Secondhand History Books

In the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in...

Health, disease and society in Europe 1500-1800 considers how the body was viewed by the medical profession from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, and challenges established ideas in the field...

Two of the major conflicts of the second half of the nineteenth century, the Crimean War and the American Civil War, gave photographers their first opportunity to approach the battlefield....

The Knights Templar were the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained...

From Britain's 'greatest living factual historian' (Paul Johnson, Evening Standard), the third and final volume of his magisterial global history of the twentieth century. Martin Gilbert is Britain's leading popular...

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Western India in 1869. He was educated in London and later travelled to South Africa, where he experienced racism and took up the rights...

Backed by a wealth of new research, John Cornwell tells for the first time the story of the career of Eugenio Pacelli, the man who was Pius XII, during World...

Engaging and perceptive . . . Ms. Borman offers deft and thoughtful assessments of every reign . . . the chronological approach is enriched by details that help to humanize...

Kim Il-sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary tale of improbable success: once a barely educated guerrilla fighter, he rose to lead the nation...

The definitive biography of the fiercely vigilant and politically astute First Lady who shaped one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century: Nancy Reagan.The made-in-Hollywood marriage of Ronald...

A brilliant history of the rise to dominance of the West, exploring the links between cultural values and military success. Instead of weighing up the West through its cultural and...

National history is a vital part of national self-definition. Most books on the history of the world try to impose a uniform narrative, written usually from a single writer's point...

This book considers the role of critics and observers, the role and treatment of the press within Zimbabwe and the often contradictory responses to Mugabe from the international community. It...

In the 144 years since Karl Marx's Das Kapital was published, the doctrine that bears his name has been embraced by millions in the name of equality, and just as...

'Taylor Downing is a wonderful historian and a wonderful history communicator' Dan Snow, History Hit'Vividly brings to life a terrible year' Max Hastings, Sunday Times'Sheds intriguing light on just how...

The mountain paths are as treacherous as they are steep - the more so in the dark and in winter. Even for the fit the journey is a formidable challenge....

The hidden fabric of a Victorian woman's life told through her unique scrapbook.In 1838, Anne Sykes was given a diary on her wedding day. Using it to collect snippets of...

'If fate is against me and I'm killed, so be it, but make it quick and painless. If I'm wounded, don't let me be crippled. But above all don't let...

'Masterly' Observer'Brilliant' Independent on Sunday'Sparks of life' Daily MailThomas More is one of the great figures in English history. Pre-eminent as a courtier and as a humanist, a friend to...

A tale of decadence and excess, great houses and wild parties, love and sexual intrigue, this biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, casts an astonishing new light on the nobility...

This study explores the regulation of occupational health in the British asbestos industry from the recognition in the late 1890s that asbestos dust might pose a health hazard until the...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE BOOK PRIZE 2018From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and his Era 'A phenomenally researched life of the man who did more than...

Starting in early 1915, the Ottoman Turks began deporting and killing hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the first major genocide of the twentieth century. By the end of the...

2015 is the 75th anniversary of the the Blitz of 1940-41. It is one of the most iconic periods in modern British history - and one of the most misunderstood....

A fascinating recreation of the world of one of England's most charismatic monarchs, from award-winning author and historian Richard BarberThe destruction of the French army at Crecy in 1346 and...

The epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the nineteenth century - and inspiration for `Moby-Dick' - reissued to accompany a major motion picture due...

Europe, early in the twentieth century: a world adrift, a pulsating era of creativity and contradictions. The hot topics of the day - terrorism and globalisation, immigration, consumerism, the lack...