History

A thrilling and very personal history of flight by the world-famous adventurer and businessman. As far back as stories go, pioneers have reached for the skies. In the last two hundred years, they have mastered the air and made the modern world possible. Today they are bringing outer space within our reach. They're inventors and toymakers, amateurs and adventurers, visionaries, dreamers and, yes, crackpots. Some have called them irresponsible, even dangerous. But I have met many of them. I have worked with them, and funded th... read more

Offers an account of the age of Empire flying boats, whose story began in July 1936 with a reassuringly trouble-free test flight on Kent's River Medway. This title tells of slow, meandering flights across the Empire, swooping down on sun-warmed stretches of water for luncheon and tea.

In Bligh, the story of the most notorious of all Pacific explorers is told through a new lens as a significant episode in the history of the world, not simply of the West. Award-winning anthropologist Anne Salmond recounts the triumphs and disasters of William Bligh's life and career in a riveting narrative that for the first time portrays the Pacific islanders as key players.
From 1777, Salmond charts Bligh's three Pacific voyages - with Captain James Cook in the Resolution, on board the Bounty and as commander of the Provid... read more

The first serious yet sympathetic biography by a woman of the Duchess of Windsor, Mrs Simpson.
This will be the first serious yet sympathetic book by a female biographer to explain the story of how an American divorcee became a hate figure for allegedly ensnaring a British King from his throne. It focuses on the core conflict of her life in the 1930s, with particular reference to her impoverished American childhood as a motivation for her ambition. 'That woman', so called by her sister-in-law the new Queen Elizabeth, was born... read more

In September 1996, a fourteen-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room, shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi. This was the evening that her father Murtaza was murdered, along with six of his associates. In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, Fatima's aunt, and the woman she had publically accused of ordering her father's murder, was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was the latest in a long line of tragedies for one of the world's best known political dynasties. ... read more

In this astonishing and riveting book, Alison Weir shows that Mary's story had a happy ending and that she was by far the luckiest of the Boleyns. Mary Boleyn has gone down in history as a 'great and infamous whore'. She was the mistress of two kings, Francois I of France and Henry VIII of England, and sister to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife. She may secretly have borne Henry a child. It was because of his adultery with Mary that his marriage to Anne was annulled.  It is not hard to see how this tangled web of... read more

Cleopatra's palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order, a generation before the birth of Christ. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff's is a luminous reconstruction of a dazzling life.

"A swift, sympathetic life of one of history's most maligned and legendary women." Kirkus

Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse is an inspirational memoir by Suraya Sadeed, an Afghan woman from a wealthy family who became an exile in America after the Russians invaded. She made a happy and successful life for herself in Virginia with her husband and child. Then, in the wake of her husband's sudden death, she decided to return to Afghanistan to help those who had suffered throughout the years of the invasion, the reign of the Taliban and post 9/11 trauma. A true heroine, she smuggled herself across borders in va... read more

'I thank you for your bravery. You really are an indication of what one woman can do.' Oprah Winfrey

'This terrific memoir is the story of her struggles, her sacrifices, and her hopes. It is the moving life story of a remarkable woman who has overcome personal tragedy and has made it her single-minded mission to bring hope, relief and a measure of happiness to the brutalised women and children of Afghanistan' Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner

A glorious account of the life of the Spanish infanta who became Queen of England and changed the course of Tudor history.
The image of Catherine of Aragon has always suffered in comparison to the vivacious eroticism of Anne Boleyn. But when Henry VIII married Catherine, she was an auburn-haired beauty in her 20s with a passion she had inherited from her parents, Isabella and Ferdinand, the joint-rulers of Spain who had driven the Moors from their country. This daughter of conquistadors showed the same steel and sense of comm... read more

On April 12 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth's atmosphere and venture into space. An icon of the 20th century, he also became a danger to himself and a threat to the Soviet state. At the age of 34, he was killed in a plane crash. Based on KGB files, restricted documents from Russian space authorities, and interviews with his friends and colleagues, this biography of the Russian cosmonaut reveals a man in turmoil: torn apart by powerful political pressures, fighting a losing battle against alcoholism an... read more

'Starman takes us breakneck speed through Gagarin's strange trajectory...Without books like these to shelter it, history is eroded by propaganda and real heroes fall victim to spin' New Scientist

'A riveting account of Gagarin's life ... Starman brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the time' European

'Starman skilfully achieves two distinct objectives: The uncovering of much of the mystery around one of mankind's finest periods, and a full and respectful acknowledgement that its m..read more

On 14th April 1912 the Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank. Fifteen hundred passengers and crew lost their lives. As the order to abandon ship was given, the orchestra took their instruments on deck and continued to play. They were still playing when the ship went down. The violinist, 21 year-old Jock Hume, knew that his fiancee, Mary was expecting their child, the author's mother. One hundred years later, Christopher Ward reveals a dramatic story of love, loss and betrayal, and the catastrophic impact of Jock'... read more

The story of the most famous protest in sports history, written by one of the men who staged it.
At the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith came in first in the 200-meter dash. As they received their medals, he and bronze winner John Carlos each raised a black-gloved fist, creating an indelible image of courage and protest that still resonates forty years later. This autobiography presents the story of that moment.

"An important entry in the history of track and field and African American studies." Library Journal

"The book offers insights into Smith's athletic prowess...When he describes the physical sensations of running - the paradoxical relaxation of muscles required to explode out of the blocks, the adrenaline that floods the body as a sprinter takes the get-set position and the stride-by-stride account of the 1968 gold medal race - Smith's narrative surges to life. A major aim of the book is to explain the motivation behind the silent ges..read more

The eighteenth century was an era when brave mariners took their ships beyond the horizon in search of an unknown world. Those chosen to lead these expeditions were exceptional navigators, men who had shown brilliance as they ascended the ranks in the Royal Navy. They were also bloody good sailors.
From ship's boy to vice-admiral, discover how much more there was to Captain Bligh than his infamous bad temper. Meet a 24-year-old Master Bligh as he witnesses the demise of his Captain and mentor Cook; a 34-year-old Lieutenant B... read more

George VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother's abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or si... read more

Divided City is a vivid memoir of an American boy growing up in the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict, three major wars and three decades of political upheavals in the Middle East. Set in Jerusalem (1956-1958), Beirut (1970), Saudi Arabia (1962-1965), Amman and Cairo (1965-1967), Bird's book explains through a blend of memoir and history why the Western experience in the Middle East has been so turbulent. Through Bird's Zelig-like presence, the reader experiences the Suez War of 1956, the June 1967 War and the Black September hija... read more

'Acute and engaging Bird puts me somewhat in mind of Edward Saidâ's memoir' Out of Place

'Bird devotes the last third of his text to a reconstruction of his Austrian Jewish wife's family history during and after the Shoah. His intention here is as admirable as it is plain, and these pages contain some stirring and even uplifting material about human survival. But this serves only to make his genuine evenhandedness more poignant.' Christopher Hitchens, The Atlantic

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Esteemed historians Burstein and Isenberg join forces to reveal the crucial partnership of two extraordinary founders, creating a superb dual biography that is a thrilling and unprecedented account of early America.

Be it soft-serve, gelato, Indian kulfi or Israeli glida, some form of ice cream treat can be found throughout the world in restaurants and home freezers. Though ice cream was once considered a food for the elite, it has evolved into one of the most popular mass-market products ever developed. In Ice Cream, Laura B. Weiss takes us on a vibrant trip through the history of ice cream from ancient China to modern-day Tokyo in order to tell the lively story of how this delicious indulgence became a global sensation. It's a tale populated... read more

We think the way we do because Socrates thought the way he did. His aphorism 'The unexamined life is not worth living' may have originated twenty-five centuries ago, but it is a founding principle of modern life. Socrates lived and contributed to a city that nurtured key ingredients of contemporary civilisation - democracy, liberty, science, drama, rational thought - yet, as he wrote nothing in his lifetime, he himself is an enigmatic figure. "The Hemlock Cup" gives Socrates the biography he deserves, setting him in the context of ... read more

"The Hemlock Cup is another vibrant and atmospheric work from this well-known promotor of the ancient world." - Michael Scott, "BBC History Magazine" "In The Hemlock Cup Bettany Hughes does a very good job of recreating the material world in which Socrates lived... She is up to date on recent archaeological discoveries... she writes frankly of the nastiness of the world in which Socrates grew up and lived." - Mary Beard, " Sunday Times"

From Alexandria to York, this unique illustrated guide allows us to see the great centres of classical civilization afresh. The key feature of "Cities of the Classical World" is 120 specially drawn maps tracing each city's thoroughfares and defences, monuments and places of worship. Every map is to the same scale, allowing readers for the first time to appreciate visually the relative sizes of Babylon and Paris, London and Constantinople. There is also a clear, incisive commentary on each city's development, strategic importance, r... read more