History

Journey across China’s epic history—through millennia of early innovation to modern dominance. And upcoming from The Shortest History Series—The Shortest History of England!As we enter the “Asian century,” China demands our attention for being an...

A single volume history of China, offering a look into the past of the global superpower and its significance today.Michael Wood has travelled the length and breadth of China, the world’s oldest civilization and longest lasting state, to tell a thrilling...

"All disasters are in some sense man-made."Setting the annus horribilis of 2020 in historical perspective, Niall Ferguson explains why we are getting worse, not better, at handling disasters.Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like...

(Available after 3-20 days)In his rich and nuanced portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family, Oxford scholar and bestselling author Niall Ferguson uncovers the secrets behind the family's phenomenal economic success. He reveals for the first...

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower.“A dazzling history of Western ideas.” —The Economist“Mr. Ferguson tells his story with characteristic verve and an eye for the...

Join James Crowden as he embarks on a journey to distil the ancient origins of cider, uncovering a rich culture and philosophy that has united farmer, maker and drinker for millennia. LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 ANDRE SIMON FOOD AND DRINK AWARD Cidermaking...

Paul Craddock's Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day.How did an architect help pioneer blood...

"A bold, ambitious and truly wonderful history of the world"—Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of TreesFrom the age of dinosaurs to the first human cities, a groundbreaking new history of the planet that tropical forests made. To many of us,...

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...

'Neima’s book, impeccably researched and beautifully written, will be an inspiration for anyone looking to an alternative future today.' - Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats and The Great Level'Deeply interesting and a pleasure to read, The...

Celebrated military historian James Holland chronicles the experiences in World War II of the legendary tank unit, the Sherwood Rangers In the annals of World War II, certain groups of soldiers stand out, and among the most notable were the Sherwood...

A “smart and surprising” (Booklist) “expansive history” (Publishers Weekly) detailing the role that wood and trees have played in our global ecosystem—including human evolution and the rise and fall of empires—in the bestselling tradition of Yuval...

On the 100th anniversary of The Volstead Act taking effect comes the epic, definitive story of the man who cracked the Prohibition system and helped inspire The Great Gatsby.“[Batchelor] makes this flashy bootlegger sound like a folk hero…Behold the king...

(Available after 3-20 days) “True-crime writing at its finest.” —Dean Jobb, author of Empire of Deception A rich and fascinating history of Canada’s first celebrity mobster, Rocco Perri—King of the Bootleggers—and the man who pursued him, Canada’s first...

They say that history is written by the victors. But what if history—or what we come to know as history—has been written by the wrong people? What if everything we've been told is only part of the story's In this groundbreaking and now famous work, Mark...

A vastly entertaining and unique history of spying and showbiz, from the Elizabethan age to the Cold War and beyond.'Perfect...read as you settle into James Bond on Christmas afternoon' Daily Telegraph Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, there has...

From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes the historical novel based on the life of Junko Tabei, the first female climber to summit Mount Everest.   Junko is bad at athletics. Really bad. Other students laugh because they think she is...

From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes a historical novel based on the life of Dr. Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist and environmentalist from Kenya.Wangari lives in the lush, green, land of rural Kenya where the...

In 1791, inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, the slaves of San Domingo rose in revolt. Despite invasion by a series of British, Spanish and Napoleonic armies, their twelve-year struggle led to the creation of Haiti, the first independent...

From the winner of the Edgar Award and the Samuel Johnson Prize, a cultural history of “everyday madness”The Book of Phobias and Manias is a thrilling compendium of 99 obsessions that have shaped us all, the rare and the familiar, from ablutophobia (a...