History

Medicine, in the early 1800s, was a brutal business. Operations were performed without anaesthesia while conventional treatment relied on leeches, cupping and toxic potions. The most surgeons could offer by...

Mark Urban tells the story of ten exceptional generals who left their mark on Britain, the British Empire, and the world. Some - including the Duke of Wellington, Lord Kitchener...

"Totally riveting. I couldn't put it down" VICTORIA HISLOP"Masterful, original and painfully gripping" PHILIPPE SANDS"A heart-piercingly brilliant book about a woman whose personal life put her in the cross-hairs of...

Based on 20 years of research, Gianluca Barneschi has uncovered the true story of a real-life James Bond. The debonair Special Operations Executive agent Richard 'Dick' Mallaby was the first...

An exploration of some of the most important and enduring ideas in human history - from religion, science, philosophy, medicine, psychology, politics, economics and art - each presented in brief,...

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR**Alev Scott's odyssey began when she looked beyond Turkey's borders for contemporary traces of the Ottoman Empire. Their 800-year rule ended...

Driven by her family's devastating losses, Congolese expatriate Francisca Thelin embarks, with human rights activist Lisa J. Shannon, on a perilous journey back to her beloved homeland, now under the...

In 1797, Lucia, the beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter of a Venetian statesman, was married off to Alvise Mocenigo, scion of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families of the once...

A spirited examination of world history, told through 50 key documents, by two celebrated historians and journalists. With a wealth of experience between them on political, social, cultural and military...

A Times History Book of the Year 2022 From the #1 bestselling historian Max Hastings 'the heart-stopping story of the missile crisis' Daily Telegraph The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was...

Inspiration for the major film starring Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal and Huma Qureshi and directed by Gurinder Chadha. Seventy years ago, at midnight on 14 August 1947, the...

Valtesse de la Bigne was a celebrated nineteenth-century Parisian courtesan. She was painted by Manet and inspired Emile Zola, who immortalised her in his scandalous novel Nana. Her rumoured affairs...

For the first time a modern British historian tells the story of the against-the-odds triumph through the accounts of the regimental officers and soldiers whose bravery and resolution achieved victory....

For over three and a half years, from 1779 to 1783, the tiny territory of Gibraltar was besieged and blockaded, on land and at sea, by the overwhelming forces of...

Following a youth of poverty and bitter exile after his father's execution, the ousted king first challenged, then made his magnificent escape from, Cromwell's troops before he was eventually restored...

Written by one of Britain's most successful living battlefield commanders, "Masters of the Battlefield" examines the lives and tactics of 30 of the world's greatest military leaders. Arranged chronologically, each...

Sweeping but succinct, this comprehensive reference presents all of world history in a browsable format featuring more than three dozen maps, along with hundreds of photographs and illustrations. From the...

Acclaimed historian Natalie Zemon Davis's accessible and dramatic biography was widely hailed as a masterpiece and tells the story of Leo Africanus, a sixteenth-century Moroccan who embodies the rich and...

A contemporary look at Cecil Beaton's portraits of the Royal Family and how they helped create the public face of the House of Windsor. Cecil Beaton: The Royal Portraits looks...

The first illustrated global exploration of the cultural significance of twins. The birth of twins is unusual. Throughout history they have been revered as gods and reviled as monsters; they...

A journey through the great mass-extinction events that have shaped our Earth. In this vast sweep of our Earth's history, Michael Benton brings the deep past to life as never...

A brand-new translation of a philosophical classic of the ancient world, The Teaching of Ptahhatp, written in Egypt 4,000 years ago. The Teaching of Ptahhatp, composed two millennia before the...

Winner of the 2014 Political Book Awards Political Biography of the YearShortlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson PrizeShortlisted for the 2014 Costa Biography AwardLonglisted for the 2015 Orwell PrizeRoy Jenkins...

India's lost emperor Ashoka Maurya has a special place in history. In his quest to govern India by moral force alone Ashoka turned Buddhism from a minor sect into a...

From the bestselling author Simon Winchester, a human history of land around the world: who mapped it, owned it, stole it, cared for it, fought for it and gave it...

The complete and definitive history of how Roman generals carved out the greatest and longest-lasting empire the world has ever seen.The Roman army was one of the most effective fighting...

The world of Freemasonry exerts a powerful influence on the modern imagination. In an age when perceived notions of history are being increasingly questioned and re-examined it is perhaps inevitable...

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, and other papyri and paintings, have long held a fascination for modern people but are easily dismissed as superstitions and fanciful poetry. In recent...

'Fascinating... A vivid account' - Philippa Gregory, The TimesIn the mid-seventeenth century, England was divided by Civil War, but inside the home domestic life continued as it always had done....

Training her eye on traits that other biographers have neglected and mining newly released diaries and letters, Barbara Perry captures Rose Kennedy's genuine contributions to her family's political dynasty. Rose's...

Perfect for readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey and The Librarian of Auschwitz - this is the international bestselling and life-affirming true story of female bravery and surviving...

History is a rich, varied and fascinating subject, so it's rare to find the whole lot in one book ... until now. The History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks...

Who were the first Britons, and what sort of world did they occupy? In A History of Ancient Britain, much-loved historian Neil Oliver turns a spotlight on the very beginnings...

The only biography of Britain's celebrated female spy - now fully updated with previously classified materials.From being raised in a Tanzanian shack, to attaining MI6's most senior operational rank, Daphne...

Christianity is the most enduring and influential legacy of the ancient world, and its emergence the single most transformative development in Western history. Even the increasing number in the West...

A new edition of Primo Levi's classic memoir of the Holocaust, with an introduction by David Baddiel, author of Jews Don't Count'With the moral stamina and intellectual poise of a...

The Times Book of the YearBBC History Magazine Book of the YearDaily Telegraph Book of the Year BOOK OF THE WEEK - The Times 'The strength of this book lies...

This volume tells the story of Christianity through the individual men and women who shaped it. It is a story of colossal undertakings and spectacular successes as well as ferocious...

For nearly a century the two most powerful nations on earth, Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia, fought a secret war in the lonely passes and deserts of Central Asia. Those...

Miller provides a clear and comprehensible narrative, a coherent and accurate synthesis, intended as a guide for students and the general reader to an extremely complex period in British history....

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'A standalone classic . . . An incredible book, remarkable for its unflinching gaze at the past and also for its hope'GUARDIAN, 'Books to Give...

'A brilliant study of a brilliant woman' LUCY WORSLEY History has forgotten Caroline of Ansbach, yet in her lifetime she was compared frequently to Elizabeth I and considered by some...