History Books

Book SynopsisA dramatic day-by-day account of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021, the events that led to it, and the chaotic evacuation. Recounted by the last British Ambassador to Afghanistan and one of the last civilians to leave in August 2021

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Book Synopsis'An exhilarating, urgent work . . . [Dark Laboratory] threads together ecological and human crises in an original, glittering web' Afua HirschFrom award-winning writer and theorist Tao Leigh Goffe, an urgent investigation into the intertwined history of colonialism and the climate crisis and the lessons we can learn to fight for a better world. Our planet is on the precipice of dramatic ecological breakdown and climate despair is at an all-time high. But there are many communities who have survived beyond the environmental destruction wrought on them by colonialism and they hold the solutions for climate repair. Using the Caribbean as a case study, Tao Leigh Goffe traces the vibrant and complex history of the islands back to 1492 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus when the Caribbean became the subject of Western exploitation. Charting the human and ecological forces that have shaped the islands, Goffe examines the legacy of fierce warrior Queen Nanny of the Maroons, engages in pressing cultural debate about stolen artefacts and human remains which are kept hidden in museum archives, and visits Indigenous farming cooperatives who are using ancestral knowledge to rebuild their communities. Using the Caribbean as a both a warning and a guide, Dark Laboratory takes hopeful and galvanizing teachings from the islands communities to offer illuminating solutions to the ecological crisis. From guano to sugarcane, coral bleaching to invasive mongoose populations, Dark Laboratory is a lyrical, vibrant and urgent investigation into the greatest threat facing humanity. Noble and necessary . . . Goffe's ear is tuned to songs of resistance, to what it looks like to make life amid (and after) colonial subjugation' New York TimesThoroughly compelling . . . Every page is mixed with heart and conviction' Monique Roffey

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of Dava Sobel''s Longitude' comes sailing expert David Barrie''s compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who used it to explore, conquer, and map the world.This is the dramatic story of an instrument that changed history. Built around David Barrie's own transatlantic passage using the very same navigational tools as Captain Cook, Sextant tells how one of the most vital navigational instruments was invented and used and why the golden age of celestial navigation has now come to an end. From Cook, Bligh and Vancouver to Bougainville, La Pérouse, Flinders and FitzRoy, Barrie recounts the fortunes of the explorers who risked their lives in charting the Pacific, as well as the intrepid adventures of Slocum, Shackleton and Worsley. A heady mix of history, science and adventure, this elegy to a lost technology is infused with the wonder of discovery Trade Review‘As lovingly and painstakingly constructed as the navigators’ one irreplaceable talisman, this exquisite book is a hymn to a now-vanishing feature of maritime life, a finely-chased reminder of just how much we all owe to that one small piece of apparatus, its verniers and lenses kept secure in a mahogany box, closed by a hasp of brass’ Simon Winchester ‘Barrie’s writing is exhilarating and suffused with a sense of adventure. A fascinating read’ Financial Times ‘What gives Sextant its special colour is Barrie’s own experience as a sailor … His book is an elegy for the days before GPS made simultaneous geniuses and idiots of us all … He invites anyone near the sea, and above all on a boat, to turn away from their screens and look around’ Daily Express ‘A bracing historical tale’ The Times ‘An excellent present for anyone even vaguely interested in thestars, or the history of exploration, or sailing small boats overbig oceans, or come to think of it anyone at all. And buy a copyfor yourself while you’re about it’ Marine Quarterly ‘A joy to read … one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I’ve read in years’ Flying Fish, magazine of the Ocean Cruising Club

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Book SynopsisThe perfect stocking filler for lovers of Scottish History. From prehistoric Scotland to the Brexit referendum, this pocket-sized book covers all of the main events in Scottish history.

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Book SynopsisGeert Mak spent the year 1999 criss-crossing the continent, tracing the history of Europe from Verdun to Berlin, St Petersburg to Auschwitz, Kiev to Srebrenica. He set off in search of evidence and witnesses, looking to define the condition of Europe at the verge of a new millennium. The result is mesmerising: Mak''s rare double talent as a sharp-eyed journalist and a hugely imaginative historian makes In Europe a dazzling account of that journey, full of diaries, newspaper reports and memoirs, and the voices of prominent figures and unknown players; from the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Adriana Warno in Poland, with her holiday job at the gates of the camp at Birkenau.But Mak is above all an observer. He describes what he sees at places that have become Europe''s well-springs of memory, where history is written into the landscape. At Ypres he hears the blast of munitions from the Great War that are still detonated twice a day. In Warsaw he finds the pointTrade ReviewFascinating, informative, sometimes exhilarating, often painful, and quite impossible to summarise... This is a splendidly panoramic picture of our common European home, a book to read through and then to dip into frequently... I thoroughly recommend his book -- Allan Massie * Literary Review *A broader travelling history of the whole of Europe's 20th century. As befits a journalist with an eye for bad news, he also has much more to say on its calamitous first half than on its more successful second half... Mr Mak tells this part of the story vividly and in great, gory detail, moving from grim fields of battle (Verdun, Stalingrad) to places of revolution (Petrograd, Berlin), and on to ghastly charnel-houses of death and destruction (Auschwitz, Dresden) * Economist *An ingenious geographical-chronological structure... It's impossible not to get drawn into this book -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *The pace rarely slackens and every page sparkles with insight * Herald *In Europe is not so much a work of history, nor is it strictly a travelogue of the present; it is part of a growing genre that is sometimes referred to as the 'history of the present', but might just as well be the 'presence of the past'. It is undoubtedly a spectacular and beautifully crafted piece of such writing -- Isabella Thomas * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisChristopher Duggan is Professor of Italian History at Reading University. He has written several books on modern Italian history, including History of Sicily, with M. I. Finley and D. Mack Smith, Fascism and the Mafia, A concise history of Italy and Francesco Crispi: From Nation to Nationalism. His most recent book is The Force of Destiny: a History of Italy Since 1796.Trade ReviewA fascinating exploration of the letters that ‘ordinary’ Italians who supported fascism wrote to Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s * Glasgow Sunday Herald *This original, revealing and disturbing book provides a grassroots view of fascist Italy * Independent *Duggan’s superbly researched book uncovers the nasty reality of [Mussolini’s] regime and demonstrates that there was a disturbing symbiotic relationship between fascism and the Catholic Church * Mail on Sunday *In his magnificent new book, a pathbreaking study that everyone interested in Fascism, or in Italy past and present, should read, Christopher Duggan fills the gap by examining a wide range of diaries… This enables Duggan to deliver not merely a detailed account of popular attitudes towards the regime, but, far more, a general history of Fascism that for the first time treats it, not as a tyranny that allowed ordinary Italians no possibility of expressing themselves freely, nor as the brutal dictatorship of a capitalist class that reduced the great majority of the country’s citizens to the status of victims, but as a regime rooted strongly in popular aspirations and desires. -- Richard J. Evans * London Review of Books *Magnificent...a pathbreaking study that everyone interested in fascism, or in Italy past and present, should read * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisAn abridged edition of Peter Ackroyd''s magisterial biography of the city of London.Prize-winning historian, novelist and broadcaster, Peter Ackroyd takes us on a journey - historical, geographical and imaginative - through the city of London. Moving back and forth through time, Ackroyd is an effortless, exuberant guide to times of plague and pestilence, fire and floods, crime and punishment, and sex and theatre. He brings the ever changing streets alive for the reader and shows us what lies beneath our feet and above our heads. His biography is as rich in detail and fizzing with vitality as the city itself.Trade ReviewPeter Ackroyd is the greatest living chronicler of London * Independent *Peter Ackroyd was born to write the biography of London...a brilliant book * Sunday Telegraph *It would be no exaggeration to say that Peter Ackroyd's 'biography' of our captial is the book about London -- A N Wilson * Daily Mail *You will not find a better, more visionary book about a place we take for granted * Observer *[London] may be several years old but it remains one of the leading narratives as he cleverly weaves through centuries of history to reveal to us the hundreds of different cities within a city. -- Fiona Hamilton * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a fascinating and timely study of the far-flung sources of our food supply -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *After reading this you’ll never sit down to dinner without finding a trace of empire in your meal again * Strong Words *A wholly pleasing book, which offers a tasty side dish to anyone exploring the narrative history of the British Empire -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *Revelatory... Original, thought-provoking and highly entertaining -- Daisy Goodwin * The Times *Dazzling… This book’s treatment of food in the empire is innovative and exciting… A remarkable achievement * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSituated in an area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraq, Mesopotamia is one of the great, ancient civilizations, though it is still relatively unknown. Yet, over 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, the very first cities were created. This is the first book to reveal how life was lived in ten Mesopotamian cities: from Eridu, the Mesopotamian Eden, to that potent symbol of decadence, Babylon - the first true metropolis: multicultural, multi-ethnic, the last centre of a dying civilization.

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Book SynopsisPanoramic history of Russian culture - making it fresh, intimate and immediate. 18,000 copies sold in hardback to date. "Written beautifully, with striking wit, joie de vivre and learning worn lightly...this superb, flamboyant and masterful touTable of ContentsEuropean Russia; children of 1812; Moscow! Moscow!; the peasant marriage; in search of the Russian soul; descendants of Genghiz Khan; Russia through the Soviet lens; Russia abroad.

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Book Synopsis‘The courtier has to imbue with grace his movements, his gestures, his way of doing things and in short, his every action’In The Book of the Courtier (1528), Baldesar Castiglione, a diplomat and Papal Nuncio to Rome, sets out to define the essential virtues for those at Court. In a lively series of imaginary conversations between the real-life courtiers to the Duke of Urbino, his speakers discuss qualities of noble behaviour – chiefly discretion, decorum, nonchalance and gracefulness – as well as wider questions such as the duties of a good government and the true nature of love. Castiglione’s narrative power and psychological perception make this guide both an entertaining comedy of manners and a revealing window onto the ideals and preoccupations of the Italian Renaissance at the moment of its greatest splendour.George Bull’s elegant translation captures the variety of tone in Castiglione’s speakers, from comic interje

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Book SynopsisThe Greek statesman Polybius (c.200118 BC) wrote his account of the relentless growth of the Roman Empire in order to help his fellow countrymen understand how their world came to be dominated by Rome. Opening with the Punic War in 264 BC, he vividly records the critical stages of Roman expansion: its campaigns throughout the Mediterranean, the temporary setbacks inflicted by Hannibal and the final destruction of Carthage. An active participant of the politics of his time as well as a friend of many prominent Roman citizens, Polybius drew on many eyewitness accounts in writing this cornerstone work of history.Table of ContentsThe Rise of the Roman EmpireList of MapsIntroductionTranslator's NoteBook I: Introduction; The First Punic WarBook II: Affairs in Spain; The Romans in Illyria; Affairs in Spain; Rome and the Gauls; Affiars in Spain; Events in Greece: the Achaean LeagueBook III: Introduction; The Second Punic War; The Second Illyrian War; The Second Punic War; The Second Illyrian War; The Second Punic WarBook IV: Affairs in Greece; Civil War in Cynaetha; Byzantium and the Black SeaBook V: Affairs in Egypt: The Death of Cleomenes; Affairs in Greece: Philip and the GreeksBook VI: From the Preface; On the Forms of States; On the Roman Constitution at Its Prime; The Roman Military System; The Roman Republic Compared with Others; ConclusionBook VII: Affairs in Sicily; Affairs in Greece: The Treaty between Hannibal and Philip of Macedon, The Character of PhilipBook VIII: Affairs in Sicily: The Siege of Syracuse; Affairs in Greece: Philip of Macedon; Macedon; Affairs in Italy: The Siege of TarentumBook IX: Introduction; Affairs in Italy: The Seige of Capua; On Generalship; The Character of HannibalBook X: The Character of Scipio; Affairs in Spain: The Capture of New Carthage, Scipio and the SpaniardsBook XI: Affairs in Italy: The Battle of the Metaurus; The Character of HannibalBook XII: Criticisms of Timaeus and His Approach to History: Errors on the Fauna of Africa and Corsica, Errors Concerning Sicily, Intentional and Unintentional Falsehoods, Timaeus on Callisthenes, Demoshares of Athens, Agathocles of Sicily, Timaeus' Criticisms of Other Writers, Timaeus on the Bull of Phalaris, Timaeus' Methods in Composing Speeches, Comparison of History and Medicine, Timaeus' Lack of Political and Military Experience and Unwillingness to Travel, The Causes of Timaeus' Faults and Qualities of the Good HistorianBook XIV: Affairs in Africa: Scipio's CampaignsBook XV: Affairs in Africa: The Final Campaign; The End of the Second Punic War; Affaris in Macedonia, Syria and Egypt; Affairs in Egypt: A Palace RevolutionBook XVIII: Affairs in Greece: Flamininus and Philip; On Treachery; On the Phalanx; Affairs in Greece" Flamininus and the Peace SettlementBook XXIV: Affairs in Greece: Philopoemen and AristaenusBook XXXI: Affairs in Rome and Syria: The Escape of Demetrius; Affairs in Italy: Aemilius Paullus, Scipio and PolybiusBook XXXVI: Affairs in Rome and Carthage: The Third Punic War; On Fate and ChanceBook XXXIX: From the EpilogueMapsChronological TableIndex

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Book SynopsisFor those living outside Scandinavia, the Viking Age effectively began in 793 with an attack on the monastery at Lindisfarne, a characteristically violent harbinger of what was in store for Britain and much of Europe from the Vikings for the next 300 years, until the final destruction of the heathen temple to the Norse gods at Uppsala around 1090. Robert Ferguson is a sure guide across what he calls ''the treacherous marches which divide legend from fact in Viking Age history''. His long familiarity with the literary culture of Scandinavia - the eddas, the poetry of the skalds and the sagas - is combined with the latest archaeological discoveries and the evidence of picture-stones, runes, ships and objects scattered all over northern Europe, to make the most convincing modern portrait of the Viking Age in any language. The Hammer and the Cross ranges from Scandinavia itself to Kievan Rus and Byzantium in the east, to Iceland, Greenland and the north American settlemenTrade ReviewFerguson adds another layer to our perception of our origins in this compelling and often poignant account of a pagan warrior society faced with Christianity on the march * Independent *

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

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Book Synopsis''Do we need another history of the First World War? The answer in the case of Norman Stone''s short book is, yes - because of its opinionated freshness and the unusual, sharp facts that fly about like shrapnel'' Literary ReviewIn 1914 a new kind of war, and a new kind of world, came about. Fourteen million combatants died, a further twenty million were wounded, four empires were destroyed and even the victors'' empires were fatally damaged. The First World War marked a revolution in the technology of slaughter as trench warfare, artillery barrages, tanks and chemical warfare made their mark on the battlefield for the first time. The sheer complexity and scale of the war have encouraged historians to write books on a similar scale. But in only 140 pages, Norman Stone distils a lifetime of teaching, arguing and thinking to reframe the overwhelming disaster whose aftershocks shaped the rest of the twentieth century. ''Bold, provocative and wittTrade ReviewBold, provocative and witty ... one of the outstanding historians of our age * Spectator *Do we need another history of the First World War? The answer in the case of Norman Stone's short book is, yes - because of its opinionated freshness and the unusual, sharp facts that fly about like shrapnel * Literary Review *One of the most original modern commentaries on the conflict ... this stimulating work can be read for pleasure in an afternoon, even if you are not particularly interested in World War One. That truly is the mark of a great history book * Evening Standard *Exhilarating ... scintillating ... a heady cocktail * Observer *Entertaining and insightful ... one of the handful of living historians who can write with style and wit -- Tibor Fischer * Sunday Telegraph, Books of the Year *A corker of a book ... brings more clarity to this complex, much-written about subject than some historians manage to do in books three or four times as long * History Today *

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Book SynopsisThe second volume in Tim Robinson''s phenomenal Connemara Trilogy - which Robert Macfarlane has called ''One of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English''. The first volume of Tim Robinson''s Connemara trilogy, Listening to the Wind, covered Robinson''s home territory of Roundstone and environs. The Last Pool of Darkness moves into wilder territory: the fjords, cliffs, hills and islands of north-west Connemara, a place that Wittgenstein, who lived on his own in a cottage there for a time, called ''the last pool of darkness in Europe''. Again combining his polymathic knowledge of Connemara''s natural history, human history, folklore and topography with his own unsurpassable artistry as a writer, Tim Robinson has produced another classic.A native of Yorkshire, Tim Robinson moved to the Aran Islands in 1972. His books include the celebrated two-volume Stones of Aran. Since 1984 he has lived in Roundstone, Connemara.''The Proust & Ruskin of modern place-writing, deep-mapper of Irish landscapes, visionary thinker, and human of exceptional intellectual generosity & kindness. He was an immense inspiration to & encourager of me & my work'' Robert Macfarlane''A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing and a miraculous, vivid and engrossing meditation on landscape and history and the sacred mood of places'' Colm Tóibín, Irish Times''One of the greatest writers of lands ... No one has disentangled the tales the stones of Ireland have to tell so deftly and retold them so beautifully'' Fintan O''Toole Trade ReviewAn astonishing and almost infinitely provocative work ... it is a rare pleasure to be among those engaged in the salvage of so rich a treasure -- John Burnside * Irish Times *One of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English -- Robert Macfarlane * Spectator *A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing and a miraculous, vivid and engrossing meditation on landscape and history and the sacred mood of places -- Colm Tóibín * Irish Times Books of the Year *Reading Tim Robinson on Connemara is almost as good as being there - better in some ways * Irish Examiner *An imperishable monument to the West * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisPaul Kennedy is among the world's best-selling and most influential historians. Raised in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he took his doctorate in Oxford and began work shortly afterwards for the first great historian of WW2, Sir Basil Liddell Hart. He now teaches at Yale, and is the author or editor of nineteen books, including The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (translated into over twenty languages), and Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War.Trade ReviewConsistently original ... An important contribution to our understanding -- Michael Beschloss * The New York Times Book Review *His refreshing study ... asks the right questions, disposes of clichés and gives a rich account of neglected topics -- David Edgerton * Financial Times *Colourfully and convincingly illustrates the ingenuity and persistence of a few people who made all the difference * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BARBARA JELAVICH BOOK PRIZE''Sean McMeekin has written a classic of First World War history ... This superb and original book is the reality behind Greenmantle'' Norman StoneThe Berlin-Baghdad Express explores one of the big, previously unresearched subjects of the First World War: the German bid for world power - and the destruction of the British Empire - through the harnessing of the Ottoman Empire. McMeekin''s book shows how incredibly high the stakes were in the Middle East - with the Germans in the tantalizing position of taking over the core of the British Empire via the extraordinary railway that would link Central Europe and the Persian Gulf. Germany sought the Ottoman Empire as an ally to create jihad against the British - whose Empire at the time was the largest Islamic power in the world.The Berlin-Baghdad Express is a fascinating account of western interference in the Middle East and its lamentablTrade ReviewIn this excellent, well-researched and fascinating book, Sean McMeekin has given us a welcome and stimulating perspective on a highly important but neglected part of the First World War. His account of the Turco-German war effort is a tale of high adventure, ambition and political chicanery with a cast of colourful, brave and sometimes ruthless characters. -- Lawrence James * Literary Review *An exciting new book by a talented young historian -- Niall Ferguson * Observer *McMeekin adds a wealth of documentation...[t]he result is a captivating new history of the Eastern Front in the first world war -- Eugene Rogan * Financial Times *McMeekin has written an engaging history peopled with larger-than-life characters in exotic settings -- Eugene Rogan * Financial Times *McMeekin has written a powerful, overdue book that for many will open up a whole new side to the first world war. -- George Walden * Observer *In addition to bringing to life a fascinating episode in early 20th-century history, The Berlin-Baghdad Express contains several timely lessons and cautionary tales. * Wall Street Journal *Sean McMeekin's account possesses the large merit that it tells a story little known to Western readers, drawing extensively upon German sources. It depicts a splendid cast of characters heroic in their endeavors if absurd in their lack of accomplishments. -- Max Hastings * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisBee Wilson is the food writer and historian who writes as the ''Kitchen Thinker'' in the Sunday Telegraph, and is the author of Swindled!. Her charming and original new book, Consider the Fork, explores how the implements we use in the kitchen have shaped the way we cook and live. This is the story of how we have tamed fire and ice, wielded whisks, spoons, graters, mashers, pestles and mortars, all in the name of feeding ourselves. Bee Wilson takes us on an enchanting culinary journey through the incredible creations, inventions and obsessions that have shaped how and what we cook. From huge Tudor open fires to sous-vide machines, the birth of the fork to Roman gadgets, Consider the Fork is the previously unsung history of our kitchens.Bee Wilson writes a weekly food column, ''The Kitchen Thinker'' in The Sunday Telegraph, for which she has three times been named the Guild of Food Writers Food Journalist of the Year. Her previous boTrade ReviewA cracking good read, as enjoyable as it is enlightening -- Raymond Blanc, Chef-Patron 'Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons'Wonderful ... Witty, scholarly, utterly absorbing and fired by infectious curiosity -- Lucy Lethbridge * Observer *[A] delightfully informative history of cooking and eating from the prehistoric discovery of fire to twenty-first-century high-tech, low-temp soud-vide-style cookery * ELLE magazine *A graceful study -- Steven Poole * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe triumphant conclusion to Tim Robinson''s extraordinary Connemara trilogy, which Robert Macfarlane has called ''one of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English''. Robinson writes about the people, places and history of south Connemara - one of Ireland''s last Gaelic-speaking enclaves - with the encyclopaedic knowledge of a cartographer and the grace of a born writer. From the man who has been praised in the highest terms by Joseph O''Connor (''One of contemporary Ireland''s finest literary stylists''''), John Burnside (''one of the finest of contemporary prose stylists''), Fintan O''Toole (''Simply one of the best non-fiction prose writers currently at work'') and Giles Foden (''an indubitable classic''), among many others, this is one of the publishing events of 2011 and the conclusion of one of the great literary projects of our time.''One of the greatest writers of lands ... No one has disentangled the tales the stones of Ireland have to tell so deftly and retold them so beautifully'' Fintan O''Toole''He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights.'' John Banville, Guardian''The Proust & Ruskin of modern place-writing, deep-mapper of Irish landscapes, visionary thinker, and human of exceptional intellectual generosity & kindness. He was an immense inspiration to & encourager of me & my work'' Robert Macfarlane''A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing, and an incomparable and enthralling meditation on times past ... This perfectly pitched work opens readers up to the world around them'' Sunday Times ''Will endure into the far future ... He knows this world as no one else does, and writes about it with awe and love, but also with measured grace, an artist''s eye and a scientist''s sensibility'' Colm Toibin, Sunday Business Post Books of the Year ''Anyone willing to get lost in this book will be left with indelible mental images of places they may never have visited but will now never forget'' Dermot Bolger, Irish Mail on SundayTrade ReviewA masterpiece of travel and topographical writing, and an incomparable and enthralling meditation on times past ... This perfectly pitched work opens readers up to the world around them * Sunday Times *Robinson is a marvel ... the supreme practitioner of geo-graphy, the writing of places -- Fintan O'Toole * Observer (Books of the Year) *He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights. -- John Banville * Guardian *Remarkable * The Times *He is the nearest thing we have to a living legend, this side of Famous Seamus - one of the few people from our world whose name will still be known a century on * Irish Times *Tim Robinson is the Proust of the western seaboard, a Ruskin of the isles * New Statesman *Will endure into the far future ... He knows this world as no one else does, and writes about it with awe and love, but also with measured grace, an artist's eye and a scientist's sensibility -- Colm Tóibín * Sunday Business Post (Books of the Year) *An extraordinary monument * Irish Independent *Anyone willing to get lost in this book will be left with many indelible mental images of places they may never have visited but will now never forget -- Dermot Bolger * Irish Mail on Sunday *Captivating * Independent *Breathtaking ... the West of Ireland has found its ultimate laureate -- Patricia Craig * TLS *

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Book SynopsisA sparkling new translation of one of the greatest travel books ever written: Marco Polo''s seminal account of his journeys in the east, in a collectible clothbound edition. Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. His account of his travels offers a fascinating glimpse of what he encountered abroad: unfamiliar religions, customs and societies; the spices and silks of the East; the precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts of faraway lands. Evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy, Marco''s book revolutionized western ideas about the then unknown East and is still one of the greatest travel accounts of all time.For this edition - the first completely new English translation of the Travels in over fifty years - Nigel Cliff has gone back to the original manuscript sources to produce a fresh, authoritative new version. The volume also contains invaluable editorial materials, including an introduction describing the world as it stood on the eve of Polo''s departure, and examining the fantastical notions the West had developed of the East.Marco Polo was born in 1254, joining his father on a journey to China in 1271. He spent the next twenty years travelling in the service of Kublai Khan. There is evidence that Marco travelled extensively in the Mongol Empire and it is fairly certain he visited India. He wrote his famous Travels whilst a prisoner in Genoa.Nigel Cliff was previously a theatre and film critic for The Times and a regular writer for The Economist, among other publications, and now writes historical nonfiction books. His first book, The Shakespeare Riots, was published in 2007 and shortlisted for the Washington-based National Award for Arts Writing. His second book, The Last Crusade: Vasco da Gama and the Birth of the Modern World appeared in 2011 and was shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.Trade ReviewFew books can truly be said to have changed the world; for all its naysayers, Marco Polo's Travels is one of them -- Nigel Cliff

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Book SynopsisWinston Churchill''s six-volume history of the cataclysm that swept the world remains the definitive history of the Second World War. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction and is an enduring, compelling work that led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. The Grand Alliance recounts the momentous events of 1941 surrounding America''s entry into the War and Hitler''s march on Russia - the continuing onslaught on British civilians during the Blitz, Japan''s attack on Pearl Harbor and the alliance between Britain and America that shaped the outcome of the War.

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Book SynopsisThis rich history of Antwerp was a Times Book of the Year and Radio 4 Book of the WeekEven before Amsterdam there was a dazzling North Sea port at the hub of the known world: the city of Antwerp.Antwerp was sensational like nineteenth-century Paris or twentieth-century New York, somewhere anything could happen or at least be believed: killer bankers, easy kisses, a market in secrets and every kind of heresy. For half the sixteenth century, it was the place for breaking rules - religious, sexual, intellectual.In Antwerp, things changed. One man cornered all the money in the city and reinvented ideas of what money meant. Another gave Antwerp a new shape purely out of his own ambition. Jews fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition needed Antwerp for their escape, thanks to the remarkable woman at the head of the grandest banking family in Europe.Thomas More opened Utopia there, Erasmus puzzled over money and exchanges, William Tyndale shelTrade ReviewAntwerp is the star of this charming and rather lovely history ... Pye writes beautifully, has a lovely eye for detail and an obvious affection for this period of Antwerp's history. -- Peter Frankopan * The Observer *In the 16th century Antwerp was Europe's marketplace, a tolerant, secular city governed by money. It was a spectacular place, a rogue's paradise where everything seemed possible. The city's story is as convoluted as its streets. There is no single plot and there are no straight narrative lines. Michael Pye is the perfect chronicler of this extraordinary place, being a writer of deep complexity, immense imagination and opulent prose. His cornucopia of Antwerp's abundant delights is as voluptuous as the city itself. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times Books of the Year *wondrous ... a book of imaginative historical reconstruction that reads as brilliantly as a novel by Hilary Mantel -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *in his exhilarating new history of Renaissance Antwerp ... Pye captures Antwerp's greatest decades in character studies, stories and vignettes, encompassing not just trade but buildings and books too. It is pieced together with great skill and art, and the effect is dazzling. If you want a linear history of 16th century Antwerp, stay away. But if you want a sense of the city's anarchic splendour, its potent, unsustainable originality, then this is the book for you. Pye conjures up exactly the glamour that drew people to Antwerp's gates in its pomp: the city as idea; the city as improvisation; the city as possibility. -- Matthew Lyons * Literary Review *Antwerp, Pye's galloping and flavoursome account of the city's heyday [is] a lustrous gem of a book. Studded with racy anecdotes but firmly embedded in archival research, it shows why the city that nurtured "a pragmatic kind of tolerance" rose so fast - and why, almost as rapidly, it fell ... Pye unrolls a sparkling string of stories rather than a heavy tapestry of contexts, hinterlands and aftermaths ... In this swarming fresco, which merits a place near Simon Schama's The Embarrassment of Riches or Robert Hughes' homage to Barcelona, Pye not only rescues Antwerp's lost "world of liberty", he leads entranced readers through its grubby, glittering streets. -- Boyd Tonkin * Financial Times *Capturing the essence of 16th-century Antwerp is difficult; its story is as convoluted as its streets. That story does not lend itself to linearity; there's no single plot, no straight narrative lines. Michael Pye - journalist, broadcaster and prolific author - is the perfect chronicler of this extraordinary place, since he revels in complexity and never hesitates to use his abundant imagination. His prose is as opulent as the city itself. ... Pye provides a cornucopia of Antwerp's abundant delights. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Pye offers a master class on how to tell the story of a city. Fascinating and gloriously good fun. -- Gerard DeGroot * Twitter *Now a museum-like gem, for much of the 16th century, Antwerp thrived as Europe's most vibrant center of commerce, intellectual life, and free thought. Pye offers a colorful depiction of the city's 'exceptional years.' Entertaining. An impressionistic portrait of its institutions and great men (Bruegel, Erasmus, et al.), emphasizing the lives of now-obscure traders, bankers, entrepreneurs, officials, printers, and booksellers, including a surprising number of successful women and Jews. A vivid look at a great Renaissance city. -- KirkusIn a highly readable new book, Michael Pye argues that, during Europe's ages of discovery, it became one of the earliest genuinely global cities too ... If we understood more about Antwerp, though, we might understand more about ourselves and our long umbilical links to Europe. * The Guardian *exuberant ... Pye creates a thematic mosaic, drawing on a mass of accounts and original sources, from wills and inventories to doodles and self-help books. The book is dense with stories ... [which] reflect Antwerp's volatile, opportunistic, profit-grabbing ethos, loose ends and all ... Antwerp was, Pye claims, "the emporium for ideas as well as goods." Its trade in knowledge and its deals in art, books, and luxury goods were renowned across Europe. -- Jenny Uglow * New York Review of Books *

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Book Synopsis''An enthralling, elegantly written and, ultimately, profoundly alarming history'' EconomistA bold new perspective on the history of South Asia, telling its story through its climate, and the long quest to tame its watersSouth Asia''s history has been shaped by its waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines this history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, rivers and seas - and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. He shows how fears and dreams of water have, throughout South Asia, shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations.Every year humans have watched with overwhelming anxiety for the nature of that year''s monsoon to be revealed, with entire populations living or dying on the outcome. From the first small weather-reporting stations to today''s satellites, the modern battle both to understand and manage water has literally been a matter of life or death.Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, this highly original work of history is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand not only Asia''s past but its future.

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Book Synopsis* A TIMES BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR *From the prize-winning author of Adventures in the Anthropocene, the astonishing story of how culture enabled us to become the most successful species on Earth''A wondrous, visionary work'' Tim Flannery, author of The Weather MakersHumans are a planet-altering force. Gaia Vince argues that our unique ability - compared with other species - to determine the course of our own destiny rests on a special relationship between our genes, environment and culture going back into deep time. It is our collective culture, rather than our individual intelligence, that makes humans unique. Vince shows how four evolutionary drivers - Fire, Language, Beauty and Time - are further transforming our species into a transcendent superorganism: a hyper-cooperative mass of humanity that she calls Homo omnis. Drawing on leading-edge advances in population genetics, archaeology, palaeontology and neuroscience, Transcendence compels us to reimagine ourselves, showing us to be on the brink of something grander - and potentially more destructive.''Richly informed by the latest research, Gaia Vince''s colourful survey fizzes like a zip-wire as it tours our species'' story from the Big Bang to the coming age of hypercooperation'' Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox''Wonderful ... enlightening'' Robin Ince, The Infinite Monkey CageTrade ReviewA hugely enjoyable sprint through human evolutionary history . . . Read it. -- Tim Radford * Nature *Beautifully written . . . At her best Vince takes dizzying leaps, making connections between archaeology, anthropology, genetics and psychology. She is especially good on the delicate interplay between genes, environment and culture. Vince steps with lightness. -- Tom Whipple * The Times *The storming success of Yuval Noah Harari's books has inspired many others that aim to span the epic sweep of human history with grand theories and cor-blimey factoids. This book does both. -- The Times * Best Science and Medicine Books of the Year *Here is the miraculous creature we are: unlikely, poignant, astonishing ... Much to think about. This book gives rise to many such thoughts and is written with merciful clarity. -- Sebastian BarryWonderful ... enlightening. -- Robin InceRichly informed by the latest research, Gaia Vince's colourful survey fizzes like a zip-wire as it tours our species' story from the Big Bang to the coming age of hypercooperation. -- Richard Wrangham, Professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University and author of The Goodness ParadoxAn imaginative and inspiring adventure into the origins and evolution of what we hold most dear: our human culture. -- Uta Frith, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development UCLThis book goes from the Big Bang to the Hundred Thousand Genome Project to make a convincing case that Homo sapiens has become a super-organism. I learned a lot from it and so will you. -- Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics UCL, author of Almost Like a Whale

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewFull of interesting ideas, insightful and thought-provoking ... A stimulating book that perhaps leaves the reader with more questions than answers. That, in case you are wondering, is intended as praise -- Tony Mann * Times Higher Education *

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Book SynopsisPart of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England''s rulers - now in paperbackOn Christmas Day 1066, William, duke of Normandy was crowned in Westminster, the first Norman king of England. It was a disaster: soldiers outside, thinking shouts of acclamation were treachery, torched the surrounding buildings. To later chroniclers, it was an omen of the catastrophes to come.During the reign of William the Conqueror, England experienced greater and more seismic change than at any point before or since. Marc Morris''s concise and gripping biography sifts through the sources of the time to give a fresh view of the man who changed England more than any other, as old ruling elites were swept away, enemies at home and abroad (including those in his closest family) were crushed, swathes of the country were devastated and the map of the nation itself was redrawn, giving greater power than ever to the king. When, towards the end of his reign, William undertook a great survey of his new lands, his subjects compared it to the last judgement of God, the Domesday Book. England had been transformed forever.

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Book SynopsisIn 1850, China was the ''sick man of Asia''. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as victim of oppression, war and famine. This makes its current position as arguably the most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Jonathan Fenby''s comprehensive account is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.''His book is a miracle of thoroughness, truthfulness and readability - the perfect primer for a time when China is about to enter all our lives'' Sunday Telegraph''Jonathan Fenby''s ... illuminating book [is] the first major history that looks at the country with the eyes of the 21st century rather than the 20th'' Rana Mitter, Financial Times''Reads like a novel and is never less than thoughtful and compassionate for the fate of a much-abused people ... [Fenby has] a journalisTrade ReviewHis book is a miracle of thoroughness, truthfulness and readability - the perfect primer for a time when China is about to enter all our lives * Sunday Telegraph *Jonathan Fenby's ... illuminating book [is] the first major history that looks at the country with the eyes of the 21st century rather than the 20th -- Rana Mitter * FT *[It] reads like a novel and is never less than thoughtful and compassionate for the fate of a much-abused people ... [Fenby has] a journalist's eye for telling detail * Herald *Taut, anecdote-studded ... a great introduction for a general audience, with vivid scene setting and character sketches -- Michel Sheridan * Sunday Times *For an accessible, authoritative, fair and comprehensive and well written account, this would be hard to better * BBC History *A wonderful history of modern China and a cracking good read -- Chris Patten

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL AND THE GILDER LEHRMAN PRIZE FOR MILITARY HISTORY 2022''A terrific read ... McMeekin is a superb writer'' David Aaronovitch, The Times ''Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist'' Simon Sebag Montefiore''Impressive ... A new look at the conflict, which poses new questions and provides new and often unexpected answers to the old ones'' Serhii Plokhy, The Guardian In this remarkable, ground-breaking new book Sean McMeekin marks a generational shift in our view of Stalin as an ally in the Second World War. Stalin''s only difference from Hitler, he argues, was that he was a successful murderous predator. With Hitler dead and the Third Reich in ruins, Stalin created an immense new Communist empire. Among his holdings were Czechoslovakia and Poland, the fates of which had first set the West against the Nazis and, of course, China and North Korea, the ramifications of which we still live with today. Until Barbarossa wrought a public relations miracle, turning him into a plucky ally of the West, Stalin had murdered millions, subverted every norm of international behaviour, invaded as many countries as Hitler had, and taken great swathes of territory he would continue to keep. In the larger sense the global conflict grew out of not only German and Japanese aggression but Stalin''s manoeuvrings, orchestrated to provoke wars of attrition between the capitalist powers in Europe and in Asia. Throughout the war Stalin chose to do only what would benefit his own regime, not even aiding in the effort against Japan until the conflict''s last weeks. Above all, Stalin''s War uncovers the shocking details of how the US government (to the detriment of itself and its other allies) fuelled Stalin''s war machine, blindly agreeing to every Soviet demand, right down to agents supplying details of the atomic bomb.Trade ReviewA terrific read ... McMeekin is a superb writer. There isn't a boring page in the book. His breadth of approach, taking in events from Manchuria to Greece, as well as the main fronts, is refreshing ... When he is angry McMeekin can be magnificent. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist. -- Simon Sebag MontefioreMcMeekin's approach in Stalin's War is both original and refreshing and the book is written with a wonderful clarity. -- Antony BeevorImpressive, well researched and very well written ... McMeekin invites the reader to look at the history of the war from a vantage point rarely taken and appreciate the many tragedies and sad ironies of the grand alliance as it took shape and functioned during the war ... A new look at the conflict, which poses new questions and provides new and often unexpected answers to the old ones. -- Serhii Plokhy * The Guardian *An accomplished, fearless and enthusiastic "Myth-buster", McMeekin hunts out the mistaken explanations of the past ... The story of the war itself is well told and impressive in its scope, ranging as it does from the domestic politics of small states such as Yugoslavia and Finland to the global context ... McMeekin is right that we have for too long cast the second world war as the good one. His book will make us re-evaluate the war and its consequences. -- Margaret MacMillan * Financial Times *A sweeping reassessment of World War II seeking to "illuminate critical matters long obscured by the obsessively German-centric literature" on the subject ... Yet another winner for McMeekin ... Brilliantly contrarian history. * Kirkus *McMeekin draws from recently opened Soviet archives to shed light on Stalin's dark reasoning and shady tactics ... Packed with incisive character sketches and illuminating analyses of military and diplomatic maneuvers, this is a skillful and persuasive reframing of the causes, developments, and repercussions of WWII. * Publishers Weekly *Brilliantly inquisitive ... This book makes the case that Adolf Hitler was within a whisker of winning the Second World War and failed to do so only because President Roosevelt came to the rescue of Joseph Stalin, Hitler's nemesis. -- David Pryce-Jones * National Review *This book is a mammoth achievement in every sense. -- Michael Brendan Dougherty, author of My Father Left Me IrelandSean McMeekin's new book fills a massive gap in the historiography of World War II. Based on exhaustive researches in Russian and other archives, his examination of Stalin's foreign policy explores fresh avenues and explodes many myths, perhaps most significant being that of unwittingly exaggerated emphasis on 'Hitler's war'. He shows conclusively that the two tyrants were equally responsible, both for the outbreak of war and the appalling slaughter which ensued. -- Nikolai TolstoyStalin's War is above all about strategy: the failure of Roosevelt and Churchill to make shrewd choices as World War II played out. McMeekin brilliantly argues that instead of weighting the European and Pacific theatres to favour their own interests - and weaken the inevitably antagonistic Soviet Union - FDR and Churchill left the most critical parts of Asia unguarded while they ground down the German army, a decision that favoured Stalin's interests far more than their own. -- Geoffrey Wawro

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Book SynopsisCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY SUNDAY TIMES AND HISTORY TODAY''Absolutely stunning. . . a formidable achievement. A six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our politicians and the ordinary citizen'' Kai BirdBest-selling historian Serhii Plokhy returns with an illuminating exploration of the atomic age through the history of six nuclear disasters In 2011, a 43-foot-high tsunami crashed into a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. In the following days, explosions would rip buildings apart, three reactors would go into nuclear meltdown, and the surrounding area would be swamped in radioactive water. It is now considered one of the costliest nuclear disasters ever. But Fukushima was not the first, and it was not the worst. . .In Atoms and Ashes, acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy tells the tale of the six nuclear disasters that shook the world: Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Based on wide-ranging research and witness testimony, Plokhy traces the arc of each crisis, exploring in depth the confused decision-making on the ground and the panicked responses of governments to contain the crises and often cover up the scale of the catastrophe.As the world increasingly looks to renewable and alternative sources of energy, Plokhy lucidly argues that the atomic risk must be understood in explicit terms, but also that these calamities reveal a fundamental truth about our relationship with nuclear technology: that the thirst for power and energy has always trumped safety and the cost for future generations.Trade ReviewA timely and enthralling study of the atomic age and its perils . . . a meticulously researched history -- Lawrence Freedman * Financial Times *A superbly crafted but enormously frightening history of nuclear disasters . . . without ever preaching, Plokhy constructs a formidable case for consigning nuclear power to the past -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Plokhy's gripping, measured accounts of human error and staggering heroism in the face of the terrifying forces of nuclear power get under the skin -- Simon Ings * The Telegraph *Frightening . . . With catastrophic climate change bearing down on us, nuclear power has been promoted by some as an obvious solution, but this sobering history urges us to look hard at that bargain for what it is -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *A revealing tour of some of the most terrifying experiences involving nuclear power. Plokhy excels in unpacking the human and systemic factors that contribute to nuclear disasters * Nature *Gripping . . . Plokhy combines newspaper interviews, memoirs, government reports and secondary sources to give a vivid account of the perils of nuclear power * TLS *Expertly concise. . . this account of the downhill slide of atomic power since its heyday in the 1950s illustrates why it can never be the solution to global heating -- Robin McKie * Observer *Absolutely stunning. A formidable achievement. Plokhy has written a six-part historical thriller that is essential reading for both our politicians and the ordinary citizen. We have survived the Nuclear Age for three-quarters of a century, but this book calmly reminds us that accidents happen?and will surely happen again. His stories of nuclear accidents are riveting and frightening -- Kai Bird, co-author of American Prometheus

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPollan is always an entertaining writer, and a deep thinker with a light touch ... it's a trip - engrossing, eye-opening, mind altering. -- Sophie McBain * New Statesman *This fascinating insight into our relationship with mind-altering plants weaves personal experimentation with cultural history ... Pollan is the perfect guide through this sometimes controversial territory; curious, careful and, as his book progresses, increasingly open minded. -- Tim Adams * The Guardian *Expert storytelling ... Pollan masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways. -- Rob Dunn * New York Times Book Review *Brilliant, compulsively readable ... Pollan's storytelling is deft, forthright and fascinating. -- Charles Foster * The Oldie *Like it or not, we are undergoing a drugs revolution ... thankfully Pollan is here to guide us through this putative challenge ... [this] relatable, middle class New York plant fancier might be the ideal standard bearer for today's calmer, more scientific approach to the subject. -- Josh Glancy * Sunday Times *Pollan's intertwining of reportage, citizen science and historical scholarship is a delightful and informative read ... [he] has a rational optimism that might tempt even the most sober and sceptical to try to broaden their horizons. -- AJ Lees * Literary Review *Pollan is a gentle, generous writer. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *Michael Pollan weaves tales of drug experimentation into a historical account of our long relationship with them. -- Simon Ings * New Scientist *This Is Your Mind on Plants is witty, entertaining and polite, but it is not trivial. Subtly but assuredly, Pollan argues that which plants (and fungi) we are allowed and how depends, consciously or otherwise, on the interests of power. -- Josh Raymond * Times Literary Supplement *The descriptions of London's coffee house culture and Honoré de Balzac's barbarous habit of ingesting dry coffee grounds to fuel all-night scribbling sessions are worth the book's price alone ... The book is really about the relation between each plant and the humans who consume it, tackled in a non-judgmental and objective way that seeks to dispel the ignorance, prejudice and demonisation they attract. * Financial Times *Fascinating and occasionally terrifying ... His opium chapter is mesmerising. -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *A tour around three substances: caffeine, mescaline and opium. The first is legal, the others remain mostly illegal. Pollan offers us rich historical contexts for them that are often surprising. -- Peter Carty * Independent *Every now and then to be put in touch with what really matters - what could be more important than that? -- Emily Hourican * Irish Independent *

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Book Synopsis“One of the Finest Memoirs Ever Written” –The New Yorker The highly acclaimed memoir of one of the most original American storytellers of the rural SouthA Penguin ClassicHarry Crews grew up as the son of a sharecropper in Georgia at a time when “the rest of the country was just beginning to feel the real hurt of the Great Depression but it had been living in Bacon County for years.” Yet what he conveys in this moving, brutal autobiography of his first six years of life is an elegiac sense of community and roots from a rural South that had rarely been represented in this way. Interweaving his own memories including his bout with polio and a fascination with the Sears, Roebuck catalog, with the tales of relatives and friends, he re-creates a childhood of tenderness and violence, comedy and tragedy.  Trade Review“Reading Crews, I found the courage to tell the stories I’d been amassing my whole life.” —Mary Karr “This memoir is for everyone. It’s agile, honest and built as if to last. Like its author, it’s a resilient American original.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times“…the memoir is flawless, one of the finest ever written by an American….[it] answers some specific questions, namely where its author came from and how he became a writer, but it asks broader ones, too: why anyone becomes anything, how we square our pasts with our futures, and why certain things—a book, its author—are rescued from oblivion.”—Casey Cep, The New Yorker“Critics and awards anoint some authors as legends. Others depend on word-of-mouth and prose that stands the test of time….There is nothing folksy, never mind pastoral or genteel, about Crews. With caustic and fabulist writing, he exhumed the ghosts of America’s original sin…..Crews captured the raw essence of humanity in both fiction and nonfiction. Side by side, these reissues form the complete picture of an imperfect man who charged hard into extremes to escape his cultural inheritance.”—Lauren Leblanc, Los Angeles Times“Of all of Crews’ magnificent output, it is A Childhood: The Biography of a Place, first published in 1978 that is the most memorable and is written in a language that will sear the mind and memory…. There are startlingly wild scenes written with hair raising power….This review cannot begin to capture the power of the writing of Harry Crews nor the essence of this portrait of the life of a sharecropping family in the Great Depression. All that can be said is, read it. The power of the written word will never be made more clear.”—New York Journal of Books

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Book SynopsisA searing--and sobering--account of the legal and extra-legal means by which systemic white racism has kept Black Americans ''in their place'' from slavery to police and vigilante killings of Black men and women, from 1619 to the present.From the arrival of the first English settlers in America until now-a span of four centuries-a minority of white men have created, managed, and perpetuated their control of every major institution, public and private, in American society. And no group in America has suffered more from the harms imposed by white men''s laws than African Americans, with punishment by law often replaced by extra-legal means. Over the centuries, thousands of victims have been murdered by lynching, white mobs, and appalling massacres.In White Men''s Law, the eminent scholar Peter Irons makes a powerful and persuasive case that African Americans have always been held back by systemic racism in all major institutions that can hold power over them. Based on a wide range of souTrade ReviewThe book Irons' has written is brilliant analysis of just how deep and pervasive our history of racial inequality remains. * William H. Chafe, Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsPreface: "They've Got Him!" Ch. 1: "Thirty Lashes, Well Laid On" Ch. 2: "Dem Was Hard Times, Sho Nuff" Ch. 3: "Beings of An Inferior Order" Ch. 4: "Fighting For White Supremacy" Ch. 5: "The Foul Odors of Blacks" Ch. 6: "Negroes Plan to Kill All Whites" Ch. 7: "Why Don't Dmocracy Include Me?" Ch 8: "I Thanked God Right Then and There" Ch 9: "War Against the Constitution" Ch 10: "Two Cities-One White, the Other Black" Ch 11: "All Blacks Are Angry" Ch 12: "The Basic Minimal Skills" References

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Book SynopsisThe complex world of Egyptian myth is clearly illuminated in this fascinating new approach to ancient Egypt. Geraldine Pinch explores the cultural and historical background behind a wide variety of sources and objects, from Cleopatra''s Needle and Tutankhamun''s golden statue, to a story on papyrus of the gods misbehaving. What did they mean, and how have they been interpreted? The reader is taken on an exciting journey through the distant past, and shown how myths of deities such as Isis and Osiris influenced contemporary culture and have become part of our cultural heritage. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewa masterly, clear, and concise account of a complex subject * Dr Richard Parkinson, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum *Table of ContentsTIMELINE OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY; SUGGESTED FURTHER READING

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Book SynopsisFirst published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, John Blair''s Very Short Introduction to the Anglo-Saxon Age covers the emergence of the earliest English settlements to the Norman victory in 1066. This book is a brief introduction to the political, social, religious, and cultural history of Anglo-Saxon England.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 ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The English settlements ; 2. The seventh century ; 3. Christianity and the monastic culture ; 4. The Mercian supremacy ; 5. The Viking invasions and the rise of the house of Wessex ; 6. Aethelred and Cnut: the decline of the English monarchy ; 7. The end of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom ; Further reading ; Chronology ; Index

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Book SynopsisFrom one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a fully updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today.Trade ReviewA superb survey of the most important concept of the 21st century. Thoughtful, cogent, and essential reading. * David W. Orr, Oberlin College, author of Down to the Wire *Caradonna rapidly traces a thread through centuries of thinkers and political movements. Along the way he ably documents the fact that interest in environmental quality has grown over the last three centuries and that government has as often been used to undermine environmental quality as to support it. * EH.Net *“Perhaps best in Caradonna's book is his ability to paint vivid historical concepts in easily-understood terms. Deft writing aids Caradonna's critique of modern industrialization.” -Englewood Review of BooksTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Loath This Growth: Sources of Sustainability in the Early Modern World 2. The Industrial Revolution and Its Discontents 3. Eco-Warriors: The Environmental Movement and the Growth of Ecological Wisdom, 1960s-1970s 4. Eco-Nomics 5. From Concept to Movement 6. Sustainability Today: 2000 - Present 7. The Future: 10 Challenges for Sustainability

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Emotions are complex mental states that resist reduction. They are visceral reactions but also beliefs about the world. They are spontaneous outbursts but also culturally learned performances. They are intimate and private and yet gain their substance and significance only from interpersonal and social frameworks. And just as our emotions in any given moment display this complex structure, so their history is plural rather than singular. The history of emotions is where the history of ideas meets the history of the body, and where the history of subjectivity meets social and cultural history.In this Very Short Introduction, Thomas Dixon traces the historical ancestries of feelings ranging from sorrow, melancholy, rage, and terror to cheerfulness, enthusiasm, sympathy, and love. The picture that emerges is a complex one, showing how the states we group together today as the emotions are the product of long and varied historTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of illustrations 1: The pulse of the past 2: A map of woe 3: From passions to emojis 4: Terror and the pursuit of happiness 5: All the rages 6: Looking for love References and further reading Index

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Book SynopsisIran has rarely been out of the headlines. Yet media interest and extensive coverage has tended to hinder rather than help our understanding of Iran as an idea, an identity, and a people, leading to a superficial understanding of what is a complex and nuanced political culture and civilization. This Very Short Introduction presents a radical reinterpretation of Iranian history and politics, placing the Islamic Revolution in the context of a century of political change and social transformation. By considering the various factors that have contributed towards the construction of the idea of Iran and the complex identity of Iranians themselves, Ali Ansari steers a clear path towards a more realistic understanding for us all. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewIt is a considerable challenge to sum up the essense of Iran, with its recorded history of more than 2,500 years, in only a little more than a hundred pages. But Ali Ansari does so effectively by focusing on the multi-layered identity of the Iranians. * David Blow, The Times Literary Supplement *This book is written in a lively and accessible style. It is full of insights into modern Iran, the most important of which is the continuing impact of Iran's mythology and long history on the present. It should be required reading for anyone proposing to negotiate with Iranians, whether in politics or business. * Geopolitics and Security, Francis Robinson *Table of Contents1. Preface ; 2. The West and Iran ; 3. Iran and Persia ; 4. Iran and Islam ; 5. Iran and the West ; 6. Conclusion ; Further reading ; Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“I consider Edling one of the finest historians of the early American republic in the world today. A Hercules in the Cradle will revolutionize the way historians think about the founding and development of the federal state—a state with the capacity to fulfill the expanding new empire's ‘manifest destiny.’” -- Peter S. Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation“Edling’s Hercules in the Cradle shows how vitally important fiscal policy has been in laying the groundwork for the modern state. Revisionist historians have long challenged the Cold War shibboleth that the national government in the early republic was nothing but a ‘midget institution in a giant land.’ Edling’s distinctive contribution is to bring this revisionist sensibility to the study of public finance. This lucid and informative monograph vaults Edling to the front ranks of historians of state and society in the nineteenth-century United States; it should remain a standard work in the field for many years to come.” -- Richard R. John * Columbia University *“Max Edling deploys his unrivaled mastery of fiscal policy to trace the transformation of the United States in less than a century from a loose confederation into a world power. He conclusively shows that the ability of American politicians to finance warfare and territorial expansion, despite widespread fear of the national government and long-term debt, was a major reason why the United States succeeded where other nations faltered.” -- Andrew Cayton, coauthor of The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America, 1500-2000“In his first book, Max Edling virtually forced American historians to rethink the first premises underlying the adoption of the Constitution. The Federalists of 1787-1788, he demonstrated, were true state-builders. In his new book, Edling traces what that state looked like, how it evolved, and how, notwithstanding all the constitutional controversies it provoked, it proved to be a far more effective vehicle for mobilizing national resources for war than most scholars have appreciated. Thanks to Edling, we now have a much more sophisticated basis for comparing the development of the American state after 1789 to its European counterparts.” -- Jack Rakove, author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution“Edling examines in detail the financing of three wars: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. . . . Exploring the origins and evolution of American public finance, this book is well written and clearly argued. Highly recommended.” * Choice *“In this book, following themes laid out in his first monograph, Edling enhances his reputation as one of the leading historians of early US state formation. . . . A Hercules in the Cradle makes a convincing argument for the success of government finance as a crucial source of US expansion and power.” * H-Net Reviews *“Edling has written a very important book, one that deserves to be widely read by both academic specialists and persons interested in the foundations of American power in the twentieth century. . . . Hercules in the Cradle is a well-argued and meticulously researched contribution to an emerging historiography on the development of the early American state.” * New England Quarterly *“In this lively study, bristling with fresh insights and enhanced by serious quantitative analyses, Edling makes a compelling case for America’s growing out of its Herculean cradle because successive administrations successfully addressed its fiscal needs.” * Joyce Appleby, American Political Thought *“Edling’s account of how the development of an American fiscal-military state made possible the US government’s ‘liberal use of . . . aggression and violence’ to achieve its policy aims during the nineteenth century will provide scholars with valuable, interlinked case studies to consult for many years to come. Edling clearly deserves to be numbered among the most original and influential foreign scholars writing American history today.” * Journal of the Civil War Era *“Edling shows how American leaders even outdid Europeans in their embrace of borrow-now, tax-later policies. This sheds new light on war financing beyond what we have long known about the individual conflicts by providing an overarching framework for understanding how this model developed and for appreciating its persistence over time, even in the face of considerable social, economic, and political change. In an era when an estimated four-fifths of all federal spending was on war or preparation for war, Edling tells us an important story about the antebellum state.” * Journal of the Early Republic *“A Hercules in the Cradle examines the central role that national debt and tax policy played in the formation, survival, and expansion of the U.S. Edling argues persuasively that deft use of public credit and federal borrowing not only secured the young nation’s financial stability but also made possible the nation’s aggressive expansion from the early days of the republic through the purchase of Alaska in 1867. It is a nuanced and important reconsideration of the central role of national financial policy in the creation and growth of the American republic.” * American Historical Review *“Based on thorough research in primary and secondary sources, and a command of contemporary debates, Edling makes a strong case for his revisionist arguments. . . . The detailed presentation of the nature of government financial policies and of the interaction of national and international forces at the time makes this work important for all historians dealing with the period between the Revolution and the Civil War.” -- Stanley L. Engerman * Journal of American History *“Edling’s deeply impressive and vitally important study quietly forces us to reevaluate, to reconsider from the outside, whether the stories we tell ourselves about our moral purposes are quite as compelling in light of this history.” * Journal of Military History *“Though the details can be overwhelming, Edling explains such arcane matters of debt funding strategies with amazing clarity. His basic story is actually straightforward: Hamilton’s system called for the federal government to rely on tariff revenues in peacetime and loans in wartime and then to pay debts down quickly to preserve the nation’s borrowing capacity for future wars. The system had flaws, particularly the vulnerability of tariff revenue to the goodwill of the European naval powers, but Edling is more struck by an irony: that its putative opponents deployed it most aggressively.” * The Historian *Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: War, Money, and American History 1. A More Effectual Mode of Administration: The Constitution and the Origins of American Public Finance 2. The Soul of Government: Creating an American Fiscal Regime 3. So Immense a Power in the Affairs of War: The Restoration of Public Credit 4. Equal to the Severest Trials: Mr. Madison’s War 5. The Two Most Powerful Republics in the World: Mr. Polk’s War 6. A Rank among the Very First of Military Powers: Mr. Lincoln’s War Conclusion: The Ideology, Structure, and Significance of the First American Fiscal Regime Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA landmark illustrated history of rural church monuments - the forgotten national treasures of England and WalesDeep in the countryside, away from metropolitan abbeys and cathedrals, thousands of funerary monuments are hidden in parish churches. These artworks - medieval brasses and elegant marble effigies, stone tomb chests and grand mausoleums - are of great historical and cultural significance, but have, due to their relative inaccessibility, faded from accounts of our art history.Over twenty-five years, C. B. Newham FSA has visited and photographed more than eight thousand rural churches, cataloguing the monumental sculptures encountered on his quest. In Country Church Monuments, he presents 365 of the very best, each accompanied by detailed photographs, biographies of both the deceased and their sculptors and a wealth of contextual material. Many of these works commemorate famous historical figures, from scheming Tudor courtier Richard Rich to VictTrade ReviewA magnificent book - a tremendous achievement, a thing of beauty and a volume that should have a place on every church lover's shelves -- Nigel Andrew * Literary Review *Astonishing and beautifully photographed... The 365 examples chosen for full-page illustration and commentary here are the clotted cream of the milk of human mortality. Newham has visited 9,000 country churches in the past few years for his stupendous project of photographing every rural church in England. His travels with a camera make Cobbett's Rural Rides seem like a bank-holiday jaunt... Newham's pictures are a revelation -- Christopher Howse * Telegraph *This is a true labour of love and one of the most wonderful books I have ever seen -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *A tour de force... Erudite... Church monuments may at first appear niche, but the subject matter deserves an audience beyond church crawlers or taphophiles. Funeral art provides a powerful insight into the culture and beliefs that they sprang from... Country Church Monuments is a treasure trove of sites just waiting to be discovered. -- Emma J Wells * The Times *Brilliant -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *A life-affirming survey -- Rose Washbourn * House and Garden *An excellent book... Its outstanding quality, however, is its photographs. Only someone who has craned theirneck in semi-darkness to discern the contours of an effigy lying at eye level can appreciate, even if they cannot explain, the expertise of Cameron Newham's technique. In many cases perfect images are provided of recumbent figures taken from directly overhead, often defying the actual space above them.... A wonderful selection, warmly recommended -- Timothy Connor * The Tablet *The wonderful result of 25 years of meticulously chronicling over 8,000 rural English and Welsh churches - and the effigies, marbles, monuments and brasses inside them. Newham has picked out 365 of the best monuments he has found - a feast of the celebrated and the obscure and an enthralling map of our aesthetic and social history -- Lucy Lethbridge * The Oldie *What fortunate isles are these, to boast thousands of local sculpture galleries scattered through towns and villages, nearly all accessible for free: churches that host funeral monuments and memorials spanning more than a millennium. Newham's book is an incomparable means of sampling the very best across England and Wales - a personalised visit for every day of the year, in superb photography and informed commentary * Diarmaid MacCulloch *This beautifully produced gazetteer invites us to look inside our extraordinary wealth of parish churches and see afresh the impressive, the touching, the beautiful and the downright sinister in their monuments, from the fourteenth-century obsession with mortality and the cadaver or the flourishes of baroque new men to the vainglorious fanfares or sentimental doggerel of the nineteenth century. Knights lying with their faithful dogs or wives, busts coolly neoclassical or lavishly periwigged are all accommodated in miniature showhouses in the architectural style of their period. A happy bedfellow for Nicholas Pevsner -- Matthew RiceAn enthralling testament to our ceaseless human striving for eternity -- Editor's Choice * Bookseller *Antiquarian CB Newham's book might seem more melancholy than merry. But it is a life-affirming survey of Britons through the ages * House and Garden *

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Book Synopsis''For sheer readability he has no peer'' Evening StandardParis in the 1960''s caters for every taste, and nowhere more than at the private ''clinic'' run by the enigmatic Monsieur Datt on Avenue Foch, which supplies psychedelic drugs and sexual favours to the city''s elite - all the while secretly filming guests in order to blackmail them. Into this decadent underworld steps a bespectacled British spy. Sent on what seems like a simple mission, he soon finds himself playing a game where the rules are unknown - and even victory could be fatal.''Take this excellent thriller at a single gulp'' Sunday TimesA PATRICK ARMSTRONG NOVELTrade ReviewA first-rate storyteller who rarely if ever strikes a false note. * Daily Mail *Take this excellent thriller at a single gulp. * Sunday Times *For sheer readability he has no peer. * Evening Standard *Len Deighton is the Flaubert of the contemporary thriller writers. -- Michael Howard * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis''This vital history shatters many myths about the Nazi genocide . . . . surprising . . . provocative . . . fizzes with ideas. Even if you think you know the subject, you''ll probably find something here to make you think'' Sunday Times''Erudite...remarkable'' The Observer''Outstanding'' The TelegraphAn authoritative, revelatory new history of the Holocaust, from one of the leading scholars of his generationThe Holocaust is much-discussed, much-memorialized and much-portrayed. But there are major aspects of its history that have been overlooked.Spanning the entirety of the Holocaust and across the world, this sweeping history deepens our understanding. Dan Stone reveals how the idea of ''industrial murder'' is incomplete: many were killed where they lived in the most brutal of ways. He outlines the depth of collaboration across Europe, arguing persuasively that we need to stop thinking of the Holocaust as an exclusively German project. He also considers the nature of trauma the Holocaust engendered, and why Jewish suffering has yet to be fully reckoned with. And he makes clear that the kernel to understanding Nazi thinking and action is genocidal ideology, providing a deep analysis of its origins.Drawing on decades of research, The Holocaust: An Unfinished History upends much of what we think we know about the Holocaust. Stone draws on Nazi documents, but also on diaries, post-war testimonies and even fiction, urging that, in our age of increasing nationalism and xenophobia, we must understand the true history of the Holocaust.Trade ReviewThis vital history shatters many myths about the Nazi's genocide . . . Drawing on the latest scholarship in English and German, Stone's brisk, energetic book fizzes with ideas. Indeed, even if you think you know the subject, you'll probably find something here to make you think . . . surprising . . . provocative . . . an excellent book -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Relays many carefully chosen and deeply haunting stories... an engaging and accessible read that never hurries or shields the reader from its dark subject matter... outstanding -- Angus Reilly * Telegraph *A timely corrective to a shifting narrative ... erudite ... this remarkable book offers both a narrative overview and an analysis of the events, challenging many common assumptions and often returning to how this terrible history remains "unfinished"... a brisk, compelling and scholarly account of the Nazi genocide and its aftermath. But never for one moment does it let us believe that the events are now safely in the past -- Matthew Reisz * Observer *Deep insights into horror... drawing on his extensive own research and a vast range of work by historians from across the last eight decades, Stone sets about showing how our mental picture of the Holocaust is dangerously wrong.... his own passion for his subject and its importance is compelling, as is his willingness to confront both moral and historical questions... the breadth of Stone's work across borders and languages shines through... a vital and provocative book -- Chris Kissane * The Irish Times *A holocaust history for our times, passionate as well as scholarly, and written with a sharp eye to the growing threat of the radical right in the present. Stone is not afraid to question the verities that have become attached to this most catastrophic epoch of modern history, and he challenges readers to confront its scope and enormity anew -- Jane Caplan, Emeritus Professor of European History, University of OxfordA brilliant study, lucid, powerful, moving, and full of original insights. Few general studies of the Holocaust have so successfully integrated the international, indeed global, dimensions of the Nazi genocide and its aftermath -- Mark RosemanA candid, historically rooted, and timely account of the Holocaust and its many consequences . . . troubling and thought-provoking for a world in which post-war certainties are now dissolving. It deserves the widest possible readership -- Richard OveryA stunning, original, concise analysis, culling the latest research and the most observant eyewitness accounts of the time. The parallels to fascism today are extremely unsettling. Stone analyzes the latest research on the thousands of persecution sites that turned Europe into a continent of camps; he explains the mystical power of Nazi racial antisemitism and he grants the aftermath history of displacement, trauma and reckonings the fuller treatment it merits. Few scholars could write this masterful synthesis and even fewer would take on a closer examination of its darkest features and unsettling questions about the broader significance of Holocaust education today -- Wendy LowerIlluminating ... Dan Stone demonstrates the important role played by locals ... He writes with authority and an eye for the human story not always evident in Holocaust historiography * Economist *One of the best new publications presenting more complicated narratives of the Holocaust ... Dan Stone's The Holocaust: An Unfinished History, is an outstanding survey that updates the history of the European genocide of the Jews in a thought-provoking and informative way ... powerful -- Jeffrey Veidlinger * Times Literary Supplement *Significant… A painfully revealing, vital history * Kirkus Reviews *Thought-provoking, a present-day reckoning ... an important and challenging work -- Colin Shindler * Jewish Chronicle *The Holocaust is very much open to further research and Dan Stone is well placed to provide an informed overview, having spent decades immersed in this subject. He is extremely well read, and ... is no dry academic: he is determined to ensure that the brutality of the violence and the suffering of the victims are conveyed vividly, with emotive quotations ... a powerful survey -- Mary Fulbrook * Literary Review *Suprising… timely… a concise and accessible history that extends beyond the death camps * The New York Times *A book that turns on their head some of the widely-held notions about that terrible era of genocide 80 years ago -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail *Excellent and engrossing ... this is a history with empathy, insight and depth at its core, all backed up by brave analysis ... This is a vital and provocative book, impressively covering a seismic event in little more than 300 pages, making it accessible to the general reader as well as those in academia -- NJ McGarrigle * Irish Independent *An incisive analysis of the genocidal endgame that unfolded from Nazi antisemitism in the early 20th century * Wall Street Journal *A deeply felt and awesomely learned book -- Christopher Bray * Tablet *Stone's new book is as up-to-date an overview as you are likely to find ... he presents a strong argument that the Holocaust should be understood as the result of ideological beliefs [and] ... illuminates with great sympathy and insight a history of continuing suffering and prejudice ... This is an outstanding book: well written, deeply felt, always perceptive and exhibiting considerable knowledge of decades of Holocaust scholarship. It will become the standard work in English on the subject for some time to come -- Bill Niven * History Today *Stone's deeply humane account draws on an array of testimonies from some of the most observant and perceptive victims, and he uses these to devastating effect ... a well-written history of the Holocaust and its aftermath, with accomplished use of eyewitness accounts ... Dan Stone remains an important and eloquent voice in the field of Holocaust studies -- Alex J Kay * Prospect *A timely study of the holocaust that indicates the dangers of selectively misremembering it ... vital ... offers a detailed examination of the many roots of Nazism -- Gordon Parson * Morning Star *Instead of presenting Holocaust history as a tidy affair wrapped in a bow with neat moral messages, Stone proposes that we examine its unfinishedness, its unknowability, and its very incompleteness… confronts uncomfortable truths * New Republic *

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Book SynopsisAll-powerful, brilliant, decisive, ruthlessly effective ... this is the image of the CIA as portrayed in countless films and novels. It is wrong.This shocking book, based on thousands of declassified documents and interviews with agents at all levels, shows the reality behind the glamorous myth: a blundering, chaotic and dangerously incompetent organization, so ineffective it was nicknamed ''Can''t Identify Anything'' by Nato forces. In a story of botched coups, missed targets, lost operatives and fatal errors, Tim Weiner shows how the CIA now poses a threat not only to the security of the US, but the world.Trade ReviewThis extraordinary story reads like tragedy and thriller. Impeccably sourced, utterly absorbing, dazzling and very, very dark * Time Out *This racy history reveals the CIA as a secret service to make Smiley weep and Bond howl in horror * Daily Telegraph *Combines thrilling storytelling with terrifying revelations -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Weiner's riveting history of the CIA contains dozens of jaw-dropping incidents ... astonishing * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *Timely, immensely readable, and highly critical -- Mark Bowden, author of 'Black Hawk Down'Marvellous ... that every quote is also on the record is a testament to his skill -- Steve Coll, author of 'Ghost Wars'Winner of the National Book Award * Prizes and awards *

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