Showing 17–32 of 49 resultsSorted by latest
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£25.00
From the dawn of the modern era to the end of the Cold War, global history was defined by rivalries between great powers. In the West, this meant the struggle for supremacy in Europe and the Americas, while in the East, it encompassed those vying for control over the successor states to Genghis Khan’s empire. Between 1989 and the year 2000, great power rivalry temporarily gave way to globalization, with liberal democracy on the march and national chauvinism seemingly in retreat. But events of the past decade have made one thing abundantly clear: the great powers are back. In this work, renowned historian Brendan Simms offers a history of the rise, fall, and return of the great powers in our time. He shows that over the past ten years or so, the major global actors have already resumed making decisions based on geopolitical rather than global economic considerations.
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£25.00
Stories about royal women form some of our most foundational myths about femininity, and yet their legacies have been almost entirely constructed by the words and images of men. Kate Williams leads us deep into the world of queens, empresses, princesses, mistresses and ladies-in-waiting, uncovering how their ambitions were shaped, celebrated and often thwarted.
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£10.99
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A Waterstones Best Nature & Travel Writing Book 2025
'Educational, smart and funny’ Richard Osman
‘This book is superb’ Charlie Brooker
‘Brilliant. Fascinating. Hilarious.’ Jonn Elledge, bestselling author of A History of the World in 47 Borders
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£10.99
A miscellany of things too strange to be true, yet somehow are, by former BBC QI Elf turned bestselling author, Edward Brooke-Hitching.
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£12.99
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 often associated with restraint and coercion; restriction and sacrifice; inquisition, confession and a guilty conscience. Joyless and claustrophobic, it is a device used to shames us into compliance. This impression is not entirely incorrect, but it is certainly incomplete. Using our past as a basis for a new understanding of our future, Hanno Sauer traces humanity’s fundamental moral transformations from our earliest ancestors through to the present day, when it seems we have never disagreed more over what it means to be good. Our current political disagreements may feel like the end of the world, but where will the evolution of morality take us next?
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£10.99
A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our future
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£25.00
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s postwar experiment with democracy, and a time of unprecedented cultural, intellectual and artistic freedom. Berlin was at the cutting edge of quantum physics and psychoanalysis; its nightlife showcased grand opera and dissolute cabaret. Bauhaus architecture and modernist painting flourished, and it rivalled Hollywood as a capital of film. But beneath the glamour was a deeply polarised society of extremes plagued by economic disasters, populist leaders fuelling culture wars, and an uneasy political settlement that would soon spawn the horrors of Nazism. Covering 15 years from the end of the First World War to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, this book tells the definitive story of Germany’s interwar republic and descent into fascism.
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£10.99
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the rich and powerful always look after their own and the working people are always revolting. But every now and again, a new group actually manages to seize power, and it changes history. Terry Deary takes readers on a hilarious and eye-opening journey through some of the most significant revolts and uprisings that have happened around the world. From the peasants to the slaves, the suffragettes to the civil rights activists, this book celebrates the resilience and determination of those who dared to challenge the status quo.
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£20.00
Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon are unlikely peacemakers, dedicated to finding a solution to the bitter war that has decimated historical, ancient land and ended family lines. Despite the losses they have suffered, the resolve of their friendship has taught them that strength and unity are more powerful than the violence of separation. Throughout their travels, they have been constantly asked: In the face of so much pain and suffering on both sides, when there have been so many lives lost and families shattered, how can they ever find hope? Their answer is always the same. One cannot find hope. We must create it. In this book, Sarah and Inon take readers on their unforgettable weeklong journey across the holy land. They explore each other’s personal and national histories in a land of competing narratives, amid the turbulent push and pull of near constant war, and the recent devastation that has rocked the world.
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£25.00
The most famous trial of the twentieth century – told through the eyes of the women history forgot. In November 1945, the world turned its gaze to Nuremberg. Inside a courtroom built by and for men, justice was being sought for crimes almost beyond comprehension. The spotlight fell on Nazi leaders, Allied prosecutors and military judges – but in the shadows, women were recording, interpreting, witnessing, painting, testifying. Yet their names were often missing from the headlines. Eighty years on, this book finally returns them to the centre of the story. The work follows eight extraordinary figures: a young Soviet interpreter balancing political survival with truth-telling; a British painter capturing justice in oils; a French resistance fighter who survived Auschwitz to confront her persecutors; a Hungarian countess hosting both Nazis and survivors in a single house.
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£22.00
At a time when democracies seem paralyzed by fear and populations are turning inward, award-winning journalist John Kampfner travels to ten countries confronting our shared challenges with bravery and imagination. The countries showing true innovation are often those with their backs against the wall – not wealthy nations assuming they have all the answers. This book is an urgent reminder that solutions exist. The question is whether we have the courage to learn.
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£20.00
A Vast Horizon follows the lives of Pablo Picasso and his free-spirited friends, including Lee Miller and Man Ray, in the tumultuous years around the Second World War.
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£22.00
A razor-sharp, utterly immersive political travelogue that reveals one of the world’s most enigmatic regions
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£22.00
The great majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has to an extent been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers now jostle for regional supremacy our world has become more fragile, unpredictable – and combustible. To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century – a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, when nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them: a time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own. ‘The Coming Storm’ is a prescient, thoughtful and chilling examination of the current state of the world.
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£20.99
Discover the most significant moments in the history of the world, from the origins of Homo Sapiens to the arrival of the internet, and from the French Revolution to the Space Race. And come face to face with the world’s most influential leaders, thinkers, and political figures, from Julius Caesar to Barack Obama – a truly accessible and comprehensive route into a fascinating and essential subject.
