Philip Jenkins explores the central developments in American history from the fifteenth century to the present day. This highly readable & authoritative account discusses the political, social, cultural & economic events that have shaped the history of the United States. The text covers key elements of this history such as the civil rights movement, the events of pre- & post-9/11, & the Iraq war. For this new edition, Jenkins brings the story right up to date with discussions of: * the 2008 presidential election, Obama`s victory & presidency * the global economic crisis & the conditions that gave rise to it * key environmental & gay rights issues * recent US debates over war & the economy. A History of the United States provides a foundation for the study of American society, thought & culture. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the evolution of this remarkable nation. ...

Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents & old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece & Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean. He looks at cultures that have failed & vanished, as well as the origins of today's superpowers, & finds surprising echoes & parallels across vast distances & epochs. This is a book about the great change-makers of history & their times, people such as Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, Galileo & Mao, but it is also a book about us. For 'the better we understand how rulers lose touch with reality, or why revolutions produce dictators more often than they produce happiness, or why some parts of the world are richer than others, the easier it is to understand our own times.' Fresh, exciting & vividly readable, this is popular history at its very best. ...

Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents & old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece & Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean. He looks at cultures that have failed & vanished, as well as the origins of today`s superpowers, & finds surprising echoes & parallels across vast distances & epochs. This is a book about the great change-makers of history & their times, people such as Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, Galileo & Mao, but it is also a book about us. For `the better we understand how rulers lose touch with reality, or why revolutions produce dictators more often than they produce happiness, or why some parts of the world are richer than others, the easier it is to understand our own times.` Fresh, exciting & vividly readable, this is popular history at its very best. ...

A clearly written, accessible & comprehensive text that tells the story of man s journey from the time of the first hominids to the present. Sections include: Ancient World, 10, 000 to 500BC, Classical World, 500 BC to AD500, Medieval World, AD500 to 1500, Early Modern World, 1500-1783, 19th Century, the Modern World from 1914 to the first decade of the 21st century. This book tells the story of how we got to where we are today through conflict & intrigue, power won & lost, & great empires built & destroyed. ...

Beginning with an unlikely stowaway`s account of life on board Noah`s Ark, A History of the World in 10� � ½ Chapters presents a surprising, subversive, fictional history of earth told from several kaleidoscopic perspectives. Noah disembarks from his ark but he & his Voyage are not forgotten: they are revisited in on other centuries & other climes
- by a Victorian spinster mourning her father, by an American astronaut on an obsessive personal mission. We journey to the Titanic, to the Amazon, to the raft of the Medusa, & to an ecclesiastical court in medieval France where a bizarre case is about to begin... This is no ordinary history, but something stranger, a challenge & a delight for the reader`s imagination. Ambitious yet accessible, witty & playfully serious, this is the work of a brilliant novelist.
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A History of the World in 100 Objects takes a dramatically original approach to the history of humanity, using objects which previous civilisations have left behind them, often accidentally, as prisms through which we can explore past worlds & the lives of the men & women who lived in them. It begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, & ends with an object from the 21st century which represents the world we live in today. Neil Mac Gregor's aim is not simply to describe these remarkable things, but to show us their significance
- how a stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people, how Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency or how an early Victorian tea-set tells us about the impact of empire. Each chapter immerses the reader in a past civilisation accompanied by an exceptionally well-informed guide. Seen through this lens, history is a kaleidoscope
- shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, & shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. An intellectual & visual feast, it is one of the most engrossing & unusual history books published in years.

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Neil Mac Gregor`s ”A History of the World in 100 Objects” takes a bold, original approach to human history, exploring past civilizations through the objects that defined them. Encompassing a grand sweep of human history, ”A History of the World in 100 Objects” begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, & ends with objects which characterise the world we live in today. Seen through Mac Gregor`s eyes, history is a kaleidoscope
- shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, & shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. A stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people; Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency; & an early Victorian tea-set speaks to us about the impact of empire. An intellectual & visual feast, this is one of the most engrossing & unusual history books published in years. ” Brilliant, engagingly written, deeply researched”. (Mary Beard, ” Guardian”).”A triumph: hugely popular, & rightly lauded as one of the most effective & intellectually ambitious initiatives in the making of `public history` for many decades”. (” Sunday Telegraph”). ” Highly intelligent, delightfully written & utterly absorbing”. (Timothy Clifford, ” Spectator”). ” This is a story book, vivid & witty, shining with insights, connections, shocks & delights”. (Gillian Reynolds, ” Daily Telegraph”). Neil Mac Gregor has been Director of the British Museum since August 2002. His latest book, ” Shakespeare`s Restless World” is an enthralling exploration of Shakespeare`s world, & of the minds of his audiences, based on Neil Mac Gregor`s new 20-part BBC Radio 4 series. Mac Gregor was previously Director of the National Gallery in London from 1987 to 2002.
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Jenni Murray gives the lie to Thomas Carlyle’s infamous declaration that ‘the history of the world is but the biography of great men.’ Women have played just as great a role in the story of humankind, only for their own tales to be marginalised, censored & forgotten. Their names should be shouted from the rooftops. Marie Curie discovered radium & revolutionised medical science. Empress Cixi transformed China. Frida Kahlo turned an unflinching eye on life & death. In A History of the World in 21 Women, Jenni Murray celebrates the lives, struggles & achievements of some of the most extraordinary people to have ever walked the Earth. They ruled empires, they led nations. They were pioneers in the arts & geniuses of science. They led while others followed, spoke truth to power & fought for change. All left behind an indelible mark. ...

History is never more alive than when you`re walking through it. The smell of earth long-trodden by pilgrims; mountain vistas unchanged for millennia; the feel of weathered wall, built centuries before. To hike amid such echoes of the past is as close as you`ll come to travelling back in time. This book will lead you on a grand tour of world events, from prehistory to the 21st century. Meandering along 500 historically resonant trails, A History of the World in 500 Walks is learned but light-footed & never pedestrian, combining inspirational & knowledgable commentary with practical detail. Starting at the very beginning, with hikes amid some of the planet`s most startling geology, A History of the World in 500 Walks strolls towards & presents, via the pathways of the Roman emperors, Mayan civilisations, medieval pilgrims & Second World War soldiers. In its beautifully illustrated pages, you can follow in the footsteps of Christians, convicts, communists, & conquistadores, Aboriginal tribes, high-seas explorers, gold prospectors, silk traders, Buddhists, Berbers, a bard & a barmy Bavarian. The tales are as varied as the terrain they cover -- & will likely spur you to lace up your own boots. ...

The history of our world can be told through numbers. Numbers can illuminate the broad sweep of history, from vast movements of populations & the expansion of empires to the effects of technological achievements or climatic change. They also allow us to drill into the real detail of history, from the page count, the cost & the time it took to produce the Gutenberg Bible (the West`s first mass-produced book) to the price of Virginian tobacco in the 1620s, both of which had an immediate & lasting effect on the course of world history. &, just occasionally, numbers have the power to blow our minds. For example: in 2003, US research showed that one in every 200 men across Eurasia shared genetic material from a single male from 900 years ago; the likely progenitor was Mongol emperor, Genghis Khan. A History of the World in Numbers will span the early civilizations of man, from the plains of Mesopotamia & the Indus Empire, right through to the modern day. The numbers, statistics & figures will dictate the topic of each entry, shining a light on each subject, whether it`s the development of early writing in China or the number of Brodie helmets issued in World War One. ...