Global History

The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster by New York Times-bestselling author Adam Higginbotham, based on fascinating new archival research and in-depth reporting—a riveting history that reads like a thriller. On the morning of 28 January 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven...

Bernard Brown lived through WWII in Suffolk, England, where he was strafed by bullets from a German Dornier aeroplane; dived to fetch sculpturing clay for a young Lucian Freud; went to school with the notorious gangsters, the Kray brothers; and had a close encounter with the Jimmy Savile of the era, 'Uncle Mac' at the BBC. As a young man,...

The newest best-seller by Patrick Modiano is a beautiful tapestry that brings together memory, esoteric encounters, and fragmented sensations Patrick Modiano’s first novel since his 2014 Nobel Prize revisits moments of the author’s past to produce a spare yet moving reflection on the destructive underside of love, the dreams and follies of youth, the vagaries of memory, and the melancholy...

A dissident's deeply personal and unflinching view of Soviet oppression in Czechoslovakia in the wake of the 1968 invasion. Seven Days to the Funeral is the fictionalised memoir of Ján Rozner, a leading Slovak journalist, critic, dramaturg, and translator. Rozner and his wife, Zora Jesenská, were champions of the Prague Spring and were blacklisted after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia...

Thailand is known for its picturesque beaches and famous temples, but there's much more to this popular holiday destination than many realise. A Brief History of Thailand offers an engaging look at the country's last 250 years—from coups and violent massacres to the invention of Pad Thai in the 1930s. Readers will learn the vibrant story of Thailand's emergence as...

In these four artfully crafted essays, Patrick Geary explores the way ancient and medieval authors wrote about women. Geary describes the often marginal role women played in origin legends from antiquity until the twelfth century. Not confining himself to one religious tradition or region, he probes the tensions between women in biblical, classical, and medieval myths (such as Eve, Mary,...

Paul has provided a vital piece to our understanding of modern liberalism's origins. -Ronald J. Pestritto, Author of America Transformed: The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism Today's political and cultural divisions leave many wondering how America could have arrived at its present state. Winning the Second Civil War traces the source to an unlikely historical accident. The founding principles...

Victor Davis Hanson proposes that the military superiority and global dominance of Why the West has Won has been intimately linked to its faith in democracy and personal liberty. Rather than measuring the worth of the West through its cultural or literary accomplishments, Hanson engages with the much starker record of its successes in combat against non-Western armies. In place...

Between 1492 and 1914, Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe. But why did Europe establish global dominance, when for centuries the Chinese, Japanese, Ottomans, and South Asians were far more advanced? In Why Did Europe Conquer the World?, Philip Hoffman demonstrates that conventional explanations—such as geography, epidemic disease, and the Industrial Revolution—fail to provide answers. Arguing instead for the...

This groundbreaking new collection addresses the burning issue of how we interpret history today. What stories are told, and by whom, who should be celebrated, and what rewritten, are questions that have been asked recently not just within the history world, but by all of us. Featuring a diverse mix of writers, both bestselling names and emerging voices, this is...

What are the origins of the hostile environment against immigrants in the UK? Patel retells Britain's recent history in an often shocking account of state racism that still resonates today. In a series of post-war immigration laws from 1948 to 1971, arrivals from the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa to Britain went from being citizens to being renamed immigrants. In the...

'Andrew North has a deep empathy and understanding for Afghanistan and has seen sides of it - both good and horrifying - that very few international observers have encountered' - Rory Stewart In early 2022, veteran journalist Andrew North was kidnapped by the Taliban. By the time he found himself imprisoned in a jail cell, he had been reporting from...

For thousands of years, humans have built walls and assaulted them, admired walls and reviled them. Great walls have appeared on nearly every continent, accompanying the rise of cities, nations, and empires. In Walls, David Frye uncovers a story that is more than just bricks and stone: he reveals the startling link between what we build and how we live,...

The first comprehensive political history of the communist party, Vanguard of the Revolution is a sweeping history of one of the most significant political institutions of the modern world. The communist party was a revolutionary idea long before its supporters came to power. A. James McAdams argues that the rise and fall of communism can be understood only by taking...

Australian governments find it easy to go to war. Their leaders seem to be able to withdraw with a calm conscience, answerable neither to God nor humanity. Australia lost 600 men in the Boer War, a three-year conflict fought in the heart of Africa that had ostensibly nothing to do with Australia. Coinciding with Federation, the war kickstarted Australia's commitment...

A spirited examination of world history, told through 50 key documents, by two celebrated historians and journalists. With a wealth of experience between them on political, social, cultural and military history, and today's current affairs, Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan are the perfect guides to appreciating the significance of each document. Chapters are devoted to each of the 50 documents...

Travellers of the World Revolution by Brigitte Studer offers a new and fascinating account of the Communist International, the first organised attempt to bring about worldwide revolution, which left a lasting mark on 20th-century history. This transnational organisation was founded in 1919 by Lenin and Trotsky and was dissolved by Stalin in 1943. The story is told through the eyes...

Transnational Coupling in the Age of Nation Making during the 19th and 20th Centuries examines and compares courtship and marriage patterns that occurred between France and the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Departing from state-centred studies of marriage law, it draws on the methodologies of transnational history, cultural history, and the history of emotion to show that...

NEW EDITION - FEATURING UPDATED INTRODUCTION AND NEW CHAPTERS The giant characters of history—from Mozart to Michelangelo, Shakespeare to Einstein, Henry VIII to Hitler, Catherine the Great to Margaret Thatcher, Jesus Christ to Genghis Khan—lived lives of astonishing drama and adventure, debauchery and slaughter. They not only shaped our world but will continue to influence our future. In this eclectic...

In the bestselling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization,...

In the bestselling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization,...

This volume surveys the wide range of cultural and intellectual changes in western Europe in the period c.1050-c.1250. It first establishes the broader context for the changes and introduces the debate on the validity of the renaissance label for the period. Later chapters range widely over the major themes in educational structures; attitudes towards the classics and the past; changes...

We may think of globalism as a recent development, but its origins date back to centuries ago and beyond, when courageous seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade, and profits. Improvements in ship design, compasses, and mapping enabled navigation across unprecedented distances. The embarkation points were the vibrant ports of the West—Venice, Amsterdam, Lisbon—and their...

The Spectre of War looks at a subject we thought we knew—the roots of the Second World War—and upends our assumptions with a masterful new interpretation. Looking beyond traditional explanations based on diplomatic failures or military might, Jonathan Haslam explores the neglected thread connecting them all: the fear of Communism prevalent across continents during the interwar period. Marshalling an array...

The Spectre of War examines a subject we thought we knew—the roots of the Second World War—and challenges our assumptions with a masterful new interpretation. Beyond traditional explanations based on diplomatic failures or military might, Jonathan Haslam explores the neglected thread connecting them all: the fear of Communism prevalent across continents during the interwar period. Marshalling an array of archival...

The Riviera Set is the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Chateau de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of forty years. This tale begins from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the...

How an event once considered the greatest of all political dangers came to be seen as a solution to all social problems Political thinkers from Plato to John Adams saw revolutions as a grave threat to society and advocated for a constitution that prevented them by balancing social interests and forms of government. The Revolution to Come traces how evolving...

Few thinkers have been declared irrelevant and out of date with such frequency as Karl Marx. Hardly a decade since his death has gone by in which establishment critics have not announced the death of his theory. Whole forests have been felled to produce the paper necessary to fuel this effort to marginalise the coauthor of The Communist Manifesto. And...

Make room Herodotus, stand down Bede, pipe down Pepys – there’s a new history book in town. From the chart-topping podcast The Rest is History, a whistle-stop tour through the past – from Alexander the Great to Tolkien, the Wars of the Roses to Watergate. The nation’s favourite historians, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, take on the most curious moments...

In The Darker Nations, Vijay Prashad provided an intellectual history of the Third World and traced the rise and fall of the Non-Aligned Movement. With The Poorer Nations, Prashad takes up the story where he left off. Since the '70s, the countries of the Global South have struggled to build political movements. Prashad analyzes the failures of neoliberalism, as well...

The Plot to Change America exposes the myths that help identity politics perpetuate itself. This book will reveal what really has happened, explain why it is urgent to change course, and offer a strategy to do so. Though we should not fool ourselves into thinking it will be easy to eliminate identity politics, we should not overthink it, either. Identity...

The Petrograd Workers in the Russian Revolution is a study of the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and the first months of Soviet power as viewed and experienced 'from below', by the industrial workers of Petrograd, Russia's capital and the centre of its revolutionary movement. Based largely on contemporary scores, it lets the workers speak for themselves, showing them as conscious...

Established in June 1940, the Long Range Desert Group was the inspiration of scientist and soldier Major Ralph Bagnold, a contemporary of T.E Lawrence who, in the inter-war years, explored the North African desert in a Model T Ford automobile. Mortimer takes us from the founding of the LRDG, through their treacherous journey across the Egyptian Sand Sea and beyond,...

The Memory of Catastrophe offers a nuanced and progressive model for future scholarship in the field. It should be of value to all with an interest in the subject of memory and its relationship with the cataclysms of the past.

Lucid, informed and persuasive Evening Standard Thought-provoking Daily Mail An extraordinary book Nicholas Evans, author of The Horse Whisperer The history of humanity’s relationship with other species is baffling. Without animals, there would be no us. We are all fellow travellers on the same evolutionary journey. By charting the love–hate story of people and animals, from their first acquaintance in...

Sharply intelligent, often personal reflections on the global crises of 2020 that are still ongoing. By all accounts, 2020 was the longest year in recent memory, as people in the United States and across the globe careened from one unfolding catastrophe to another. The consequences of this devastating year are sure to impact the planet for decades, if not centuries,...

This book is a biographical study of the geographer, explorer, and banker Francis Rodd, the second Lord Rennell of Rodd (1895-1978). Rodd's life is intriguing for the way it connected the worlds of geography, international finance, politics, espionage, and wartime military administration. He was renowned in the 1920s for his expeditions to the Sahara and his study of the Tuareg,...

This book examines key cases of terrorist violence to show that the invention of terrorism was linked to the birth of modernity in Europe, Russia, and the United States, rather than to Tsarist despotism in 19th century Russia or to Islamic sects in Medieval Persia. Combining a highly readable historical narrative with analysis of larger issues in social and political...

For almost five million years, humans have been locked in a relationship with morality, inventing and reinventing the concepts of Good and Evil, and weaving them into our cities, laws, and customs. Morality is a concept that can feel joyless and claustrophobic, associated with restraint and coercion, restriction and sacrifice, inquisition, confession, and a guilty conscience. For many, it is...

During the past four decades, the international lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights movement has made significant advances, but millions of LGBT people continue to live in fear in nations where homosexuality remains illegal. The International LGBT Rights Movement offers a comprehensive account of this global force, from its origins in the mid-nineteenth century to its crucial place in world...

This stunning whistleblower account reveals how the Deep State weaponises federal powers against its political enemies and explores the disastrous reality of the Obama Doctrine, which seeks to create a global balance of power by weakening American preeminence and strengthening America's foreign adversaries. During his eight-year reign, Barack Obama transformed the U.S. national security, intelligence, and law enforcement bureaucracies as...

Superbly explained Washington Post Fascinating Sunday Times Engrossing Evening Standard Every phase since the advent of the industrial revolution— from the fate of the British Empire, to the global challenges from Germany, Japan and Russia, to America's emergence as a sole superpower, to the Arab Spring, to the long-term decline of economic growth that started with Japan and has now...

In his iconoclastic and controversial study, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an interrogation of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in global culture to a disturbing examination of Holocaust compensation settlements. It was not until the Arab–Israeli War of 1967, when Israel’s evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began...

In a narrative beginning almost 1.5 million years ago with the emergence of Homo erectus, Frank Welsh takes the reader from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the age of terrorism. Using his masterly storytelling skills, he recounts the epic story of human growth, survival and achievement across all continents and ages. Providing insight into...

Have you ever wondered what Stalin did before he became leader of the Soviet Union? Did you know Socrates, Alcibiades and Aristophanes once got together to talk about love? Why did Sergeant Stubby become famous? What's the difference between a dolmen and a barrow? Which king invaded Yorkshire in 1471? Was Napoleon really small? Did Edison invent the light bulb?...

The centuries between 800 and 300 BC saw an explosion of new religious concepts. Their emergence is second only to man's harnessing of fire in fundamentally transforming our understanding of what it is to be human. But why did Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jeremiah, Lao Tzu and others all emerge in this five-hundred-year span? And why do they have such similar...

How only violence and catastrophes have consistently reduced inequality throughout world history. Are mass violence and catastrophes the only forces that can seriously decrease economic inequality? To judge by thousands of years of history, the answer is yes. Tracing the global history of inequality from the Stone Age to today, Walter Scheidel shows that inequality never dies peacefully. Inequality declines...

Few centuries in world history have had such a profound and long-lasting impact as the first hundred years of Islamic history. In this book, David Nicolle examines the extensive Islamic conquests between AD 632 and 750. These years saw the religion and culture of Islam erupt from the Arabian Peninsula and spread across an area far larger than that of...

An unforgettable journey into the forgotten history of medieval Africa From the birth of Islam in the seventh century to the voyages of European exploration in the fifteenth, Africa was at the centre of a vibrant exchange of goods and ideas. It was an African golden age in which Ghana, Nubia, and Zimbabwe became the crossroads of civilisations, and where...

The Globe tells the story of humanity's quest to discover the form of the world. Philosophers in ancient Greece deduced the true shape of the Earth in the fourth century BCE; the Romans passed the knowledge to India, and from there it spread to Baghdad and Central Asia. In early medieval Europe, Christians debated the matter, but long before the...

Empires, until recently, were everywhere. They shaped borders, stirred conflicts, and set the terms of international politics. With the collapse of empire came a fundamental reorganisation of our world. Decolonisation unfolded across territories as well as within them. Its struggles became internationalised and transnational, as much global campaigns of moral disarmament against colonial injustice as local contests of arms. In...

One of BBC History Magazine's Best Books of 2020 Historical accounts of democracy's rise tend to focus on ancient Greece and pre-Renaissance Europe. The Decline and Rise of Democracy draws from global evidence to show that the story is much richer—democratic practices were present in many places, at many other times, from the Americas before European conquest, to ancient Mesopotamia,...

One of BBC History Magazine's Best Books of 2020 Historical accounts of democracy's rise tend to focus on ancient Greece and pre-Renaissance Europe. The Decline and Rise of Democracy draws from global evidence to show that the story is much richer—democratic practices were present in many places, at many other times, from the Americas before European conquest, to ancient Mesopotamia,...

In The Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that modern history has witnessed a dramatic decline in human violence of every kind, and that in the present we are experiencing the most peaceful time in human history. But what do top historians think about Pinker’s reading of the past? Does his argument stand up to historical...

A history of modern European cultural pluralism, its current crisis, and its uncertain future. In 2010, the leaders of Germany, Britain, and France each declared that multiculturalism had failed in their countries. Over the past decade, a growing consensus in Europe has voiced similar decrees. But what do these ominous proclamations, from across the political spectrum, mean? Looking at the...

A powerful case for democracy and how it can adapt and survive - if we want it to. Is democracy in trouble, perhaps even dying? Pundits say so, and polls show that most Americans believe that their country's system of governance is being 'tested' or is 'under attack'. But is the future of democracy necessarily so dire? In The Civic...

Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. The Cathars believed themselves to be heirs to the true Christian heritage, completely rejecting the Catholic Church and all of its trappings, and holding their services in fields, barns and people's homes. Alarmed at the movement's spread, the Catholic Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade – the...

Vast and brilliant white, P&O's flagship the SS Canberra was a final salute to a bygone era of opulence even as she embarked on her maiden voyage. For a decade she carried passengers between Britain and Australia, a 90-day voyage of pampering and decadence. But in March 1982, Britain went to war to defend the Falkland Islands and the SS...

Solve intriguing and challenging puzzles based on the world-renowned British Museum collection. The Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Assyrian reliefs, the Lewis Chessmen: many mysteries of the past are found within the walls of the British Museum, home to some of the most magnificent treasures in the world. Now you can learn more about its famous artefacts as you work your...

The Battle For Singapore recounts the true story of 'the greatest defeat and largest capitulation' in British military history. The Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 is a military disaster of enduring fascination. For the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the island, Peter Thompson tells the explosive story of the Malayan campaign, the siege of Singapore, the ignominious...

Foreword by Sir Nick Carter, Former UK Chief of Defence Staff How have the character and technology of war changed in recent times? Why does battlefield victory often fail to result in a sustainable peace? What is the best way to prevent, fight and resolve future conflict? The world is becoming a more dangerous place. Since the fall of Kabul...

Amazons—fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world—were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valour in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians revelled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons. But just...

A sweeping history of how Union victory in the American Civil War inspired democratic reforms, revolutions, and emancipation movements in Europe and the Americas The Age of Reconstruction looks beyond post-Civil War America to tell the story of how Union victory and Lincoln's assassination set off a dramatic international reaction that drove European empires out of the Americas, hastened the...

A panoramic global history of Africa in the age of imperialism Africa's long nineteenth century was a time of revolutionary ferment and cultural innovation for the continent's states, societies, and economies. Yet the period preceding what became known as the Scramble for Africa by European powers in the decades leading up to World War I has long been neglected in...

Ten Days That Shook the World is an undisputed classic of political reportage. A stunning first-hand account overflowing with urgency and immediacy, Reed's masterpiece lives and breathes the streets, meeting halls, posters, and pamphlets of the revolution he witnessed. Like no other work, it places the reader shoulder to shoulder with the people's militias, factory committees, propagandists, and crowds which...

With its cool judgements and blackly comic sense of irony, Hall's book is a rare pleasure to read. – Dominic Sandbrook, Literary Review Simon Hall has captured this catalytic moment like no one before. Anyone interested in the "Global Sixties" must read Ten Days in Harlem. – Van E. Gosse, Professor and Associate Chair of History, Program Chair of Africana...

As I set out from the city's southern end, the sandstone walls beneath the Central railway line still held the day's heat ... The moon rose from the invisible harbour into a sky of such a deep royal blue it was almost hard to believe in. The street smelled of low tide. For all its beauty, the city could return...

Throughout history, we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of our place in the universe. Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific, and philosophical journey to explore what he believes are the answers to the biggest questions. He examines what we know about the universe into which we are propelled at birth and from which we...

What if a book, based on science fact, showed that Atlantis was a real place, a lush island that once existed in the Atlantic? A book that provides overwhelming evidence that Atlantis once likely existed. That would be a game-changer. Solving the Atlantis Mystery is that book! This game-changing book demonstrates how Atlantis was once a real island in the...

A look at the duty of nations to protect human rights beyond borders, why it has failed in practice, and what can be done about it. The idea that states share a responsibility to shield people everywhere from atrocities is presently under threat. Despite some early twenty-first century successes, including the 2005 United Nations endorsement of the Responsibility to Protect,...

An original study of empire creation and its consequences, from ancient through early modern times. The world's first great empires established by the ancient Persians, Chinese, and Romans are well known, but not the empires that emerged on their margins in response to them over the course of 2,500 years. These counterempires or shadow empires, which changed the course of...

Seven Myths of the Russian Revolution is a fascinating volume that significantly contributes to our understanding of the Russian Revolution, from World War I to the consolidation of the Bolshevik regime. This book addresses seven myths, including the exaggerated influence of Rasputin, a supposed conspiracy behind the February Revolution, the treasonous Bolshevik dependence on German support, the numerous Anastasia pretenders...

Over the centuries of their existence, the Scottish regiments of the British Army have gained a reputation in war that is the envy of all and which can be matched, or surpassed, by very few. The very description 'Scottish soldier' conjures up images ranging from the 'thin red streak tipped with a line of steel' of the 93rd Highlanders at...

This is the first book wholly devoted to assessing the array of links between Scotland and the Caribbean in the later eighteenth century. It uses a wide range of archival sources to paint a detailed picture of the lives of thousands of Scots who sought fortunes and opportunities, as Burns wrote, 'across th' Atlantic roar'. It outlines the range of...

Royals on Tour explores visits by European monarchs and princes to colonies, and by indigenous royals to Europe in the 1800s and early 1900s. It includes case studies of travel by royals from Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, the Dutch East Indies, and French Indochina. Such tours projected imperial dominion and asserted the status of non-European...

A compact volume about the famous battle that sums up some of the best traditions of the British self-image: steadfastness against the odds, victory in adversity, and the thin red line. The British stand deserves to go down in history as one of the most heroic actions of all time. The story of a mere 150 British and Imperial soldiers...

A Times Best Art Book of the Year, 2024 'A riot of a book' – Country Life's Books of the Year, 2024 The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958, Sotheby’s of Bond Street staged an ‘event sale’ of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes,...

Revolutions - peaceful or violent, radical or reactionary - have shaped the political landscape of the world we live in today. But what led revolutionaries to action? What were they fighting against, and what were they seeking to achieve? Each revolution is a product of its time, its society, its people - and the outcomes vary dramatically, from liberal reform...

An enthralling narrative of the rise and fall of Britain's republican experiment.DOMINIC SANDBROOK, The Times 'Best History Books of 2024' A gripping tale of political and cultural crisis but also one of joy and hopeful innovation, told with eloquence and passion.MALCOLM GASKILL Magisterial, compelling and eye-opening.SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB Events moved with giddying speed in the 1650s. After the execution of Charles...

Are we about to see history repeat? 'Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?' - Siegfried Sassoon We live in an age that seems eerily familiar. A time of dictators, populists, organised lying, European wars, grabs for territory, ideological extremism and even antisemitism, a time when things are falling apart and the centre is...