History Books

Book SynopsisFrom the international bestselling author of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck, mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.

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Book SynopsisFew gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, but also the world's fourth-highest per capita real income? This title is the story of that transformation.

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Book Synopsis''If great books encourage you to look at the world in an entirely new way, then Dominion is a very great book indeed . . . Written with terrific learning, enthusiasm and good humour, Holland''s book is not just supremely provocative, but often very funny'' Sunday Times History Book of the YearChristianity is the most enduring and influential legacy of the ancient world, and its emergence the single most transformative development in Western history. Even the increasing number in the West today who have abandoned the faith of their forebears, and dismiss all religion as pointless superstition, remain recognisably its heirs. Seen close-up, the division between a sceptic and a believer may seem unbridgeable. Widen the focus, though, and Christianity''s enduring impact upon the West can be seen in the emergence of much that has traditionally been cast as its nemesis: in science, in secularism, and yes, even in atheism. That is why Dominion will place the story of how we came to be what we are, and how we think the way that we do, in the broadest historical context. Ranging in time from the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC to the on-going migration crisis in Europe today, and from Nebuchadnezzar to the Beatles, it will explore just what it was that made Christianity so revolutionary and disruptive; how completely it came to saturate the mind-set of Latin Christendom; and why, in a West that has become increasingly doubtful of religion''s claims, so many of its instincts remain irredeemably Christian. The aim is twofold: to make the reader appreciate just how novel and uncanny were Christian teachings when they first appeared in the world; and to make ourselves, and all that we take for granted, appear similarly strange in consequence. We stand at the end-point of an extraordinary transformation in the understanding of what it is to be human: one that can only be fully appreciated by tracing the arc of its parabola over millennia.Trade ReviewTerrific: bold, ambitious and passionate -- Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk RoadsTom Holland is fun to read, monstrously erudite, wickedly joyful, and ahead of the established consensus, on average, by four years, three months, and two days -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Incerto (The Black Swan, Antifragile...)This extraordinary book is vintage Tom Holland: history boldly and elegantly retold, with fascinating interconnections traced to create a narrative that cannot fail to stimulate, for it leads to a never-ending question -- Diarmaid MacCullochHolland is an illuminating guide on a journey from Ancient Athens to 21st-century gay rights * History Revealed *Sustained with all the breadth, originality and erudition that we have come to associate with Holland's writing * Spectator *Fizzing with insights and challenges, this is one history book that is timely and important, as well as a feast of intellectual entertainment -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *Holland is an exceptionally good storyteller with a marvellous eye for detail * The Economist *An all-absorbing story * Literary Review *This book has ruffled feathers . . . lyrical, vivid * Evening Standard *It's not often that you come across a book that completely transforms your understanding of the world * Spectator *A rich and compelling history of Christendom . . . A masterpiece of scholarship and storytelling, Dominion surpasses Holland's earlier books in its sweeping ambition and gripping presentation -- John Gray * New Statesman *[Holland encapsulates] so much, so intelligently and entertainingly, in a book that's fizzing with ideas -- Andrew Lycett * Mail on Sunday *I love the sweep of it * Sunday Telegraph *Tom Holland's stupendous new book . . . There isn't a page of this magnificent book that does not contain somefascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist's eye for character and theme -- Tim Stanley * History Today *A brilliant meditation on how Christianity in its Latin and Protestant forms entirely changed the way humans conceive life and their relationship to each other -- Helen Thompson * New Statesman *An absorbing survey of Christianity's subversive origins and enduring influence is filled with vivid portraits, gruesome deaths and moral debates . . . Holland has all the talents of an accomplished novelist: a gift for narrative, a lively sense of drama and a fine ear for the rhythm of a sentence -- Terry Eagleton * Guardian *If great books encourage you to look at the world in an entirely new way, then Dominion is a very great book indeed . . . Written with terrific learning, enthusiasm and good humour, Holland's book is not just supremely provocative, but often very funny * Sunday Times *A bravura swing through centuries of Western European history . . . a cornucopia of characters and information: almost everyone would learn from it something they didn't know . . . the range and unobvious sweep of his narrative are most impressive * Times Literary Supplement *An erudite and fascinating look at the enduring legacy of Christianity, which, as numbers of believers are dwindling * The Lady *Those who like their history with a dose of lessons about the present will be impressed by Tom Holland's ambitious Dominion * Telegraph *Definitely my book of the year -- Bernard Cornwell

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Book SynopsisThe seminal work that has redefined our understanding of colonialism and empire, with a preface by the author''Stimulating, elegant and pugnacious'' Observer''Magisterial'' Terry EagletonIn this highly-acclaimed work, Edward Said surveys the history and nature of Western attitudes towards the East, considering orientalism as a powerful European ideological creation - a way for writers, philosophers and colonial administrators to deal with the ''otherness'' of eastern culture, customs and beliefs. He traces this view through the writings of Homer, Nerval and Flaubert, Disraeli and Kipling, whose imaginative depictions have greatly contributed to the West''s romantic and exotic picture of the Orient. Drawing on his own experiences as an Arab Palestinian living in the West, Said examines how these ideas can be a reflection of European imperialism and racism. ''Beautifully patterned and passionately argued''New Statesman''Very exciting ... his case is not merely persuasive, but conclusive'' John Leonard, New York Times

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Book SynopsisGraham Robb was born in Manchester in 1958 and is a former fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He has published widely on French literature and history. His book The Discovery of France won both the Duff Cooper and Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prizes. For Parisians the City of Paris awarded him the Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris. He lives on the English-Scottish border. The Discovery of Britain is his tenth book.

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Book SynopsisA vibrant, modern biography of the writer, and suspected spy, Christopher Marlowe Shakespeare's bolder, raunchier and more radical brother in arms, pen and ink. LONDON, LATE 16TH CENTURY. Townhouses quickly give way to overcrowded tenements and hovels; cobblestone lanes are filled with excrement and offal; bodies hang from gallows and severed heads are impaled on spikes for all to see. It's a place of repression, suspicion, censorship, and violence for London to become the scene of astonishing creativity and intellectual daring someone truly revolutionary had to break through the status quo. ENTER CHRISTOPHER KIT' MARLOWE. A cobbler's son from Canterbury with no connections, no resources, and no social standing, he's an unlikely candidate for this role. But, having scrambled his way out of poverty and through a Cambridge education, he also enters London with nothing to lose. From inner city taverns to royal courts, Marlowe becomes a catalyst for change in the cultural landscape and a shadowy actor in the political one. By the time of his murder in 1593, the 29-year-old is the greatest and most revered playwright, poet, and rule-breaker of his time. In Dark Renaissance, Stephen Greenblatt uncovers the real Christopher Marlowe: his artistic ingenuity, riotous politics, and transgressive, ultimately doomed life. In so doing, he shows Marlowe to be not only the most genius of writers, to whom Shakespeare owes an enormous debt, but the mastermind who carried Elizabethan England out of the dark ages and into the light.

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Book SynopsisFew books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.Through the story of three generations of women in her own family the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China''s twentieth century.Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.Trade Review‘It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this book.’ Mary Wesley ‘Everything about “Wild Swans” is extraordinary. It arouses all the emotions, such as pity and terror, that great tragedy is supposed to evoke, and also a complex mixture of admiration, despair and delight at seeing a luminous intelligence directed at the heart of darkness.’ Minette Marrin, Sunday Telegraph ‘Immensely moving and unsettling; an unforgettable portrait of the brain-death of a nation.’ J. G. Ballard, Sunday Times ‘“Wild Swans” made me feel like a five-year-old. This is a family memoir that has the breadth of the most enduring social history.’ Martin Amis, Independent on Sunday ‘There has never been a book like this.’ Edward Behr, Los Angeles Times

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Book SynopsisWITH A FOREWORD BY TIM HARFORD See the world anew with this unique and beautifully designed infographic atlas Which nations have North Korean embassies? Which region has the highest number of death metal bands per capita? How many countries have bigger economies than California? Who drives on the 'wrong' side of the road? And where can you find lions in the wild? Revelatory, thought-provoking and fun, Brilliant Maps is a unique atlas of culture, history, politics and miscellanea, compiled by the editor of the iconic Brilliant Maps website. As visually arresting as Information is Beautiful and as full of surprising facts and figures as any encyclopaedia, Brilliant Maps is a stunning piece of cartography that maps our curious and varied planet. For graphic design enthusiasts, compulsive Wikipedia readers and those looking for the sort of gift they buy for someone else and wind up keeping for themselves, this book will change the way you see the world and your place in it. 'Thoughtful, fun and beautifully illustrated guide to our constantly surprising planet... terrifically interesting stuff' Big IssueTrade ReviewThis lovely [book]... pulls together fascinating statistics, which are illustrated superbly using a wonderful array of maps... the key to the book's success is the mixture of serious, fun and thought-provoking maps... thoughtful, fun and beautifully illustrated guide to our constantly surprising planet... terrifically interesting stuff * Big Issue *A brilliant collection ... Absolutely absorbing stuff, beautifully laid out * Four Shires Magazine *

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Book SynopsisMary Beard's new book Emperor of Rome is available now Ancient Rome matters. Its history of empire, conquest, cruelty and excess is something against which we still judge ourselves. Its myths and stories - from Romulus and Remus to the Rape of Lucretia - still strike a chord with us. And its debates about citizenship, security and the rights of the individual still influence our own debates on civil liberty today. SPQR is a new look at Roman history from one of the world's foremost classicists. It explores not only how Rome grew from an insignificant village in central Italy to a power that controlled territory from Spain to Syria, but also how the Romans thought about themselves and their achievements, and why they are still important to us. Covering 1,000 years of history, and casting fresh light on the basics of Roman culture from slavery to running water, as well as exploring democracy, migration, religious controversy, social mobility and exploitation in the larger context of the empire, this is a definitive history of ancient Rome. SPQR is the Romans' own abbreviation for their state: Senatus Populusque Romanus, 'the Senate and People of Rome'.Trade ReviewFast-moving, exciting, psychologically acute, warmly sceptical -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Vastly engaging ... a tremendously enjoyable and scholarly read. -- Natalie Haynes * Observer *Sustaining the energy that such a topic demands for more than 600 pages, while providing a coherent answer to the question of why Rome expanded so spectacularly, is hugely ambitious. Beard succeeds triumphantly ... full of insights and delights ... SPQR is consistently enlivened by Beard's eye for detail and her excellent sense of humour. * Sunday Times *Masterful ... This is exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life * Economist *Ground-breaking ... invigorating ... revolutionary ... a whole new approach to ancient history -- Thomas Hodgkinson * Spectator *This book is a treasure, both as a fascinating read in itself and as a fine work of reference to correct our lazy misconceptions about an ancient world that still has much to instruct us today * Herald *Praise for Mary Beard: 'She's pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting * Guardian *An irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention * FT *Dynamically, wittily and authoritatively brings the ancient world to life -- Simon Sebag MontefioreWith such a champion as Beard to debunk and popularise, the future of the study of classics is assured * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisFrom prize-winning, bestselling author Colson Whitehead, a magnificent, wrenching, thrilling tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum SouthTrade ReviewIt has invaded both my sleeping and waking thoughts . . . Each character feels alive with a singular humanity . . . Whitehead is on a roll, the reviews have been sublime -- Bim Adewunmi * Guardian *An engrossing and harrowing novel * Sunday Times *[A] brutal, vital, devastating novel...This is a luminous, furious, wildly inventive tale that not only shines a bright light on one of the darkest periods of history, but also opens up thrilling new vistas for the form of the novel itself -- Alex Preston * Observer *This thrilling tale of escape from a deep south plantation takes in terror, beauty and the history of human tragedy..This uncanny novel never attempts to deliver a message - instead it tells one of the most compelling stories I have ever read. Cora's strong, graceful hands touch on the greatest tragedies of our history * Cynthia Bond, Guardian *It's so good it's hard to praise it without whipping out the cliches: it's an elegant, devastating powerhouse of a book, following a young black woman all over America as she tries to escape the horrors of slavery. When it was published with Oprah's imprimatur, in August, it was universally acclaimed. It deserved it -- Michelle Dean * Guardian *One of the best, if not the best, book I've read this year . . . Whitehead never exploits his subject matter, and in fact it's the sparseness of the novel that makes it such a punch in the gut -- Sarah Shaffi * Stylist *My book of the year by some distance...It's a profound and important novel, but more than anything it's an absurdly good read, gripping you in its tightly wound plot, astonishing you with its leaps of imagination. If Whitehead doesn't win every prize going next year, I'll appear on Saturday Review in my underpants -- Alex Preston * Observer, Best Fiction of 2016 *Whitehead is a superb storyteller . . . [he] brilliantly intertwines his allegory with history . . . writing at the peak of his game . . . Whitehead's achievement is truly remarkable: by giving the Underground Railroad a new mythology, he has found a way of confronting other myths, older and persistent, about the United States. His book cannot have enough readers * Telegraph *It is an extraordinary novel, a rich, confident work that will deservedly win - on the basis of literary merit as well as moral purpose . . . History and human experience as well as an artist's obligation to tell the truth have shaped a virtuoso novel that should be read by every American as well as readers across the world. And it will be, it should be -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *An utterly transporting piece of storytelling -- Alex Heminsley * The Pool *Bestselling author Colson Whitehead's novel is a searing indictment of slavery with a detailed inventory of man's inhumanity to man - and Cora's flight is a harrowing and shocking trip for the reader * Daily Mail *A stunning, brutal and hugely imaginative book. It's a favourite of both Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. It is painful history re-imagined in a powerful and brilliant way * Emerald St *Recommended by none other than Obama AND Oprah, The Underground Railroad arrives deserving every last drop of hype that's come its way . . . There are many twists and turns in Cora's long, treacherous journey towards freedom and while The Underground Railroad is at times brutal and disturbing, it's also hopeful and an addictive, compulsive read. After reading it, a corner of your heart will always belong to Cora. An instant classic -- Sarra Manning * Red *Reaches the marrow of your bones, settles in and stays forever . . . a tour de force -- Oprah WinfreyThis bravura novel reimagines that same network as a real subterranean railway, upon which a girl named Cora flees the slave-catcher Ridgeway. Throughout, horrific experiences are rendered in lapidary prose, but it's Cora's daring that provides the story's redemptive oomph * Mail on Sunday *Inventive and hard-hitting * Metro *It is a bold way of reimagining the slave experience and, in the capable hands of Whitehead, succeeds triumphantly * Mail on Sunday *Brutal, tender, thrilling and audacious -- Naomi Alderman * Guardian *An enchanting tale . . . full of vivid images, learned allusions and astute observations . . . The most important and acclaimed American novel of the past year * London Review of Books *I stayed up way too late to finish this... It will be haunting me in the best way * Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You *A fantastical picaresque through the dark side of American history * Daily Telegraph *Thrilling and unsentimental * Scotsman *The Underground Railroad is a noble descendant of the great narratives of slavery, and among the very finest of its novels -- Wesley Stace * Times Literary Supplement *An audaciously imagined and profoundly moving novel -- Eithne Farry * Express *Stunning and unsentimental . . . required reading -- Jenny Niven * Herald *A charged and important novel that pushed at the boundaries of fiction -- Justine Jordan * Guardian, Best Books of 2016 *Leaves the reader with a devastating understanding of the terrible human costs of slavery . . . with echoes of Toni Morrison's Beloved, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and with brush strokes borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift . . . Colson Whitehead has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *The Underground Railroad isn't the modern slave narrative it first appears to be. It is something grander and more piercing, a dazzling antebellum anti-myth...Whitehead's prose is quick as a runaway's footsteps * New York Review of Books *A book that resonates with deep emotional timbre. The Underground Railroad reanimates the slave narrative, disrupts our settled sense of the past and stretches the ligaments of history right into our own era . . . The story charges along with incredible power . . . The canon of essential novels about America's peculiar institution just grew by one -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *[The Underground Railroad] is really good - good, in fact, in just about every way a novel can be good . . . a grave and fully realized masterpiece, a weird blend of history and fantasy that will have critics rightfully making comparisons to Toni Morrison and Gabriel García-Márquez * Boston Globe *This book should be required reading in classrooms across the country alongside Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. If this isn't Colson Whitehead's masterpiece, it's definitely the best book of the year and maybe the most important work of the decade * Chicago Tribune *Masterful, urgent . . . one of the finest novels written about our country's still unabsolved original sin -- Charles Finch * USA Today *The Underground Railroad has serious ambition, especially within the tradition of literary satire . . . With deadpan virtuosity and muted audacity, Whitehead integrates the historical details of slavery with the present * Los Angeles Review of Books *Whitehead is a fantastic novelist, one of the best in America today. (Certainly better than Franzen.)... Oprah is right: The Underground Railroad is Whitehead's best book yet... This is the rare critically acclaimed bestseller that deserves every ounce of its adoration, and more. The hype is real. You can believe Oprah, and its scores of other fans, including some guy who took The Underground Railroad on summer vacation and can't stop talking about its "terrific... powerful" portraiture of race in America. That fan's name is Barack Obama * Seattle Times *Magnetizing and wrenching . . . Each stop Cora makes along the Underground Railroad reveals another shocking and malignant symptom of a country riven by catastrophic conflicts, a poisonous moral crisis, and diabolical violence. Each galvanizing scene blazes with terror and indictment as Whitehead tracks the consequences of the old American imperative to seize, enslave, and profit . . . Hard-driving, lasersharp, artistically superlative, and deeply compassionate, Whitehead's unforgettable odyssey adds a clarion new facet to the literature of racial tyranny and liberation * Booklist *Startlingly original . . . Whitehead continues the African-American artists' inquiry into race mythology and history with rousing authority and razor-sharp ingenuity; he is now assuredly a writer of the first rank * Kirkus *In powerful, precise prose, at once spellbinding and ferocious, the book follows Cora's incredible journey north, step by step . . . the story is literature at its finest and history at its most barbaric. Would that this novel were required reading for every American citizen * Publishers Weekly *Colson Whitehead's staggering, haunted new novel . . . [is] a book that is fully expected to win all the awards this year - Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, National Book Award, etc - and it deserves every last one * Chapter 16 *Hard-driving, laser-sharp, artistically superlative, and deeply compassionate, Whitehead's unforgettable odyssey adds a clarion new facet to the literature of racial tyranny and liberation * Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence, shortlist announcement *

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today.‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany Hughes We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons, from burial sites and by using new technology to analyse ancient DNA. Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went and how we came to be on this island. It expTrade Review'This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.' -- Dr Janina Ramirez‘While the rest of us read words, Alice reads bones - and what stories they have to tell. In her hands they seem slick with life, bearing messages from ancient worlds. I was captivated.' -- Neil Oliver'Another classic from Alice Roberts. She writes as a scholar with the intensity and flair of a novelist.' -- Dan Snow‘Roberts is a prolific TV presenter, and Ancestors skilfully deploys the arts of screen storytelling: narrative pace, a sense of mysteries being unfolded. […] [It] is above all a tribute to the archaeological profession.’ -- Dan Hitchens * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Shortlisted for the 2020 Cundill History Prize A Granta Book of the Year 2023 'Riveting and original ... a work enriched by solid scholarship, vivid personal experience, and acute appreciation of the concerns and aspirations of the contending parties in this deeply unequal conflict ' Noam Chomsky The twentieth century for Palestine and the Palestinians has been a century of denial: denial of statehood, denial of nationhood and denial of history. The Hundred Years War on Palestine is Rashid Khalidi's powerful response. Drawing on his family archives, he reclaims the fundamental right of any people: to narrate their history on their own terms. Beginning in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, Khalidi reveals nascent Palestinian nationalism and the broad recognition by the early Zionists of the colonial nature of their project. These ideas and their echoes defend Nakba - the Palestinian term for the establishment of the state of Israel - the cession of the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, the Six Day War and the occupation. Moving through these critical moments, Khalidi interweaves the voices of journalists, poets and resistance leaders with his own accounts as a child of a UN official and a resident of Beirut during the 1982 seige. The result is a profoundly moving account of a hundred-year-long war of occupation, dispossession and colonialisation.Trade ReviewKhalidi is rigorous and lucid in assembling his argument, piling up evidence but fair-minded to his opponents and withering about the shortcomings of his side. -- David Gardner * FT *A work enriched by solid scholarship, vivid personal experience, and acute appreciation of the concerns and aspirations of the contending parties in this deeply unequal conflict -- Noam Chomsky

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Book SynopsisThis title describes the brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and the colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of progress and civilisation.

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Book SynopsisFrom the first known photograph taken in Los Angeles to its most recent sweeping vistas, this photographic tribute to the City of Angels provides a fascinating journey through the city’s cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history. It traces the city’s development from the 1880s real estate boom, through the early days of Hollywood and the urban sprawl of the late 20th century, right up to the present day. With over 500 images, L.A. is shown emerging from a desert wasteland to become a vast palm-studded urban metropolis. Events that made world news—including two Olympics, Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, and the Rodney King riots—reveal a city of many dimensions. The entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood, and its celebrities are showcased along with many other notable residents, personalities, architects, artists, and musicians. The city’s pop cultural movements, its music, surfing, health food fads, gangs, and hot rods are included, as are its notorious crimes and criminals. This book depicts Los Angeles in all its glory and grit, via hundreds of freshly discovered images including those of Julius Shulman, Garry Winogrand, William Claxton and many other superb photographers, culled from major historical archives, museums, private collectors, and universities. These are given context and resonance through essays by renowned California historian Kevin Starr and Los Angeles literature expert David L. Ulin.Trade Review“A photographic celebration of L.A.” * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisIn Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's great literary treasures as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, and explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate and freedom.Trade Review"One of the great marvels of World Literature.... This is a dream come true." --Ted Hughes"A testimony to the human spirit's ability not only to endure what fate may send it but to be renewed by the experience." --Seamus Heaney"The glory of the Sagas is indisputable." --Milan Kundera"Generally excellent, accurate and readable, these translations are sure to become the standard versions." --The Times Literary Supplement (London)Table of ContentsThe Sagas of Icelanders List of Illustrations and TablesPreface by Jane Smiley Introduction by Robert KelloggFurther ReadingA Note on the TextsSagasEgil's Saga (trans. Bernard Scudder)The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal (trans. Andrew Wawn)The Saga of the People of Laxardal (trans. Keneva Kunz)Bolli Bollason's Tale (trans. Keneva Kunz)The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey's Godi (trans. Terry Gunnell)The Saga of the Confederates (trans. Ruth C. Ellison)Gisli Sursson's Saga (trans. Martin S. Regal)The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue (trans. Katrina C. Attwood)The Saga of Ref the Sly (trans. George Clark)The Vinland Sagas:The Saga of the Greenlanders (trans. Keneva Kunz)Eirik the Red's Saga (trans. Keneva Kunz)TalesThe Tale of Thorstein Staff-struck (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II (trans. Terry Gunnell)The Tale of Sarcastic Halli (trans. George Clark)The Tale of Thorstein Shiver (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords (trans. Anthony Maxwell)The Tale of the Story-wise Icelander (trans. Anthony Maxwell)Reference Section:Illustrations and Diagrams: Ships; The Farm; Social and Political StructureGlossaryIndex of Characters

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Book SynopsisRory Stewart served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development, and before that as Prisons Minister, Minister for Africa, Minister for Development, Environment Minister and Chair of the Defence Committee. He ran against Boris Johnson for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2019. Earlier in his career he was briefly in the British Army, before serving as a diplomat in Indonesia, the Balkans and Iraq, establishing and running a charity in Afghanistan, and holding a chair at Harvard University. His 21-month 6,000-milewalk across Asia, including Afghanistan, is recorded in his New York Times bestseller, The Places in Between. His other books include Occupational Hazards, and The Marches.Stewart is now the Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs, a senior adviser at the non-profit organisation GiveDirectly, and the co-host with Alastair Cam

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER & BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A TELEGRAPH BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF 2023 A PROSPECT BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 '[Mary Beard] has always had the sharpest eyes for telling detail and colourful anecdote' Sunday Times 'Britain's most famous classicist ... at the peak of her powers' The Times 'Extraordinary ... a deliciously varied tapestry of detail drawn from across nearly three centuries' Telegraph 'The reigning Queen of Classics' Spectator What was it really like to rule and be ruled in the Ancient Roman world? In her international best-seller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now, she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.Trade ReviewBritain's most famous classicist [is] at the peak of her powers ... Even more interesting than the insight into the imperial elite is the light the book sheds on the modern world -- Sathnam Sanghera * The Times *Lavishly illustrated ... erudite and entertaining ... Beard is so appealing and approachable that even the recalcitrant reader who previously gave not a single thought to the Roman Empire will warm to her subject -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *A beautiful book ... [Beard is] really good at thinking about some of the echoes between Roman politics and British politics, including today -- Rory Stewart * The Rest is Politics *The most famous historian of Rome sets the record straight -- Olivia B. Waxman * Time Magazine *[Mary Beard is] the best in the business -- Dan Snow * History Hit *Magisterial ... A beautifully written product of a lifetime of deep scholarly learning -- Martin Wolf * FT *Impressively detailed ... there's an immediacy to it all, as if the ancient world were not so long ago and easily understood -- 'Best History Books of 2023' * The Times *Mary Beard shows, through rich use of anecdote and decades of scholarship, what the traits and insecurities of the Roman emperors teach us about today -- 'The best history books of 2023' * Telegraph *A masterly group portrait, an invitation to think skeptically but not contemptuously of a familiar civilization ... Ms. Beard punctuates her erudite but easy prose with striking turns of phrase and arresting observations -- Kyle Harper * WSJ *An enthralling analysis of the wild stories that circulated about Rome's ruthless rulers ... Beard does a wonderful job of taking us into the maelstrom of fantasy, desire and projection that swirled around these rulers -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *There have been many fine books about the Romans this year ... but Mary Beard's Emperor of Rome still stands out ... she draws not just on a career's worth of classical-historical knowledge, but on a career's worth of thinking about how classical history itself - with its truths, lies and unknowns - should be approached. The result could be a manifesto for the discipline's future -- 'Books of the Year 2023: History' * Prospect *An erudite view on what it is to be an emperor on an everyday basis and how citizens experience life in an empire. As always with Beard, clichés are crushed. She debunks some of the most common myths about the Roman emperors, and her insights are relevant to our understanding of power and leadership today -- Romée de Goriainoff * Bloomberg *An extraordinary investigation into the gulf between the experience and the narrative of Roman autocracy ... Beard weaves a deliciously varied tapestry of detail drawn from across nearly three centuries -- Honor Cargill-Martin * Telegraph *Good emperors may not have been as virtuous as they were painted, nor bad ones so wicked ... all told in trademark exuberant Beard style ... Those familiar with her TV series can hear her voice in the way she writes, her passion for the subject oozing off the page -- Patrick Kidd * The Times *Chatty, fun, argumentative, fearless, and ferociously well-informed -- Robert McCrum * Independent *Fascinating ... hugely rewarding * Irish Times *Imposing, colourful, entertaining ... Distils a vast amount of scholarship into 410 pages * Irish Independent *Surprising and fascinating ... Explores what we can and can't know about the men who ruled the Roman Empire, and what the lurid stories about so many of them tell us about the anxieties and fantasies of Rome's ordinary citizens and the remarkable resilience of the regime -- Sam Leith * Spectator Book Club Podcast *For once, the horse races and the Circus Maximus, the true centre of Roman popular culture, get their rightful pride of place ... [The Roman emperors] were bringers of peace and insatiable conquerors, monsters on display and civilised citizens, gods and frightened mortals ... Beard's book is alert to these different layers of meaning -- Georgy Kantor * Critic *Endlessly entertaining ... A close-up examination of Rome's greatest or most notorious figures ... Beard is never afraid to hint of modern parallels with the world of Ancient Rome, which can superficially seem so remote from our own -- Christopher Hart * Mail on Sunday *A colourful tour of 30 emperors spanning over 250 years [through] the glitz and gore of Rome * Economist *[Mary Beard] has always had the sharpest eyes for telling detail and colourful anecdote * Sunday Times *Vividly brings to life the history of Ancient Rome -- Jackie Brown * Good Housekeeping *[Mary Beard is] the reigning Queen of Classics -- Harry Mount * Spectator *As always, Beard is a brilliant guide ... Emperor of Rome charts a very different path [to] imperial biographies -- Clifford Ando * TLS *Beard [is] the rock star scholar of Ancient Rome -- Jo Ellison * Financial Times *Eloquent, charming, exuberant ... [A] lively and engaging way of examining what the actions and "job description" of an emperor can reveal about the psychology of power -- Alexandra Pollard * i newspaper *An erudite view on what it is to be an emperor on an everyday basis and how citizens experience life in an empire. As always with Beard, clichés are crushed. She debunks some of the most common myths about the Roman emperors, and her insights are relevant to our understanding of power and leadership today -- Romée de Goriainoff, 'Best Books of 2023' * Bloomberg *It's vital to see these individuals not just as characters in macabre stories but as hard-working bureaucrats ... from the path to the top to the almost inevitable sticky end -- Matt Elton * BBC History Magazine *A national treasure ... combining accessibility with profound knowledge lightly worn -- Harry Sidebottom * Literary Review *A fascinating exploration of assumptions about how the emperors of Rome from Julius Caesar to Alexander Severus acceded to the throne, ruled over an empire [and] even became gods ... Beard has redefined what it meant to be an emperor of Rome -- Ming Kit Wong * Oxford Political Review *Praise for Mary Beard: 'An accomplished scholar and lively debunker...Beard informs and entertains without ever patronising her readers. What she touches turns to light * Independent *Mary Beard has pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting * Guardian *Dynamically, wittily and authoritatively brings the ancient world to life -- Simon Sebag MontefioreAn irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention * FT *

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Book SynopsisSpend 24 hours immersed in the rich and fascinating everyday lives of the Vikings.Between the infamous Lindisfarne raid in 793 CE and the Norman conquest of 1066, the peoples we know now as the Vikings became one of the most far-ranging and influential civilizations in history. The Vikings are frequently portrayed as raiders, marauding across medieval Europe and Britain, but the culture and society of the medieval Nordic peoples was so much more diverse, multifaceted and influential than it is often depicted.In 24 Hours in the Viking World, author and Viking expert Kirsten Wolf chronicles an hour in the life of 24 individuals from every corner of Viking society over the course of a single day. From the warrior to the thrall, the shipbuilder to the farmer, the poet to the oracle, each chapter offers a snapshot of the world as it was in medieval Scandinavia, and an insight into how these people lived, loved, worked, fought and died.

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Book Synopsis ***Out now: David Nicholls''s new novel YOU ARE HERE*** A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT FIRST LOVE FROM BELOVED BESTSELLER DAVID NICHOLLS A tragicomedy about the rocky path to adulthood and that one summer that changes your life forever ''A beautiful paean to young love'' OBSERVER ''Fizzing'' GUARDIAN ''A glorious escape to the sunlit uplands of the 1990s'' FINANCIAL TIMES ''Exquisite'' DAILY TELEGRAPH ''The sense of nostalgia is visceral and intense, almost time-bending'' SUNDAY TIMES It''s summer 1997, school is over and Charlie Lewis''s life is in shambles. His family is breaking up, his father is falling apart and the long, empty holidays stretch ahead towards an uncertain future. And then, quite by chance, Charlie meets Fran Fisher and it''s as if a new world has opened before him. But can it last?Trade ReviewVery funny and heart wrenchingly tender * Grazia *A beautiful paean to young love . . . Here he proves that he can still pull off that most rare and coveted of literary feats: a popular novel of serious merit, a bestseller that will also endure -- Alex Preston * Observer *This is Nicholls' talent - what really sets this story apart is the dialogue: funny, telling, laughter-inducing, he's hard to beat * Stylist *He's such a genius. His novels are relatable and recognisable, but also surprising, breath-taking and life-enhancing -- Nina Stibbe, author of LOVE, NINAA classic coming of age novel with universal truths teased out with remarkable perception * Irish Times *Affirms once again Nicholls' talent for unearthing the special in the ordinary * Metro *Full of the joy and pain of first love, fans who fell for bestseller One Day, ten years ago, won't be disappointed * Sunday Mirror *A big-hearted book with wonderful set-pieces . . . beautifully funny and touching . . . his books always seem as fresh as they are wise and funny * Literary Review *I don't think anyone writing right now captures youth and adolescence better; I'm not sure anyone even gets close -- Jenny Colgan, author of THE LITTLE SHOP OF HAPPY-EVER-AFTERSuch a beautiful book. Captures perfectly a moment in time we've all experienced -- Graham NortonWritten with great comic panache and generosity of spirit, it is Nicholls' most mature and compelling novel so far * i paper *Nicholls' literary talents are impressive . . . the sense of nostalgia is visceral and intense, almost time-bending * Sunday Times *It's just perfect in every way -- Jill Mansell, author of SHOULD I TELL YOU?Funny, engaging and moving, another triumph from the brilliant David Nicholls -- John Boyne, author of THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIESA compassionate, intelligent look at the raw pain and loneliness of a teenage boy, the everyday miracle of first love and the perennial power of Shakespeare's language * Spectator *Fizzing . . . a funny, affectionate exploration of first love * Guardian *Astutely observed, and almost painfully nostalgic, Sweet Sorrow reads like a true story -- Clare Mackintosh, author of THE LAST PARTYIt's everything a story should be. Beautiful and clear and heartfelt, and it will do what all brilliant stories do: it will find the very pinpoint of who you are and it will stay there -- Joanna Cannon, author of WILL YOU READ THIS, PLEASE?A master of the bittersweet coming-of-age novel * Herald *Pitch perfect . . . Exquisite . . . Terrific . . . Very funny . . . Though Sweet Sorrow is certainly pulse-quickening enough to absorb readers through this summer's airport delays and rained-off beach days, it's no escapist fantasy. The tale of Charlie and Fran will linger long beyond your tan * Daily Telegraph *Nicholls perfectly captures the dizzying highs and lows of first love * Daily Express *Adrian Mole meets The Swish Of The Curtain in this lovely coming-of-age romcom about acting and the class divide * Daily Mail *Full of wisdom, poignancy and laughs * Mail on Sunday *Interesting, moving, hilarious and sad at the same time * Scotsman *A funny, relatable coming-of-age story * Sun *A superbly written, beautifully observed account of teenage life, love, family dysfunction and friendship, which builds to a stunningly poignant ending * Heat *No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does -- Alex Peake-Tomkinson * Evening Standard *A delicious, pensive summer read * Press Association *Piercingly observant, gloriously funny and achingly sad, this is David Nicholls' best book yet * Daily Mirror *Sweet Sorrow manages to be interesting, moving, hilarious and sad at the same time. I know when my heartstrings are being pulled, but tugged they assuredly were * Scotland on Sunday *A glorious escape to the sunlit uplands of the 1990s, where a teenager first finds love * Financial Times *Funny and nostalgic tale of first love * Sydney Morning Herald *If ever there was an author perfect to take with you on holiday (so to speak), it's David Nicholls * Stella *I'm not sure there has ever been a better book to read while by the sea. The nostalgia, the humour, the deep understanding of adolescent love and indeed the sorrow. It's such a brilliant book * i News *A witty and tender evocation of young love -- Robert Webb * Guardian *A devastatingly honest exploration of first love, razor-sharp reflections on friendship - oh, and some snort out loud funny moments -- George Aligiah * Guardian *David Nicholls is that rarest of literary creatures: a genuinely brilliant, genuinely popular novelist. His latest, Sweet Sorrow, is more than just poignant and warm and funny. There are piercing apercus and writing that's both precise and poetic, lyrical and tough -- Stuart Maconie, Best Books of the Year * New Statesman *Eloquent . . . dazzles with wit and shrewd self-reflection * People *A tale of first love that hits all the right notes . . . [it] just might be the sweetest book to brighten your late summer * Washington Post *Delectable . . . Nicholls treats you to a satisfying glimpse into the future, where characters make a curtain call as adults . . . Bombshells abound * New York Times Book Review *

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

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

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

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Book Synopsis16 MILLION COPIES SOLD'A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive' John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped PyjamasA prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.Trade ReviewRemarkable...It changed my life and became a part of all that I live and all that I teach.An enduring work of survival literature. * New York Times *A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive -- John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped PyjamasI have loved this book for so many years, and I think every human being should read it. -- Simon SinekViktor Frankl...one of the moral heroes of the 20th century. His insights into human freedom, dignity and the search for meaning are deeply humanizing, and have the power to transform lives. His works are essential reading for those who seek to understand the human condition.

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Book SynopsisParmy Olson is a technology columnist with Bloomberg covering artificial intelligence, social media and tech regulation. She has written about the evolution of AI since 2016, when she covered Silicon Valley for Forbes magazine, before becoming a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of We Are Anonymous, a 2012 exposé of the infamous hacker collective, and she was named by Business Insider as one of the Top 100 People in UK Tech in 2019. She has two honourable mentions for the SABEW Awards for Business Journalism for her reporting on Facebook and WhatsApp and was named Digital Journalist of the Year 2023 by PRCA, the world's largest public relations body.

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Book SynopsisTHE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S TOP BOOKS OF THE YEAR Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize 2020 Shortlisted for the FT Business Book of the Year Award 2019 'Easily the most important book to be published this century. I find it hard to take any young activist seriously who hasn't at least familarised themselves with Zuboff's central ideas.' - Zadie Smith, The Guardian The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control us. The heady optimism of the Internet's early days is gone. Technologies that were meant to liberate us have deepened inequality and stoked divisions. Tech companies gather our information online and sell it to the highest bidder, whether government or retailer. Profits now depend not only on predicting our behaviour but modifying it too. How will this fusion of capitalism and the digital shape our values and define our future? Shoshana Zuboff shows that we are at a crossroads. We still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in, and what we decide now will shape the rest of the century. Our choices: allow technology to enrich the few and impoverish the many, or harness it and distribute its benefits. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. Most critically, it shows how we can protect ourselves and our communities and ensure we are the masters of the digital rather than its slaves.Trade ReviewEasily the most important book to be published this century. I find it hard to take any young activist seriously who hasn't at least familarised themselves with Zuboff's central ideas. -- Zadie Smith * The Guardian *everyone needs to read this book as an act of digital self-defense. -- Naomi KleinA must read for anyone interested in power, politics, technology and the future of our fragile democracies. Zuboff is a brilliant mind who connects the dots like no other. -- Elif Shafak * New Statesman Books of the Year *Das Kapital of the digital age -- Hugo Rifkind * The Times *Magisterial, indispensable -- Carole Cadwalladr * Observer *[It] will surely become a pivotal work in defining, understanding and exposing this surreptitious exploitation of our data and, increasingly, our free will ... essential * Irish Times *An intensively researched, engagingly written chronicle of surveillance capitalism's origins and its deleterious prospects for our society ... This is the rare book that we should trust to lead us down the long hard road of understanding -- Jacob Silverman * New York Times *Groundbreaking, magisterial ... unmissable -- John Thornhill * FT *Comprehensive and impassioned ... an important book -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Groundbreaking ... Aiming to apply Marx's account of surplus value in a time when capital is accumulated through knowledge-based technology, she has given us an illuminating critical perspective on the regime of surveillance under which we all now live * New Statesman *A bold, important book ... Combining in-depth technical understanding and a broad, humanistic scope, Zuboff has written what may prove to be the first definitive account of the economic - and thus social and political - condition of our age. -- James Bridle * Guardian *This book's major contribution is to give a name to what's happening, to put it in cultural and historical perspective, and to ask us to pause long enough to think about the future and how it might be different from today -- Frank Rose * WSJ *A chilling exposé of the business model that underpins the digital world ... a striking and illuminating book. A fellow reader remarked to me that it reminded him of Thomas Piketty's magnum opus, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, in that it opens one's eyes to things we ought to have noticed, but hadn't -- John Naughton * Observer *It's quite possible that the single most important book about politics, economics, culture and society in this century is Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. She explains with far more power than anyone has done before the emergence of a whole new form of capitalism based on the expropriation of the personal data we freely give to vast corporations. It's the Das Kapital for our times. -- Fintan O'Toole * Irish Times *An exceptional and necessary book about the information civilisation we have become -- David Patrikarakos * Literary Review *Extraordinarily intelligent ... Absorbing Zuboff's methodical determination, the way she pieces together sundry examples into this comprehensive work of scholarship and synthesis, requires patience, but the rewards are considerable - a heightened sense of awareness, and a deeper appreciation of what's at stake -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *Original ... it arrives at a crucial moment, when the public and its elected representatives are at last grappling with the extraordinary power of digital media and the companies that control it. Like another recent masterwork of economic analysis, Thomas Piketty's 2013 Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the book challenges assumptions, raises uncomfortable questions about the present and future, and stakes out ground for a necessary and overdue debate -- Nicholas Carr * LARB *I will make a guarantee: Assuming we survive to tell the tale, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism has a high probability of joining the likes Adam Smith's The Wealth of Natiions and Max Weber's Economy and Society as defining social-economics texts of modern times. It is not a 'quick read;' it is to be savored and re-read and discussed with colleagues and friends. No zippy one-liners from me, except to almost literally beg you to read/ingest this book -- Tom Peters, author of In Search of ExcellenceThe Age of Surveillance Capitalism is brilliant and essential ... a masterpiece of rare conceptual daring, beautifully written and deeply urgent -- Robert B. Reich, author of The Common Good and Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the FewThe defining challenge for the future of the market economy is the concentration of data, knowledge, and surveillance power. Not just our privacy but our individuality is at stake, and this very readable and thought-provoking book alerts us to these existential dangers. Highly recommended -- Daron Acemoglu, author of Why Nations FailZuboff's expansive, erudite, deeply-researched exploration of digital futures elucidates the norms and hidden terminal goals of information-intensive industries. Zuboff's book is the information industry's Silent Spring -- Chris Hoofnagle, University of California, BerkeleyIn the future, if people still read books, they will view this as the classic study of how everything changed. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a masterpiece that stunningly reveals the essence of twenty-first-century society, and offers a dire warning about technology gone awry that we ignore at our peril. Shoshana Zuboff has somehow escaped from the fishbowl in which we all now live, and introduced to us the concept of water. A work of penetrating intellect, this is also a deeply human book about what is becoming, as it relentlessly demonstrates, a dangerously inhuman time -- Kevin Werbach, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Blockchain and The New Architecture of TrustA panoramic exploration of one of the most urgent issues of our times, Zuboff reinterprets contemporary capitalism through the prism of the digital revolution, producing a book of immense ambition and erudition. Zuboff is one of our most prescient and profound thinkers on the rise of the digital. In an age of inane Twitter soundbites and narcissistic Facebook posts, Zuboff's serious scholarship is great cause for celebration -- Andrew Keen, author of How to Fix the FutureShoshana Zuboff has produced the most provocative compelling moral framework thus far for understanding the new realities of our digital environment and its anti-democratic threats. From now on, all serious writings on the internet and society will have to take into account The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. -- Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Chair Professor, Annenberg School, University of PennsylvaniaFrom the very first page I was consumed with an overwhelming imperative: everyone needs to read this book as an act of digital self-defense. With tremendous lucidity and moral courage, Zuboff demonstrates not only how our minds are being mined for data but also how they are being rapidly and radically changed in the process. The hour is late and much has been lost already - but as we learn in these indispensable pages, there is still hope for emancipation * Naomi Klein *Something you need -- Margaret Atwooda must read for anyone interested in power, politics, technology and the future of our fragile democracies. Zuboff is a brilliant mind who connects the dots like no other. -- Elif Shafak * New Statesman *It's the Das Kapital for our times, setting out with clarity and urgency the implications of an economic system in which an elite can predict, and therefore manipulate, every shift in our desires. But Zuboff is no fatalist and her book should give us courage to, as it were, take back control. -- Fintan O’Toole * New Statesman *a vital analysis of the digital economy and our place in it. -- Rosamund Urwin * Sunday Times best Business Books of the Year 2019 *It is a stunning research on "information civilisation", concentration of power and the sinister exploitation of our data at the expense of our freedom, which are no doubt some of the most pressing issues of our times. But more than that, this is a fascinating and wise and honest exploration of what it means to be human in the digital age and why we need to fight back. Technology is way too important to leave it to tech companies, which are clearly becoming tech monopolies. We all need to become part of this important discussion, and for that to happen, we need to ask the right questions. This book is a brilliant way to do that. -- Elif Shafak * Guardian – Best Books of the Year Writers’ Choice *Of the many excellent books on our vexed relationship with tech published this year, the standout title has to be Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Profile), which details how the Silicon Valley behemoths are mining our private experiences to make a profit. -- Ian Sample * Guardian's Best Science, Nature and Ideas Books of 2019 *Praise for In the Age of the Smart Machine: 'A work of rare originality and engrossing complexity * New York Times Book Review *Ground-breaking, magisterial and synthetically brilliant * Technology and Culture *Examined with force and almost cunning insight what is yet to come * Encyclopedia of Software Engineering *

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