Global History

Annemarie Schwarzenbach was one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable women, possibly the greatest sexual and political radical of the 1930s. But until now she’s been largely ignored. Born to a wealthy family in Switzerland, as a teenager she rebelled against her domineering pro-Nazi mother. She immersed herself in the antifascist, queer, and artistic circles of the German diaspora of...

Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. By tracing paper’s evolution from antiquity to the...

DISCOVER ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ACCOUNTS OF SLAVERY IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA One of history’s greatest crimes, the American slave trade led to the suffering of untold numbers of men and women. But how can we better understand the lives and experiences of those who endured it? Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a harrowing first-hand look...

A global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years Military Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this ground-breaking account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation, and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact...

We take the edible trappings of flirtation for granted: chocolate covered strawberries and romance, oysters on the half shell and desire, the eggplant emoji and a suggestive wink. But why does it feel so natural for us to link food and sexual pleasure? Rachel Hope Cleves explores the long association between indulging in good food and an appetite for naughty...

Since the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October and the subsequent bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been thrust back to the centre of the world’s attention. How can this deep-rooted conflict, stretching back for more than 75 years, be brought to an end? What kind of political structure might one day enable Israelis and...

Hoof Beats helps readers see the drama even in the grass eating. Taylor has written that too-rare work that is as authoritative as it is legible to the lay audience. —New York Times Journey to the ancient past with cutting-edge science and new data to discover how horses forever altered the course of human history. From the Rockies to the...

Hitler's Monsters is the definitive history of the supernatural in Nazi Germany—the occult ideas, esoteric sciences, and pagan religions touted by the Third Reich in the service of power. “[Kurlander] shows how swiftly irrational ideas can take hold, even in an age before social media.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post “A careful, clear-headed, and exhaustive examination of a subject so lurid...

An analysis of U.S. Special Operations, at the centre of America's twenty-first-century wars Grey Wars is for anyone who wants to understand today's fights. Collins has done a great service by providing a well-sourced, clear, and insightful look into the missions and activities of U.S. special operators. Highly recommend."—Mike Thornton, USN Seal (ret.), Congressional Medal of Honour recipient, and co-author...

With Germany in the World, award-winning historian David Blackbourn radically revises conventional narratives of German history, demonstrating the existence of a distinctly German presence in the world centuries before its unification—and revealing a national identity far more complicated than previously imagined. Blackbourn traces Germany's evolution from the loosely bound Holy Roman Empire of 1500 to a sprawling colonial power to...

The distant past is commonly characterised in terms of dominant materials of the time – the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, etc. Since the dawn of writing, however, characterising eras in terms of materials has fallen by the wayside, and yet materials have continued to exert a powerful influence on our collective imagination. Viewed from this perspective,...

Unfurling a tapestry of surprising and historically overlooked figures spanning forty centuries and six continents, historian Matthew Lockwood narrates lives filled with imagination and wonder, curiosity, connection, and exchange. Familiar icons of exploration like Pocahontas, Columbus, Sacagawea, and Captain Cook find new company in the untold stories of people usually denied the title "explorers," including immigrants, indigenous interpreters, local guides,...

Learn to craft the perfect historical research paper with this approachable and practical guide. Essaying the Past: How to Read, Write, and Think about History, 4th Edition continues the tradition of excellence established by the previous editions. Equal parts research manual, study guide, and introduction to the study of history, this book teaches readers how to write excellent historical prose...

A "highly readable and compelling" account (Science) of brainwashing’s pervasive role in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries “Riveting. . . . Dimsdale . . . shows how the art of dark persuasion a generation ago led almost inevitably to today’s misinformation, cyberbullying and cultlike behavior on the Internet.”—Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post This gripping book traces the evolution of brainwashing from...

In this updated edition of his acclaimed history, Marcus Tanner takes us from the first Croat principalities of the Early Middle Ages through to the country’s independence in the modern era. “Full of absorbing stories and important insights, Croatia deserves to be read.”—Aleska Djilas, New York Times Book Review “A lucid, expert account of Croatia’s past at the bloody crossroads...

A major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union—showing how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise “A deeply informed account of how the Soviet Union fell apart.”—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times “[A] masterly analysis.”—Joshua Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal In 1945, the Soviet Union controlled half of Europe and was a founding member of the United Nations. By 1991, it...

Today, the majority of the peoples of the planet live in nation-states, based upon the idea, if never the reality, of a single people, a single culture, a single rule of law and a single source of sovereign authority. But will they continue to do so in the future? None of the major challenges that confront humanity today – from...

A unique illustrated exploration of the development of finance that combines data from every part of the world and covers five thousand years of history. "The book is a lot of fun. Data-fixated readers will enjoy unpicking its main content: a series of elegantly produced maps, graphs and other visualisations. These are eclectic in scope and ambitious in intent."—Jonathan Guthrie,...

An engaging, accessible introduction to war, from ancient times to the present and into the future “Forty short chapters . . . describe war from the ancient world to the present day. . . . A Short History of War offers an expansive and often evocative account of great causes that are never lost or won.”—Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal...

SUNDAY TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR "Masterly and brilliant"—Simon Sebag Montefiore "A book of vast scope and stunning insight."—Anthony Sattin, Spectator “Commanding erudition and a swashbuckling style define this history of the Arabs”—Justin Marozzi, Sunday Times This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who...

A celebration of beer—its science, its history, and its impact on human culture “Curatorial eminences Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall serve up a potent scientific brew... A marvellous paean to the pint, and to the researchers probing its depths.” — Barbara Kiser, Nature “Forced to choose between this book and a pint of hazy IPA, I would be at a...

A rich and engaging guide to psychology, the science devoted to understanding human nature Psychology is the science devoted to understanding human nature. Its practitioners have long sought to understand behaviour, feelings, and thoughts. In her fascinating history, Nicky Hayes tells the story of psychology from its origins to the present day. She introduces key thinkers, including Carl Jung, Anna...

A vital guide to poetry from ancient times to the present "[A] fizzing, exhilarating book."—Sebastian Faulks, Sunday Times, London "Delightful.'"—New York Times Book Review Poetry is language made special, so that it will be remembered and valued. It does not always work – over the centuries countless thousands of poems have been forgotten. This Little History is about some that...

A vibrant guide to the world of literature, from dramatic plays to engrossing novels. Literature has inspired every civilisation, from Greek myth to today's graphic novels. John Sutherland, who has researched, taught, and written on the entire glorious span of human literary activity, guides readers on a journey 'through the looking glass' to show how literature from across the world...

A thrilling journey through 100,000 years of art, from the first artworks ever made to art's central role in culture today. "This lively volume is ideal for the precocious high-schooler, the lazy collegian . . . and any adult who wishes for greater mastery of the subject. . . . Mullins leav[es] readers with an expansive, no-regrets appreciation of art...

The thrilling story of archaeological adventure, and astonishing discoveries around the globe Archaeology tells the story of our ancestors: how they lived, what they believed in and how their cultures developed over millennia. Brian Fagan introduces us to pharaohs' tombs, Mayan ruins, the first colonial settlements at Jamestown, mysterious Stonehenge, and Pompeii – the city buried by volcanic ash in...

Explore the entire history of the ancient Egyptian state from 3000 B.C. to 400 A.D. with this authoritative volume. The newly revised Second Edition of A History of Ancient Egypt delivers an up-to-date survey of ancient Egypt's history from its origins to the Roman Empire's banning of hieroglyphics in the fourth century A.D. The book covers developments in all aspects...

In After Eden, prominent Latin American historian John Chasteen presents a concise, down-to-earth, fast-paced narrative of world history, from the Big Bang to the present. The narrative is animated by stories of people from all walks of life and enriched by insightful analysis and the author's extensive world travel. To tackle today's major problems of global inequality and environmental degradation,...

"Like al-Qazwīnī himself, Travis Zadeh has written a deliciously baggy tome, full of delights and diversions in its tour of the cosmic horizons. This is a book to get lost in, whether one wants to or not." - Nile Green, Los Angeles Review of Books "As Zadeh concludes, reformers and modernists have closed the rich and varied archive revealed in...

A dynamic history of life in turn-of-the-century Warsaw through the eyes of a young woman and her Jewish family who converted to Catholicism. When Alicja Lewental's parents came of age in the middle of the nineteenth century, they believed they did not have to choose between two communities, one Polish and the other Jewish. But by the time Alicja was...

A vivid new history of how medieval people around the world perceived the moon When they gazed at the moon, medieval people around the globe saw an object that was at once powerful and fragile, distant and intimate—and sometimes all this at once. The moon could convey love, beauty, and gentleness; but it could also be about pain, hatred, and...

As the territory of Qing China expanded, so evolved the ways in which birds, beasts, fish, trees, and flowers came to be known in the multilingual empire. The Manchu Mirrors and the Knowledge of Plants and Animals in High Qing China is the first systematic study of how the Qing court sought to codify Manchu and Chinese words for animals...

A compelling examination of how economic development projects ignore local history, and the effects of this shortsightedness Foreign aid planners rarely consider the history of the societies in which they work, an oversight noted in the development literature but rarely examined. Aid programmes costing billions of dollars operate largely in a historical vacuum, divorced from the knowledge of what succeeded...

"A timely book...An impressive roster of authors collectively provides a broad overview of the many aspects of the relationship, going well beyond diplomacy and politics. The essays also work beautifully by themselves." -Odd Arne Westad, author of Empire and Righteous Nation "Offers a wide range of accessible essays on topics from international relations to culture, in a tone that is...

The untold story of film as a chemical cousin to poison gas and nuclear weapons, shaped by centuries of violent extraction The history of film calls to mind unforgettable photographs, famous directors, and the glitz and hustle of the media business. But there is another tale to tell that connects film as a material to the twentieth century's history of...

The first systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery. Karl Marx’s writings on enslavement and labour have fallen out of favour among historians, but David McNally injects new life into them. Slavery and Capitalism gives the first systematic Marxist account of the capitalist character of Atlantic slavery—using colonial travel literature, planter records and diaries, and slave narratives—to...

A revealing account of how German Protestant leaders embraced democratic ideals after WWII, while firmly and consequentially refusing to account for their earlier complicity with Nazism. Germany's Protestant churches, longtime strongholds of nationalism and militarism, largely backed the Nazi dictatorship that took power in 1933. For many Protestant leaders, pastors, and activists, national and religious revival were one and the...

From supply chains to surveillance, how logistics drives modern power—and its consequences. Movement is the lifeblood of capital, even more so than growth. If goods, people, and information don't flow, then profits don't either. Ensuring that labourers, shipping containers, media, commercially valuable data, and much else are in the right place at the right time demands a subtle choreography. Enter...

At the peak of imperial expansion in World War II, Japan touted itself as a multiracial paradise. The state, eugenicists, and media supported intermarriage and adoption as tools of empire, encouraging “blood mixing” to fuse diverse populations into one harmonious family. Yet after defeat in World War II, a chorus of Japanese policymakers, journalists, and activists railed against Japanese women...

A moving and humane portrait of the abolitionist revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led Haiti's fight for independence from French colonial rule. "My name has become a horror to all those who want slavery," declared Jean-Jacques Dessalines as he announced the independence of Haiti, the most radical nation-state during the Age of Revolution and the first country ever to permanently outlaw...

A wide-ranging history of the term "fascism," what it has meant, and what it means today. The rise of political figures like the United States' Donald Trump, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, and Argentina's Javier Milei has spurred debates over the meaning of the term "fascist," and when and whether it is appropriate to use it. The landmark study...

An acclaimed economist’s observations on four years of events that have shaped the world In this new volume drawn from his columns for the French newspaper Le Monde, renowned economist Thomas Piketty takes measure of the world since 2021: leaders grappling with the aftershocks of a global pandemic; politics shifting rightward in Europe and America; and wars breaking out and...

An illuminating portrait of how Shanghai's Catholic community surged back to life after the Cultural Revolution—and of a Church divided between allegiance to the Vatican and loyalty to the Communist party-state. During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese state sought to eradicate religious life throughout the country. However, by 1978, two years after the death of Mao Zedong, the Communist Party...

A Sea of Wealth is a sweeping retelling of the Omani position in the Indian Ocean. Here the reign of Oman’s longest-serving ruler, Saʿid bin Sultan, offers a keyhole through which we can peer to see the entangled histories of Arabia and the Gulf, South Asia, and East Africa in the Omani Empire. In centering this empire, Nicholas P. Roberts...

How Africa's most notorious tyrant made his oppressive regime seem both necessary and patriotic A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda explores the ruthless regime of Idi Amin, who ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979, inflicting tremendous violence on its people. How did Amin's regime survive for eight calamitous years? Drawing on recently uncovered archival material, Derek Peterson reconstructs the...

The first book-length overview of agricultural development in the ancient world A Companion to Ancient Agriculture is an authoritative overview of the history and development of agriculture in the ancient world. Focusing primarily on the Near East and Mediterranean regions, this unique text explores the cultivation of the soil and rearing of animals through centuries of human civilisation—from the Neolithic...

‘Broad-ranging and provocative . . . This vital book will be widely discussed and productively debated for years to come’ Kenneth Pomeranz, author of The Great Divergence -------------------- A bold, trailblazing history that asks: what if the movements that built the modern world – the Enlightenment, democracy, the Industrial Revolution – were more catastrophic than we ever imagined? In this...

A comprehensive and thought-provoking investigation into one of the most polarising words in the English language. Few words in the English language are as misunderstood as like. Indeed, excessive use of this word is a surefire way to make those who pride themselves on propriety, both grammatical and otherwise, feel compelled to issue correctives. But what the detractors of this...

Discover the history of our world as you've never seen it before. Journey back in time to take part in a mammoth hunt, march with a Roman soldier, and fly with the Wright brothers. Explore what history looked like through spectacular computer-generated images of the key people, places, and events. This new book in the Knowledge Encyclopedia series will inspire...

“Refreshingly candid... Get off Instagram and read this book.” —Sacha Baron Cohen From the dynamic head of ADL, an impassioned argument about the terrifying path that America finds itself on today—and how we can save ourselves. It Could Happen Here tackles the unimaginable prospect that unbridled hate and systematic violence could threaten us or our families. Although it seems unlikely,...

From the Ides of March to the 40-minute war and the Great Molasses Flood, discover what extraordinary events took place from January 1 to December 31 with This Day in History. Have you ever wondered what happened on your birthday hundreds of years ago? This Day in History is perfect for history buffs and trivia fans alike. This fascinating book...

The world-changing story of Turkey - a country caught between two worlds. This brilliant distillation traces Turkey's long and complicated history from the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire - the most enduring, and perhaps the most important, Islamic empire in history - to the emergence of the modern Turkish Republic in the early twentieth century and the populist,...

In the bestselling tradition of Peter Ackroyd's The Thames, a celebration of one of the world’s great waterways. Everyone knows Sydney Harbour. At least, we think we do. Everyone can see the harbour, whether we have ever been to Sydney or not. By as little as a word or two, the harbour floats into our mind’s eye. The Bridge. The...

Australia and its formation - through the distorted view of a rum bottle. Could the Rum Rebellion have been averted if Major Johnston wasn't hungover? Would the Eureka Stockade have been different if the rebels weren't pissed? How were prisoners to get drunk if Macquarie closed the only pub in the gaol? And why should sailors under fourteen be deprived...

Four billion years in the palm of your hand, Relics: A History of the World Told in 133 Objects is the story of our planet as you’ve never seen it before. The Mini Museum is a collection of treasures gathered from across space and time, shared by tens of thousands of people in more than 120 countries. Each item in...

“GRIPPING. ... One of the greatest polar rescue efforts ever mounted.” —Wall Street Journal The riveting true story of the largest polar rescue mission in history: the desperate race to find the survivors of the glamorous Arctic airship Italia, which crashed near the North Pole in 1928. Triumphantly returning from the North Pole on May 24, 1928, the world-famous exploring...

‘Edward Brooke-Hitching's delightful book is a collection of curiosities. From a 19th-century lonely hearts ad to a nuptial blessing of the bride’s buttocks, an entertaining history of love over the millennia that proves when it comes to the heart, little has changed.’ Daily Mail From the author of the critically acclaimed The Phantom Atlas and The Madman’s Library (Sunday Times...

A Spectator Best Book of the Year; An Aspects of History Best Book of the Year; An Engelsberg Ideas Best Book of the Year Five hundred years ago, Thomas Wolsey endowed in Oxford a foundation he called Cardinal‘s College. Henry VIII, the monarch who dismissed and ruined him, re-established it as Christ Church later in his reign as an institution...

‘Impostor’, ‘greedy’, and ‘incompetent’ – Edmund Hammond Hargraves was beloved by few and reviled by many more. Ask Google Who discovered gold in Australia? and you'll promptly get ‘Edward Hammond Hargraves’. Hargraves has, for decades, received the fame, fortune, and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it? What about the two diggers he met on...

‘This splendid and often moving work of history… Schama has a gift for combining novelistically colourful detail, serious analysis and wryly amusing asides’ Daily Telegraph ‘Superb’ Observer ‘Extraordinary… A meticulous retelling of a terrible yet scientifically innovative period… Makes an urgent case for building a better future on our toxic past’ Guardian ‘This is history of the best sort –...

Devil Been Walkabout Tonight focuses on the last three months of Robert O’Hara Burke, William John Wills, and John King on Cooper’s Creek. The original expedition, which set out in August 1860, aimed to explore the centre and northern reaches of the Australian continent. The expedition essentially concluded with the death of Burke and Wills on Cooper’s Creek from starvation...

The untold story of the D-Day scientists who changed special operations forever. Fascinating... a great historical military account and essential reading' John Volanthen, author of Thirteen Lives. The untold story of the D-Day scientists who changed special operations forever. On the beaches of Normandy, two summers before D-Day, the Allies attempted an all but forgotten landing. Of the nearly seven...

Compact edition of the first fully integrated visual reference on Big History for general readers. Discover how we got to where we are, in this multidisciplinary approach to 13.8 billion years of human and cosmic history. With the Big Bang as its starting point, Big History places humans in the context of our Universe, revealing how and why we got...

From national bestselling author and acclaimed military historian Robert L. O’Connell, a dynamic history of four military leaders whose extraordinary leadership and strategy led the United States to success during World War I and beyond. By the first half of the twentieth century, technology had transformed warfare into a series of intense bloodbaths in which the line between soldiers and...

The Iraq War’s only living Medal of Honor recipient reveals the untold story of the remarkable brotherhood behind one of the war’s legendary acts of valour. In 2004, he stormed an enemy stronghold to save his platoon. Fourteen years later, his unit reunited and saved him. This is their story. “Acting on instinct to save the members of his platoon...

Discover the little-known facts about some of the world’s greatest historical icons. We all know what was written in the history books. There are some stories we’ve heard a hundred times—but often our understanding of these events and people is narrow. Have you ever wondered about the lesser-known details that influenced major events and figures behind the scenes? This hilarious...

Elegant man-about-town and the director of Bridesmaids, Spy, and A Simple Favor, Paul Feig, serves up a beautifully designed cocktail and lifestyle guide with hilarious stories from his life. Famed TV and film writer, director, and producer Paul Feig is obsessed with cocktails and cocktail culture. It’s about having great conversations with friends. It’s about putting on your best clothes...

Water Mirror Echo is a remarkable story of a man, the traditions and communities that created him, and the new worlds he made possible. Like Bruce Lee himself, Jeff Chang is blessed with the vision to see things we do not yet see, thinking and writing with a restless, chasm-crossing, almost prophetic ambition. — Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of...

Based on two decades of research, the five causes of wars and four ways to stop them. It's easy to overlook that most of the time, war doesn't happen. Around the world, there are millions of hostile rivalries, yet only a tiny fraction erupt into violence. With a counterintuitive approach, Blattman reminds us that most rivals loathe one another in...

The story of the Third Crusade, and the two men who dictated its outcome: Saladin, hero of the Islamic world, and Richard the Lionheart. Richard and the King of France led a European army of several hundred thousand warriors, but Saladin's manoeuvres resulted in the crusaders' retreat and the demise of the Third Crusade. Warriors of God delves into this...

A monumental, wholly accessible work of scholarship that retells human history through the story of mankind's relationship with the sea. An accomplishment of both great sweep and illuminating detail, The Sea and Civilization is a stunning work of history that reveals in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, and how goods,...

Incredible true stories find strange, new magic in American history in this wondrous first book from the creator of the award-winning podcast The Memory Palace. "One doesn't often find the words imagination and history in the same sentence. Nate DiMeo has forever woven them together. The Memory Palace wants you to linger, to stay awhile, and find a deeper meaning...

ONE OF THE TIMES' BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF 2021 'The tale of the Phoenix Park murders is not unfamiliar, but Kavanagh recounts it with a great sense of drama... Kavanagh's account reminds me of the very best of true crime.' - The Times (Book of the Week) On a sunlit evening in 1882, Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Burke, Chief...

“Should be required reading... A gripping and all-too-timely account of what in more ways than one is turning out to be a very costly and questionably necessary race to the bottom... Trethewey rises to the occasion here, relating in absorbing detail the ebb and flow of conflicting interests that tussle down among the vents and ridges of the hadal zone....

It's time for us to re-examine the past. Our lives are infinitely richer if we take the time to look at what the Greeks and Romans have given us in politics and law, religion and philosophy, and education, and to learn how people really lived in Athens, Rome, Sparta, and Alexandria. The Ancient Guide to Modern Life is a book...

Instant New York Times Bestseller "A masterwork. ... O'Connor answers every question, deftly and deeply, that we've had about the most controversial person in America's biggest game." —Peter King Four-time New York Times bestselling sport biographer Ian O’Connor pulls back the curtain on four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, delivering the definitive portrait of the legendary yet mysterious quarterback who has...

By the New York Times’s Global Economics Correspondent, an extraordinary journey to understand the worldwide supply chain—exposing both the fascinating pathways of manufacturing and transportation that bring products to your doorstep, and the ruthless business logic that has left local communities at the mercy of a complex and fragile network for their basic necessities. "A tale that will change how...

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' - George Santayana, philosopher and writer. Mankind's past is strewn with mistakes — colossal blunders driven by virtue as often as vice. Some unlucky people didn't always set out to cause the mayhem they did, but somehow things just went wrong. Really wrong. History's Worst Decisions shines a light...

A startling exploration of slavery in the Islamic world from the 7th century to the present. Slavery in the Islamic world has a long, rich and controversial history. Unlike the notorious and shorter-lived Atlantic slave trade, its story is much less known. In the earliest days of Islam, Arab Muslims enslaved men, women and children as the spoils of war....

From the acclaimed biographer of explorers Magellan, Columbus, and Francis Drake comes a unique exploration of the life and influence of Jules Verne, the novelist whose mind spun the greatest adventures ever told. His daring and prescient imagination sparked a lasting transformation of modern society and technology, inspiring everyone from J.R.R. Tolkien to Kurt Vonnegut to Jeff Bezos. "We are...