Odd Arne Westad

A major history of the conflict that shaped every aspect of our world. As Germany and then Japan surrendered in 1945, there was tremendous hope that a new and much better world could be created from the moral and physical ruins of the conflict. Instead, the combination of the huge power of the USA and USSR, and the near-total collapse...

The first thorough account of a formative and little understood chapter in Chinese history Almost every page contains an eye-opening detail. . . . The Great Transformation evokes the multiple paths, ideas and possibilities that have shaped, and continue to shape, China's present. — Julia Lovell, Financial Times Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian chronicle how an impoverished and terrorised...

This new edition of The Penguin History of the World is an opportunity to celebrate a book that is both a richly rewarding narrative and a permanent work of reference. The Penguin History of the World tells the entire story of human endeavour in all its grandeur and folly, drama and pain in a single book; beautifully written, authoritative and...

The first thorough account of a formative and little understood chapter in Chinese history “Almost every page contains an eye-opening detail. . . . The Great Transformation evokes the multiple paths, ideas and possibilities that have shaped, and continue to shape, China's present.” — Julia Lovell, Financial Times Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian chronicle how an impoverished and terrorised...

A prescient, thoughtful and chilling examination of the current state of the world If there are lessons from history, now is the time when we need to heed them, so that we do not end up in another Great Power war because of the fatal combinations of jingoism, fear, fatalism, and sheer stupidity that set off the first major war...

The relationship between China and Korea is one of the most important, and least understood, in Asia. With the wisdom and clarity we have come to expect from Westad, Empire and Righteous Nation illuminates the long history of these two neighbours. -Rana Mitter, author of China's Good War A timely must-read primer on the China–Korea relationship and its impact on...