The bizarre and little known story of how a hubristicArchduke became the puppet Emperor of Mexico -with tragic results and pivotal historical consequencesfor Europe and America.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘His masterpiece’ Antony Beevor, Spectator ‘A masterful performance’ Sunday Times ‘By far the best book on the Vietnam War’ Gerald Degroot, The Times, Book of the Year

A major new history of North and South Korea, from the late nineteenth century to the present day

A biography of the boldest and most unsettling of the early modern philosophers, Spinoza, examining the man's life, relationships, career, and writings, while forcing us to rethink how we previously understood his reception in the fields of philosophy, religion, ethics, and political theory in his own time and in the years following his death.

Nelson Mandela's book Conversations With Myself is an unprecedented and official portrait of one of the great leaders of our time, with a foreword by President Barack Obama

Debunking what were accepted truths about the Second World War, the author argues provocatively that Hitler did not set out to cause the war as part of an evil master plan, but blundered into it partly by accident, aided by the shortcomings of others.