World History Books

The history of humanity is one of devastating, once-in-a-thousand-year events: rising seas that make land uninhabitable, decades-long droughts, civilisational collapse, epidemics like the Black Death and the Spanish Flu that reduc…

An essential overview of great kingdoms in African history and their legacies, written by world-leading experts. From the ancient Nile Valley to the savannas of medieval West Africa, the highlands of Ethiopia and on to the forests…

Golden ages are marked by periods of spectacular cultural flourishing, scientific exploration, technological achievement and economic growth: Ancient Greece gave us democracy and the rule of the law; out of Abbasid Baghdad came al…

This illustrated introduction offers a fresh approach to the history of the Islamic world from its origins to the present day. Told in six chapters, arranged both chronologically and thematically, and richly enhanced with outstand…

An authoritative visual history of one of the world’s oldest and most vibrant cultures, drawing on South Asian art and artefacts from prehistory to the present. Arranged chronologically, and abundantly illustrated with expertly se…

This illustrated introduction to the history of China offers a fresh understanding of China’s progress from the Neolithic age to the present. Told in six chapters arranged chronologically, through art, artefacts, people and places…

A step-by-step guide to becoming and being a samurai. It is 1615, and the Samurai, Japan’s elite fighting class, are at the zenith of their powers. Trained in every manner of combat, from sword-fighting and archery to karate and j…

A history of the Japanese archipelago through its material artefacts over fifteen millennia. This spirited visual account of life in the Japanese archipelago spans over 15,000 years, revealing the stories behind an intriguing sele…

A new take on Southeast Asia’s complex history, expertly told through art objects and cultural artefacts dating from the Neolithic Age to the present. Southeast Asia is home to numerous world heritage sites. Through engaging texts…

The word ‘samurai’ stands for ideals of courage, honour, self-sacrifice and loyalty. Yet much of the common understanding is imaginative fiction. This book explores the concept from medieval reality, through early modern changes, …

This lavishly illustrated book provides a unique insight into the evolution of mapmaking and the science behind it, from the stone age to the digital age. Britain’s leading cartographic author takes us on a historical journey thro…

In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Frank Dikotter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of hi…

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their childre…

For the first 300,000 years of human history, hunter-gathering Homo sapiens lived in fluid, egalitarian civilizations that thwarted any individual or group from ruling permanently. Then, around 12,000 years ago, that began to chan…

Few forces have shaped our world as powerfully - or as secretly - as mafias. Groups such as La Cosa Nostra, the Medellin Cartel, New York's Five Families, the Japanese yakuza and Russian vory are notorious, endlessly covered in ne…

Iran often appears in the media as a hostile and difficult country. But beneath the headlines there is a fascinating story of a nation of great intellectual variety and depth, and enormous cultural importance. A nation whose impac…

In 1969, the luxury Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul opened its doors: a glistening white box, high on a hill, that reflected Afghanistan s hopes of becoming a modern country, connected to the world.Lyse Doucet first checked into the…

The instinct to fight may be innate in human nature, but war—organized violence—comes with organized society. War has shaped humanity’s history, its social and political institutions, its values and ideas. Our very language, our p…

The history of Europe told through twenty-nine key borders that define the past, present and future of our continent. Europe's internal borders have rarely been 'natural'; they have more often been created by accident or force. In…

Award-winning author Michael Walsh looks at twelve momentous battles that changed the course of Western history.A sequel to Michael Walsh’s Last Stands, his new book A Rage to Conquer is a journey through the twelve of the most im…

In this illustrated account of the bloodiest war fought on American soil, civil war expert Brooks Simpson recounts the events of the war from the opening salvo at Fort Sumter through the battlefields of Gettysburg and Shiloh to th…

In this illustrated account of the bloodiest war fought on American soil, Brooks Simpson recounts the events of the war from the opening salvo at Fort Sumter to the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House.An Illustrated Hi…

A history of how corporate innovation has shaped society, from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley.Americans have long been skeptical of corporations, andthat skepticism has only grown more intense in recent years.Meanwhile, corporatio…

Through 70 stunning infographics and maps, this exciting and timely book looks at the borders that define our current world. There are borders that are easily crossed and borders that are entirely impassable; there are visible bor…

In this fully revised and updated edition of the best-selling popular science book of the 21st century, Bill Bryson makes complex subjects clear and compelling for everyone with an interest in the world around them.NOW FULLY REVIS…

Every map tells a story and this book tells the incredible history of our world through maps. From Babylonian tablets to digital mapping, the world has evolved rapidly, along with the ways in which we understand and depict it. In …

A definitive and thrilling new account of the last great dynasty of ancient Egypt, from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra.When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt, he overthrew the hated Persian overlords and was welcomed as a sav…

A true tale of high adventure in the South Seas. The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago. Just two miles long and half a mile wide, it is remote, tranquil, and, these days, largely ignored. Y…

Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of naval warfare, dynastic rivalry, and technical innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khanand the Making of the Modern World.Genghis Khan built a fo…

Viewed in the West as a time of self-confident progress, the Victorian period was experienced by Asians as a catastrophe. As the British gunned down the last heirs to the Mughal Empire or burned down the Summer Palace in Beijing, …