‘The very grubby coalface of foreign policy … I found the entire book most horribly addictive’ Independent
‘One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining the other’ Spectator
A fascinating insight into the untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East.
In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, two men secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them. Sir Mark Sykes was a visionary politician; François Georges-Picot a diplomat with a grudge. They drew a line in the sand from the Mediterranean to the Persian frontier, and together remade the map of the Middle East, with Britain’s 'mandates' of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France's in Lebanon and Syria.
Over the next thirty years a sordid tale of violence and clandestine political manoeuvring unfolded, told here through a stellar cast of politicians, diplomats, spies and soldiers, including T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Using declassified papers from the British and French archives, James Barr vividly depicts the covert, deadly war of intrigue and espionage between Britain and France to rule the Middle East, and reveals the shocking way in which the French finally got their revenge. Lees meer
The thrilling story of archaeological adventure, and astonishing discoveries around the globe Archaeology tells the story of our ancestors: how they lived, what they believed in and how their cultures developed over millennia. Brian Fagan introduces us to pharaohs’ tombs, Mayan ruins, the first colonial settlements at Jamestown, mysterious Stonehenge, and Pompeii – the city buried by volcanic ash in AD 79. This Little History tells the riveting stories of great archaeologists and their amazing discoveries around the world. For readers of every age, this book explores archaeology’s history of controversies, discoveries, heroes and scoundrels, global sites and newest methods. Little Histories – Inspiring Guides for Curious Minds Lees meer
A lucid guide to humankind's greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Peter Singer Philosophy begins with the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them just how little they genuinely understood. This engaging Little History introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their most compelling ideas about the universe and our place in it. Nigel Warburton guides us on a tour of the lives and work of thought-provoking philosophers – from the certainty of Descartes (‘I think, therefore I am’) to Hannah Arendt who examined crimes against humanity and taught us ‘the banality of evil’. Little Histories – Inspiring Guides for Curious Minds Lees meer
The internationally bestselling guide to the extraordinary human story, for the curious of all ages The world has existed for over 4 billion years, but humanity arrived much more recently. Here E. H. Gombrich brings to life the full story of human experience on Earth. He paints a colourful picture of remarkable people and events, from Confucius to Catherine the Great, from the invention of art to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. This is a book dominated not by dates and facts but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries. It is both a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this is a timeless account of our shared history. Little Histories – Inspiring Guides for Curious Minds Lees meer
'Fascinating... One of the most astute political commentators on Putin and modern Russia' Financial Times
'An amazing achievement' Peter Frankopan
Can anyone truly understand Russia?
Russia is a country with no natural borders, no single ethos, no true central identity. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, it is everyone's 'other'. And yet it is one of the most powerful nations on earth, a master game-player on the global stage with a rich history of war and peace, poets and revolutionaries.
In this essential whistle-stop tour of the world's most complex nation, Mark Galeotti takes us behind the myths to the heart of the Russian story: from the formation of a nation to its early legends - including Ivan the Terrible and Catherine the Great - to the rise and fall of the Romanovs, the Russian Revolution, the Cold War, Chernobyl and the end of the Soviet Union - plus the rise of a politician named Vladimir Putin, and the events leading to the Ukrainian war.
The bestselling alternative history series in bite-sized chapters. Thoroughly researched and entertaining. This is history … but not as you know it.
Explore the failures, mistakes and missed opportunities that shaped history in this new entry in the bestselling series.
From the botched attempt to create a life-extending elixir that produced gunpowder, to the unsuccessful stint in medical school which led to a career in naturalism for Charles Darwin, to the missile detection system malfunction that almost sparked a nuclear war, the course of human history has so often been shaped by failures of all magnitudes.
In fifty bite-sized chapters spanning thousands of years, A Short History of the World in 50 Failures details how the world as we know it has been defined by plans gone awry, opportunities not seized upon and schemes that were always fated to end in catastrophe.
Whether it’s the pharaoh Akhenaten’s misplaced attempt to found a new religion or Napoleon’s doomed invasion of Russia, discover a fascinating collection of outsized tales and historical snafus that created the world as we know it today.
Also available: A Short History of the World in 50 Conspiracies (9781789299076) A Short History of the World in 50 Murders (9781789297737) A Short History of the World in 50 Tyrants (9781789298437) A Short History of the World in 50 Lies (9781789294606) A Short History of the World in 50 Places (9781789291971) A Short History of the World in 50 Animals (9781789292954) A Short History of the World in 50 Books (9781789294088)
Air Commodore Andrew James Wray Geddes CBE DSO LoM EM RAF was probably the only British officer who retired as a captain in the Royal Artillery and an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force. Lees meer
‘Abd’ van historicus Justin Marozzi is een indrukwekkende studie naar slavernij en slavenhandel in islamitische beschavingen van de zevende eeuw tot het heden.