iBookstore Top World History Ebooks

Chart of the most popular and best selling world history ebooks at the Apple iBookstore.

Chart list of the top world history ebooks was last updated:

History Ebook Best Sellers

Top World History Ebooks

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The Day the World Came to Town - Jim Defede Cover Art

The Day the World Came to Town

The Day the World Came to Town 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede

The True Story Behind the Events on 9/11 that Inspired Broadway’s Smash Hit Musical Come from Away, Featuring All New Material from the Author When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill. As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news. Over the course of those four days, many of the passengers developed friendships with Gander residents that they expect to last a lifetime. As a show of thanks, scholarship funds for the children of Gander have been formed and donations have been made to provide new computers for the schools. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander, Canada, whose acts of kindness after the 9/11 attacks have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill. This unforgettable story of compassion and community details: The Real Come from Away Story: Discover the incredible true events behind the hit Broadway musical—a story of how a small town of 10,000 people welcomed nearly 7,000 stranded passengers into their lives. Overwhelming Kindness: How striking bus drivers abandoned their picket lines, townspeople cooked feasts around the clock, and neighbors stripped their own linen closets to provide comfort for thousands of strangers. Stranded Passengers: Follow the stories of the travelers—from mayors and corporate CEOs to a state trooper and a worried mother—who found unexpected safety and friendship in the middle of nowhere. Lasting Friendships: Learn how the bonds formed during those four days led to lifelong connections, international scholarship funds, and a powerful, enduring example of goodwill in the face of terror.

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Fall and Rise - Mitchell Zuckoff Cover Art

Fall and Rise

Fall and Rise The Story of 9/11 by Mitchell Zuckoff

“Better and more comprehensive than any prior account. . . . Those of us who lived through those days will find the book cathartic; those rising generations who were too young to remember 9/11, or who weren’t yet born, will find it revelatory.” — John Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission and author of The Ground Truth “With his rigorous research and moral clarity, Mitchell Zuckoff has provided us with an invaluable service. He has deepened our understanding of what happened on 9/11 and recorded the voices of the victims and the survivors. What’s more, he has ensured that we never forget.” —David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon Years in the making, this spellbinding, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting narrative is an unforgettable portrait of 9/11. This is a 9/11 book like no other. Masterfully weaving together multiple strands of the events in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Fall and Rise is a mesmerizing, minute-by-minute account of that terrible day. In the days and months after 9/11, Mitchell Zuckoff, then a reporter for the Boston Globe, wrote about the attacks, the victims, and their families. After further years of meticulous reporting, Zuckoff has filled Fall and Rise with voices of the lost and the saved. The result is an utterly gripping book, filled with intimate stories of people most affected by the events of that sunny Tuesday in September: an out-of-work actor stuck in an elevator in the North Tower of the World Trade Center; the heroes aboard Flight 93 deciding to take action; a veteran trapped in the inferno in the Pentagon; the fire chief among the first on the scene in sleepy Shanksville; a team of firefighters racing to save an injured woman and themselves; and the men, women, and children flying across country to see loved ones or for work who suddenly faced terrorists bent on murder. Fall and Rise will open new avenues of understanding for everyone who thinks they know the story of 9/11, bringing to life—and in some cases, bringing back to life—the extraordinary ordinary people who experienced the worst day in modern American history. Destined to be a classic, Fall and Rise will move, shock, inspire, and fill hearts with love and admiration for the human spirit as it triumphs in the face of horrifying events.

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The Second World Wars - Victor Davis Hanson Cover Art

The Second World Wars

The Second World Wars How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won by Victor Davis Hanson

A comprehensive account of World War II by America’s preeminent military historian and author of The Dying Citizen . “Breathtakingly magisterial.” — Wall Street Journal World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya. The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. An authoritative history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.

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A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Cover Art

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 by Bill Bryson

THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER, UPDATED FOR 2025 • A wonder-filled quest to understand everything that has happened in the history of the Earth, from the Big Bang theory to the rise of civilization and beyond—revised to reflect the last two decades of scientific advancement “Brims with strange and amazing facts . . . destined to become a modern classic of science writing.”— The New York Times How did we get from being nothing at all to where we are today? How did the age of the dinosaurs eventually give way to the age of the iPhone? In this completely revised update to the international phenomenon A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson returns to answer these questions and many more. Bryson brings a groundbreaking account of life itself to a new generation of readers, as he takes subjects often passed off as boring and incomprehensible and renders them accessible, fascinating, and outright amusing to anyone who’s ever wondered about the world around them. Introducing readers to a diverse cast of the world’s most impressive archaeologists, paleontologists, physicists, astronomers, anthropologists, and mathematicians—from their offices and laboratories to dig sites and field camps—Bryson embarks on a journey to discover answers to the biggest questions about the universe and ourselves. A Short History of Nearly Everything is a profoundly enlightening, surprisingly humorous, and charmingly clever adventure into the realm of human knowledge, as only Bryson can render it. His revamped Short History is a thrilling journey through time and space, and his writing will make readers both new and old see the world in a whole new way.

5

The Escape Artist - Jonathan Freedland Cover Art

The Escape Artist

The Escape Artist The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award · New York Times Bestseller "A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information—and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?" — Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow A complex hero. A forgotten story. The first witness to reveal the full truth of the Holocaust . . . Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the astonishing true story of Rudolf Vrba, the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world of a truth too few were willing to hear. In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen—a forensically detailed report that eventually reached Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the Pope. And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver. Though Vrba helped save two hundred thousand Jewish lives, he never stopped believing it could have been so many more. This is the story of a brilliant yet troubled man—a gifted “escape artist” who, even as a teenager, understood that the difference between truth and lies can be the difference between life and death. Rudolf Vrba deserves to take his place alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, and Primo Levi as one of the handful of individuals whose stories define our understanding of the Holocaust.

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The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel - Douglas Brunt Cover Art

The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel

The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel Romanovs, Revolutionaries, and the Forgotten Titan Who Fueled the World by Douglas Brunt

Instant New York Times Bestseller! Why did one of the world’s most successful business titans, an oil magnate who rivaled the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds, disappear from history? The author of the acclaimed bestseller The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel has the enthralling answer. With the exception of the tsar, Emanuel Nobel was likely the wealthiest man in early 20th-century Russia, and one of the wealthiest in the world. Over three generations, he and his family grew the Russian petroleum industry into a behemoth that surpassed even John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. The Nobels imported the best practices from America and improved on them, transforming every aspect of the industry. Though Emanuel’s uncle Alfred would become world famous thanks to his creation of the Nobel Prize, the even more successful Nobels in Russia have been largely forgotten. The reason why is one of history’s most gripping untold stories. Working in the oil fields of southern Russia at the same time as Emanuel was a troubled young man from a peasant family in Georgia. Though educated to be a priest, he took a different path when he discovered the revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx. In and out of prison in Siberia, charismatic and committed, always at the center of a fight, this young man would become known to the world as Joseph Stalin, a leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and eventually one of the most brutal dictators in history. Directly in Stalin’s crosshairs was Emanuel Nobel, who represented everything Stalin despised about capitalism. As the world turned upside down, Emanuel began to plan a life-or-death escape from Russia. But would he make it out in time? And what would be the fate of the immense empire he and his family had built? Sweeping across more than a hundred years of history, from the dawn of the Victorian Age to World War I to the Russian Revolution and beyond, this captivating book chronicles one of the most influential men in history, a man whose name has been stricken from memory, and returns him thrillingly to life.

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A History of the World in 6 Glasses - Tom Standage Cover Art

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

New York Times Bestseller * The inspiration for the TV series starring Dan Aykroyd "There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history." -Los Angeles Times Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage's deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. They also represent six eras that span the course of civilization-from the adoption of agriculture, to the birth of cities, to the advent of globalization. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through each epoch's signature refreshment. As Standage persuasively argues, each drink is in fact a kind of technology, advancing culture and catalyzing the intricate interplay of different societies. After reading this enlightening book, you may never look at your favorite drink in quite the same way again.

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Astoria - Peter Stark Cover Art

Astoria

Astoria John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark

In the tradition of The Lost City of Z and Skeletons in the Zahara , Astoria is the thrilling, true-adventure tale of the 1810 Astor Expedition, an epic, now forgotten, three-year journey to forge an American fur-trading empire on the Pacific Coast. Peter Stark offers a harrowing saga of survival in which a band of explorers battled nature, starvation, and madness to establish the first American settlement in the Pacific Northwest and opened up what would become the Oregon trail, a pivotal moment in U.S. westward expansion that permanently altered the nation’s landscape and its global standing. Six years after Lewis and Clark’s journey to the Pacific Northwest began, two of the Eastern establishment’s leading figures, John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson, turned their sights to founding a colony akin to Jamestown on the West Coast and transforming the nation into a Pacific trading power. Author and correspondent for Outside magazine Peter Stark recreates this pivotal moment in 19th-century American history for the first time for modern readers, drawing on original source material to tell the amazing true story of the Astor Expedition. Unfolding over the course of three years, from 1810 to 1813, Astoria is a tale of high adventure and incredible hardship on the American frontier, both in the wilderness and at sea. Of the more than one hundred-forty members of the two advance parties that reached the West Coast—one crossing the Rockies, the other rounding Cape Horn—nearly half perished by violence. Others went mad. Within one year, the expedition successfully established Fort Astoria, a trading post on the Columbia River. Though the colony would be short-lived, it opened provincial American eyes to the potential of the Western coast and its founders helped blaze the Oregon Trail. Drawing on firsthand accounts, this epic survival story uncovers the brutal reality of a venture that changed America forever: Two Epic Journeys: One party’s harrowing overland trek across the Rockies, and another’s perilous sea voyage around Cape Horn—both converging on a single, dangerous prize. High-Stakes Global Trade: The grand ambition of John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson to build a commercial empire that would rival the British and transform the United States into a Pacific power. A Brutal Fight for Survival: A gripping account of the battles against starvation, madness, and violence that claimed nearly half the expedition’s members. A Forgotten Chapter of History: The forgotten saga of Fort Astoria, the first American settlement in the Pacific Northwest, and how its founders helped blaze what would become the Oregon Trail.

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Over the Edge of the World - Laurence Bergreen Cover Art

Over the Edge of the World

Over the Edge of the World Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen

“A first-rate historical page turner.” — New York Times Book Review The acclaimed and bestselling account of Ferdinand Magellan’s historic 60,000-mile ocean voyage. Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe during the Age of Discovery was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World Updated Edition , prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand accounts, bringing to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of maritime history and discovery that changed both the way explorers would henceforth navigate the oceans and history itself. Now updated to include a new introduction commemorating the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s voyage. This riveting work of narrative history reveals: First Circumnavigation: The astonishing true story of the three-year, 60,000-mile odyssey that proved the world was round—a journey of mutiny, violence, and unbelievable hardship. A Gripping True Adventure: Discover the sex, storms, and starvation that plagued the 260 sailors who set out from Spain, and the dark secrets of the handful of gaunt survivors who returned. The Age of Sail: Drawn from candid, firsthand accounts, this majestic tale brings the sixteenth-century world of discovery to life, changing history and navigation forever. Historical Biography: A fascinating portrait of Ferdinand Magellan, the driven, visionary, and brutal captain who became a man without a country to complete his quest.

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The Lessons of History - Will Durant Cover Art

The Lessons of History

The Lessons of History by Will Durant

A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant. With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time. Juxtaposing the great lives, ideas, and accomplishments with cycles of war and conquest, the Durants reveal the towering themes of history and give meaning to our own.

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The Code Book - Simon Singh Cover Art

The Code Book

The Code Book The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma , Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy. Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it.  It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is.

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The Wehrmacht - Bob Carruthers Cover Art

The Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht First-Hand Accounts From the Survivors of Hitler's Armed Forces by Bob Carruthers

This is the story of the Second World War as told for the first time by survivors of Germany's armed forces. Like old soldiers everywhere, they are fading away. But these soldiers have an incredible and sometimes shocking story to tell. It certainly does not make for comfortable reading. Secrets which have been bottled up for a lifetime are revealed, stories are told at last and memories which have been hidden away for 60 years finally resurface. These are facets of history's most dreadful war being revealed for the very first time. "The Wehrmacht" is a remarkable personal record of the Third Reich's rise and fall from the inside: of how those responsible for the maelstrom sent their armies to conquer only to see them crushed as the world united against them; of men who were seduced by the siren call of Hitler, only to pay a terribly heavy price. It allows the human stories to unfold within the bigger picture behind the major campaigns of the Second World War - from the early Blitzkrieg successes through the submarine warfare of the Battle of the Atlantic, and the brutal hardships of the Russian Front, to the last days of the Reich and the fall of Berlin. "The Wehrmacht" is a brilliantly researched and thought-provoking book that reveals unique human dimensions of the world's greatest military conflict.

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1913 - Charles Emmerson Cover Art

1913

1913 In Search of the World Before the Great War by Charles Emmerson

Today, 1913 is inevitably viewed through the lens of 1914: as the last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order and tear Europe apart, undermining its global pre-eminence. Our perspectives narrowed by hindsight, the world of that year is reduced to its most frivolous features -- last summers in grand aristocratic residences -- or its most destructive ones: the unresolved rivalries of the great European powers, the fear of revolution, violence in the Balkans. In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world of 1913 from this "prelude to war" narrative, and explores it as it was, in all its richness and complexity. Traveling from Europe's capitals, then at the height of their global reach, to the emerging metropolises of Canada and the United States, the imperial cities of Asia and Africa, and the boomtowns of Australia and South America, he provides a panoramic view of a world crackling with possibilities, its future still undecided, its outlook still open. The world in 1913 was more modern than we remember, more similar to our own times than we expect, more globalized than ever before. The Gold Standard underpinned global flows of goods and money, while mass migration reshaped the world's human geography. Steamships and sub-sea cables encircled the earth, along with new technologies and new ideas. Ford's first assembly line cranked to life in 1913 in Detroit. The Woolworth Building went up in New York. While Mexico was in the midst of bloody revolution, Winnipeg and Buenos Aires boomed. An era of petro-geopolitics opened in Iran. China appeared to be awaking from its imperial slumber. Paris celebrated itself as the city of light -- Berlin as the city of electricity. Full of fascinating characters, stories, and insights, 1913: In Search of the World before the Great War brings a lost world vividly back to life, with provocative implications for how we understand our past and how we think about our future.

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Working Class History - Working Class History Working Class History Cover Art

Working Class History

Working Class History Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion by Working Class History Working Class History

History is not made by kings, politicians, or a few rich individuals—it is made by all of us. From the temples of ancient Egypt to spacecraft orbiting Earth, workers and ordinary people everywhere have walked out, sat down, risen up, and fought back against exploitation, discrimination, colonization, and oppression. Working Class History presents a distinct selection of people’s history through hundreds of “on this day in history” anniversaries that are as diverse and international as the working class itself. Women, young people, people of color, workers, migrants, Indigenous people, LGBT+ people, disabled people, older people, the unemployed, home workers, and every other part of the working class have organized and taken action that has shaped our world, and improvements in living and working conditions have been won only by years of violent conflict and sacrifice. These everyday acts of resistance and rebellion highlight just some of those who have struggled for a better world and provide lessons and inspiration for those of us fighting in the present. Going day by day, this book paints a picture of how and why the world came to be as it is, how some have tried to change it, and the lengths to which the rich and powerful have gone to maintain and increase their wealth and influence. This handbook of grassroots movements, curated by the popular Working Class History project, features many hidden histories and untold stories, reinforced with inspiring images, further reading, and a foreword from legendary author and dissident Noam Chomsky.

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End of History and the Last Man - Francis Fukuyama Cover Art

End of History and the Last Man

End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama

Ever since its first publication in 1992, the New York Times bestselling The End of History and the Last Man has provoked controversy and debate. "Profoundly realistic and important...supremely timely and cogent...the first book to fully fathom the depth and range of the changes now sweeping through the world." — The Washington Post Book World Francis Fukuyama's prescient analysis of religious fundamentalism, politics, scientific progress, ethical codes, and war is as essential for a world fighting fundamentalist terrorists as it was for the end of the Cold War. Now updated with a new afterword, The End of History and the Last Man is a modern classic.

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Pathogenesis - Jonathan Kennedy Cover Art

Pathogenesis

Pathogenesis A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A “gripping” ( The Washington Post ) account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs “Superbly written . . . Kennedy seamlessly weaves together scientific and historical research, and his confident authorial voice is sure to please readers of Yuval Noah Harari or Rutger Bregman.”— The Times (U.K.) According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires. Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history, exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals, the growth of Islam, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the devastation wrought by European colonialism, and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the world’s major religions. By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind, Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective past—and urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.

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Outlaw Platoon - Sean Parnell & John Bruning Cover Art

Outlaw Platoon

Outlaw Platoon Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell & John Bruning

Acclaimed for its vivid, poignant, and honest recreation of sixteen brutal months of nearly continuous battle in the deadly Hindu Kesh, Outlaw Platoon is a Band of Brothers or We Were Soldiers Once and Young for the early 21st century—a riveting, action-packed, highly emotional war memoir and true story of enormous sacrifice and bravery. At twenty-four years of age, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell was named commander of a forty-man elite infantry platoon, the 10th Mountain Division—a unit that came to be known as the Outlaws. Tasked with rooting out Pakistan-based insurgents from a valley in the Hindu Kush, Parnell assumed they would be facing a ragtag bunch of civilians until, in May 2006, a routine patrol in the Afghanistan War turned into a brutal ambush. Through sixteen months of combat, the platoon became Parnell's family. The cost of battle was high for these men. Not all of them made it home, but for those who did, it was the love and faith they found in one another that ultimately kept them alive. A magnificent account of heroes, renegades, infidels, and brothers,  Outlaw Platoon  is a standout work of military history that stands with Sebastian Junger’s  War  as one of the most important books to yet emerge from the heat, smoke, and fire of America’s War in Afghanistan. What does it take to lead and survive in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan? Modern Military Leadership: At just twenty-four, U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell is tasked with keeping forty soldiers alive in a brutal, sixteen-month deployment. Brotherhood: See how the men of the Outlaw Platoon became a family, finding the love and faith in one another that was essential for their survival. Visceral Combat: A riveting, action-packed account of nearly continuous battle, from routine patrols that turn into deadly ambushes to the high cost of victory. Unflinching Nonfiction: Standing with classics like War and Band of Brothers , this true story is an honest and poignant look at the realities of modern warfare.

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Upheaval - Jared Diamond Cover Art

Upheaval

Upheaval Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond

A fascinating new theory about how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the landmark bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel . "Riveting and illuminating." —Yuval Noah Harari​ In his international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse , Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes—a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises. Diamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals—ranging from the forced opening of Japan by U.S. Commodore Perry's fleet, to the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, to a murderous coup or countercoup in Chile and Indonesia, to the transformations of Germany and Austria after World War Two. Because Diamond has lived and spoken the language in five of these six countries, he can present gut-wrenching histories experienced firsthand. These nations coped, to varying degrees, through mechanisms such as acknowledgment of responsibility, painfully honest self-appraisal, and learning from models of other nations. Looking to the future, Diamond examines whether the United States, Japan, and the whole world are successfully coping with the grave crises they currently face. Can we learn from lessons of the past? Adding a psychological dimension to the in-depth history, geography, biology, and anthropology that mark all of Diamond's books, Upheaval reveals factors influencing how both whole nations and individual people can respond to big challenges. The result is a book epic in scope, but also his most personal yet. A Bill Gates Summer Reading pick

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The Mosquito - Timothy C. Winegard Cover Art

The Mosquito

The Mosquito A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator by Timothy C. Winegard

**The instant New York Times bestseller.** *An international bestseller.* Finalist for the Lane Anderson Award Finalist for the RBC Taylor Award “Hugely impressive, a major work.”—NPR A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate   Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito.   Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power.   The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village.   Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable.   Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito’s reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.

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The Perfectionists - Simon Winchester Cover Art

The Perfectionists

The Perfectionists How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester

“Another gem from one of the world’s justly celebrated historians specializing in unusual and always fascinating subjects and people.” — Booklist (starred review) The revered New York Times bestselling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement—precision—in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future. The rise of manufacturing could not have happened without an attention to precision. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century England, standards of measurement were established, giving way to the development of machine tools—machines that make machines. Eventually, the application of precision tools and methods resulted in the creation and mass production of items from guns and glass to mirrors, lenses, and cameras—and eventually gave way to further breakthroughs, including gene splicing, microchips, and the Hadron Collider. Simon Winchester takes us back to origins of the Industrial Age, to England where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. It was Thomas Jefferson who later exported their discoveries to the fledgling United States, setting the nation on its course to become a manufacturing titan. Winchester moves forward through time, to today’s cutting-edge developments occurring around the world, from America to Western Europe to Asia. As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather than the world as we think we would wish it to be? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society?

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The Woman Who Smashed Codes - Jason Fagone Cover Art

The Woman Who Smashed Codes

The Woman Who Smashed Codes A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone

National Bestseller  NPR Best Book of the Year “Not all superheroes wear capes, and Elizebeth Smith Friedman should be the subject of a future Wonder Woman movie.” —The New York Times Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II. In 1916, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the U.S. government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code-breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the "Adam and Eve" of the NSA, Elizebeth’s story, incredibly, has never been told. In The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman, who played an integral role in our nation’s history for forty years. After World War I, Smith used her talents to catch gangsters and smugglers during Prohibition, then accepted a covert mission to discover and expose Nazi spy rings that were spreading like wildfire across South America, advancing ever closer to the United States. As World War II raged, Elizebeth fought a highly classified battle of wits against Hitler’s Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German spies. Meanwhile, inside an Army vault in Washington, William worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma—and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life. Fagone unveils America’s code-breaking history through the prism of Smith’s life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that would help shape modern intelligence. Blending the lively pace and compelling detail that are the hallmarks of Erik Larson’s bestsellers with the atmosphere and intensity of The Imitation Game, The Woman Who Smashed Codes is page-turning popular history at its finest.

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The Insatiable Machine - Trevor Jackson Cover Art

The Insatiable Machine

The Insatiable Machine How Capitalism Conquered the World by Trevor Jackson

A concise, colorful, and convincing account of capitalism’s rise to global dominance. Today, a vast majority of us live under the economic system called capitalism—it touches almost every aspect of our lives, and most people alive have never known another. Yet, a cursory look at the world around us reveals that things can’t stay this way forever: an economy built on infinite amassing and consumption of resources is at odds with a finite planet. How did this happen? As the economic historian Trevor Jackson argues in this powerful book, It wasn’t always capitalism, it didn’t have to be capitalism, and capitalism didn’t have to be this way. With a firm grasp on history and economics and a keen eye for the telling anecdote, Jackson explains where capitalism came from, how it spread across the globe, and how it came to be the dominant way of organizing life. He traces capitalism’s development from the accidental construction of an international monetary system to the creation of banking, the emergence of a new form of slavery in the eighteenth century, fossil-fuel industrialization, and finally the global capitalist system spread by imperialism in the nineteenth century. Along the way, readers learn about the surprising role of Chinese mulberry trees, Dutch cheese, whale blubber, imperial gin and tonics, Spanish conquistadors, Mexican mine workers, and English bankers in the history and development of capitalism. Full of memorable characters and lively vignettes as well as sweeping quantitative analysis and historical synthesis, The Insatiable Machine makes clear that capitalism is neither a natural, permanent, nor inevitable feature of human life but rather an economic system that has a history. And just as it was made by people, it can also be unmade by them.

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The Origins of the Modern World - Robert B. Marks Cover Art

The Origins of the Modern World

The Origins of the Modern World A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century by Robert B. Marks

This clearly written and engrossing book presents a global narrative of the origins of the modern world from 1400 to the present. Unlike most studies, which assume that the "rise of the West" is the story of the coming of the modern world, this history, drawing upon new scholarship on Asia, Africa, and the New World and upon the maturing field of environmental history, constructs a story in which those parts of the world play major roles, including their impacts on the environment. Robert B. Marks defines the modern world as one marked by industry, the nation state, interstate warfare, a large and growing gap between the wealthiest and poorest parts of the world, increasing inequality within the wealthiest industrialized countries, and an escape from the environmental constraints of the "biological old regime." He explains its origins by emphasizing contingencies (such as the conquest of the New World); the broad comparability of the most advanced regions in China, India, and Europe; the reasons why England was able to escape from common ecological constraints facing all of those regions by the end of the eighteenth century; a conjuncture of human and natural forces that solidified a gap between the industrialized and non-industrialized parts of the world; the mounting environmental crisis that defines the modern world; and the ways in which the forces of globalization stress the economic and political underpinnings of the modern world. Now in a new edition that brings the saga of the modern world to the present in an environmental context, the book considers how and why the United States emerged as a world power in the twentieth century and became the sole superpower by the twenty-first century, and why the changed relationship of humans to the environmental likely will be the hallmark of the modern era—the Anthropocene. Once again arguing that the US rise to global hegemon was contingent, not inevitable, Marks also points to the resurgence of Asia and the vastly changed relationship of humans to the environment that may in the long run overshadow any political and economic milestones of the past hundred years.

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A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition - Bill Bryson Cover Art

A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition

A Short History of Nearly Everything: Special Illustrated Edition by Bill Bryson

This new edition of the acclaimed bestseller is lavishly illustrated to convey, in pictures as in words, Bill Bryson’s exciting, informative journey into the world of science. In A Short History of Nearly Everything , the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body,  confronts his greatest challenge yet: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as his territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us . The result is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Now, in this handsome new edition, Bill Bryson’s words are supplemented by full-color artwork that explains in visual terms the concepts and wonder of science, at the same time giving face to the major players in the world of scientific study. Eloquently and entertainingly described, as well as richly illustrated, science has never been more involving or entertaining.

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The March of Folly - Barbara W. Tuchman Cover Art

The March of Folly

The March of Folly From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara W. Tuchman

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara W. Tuchman, author of the World War I masterpiece The Guns of August, grapples with her boldest subject: the pervasive presence, through the ages, of failure, mismanagement, and delusion in government.   Drawing on a comprehensive array of examples, from Montezuma’s senseless surrender of his empire in 1520 to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Barbara W. Tuchman defines folly as the pursuit by government of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives. In brilliant detail, Tuchman illuminates four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britain’s George III, and the United States’ own persistent mistakes in Vietnam. Throughout The March of Folly, Tuchman’s incomparable talent for animating the people, places, and events of history is on spectacular display.   Praise for The March of Folly   “A glittering narrative . . . a moral [book] on the crimes and follies of governments and the misfortunes the governed suffer in consequence.” —The New York Times Book Review   “An admirable survey . . . I haven’t read a more relevant book in years.” —John Kenneth Galbraith, The Boston Sunday Globe   “A superb chronicle . . . a masterly examination.” —Chicago Sun-Times

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Invisible Armies - Max Boot Cover Art

Invisible Armies

Invisible Armies An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present by Max Boot

New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Notable Book (Nonfiction) Named one of the Best Books of the Year by Foreign Policy A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection “Destined to be the classic account of what may be the oldest... hardest form of war.” —John Nagl, Wall Street Journal Invisible Armies presents an entirely original narrative of warfare, which demonstrates that, far from the exception, loosely organized partisan or guerrilla warfare has been the dominant form of military conflict throughout history. New York Times best-selling author and military historian Max Boot traces guerrilla warfare and terrorism from antiquity to the present, narrating nearly thirty centuries of unconventional military conflicts. Filled with dramatic analysis of strategy and tactics, as well as many memorable characters—from Italian nationalist Guiseppe Garibaldi to the “Quiet American,” Edward Lansdale—Invisible Armies is “as readable as a novel” (Michael Korda, Daily Beast) and “a timely reminder to politicians and generals of the hard-earned lessons of history” (Economist).

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Sex with Kings - Eleanor Herman Cover Art

Sex with Kings

Sex with Kings 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge by Eleanor Herman

Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman's Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them. Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales. The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken. True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions -- some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion's nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her "sins." From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman's trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women's history that has remained unwritten -- until now.

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Land - Simon Winchester Cover Art

Land

Land How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester

“In many ways, Land combines bits and pieces of many of Winchester’s previous books into a satisfying, globe-trotting whole. . . . Winchester is, once again, a consummate guide.”—Boston Globe The author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and The Perfectionists explores the notion of property—bought, earned, or received; in Europe, Africa, North America, or the South Pacific—through human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future. Land —whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city—is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines the fascinating human history of what we human beings are doing—and have done—with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World examines in depth the complex topic of land ownership: how we acquire land, how we steward it, how and why we fight over it, and finally, how we can, and on occasion do, come to share it. Ultimately, Winchester confronts the essential questions of property rights: who actually owns the world’s land—and why does it matter?  A Globe-Trotting World History: Follow the story of property from Europe and Africa to North America and the South Pacific, exploring how our relationship with the ground beneath our feet has shaped nations and cultures. Environmental Stewardship: Go beyond acquisition to explore how we care for the land we own, the challenges of stewardship, and the profound consequences of our choices. A Geopolitical Perspective: Investigate why we fight over territory, from ancient disputes to modern conflicts, and what these battles reveal about our deepest instincts. Narrative Nonfiction at its Finest: Written with the keen intellect and insatiable curiosity that made Simon Winchester a bestselling author, this book makes complex history feel like a gripping story.

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A People's History of the World - Chris Harman Cover Art

A People's History of the World

A People's History of the World From the Stone Age to the New Millennium by Chris Harman

Building on A People’s History of the United States , this radical world history captures the broad sweep of human history from the perspective of struggling classes. An “indispensable volume” on class and capitalism throughout the ages—for readers reckoning with the history they were taught and history as it truly was (Howard Zinn) From the earliest human societies to the Holy Roman Empire, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, Chris Harman provides a brilliant and comprehensive history of the human race. Eschewing the standard accounts of “Great Men,” of dates and kings, Harman offers a groundbreaking counter-history, a breathtaking sweep across the centuries in the tradition of “history from below.” In a fiery narrative, he shows how ordinary men and women were involved in creating and changing society and how conflict between classes was often at the core of these developments. While many scholars see the victory of capitalism as now safely secured, Harman explains the rise and fall of societies and civilizations throughout the ages and demonstrates that history moves ever onward in every age. A vital corrective to traditional history, A People's History of the World is essential reading for anyone interested in how society has changed and developed and the possibilities for further radical progress.

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Lower than the Angels - Diarmaid MacCulloch Cover Art

Lower than the Angels

Lower than the Angels A History of Sex and Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch

"A magisterial new history."— The New York Times “Endlessly fascinating.” —Slate A groundbreaking history of sexual emotion, sexual activity, gender relations, marriage and the family--and how Christianity has interacted with this panorama of human concerns Few matters produce more public interest and public anxiety than sex and religion. Much of the political contention and division in societies across the world centres on sexual topics, and one-third of the global population is Christian in background or outlook. The issue goes to the heart of present-day religion. This book seeks to calm fears and encourage understanding through telling a three-thousand-year-long tale of Christians encountering sex, gender, and the family. The message of Lower than the Angels is simple, necessary and timely: to pay attention to the complexity and contradictions in the history of Christianity. The reader can decide from the story told here whether there is a single Christian theology of sex, or many contending voices in a symphony that is not at all complete. Oxford’s Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church introduces an epic of ordinary and extraordinary Christians trying to make sense of themselves and of humanity’s deepest desires, fears and hopes.

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Saving Bravo - Stephan Talty Cover Art

Saving Bravo

Saving Bravo The Greatest Rescue Mission in Navy SEAL History by Stephan Talty

From the author of A Captain's Duty , the New York Times best-selling account of Captain Phillips, comes the untold story of the most important rescue mission not just of the Vietnam War, but the entire Cold War. One American aviator, who knew our most important secrets, crashed behind enemy lines and risked capture by both the North Vietnamese and the Soviets. One Navy SEAL and his Vietnamese partner had to sneak past them all to save him. At the height of the Vietnam War, few American airmen are more valuable than Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton. His memory is filled with highly classified information that the Soviets and North Vietnamese badly want. When Hambleton is shot down in the midst of North Vietnam’s Easter Offensive, US forces place the entire war on hold to save a single man hiding among 30,000 enemy troops and tanks. Airborne rescue missions fail, killing eleven Americans. Finally, Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese guide, Nguyen Van Kiet, volunteer to go after him on foot. Gliding past hundreds of enemy soldiers, it takes them days to reach Hambleton, who, guided toward his rescuers via improvised radio code, is barely alive, deeply malnourished, and hallucinating after eleven days on the run. In this deeply researched, untold story, award-winning author Stephan Talty describes the extraordinary mission that led Hambleton to safety. Drawing from dozens of interviews and access to unpublished papers, Saving Bravo is a riveting work of military history, telling the story of one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of the Special Forces. How did two men succeed where entire airborne missions had failed? A High-Stakes Cold War Mission: The desperate, top-secret race to save one man, Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton, whose capture could have changed the course of the war. Elite Special Forces Operation: How Navy SEAL Thomas Norris and his Vietnamese partner Nguyen Van Kiet planned a daring infiltration deep into enemy territory after conventional rescue attempts failed, killing eleven Americans. Survival Against All Odds: The eleven-day ordeal of a downed pilot hiding among 30,000 enemy soldiers, battling starvation and hallucinations while guiding his rescuers by a secret code. An Authentic Vietnam War Story: Drawn from dozens of interviews and unpublished documents to tell the complete, untold story of one of the most remarkable rescue missions of the era.

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Rome: The Rise and Fall - History Nerds Cover Art

Rome: The Rise and Fall

Rome: The Rise and Fall by History Nerds

Rome - The Rise and Fall is designed as a bitesize, concise but easy to read retelling of what happened to one of the greatest empires in history. The Roman Empire began with a boy named Romulus and ended with a boy named Romulus. Between the years 753 BCE and 476 CE, this magnificent empire rose in might, but died in misery. This story is derived from the narrations of the ancient writers who themselves were eyewitnesses and it draws upon the myths that invigorated the Roman spirit. The dream that became the Roman Empire was created upon a Utopian scenario, but was vulnerable to the human frailties that besiege everyone. Hence its rise and hence its fall.

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Wanderings - Chaim Potok Cover Art

Wanderings

Wanderings by Chaim Potok

A fascinating history of the Jews, told by a master novelist, here is Chaim Potok's fascinating, moving four thousand-year history. Recreating great historical events, exporing Jewish life in its infinite variety and in many eras and places, here is a unique work by a singular Jewish voice.

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The Tsar's Last Armada - Constantine V. Pleshakov Cover Art

The Tsar's Last Armada

The Tsar's Last Armada The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima by Constantine V. Pleshakov

On May 14-15, 1905, in the Tsushima Straits near Japan, an entire Russian fleet was annihilated, its ships sunk, scattered, or captured by the Japanese. In the deciding battle of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese lost only three destroyers but the Russians lost twenty-two ships and thousands of sailors. It was the first modern naval battle, employing all the new technology of destruction. The old imperial navy was woefully unprepared. The defeat at Tsushima was the last and greatest of many indignities suffered by the Russian fleet, which had traveled halfway around the world to reach the battle, dogged every mile by bad luck and misadventure. Their legendary admiral, dubbed "Mad Dog," led them on an extraordinary eighteen-thousand-mile journey from the Baltic Sea, around Europe, Africa, and Asia, to the Sea of Japan. They were burdened by the Tsar's incompetent leadership and the old, slow ships that he insisted be included to bulk up the fleet. Moreover, they were under constant fear of attack, and there were no friendly ports to supply coal, food, and fresh water. The level of self-sufficiency attained by this navy was not seen again until the Second World War. The battle of Tsushima is among the top five naval battles in history, equal in scope and drama to those of Lepanto, Trafalgar, Jutland, and Midway, yet despite its importance it has been long neglected in the West. With a novelist's eye and a historian's authority, Constantine Pleshakov tells of the Russian squadron's long, difficult journey and fast, horrible defeat.

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Napoléon - Tome 1 Le chant du départ - 1769-1799 - Max Gallo Cover Art

Napoléon - Tome 1 Le chant du départ - 1769-1799

Napoléon - Tome 1 Le chant du départ - 1769-1799 Le chant du départ by Max Gallo

Il est arrivé le 15 mai 1779 à l'Ecole royale militaire de Brienne. Il n'a pas encore dix ans et parle à peine le français... Il va rester cinq ans dans cette école, sans la quitter un seul jour, sans revoir sa famille. Vingt ans plus tard, cet enfant sera le général Napoléon, maître de cette France où il n'a d'abord été qu'un étranger. Quel caractère, quelle volonté, quel courage, quelle énergie, quelle imagination, quelle démesure, quelle puissance de rêve, quel sens des situations, quel génie il a fallu à l'enfant arraché à son milieu pour devenir le héros d'une nation ! Et ce n'est que le début d'un destin, mais dans ce Chant du départ , qui fait surgir de la Révolution un général de trente ans qui a cent fois déjà exposé sa vie, à Arcole ou dans le désert d'Egypte, se trouve en germe toute l'aventure impériale. Max Gallo, en historien et romancier, est à chaque instant dans l'intimité de Napoléon. Aucun livre sur un héros qui ne cesse de fasciner n'a restitué à ce point le mouvement d'une existence. "Quel roman que ma vie !" s'exclamait Napoléon. Quelle vitalité dans ce livre ! Ici, devant nous, commence à vivre celui qui reste pour le monde entier "le plus illustre des Français". Des milliers de livres ont été écrits sur Napoléon. Aucun ne ressemble à celui-ci. Napoléon de Max Gallo se compose de 4 tomes : - Le chant du départ : 1769 / 1799 - Le soleil d'Austerlitz : 1799 / 1805 - L'empereur des rois : 1806 / 1812 - L'immortel de Sainte-Hélène : 1812 / 1821

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World History through Case Studies - David Eaton Cover Art

World History through Case Studies

World History through Case Studies Historical Skills in Practice by David Eaton

This innovative textbook demystifies the subject of world history through a diverse range of case studies. Each chapter looks at an event, person, or place commonly included in comprehensive textbooks, from prehistory to the present and from across the globe – from the Kennewick Man to gladiators and modern-day soccer and globalization – and digs deeper, examining why historians disagree on the subject and why their debates remain relevant today. By taking the approach of 'unwrapping the textbook,' David Eaton reveals how historians think, making it clear that the past is not nearly as tidy as most textbooks suggest. Provocative questions like whether ancient Greece was shaped by contact with Egypt provide an entry point into how history professors may sharply disagree on even basic narratives, and how historical interpretations can be influenced by contemporary concerns. By illuminating these historiographical debates, and linking them to key skills required by historians, World History through Case Studies shows how the study of history is relevant to a new generation of students and teachers.

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Beyond the Blue Horizon - Brian Fagan Cover Art

Beyond the Blue Horizon

Beyond the Blue Horizon How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the Secrets of the Oceans by Brian Fagan

In Beyond the Blue Horizon, bestselling science historian Brian Fagan tackles his richest topic yet: the enduring mystery of the oceans, the planet's most forbidding terrain.This is not a tale of Columbus or Hudson, but of much earlier mariners. From the moment when ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan vividly explains how our mastery of the oceans has changed history, even before history was written. Beyond the Blue Horizon delves into the very beginnings of humanity's long and intimate relationship with the sea. It willl enthrall readers who enjoyed Longitude, Simon Winchester's Atlantic, or in its scope and its insightful linking of technology and culture, Guns, Germs, and Steel. What drove humans to risk their lives on open water? How did early sailors unlock the secrets of winds, tides, and the stars they steered by? What were the earliest ocean crossings like? With compelling detail, Brian Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved so that the vast realms of the sea gods were transformed from barriers into highways that hummed with commerce. Indeed, for most of human history, oceans have been the most vital connectors of far-flung societies. From bamboo rafts in the Java Sea to the caravels of the Age of Discovery, from Easter Island to Crete, Brian Fagan crafts a captivating narrative of humanity's urge to seek out distant shores, of the daring men and women who did so, and of the mark they have left on civilization.

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中國史綱 - 張蔭麟、呂思勉、蔣廷黻 Cover Art

中國史綱

中國史綱 繁體中文版 by 張蔭麟、呂思勉、蔣廷黻

Description: 本書上中下三冊分別為張蔭麟、呂思勉、蔣廷黻三位史學大家所著,分別在張蔭麟《中國史綱》、呂思勉《中國史》和蔣廷黻《中國近代史》的基礎上,取其所長,融合而成。講述了從商代始,直至20世紀30年代左右的整個中國歷史。全書內容豐富,不艱澀、不枯燥,有歷史人物、事件的敘述,還有政治、社會、經濟、民俗文化,可謂包羅萬象。時至今日,這三位元史學家的作品的深度和廣度仍然大大超過了今天的一些史學專著,是不可多得的瞭解中國歷史的好讀物。 三位史學巨匠大成之作,一本書讀透浩蕩中華史。 Author Biography: 張蔭麟,字素癡,廣東東莞入。著名學者、歷史學家。一九二二年畢業於廣東省立第二中學。次年,考入清華學堂中等科。一九二九年,以優異成績畢業於清華大學。是年考取"庚子賠款獎學金"赴美國斯坦福大學攻讀哲學,獲得哲學博士學位。一九三四年,回國應清華大學之聘,任歷史、哲學兩系專任講師,並在北大主講歷史、哲學課。一九三七年盧溝橋事變爆發後,他南下浙江大學作短期講學,曾一度到清華、北大、南開合併的長沙臨時大學任教。後赴昆明,在西南聯大任教。 呂思勉,字誠之。江蘇常州人。著名歷史學家。十二歲以後在父母師友的指導下讀史書,瞭解中國歷史。十六歲自學古史典籍。一九。五年起,先後在蘇州東吳大學、江蘇省立第一師範專修科等校任教。一九二六年起,任上海光華大學國文系、歷史系教授兼系主任。抗戰期問,歸鄉閉戶著書。抗戰勝利後,重返光華大學。一九四九年後,任華東師範大學歷史系教授。 蔣廷黻,字綬章,湖南邵陽人。著名歷史學家,民國時期外交家。一九二年由教會資助赴美求學。先後就讀於派克學院、奧柏林學院和哥倫比亞大學研究院,攻讀歷史,獲哲學博士學位。一九三一一年回國,先後任南開大學、清華大學教授,清華大學文學院院長、歷史系主任。一九三五年十二月,蔣廷黻以非國民黨員的身份參加國民黨政府,任行政院政務處長,從此離開清華大學。後從事外交事務,一九四五年被任命為中華民國駐聯合國常任代表。一九六一年十一月改任"駐美大使",兼"駐聯合國代表"。

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The Penguin History of the World - J M Roberts & Odd Arne Westad Cover Art

The Penguin History of the World

The Penguin History of the World 6th edition by J M Roberts & Odd Arne Westad

This is a completely new and updated edition of J. M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad's widely acclaimed, landmark bestseller The Penguin History of the World . For generations of readers The Penguin History of the World has been one of the great cultural experiences - the entire story of human endeavour laid out in all its grandeur and folly, drama and pain in a single authoritative book. Now, for the first time, it has been completely overhauled for its 6th edition - not just bringing it up to date, but revising it throughout in the light of new research and discoveries, such as the revolution in our understanding of many civilizations in the Ancient World. The closing sections of the book reflect what now seems to be the inexorable rise of Asia and the increasingly troubled situation in the West. About the authors: J.M. Roberts , CBE, published The Penguin History of the World in 1976 to immediate acclaim. His other major books include The Paris Commune from the Right , The Triumph of the West (which was also a successful television series), The Penguin History of Europe and The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century . He died in 2003. Odd Arne Westad , FBA, is Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He has published fifteen books on modern and contemporary international history, among them The Global Cold War , which won the Bancroft Prize, and Decisive Encounters , a standard history of the Chinese civil war. He also served as general co-editor of the Cambridge History of the Cold War . Reviews 'A work of outstanding breadth of scholarship and penetrating judgements. There is nothing better of its kind' Jonathan Sumption, Sunday Telegraph 'A stupendous achievement' A.J.P. Taylor 'A brilliant book ... the most outstanding history of the world yet written' J.H. Plumb

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A Little History of the World - E. H. Gombrich & Clifford Harper Cover Art

A Little History of the World

A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich & Clifford Harper

The international bestseller: E. H. Gombrich’s sweeping history of the world, for the curious of all ages   “All stories begin with ‘Once upon a time.’ And that’s just what this story is all about: what happened, once upon a time.” So begins A Little History of the World , an engaging and lively book written for readers both young and old. Rather than focusing on dry facts and dates, E. H. Gombrich vividly brings the full span of human experience on Earth to life, from the stone age to the atomic age. He paints a colorful picture of wars and conquests; of grand works of art; of the advances and limitations of science; of remarkable people and remarkable events, from Confucius to Catherine the Great to Winston Churchill, and from the invention of art to the destruction of the Berlin Wall.   For adults seeking a single-volume overview of world history, for students in search of a quick refresher course, or for families to read and learn from together, Gombrich’s Little History enchants and educates.

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The Age of Louis XIV - Will Durant & Ariel Durant Cover Art

The Age of Louis XIV

The Age of Louis XIV The Story of Civilization, Volume VIII by Will Durant & Ariel Durant

The Story of Civilization, Volume VIII: A history of European civilization in the period of Pascal, Moliere, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton, and Spinoza: 1648-1715. This is the eighth volume of the Pulitzer Prize-winning series.

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History of the World Map by Map - DK Cover Art

History of the World Map by Map

History of the World Map by Map by DK

Explore the history of the world in unprecedented detail with this ultimate guide to history throughout the ages. Maps don't just show us where to go, but also where we've been. If you're interested in finding out more about the biggest events in world history, then this book all about history of the world is perfect for you! This stunning history book for adults starts with the evolution and migration of our oldest ancestors out of Africa. You can then look up maps about the Greece and Persian War, the Mongol Conquests, Medieval Europe's trade routes, and the rise of the Ottomans. Explore maps about the colonisation of North America, the scientific revolution, Napoleon's advances, and Britain's control of India. Then uncover the history of later centuries, such as the Age of Imperialism, the American Civil War, industrialised Europe and the transformation of Japan. Journey into past like never before as you uncover: - Easy-to-read text panels for a deeper understanding of history - A total of 140 maps alongside stunning pictures and informative timelines - Storytelling maps to bring history to life - Published in association with the Smithsonian Institution in the USA. Bursting with striking illustrations and full of fascinating detail, this history book is the ultimate gift for map lovers, history enthusiasts of all ages and those who enjoy visiting museums and other historical sites, whether as a present for dad, or handy reference guide for any other history lover in your life! History of the World Map by Map aims to help you gain a strong understanding of some of the forces and movements across continents that have shaped our world! Go on guided tour through time and explore: - Prehistory 7 MYA-3000 BCE - The Ancient World 3000 BCE - 500 CE - Middle Ages 500-1450 CE - The Early Modern World 1450-1700 - Revolution and Industry 1700-1850 - Progress and Empire 1850-1914 - The Modern World 1914-Present At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So why stop there? The Map by Map series includes other titles such as History of the World Map by Map and World War II Map by Map , each detailing historical events and placing them in the context of geography. DK's luxurious Map by Map books are fantastic history gifts, packed with fascinating facts, high-quality photography, and detailed profiles and descriptions of people and events.

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100 Mistakes that Changed History - Bill Fawcett Cover Art

100 Mistakes that Changed History

100 Mistakes that Changed History Backfires and Blunders That Collapsed Empires, Crashed Economies, and Altered the Course of Our World by Bill Fawcett

Collected in one volume, here are backfires and blunders that collapsed empires, crashed economies, and altered the course of the world. From the Maginot Line to the Cuban Missile Crisis, history is filled with bad moves and not-so-bright ideas that snowballed into disasters and unintended consequences. This engrossing book looks at one hundred such tipping points. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. The Caliphs of Baghdad spend themselves into bankruptcy. The Aztecs greet the Conquistadors with open arms. Mexico invites the Americans to Texas-and the Americans never leave. And the rest is history...

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Lost Worlds - Patrick Wyman Cover Art

Lost Worlds

Lost Worlds How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World by Patrick Wyman

" Lost Worlds convinces us of the value of slowing down to recognize the tremendous diversity of the human past. But he presses hard against the conclusion that there was any direction or pattern behind its complexity." —The Wall Street Journal “A spellbinding tour de force!” —Walter Scheidel, author of What Is Ancient History? “This is non-fiction storytelling at its finest.” —Eric H. Cline, author of 1177 B.C. The creator of the hit podcast Tides of History offers a new look at humanity’s deep past, showing us how our world was built not by inevitability, but by trial and error on a global scale. There’s a familiar story about us humans: we went from hunting and gathering to farming, wandering bands to villages and cities, clans and chieftains to states and kings. But Lost Worlds offers a new narrative of humanity’s deep history. Here beloved podcast host Patrick Wyman focuses on the 10,000-year span between the end of the Ice Age and the decline of the Bronze Age—the period when civilization as we understand it emerged, introducing social hierarchies, urbanism, complex political organizations, and the written word. In this nuanced retelling, human progress is no longer a straight march from caves to cities: Farming didn’t always replace foraging, villages didn’t automatically spark agriculture, and cities didn’t necessitate rigid hierarchies. For thousands of years, humans merely improvised. By the end of the Bronze Age, the world had become unrecognizable: mammoths and giant sloths replaced by cattle and sheep, scattered nomadic bands replaced by millions living in cities, and farming on nearly every continent. Wyman argues that the rise of states and steady food production wasn’t inevitable, but rather, the outcome of countless choices that reshaped the planet and made us who we are today. Combining cutting-edge science with gripping storytelling, Lost Worlds explores: A Sweeping New History of the Ancient World: Discover how early societies rose, adapted, and collapsed across thousands of years of human history. The Archaeology Revolution: Ancient DNA, climate science, and new excavation methods are revealing how prehistoric people lived, migrated, and fought. From Ice Age Hunters to Early Civilizations: Follow the dramatic transformation that led from nomadic foragers to farming, cities, and powerful states. Why Societies Rise—and Fall: Learn how climate change, migration, population growth, and conflict shaped the fate of early civilizations.

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The Notebook - Roland Allen Cover Art

The Notebook

The Notebook A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen

A Globe 100 Best Book of 2024 • A New Yorker Best Book of 2024 • A Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024 The first history of the notebook, a simple invention that changed the way the world thinks. We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did these indispensable implements come from? How did they revolutionize our lives? And how can using a notebook help change the way you think? In this wide-ranging history, Roland Allen reveals how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, Isaac Newton and Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James; shows how Darwin developed his theory of evolution in tiny pocket books and Agatha Christie plotted a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books; and introduces a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers, and mathematicians, all of whom used their notebooks as a space to think—and in doing so, shaped the modern world. In an age of AI and digital overload, the humble notebook is more relevant than ever. Allen shows how bullet points can combat ADHD, journals can ease PTSD, and patient diaries soften the trauma of reawakening from coma. The everyday act of moving a pen across paper, he finds, can have profound consequences, changing the way we think and feel: making us more creative, more productive—and maybe even happier.

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The War of the World - Niall Ferguson Cover Art

The War of the World

The War of the World Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West by Niall Ferguson

From the bestselling author of  The Ascent of Money  and  The Square and the Tower "Even those who have read widely in 20th-century history will find fresh, surprising details." — The Boston Globe "A fascinating read, thanks to Ferguson's gifts as a writer of clear, energetic narrative history." — The Washington Post Astonishing in its scope and erudition, this is the magnum opus that Niall Ferguson's numerous acclaimed works have been leading up to. In it, he grapples with perhaps the most challenging questions of modern history: Why was the twentieth century history's bloodiest by far? Why did unprecedented material progress go hand in hand with total war and genocide? His quest for new answers takes him from the walls of Nanjing to the bloody beaches of Normandy, from the economics of ethnic cleansing to the politics of imperial decline and fall. The result, as brilliantly written as it is vital, is a great historian's masterwork.

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The Betrayal of Anne Frank - Rosemary Sullivan Cover Art

The Betrayal of Anne Frank

The Betrayal of Anne Frank A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan

A New York Times Bestseller Less a mystery unsolved than a secret well kept... Using new technology, recently discovered documents and sophisticated investigative techniques, an international team—led by an obsessed retired FBI agent—has finally solved the historical mystery that has haunted generations since World War II: Who betrayed Anne Frank and her family? And why? Over thirty million people have read The Diary of a Young Girl, the journal teen-aged Anne Frank kept while living in an attic with her family and four other people in Amsterdam during World War II, until the Nazis arrested them and sent them to a concentration camp. But despite the many works—journalism, books, plays and novels—devoted to Anne’s story, none has ever conclusively explained how these eight people managed to live in hiding undetected for over two years—and who or what finally brought the Nazis to their door. With painstaking care, retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and a team of indefatigable investigators pored over tens of thousands of pages of documents—some never before seen—and interviewed scores of descendants of people familiar with the Franks. Utilizing methods developed by the FBI, the Cold Case Team painstakingly pieced together the months leading to the infamous arrest—and came to a shocking conclusion.  The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation is the riveting story of their mission. Rosemary Sullivan introduces us to the investigators, explains the behavior of both the captives and their captors and profiles a group of suspects. All the while, she vividly brings to life wartime Amsterdam: a place where no matter how wealthy, educated, or careful you were, you never knew whom you could trust.  This riveting work of investigative journalism finally provides answers. A Groundbreaking Investigation: See how a dedicated cold case team, led by a retired FBI agent, applied modern techniques to a decades-old historical mystery, analyzing thousands of documents to uncover the truth. Life in Hiding: Go inside the secret annex to understand the day-to-day reality for the eight people hidden away, and the constant threat they faced in wartime Amsterdam. A Shocking Conclusion: Follow the trail of evidence that profiles a group of suspects and leads to a definitive, carefully reasoned conclusion about the betrayal. The Human Element: Meet the investigators, captives, and captors through meticulous research that explains their motivations and behaviors during a time of unimaginable pressure.

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Work - James Suzman Cover Art

Work

Work A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots by James Suzman

"This book is a tour de force." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take A revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman Work defines who we are. It determines our status, and dictates how, where, and with whom we spend most of our time. It mediates our self-worth and molds our values. But are we hard-wired to work as hard as we do? Did our Stone Age ancestors also live to work and work to live? And what might a world where work plays a far less important role look like? To answer these questions, James Suzman charts a grand history of "work" from the origins of life on Earth to our ever more automated present, challenging some of our deepest assumptions about who we are. Drawing insights from anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, zoology, physics, and economics, he shows that while we have evolved to find joy meaning and purpose in work, for most of human history our ancestors worked far less and thought very differently about work than we do now. He demonstrates how our contemporary culture of work has its roots in the agricultural revolution ten thousand years ago. Our sense of what it is to be human was transformed by the transition from foraging to food production, and, later, our migration to cities. Since then, our relationships with one another and with our environments, and even our sense of the passage of time, have not been the same.   Arguing that we are in the midst of a similarly transformative point in history, Suzman shows how automation might revolutionize our relationship with work and in doing so usher in a more sustainable and equitable future for our world and ourselves.

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History of the Twentieth Century - Martin Gilbert Cover Art

History of the Twentieth Century

History of the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert

A chronological compilation of twentieth-century world events in one volume—from the acclaimed historian and biographer of Winston S. Churchill.   The twentieth century has been one of the most unique in human history. It has seen the rise of some of humanity's most important advances to date, as well as many of its most violent and terrifying wars. This is a condensed version of renowned historian Martin Gilbert's masterful examination of the century's history, offering the highlights of a three-volume work that covers more than three thousand pages.   From the invention of aviation to the rise of the Internet, and from events and cataclysmic changes in Europe to those in Asia, Africa, and North America, Martin examines art, literature, war, religion, life and death, and celebration and renewal across the globe, and throughout this turbulent and astonishing century.

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The Revolutionary Center - Adrian Wooldridge Cover Art

The Revolutionary Center

The Revolutionary Center The Lost Genius of Liberalism by Adrian Wooldridge

A cultural history of liberalism—one of our most widely used yet misunderstood terms—that reveals why the world urgently needs a more liberal mindset. So-called liberalism has been twisted out of shape by both the left- and right-wing who incorrectly conceive of it in ideological terms, without understanding what a liberal philosophy really entails. In untangling these misconceptions, Wooldridge reveals why the world desperately needs to adopt a proper liberal mindset. The cycles of history predict that without a return to liberalism, we face autocracy, fascism, and the societal stratification already visible in the world’s structures of opposition: populists versus elitists, the ultra-woke versus the steadfastly traditional, and capitalist-triumphalists against capitalist-catastrophists. A call to arms amidst American economic stagnation and the global censorship of information, Adrian’s new book guides us through liberalism’s intellectual, cultural, and political histories to remind us of the true liberal’s values: freedom through self-determinism, individual rights, healthy skepticism, thoughtful tolerance, and aversion to dogmatism. Adrian diagnoses areas of necessary improvement for today’s passive liberals, who would do well to embody the flexible, moderate, and critical approaches of their Cold War predecessors. The West’s success against Communist totalitarianism came from recognizing the need for a strong military defense while using open communication to explain what the West was defending. This energy must be applied to our understanding of overseas regimes and of Western capitalism at home. To avoid global catastrophe and uphold intellectual freedom and privacy, we must learn from the liberal past and look ahead, critiquing the structures we find ourselves in and those further afield

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