History Books

Book SynopsisIn April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I acquired a new and exotic title. A tribe of North American Indians had made her their weroanza - ''big chief''.The news was received with great joy, both by the Queen and her favourite, Sir Walter Ralegh. His first American expedition had brought back a captive, Manteo, whose tattooed face had enthralled Elizabethan London. Now Manteo was returned to his homeland as Lord and Governor. Ralegh''s gamble would result in the first English settlement in the New World, but it would also lead to a riddle whose solution lay hidden in the forests of Virginia.A tale of heroism and mystery, BIG CHIEF ELIZABETH is illuminated by first-hand accounts to reveal a remarkable and long-forgotten story.Trade ReviewLike Giles Milton's previous book, ... Big Chief Elizabeth is a cracking read, a successful attempt at popular history * Evening Standard *'It's almost impossible to summarise Milton's book, from which marvellous, vivid stories spill out like swagsack booty. ... Milton is a very contemporary historian' Guardian'The story of the first Virginia colonies, now told in pacy style in Big Chief Elizabeth, is stirring and fitfully tragic...This is a marvellous story well retold' Sunday TimesMilton is a great storyteller ... he sets about filling in the historical gaps with relish, using his considerable imagination to conjure mood from dry parchment * Sunday Express *Grippingly told true adventure story * Daily Mail *Milton ... draws a vivid picture of the terrible hardships the settlers endured * The Times *'Milton knits together the most vivid anecdotes and descriptions from a very colourful literature of exploration and colonization, and anyone wanting easy access to them has it here'. * The Times Literary Supplement *Milton has a terrific eye for the kind of detail that can bring the past vividly to life off the page * The Spectator *Splendid stuff ... fascinatingly told ... An excellent book * Time Out *A wonderfully colourful story told with pace and verve * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis''ROBERT FISK HAS BEEN REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WITH INCOMPARABLE DEPTH AND UNDERSTANDINGAND EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE'' NOAM CHOMSKYIn this final work from renowned journalist Robert Fisk, he picks up reporting on the Middle East where his internationally bestselling The Great War of Civilisation left off.From the Arab uprisings and the Syrian civil war to Israel's conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon, Fisk condemns the West's ongoing hypocrisy and interference while revealing the horrific truth of life on the ground. Unafraid to criticise authority and unpick complex truths, hecreates a compelling narrative of passionate and engaging journalism, historical analysis and eyewitness reporting.With a Postscript by Nelofer Pazira-Fisk and a foreword by Patrick Cockburn, Night of Power delivers an essential and prophetic account of the last twenty years, which exposes the inescapable consequences of colonial oppression and violence in the Middle East.This is a masterly work by a unique and gifted historian of the present, who was unafraid to criticise authority while revealing the horrific realities of life and death on the ground' Conor O'Clery, Irish TimesEvery sentence of Robert Fisk radiates his loathe of wars and the inevitable dehumanization they produce, which makes his (sadly) last book an everlasting warning, beyond its value as a meticulous historical recount and analysis of today''s events' Amira Hass, journalist, Haaretz''Fisk''s reporting is clear-eyed and unflinching, a model for what journalists should aspire to practice in their ever more important and widely threatened craft'' Anthony Arnove, editor, Iraq Under Siege and author, Iraq: The Logic of WithdrawalI was at the funeral of a friend of mine, in Kilternan cemetery I came across Robert Fisk's grave. Someone has to bear witness to the unspeakable, and he did it, whatever the cost to himself' Neil Jordan, film director and writer

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Book SynopsisA spellbinding new portrait of one of the world’s most beloved cities, from the author of IstanbulLa Serenissima. Its breathtaking architecture, art, and opera ensure that Venice remains a perennially popular destination for tourists and armchair travelers alike. Yet most of the available books about this magical city are either facile travel guides or fusty academic tomes. In Venice, renowned historian Thomas F. Madden draws on new research to explore the city’s many astonishing achievements and to set 1,500 years of Venetian history and the endless Venetian-led Crusades in the context of the ever-shifting Eurasian world. Filled with compelling insights and famous figures, Venice is a monumental work of popular history that’s as opulent and entertaining as the great city itself.

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Book SynopsisWhat are the imagined communities that compel men to kill or to die for an idea of a nation? This notion of nationhood had its origins in the founding of the Americas, but was then adopted and transformed by populist movements in nineteenth-century Europe. It became the rallying cry for anti-Imperialism as well as the abiding explanation for colonialism. In this scintillating, groundbreaking work of intellectual history Anderson explores how ideas are formed and reformulated at every level, from high politics to popular culture, and the way that they can make people do extraordinary things. In the twenty-first century, these debates on the nature of the nation state are even more urgent. As new nations rise, vying for influence, and old empires decline, we must understand who we are as a community in the face of history, and change.Trade ReviewSparkling, readable, densely packed. * Guardian *Anderson's knowledge of a vast range of relevant historical literature is most impressive; his presentation of the gist of it is both masterly and lucid. * New Statesman *A brilliant little book. * Neal Ascherson, The Observer *

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Book Synopsis'Profoundly powerful not only in observations and stories, but in how courageously and carefully it speaks to our present moment' Madeleine Thien, Guardian Over three years, journalist and novelist Ben Ehrenreich travelled to the West Bank's largest cities and smallest villages, and stayed with the Palestinian families who live there. Here, he weaves together the stories of these women, men and children: the extremes to which they are pushed, the daily absurdities and tragedies they face, and the strategies they construct to survive. What follows is a testimony, a provocation, and an unflinching act of witness. 'I am gripped... Ehrenreich lived with many of those he writes about, and so his story is wonderfully intimate... I feel more like I'm involved in a pacey novel than struggling to swallow yet more unpalatable truths' Observer 'The myriad ordeals suffered by the Palestinian people during the last eighty years are minutely reported here. It's a chronicle of their daily lives. Read it! It recognises and respects hope' John Berger 'Capture[s] events unfolding on the West Bank with sympathy and restraint' Colm Tóibín, Irish TimesTrade ReviewPowerful... Palestinian lives matter to Ehrenreich, and he writes about them from the bottom-up, with hard-boiled lyricism, novelistic intimacy and a revolutionary's sense of urgency. [This] is more than a work of journalism. It is a freedom song, burning with humanity... Heartbreaking and joyful -- Adam ShatzA chillingly beautiful, albeit heartbreaking, chronicle of Palestinian life in the West Bank. It's written with immense empathy, but is equally grounded, and urgently real -- Yasmine El Rashidi * Guardian *The myriad ordeals suffered by the Palestinian people during the last eighty years are minutely reported here. It's a chronicle of their daily lives. Read it! It recognises and respects hope -- John BergerBen Ehrenreich's rendition of the Palestinian experience is powerful, deep and heartbreaking, so much closer to the ground than the Middle East reporting we usually see. I wish there were more writers as brave -- Adam Hochschild, author * To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 *An astonishing book. And that's shocking in itself: Ben Ehrenreich takes a detailed, up-close look at the lives of people whose ordeal, though relentless, remains, most of the time, just below the radar of our governments and mass media. We generally pride ourselves on our willingness to speak for the disadvantaged, but remain truculent and evasive in the case of Palestinians. There can be no more excuses, if The Way to the Spring is given the widespread attention it deserves, for such uncharacteristic moral cowardice -- Robert WyattI loved The Way To The Spring. Ehrenreich is excellent on the nuances of suffering and survival. The book is to be read with acceptance, subtlety and an open mind - just as it was written -- BidishaSo much has been written about the occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel but rarely with such vividness, eloquence and success in illuminating complex historical and political realities. The Way to the Spring is a superbly intelligent, informative and critical book about one of the fundamental issues of our time -- Raja ShehadehWritten with fire in the belly and a hawk's eye for the telling fact. The Way to the Spring is an unforgettable read but not an easy one, full of uncomfortable and inconvenient truths. Ehrenreich's great talent is for testimony; the individual human stories that disrupt gross injustice by asking questions about morality, legality and the actual historical record. Ehrenreich's non-fiction debut is a powerful and unwavering pursuit of the through-lines of freedom -- Rachel HolmesMr Ehrenreich did not set out to write an objective book; he does not even think it is possible. This is simply a description, details [...] of what the facts on the ground look like if you are one of a particular group of Palestinians in the West Bank. It should be read by friends and foes of Israel alike * Economist *

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Book Synopsis‘Joyous … a book that makes other journalists weep with envy’ The Economist 'Provocative, touching, and sensitively written … an eloquent, brilliantly researched account’ Sunday Times One of The Economist’s best books by foreign correspondents. A story of grim comedy amid the apocalypse and a celebration of the sheer indestructibility of the human spirit in a nation run riot: Michela Wrong’s vision of Congo/Zaire during the Mobutu years is incisive, ironic and revelatory. Mr Kurtz, the colonial white master, brought evil to the remote upper reaches of the Congo River. A century after Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness' was first published, Michela Wrong revisits the Congo as the era of Mobutu Sese Seko collapses into absurdity, anarchy and corruption. Hers is a brilliant portrait of the grotesque as confusion takes over: pink lipsticked rebel soldiers mingle with tracksuited secret policemen in hotels where fin de siecle dinner parties are ploughing through hotel wine cellars rather than see bottles lost to the new regime. Congo, Africa’s richest country in terms of its natural resources, has institutionalised kleptomania: everyone is on the take. In a country where the minimum wage has dropped to below $150 a year, the government over twenty-five years spent $250 million providing courtesy cars. Congo has a vanity nuclear reactor built on a subsiding slope and one of its uranium rods is missing… The Mobutu reign, successor to Belgium’s failed imperial experiment in Africa, was fed by World Bank dollars and IMF loans. Having presided over unprecedented looting of the country’s wealth, Mobutu, like Kurtz, retreated deep within the jungle to his absurdly overwrought palace of marble floors and gold taps. A century on, nothing seems to have changed at the heart of Africa: it is lawless, graceless and it slaughters its own.Trade Review‘A brilliant account of Africa’s most extraordinary dictator told with wry wit and delicious irony… this book will become a classic’ The Economist ‘Provocative, touching, and sensitively written … an eloquent, brilliantly researched account and a remarkably sympathetic study of a tragic land’ Sunday Times ‘Michela Wrong made the so-called ‘Heart of Darkness' much less opaque to me when I visited the Congo. She can do the same for you if you read this brave and witty book’ Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great ‘Michela Wrong nimbly balances absurdity and outrage in her portrait of Mobutu Sese Seko and the wreckage he visited – with steady Western sponsorship – on the country he called Zaire. Her book is charged with pity and terror, and with the sort of sustaining humour that she rightly admires in Mobutu’s former subjects’ Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We will be Killed With Our Families

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Book SynopsisFirst full translation of an important treatise on chivalric horsemanship. Written around 1430, Duarte of Portugal's remarkable treatise on chivalric horsemanship, the Livro do Cavalgar (Book on Riding), is the sole substantial contemporary source to survive on the definitive physical skill of themedieval knight. It also stands out from the body of technical writings of the Middle Ages for its intelligence, insight, and intellectual versatility, ranging from psychological reflections on horsemanship and its implications for human ethics, to the details of how to couch a lance under the arm without getting it caught on armour. Under the general rubric of horsemanship Duarte covers a range of topics that include jousting, tourneying, and hunting, aswell as the physical apparatus of equestrianism and various cultural styles of riding. However, despite its importance for scholarship, its language and technical content have so far resisted proper translation, a need whichthis book fills. The introduction provides not only the background to make Duarte's text comprehensible, but for the first time offers modern audiences a systematic point of access to the subject of medieval equestrianism in general. JEFFREY L. FORGENG is curator of Arms and Armor and Medieval Art at the Worcester Art Museum, and Adjunct Professor of History at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.Trade ReviewThis excellent little book will charm readers and provide a view into a medieval mind's perspective on animals, sports, fitness, overall well-being. * MEDIEVAL WARFARE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Translation The Book of Horsemanship by Duarte I of Portugal Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERTHE EPIC TRUE STORY OF DUNKIRK - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN AND STARRING KENNETH BRANAGH, TOM HARDY AND MARK RYLANCE.In 1940, at the French port of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 trapped Allied troops were dramatically rescued from destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany by an extraordinary seaborne evacuation. The true history of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians involved in the nine-day skirmish has passed into legend. Now, the story Winston Churchill described as a ''miracle'' is narrated by bestselling author Joshua Levine in its full, sweeping context, including new interviews with veterans and survivors.Told from the viewpoints of land, sea and air, Joshua Levine's Dunkirk is a dramatic account of a defeat that paved the way to ultimate victory and preserved liberty for generations to come.Trade Review‘Not merely the essential companion to the film but probably the finest work we’ve seen on the evacuation full stop’ Waterstones Weekly

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of the best writing on human behaviour and moral choices in the face of disaster, physician and reporter Sheri Fink reconstructs five days at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center during Hurricane Katrina and draws the reader into the lives of those who struggled mightily to survive and to maintain life amidst chaos. After Katrina struck and the floodwaters rose, the power failed, and the heat climbed, exhausted caregivers chose to designate certain patients last for rescue. Months later, several health professionals faced criminal allegations that they deliberately injected numerous patients with drugs to hasten their deaths. Five Days at Memorial, the culmination of six years of reporting, unspools the mystery of what happened in those days, bringing the reader into a hospital fighting for its life and into a conversation about the most terrifying form of health care rationing.In a voice at once involving and fair, masterful and intimate, Fink exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals just how ill-prepared we are for the impact of large-scale disasters - and how we can do better. A remarkable book, engrossing from start to finish, Five Days at Memorial radically transforms our understanding of human nature in crisis.Trade ReviewExtraordinary... A profound and unforgettable piece of journalism * Sunday Times *The gripping and complex account of what happened in a New Orleans hospital in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. -- Geoff Dyer * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Gripping... an illuminating investigation into the chaos that consumed a hospital during Hurricane Katrina... It reminds an international audience that literature can soar to artistic and intellectual heights undreamed of in other realms of media. * Independent *[A] superb and remarkable book... Gripping * Mail on Sunday *Riveting * Financial Times *Masterfully and compassionately reported and as gripping as a thriller, the book poses reverberating questions about end-of-life care, race discrimination in medicine and how individuals and institutions break down during disasters. * New York Times *In this astonishing blend of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalism and breathtaking narration, [Fink] chronicles the chaotic evacuation of the hospital and the agonizing ethical, physical and emotional quandaries facing Memorial nurses and doctors * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *Fink offers a stunning re-creation of the storm, its aftermath, and the investigation that followed... Both a breathtaking read and an essential book for understanding how people behave in times of crisis * Booklist, Starred Review *Fink draws those few days in the hospital's life with a fine, lively pen, providing stunningly framed vignettes of activities in the hospital and sharp pocket profiles of many of the characters * Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review *

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Book SynopsisThe compelling and provocative history of world government, from acclaimed author Mark MazowerShortlisted for the RUSI 2013 Duke of Wellington Medal for Military LiteratureIn 1815 the shocked and exhausted victors of the decades of fighting that had engulfed Europe for a generation agreed to a new system for keeping the peace. Instead of independent states changing sides, doing deals and betraying one another, a new, collegial ''Concert of Europe'' would ensure that the brutal chaos of the Napoleonic Wars never happened again.Mark Mazower''s remarkable new book recreates two centuries of international government - the struggle to spread values and build institutions to bring order to an anarchic and dangerous state system.Trade ReviewMazower has strengthened his claim to be the preeminent historian of a generation ... On rare occasions, a work of history emerges that not only fundamentally refashions our understanding of the past, it enables us to reassess the present and, with luck, influence our future. I advise everyone who is concerned about our precarious situation to learn from and absorb Mazower's remarkable achievement -- Misha GlennyA significant contribution to historical scholarship, with the chapters on the 19th century's remarkable swirl of politics, ideas and organisations being particularly original and valuable ... Simply for giving us this lucid account, Mazower deserves our gratitude. But Governing the World is also an intriguing read because of the strong argument he places within it ... This new work certainly gave this reviewer an awful lot to think about - to an author, there may be no greater praise than that -- Paul Kennedy * Financial Times *Governing Europe, and then the whole world ... this idea has found its perfect chronicler in Mark Mazower, whose perceptions are cosmopolitan, humane, learned, and properly skeptical. What is more, his history is written in clear, elegant prose. Essential reading not just for historians, but anyone interested in the troubled world we live in -- Ian BurumaA prodigious work: a master historian's reconstruction of how individuals and nations since 1815 have sought to promote national interests in ever more complicated international settings. A dramatic, novel account of ideas and institutions in collision with hard realities. Indispensable also for its full and subtle account of American policies since 1917, always with a fine touch for the hitherto neglected person or little noticed moment that illuminates historic processes. Profound, relevant, and morally instructive - and a pleasure to read -- Fritz SternThis is a book that needed to be written ... [Governing the World] is truly illuminating ... The story is a fascinating one, and Mazower tells it with authority and verve -- Adam Zamoyski * Literary Review *The idea of global government has entranced the world for centuries. Mark Mazower's brilliant book shows how much effort has gone into this idea - and how futile it has mostly been in an era of individualism and growing divisiveness -- Alan BrinkleyMazower is a man of immense erudition, a real scholar ... [A] remarkable book ... Reading him is like being lectured by the best left-wing professor you'll ever have. Or like reading the best foreign affairs writer the Guardian or the Nation has to offer ... You can learn a lot from him * Standpoint *

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Book SynopsisA classical historian confronts our crises of time, radically calling into question our relations to the past, present, and future.Trade ReviewSince his classic Mirror of Herodotus, Francois Hartog has emerged as the most significant theorist of history and chronicler of our changing relationship to our own past that France has produced. In this series of meditative chapters, he takes us from the Greeks to the present once more, emphasizing how the theory of history must move from diagnosing the modern gap between expectation and experience to confronting the exigency of historical crisis today. Hartog's reflections are valuable for all humanists. -- Samuel Moyn, Columbia University In a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in history's role in contemporary society, Francois Hartog shows how unexamined assumptions about the past shape our understandings of ourselves and our place in history. -- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles Francois Hartog's pioneering work on the concept of 'regimes of historicity' makes this book a must for scholars in both the social sciences and the humanities. A distinguished classical historian, Hartog uses specific, well-chosen examples to explain how understanding regimes of historicity will allow us to better understand the conditions of possibility for producing histories and, more generally, our own relationship to time. -- Robert Morrissey, University of Chicago Francois Hartog is perhaps the most important historian of historiography today... Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. American Historical Review Regimes of Historicity should be required reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future writing of history. Time's BooksTable of ContentsPresentism: Stopgap or New State? Introduction: Orders of Time and Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 1 1. Making History: Sahlins's Islands 2. From Odysseus's Tears to Augustine's Meditations 3. Chateaubriand, Between Old and New Regimes of Historicity Orders of Time 2 4. Memory, History, and the Present 5. Heritage and the Present Our Doubly Indebted Present: The Reign of Presentism Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a brilliant book. It is the most innovative contribution to our understanding of Mughal history in my time. As a work of the first importance, and a step change in our knowledge of sixteenth-century India, it must be read by anyone interested in the fields of Islamic kingship, millenarianism, and astrology in the Muslim world and the early-modern world in general. -- Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London Moin deserves the highest praise for venturing into this contested terrain and writing a most interesting book about it. -- Andre Wink American Historical Review he has thrown an entirely new light on how early monarchs of India's greatest dynastic house asserted their claims to royal authority. His book should be read not just by historians of South Asia but equally by those of Central Asia and Iran, as well as by specialists in Islamic studies. -- Richard M. Eaton Journal of Interdisciplinary History In this unusually well written and elegantly carpentered book-he has a rare gift for building argument through narrative-Moin has delivered a major contribution to both Islamic history and the scholarship of sacred kingship. -- Alan Strathern History and Theory Moin outlines a formidable challenge to the conventional narratives of Mughal and, to a lesser extent, Safavid history that is likely to surprise even specialists... A valuable contribution to the field that ought to compel scholars to reevaluate key assumptions regarding kingship and sainthood in Mughal India. International Journal of Middle East Studies Too seldom does a plodding dissertation become transformed into an elegant monograph. This 2010 dissertation is the rare, and welcome, exception... The author has conducted deep archival research with an accent on visual history and astrology... The Millennial Sovereign does deliver on its promise. Journal of Islamic Studies A delightful study that seeks to provide early modern Islamic historical scholarship with a new model to conceive of politics in the pre-modern era... Rich Review of Middle East Studies A fine volume that will enrich the libraries of both scholars of Islam and scholars of early modern Europe. The Sixteenth Century JournalTable of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. Introduction: Islam and the Millennium 2. The Lord of Conjunction: Sacrality and Sovereignty in the Age of Timur 3. The Crown of Dreams: Sufis and Princes in Sixteenth-Century Iran 4. The Alchemical Court: The Beginnings of the Mughal Imperial Cult 5. The Millennial Sovereign: The Troubled Unveiling of the Savior Monarch 6. The Throne of Time: The Painted Miracles of the Saint Emperor 7. Conclusion: The Graffiti Under the Throne Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a very thorough account of the experience of the Jews of Europe during World War II. It is virtually a day-by-day account, in men and women's own words, of the horrifying events of the Holocaust - the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish race.

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Book Synopsis''Bracingly apocalyptic stuff: atmospheric, chock-full of information and with a constantly escalating sense of pace and tension'' Sunday TelegraphSimon Winchester''s brilliant chronicle of the destruction of the Indonesian island of Krakatoa in 1883 charts the birth of our modern world. He tells the story of the unrecognized genius who beat Darwin to the discovery of evolution; of Samuel Morse, his code and how rubber allowed the world to talk; of Alfred Wegener, the crack-pot German explorer and father of geology. In breathtaking detail he describes how one island and its inhabitants were blasted out of existence and how colonial society was turned upside-down in a cataclysm whose echoes are still felt to this day.

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Book SynopsisMary Beard is one of the world's best-known classicists - a brilliant academic, with a rare gift for communicating with a wide audience both though her TV presenting and her books. In a series of sparkling essays, she explores our rich classical heritage - from Greek drama to Roman jokes, introducing some larger-than-life characters of classical history, such as Alexander the Great, Nero and Boudicca. She invites you into the places where Greeks and Romans lived and died, from the palace at Knossos to Cleopatra's Alexandria - and reveals the often hidden world of slaves. She takes a fresh look at both scholarly controversies and popular interpretations of the ancient world, from The Golden Bough to Asterix. The fruit of over thirty years in the world of classical scholarship, Confronting the Classics captures the world of antiquity and its modern significance with wit, verve and scholarly expertise.Trade ReviewWith such a champion as Beard to debunk and popularise, the future of the study of classics is assured * Daily Telegraph *She's pulled off that rare trick of becoming a don with a high media profile who hasn't sold out, who is absolutely respected by the academy for her scholarship ... what she says is always powerful and interesting * Guardian *witty, erudite collection...To Beard, the classical past is alive and kicking - and she has the great gift of being able to show just why classics is still a subject worth arguing about * Sunday Times *an irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention * FT *She stands in the great tradition of myth-puncturing Latin classicists * New York Review of Books *Beard is the best...communicator of Classics we have * Independent on Sunday *highly engaging * Sunday Telegraph *sparkling * The Lady *so engaging, and at times so very funny -- Edith Hall * Times *this is the perfect introduction to classical studies, and deserves to become something of a standard work in the future * Observer *

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Book SynopsisNow available in a single, abridged paperback, Ian Kershaw''s Hitler is the definitive biography of the Nazi leader. Ian Kershaw''s two volume biography, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, was greeted with universal acclaim as the essential work on one of the most malign figures in history, from his earliest origins to the final days of the Second World War. Now this landmark historical work is available in one single, abridged edition, tracing the story of how a bitter, failed art student from an obscure corner of Austria rose to unparalleled power, destroying the lives of millions and bringing the world to the brink of Armageddon. ''Supersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write''  David Cannadine, Observer ''The Hitler biography for the twenty-first century''  Richard Evans, Sunday Telegraph ''I cannot imagine a better biography of this great tyrant emerging for a long while''  Jeremy Paxman ''Magisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the Third Reich must read Kershaw, for no one has done more to lay bare Hitler''s morbid psyche''  Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph ''For the present generation, Kershaw''s Hitler stands out as a clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity''  Mail on Sund ''An achievement of the very highest order''  Michael Burleigh, Financial Times Ian Kershaw (b. 1943) was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield from 1989-2008, and is one of the world''s leading authorities on Hitler. His books include The ''Hitler Myth'', his two volume biography Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, and Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941. He was knighted in 2002.Trade ReviewSupersedes all previous accounts. It is the sort of masterly biography that only a first-rate historian can write -- David Cannadine * Observer *The Hitler biography for the twenty-first century -- Richard Evans * Sunday Telegraph *I cannot imagine a better biography of this great tyrant emerging for a long while -- Jeremy PaxmanMagisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the Third Reich must read Kershaw, for no one has done more to lay bare Hitler's morbid psyche -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *For the present generation, Kershaw's Hitler stands out as a clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *The definitive biography of the Führer -- Juliet Gardiner * Sunday Times *An achievement of the very highest order -- Michael Burleigh * Financial Times *Mesmerizing ... presents the twentieth century's most controversial life in a single sweep -- Michael Kerrigan * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisGraham Robb was born in Manchester in 1958 and is a former Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He has published widely on French literature and history. His 2007 book The Discovery of France won both the Duff Cooper and Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prizes. For Parisians the City of Paris awarded him the Grande Médaille de la Ville de Paris. He lives on the English-Scottish border.Trade Review'remarkable . . . an overarching, wondrous reworking of history rooted in painstaking, if not obsessive, research. And if its fantastical connections and arcane details leave the reader reeling, perhaps that is merely a reflection of the astounding complexity and continuing mystery of a lost civilisation that Graham Robb has restored to its rightful place.' Philip Hoare, Literary Review'a wonderful writer . . . No one else can make a bike ride through the French countryside so enthralling. No one else so relishes the odd corners of history.' Sunday Times'Robb produces an elaborately detailed account of [Celtic] society and ideas . . . Those who enjoy a mixture of myth and archaeology, who admire a vivid metaphor and a fine turn of phrase, will find much in this book to enjoy.' New Statesman'He is such a warm, gentle and generous writer, with no faux scholarly tosh or solitary ecstasy riffs [and] Robb's own calm eloquence is deeply persuasive . . . If Graham Robb has discovered that Ancient Gaul was arranged as a reflection of the universe, then that amazing discovery, and this heroically courageous publication of it, is a wonder and a marvel.' Adam Nicolson, Evening Standard'The findings of Graham Robb, a biographer and historian, bring into question two millennia of thinking about Iron Age Britain and Europe and the stereotyped image of Celts as barbarous, superstitious tribes.' Daily Telegraph‘Presenting one of the most astonishing, significant discoveries in recent memory, Robb, winner of the Duff Cooper Prize and Ondaatje Award for The Discovery of France, upends nearly everything we believe about the history—or, as he calls it, protohistory—of early Europe and its barbarous Celtic tribes and semimythical Druids. Popularly dismissed as superstitious, wizarding hermits, Robb demonstrates how the Druids were perhaps the most intellectually advanced thinkers of their age: scientists and mathematicians who, through an intimate knowledge of solstice lines, organized their towns and cities to mirror the paths of their Sun god, in turn creating the earliest accurate map of the world. In his characteristically approachable yet erudite manner, Robb examines how this network came to be and also how it vanished, trampled over by a belligerent Rome, which has previously received credit for civilizing Europe—though in Robb’s account, Caesar, at the helm, appears dim, unwitting, and frankly lucky, and the (often literally) deeply buried Celtic beliefs and innovations seem more relevant in modern Europe than previously assumed. Like the vast and intricate geographical latticework that Robb has uncovered, the book unfurls its secrets in an eerie, magnificent way—a remarkable, mesmerizing, and bottomless work.' Publishers Weekly, Starred Review and Pick of the Week'One certainly has to admire the perseverance Robb has shown, not just researching in libraries and map rooms, but also following trails on the ground. Fifteen thousand miles on a bike, very often to places that no tourist or researcher has ever visited or even inquired about before . . . If you accept Robb's complex arguments, drawn from astronomy, philology, archaeology and history, you do indeed get a new view of an ancient civilisation . . . all those miles on the bike. All those archaeological discoveries pointed out. If nothing else, The Ancient Paths creates a new respect for the ancient Gauls, and the ancient Britons. Whatever Caesar may have said, they weren't all woad and moustaches.' Tom Shippey, Guardian'an enthralling new history . . . 'Important if true' . . . rings loud in the ears as one reads the latest book by Graham Rob, a biographer and historian of distinction whose new work, if everything in it proves to be correct, will blow apart two millennia of thinking about Iron Age Britain and Europe and put several scientific discoveries back by centuries . . . it presents extraordinary conclusions in a deeply persuasive and uncompromising manner. What surfaces from these elegant pages - if true - is nothing less than a wonder of the ancient world: the first solid evidence of Druidic science and its accomplishments and the earliest accurate map of a continent . . . a book almost indecently stuffed with discoveries . . . suggestions follow thick and fast, backed by a mixture of close reading, mathematical construction and scholarly detective work . . . Robb manages his revelations with a showman's skill, modestly conscious that his book is unfurling a map of Iron Age Europe and Britain that has been inaccessible for millennia. Every page produces new solutions to old mysteries, some of them so audacious that the reader may laugh aloud . . . Beautifully written . . . It's a magnificent piece of historical conjecture, backed by a quizzical scholarly intellect and given a personal twist by experiment . . . watching its conclusions percolate through popular and academic history promises to be thrilling. Reading it is already an electrifying and uncanny experience: there is something gloriously unmodern about seeing a whole new perspective on history so comprehensively birthed in a single book. If true, very important indeed.' * Daily Telegraph *'The Romans did a good job of writing their predecessors out of history . . . As the conquerors got to write the history, we have to rely on their account of what they found. But as Robb makes clear, they told only part of the story.' ObserverAn ingenious and thoroughly gripping historical and archaeological bolt from the blue -- Books of the Year * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisRevolt and upheaval in medieval Britain by a brilliant new narrative historian, Summer of Blood' breaks new ground in its portrayal of the personalities and politics of the bloody days of June 1381.The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 is one of the most dramatic and bloody events in English history. Starting with village riots in the Essex countryside, chaos rapidly spread across much of the south-east of England, as tens of thousands of ordinary men and women marched in fury to London, torching houses, slaughtering their social superiors and terrifying the life out of those who got in their way. The burning down of Savoy Palace, home to the most powerful magnate in the realm, marked one of the Revolt's most violent episodes.The Peasants' Revolt has remained an underexplored period of history. In revisiting the bloody events of 1381, Dan Jones has brought back to glorious life the squalor, drama and complex hierarchies of a society that until now seemed almost too distant to imagine. His examiTrade Review‘Combines zest and flair with an acute historical intelligence. Bold. Surprising. Unputdownable.’ David Starkey ‘Jones has certainly livened up the Middle Ages…Combining scholarly zest with novelistic flair he serves his account hot, brave and reeking with gore for a wide readership.’ The Times ‘Dan Jones seeks to uncover the idealism and brutality of this fateful summer…A fresh look.’ John Guy, Sunday Times ‘Dan Jones relates his tale with relish and zest…If anyone is looking for a racy account of England's “summer of blood” this is it.’ TLS ‘Jones's book is welcome…At his best…his prose rises to the occasion provided by the dramatic showdown between Richard and the rebels at Smithfield.’ Spectator ‘A pacy narrative.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Short, clear history of a long, hot summer.’ Scotsman

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Book Synopsis''Man perishes; his corpse turns to dust; all his relatives pass away. But writings make him remembered''In ancient Egypt, words had magical power. Inscribed on tombs and temple walls, coffins and statues, or inked onto papyri, hieroglyphs give us a unique insight into the life of the Egyptian mind. Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson has freshly translated a rich and diverse range of ancient Egyptian writings into modern English, including tales of shipwreck and wonder, obelisk inscriptions, mortuary spells, funeral hymns, songs, satires and advice on life from a pharaoh to his son. Spanning over two millennia, this is the essential guide to a complex, sophisticated culture.Translated with an Introduction by Toby WilkinsonTrade ReviewUntil now few people beyond specialists have been able to read the texts, many of them inaccessible within tombs ... hieroglyphs were pictures but they conveyed concepts in as sophisticated a manner as Greek or Latin script, [Toby Wilkinson] said. Filled with metaphor and symbolism, they reveal life through the eyes of the ancient Egyptians. Tales of shipwreck and wonder, first-hand descriptions of battles and natural disasters, songs and satires make up the anthology. -- Dalya Alberge * The Guardian *This book offers a taste of the vast body of ancient Egyptian literature. In addition to glamorous accounts of war and royalty, it's packed with extraordinarily personal tales of life and the social anxieties of the time. -- Caitlin Hu * Quartz *

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Book Synopsis''With one''s face in the wind you were almost burned with a shower of Firedrops''A selection from Pepys'' startlingly vivid and candid diary, including his famous account of the Great FireIntroducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.Samuel Pepys (1633-1703). The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A Selection is available in Penguin Classics

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Book SynopsisPeter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers, Thames: Sacred River and London: The Biography. He holds a CBE for services to literature and lives in London.

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