THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER In twenty-one bite-sized lessons, Yuval Noah Harari explores what it means to be human in an age of bewilderment. '21 Lessons is, simply put, a crucial book' Adam Kay How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and...

THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Sapiens showed us where we came from. In uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we're going. 'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before' Daniel Kahneman,...

From popular histories through to reworkings of classical subject matter by contemporary poets, dramatists, and novelists, the classical world and the masterpieces of its literature continue to fascinate readers and audiences in a huge variety of media. In this Very Short Introduction, William Allan...

Botticelli, Holbein, Leonardo, Durer, Michelangelo: the names are familiar, as are the works, such as the Last Supper fresco, or the monumental marble statue of David. But who were these artists, why did they produce such memorable images, and how would their original beholders...

Millions of Africans, Asians, and other peoples were the subjects of colonial rule by overseas empires through the mid-twentieth century. By the end of the century, however, nearly all of these peoples had become citizens of independent nation-states. The United Nations grew from 51...

Contemporary art has never been so popular - but what is 'contemporary' about contemporary art? What is its role today, and who is controlling its future? Bloody toy soldiers, gilded shopping carts, and embroidered tents. Contemporary art is supposed to be a realm of...

The ancient Near East is known as the "cradle of civilization" - and for good reason. Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia were home to an extraordinarily rich and successful culture. Indeed, it was a time and place of earth-shaking changes for humankind: the beginnings of...

Postcolonialism explores the political, social, and cultural effects of decolonization, continuing the anti-colonial deconstruction of western dominance. This Very Short Introduction discusses both the history and key debates of postcolonialism, and considers its importance as a means of changing the way we think about...

Spanning the divide between Europe and Asia, Russia is a multi-ethnic empire with a huge territory, strategically placed and abundantly provided with natural resources. But Russia's territory has a harsh climate, is cut off from most maritime contact with the outside world, and has...

A landmark of journalism and the art form of comics. Based on several months of research and an extended visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early 1990s, this is a major work of political and historical nonfiction. Prior to Safe Area...

This second volume of Sapiens: A Graphic History, the full-color graphic adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari’s #1 New York Times bestseller, focuses on the Agricultural Revolution—when humans fell into a trap we’ve yet to escape: working harder and harder with diminishing returns. What if humanity’s major woes—war,...

The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. It had a population of sixty million people spread across lands encircling the Mediterranean and stretching from drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria, and from the Rhine to the North African...

What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is...

This brief history of America will span the earliest migrations to the present, reflecting Paul S. Boyer's interests in social, intellectual, and cultural history, including popular culture and religion. It will reflect his personal view of American history, in which a sense of paradox...

The massive disorder and economic ruin following the Second World War inevitably predetermined the scope and intensity of the Cold War. But why did it last so long? And what impact did it have on the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe, and the...

Against the backdrop of unprecedented concern for the future of health care, this Very Short Introduction surveys the history of medicine from classical times to the present. Focussing on the key turning points in the history of Western medicine, such as the advent of...

How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction? Big History creator David Christian...

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a historian's perspective, and a biographer's passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with...

Historical background and architectural details for each of the castles are accompanied by a beautiful color photograph. Contains an introduction on England's castles—history, description of classification of building type with examples. Includes details on the property's custodianship, whether cared for by the National Trust or...

The phrase "silk road" evokes vivid scenes of merchants leading camel caravans across vast stretches to trade exotic goods in glittering Oriental bazaars, of pilgrims braving bandits and frozen mountain passes to spread their faith across Asia. Looking at the reality behind these images,...

The ancient Egyptians are an enduring source of fascination - mummies and pyramids, curses and rituals have captured the imagination of generations. We all have a mental picture of ancient Egypt, but is it the right one? How much do we really know about...

A handy guide to around 140 of Ireland’s most dramatic castles and strongholds, all of which are open to the public, with structures from across the whole island of Ireland. A handy 8-page map of all locations featured is included. Historical background and architectural...

Rafah, a town at the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip, is a squalid place. Raw concrete buildings front rubbish-strewn alleys. The narrow streets are crowded with young children and unemployed men. Situated on the border with Egypt, swaths of Rafah have been reduced...

A prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that he and other inmates coped with the experience of being in Auschwitz. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their...

The maverick philosopher returns to explore today's ideological, political and economic battles, and asks whether radical change is possible. In these troubled times, even the most pessimistic diagnosis of our future ends with an uplifting hint that things might not be as bad as...

Throughout history, there has been one quality that great leaders, makers, artists and fighters have shared. The Zen Buddhists described it as inner peace, the Stoics called it ataraxia and Ryan Holiday calls it stillness: the ability to be steady, focused and calm in a...

Very Short Introductions:Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringThe Cold War dominated international life from the end of World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But how did the conflict begin? Why did it move from its initial origins in Postwar Europe to...

The life of William Shakespeare, Britain's greatest dramatist, was inextricably linked with the history of London. Together, the great writer and the great city came of age and confronted triumph and tragedy. Triumph came when Shakespeare's company, the Chamberlain's Men, opened the Globe playhouse...

The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more – or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering,...

In January 2020, US President Donald Trump announced his 'deal of the century'. Supposedly intended to 'resolve' the Palestine-Israel conflict, it accepted Israeli occupation as a fait accompli. Azmi Bishara places this normalisation of occupation in its historical context, examining Palestine as an unresolved...

A reissue of the beautifully illustrated and authoritative biography of Frida Kahlo, publishing in time for a major London exhibition Frida is the story of one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary women, the painter Frida Kahlo. Born near Mexico City, she grew up...

This is a story studded with extraordinary achievements and historic moments, from the building of the pyramids and the conquest of Nubia, through Akhenaten's religious revolution, the power and beauty of Nefertiti, the glory of Tutankhamun's burial chamber, and the ruthlessness of Ramesses, to...

Finalist for the Cundill History PrizeONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEARNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal and NPR“Superb … A vivid and richly detailed story … worth reading by everyone.” -The New York Times Book ReviewFrom the bestselling author...

On 1 August, 1990, British Airways Flight 149 departed from Heathrow airport, destined for Kuala Lumpur. It never made it there, and neither did its nearly 400 passengers. Instead, Flight 149 stopped to refuel in Kuwait, as Iraqi troops amassed on the border -...

The first global history of comics around the world from the late 1960s to the present day Comics, manga, bandes dessinées, fumetti, tebeo, historietas… no matter the name, they have been a powerful medium across four continents for decades. This is the history of...

From the bestselling author of SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the fascinating story of how images of Roman autocrats have influenced art, culture, and the representation of power for more than 2,000 yearsWhat does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and...

A concise, accessible introduction to Paul Cézanne's portraitureThis beautifully illustrated book features twenty-four masterpieces in portraiture by celebrated French artist Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), offering an excellent introduction to this important aspect of his work.Arranged chronologically and spanning five decades, featured portraits range from the...

A thought-provoking history of papyrus paper—from its origins in Egypt to its spread throughout the world—revealing how it helped usher in a new era of human history.Throughout our entire history, humans have always searched for new ways to share information. This innate compulsion led...

When Tony Viramontes' work appeared in the late 1970s, his hard and direct style of drawing was a marked contrast to the prevailing soft-pastel school of fashion illustration. He scored immediate success, rapidly acquiring the kind of prestigious editorial commissions normally given to photographers,...