Geschiedenis

Walk right into your favorite anime settings with this innovative guide to Tokyo, featuring beautifully designed maps of the city, colorful illustrations showcasing key anime moments, and a special feature on 20 subway and train stations connecting the birthplaces of beloved characters.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 HISTORICAL WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN AWARD

'It’s quite a feat to write an account of England’s most famous battle that makes the reader feel like they’re experiencing history that is fresh, new and exhilarating.' Dan Snow

This groundbreaking study by Mike Livingston, as featured on History Hit's Agincourt, presents a new interpretation of Henry V's great victory.

From Shakespeare’s ‘band of brothers’ speech to its appearances in numerous films, Agincourt rightfully has a place among a handful of conflicts whose names are immediately recognized around the world. Renowned medieval historian Mike Livingston provides a new look at this famous battle, with a foreword by world famous historic novelist Bernard Cornwell.

Agincourt takes us back to the original sources, including the French battle plan that still survives today, to give a new interpretation, one that challenges the traditional site of the battlefield itself. It is a thrilling new history that not only rewrites the battle as we know it, but also provides fresh insights into the men who fought and died there.

Selections from the extraordinary Studio Museum in Harlem Collection, accompanying the highly anticipated opening of the institution’s first-ever purpose-built museum

'A profoundly moving tribute to courage, dignity, and the enduring power of humanity in the face of evil.
Elegantly written and deeply affecting, this is storytelling that honours the truth and ensures it is never forgotten.' Rob Rinder, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trial

'Haunting and beautiful. Excruciatingly vivid, The Teacher of Auschwitz is rigorously researched and true to the history, powerfully conveying what a smart, loving and energetic man Fredy was.' Dr Elizabeth Baer, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

'The closest possible narrative a person who did not experience those times herself, could have written... which will do justice to Fredy and all those victims.' Dita Kraus, the real-life inspiration for The Librarian of Auschwitz and one of the last known survivors of the children's block

Fredy built a wall against suffering in their hearts...

At the dark heart of the Holocaust, there was a wooden hut whose walls were painted with cartoons; a place where children sang, staged plays and wrote poetry. Safely inside, but still in the shadow of the chimneys, they were given better food, kept free of vermin, and were even taught meditation to imagine full stomachs and a day without fear. The man who became their guiding light was a young Jewish prisoner named Fredy Hirsch.

But being a teacher in such a brutal concentration camp was no mean feat. Whether it was begging the SS for better provisions, or hiding his homosexuality from his persecutors, he risked his life every day for one thing: to protect the children from the mortal danger they all faced.

But time is running out for Fredy and the hundreds of children in his care. Can he find a way to teach them the one lesson they really need to know: how to survive?

From the bestselling author of Born Survivors, comes an assiduously researched and powerful new novel. Drawn from archives and survivor testimonies, historian and biographer Wendy Holden tells the inspirational and uplifting true story of Fredy Hirsch: The Teacher of Auschwitz.

First published in 1962, Men in the Sun is both a classic of Arab literature, and of what Kanafani himself would term 'resistance literature'.

Three Palestinian men embark on a brutal and treacherous odyssey across the Iraqi desert to Kuwait, not for liberation but material betterment. Their driver, a jaded, fat, former freedom fighter, living with his own compromises and contradictions, makes for a garrulous if cavalier companion. Both the indifferent brutality of border bureaucracy and the blank aggression of the sun see that things grow steadily more stark.

The author's ardent politics are apparent throughout, but the novel's characters are their own beings: ambivalent, conflicted creatures of context. While breezily conversational, with disarming, dreamy strokes of lyricism, this short novel delivers a shuddering and grounding dose of true horror.

As well as the titular novella, the book features six short stories, including the timelessly resonant 'Letter From Gaza' , Kanafani's first published work, written when he twenty, and the essential 'The Land of Sad Oranges'.

Since its foundation in 1948, Israel has drawn on Zionism, the movement behind its creation, to provide a sense of self and political direction. In this groundbreaking new work, Ilan Pappe looks at the continued role of Zionist ideology. The Idea of Israel considers the way Zionism operates outside of the government and military in areas such as the country’s education system, media, and cinema, and the uses that are made of the Holocaust in supporting the state’s ideological structure.

In particular, Pappe examines the way successive generations of historians have framed the
1948 conflict as a liberation campaign, creating a foundation myth that went unquestioned in Israeli society until the 1990s. Pappe himself was part of the post-Zionist movement that arose then. He was attacked and received death threats as he exposed the truth about how Palestinians have been treated and the gruesome structure that links the production of knowledge to the exercise of power. The Idea of Israel is a powerful and urgent intervention in the war of ideas concerning the past, and the future, of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.

'We're not Christians, Christ stopped short of here, at Eboli.' Exiled to a remote and barren corner of Italy for his opposition to Mussolini, Carlo Levi entered a world cut off from history and the state, hedged in by custom and sorrow, without comfort or solace, where, eternally patient, the peasants lived in an age-old stillness and in the presence of death - for Christ did stop at Eboli.

Een draaiboek voor totalitarisme van de hand van een briljant historicus. Voor de lezers van Timothy Snyder, Anne Applebaum en Geert Mak.

A concise history of Paris and the great events and personalities, from prehistory to the present, that have shaped its unique cultural legacy. Paris has long been celebrated as a place of style, wit and sensuality. In this deft and broad-ranging narrative, Jeremy Black demonstrates that the history of Paris is about more than a city: it is the history of a culture, a society and a state that has impacted the rest of the world through centuries of changing fortunes. Black explores how a humble Gallic capital grew into a flourishing medieval city full of spectacular palaces and cathedrals. He depicts the opulent courts of Louis XIV and XV and the Revolution that tore French society apart; the Belle Époque and the destruction of World Wars I and II, leading us on to the Paris of today: one of the most iconic cities in the world.

'Eminently readable' – The TLS Books of the Year, 2024

Ocean is an ambitious history of the pre-Columbian Atlantic Ocean, a story that begins with the formation of the mid-Atlantic ridge some 200 million years ago and ends with the Castilian conquest of the Canary Islands in the fifteenth century, which provided a template for the methods used by the Spanish in their colonisation of the New World.

John Haywood argues that the perception that Atlantic history begins with the first voyage of the celebrated Genoese navigator is a mistaken one, and that the seafaring and shipbuilding skills that enabled European global exploration and expansion did not arrive fully formed in the fifteenth century, but were learned over centuries and millennia in the Atlantic and its marginal seas. The pre-Columbian history of the Atlantic is the story of how Europeans learned to master the oceans. It is, therefore, key to understanding why it was Europeans, and not any of the world’s other seafaring peoples, who ‘discovered’ the world.

Ocean is informed by the author’s extensive travels in and around the Atlantic Ocean, crossing Newfoundland’s Grand Banks, the Sea of Darkness and the weed-covered Sargasso Sea to make landfall at locations as diverse as Vinland, Greenland, the Faroes and the Cape Verde Islands. Populated by a heterogeneous and multi-ethnic cast of seafarers, fishermen, monks, merchants and dreamers, this is an in-depth history of a neglected subject, fusing geology, geography, mythology, cosmology, developing maritime technologies and the early history of exploration to narrate an enthralling and intriguing story that lies at the very heart of Europe’s modern history and its relationship with the rest of the world. A history on a grand scale, Ocean offers the reader a feast of historical storytelling that will appeal to readers of David Abulafia, Simon Winchester and Michael Pye.

Gladiatoren waren belangrijk in het oude Rome. Op meeslepende wijze reconstrueert Harry Sidebottom een dag in het leven van een aantal gladiatoren tijdens de Spelen in het Colosseum.

There's more to Banksy than the painting on the wall: the first in-depth investigation into the mysteries of the world's most famous living artist.

Banksy is the world's most famous living artist, yet no one knows who he is. For more than twenty years, his wryly political and darkly humorous spray paintings have appeared mysteriously on urban walls around the globe, generating headlines and controversy. Art critics disdain him, but the public (and the art market) love him. With this generously illustrated book, artist and critic Carol Diehl is the first author to probe the depths of the Banksy mystery. Through her exploration of his paintings, installations, writings, and Academy Award-nominated film, Exit through the Gift Shop, Diehl proves unequivocally that there's more to Banksy than the painting on the wall.

Seeing Banksy as the ultimate provocateur, Diehl investigates the dramas that unfold after his works are discovered, with all of their social, economic, and political implications. She reveals how this trickster rattles the system, whether during his month-long 2013 self-styled New York "residency" or his notorious Dismaland of 2015, a full-scale dystopian "family theme park unsuitable for children" dedicated to the failure of capitalism. Banksy's work, Diehl shows, is a synthesis of conceptual art, social commentary, and political protest, played out not in museums but where it can have the most effect--on the street, in the real world. The questions Banksy raises about the uses of public and private property, the role of the global corporatocracy, the never-ending wars, and the gap between artworks as luxury goods and as vehicles of social expression, have never been more relevant.

Een vergeten geschiedenis van Nederland in 24 lokale verhalen, verteld door Axel Stam en Lars Boon van het succesvolle online geschiedenisplatform The Dutch Historian.

Geoffrey Hosking is one of the foremost historians of Russia and its people. The result of a lifetime's knowledge, this monumental and authoritative work has been acclaimed as the definitive single-volume history of Russia, tracing its story from the settlement of Kiev through to the present day. This second edition is updated throughout, with a new chapter on the recent role of Putin and Medvedev, and their impact on Russia's economy, politics and its citizens.

‘Abd’ van historicus Justin Marozzi is een indrukwekkende studie naar slavernij en slavenhandel in islamitische beschavingen van de zevende eeuw tot het heden.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER The author of She-Wolves chronicles the lives and reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, two cousins whose rivalry brought their nation to the brink of disintegration - and back again*LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY 2025**THE TELEGRAPH'S BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024*'A glorious work of history... a gripping and haunting tragedy... There was no book published this year, novels included, that I found richer in character; no plot more taut' - Tom Holland, The Spectator'A dazzling tour de force of epic royal history: a compulsive, unputdownable real-life thriller, a gripping portrait of ruthless power politics, and a study of British tyranny... written with the delicacy and elegance of one of Britain’s most brilliant historians at the top of her game' - Simon Sebag-Montefiore'If ever a book of history was blessed with contemporary relevance, this one is. The dumbfounding, delusional, narcissistic King Richard; the white-knuckle ride of Henry IV, dogged all the way by notions of illegitimacy. I feel these men could have been ripped from today’s headlines. The book’s great achievement is in the storytelling — the unfolding drama, the secrets of power and ambition so beautifully controlled in the telling. The Eagle and the Hart will be a non-fiction book of the year and will deserve the ovations it is certain to receive. When history is this gripping there’s nothing like it' - Andrew O'HaganRichard of Bordeaux and Henry Bolingbroke were first cousins, born just three months apart. Their lives were from the beginning entwined. When they were still children, Richard was crowned King Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a ten-year-old lord in the service of his ten-year-old king. Yet, as the animals on their heraldic badges showed, they grew up to be opposites: Richard was the white hart, a thin-skinned narcissist, and Henry the eagle, a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty where Richard inspired only fear. Henry had all the qualities Richard lacked, all the qualities a sovereign needed, bar one: birth right. Increasingly threatened by his charismatic cousin, Richard became consumed by the need for total power, in a time of constant conflict, rebellions and reprisals. When he banished Henry into exile, the stage was set for a final confrontation, as the hart became the tyrant and the eagle his usurper. Helen Castor tells this story of one of the strangest and most fateful relationships in English history. It is a story about power, and masculinity in crisis, and a nation brought to the brink of catastrophe. At its heart, it is the story of two men whose lives were played out in extraordinary parallel, to devastating effect.

Eleni put an arm around him and said: “Come, come, life is ahead of us. Raise your soul now. We have much to do.”

This is a book about how the great forces of history shape us – and how world-famous political activist Yanis Varoufakis was inspired by the resilience and the courage of his family, from his mother Eleni and grandmothers Anna and Trisevgeni, to his partner Danae. It is both an intimate portrait of a political awakening and a dramatic sweep through Greece's history of post-colonial independence, Nazi occupation, communist partisan resistance, Cold War fracture, civil war, fascist dictatorship, socialist revival and tumultuous present-day economic collapse.

Raise Your Soul is a powerful tale of resistance and endurance – a beacon of hope for dark times.

'A truly splendid read, richly detailed and powered by an unfailing gift for storytelling’ John Guy
'Superb and gripping' Simon Sebag Montefiore

A definitive and thrilling new account of the last great dynasty of ancient Egypt, from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra.

When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt, he overthrew the hated Persian overlords and was welcomed as a saviour. He repaid them by showing due reverence to their long-held traditions. After his death, as the Greek empire broke up and his closest advisers squabbled over the spoils, a Macedonian general named Ptolemy seized the Egyptian throne, ushering in a new dynasty that would last for 300 years.

What followed was as dramatic and compelling as any period in Egyptian history. The unique blend of Greek and Egyptian cultures led to an unprecedented flowering of learning, as the new city of Alexandria became home to the Great Library, the largest in the ancient world, that attracted the brightest minds. Wars, incest, double-dealing, foreign empires and huge wealth all followed, but the rise of the Roman empire would eventually bring the Ptolemaic era crashing to a close.

Helped by the latest archaeological discoveries and using original papyrus documents, Toby Wilkinson uncovers a story that can only now be fully told. From courtly life to the role of women, from international trade to the tensions between native Egyptians and incoming Greeks, all aspects of life are here. Filled with surprising insights, vivid descriptions and larger-than-life characters, and written in the author’s compelling narrative style, The Last Dynasty will appeal to all lovers of history, archaeology, art and culture.

Unleash the Myth and Magic of Yokai with 200 Enchanting Stickers of Japan's Most Fascinating Creatures!

Japanese yokai come in every imaginable shape, color and size. These supernatural creatures all possess unique powers and characteristics and are popular in manga, anime and video games. The 200 colorful stickers in this book feature 32 different types of Yokai, with 5 to 10 different images for each type. These decorative stickers can be peeled off and pasted onto notebooks, journals and posters—anywhere you like!

The popular yokai in this book include:

• Amabie: Mermaid-like creatures with long hair, three legs and a beak. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amabies gained renewed popularity in Japan as a symbol of protection, as many Japanese believe they could help ward off the virus.
• Kasaobake: Whimsical yokai depicted as a one-eyed, one-legged animated umbrellas. This creature is a tsukumogami (everyday objects that come to life after 100 years), and is known for hopping around on one foot and playing harmless pranks on people.
• Rokurokubi: Spooky yokai known for an ability to elongate its neck to incredible lengths, typically a night while maintaining a human appearance by day.
• Kappa: A water-dwelling being from Japanese folklore, depicted as a child-sized creature with a beak, webbed hands, and a dish-like depression on its head that holds water. Known for both mischievous and malevolent behavior, the kappa is said to lure people into the water to drown, but can be defeated by tricking it into spilling the water from its head bowl, rendering it powerless.
• Chochinobake: A haunted paper lantern with a single eye and a long, lolling tongue. As part of the tsukumogami category, it is believed to come to life after a hundred years, embodying the spirit of a once-useful everyday object now bringing mischief or revenge on its human masters.
• Plus dozens of other amazing Yokai!

In early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker (the manager of the number-one country music star of the day) heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than 800 people to a Texas schoolhouse and headed south to investigate. Within a matter of days, Parker was sending out telegrams and letters to promoters and booking agents: 'We have a new boy that is absolutely going to be one of the biggest things in the business in a very short time. His name is ELVIS PRESLEY.'

The close personal bond between Elvis and the Colonel is something that has never been fully portrayed before. It was a relationship founded on mutual admiration and support. From the outset, the Colonel defended Elvis fiercely and indefatigably against RCA executives, Elvis' own booking agents and movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, as the Colonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself - or to control growing problems of his own.

Featuring troves of previously unpublished correspondence from the Colonel's own archives, revelatory for both their insights and their emotional depth, The Colonel and the King provides a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager and a unique perspective on not one but two American originals. A tale of the birth of the modern-day superstar (an invention almost entirely of Parker's making) by the most acclaimed music writer of his generation, it presents these two misunderstood icons as they've never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humour and flaws on full display.

'A spirited skewering of the idea that things can only get better' The Guardian'A new understanding of our past' Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%________________________________

Een combinatie van zijn eigen reiservaringen met de levendige geschiedenis van het roerige Centraal-Europa. Van de schrijver van bestseller Begrijp jij het Midden-Oosten nog?

The runaway #1 New York Times bestseller

'Timely and fascinating... There are many astonishing vignettes... an important book' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

'A ripping read. . . . The parallels to the present day are strong, even startling' New York Times

As Hitler's ascendancy began to make a Second World War inevitable, a clandestine network flooded the United States with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of its war effort and persuading Americans that their natural alliance was with the Nazis.

It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the US government and installing authoritarian rule. Some of the country's most influential elected officials, including senators and members of Congress, worked to disseminate Nazi talking points, while fascist paramilitaries stockpiled bombs and weapons in preparation for violent insurrection.

Prequel unearths the forgotten story of these insurrectionists, as well as the heroic efforts of the journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose their plot and bring them to justice. Deeply researched, the story of how the crisis was averted is also a deeply relevant tale for our own disquieting times.

Hoe propaganda de verbeelding koloniseert.

North, south, east and west: almost all societies use the four cardinal directions to orientate themselves, to understand who they are by projecting where they are.

In Four Points of the Compass, Jerry Brotton takes the reader on a journey of directional discovery. He reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five colour-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever orientated themselves westwards. He ends by reflecting on our digital age in which we, the little blue dot on the screen, have become the most important compass point. Throughout, Brotton shows that the directions reflect a human desire to create order and that they only have meaning, literally and metaphorically, depending on where you stand.

Longlisted for the 2025 BSHS Hughes Prize 'Enthralling' Philip Ball'Ingenious' Sujit SivasundaramIn Tracks on the Ocean, Sara Caputo tells how our journeys around the globe became fixed lines on maps - and how journey lines themselves reshaped maps and the way that we view the world. From Captain Cook's route across the South Seas to the disorientating power of digital technology, the tracks we've left on the oceans - trading, exploring and conquering - are a hidden record of humanity's impact on the planet. Revealing their histories, Caputo uncovers a fascinating new history of maritime travel and modernity.Weaving human history, cartography, literature and climate science, Tracks on the Ocean reveals how, on the path to discovery, we have changed the world.

In 1850, China was the 'sick man of Asia'. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as victim of oppression, war and famine. This makes its current position as arguably the most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Jonathan Fenby's comprehensive account is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.

'His book is a miracle of thoroughness, truthfulness and readability - the perfect primer for a time when China is about to enter all our lives' - Sunday Telegraph

'Jonathan Fenby's ... illuminating book [is] the first major history that looks at the country with the eyes of the 21st century rather than the 20th' - Rana Mitter, Financial Times

'Reads like a novel and is never less than thoughtful and compassionate for the fate of a much-abused people ... [Fenby has] a journalist's eye for telling detail' - Herald

'Taut, anecdote-studded ... a great introduction for a general audience, with vivid scene setting and character sketches' - Michel Sheridan, Sunday Times

'For an accessible, authoritative, fair and comprehensive and well written account, this would be hard to better' - BBC History

'A wonderful history of modern China and a cracking good read' - Chris Patten

'A riveting and illuminating tour of how nations deal with crises - which might hopefully help humanity as a whole deal with our present global crisis' YUVAL NOAH HARARI, author of SAPIENS

** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

Author of the landmark international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond has transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, at a time when crises are erupting around the world, he explores what makes certain nations resilient, and reveals the factors that influence how nations and individuals can respond to enormous challenges.

In a riveting journey into the recent past, he traces how six distinctive modern nations - Finland, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Germany and Australia - have survived defining catastrophes, and identifies patterns in their recovery. Looking ahead, he investigates the risk that the United States and other countries, faced by grave threat, are set on a course towards catastrophe.

Adding a rich psychological dimension to the in-depth history, geography, biology and anthropology that underpin all of Diamond's writing, Upheaval is epic in scope, but also his most personal book yet.

'Fascinating ... I finished the book even more optimistic about our ability to solve problems than I started' BILL GATES

'Jared Diamond does it again: another rich, original and fascinating chapter in the human saga - with vital lessons for our difficult times' STEVEN PINKER

A philosophical exploration of the idea of 'rebellion' by one of the leading existentialist thinkers, Albert Camus' The Rebel looks at artistic and political rebels throughout history, from Epicurus to the Marquis de Sade. This Penguin Modern Classics edition is translated by Anthony Bower with an introduction by Oliver Todd. The Rebel is Camus' 'attempt to understand the time I live in' and a brilliant essay on the nature of human revolt. Published in 1951, it makes a daring critique of communism - how it had gone wrong behind the Iron Curtain and the resulting totalitarian regimes. It questions two events held sacred by the left wing - the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917 - that had resulted, he believed, in terrorism as a political instrument. In this towering intellectual document, Camus argues that hope for the future lies in revolt, which unlike revolution is a spontaneous response to injustice and a chance to achieve change without giving up collective and intellectual freedom. Albert Camus (1913-60) is the author of a number of best-selling and highly influential works, all of which are published by Penguin. They include The Fall, The Outsider and The First Man. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus is remembered as one of the few writers to have shaped the intellectual climate of post-war France, but beyond that, his fame has been international. If you enjoyed The Rebel, you might like Camus' The Fall, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'One of the great humanist manifestos'The Times'A conscience with style'V.S. Pritchett, author of A Cab at the Door

Pulitzer Prize winners Will and Ariel Durant explore humanity's culture and civilization in "The Lessons of History," examining great lives, ideas, and historical cycles.

‘A page-turner about page-turners’ Janice Hallett
‘The perfect piece of armchair detection’ Ruth Ware
‘Hugely entertaining and unexpectedly gripping’ London Review of Books

A true detective story from the age of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers: the literary crime that fooled the world - and the daring young booksellers who uncovered it

London, 1932. Thomas James Wise is the toast of the literary establishment. A prominent collector and businessman, with friends in high places, he is one of the most powerful men in the field of rare books.

One night, two young booksellers stumble upon a strange discrepancy leading them to suspect Wise and his books are not all they seem. Inspired by the vogue for Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, the pair harness the latest developments in forensic analysis to crack the case. By the time they are done, their investigation will have rocked the book world to its core.

‘A thrilling unravelling of bookish fraud that reads like a detective story from the golden age’ Roland Philipps, author of A Spy Named Orphan

‘Hone is a lively and fluent writer, ratcheting up the temperature with snappy sentences and chapters ending on cliffhangers’ Sunday Telegraph

*An Observer Book of the Year*'One of the most gripping accounts... of the Nazis' rise to power. It contains many lessons for the world now.' - John Kampfner, bestselling author of Why The Germans Do It Better'Outstanding... This is history at its very best.' - Julia Boyd, bestselling author of Travellers in the Third ReichGermany, 1918: a country in flux. The First World War is over, the nation defeated. Revolution is afoot, the monarchy has fallen and the victory of democracy beckons. Everything must change with the times. Out of the ashes of the First World War, Germany launches an unprecedented political project: its first democratic government. The Weimar Republic is established. The years that follow see political extremism, economic upheaval, revolutionary violence and the transformation of Germany. Tradition is shaken to its core as a triumphant procession of liberated lifestyles emerges. Women conquer the racetracks and tennis courts, go out alone in the evenings, cut their hair short and cast the idea of marriage aside. Unisex style comes into fashion, androgynous and experimental. People revel in the discovery of leisure, filling up boxing halls, dance palaces and the hotspots of the New Age, embracing the department stores’ promise of happiness and accepting the streets as a place of fierce political battles. In this short burst of life between the wars, amidst a frenzy of change, comes a backlash from those who do not see themselves reflected in the new Republic. Little by little, deep divisions begin to emerge. Divisions that would bring devastating consequences, altering the course of the twentieth century and the lives of millions around the world. Vertigo is a vital, kaleidoscopic portrait of a pivotal moment in German history.

The Offbeat Sari will explore how the sari has become a site for design innovation, an expression of identity, a form of resistance, and a crafted object carrying layers of cultural meanings. In recent years, the sari has been reinvented. The urban youth who previously associated the sari with dressing up can now be found wearing saris and sneakers on their commutes to work. Designers are experimenting with hybrid forms such as sari gowns and dresses, pre-draped saris and innovative materials such as steel. Wearers are embodying the sari as a vessel for dynamism rather than pageantry. Individuals are wearing the sari as an expression of resistance to social norms and activists are embodying it as an object of protest. Today, the sari manifests as a site for design innovation, an expression of identity and a crafted object carrying layers of cultural meanings. Since the exhibition will focus on the sari in urban India, the book will follow suit in terms of this remit. It will comprise a series of commissioned essays by notable Indian writers expanding on some of the themes that are central to the definition of the sari in contemporary India and pegged to objects displayed in the exhibition.

‘De middeleeuwen’ is een nieuwe, complete geschiedenis van de duizend jaar die zo vormend waren voor Europa, meeslepend opgeschreven door meesterverteller en bestsellerauteur Dan Jones.

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2024*
*An instant Sunday Times bestseller, Radio 4 Book of the Week and Guardian Best Summer Read*
Selected as a book to look out for in 2024 by the Guardian and The Rest is Politics

Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone.

For too long, Africa’s history has been dominated by western narratives of slavery and colonialism, or simply ignored. Now, Zeinab Badawi sets the record straight.

In this fascinating book, Badawi guides us through Africa’s spectacular history – from the origins of humanity, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, Badawi weaves together a gripping new history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.

'A triumph, a volume of great good sense and imagination which brims with fascinations' SPECTATOR'A truly original adventure into new ways of exploring what we mean by a sense of place' SIMON JENKINS'Shows the unexpected side-effects of human-drawn borders' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A wise and thought-provoking series of raids across borders we thought we knew' IAIN SINCLAIROur world has innumerable boundaries, ranging from the obvious - like oceans and mountain ranges - to the intangible - like subtle differences in language or climate. Most of us cross invisible lines all the time, but rarely do we stop to consider them. Invisible Lines presents 30 such unseen boundaries, intriguing and unexpected examples of the myriad ways in which we collectively engage with and experience the world. From football fans in Buenos Aires to air quality in China, Paris' banlieues to sub-Saharan Africa's Malaria Belt, the invisible boundaries that shape our experiences and existence provide a compelling guide to seeing and understanding our world anew.

Set in 20th-century El Salvador, The Volcano Daughters is a powerful novel about sisterhood, art, and a community of women who refuse to be silenced. 'A gripping and spellbinding novel about a sisterhood ripped apart by violence, narrated by a ghostly chorus. An unforgettable debut.' Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing HalfEl Salvador, 1923. Two sisters, raised in the shadow of a brutal dictatorship, must take separate journeys to escape the genocide that engulfs the country they love. Each believing the other to be dead, they flee across the globe, reinventing themselves and building very different lives along the way. But their paths will cross once more, for neither girl can forget the ghosts of the murdered friends they left behind. Fate will bring them back together, and when that happens, the voices of the dead will be heard once more. Their story is not yet over. Endlessly surprising, vividly imaginative, bursting with lush life, The Volcano Daughters is a story about the strength of sisterhood against all odds. * A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from Vulture and Electric Literature *

** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **

'Extraordinary' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES • ‘An epic thriller . . . droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it' OBSERVER • ‘Fascinating . . . gripping' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH • 'Excellent . . . a fresh, unexpected take on the liberation of Paris' JULIAN JACKSON, author of France on Trial

From the Sunday Times-bestselling Patrick Bishop comes a heart-stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944, one of the great and most dramatic hinge moments of WW2.

When the Germans marched in and the lamps went out in the City of Light the millions who loved Paris mourned. Liberation, four years later, triggered an explosion of joy and relief. It was the party of the century and everybody who was anybody was there. General Charles de Gaulle seized the moment to create an instant legend that would take its place alongside the great moments in French history. After years of oppression and humiliation Parisians had risen to reclaim their city and drive out the forces of darkness – or so the story went.

This fresh new account of the liberation, packed with revelation, tells the story of those heady days of suspense, danger, exhilaration – and vengeance – through the eyes of a range of participants, reflecting all sides of the conflict: Americans, French and Germans; resisters and collaborators. Among them are famous names like Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger and Pablo Picasso, but also some fascinating unknowns including a medic turned Resistance gunwoman, an androgynous Hungarian sculptor and a French bluestocking who quietly set about saving the nation’s art treasures from the Nazi looters.

Paris ’44 looks behind the mythology to tell the real story of the liberation and expose the conflicts and contradictions of France under the occupation – the shame as well as the glory. This gripping war-time narrative will enthral anyone who has a place for Paris in their hearts.

THE INSTANT NYT BESTSELLER

'Fascinating' - The Guardian

A gripping account of the little-known plot that could have put an end to JFK's historic presidency - before it even began.

From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Nazi Conspiracy comes a true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy, right before his inauguration.

Kennedy was infamously assassinated in 1963, ending his historic presidency. But what most people don't know is that JFK's story almost ended before it began - at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner armed with dynamite.

On December 11, 1960, shortly after Kennedy's election and before his inauguration, retired postal worker, Richard Pavlick, waited in his parked Buick on a quiet street in Palm Beach, Florida. Pavlick knew when Kennedy would leave his house and where he was going. From there, Pavlick had a simple plan - one that almost changed the course of history.

Written in the page-turning style that is the hallmark of Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch's bestselling series, this is a slice of history vividly brought to life. Meltzer and Mensch are at the top of their game with a brilliant exploration of what could've been for one of the most compelling leaders of the 20th century.

A NEW YORK TIMES, TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, SPECTATOR, ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025
WINNER OF THE POL ROGER DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024
WINNER THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS BOOK AWARD 2025
WINNER OF THE FRANCO-BRITISH SOCIETY LITERARY AWARD 2024

A vital re-examination of the trailblazing and controversial artist Paul Gauguin – and the first full biography in over thirty years – written by the award-winning author of I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche.

'Scintillating.' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Immaculate.' NEW STATESMAN
'Phenomenal.' PROSPECT
'A heroic rehabilitation.' THE TIMES

Paul Gauguin is chiefly known as the giant of post-Impressionist painting whose bold colours and compositions rocked the Western art world. It is less well known that he was a stockbroker in Paris and that after the 1882 financial crash he struggled to sustain his artistry, and worked as a tarpaulin salesman in Copenhagen, a canal digger in Panama City, and a journalist exposing the injustices of French colonial rule in Tahiti.

In Wild Thing, the award-winning biographer Sue Prideaux re-examines the adventurous and complicated life of the artist. She illuminates the people, places and ideas that shaped his vision: his privileged upbringing in Peru and rebellious youth in France; the galvanising energy of the Paris art scene; meeting Mette, the woman who he would marry; formative encounters with Vincent van Gogh and August Strindberg; and the ceaseless draw of French Polynesia.

Prideaux conjures Gauguin’s visual exuberance, his creative epiphanies, his fierce words and his flaws with acuity and sensitivity. Drawing from a wealth of new material and access to the artist’s family, this myth-busting work invites us to see Gauguin anew.

'Our greatest living expert on Sparta' - Tom Holland, author of Rubicon

The definitive account of the extraordinary people of Sparta.

The Spartan legend has inspired and captivated subsequent generations with evidence of its legacy found in both the Roman and British Empires. The Spartans are our ancestors, every bit as much as the Athenians. But while Athens promoted democracy, individualism, culture and society, their great rivals Sparta embodied militarism, totalitarianism, segregation and brutal repression . . .

As ruthless as they were self-sacrificing, their devastatingly successful war rituals made the Spartans the ultimate fighting force, epitomized by Thermopylae. While slave masters to the Helots for over three centuries, Spartan women, such as Helen of Troy, were free to indulge in education, dance and sport.

Interspersed with the personal biographies of leading figures, and based on thirty years' research, Paul Cartledge's The Spartans tracks the people from 480 to 360 BC charting Sparta's progression from the Great Power of the Aegean Greek world to its ultimate demise.

Now part of the Picador Collection.

THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE BBC'S MISS AUSTEN: THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY JANE AUSTEN LOVER

Readers LOVE Jane Austen at Home:

'A "tour de force" which should be in the reading list of anyone who has either read the books or watched the film adaptations.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This book is a delight . . . I will return to Austen's novels with a greater appreciation of the hardships and hopes of her heroines.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I devoured this. Jane's story is told in vivid prose and a compassionate manner.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Where better to celebrate the 250th birthday of one of Britain's most beloved novelists than the very rooms from which she quietly changed the world?

In this bestselling biography, Lucy Worsley travels from room to room, house to house, showing us how and why Jane Austen lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn't all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a 'life without incident', but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. A woman who far from being a lonely spinster in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.

Featuring a guided tour of all the best Jane Austen sites to visit specially written for this birthday edition, this gorgeous book is perfect for Austen fans everywhere.

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Critical acclaim for Jane Austen at Home:

'This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.' ― Antonia Fraser

'Jane Austen at Home offers a fascinating look at Jane Austen's world through the lens of the homes in which she lived and worked throughout her life. The result is a refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.' ― Amanda Foreman

'A must for any Austenite.' ― Red magazine

'Brilliant and very moving, this book is a fascinating and original exploration of Jane Austen with lots of new material - Worsley brings Austen to life superbly, through her pages she is a flesh and blood woman, intelligent, powerful, contradictory, loving, loved. A magnificent book.' ― Kate Williams

'Rarely, if ever, will you encounter a historian so in command of their material. Truly, this is a dazzling exercise in persuasion, written with sense and sensibility.' ― Saturday Express

'Worsley offers us much that Austen's admirers wish to know... [she] is entirely convincing.' ― New York Times

'A sprightly new take on Austen's life.' ― Mail on Sunday

Lucy Worsley 'is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak' ― Sunday Times

The gripping, untold story of how six epic journeys launched the three communist revolutions that changed world history forever. From the streets of Petrograd during the heady autumn of 1917, to Mao's stunning victory in October 1949, and Fidel's triumphant arrival in Havana, in January 1959, the history of the twentieth century was transformed in dramatic and profound ways by the Russian, Chinese, and Cuban revolutions. In Three Revolutions, the stories of these epoch-defining events are told together for the first time. At the heart of each revolution was an epic journey: Lenin's 1917 return to Russia from exile in Switzerland; Mao's 'Long March' of 1934-35, covering some 6,000 miles across China; and Fidel Castro's return to Cuba in 1956 following his exile in Mexico. Told in tandem with these are the corresponding journeys of three extraordinary journalists - John Reed, Edgar Snow and Herbert L. Matthews - whose electric testimony from the frontlines of each revolution would make a decisive contribution to how these revolutions were understood in the wider world. Here, in Simon Hall's masterful retelling, these six remarkable journeys are brought vividly to life. Featuring a stellar cast, extraordinary drama and an epic sweep, Three Revolutions raises fundamental questions about the nature of political power, the limits of idealism and the role of the journalist - questions that remain of utmost urgency today.

Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit?All these questions - and more - are answered in this juicy, truly intimate history of the home. Through the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen, Lucy Worsley explores what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stove.