into question the real role Hitler played in Nazi Germany * Aspects of History *McDonough writes clearly and readably with just enough detail on the huge canvas that he covers * Spectator *An amazing achievement... If you are going to read one book over the Christmas period or early next year then read this -- Paul Ross, talkRadio

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Book SynopsisTo many people, Alberta represents the true Canadian frontier. It is known for its rugged image, its "wild west" past and its staunchly independent residents, from the First Nations who originally inhabited the land to the explorers, homesteaders, cowboys, oilmen and others who continued to build and shape the province. This engaging book uses more than 150 photographs, dating from the 18th century through to the 1940s, and illuminating text to document Alberta''s transformation from frontier society to economic powerhouse.

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Book SynopsisA journey – both historical and contemporary – among the fantastical landscapes, resourceful inhabitants and isolated tribes of the world's fourth-largest island of enduring fascination for its rich biodiversity: Madagascar. 'A beautifully written depiction of the history of this beguiling island' Literary Review 'Courageous, exploratory, humane and with a wry sense of humour' Spectator 'A feat of journalism, observation and determination' Dr Alyson Hitch 'Wonderfully witty and wry' Benedict Allen We think we know Madagascar but it's too big, too eccentric, and too impenetrable to be truly understood. As well as visiting every corner of the island, John Gimlette journeys deep into Madagascar's past. Along the way, he meets politicians, sorcerers, gem prospectors, militiamen, rioters, lepers and the descendants of seventeenth-century pirates. Insightful and wryly humorous, here's an encounter with the people, landscapes, politics and history of one of the most remarkable places on Earth.Trade ReviewFew writers have delved into [Madagascar's] history and none as thoroughly and mercilessly as Gimlette... His descriptions of the everyday sights of Madagascar are wonderful... Enjoy the book as an evocation of this extraordinary island, in all its complexity and all its contradictions' * Literary Review *A beautifully written depiction of the people and history of this beguiling and perplexing island -- Edward PaiceCourageous, exploratory, humane and with a wry sense of humour * Spectator *Destined to scoop whatever travel book awards are still in existence these days * The Bay (Swansea) *The best English-language travel writer out there * Travel Mag *A fabulous new book * Timeless Travels *John Gimlette's latest thoughtful study sees him explore the relatively recent human history of the world's fourth largest island * Wanderlust *This is classic Gimlette – an utter delight. Here is the tale of an enchanted island, one enlivened by its spirited inhabitants and mysterious past. But what makes the book so readable is the author's unfailing eye for the quirky and unexpected. It's a wonderfully witty and wry book, the author's wanderings through Madagascar lit all along the way by his telling eye for detail and accustomed panache -- Benedict AllenIn this chronicle of the fascinating strangeness of Madagascar [...] incredulity, horror and amusement coalesce in Gimlette's customarily talented narration of the weird * Irish Times *Gimlette's 'walk-through history' is a tour de force, taking in slavery, Welsh missionaries, ancestor worship, French conquest, and forts whose ramparts are rendered in millions of egg whites * Telegraph *[Gimlette] takes us to the beautiful but extremely weird tropical island where everything – especially its history and fauna – is larger than life -- Andrew Roberts, Engelsberg Ideas

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Book SynopsisThe finest book ever written about England and the English' Stuart MaconieJ. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.' Dame Judi DenchThree years before George Orwell made his expedition to the far and frozen North in The Road to Wigan Pier, celebrated writer and broadcaster JB Priestley cast his net wider, in a book subtitled a Rambling but Truthful Account of What One Man Saw and Heard and Felt and Thought During a Journey Through England During the Autumn of the Year 1933.' Appearing first in 1934, it was a huge and immediate success. Today, it still stands as a timeless classic: warm-hearted, intensely patriotic and profound.An account of his journey through England from Southampton to the Black Country, to the North East and Newcastle, to Norwich and home English Journey is funny and tender. But it is also a forensic reading of a changing England and a call to arms as passionate as anything in Trade Review'A vastly talented and exceptionally versatile and wise writer.' Iris Murdoch 'Priestley was volcanic, fertile … and never dull.' Anthony Burgess ‘Priestley never wrote better than in these pages. They remain required reading for all of us.’ Dame Margaret Drabble ‘A marvellous writer.’ David Hockney ‘English Journey is one of the great travelogues of English literature. A work of bracing televisual intensity.’ Graham Robb, author of The Debatable Land ‘We all know his plays, now is the time to be re-introduced to his novels.’ Timothy West ‘He belongs in a great English realist tradition that includes Bennett and Galsworthy.’ Michael Billington ‘An important book that has a literary importance and social value that far exceeds the time it was written.’ Dame Beryl Bainbridge ‘Written in the elegant, simple language which was an essential part of Priestley’s brilliance. It is, in consequence, a masterpiece.’ Roy Hattersley

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Book SynopsisA gripping and thrilling insight into service with the elite Royal Marines during the Falklands War.

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Book SynopsisA History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. This edition also includes an extra chapter charting the course from Blair to Brexit.It tells the story of how the great political visions of New Jerusalem or a second Elizabethan Age, rival idealisms, came to be defeated by a culture of consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification. In each decade, political leaders think they know what they are doing, but find themselves confounded. Every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than predicted. Throughout, Britain is a country on the edge – first of invasion, then of bankruptcy, then on the vulnerable front line of the Cold War and later in the forefront of the great opening up of capital and migration now reshaping the world. This history follows all the political and economic stories, but deals too with comedy, cars, the war against homosexuals, Sixties anarchists, oil-men and punks, Margaret Thatcher's wonderful good luck, political lies and the true heroes of British theatre.Trade ReviewSuperb, colourful, outspoken, fresh and richly entertaining. Don't miss * The Times *Lively, full of rich anecdotes and sparkling pen portraits. He has the rare gift of being able to explain complex issues in a few crisp sentences * Sunday Telegraph *Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction to the Paperback Edition Section - ii: Prologue Unit - 1: Part One - Hunger and Pride: Britain After The War Unit - 2: Part Two - The Land of Lost Content Unit - 3: Part Three - Harold, Ted and Jim: When The Modern Failed Unit - 4: Part Four - The British Revolution Unit - 5: Part Five - Nippy Metro People: Britain From 1990 Unit - 6: Part Six - From Gordon To Teresa: The Defeat Of Britain's Liberal Pro-European Consensus Acknowledgements - iii: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Index - v: Index

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Book SynopsisThis stunning and powerfully relevant book tells the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections around the world. Retracing the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections across the world, this beautiful and absorbing book is published to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the first crossing into the Antarctic Circle by James Cook aboard Resolution, on 17th January 1773. It presents a gloriously visual history of Antarctica, from Terra Incognita to the legendary expeditions of Shackleton and Scott, to the frontline of climate change. One of the wildest and most beautiful places on the planet, Antarctica has no indigenous population or proprietor. Its awe-inspiring landscapes – unknown until just two centuries ago – have been the backdrop to feats of human endurance and tragedy, scientific discovery, and environmental research. Sourced from polar institutions and collections around the world, the objects that tell the story of this remarkable continent range from the iconic to the exotic, from the refreshingly mundane to the indispensable: - snow goggles adopted from Inuit technology by Amundsen - the lifeboat used by Shackleton and his crew - a bust of Lenin installed by the 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition - the Polar Star aircraft used in the first trans-Antarctic flight - a sealing club made from the penis bone of an elephant seal - the frozen beard as a symbol of Antarctic heroism and masculinity - ice cores containing up to 800,000 years of climate history This stunning book is both endlessly fascinating and a powerful demonstration of the extent to which Antarctic history is human history, and human future too.Trade ReviewLike Antarctica itself, this ‘History in 100 Objects’ is unpredictable and compelling. Generous - yet partial, skidding over vast surfaces, digging into detail. Read it all at once: or select at leisure. * Meredith Hooper *From the Aurora Australis to the weather balloon, authors Daniella McCahey and Jean de Pomereu have assembled a beautifully curated collection of objects pertaining to Antarctica. As they note, so poignantly, Antarctica is not one thing. * Klaus Dodds *Reading this book is like being in a very large polar museum with two expert and amusing companions as your guides. Compiled by a historian and an artist, Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects takes its reader on a tour of human engagement with the far south that is by turns educative, playful, poignant, ridiculous and disturbing, but always knowledgeably explained and illustrated. While some objects might be readily anticipated (sledges, diaries, maps), others will likely be a surprise (a canary, a wedding dress, a nuclear reactor). Ranging in scale from ships to krill-oil capsules, encompassing both the other-worldly (a meteorite) and the mundane (soap, a T-shirt), the objects demonstrate the national and cultural diversity of human encounter with the ice continent. While the book skips with delightful eclecticism between different periods, put together the object descriptions comprise a well-rounded introduction to the issues and events that have shaped human encounter with the far south. Readers who know little about the place will find it an excellent way into the continent, and 'Antarctic tragics' will enjoy the unexpected and sometimes surreal details that accompany every object. * Elizabeth Leane *Jean de Pomereu and Daniellie McCahey's handsome survey takes in the world's most remote region...illustrating in colour not just the selected objects, but accompanying painting, photographs and further examples. * The Telegraph *Tells the story of Antarctica through 100 objects from collections around the world...fascinating. * Daily Mirror *De Pomereu and McCahey's handsomely illustrated work examines the history of Antarctic expedition through famous and lesser-known objects. From crevasse detectors...to the whale skeleton assembled by conservationist Jacques Cousteau...it's filled with fascinating snapshots. -- Hannah Beckerman * The Observer *a gloriously visual history of the White Continent * Wanderlust *This stunning and powerfully relevant book tells the history of Antarctica through 100 varied and fascinating objects drawn from collections around the world. * Smithsonian Magazine *Jean de Pomereu and Daniella McCahey captured a marvelous overview of the history and environment of one of the world’s most unique locations in Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects. This captivating book is filled with fascinating images, each with its own unique story to tell about this engaging subject. * The Culture Buzz *a novel approach at showcasing Antarctica’s history * People's Friend *The 250th anniversary of the first documented crossing of the Antarctic circle is being marked with a new book that traces the continent's history via 100 artefacts from around the world. * New Scientist *Great photos and fascinating text make this a wonderful book for those who’ve been there and for those who still have Antarctica on their bucket list. -- Penny A Parrish * The Free-Lance Star *Become a polar explorer from the comfort of your own home with this fascinating book. Drawing together arresting photographs of 100 objects connected to the icy continent, it tells the story of the power of human endeavour. * BBC History Magazine *Broadens not only the diversity of people included in Antarctic history but also the interests of its readers, by providing the expected stories and then challenging them with new and different objects, contexts, and narratives. It makes specialist subjects accessible, but also pushes readers to think more deeply and more broadly about this continent. In their conclusion, de Pomereu and McCahey write, “One of our specific aims has been to break some of the clichés that often constrain Antarctic history,” and there is no doubt that they have succeeded. -- Henrietta Hammant * H-Water, H-Net Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. World Map 2. Taoka 3. Chronometer 4. Commemorative Medal 5. Logbook 6. Fur Seal Clothing 7. Wood Block 8. Burial Monument 9. Magnetic Dip Circle 10. Sealing Club 11. Fish Specimen 12. Hut 13. Primus Stove 14. Harness 15. Gas Balloon 16. Rifle 17. Champagne 18. Aurora Australis 19. Anemometer 20. Canary 21. Eye Protection 22. Skis 23. Sponsorship Solicitation 24. Penguin Eggs 25. Camera 26. Pony Snowshoe 27. Black Flag 28. Fern Fossil 29. Diary 30. Half Sledge 31. Page from the Encyclopaedia Britannica 32. Banjo 33. James Caird 34. Memorial Cross 35. Radio Transmitter 36. Post Office Safe 37. Pemmican 38. Polar Star 39. Soap 40. Swastika Stake 41. Mittens 42. Suit 43. Sledge Wheel 44. Haori 45. Tractor 46. Dynamite 47. Statue 48. Kharkovchanka 49. Crevasse Detector 50. Treaty 51. Dog Fur Boots 52. Fuel Drums 53. Projection Reels 54. Radio Echo Sounder 55. Frozen Beard 56. Nuclear Reactor 57. Dog Cards 58. MS Lindblad Explorer 59. Meteorite 60. Pyramid Tent 61. Whale Skeleton 62. Board Game 63. Passport 64. Aeroplane Wreckage 65. Skidoo 66. Telephone 67. Dobson Spectrophotometer 68. Dinosaur Fossil 69. T-Shirt 70. JOIDES Resolution 71. Red Apple Hut 72. Penguin Taxidermy 73. Sledge 74. Geolocator 75. Shipping Container 76. South Pole Marker 77. Ice Core 78. Stellar Axis 79. ICESat 80. Hydroponic Vegetables 81. Telescope 82. Chapel 83. Optical Module 84. Patches 85. S.A. Agulhas II 86. Krill Oil Capsules 87. Pee Flag 88. Aquatic Rover 89. Weather Balloon 90, Swimsuit 91. Tide Gauge 92. Wedding Dress 93. Microplastic 94. Douglas DC-3 95. Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 96. D-Air Lab Antarctic Suit 97. Shipwreck 98. Trowel 99. Notebook 100. Pier Conclusion 100 Antarctica Books Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisA wonderfully quixotic, charming and surprisingly uplifting travelogue which sees Jack Cooke, author of the much-lovedThe Treeclimbers Guide, drive around the British Isles in a clapped-out forty-year old hearse in search of famous and not so famous tombs, graves and burial sites.Along the way, he launches a daredevil trespass into Highgate Cemetery at night, stumbles across the remains of the Welsh Druid who popularised cremation and has time to sit and ponder the imponderables at the graveside of the Lady of Hoy, an 18thcentury suicide victim whose body was kept in near condition by the bog in which she was buried. A truly unique, beautifully written and wonderfully imagined book.Trade Review‘An entertaining and strangely cheering read… full of fascinating stories’ – Country Life ‘A unique insight into Britain’s landscape’ – The Observer , '…utterly compelling – The Oldie Magazine ‘If a younger, more upbeat Bill Bryson was happy to travel Britain while using a hearse as a mobile home, this is the kind of book we’d get.’ – Reader review ‘Who’d have thought a trip in a hearse would be so enjoyable?’ – Reader review ‘A fantastic read for anyone who has loved spending a while looking through old graveyards and soaking up all the history within.’ – Reader review

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Book Synopsis“Extraordinary... seamless... astonishingly rich” (Sverker Sörlin, Nature)—an eye-opening environmental history of the Far North.Trade Review"In Floating Coast, Bathsheba Demouth has written a brilliant hybrid book about one of the most fragile and forgotten of Anthropocene front-line territories, the Bering Strait. Uniting ecology, anthropology, reportage and more, this is a superb work of environmental history, often reminiscent to me of Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams in its combination of rigorous research, intense looking and listening, and its clear ethical vision." -- Robert Macfarlane"... Demuth has now herself written the history she calls for. Floating Coast is a historian’s Moby Dick, a great white whale of a book that spans centuries and links landscapes, living beings, and the flux of time, into a marvelously readable narrative." -- Amitav Ghosh"Floating Coast is an extraordinary piece of history writing, seamlessly weaving together disparate elements. It is astonishingly rich in ethnographic detail, ecological precision, economic circumstance and historical texture." -- Nature"Demuth, an environmental historian at Brown University, has reaped rich and fascinating material from the oral history of the indigenous Beringians recorded by ethnographers." -- Literary Review"Floating Coast is rich, well researched and illuminating. It keeps under readers’ feet the vastness of Demuth’s expertise, as solid as a land bridge." -- The International New York Times

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZEThe extraordinary and essential story of how China became the powerful country it is today.Even at the high noon of Europe''s empires China managed to be one of the handful of countries not to succumb. Invaded, humiliated and looted, China nonetheless kept its sovereignty. Robert Bickers'' major new book is the first to describe fully what has proved to be one of the modern era''s most important stories: the long, often agonising process by which the Chinese had by the end of the 20th century regained control of their own country.Out of China uses a brilliant array of unusual, strange and vivid sources to recreate a now fantastically remote world: the corrupt, lurid modernity of pre-War Shanghai, the often tiny patches of ''extra-territorial'' land controlled by European powers (one of which, unnoticed, had mostly toppled into a river), the entrepôts of Hong Kong and Macao, and the myriad means, tTrade ReviewIt is a pleasure to read the fruits of his mature scholarship as he revisits familiar ground, puncturing myths and putting British and Chinese views into reciprocal perspective -- Michael Sheridan * The Sunday Times *Robert Bickers is a pre-eminent chronicler of China... a great story told with splashes of colour and sharp wit -- Jonathan Fenby * Literary Review *This detailed account valuably reconstructs the west's recent cultural malfeasance in China, and also challenges the simple, propaganda narrative that the CCP tells about its deliverance of China from Colonial aggressors -- Julia Lovell * Prospect *

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Book SynopsisThe victors of the First World War created Hungary from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian empire, but, in the centuries before, many called for its creation. Norman Stone traces the country's roots from the traditional representative councils of land-owning nobles to the Magyar nationalists of the nineteenth century and the first wars of independence. Hungary's history since 1918 has not been a happy one. Economic collapse and hyperinflation in the post-war years led to fascist dictatorships and then Nazi occupation. Optimism at the end of the Second World War ended when the Iron Curtain descended, and Soviet tanks crushed the last hopes for independence in 1956 along with the peaceful protests in Budapest. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, consistent economic growth has remained elusive. This is an extraordinary history - unique yet also representative of both the post-Soviet bloc and of nations forged from the fall of empires.Trade ReviewThere is never a dull page ... Stone's book shows a profound knowledge of Hungary and will become indispensable for travellers -- Philip Mansel * Spectator *Stunning ... no one else writes history quite like he does -- Andrew RobertsOne of the outstanding historians of our age * Spectator *Praise for Turkey: A Short History: Arresting ... authoritative and measured ... Stone's Turkey breaks the popular mould and introduces its readers to a place beyond their presumptions * Sunday Times *A vivid, provocative, often funny, always insightful account of how modern Turkey came about * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisYou may know all about the Easter Rising and the Good Friday Agreement, but did you know that the hypodermic needle was invented in Tallaght? Or that Dublin was the first city in the world to have a woman stockbroker, decades before London or New York? Or that the formula used to create the video game Tomb Raider was sketched on a bridge in Cabra in the nineteenth century? With one entry for every day of the year, this book marks the anniversaries of momentous events in Irish history: in politics, medicine, music, sport and innovation. In this accessible, comprehensive and authoritative book, discover the moments that have helped to shape the national identity of Ireland. Trade ReviewA monumental book. Unputdownable, educational, thoroughly enjoyable and historically accurate. -- Joe Duffythis handsome hardback will be bound to leap onto the gift list when the festive season approaches … once you look up a particular date, it is well-nigh impossible not to read the entry before or after it … it has something for everyone * Tuam Herald *

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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 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 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 SynopsisLike a modern Viking 32-year-old Nansen set sail from Norway in 1893 to reach the North Pole. Experts warned him that his voyage was tantamount to suicide. Compact and nimble, his ship the Fram had been specially built to withstand the relentless, devastating pressure of the polar ice cap. At the right moment, he intended to strike out into the polar desert and finish the final leg by sledge.Nansen's vivid memoir became an international phenomenon when, having been given up for dead, he emerged three years later. His epic struggle against snowdrifts, ice floes, polar bears, scurvy, gnawing hunger and the loneliness of the polar night would inspire young explorers such as Scott and Amundsen a generation later to make new conquests. This first unabridged edition since 1897 includes photographs not previously published.Trade Review'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon KrakauerTable of ContentsThe Route of the Fram and Nansen and Johansen's Sledge JourneyPreliminary-Sketch Map of Franz Joseph LandIntroduction by Fergus FlemingThe FramI. IntroductionII. Preparations and EquipmentIII. The StartIV. Farewell to NorwayV. Voyage Through the Kara SeaVI. The Winter NightVII. The Spring and Summer of 1894VIII. Second Autumn in the IceThe Sledge JourneyIX. We Prepare for the Sledge ExpeditionX. The New Year, 1895XI. We Make a StartXII. We Say Good-bye to the FramXIII. A Hard StruggleXIV. By Sledge and KayakXV. Land at LastXVI. The New Year, 1896XVII. The Journey SouthwardConclusion by Fridtjof NansenEndnotesList of Equipment Used for the Sledge Journey

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Book SynopsisA luminous exploration of exile the people who have experienced it, and the places they inhabit from the award-winning travel writer and author of The Immeasurable World and The Moor. ''Breathtakingly good . . . Exiles is completely sui generis.''EDMUND DE WAAL''Atkins spins a marvellous tapestry of colourful tales, beautifully weaving history and travel accounts.''ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature''A volume for our times.''SARA WHEELER, THE SPECTATOR''A fascinating study of exile and its effects.''OBSERVERThis is the story of three unheralded nineteenth-century dissidents, whose lives were profoundly shaped by the winds of empire, nationalism and autocracy that continue to blow strongly today: Louise Michel, a leader of the radical socialist government known as the Paris Commune; Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo,

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Book Synopsis''A poignant exploration of empire, community and family''AANCHAL MALHOTRA''Full of the sights, smells and tastes of what most remember as a lost utopia''SPECTATORUganda, August 1972. President Idi Amin makes a shocking pronouncement: the country''s South Asian population is being expelled. They have ninety days to leave.After packing scant possessions and countless memories, 50,000 people stepped into the unknown, with more than 28,000 of them arriving in the UK in airlifts to begin new lives here. But their incredible stories have, until know, remained hidden.More than fifty years on, The Exiled draws on first-hand interviews and testimonies, including from the author''s family, to reveal a time of painful alienation and incredible courage. Journeying across continents and decades, this sweeping work of reportage illuminates an essential chapter in post-colonial history - and its continued impact today.

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Book SynopsisHow did Russia manage to emerge resurgent on the world stage and play a weak hand so effectively? Is it because Putin is a brilliant strategist? Or has Russia stepped into a vacuum created by the West's distraction with its own domestic problems and US ambivalence about whether it still wants to act as a superpower? Putin's World examines the country's turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians' understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions -- and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed.This book looks at Russia's key relationships -- its downward spiral with the United States, Europe, and NATO; its ties to China, Japan, the Middle East; and with its neighbors, particularly the fraught relationship with Ukraine. Putin's World will help Americans understand how and why the post-Cold War era has given way to a new, more dangerous world, one in which Russia poses a challenge to the United States in every corner of the globe -- and one in which Russia has become a toxic and divisive subject in US politics.

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Book SynopsisAn original investigation into the reading strategies and uses of books by Jews in the Soviet era. In The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf, Marat Grinberg argues that in an environment where Judaism had been all but destroyed, and a public Jewish presence routinely delegitimized, reading uniquely provided many Soviet Jews with an entry to communal memory and identity. The bookshelf was both a depository of selective Jewish knowledge and often the only conspicuously Jewish presence in their homes. The typical Soviet Jewish bookshelf consisted of a few translated works from Hebrew and numerous translations from Yiddish and German as well as Russian books with both noticeable and subterranean Jewish content. Such volumes, officially published, and not intended solely for a Jewish audience, afforded an opportunity for Soviet Jews to indulge insubordinate feelings in a largely safe manner. Grinberg is interested in pinpointing and decoding the complex reading strategies and the specifically Jewish uses to which the books on the Soviet Jewish bookshelf were put. He reveals that not only Jews read them, but Jews read them in a specific way. Trade Review“[An] informative, engagingly written work that . . . pairs thorough research with the personal reading experiences of the author and those close to him.” * Los Angeles Review of Books *“Grinberg’s The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf is mandatory reading for students of Soviet and Jewish history. There is also much in it for the larger Jewish reading public for whom Soviet Jews remain a paradox, a story that is not merely of survival, but also of fashioning a durable path to Jewishness uniquely their own.” * Jewish Journal *“This academic book offers deep insights into decades of Soviet Jewish culture, considering how they read, and what they wrote, all under the deep blanket of repression.” * Bookishly Jewish *“As Grinberg shows in his book The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf, Soviet Jews had a deep interest in books on Jewish topics. Their bookshelf was quite wide. Here were Russian translations of Yiddish and Hebrew, of world fiction, original works of Soviet authors, popular historical and philosophical books, and even the anti-Zionist propaganda since it also contained bits of useful information. . . . Particularly interesting is Grinberg’s ingenious analysis. . . . of the works of the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.” * Forward *“Undoubtedly—as Grinberg states—we can and should talk about the existence of Soviet Jewish culture which, although very heterogeneous, was nevertheless capable of struggling to organize, recreate, and preserve its own Jewish self. The author of the book has therefore achieved his goal—to break the silence around Wiesel’s silent Jews.” * Iudaica Russica *“Grinberg conveys with special power the way in which Soviet Jews embraced the Russian literary tradition. . . . We live in an age when totalitarian ways of thinking are on the rise and anti-Semitism has again begun to flourish. If we are to combat these trends, we must understand them.” * Gary Saul Morson, Mosaic Magazine *“Soviet Jews were the People of the Book. Denied all access to Scripture, they turned their bookshelves into major memory sites, fashioning a personal and collective identity out of historical fiction, science fiction, poetry, children’s verse, memoirs, travelogues, translations from Yiddish and modern Hebrew, and even anti-Zionist propaganda. Here is the untold story of their ongoing, multigenerational struggle for self-determination as told by a native son with great clarity, thoroughness, and empathy. Were this not enough, Marat Grinberg has also redefined Jewish literature as that which a living polity has rescued through conscious acts of creative rereading.” -- David G. Roskies, Sol & Evelyn Henkind Emeritus Professor of Yiddish Literature and Culture, The Jewish Theological Seminary“What made Soviet Jews Jewish? Superbly researched and lucidly argued, The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf makes a convincing case for the formation of a unique Soviet Jewish identity through subversive and generative reading practices. The eponymous bookshelf, an important material and intellectual feature of the Soviet Jewish home, was capacious enough to hold a variety of texts, from Leon Feuchtwanger’s sweeping historical novels, to Alexandra Burshtein’s and Lev Kassil’s coming-of-age tales, and the Strugatsky brothers’ science fiction. Soviet Jews mined the contents of the shelf for references to Jewishness—overt and oblique, empowering and disparaging—to bolster a sense of selfhood and peoplehood. Over and above making a significant scholarly contribution, Grinberg’s book bears witness to a community’s heroic struggle to survive against impossible odds.” -- Helena I. Gurfinkel, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville“Marat Grinberg’s original and engaging study locates the core of Russian-Jewish identity not in a particular language or religious faith, but in a canon of treasured books, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and a practice of reading ‘between the lines.’ Along the way, he offers provocative new interpretations of Soviet and non-Soviet classics alike.” -- Adrian Wanner, Pennsylvania State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf: There’s “there, there”Chapter One: Lion Feuchtwanger – the Soviet Jewish ScriptureChapter Two: The Core: Salvage FragmentsChapter Three: “Translated from Jewish”: Read and UnreadChapter Four: The Bottom Shelf: Between the Lines of “Reactionary” Judaism and Anti-ZionismChapter Five: Signs of the Times: Yuri Trifonov and the Strugatsky BrothersEpilogue: Perestroika and BeyondNotesBibliography

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Book SynopsisWinner, Melva J. Dwyer AwardHonourable Mention, Canadian Museums Association Award for Outstanding Achievement (Research)Qummut Qukiria! celebrates art and culture within and beyond traditional Inuit and Sámi homelands in the Circumpolar Arctic — from the continuance of longstanding practices such as storytelling and skin sewing to the development of innovative new art forms such as throatboxing (a hybrid of traditional Inuit throat singing and beatboxing). In this illuminating book, curators, scholars, artists, and activists from Inuit Nunangat, Kalaallit Nunaat, Sápmi, Canada, and Scandinavia address topics as diverse as Sámi rematriation and the revival of the ládjogahpir (a Sámi woman’s headgear), the experience of bringing Inuit stone carving to a workshop for inner-city youth, and the decolonizing potential of Traditional Knowledge and its role in contemporary design and beyond.Qummut Qukiria! showcases the thriving art and culture of the Indigenous Circumpolar peoples in the present and demonstrates its importance for the revitalization of language, social wellbeing, and cultural identity.Trade Review“The diversity of the texts in Qummut Qukiria! ... This book may be specialized, but any reader can find much here to enjoy. This is a book that seems destined to be useful and relevant for a long time.” -- Ray Cronin * Billie *

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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 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 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 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 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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