History Books

Book SynopsisThe bloody history of Britain through the stories of its most notorious traitorsA History of Treason details British history from 1352 to 1946, covering major historical moments in a fascinating and innovative way, using the history of high treason and deception as its theme.Appealing to a range of audiences, it covers more than 650 years of momentous history through the use of both famous and lesser known events which shaped Britain. Using original documents and detailed research undertaken by The National Archives' record specialists, it will cover moments in history which led to fundamental changes in eras. It will also include unique discoveries from these archives, uncovering mysteries and stories of how dealing with treason have brought about the changes which have influenced and shaped Britain throughout the centuries. Among these are:the trial and execution of Anne Boleyn on the orders of her husband, Henry VIIIseveral major acts of sedition, including the Gunpowder Plot and the revolution plotted in the Cato Street conspiracythe evidence brought against Sir Roger Casement, executed at Pentonville and his remains later exhumed and given a state funeral in Irelandthe trial and execution of the William Joyce who, as 'Lord Haw-Haw', broadcast Nazi propaganda from Berlin during the Second World WarThe book covers many stories that explore the nature of treason and how the crown and state reacted to it - from the introduction of the Treason Act in 1352 right through to the twentieth century.Written by experts from among the historians at the National Archives, the book is copiously illustrated with images from the unrivalled collections of The National Archives.

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Book SynopsisThe Templars' entire story, covering the Crusades and the Holy Grail, right up to the bestsellers and blockbusters

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Book SynopsisMichael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. He has also made several much-acclaimed travel documentaries. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway's Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. He received a BAFTA fellowship in 2013, and a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours list.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant and original investigation into the medical origins of LSD and how the Nazis and the CIA turned it into a weapon, by the author of the bestselling Blitzed.

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Book SynopsisAlexander Chula is an NHS doctor and writer. He was born and raised in London, and is of mixed Thai and British ancestry. He read Classics at Worcester College, Oxford, then medicine at the University of London. He has worked in Malawi both as a teacher of Latin and Greek and as a doctor.

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

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

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Book SynopsisA noted authority examines the roles played by Germany's Hetzer tank destroyer and the Soviet SU-76M self-propelled gun during the battle for Hungary in 1945. During World War II, Germany and the Soviet Union soon found that their light tanks were obsolete; while their small guns were no longer useful against the enemy's armoured vehicles, the chassis allowed for installation of a larger gun at the cost of a rotating turret. Keen to utilize existing technology, Germany and the Soviet Union approached this challenge differently. While the Germans turned their PzKpfw 38(t) tank into a tank destroyer, first the open-topped Marder III and then the fully enclosed Jagdpanzer 38(t), nicknamed the Hetzer', the Soviet designers turned the T-70 light tank into an infantry support gun capable of engaging enemy armour, its open-topped fighting compartment adding communication with accompanying infantry. In this study, leading armour expert Peter Samsonov's insightful analysis is complemented by specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside carefully selected archive and present-day photographs, revealing the origins, development and combat performance of these two types at war. Both were widely employed amid the tank battles of early 1945, as Soviet forces reached deep into Hungary and the Axis armies mounted one last counter-offensive on the Eastern Front, Operation Spring Awakening.

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Book SynopsisTV presenter Graham Hancock''s multi-million bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods remains an astonishing, deeply controversial, wide-ranging investigation of the mysteries of our past and the evidence for Earth''s lost civilization. Twenty years on, Hancock returns with a book filled with completely new, scientific and archaeological evidence, which has only recently come to light...The evidence revealed in this book shows beyond reasonable doubt that an advanced civilization that flourished during the Ice Age was destroyed in the global cataclysms between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago.Near the end of the last Ice Age 12,800 years ago, a giant comet that had entered the solar system from deep space thousands of years earlier, broke into multiple fragments. Some of these struck the Earth causing a global cataclysm on a scale unseen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. At least eight of the fragments hit the North American ice cap, while further fragments hit theTrade ReviewA great yarn... [Hancock] is a writer with a first-rate feel for colour and ambience... * Sunday Times *Hancock's book is an absorbing big-picture analysis as well as a cautionary tale. * Nexus Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIn this “engrossing,” (The New Yorker) vivid, and intensively researched volume, esteemed Napoleon scholar David Chandler outlines the military strategy that led the famous French emperor to his greatest victories—and to his ultimate downfall.Napoleonic war was nothing if not complex—an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of moves and intentions, which by themselves went a long way towards baffling and dazing his conventionally minded opponents into that state of disconcerting moral disequilibrium which so often resulted in their catastrophic defeat. The Campaigns of Napoleon is a masterful analysis and insightful critique of Napoleon''s art of war as he himself developed and perfected it in the major military campaigns of his career. Napoleon disavowed any suggestion that he worked from formula (“Je n''ai jamais eu un plan d''opérations”), but military historian David Chandler demonstrates this was at best only a hal

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Book SynopsisThe acclaimed book Oliver Stone called “the best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance,” JFK and the Unspeakable details not just how the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy was carried out, but WHY it was done…and why it still matters today.At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy’s change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence. Once these dark “Unspeakable” forces recognized that Kennedy’s interests were in direct opposition to their own, they tagged him as a dangerous traitor, plotted his assassination, and orTrade Review“A remarkable story that changed the way I view the world.”—JAMES BRADLEY, author of Flags of Our Fathers“Arguably the most important book yet written about a U.S. president … Should be required reading for all high school and college students, and anyone who is a registered voter!”—JOHN PERKINS, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman “The best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance … But don’t take my word for it. Read this extraordinary book and reach your own conclusions.” —OLIVER STONE, director"Jim Douglass has unraveled the story of President Kennedy’s astonishing and little-known turn toward peace, and the reasons why members of his own government felt he must be eliminated. This disturbing, enlightening, and ultimately inspiring book should be read by all Americans. It has the power to change our lives and to set us free."—MARTIN SHEEN“JFK and the Unspeakable is an exceptional achievement. Douglass has made the strongest case so far in the JFK assassination literature as to the Who and the Why of Dallas.”—GERALD McNIGHT, author of Beach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why“Once in a great while a book comes along that both records history and makes it. … An exciting work with the drama of a first-rate thriller.” —MARK LANE, author of Rush to Judgment“Right now, I ask all of you—please please, read JFK and the Unspeakable! I cried all night reading it, and didn’t sleep a wink. It is a book that could make us stand up and change the world, right now. Maybe we can save the world before it blows up. Really.” -- Yoko Ono"In JFK and the Unspeakable Jim Douglass has distilled all the best available research into a very well-documented and convincing portrait of President Kennedy's transforming turn to peace, at the cost of his life. Personally, it has made a very big impact on me. After reading it in Dallas, I was moved for the first time to visit Dealey Plaza. I urge all Americans to read this book and come to their own conclusions about why he died and why -- after fifty years -- it still matters.” -- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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Book SynopsisIF YOU DON''T KNOW SIMON SCARROW, YOU DON''T KNOW ROME!UNDER THE EAGLE is the gripping first novel in Simon Scarrow''s bestselling EAGLES OF THE EMPIRE series. A must read for fans of Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden. Praise for Simon Scarrow''s compelling novels: ''Gripping and moving'' The TimesAD 42, Germany. Tough, brutal and unforgiving. That''s how new recruit Cato is finding life in the Roman Second Legion. He may have contacts in high places, but he could really use a friend amongst his fellow soldiers right now.Cato has been promoted above his comrades at the order of the Emperor and is deeply resented by the other men. But he quickly earns the respect of his Centurion, Macro, a battle-hardened veteran as rough and ready as Cato is quick-witted and well-educated. They are poles apart, but soon realise they have a lot to learn from one another.On a campaign to Britannia - a land of utter barbarity - an enduring fTrade ReviewPraise for Simon Scarrow: 'I really don't need this kind of competition... It's a great read' -- Bernard CornwellA satisfyingly bloodthirsty, bawdy romp...perfect for Bernard Cornwell addicts who will relish its historical detail and fast-paced action. Storming stuff * Good Book Guide *Scarrow's [novels] rank with the best * Independent *Gripping... ferocious and compelling, it is a story of blood, romance and sacrifice * Daily Express *Rollicking good fun * Mail on Sunday *[Simon Scarrow] blends together historical facts and characters to create a book that simply cannot be put down... Highly recommended * Historical Novels Review *

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Book SynopsisA definitive analysis of the weapons, equipment, deployment, tactics and motivation of these national forces, as well as fascinating detail of day-to-day life for the soldiers that fought the battles

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Written with great enthusiasm and characteristic flair. . . . Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civilisation and political order.”—Walter Scheidel, Financial Times“[Scott’s work] has focussed on a skeptical, peasant’s-eye view of state formation. . . . His best-known book, Seeing Like a State, has become a touchstone for political scientists, and amounts to a blistering critique of central planning and ‘high modernism.’ . . . Scott’s new book extends these ideas into the deep past, and draws on existing research to argue that ours is not a story of linear progress, that the time line is much more complicated, and that the causal sequences of the standard version are wrong.”—John Lanchester, New Yorker“Against the Grain delivers not only a darker story but also a broad understanding of the forces that shaped the formation of states and why they collapsed — right up to the industrial age . . . an excellent book.”—Ben Collyer, New Scientist“Scott offers an alternative to the conventional narrative that is altogether more fascinating, not least in the way it omits any self-congratulation about human achievement. His account of the deep past doesn’t purport to be definitive, but it is surely more accurate than the one we are used to.”—Steven Mithen, London Review of Books“Forget the Paleo Diet: Scott goes all the way in showing how early nomadic peoples in the Fertile Crescent were fitter, happier and more productive than the semi-enslaved ziggurat-builders of the ancient Mesopotamian cities.”—James Whipple (M.E.S.H), Frieze“This is an important book, which should be read by every educated person. The story it tells is so different, so opposed, to the received narrative it deserves to be everywhere known. Scott’s presentation of evidence is so complete that the received narrative simply can no longer stand. Additionally, Scott writes extremely well: a clear, unambiguous, approachable style, with occasional sparkles of gentle humour to ease the way. The book is an intellectual delight.”—George Gale, Metascience“Scott’s original book is history as it should be written.”— Barry Cunliffe, Guardian“James C. Scott’s oeuvre is among the most important in contemporary political theory. Against the Grain is a significant addition to it, as Scott issues the challenge of an anti-authoritarian approach to our political origins.”—Crispin Sartwell, Times Literary Supplement“Scott’s research is extraordinarily meticulous and detailed, and the lives of his imagined first citizens are unlike anything existing today. . . . Against the Grain deserves a wide readership. It has made me look afresh at the urban world.”—Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books“Fascinating.”—George Monbiot, Guardian“History as it should be written—an analysis of the deep forces exposed to the eternal conflict between humans and their environment. What makes it even more welcome is that it has been written with the enthusiasm of discovery.”—Barry Cunliffe, GuardianAn Economist Best History Book 2017“Against the Grain is likely bound to shape how we think about this topic for years to come.”—Johann Strube, Agriculture and Human Values“Against the Grain delivers what is says on the tin and is a fine piece of historical counter-narrative, with elements of environmental history woven throughout. . .This results in a book that is fascinating, readable, but above all thought-provoking. It certainly made me ponder the ‘civil’ part in civilization.”—Leon Vlieger, Natural History Book Service“The value of the book . . . is precisely in the sorts of provocative questions it raises and the debates it will spark. Scott brings archaeology into one of the most important insights of his wider project, that states are neither inevitable nor neutral. In doing so, he has created a space in which archaeology becomes relevant for current political concerns, and for this reason alone his book should be widely read.”—Antiquity“James C. Scott is one of the historians of our times who delights in compelling us to rethink received wisdom and chart out fresh trajectories through the past, even as he constantly reminds us of our present locations. In reading his works, we anticipate challenges, irreverence and insights. This slim volume does, to some extent, live up to these expectations.”—Kumkum Roy, Studies in History“James Scott’s latest volume is a wide-ranging yet incisive synthesis of the origins of civilization within the context of early sedentism, agro-ecology and the fragility of the archaic state.”—Vernon L. Scarborough, Human Ecology“This is an important book, which should be read by every educated person. The story it tells is so different, so opposed, to the received narrative it deserves to be everywhere known. Scott’s presentation of evidence is so complete that the received narrative simply can no longer stand. Additionally, Scott writes extremely well: a clear, unambiguous, approachable style, with occasional sparkles of gentle humor to ease the way. The book is an intellectual delight.”—George Gale, Metascience“In an authoritative and gripping re-imagining of human history, Scott dives deep into the initial development of farming several thousand years ago. This book led me to revisit my ideas about the past and to ponder anew about life in the present.”—Alison Richard, The WeekFinalist for the 2018 CT Book AwardWinner of the A.SK Social Science Award, one of the most prestigious distinctions in the social sciences, sponsored by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. “I admire Against the Grain very much. It is the most confirming and clarifying book about agriculture that I have read in a long time.”—Wendell Berry, as written in a letter to James C. Scott“This is a brilliant, accessible, and highly original account of the origins of sedentism, farming, states, and the relations between agrarian and nomadic communities. It should attract a wider audience than any of Scott’s earlier books.”—J. R. McNeill, co-author of The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945“A sweeping and provocative look at the 'rise of civilization,' focusing particularly on those parts, peoples, and issues that are normally overlooked in conventional historical narratives.”—Alison Betts, The University of Sydney“Brilliant, sparkling, dissident scholarship. In Scott’s hands, agriculture looks like a terrible choice, states and empires look fragile, ephemeral, and predatory, and the ‘barbarians’ beyond their borders lived in relative freedom and affluence.”—David Christian, Macquarie University, Sydney“This book is fascinating and original, containing a lesson on every page. Brilliant. James Scott is a legend."—Tim Harford, author of Messy and The Undercover Economist

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Book SynopsisSELECTED AS A 2018 SUMMER READ BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, I-PAPER AND THE BIG ISSUE''Enormously entertaining'' SUNDAY TIMES''Fascinating'' NEW STATESMAN''Excoriating, brilliant'' ALI SMITH''Enthralling'' GUARDIAN''My number one contributor when it comes to US politics'' DAN SNOWThe American dream is dead,' Donald Trump said when announcing his candidacy for president in 2015. How would he revive it? By putting America First'. The American Dream' and America First' are two of the most loaded phrases in America today and also two of the most misunderstood. As divides within America widen, Sarah Churchwell looks to the past to reveal what the surprising history of these two phrases can tell us about today.Trade ReviewA ripping yarn ... Behold, America is an enthralling book ... Passionate, well-researched and comprehensive * Guardian *Excoriating, brilliant -- Ali Smith * Big Issue, Summer Reads *Enormously entertaining. Churchwell is a careful and sensitive reader, writes with great vigour and has a magpie’s eye for a revealing story -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *A fascinating history of the two intersecting tropes of modern America * New Statesman *Lively and eminently readable … Churchwell has produced a timely and clearly argued book that makes a clear case for the intellectual parallels between the first third of the 20th century and our own * Financial Times *[An] enlightening new cultural history … The shadow of the 45th President hangs over all 300 pages of Behold, America, a book designed expressly to demonstrate just how that history rhymes with the present … While it is indeed a history of two phrases, Behold, America is also a history of the people who used them … An American in the UK, [Churchwell] has the benefit of an outside perspective on the country of her birth, which is prone to national self-delusions just as grand as Britain’s, if not more so. Behold, America punctures many of them * The i *The Trump administration has prompted a veritable landslide of books about the current state of US culture and politics. Literary journalist and professor Sarah Churchwell digs a little deeper than most, providing a thoughtful long view on a highly topical subject * BBC History Magazine, Summer Reads *Churchwell takes us on a whirlwind tour of the first decades of the 20th century … We hear the discordant voices of American reformers, immigrants, reactionaries and nativists, satirists and polemicists, Ku Klux Klansmen and ersatz Hitlers … Churchwell is well attuned to the nuances of the national conversation * Literary Review *The figure of Donald Trump looms over Sarah Churchwell’s new history of American national identity, which highlights the ugliest features of the country’s ingrained traditions of intolerance and bigotry. But it is the current president’s father, Fred, who first leaps off the page in a startling cameo appearance ... Churchwell is at her best when she relates in horrific detail the once commonplace public lynching of blacks, both in the North and in the South, and she is astute about the crackpot/booster strains in American culture * Spectator *Churchwell’s thorough, fascinating history of the birth of the America First movement uses the past to throw disturbing light on present-day politics in the US -- What to read in 2018 * i *Churchwell’s thoroughness in delineating America’s decade-by-decade bigotry through primary sources from speeches to newspapers to novels is a marvel. But it is more than a history lesson. She’s constructing the case for how the US elected Donald Trump, a catastrophe many of us struggle to understand * Prospect Magazine *

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Book SynopsisSelected as a Times best history Book of the Year 2024'Every page glittering with insight... [a] wonderful book' Dominic Sandbrook'Brilliantly written... evokes the wonder of an entire civilisation.' Tom Holland'Takes us beyond the familiar into a real, visceral, far more satisfying Viking world.' Dan Snow'A wondrous, gorgeously-written book' Rebecca Wragg SykesImagine a Viking, and a certain image springs to mind: a nameless, faceless warrior, leaping ashore from a longboat, and ready to terrorise the hapless local population of a northern European country.Yet while such characters define the Viking Age today, they were in the minority. This is the history of all the other people - children, enslaved people, seers, artisans, travellers, writers - who inhabited the medieval Nordic world. Encompassing not just Norway, Denmark and Sweden, but also Iceland, Greenland, parts of the British Isles, Continental Europe and Russia, this is a history of a Viking Age filled with real people of di

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Book SynopsisSusannah Stapleton is a historical researcher with over twenty years' experience unravelling mysteries for museums, organizations and private individuals. Her first book, The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective was shortlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. That Dark Spring is her second book. She lives in Shropshire.

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Book SynopsisThe compelling story of the worldâs greatest ancient powers.Trade Review'A remarkable achievement … an excellent introduction to an increasingly popular field of study' - Contemporary ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction: New Visions of Ancient Empires by Thomas Harrison • 1. The Empire of New Kingdom Egypt 1539–1069 BC • 2. The Hittite Empire 1650–1200 BC • 3. The Empires of Assyria and Babylonia 900–539 BC • 4. The First Persian Empire 550–330 BC • 5. The Athenian Empire 478–404 BC, 378–338 BC • 6. The Empire of Alexander and his Successors 338–60 BC • 7. The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires c. 247 BC–AD 300 • 8. The Roman Empire 27 BC–AD 476 • 9. The Early Empires of South Asia 323 BC–AD • 10. The Early Empires of China 221 BC–AD 220

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Book SynopsisHumans are the most inquisitive, emotional, imaginative, aggressive and baffling animals on the planet. But how well do we really know ourselves?How to Be Animal offers a radical take on what it means to be human and argues that at the heart of our psychology is a profound struggle with being animal. Tracing the history of this thinking through to its far-reaching effects on our lives, and drawing on a range of disciplines, Challenger proposes that being an animal is a process, beautiful and unpredictable, and that we have a chance to tell ourselves a new story; to realise that if we matter, so does everything else.Trade ReviewThe best critique of the myth of human exceptionalism I have read. Clearly and beautifully written, compellingly argued and packed with powerful and moving stories, it shows how the fact that we humans are animals has been denied and repressed, with profoundly damaging consequences for the way we live and for the planet. But this brilliant book is not only a critique. By showing that being human means being animal, it reveals how much joy in life we can gain if we recognise and accept the truth about ourselves. Read and digest this book, and you will not only be wiser but also happier -- JOHN GRAY * * author of Feline Philosophy * *Melanie Challenger's wonderful book teaches me this: our blazing continuity with the depth of time and the whole of life. It is a huge, complex and triumphant thing: challenging, but also celebratory, courageous, mournful and apprehensive. Her language is lovely: exact and lyrical and sparklingly full of suggestion and implication. It is a hymn to generosity. I know it will be something I will return to again and again -- ADAM NICOLSON * * author of The Seabird's Cry * *This is a brilliant book that, like many brilliant books, explores what it means to be human. The difference here is that the author answers this by highlighting one central human dilemma: we are an animal in denial that we are actually an animal -- MATT HAIG * * Observer * *What an interesting book! The recognition that we are animals should come less as a slap in the face than as a welcome reminder of the great resources that can come from paying attention to the ways we and our various cousins handle our journeys on this difficult but beautiful planet -- BILL McKIBBEN * * author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? * *With this book, Melanie Challenger fearlessly plunges into the biggest question of our time: how can we rediscover our animal selves, before it is too late? How can we discover our true place in the wider world we are destroying? Each of us has to answer this question for ourselves. This book is a guide for you on the journey -- PAUL KINGSNORTHErudite, lyrical, delightfully troubling and full of unexpected convergences. A wonderful exploration of the tensions that beset the human animal trying to find our way. I was entranced by this beautiful weave of history, biology and philosophy -- DAVID GEORGE HASKELL * * author of The Forest Unseen * *Deepened my understanding of the world . . . An illuminating, beautifully written and unique philosophical inquiry by a wide-ranging and original thinker and a powerful call for a new ethic for our relationship with the rest of the living world . . . Quite simply, a rare and important marvel -- LUCY JONES * * author of Losing Eden * *A provocative, incisive and worried book, carried off with no small degree of élan . . . an excellent primer to the problems we have caused and that we face * * Scotsman * *Provocative . . . Challenger [writes] with the logic of a researcher and the lyricism of a poet * * Herald * *Blending personal experience with scientific observation, Challenger has a talent for making the known seem unexpected or unsettling * * Irish Times * *

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Book Synopsis''A historically insightful read''Financial Times ''A wry, rollicking, and provocative history'' Michael Taylor, author of The InterestA thought-provoking analysis of Africa''s relationship with economic imperialism' Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata, authors of It's A ContinentWe need to think differently about African economics.For centuries, Westerners have tried to fix' African economies. From the abolition of slavery onwards, missionaries, philanthropists, development economists and NGOs have arrived on the continent, full of good intentions and bad ideas. Their experiments have invariably gone awry, to the great surprise of all involved.In this short, bold story of Western economic thought about Africa, historian Bronwen Everill argues that these interventions fail because they start from a misguided premise: that African economies just need to be more like the West. Ignoring Africa''s own traditions of economic thought, Europeans and Americans assumed a set of universal economic laws that they thought could be applied anywhere. They enforced specifically Western ideas about growth, wealth, debt, unemployment, inflation, women's work and more, and used Western metrics to find African countries wanting.The West does not know better than African nations how an economy should be run. By laying bare the myths and realities of our tangled economic history, Africonomics moves from Western ignorance to African knowledge.*Shortlisted for the BCA African Business Book of the Year*

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Book SynopsisPhilip Gourevitch is the author of We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. He is a staff writer for the New Yorker and editor of the Paris Review.

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Book SynopsisThis sumptuously illustrated history presents, in an updated new edition, an in-depth account of Britain's most important buildings.

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Book SynopsisWashington Bullets is written in the best traditions of Marxist journalism and history-writing. It is a book of fluent and readable stories, full of detail about U.S. imperialism, but never letting the minutiae obscure the larger political point. It is a book that could easily have been a song of despair—a lament of lost causes; it is, after all, a roll call of butchers and assassins; of plots against people’s movements and governments; of the assassinations of socialists, Marxists, communists all over the Third World by the country where liberty is a statue. Despite all this, Washington Bullets is a book about possibilities, about hope, about genuine heroes. One such is Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso—also assassinated—who said: “You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.” Washington Bullets is a book infused with this madness, the madness that dares to invent the future.Trade ReviewThis book brings to mind the infinite instances in which Washington Bullets have shattered hope. — Evo Morales Ayma, former President of Bolivia // Like his hero Eduardo Galeano, Vijay Prashad makes the telling of the truth lovable; not an easy trick to pull off, he does it effortlessly. — Roger Waters, Pink Floyd

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Book SynopsisDo you remember Pathé News? Taking the train to the seaside? The purple stains of iodine on the knees of boys in short trousers? Knitted bathing costumes? Then the chances are you were born in or around 1950. To the young people of today, the 1950s seem like another age.But for those born around then, this era of childhood feels like yesterday. This delightful collection of photographic memories will appeal to all who grew up in this post-war decade; they include pictures of children enjoying life out on the streets and bombsites, at home and at school, on holiday and at events. These wonderful period pictures and descriptive captions will bring back this decade of childhood, and jog memories about all aspects of life as it was in post-war Britain.

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Book SynopsisA riveting history of the ?Ten Pound Poms?, a wave of British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after the Second World War. Between the 1940s and 1970s, more than a million Britons migrated to Australia. They were the famous ''Ten Pound Poms'' and this is their story. The authors draw on a vast trove of letters, diaries and personal photographs, as well as hundreds of interviews with former migrants, to offer original insights into key historical themes. They explore people?s motivations for emigrating, gender relations and family dynamics, the clashing experience of the ?very familiar and awfully strange?, homesickness and the personal and national identities of both settlers and returnees. Filled with fascinating testimonies that shed light on migrant life histories, ?Ten Pound Poms? will engage readers interested in British and Australian migration history and intrigued about the power of migrant memories for individuals, families and nations.

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Book Synopsis'Entirely fresh, brilliantly insightful and utterly compelling ' James HollandChurchill. Hitler. Stalin. Mussolini. Roosevelt. Five of the most impactful leaders of WW2, each with their own individualistic and idiosyncratic approach to warfare. But if we want to understand their military strategy, we must first understand the strategist. In THE STRATEGISTS, Professor Phillips Payson O'Brien shows how the views these five leaders forged in WW1 are crucial to understanding how they fought WW2. For example, Churchill's experiences of facing the German Army in France in 1916 made him unwilling to send masses of British soldiers back there in the 1940s, while Hitler's mistakes on the Eastern Front were influenced by his reluctance to accept that conditions had changed since his own time fighting. The implications of the power of leaders remain with us to this day: to truly understand what is happening in Ukraine, for example, requires us to know what has influenced the leaders involved.

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Book SynopsisWhat is knowledge? How does it differ from mere belief? Do you need to be able to justify a claim in order to count as knowing it? How can we know that the outer world is real and not a dream?Questions like these are ancient ones, and the branch of philosophy dedicated to answering them - epistemology - has been active for thousands of years. In this thought-provoking Very Short Introduction, Jennifer Nagel considers these classic questions alongside new puzzles arising from recent discoveries about humanity, language, and the mind. Nagel explains the formation of major historical theories of knowledge, and shows how contemporary philosophers have developed new ways of understanding knowledge, using ideas from logic, linguistics, and psychology. Covering topics ranging from relativism and the problem of scepticism to the trustworthiness of internet sources, Nagel examines how progress has been made in understanding knowledge, using everyday examples to explain the key issues and debates ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewI am in love with this series - it's like having an extended course of study in one's rucksack or handbag that's designed to educate the modern polymath. * GrrlScientist, Guardian Books *[A]dmirably clear and engaging * Steven Poole, The Guardian *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Scepticism ; 3. Rationalism and empiricism ; 4. The analysis of knowledge ; 5. Internalism and externalism ; 6. Testimony ; 7. Shifting standards? ; 8. Knowing about knowing ; Further reading ; Index

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Book SynopsisFrom award-winning historian Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great searches through the mass of conflicting evidence and legend to focus on Alexander as a man of his own time. Tough, resolute, fearless, Alexander was a born warrior and ruler of passionate ambition who understood the intense adventure of conquest and of the unknown. When he died in 323 BC aged thirty-two, his vast empire comprised more than two million square miles, spanning from Greece to India. His achievements were unparalleled - he had excelled as leader to his men, founded eighteen new cities and stamped the face of Greek culture on the ancient East. The myth he created is as potent today as it was in the ancient world. Combining historical scholarship and acute psychological insight, Alexander the Great brings this colossal figure vividly to life. ''So enjoyable and well-written ... Fox''s book became my main guide through Alexander''s amazing story''

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Book Synopsis**WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING****WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY***Book of the year: The Times, Sunday Times, New Statesman, Spectator, Evening Standard*'Outstanding . . . We still live in the society that was shaped by Clement Attlee' Robert Harris, Sunday Times'The best book in the field of British politics' Philip Collins, The Times'Easily the best single-volume, cradle-to-grave life of Clement Attlee yet written' Andrew RobertsClement Attlee was the Labour prime minister who presided over Britain's radical postwar government, delivering the end of the Empire in India, the foundation of the NHS and Britain's place in NATO. Called 'a sheep in sheep's clothing', his reputation has long been that of an unassuming character in the shadow of Churchill. But as John Bew's revelatory biography shows, Attlee was not only a hero of his age, but an emblem of it; and his life tells the story of how Britain changed over the twentieth century. Here, Bew pierces Attlee's reticence to examine the intellect and beliefs of Britain's greatest - and least appreciated - peacetime prime minister. This edition includes a new preface by the author in response to the 2017 general election.Trade ReviewWinner of The Orwell Prize for Political WritingEasily the best single-volume, cradle-to-grave life of Clement Attlee yet written. Professor Bew updates but also betters all the other biographies with this intelligent, well-researched and highly readable book. Scholarly and perceptive, it tells the story of how quiet determination and impeccable political timing wrought a peaceful revolution * Andrew Roberts *If Labour is to return to power, it is not to Tony Blair and Harold Wilson to whom it should turn for inspiration but to the ethos and example of Attlee . . . Citizen Clem promises to be one of the highlights of the autumn season -- Jason Cowley * New Statesman *The brilliant young historian John Bew urges Labour to recapture something of the ethos of the Attlee period * Telegraph *In this monumental biography, John Bew sets out to explore, not just the scale of the achievement, but to discover what made Attlee tick . . . A good book about a remarkable man -- Chris Mullin * Guardian *Fascinating . . . He writes with flair and considerable intellectual confidence . . . Bew believes that Labour has lost a sense of historical mission . . . This insight seems right to me -- Jason Cowley * Financial Times *This biography makes a strong case for Attlee's greatness . . . Such contradictions deserve a discerning biographer, and in John Bew, Attlee has the man he deserves. He has written with verve and confidence a first-rate life of a man whom he correctly argues has been under-appreciated . . . What a life and what a man -- Daniel Finkelstein * The Times *Outstanding . . . This excellent new life of Labour's greatest leader . . . We still live in the society that was shaped by Clement Attlee . . . Bew's achievement is not only to bring this curious and introverted man to life, but to make him oddly loveable. He steps out like a character from the pages of the social novels of H. G. Wells or George Orwell . . . To read this book in the shadow of the present Labour leadership election is a salutary experience -- Robert Harris * Sunday Times *An absorbing new life of Clement Attlee shows how a quiet man from the suburbs became Labour's unlikely postwar hero . . . So how did a man who was the object of so much private derision by his peers come to preside over Labour's greatest (some might say only) radical government? Bew puts the question at the core of his story. He answers it convincingly by mixing arresting narrative with a thorough study of the people and policies of the Labour movement at a time of hardship interspersed by war and fierce ideological difference . . . The book is replete with amusing vignettes . . . This book will become required reading for the present-day Labour party -- John Kampfner * Observer *Magisterial . . . A great work of personal biography, social history, political philosophy, international relations and ferrets-in-a-sack Labour Party infighting . . . Bew explores in great detail Attlee's pilgrim's progress toward socialism with a thorough critique of his literary, cultural and political reading. . . As the Labour Party retreats towards ideological self-immolation, as Britain stumbles on the world stage, and as European social democracy stands in peril, we need another Attlee more than ever. In the absence of which, we have Bew's brilliant book -- Tristram Hunt * Prospect *Read this book to understand what Labour once was and what has been lost because of its embrace of identity politics and ultra-liberalism. Book of the Year -- Jason Cowley * New Statesman *A masterful portrait of a man who led the Labour Party for 20 years and arguably did more than any other UK politician to shape the postwar world . . . Attlee was a patriot who believed that tolerance was Britain's greatest gift to the world. Now, more than ever, it is tolerance we need. Book of the Year -- Tom Watson * New Statesman *Attlee was a distant and austere figure by reputation, but the book sweeps that away from the start, recalling Clem the street agitator and war hero. Book of the Year -- Roland White * Sunday Times *The author sets out to claim a place among the greats for his subject and succeeds . . . The lessons for modern politics are made clearly. Book of the Year -- Daniel Finkelstein * The Times *Bew has the detachment of a professional historian, but an understanding of politics and personalities. Book of the Year -- Kwasi Kwarteng * Evening Standard *The best book in the field of British politics. Book of the Year. -- Philip Collins * The Times *Bew is particularly good on the dynamics of his close relationship with Churchill . . . Bew's revelatory biography explains that achievement. But it also brings us a 3D, flesh and blood Citizen Clem, and boy, does he make him shine! -- Gordon Marsden * Times Higher Education *This is a big book in scope and depth and is a very good read besides. It is not just a political biography, but an explanation of the man, what made him, the roots of his patriotism, his military experience in the First World War, his love of literature . . . in a way Citizen Clem is a history of the twentieth century * Tablet *His true political genius and unflinching moral purpose are brilliantly reappraised in John Bew's Citizen Clem . . . This book is a rare beast - political biography at its finest, yet one that is deeply moving -- David Bell * Times Literary Supplement *Winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical BiographyBoth a magnificent renewal of the art of political biography and a monument to the greatest leader the Labour party has ever had. It presents us with a man whose socialism was learned, not acquired * Jonathan Derbyshire, Judge of The Orwell Prize *John Bew's survey of Labour's post-war hero Clement Attlee resurrects the idea of the political biography almost thought lost: encyclopaedic, analytical, massive in scope but intimate in understanding. * Waterstones Weekly *

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Book SynopsisA detailed history of locomotive technology and the trains of the world, with 700 photographs.

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2018 NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017''The kind of vision the world needs right now...Pankaj Mishra shouldn''t stop thinking'' Christopher de Bellaigue, Financial Times''This is the most astonishing, convincing, and disturbing book I''ve read in years'' Joe Sacco''Urgent, profound and extraordinarily timely'' John BanvilleHow can we explain the origins of the great wave of paranoid hatreds that seem inescapable in our close-knit world - from American ''shooters'' and ISIS to Trump, from a rise in vengeful nationalism across the world to racism and misogyny on social media? In Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra answers our bewilderment by casting his gaze back to the eighteenth century, before leading us to the present.He shows that as the world became modern those who were unable to fulfil its promises - freedom, stability and prosperity - were increasingly susceptible to demagogues. The many who came late to this new world or were left, or pushed, behind, reacted in horrifyingly similar ways: intense hatred of invented enemies, attempts to re-create an imaginary golden age, and self-empowerment through spectacular violence. It was from among the ranks of the disaffected that the militants of the 19th century arose - angry young men who became cultural nationalists in Germany, messianic revolutionaries in Russia, bellicose chauvinists in Italy, and anarchist terrorists internationally.Today, just as then, the wider embrace of mass politics, technology, and the pursuit of wealth and individualism has cast many more millions adrift in a literally demoralized world, uprooted from tradition but still far from modernity - with the same terrible resultsMaking startling connections and comparisons, Age of Anger is a book of immense urgency and profound argument. It is a history of our present predicament unlike any other.Trade ReviewUrgent, profound and extraordinarily timely -- John BanvilleThis is the most astonishing, convincing, and disturbing book I've read in years * Joe Sacco *Incisive and scary.. a wake-up call -- Nick Fraser * Guardian *Far from reassuring... his vision is unusually broad, accommodating and resistant to categorisation. It is the kind of vision the world needs right now...Pankaj Mishra shouldn't stop thinking. -- Christopher de Bellaigue * Financial Times *This is a framework that pushes aside conventional, familiar divisions of left and right to focus on the profound sense of dislocation and alienation that spawned (and still spawns) movements ranging from fascism to anarchism to nihilism...a short book into which a lot of intellectual history has been packed. -- Laura Miller * Slate *Stimulating... thought-provoking -- Richard Evans * Guardian *A valuable book. Mishra's ideas are bold and initially discomfiting - it's a challenge to look over the head of the latest terrorist and try to dispassionately trace his rage back to Voltaire - but it's undeniably good to stretch intellectual muscles and test your own prejudices. Mishra invites us to hear the ugly, muffled shouts beneath the "drumbeat" of Western civilisation. -- Julie McDowall * Sunday Herald *Mishra reads like a brilliant autodidact, putting to shame the many students who dutifully did the reading for their classes but missed the incandescent fire and penetrating insight in canonical texts... no one has discerned better than Mishra just how far we still are from the top. -- Samuel Moyn * New Republic *Around the world, both East and West, the insurrectionary fury of militants, zealots and populists has overturned the post-Cold-War global consensus. Where does their rage come from, and where will it end? One of the sharpest cultural critics and political analysts releases his landmark "history of the present -- Boyd Tonkin * Newsweek *An original attempt to explain today's paranoid hatreds...Iconoclastic...Mr. Mishra shocks on many levels. * Economist *Along with quotations from Voltaire, Rousseau, and other familiar figures of Western Civ, Age of Anger includes observations from Iranian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and other nations' scholars; their perspectives complement Mishra's deep understanding of global tensions....In probing for the wellspring of today's anger he hits on something real -- Peter Coy * Bloomberg Businessweek *Provocative...We'll need new philosophical frameworks to understand the phenomenon of political anger in a global perspective; what's fascinating about Mishra's novel reading is that it draws on familiar philosophical and literary touchstones while turning them on their head...A brilliant work -- Eric Banks * Bookforum *A disturbing but imperatively urgent analysis -- Bryce Christensen * Booklist *A probing, well-informed investigation of global unrest calling for 'truly transformative thinking' about humanity's future * Kirkus Reviews *Sensitive and illuminating....Makes a powerful case for the influence of a certain group of anti-rational and anti-commercial ideas which have influenced our world.,..Mishra's contribution is to show us how these ideas have become 'viral' and what that means for all of us. -- Jonathan Steinberg * The Spectator *Incisive...Age of Anger, which was completed after the Brexit vote but before Trump's victory, reminds us that the dialectical movement between these two poles - between a desire to be oneself and a desire to belong to something larger than oneself - has been a feature of Western political life since the Enlightenment -- Justin E.H. Smith * Harper’s *Pankaj Mishra's Age of Anger...exemplifies his characteristic eloquence and erudition...Leaders who are struggling to process the present backlash against core aspects of globalization would do well to heed Mishra's plea to "remember the irreducible human being, her or his fears, desires, and resentments." -- Ali Wyne * The National Interest *An impressively probing and timely work...Highly engaging * Publishers Weekly *Scintillating...Age of Anger looks an awful lot like a masterwork. We're only a few weeks into 2017, but one of the books of the year is already here -- Christopher Bray * The Tablet *

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Book SynopsisTrick or Treat is the first book to both examine the origins and history of Halloween and explore in depth its current global popularity. Festivals like the Celtic Samhain and Catholic All Souls’ Day have blended to produce the modern Halloween, which has been reborn in America – but there are also related but independent holidays, especially Mexico’s Day of the Dead. Lisa Morton explores the explosion in popularity of haunted attractions and the impact of events such as the global economic recession, as well as the effect Halloween has had on popular culture through literary works, films and television series. Trick or Treat takes us on a journey from the spectacular to the macabre, making it a must for anyone who wants to peep behind the mask to see the real past and present of this ever more popular holiday.Trade ReviewWinner of the Bram Stoker Award for Non-fiction; Winner of the Halloween Book Festival’s Grand Prize; `If you want to know anything at all about the subject, you ought to find it in Trick or Treat . . . Morton’s interesting account of Hallowe’en is at its best when it comes up to date and there are many entertaining illustrations. – Susan Hill, The Times; `Well-written and illustrated, informative and entertaining.’ – Fortean Times; `Trick or Treat covers the history of Halloween from its ancient Celtic roots to its stunning growth in global popularity in the 21st century. Morton is an accomplished horror short story writer, and her ability to draw readers in quickly and keep them turning the pages shines through in her nonfiction as well. Lavishly illustrated, this solidly researched and concise work is fun to read and a great choice for readers who want to know why we seek out the scary each October.’ – Library Journal; `Morton offers the first comprehensive history of the `misunderstood festival’ of Halloween. She playfully sets the record straight on the origins of Halloween,explores its migration from the Old World to the New and back again, discusses the role of consumer culture in establishing supposedly ancient traditions, and concludes with an observation that Halloween’s ever-changing nature has allowed it to be adapted for countless purposes around the globe . . . This book is an excellent example of the scholarship on holidays as a means of accessing many facets of history. Highly recommended.’ – ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Halloween: The Misunderstood Festival 2. Snap-apple Night and November Eve: Halloween in the British Isles 3. Trick or Treat in the New World 4. La Toussaint, Allerheiligen and Tutti i Santi: The Global Celebration 5. Dias de los Muertos 6. From Burns to Burton: Halloween and Popular Culture References Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

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Book Synopsis'The reigning Queen of Classics' Spectator'Mary Beard is the best in the business' Dan Snow'Excellent' Guardian'Enthralling' Sunday TimesBritain's most famous classicist asks: what are civilisations?Central to this huge question are the ways in which we have depicted the human and the divine from prehistory to the present day. And across such iconic creations as Angkor Wat, the Ravenna mosaics and China's terracotta army, one ancient representation of the human body still influences (or distorts) how people in the West see not only their own culture but that of others.From idolatry to iconoclasm, Mary Beard shines her spotlight on the artists who made art, and on those who have used, viewed, or interpreted it - and asked how to look with the eye of faith.

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Book SynopsisThe #1 New York Times BestsellerA decade-by-decade cookbook that highlights the best (and a few of the worst) baking recipes from the 20th centuryFriends of baking, are you sick and tired of making the same recipes again and again? Then look no further than this baking blast from the past, as B. Dylan Hollis highlights the most unique tasty treats of yesteryear.Travel back in time on a delicious decade-by-decade jaunt as Dylan shows you how to bake vintage forgotten greats. With a big pinch of fun and a full cup of humor, you?ll be baking everything from Chocolate Potato Cake from the 1910s to Avocado Pie from the 1960s.Dylan has baked hundreds of recipes from countless antique cookbooks and selected only the best for this bakebook, sharing the shining stars from each decade. And because some of the recipes Dylan shares on his wildly popular social media channels are spectacular failures, he?s thrown in a few of the most disastrously strange recipes for you to try if you dare.A few of Dylan?s favorites that are going to have you licking your lips and begging for more include:? 1900s Cornflake Macaroons? 1910s ANZAC Biscuits? 1930s Peanut Butter Bread? 1940s Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake? 1950s Tomato Soup Cake? 1970s Potato Chip CookiesBaking Yesteryear contains 101 expertly curated recipes that will take you on a delicious journey through the past. With a larger-than-life personality and comedic puns galore, baking with Dylan never gets old. We?ll leave that to the recipes.

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Book Synopsis* LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2025 *Lesbians are a people without a home. Perhaps that''s why the ones we make for ourselves are so important.A highly readable cultural history of queer women''s lives in the second half of the twentieth century, told through six iconic spaces''An inspiring celebration of lesbian camaraderie, activism and fun'' SARAH WATERS''A cracking read, and a reminder of what shaped where we are now'' VAL MCDERMID ''Riveting; indispensable; and suffused with a humane warmth'' ALISON BECHDEL''A must-have for any queer bookshelf'' TEGAN QUINFor as long as queer women have existed, they''ve created gathering grounds where they can be themselves. From the intimate darkness of the lesbian bar to the sweaty camaraderie of the softball field, these spaces aren''t a luxury - they''re a necessity for queer women defining their identities. Blending memoir, archival research and interviews, journalist June Thomas invites readers into six iconic lesbian spaces over the course of the last sixty years, including the rural commune, the sex toy boutique, the holiday destination and the feminist bookstore. She also illuminates what is gained and lost in the shift from the exclusive, tight-knit women''s spaces of the ''70s toward today''s more inclusive yet more diffuse LGBTQ+ communities.''Thomas''s ability to resurrect the past is a testament to her meticulous research. But it''s her voice - charming, irreverent, tender - that makes the journey through lesbian history so worthwhile'' NEW YORK TIMES''Pulses with delicious dykes and the spaces we have made for ourselves over the years. I welcome this story'' STELLA DUFFY''A wonderfully rangy, conversational, and thoughtful exploration of lesbian geographies'' DANIEL LAVERY''Immensely readable . . . A celebration of what was - and can be - built, with all the hurdles and ecstasies'' ROSIE GARLAND

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Book SynopsisFor reasons of language and history, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, America has much older Spanish roots - ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation. El Norte chronicles the sweeping and dramatic history of Hispanic North America from the arrival of the Spanish to the present - from Ponce de Leon's initial landing in Florida in 1513 to Spanish control of the vast Louisiana territory in 1762 to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and up to the more recent tragedy of post-hurricane Puerto Rico and the ongoing border acrimony with Mexico. Interwoven in this stirring narrative of events and people are cultural issues that have been there from the start and remain unresolved: language, belonging, community, race and nationality. Seeing them play out over centuries provides vital perspective at a time when it is urgently needed. In 1883, Walt Whitman wrote 'to that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.' That future is here, and El Norte, an emotive and eventful history in its own right, will have a powerful impact on our perception of the United States.Trade Reviewa detailed and anecdote-rich summary of how far back the Hispanic presence goes in what is now the US * TLS *Gibson's sprawling work makes a major contribution by reminding us of the falseness of Donald Trump's xenophobic narrative. Her rich account leaves no doubt that America is a vastly more interesting place because of the millions of Hispanic immigrants who have been arriving on our shores for more than 600 years. * Guardian *Gibson's book is a scholarly, compelling case for reassessing the Hispanic role in US history... El Norte is a worthy history of an overlooked population. * History Today *El Norte is the book that Americans, Anglo and Hispanic, should read as an education on their own American place or role . . . This is a serious book of history but also an engaging project of reading the future in the past. * New York Times Book Review *[Gibson] writes engagingly of moments of violence and injustice, deprivation and discrimination, music and muses: Her paragraphs on the early-20th-century Texas society women who bickered over how to restore the Alamo, for instance, would do justice to the pen of an Edith Wharton. * Wall Street Journal *In this enlightening and exhaustively researched work, Carrie Gibson has accomplished the monumental task of recovering an extraordinary and consequential Hispanic past traditionally written out of American history. Her narrative is far reaching, vividly detailed, and a gift to assessing the American experience and evolving identity. -- Jack E. Davis, author of THE GULF, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for HistoryCarrie Gibson has written an epic history which will significantly change the way we look at American history...Her research is meticulous in detail and her writing propels the reader through 500 years to today. So thorough is her work that I will be keeping El Norte on my bookshelf -- but pulling it down often to leaf through its pages. -- Richard Parker, author of LONE STAR NATIONA sweeping story of our Hispanic roots that links the dreamers of the Conquest with the Dreamers of the present, ranging across a continent's history from first contacts in Florida to intersecting empires on Vancouver Island. In connecting places across the United States with their Hispanic pasts, Carrie Gibson connects our America with what one Cuban called Nuestra América, blurring borders at a time when others are building them up. -- Paul Gillingham, author of CUAUHTEMOC’S BONES

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Book SynopsisAn elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry A welcome contribution to polar studies.' Sara Wheeler, Spectator [MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skilltakes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief' The TimesTrade Review‘A captivating, heartrending, emotionally exhausting, beautifully crafted bloody brilliant book’ Ben Tarring ‘I am reading it with fascination. It’s magnificent. [MacInnes has] an almost supernatural ability to conjure up the past.’ Sue Limb: co-author of Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer 'The story of the five women waiting at home for Captain Scott and his doomed polar party is naturally occluded in tragedy. In this engaging book Katherine MacInnes for the first time presents them – two mothers at the outset, and three wives – as distinct individuals, separated one from the other by class, education, faith and temperament …An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry … A welcome contribution to polar studies.’ Sara Wheeler, Spectator ‘[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill…takes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief’ Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times ‘A breathless parallel narrative, flipping from the Antarctic horrors to the worried women keeping calm and carrying on … Mesmerising … Movingly done’ Kate Green, Country Life '[MacInnes] relies … deftly on photographs, from which she derives many of her descriptions of precise moments. It is fascinating and impressive to have her prose bring these images to life, as she plausibly recaptures the moments they depict … She show[s] that history in the making is not only experienced but felt, poignantly and painfully.' Stephanie Barczewski, TLS ‘Combining historical research, including access to family archives, with a vivid storytelling style, author Katherine MacInnes presents … the public and private fallout of the tragedy, which reveals much about society at the time. In doing so she presents a fresh and fascinating perspective on a well-worn story, as well as a window onto a lost world.’ This England magazine 'A truly gripping, original and refreshing angle on the history of polar exploration' The Bay magazine ‘Superb’ Bute Museum

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