Unexpected Nation. The fullest, most serious account of a long-volatile region, now covering the period from 2015 to the present, including the rise of Zelensky and the Russian invasion.

Cook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. In voyages that ranged from the Antarctic circle to the Arctic Sea, Cook charted Australia and the whole coast of New Zealand, and brought back descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific. This title tells the story of these voyages.

At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union unexpectedly found itself in control of a huge swathe of territory in Eastern Europe. Stalin and his secret police set out to convert a dozen radically different countries to a completely new political and moral system: Communism.

What caused the Russian Revolution? Did it succeed or fail? Do we still live with its consequences? This book deals with these questions.

Describes the key members of Stalin's court: Beria, Malenkov, Zhukov, Molotov and Khruschchev.

Explores the lives of over forty men and women – great and otherwise – whose pioneering journeys beyond the Irish shore played a profound role in world history.