From the acclaimed author of Britain`s War Machine & The Shock of the Old, a bold reassessment of Britain`s twentieth century. It is usual to see the United Kingdom as an island of continuity in an otherwise convulsed & unstable Europe; its political history a smooth sequence of administrations, from building a welfare state to coping with decline. Nobody would dream of writing the history of Germany, say, or the Soviet Union in this way. David Edgerton`s major new history breaks out of the confines of traditional British national history to redefine what it was to British, & to reveal an unfamiliar place, subject to huge disruptions. This was not simply because of the world wars & global economic transformations, but in its very nature. Until the 1940s the United Kingdom was, Edgerton argues, an exceptional place: liberal, capitalist & anti-nationalist, at the heart of a European & global web of trade & influence. Then, as its global position collapsed, it became, for the first time & only briefly, a real, successful nation, with shared goals, horizons & industry, before reinventing itself again in the 1970s as part of the European Union & as the host for international capital, no longer capable of being a nation. Packed with surprising examples & arguments, The Rise & Fall of the British Nation gives us a grown-up, unsentimental history which takes business & warfare seriously, & which is crucial at a moment of serious reconsideration for the country & its future. ...

66 million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped from the face of the earth. Today, Dr. Steve Brusatte, one of the leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters, armed with cutting edge technology, is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years. The world of the dinosaurs has fascinated on book & screen for decades
- from early science fiction classics like The Lost World, to Godzilla terrorizing the streets of Tokyo, & the monsters of Jurassic Park. But what if we got it wrong? In The Rise & Fall of the Dinosaurs, top dinosaur expert Brusatte, tells the real story of how dinosaurs rose to dominate the planet. Using the fossil clues that have been gathered using state of the art technology, Brusatte follows these magnificent creatures from their beginnings in the Early Triassic period, through the Jurassic period to their final days in the Cretaceous & the legacy that they left behind. Along the way, Brusatte introduces us to modern day dinosaur hunters & gives an insight into what it`s like to be a paleontologist. The Rise & Fall of the Dinosaurs is full of thrilling accounts of some of his personal discoveries, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs, monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex, & feathered raptor dinosaurs preserved in lava from China. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 200, 000 years & we are already talking about planetary extinction, The Rise & Fall of the Dinosaurs is a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures who ruled the earth before us.
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WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE Paul Kennedy`s international bestseller is a sweeping account of five hundred years of fluctuating economic muscle & military might. Kennedy`s masterwork begins in the year 1500, at a time of various great centres of power including Minh China, the Ottomans, the rising Mughal state, the nations of Europe. But it was the latter which, through competition, economic growth & better military organisation, came to dominate the globe
- until challenged later by Japan, the Soviet Union, & the United States. Now China, boosted by its own economic prowess, rises to the fore. Throughout this brilliant work, Kennedy persuasively demonstrates the interdependence of economic & military power, showing how an imbalance between the two has historically led to spectacular political disaster. Erudite & brilliantly original, The Rise & Fall of the Great Powers is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the politics of power.
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At its height Renaissance Florence was a centre of enormous wealth, power & influence. A republican city-state funded by trade & banking, its often bloody political scene was dominated by rich mercantile families, the most famous of which were the Medici. This enthralling book charts the family`s huge influence on the political, economic & cultural history of Florence. Beginning in the early 1430s with the rise of the dynasty under the near-legendary Cosimo de Medici, it moves through their golden era as patrons of some of the most remarkable artists & architects of the Renaissance, to the era of the Medici Popes & Grand Dukes, Florence`s slide into decay & bankruptcy, & the end, in 1737, of the Medici line. ...

Out of the failures of Iraq & Afghanistan, the Arab Spring & Syria, a new threat emerges. While Al Qaeda is weakened, new jihadi movements, especially ISIS, are starting to emerge. In military operations in June 2014 they were far more successful than Al Qaeda ever were, taking territory that reaches across borders &

Includes:: the city of Mosul. The reports of their military coordination & brutality are chilling. While they call for the formation of a new caliphate once again the West becomes a target. How could things have gone so badly wrong? In The Rise of Islamic State, Cockburn analyzes the reasons for the unfolding of US & the West`s greatest foreign policy debacle & the impact that it has on the war-torn & volatile Middle East.

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In the late Iron Age, Rome was a small collection of huts arranged over a few hills. By the third century BC, it had become a large & powerful city, with monumental temples, public buildings & grand houses. It had conquered the whole of Italy & was poised to establish an empire. But how did it accomplish this historic transformation? This book explores the development of Rome during this period, & the nature of its control over Italy, considering why & how the Romans achieved this spectacular dominance. For Rome was only one of a number of emerging centres of power during this period. From its complex forms of government, to its innovative connections with other states, Kathryn Lomas shows what set Rome apart. Examining the context & impact of the city`s dominance, as well as the key political, social & economic changes it engendered, this is crucial reading for anyone interested in Ancient Rome. ...

In the late Iron Age, Rome was a small collection of huts arranged over a few hills. By the third century BC, it had become a large & powerful city, with monumental temples, public buildings & grand houses. It had conquered the whole of Italy & was poised to establish an empire. But how did it accomplish this historic transformation? This book explores the development of Rome during this period, & the nature of its control over Italy, considering why & how the Romans achieved this spectacular dominance. For Rome was only one of a number of emerging centres of power during this period. From its complex forms of government, to its innovative connections with other states, Kathryn Lomas shows what set Rome apart. Examining the context & impact of the city`s dominance, as well as the key political, social & economic changes it engendered, this is crucial reading for anyone interested in Ancient Rome. ...

Intelligent, nuanced & wide-ranging, this is the essential handbook for understanding the chaotic political times in which we live. In recent years, voters have deserted the political centre like never before. Whether it`s Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, or Corbyn, outsiders & populists are flourishing on the far left & far right. Celebrated political commentator Steve Richards explores factors from globalization & fake news to rising immigration & stagnant wages. Richards argues that the reasons for the success of the outsider also sows the seeds of their eventual demise. If they do gain power, they inevitably become insiders themselves
- & fail to live up to their extravagant promises. This landmark book examines the rapidly shifting global political landscape of the last decade, & is essential reading for anyone who has been bothered by Brexit, troubled by Trump or confused by Corbyn.
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The Easter Rising of 1916 not only destroyed much of the centre of Dublin
- it changed the course of Irish history. But why did
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This is the book on the way we eat. Solidifying her standing as a preeminent observer & scholar of everyday life, Margaret Visser takes on the sweeping history of table manners, from the civilizations of ancient Greece & medieval Europe to the way that technology has altered, & continues to alter, our behaviour over dinner. She writes of everything from cultural idiosyncrasies around preparation & consumption, to the surprising origins of tableware
- forks took eight centuries to become common utensils, the plate began as a four-day-old slice of bread. Blending folklore, history, & humour, this is a feast of fact & observation on one of our most primal rituals: the meal.
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