History Books
AKEMAN PRESS Literary Walks in Bath Eleven Excursions in the
Book SynopsisEleven walks which look at Bath through the eyes of eminent authors as diverse as Smollett, Jane Austen, Dickens, Fanny Burney, Sheridan, Georgette Heyer, Mary Shelley and John Betjeman. They create a vivid social history of the city over the last 300 years. Fully illustrated, with detailed accounts of the writers and their works.Table of ContentsForeword by Peter Lovesey Introduction 1 The Lost Inns of Bath: A Literary Odyssey 2 'Like Mirrors Made, for Men to See': The Bath Stage in the Eighteenth Century 3 'A Sink of Profligacy and Extortion': Tobias Smollett in Bath 4 The Rudest Man in England: An Introduction to Philip Thicknesse 5 Pleasure, Pain and Grief: Fanny Burney in Bath 6 Rebels and Romantics: Catherine Macaulay, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Shelley & Percy Bysshe Shelley in Bath 7 'The Rhythm of Tom Paine's Bones' Radicalism and Repression in Pitt's 'Reign of Terror' 8 'Vapour, Shadow, Smoke and Confusion': Jane Austen's Bath 9 Pickwick, Pubs and Penny Readings: In the Footsteps of Charles Dickens 10 Beaux, Belles and Black Sheep: Bath Through the Eyes of Georgette Heyer 11 'Goodbye to Old Bath': Around Bath with John Betjeman Summary of distances and accessibility Acknowledgements & Picture Credits Further Reading, Bookshops, Museums & Galleries
£15.00
Verso Books The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and
Book SynopsisOn November 2, 1917, the British government, represented by Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour, declared that they were in favor of 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.' This short note would be one of the most controversial documents of its time. A hundred years after its signing, Bernard Regan recasts the history of the Balfour Declaration as one of the major events in the story of the Middle East. Offering new insights into the imperial rivalries between Britain, Germany and the Ottomans, Regan exposes British policy in the region as part of a larger geopolitical game. Yet, even then, the course of events was not straightforward and Regan charts the debates within the British government and the Zionist movement itself on the future of Palestine. The book also provides a revealing account of life in Palestinian society at the time, paying particular attention to the responses of Palestinian civil society to the imperial machinations that threatened their way of life. Not just a history of states and policies, Regan manages to brilliantly present both a history of people under colonialism and an account of the colonizers themselves.Trade ReviewIn this major account of the Balfour Declaration, Bernard Regan's timely book sheds light on the most powerful symbol of the official British-Zionist alliance over the last century. It deserves to be widely read by those yearning for truth and reconciliation in the Middle East. -- Professor Nur Masalha, SOAS, University of LondonThis is a meticulously researched account of the background and aftermath of a transaction that launched in 1917 a malignant conflict that has poisoned the Near East and the wider international arena ever since. Bernard Regan places the Balfour Declaration in its proper context ... It is compelling essential reading to anyone who wishes to understand the roots of one of our world's most dangerous potential explosion spots. -- Moshé Machover, author of Israelis and PalestiniansMost have heard of the Balfour Declaration, without fully appreciating its history and consequences. With this meticulous and insightful study, we have a fascinating and timely guide to British colonial policy in Palestine, and its devastating impacts for the Palestinian people to this day -- Karma Nabulsi, Oxford UniversityAnother good addition to the library exploring the origins of our current Middle East problems. * Palestine Chronicle *
£9.99
Scribe Publications Richard Nixon: the life
Book SynopsisFinalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a Sunday Independent Book of the Year A deeply researched, superbly crafted biography of America’s most complex president. Award-winning biographer John A. Farrell examines the life and legacy of one of America’s most controversial political figures, from Nixon’s early days in the Navy to his political career as senator, vice president, and finally president, and his downfall in 1974 following the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon is a magisterial portrait of the man who embodied post-war American political cynicism — and was destroyed by it. Trade Review‘Prodigiously sourced and insightful … [an] important and revealing biography.’ -- Jonathan Mirsky * The Spectator *‘[A] wonderful biography of America’s most controversial 20th-century president … a sharply observed but refreshingly uncensorious assessment.’ * New Statesman *‘Farrell’s blockbuster portrait of Nixon is revelatory — filled with fresh reporting shedding new light on the roots of our own dark political moment. He shows that dirty tricks, October Surprises, and anti-elitist resentment were among the gifts Nixon bequeathed to our own presidential politics.’ -- Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money: the hidden history of the billionaires behind the rise of the radical right‘John A. Farrell has once again delivered a rich, precisely written portrait of the past to help us understand the present. He traces the origins and turning points of one of the most complex, complicated and fascinating presidents of the modern age with flair and narrative skill. Each page is a joy to read, on the way to a very satisfying whole.’ -- John Dickerson, moderator of CBS’s Face the Nation and author of Whistlestop: my favorite stories from presidential campaign history‘John A. Farrell's Richard Nixon: the life is an expertly written and strikingly comprehensive portrait of America's most complicated president. Farrell has a genius for the telling anecdote and apropos quote. His command of the sources is staggering. Richard Nixon is a true landmark achievement.’ -- Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and author of Cronkite‘Written with skills he acquired as an investigative reporter, John Farrell’s tour de force takes us through the rise and fall of Richard Nixon with penetrating and thought-provoking analysis.’ -- Irwin Gellman, author of The Contender: Richard Nixon, the congress years, 1946 to 1952 and The President and the Apprentice: Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952-1961‘Full of fresh, endlessly revealing insights into Nixon’s political career, less on the matter of his character, refreshingly, than on the events that accompanied and resulted from it.’ -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review‘A probing biography … Readers track the lonely and hard-won ascent of a sickly, love-starved child, who dreams like a Romantic but manoeuvres like Machiavelli … An unflinching portrait.’ -- Booklist, starred review‘Jack Farrell gives us two profoundly resonant Richard Nixons — the last progressive Republican, and the author of our national divisions. He also gives us, in one engrossing volume, the defining biography of our darkest president.’ -- Larry Tye, author of Bobby Kennedy: the making of a liberal icon‘Brilliant, ruthless, a president who combined some enlightened policies with inner darkness, Richard Nixon stands alone in the history of American politics. John A. Farrell’s gripping account vividly captures Nixon from his earliest days — catapulting to Congress with a cold-blooded debate stunt — to the mounting crises he faced in the White House, culminating in his spectacular fall.’ -- T.J. Stiles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Custer’s Trials and The First Tycoon‘Richard Nixon’s political career has all the nooks and crannies of an English muffin: the red-baiting of the early campaigns; Checkers; the Great Debates of 1960; the comeback in ’68; the inheritance and horror of Vietnam; the historic opening to China; the shame of Watergate. In Richard Nixon, John A. Farrell is tough and unyielding, yet gives his subject a fair hearing through each gripping episode. ‘I’m not a quitter,’ Nixon once protested, and this grand, indispensable book proves him right, right to the end.’ -- Chris Matthews, author of Kennedy & Nixon: the rivalry that shaped post-war America‘With clarity and verve, John A. Farrell’s deft pen illuminates the life of America’s 37th president. Unsparing yet fair-minded in its analysis and based on deep research in a wealth of archival and published sources, Richard Nixon is a fast-moving and penetrating portrait of this controversial and complicated man.’ -- Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of War‘A stack of good books about Nixon could reach the ceiling, but Farrell has written the best one-volume, cradle-to-grave biography that we could expect about such a famously elusive subject. By employing recently released government documents and oral histories, he adds layers of understanding to a complex man and his dastardly decisions … Richard Nixon illuminates a man of sharp mind and soaring ambition. Farrell sympathizes with a boy who thought he was hard to love and compensated with an iron will. He understands Nixon’s frustrations with the lack of respect for his accomplishments. But in the end, this portrait is more damning. His Nixon is doomed by his own insecurities, destroyed by his own treachery, damned by his own words … [Nixon] stained his reputation and that of the presidency. As Farrell’s outstanding biography reminds us, the consequences have endured.’ -- Aram Goudsouzian * Washington Post *‘An extremely valuable introduction to the life and times of one of our most consequential presidents. Farrell gives us a Nixon rich in both character flaws and great accomplishments, the latter fueled by his transformational vision. It’s a worthy look at a fascinating president.’ -- Ray Locker * USA Today *‘Though there have been many previous books about Nixon, Mr. Farrell’s comprehensive, one-volume biography is welcome … In lively, vigorous prose, he takes readers through Nixon’s career, offering incisive judgments and revealing details along the way.’ -- Robert K. Landers * Wall Street Journal *‘Superb … the most formidable attempt yet made to put Richard Nixon in perspective.’ -- Steve Donoghue * Christian Science Monitor *‘Farrell has written a definitive biography. There was a lot more to Nixon than lies and bombast, and this nuanced book shows that.’ -- Harold Evans * The Week *‘[Nixon is] an electrifying subject, a muttering Lear, of perennial interest to anyone with even an average curiosity about politics or psychology. The real test of a good Nixon biography, given how many there are, is far simpler: Is it elegantly written? And, even more important, can it tolerate paradoxes and complexity, the spikier stuff that distinguishes real-life sinners from comic-book villains? The answer, in the case of Richard Nixon, is yes, on both counts.’ -- Jennifer Senior * The New York Times *‘Beautifully written and deeply insightful … A bracing portrait of a man untethered from principle and ideology, driven throughout his life to win at any cost and thereby palliate his deep-seated insecurities … Nixon was not an easy man to understand. And even now, his failures and accomplishments are not easy to classify. In Farrell’s capable hands, however, we see Nixon in his entirety — and we can’t help but wonder what he means for our politics today.’ -- William Howell * San Francisco Chronicle *‘John Farrell’s book now clearly stands as the best one-volume life of one of the century’s most complex and compelling figures. It is a story that goes from bright promise into dark places, time and again punctures the lie that there are no second acts in American lives, but still exits into tragedy. It is one of the saddest biographies you will ever read.’ * The Herald *‘John A Farrell convincingly argues with great style and attention to detail.’ -- JP O'Malley * Sunday Independent *‘[A] highly readable tome.’ -- Peter Coaldrake, vice-chancellor and president, Queensland University of Technology‘A magisterial portrait of the man who embodied post-war American political cynicism — and was destroyed by it.’ * Irish Examiner *‘[Farrell] humanizes him with genuine empathy, but clearly demonstrates that Nixon’s ultimate demise was the result of the deceit and corruption that he recklessly cultivated over decades.’ * Irish Examiner *‘An excellent book, thoughtful in approach, original in research, crisp in prose and definitive in conclusions.’ * Weekend Australian *‘Farrell’s sense of narrative pacing is flawless.’ * TLS *Praise for Clarence Darrow: ‘This new biography is a balanced account of a complex man, written with a great gift of story-telling. It sets Darrow’s battles in their rich historical setting, and brings him vividly to life. I hope that it helps keep alive the memory of a lawyer who, at his best, was a model for all lawyers to emulate.’ * Julian Burnside QC *Praise for Clarence Darrow: ‘His [Darrow’s] life story was epic in its sweep and influence … It is stirringly retold in Farrell's timely, balanced and important book.’ * Weekend Australian *Praise for Clarence Darrow: ‘It is almost impossible to conceive how so much living could have come in just one life, and Jack Farrell’s masterful new biography makes Clarence Darrow come alive. This is a wonderful, at times heart-pounding story, which is told with precision, sympathy, and insight.’ * Ken Burns *
£17.09
Princeton University Press To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause
Book Synopsis
£29.75
Thames & Hudson Ltd Charles Booths London Poverty Maps A Landmark
Book SynopsisTrade Review'A splendid – and necessary – publication … a great resource' - Iain Sinclair'[An] exquisite edition of Booth’s maps' - BBC Radio 3: Free Thinking'Booth’s maps have been beautifully reproduced in [this] new book' - LSE Review of Books'What Booth’s poverty maps ultimately show is a London where rich and poor lived right next door to each other: in that sense, at least, today’s London is no different' - Guardian'Compelling – once you start you can’t stop' - BBC Radio London: The Robert Elms Show'A visual shrine to the Booth survey … the essays are all accomplished and informative and really do help spell out the context in which the maps were produced … these large-scale maps are a delight and it is a joy to have them' - Times Literary Supplement'Charles Booth’s famous maps of Victorian London offer a chance to reflect on how the city has changed - and how it hasn’t' - Bloomberg'Exquisite … the book really is a beautiful thing, with a reverence for the source material and playfulness in the design' - World of InteriorsTable of ContentsForward: Mapping the Abyss. • Introduction. • Eastern District & North Eastern District • Housing. • Northern District & North-Western District • Immigration. • East Central District & West Central District • Religion. • Inner Western District & Outer Western District • Trade. • Inner Souther District & South-Western District • Morality. • Outside Southern District & South Eastern District • Leisure.
£39.96
Yale University Press Stormtroopers
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Weighty, well argued, thorough and deeply researched.”—Richard J. Evans, London Review of Books“[An] excellent new history of the Sturmableilungen. . . a convincing thesis, supported with immense scholarship and research in national, regional, and local archives, providing a rich and detailed history.” —Taylor Downing, Military History Monthly“Brings a genuine rigour to the subject. He is not content simply to retread the stereotypical, half-formed narrative of the SA. . . Siemens portrays the SA as an integral part of the Nazi vision for society.” —Roger Moorhouse, BBC History“Quite simply, this is the best book on its subject”—David Marx, DavidMarxBookReviews“There is no doubt that it should be highly recommended reading for anyone interested in Nazi Germany.” —Katrin Paehler, German Studies Review"Siemens’s work will go a long way to correcting and deepening our understanding of the SA. He has produced an original and comprehensive study that successfully repositions the importance of the Hitler’s Stormtroopers in the history of the Third Reich."—Deborah Barton, The English Historical ReviewWinner of the Outstanding Academic Title for 2018 award sponsored by Choice"This excellent and original book is a tour de force, original, scholarly, and readable, as well as being informed by a solid grounding in the latest theoretical literature. I recommend it with great enthusiasm." Robert Gellately, author of Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany"An excellent contribution to the vast literature on Nazi Germany. Based on meticulous research, Daniel Siemens’ Stormtroopers is not only the most comprehensive but also the best history of Hitler’s Brownshirts available in any language." Robert Gerwarth, author of Hitler's Hangman "A definitive study of the Stormtroopers. It offers genuinely new perspectives, integrating the familiar story of SA violence with the important history of that organization from 1934 to 1945. Quite simply, this is the best book on its subject." Richard Bessel, author of Germany 1945 "Daniel Siemens demonstrates in this excellent piece of scholarship that the SA did not, as is often assumed, fade into insignificance after the Night of the Long Knives in 1934 but continued to function until the very last days of the war and played a significant role in the Holocaust, in the Occupied Territories and on the home front. Thoroughly researched and very readable, Siemens has made an important contribution to our understanding of an often ignored aspect of the Third Reich." Adrian Weale, author of The SS"For the foreseeable future, Daniel Siemens’s study will be the book of reference on the National Socialist stormtroopers." Professor Michael Wildt, Humboldt University Berlin
£16.99
Little, Brown Book Group Mad, Bad And Sad: A History of Women and the Mind
Book SynopsisMad, bad and sad. From the depression suffered by Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath to the mental anguish and addictions of iconic beauties Zelda Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. From Freud and Jung and the radical breakthroughs of psychoanalysis to Lacan's construction of a modern movement and the new women-centred therapies. This is the story of how we have understood mental disorders and extreme states of mind in women over the last two hundred years and how we conceive of them today, when more and more of our inner life and emotions have become a matter for medics and therapists.Trade Review** 'Informative in startling ways, and never dull in the academic way, Appignanesi's genuinely new History of the Mind Doctors is a subtle and accessible account of that perhaps most daunting of modern relationships, the one between the Mind Doctor and his female patient. Because Appignanesi has a complex story to tell there is no blaming at work in this wonderful book, but a shrewd and sympathetic apprehension of what is at stake in the difficult histories of both the Mind Doctors and those they seek to help. It is a remarkable achievement Adam Phillips ** 'A tantalising mix of polemic and history, of ideology and fact ... A gripping read ... In a league far above any other book of its kind on this topic SUNDAY BUSINESS POST ** 'Endlessly fascinating THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ** 'Subtle, textured and enthralling ... One of the great strengths of this book is the way in which it charts the uncanny relationship between fashions in psychiatric theory and sufferer s' symptoms SUNDAY TIMES
£14.24
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Sutton Hoo Story: Encounters with Early
Book SynopsisA definitive account of Sutton Hoo, its discovery, history and famed treasure. The Sutton Hoo ship-burial is one of the most significant finds ever made in Europe. It lies in a burial ground which contains all the elements of archaeological mystery: seventeen mounds, buried treasure, and sacrificed horses. In this very accessible book, Martin Carver explains what we know of this site, at which the leaders of the Dark Age kingdom of East Anglia signalled the pagan and maritime nature of their court. This is the story not only of this dramatic place, but also of its exploration over half a century, which amounts to a potted history of British archaeology.Trade ReviewThe most up-to-date and comprehensive study of Sutton Hoo available. * ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL *Accessible, affordable and pitched to a wide audience. * TOEBI *Provides a holistic, multi-period review of Sutton Hoo and an authoritative account of its archaeological history. This attractive and very readable overview brings readers up-to-date on this remarkable site. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY *This attractive, beautifully illustrated and well laid out soft-covered edition is worthy of our attention. * SUFFOLK VIEW *An up-to-date interpretive handbook. * SAXON *Table of ContentsMrs Pretty digs up a ship The British Museum's Treasure A New Campaign Before Sutton Hoo: c.3000 BC to c.AD 600 Burial Ground of Kings AD 590 to 650 The Gallows and the Gentry AD 650 to 1938 Now entertain conjecture of a time: Painting a picture of the seventh century Bibliography and Sources Background reading on Anglo-Saxon England Archaeological Records Notes to Text
£17.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Army of the Night
Book SynopsisDiscover the truth behind one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War II.Who was the enigmatic Jean Moulin, a man as skilled in deception as he was in acts of heroism? The memory of this French Resistance hero, who was betrayed to the Gestapo and tortured by Klaus Barbie, the infamous Butcher of Lyon', is revered alongside that of other national icons. But Moulin's story is full of unanswered questions and the truth of his life is far more complicated than the legend. Patrick Marnham, winner of the Marsh Prize for biography, thrillingly tells the epic story of France's greatest war hero, bringing to light the shadowy and often deceitful world of the French Resistance, and offers a shocking conclusion to one of the great unsolved mysteries of World War II.Trade ReviewSecret agents do not leave reliable accounts of their activities, nor do doubleand triple-agents act from simple motives. The lucidity comes, like the solution of a good detective story, towards the end of a tangled tale full of unusual suspects. * The Sunday Times *A brilliantly sustained, atmospheric and often tensely thrilling narrative [. . .] This book is a remarkable achievement that evokes the whole tragedy of wartime France. * The Independent *This is first-rate history that reads like a thriller and keeps the reader engrossed to the very end. * Literary Review *A gripping account of the last days of the French Resistance hero who was tortured to death by Klaus Barbie. Marnham’s biography is a brilliant mix of political thriller and wartime history. * J.G. Ballard *Enthralling and intelligent, a masterly exploration of the sinister labyrinth that was wartime France [...] It is a remarkable book, utterly fascinating. * Allan Massie *... Patrick Marnham is very good on French self-deception: a moral self-deception which began with Vichy for psychological reasons and continued under de Gaulle. His book is as gripping as a detective story. * Antony Beevor *If you are interested in France, the real France, or if you are interested in the Second World War, or if you are interested in courage, real courage, and how it can rise to meet the most severe test imaginable, then I believe you ought to make it your business to read Patrick Marnham’s extraordinary book.’ * Alan Furst *Table of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgements Introduction The Legend Caluire Into the Pantheon Part I: Life 1. A Republican Cradle, 1789–1899 2. Growth of a Senior Civil Servant, 1899–1919 3. A Secret Man, a Complex Man, 1919–1934 4. Moulin Rouge, 1934–1939 Part II: War 5. The Prefect of Chartres, 1939–1940 6. Zones, 1940–1941 7. Life on Half-Pay, 1940–1941 8. An Envoy to London, 1941 Part III: Death 9. Life Underground, 1942–1943 10. Vive la Nuit! November 1942–June 1943 11. An Urn and a Pot of Jam, June–July 1943 Part IV: Resurrection 12. The machinery of Insurrection, 1943–1944 13. Murdering History, 1945–1949 14. The Doctor’s Waiting Room, 21 June 1943 Postscript Postscript to the New Edition Glossary Chronology Notes Select Bibliography Index
£14.99
Orion Publishing Co On Savage Shores
Book SynopsisA New Statesman Best Book of the Year 2023. A Waterstones Book of the Year 2023. An Economist Book of the Year. One of Smithsonian Magazine''s Ten Best History Books of 2023. A BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 2023. Winner of the Voltaire Medal.''An untold story of colonial history, both epic and intimate, and a thrilling revelation'' Adam Rutherford''Mind-blowing . . . this is how history should be told'' Benjamin ZephaniahIn this groundbreaking new history, Caroline Dodds Pennock recovers the long-marginalised stories of the Indigenous Americans who - as enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants and traders - left a profound impact on European civilisation in the ''Age of Discovery''. On Savage Shores is a sweeping account of power and influence in America and Europe - one which could forever change the way we understand our global history.Trade ReviewOn Savage Shores is a work of historical recovery . . . few books make as compelling a case for such a reimagining -- David Olusoga * GUARDIAN, Book of the Day *In On Savage Shores, Dodds Pennock has performed a monumental work of historical excavation. Beautifully written and painstakingly researched, this is first-rate scholarship -- Susannah Lipscomb * FINANCIAL TIMES *A thrilling, beautifully written and important book that changes how we look at transatlantic history, finally placing Indigenous peoples not on the side-lines but at the centre of the narrative. Highly recommended -- PETER FRANKOPANDodds Pennock's unpeeling of the indigenous experience from obscure manuscripts . . . is a much-needed and refreshing take on our all-too Eurocentric telling of the past -- Andrea Wulf * THE TIMES *Not only changes how we think about the first contact between America and Europe but also sets the methodological standard for a new way of understanding the origin of the modern world * NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS *On Savage Shores is mind-blowing, and it's an important contribution to struggle for a fair and more balanced telling of history - I felt genuinely enlightened. Dodds Pennock is a truth teller of the highest order, and a first class communicator. This is how history should be told -- BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAHOn Savage Shores offers a welcome non-Eurocentric narrative about how the great civilisations of the Americas discovered Europe . . . an important book * INDEPENDENT *An untold story of colonial history, both epic and intimate, and a thrilling revelation, not about the invasion of the Americas by Europeans, but the journeys of Indigenous people to Europe. Caroline Dodds Pennock is the perfect guide, cannily and eloquently shifting the axis of global history away from its Eurocentric grip -- ADAM RUTHERFORDCaroline Dodds Pennock's utterly original book is chock full of remarkable stories . . . there is much to enjoy in this unusual history of a forgotten corner of our past * DAILY MAIL *Deftly weaves diverse and fascinating tales of the exciting adventures, complex diplomatic missions, voyages of discovery, triumphant incursions, and heartbreaking exploitations - of the many thousands of Indigenous travellers to new lands. Essential reading for anyone interested in how the events of the "Age of Exploration" shaped the modern world -- JENNIFER RAFF, author of ORIGINInspiring and important . . . Expertly researched, convincingly argued, erudite yet readable, and introduces new readers to the reality of Indigenous American experience * HISTORY TODAY *Caroline Dodds Pennock offers a remarkably fresh and compelling account of the so-called Age of Discovery. Whether arriving as ambassadors or enslaved, these travellers experienced Europe as a new and disorienting world: a place of shocking violence and perplexing social norms. Pennock, a leading authority on Indigenous Mexico, tells their stories with insight and humanity. A must read -- BRETT RUSHFORTH, author of BONDS OF ALLIANCE: INDIGENOUS AND ATLANTIC SLAVERIES IN NEW FRANCEPennock has pieced together hundreds of fragments to create a new and remarkable portrait of the travellers who crossed the Atlantic not to the Americas but from them, and who found in Europe a strange, often hostile, sometimes intriguing society, vastly different from their own -- CATHERINE FLETCHER, author of THE BEAUTY AND THE TERROR[A] fascinating and fluidly written revisionist history . . . This innovative and powerful account breaks down long-standing historical assumptions * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review *An impressive and consequential act of research and interpretation that consistently acknowledges the profound and ongoing . . . fissure caused to indigenous identities by colonisation, enslavement, violence and displacement. * GEOGRAPHICAL *As Caroline Dodds Pennock shows, there were many thousands of Native Americans in early modern Europe who have long been forgotten . . . an overdue diversion of attention towards people marginalised by race . . . Dodds Pennock's skilful method involves subtly layering European accounts -- Malcom Gaskill * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *Imaginative and passionately argued * Wall Street Journal *An excellent exploration of Indigenous presence in and contribution to Europe and nascent globalization. Pennock, by recognizing and voicing a space for Indigenous Peoples in Europe, has told a story that needs to form a part of every history class from grade school to university. On Savage Shores is an original and important recasting of sixteenth-century Europe . . . a decolonizing and un-whitening approach to the past * Anishinabek News *On Savage Shores not only changes how we think about the first contact between America and Europe but also sets the methodological standard for a new way of understanding the origin of the modern world. * New York review of Books *
£10.44
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc Our Family Tree: A Generational History
Book SynopsisOrganize your ancestry research while creating a beautiful keepsake to pass on to future generations with Our Family Tree. Find your way through your family history and record your results with this beautiful keepsake. Whether as a gift to a relative or for yourself, this modern family tree allows for multi-generations and their activities to be included. Customizable and inclusive, make this truly your own through: this charming guide to your ancestry includes: Ancestral charts for you, your partner, and your family members Records for citizenship and immigration Places to record your and your families' favorite things A place for chosen family, including pets Blank pages for pasting in photographs and mementos And more! An introduction from renowned genealogist and author of Finding your Family Tree Sharon Leslie Morgan helps guide you on your journey with helpful tips and a research checklist to set you on your course of discovery. No matter how thorny your family tree may be, discovering your ancestry can connect you to an essential part of your identity. Get this easy-to-use, beautifully illustrated keepsake to remember your family history and try your hand at genealogy.
£13.49
Oxford University Press Ancient Philosophy
Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one. Julia Annas gives a succinct account of ancient Greco-Roman philosophy, emphasizing its freshness and variety of themes, and its approach of lively discussion and argument. Getting away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of Great Thinkers, the book gives readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of ancient philosophy, and of its wide variety of themes and styles.This new edition has been fully updated to reflect updates in the field, with new illustrations and up to date further reading to allow further exploration of the field. The text has been expanded and modernized to be more comprehensive and accessible to the general reader, as well as exploring the relation of the tradition of ancient Greco-Roman philosophy to other traditions and to us.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: How to live a happy life 2: Humans and beasts: understanding ourselves 3: Reason, knowledge and scepticism 4: Logic and reality 5: When did it begin? (and what is it anyway?)
£9.49
Bedford Square Publishers Named
Book SynopsisA fascinating and beautiful mix of memoir, global naming trends and reclaiming who we are.
£17.09
Oneworld Publications A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Book SynopsisCSI: Ancient Rome – what can everyday killings tell us about the Empire and its people?Trade Review‘A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed.’ -- Tom Holland, author of Rubicon, Dynasty and Dominion‘Southon brings some great and little-known murder stories to light, revelling in the bizarre and the macabre.’ * BBC History Magazine *‘She has a rare gift… Those left cold by the sober tones of scholarship will find this voice liberating and intoxicating. Its energy is boundless and its range immense… At a moment when the study of classics struggles to escape its starchy, imperialist legacy, Ms Southon’s cheeky enthusiasm feels like the path of salvation.’ -- Wall Street Journal‘Blood, guts, murder, emperors and a sprinkling of uplifting Latin. A wonderful book on the Roman way of death. Mirabile dictu!’ -- Harry Mount, author of Carpe Diem and Amo Amas Amat... and All That‘I love this funny, scholarly, erudite, irreverent book; Emma Southon wears her learning lightly but we never for a moment doubt her authority, and the past arrives with total immediacy from the first page. Reading it is like seeing a classical statue not remote and austere on a pedestal, but painted in all its original bright colours.’ -- Sarah Perry, author of Melmoth and The Essex Serpent'The genius of Emma Southon’s new book, A Fatal Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome, is that it simultaneously humanizes the Romans and alienates us from them, portraying a society that’s at once a familiar ancestor and a rabid monster.' -- Foreign Policy‘this very approachable analysis of Classical homicide isn’t a dry academic tract… conversational and tongue-in-cheek without sacrificing scholarly credibility. A good chance to learn a lot and have fun doing it.’ * Herald (Glasgow) *
£9.89
Orion Publishing Co The World of the Harlem Renaissance
Book Synopsis1000-PIECE PUZZLE: Piece together the rich and flourishing world of early 20th-century Harlem and fill the gaps in your knowledge as you go with a comprehensive poster guideAUTHORITATIVE TEXT - The post comes with detailed text on this era by Professor Davarian L. Baldwin, social theorist of urban America, historian and cultural critic, whose work largely examines the landscape of global cities through the lens of the African Diasporic experience.THE PERFECT GIFT: die-cut pieces, sturdy box, and illustrated poster for maximum gift appeal.AMAZING ARTWORK: Noa Denmon's intricately drawn cityscape is bursting with minute detail. Finished puzzle 48.5 x 68 cm (19 x 27 in.)HIGH QUALITY JIGSAW PUZZLE comes in a sturdy box measuring 267x267 mm (10.5x10.5 in) with finished puzzle measuring 680x485mm (26.75x19 in) Step back in history to one of New York's most vibrant moments in thi
£17.33
Orion Publishing Co The Lesser Evil
Book SynopsisThe superb, bestselling diaries of Victor Klemperer, a Jew in Dresden who survived the war - hailed as one of the 20th century's most important chronicles.'Compulsive reading' LITERARY REVIEW 'Deeply engrossing' SPECTATORTrade ReviewKlemperer's diary deserves to rank alongside that of Anne Frank * SUNDAY TIMES *These diaries constitute one of the most vital historical and human documents of their age. Packed with vivid observation, profound reflection ... they find hope, dignity and even tart humour in the jaws of hell * INDEPENDENT *One of the greatest diarists - perhaps the greatest - in the German language * NEW YORK TIMES *Compulsive reading ... Klemperer's diary also offers a superb window on life in Soviet-occupied Germany in 1945-9 and the early years of the German Democratic Republic * LITERARY REVIEW *Klemperer's acute eye for the corruption of his contemporaries and his sharp ear for the corruption of language make these diaries an inexhaustible mine of information and insight for anybody interested in the German catastrophe ... In the hands of a master, the ephemeral is perennial * DAILY TELEGRAPH *The diary juxtaposes the profound and the mundane, rather like life itself. That is what makes it such a vivid and powerful account of a remarkable life * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *Deeply engrossing ... he has the supreme gifts of honesty and scepticism ... He doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't fantasize ... one of the supreme chroniclers of the 20th century * SPECTATOR *No other testimony remotely as truthful exists of the locked-in half of Germany. The voice of Victor Klemperer is simply indispensable * EVENING STANDARD *Puts tears and blood into a political era that is otherwise difficult to dramatise and so to imagine * SCOTSMAN *The enhance Victor Klemperer's rare standing as a truth-teller * IRISH TIMES *The triumph of these diaries ... is precisely this: not for one moment does Klemperer lose his essential humanity. The diaries testify to the integrity of private space and truth to self ... This is the epic of a self-confessedly commonplace mortal with extraordinary qualities of intellect, wit and self-knowledge - recording his insights with unswerving fidelity to the truth * GUARDIAN *
£17.09
Verso Books White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil
Book SynopsisIn recent years, the far right has done everything in its power to accelerate the heating: an American president who believes it is a hoax has removed limits on fossil fuel production. The Brazilian president has opened the Amazon and watched it burn. In Europe, parties denying the crisis and insisting on maximum combustion have stormed into office, from Sweden to Spain. On the brink of breakdown, the forces most aggressively promoting business-as-usual have surged - always in defense of white privilege, against supposed threats from non-white others. Where have they come from? The first study of the far right in the climate crisis, White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism presents an eye-opening sweep of a novel political constellation, and reveals its deep historical roots. Fossil-fueled technologies were born steeped in racism. None loved them more passionately than the classical fascists. As such forces rise to the surface, some profess to have the solution - closing borders to save the climate. Epic and riveting, White Skin, Black Fuel traces a future of political fronts that can only heat up.Trade ReviewPraise for Fossil Capital:"Malm forcefully unmasks the assumption that economic growth has inevitably brought us to the brink of a hothouse Earth. Rather, as he shows in a subtle and surprising reinterpretation of the Industrial Revolution, it has been the logic of capital (especially the need to valorize immense sunk investments in fossil fuels), not technology or even industrialism per se, that has driven global warming." -- Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums and Ecology of FearPraise for Fossil Capital:"Fossil Capital is a theoretical masterpiece and a political-economic-ecological manifesto. It looks unblinkingly at the catastrophe that could await human society if we fail to act on the words System Change or Climate Change. It is a book that I will return to again and again-and take notes." -- John Bellamy Foster, University of Oregon, author of Marx’s EcologyPraise for Fossil Capital:"The definitive deep history on how our economic system created the climate crisis. Superb, essential reading from one of the most original thinkers on the subject." -- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock DoctrinePraise for Fossil Capital:A unique reconceptualization of the relationship between nature, capitalism, and Marxism. * Jacobin *Praise for Fossil Capital:The birth of the fossil economy, avers human ecologist Andreas Malm, arrived when steam eclipsed water power in mid-nineteenth-century Britain. Around that, Malm builds a deep, insight-packed history of how society came to be in thrall to the twin engines of combustion and capital. -- Barbara Kiser * Nature *Praise for Fossil Capital:Remarkable book -- Benjamin Kunkel * London Review of Books *Praise for Fossil Capital:This is a denser, wonkier, and more historical survey of the long, ugly marriage between fossil fuels and capitalism - in fact, between fossil fuels and the entire history of economic growth. -- David Wallace-Wells * New York Magazine *Praise for Fossil Capital:The best book written about the origins of global warming ... Like Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything, Fossil Capital trenchantly demonstrated that capitalism and capitalists are responsible for climate change. -- Michael Robbins * Bookforum *White Skin, Black Fuels is a beautifully written, passionate, richly researched warning about fossil fascism - and its mutant offspring, ecofascism. With acute sensitivity, it traces the surprising connections between racist, nationalist ideology and climate denialism. And it persuasively explains why climate disaster only reinforces denialism on the Right. An essential insight into an emerging threat. * Richard Seymour *This bold and richly detailed study of far-Right approaches to climate change is a revelation. With well-grounded historical depth and challenging theoretical reach, it brings disparate contemporary developments onto a much-needed common canvas. Its admirably transnational reading of urgent political priorities could not be more timely -- Geoff Eley, University of Michigan, author of Nazism as FascismIn this highly engaging study, full of startling anecdotes and witty reflections, Andreas Malm and the Zetkin Collective take us on a whirlwind tour of ascendant far-right movements and their anti-climate politics in Europe, the US, and Brazil. White Skin, Black Fuel is analytically rich, getting to the heart of fascism's long-standing entanglement with white supremacy, fossil fuels, machinist fetishism, and capitalist cruelty. If you want to understand the political obstacles that will face climate action in the coming decades, this book is a must-read -- Cara Daggett, author of The Birth of Energy[Malm is] the hardest-working intellectual on the climate left. -- Wen Stephenson * The Nation *A firm foundation for antifascist understandings of fascism. If the name of the game is to know our enemy, this is a crucial first step. -- Alex King * Spectre *Compelling. -- Paul Mason * New Statesman *A critically needed analysis for movement thinkers and organisers seeking to understand the resurgence of fascism in the midst of climate breakdown. -- Basav Sen * Antipode *[White Skin, Black Fuel] shows how, in the political arena, arguments about economic rationality get woven together with hierarchical structures and the pursuit of domination, portending what it calls fossil fascism. -- Olufemi O. Taiwo * New Yorker *White Skin, Black Fuel charts many of the risks facing progressive politics in a post-carbon era, but it would be foolish to dismiss such a politics as utopian. It is on utopia that we now depend. -- James Butler * London Review of Books *A sustained challenge to [the] complacent historical framing of our present condition ... attempts to set out the ways in which gas-guzzling consumerism, fossil fuel addiction, settler colonialism and structures of racial power are historically entwined. -- Adam Tooze * London Review of Books *This rich study of the far right's role in the climate crisis presents an eye-opening sweep of a novel political constellation, revealing its deep historical roots. -- Adele Walton * gal–dem *Fascinating. -- Joseph Maggs * Race & Class *Malm and the Zetkin Collective lead us through the first systematic inquiry into the political ecology of the Far Right in the climate crisis, covering thirteen European countries along with the United States and Brazil. -- James Mumm * Social Policy magazine *
£18.00
Birlinn Ltd Celtic Scotland
Book SynopsisIan Armit is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bradford.
£17.09
O'Brien Press Ltd A Short History of the IRA: From 1916 Onwards
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Hardie Grant US Mahjong
Book SynopsisMahjongteaches readers how to play mahjong and showcases mahjong culture, both past and present, through essays and vignettes on the history of the game, design elements (dating your inherited or thrifted sets), and more.
£15.29
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Warrior of God: Jan Zizka and the Hussite
Book SynopsisBorn in 1360, Jan Zizka was a formidable figure whose life and military career was set amidst the whirlwind of monumental revolutions - military, religious, political and social - that engulfed medieval Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The leader of Bohemia's Hussite Revolution, the first of the religious wars during the Protestant Reformation, he was a forward-thinking military genius whose record is virtually unmatched. Zizka fielded a peasant militia, initially untrained and unequipped, and faced down the Holy Roman Empire's huge professional army of armoured knights known as The Men of Iron. Among his numerous innovations was the armoured wagon fitted with small cannons and muskets, presaging the modern tank. All this was achieved despite the fact that for much of his later career he went completely blind. Yet remarkably, beyond central Europe, very little is known about him, though today he is he is widely considered a Czech national hero. In this original and engrossing study, historian Victor Verney combines an authoritative analysis with colourful anecdotes to reveal the incredible exploits of this forgotten military genius and the fascinating cast of characters who surrounded him.
£13.49
Little, Brown Book Group Violencia
Book SynopsisSpain has never worked as a democracy. Throughout the country''s history only one system of government has ever enjoyed any real success: dictatorship and the use of violence.Violence, in fact, is what Spain is made of, lying at the heart of its culture and identity, far more so than any other western European nation. For well over a thousand years, the country has only ever been forged and then been held together through the use of aggression - brutal, merciless terror and warfare directed against its own people. Without it the country breaks apart and Spain ceases to exist - a fact that recent events in Barcelona confirm. Authoritarianism is the Spanish default setting.Yet Spain has produced many of the most important artists and thinkers in the Western world, from Cervantes, author of the first modern novel, to Goya, the first modern painter. Much of Western artistic expression, in fact, from the Picaresque to Cubism, would be unthinkable without the Spanish contrTrade ReviewJason Webster's Violencia is as opinionated as it is fascinating. Even on periods that I know well, I found it illuminating and always provocative. Moreover, as is to be expected from the man who writes such intriguing crime novels, it is beautifully written and extremely witty * Paul Preston *Violencia is a thrilling, page-turning adventure that spans the glittering expanse of Spanish history. Webster travels the horizon of Spain with the head-on confidence of the insider who has lived his subject, deftly bringing to life the grandeur, tragedy and mystery of the country which continues to the shape the identity of Europe and the world beyond * Jason Elliot *A provocative and entertaining trot through the paradoxes of Spanish history and contains much interesting information * Literary Review *Webster has produced what is destined to be a hotly-debated narrative of the land he knows so well * History of Way *Violencia examines Spain from prehistory to the present. It is a delightfully engaging read and a good introduction to Spain's turbulent history * The Times *
£12.34
HarperCollins Publishers Gentry Six Hundred Years of a Peculiarly English
Book SynopsisAdam Nicolson tells the story of England through the history of fourteen gentry families from the 15th century to the present day. This sparkling work of history reads like a real-life Downton Abbey, as the loves, hatreds and many times of grief of his chosen cast illuminate the grand events of history.We may well be a nation of shopkeepers', but for generations England was a country dominated by its middling families, rooted on their land, in their locality, with a healthy interest in turning a profit from their property and a deep distrust of the centralised state. The virtues we may all believe to be part of the English culture honesty, affability, courtesy, liberality each of these has their source in gentry life cultivated over five hundred years. These folk were the backbone of England.Adam Nicolson's riveting new book concentrates on fourteen families, from 1400 to the present day. From the medieval gung-ho of the Plumpton family to the high-seas adventures of the Lascelles iTrade Review“Dazzling…..there is an exhilarating narrative sweep that takes the story across the centuries, but above all there is a unity of theme and place that roots it in English history and the English landscape….This is an enviably good book” THE SPECTATOR “Clever, moving and put together with expert craftsmanship, THE GENTRY is the most enjoyable book I’ve read this year” FINANCIAL TIMES “Masterly….. a wonderfully evocative work of historical rehabilitation” SUNDAY TELEGRAPH “A consummate writer and keen-eyed reader of landscape, Nicolson gives us mouth-watering descriptions…a fantastic book”. TIME OUT “[Nicolson] paints a fascinating picture of forced marriages, violent deaths, corruption, loyalties, betrayals and, ultimately, a lost way of life… the book has flashes of insight and empathy to remind us that each family had its own individual dramas as well as being symbols of their time.” DAILY MAIL “Nicolson’s fascinating and brilliantly written examination of the gentry across seven centuries….creates a vivid portrait gallery of a class at the heart of English society …..wonderfully readable” SUNDAY TIMES
£12.34
HarperCollins Publishers Later ... with Jools Holland
Book Synopsis'You never knew what you were going to be confronted with when you went on Later' Nick CaveLater is a voyage of discovery for us as well as the viewers' Dave GrohlDave Grohl and Alicia Keys loved it, Björk treasured it, Ed Sheeran's life was changed by it, Kano felt at home while Nick Cave was horrified but inspired, and they all kept coming back.This first-hand account of the BBC's Later with Jools Holland takes you behind the scenes of one of the world's great musical meeting places. Legends including Sir Paul McCartney, Mary J. Blige and David Bowie found a regular welcome, alongside the next generation of superstars including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Amy Winehouse. Part of what has made the show so special is the format all those bands, singers, stars and newbies brought together to listen as well as to perform in Jools' circle of dreams. But there's always been plenty of mayhem alongside the magic of convening a room full of musicians hosted by one of their own.Written by the show's co-creator and 26-year showrunner, music journalist Mark Cooper, this is the story of how Later grew into a musical and TV institution. It was Mark who had to explain to Jay-Z why he couldn't just do his numbers and split, who told Seasick Steve why he had to play Dog House Boogie' on the Hootenanny and persuaded Johnny Cash that he simply had to come in, even when The Man in Black wasn't feeling well.From Stormzy to Björk, from Smokey Robinson to Norah Jones, from Britpop to trip hop, here is the word on how Later began, evolved and has endured, accompanied by exclusive interviews with some of the show's regular stars as well as the unique pictorial record of Andre Csillag who photographed the show for over 20 years. A must-read for music fans everywhere, Later with Jools Hollandpulls back the curtain on classic performances to reveal that the show is just as magical, if even more chaotic, than you imagined.Trade Review‘Excellent’ Jools Holland
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers To Save Every One
Book Synopsis?The remarkable 200-year history of The RNLI and their invaluable role in British Maritime history. A beautiful book of kindness, courage, and community to treasure for years to come.Since 1824, people have counted on the RNLI to keep them safe on, in and next to the water. Over the last 200 years, an estimated 150,000 lives have been saved, and many more kept from harm by the incredible volunteers and donors who continue to honour the founding principle of the RNLI: to save every one.But where did our story begin and who were those pioneering life-savers?This is the story of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's remarkable 200-year history, and their invaluable role in British Maritime History. People are at the heart of the RNLI, and this book explores the incredible work they've taken on over the last two centuries. Seeing huge societal, industrial and cultural shifts during this period, including two world wars in which they played a vital part, the RNLI have made a significant
£21.25
Vintage Publishing Witches James I and the English Witch Hunts
Book SynopsisSeptember 1613.In Belvoir Castle, the heir of one of England's great noble families falls suddenly and dangerously ill. His body is tormented' with violent convulsions. Within a few short weeks he will suffer an excruciating death. Soon the whole family will be stricken with the same terrifying symptoms. The second son, the last male of the line, will not survive.It is said witches are to blame. And so the Earl of Rutland's sons will not be the last to die.Witches traces the dramatic events which unfolded at one of England's oldest and most spectacular castles four hundred years ago. The case is among those which constitute the European witch craze of the 15th-18th centuries, when suspected witches were burned, hanged, or tortured by the thousand. Like those other cases, it is a tale of superstition, the darkest limits of the human imagination and, ultimately, injustice a reminder of how paranoia and hysteria can create an environment in which nonconfTrade ReviewGripping… Stirring witchcraft, politics and sexual perversity into the cauldron of a superstitious age, Tracy Borman seasons her brew with suggestions of poisoning and the black arts. -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *Tracy Borman has written a thorough and beautifully researched social history of the early 1600s, taking in everything from folk medicine to James I’s sex life. -- Bella Bathurst * Observer *Spellbinding * Daily Telegraph *Tracy Borman has written a superb history of the witchcraze in early modern Europe focusing around this one case. Her book is enthralling and accurate… In many respects this is a triumph of popular historical writing. -- David Wootton * Guardian *A tantalising history... A panoramic survey of the witch craze that swept through Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing Village of Secrets
Book SynopsisCaroline Moorehead is a bestselling and prize-winning author, and the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Freya Stark, Iris Origo, Madame de la Tour du Pin and Martha Gellhorn. Her recent books a quartet focussed on resistance to dictatorship, particularly in Italy were shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Orwell Prize and the Costa Biography Award. She lives in London.Trade ReviewBrilliant… It is refreshing to read a book that so confidently abandons the rhetoric of heroism and tries to see its subjects for who they were… Moorehead has had to master a huge amount of background material, and she pulls it off with skill and a remarkable lightness of touch -- Keith Lowe * Mail on Sunday *Riven with complexity… Stories of this weight could occupy several volumes and would still disorientate with all the possibilities – both altruistic and malevolent – of human nature -- Sinclair Mckay * Telegraph *Vivid...an unsparing yet balanced account of the Vichy years...we need books like this to make it impossible for us to forget. -- Alan Judd * Spectator *An especially poignant story… enthralling and meticulous book… amidst the horror of the Holocaust – and such horror is painfully evident in the lives of those left behind – this book shows that human kindness endured undimmed by the propaganda, the threats of violence and the vast rewards on offer for submitting to the will of Nazis -- Harry Hodges * Daily Express *Moorehead draws vivid portraits of those who helped…The emotional heart of the book beats in the children’s stories…The story does not end with Liberation. Moorehead, a biographer and historian, scrupulously records the emotional fallout from the children’s experiences -- Edward Stourton * The Times *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Origins of the Second World War
Book SynopsisA.J.P. Taylor''s bestselling The Origins of the Second World War overturns popular myths about the outbreak of war.One of the most popular and controversial historians of the twentieth century, who made his subject accessible to millions, A.J.P. Taylor caused a storm of outrage with this scandalous bestseller. Debunking what were accepted truths about the Second World War, he argued provocatively that Hitler did not set out to cause the war as part of an evil master plan, but blundered into it partly by accident, aided by the shortcomings of others.Fiercely attacked for vindicating Hitler, A.J.P. Taylor''s stringent re-examination of the events preceding the Nazi invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939 opened up new debate, and is now recognized as a brilliant and classic piece of scholarly research.''Taylor''s most perfect work of art, a miracle of proportion, language and insight'' Robert Skidelsky''A dazzling exTrade ReviewTaylor's most perfect work of art, a miracle of proportion, language and insight * Robert Skidelsky *A dazzling exercise in revisionism which summed up Taylor's paradoxical, provocative and inventive approach to history * The Times *Taylor was a lifelong dissenter ... at his best - as in The Origins of the Second World War ... he shifted the gorund of major debates -- Ben Pimlott * Financial Times *No historian of the past century has been more accessible -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *An almost faultless masterpiece * Observer *Highly original and penetrating ... No one who has digested this enthralling work will ever be able to look at the period again in quite the same way * Sunday Telegraph *Table of ContentsForgotten problem; the legacy of the First World War; the post-war decade; the end of Versailles; the Abyssinian affair and the end of Locarno; the half-armed peace, 1936-38; Anschluss - the end of Austria; the crisis over Czechoslovakia; peace for six months; the war of nerves; war for Danzig.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd A History of Wales
Book SynopsisStrarting from the Ice Ages, this account traces the political, social and cultural history of the land that has come to be called Wales. It spans prehistoric hill forts and Roman ruins to the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution and the series of strikes by Welsh miners in the late twentieth century, offering a history of an enduring people.
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd The Third Reich at War
Book SynopsisThe final book in his acclaimed trilogy on the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, Richard J. Evans''s The Third Reich at War: How the Nazis Led Germany from Conquest to Disaster shows how Germany rushed headlong into destroying itself, shattering an entire continent. In 1939 Hitler mobilized Germany into all-out war. Richard Evans''s astonishing, acclaimed history conjures up a whole society plunged into conflict - from generals and front-line soldiers to Hitler Youth activists and middle-class housewives - tracing events from the invasion of Poland and the Battle of Stalingrad to Hitler''s plans for genocide and his eventual suicide. ''Masterly ... will surely be the standard history for many years to come ... This is a warning for the future, as much as a judgement on the past'' Richard Overy, Daily Telegraph ''We all know how the story ends ... but Richard Evans brings it masterfully home ... magnificent''
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd Britains War Machine
Book SynopsisGUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEARThe familiar image of the British in the Second World War is that of the plucky underdog taking on German might. David Edgerton''s bold, compelling new history shows the conflict in a new light, with Britain as a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests and sitting at the heart of a global production system.The British, indeed Churchillian, vision of war and modernity was challenged by repeated defeat by less well equipped enemies. Yet the end result was a vindication of this vision. Like the United States, a powerful Britain won a cheap victory, while others paid a great price. Britain''s War Machine, by putting resources, machines and experts at the heart of a global rather than merely imperial story, demolishes some of the most cherished myths about wartime Britain and gives us a very different and often unsettling picture of a great power in actionTrade ReviewBrilliant and thought-provoking ... There are moments of edgy humour, too ... This remarkable book shows that whatever the reasons for the length of time it took to bring Hitler to heel, the quantity and quality of British war material was not among them -- Brendan Simms * Sunday Telegraph *Edgerton's book is a remarkable achievement. He re-envisions Britain's role in World War II and with it Britain's place in modernity. In place of a plucky island standing alone, he gives us a global empire of machines, not a welfare state, but a technocratic warfare state. The period will never look the same again -- Adam Tooze, author of The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi EconomyConsistently lively, stimulating and authoritative * Observer *Absolutely fascinating. This book will make you think differently about Britain's role in the Second World War -- Laurence Rees, author of Auschwitz: The Nazis and The 'Final Solution'This book has certainly changed my views ... It is a necessary and timely corrective to a great deal of loosely thought-through conventional wisdom, and makes a real contribution to our understanding of the war -- Richard Holmes * Literary Review *For too long we have had a distorted view of Britain's position and role in the Second World War. David Edgerton has produced a stunning book that rectifies this misconception, and which is told with authority, clarity and compelling energy -- James Holland, author of The Battle of BritainAn important corrective to the black-and-white portrait of the period that still prevails * Financial Times *A stimulating exercise in muscular revisionism ... Offers a fresh and provocative view of our much-loved and much-misunderstood "finest hour" -- David Reynolds * Guardian *Accessibly written and deserves a wide audience. Above all, Edgerton demonstrates that the war is a subject we haven't yet heard nearly enough about. Britain's War Machine is a considerable achievement -- Graham Farmelo * Times Higher Education *Edgerton has excelled himself with this highly revisionist account of Britain's national performance during the Second World War ... an unusually provocative book * Twentieth Century British History, 2011 *Edgerton has written what could prove to be one of the most influential books on the history of the Second World War ... majestic ... [he] has successfully shown us that we still have a lot to learn about the conflict ... it will become the required reading for all students wishing to study the Second World War * Reviews in History *An astounding work of myth-busting ... Inspiring and unsettling in equal measure -- Tom Holland * Guardian *Majestic ... a wonderful read. It has probably popped more myths than any other book on the war in recent years -- Taylor Downing * History Today *Brilliant and iconoclastic ... debunks the myth that Britain was militarily and economically weak and intellectually parochial during the 1930s and 1940s -- David Blackburn * Spectator Book Blog *Truly eye-opening ... Edgerton's carefully researched book will fundamentally change the way you think about World War II * Daily Beast *Riveting ... a wonderfully rich book ... thoroughly stimulating -- Richard Toye * History *A major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book * History Today *Innovative and most important * Contemporary Review *Compelling and engaging ... an excellent read * Soldier *Edgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition -- Peter Moreira * Military History *Britain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war -- Nigel Jones * Spectator *Masterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network * Mail on Sunday *
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd A Secret History of the IRA
Book SynopsisEd Moloney has been Northern Ireland Editor of both the Irish Times and the Sunday Tribune. He has written for a wide range of newspapers and magazines in Ireland, the UK and the USA. In 1999 he was Irish Journalist of the Year. He currently lives in New York.
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd Berlin. 75th Anniversary Edition
Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER ON THE LAST DAYS OF THE THIRD REICH2025 marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Read and remember the history that led to this important moment.''Recounts, in harrowing detail and with formidable skill, the brutal death-throes of Hitler''s Reich at the hands of the rampaging Red Army'' Boyd Tonkin, Independent''An irresistibly compelling narrative, of events so terrible that they still have the power to provoke wonder and awe'' Adam Sisman, ObserverThe Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs, refusing to face defeat, had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army.Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich''s final collapse, telling a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge and savagery - but also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice and survival against all odds.''Makes us feel the chaos and the fear as if every drop of blood was our own . . . compellingly readable, deeply researched, and beautifully written'' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Spectator''Brilliant. Combines a soldier''s understanding of war''s realities with a novelist''s eye for detail'' Orlando Figes, Sunday Times''Startling, chilling, compelling. Beevor''s writing burns like a torch at night in a landscape of ruins''Literary Review''Powerful, diligently researched and beautifully written . . . even better than Stalingrad'' Andrew Roberts, Mail on SundayTrade ReviewFascinating, extraordinary, gripping * Jeremy Paxman *A masterpiece of modern historical writing -- Michael Burleigh * Guardian *This brilliant storyteller makes us feel the chaos and the fear as if every drop of blood was our own. It is much more than just a humane account; it is compellingly readable, deeply researched, and beautifully written -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Spectator *
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Revolutionary Russia 18911991
Book SynopsisWhat caused the Russian Revolution?Did it succeed or fail?Do we still live with its consequences?Orlando Figes teaches history at Birkbeck, University of London and is the author of many acclaimed books on Russian history, including A People''s Tragedy, which The Times Literary Supplement named as one of the ''100 most influential books since the war'', Natasha''s Dance, The Whisperers, Crimea and Just Send Me Word. The Financial Times called him ''the greatest storyteller of modern Russian historians.''Trade ReviewInsightful and convincing... Figes integrates his analysis into a highly readable story, and he shows himself to be a master of historical narrative. Readers will find themselves absorbing a great deal of information and insight with very little effort -- David Priestland * Financial Times *A primer intended for readers unfamiliar with the territory, it sparkles with ideas, vivid storytelling, poignant anecdotes and pithy phrases... Fresh and dramatic -- Victor Sebestyen * Sunday Times *
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Rise and Fall of the British Nation A
Book Synopsis''Forget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain ... You will not find a better informed history'' David Goodhart, Evening Standard''A striking new perspective on our past'' Piers Brendon, Literary ReviewFrom the acclaimed author of Britain''s War Machine and The Shock of the Old, a bold reassessment of Britain''s twentieth century.It is usual to see the United Kingdom as an island of continuity in an otherwise convulsed and unstable Europe; its political history a smooth sequence of administrations, from building a welfare state to coping with decline. Nobody would dream of writing the history of Germany, say, or the Soviet Union in this way. David Edgerton''s major new history breaks out of the confines of traditional British national history to redefine what it was to British, and to reveal an unfamiliar place, subject to huge disruptions. This was noTrade ReviewEvery so often a book comes out that the entire political class needs to read ... Edgerton is Britain's most exciting and arresting late-modern historian ... Thanks to this rich and compelling book, we now have a proper map and compass. -- Colin Kidd * New Statesman *A fierce and dazzling account of 20th-century Britain -- Christopher de Bellaigue * Guardian *An extraordinary revisionist study of modern Britain ... Edgerton's aim here is nothing short of a radical repositioning of our sense of ourselves as a nation. It's a startling book, and an unexpected thesis ... I'll be reading [it] over and over, and for years to come.' -- Brian Morton * The Herald *Forget almost everything you thought you knew about Britain in the 20th century ... You will not find a better informed history of this country in the last century. -- David Goodhart * Evening Standard *Stimulating and bracing ... He demonstrates that the story the British tell about themselves - and how it is taught in schools and discussed in the public sphere - is bogus. -- Iain Martin * The Times *Unsentimental and rigorous rewriting of British history. ... It looks beyond the froth of political debate, takes business seriously and analyses government as much from Whitehall and administration as Westminster and politics. -- A. W. Purdue * Times Higher Education *Beautifully written and can be read with pleasure by the general reader as well as the trained historian -- Vernon Bogdanor * Daily Telegraph *Original, opinionated, scholarly, complex and immensely stimulating ... this ambitious and provocative book achieves something remarkable. It provides a striking new perspective on our past, one that future historians may not accept but will be unable to ignore. -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review *A sweepingly, and ambitiously, revisionist account of 20th century British history ... full of striking lines ... and a very important challenge to much of the existing historiography. -- Duncan Weldon * Progressive Review *Timely jolt to a deluded 'Bullshit Britain'. David Edgerton fillets national delusion and historical amnesia ... of a country that knows so little of its own history. -- Chris Kissane * Irish Times *Edgerton is an extraordinary historian ... Written with bracing élan, Rise and Fall generates insights at every turn. Edgerton set out to rattle "the cage of clichés which imprison our historical and political imaginations", and succeeds magnificently. -- Nick Pearce * OpenDemocracy *... refreshing and immensely stimulating, and should be compulsory reading for anyone wanting to understand the reality of twentieth-century Britain. Lewis Namier, another historian known for his combative brand of scholarship, viewed iconoclasm as the judge of a great historian, that having produced an account of a period 'others should not be able to practise within its sphere in the terms of the preceding era'. Edgerton has certainly achieved this. -- Oliver Hadingham * History *
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd The Vanquished Why the First World War Failed to
Book Synopsis''A breathtaking, magisterial panorama, telling the epic story of post-war anarchy, dying empires and rising nation states. It makes us rethink our understanding of Europe''s twentieth century'' David Motadel, The Times Literary SupplementFor the Western allies 11 November 1918 has always been a solemn date - the end of fighting which had destroyed a generation, and also a vindication of a terrible sacrifice with the total collapse of their principal enemies: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. But for much of the rest of Europe this was a day with no meaning, as a continuing, nightmarish series of conflicts engulfed country after country. In this highly original, gripping book Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. ''Lucid, incisive and packed with fascinating details'' Financial Times, Books of the Year ''Important and timely ... obliges us to reconsider a pTrade ReviewThis narrative of continent-wide chaos makes it easier to understand why order came to seem a supremely desirable objective in 1930s Europe, trumping freedom ... it helps us understand why few wars reach tidy conclusions: once a society has suspended its instinctive, social and legal prejudice against killing, it often proves hard to restore. -- Max Hastings * The Sunday Times *Pulls together a complex narrative about the uneasy peace of the late Twenties and shine a piercing light into darkened corners of history ... an unnerving reminder of how stubbornly some geopolitical fault-lines endure -- Sinclair McKay * The Telegraph *A mixture of fast-paced narrative and fluent analysis ... Gerwarth demonstrates with an impressive concentration of detail that in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe the carnage of the first world war by no means came to an end, as it did for the British and French, in late 1918. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *Combining a big-picture overview with close-up detail - we hear the voices of soldiers, politicians, civilians - Gerwarth has written a vivid if disturbing account -- Matthew Price * National *Searing and vivid ... a timely reminder that the roots of century-long violence can be traced back to the cataclysmic end of the Great War -- Richard Overy * Literary Review *A thorough explanation for the rise of the nationalist and fascist groups who set the stage for World War II. * Kirkus Reviews *Gerwarth's fascinating and finely crafted book is a rich combination of military, political, cultural and social history. He makes good use of literary sources and witness testimony to bring the events he narrates to life ... an impressive work of highly accessible scholarship -- Geoffrey Roberts * Irish Times *This is an important and compelling book with a fascinating and chilling narrative ... Gerwarth reveals how the forgotten postwar violence comprised a key step on Europe's descent into darkness. -- Alexander Watson * BBC History Magazine *While Gerwarth's warfare theories are cogent and convincing, he never loses sight of the human dimension. He skillfully avoids the danger of getting bogged down in a mass of detail, livening up his narrative by using contemporary quotes from politicians, soldiers and writers. One mark of a good history book is that it allows the reader to see familiar events from a new perspective. In this respect, The Vanquished is an exceptional history book. -- Andrew Lynch * Sunday Post Business Magazine *[Gerwarth] shines a light on what is, from a western European point of view, a somewhat obscure and relatively short period of time ... from the layman's vantage point, it is so well written that it reads like a novel. Tragically, for the people killed, wounded and forced to flee from their homes, it is not. This book is well worth the read. -- Frank MacGabhann * Irish Independent *This fine and timely study makes a compelling case for the argument that the bloody aftermath of the war did more to destroy European civilisation than the declarations of war in 1914 ... at a time when Vladimir Putin seems intent on regaining Tsarist Russia's frontiers, and the map of the Middle East drawn by the victorious powers becomes ever more blurred, we might well ask whether the First World War has ended yet. -- A.W. Purdue * Times Higher Education Supplement *A clear and excellent account of the abrupt break-up of the Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Ottoman and Romanov empires and the difficult birth of their successor states during 1917-23 * History of War Reviews *This is difficult, often horrifying reading, but Gerwarth provides an essential contribution to our understanding of the interwar years. -- Jay Freeman * Booklist *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Enlightenment
Book Synopsis''The best single-volume study of the Enlightenment that we have'' Literary ReviewThe Enlightenment is one of the formative periods of Western history, yet more than 300 years after it began, it remains controversial. It is often seen as the fountainhead of modern values such as human rights, religious toleration, freedom of thought, scientific thought as an exemplary form of reasoning, and rationality and evidence-based argument. Others accuse the Enlightenment of putting forward a scientific rationality which ignores the complexity and variety of human beings, propagates shallow atheism, and aims to subjugate nature to so-called technical progress.Answering the question ''what is Enlightenment?'' Kant famously urged men and women above all to ''have the courage to use your own understanding''. Robertson shows how the thinkers of the Enlightenment did just that, seeking a rounded understanding of humanity in which reason was balanced with emotion and sensibility. His book goes behind the controversies about the Enlightenment to return to its original texts and to show that above all it sought to increase human happiness in this world by promoting scientific inquiry and reasoned argument. His book overturns many received opinions - for example, that enlightenment necessarily implied hostility to religion (though it did challenge the authority traditionally assumed by the Churches). It is a master-class in ''big picture'' history, about one of the foundational epochs of modern times.Trade Reviewcogently expressed and scrupulously documented ... The Enlightenment, he believes, has an urgent message for our time -- Keith Thomas * London Review of Books *the book is written out of genuine curiosity and palpable enthusiasm. Robertson's range allows him to make many illuminating comparisons and some provocative juxtapositions ... This is surely the best and most up to date single-volume study of the Enlightenment that we currently possess. It will inform the general reader while also often provoking, delighting and surprising the specialist. -- David Womersley * Standpoint *The Enlightenment by Ritchie Robertson is a fine examination of how the enlightenment changed the world in different ways in different places - scintillating. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Aspects of History Books of the Year *a work that is at once readable, authoritative and wide-ranging ... a handsome single volume, complete with nearly 30 images from the great first editions of the period. The author is a professor of German literature and thought at Oxford University, but whatever the specific subject addressed, the quality of scholarship is uniformly high. -- Jesse Norman * Spectator *learned, capacious and gloriously rich ... "The first Quality of an Historian," David Hume wrote to a friend, "is to be true and impartial; the next to be interesting." Judged by such a standard, Robertson must be reckoned a historian of very high quality indeed. His book is not just learned and balanced, it is also - in the noblest tradition of the Enlightenment itself - principled and humane. -- Tom Holland * The Times *Mr. Robertson is a splendid writer, astoundingly versed in European letters and gifted at vividly sketching the views of the "Enlighteners." ... Mr. Robertson, armed with a prodigious knowledge of the Enlightenment's literary output, has captured the tone and spirit of this milieu. -- Jeffrey Collins * Wall Street Journal *Mr. Robertson is a splendid writer, astoundingly versed in European letters and gifted at vividly sketching the views of the "Enlighteners" ... [who] has written a fitting tribute to his subject ... Often characterized as a great philosophical movement, it is better understood as a style, a set of shifting public habits and attitudes. Mr. Robertson, armed with a prodigious knowledge of the Enlightenment's literary output, has captured the tone and spirit of this milieu. -- Jeffrey Collins * Wall Street Journal *Masterly...[an] epic survey of Enlightened minds, ideas and policies across Europe and the Americas...Mr Robertson sweetens erudition with humanity, much as his subjects did. Science and statecraft, which are amply chronicled, yield to compassion, sympathy and a self-critical outlook that welcomes experimentation and changes of mind. Not least among its lessons for today, The Enlightenment shows how its sages learned "to manage even Disputes with Civility". -- The EconomistA thoroughly satisfying history of an era that was not solely about reason but was "also the age of feeling, sympathy and sensibility." ... a magisterial history of Europe and the West, featuring more than 100 chapters ... An entirely absorbing doorstop history of ideas. * Kirkus Reviews *The analyst has to stick to the ideas. Robertson does this expansively and lucidly, not just reporting them, but arguing them out in admirable thumbnail sketches, rich in detail, of literary as well as philosophical and also scientific works. -- T.J. Reed * Catholic Herald *A professor of German language and literature, Robertson knows that writing good history means clearing away easy preconceptions. His work implies that to understand the Enlightenment, or perhaps any period, it is less useful to distil a set of theses than to identify a group of questions that people agreed were important, even if they furnished very different answers. Thus he avoids sweeping generalizations and focuses on the particular: he has an eye for revealing anecdotes and memorable quotations. ... When he portrays the major figures of the period itself and identifies the complex questions they raised, Robertson transports us to the past as only a master historian can, allowing us to empathize with perspectives different from our own. As a comprehensive study of the period itself, Robertson's The Enlightenment towers over all others I have encountered. -- Gary Saul Morson * Claremont Review of Books *
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd Islamic Empires
Book Synopsis''Outstanding, illuminating, compelling ... a riveting read'' Peter Frankopan, Sunday Times Islamic civilization was once the envy of the world. From a succession of glittering, cosmopolitan capitals, Islamic empires lorded it over the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and swathes of the Indian subcontinent. For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas, its cities unrivalled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity and forward-looking thinking.Islamic Empires is a history of this rich and diverse civilization told through its greatest cities over fifteen centuries, from the beginnings of Islam in Mecca in the seventh century to the astonishing rise of Doha in the twenty-first.It dwells on the most remarkable dynasties ever to lead the Muslim world - the Abbasids of Baghdad, the Umayyads of Damascus and Cordoba, the Merinids of Fez, the Ottomans of Istanbul, the Mughals of India and the Safavids of Isfahan - and some of the most charismatic leaders in Muslim history, from Saladin in Cairo and mighty Tamerlane of Samarkand to the poet-prince Babur in his mountain kingdom of Kabul and the irrepressible Maktoum dynasty of Dubai. It focuses on these fifteen cities at some of the defining moments in Islamic history: from the Prophet Mohammed receiving his divine revelations in Mecca and the First Crusade of 1099 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the phenomenal creation of the merchant republic of Beirut in the nineteenth century.Trade ReviewMarozzi is an outstanding guide to the urban centres he expounds on, partly because of his deep understanding and love for the peoples and places he writes about. . . . The succession of delightful pen portraits of rulers, as well as writers, artists and scholars, makes for a riveting read. This is a fine book that helps recentre our understanding of the past by focusing on cities about which little is known in Europe, in spite of their enduring importance and the role they have played in history. It is a compelling and personal account by an author who knows, cares and has thought deeply about his subject matter. It is a new Hudud al-Alam, the famous 10th-century Persian geography book, for the 21st century - informing, revealing and delighting in some of the parts of the world that everyone should know about. * The Sunday Times *This impressively clever, careful, and often beautiful book is the best sort of journey. . . Our guide is never predictable, continually fascinating, and his elegant writing makes for a very comfortable ride. -- Jason Burke * The Spectator *Islamic Empires is a seemingly boundless trove of intellectual, architectural, and actual treasures ... Marozzi writes colourful, narrative history of the finest kind: pacey, crimson, and with all the references left until the end. * Geographical Magazine *Deeply engaging and fascinating -- Noel Malcolm * The Sunday Telegraph *It is refreshing to read a book on Islam by someone who combines profound erudition with emotional intelligence and empathy. . . . A continuously readable narrative . . . For each of the cities included there is a well-rounded chapter, with an illuminating history, a perceptive analysis of personalities and politics, and a fair-minded assessment of its intellectual, artistic and architectural achievements. -- Avi Shlaim * The Financial Times *The approach is perfect [and] the balance between telling detail and telling story is spot on. With its fine drawing and mass of minute detail, reading the book is more like poring over the framed miniatures in a manuscript: here a Moghul lolls by a pool, there a Timurid rampages across the page. The prose, too, is beautifully paced, sprightly but never tiring. And the city portraits build up into a panorama of Islamic civilisation as full as any history, and far more entertaining. -- Tim Mackintosh-Smith * The Evening Standard *Superbly crafted ... Marozzi knows the ground intimately [and] has constructed a brilliant narrative by stringing together a necklace of tales from 15 extraordinary cities. -- Barnaby Rogerson * History Today *Marozzi's expertly crafted narrative ... captures the rich, varied and often complex nature of Islamic civilization by offering glimpses of not just its leaders and their institutions, but also its cultural shifts through history, * Arab News *A rich mix of historical detail, colourful description and first-hand insights. Marozzi's style mixes historical insight with the descriptive flow of a seasoned traveller. -- Damien McElroy * The National *Magnificence and ruination go hand in hand in this vivid tale. -- Richard Spencer * The Times *In telling the stories of 15 of the great Islamic cities, from Mecca in the seventh century via Samarkand in the 14th to Doha in the 21st, [Marozzi] ... vividly recounts the dynasties that made them centres of art, commerce, science and spirituality. * New Statesman *This is a complex yet accessible book that manages, in a gentle way, to address the prejudiced misconceptions of our world. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times Books of the Year *Justin Marozzi has ridden camels across the Sahara, written illuminating accounts of Herodotus, Tamerlane and Baghdad and advised the governments of Somalia, Libya and Iraq. In Islamic Empires, comprising 15 pocket portraits of cities of the Muslimworld at a crunch point in their history, he gives us a vivid, candid and entertaining immersion into a complex subject -- Barnaby Rogerson * Country Life Books of the Year *Marozzi is an accomplished and ambitious writer... Islamic Empires [is] a sweeping, vibrant and often irrepressible account of the cities most emblematic of Islam... the charm of this book lies in the fact that it is so obviously the adult sublimation of a boyhood passion for the lands and history of Islam... Like an erudite magpie, he gathers material from every available source-primary texts, both religious and historical, as well as a profusion of secondary ones-and weaves it all together with dexterity. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *Islamic Empires encompasses a breathtaking panorama of human, religious, military and architectural activity and achievement, as well as destruction and decline...The author's achievement is to mix travel writing, history and journalism, and present it in prose that is at once flowing, engaging, enlightening and incisive. His ability to transport us on a magic carpet from the depths of the 7th century to the present day and everywhere in between, and to capture key moments and shifts in culture and politics, threatens to render other more conventional approaches obsolete. -- Alexander Stilwell * Catholic Herald *
£14.24
Penguin Books Ltd American Whitelash
Book SynopsisAmerican Whitelash is indispensable. Really. It is. - Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an AntiracistFrom a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a shocking investigation into the cyclical pattern of violence that has marred racial progress in AmericaIn 2008, Barack Obama''s historic victory was heralded as a turning point for the USA. And so it would be - just not in the way that most Americans hoped. The election of the nation''s first Black president fanned long-burning embers of white supremacy, igniting a new and frightening phase in a continuous historical cycle of racial progress and white backlash.In American Whitelash, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Wesley Lowery charts the return of this blood-stained trend, showing how the forces of white power retaliated against Obama''s victory - and both profited from, and helped to propel, the rise of Donald Trump. Drawing o
£10.44
Oxford University Press Street Food Hawkers and the History of London
Book SynopsisThe story of street food in London, from medieval city to global metropolis - and of the women, men, boys, and girls who provided the capital with this vital service.Trade Reviewa tasty tour of how we used to eat... richly researched * Bee Wilson, The Sunday Times *an immensely vivid portrayal of a forgotten London, and a tribute to the hard lives and admirable independence and resilience of Londoners past. * Christopher Hart, Daily Mail *Accessible and enjoyable... makes for vibrant, engaging reading. It is a world reconstructed with real humanity and warmth For anyone interested in the economics of food or the capitals history, this is a fascinating book. * Olivia Potts, The Spectator *Highly enjoyable, well researched and full of details, Street Food is a must read for anyone with a hunger for Londons culinary history. * CM, All About History *engaging...a comprehensive narrative, debunking stereotypes and detailing everything from the tools of the hawkers' trade... to the famous cries of the street. * Charles Wright, OnLondon *a lively and engrossing book, full of fascinating historical facts and illustrations. * , Shiny New Books *Street Food: Hawkers and the History of London places street trading and markets in the context of a changing city with a diverse population that adapted frequently...it will be enjoyed by anyone who wants to learn more about London's history, its neighbourhoods and the role that markets and street food played both in the past and present. * Diane Cunningham, London Society *Street Food traces the history of London's street traders starting from the sixteenth century and bringing things bang up to date with the impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns. It takes us through the people involved, the food, the 'cries' which evolved into terms still in use and the challenges facing traders from housing to traffic, broken pavements, and their reputation...it will be enjoyed by anyone who wants to learn more about London's history, its neighbourhoods and the role that markets and street food played both in the past and present. * Diane Cunningham, London Society *Beautifully written and underpinned by impressive scholarship, Street Food exemplifies a new and distinctive style of history writing...This volume represents both an exemplar of what can be achieved, and a challenge to others. * Tim Hitchcock, London Journal *An entertaining, deeply researched history of hawking * John Gallagher, London Review of Books *Taverner excels at transporting us to the world he explores... this highly accomplished first book should be on the reading lists not only of historians of work, of food and drink and of London, but of any historian interested in processes of change and continuity in English society over the past 400 years. * Mark Hailwood, Urban History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of illustrations Note to the reader Introduction: Hawkers and the history of London Part 1: People Fishwives and costermongers All sorts of Londoners The status of street sellers Hawkers at home Part 2: Workers Gutter merchants Aristocracy of the kerb The costermonger class Part 3: Street food Garden city Perishing commodities As regular as the weather permits Moveable feasts The metropolitan diet Part 4: Markets Liberty of the markets In defence of hawkers Friends of the poor Part 5: Retailers About the streets Keeping score Carnivals of shopping Part 6: Tools Shops on their heads Barrow wheelers The coster's companion Part 7: Traffic Broken pavements Around the clock Crossing the road Part 8: Nuisances The costermongers' charter Infamous wretches Preventing free passage Part 9: Voices Tortures of the ear The crying art Declaring the seasons The end of the cries? Epilogue: The return of street food Curating street food Hawkers past and present Notes Appendix: Identifying street sellers, 1600-1825 Index
£34.49
Oxford University Press Oxford AQA History for A Level The Tudors England
Book SynopsisThis The Tudors: England 1485-1603 Revision Guide is part of the bestselling Oxford AQA History for A Level series. Written to match the new AQA specification, this series helps you deepen your historical knowledge and develop vital analytical and evaluation skills. This revision guide offers the clearly structured revision approach of Recap, Apply, and Review to prepare you for exam success. Step-by-step exam practice strategies for all AQA question types are provided (including Extract Analysis and essays linked to Key Questions), as well as well-researched, targeted guidance based on what we now know from the new AQA examiner''s reports on The Tudors England. Our original author team is back, offering expert advice, AS and A Level exam-style questions and Examiner Tips. Contents checklists help monitor revision progress; example student answers and suggested activity answers help you review your own work. This guide is perfect for use alongside the Student Books or as a stand-alone
£11.50
Oxford University Press The Condition of the Working Class in England
Book SynopsisThe Condition of the Working Class in England is the best known work of Engels, and still in many ways the best study of the working class in Victorian England. It was the first book written by Engels during his stay in Manchester from 1842 to 1844. Manchester was then at the very heart of the Industrial Revolution, and Engels compiled his study from his own observations and detailed contemporary reports. The fluency of his writing, the personal nature of his insights, and his talent for mordant satire combine to make this account of the lives of the victims of early industrial change into a classic - a historical study that parallels and complements the fictional works of the time by such writers as Gaskell and Dickens. What Cobbett had done for agricultural poverty in his Rural Rides, Engels did - and more - in this work on the plight of industrial workers in England in the 1840s. This edition includes the prefaces to the English and American editions, and a map of Manchester c.1845Table of ContentsIntroduction; Note on the text; Select bibliography; A chronology of Friedrich Engels; Map of Manchester c.1845; The Condition of the Working Class in England; Appendix; The Labour movement in America; Preface to the American edition; Preface to the English edition; Explanatory notes; Index.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd History of the Russian Revolution
Book Synopsis''The greatest history of an event I know'' - C.L.R. JamesRegarded by many as among the most powerful works of history ever written, The History of the Russian Revolution offers an unparalleled account of one of the most pivotal and hotly debated events in world history. This book presents, from the perspective of one of its central actors, the profound liberating character of the early Russian Revolution.Originally published in three parts, Trotsky''s masterpiece is collected here in a single volume. It is still the most vital and inspiring record of the Russian Revolution ever published.
£17.00
Penguin Books Ltd Football in Sun and Shadow
Book Synopsis''Football is a pleasure that hurts''This unashamedly emotional history of football is a homage to the romance and drama, spectacle and passion of a ''great pagan mass''. Through stories of superstition, heartbreak, tragedy, luck, heroes and villains, those who lived for football and those who died for it, Eduardo Galeano celebrates the glory of a game that - however much the rich and powerful try to control it - still retains its magic.''The Uruguayan whose writing got right to the heart of football ... readers were never in doubt of the warmth of the blood running through his veins'' Guardian''Galeano can run rings round our glamorous football intelligentsia'' When Saturday Comes''Stands out like Pele on a field of second-stringers'' New YorkerTrade ReviewGaleano can run rings round our glamorous football intelligentsia. * When Saturday Comes *Stands out like Pele on a field of second-stringers. * New Yorker *Galeano has a style of a great left half. He constantly switches the direction of play. His observations are acute. He delivers with an air of insouciance which cannot mask his mastery * Herald *Uplifting, reckless, ironic, impassioned... sparkles with supple imagery and a fine dry wit. * Independent *Deeply humane . . . he has produced literature that will endure, monuments to the imagination -- Toby Green * Independent *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Europes 100 Best Cathedrals
Book SynopsisREADERS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY WILL LOVE THIS BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED BOOK!Simon Jenkins has provided a feast for both eyes and mind in this sumptuously illustrated guide to Europe''s greatest cathedrals John Barton, author of A History of the BibleAs ever, Simon Jenkins is here the best sort of guide to some of Europe''s greatest buildings and their settings: well-informed, elegantly opinionated and passionate Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years__________________________Europe''s cathedrals are magnificent. They outstrip palaces and castles. They are the most sensational group of structures anywhere in the world - which everyone should ''see before they die''. They are also hugely popular, most of them absolutely packed. They are humankind''s greatest creations.In Europe''s 100 Best Cathedrals, Simon Jenkins has travelled the continent - from Chartres to York, Cologne to Florence, Toledo to Moscow and Stockholm to Seville - to illuminate old favourites and highlight new discoveries. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of Europe''s history tells the stories behind these wonders, showing the cathedral''s central role in the European imagination. Readers will be inspired to make their own pilgrimage to all one hundred of them.Trade Review[A] feast of a book about the great cathedrals of Europe....His lively reactions make you long to visit or revisit these places. ..illuminating -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *Expertly written...a lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced coffee-table sort of book... Jenkins's expertise and lively style shine forth ... as much a to-do list as a keepsake -- Greg Garrett * Spectator *The architectural and artistic detail is rich, but intelligible to the non-specialist reader... At a time when European travel remains frustrating, the book occasionally makes salivating reading... this is a useful addition to the bookshelves of anyone who cares about architecture, and prompts one to reach for one's passport as swiftly as possible -- Simon Heffer * The Daily Telegraph *This attractive book will inspire you to do more cathedral-crawling -- Christopher Howse * Telegraph *
£24.00
Penguin Books Ltd Nothing Ever Just Disappears
Book Synopsis''With originality and subtlety, Diarmuid Hester examines how the gay imagination deals with place and with displacement, allowing for mystery and a kind of magic'' Colm Toibin''Hester is a fizzingly brilliant writer'' Robert Macfarlane''Haunted and haunting - totally riveting'' Chris KrausAt the turn of the century, in the shade of Cambridge''s cloisters, a young E. M. Forster conceals his passion for other men, even as he daydreams about the sun-warmed bodies of ancient Greece. Under the dazzling lights of interwar Paris, Josephine Baker dances her way to fame and fortune and discovers sexual freedom backstage at the Folies Bergère. And on Jersey, in the darkest days of Nazi occupation, the transgressive surrealist Claude Cahun mounts an extraordinary resistance to save the island she loves, scattering hundreds of dissident artworks along its streets and shorelines.Nothing Ever Just Disappears brings to life the stories of seven remarkable figures and illuminates the connections between where they lived, who they loved, and the art they created. It shows that a queer sense of place is central to the history of the twentieth century, and powerfully evokes how much is lost when queer spaces are forgotten. From the lesbian London of the suffragettes to James Baldwin''s home in Provence, to Jack Smith''s New York, Kevin Killian''s San Francisco and the Dungeness cottage of Derek Jarman, this is a thrilling new history and a celebration of freedom, survival and the hidden places of the imagination. Trade ReviewNothing Ever Just Disappears is about what happens to a house or a room, or a whole town or city, when it is transformed by a powerful sensibility. With originality and subtlety, Diarmuid Hester examines how the gay imagination deals with place and with displacement, allowing for mystery and a kind of magic -- Colm ToibinFascinating journeys into LGBTQ+ courage… Hester is attentive to atmosphere, as influenced by both culture and community, and how it acts on individual lives, sometimes expanding horizons and sometimes restricting them… Throughout, Nothing Ever Just Disappears celebrates the courage it took for these queer people merely to exist, and exist honestly, in a hostile world -- Sarah Watling * Observer *Remarkable and expansive… Intrinsic to the power and beauty of this book are Hester’s own voice, story and powers of imagination… tremendously absorbing… The great gift of this book is to offer access to optimism, in these late and shadowed days. It provides a glimpse, a possibility for transformation, and an escape from the closed and shuttered spaces of late capitalism; and it suggests that we may be able to save ourselves by rethinking our lives and imaginations, our societies and systems – by queering our world -- Neil Hegarty * The Irish Times *A revelatory look at queer culture… imaginative and engrossing… fresh, spry… a resolutely unpretentious prose style – sometimes animatedly conversational, sometimes wonderfully camp – goes hand in hand with scholarliness -- Michael Donkor * i News *Intriguing and idiosyncratic… a very lively and readable book that shows the ways in which outsiders have created interfaces, of variable permeability, with the society in which they lived -- Peter Parker * Spectator *Riveting and evocative… Written with infectious drive, Nothing Ever Just Disappears is considered, fascinating and sparkles with insight * Attitude Magazine *Diarmuid Hester has written a book I have always wanted to read. An exploration, celebration and reclamation of queer lives within their spaces and landscapes, it roams from the cloisters and locked gates of Cambridge to the hilly streets of San Francisco, the apartments of New York City and the nuclear desert of Dungeness's shingle-shore, where Derek Jarman created a world on the margins and of the margins. Hester is a fizzingly brilliant writer, and with its fusion of personal testimony, reportage, cultural history and literary criticism, this book will surely find a wide readership -- Robert MacfarlaneA moving, erudite book. Writing against the tide of erasure, Hester takes us on a journey through time, over land and sea, and casts an empathetic and sharply humorous eye on this pantheon of queer figures. A hymn to the importance of community and place, this is a vital public history of queer life that is both intimate and wondrously radical -- Seán Hewitt, author of All Down Darkness WideDiarmuid Hester's beautifully written psycho-biography explores obscure corners of places as sites of hidden queer histories. His portraits of writers and activists from E.M. Forster to Josephine Baker, London's queer suffragettes and Kevin Killian are haunted and haunting - totally riveting -- Chris KrausA charming, playfully challenging companion on a dreamy quest through lost landscapes of defiance, imagination and desire -- Jeremy Atherton LinHester's book takes the reader on a beguiling journey from country to country. Full of extraordinary details, it delves deep into queer creative minds from the past, offering up a refreshingly original perspective on the human connection to sense of place -- Luke Edward HallFrom Dungeness to San Francisco, the motley wildness of these gay pioneers is told with fitting zest by Hester. I loved it -- Martin LathamHester's book is insightful, delightful, and enlightening: an essential entrant into the queer canon -- Isabel WaidnerLightly, yet seriously, Hester's immersive prose takes us on a journey that colourfully loops together the transgressive with the political. Heady descriptions of varied queer lives are rooted in the materiality of vividly conjured places. A ‘flummox of friends’ comes to life as their stories mix, mingle and collide. Stirring, thoughtful and gorgeously fun to read -- Kiare LadnerNothing Ever Just Disappears is a book I have longed for without knowing I was missing, much like the vanished or vanishing queer spaces Hester evokes so vividly in its pages. Deftly, beautifully, it performs an enchanting queering of literary tourism and artists' house studies, from failures of epiphany we all experience in places that we expect to move us, to awkwardness about how best to honour our creative forebears in all their human complexity. It is both a much needed and engaging history of queer creative lives and their places, complicating notions of sites of production and dwelling as ’secular shrines’, and a moving memoir of Hester’s own creative geographies: the places and people that matter to him and have informed his own thinking. This book, as Hester writes, ‘is ritual’ - both pilgrimage in its writing and its reading. Once you have gazed into the convex mirror, you can’t unsee the resplendent queer world you encounter there -- Polly Atkin
£21.25
Dorling Kindersley Ltd Englands Gardens
Book SynopsisSteve Parker is a garden historian lecturing at Cardiff. A keen enthusiast of the modern house and garden, his passion extends throughout all of garden history, understanding the context and impact gardens, plants, design and people have had on our cultural history. He's worked for Cardiff University for the past 11 years and visits more than 100 gardens a year.Trade ReviewThe author's admirable prose style leads us on an endless series of enjoyable excursions, many of which illustrate the simple truth that the evolution of gardens reflects that of wider society * Country Life *Profiling some of England's most celebrated gardens, both old and new, this erudite, well-illustrated book also considers how future gardens might look. A thought-provoking look at how our identity has shaped our landscape. * Daily Mail *A lavishly illustrated overview of English garden history, which brings a fresh style and offers a contemporary update. * Gardens Illustrated *This is a beautiful but serious book about English garden history * Cotswold Life *
£20.00
Penguin Books Ltd A History of Venice
Book SynopsisRenowned historian, and author of A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich''s classic history of VeniceA History of Venice tells the story of this most remarkable of cities from its founding in the fifth century, through its unrivalled status for over a thousand years as one of the world''s busiest and most powerful city states, until its fall at the hands of Napoleon in 1797. Rich in fascinating historical detail, populated by extraordinary characters and packed with a wealth of incident and intrigue, this is a brilliant testament to a great city - and a great and gripping read.''Norwich has loved and understood Venice as well as any other Englishman has ever done'' Sunday Times''Will become the standard English work of Venetian history'' Financial Times''The standard Venetian history in English'' The Times''Norwich has the gift of historical perspective, as well as clarity and wit. Few caTrade ReviewNorwich has loved and understood Venice as well as any other Englishman has ever done * Sunday Times *As a historian Norwich knows what matters. As a writer he has a taste for beauty, a love of language and an enlivening wit. He contrives, as no English writer has done before, to sustain a continuous interest in that crowded history -- Hugh Trevor-RoperThe standard Venetian history in English -- Jan Morris * The Times *Will become the standard English work of Venetian history * Financial Times *
£15.29
