History Books

Book SynopsisIn this classic text, first published in 1977, Tom Nairn memorably depicts the 'slow foundering' of the United Kingdom on the rocks of imperial decline, constitutional anachronism and the gathering force of civic nationalism. Rich in comparisons between the nationalisms of the British Isles and those of the wider world, thoughtful in its treatment of the interaction between nationality and social class, The Break-Up of Britain concludes with a bravura essay on the Janus-faced nature of national identity. Postscripts from the Thatcher and Blair years trace the political strategies whose upshot accelerated the demise of a British state they were intended to serve. As a second Scottish independence referendum beckons, a new Introduction by Anthony Barnett underlines the book's enduring relevance.Trade ReviewThe most forceful and original mind to confront, demask and anatomise the British state. The perception that Great Britain was a multinational state and not a united nation had never quite been lost over the centuries, but it was Tom Nairn who almost single-handedly hammered this truth into the skull of British intellectuals and campaigners until it became - as it is today - practically uncontested by the political class -- Neal AschersonThe Break-Up of Britain is Tom Nairn's greatest book. A potent and long-lasting challenge * Scotsman *Tom Nairn pioneered critical retrospect of the United Kingdom, and scandalised people by looking forward calmly to its disintegration. This in a style of extraordinary vigour and beauty - and not least humour: writing as democratic as his own unswerving politics -- Perry AndersonTom Nairn's fundamental insight was to recognise that the United Kingdom was an imperial construct, and that the ties that once bound the people of these islands were fraying * New Statesman *More than anyone else, Tom Nairn has shaped how we think about the United Kingdom and its creaking constitutional architecture. The national conversation he started, the national journey he so profoundly shaped in his work, is far from over * Herald *Powerful and prophetic. Nairn is perhaps Britain's most perceptive and ambitious national storyteller, an audaciously creative stylist. -- New Statesman * Rory Scothorne *Combines often stunning writing with immense knowledge of literature, history, and political philosophy ... Nairn has made a priceless contribution towards a desperately needed new discourse. * The Hindu *The most significant book on British politics of the past half-century -- Anthony Barnett * openDemocracy *

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Book SynopsisIn the late 1960s the world was faced with impending disaster: the height of the Cold War, the end of oil, and the decline of great cities throughout the world. Out of this crisis came a new generation of thinkers, designers and engineers who hoped to build a better future, influenced by visions of geodesic domes, walking cities, and a meaningful connection with nature. In this brilliant work of cultural history, architect Douglas Murphy traces the lost archeology of the present-day through the works of thinkers and designers such as Buckminster Fuller, the ecological pioneer Stewart Brand, the Archigram architects who envisioned the Plug-In City in the '60s, as well as co-operatives in Vienna, communes in the Californian desert, and protesters on the streets of Paris. In this mind-bending account of the last avant garde, we see not just the source of our current problems but also some powerful alternative futures.Trade ReviewNo one warns you that when you get old eras that you lived through are, to the next generation, history. And it is salutory to have one of the wilder fringes of that history recounted with the acuity, sympathy and fluency Douglas Murphy brings to it. The cast is extraordinary: oddballs, philosophers, seers-and a few frauds. -- Jonathan MeadesIn Last Futures, such one-time commonplaces as three day weeks, the elimination of labour, geodesic domes, walking cities, space colonies and industrialised housing are removed from dimwitted 'where's my jetpack' nostalgia and put back into history. In so doing, Douglas Murphy performs the useful service of making clear when the ideas of the unrealised futures of the 1960s and 1970s were stupid and wasteful, and when they were exceptionally smart-serious solutions to problems we still haven't solved, and problems we seem intent on making considerably worse. Last Futures is the Silent Running to contemporary architecture's The Fountainhead. -- Owen Hatherley, author of Landscapes of CommunismA fluent, chronological narrative in which oddities from the recent past form sequences in an unfolding drama . Murphy deploys his storytelling with great effect. * Architecture Today *Murphy tells the story of this counter-revolution pithily and well . A fresh and haunting way of explaining what happened to the radical '60s and '70s as a whole, in Murphy's view quite possibly the last chance the west had of creating a decent and environmentally sustainable society. -- Andy Beckett * Guardian *Provocative and compelling. * Macleans *Murphy's chief virtue is the faculty with which he connects the dots between various, seemingly unconnected developments in architecture and theory with the ecological, financial, and military crises of an earlier era, holding a mirror onto our own anxious epoch of globalized precarity labor and anthropogenic climate change. -- Anna Khachiyan * Metropolis *Murphy outlines both some well known and some intriguingly novel suggestions for why the enthusiasm for 'omni-infrastructural' utopian frames went away.[Last Futures's] motley quality is in no way a fault of Murphy's approach, but rather a real advantage of his method as a cultural historian. A strength of Murphy's book is that he depicts both the general outlines and some of the juiciest details of these complex historical moments without distilling them into a deceptively linear chronology or a progression of mere styles. -- David Wittenberg * Los Angeles Review of Books *Last Futures is to the end of mid century experimentalism what the Zapruder film is to the death of Kennedy: a weird and gripping replay, full of period grain, each frame posing questions about whether things could have been played our differently. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisThe book narrates the story of three generations of the Wise family as they became Cork-based merchant princes. It is also the story of their North Mall distillery, the then largest in Cork city, which even rivalled the great distilling houses of Dublin.

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Book SynopsisThe book analyses the relationship between crime and conflict in Northern Ireland since the establishment of the Northern Irish state in 1921. Despite the vast research literature that focuses on Northern Ireland's political divisions and the violence of the 'Troubles', the relationship between these issues and crime has received much less attention.

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Book Synopsis'Beautifully written, intelligent and gripping' Daily Mail. From the Richard and Judy bestselling author of The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets. Every ending is a new beginning . . .No one expected Marnie Fitzpatrick to be expelled from school . . . but the aftermath will haunt her forever. No one imagined she'd fall for the boy from the wrong side of town . . . until the day she saw him dancing alone.No one could know she had the one thing he needed to capture his dreams . . . the courage to chase them. From the author of the Richard and Judy classic The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets comes a story about how sometimes the cruelest beginnings can lead to the most unexpected of endings.Trade ReviewI so enjoyed this emotional, engaging, vivid and different coming-of-age story . . . The thought-provoking narrative twists between Marnie's and Julie's points of view, and is beautifully written, intelligent and gripping * Daily Mail *A beautiful tale of first loves, secret passions and, er, maths * Heat *It seems there is a ready audience for novels set in the relatively recent past, with characters' quaint attitudes and period detail of clothes and music forming a large part of attraction - nostalgia-lit? This fine example of the genre offers intelligent, undemanding entertainment, which is sometimes all you need on a hot summer's day * Irish Examiner *

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Book SynopsisThe use of chemistry in archaeology can help archaeologists answer questions about the nature and origin of the many organic and inorganic finds recovered through excavation, providing valuable information about the social history of humankind. This textbook tackles the fundamental issues in chemical studies of archaeological materials. Examining the most widely used analytical techniques in archaeology, the third edition of this comprehensive textbook features a new chapter on proteomics, capturing significant developments in protein recognition for dating and characterisation. The textbook has been updated to encompass the latest developments in the field. The textbook explores several archaeological investigations in which chemistry has been employed in tracing the origins of or in studying artefacts, and includes chapters on obsidian, ceramics, glass, metals and resins. It is an essential companion to students in archaeological science and chemistry, as well as to archaeologists, and those involved in conserving human artefacts.Trade ReviewThis is a book which must be read by all serious students of archaeology and also by those like me who would like to know more about the past. -- Edward R. Adlard * Chromatographia *Table of ContentsThe Development of Archaeological Chemistry; Analytical Techniques Applied to Archaeological; Obsidian Characterization in the Eastern Mediterranean; The Geochemistry of Clays and the Provenance of Ceramics; The Chemistry, Corrosion and Provenance of Archaeological Glass; The Chemical Study of Metals – the Medieval and Later Brass Industry in Europe; The Chemistry and Use of Resinous Substances; Amino Acid Stereochemistry and the First Americans; Lead Isotope Geochemistry and the Trade in Metals; Proteins: Haemoglobin, Immunochemistry, and Proteomics; The Chemistry of Human Bone: Diet, Nutrition, Status and Mobility; The Detection of Small Biomolecules: Dairy Products in the Archaeological Record; Summary – Whiter Archaeological Chemistry?

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Book SynopsisJenny's younger brother, Stevie, is fascinated by the giant bronze statues of three steelworkers that stands in the Meadowhall shopping mall, on the site of an old Sheffield steelworks. Stevie is convinced that the statues move and talk, but Jenny doesn't believe him. When storefronts are damaged in a spate of mysterious burglaries at the shopping mall, the police are baffled, but Stevie is sure he knows who is behind it

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Book SynopsisBefore the outbreak of the First World War, the Channel Islands were viewed as they are today; scenic, sunny and relaxing holiday destinations, where it was possible to briefly escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. As soon as the fighting began, the immediate worry was the threat of a German invasion to the Islands, which are much closer to the coast line of France than they are to the southern coast line of Great Britain. Both men and women alike played their part. Men by either joining one of the islands Militia or enlisting in one of the numerous regiments of the British Army, including the 'Jersey Pals', and the men who served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Regiment. The book looks at the pride in the commitment and achievements of the Channel Islands' very own Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, formed in December 1916. The Islands' women volunteered in their droves to serve with the British Red Cross' Voluntary Aid Detachments, but not just throughout the Channel Islands, but to mainland Great Britain, and further afield in Belgium and France and other similar theatres of war. As far as most people are aware, the first time German soldiers stepped foot in the Channel Islands, was when their troops landed unopposed in June 1940 during the Second World War. However, between 1915 and 1917, some 2,000 German prisoners of war, were held captive at the Les Blanches Banques camp. The book closes by taking a look at the men from all of the Islands who voluntarily went off to war, and ended up paying the ultimate price and didn't make it back home to their loved ones.

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Book SynopsisAfter the great battles of 1916, the Allied Armies planned to launch massive attacks North and South of the Somme. The German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917 forced the new French CinC General Nivelle to rethink and the French embarked on a major attack in the Aisne area and along the Chemin des Dames, with the British conducting large scale diversionary operations around Arras. The French suffered disastrously and, rendered incapable of further offensive operations, it fell to the British to step up the pressure, which they did albeit at a terrible price. This latest work by expert Jack Sheldon describes the event of Spring 1917 from the defenders' perspective. In particular it reveals the methods the Germans used to smash the French attacks and Oberst Fritz von Lossberg's transformation of the defences in the Arras front. Actions described in detail are the bitter battles around Monchy Le Preun, the Roeux Chemical works and Bullecourt as well as the capture of Vimy Ridge.

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Book SynopsisIn addition to being the most bitter industrial dispute the coalminers' strike of 1984/5 was the longest national strike in British history. For a year over 100,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers, their families and supporters, in hundreds of communities, battled to prevent the decimation of the coal industry on which their livelihoods and communities depended. Margaret Thatcher's government aimed to smash the most militant section of the British working class. She wanted to usher in a new era of greater management control at work and pave the way for a radical refashioning of society in favour of neo-liberal objectives that three decades later have crippled the world economy. Victory required draconian restrictions on picketing and the development of a militarised national police force that made widespread arrests as part of its criminalisation policy. The attacks on the miners also involved the use of the courts and anti-trade union laws, restrictions on welfare benefits, the secret financing by industrialists of working miners and the involvement of the security services. All of which was supported by a compliant mass media but resisted by the collective courage of miners and mining communities in which the role of Women against Pit Closures in combating poverty and starvation was heroic. Thus inspired by the struggle for jobs and communities an unparalleled movement of support groups right across Britain and in other parts of the world was born and helped bring about a situation where the miners long struggle came close on occasions to winning. At the heart of the conflict was the Yorkshire region, where even at the end in March 1985, 83 per cent of 56,000 miners were still out on strike. The official Yorkshire National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) area photographer in 1984-85 was the late Martin Jenkinson and this book of his photographs - some never previously seen before - serves as a unique social document on the dispute that changed the face of Britain.

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Book SynopsisThe recent past is so often neglected when people research their family history, yet it can be one of the most rewarding periods to explore, and so much fascinating evidence is available. The rush of events over the last century and the rapid changes that have taken place in every aspect of life have been dramatic, and the lives of family members of only a generation or two ago may already appear remote. That is why Karen Bali's informative and accessible guide to investigating your immediate ancestors is essential reading, and a handy reference for anyone who is trying to trace them or discover the background to their lives. In a sequence of concise, fact-filled chapters she looks back over the key events of the twentieth century and identifies the sources that can give researchers an insight into the personal stories of individuals who lived through it. She explains census and civil records, particularly those of the early twentieth century, and advises readers on the best way to get relevant information from directories and registers as well as wills and other personal documents.Chapters also cover newspapers - which often provide personal details and offer a vivid impression of the world of the time - professional and property records and records of migration and naturalization. This practical handbook is rounded off with sections on tracing living relatives and likely future developments in the field.

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Book SynopsisThe outcome of a brutal war, which took place 1,885 years ago, continues to reverberate in the Near East today. It is a tale largely unknown outside Israel, and yet it helps explain why the region continues to be engulfed by strife. "As a historian I learned about the Bar Kokhba War, but the explanations for why and how it happened seemed confused," said historian and author Lindsay Powell. "As with King Arthur, fact and myth have become muddled. To establish the truth, I travelled across three continents. BAR KOKHBA: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome is the result." This amazing and consequential story involves an epic struggle between the two strong-willed leaders over who would rule a nation. One protagonist was Hadrian, the cosmopolitan ruler of the vast Roman Empire, then at its zenith, who some regarded as divine. He is best known today for the famous wall he built in northern Britain. The other was Shim'on, a Jewish military leader in a district of a minor province; some believed him to be the 'King Messiah' after sage Rabbi Akiba allegedly saw him fulfilling biblical prophecy and named him 'Bar Kokhba' ('Son of a Star'). It is also the tale of the clash of two ancient cultures. One was the conqueror, seeking to maintain control of its hard-won dominion they called Judaea; the other was the conquered, seeking to break free and establish a new nation. Shim'on called his new country Israel. Several causes for the war have been suggested, such as bans on circumcision or studying Torah which Powell evaluates in his book. Most likely it was the decision by Hadrian to rebuild then ruined Jerusalem as a pagan city for retired Roman soldiers. He called it Aelia Capitolina after his own family and the triad of Roman gods whose shrine may have been erected over the remains of the Second Temple. It may or may not have been Hadrian's intention, but the Jews took it as a direct insult. During the ensuing conflict - called the 'Second Jewish War' (AD 132-136) - the highly motivated Jewish militia sorely tested the highly trained - and normally invincible - professional Roman army. Powell said: "Amazingly, the Jewish rebels withstood the Roman onslaught for three-and-a-half years. They established an independent nation with its own administration led by Shim'on as its president (nasi). They minted their own coins by overstriking Roman coins with Jewish iconography, cheerfully obliterating the image of the emperor and pagan gods with every strike of the hammer." Found in caves in the Judaean Desert in the 1950s and 1960s, letters from Shim'on to his lieutenants survive revealing how deeply involved he was in day-to-day actions, and his increasing frustration with their laziness. For reasons Powell explains in his book, the Jews ultimately lost. In retribution, Hadrian expelled the Jews from Judea and barred them from entering Aelia Capitolina and its holy sites. He even changed the name of the Roman province to Syria Palaestina - the origin of Palestine. "The outcome of that David and Goliath contest was of great consequence, both for the people of Judaea and for Judaism itself," said Powell. "Centuries of bloodshed followed." In death, Bar Kokhba became a legend. Over the ages, this flawed rebel with a cause become a hero for the increasingly persecuted Jews in the Diaspora longing to found a new Jewish homeland. Across Europe in the early twentieth century, there were athletic teams competing in sports events under the moniker 'Bar Kochba' as part of a movement to create the image of the 'Muscular Jew'. The last games were held in Berlin in 1936, just two years before Kristallnacht. Eric H. Cline, Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology, George Washington University, writes in the foreword of the book: "There are a very limited number of people whose life, and death, still impact other centuries after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. There are fewer still who inspire entire movements, and migrations, such as the return to what is now modern Israel by the Zionists, after that same length of time." In the interwar years in Palestine, armed Jewish resistance groups championed Bar Kokhba as a figure of inspiration in their own struggle against the British and Palestinian Arabs to establish a new State of Israel; it finally came into being in 1948. Today modern Israelis still celebrate Bar Kokhba with bonfires and songs on the annual Lag B'Omer holiday. In researching his book, Powell went on a journey stretching from Hollywood to London, Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and Caesarea, and Herodium to Ein Gedi. He drew upon archaeology, art, coins, inscriptions, militaria, as well as secular and religious documents, to produce a compelling and complete account of the people and events at a crucial time in world history. Commenting on the new book, Cline said: "Let it be said that Powell's researches have resulted in an enthralling journey through history. It is a marvelous search for the man behind the myth, which is well worth reading. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did."

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Book Synopsis'A concise study of one of the most fascinating and evil men in history... Essential for anyone interested in military history' - SoldierMillions of words have been spent and misspent on Adolf Hitler. But there remains one aspect as yet insufficiently explored: the impact of the First World War on the man who would go on to indelibly shape the Second.Hitler fought at First Ypres and he saw something on the battlefields that eluded his fellow soldiers, something that would become the cornerstone of his later life. He saw this war as heroic, noble and natural – the last act of the fittest in the great drama of the human race.Where did it all start? This is the story of how Hitler became the Fuhrer.Trade ReviewA concise study of one of the most fascinating and evil men in history . . . Essential for anyone interested in military history * Soldier *

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Book SynopsisIt is a myth that either of the World Wars liberated women.The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern Britain. It marked at once political watershed and a social revolution; the point at which women of 21 and over were recognised in law as being as competent as men. But were they? What actually happened when this bill was passed? This is the story of what happened next.Ladies Can't Climb Ladders focuses on the lives of six women - six pioneers - forging paths in the fields of medicine, law, academia, architecture, engineering and the church. Robinson's startling study into the public and private lives of these women sheds light not on the desires and ambitions of her subjects but how family and society responded to the working woman and what their legacy looks like today. This book is written in their honour. It is a book about live subjects: equal opportunity, the gender pay gap, and whether women can expect, or indeed deserve, to have it at all.'An important and crackingly good read.' - TelegraphTrade ReviewArrestingly written…a stirring testament to unsung heroines * The Observer *A well researched and entertaining read…a wonderful celebration of female pioneers * The Sunday Times *Robinson writes with an often witty touch, which only serves to throw into furious relief the seriousness of the resistance women faced . . . An excellent companion to Robinson's Bluestockings. * The Financial Times *An entertaining guide, dipping into ladies’ journals of the time to add levity to what indeed is a serious message. -- Mia Levitin * Spectator *Jane Robinson’s book is a lesson in how unthinkingly we wear freedom. Well known as a writer and social historian excavating ordinary women’s lives, Robinson focuses this time on the emergence of lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, architects, scientists and churchwomen after the passing of the landmark law of 1919. Modern professional women will read it with a slow burn of anger and heightened respect for those whose actions, such a relatively brief time ago, made today possible . . . We ride on the shoulders of female giants — courageous, eccentric, clever pioneers. Robinson is a wryly amusing companion and this is an entertaining book, teeming with characters. * The Times *

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Book Synopsis_____________________________‘If you’ve ever felt like you were out of your element, in over your head or working without a net, you will love this book. Funny, fast-paced, and so emotionally true it hurts.’ Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black_____________________________Guidelines for aspiring stenographers:· Neutral tones set the tone· Be discreet and neat – like a librarian or well-paid prostitute· Breathe quietly or not at all· Above all else, keep the secrets to yourself…In 2012, Beck Dorey-Stein was just scraping by in Washington DC when an unusual job interview landed her in the Oval Office as one of Barack Obama's stenographers. She joined the elite team who accompanied the President wherever he went, recorder and mic in hand. On whirlwind trips across time zones, Beck forged friendships with a tight group of fellow travellers - young men and women who, like her, left their real lives behind to hop aboard Air Force One in service of the President. But as she learned the ropes of protocol, Beck became romantically entangled with a colleague, and suddenly, the political became all too personal. Set against the backdrop of a White House full of glamour, drama and intrigue, this is the story of a young woman making unlikely friendships, getting her heart broken, learning what truly matters and discovering her voice in the process._____________________________Praise for From the Corner of the Oval Office'Who knew the West Wing could be so sexy? Beck’s unparalleled access is obvious on every page, along with her knife-sharp humour... Lots of books claim to give real insider glimpses, but this one actually delivers.'Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada'This memoir is good and gossipy, will make you wish that you got to hang out with Barack and Michelle on a daily basis and is the missing link between The West Wing and Bridget Jones’s Diary.' Red'Set against the backdrop of a White House full of glamour, drama and intrigue, this is the story of a young woman making unlikely friendships, getting her heart broken, learning what truly matters and discovering her voice in the process.' GLAMOUR's Best Books of 2018Trade ReviewWho knew the West Wing could be so sexy? Beck’s unparalleled access is obvious on every page, along with her knife-sharp humour... Lots of books claim to give real insider glimpses, but this one actually delivers. * Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada *If you’ve ever felt like you were out of your element, in over your head, or working without a net, you will love this book. Beck Dorey-Stein offers an endlessly fascinating perspective on power and history in the making. This memoir is funny, fast-paced, and so emotionally true that it hurts. * Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black *Sex, lies and the White House... Dorey-Stein details her extraordinary experiences at the side of the former leader of the free world. Incredible. * Telegraph *Addictively readable... From the Corner of the Oval shatters the genre of the Washington memoir. Dorey-Stein writes with a fine eye for detail and conveys it with freshness, candor and humor. She takes her readers with her on a vertiginous tour of the world [...] and her sparkling, crackling prose had me cheering for her through each adventure. She never loses her starry-eyed optimism, her pinch-me wonderment, her “Working Girl” pluck. Which makes From the Corner of the Oval somehow, against the odds, a story of hope -- Paul Begala * New York Times *A sassy, genuinely hilarious and poignant tale... This marvellously addictive read is worth the cover price for its insider account of Obama's presidency alone. -- Caroline Sanderson * Bookseller *Love and heartbreak, ambition and jealousy, whirlwind travel to exotic locales and more page-turning drama than your favourite addictive novel. Consider yourself warned: this is not your father’s White House memoir. * Camille Perri, author of The Assistants *An entertaining behind-the-scenes memoir of a young Obama White House staffer. -- Lorraine Candy * Sunday Times Style Magazine *As someone who loves The West Wing, From the Corner of the Oval Office spoke to my geeky heart and gives great, sometimes surprising, insights into what it’s like to work for one of the most powerful person on the planet. -- Sarah Shaffi * Stylist *Bright pink and zinging with energy and sparkle...this book beautifully recaptures those vanished days of Obama's gentle wisdom. What makes it stand out among fly-on-the-wall accounts of the White House is Beck's honesty about the roller-coaster love affair she embarks on with a senior staffer, a grade-one, Jilly-Cooper-novel rotter. * Daily Mail *Set against the backdrop of a White House full of glamour, drama and intrigue, this is the story of a young woman making unlikely friendships, getting her heart broken, learning what truly matters and discovering her voice in the process. * Glamour's best books to read in 2018 *This memoir is good and gossipy, will make you wish that you got to hang out with Barack and Michelle on a daily basis and is the missing link between The West Wing and Bridget Jones’s Diary. * Red *An apolitical, fundamentally human story, and one with which many women will identify. * Refinery29 *An entertaining, relatable and refreshingly frank guide to life in the orbit of the President... This lively, entertaining story offers a joyful nostalgia trip back to more hopeful times. * Express *An extraordinary behind-the-scenes glimpse into Obama's White House, from a young woman who stumbles her way almost by chance into a job as a stenographer amongst the inner circle of the West Wing. Dorey-Stein’s memoir navigates intimate liaisons and world history, from hotel gyms to Air Force One. * Vogue *This memoir by a former Oval Office stenographer is equal parts racy, pacy and funny. From barely keeping her head above financial waters in Washington DC to hopping on board Air Force One with Barack Obama and his elite team, Dorey-Stein doesn’t so much dish the dirt as mop up the mess left at her feet by the drama of politics and the heartbreak of romance. * Irish Independent *An incredible story * GQ *Delightful... a bit Legally Blonde. What's most surprising about this isn't the hot pink cover, it's that we haven't had such a book before. Washington DC is famously a city of eager twentysomethings who work and date within the same pool. Where has the workplace relationship comedy been this whole time? * Mail on Sunday *Hilarious . . . [Beck] Dorey-Stein writes with honesty and panache. * Publishers Weekly *If you’re like me and you pour yourself a cocktail and look at pictures of Obama and cry, you will adore From the Corner of the Oval. If you’re a normal person who ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in a singularly historic place in time, you will find this book fascinating. Beck Dorey-Stein’s warmth, humor, and keen view made me wistful, happy, hopeful, and only sad when the book ended. * Julie Klam, author of The Stars in Our Eyes *An insider account of Obama's presidency in this fascinating memoir by former White House staffer Beck Dorey-Stein * Good Housekeeping *Intriguing and funny * Prima *A White House story with shades of Bridget Jones... Dorey-Stein is perceptive and has made an unusually interesting contribution to the groaning shelves of presidential history. * Evening Standard *For five years Beck Dorey-Stein was a stenographer in the White House, giving her a front-row seat as US political history was made. * Observer *[This] breezy page turner is essentially Bridget Jones goes to the White House. * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisThey were the most powerful rulers on earth. The mighty Qin Shi Huangdu (r. 221-210 BC), who began the construction of the Great Wall. The long-lived Han emperor Wudi (r. 141-87 BC), who developed China as a centralized Confucian state. The soldier-scholar Yongle (r. 1402-24 AD), who raised the Ming dynasty to its military peak. The dowager empress Cixi (r. 1861-1908 AD), who rose from humble Manchu origins to rule over all China. In The Dragon Throne, Jonathan Fenby tells the extraordinary story of imperial China through its 157 emperors, from Qin Shi Huangdu, who crushed his rivals to take supreme power as the first emperor in 221BC, until the final collapse of the faltering Manchu dynasty amidst the revolutionary chaos of the early twentieth century. The final emperor, the infant Puyi (r. 1908-12) ended his days as an assistant gardener in the very palace where he had been enthroned.

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Book SynopsisThis collection paints a picture of Hitler from members of his household in the unique position of being �seemingly ever-present, yet totally unconnected to events.� The reader is introduced to Hitler's Bodyguard Karl Krause (1934-39), his house administrator Herbert Dohring (1935-43) and chambermaid Anna Plaim (1941-43). From these accounts we get a deeper sense of Hitler in close proximity. These accounts massively add to our understanding of Hitler as a three dimensional character, especially from subjects like Plaim who only knew Hitler's home life, having rarely left Berghof. The series is able to shed light on his likes and dislikes from foods to his hobbies, creating a strange sense of humanity. This collection also provides the reader with fresh anecdotes, observations and portraits of Hitler's entourage and relatives. Plaim's images of Eva Braun come from finding torn fragments in the bin, whilst Dohring sheds light on Martin Bormann's demeanour.

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Book SynopsisIn history, this grand arterial 1500-mile waterway was always seen as the natural frontier between the northern provinces of the Iranian empires and the outer Turanian lands. It was for centuries central to Achaemenid and later Persian power. But, as the author shows, it has a prehistory which goes very much further back: and a succession of skilled yet still elusive Bronze Age cultures flourished here well before the rise of Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BCE. This richly illustrated book explores the fascinating history, art and archaeology of the region, including its primal trade in silk and foodstuffs; the mineral wealth of the Oxus basin; its exotic myths and beliefs; and the converging tribes and peoples which led to a new stability, economic growth and urbanism. The volume contains 150 full-colour photographs of notable artefacts, including silver decorated vessels, inlaid stone pots, agate beads and 25 'Bactrian Princesses': remarkable statuettes made in chlorite and limestone. Most of these rare objects have never been seen, let alone published, before.Trade Review'Treasures from the Oxus offers a comprehensive coverage of the region and its unique content, which includes previously unpublished artefacts of great importance. Although many of these objects are in private collections or have been acquired by museums from antique dealers, Professor Vidale has the requisite expertise, due to his long experience in the field, to identify the ones that have archaeological relevance. The author is one of the most highly accomplished among those scholars who have an intimate understanding of the materials, as well as wide experience in the surrounding regions; and this knowledge gives him a very balanced perspective in his discussions. This book, in short, is a major contribution to our knowledge of a region that is once again becoming an important crossroads linking cultures throughout Asia. Massimo Vidale is an excellent writer and one of the most prolific archaeologists that I know. I highly recommend his book, and am looking forward to being able to use it in my teaching for years to come.' - Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Professor of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 'Dr Vidale's academic reach stretches from South Asia and across the Iranian plateau to include Central and Western Asia. His publications play an important role in my thinking about a raft of issues, and also in the courses that I teach to undergraduate and graduate students. Dr Vidale has published extensively on the archaeology of each of these regions, and his research consistently incorporates a careful balance between clever ideas and insights, on the one hand, and first rate archaeological investigation on the other. In many ways his background and approach make him the ideal person to write this interesting and innovative volume on the Oxus civilization, which I recommend with enthusiasm.' - Cameron Petrie, Senior Lecturer in South Asian and Iranian Archaeology, University of Cambridge

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Book Synopsis*Winner of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize**Longlisted for The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction**A Sunday Times Book of the Year**A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year* *A Times Book of the Year**An Observer Book of the Year*A woman awakes in a prison cell.She has been on the run but the authorities have tracked her down and taken her to the Tower of London - where she is interrogated about the Gunpowder Plot. The woman is Anne Vaux - one of the ardent, brave and exasperating members of the aristocratic Vauxes of Harrowden Hall. Through the eyes of this remarkable family, award-winning author Jessie Childs explores the Catholic predicament in Elizabethan England - an age in which their faith was criminalised and almost two hundred Catholics were executed. From dawn raids to daring escapes, stately homes to torture chambers, God's Traitors exposes the tensions masked by the cult of Gloriana - and is a timely reminder of the terrible consequences when religion and politics collide.Trade ReviewA triumph of story-telling, backed by first-rate research -- Antonia FraserAbsorbing, exciting and relevant -- Ben MacIntyre * The Times Book of the Week *Richly packed, absorbing... A parade of extraordinary characters -- Simon Callow * Guardian *Thrilling * New Statesman *God’s Traitors, with its crisp prose and punctilious scholarship, brilliantly recreates a world of heroism and holiness in Tudor England... It is little short of a triumph -- Ian Thomson * Financial Times *Beautifully written... Hollywood could not have made it up -- Professor JJ ScarisbrickBrilliant * Wall Street Journal *Truly excellent... God's Traitors crosses the divide between popular and academic history. It raises issues of some real historical importance -- Michael Questier * Spectator *This vivid, minutely researched and brilliantly original history is a much-needed look at the dark side of the Elizabethan age -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *Excellent... An engaging history of English papists, filled with memorable episodes * The Economist *In the quality of her research and sensitive handling of issues that remain raw to this day, Jessie Childs succeeds in evoking ‘the lived experience of anti-Catholicism’ as few have done before... Childs’s language is lively and inventive... By picturing Elizabethan recusants in all their complexity, Jessie Childs has enabled them to speak for themselves at last -- John Cooper * Literary Review *Superb and groundbreaking... It isn’t possible in the space of a review to do justice to the breadth and depth of Childs’ research and insight; but they illuminate the entire landscape of English life...a superlative, flawlessly written book... Childs’ description of an exorcism at Lord Vaux’s house in Hackney...is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever read -- Matthew Lyons, author of The FavouritePlots and priest holes abound -- Caroline Sanderson * Bookseller *Childs is a lucid, passionate writer and she gets under the skin of her subject... It's not often that history books get the balance of expert research and storytelling with chutzpah just right but Childs has managed it with this informative and entertaining book -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *[A] moving historical account... Childs paints a vivid, sometimes even humorous picture of devout Catholics keeping up appearances -- Daisy Dunn * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisDonald Maclean was a star diplomat, an establishment insider and a keeper of some of the West’s greatest secrets. He was also a Russian spy…Codenamed ‘Orphan’ by his Russian recruiter, Maclean was Britain’s most gifted traitor. But as he leaked huge amounts of top-secret intelligence, an international code-breaking operation was rapidly closing in on him. Moments before he was unmasked, Maclean escaped to Moscow.Drawing on a wealth of previously classified material, A Spy Named Orphan now tells this story for the first time in full, revealing the character and devastating impact of perhaps the most dangerous Soviet agent of the twentieth century.‘Superb’ William Boyd‘Fascinating… An exceptional story of espionage and betrayal, thrillingly told’ Philippe Sands‘A cracking story… Impressively researched’ Sunday Times‘Philipps makes the story and the slow uncovering of [Maclean’s] treachery a gripping narrative’ Alan BennettTrade ReviewBrilliantly fluent...fascinating...[Philipps] writes so cleanly, and at such a clip, handling the big scenes with aplomb...This biography first grips and then lingers long in the mind. It is a page-turner of the most empathetic kind. -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *Superb…full of contemporary relevance… Philipps relates the complex narrative of Maclean’s treason…with tremendous aplomb, limpidity and acuity -- WILLIAM BOYD * New Statesman *With A Spy Named Orphan, the last piece of this bizarre jigsaw falls into place. The outline story is familiar, but the amount of new detail here — on Maclean's personal, professional, and secret lives – exceeds all expectations. Roland Philipps has managed to make the new material come alive by relating it intimately to its historical context, of which he has a deep and sympathetic understanding. -- Sebastian Faulks, author of BIRDSONGThe definitive account of the life of a “gifted” traitor… Impressive… By drawing on a wealth of previously classified material, Philipps weaves a gripping tale of misplaced loyalty, intrigue and betrayal that is unlikely to be bettered -- Dominic Midgley * Daily Express *Fascinating and page-turning. An exceptional story of espionage and betrayal, thrillingly told. I devoured it. -- Philippe Sands, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for EAST WEST STREET

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Book SynopsisFrom one of America’s greatest non-fiction writers, an epic saga of the rise and fall of American power, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, told through the life of one man.**WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2019****FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2020**Richard Holbrooke was one of the most legendary and complicated figures in recent American history. Brilliant, utterly self-absorbed, and possessed of almost inhuman energy and appetites, he was both admired and detested. From his days as a young adviser in Vietnam to his last efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, Holbrooke embodied the postwar American impulse to take the lead on the global stage. He was the force behind the Dayton Accords that ended the Balkan wars, America's greatest diplomatic achievement in the post-Cold War era. His power lay in an utter belief in himself and his idea of a muscular, generous foreign policy. But his sharp elbows and tireless self-promotion ensured that he never rose to the highest levels in government that he so desperately coveted. Holbrooke’s story is the story of the rise and fall of America during its era of supremacy: its strength, drive, and sense of possibility, as well as its penchant for overreach and heedless self-confidence. Drawing on Holbrooke’s diaries and papers, George Packer’s narrative is both intimate and epic in its revelatory portrait of this extraordinary and deeply flawed man, and the elite spheres of society and government he inhabited.A GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR Trade ReviewPortrays Holbrooke in all of his endearing and exasperating self-willed glory... Both a sweeping diplomatic history and a Shakespearean tragicomedy… Our Man not only revitalizes but in some ways reinvents the art of journalistic biography… If you could read only one book to comprehend America’s foreign policy and its quixotic forays into quicksands over the past 50 years, this would be it. -- Walter Isaacson * New York Times *Rarely in recent years has a work of non-fiction so clearly, ruthlessly, compassionately shown such a prominent person’s life from the inside out. It is a masterwork about diplomacy, government and the world. -- Anand Giridharadas * Guardian, *Books of the Year* *Holbrooke in all his capacious brilliance and arrogance has been captured by George Packer… [Our Man] is, I strongly feel, a classic. * Washington Post *Outstanding... Our Man is one of the most fascinating dissections of US power – its strengths and serious weaknesses – I’ve read. * Guardian *Packer is one of the most talented non-fiction writers in the US. In his hands, a biography of a diplomat who never quite made it to the top becomes a history of modern America’s entanglement with the world. -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *

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Book Synopsis'Excellent... It is a tremendous tale - one of the most dramatic in our island's history - and O'Keeffe tells it beautifully' The TimesCharles Edward Stuart's campaign to seize the British throne ended with one of the quickest defeats in history: on 16 April 1746, at Culloden, his Jacobite army was overpowered in under forty minutes. Its brutal repercussions, however, endured for years, its legacy for centuries.Paul O'Keeffe follows the Jacobite army from initial victories to calamitous defeat. Exploring the battle's aftermath, he chronicles the Jacobite prisoners paying for their treason on block and gibbet while those granted 'the King's mercy' suffered the fate of forced labour on plantations in the colonies. While Stuart's cause eventually acquired an aura of romanticism, the Jacobite Rising remains one of the most bloody and divisive conflicts in British domestic history, which resonates to this day.'Detailed, vivid - and not for the faint-hearted' Financial Times'Fascinating, meticulously researched... tremendous' Daily Mail'Intensely readable... and vividly written' Neal Ascherson, London Review of BooksTrade ReviewA tremendous tale - one of the most dramatic in our island's history - and O'Keeffe tells it beautifully, -- Saul David * The Times *Fascinating, meticulously researched, often brutally detailed ... without being there, those times could not be more vividly brought to life than in this tremendous book -- Roger Alton * Daily Mail *Brings the last battle on British soil to life with page-turning vivacity * Mail on Sunday *A fascinating portrait of 18th-century Britain as an age of elegance and brutality... I recommend this book strongly -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *A fascinating portrait of eighteenth-century Britain as an age of elegance and brutality... I recommend this book strongly -- Allan Massie * Scotsman, *Books of the Year* *Detailed, vivid - and not for the faint-hearted * Financial Times *Intensely readable... [and] vividly written -- Neal Ascherson * London Review of Books *A vibrant and vivid tale, of victory, defeat, savage retribution and 'high' art... In our field one is often inclined to think or say, 'Do we really we need yet another book on Culloden?' However, if they are written as well and as excitingly as Paul O'Keeffe's...then the answer is a resounding 'Yes!' -- Robert Woosnam-Savage FSA, Curator Emeritus, Royal Armouries, University of Leeds

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE A journey told through stories and songs into Doggerland, the ancient region that once joined the east coast of England to HollandTime Song tells of the creation, the existence and the loss of a country now called Doggerland, a huge and fertile area that once connected the entire east coast of England with mainland Europe, until it was finally submerged by rising sea levels around 5000 BC.Julia Blackburn mixes fragments from her own life with a series of eighteen 'songs' and all sorts of stories about the places and the people she meets in her quest to get closer to an understanding of this vanished land. She sees the footprints of early humans fossilised in the soft mud of an estuary alongside the scattered pockmarks made by rain falling eight thousand years ago. She visits a cave where the remnants of a Neanderthal meal have turned to stone. In Denmark she sits beside Tollund Man who, despite having lain in a peat bog since the start of the Bronze Age, seems to be about to wake from a dream...'This book is a wonder' Adam Nicolson, Spectator'A clairvoyant and poetic conversation with the past' Antony GormleyTrade ReviewA poetic and fascinating exploration of life on Doggerland... This is one of the only books I've ever read that has made me feel better about climate change. * Guardian *Book of the Week* *A magical, mesmerising book - a book which makes you feel giddy at the thought of the deep gulf of history hidden just beneath your feet. * Scotsman *Breathtaking... [a] splendidly rich book... I admire the intelligence, the appetite for discovery and the shining imagination that have gone into [Time Song]. * Literary Review *Julia Blackburn's marvellous Time Song: Searching for Doggerland...is startling, funny and often very moving. -- Simon Winder * New Statesman, *Books of the Year* *[Time Song] is time travel... wonderful. * Observer *

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Book Synopsis‘Astonishing… A marvellous poetic reminder that every place is a universe of magical possibility to the perceptive mind’ Damian Le Bas, author of The Stopping Places A smuggler and a deserter, Darran Anderson’s grandfathers skirted the Second World War on the fringes of legality. His father survived the height of the political violence in Northern Ireland and Darran himself came of age during the final years of the Troubles before leaving his hometown to find a way to exist in the world. But when another young man in his family disappears, Darran is brought back to Derry. Walking the banks of the River Foyle, he starts on a search for what has been lost. A portrait of a city, a biography of a family, a record of the objects that make up a life, Inventory offers a vital new perspective on a troubled history.Trade ReviewA radically different take on memoir... Inventory is a book of hard-won truths, a detailed map of a journey out of the labyrinth, the maze of memories, anecdotes, evasions and secrets… A book of revelations, then, both large and small, its truths reverberate in the imagination long after you finish reading it -- Sean O'Hagan * Observer *Absolutely masterful -- Lisa McGee, writer of Derry GirlsInventory is a remarkable memoir; a work of auto-archaeology, really, in which Darran Anderson disinters his own and his country’s hard pasts, shaking life, love and loss out of the objects of his youth in Northern Ireland. Bleak, tender, inventive and oddly gripping, this is a book of restless ghosts, written in defiance of darkness, and told by means of diving into what Nabokov once called “the dream life of debris” -- Robert MacfarlaneImportant... vividly rendered... Inventory may in fact be above all an exercise in memory -- gathering, questioning, verifying, and identifying the voids. Even when the subjects are difficult to catch, the hunt is always vital and compelling -- Garrett Carr * Times Literary Supplement *A portrait of a family and a portrait of a city -- vivid, intense, engrossing, and always beautifully written -- Kevin Barry

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Book Synopsis'A life-changing book' Viv GroskopMarisa Meltzer was put on her first diet aged five: it was the beginning of a fraught relationship with food.Jean Nidetch was a housewife from Queens who defiantly lost 70 pounds after she was mistaken for being pregnant. Taking everything she learned from this experience, in 1963 she founded Weight Watchers, a company that has shaped decades of diet culture.When Marisa reads Jean's obituary, she feels a moment of intense connection. Curious about the woman and her legacy, she signs up for a year of Weight Watchers; counting points, weighing in and listening to her fellow members struggle with their bodies.This is Big is a biography of an idiosyncratic entrepreneur whose impact is still felt strongly today. It is a history of dieting and body politics for anyone who has agonised over their weight or defiantly tried not to do so. And it is Marisa's funny and thoughtful journey towards a different way to live in the world.'This is the anti-diet book I've been waiting for' Daisy BuchananTrade ReviewA life-changing book * Viv Groskop *Frank, funny and feminist, she [Meltzer] describes her struggles with charm and honesty, questioning how a (mostly) happy person can be made so miserable by calories, portion sizes and scales -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *This is the anti-diet book I have been waiting for. I loved its honesty, charm and celebration of an unlikely but compelling feminist heroine. I think many women -- me included -- really struggle to find a voice in a culture where wellness and body positivity both noisily vie for our attention. For the first time I feel seen and heard -- Daisy BuchananSharp... frank and incisive -- Charlotte Lytton * The Telegraph *For anyone who has ever felt defeated by food, betrayed by their own body, embarrassed for not only lacking the willpower to change their habits but also embarrassed by the desire to change their own body, Marisa Meltzer sees you, has written this book for you because she is you. While simultaneously delving into the history of the woman who started Weight Watchers and bravely and honestly examining her own complicated relationship with food and weight, Marisa has written a book that perfectly captures our country's obsession with THIN and the struggle with obesity at this moment in history -- Busy Philipps, author of This Will Only Hurt A LittleThis is Big is a brave, bold, funny, honest, riveting book that made me have every kind of feeling in the world -- Jami Attenberg, author of All Grown UpFascinating... Meltzer's whistle-stop history of America's body image is both effortlessly informative and efficiently selective -- Eleanor Halls * Daily Telegraph *Meltzer has created a singular companionate text for those who know the agony of frustration surrounding weight as an issue, both personal and political. People — women, especially — who ping-pong around the weight spectrum will feel less alone when they read it... Nidetch may be long gone, but Meltzer carries on her legacy of putting a public face on the challenge of weight management. Acerbic, culturally astute and genuine, she makes exquisite company in the struggle, and that is no small thing. -- Lily Burana * New York Times *At once a biography and a memoir, this heartfelt, incisive book layers the story of Weight Watchers founder Jean Nidetch with the author’s own lifelong journey through various fad diets. What emerges is a surprising portrait of a remarkable but little-known life in business, as well as a thoughtful critique of America’s obsession with thinness. Meltzer, who has herself subscribed to Weight Watchers, brings a personal angle to this fascinating, far-reaching story of a phenomenon that has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of women * Esquire *This book is an incredible hybrid: both a detailed study of an extraordinary American life, and a candid and revealing memoir. Meltzer is the biographer Jean Nidetch deserves, crafting a portrait of the woman and the world in which she lived. She’s also a bracing memoirist, a warm and honest voice unafraid to offer readers the stuff of her own life to help us better understand the culture we now share. It’s a remarkable feat -- Rumaan Alam, author of That Kind of MotherThis Is Big is an inventive memoir that examines Meltzer’s own experience with weight loss alongside Nidetch’s lucrative belief that community, not secretive shame, could transform people’s bodies and lives * Bitch Media *Marisa Meltzer is an ingenious writer. This is Big expertly weaves together two engaging tales: the charming, funny, and often heartbreaking account of Meltzer’s lifelong attempts at bodily transformation, attempts that will have many readers nodding along in recognition, especially when she decides to join an unforgettable group of Weight Watchers in Park Slope, Brooklyn; and the little-known story of a largely forgotten American icon whose lasting accomplishments deserve to be known: Jean Nidetch, the irrepressible, path-breaking entrepreneur who founded the now billion-dollar company Weight Watchers in her modest living room in 1963 -- Nancy Jo Sales, author of The Bling RingThis book was so good that I devoured it (with no guilt)! Meltzer shows us, through honesty, rawness and deep vulnerability, the complexities of living in a body that doesn't adhere to society's narrow beauty standards in an era that holds up body positivity as gospel -- Mara Altman, author of Gross AnatomyA witty and meaningful look at our obsession with weight and dieting; blending the story of the founder of Weight Watchers with her own saga, Marisa Meltzer crafts an amusing story with universal insights -- Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like UsA fascinating deep dive into the insatiable rise of the multibillion-dollar food and diet industries... What's particularly pleasing about this warm book is the weighing up of what "success" can look like for different types of people * Jewish Chronicle *

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Book Synopsis'The kind of history deserving of a cinematic blockbuster' Julia Lovell, Literary Review'[A] gripping and meticulously researched account of an epic effort to transport delicate scrolls, paintings and carvings thousands of miles under the threat of bombing and invasion' Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement'Brilliant and thrilling... A tale of daring and adventure... A desperate race against time' Paul French, South China Morning Post_____The gripping true story of the intrepid curators who saved China's finest art from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II.Spring 1933. The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking's Forbidden City are tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircraft drone overhead; its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is coming, and the curators of the Forbidden City are faced with an impossible question: how will they protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge?The magnificent collections contain a million pieces of art - objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. Among them are irreplaceable artefacts: exquisite paintings on silk, vanishingly rare Ming porcelain and the extraordinary Stone Drums of Qin, which are adorned with 2,500-year-old inscriptions of crucial cultural significance.For sixteen terrifying years, under the quiet leadership of museum director Ma Heng, the curators would go on to transport the imperial art collections thousands of miles across China - up rivers of white water, across mountain ranges and through burning cities. In their search for safety the curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo journeyed through the maelstrom of violence, chaos and starvation that was China's Second World War.Told for the first time in English and playing out across a vast historical canvas, this is the exhilarating story of a small group of men and women who, when faced with war's onslaught on civilisation, chose to resist.'Fascinating... Brookes marries a reporter's grasp of detail with a novelist's narrative flair to bring clarity and readability to a complicated period of China's troubled history' Mail on SundayTrade ReviewA compelling story of art, war and adventure. An extraordinary odyssey of the imperial treasures of the Forbidden City, protected by heroic and remarkable curators... Superb -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSARA story of bravery and ingenuity, and equally of the critical role cultural heritage plays in forming and maintaining national identity. * Wall Street Journal *So much more than a work of art history, Brookes's book illuminates the exceptional dramas of the Chinese front in the Second World War, a theatre of the conflict that is still insufficiently understood -- Julia Lovell * Literary Review *Adam Brookes has an eye for a great story and knows how to tell it. Fragile Cargo cannot fail to delight... I enjoyed it enormously -- John Keay, author of CHINA: A HISTORYA riveting read... With his meticulously researched and detailed writing, Adam Brookes takes us on a compelling journey through this extraordinary chapter of Chinese history. Fragile Cargo reads like a thriller... Gripping stuff -- Alexi Kaye Campbell, writer of feature film WOMAN IN GOLD

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Book SynopsisThe most dramatic, revealing and little-known story in Turkey's history - which illuminates the nation'Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country' Colin Thubron'Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it' Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentIn the spring of 2016 travel writer Jeremy Seal went to Turkey to investigate perhaps the most dramatic, revealing and little-known episode in the country's history - the 'original' coup of 1960, which deposed the traditionalist Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The story of Menderes - to his adoring supporters the country's founding democrat; to his sworn enemies its most infamous traitor - goes to the heart of the feud that continues to rage between the Western and secular ambitions of a minority elite and the religious and conservative instincts of the small-town majority. A Coup in Turkey is a thrilling account of the events leading up to the coup and the trials and executions that followed, a story of political subterfuge and score-settling, courtroom drama, state execution, authoritarian intolerance and ideological division. Seal travels through President Erdogan's Turkey, tracking down eye-witness accounts from survivors of the Menderes era in Istanbul, the historic metropolis, and the new capital at Ankara. As he expertly guides us through this extraordinary story, so the compelling parallels between past and present become strikingly clear, and he illuminates this troubled nation with a deep sympathy and love for the people and places he writes about. By focussing on one key event - one which many Turks regard with shame - this evocative, gripping portrait of Turkey recentres our understanding of the past and makes sense of one of Europe's most bewildering yet intriguing neighbours.'A wonderful writer' Robert MacfarlaneTrade ReviewAn excellent, occasionally disturbing and very original book -- Justin Marozzi * Sunday Times *In his [Seal's] enlightening book A Coup in Turkey, Menderes's story defies the simple political messages that are projected on to it . . . Seal's work is an excellent addition to any Turkey bookshelf, offering a beautifully wrought epitaph that Menderes's contradictory life, and the continuing aftershocks of his death, has long deserved -- Hannah Lucinda Smith * The Times *A compelling account of Menderes' rise and fall, part biography, part travelogue . . . The book's greatest strength is as a testament to the deep seam of authoritarianism that runs through Turkey's history, a reminder that Erdogan is a symptom as well as a cause of the country's current problems -- Laura Pitel * Financial Times *The coup of 1960 may seem remote, but the forces it unleashed are still at work - perhaps more than ever, which is what makes Mr Seal's book so timely * Economist *Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country -- Colin ThubronMeticulously researched and vivid book... Seal is an evocative writer... [and he] paints a nuanced and largely sympathetic portrait of Menderes -- Owen Matthews * Literary Review *Turkey's 1960 coup was a huge event that played out on an intimate scale. Interpreting it requires the tenacity of a reporter, the learning of an academic and the verve of a novelist. Luckily, Jeremy Seal possesses all these qualities, which he brings to bear on one of the most significant calamities of the modern Middle East. Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it -- Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentThe road from Menderes to Erdogan is a twisted one, full of shadows, ghouls and strange delights. And I cannot imagine a better guide to it than Jeremy Seal . . . it has enough drama in it for a James Bond film . . . Seal takes us on a journey into a history that still lives, in a land still worth loving -- Maureen Freely * The Oldie *A gripping, meticulously told political drama. With great skill, tenacity and genuine feeling, Jeremy Seal re-assembles the extraordinary build-up to Turkey's 1960 coup, its courtroom aftermath and its tragic denouement. In doing so, he presents a brilliant portrait of oscillating populism and pragmatism, military force and religious fervour, democracy and state brutality, that appears as relevant to today's world as it was sixty years ago -- Philip MarsdenAn excellent historical lens through which to view the country's political landscape -- Colin Freeman * Daily Telegraph *A page turning quest into the greatest judicial murder story of its time, but also a physical journey across Anatolia and into the violent passions of Turkish politics where "not taking sides" is not an option. Which is why this book is not just a revelation, but also a love letter to the contemporary nation, written by England's pre-eminent travel writer on Turkey -- Barnaby RogersonLucid and multi-layered, backed by brilliant scholarship lightly worn, Jeremy Seal's gripping narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the political as it charts the rise and fall of the man who, after Ataturk, reset the direction of the Turkish republic. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand modern Turkey -- Jason GoodwinA deeply interesting meeting point between a historical account of a decisive period in the history of Turkey and a modern travelogue... A context that is vividly presented in Seal's impressive work. In A Coup in Turkey the reader will find a well-researched and thrilling book that provides a relevant approach to a relatively unknown period of Turkish history -- Marc Martorell * London School of Economics *

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Book SynopsisA gripping and shocking insight into Russia's most influential oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, from New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires.To understand the state of Russia today, one must understand the oligarchs who have shaped it. Once Upon a Time in Russia is the true and untold story of the larger-than-life oligarchs who reaped the riches of privatisation after the fall of the Soviet regime: "Godfather of the Kremlin" Boris Berezovsky, a mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young protégé who built a multi-billion-dollar empire of oil and aluminium. Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, the two battled their way through the "Wild East" of Russia, with Berezovsky acting as the younger man's krysha - his roof, his protector.Written with the heart-stopping pace of a thriller, this true story of amassing obscene wealth and power depicts a world seldom seen up close. Under Berezovsky's krysha, Abramovich built one of Russia's largest oil companies from the ground up in exchange for cash deliveries - including 491 million dollars in just one year. But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media. As Berezovsky fled to the UK, Abramovich continued to prosper.Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky's footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate of his died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning. Then, Berezovsky himself was later dead, officially declared a suicide.Exclusively sourced, capturing a momentous period in recent world history, Once Upon a Time in Russia is at once personal and political, offering an unprecedented look into the wealth, corruption, and power behind what Graydon Carter dubbed 'the story of our age'.Trade ReviewAssassination plots, intimidation tactics, political manoeuvring and money in unfeasibly large quantities – this is the stuff of Ben Mezrich’s Once Upon a Time in Russia, a nonfiction journey into the rise (and, in some cases, fall) of the oligarchs . . . one of our favourites. * GQ *[A] fascinating and often chilling read. * The Sport *

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Book Synopsis*** The Sunday Times bestseller ***'Vividly imagined and prodigiously researched' Helen Davies, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'Such a rewarding read' John Preston, Daily Mail, Books of the Year'This odd, secretive man is brought to life', Robbie Millen, The Times, Books of the YearMaxwell Knight was a paradox. A jazz obsessive and nature enthusiast (he is the author of the definitive work on how to look after a gorilla), he is seen today as one of MI5's greatest spymasters, a man who did more than any other to break up British fascism during the Second World War – in spite of having once belonged to the British Fascisti himself. He was known to his agents and colleagues simply as M, and was rumoured to be part of the inspiration for the character M in the James Bond series.Knight became a legendary spymaster despite an almost total lack of qualifications. What set him apart from his peers was a mercurial ability to transform almost anyone into a fearless secret agent. He was the first in MI5 to grasp the potential of training female agents.M is about more than just one man however. In its pages, Hemming reveals for the first time in print the names and stories of seven men and women recruited by Knight, on behalf of MI5, and then asked to infiltrate the most dangerous political organizations in Britain at that time. Until now, their identities have been kept secret outside MI5. Drawn from every walk of life, they led double lives—often at great personal cost—in order to protect the country they loved. With the publication of this book, it will be possible at last to celebrate the lives of these courageous, selfless individuals.Drawing on declassified documents, private family archives and interviews with retired MI5 officers as well as the families of MI5 agents, M reveals not just the shadowy world of espionage but a brilliant, enigmatic man at its centre.Trade ReviewFascinating biography ... Hemming has done a superb job -- Ben Macintyre * The Times, 'Book of the Week' *Excellent biography… The author has done a terrific job of unscrambling Knight’s muddled life * The Sunday Times *Jaw-droppingly revelatory biography. ***** * Mail on Sunday *‘Compelling new biography… Hemming has done a wonderful espionage job of his own, scouring obscure files to bring long-hidden agents and their exploits to light. It is also a gripping portrait of an era, now long gone, when the establishment could accommodate such extravagant oddness. * Daily Telegraph *Henry Hemming has found a peach of a subject... Full of new material, fresh interpretations and uncompromising integrity... He has managed the great feat of producing a rattling good read that is also a major piece of revisionist history -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Wall Street Journal *Hemming has written a very readable, thoughtful and comprehensive account -- Alan Judd * Literary Review *I raced through Henry Hemming's book, constantly having to remind myself that it wasn't a work of fiction. It really has everything you'd want from a great espionage story: incredible agents risking their lives; the highest possible stakes, with the safety of the world hanging in the balance; and at its heart a complicated, mercurial spy master in Maxwell Knight spinning an ever more intricate web. -- Matt Charman, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 'Bridge of Spies'A major new biography * Mail on Sunday *Engaging and suspenseful * Financial Times *Lively contribution to a maverick literature * The Observer *Crammed with cracking stories and founded on sound research, Henry Hemming’s biography of Maxwell Knight – ‘M’ – stands comparison with the bestselling books of Ben Macintyre. -- Adam Sisman (Author of John Le Carré)Absolute proof that assiduous digging in the archives can produce scoops. This is intelligence research at its best, especially in the identification of hitherto anonymous agents. Definitely a great contribution to the literature. -- Nigel West (Author of MI5)A fascinating portrait of a complex man. Espionage writing at its best. -- Charles Cumming (Author of A Divided Spy)A cracking read, which both informs and entertains in equal measure. -- Robin Handbury-Tenison * Country Life *Henry Hemming's excellent new life of Maxwell Knight [...] the most convincing, balanced and intricate biography of this extraordinary figure. -- Alex Bughart * The Spectator *‘A terrific life of the brilliant and eccentric spymaster’ * The Sunday Times *A jaw-droppingly revelatory biography * EVENT magazine, Mail on Sunday *The odd chap is brought to life * The Times *This is a terrific book, well researched and superbly written * The Guardian *a fascinating biography * Keith Simpson MP’s Summer Reading List *

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Book SynopsisIn Praise of Disobedience draw on works from a single miraculous year in which Oscar Wilde published the larger part of his greatest prose - the year he came into maturity as an artist. Before the end of 1891, he had written the first of his phenomenally successful plays and met the young man who would win his heart, beginning the love affair that would lead to imprisonment and public infamy. In a witty introduction, playwright, novelist and Wilde scholar Neil Bartlett explains what made this point in the writer's life central to his genius and why Wilde remains a provocative and radical figure to this day.Included here are the entirety of Wilde's foray into political philosophy, The Soul of Man Under Socialism; the complete essay collection Intentions; selections from The Portrait of Dorian Gray as well as its paradoxical and scandalous preface; and some of Wilde's greatest fictions for children. Each selection is accompanied by stimulating and enlightening annotations. A delight for fans of Oscar Wilde, In Praise of Disobedience will restore and revitalize an often misunderstood legacy.Trade ReviewI loved Wilde's The Soul of Man Under Socialism - loved its uncompromising approach to the crushing problem of social and economic inequality . Wilde takes no prisoners from the very outset -- Will Self * Guardian *Wilde offers us an important reminder of virtues we as a society may have for a time lost: the need to strive for utopias; the inevitability of socialism if our world is to survive; the need to reinvigorate humanity's spirit of rebelliousness and disobedience, and to challenge, not accept, the injustices and inequalities we see all around us. The world needs Oscar Wilde and his daring, beautiful ideas today more than ever. * PopMatters *When I feel myself becoming gloomy or pessimistic, the book that reminds me that change and optimism are possible is Oscar Wilde's The Soul of Man Under Socialism, a wise and witty essay that recommends both equality and indolence, and appears to believe you can't have one without the other. -- Hanif Kureishi

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Book SynopsisNik Cohn began to write this book in the late 1960s with a simple purpose: to catch the feel, the pulse of Rock. Nobody had written a serious book on the subject before, and there were no reference books or research to refer to. The result is an unruly, thrilling and definitive history of an era, from Bill Haley to Jimi Hendrix, full of guts, flash, energy and speed. In vividly describing the music and cutting through the hype, Nik Cohn engendered and perfected a new form: rock criticism.Trade ReviewA thrilling, inspirational read. -- Bob Stanley * Guardian *Set the template for a whole new style of rock journalism, informed, irreverent, passionate and polemical. * Choice Magazine *The best writer about pop music...an inspiration. -- Jarvis Cocker * BBC Radio 6 Music *The book to read if you want to get some idea of the original primal energy of pop music. Loads of unfounded, biased assertions that almost always turn out to be right. Absolutely essential. -- Jarvis Cocker * Guardian *Cohn was the first writer authentically to capture the raucous vitality of pop music * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisHow do you remember the summers of your childhood? For Laurie Lee they were flower-crested, heady, endless days. Here is an evocation of summer like no other – a remote valley filled with the scent of hay, jazzing wasps, blackberries plucked and gobbled, and games played until the last drop of dusk. Lee’s joyful and stirring writing captures the very essence of England’s golden season. Selected from the book Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee ‘An enchanting book, an exquisite farewell, not only to childhood, and boyhood, but also to an England that has vanished’ J.B. PriestlyVINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.Trade ReviewAn enchanting book, an exquisite farewell, not only to childhood, and boyhood, but also to an England that has vanished * J. B. Priestly *Imagine our joy when Vintage announced that it is publishing a collection of easily digestible books from the world’s most celebrated writers on the experiences that make us human… They look good and read well. That’s win/win in our book. * Stylist *

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Book SynopsisColin Thurbon’s beautiful prose unfolds along the Silk Road, unearthing a richly layered past on his most ambitious journey. On buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey. A magnificent account of an ancient world in modern ferment, Thubron covers over 7000 miles in eight months enduring a near-miss with a drunk-driver, incarceration in a Chinese cell, and undergoing root canal treatment without anaesthetic, along the way.VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mindTrade ReviewIt is hard to think of a better travel book written this century * The Times *A beautiful and profound travel book * Mail on Sunday *A masterpiece of travel writing ... a classic * New Statesman *Thubron is a very hardy traveller, and a very fine writer...[it is] a book of exceptional erudition, adventure and elegance -- Robert Macfarlane * Spectator *A poetic volume - interesting, shocking and deeply engaging, the work of a mature writer at the top of his game -- Sara Wheeler * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisAn argument against the idea of the indigenous chief as a liberal political figure. Across Africa, it is not unusual for proponents of liberal democracy and modernization to make room for some aspects of indigenous culture, such as the use of a chief as a political figure. Yet for Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, no such accommodation should be made. Chiefs, he argues, in this thought-provoking and wide-ranging pamphlet, cannot be liberals—and liberals cannot be chiefs. If we fail to recognize this, we fail to acknowledge the metaphysical underpinnings of modern understandings of freedom and equality, as well as the ways in which African intellectuals can offer a distinctive take on the unfinished business of colonialism.

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Book SynopsisThe first single-volume biography of Berlin, one of the world's great cities - told via twenty-one portraits, from medieval times to the twenty-first century.A city devastated by Allied bombs, divided by a Wall, then reunited and reborn, Berlin today resonates with the echo of lives lived, dreams realised and evils executed. No other city has repeatedly been so powerful and fallen so low. And few other cities have been so shaped and defined by individual imaginations.Through vivid portraits spanning five centuries, Rory MacLean reveals the varied and rich history of Berlin, from its brightest to its darkest moments. We encounter an ambitious prostitute refashioning herself as a princess, a Scottish mercenary fighting for the Prussian Army, Marlene Dietrich flaunting her sexuality and Hitler fantasising about the mega-city Germania. The result is a uniquely imaginative biography of one of the world's most volatile yet creative cities.Trade Review(a) wonderful book -- THOMAS BRUSSIG * FINANCIAL TIMES *Berlin vies with London, currently, as the coolest city on the planet. MacLean's wonderfully knowledgable overview of the city's history helps explain the place's enduring fascination. -- WILLIAM BOYD * THE GUARDIAN *"Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries" is an extraordinary work of history. To call it history is, in fact, reductive. There's some historical analysis, quite a lot of fiction, some philosophizing, lashings of wit and a fair dose of invective. It's a work of imagination, reflection, reverence, perplexity and criticism that reveals as much about the author's precocious mind as it does about the city he adores. The book's most profound feature, however, is its beautiful writing - phrases of transcendent rhythm force the reader to reverse and read again. Never mind that the logic is occasionally shaky and the facts sometimes slip, the prose is perfect. MacLean calls Berlin "the capital of reinvention." This explains why his biography of the city is not about the place per se, but about those who shaped it or were shaped by it: Berlin as a canvas on which people paint their dreams. -- Gerard De Groot * THE WASHINGTON POST, Book of the Year *This grandly ambitious work has a noble intention: to re-create through art and imagination the whole historic presence of a great capital, from its beginnings to its present day...Maclean's book is a wonderful achievement, not justly to be summarised in the few hundred words of a review. but hauntingly representing, as in a tangled dream, 600 years of history. -- Jan Morris * THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *A brilliant new history of Berlin...What makes MacLean's history of Berlin stand out is that this is an intensely human document, a rich tapestry spanning five centuries and woven together through intimate portraits of 21 if its former inhabitants which collectively reveal the narrative of the city....This is how I love history to be told, through the people who live it...a fascinating book. * THE OBSERVER *The best history is biography: the story of the people who shaped and destroyed, entertained, beautified and murdered. Rory MacLean imagines Berlin through its inhabitants. * THE TIMES *Rory MacLean offers an entirely beguiling and original portrait of Berlin. His is a highly unusual history told in a variety of forms by 'vital anonymous players in history's grand drama' alongside some of the major thinkers, dreamers, artists, warmongers and idealists who have shaped this eternally enthralling metropolis....a perfect companion for those about to discover, or attempting to make sense of, their own Berlin. * THE INDEPENDENT *Rory MacLean's Berlin: Imagine a History is intelligent, entertaining and ambitious...MacLean has written a great book about Berliners. * NEW STATESMAN *MacLean's original and well-researched vignettes makes up a mosaic and kaleidoscope. MacLean is a highly visual writer, and his dialogue is crisp and believable. Rory MacLean deserves to win all the prizes going. -- Robert Carver * THE TABLET *[MacLean] writes with the lyricism of Bruce Chatwin and the traveller's eye of Marco Polo. He engages with his readers as if he is talking to an intelligent friend. Read this book if you already know Berlin, or will do one day. * THE OLDIE *The strength of MacClean's book is that he reveals how Berlin has served all of us as a multi-faceted prism, of time, of history, or artistic enterprise. The author is a non-academic historian wearing his knowledge lightly, sharing his experiences deftly.... He is a journalist too, and his style is concise, pithy, anecdotal. The book is more a collage than it is a chronology, and is stronger for it. -- Chris Moss * NEW WELSH REVIEW, Winter 2014 *I loved it. It is such a beautiful way of understanding history, its stories are so vivaciously told, it is so heartfelt, so intelligent, and so talkative a book. So many of the characters do end up talking to each other, and the author is eavesdropping. It paints the past and the present, portrays Berlin as a portrait of someone you love. It is beautiful. * Jay Griffiths *Berlin takes the form of 23 portraits of individuals...the text sings. A compelling piece about the industrialist and Weimar foreign minister Walter Rathenau is full of auguries of the nightmares of the 30s and 40s. * The Guardian *An atmospheric view of Berlin as seen through its people. * LONELY PLANET TRAVELLER MAGAZINE *This ambitious work hauntingly uncovers 600 years of Berlin's history... MacLean shows how the city.. embodies "an essence of perpetual reinvention", propelled by inhabitants from Frederick the Great to Goebbels, Bach to Bowie. * Daily Telegraph *A wonderful impressionistic portrait of this beguiling city. * CHOICE *This grandly ambitious work has a noble intention: to re-create through art and imagination the whole historic presence of a great capital, from its beginnings to its present day...Maclean's book is a wonderful achievement, not justly to be summarised in the few hundred words of a review. but hauntingly representing, as in a tangled dream, 600 years of history. -- Jan Morris * THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *I loved it. It is such a beautiful way of understanding history, its stories are so vivaciously told, it is so heartfelt, so intelligent, and so talkative a book. So many of the characters do end up talking to each other, and the author is eavesdropping. It paints the past and the present, portrays Berlin as a portrait of someone you love. It is beautiful. * Jay Griffiths *A brilliant new history of Berlin...What makes MacLean's history of Berlin stand out is that this is an intensely human document, a rich tapestry spanning five centuries and woven together through intimate portraits of 21 if its former inhabitants which collectively reveal the narrative of the city....This is how I love history to be told, through the people who live it...a fascinating book. * THE OBSERVER *The best history is biography: the story of the people who shaped and destroyed, entertained, beautified and murdered. Rory MacLean imagines Berlin through its inhabitants. * THE TIMES *Berlin takes the form of 23 portraits of individuals...the text sings. A compelling piece about the industrialist and Weimar foreign minister Walter Rathenau is full of auguries of the nightmares of the 30s and 40s. * THE GUARDIAN *Rory MacLean's Berlin: Imagine a History is intelligent, entertaining and ambitious...MacLean has written a great book about Berliners. * NEW STATESMAN *Rory MacLean offers an entirely beguiling and original portrait of Berlin. His is a highly unusual history told in a variety of forms by 'vital anonymous players in history's grand drama' alongside some of the major thinkers, dreamers, artists, warmongers and idealists who have shaped this eternally enthralling metropolis....a perfect companion for those about to discover, or attempting to make sense of, their own Berlin. * THE INDEPENDENT *An atmospheric view of Berlin as seen through its people. * LONELY PLANET TRAVELLER MAGAZINE *

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Book SynopsisIn a boarding house in West Port, an old army pensioner dies of natural causes. He owes the landlord rent. Instead of burying the body, the landlord, William Hare, and his friend, William Burke, fill the coffin with bark and sell the corpse to Dr. Robert Knox, an ambitious Edinburgh anatomist. They make a profit of GBP3 and 10 shillings. After this encouraging outcome, Burke and Hare decide to suffocate another sickly tenant. So begins the criminal career of the most notorious double act in serial killing. Here is the unvarnished, human story behind the infamous Burke and Hare murders. We delve into their past, their personalities and the circumstances that made them resort to murder as a money-making scheme. It's a tale of desperation and greed, of outsiders, ambition, corruption and betrayal. And it's all true!

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Book SynopsisSt Kilda is the most romantic and most romanticised group of islands in Europe. Soaring out of the North Atlantic Ocean like Atlantis come back to life, the islands have captured the imagination of the outside world for hundreds of years. Their inhabitants, Scottish Gaels who lived off the land, the sea and by birdcatching on high and precipitous cliffs, were long considered to be the Noble Savages of the British Isles, living in a state of natural grace. St Kilda: A People's History explores and portrays the life of the St Kildans from the Stone Age to 1930, when the remaining 36 islanderswere evacuated to the Scottish mainland. Bestselling author Roger Hutchinson digs deep into the archives to paint a vivid picture of the life and death, work and play of a small, proud and self-sufficient people in the first modern book to chart the history of the most remote islands in Britain.Trade Review'Hutchinson has done us all a favour in writing the definitive history of this community' -- Scotland on Sunday'a fascinating glimpse of how a certain civilisation, as we know it, evolved slightly differently. ****' -- Scottish Field'exhaustive but entertaining account' -- Press & Journal

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed historian Alistair Moffat sets off in the footsteps of the Highland clans and their definitive conflicts. In twelve journeys he explores places of conflict, recreating as he walks the tumult of battle. As he recounts the military prowess of the clans he also tells of their lives, their language and culture before it was all swept away. From the colonisers who attempted to ‘civilise’ the islanders of Lewis in the sixteenth century through the great battles of the eighteenth century – Killiekrankie, Dunkeld, Sheriffmuir, Falkirk and Culloden – this is a unique exploration of many of the places and events which define the country’s history. The disaster at Culloden in 1746 represented not just the defeat of the Jacobite dream but also the unleashing of merciless retribution from the British government which dealt the Highland clans a blow from which they would never recover. Locations included are: Prestonpans • Glenfinnan • The Isle of Lewis • Edinburgh • Inverlochy • Tippermuir • Mulroy • Killiecrankie • Dunkeld • Sherriffmuir • Falkirk • Culloden Moor • Arisaig & MorarTrade Review'Taking the reader through key historical moments of battles that would alter the country forever, he also offers fascinating insight into the language, culture and lives of the clans' * The Bookseller *'This is a splendid book, evocative, and enlightening, Study it and take it with you if you set out to explore these scenes of long-ago battles; or, with its help, content yourself with reliving them in your imagination' -- Allan Massie * The Scotsman *'There are digestible explanations of the complex politics that drew so much blood and reflections on the Gaelic culture that was swept away after Culloden... a stirring account' -- Mary Miers * Country Life Magazine *'Centuries melt away in this riveting read' * Sunday Post *'A marvellous book in which the author takes you by the hand and leads you through some of the pivotal moments in Scottish history' -- Ken Lussey * Undiscovered Scotland *'The prolific Scottish author Alistair Moffat has developed something of a speciality in combining scholarly analysis of historical figures with vivid descriptions of his own journeys in their footsteps... well-researched and well-written' -- Ian Bradley * Church Times *'He clambers through terrain described with vivid, sensory immediacy, telling the story of each battle, setting each in context in the landscape and offering terrifying glimpses of Scotland’s past' * The Tablet *'Moffat has blended solid history with a readable style and elements of a travelogue to create an engaging piece that spans genres and should interest a wide audience' -- Robbie MacNiven * Current Archaeology *

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Book SynopsisJames VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears. But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him? In this new and ground-breaking biography, James’s story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I's successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign. 'A real page-turner for lovers of history' - Philippa GregoryTrade Review'The Wisest Fool is a sensitive portrait of a king who, despite errors of judgement managed to negotiate a period of exceptional political and religious turbulence... this is a probing, wellrounded and very readable account of a king too often over-looked, despite his pivotal role in modern British politics.' -- Rosemary Goring * Herald *'It does not flinch from the flaws of character and errors of rule but makes a fair analysis of James the man as he struggled to become James the king ... a real page-turner for lovers of history' -- Philippa Gregory'Two kingdoms, two very different reputations. Veerapen brings fresh life and acute insight into the conundrum that is the reigns of King James' -- Leanda de Lisle'[James] was derided as "the wisest fool in Christendom" - wise in small things, but a fool when it came to weightier matters. That image has now been punctured. Not for the first time a historical parody emerges on closer inspection to be largely based on manufactured propaganda' -- Magnus Linklater * The Times *'Steven Veerapen's biography of James VI/I is so good that it seems likely to become the definitive work about the life of a much maligned and perhaps poorly understood character.' * Undiscovered Scotland *'He may not always have acted wisely during his reign, but a new biography shows that James VI and I was no fool...this is a very engaging book' -- Allan Massie * The Scotsman *'an extremely well-balanced account of James' character... a highly accomplished and well-written work of creative non-fiction' * Country Life *'It takes someone with the scholarship and narrative skills of Steven Veerapen to weave his way with through the evidence to provide a cohesive and plausible story, providing a book that will become essential reading for academics and ordinary history lovers alike' -- Robert Stedall * Amazon Five Stars *'A really interesting biography… a deep dive into the facts and information paints something of a different story… busts some of the false ideas and presents a better picture of this historical person' -- Dr Miranda Melcher * Newbooks Network (British Studies) *'Veerapen weaves a fresh and honest tapestry of James’s character in all its imperfect glory. It is based on scholarly study and achieved with appropriate gravitas . . . Only by examining his time as King of Scotland can later years be fully understood – and this is expertly done' -- Mark Turnbull * GoodReads, FIVE stars *'Steven Veerapen has done a splendid job in bringing this neglected king and the extraordinary life he led so vividly to the page . . . Expertly researched and eminently readable' -- Linda Porter * The Writing Desk blog *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted forthe Orwell Prize 2023As seen in The Times, Sunday Times, Spectator, and on Tonight with Andrew Marr (LBC)Under President Xi Jinping, China''s global ambitions have taken a dangerous new turn. Bullying and intimidation have replaced diplomacy. Trade and investment, even big-spending tourists and students, have been weaponised. Beijing has strengthened its alliance with Vladimir Putin, supporting Russia''s aggression in Ukraine, and brooks no criticism of its own flagrant human rights violations against the Uyghur population in western China.Leaders in the West say they don''t want a cold war with China, but it''s a little late for that. Beijing is already waging a more complex, broader and more dangerous cold war than the old one with the Soviet Union. And it is intensifying.This thought-provoking and alarming book examines this new cold war''s many fronts - from Taiwan and the South China Sea to the Indian frontier, the Arctic and cyberspace. In doing so it proclaims the

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of a village in East Anglia, astride its common stream, a saga of continuity and change which stretches back across a landscape of two thousand years. It took Rowland Parker thirteen years of detective work to piece this jigsaw together, combing his way through records of archaeological excavations and manor court rolls, and collecting stories at the pub alongside his scholarly inspection of old wills and land tax returns. The intense focus he brought to his work was amplified by his desire to tell the story of the common man, his feuds and fun, his farms, fights, fornications and families.

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Book SynopsisPart biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne’s life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination. Why is Anne so compelling? Why does she inspire such extreme reactions? And what really was the colour of her hair? And perhaps the most provocative question concerns Anne’s death, more than her life: how could Henry order the execution of his once beloved wife? Drawing on scholarship and popular culture, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history’s most infamous relationships and teases out the woman behind the myths.Trade Review'Engrossing… a fascinating discussion.' * New York Times *'Bordo rightly observes that the attempt to erase Anne from history had a different result to the one Henry had intended. Deprived of hard facts about her, Anne was not forgotten but instead became a kind of metaphor for successive generations to vent their idée fixes.' * Independent *'Refreshing, iconoclastic and moving.' -- Suzannah Lipscomb, broadcaster and author of 1536'An interesting and timely reappraisal' * Irish Independent *"By her own confession, philosopher Susan Bordo is obsessed with Anne Boleyn. The very cover of her new book alerts the reader to the fact they are about to experience something more than straightforward history… This isn't just a narrative of the controversies of Anne's life, although Bordo achieves that with clarity and insight, it is an energetic and delightful deconstruction of Anne as an icon, for a post-modern audience… Without question, this book is going to prove controversial. In fact, it already has. Dismissed by some academics on the basis of the cover alone, considered a travesty and insult to the Queen, its tone of irreverent reverence has already irked some readers used to a more traditional narrative approach. This is a shame, as Bordo's style will embrace a whole new readership and strides boldly into new territory… Even for those who come to the text with a background in the period, there are still surprising discoveries to be made in the way that the Victorians perceived Anne and her feisty post-war construction… Perhaps most enjoyable of all is the personal nature of The Creation of Anne Boleyn. Readers are invited to accompany Bordo on her own voyage of discovery, sharing her own experiences in the search for Anne, from being hit by a London bus to her conversations with actress Natalie Dormer… Recent years have seen far too much belittling of popular history and Bordo bravely strides into the no-man's land between serious historical narratives and the perceived "dumbing-down" of shows designed to entertain. The Creation of Anne Boleyn represents a new approach to an old topic, an iconoclastic study of how modern culture has appropriated the sixteenth century for its own purposes. Bordo has reclaimed Anne for a new generation." * Amy Licence, Huffington Post *'Moving, disconcerting and exhilarating… I loved it.' * Literary Review *'Lively… an interesting and timely reappraisal of representations of Anne in the years since her death.' * Sunday Telegraph *'An exposé of Tudor history as tittle-tattle: A jaunty canter through all the wildly differing views of Anne Boleyn across the centuries.' * Mail on Sunday *'With telling quotations and a piquant sense of humour, Susan Bordo offers readers a fascinating and intelligent insight into historical story-telling. Incisive and perceptive.' -- Susan Doran, University of Oxford, author of The Tudor Chronicles'Bearing her scholarship lightly and writing with fire and wit, Susan Bordo asks a profound question: what is real in history? A smashing book.' -- Howard Brenton, author and playwright of Anne Boleyn'Deeply innovative, insightful and multi-layered...turns previously conceived notions on their heads. Highly recommended.' -- Elizabeth Norton, author of The Boleyn Women'If you think you know who Anne Boleyn was, think again. Rigorously argued yet deliciously readable...Bordo knocks it out of the park. Brava!' -- Robin Maxwell, author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and Mademoiselle Boleyn'Meticulous, thoughtful, persuasive – and fun.' -- Margaret George, author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I'By turns sassy and serious, playful and profound, Susan Bordo cuts through the layers of legend, fantasy and untruth that history and culture have attached to Anne Boleyn, while proving that the facts about that iconic queen are every bit as intriguing as the fictions.' -- Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution'Bordo has pulled off an important coup...reminds us that, while history is fascinating, so is the history of history. Enthralling.' -- Derek Wilson, author of A Brief History of Henry VIII'Beautiful, intelligent and true.' -- Geneviève Bujold, actress, Anne Boleyn in Anne of the Thousand Days‘Energetic and delightful...Bordo has reclaimed Anne for a new generation.’ -- Amy Licence, author of In Bed with the Tudors'Eloquent...Strong and discerning.' -- Natalie Dormer, actress, Anne Boleyn in the BBC series ‘The Tudors’‘Absorbing… striking jacket too.' * The Bookseller *One of the top ten royal history books of 2013 * The Royal Historian *'Entertaining [and] provocative.' * Boston Globe *'A great read for Boleyn fans and fanatics alike.' * Kirkus Reviews *'[Bordo does] a superb job of separating fact from fiction in contemporary accounts of Boleyn’s life, before deftly deconstructing the myriad and contradictory portraits of her that have arisen in the centuries since her death.' * Publishers Weekly *'Delightfully cheeky, solidly researched.' * Daily Beast *

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Book SynopsisCities, scripts, literature, the rule of law – all were born in Iraq. That so many see this ancient land as nothing more than a violent backwater steeped in chaos is a travesty. This is the place where, for the first 5,000 years of human history, all innovations of worth emerged. It was the cradle of civilization. In this unrivalled study, John Robertson details the greatness and grandeur of Iraq’s achievements, the brutality and magnificence of its ancient empires and its extraordinary contributions to the world. The only work in the English language to explore the history of the land of two rivers in its entirety, it takes readers from the seminal advances of its Neolithic inhabitants to the aftermath of the American and British-led invasion, the rise of Islamic State and Iraq today. A fascinating and thought-provoking analysis, it is sure to be greatly appreciated by historians, students and all those with an interest in this diverse and enigmatic country. This paperback edition features a new epilogue, bringing the work up to date and looking ahead to Iraq’s future.Trade Review'A fresh and lively discussion of Iraq's 6,000-year history'. * Middle East Journal *‘There is much to be learnt from this prodigious record of human achievement in the cradle of civilisation.’ * Sunday Times *‘John Robertson’s magnificent Iraq: A History takes a truly long perspective. From the first Sumerian cities over 5,000 years ago, via the great empires of Assyria, Babylonia and Abbasid Baghdad, to the modern Iraqi state, he shows how this complex past has always shaped, and been shaped by, contemporary political concerns.’ * History Today, Best Books of 2015 *'Considering its huge span of 6,000 years, the book is surprisingly unhurried...Robertson is never a prisoner of chronology and always finds time for useful asides'. * Independent *“A rare find: an authoritative, highly original history that is simply a delight to read. Anyone who wants to understand the turmoil and potential of modern Iraq should read this book.” -- Dr. Barbara N. Porter, Director, The Casco Bay Assyriological Institute; research associate, The Harvard Semitic Museum‘A captivating account... While both engaging and informative, it is not the content alone that is most impressive, but the author’s technique. Unlike most books on Iraq, this one takes its time recounting the region’s history, savouring the richness... Above all else, the book excels in putting events into historical perspective by seeing things not in a Manichean, “the present matters whereas the past is past” perspective.’ * Tribune *“It is rare to find a genuinely knowledgeable and expert scholar who can produce a work as accessible and balanced as this volume. Always informative and never overwhelming, this is a volume that truly must be read by anyone interested in the world we find ourselves occupying today.” -- Dr. Martha T. Roth – Dean, Humanities Division and the Chauncey S. Boucher Distinguished Service Professor of Assyriology, University of Chicago“Iraq matters. Iraq has always mattered and John Robertson’s compelling account shows exactly why. Deftly steering a path through five millennia and more, he helps us to see how and why the country’s past is always up for grabs, interpreted and reinterpreted in the light of contemporary concerns... An essential read for anyone who wants to understand why Iraq is never far from the headlines.” -- Eleanor Robson – Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History, University College London'John Robertson has been able to walk us through so much of the history that we tend to forget'. * Camden New Journal *‘A fresh and lively discussion of Iraq’s 6,000-year history... Robertson reminds his readers of the intellectual debt the Western world owes to the peoples that populated the area of Iraq throughout history, hoping they will then see past today’s brutal headlines... His conviction is clearly expressed and poignantly supported throughout this book.’ * The Middle East Journal *“The author superbly weaves ancient and medieval historical and cultural development with Iraq's recent history and current sociopolitical turmoil. VERDICT Few books in English cover Iraq's entire history in such a holistic manner. This highly readable and informative book will be a valuable tool in teaching and research for informed general readers and Middle East specialists.” * Library Journal *“This vivid and fast-paced book is an enjoyable introduction for the general reader, from the beginnings of human civilization to the recent wholesale destruction of Iraq’s archaeological heritage.… Robertson’s focus on pre-modern Iraq effortlessly blends political and military history with the history of ideas, and flows seamlessly into the present era and the terrible predicament in which the cradle of civilization now finds itself.” * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: The Glory and the Curse of Iraq’s Past 1 Places, Peoples, Potentials: the Enduring Foundations of Life in Iraq The “Land Between the Rivers” Distribution of Raw Materials and Natural Resources Iraq’s Accessibility and Vulnerability to External Forces The Peoples and Social Patterns of Iraq 2 Cradle of Civilization “History Begins at Sumer” The First Cities and the Invention of Writing The Early Dynastic Period (Ca. 2900–2350 BCE) The Akkad Period (Ca. 2350–2150 BCE) The Ur III Period (Ca. 2100–2000 BCE) The Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Periods (Ca. 2000–1595 BCE) The Kassite and Middle Assyrian Periods (1595 to Ca. 1000 BCE) Transition to Empire, Ca. 1100–900 BCE The Great “World Empires” (Ca. 900–539 BCE): The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods 3 Cradle of Empires The Rediscovery of “The Might That Was Assyria” Assyria and the Bible: Creating a Bogeyman Assyrian Zenith Babylon: The Curse of an Ancient Image “The Greatness That [Really] Was Babylon” The Long Twilight of Iraq’s Ancient Imperial Era 4 Cradle of Religions, Crucible of Conflicts Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia/Iraq The Achaemenid Persians and the Religion of the Wise Lord Alexander the Great and the Coming of Hellenism Iraq under Parthian Rule: Religious Toleration and Vitality From Palestine to Mesopotamia: Iraq as a Cradle of World Religions Iraq under the Sassanids: Religious Mosaic and Holy War Jews under the Sassanids Christians under the Sassanids “Gnostics” and the Apostle of Light 5 Iraq, Islam, and the Golden Age of the Arab Empire Prelude to the Coming of Islam and the Arab Conquest of Iraq Muhammad and the Origins of the Community of Islam The Arab Muslim Conquest of Iraq: The Early Forging of Arab (Versus Persian) Identity Iraq and the Early Forging of Shi‘ite (Versus Sunni) Identity Iraq under Umayyad Rule The Abbasid Caliphate: Iraq as the Center of Islamic Civilization Abbasid Decline: Iraq Drifts Away from Center Stage 6 Interlude: From Cradle to Backwater Iraq under the Buyids, Seljuks, and Mongols The Coming of the Seljuks and Turkish Authority The Crusades and Saladin The Mongol Invasion and Its Aftermath Iraq in the Era of the “Gunpowder Empires” European Inroads The Seeds of Iraq’s Revival 7 The Creation and Zenith of Modern Iraq Setting the Stage World War I and Its Aftermath: The Hashemite Monarchy, the British, and Oil Enter Oil The Birth of Iraqi and Arab Nationalisms The Nationalist Response to British Domination Arab and Iraqi Nationalism, the Cold War, the Emergence of Israel, and the Poisoned Blessing of Oil The Republic: Competing Nationalisms, Resistance to the West, and New Wealth The Continuing Development and Impact of Iraqi and Arab Nationalism under the Republic Iraq’s Conquest of Its Oil under the Republic 8 The Long Descent Republican Iraq and the Cold War Powers until 1980 Saddam’s Qadissiya: The Iran–Iraq War, 1980–88 The Crisis with Kuwait Operation Desert Storm 1991–2003: The Scourge of Sanctions The Anglo-American Invasion of Iraq Epilogue: “Tell Me How This Ends” Afterword Notes Bibliography Index

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