History Books

Book Synopsis''Blistering'' Sunday Times''Indispensable'' Observer''Fascinating'' The Times''Brilliant'' Peter Frankopan''Revelatory'' Lindsey HilsumA timely and unprecedented examination of how the modern Middle East unravelled, and why it started with the pivotal year of 1979. Shortlisted for the Cundhill History Prize 2020''What happened to us?''For decades, the question has haunted the Arab and Muslim world, heard across Iran and Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and in the author''s home country of Lebanon. Was it always so? When did the extremism, intolerance and bloodletting of today displace the region''s cultural promise and diversity?In Black Wave, award-winning journalist and author Kim Ghattas argues that the turning point in the modern history of the Middle East can be located in the toxic confluence of three major events in 1979: the Iranian revolution; the siege of the Ho

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Book SynopsisAN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR''A gripping investigation of Israel''s assassination policy'' Sunday Times''Remarkable'' Observer''Riveting'' Daily Mail''Compelling'' John le CarréWinner of 2018 National Jewish Book AwardRise and Kill First is the definitive book to read on Israel''s military history.From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, the instinct to take every measure to defend the Jewish people has been hardwired into Israel''s DNA. This is the riveting inside account of the targeted assassinations that have been used countless times, on enemies large and small, sometimes in response to attacks against the Israeli people and sometimes pre-emptively. Rise and Kill First counts their successes, failures and the moral and political price exacted on those who carried out the missions which have shaped the Israeli nation, theTrade ReviewA thrilling narrative of extreme bravery and compromised morality * Economist, Books of the Year 2018 *Ronen Bergman has set out in incontestable detail the history and scale of Israel's use of extrajudicial killing as an instrument of defence and foreign policy. His material is stark and sensational, but he steers a steady course through it ... The result is a compelling read whatever your point of view. * John le Carré *A gripping investigation of Israel's assassination policy * Sunday Times *Riveting...Based on 1,000 interviews and vast numbers of leaked documents, his book often reads like a John le Carre novel. But it took considerable courage for him to publish it. * Daily Mail *A masterpiece! Only Ronen Bergman's extraordinary research could have achieved it * Christopher Andrew, author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5' *Exciting, sometimes moving and always considered...Not only is Bergman's book a stunning feat of research and a riveting read, it is also testament to the author's personal courage -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *With remarkable access to officials and reports, Ronen Bergman's revealing book lays bare Mossad's kill operations * Observer *The Israeli government did its best to prevent Bergman from writing this ...fascinating new book about the history of Israeli assassinations, published during Israel's seventieth anniversary year. Rise and Kill First not only sheds light on that most secretive of subjects, Israel's intelligence services, but also has wider significance: how and why a state uses extra-judicial killing, and the consequences of doing so. * TLS *You think the Krays were rough? Try the Mossad. This is an amalgam of the secret and often lethal special operations they carried out over the years. * Daily Express *Terrific ... It's easy to understand why Bergman's book is already a bestseller. It moves at a torrid pace and tells stories that would make Jason Bourne sit up and say 'Wow!' It is smart, thoughtful and balanced. * The New York Times Book Review *An exceptional work, a humane book about an incendiary subject * New York Times *This remarkable account of Israel's targeted-killing programs is the product of nearly eight years of research into what is arguably the most secretive and impenetrable intelligence community in the world. * The New Yorker *Authoritative . . . a chilling portrait * The Washington Post *Well-written and informative, Rise and Kill First is the best book so far written on this dramatic subject * Jewish Chronicle *Fascinating . . . In picturesque and gripping language, making use of careful, often ground-breaking research, Bergman presents a series of incidents from the history of the Mossad's assassination missions * Literary Review *Remarkable * Observer *A gripping investigation of Israel's assassination policy * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisFilled with insights, the very latest research and plenty of surprises: a superlative catalogue of one the most ambitious and spectacular exhibitions ever staged at the British Museum.' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World A sumptuous booka book of the exotic and the wonderful, a trip to ancient and far-away lands, a book full of artistic and cultural treasures, a book to savour and enjoy.' Sacred Hoop magazine A richly illustrated publication that explores the networks of contacts and exchanges spanning Afro-Eurasia from 500 to 1000 ce, highlighting how the movement of people, objects and ideas shaped cultures and histories. The term Silk Road' conjures a range of romantic images. Camel caravans crossing desert dunes. Merchants trading silk and spices. Far-flung commerce between East' and West'. The reality was far richer. Focusing on a defining period between 500 and 1000 CE, this beautifully illustrated book reimagines the Silk Roads as a web of interlocking networks linking Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Ireland, from the Arctic to Madagascar. It tells a remarkable story of people, objects and ideas flowing in all directions, through the traces these journeys left behind including ceramics from Tang China recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea, sword-fittings set with Indian garnets buried in England, and a selection of letters and legal texts from a synagogue in Cairo revealing a Jewish community's links from India to al-Andalus. Woven throughout, encounters with various peoples active on the Silk Roads, from seafarers to Sogdians, Aksumites and Vikings, reveal the human stories, innovations and transfers of knowledge that emerged, shaping cultures and histories across continents centuries before the formation of today's globalised world.

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Book SynopsisThe best, the fastest, the hippest and the most unorthodox account ever published of the US presidential electoral process in all its madness and corruption.In 1972 Hunter S. Thompson, the creator and king of Gonzo journalism, covered the US presidential campaign for Rolling Stone magazine alongside the establishment newsmen of Washington. The result is a classic piece of subversive reportage and a fantastic ride on the rollercoaster of Hunter's uniquely savage imagination. In his own words, written years before Watergate: It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character almost every other country in the world has learned to fear and despise.'Trade Review‘The best stuff on the campaign I’ve read anywhere.’Nicholas Von Hoffman, Washington Post ‘Obscene, horrid, repellent … driving, urgent, candid, searing … a fascinating, compelling book!’New York Post ‘Hunter S. Thompson is the most creatively crazy and vulnerable of the New Journalists. His books are brilliant and honorable and valuable … the literary equivalent of Cubism: all rules are broken.’Kurt Vonnegut Jr ‘Gaze in awe … Hunter Thompson does in his own mad way betray a profound democratic concern for the polity. And in its own mad way, it’s darned refreshing.’New York Times ‘Shocks you into laughter.’Detroit Free Press ‘Unnerving!’Newsweek

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER''A stunning blockbuster'' Robert Fisk''A brilliant tour de force of revisionist scholarship and thrilling storytelling'' Simon Sebag Montefiore''A compelling detective story of the highest order'' Sunday Times''Tom Holland has an enviable gift for summoning up the colour, the individuals and animation of the past'' IndependentIn the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two venerable empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on and one had vanished forever, while the other seemed almost finished. Ruling in their place were the Arabs: an upheaval so profound that it spelt, in effect, the end of the ancient world. In the Shadow of the Sword explores how this came about. Spanning from Constantinople to the Arabian desert, and starring some of the most remarkable rulers who ever lived, he tells a story vivid with drama, hTrade ReviewIt takes courage and intellect to confront such complexity and sensitivity. Written with flamboyant elegance and energetic intensity, Holland delivers a brilliant tour de force of revisionist scholarship and thrilling storytelling with a blood-spattered cast of swashbuckling tyrants, nymphomanaical empresses and visionary prophets... Unputdownable * The Times *A great achievement... A compelling detective story of the highest order, In the Shadow of the Sword is also a dazzlingly colourful journey into the world of late antiquity. Every bit as thrilling a narrative history as Holland's previous works, In the Shadow of the Sword is also a profoundly important book. It makes public and popular what scholarship has been discovering for several decades now; and those discoveries suggest a wholesale revision of where Islam came from and what it is * Sunday Times *Tom Holland is a writer of clarity and expertise, who talks us through this unfamiliar and crowded territory with energy and some dry wit... The emergence of Islam is a notoriously risky subject, so a confident historian who is able to explain where this great religion came from without illusion or dissimulation has us greatly in his debt * Spectator *This is a book of extraordinary richness... Tom Holland has an enviable gift for summoning up the colour, the individuals and animation of the past, without sacrificing factual integrity... He is also a divertingly inventive writer with a wicked wit... This is a history of history as it were... wonderfully hard-hitting analysis, elegantly tied into the unfolding narrative of events, with each religious establishment exposed in all its glory and treacherous realpolitik... a spell-bindingly brilliant multiple portrait of the triumph of monotheism in the ancient world * Independent *Holland's new book traces the process by which the world of the first millennium came to be dominated by one God, three religions and an innumerable succession of emperors -- Dan Jones * Daily Telegraph *It is difficult not to be bedazzled by a cast that includes ulcerated Christian holy men, Zoroastrian priests obsessed with dental hygiene, demonic emperors, barbarians with self-inflicted cranial deformities and Arab ambassadors stinking of camel -- Richard Miles * Financial Times *Sweeping and perceptive. His major achievement is to set out just how uncertain is our grasp on the immediate setting of Muhammad's life, and on the formation of the Koran. At this moment in world history above all, it should be required reading * Professor Sir Fergus Millar *Holland is a restless wanderer across the ancient world, both geographically and intellectually... A dazzling range of characters... Holland is a skilful and energetic narrator, and while he guides us along the more intricate twists and turns of the period, he also keeps our eyes on the bigger story -- Anthony Sattin * Observer *Holland leaves almost no aspect of the traditional story of Islam intact as he charts its rise to global power from the ashes of the Roman and Persian empires -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *A work of history, trying to tell the truth, as modern historians understand that fraught concept... A gripping, colourful book -- Charles Moore * Daily Telegraph *A handsome volume, tackling an important question from a novel perspective, backed by useful notes and written in an accessible and fluid style -- Michael Scott * Sunday Telegraph *A brave and valuable attempt to train the lens of popular history upon an exceptionally contentious field of study... elegant and entertaining... In the Shadow of the Sword stands as a useful, and sometimes provocative, starting point for anyone interested in approaching the birth of Islam from a historical, rather than devotional, perspective -- Thomas Ashbridge * Literary Review *Elegantly written and refreshingly free from specialist jargon... marshalling its resources with dexterity, it is a veritable tour de force -- Malise Ruthven * Wall Street Journal *Those unwilling to struggle through academic texts have long needed a guide to the story of Islam as it's understood by those with the fullest access to the latest linguistic and archaeological evidence. Now at last in Tom Holland's In the Shadow of the Sword, they finally have it -- David Frum * Daily Beast *A stunning blockbuster -- Robert Fisk * Independent *A compelling detective story of the highest order, In the Shadow of the Sword is also a dazzlingly colourful journey into the world of late antiquity. Every bit as thrilling a narrative history as Holland's previous works, [it] is also a profoundly important book -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *Written with flamboyant elegance and energetic intensity, Holland delivers a brilliant tour de force of revisionist scholarship and thrilling storytelling with a bloodspattered cast of swashbuckling tyrants, nymphomaniacal empresses and visionary prophets . . . Unputdownable -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times BestsellerA new assessment of the West's colonial recordIn the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the End of History' that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever.Now however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats.These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the decolonisation' movement corrodes the West's self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance as a litany of racism, exploitation, and massively murderous violence.Nigel Biggar tests this indictment, addressing the crucial questions in eight chapters: Was the British Empire driven primarily by greed and the lust to dominate? Should we speak of colonialism and slavery' in the same breath, as if they were identical? Was the Empire essentially racist? How far was Trade Review‘A fascinating read, informative, surprising and written with panache and clarity’ The Times, Andrew Billen ‘A thoughtful, compelling text’ Daily Telegraph, five-star review ‘A salutary corrective’ The Times, Book of the Week ‘Carries the intellectual force of a Javeline antitank missile. Colonialism is no apologia for empire… but calls for balance…Biggar acknowledges wickedness in our nation but his version of history calls us to accept the messiness and moral compromises inherent in liberalism’ Sunday Times ‘Nigel Biggar has written … the book on the morality of the British Empire, a kind of Encyclopaedia Pacis Britannicae…. a thoughtful, compelling text’ Sunday Telegraph ‘An important, timely and brave book…the first serious counter blast against the hysterical and ahistorical orthodoxy that has placed such a stranglehold on our public discourse on the British Empire, and as such will prove to be an indispensable handbook in the battles to come. It is also exceedingly well written and compellingly argued’ The Critic ‘An important book, as well as a courageous one’ Literary Review ‘Patiently argued and carefully balanced yet passionately committed to the production of a narrative which replaces denunciation and with evidences and understanding’ Quillette ‘Biggar fearlessly goes where few other scholars now venture to tread: to defend the British empire against its increasingly vitriolic detractors … Those who wish to accuse the Victorians of genocide – who seek gulags in Kenya or Holocausts in the Raj – will probably not risk being ‘triggered’ by reading this book. But they really should … Biggar’s book simply cannot be ignored by anyone who wishes to hold a view on the subject’Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author of Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World

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Book SynopsisThe Hermetic Museum takes readers on a magical mystery tour spanning an arc from the medieval cosmogram and images of Christian mysticism, through the fascinating world of alchemy to the art of the Romantic era. The enigmatic hieroglyphs of cabalists, Rosicrucians, and freemasons are shown to be closely linked with the early scientific illustrations in the fields of medicine, chemistry, optics, and color theory. Even for those with no knowledge of the fascinating history of alchemy, this book is a delight to explore. Each richly illustrated chapter begins with an introduction and quotes from alchemists by specialist Alexander Roob. The roots of surrealism and many other more recent artistic movements can be found in this treasure trove.Trade Review“Captures the incredibly rich artistic tradition of alchemy.” * Seattle Weekly *

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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 SynopsisRoughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? This title reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2010 Book Award, Society for American Archaeology "David W. Anthony argues that we speak English not just because our parents taught it to us but because wild horses used to roam the steppes of central Eurasia, because steppedwellers invented the spoked wheel and because poetry once had real power... Anthony is not the first scholar to make the case that Proto-Indo-European came from this region [Ukraine/Russia], but given the immense array of evidence he presents, he may be the last one who has to... The Horse, the Wheel, and Language brings together the work of historical linguists and archaeologists, researchers who have traditionally been suspicious of each other's methods. [The book] lays out in intricate detail the complicated genealogy of history's most successful language."--Christine Kenneally, The New York Times Book Review "[A]uthoritative ... "--John Noble Wilford, New York Times "A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony's book is a fascinating look into the origins of modern man."--Publishers Weekly (Online Reviews Annex) "In the age of Borat it may come as a surprise to learn that the grasslands between Ukraine and Kazakhstan were once regarded as an early crucible of civilisation. This idea is revisited in a major new study by David Anthony."--Times Higher Education "Starting with a history of research on Proto-Indo-Europeans and exploring how this field for obvious reasons assumed an ethno-political dimension early on, leading PIE scholar Anthony moves on to established facts ... then shifts his focus to the interrelation of the three essential elements of horse, chariot, and language and how the first and second provided the means for the spread of Indo-European languages from India to Ireland. The bulk of the book contains the factual evidence, mainly archaeological, to support this argument. But a strength of the book is its rich historical linguistic approach. The combination of the two provides a remarkable work that should appeal to everyone with an interest not just in Indo-Europeans, but in the history of humanity in general."--K. Abdi, Dartmouth College, for CHOICE "David Anthony's book is a masterpiece. A professor of anthropology, Anthony brings together archaeology, linguistics, and rare knowledge of Russian scholarship and the history of climate change to recast our understanding of the formation of early human society."--Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language brings together the work of historical linguists and archaeologists, researchers who have traditionally been suspicious of each other's methods. Though parts of the book will be penetrable only by scholars, it lays out in intricate detail the complicated genealogy of history's most successful language."--Christine Kenneally, International Herald Tribune "The Horse, the Wheel and Language maps the early geography of the Russian steppes to re-create the lost world of Indo-European culture that is as fascinating as any mystery novel."--Arthur Krim, Geographical Reviews "In its integration of language and archaeology, this book represents an outstanding synthesis of what today can be known with some certainty about the origin and early history of the Indo-European languages. In my view, it supersedes all previous attempts on the subject."--Kristian Kristiansen, Antiquity "A key book."--David Keys, IndependentTable of ContentsAcknowledgments xi PART ONE: Language and Archaeology 1 Chapter One: The Promise and Politics of the Mother Tongue 3 Ancestors 3 Linguists and Chauvinists 6 The Lure of the Mother Tongue 11 A New Solution for an Old Problem 15 Language Extinction and Thought 19 Chapter Two: How to Reconstruct a Dead Language 21 Language Change and Time 22 Phonology: How to Reconstruct a Dead Sound 24 The Lexicon: How to Reconstruct Dead Meanings 32 Syntax and Morphology: The Shape of a Dead Language 36 Conclusion: Raising a Language from the Dead 38 Chapter Three: Language and Time 1: The Last Speakers of Proto-Indo-European 39 The Size of the Chronological Window: How Long Do Languages Last? 39 The Terminal Date for Proto-Indo-European: The Mother Becomes Her Daughters 42 The Oldest and Strangest Daughter (or Cousin?): Anatolian 43 The Next Oldest Inscriptions: Greek and Old Indic 48 Counting the Relatives: How Many in 1500 BCE? 50 Chapter Four: Language and Time 2: Wool, Wheels, and Proto-Indo-European 59 The Wool Vocabulary 59 The Wheel Vocabulary 63 When Was the Wheel Invented 65 The Signifi cance of the Wheel 72 Wagons and the Anatolian Homeland Hypothesis 75 The Birth and Death of Proto-Indo-European 81 Chapter Five: Language and Place: The Location of the Proto-Indo-Europe an Homeland 83 Problems with the Concept of "the Homeland" 83 Finding the Homeland: Ecology and Environment 89 Finding the Homeland: The Economic and Social Setting 91 Finding the Homeland: Uralic and Caucasian Connections 93 The Location of the Proto-Indo-European Homeland 98 Chapter Six: The Archaeology of Language 102 Persistent Frontiers 104 Migration as a Cause of Persistent Material-Culture Frontiers 108 Ecological Frontiers: Different Ways of Making a Living 114 Small-scale Migrations, Elite Recruitment, and Language Shift 117 PART TWO: The Opening of the Eurasian Steppes 121 Chapter Seven: How to Reconstruct a Dead Culture 123 The Three Ages in the Pontic-Caspian Steppes 125 Dating and the Radiocarbon Revolution 126 What Did They Eat? 128 Archaeological Cultures and Living Cultures 130 The Big Questions Ahead 132 Chapter Eight: First Farmers and Herders: The Pontic-Caspian Neolithic 134 Domesticated Animals and Pontic-Caspian Ecol ogy 135 The First Farmer-Forager Frontier in the Pontic- Caspian Region 138 Farmer Meets Forager: The Bug-Dniester Culture 147 Beyond the Frontier: Pontic-Caspian Foragers before Cattle Arrived 154 The Gods Give Cattle 158 Chapter Nine: Cows, Copper, and Chiefs 160 The Early Copper Age in Old Europe 162 The Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture 164 The Dnieper-Donets II Culture 174 The Khvalynsk Culture on the Volga 182 Nalchik and North Caucasian Cultures 186 The Lower Don and North Caspian Steppes 188 The Forest Frontier: The Samara Culture 189 Cows, Social Power, and the Emergence of Tribes 190 Chapter Ten: The Domestication of the Horse and the Origins of Riding: The Tale of the Teeth 193 Where Were Horses First Domesticated? 196 Why Were Horses Domesticated? 200 What Is a Domesticated Horse? 201 Bit Wear and Horse back Riding 206 Indo-European Migrations and Bit Wear at Dereivka 213 Botai and Eneolithic Horseback Riding 216 The Origin of Horse back Riding 221 The Economic and Military Effects of Horseback Riding 222 Chapter Eleven: The End of Old Europe and the Rise of the Steppe 225 Warfare and Alliance: The Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture and the Steppes 230 The Sredni Stog Culture: Horses and Rituals from the East 239 Migrations into the Danube Valley: The Suvorovo-Novodanilovka Complex 249 Warfare, Climate Change, and Language Shift in the Lower Danube Valley 258 After the Collapse 260 Chapter Twelve: Seeds of Change on the Steppe Borders: Maikop Chiefs and Tripolye Towns 263 The Five Cultures of the Final Eneolithic in the Steppes 265 Crisis and Change on the Tripolye Frontier: Towns Bigger Than Cities 277 The First Cities and Their Connection to the Steppes 282 The North Caucasus Piedmont: Eneolithic Farmers before Maikop 285 The Maikop Culture 287 Maikop-Novosvobodnaya in the Steppes: Contacts with the North 295 Proto-Indo-European as a Regional Language in a Changing World 299 Chapter Thirteen: Wagon Dwellers of the Steppe: The Speakers of Proto-Indo-European 300 Why Not a Kurgan Culture? 306 Beyond the Eastern Frontier: The Afanasievo Migration to the Altai 307 Wagon Graves in the Steppes 311 Where Did the Yamnaya Horizon Begin? 317 When Did the Yamnaya Horizon Begin? 321 Were the Yamnaya People Nomads? 321 Yamnaya Social Organization 328 The Stone Stelae of the North Pontic Steppes 336 Chapter Fourteen: The Western Indo-European Languages 340 The End of the Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture and the Roots of the Western Branches 343 Steppe Overlords and Tripolye Clients: The Usatovo Culture 349 The Yamnaya Migration up the Danube Valley 361 Yamnaya Contacts with the Corded Ware Horizon 367 The Origins of Greek 368 Conclusion: The Early Western Indo-European Languages Disperse 369 Chapter Fifteen: Chariot Warriors of the Northern Steppes 371 The End of the Forest Frontier: Corded Ware Herders in the Forest 375 Pre-Sintashta Cultures of the Eastern Steppes 385 The Origin of the Sintashta Culture 389 Warfare in the Sintashta Culture: Fortifications and Weapons 393 Tournaments of Value 405 Sintashta and the Origins of the Aryans 408 Chapter Sixteen: The Opening of the Eurasian Steppes 412 Bronze Age Empires and the Horse Trade 412 The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex 421 The Opening of the Eurasian Steppes 435 The Srubnaya Culture: Herding and Gathering in the Western Steppes 437 East of the Urals, Phase I: The Petrovka Culture 441 The Seima-Turbino Horizon in the Forest-Steppe Zone 443 East of the Urals, Phase II: The Andronovo Horizon 448 Proto-Vedic Cultures in the Central Asian Contact Zone 452 The Steppes Become a Bridge across Eurasia 456 Chapter Seventeen: Words and Deeds 458 The Horse and the Wheel 459 Archaeology and Language 463 Appendix: Author's Note on Radiocarbon Dates 467 Notes 471 References 507 Index 547

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Book Synopsis'As indispensable to an archaeology student as a trowel ... every student, or indeed any interested amateur, should really find a space on their shelf for this useful book' Minerva Known for being an accessible and authoritative introduction, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice has been updated in the Ninth Edition to include new discoveries in archaeology, innovations in field and laboratory methods, as well as covering the latest developments in archaeological theory, from ontologies to Indigenous archaeology. Collaborating with Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, new co-author, Elizabeth DeMarrais, updates earlier editions' clear presentation of archaeology's history, theory and ethics. The contributions made by women, people of colour, and Indigenous communities to the study of the human past are highlighted. New theoretical sections address Indigenous archaeology, ontology, post-colonial theory and historical archaeology. Sections on the safeguarding of intangible cultural her

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Book SynopsisAtlas of Improbable Places shows the modern world from surprising new vantage points that will inspire urban explorers and armchair travellers alike to consider a new way of understanding the world we live in.Table of ContentsDREAM CREATIONS FLEVOPOLDERThe region reclaimed from the sea ZHELEZNOGORSKFormer closed Soviet city FREE CHRISTIANIASquatter-city AUROVILLE1960s utopian city SLAB CITYThe squatter metropolis PORTMEIRIONThe Village ZVYOZDNY GORODOKStar City HEARST CASTLERandolph Hearst’s Xanadu-esque home DESERTED DESTINATIONS TEUFELSBERGAbandoned U.S. spy station PRESIDIO MODELO Cuba’s most notorious former penitentiary BATTLESHIP ISLANDDeserted mining settlement NO MAN’S LAND FORTA long shunned coastal bulwark THE LOST CITY OF SAN JUAN PARANGARICUTIROAbandoned after the eruption of 1943 HUMBERSTONE AND SANTA LAURARedundant saltpetre works WONDERLANDAbandoned Disneyland-style theme park ORADOUR-SUR-GLANEVillage left abandoned since the Second World War MUYNAKDrained port WITTENOOMAsbestos-ridden industrial town ANI, KARSRuins of one-time capital of the Armenian Empire CONCRETE CITYGarden city of the anthracite region VAROSHAAbandoned tourist resort ARCHITECTURAL ODDITIES MARYHILL STONEHENGEConcrete Stonehenge SPIJKENISSEThe ‘real’ fictional euro bridges KABAYANThe Ibaloi mummy caves SANTURIO MADONNA DELLA CORONAChapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside LONDON BRIDGE, LAKE HAVASUThe 1831 London Bridge THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE MONUMENTControversial symbol of independence TEN COMMANDMENTS MOUNTAINThe Fields of the Wood FLOATING WORLDS THE PALM 105An artificial island paradise THE KINGDOM OF REDONDAUninhabited Caribbean island POVEGLIA ISLANDFormer plague quarantine island GREAT BLASKETUninhabited since 1954 HOLLAND ISLANDIsland slowly being eroded by the water PALMERSTONA community formed in its founder’s image WRANGEL ISLANDA place frozen in time MOUNT RORAIMAThe Lost World ROSS ISLANDBritish Indian penal settlement HIRTAThe Edge of the World OTHERWORLDLY SPACES AOKIGAHARAThe Demon Forest COLMACity of the dead LEAP CASTLEThe world’s most haunted residence DARVAZA CRATERDoor to Hell THE HILL OF CROSSESHome to some 100,000 crosses THE ISLAND OF DOLLSA terrifying attraction SUBTERRANEAN REALMS THE UNDERGROUND POSTAL RAILWAYRail Mail COLD WAR SPY TUNNELThe telephone tapping centre BEIJING UNDERGROUNDBunkers to beat the bomb MOOSE JAWIllicit tunnels CINCINNATIAbandoned subway ZKP TAGANSKY, AKA BUNKER 42Cold War communications bunker PUERTO PRINCESASubterranean river

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Book SynopsisBestselling historian and broadcaster Tom Holland gives a thrilling panoramic account of the birth of the new Western Europe in the year 1000''An exhilarating sweep across European history either side of the year 1000; riveting'' ALLAN MASSIE, SPECTATOR''I relished the blood and thunder narrative - the work of a great storyteller at his best'' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, EVENING STANDARD''A splendid, highly coloured canvas'' NORMAN STONE, GUARDIANIn AD 900, few would have guessed that the splintering kingdoms of Europe were candidates for future greatness. Hemmed in by implacable enemies and an ocean, there were many who feared that they were nearing the time when the Antichrist would appear, heralding the world''s end. Instead there emerged a new civilisation. It was the age of Otto the Great and William the Conqueror, of Viking sea-kings, of hermits, monks and serfs. It witnessed the spread ofTrade Review** Fast and lively . . . another blockbuster * Jenny Diski, SUNDAY TIMES *** A mighty narrative of kings and popes, battles and massacres . . . A tremendously good read * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH MAGAZINE *'At last, a book that sheds much-needed light on those 1,000 years between Roman Britain and the Norman conquest that we call the dark ages * Sue Arnold GUARDIAN *'Holland tells a cracking tale, vividly bringing this neglected era of monks, popes, knights and serfs back to life * David Sinclair, TRIBUNE *

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Book SynopsisIn this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America''s founders helped define our national character.Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewThe Washington Post Book World The most readable full-length Franklin biography available.The New Yorker Energetic, entertaining, and worldly.The New York Times In its common sense, clarity and accessibility, it is a fitting reflection of Franklin's sly pragmatism....This may be the book that most powerfully drives a new pendulum swing of the Franklin reputation.The New York Times Book Review A thoroughly researched, crisply written, convincingly argued chronicle.Table of ContentsCONTENTSCHAPTER ONEBenjamin Franklin and the Invention of AmericaCHAPTER TWOPilgrim's Progress: Boston, 1706-1723CHAPTER THREEJourneyman: Philadelphia and London, 1723-1726CHAPTER FOURPrinter: Philadelphia, 1726-1732CHAPTER FIVEPublic Citizen: Philadelphia, 1731-1748CHAPTER SIXScientist and Inventor: Philadelphia, 1744-1751CHAPTER SEVENPolitician: Philadelphia, 1749-1756CHAPTER EIGHTTroubled Waters: London, 1757-1762CHAPTER NINEHome Leave: Philadelphia, 1763-1764CHAPTER TENAgent Provocateur: London, 1765-1770CHAPTER ELEVENRebel: London, 1771-1775CHAPTER TWELVEIndependence: Philadelphia, 1775-1776CHAPTER THIRTEENCourtier: Paris, 1776-1778CHAPTER FOURTEENBon Vivant: Paris, 1778-1785CHAPTER FIFTEENPeacemaker: Paris, 1778-1785CHAPTER SIXTEENSage: Philadelphia, 1785-1790CHAPTER SEVENTEENEpilogueCHAPTER EIGHTEENConclusionsCast of CharactersChronologyCurrency ConversionsAcknowledgmentsSources and AbbreviationsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisA “fascinating and very moving” (Aaron Sorkin, award-winning screenwriter of The West Wing and The Social Network) chronological timeline spanning from Biblical times to today that explores one of the most interesting countries in the world—Israel.Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby. But “this is not your Bubbie’s history book” (Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher). Instead, offering a fresh, 360-degree view, Tishby brings her “passion, humor, and deep intimacy” (Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor) to the subject, creating an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel’s creation to the disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book' Sathnam SangheraBy thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.'In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.Travelling to the world's earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are.Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play women included in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present.

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Book Synopsis‘The very grubby coalface of foreign policy … I found the entire book most horribly addictive’ Independent ‘One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining the other’ Spectator A fascinating insight into the untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East. In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, two men secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them. Sir Mark Sykes was a visionary politician; François Georges-Picot a diplomat with a grudge. They drew a line in the sand from the Mediterranean to the Persian frontier, and together remade the map of the Middle East, with Britain’s 'mandates' of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France's in Lebanon and Syria. Over the next thirty years a sordid tale of violence and clandestine political manoeuvring unfolded, told here through a stellar cast of politicians, diplomats, spies and soldiers, including T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Using declassified papers from the British and French archives, James Barr vividly depicts the covert, deadly war of intrigue and espionage between Britain and France to rule the Middle East, and reveals the shocking way in which the French finally got their revenge.Trade Review'With superb research and telling quotations, Barr has skewered the whole shabby story...The convulsion of that fateful line in the sand are still being felt today - not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world' -- Michael Binyon * The Times *'Racy... [Barr] is right to assert that few British readers grasp the ferocity of Anglo-French antagonism in the Levant' -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *'One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining each other' * The Spectator *'The very grubby coalface of foreign policy...I found the entire book most horribly addictive' * Independent *'Lively and entertaining. He has scoured the diplomatic archives and has come up with a rich hail that brings his narrative to life' * Financial Times *'James Barr's history of imperial machinations in the Middle East offers a revelatory slant on the continuing crisis in that area... an outstanding piece of research and a damning take on what stoked current Middle Eastern woes' * Metro *'James Barr has succeeded better than any author before him in telling the fascinating story of Anglo-French rivalries in the modern Middle East... Outstanding' -- Eugene Rogan, author of 'The Arabs: A History'The book resembles a gripping spy thriller...an expertly researched and authoritative book that is easy to read' * Military Times *'Barr is particularly good at identifying and portraying officials and agents engaged in these tit-for-tat reprisals that blurred the distinction between patriotism and crime' * Literary Review *'Engaging and well-researched... James Barr's lively account provides some quite astounding sketches of bluster, bickering and bravado' * BBC History Magazine *The struggle between Britain and France for mastery of the Middle East between 1914 and the late 1940s, is analysed by James Barr in his excellent new book. It is a complex story of intrigue and skulduggery, which Barr pieces together in a deft, well-written narrative. A journalist by profession, he manages to bring the whole subject alive through a series of well-chosen details and characters' * History Today *'History at its meticulously researched and addictive best' * Dublin Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisHistorically, women have been an integral part of spreading our Deen. They have contributed as mothers, wives, supporters, and defenders of our religion. This book allows the reader to take a glimpse into the lives of thirty-seven amazing women. Starting with the women from the Prophet Muhammad''s (SAW) household to female companions and pioneers of Islamic History. Women in Islamic History have had a huge impact on building nations. Many that have been through education, raising children, raising scholars or being scholars themselves. These exceptional women have helped shape the world. These women have a lot of favours upon us, the least we can do is learn about them and share their amazing lives with others so that they can also be inspired. 

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Book Synopsis'Beautifully written and deeply researched' The Observer Upon victory in 1945, Britain still dominated the Middle East. But her motives for wanting to dominate this crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa were changing. Where ‘imperial security’ – control of the route to India – had once been paramount, now oil was an increasingly important factor. So, too, was prestige. Ironically, the very end of empire made control of the Middle East precious in itself: on it hung Britain’s claim to be a great power. Unable to withstand Arab and Jewish nationalism, within a generation the British were gone. But that is not the full story. What ultimately sped Britain on her way was the uncompromising attitude of the United States, which was determined to displace the British in the Middle East. Using newly declassified records and long-forgotten memoirs, including the diaries of aTrade Review'A masterful account of Anglo-American rivalries that shaped the modern Middle East after WWII—brilliant storytelling with a rich cast of characters, Lords of the Desert is irresistible reading.' -- Eugene Rogan, author of The Fall of the Ottomans'With its oil and its waterways, the Middle East was and remains a first step for any rising world power, and also the final trap for empires on the decline. In this lively page-turner, Barr unearths the obscure history of our disastrous engagement with the Middle East today—and of our own imperial decline.' -- Elizabeth F. Thompson, Mohamed S. Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace, American University'Many of the events in this book will be familiar, but instead of presenting them from the more usual perspectives of the Cold war confrontation between the US and Russia, or Imperial withdrawal, James Barr considers them instead from the angle of US-British rivalry. This is refreshing, but it is perhaps also closer to the angle from which many contemporaries would have considered the Suez canal crisis of 1956 or the coup that removed Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953, for example. This book is therefore not just an excellent, lively account of salient events in this period in the history of the Middle East; it also opens up some new ways to think about them.' -- Michael Axworthy, author of A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind'In this compelling new book, James Barr recalls a now forgotten story of British-American competition for power in the Middle East during and after their victory in the Second World War. This is essential, gripping history with major relevance for those who wish to understand that tortured region today.' -- Nicholas Burns, Professor, Harvard University and former Under Secretary of State'High adventure and covert action meet in this account of a momentous power shift that decisively shaped today’s world. Lords of the Desert reshapes our understanding of the modern Middle East—and also helps explain how the United States became a global power.' -- Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah’s Men and Overthrow'James Barr lifts the curtain on British plotting and intrigue in the Middle East. A wonderful raconteur, Barr brings to life the characters whose schemes and miscalculations brought an end to Britain as a great power. Meticulously researched, Lords of the Desert provides ample evidence as to why people in Middle Eastern countries remain so suspicious of Western intentions. A superb book.' -- Emma Sky, author of The Unraveling'An essential book for understanding the modern Middle East—and a thrilling read to boot.' -- Alex von Tunzelmann, author of Blood and Sand'The middle decades of the twentieth century were ground zero for U.S. involvement in the modern Middle East. In this deeply researched and marvelously readable account, James Barr explains how Americans’ entry into the region was achieved at the expense of the main previous western power there, Great Britain. By illuminating this crucial moment of imperial transition, Barr provides vital background for understanding the turbulent Middle East-U.S. relationship that has evolved since.' -- Hugh Wilford, author of America’s Great Game: The CIA’s Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East'Excellent … When Mr Barr comes to describe the 1953 coup against Mosaddegh his book reads like a page-turning spy thriller.' -- Bartle Bull * Wall Street Journal *'A beautifully written and bracing corrective to the idea that the US and UK were friendly partners in the Middle East.' -- John Bew * New Statesman *'Thoroughly researched and splendidly readable.' -- Lucy Beckett * TLS *'If you enjoy reading about international politics and espionage, you will love this book.' -- Matthew Elliott * City AM *'Mr Barr’s canvas is large, and he daubs it with colour and human interest.' * The Economist *'A rattling good read of a familiar story presented from an altogether different and fascinating, perspective.' -- Ali Ansari * History Today *'A brilliantly written account that serves as a useful reminder that alliances and history can be deceptive' -- Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads‘James Barr... has written another riveting history, masterfully arrayed and engagingly written. Like a good conversation, it is full of great anecdotes that even those who know this story might have missed.’ * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisAmsterdam is not just any city. Despite its relative size it has stood alongside its larger cousins - Paris, London, Berlin - and has influenced the modern world to a degree that few other cities have. Sweeping across the city''s colourful thousand year history, Amsterdam will bring the place to life: its sights and smells; its politics and people. Concentrating on two significant periods - the late 1500s to the mid 1600s and then from the Second World War to the present, Russell Shorto''s masterful biography looks at Amsterdam''s central preoccupations. Just as fin-de-siecle Vienna was the birthplace of psychoanalysis, seventeenth century Amsterdam was the wellspring of liberalism, and today it is still a city that takes individual freedom very seriously. A wonderfully evocative book that takes Amsterdam''s dramatic past and present and populates it with a whole host of colourful characters, Amsterdam is the definitive book on this great city.

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Book SynopsisPerfect for readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey and The Librarian of Auschwitz - this is the international bestselling and life-affirming true story of female bravery and surviving the horrors of Auschwitz. NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller and WINNER of the Opzij Literature Prize 2019They knew their survival depended on each other. They had to live for each other. It is 1940 and the Final Solution is about to begin. The Nazis have occupied The Netherlands but resistance is growing and two Jewish sisters - Janny and Lien Brilleslijper - are risking their lives to save those being hunted, through their clandestine safehouse 'The High Nest'. It becomes one of the most important safehouses in the country but when the house and its occupants are betrayed the most terrifying time of the sisters' lives begins. This is the beginning of the end. With German defeat in sight, the Brilleslijper family are put on the last train to Auschwitz, along with Anne Frank and her family. What comes next challenges the sisters beyond human imagination as they are stripped of everything but their courage, resilience and love for each other.Trade Review...a gripping, nightmarish story * DAILY MAIL *A compelling tale * JEWISH CHRONICLE *

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Book SynopsisThe most authoritative and highly regarded single-volume history of India from ancient time to the modern day. Five millennia of the sub-continent's social, economic, political and cultural history are interpreted by one of our finest writers on India and the Far East.India's history begins with a highly advanced urban civilisation in the Indus valley, regressing to a tribal and pastoral nomadism, and then evolving into a uniquely stratified society. The pattern of inward invasion plus outward migration was established early: from Alexander the Great via the march of Islam and the great Moghuls to the coming of the East India Company and the establishment of the British Raj.Older, richer and more distinctive than almost any other, India's culture furnishes all that the historian could wish for in the way of continuity and diversity. The peoples of the Indian subcontinent, while sharing a common history and culture, are not now, and never have been, a single unitary state; the book accTrade Review‘A delight…one of the best general studies of the subcontinent.’ Andrew Lycett, Sunday Times ‘Ambitious, colourful and fascinating.’ Lawrence James, The Times ‘It is hard to imagine anyone succeeding more gracefully in producing a balanced overview than John Keay has done in ‘India: A History’…a book that is as fluent and readable as it is up-to-date and impartial. Hardly a page passes without some fascinating nugget or surprising fact…one can only hope that John Keay’s ‘India’ will be widely read, and its lessons taken to heart.’ Guardian ‘Certainly the most balanced and lucid history…his passion for India shines through and illuminates every page…puts Keay in the front rank of Indian historiographers.’ Spectator

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“With engaging intelligence, Hicks makes a lucid case for the importance of acknowledging a person’s worth within organizations and businesses. It’s a useful book, not only for managers and CEOs, but for anyone wanting to better understand how to bring about the best in themselves and those around them.”—Nina MacLaughlin, Boston GlobeWinner of the 2019 PROSE awards, Business, Management and Finance category“Leading with Dignity conveys a simple, but powerful message: people want to be treated well, and when they are, it brings out the best in them.”—Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus and The Power of Positive Leadership“This ‘how-to’ sparks the scaling of dignity within and across us to strengthen human and social capacity. A gift to give and get.”—Dana Born, co-director of the Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University“Nothing short of a landmark publication that will change and influence the public conversation on how we organize and manage.”—Michael Pirson, Fordham University“Donna Hicks articulates for business leaders not only a grand concept but also a practical framework for strengthening corporate culture by recognizing and promoting the inherent value in each employee.”—Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc.“There has never been a more important time for dignity to be recognized as the key to outstanding institutional, organizational, and community leadership. This book offers a practical and empowering roadmap showing leaders how to build, strengthen, and energize their organizations by cultivating the dignity of all people.”—Linda M. Hartling, Ph.D., Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies “Corporate codes of ethics list treating people with dignity as a core value. Hicks’s book Leading with Dignity brilliantly explains its meaning through practical steps resulting in an ethical culture.”—W. Michael Hoffman, executive director, Center for Business Ethics, Bentley University “This important book speaks directly to leadership and reminds all of us in organizational leadership roles how vital it is to create cultures where the concept of dignity is both understood and embraced. Dignity in practice truly begins at the top!”—Jeanette Clough, president and CEO, Mount Auburn Hospital

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Book SynopsisThis fascinating history tells the story of the people of Japan, from ancient teenage priest-queens to teeming hordes of salarymen, a nation that once sought to conquer China, yet also shut itself away for two centuries in self-imposed seclusion.First revealed to Westerners in the chronicles of Marco Polo, Japan was a legendary faraway land defended by a fearsome Kamikaze storm and ruled by a divine sovereign. It was the terminus of the Silk Road, the furthest end of the known world, a fertile source of inspiration for European artists, and an enduring symbol of the mysterious East. In recent times, it has become a powerhouse of global industry, a nexus of popular culture, and a harbinger of post-industrial decline. With intelligence and wit, author Jonathan Clements blends documentary and storytelling styles to connect the past, present and future of Japan, and in broad yet detailed strokes reveals a country of paradoxes: a modern nation steeped in ancient traditions; a democracy with an emperor as head of state; a famously safe society built on 108 volcanoes resting on the world's most active earthquake zone; a fast-paced urban and technologically advanced country whose land consists predominantly of mountains and forests. Among the chapters in this Japanese history book are: The Way of the Gods: Prehistoric and Mythical Japan A Game of Thrones: Minamoto vs. Taira Time Warp: 200 Years of Isolation The Stench of Butter: Restoration and Modernization The New Breed: The Japanese Miracle Trade Review"Perfect for travelers or students…A wonderfully fun, interesting, and informative introduction to Japanese history. Clements blends culture, politics, military, economics…all with a wit and humor that carry the narrative forward and make it real." --Mark Zachary Taylor, author of The Politics of Innovation"With a lightness of touch but seriousness of purpose, Clements negotiates the complexities of Japanese history in this compact book. The result is an accessible, persuasive and reliable introduction." --Ellis Tinios, Lecturer in East Asian History, University of Leeds"Writing a brief history of a land as ancient and complicated as Japan is no easy task…Luckily, with Jonathan Clements, readers are in the hands of a master. His crackling prose, sharp wit, and learned insights make Japan's history truly come alive." --Frederik L. Schodt, author of America and the Four Japans: Friend, Foe, Model, Mirror

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Book SynopsisEmma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf book club choiceNew York Times bestseller ‘Fascinating’ Sunday Times ‘Thrilling’ ★★★★★ Mail on SundayAll they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for…‘The first thing we asked was, “Does this stuff hurt you?” And they said, “No.” The company said that it wasn’t dangerous, that we didn’t need to be afraid.’ As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous – the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from myTrade Review'Kate Moore’s new book will move, shock and anger you.' * The Big Issue *‘This fascinating social history – one that significantly reflects on the class and gender of those involved – [is] Catherine Cookson meets Mad Men . . . The importance of the brave and blighted dial-painters cannot be overstated.’ * Sunday Times *‘Thrilling and carefully crafted.’ * Mail on Sunday *‘Heartfelt.’ * Sunday Telegraph *‘Kate Moore . . . writes with a sense of drama that carries one through the serpentine twists and turns of this tragic but ultimately uplifting story.’ * The Spectator *‘Fascinating yet tragic.’ * The Sun *‘Heartbreaking . . . what this book illustrates brilliantly is that battling for justice against big corporations isn’t easy.’ * BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour *‘A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal, this richly detailed book sheds a whole new light on this unique element and the role it played in changing workers’ rights. The Radium Girls makes it impossible for you to ignore these women’s incredible stories, and proves why now, more than ever, we can’t afford to ignore science, either.’ * Bustle *‘Carefully researched, the work will stun readers with its descriptions of the glittering artisans who, oblivious to health dangers, twirled camel-hair brushes to fine points using their mouths.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Moore’s harrowing but humane story describes the struggle of a few brave women who took their case to court in a fight for justice that is still resonant today.’ * Saga *‘Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls tells the story of a cohort of women who made history by entering the workforce at the dawn of a new scientific era . . . Moore sheds new light on a dark chapter in American labour history; the radium girls . . . live again in her telling.’ -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author‘Kate Moore’s gripping narrative about the betrayal of the radium girls – gracefully told and exhaustively researched – makes this a non-fiction classic. Moore’s compassion for her subjects and her story-telling prowess . . . bring alive a shameful era in America’s industrial history.’ -- Rinker Buck, author of The Oregon Trail

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Book SynopsisTV tie-in to major new BBC series revealing a new history of the Celts and their international legacy today.Trade ReviewA masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling * Brian Cox *

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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 SynopsisThree thousand years of Chinese history in an accessible and authoritative single volume.Despite the recent rise of China to a position of dominance on the world economic stage, Chinese history remains an elusive subject. Yet it is this vast narrative of appalling loss, superhuman endeavour and incredible invention that has made China the superpower it is today. From the dawn of legend to the succession of great dynasties, from Confucius to Chairman Mao and from the clamour of revolution to the lure of slick capitalism, John Keay takes the reader on a sweeping tour through Chinese history. This is a definitive and indispensable account of a country set to play a major part in our future.Trade Review‘There is no understanding China, present or future, without a sense of its past…Anybody fascinated by the puzzle of what comes next for our frail, perplexed planet will find unexpected answers in this crisp, often witty chronicle of amazements.’ Peter Preston, Observer 'Dynasties lead to world domination: John Keay's forensic analysis of China's history makes the world of the ancient emperors strikingly modern and relevant.' Observer ‘As John Keay’s ambitious new book makes clear…China’s history is intoxicatingly interesting and is sure to keep us on the edge of our geopolitical seats.’ Independent on Sunday ‘Absorbingly readable.’ Independent ‘An epic history of China…There’s no way of understanding China’s stirring future without a sense of its awe-inspiring past.’ Traveller magazine

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Book SynopsisThe Muqaddimah, often translated as "Introduction" or "Prolegomenon," is the most important Islamic history of the premodern world. Written by the great fourteenth-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), this monumental work established the foundations of several fields of knowledge, including the philosophy of history, sociology, ethnography,Trade Review"Ibn Khaldun, the great 14th-century Arab scholar, is the most authoritative and most beguiling of Arabic polymaths... His learning and ideas have an astonishingly modern relevance. His encyclopaedic work is a wonderfully readable mixture of history, sociology, ethnography, economics, science, art, literature, cookery, and medicine."--Iain Finlayson, Times "[The] most remarkable book written during the entire Middle Ages, one of the great intellectual achievements of all time."--Virginia Quarterly Review From review of Princeton's original edition: "[N. J. Dawood] has, by skillful abridgement and deft but unobtrusive editing, produced an attractive and manageable volume, which should make the essential ideas of Ibn Khaldun accessible to a wide circle of readers."--Times Literary Supplement From review of Princeton's original edition: "Undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time or place ... the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere."--Arnold J. Toynbee, Observer

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Book Synopsis''Masterly'' - Robert Harris, author of Imperium ''Essential reading for anyone interested in Ancient Rome'' Independent*****Caesar Augustus schemed and fought his way to absolute power. He became Rome''s first emperor and ruled for forty-four years before dying peacefully in his bed. The system he created would endure for centuries. Yet, despite his exceptional success, he is a difficult man to pin down, and far less well-known than his great-uncle, Julius Caesar. His story is not always edifying: he murdered his opponents, exiled his daughter when she failed to conform and freely made and broke alliances as he climbed ever higher. However, the peace and stability he fostered were real, and under his rule the empire prospered. Adrian Goldsworthy examines the ancient sources to understand the man and his times.Trade ReviewEmbarrassed by his short stature Augustus is said to have worn build-up shoes. He also had a love of crude jokes and poems, which he wrote himself. He was one part of the ultimate power couple. Aged 24 and on the verge of great power he fell in love with the beautiful, clever Livia, who was 20. Both were already married and while Augustus had a daughter, Livia was pregnant by her first husband. Livia and Augustus married three days after she gave birth. Extraordinary ... This vast accomplished book ... is a book to read avidly but also dip into, to enjoy the huge range of characters and the events -- Jenny Selway * DAILY EXPRESS *Goldsworthy admits that pinning Augustus down is a tricky task. But he never allows any aspect of the Augustan project to slip away. The focus shifts easily from Augustus' military might to his love of poetry ... He shines a light on the many contradictions of Augustus' character ... Goldsworthy doesn't hesitate to describe the emperor for what he was: a mass-murderer and then a military dictator. But he reminds us of Augustus' charm and humanity too ... Augustus took the Roman world from civil war to lasting peace and prosperity, and the mechanisms he used to obtain and maintain power were extraordinary. Like Goldsworthy's biography of Julius Caesar, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Ancient Rome -- Natalie Haynes * INDEPENDENT *Goldsworthy's true expertise is as a military historian and this is what really gives his biography its strength and bite: his depiction of Augustus's relationship with his legions is masterly -- Robert Harris * SUNDAY TIMES *This is a very fine story, very skilfully told -- Peter Jones * LITERARY REVIEW *Goldsworthy capably guides us over the rapids of modern scholarship ... Goldsworthy is particularly sound on senatorial power struggles and the use of marriage to cement or break political alliances. Augustus was, incredibly, both brother-in-law and son-in-law of Antony, having previously married the under-age daughter of Antony's first wife -- Nicholas Shakespeare * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Superb, unputdownable and scholarly -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * EVENING STANDARD *Authoritative and always interesting -- John Gray * NEW STATESMAN *Adrian Goldsworthy's portrait is the most trustworthy we are likely to get -- Nicholas Shakespeare * DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Books for Christmas' *Goldsworthy is a master storyteller ... This is the account of the man who remade Rome in his image ... it's a tale that never loses it's appeal -- Miles Russell * BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE *Goldsworthy has fashioned an engrossing account of this extraordinary man, pointing out his many contradictions; fiercely ambitious but publicly reluctant to accept state triumphs, his power built on the success of his legions but never an outstanding soldier himself, adulterous in the extreme but a determined public supporter of traditional marriage. Augustus has been somewhat neglected in recent years, and Goldsworthy skilfully and painstakingly builds his case for greater prominence using the detail of his daily conduct and administration expertly ... This is an excellent biography, which succeeds in ranking Augustus once more high amongst the great leaders in world history * HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY *Historian and biographer Goldsworthy (Caesar) showcases his deep knowledge of Ancient Rome in this masterful document of a life whose themes still resonate in modern times ... A strong narrative emphasis ties the work together and is enriched by evocative details of Roman life, whether it be bathing practices, voting tendencies, or the contemporary significance of Virgil. Readers may be surprised to find ancient precedents for still-visible cultural phenomena, such as the celebrity status accorded to politicians, public delight in scandal, and leadership "constantly reinforced by... propaganda"... The overall effect that Goldsworthy generates is of meeting a man whose life seems hardly distant from the modern experience * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (USA) *Goldsworthy has made a name for himself writing biographies of the great and the good of the Roman world. A careful scholar, he wears his knowledge lightly and is a skilled narrator and engaging writer. He brings all these attributes to play in his biography of Augustus... Goldworthy's biography demolishes some of the half-truths and tales that dog any successful ruler, and his book also acts as a brilliant history of Rome under Augustus * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *Goldsworthy examines the life of Augustus Caesar, who rose from obscurity to become Rome's first emperor and the most powerful and enduring in the history of the Empire. He killed and manipulated his way to the top, then reinvented himself as 'the father of his country', achieving peace and prosperity * ITALIA! *Adrian Goldsworthy does not hesitate to describe Emperor Augustus as he really was: a mass-murderer and then a military dictator * i NEWSPAPER *A timely biography of Augustus. He was Julius Caesar's adopted son who saw off his rivals and gave to Rome and its colonies a stability and a form of democracy which has a surprising significance to our own weary company of statesmen... 500 pages of solid and often exciting history -- Illtyd Harrington * CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL *Adrian Goldsworthy does justice to the many sides of Augustus's character: devoted husband, ruthless politician, masterly tactician. He makes complex Roman politics digestible with generous illustrations; quotations from the emperor's own writings; a glossary to help with technical terms from Roman law and politics; a list of dramatis personae; helpful end-notes, index and bibliography... The biography mixes vivid anecdotes... with narrative detail of military and political developments. -- Cally Hammond * CHURCH TIMES *Patiently, imaginatively but without recourse to flashy surmise, Goldsworthy offers reappraisals that inspire confidence because of their balance and good sense. Such an elusive man is never going to leap off these pages but he does begin to live and breathe -- Noonie Minogue * THE TABLET *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAny debate over the relative merits and demerits of regime change as a legitimate tool of foreign-policy needs to begin with Lindsey A. O'Rourke's fantastic book. It's a well-written, important work that should productively inform foreign-policy debates going forward. Essential reading. * The National Interest *This is a book for scholars and policy makers; the footnotes are copious and extensive. * Choice *Covert Regime Change is a valuable book that sheds light on an important issue. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *Unlike many other books built around accounts of CIA plots, Covert Regime Change takes a scholarly and quantitative approach. It provides charts, graphs, and data sets. Meticulous analysis makes this not the quickest read of any book on the subject, but certainly one of the best informed. O'Rourke injects a dose of rigorous analysis into a debate that is often based on emotion. * Global Research *O'Rourke's work provides ample evidence that attempts at forcible regime-change are unlikely to achieve desired ends at a reasonable cost. * Christopher Preble, War on the Rocks *Well researched and argued, it places the initial debate over covert action within the national security decisionmaking process during the first years of the Cold War. * International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence *In this well-researched and clearly written book, Lindsay A. O'Rourke vigorously argues that during the Cold War U.S. officials repeatedly launched covert interventions in foreign countries, even though most of the operations failed to effect regime changes, because the officials saw them as cheap ways to enhance U.S. security and power.... A well-executed, valuable study. * Journal of American History *O'Rourke's book offers a onestop shop for understanding foreignimposed regime change. Covert Regime Change is an impressive book and required reading for anyone interested in understanding hidden power in world politics. * Political Science Quarterly *O'Rourke's contribution to the history of US foreign relations, intelligence history, and international relations theory is not just valuable but also original. O'Rourke's dataset identifies more than 60 covert efforts to bring about regime change... pursued by the United States between 1947 and 1989. Few authors have sought to chronicle and analyze them as comprehensively and systematically as O'Rourke, and no one has succeeded as she has. We owe her a great debt. * Parameters *Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments 1. The False Promise of Covert Regime Change 2. Causes: Why Do States Launch Regime Changes? 3. Conduct: Why Do States Intervene Covertly versus Overtly? 4. Consequences: How Effective Are Covert Regime Changes? 5. Overview of U.S.-backed Regime Changes during the Cold War 6. Rolling Back the Iron Curtain 7. Containment, Coup d'état and the Covert War in Vietnam 8. Dictators and Democrats in the Dominican Republic 9. Covert Regime Change after the Cold War Notes Index

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Book SynopsisRobert Fisk’s bestselling eyewitness account of the events that have shaped the Middle East is alive with vivid reporting and incisive historical analysis. The history of the Middle East is an epic story of tragedy, betrayal and world-shaking events. It is a story that Robert Fisk has been reporting for over thirty years. His masterful narrative spans the most volatile regions of the Middle East, chronicling with both rage and compassion the death by deceit of tens of thousands of Muslims, Christians and Jews. Robert Fisk’s remarkable history is also the tale of a journalist at war – learning of the 9/11 attacks while aboard a passenger jet, reporting from a bombed-out Baghdad, interviewing Osama bin Laden – and of the courage and frustration of a life spent writing the first draft of history.Trade Review‘For sheer bravery, dazzling prose, three interviews with Osama bin Laden and an unrivalled collection of awards won over three decades, there is nobody to match Robert Fisk. This book is his testament.’ Sunday Times ‘Brilliant…powerfully written.’ Independent on Sunday ‘A remarkable book.’ New Statesman ‘Fisk writes with a marvellous resource of image and language. His investigative reporting is lethally painstaking.’ Neal Ascherson, Independent ‘His forte is straight reporting, such as his three interviews with Osama bin Laden. At least as good are his meetings with Saddam Hussein, Khomeini and Sadeq Khalkhali, the hanging judge of the Iranian revolution, and his close-ups of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the launch of Saddam's war against Iran, an ambush by Islamists of an Algerian police patrol, and a lift into trouble in an Apache attack helicopter on the Iraq/Turkey border.’ Guardian ‘A mammoth and magisterial work, the definitive summation of what has gone wrong in the West’s foreign policies towards Arabia.’ Scottish Sunday Herald ‘A stimulating and absorbing book, by a man who speaks Arabic, who has known the region better than most, and has met the leading players, from bin Laden to Ahmad Chalabi. A formidable production.’ New York Times ‘Full of furious, vivid and highly personalised writing…An important book by an intrepid and talented writer.’ Literary Review ‘Vivid, graphic, intense and very personal…this is a book of unquestionable importance.’ Washington Post

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Book SynopsisIn the past three decades, archaeologists have made great strides in recovering the lost world of the Old Testament. Dozens of digs in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon have changed experts'' understanding of ancient Israel and its neighbours- as well as their vision of the Bible''s greatest tales. Yet until now, the public has remained almost entirely unaware of these discoveries which help separate legend from historical truth. Here, at last, two of archaeology''s leading scholars shed new light on how the Bible came into existence. They assert, for example, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob never existed, that David and Solomon were not great kings but obscure chieftains and that the Exodus never happened. They offer instead a new historical truth: the Bible was created by the people of the small, southern nation of Judah in a heroic last-ditch attempt to keep their faith alive after the demise of the larger, wealthier nation of Israel to the north. It is in this truth, not in the myths of the past, that the real value of the Bible is evident.Trade ReviewBaruch Halpern author of The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History The boldest and most exhilarating synthesis of the Bible and archaeology in fifty years.John Shelby Spong author of Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality A bold and provocative book, well researched, well written, and powerfully argued. It challenges many of the assumptions developed by the literal religious minds of the ages, opening traditional possibilities to new conclusions.Jonathan Kirsch Los Angeles Times A brutally honest assessment of what archaeology can and cannot tell us about the historical accuracy of the Bible...presented with both authority and panache.Table of ContentsContentsPrologue: In the Days of King JosiahIntroduction: Archaeology and the BiblePART ONEThe Bible as History? Searching for the Patriarchs Did the Exodus Happen? The Conquest of Canaan Who Were the Israelites? Memories of a Golden Age? PART TWOThe Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel One State, One Nation, One People? (C. 930-720 BCE) Israel's Forgotten First Kingdom (884-842 BCE) In the Shadow of Empire (842-720 BCE) PART THREEJudah and the Making of Biblical History The Transformation of Judah (C. 930-705 BCE) Between War and Survival (705-639 BCE) A Great Reformation (639-586 BCE) Exile and Return (586-C. 440 BCE) Epilogue: The Future of Biblical IsraelAppendix A: Theories of the Historicity of the Patriarchal AgeAppendix B: Searching for SinaiAppendix C: Alternative Theories of the Israelite ConquestAppendix D: Why the Traditional Archaeology of the Davidic and Solomonic Period Is WrongAppendix E: Identifying the Era of Manasseh in the Archaeological RecordAppendix F: How Vast Was the Kingdom of Josiah?Appendix G: The Boundaries of the Province of YehudBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisRenowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel. 'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East. *** 'Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian.' JOHN PILGER 'Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees. His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'A major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue. There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk.' INDEPENDENTTrade Review'A major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue. There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk.' * Independent *'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' * New Statesman *'Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees. His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine.' * Times Literary Supplement *'Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian.' * John Pilger - director of The War on Democracy and author of Freedom Next Time *'Superb account of how, and why, Palestinians were driven out of their homes.' * Socialist Review *'Pappe’s book is an essential read for anyone trying to understand the politics and history of the Middle East.' * Frontline Magazine (an Independent Marxist review from Scotland) *'Leading Israeli historian Ilan Pappe delves into his country's bloodied past in search of answers in the present.' * Morning Star *'Pappe is one of the brave few voices to stand up and be counted in the oppressive atmosphere of Israeli society. Pappe's book is a searing account of the horrific brutality perpetrated during the birth of the state of Israel.' * Morning Star *'Pappe is well positioned to lob a grenade such as this one into the twin worlds of Middle Eastern studies and politics. Pappe's book should shock and shame the academic world' * Arab Banker *'Pappe's ethical clarity and humane vision permeate The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine... Given the meticulous research and compelling moral imperative embodied in The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Zionism itself may be in trouble.' * Race and Class *'Pappe offers a scorching indictment of Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people in The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.' * Metro *'A bold expose of Israel's purge of its Arab population in the early years of its existence. It should be read by anyone wanting to grasp the seemingly unfathomable background to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Pappe himself should be supported and applauded.' * Morning Star *'Ilan Pappe's The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is a vital contribution to the scholarship from these new historians… Pappe forever puts to rest any doubt that Palestinians were systematically and brutally expelled from their homeland.' * Against the Current (An independent socialist organisation) *'Pappe’s book will command attention.' * Washington Report on Middle East Affairs *'Superb account of how, and why, Palestinians were driven out of their homes. Pappe explains why there can be no peace until this crime has been acknowledged and redressed.' * Scottish Review *'The organization of the material in this book leaves almost nothing to be desired. The twelve sections substantially challenge and considerably undermine the ostensibly convincing Israeli discourse on the refugees question and the 1984 events.' * Arab Studies Quarterly *'Shocking, telling and illuminating.' * Emel *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations, Maps and Tables Acknowledgements Preface 1. An 'Alleged' Ethnic Cleansing? 2. The Drive for an Exclusively Jewish State 3. Partition and Destruction: UN Resolution 181 and its Impact 4. Finalising a Master Plan 5. The Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing: Plan Dalet 6. The Phony War and the Real War over Palestine: May 1948 7. The Escalation of the Cleansing Operations: June--September 1948 8. Completing the Job: October 1948--January 1949 9. Occupation and its Ugly Faces 10. The Memoricide of the Nakba 11. Nakba Denial and the 'Peace Process' 12. Fortress Israel Epilogue Endnotes Chronology Maps and Tables Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisModern translation of La Varenne''s The French cook, The French pastry chef, and The French confectioner, published in Paris between 1651 and 1660, essential reading for anyone seeking to understand French cookery of the seventeenth century. Includes a detailed commentary covering the life of La Varenne, the nature of his three works, and period French cooking. La Varenne (1618-1678) was chef to the Marquis d''Uxelles and the first to produce a French cookery book of any substance since Le Viandier almost 300 years earlier, and therefore the first to record the advances in French cooking since the fifteenth century.

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Book SynopsisA courageous and intimate memoir of China framed in ten telling words: a Duckworth contemporary classic, beautifully repackaged for our 125th anniversaryTrade Review‘A brilliant memoir of China… Throughout this beautifully narrated, carefully analytical and at times personally courageous book, Yu shows the dark side of China’s economic “miracle” Guardian'Caustic and difficult to forget, China in Ten Words is a people’s eye view of a world in which the people have little place' The Times'Gripping… it astounds me that Yu Hua has not already joined Nobel Peace Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo and a growing number of other outspoken intellectuals behind bars' Jonathan Mirsky, Literary Review

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times BestsellerA new assessment of the West's colonial recordIn the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the End of History' that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever.Now however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats.These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the decolonisation' movement corrodes the West's self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance as a litany of racism, exploitation, and massively murderous violence.Nigel Biggar tests this indictment, addressing the crucial questions in eight chapters: Was the British Empire driven primarily by greed and the lust to dominate? Should we speak of colonialism and slavery' in the same breath, as if they were identical? Was the Empire essentially racist? How far was it based on the theft of land? Did it involve genocide? Was it driven fundamentally by the motive of economic exploitation? Was undemocratic colonial government necessarily illegitimate? and, Was the Empire essentially violent, and its violence pervasively racist and terroristic?Biggar makes clear that, like any other long-standing state, the British Empire involved elements of injustice, sometimes appalling. On occasions it was culpably incompetent and presided over moments of dreadful tragedy.Nevertheless, from the early 1800s the Empire was committed to abolishing the slave trade in the name of a Christian conviction of the basic equality of all human beings. It ended endemic inter-tribal warfare, opened local economies to the opportunities of global trade, moderated the impact of inescapable modernisation, established the rule of law and liberal institutions such as a free press, and spent itself in defeating the murderously racist Nazi and Japanese empires in the Second World War.As encyclopaedic in historical breadth as it is penetrating in analytical depth, Colonialism offers a moral inquest into the colonial past, forensically contesting damaging falsehoods and thereby helping to rejuvenate faith in the West's future.

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Book SynopsisA gripping eyewitness account of a major 20th-century military conflict by the UK's most popular writer on geopolitics; The shattering of Yugoslavia in the 1990s showed that, after nearly 50 years of peace, war could return to Europe. It came to its bloody conclusion in Kosovo in 1999.; Tim Marshall, then diplomatic editor at Sky News, was on the ground covering the Kosovo War. This is his illuminating account of how events unfolded, a thrilling journalistic memoir drawing on personal experience, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with intelligence officials from five countries.; Twenty years on from the war’s end, with the rise of Russian power, a weakened NATO and stalled EU expansion, this story is more relevant than ever, as questions remain about the possibility of conflict on European soil. Utterly gripping, this is Tim Marshall at his very best: behind the lines, under fire and full of the insight that has made him one of Britain’s foremost writers on geopolitics.

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERHis masterpiece' Antony Beevor, SpectatorA masterful performance' Sunday TimesBy far the best book on the Vietnam War' Gerald Degroot, The Times, Book of the YearVietnam became the Western world's most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh's warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed 2 million people.Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners' victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, Huey pilots from Arkansas.No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings' readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the 21st century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.Trade Review SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL FOR MILITARY HISTORY 2019 ‘Masterpiece … manages with great skill to combine the accumulation of strategic and political disaster with the real experience of those fighting on the ground’ Antony Beevor, Spectator ‘Will surely set the benchmark for years to come… This may be his best … Exhaustively researched and superbly written, it is both a balanced account of how and why the war unfolded as it did, and a gripping narrative on what it was like to take part…History as it should be: objective, immersive and compelling’ Daily Telegraph, 5* ‘Magnificent… One by one, the sacred canons of right and left are obliterated. The war is laid bare, with all its uncomfortable truths exposed’ The Times ‘Powerful and chilling… Hastings is masterful at describing the conditions faced by young American soldiers… [he] is second to none in his ability to describe military strategy with a clarity that makes things entirely understandable to the layman’ Mail on Sunday, 5* ‘An altogether magnificent historical narrative’ Tim O’Brien ‘A masterpiece’ Frank Scotton ‘Magnificent, his best work … full of extraordinary and compelling detail and thoroughly informed by his own personal experience of so much of the war. It's written in unputdownable style, with a dispassionate, liberal-minded understanding of the detail of the war, which draws on testimony from every side and doesn't favour anyone. I've never read a better history of the wars in Vietnam, and it’s hard to see how anyone will be able to improve on this’ John Simpson ‘Neophytes and experts alike will find Hastings’s book stimulating, informative – and above all, riveting’ New Statesman ‘This fabulous work offers up a gut-wrenching glimpse of the reality of war’ The Sun, 5* ‘Impressive… A fast-paced, poignant and eye-opening read’ Literary Review

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Book SynopsisExplore the failures, mistakes and missed opportunities that shaped history in this new entry in the bestselling series.From the botched attempt to create a life-extending elixir that produced gunpowder, to the unsuccessful stint in medical school which led to a career in naturalism for Charles Darwin, to the missile detection system malfunction that almost sparked a nuclear war, the course of human history has so often been shaped by failures of all magnitudes.In fifty bite-sized chapters spanning thousands of years, A Short History of the World in 50 Failures details how the world as we know it has been defined by plans gone awry, opportunities not seized upon and schemes that were always fated to end in catastrophe.Whether it’s the pharaoh Akhenaten’s misplaced attempt to found a new religion or Napoleon’s doomed invasion of Russia, discover a fascinating collection of outsized tales and historical snafus

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Book Synopsis'Lively and amusing [...] an engaging read. Ryan successfully makes this ancient civilisation more immediate and accessible.' - Current World Archaeology _____________________'[Donald] Ryan - who has worked in and on Egypt for decades, as an archaeologist, historian and popular writer - has succeeded in bringing all of his characters to life. This is a great little volume.' - KMT Magazine_____________________'Very readable [...] its originality lies in the clever construction of the content. The variety of characters covered allows for a considerable breadth of information on life for the rich and poor.' - Ancient Egypt Magazine_____________________Spend 24 hours with the inhabitants of the most powerful kingdom in the ancient world.Ancient Egypt wasn’t all pyramids, sphinxes and gold sarcophagi. For your average Egyptian, life was tough, and work was hard, conducted under the burning gaze of the sun god Ra.During the course of a day in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor), Egypt’s religious capital, we meet 24 Egyptians from all strata of society – from the king to the bread-maker, the priestess to the fisherman, the soldier to the midwife – and get to know what the real Egypt was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters every hour and in every chapter, and through their eyes see what an average day in ancient Egypt was really like.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDWINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2016'A thrilling adventure story' Bill Bryson'Dazzling' Literary Review 'Brilliant' Sunday Express'Extraordinary and gripping' New Scientist'A superb biography' The Economist'An exhilarating armchair voyage' GILES MILTON, Mail on Sunday Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) is the great lost scientist - more things are named after him than anyone else. There are towns, rivers, mountain ranges, the ocean current that runs along the South American coast, there's a penguin, a giant squid - even the Mare Humboldtianum on the moon. His colourful adventures read like something out of a Boy's Own story: Humboldt explored deep into the rainforest, climbed the world's highest volcanoes and inspired princes and presidents, scientists and poets alike. Napoleon was jealous of him; Simon Bolívar's revolution was fuelled by his ideas; Darwin set sail on the Beagle because of Humboldt; and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo owned all his many books. He simply was, as one contemporary put it, 'the greatest man since the Deluge'.Taking us on a fantastic voyage in his footsteps - racing across anthrax-infected Russia or mapping tropical rivers alive with crocodiles - Andrea Wulf shows why his life and ideas remain so important today. Humboldt predicted human-induced climate change as early as 1800, and The Invention of Nature traces his ideas as they go on to revolutionize and shape science, conservation, nature writing, politics, art and the theory of evolution. He wanted to know and understand everything and his way of thinking was so far ahead of his time that it's only coming into its own now. Alexander von Humboldt really did invent the way we see nature.Trade ReviewA big, magnificent, adventurous book - so vividly written and daringly researched - a geographical pilgrimage and an intellectual epic! Brilliant, surprising, and thought-provoking . . . a major achievement * RICHARD HOLMES, author of The Age of Wonder and Coleridge *A truly wonderful book . . . Andrea Wulf has told the tale with such brio, such understanding, such depth. The physical journeyings, all around South America when it was virtually terra incognita, are as exciting as the journeys of Humboldt's mind into astronomy, literature, philosophy and every known branch of science. This is one of the most exciting intellectual biographies I have ever read, up there with Lewes's Goethe and Ray Monk's Wittgenstein * A N Wilson *Andrea Wulf's marvellous book should put this captivating eighteenth century German scientist, traveller and opinion-shaper back at the heart of the way we look at the world . . . irresistible and consistently absorbing life of a man whose discoveries have shaped the way we see * MIRANDA SEYMOUR, author of Noble Endeavours: A History of England and Germany *Andrea Wulf is a writer of rare sensibilities and passionate fascinations. I always trust her to take me on unforgettable journeys through amazing histories of botanical exploration and scientific unfolding. Her work is wonderful, her language sublime, her intelligence unflagging * ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of The Signature of All Things and Eat, Pray, Love *Engrossing . . . Wulf successfully combines biography with an intoxicating history of his times * Kirkus *Extraordinary, and often still sadly relevant too * Wanderlust *The phrase 'lost hero of science' in the subtitle of [Wulf's] book is no exaggeration . . . A big book about a big subject, written with scholarship and enthusiasm * Irish Examiner *In her coruscating account, historian Andrea Wulf reveals an indefatigable adept of close observation with a gift for the long view * Nature *[A] gripping study . . . No one who reads this brilliant book is likely to forget Humboldt * New Scientist *This book sets out to restore Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of natural scientists. In the process Wulf does a great deal more. This meticulously researched work - part biography, part cabinet of curiosity - takes us on an exhilarating armchair voyage through some of the world's least hospitable regions -- Giles Milton * Mail on Sunday *Thrilling . . . It is impossible to read The Invention of Nature without contracting Humboldt fever. Wulf makes Humboldtians of us all . . . At times The Invention of Nature reads like pulp explorer fiction . . . She has gone to near-Humboldtian lengths to research her book * New York Review of Books *Engrossing . . . Andrea Wulf magnificently recreates Humboldt's dazzling, complex personality and the scope of his writing * Wall Street Journal *A rollicking adventure story . . . a fascinating history of ideas, in which Wulf leads us expertly along a series of colourful threads that emanate from the great tapestry of Humboldt's life and work . . . What really fascinated me about The Invention of Nature is how relevant Humboldt's ideas are today . . . Arriving in South America, Darwin took his first steps in the tropical forest and exclaimed: "I formerly admired Humboldt, I now almost adore him". Readers of Wulf's marvellous new book may feel the same way * Financial Times *Wulf's telling of his life reads like a Who's Who of his age . . . in its mission to rescue Humboldt's reputation from the crevasse he and many other German writers and scientists fell into after the Second World War, it succeeds * Independent on Sunday *Wulf's biography is a magnificent work of resurrection, beautifully researched, elegantly written, a thrilling intellectual odyssey * Sunday Times *Wulf's brilliant biography traces [Humboldt's] daring travels in South America and across the Andes, his sojourns in Berlin, Paris and London, and the intellectual circles he moved in * Sunday Express *Andrea Wulf is clearly as passionate about this remarkable man as his peers and successors were, and she does an impressive job of capturing the scale and scope of Humboldt's substantial achievements * Press Association *In a superb biography, Andrea Wulf makes an inspired case for Alexander von Humboldt to be considered the greatest scientist of the 19th century . . . Ecologists today, Ms Wulf argues, are Humboldtians at heart. With the immense challenge of grasping the global consequences of climate change, Humboldt's interdisciplinary approach is more relevant than ever * The Economist *We all know who Darwin was because he came up with that memorable line about us all being descended from apes, but, as he himself would readily have admitted, the great man would never have arrived at his great theory had it not been for the very considerable influence of Alexander von Humboldt . . . Given the magnitude of his influence, why Humboldt isn't a household name today is a mystery . . . On the evidence of this wonderful book, however, he should be hastily added to every school syllabus in the land * Scotsman *Darwin pronounced him the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived, but the brilliant German Alexander von Humboldt left no groundbreaking theory or world-changing book. Wulf sets out to restore his diminished reputation, and has given us the most complete portrait of one of the world's most complete naturalists * Mark Cocker, The Spectator, Books of the Year *Wulf's narrative relates Humboldt's life and ideas at a good pace and with a strong eye for the details which will attract the reader's attention * TLS *Wulf imbues Humboldt's adventures there with something of the spirit of Tintin, relishing the jungles, mountains and dangerous animals at every turn . . . [she] has an unfailing ability to spot an interesting quotation or a curious situation. She is very good on the cities where Humboldt lived and the rival atmospheres of Paris and Berlin . . . a superior celebration of an adorable figure * Guardian *This ambitious book restores Humboldt to his rightful place in the pantheon of scientific history. The best chapters describe his exciting travels * Lady *Humboldt's vision became the inspiration for Darwin and a whole generation of American Romantics, including Thoreau and Poe. Humboldt, like Einstein, breathed life into Kant's transcendental unity. We still live in the world they imagined, even if few of us comprehend it * Telegraph *Wulf writes about complicated topics with lucidity and vitality. The Invention of Nature is a book of ideas, which repays careful reading. The intuitive yet systematising genius, courage and charm of Humboldt also make this a most inspiring book * The Times *Andrea Wulf's superb biography is a re-evaluation of a great lost scientist whose thinking strongly affected the way we now conceptualise nature . . . His extensive travels mean his biography is also an adventure story, and Wulf combines scrapes and the science to great effect * Independent *Read Andrea Wulf's gripping biography and you will be wowed by him too. If Humboldt doesn't win prizes I'll eat my party hat * New Scientist, Books of the Year *An absolutely stupendous biography * A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard, Books of the Year *Evocative descriptions of his expeditions . . . delightful stories . . . Wulf's stories of wilderness adventure and academic exchange flow easily, and her affection for von Humboldt is contagious * Publishers Weekly, Books of the Year *Wulf offers a highly readable account of the German scientist's monumental journey in the Americas * 100 Notable Books of 2015, New York Times *Engaging and accomplished * Sunday Times *Explorer, polymath, friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His ideas are as relevant today as they ever were * The Economist, Books of the Year *The real achievement of this wonderful biography is that it is as much a rattling good read as it is an explicit attempt to revive Humboldt's reputation . . . [Wulf] offers us the most complete picture of one of most complete naturalists who has ever lived * New Statesman *Stimulating biography . . . The Invention of Nature elegantly captures a cosmopolitan who straddled the Enlightenment and Romanticism * Country Life *Colourful and engaging * Sunday Telegraph *Explorer, polymath, friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Jefferson and Simon Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century. His ideas are as relevant today as they ever were * The Economist *Like Humboldt himself, The Invention of Nature, is scholarly but extremely good fun * The Times, Books of the Year *Wulf does [Humbolt] full justice, bringing his extraordinary and colourful life to a new generation. Based on enormous research, it is the first real biography of this great figure in English and it provides much fascinating detail without overloading the narrative. I can't recommend it highly enough * Morning Star *Wulf takes English speaking readers on a fulsome tour of Humboldt and those he influenced . . . She has travelled in Humboldt's footsteps and made good use of original German evidence. I have much enjoyed my eco-tour through the planet world in her company * Financial Times *In this illuminating, vivid biography, historian and writer Andrea Wulf reveals a great explorer a century or more ahead of his time . . . a cracking read * BBC Wildlife Magazine *A pleasure to read . . . Buckle up and prepare yourself for Andrea Wulf's hugely enjoyable voyage of discovery . . . [a] rip-roaring yarn * Ecologist *Full of vivid renditions of his feats, the narrow mountain paths he trod, the rapid rivers in which he almost drowned, and the exotic ailments from which he suffered . . . much more than an adventure story . . . well-informed and astute . . . among the most attractive features of The Invention of Nature is Wulf's infectious admiration for her subject * London Review of Books *Masterly * Daily Mail *A superior celebration of an adorable figure * Guardian *The decisive factor for the winning book was that it excited and gripped us as judges the most. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf is a thrilling adventure story as much as a science book about a polymath who had an extraordinary impact on our contemporary understanding of nature. It is a book you will find yourself talking endlessly about with friends in the pub -- Bill Bryson, chairman of the judges for the Royal Society Prize 2016Humboldt may not be well known today but he remains very much of our time: his work tackled many of today's big issues like climate change and biodiversity loss and the interconnectedness of nature. Moreover, he was a polymath who was curious about everything and was a superb communicator. His interdisciplinary approach puts paid to the ridiculous notion that science and the arts are separate entities. We should be taking our cues from Humboldt - be curious and be informed by science on the big issues -- Brian CoxWhen I read The Invention of Nature, long before it was nominated for the Royal Society prize, it was obvious that it was a contender for major honors. It was deeply researched and reported; it told a fine and little known story; it connected the personal to a big idea, and the past to a very pressing present-day concern * The Atlantic *Concise, well-written and extensively researched book . . . vivid, atmospheric and engrossing, a beautiful portrait * Tribune *[A] gripping account of Alexander von Humboldt's synthesis of the science of the natural world -- Stephen Curry * Guardian 'Favourite reads of 2016 as chosen by scientists' *In this meticulously researched and beautifully written biography, Andrea Wulf skilfully rescues Alexander von Humboldt from his undeserved obscurity as she chronicles his long and fascinating life * Forbes.com, 10 Best Popular Science Books of 2016 *Deep scholarship and entertaining writing style. The Invention of Nature is highly recommended * ICON *Historians of science have long recognized the naturalist and traveller Alexander von Humboldt as a pivotal figure in the history of science, but for too long he has been undervalued in the English-speaking world. This beautifully written biography effectively conveys his significance to a wide audience, in an animated and adventurous narrative that echoes the liveliness of Humboldt's own writings. The award of the Dingle Prize particularly recognizes Andrea Wulf's mastery of the vast range of history of science scholarship on Humboldt and her command of original sources in multiple languages. Timely and significant-particularly given current attacks on climate change science - this is scientific biography at its best * Winner of the 2017 Dingle Prize *

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Book SynopsisSUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERThe most important book of the year' Daily MailThe brilliant and provocative new book from one of the world's foremost political writersThe anti-Western revisionists have been out in force in recent years. It is high time that we revise them in turn'In The War on the West, international bestselling author Douglas Murray asks: if the history of humankind is one of slavery, conquest, prejudice, genocide and exploitation, why are only Western nations taking the blame for it? It's become perfectly acceptable to celebrate the contributions of non-Western cultures, but discussing their flaws and crimes is called hate speech. What's more it has become acceptable to discuss the flaws and crimes of Western culture, but celebrating their contributions is also called hate speech. Some of this is a much-needed reckoning; however, some is part of a larger international attack on reason, democracy, science, progress and the citizens of the West by dishonest scholarsTrade Review‘Murray shows not just how every aspect of western society has come under the iconoclasts’ gaze – from mathematics to music, Kew Gardens to Jane Austen – but how flimsy their case often is.’ – The Sunday Times ‘Murray writes with wonderful lucidity about the many fronts on which the West is waging war against itself. And he writes with a sense of urgency.’ – Real Clear Politics ‘Well executed… a spirited defence against the Left's assault on the Western tradition.’ – The Daily Telegraph ‘The War on the West is a monumental book leading to several pivotal realisations.’ – Lotus Eaters ‘Meticulous, measured… The War on the West is Douglas Murray’s latest blast against loony left wokery.’ – The Spectator Praise for Douglas Murray and The Madness of Crowds ‘Whether one agrees with him or not, Douglas Murray is one of the most important public intellectuals today.’ – Bernard-Henry Levy ‘This is an author who specialises in expressing what everyone sort of knows already and is afraid to say…Well argued, well supported, and well observed.’ – Lionel Shriver ‘Simply brilliant. Reading it to the end, I felt as though I’d just drawn my first full breath in years. At a moment of collective madness, there is nothing more refreshing – or indeed, provocative – than sanity.’ – Sam Harris ‘His latest book is beyond brilliant and should be read, must be read, by everyone. He mercilessly exposes the hypocrisy and embarrassingly blatant contradictions that run rife through the current ‘woke’ vouge.’ – Richard Dawkins ‘Douglas Murray fights the good fight for freedom of speech… A truthful look at today’s most divisive issues.’ – Jordan B. Peterson ‘Extraordinary. Magnificent. Searing. Necessary. I salute il miglior fabbro. ‘And whether they listen or fail to listen… they will know that the prophet has been among them’ (Ezekiel 2:5)’ – Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

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