History Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence, one of the greatest of all printmakers appears at the nucleus of a worldwide cultural transformation, in which art became more urbane and more fleeting, and the observed world got flattened out into signs and symbols. -- Jason Farago * The New York Times: Arts *

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Book SynopsisA revelatory new history of the ancient world told through its seven greatest monuments, by bestselling author and TV historian Bettany Hughes

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BEST PAPERBACK OF 2021* Shortlisted for the 2021 Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year prize* A critically-acclaimed Sunday Times, Spectator and Independent Book of 2020* Now with colour photography by Michael Turek'Richly absorbing... An impressive exploration of Siberia's terrifying past.' Guardian'Evocative and wonderfully original.' Colin Thubron__________Siberia's expansive history is traditionally one of exiles, bitter cold and suffering. Yet there is another tale to tell.Dotted throughout this remote and beautiful landscape are pianos created during the boom years of the nineteenth century. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood. How these pianos made the journey into this snow-bound wilderness in the first place is remarkable. That they might be capable of making music in such a hostile landscape feels like a miracle.The Lost Pianos of Siberia is an absorbing story about a piano hunt - a quixotic quest through two centuries of Russian history and eight time zones stretching across an eleventh of the world's land surface. It reveals not only an unexpected musical legacy, but profound and brave humanity in the last place on earth you might expect to find it.__________What readers are saying about The Lost Pianos of Siberia:***** 'You know a book's good when, on finishing it, you just want to start again.'***** 'Beautifully written, full of compelling anecdotes celebrating Siberia's extraordinary history.'***** 'The most unusual and intelligent way to tell a travel story.'Trade ReviewAn extraordinary encounter with a wildly fascinating and astonishingly ill-known region... This is a wonderful book. * Sunday Times *The ultimate quest for the oddest objects - pianos - in the most unlikely place - Siberia. But Roberts makes it much more than that, an elegant and nuanced journey through literature, through history, through music, murder and incarceration and revolution, through snow and ice and remoteness, to discover the human face of Siberia. I loved this book. * Paul Theroux *An impressive exploration of Siberia's terrifying past. * Guardian *An exuberant, eccentric journey through Russian vastness, European history and Russian culture, The Lost Pianos of Siberia is a quixotic quest, a picaresque travel adventure and a strange forgotten story, all wrapped into one fascinating book. * Simon Sebag-Montefiore *What shines through in this book is Roberts' genuine, humane affection for and fascination with the people she meets in Siberia. * Literary Review *A stunning example of modern historical travel writing * Independent *A richly observed cultural history... thrilling. * New Statesman *Fascinating account of Siberia’s horrific legacy told with great verve… Roberts is a wonderfully lyrical writer. * The Observer *Beautifully written... A unique short history of Russia from Catherine the Great to Putin... A sense of the extraordinary marks every page. * History Today *Captures Siberia's wildness, but favours its enchantments. * Times Literary Supplement *Courage, patience, erudition and a sympathetic imagination… A travel book of rare quality. * Dervla Murphy *Roberts achievement is to vividly bring us into a hidden landscape that in an over-travelled world retains its mystique. Through her painterly depiction of the people she encounters, she infuses the epic with the intimate and reveals how sometimes looking is more important than finding * Business Post Magazine *Utterly absorbing - a wonderful addition to the story of resilience, tragedy and triumph that are the hallmarks of Siberia. Roberts displays an empathy and understanding worthy of this deeply haunted, strangely fascinating land. * Benedict Allen *Roberts' writing is beguiling. * The i *A modern-day Freya Stark. * Tatler *The Lost Pianos of Siberia is one of those magical books that captures the imagination and draws you into the beauty and majesty of Siberia. Idiosyncratic in style – part travelogue, part history, part detective trail – it is full of wonderful stories about human endurance through adversity and the transformative power of music in the most remote and forgotten outposts of this vast territory. A book to savour and remember. * Helen Rappaport, author of THE LAST DAYS OF THE ROMANOVS *Utterly fascinating and revealing to anyone who only knows Siberia through its Great Myth as a forgotten, frozen Nowhere. * Christopher Somerville *A thrilling adventure to the ends of the earth, where sunlight glitters in the snowdrifts and the strains of the exile's song floats through the air. Pack your suitcases for Siberia - Sophy Roberts' gorgeous prose will summon you there like a smell. * Cal Flyn, author of THICKER THAN WATER *What worlds this book traverses! From gilded recital halls to the haunts of Siberian tigers; from remote penal colonies to volcanic islands in the Bering Sea: I felt as if I had travelled through places I had only dreamed of, following these magical instruments through landscapes and histories so full of tragedy and hope. * Daniel Mason, author of THE PIANO TUNER *Absolutely intoxicating. Such vivid detail, rich atmosphere, heartbreak, and elegance. Sophy Roberts melds research and personal experience to trace the paths of political prisoners, convicts, and conscripts determined to find beauty in exile, and track down the regal pianos now scattered in villages, museums, and storehouses across the largest country on earth. Some cherished and some neglected, these pianos tell of the musical colonization of a continent, and their stories sing. * Jonathan C. Slaght, author of OWLS OF THE EASTERN ICE *Romance and tragedy, gulags and tower blocks, princes and oligarchs and of course tigers and pianos, Roberts captures all the wonder and heartbreak of an entire Empire in one feast of a book. * Ben Rawlence, author of CITY OF THORNS and RADIO CONGO *Not-to-be-missed travel. * The Tablet *Beautifully constructed, clear-eyed and generous-spirited. * Will Atkins, author of THE MOOR and THE IMMEASURABLE WORLD *Stories endure in this compelling debut. * Wanderlust *A noble quest to understand the dazzling respect for music embedded in Russian culture. * Country Life *

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Book SynopsisWhat are stone circles? When were they built, and why? How come so many of them egg-shaped, or geometrically flattened? What do they have to do with the landscape, Sun, Moon and stars? In this beautifully illustrated book, megalithomaniac Hugh Newman takes us on a fascinating journey around the world, examining these mysterious monuments of the megalithic culture from Wessex to Scotland, France to Poland, North America to Africa and India to Japan. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisKnown as the 'grandmother of herbalism', Juliette de Bairacli Levy travelled throughout Europe and North America in pursuit of her passion for herbs and holistic medicine, living mostly in rural places whose nomadic communities helped expand her knowledge of plants and living from the land. In the early 1950s, she settled in a thatched 'cabin' in the New Forest for three years and raised her children in the woods.Originally published in 1958, Wanderers in the New Forest describes an extraordinary family life living wild: drawing spring water from Abbots Well, bathing in Windmill Hill Pond and sharing the water with their animal neighbours, foraging for fruits and fungi or tending to their forest garden of herbs, flowers and vegetables. Juliette's friendships within the local Gypsy community enabled her to record the impact that post-war modernisation was having on their traditions, ancient rights and intimate knowledge of the New Forest. This new edition is illustrated throughout with photographs taken by Juliette while living in the forest.

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Book SynopsisA gripping reassessment of the Enlightenment, exploring how leading thinkers who championed liberty also shaped modern racial ideologies â tracing their lives across empires, plantations, and palaces in a powerful story of ideas, power and exclusion.

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Book SynopsisExplores the relationship between food, religion and the ever-widening gap between the tables of the rich and the poor. This book has been thoughtfully adapted for the modern kitchen, whilst retaining the true essence of dining in medieval Britain. It is illustrated with scenes of food, feasting and cooking from paintings, tapestries and drawings.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWho since Weber, or perhaps even Hobbes, has done as much to show why power is such a profound, elusive and treacherous presence throughout our experience? * The Times Higher Education *

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Book Synopsis''A brilliant display of fireworks, attacking the widespread and banal notion that in the beginning sexual activity was guilt-free and delicious, being repressed and blighted only by the gloom of Victorianism'' Spectator We talk about sex more and more, but are we more liberated? The first part of Michel Foucault''s landmark account of our evolving attitudes in the west shows how the nineteenth century, far from suppressing sexuality, led to an explosion of discussion about sex as a separate sphere of life for study and examination. As a result, he argues, we are making a science of sex which is devoted to the analysis of desire rather than the increase of pleasure. ''A wealth of insights, original conceptualizations and provocative ideas'' The Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewA wealth of insights, original conceptualizations and provocative ideas -- Peter Oborne * Daily Telegraph *A brilliant display of fireworks, attacking the widespread and banal notion that 'in the beginning' sexual activity was guilt-free and delicious, being repressed and blighted only by the gloom of Victorianism -- Jasper Griffin * Spectator *Foucault is at his polemical best. He brilliantly succeeds in turning commonplaces on their heads -- Hayden White * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisSince the birth of fascism in the 1920s, well before the global renaissance of "white nationalism," the United States has been home to its own distinct fascist movements, some of which decisively influenced the course of US history. Yet long before Antifa became a household word in the United States, they were met, time and again, by an equally deep antifascist current. Many on the left are unaware that the United States has a rich antifascist tradition, because it has rarely been discussed as such, nor has it been accessible in one place. This reader reconstructs the history of US antifascism the twenty-first century, showing how generations of writers, organisers, and fighters spoke to each other over time.Trade ReviewPraise for Haunted by Hitler:With insight and grace, Christopher Vials demonstrates compelling new ways of understanding a complicated tradition of the Left and U.S. culture. The steady flow of astute interpretations and commentary adds up to scholarship of enduring importance, a treasure trove for the specialist and general reader alike. -- Alan Wald, author of American Night: The Literary Left in the Era of the Cold WarPraise for: Un-American: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Century of World RevolutionUn-American is a bold and long overdue inquiry into 'the late Du Bois,' full of keen originality and brilliantly associative thinking. With his signature level of professional competence, Mullen defies easy categorizations to track the black radical scholar's diasporic identity through the optic of 'world revolution.' This investigation, vexed by the political horrors of imperialism, fascism, and Stalinism, yields unexpected and revealing parallels with the ideas of revolutionary thinkers such as Leon Trotsky and C. L. R. James. The result is a landmark study in the contours of affiliation, expanding the archive and breaking down polarized thought. This is a book to engage, chew over, and debate. -- Alan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor of American Culture, University of MichiganPraise for: Un-American: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Century of World Revolution:In this expansively researched and expertly crafted biography of W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) on the global stage, Mullen revisits the often contradictory and dialectical actions, thoughts, hopes, and writings of the sociologist and civil rights activist through post-World War II toward the end of the Cold War.... Mullen has considerable depth and nuance for the work of revisiting his subject as an international figure.... Mullen succeeds in weaving a revisionist narrative that positions Du Bois as a world actor within the revolutionary movements of the 20th century. VERDICT For readers interested in historical biographies situated in international politics and Cold War history. * Library Journal *Praise for: Un-American: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Century of World Revolution:Bill Mullen's new book Un-American explores...Du Bois' thought more thoroughly than any previous work. While every commentator on Du Bois has acknowledged his politics, Mullen shows us how central revolutionary thought was to Du Bois' entire intellectual trajectory in the twentieth century.... This book will open an entirely new window on the radical politics that animated most of his life's work.... Mullen's intervention will surely be felt...for years to come and deserves to be read by everyone with an interest in Black politics and the history of American socialism. * International Socialist Review *Praise for: Un-American: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Century of World Revolution:This is the sort of thoughtful and challenging book that remains with you, that gets you nodding your head unconsciously in agreement, muttering disapprovals, racing to the bookshelf to look up something. It is an essential addition to the canon of W. E. B. Du Bois scholarship.... Mullen wonderfully braids Du Bois's intellectual journey to an eclectic group of revolutionaries likewise drawn-at various times and in different ways-to the project of communist internationalism.... And he explores Du Bois's engagements with liberation struggles in India and China, Japan's global emergence, the specter of Stalinism, and the global peace work engendered by a dynamic cadre of leftist black women, particularly Claudia Jones and Shirley Graham Du Bois. Mullen's treatment of Smedley, Strong, and Jones is particularly sharp and illuminating. * Journal of American History *Praise for: Popular Fronts: Chicago and African-American Cultural Politics 1935-1946:Mullen marries investigation and a well-executed idea of story in this well-researched piece of scholarship on black art, black literature and literary publications, and the cultural politics of Chicago's African American community. * Choice *Praise for: Popular Fronts: Chicago and African-American Cultural Politics 1935-1946:Mullen's mission is to refresh our cultural memories. He wants to remind us not only of African American cultural production in the 'Chicago Renaissance' that took place before and during World War II, but also that the U.S. Left--in the form of the Communist Party and the individuals and organizations of its Popular Front--played a significant role in the period. * American Historical Review *Praise for: Popular Fronts: Chicago and African-American Cultural Politics 1935-1946:All readers who are interested in the history of Chicago, African American culture, and leftist politics are sure to find some benefit from Mullen's richly detailed and boldly revisionist study. * Journal of Illinois History *Praise for Afro-Orientalism:In Afro-Orientalism, Bill Mullen produces an alternative history to the postcolonial present that is rich with theoretical interest and political promise. -- Amitava Kumar, author of Passport Photos and Bomba–London–New YorkPraise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:W. E. B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line serves as a timely introduction to this impressive and somewhat imposing figure, while also reframing Du Bois's life and work beyond the boundaries of the American context. * Inside Higher Ed *Praise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:In this new biography, Mullen interprets the seismic political developments of the Twentieth Century through the revolutionary life of W.E.B. Du Bois-focusing not just on his Civil Rights work, but also examining Du Bois's attitudes towards socialism, the USSR, China's Communist Revolution, and the relationship between capitalism, poverty and racism. * Critical Theory *Praise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:With Du Bois's Marxist leanings in mind, Mullen's strategy is to reinterpret much of what is already known. As biography, the book is very well written, informative, and insightful. * Choice *Praise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:While some scholars have tried to domesticate DuBois and confine his intellectual and political life within the boundaries of capitalist hegemony, DuBois was in fact a life-long revolutionary committed to socialism, Pan-Africanism and Black Liberation, a man who late in life - partly as a direct challenge to McCarthyism and the Cold War - joined the Communist Party, USA. Mullen's W.E.B. DuBois: Revolutionary Across The Color Line corrects the record, highlighting a side of DuBois many would like us to forget. It is a must read for anyone interested in the life and work of this pioneering Black revolutionary. * People's World *Praise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:Examines the life of W. E. B. Du Bois and his relationship to key questions of the revolutionary left in the twentieth century, placing Du Bois within a framework of figures of the global left and demonstrating the centrality of radical internationalism to his life and thought. * Journal of Economic Literature *Praise for W.E.B. Du Bois: Revolutionary Across the Color Line:Mullen's illuminating biography is essential for understanding the political, personal, and intellectual challenges Du Bois faced in his lifetime search for a black revolutionary praxis. -- Mary Helen Washington, University of MarylandPraise for Haunted by Hitler:Vials's rehabilitation of the long-standing and abiding American antifascist tradition is a game-changer for those interested in the 'f word' (fascism) and for those who want to understand both liberal and left politics in the 'American Century. -- Doug Rossinow, author of Visions of Progress: The Left-Liberal Tradition in AmericaPraise for Haunted by Hitler:Vials's scholarship-its mix of secondary sources drawn from a wide array of contemporary and current scholars and archival and primary materials-produces a rich matrix that grounds the argument. This is a compelling read. -- Paula Rabinowitz, author of American Pulp: How Paperbacks Brought Modernism to Main StreetPraise for Haunted by Hitler:An involved study . . . Vials's exploration of Rod Serling's concern about right-wing extremism is worth the price of this volume and provides fascinating reflections about The Twilight Zone. Recommended. * Choice *Praise for Haunted by Hitler:Vials has much to offer. His sources are many and varied, ranging from interviews with some of those engaged in antifascist efforts in the earliest days to material culled from the electronic databases of American newspapers and the recent work of other scholars. He has insightful commentary and a cogent argument for recognizing the value of antifascists movements of the past eight decades and understanding their relevance today. * Yearbook of German American Studies *Praise for Haunted by Hitler:The governing idea for the author is that properly evaluating these troublesome political trends is essential to the ability to counter them effectively. In service of this project, he offers readers three crucial tools: clear definition, astute historical grounding, and perhaps most absorbing, and indexical view of a fascinating repository of left-liberal, antifascist scholarly and cultural articulations. * Against the Current *Praise for Haunted by Hitler:[An] impressive study of the history and vitality of antifascism, . . . clear and eminently readable. * Journal of American History *Praise for Haunted by Hitler:Haunted by Hitler is rich and exciting to read and leaves no doubt that a history of anti-fascism in America exists. * Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft *Praise for Haunted by Hitler:Christopher Vials's impressively researched and politically important book is the first to argue that 'anti-fascism has . . . constituted a coherent body of cultural work in the United States'. * Science & Society *This is a crucial reader for our current political moment. It is a massive and rich archive, historicizing, theorizing, querying, and interrogating fascism in its many US varieties. This reader unearths and connects the anti-fascist responses in a plethora of sites-the Black Panthers and other anti-racist movements, LGBT pink triangle activists, and the Antifa. It will give you the knowledge to embolden yourself to resist and revolt. -- Zillah Eisenstein * Anti-Racist Feminist Activist, Ithaca College *This volume should be read by everyone who thinks they know what fascism is, and everyone who does not, for it provides a rich and indispensable set of materials to give depth and meaning to the word 'fascism', precisely when we need a comprehensive and varied archive to inform anti-fascist struggles. If you want to know what fascism has been and can be, read this book. We ignore it at our peril. -- David Palumbo-Liu, Stanford UniversitySerious about destroying fascism? Study the US Antifascism Reader. -- Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist HandbookExceptionally well organized and presented. -- Midwest Book Review

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Book Synopsis''A chilling look at Nazi Germany in collapse'' Globe and Mail''Excellent'' Evening Standard ''Fascinating'' Ben MacintyreRaze Paris to the ground. Burn the bridges. Destroy all industry.These were just a few of the insane orders issued by Hitler in the closing months of the Second World War, as the Allies made their unstoppable advance on Germany.Had it not been for the determination and bravery of a few Germans officers and ordinary civilians who disobeyed Hiter, Europe might have been a scorched ruin. Many paid with their lives.Might Rommel have opened the Western Front to the Allies on 20 July 1944 had he not been shot at a few days earlier? Did Albert Speer single-handedly prevent the destruction of bridges, factories and towns? Did a Prussian general save Paris?In this compelling book, distinguished historian Randall Hansen explores the extraordinary phenomenon of disobedience-as

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Book SynopsisA riveting and highly readable account of the Congo massacre, peopled by callous monarchs, corrupt adventurers and a handful of genuine heroes.

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Book SynopsisThe second installment in ''The People''s Trilogy'', the groundbreaking series from Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Frank DikötterFor anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading' Anne ApplebaumEssential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world''s most important revolutions' GuardianDikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order' Timothy SnyderIn 1949 Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City. Instead of liberating the country, the communists destroyed the old order and replaced it with a repressive system that would dominate every aspect of Chinese life.In an epic of revolution and violence which draws on newly opened party archives, interviews and memoirs, Frank Dikötter interweavesTrade ReviewA brilliant and powerful account of the formation of that society ... Nobody who reads about the cost of the establishment of the PRC in Dikotter’s humane and lucid prose will find much sympathy for the authoritarian case. This excellent book is horrific but essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world’s most important revolutions * Guardian *Frank Dikötter, now well into his stride as a meticulous chronicler of China’s greatest miseries ... The Tragedy of Liberation is a tightly-written narrative of the twelve most pivotal years in modern Chinese history ... The book is also a dispassionate study of the way nations can pervert optimism and descend into lunacy by steady increments ... The Tragedy of Liberation is more unsettling. For what it tells us about the foundations of the modern Communist Party, and the backstory to so many decisions and statements made in Beijing today, it is essential reading * The Times *Frank Dikötter’s powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikötter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Dikötter has a writer’s gift in the use of English ... Dikötter must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikötter so ably relates * Kwasi Kwarteng, Evening Standard *A mesmerizing account of the communist revolution in China, and the subsequent transformation of hundreds of millions of lives through violence, coercion and broken promises. The Chinese themselves suppress this history, but for anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading * Anne Applebaum *This follow up to Dikötter’s award-winning Mao’s Great Famine examines the early bloodstained years of Communist China * The Times, Critics’ Choices *One-party states take control of the past as they take control of societies. Usually they must end for serious historical discussion to begin. A great intellectual challenge of our century is to historicize the People’s Republic even as it continues to exist. Dikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order * Tim Snyder *A history of early Maoist China puts paid to any notion of a “golden age” ... In The Tragedy of Liberation ... Frank Dikotter convincingly demolishes this rosy assessment of the early People’s Republic ... The book is a remarkable work of archival research. Dikotter rarely, if ever, allows the story of central government to dominate by merely reporting a top-down directive. Instead, he tracks down the grassroots impact of Communist policies – on farmers, factory workers, industrialists, students, monks – by mining archives and libraries for reports, surveys, speeches and memoirs. In so doing, he uncovers astonishing stories of party-led inhumanity and also popular resistance ... Dikotter sustains a strong human dimension to the story by skilfully weaving individual voices through the length of the book * Financial Times *This groundbreaking book examines the bloodstained reality behind the word and reveals how it brought tragedy to millions. Frank Dikotter is already the author of a revelatory book about China’s great famine of 1958-62, and in this prequel – unsparing in its detail, relentless in its research, unforgiving in its judgments – he deals in the same way with the Chinese revolution from 1945 to 1957 ... This exhaustive trawl through Chinese archives charts the full cost of those early years of change ... Dikotter’s achievement in this book is remarkable. He has mastered a mass of original source material, and has done so by mining local archives in China, which have yielded up a host of treasures. (Significantly, scholars are now reporting the steady closure of official records, as local bureaucrats revert to old habits of secrecy and isolation. This may be the last work of its kind for a while.) ... Staggering amount of detail ... For many years, histories of China have treated the 1950s as if the decade was an interlude of reason. That belief does not survive contact with this book ... It is clear to this reviewer, at least, that mainstream academic scholarship must also be revised in the light of Dikotter’s work. In particular, volume 14 of the Cambridge History of China, which covers the period of this book, will have to be rewritten * Sunday Times *Path-breaking ... Some of what Dikotter describes has been known in general terms, but what he has done here – as when he was writing about the later famine – is take advantage of the opening of archives in which firsthand official reports and accounts of death in all its forms, together with the myriad other forms of Maoist horror, can now be read unedited. It will be increasingly difficult for Western China specialists to write with authority based only on previous Western publications or on Chinese public statements. We remain in Frank Dikotter’s debt * Literary Review *With a mixture of passion and ruthlessness, he marshals the facts, many of them recently unearthed in party archives. Out of these, Mr Dikotter constructs a devastating case for how extreme violence, not a moral mandate, was at the heart of how the party got to power, and of how it then governed ... He was ready to lead the country into the giant experiment of the Great Leap Forward. Mr Dikotter has already written about that in “Mao’s Great Famine”, which this book only betters. The final volume of his planned trilogy will be on the Cultural Revolution, bringing the curtain down on a truly disastrous period * Economist *Frank Dikotter’s powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikotter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Combined with this linguistic skill, Dikotter has a writer’s gift in the use of English. The narrative of The Tragedy of Liberation is always clear and simple ... Dikotter ... Must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikotter so ably relates * Scotsman *Unsparing reappraisal of China’s communist revolution * Sunday Times Must Reads *Frank Dikotter, Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, is establishing himself as the chronicler of what happened to the most populous nation on Earth during Mao’s 27-year reign ... Dikotter’s great achievement is to have melded together the big picture of Mao with the smaller one of what was happening to millions of victims of his policies. In doing so he’s produced a book that’s as authoritative as it is gripping * Mail on Sunday *Much of what Dikötter describes has been known in outline; but Chinese history will have to be revised in light of his detailed revelations * The Week *The historian of China Frank Dikötter has taken a sledgehammer to demolish perhaps the last remaining shibboleth of modern Chinese history ... What emerges from the archives with new clarity is just how ruinous Mao’s policies were * Spectator *A meticulous reappraisal of the formative years of Maoist rule ... This is the first study to make sense in detail of events central to the Mao era, of which only the broad outlines have been known before now. It deserves to become fundamental to a better understanding of the forces that have shaped China today * Sunday Telegraph *Startling ... Dikötter’s work has aimed to demolish almost every claim to truth or virtue the Chinese Communist party ever made. He combines a vivid eye for detail with a historian’s diligence in the archives. Powerful ... Dikötter is unsparing in his account of the effects of the communist rule * Observer *A compelling and devastating account of the Communist involvement in the Civil War and of the first eight years of Communist rule ... This is a gripping and fluidly written account of the first decade of the People’s Republic of China; one that contributes to bringing Chinese history into popular discussions of 20th century international revolutions, utopianism, violence and terror * The Times Higher Education Supplement *Brilliant * The Times *Catalogues in devastating detail the suffering endured from 1949 to 1957, during the installation of the world’s most murderous totalitarian regime … [his portrait of Mao is] both harsher and more convincing than ever * Oldie *By the end of Dikötter’s shocking book, you are in no doubt about the dreadful murderousness of the communist leadership, whose land reforms and modernisation plans exacted a terrible toll on China’s rural population. In this nightmarish world, not even leper colonies were safe * Sunday Times History Books of the Year *The great merit of Dikötter’s book is that it goes beyond the horrific statistics ... He clearly explains the mechanics of the revolutionary state, how mass violence was orchestrated, why people took part in the killing, and what the purposes of the terror were * New York Review of Books *Few other works on the Mao period contain such a quantity and range of archival materials ... Bringing such brutality to light is a valuable contribution * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2011.Life is on the up.We are wealthier, healthier, happier, kinder, cleaner, more peaceful, more equal and longer-lived than any previous generation. Thanks to the unique human habits of exchange and specialisation, our species has found innovative solutions to every obstacle it has faced so far.In The Rational Optimist', acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley comprehensively refutes the doom-mongers of our time, and reaches back into the past to give a rational explanation for why we can and will overcome the challenges of the future, such as climate change and the population boom.Bold and controversial, it is a brilliantly confident assertion that the 21st century will be the best for humankind yet.Trade Review‘A triumphant blast on the vuvuzela of common sense’ Boris Johnson ‘A glorious defence of our species… a devastating rebuke to humanity's self-haters’ Sunday Times ‘No other book has argued with such brilliance against the automatic pessimism that prevails’ Ian McEwan ‘His theory is, in a way, the glorious offspring that would result if Charles Darwin’s ideas were mated with those of Adam Smith’ The Economist ‘Original, clever and controversial’ Guardian ‘As a work of bold historical positivity it is to be welcomed. At every point cheerfulness keeps breaking through’ The Times

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Book SynopsisThe first book on the Auschwitz women's orchestra by the bestselling historian of twentieth-century women's lives

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Book SynopsisThe Western narrative of world history largely omits a whole civilization. Destiny Disrupted tells the history of the world from the Islamic point of view, and restores the centrality of the Muslim perspective, ignored for a thousand years.In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as it looks from a new perspective: with the evolution of the Muslim community at the center. His story moves from the lifetime of Mohammed through a succession of far-flung empires, to the tangle of modern conflicts that culminated in the events of 9/11. He introduces the key people, events, ideas, legends, religious disputes, and turning points of world history, imparting not only what happened but how it is understood from the Muslim perspective.He clarifies why two great civilizations-Western and Muslim-grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe-a place it long perceived as primitive-had somehow hijacked destiny.With storytelling brio, humor, and evenhanded sympathy to all sides of the story, Ansary illuminates a fascinating parallel to the world narrative usually heard in the West. Destiny Disrupted offers a vital perspective on world conflicts many now find so puzzling.Trade ReviewBaptist Standard "Reading [Tom] Friedman, I was motivated to learn more about the Muslim view of world history. I found a remarkable guide in Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted."General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (Ret)"Tamim Ansary has written a truely superb history of the Islamic world. His excellent analysis provides the reader with an insightful understanding of how that world and its people were shaped by events. This is a must read for all those who want to understand the evolution of a significant global society and how it has interacted with the rest of the world.' Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns "Ansary has written an informative and thoroughly engaging look at the past, present and future of Islam. With his seamless and charming prose, he challenges conventional wisdom and appeals for a fuller understanding of how Islam and the world at large have shaped each other. And that makes this book, in this uneasy, contentious post 9/11 world, a must-read." Dave Eggers, TheRumpus.net "I'm in the middle of Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes, and it's incredibly illuminating. Ansary pretty much covers the entire history of Islam in an incredibly readable and lucid way. I've been recommending this book to everyone I know. Especially when people are looking for a comprehensive-but-approachable way to look at world history through the lens of Islam, there's no better book." San Francisco Chronicle"A must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the Islamic world. But the book is more than just a litany of past events. It is also an indispensable guide to understanding the political debates and conflicts of today, from 9/11 to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from the Somali pirates to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. As Ansary writes in his conclusion, "The conflict wracking the modern world is not, I think, best understood as a 'clash of civilizations.' ... It's better understood as the friction generated by two mismatched world histories intersecting." Portland Oregonian "Never apologist in tone, meticulously researched and balanced, often amusing but never glib, Destiny Disrupted is ultimately a gripping drama that pulls the reader into great, seminal events of world history, a book which offers a wealth of knowledge and insight to any reader who wants to understand the movements and events behind the modern-day hostilities wracking Western and Islamic societies." St. Louis Post-Dispatch"If you want to put today's headlines about jihadist suicide bombings into the much larger context of history, you'd be well advised to settle in with Destiny Disrupted. It's the story of a civilization that suddenly found itself upended by strangers and now wants to put itself right. And if author Ansary stops short of calling the result a clash of civilizations, he feels free to call it two one-sided views of world history. His book is a valuable tool for opening up a view of the other side." Shelf Awareness"A lively, thorough and accessible survey of the history of Islam (both the religion and its political dimension) that explores many of the disconnects between Islam and the West." DAWN.com (Pakistan), August 15, 2010

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Book SynopsisUp until very recently it was believed that in 1491, the year before Columbus landed, the Americas, one-third of the earth's surface, were a near-pristine wilderness inhabited by small roaming bands of indigenous people. But recently unexpected discoveries have dramatically changed our understanding of Indian life. Many scholars now argue that the Indians were much more numerous, were in the Americas for far longer and had far more ecological impact on the land than previously believed. This knowledge has enormous implications for today's environmental disputes, yet little has filtered into textbooks and even less into public awareness. Mann brings together all of the latest research, and the results of his own travels throughout North and South America, to provide a new, fascinating and iconoclastic account of the Americas before Columbus.Trade ReviewBrilliantly insightful and unsettling book -- Paul Muldoon * Times Literary Supplement *A brilliant and startling exploration of the largely unrecognised great prehistoric cultures of the Americas * Popular Science Review *Mann rewrites the history of the new world before Columbus. It should be compulsory reading for anyone teaching the history of the Americas * Tribune *A well-researched and racily written new book ... There are few better introductory books on the civilisations of pre-Columbian America, and none so up-to-date * Spectator *An immensely valuable book to anyone interested in agriculture and ecology as well as history and archeology. It is also rich in gossip about academic squabbles * Morning Star *Table of ContentsList of maps Preface Introduction / Holmberg's Mistake 1. A View from Above Part One Numbers from Nowhere? 2. Why Billington Survived 3. In the Land of Four Quarters 4. Frequently Asked Questions Part Two Very Old Bones 5. Pleistocene Wars 6. Cotton (or Anchovies) and Maise (Tales of Two Civilizations, part I) 7. Writing, Wheels, and Bucket Brigades (Tales of Two Civilizations, part II) Part Three Landscape with Figures 8. Made in America 9. Amazonia 10. The Artificial Wilderness Coda 11. The Great Law of Peace Appendixes A. Loaded Words B. Talking Knots C. They Syphillis Exception D. Calendar Math Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis''Mick Conefrey''s Fallen is a marvellously researched and written story about the enigma of George Mallory and the fulfilment of his "Because it''s there!"'' Peter Hillary''Mick Conefrey''s gripping account explores the 1924 expedition and the enigma of the man who nearly made it to the summit.'' Financial Times''Mick Conefrey has become one of our finest gazetteers of the Himalaya.'' The SpectatorIn the years following his disappearance, George Mallory was elevated into an all-British hero - handsome, charismatic and daring, he was the ''Galahad'' of Everest, who had died while taking on the ultimate challenge. But he was also a risk taker who could never get behind the wheel of a car without overtaking the vehicle in front; a climber who pushed himself and those around him to the limits; and a chaotic technophobe who was forever losing equipment or mishandling it, putting himself and his colleagues in danger. Based on diaries, letters, memoirs and thousands of contemporary documents, Fallen is a forensic account of Mallory''s last expedition to Everest in 1924, as well as an attempt to get to know the real Mallory; to get under his skin, understand the forces that made him and destroyed him and separate the man from the myth.

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Book SynopsisFrom the inception of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, Irish women and men were actively recruited to train and work as nurses in British hospitals. By the 1960s approximately 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working across the NHS, constituting around 12% of all nursing staff. While many Irish families produced at least one nurse and many of those emigrated, so far there has been little recognition of the enormous contribution of Irish nurses to health care in Britain.Based on 45 interviews, this book tells the stories of Irish nurses in their own words using rich oral history and photographs. From the rigours of training to the fun of dancehalls, the book explores their life experiences as nurses and also as Irish migrants in British society.

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Book SynopsisA highly-atmospheric and readable exploration of John Dee and other charismatic magicians of the Tudor and Renaissance courts, vividly reimagining their journeys through the courts of Europe and the wives and families who kept the whole magical show on the road...

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Book Synopsis‘A breathtaking, expansive and imaginative ride through the history and future of money from an author who truly understands it' PROFESSOR BRIAN COX 'A cracking book that is as enjoyable as it is readable' PETER FRANKOPAN ‘Equally entertaining and insightful’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS ‘If, as David McWilliams complains, economists take the fun out of money, then he is the exception that proves the rule: a man who could not write a boring sentence if he tried’ TOM HOLLAND _______________________________________________________ MONEY.The object of our desires.The engine of our genius.Humanity’s greatest invention. Money is everything. It brings freedom and it takes it away. It inspires and corrupts us. But what is money? Is it the main thing holding us back from utopia or is it

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Book SynopsisAN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES * TELEGRAPH * SPECTATOR * PROSPECT''Utterly brilliant . . . Authoritative, lively and profoundly human, it is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand post-World War II Europe'' Julia Boyd''One of the best young historians writing in English today. . . Well-researched, well-written and profoundly insightful, Beyond the Wall explodes many of the lazy Western cliches about East Germany'' Andrew RobertsIn 1990, a country disappeared. When the iron curtain fell, East Germany simply ceased to be. For over forty years, from the ruin of the Second World War to the cusp of a new millennium, the GDR presented a radically different German identity to anything that had come before, and anything that exists today. Socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, barbed wire: this was a Germany forged on the fault lines of ideology and geopolitics.In Beyond the Wall, acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer offers a kaleidoscopic new vision of this vanished country. Beginning with the bitter experience of German Marxists exiled by Hitler, she traces the arc of the state they would go on to create, first under the watchful eye of Stalin, and then in an increasingly distinctive German fashion. From the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, to the relative prosperity of the 1970s, and on to the creaking foundations of socialism in the mid-1980s, Hoyer argues that amid oppression and frequent hardship, East Germany was yet home to a rich political, social and cultural landscape, a place far more dynamic than the Cold War caricature often painted in the West.Powerfully told, and drawing on a vast array of never-before-seen interviews, letters and records, this is the definitive history of the other Germany, the one beyond the Wall.LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2023: THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES * FINANCIAL TIMES * INDEPENDENT * TELEGRAPH * NEW STATESMAN

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAn Introduction ix About Donald Robertson xxxiii About Tom Butler-Bowdon xxxiv Chapter One On the Use of Time 1 Chapter Two On Discursiveness in Reading 5 Chapter Three On True and False Friendship 9 Chapter Four On the Terrors of Death 13 Chapter Five On the Philosopher’s Mean 19 Chapter Six On Sharing Knowledge 23 Chapter Seven On Crowds 27 Chapter Eight On the Philosopher’s Seclusion 33 Chapter Nine On Philosophy and Friendship 39 Chapter Ten On Living to Oneself 49 Chapter Eleven On the Blush of Modesty 53 Chapter Twelve On Old Age 57 Chapter Thirteen On Groundless Fears 63 Chapter Fourteen On the Reasons for Withdrawing from the World 71 Chapter Fifteen On Brawn and Brains 79 Chapter Sixteen On Philosophy, the Guide of Life 85 Chapter Seventeen On Philosophy and Riches 91 Chapter Eighteen On Festivals and Fasting 97 Chapter Nineteen On Worldliness and Retirement 105 Chapter Twenty On Practising What You Preach 113 Chapter Twenty One On the Renown Which My Writings May Bring You 119 Chapter Twenty Two On the Futility of Half-Way Measures 125 Chapter Twenty Three On the True Joy Which Comes from Philosophy 133 Chapter Twenty Four On Despising Death 139 Chapter Twenty Five On Reformation 151 Chapter Twenty Six On Old Age and Death 155 Chapter Twenty Seven On the Good Which Abides 161 Chapter Twenty Eight On Travel as a Cure for Discontent 167 Chapter Twenty Nine On the Critical Condition of Marcellinus 171 Chapter Thirty On Conquering the Conqueror 177 Chapter Thirty One On Siren Songs 185 Chapter Thirty Two On Progress 191 Chapter Thirty Three On the Futility of Learning Maxims 195 Chapter Thirty Four On a Promising Pupil 201 Chapter Thirty Five On the Friendship of Kindred Minds 203 Chapter Thirty Six On the Value of Retirement 207 Chapter Thirty Seven On Allegiance to Virtue 213 Chapter Thirty Eight On Quiet Conversation 217 Chapter Thirty Nine On Noble Aspirations 219 Chapter Forty On the Proper Style for a Philosopher’s Discourse 223 Chapter Forty One On the God Within Us 231 Chapter Forty Two On Values 237 Chapter Forty Three On the Relativity of Fame 241 Chapter Forty Four On Philosophy and Pedigrees 243 Chapter Forty Five On Sophistical Argumentation 247 Chapter Forty Six On a New Book by Lucilius 253 Chapter Forty Seven On Master and Slave 255 Chapter Forty Eight On Quibbling as Unworthy of the Philosopher 265 Chapter Forty Nine On the Shortness of Life 273 Chapter Fifty On Our Blindness and Its Cure 279 Chapter Fifty One On Baiae and Morals 283 Chapter Fifty Two On Choosing Our Teachers 289 Chapter Fifty Three On the Faults of the Spirit 297 Chapter Fifty Four On Asthma and Death 303 Chapter Fifty Five On Vatia’s Villa 307 Chapter Fifty Six On Quiet and Study 313 Chapter Fifty Seven On the Trials of Travel 321 Chapter Fifty Eight On Being 325 Chapter Fifty Nine On Pleasure and Joy 341 Chapter Sixty On Harmful Prayers 351 Chapter Sixty One On Meeting Death Cheerfully 353 Chapter Sixty Two On Good Company 355 Chapter Sixty Three On Grief for Lost Friends 357 Chapter Sixty Four On the Philosopher’s Task 365 Chapter Sixty Five On the First Cause 371

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Book SynopsisWashington, D.C. Then and Now presents a fascinating portrait of the evolution and history of America''s capital city, from the dawn of photography in the mid-nineteenth century through to the present day.Come on a visually stunning journey into the past, learning about the historic sites, and stories, that have built the nation's capital. Pairing vintage black-and-white photographs with splendid color shots taken from the same vantage points today, Washington, D.C. Then and Now is the perfect gift for any local historian, tourist or armchair traveller.Including must-see destinations in the capital city such as Pennsylvania Avenue, the Capitol Building, US Patent Office, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Discover D.C.'s lesser known sites such as the rich history of the Shepherd Mansion, the C&O Canal, Georgetown University, and Blagden Alley. Uncover more about the great presidents, as well as figures lost to time such as the the most obstinate man George Washington had ever met at the Van Ness Mansion, the first woman to be executed by the federal government in the Mary Surratt Boarding House and even President Taft's beloved cow Pauline Wayne who would graze outside the State, War and Navy Building.Washington, D.C. continues to be at the center stage of the American story, and now so can you.

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Book SynopsisIn this book acclaimed author and presenter James Crawford introduces many forgotten places all over the country, from the ruins of prehistoric forts and ancient, arcane burial sites, to abandoned bothies and boathouses, and the derelict traces of old, faded industry.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis**THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** Foreword by Tom Hanks.  The book that inspired Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed TV series, and its sequel, Masters of the Air.    In Band of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose pays tribute to the men of Easy Company, a crack rifle company in the US Army. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the dangerous parachute landings on D-Day and their triumphant capture of Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in Berchtesgaden. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. Repeatedly send on the toughest missions, these brave men fought, went hungry, froze and died in the service of their country. Celebrating the 25th anniversary since the original publication, this reissue contains a new foreword from Tom Hanks who was an executive producer on the award-winning HBO series.  A tale of heroic adventur

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Book SynopsisPutting the Women Back into Roman History

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