Takes readers on their own journey around the world - from the Grand Canal at Nanjing to the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul; from Machu Picchu in the Andes to Shark Island, Namibia; and, from the proud towers of Prague to the secret...

In 1412, Europe was a miserable backwater ravaged by plague, bad sanitation and incessant war, while the Orient was home to dazzling civilizations. This book reveals the six 'killer applications' that the Rest lacked: competition,...

The beginning of the twentieth century saw human civilization at its most enlightened, well-educated, globalized and wealthy. What turned it into a bloodbath? This title reveals the story of history's most savage century as a...

The West once ruled more than half the world. The religion it exported is still followed by a third of mankind. Above all, the way people live--or aspire to live--is unmistakably an invention of the...

A portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family. It uncovers the secrets behind the family's phenomenal economic success. It also reveals the details of the family's vast political network, which gave it access to and...

What if Britain had stayed out of the First World War? What if Germany had invaded Britain in 1940? What if Nazi Germany had defeated the Soviet Union? How would England look if there had been no Cromwell? What if there had been...

A narrative history profiles the British Empire as a cradle of modernity, tracing the expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture during the last four centuries and continuing with discussions of such topics as...

No American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as 'Super K,' the 'indispensable man' whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama has also been hounded by...