Emphasising context, connections and long-term trends, A History of Korea illuminates both the distinctiveness and universality of one of the world's oldest cultures. Assuming no prior knowledge, Hwang guides readers from early state formation and the dynastic eras to the modern experience in both North and South Korea. Structured around episodic accounts, each chapter begins by discussing a defining moment in Korean history in context, with an extensive examination of how the events and them...

In Jihad in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions, a preeminent historian of Africa argues that scholars of the Americas and the Atlantic world have not given Africa its due consideration as part of either the Atlantic world or the age of revolutions. The book examines the jihad movement in the context of the age of revolutions—commonly associated with the American and French revolutions and the erosion of European imperialist powers—and shows how West Africa, too, experienced a perio...

A 'luminous' new history of the Mediterranean telling the interweaving stories of five forgotten ancient cities

The astonishing and bestselling life story of the renowned campaigner for religious tolerance and women's rights, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

An enthralling journey through the history of books and libraries in the ancient world and those who have helped preserve their rich literary traditions

The astonishing story of one of the most significant years in modern European history.

Opening with a panorama of Russian society, from the cloistered world of the Tsar to the brutal life of the peasants, this book follows workers, soldiers, intellectuals and villagers as their world is consumed by revolution and then degenerates into violence and dictatorship.

As the Second World War raged across Europe, and the Nazi regime tightened its reign of horror and oppression, nine women, some still in their teens, joined the French and Dutch Resistance. Caught out in heroic acts against the brutal occupiers, they were each tortured and sent east into Greater Germany to a concentration camp, where they formed a powerful friendship. In 1945, as the war turned against Hitler, they were forced on a Death March, facing starvation and almost certain death. Dete...