From monarchy to the world's first socialist state, from Communism to Capitalism, from mass poverty to Europe's new super rich, Russia has seen immense revolutions in just the past century, including purges, poisonings, famines, assassinations and massacres. In that time, it has also endured civil war, world war and the Cold War. But the extremes of Russian history are not restricted to the past 100 years. When Napoleon invaded in 1812, the Russians retreated, slashing and burning their own country and Moscow itself, rather than conceding defeat to Napoleon. They were victorious, but at immense cost. Russia's history is also spiked with mystery. Did Stalin shoot his wife? Who ordered the killing of Rasputin? Or the shooting of Anna Politkovskaya and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko or the Skripals in Salisbury, England? What involvement and influence did Russian intelligence have on the 2016 US Election? In addition, it is a history of appalling disasters, such as at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, the sinking of the Kursk submarine, and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Ranging from medieval Kievan Rus' to Vladimir Putin, The History of Russia explores the murder, brutality, genocide, insanity and skulduggery in the efforts to seize, and then maintain, power in the Slav heartland. Illustrated with 180 photographs and artworks, the book is a fascinating, lively and wide-ranging history from the Mongol invasions to the present day.

This book - now in paperback - uncovers the true force behind most of the political processes in the Middle East for half a century. Through constant confrontations and negotiations with Israel and the Palestinians, under the watchful eye of the United States, King Hussein managed to create a new Middle Eastern nation-state the Jordanian country and its people. The focus of the book is Hussein's deep concern for the future of the last Hashemite monarchy, together with his own set of personal and ideological convictions, as they impacted on many of his strategic decisions and their contribution to the formation of present-day Jordan.

Stanley Baldwin held various ministerial positions in Lloyd George's coalition government before succeeding him as prime minister, alternating the premiership with Ramsay MacDonald over the next 14 years. This book looks at his time in office, noted by the General Strike and the abdication of Edward VIII.

With the agreement at Munich in 1938 he effectively abandoned Czechoslovakia, but immediately accelerated Britain's rearmament programme and the following year declared that Britain would defend Poland. This commitment led, in September 1939, to the start of World War II.

The New York Times bestselling book from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg-"a comprehensive look inside her brilliantly analytical, entertainingly wry mind, revealing the fascinating life of one of our generation's most influential voices in both law and public opinion" (Harper's Bazaar). My Own Words "showcases Ruth Ginsburg's astonishing intellectual range" (The New Republic). In this collection Justice Ginsburg discusses gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, law and lawyers in opera, and the value of looking beyond US shores when interpreting the US Constitution. Throughout her life Justice Ginsburg has been (and continues to be) a prolific writer and public speaker. This book's sampling is selected by Justice Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, who introduce each chapter and provide biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted. Witty, engaging, serious, and playful, My Own Words is a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of America's most influential women and "a tonic to the current national discourse" (The Washington Post).

This is the first full-length biography of Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904), Anglo-Irish reformer, feminist, and anti-vivisectionist Lori Williamson builds on original research, Cobbe's autobiography, and the work of later historians to analyze Cobbe's life as well as her ideological outlook.

A workhouse visitor, Cobbe campaigned strenuously against those in power for rights of women, the poor and of animals. A prominent critic of the Poor Law, she was also the first person to draw up a petition to control cruelty to animals. Using Cobbe's thoughts and activities as a catalyst, Power and Protest explores the issues of protest, reform, hierarchy, power, and gender, the relationship between men and women, humans and animals, and includes important work on pressure-group dynamics.

Given its wide-ranging scope, depiction of nineteenth-century British society and culture, and its exploration of the symbiotic relationships between ideology and the dynamics of protest, Power and Protest will attract students of history, social policy, and gender. Its emphasis on anti-vivisection activity provides a powerful basis for understanding power relations and the historical concept of rights.

Empress Marie (1847-1928) lived one of the most dramatic lives of any princess who sat on the Russian throne. Born Princess Dagmar of Denmark she was betrothed to Tsarevitch Nicholas of Russia, a love match on both sides, but he died months before the wedding. Out of duty she married his brother who came to the throne as Tsar Alexander III in 1881 on the assassination of his father Alxander II. Her son was Nicholas II, the last Tsar. Everything she held most dear was destroyed before her eyes. Her husband died in his prime and two of her sons died young. During the First World War, her advice unheeded, the Tsar took command of the army and she could only watch as the country she loved was governed by her daughter-in-law Empress Alexandra and Rasputin, with disastrous results. Russia was engulfed in revolution, leading to the destruction of the dynasty and the Church. After a period of house arrest under the Bolsheviks, she escaped and was brought to England on board a British warship. Her word was law among the emigres and her influence was paramount among the Romanovs. She had truly become Matoushka - the Mother of the Russian People. She died in Denmark in 1928. This is the first major work in English, using previously unpublished material from the Royal Archives and information in Russian, Danish and Finnish not previously available in English.

Until recently, the marquise Du Chatelet (1706-1749) was more remembered as the companion of Voltaire than as an intellectual in her own right. While much has been written about his extraordinary output during the years he spent in her company, her own work has often been overshadowed. This volume brings renewed attention to Du Chatelet's intellectual achievements, including her free translation of selections from Bernard Mandeville's Fable of the bees; her dissertation on the nature and propagation of fire for the 1738 prize competition of the Academie des sciences; the 1740 Institutions de physique and ensuing exchange with the perpetual secretary of the Academie, Dortous de Mairan; her two-volume exegesis of the Bible; the translation of and commentary on Isaac Newton's Principia; and her semi-autobiographical Discours sur le bonheur. It is a measure of the breadth of her interests that the contributions to this volume come from experts in a wide range of disciplines: comparative literature, art history, the history of mathematics and science, philosophy, the history of publishing and translation studies. Du Chatelet's partnership with Voltaire is reflected in a number of the essays; they borrowed from each other's writings, from the discussions they had together, and from their shared readings. Essays examine representations of her by her contemporaries and posterity that range from her inclusion in a German portrait gallery of learned men and women, to the scathing portrait in Francoise de Graffigny's correspondence, and nineteenth-century accounts coloured by conflicted views of the ancien regime. Other essays offer close readings of her work, and set her activities and writings in their intellectual and social contexts. Finally, they speculate on the ways in which she presented herself and what that might tell us about the challenges and possibilities facing an exceptional woman of rank and privilege in eighteenth-century society.

IN 1501, ENGLAND HAD BEEN RAVAGED FOR DECADES by conspiracy, coups, and violence. Through luck, guile, and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, emerged as ruler--but as a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne, he remained a usurper and false king to many, and his hold on power was precarious.
But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. His marriage to Queen Elizabeth united the houses of Lancaster and York, the warring parties that had fought the bloody century-long Wars of the Roses. Now their older son, Arthur, was about to marry a Spanish princess. On a cold November day sixteen-year-old Catherine of Aragon arrived in London for a wedding that would mark a triumphal moment in Henry's reign. But Henry's plans for his son would not happen--and waiting in the wings was the impetuous younger brother, the future Henry VIII.
Rich with drama and insight, "Winter King "is an astonishing story of pageantry, treachery, intrigue, and incident--and the fraught, dangerous birth of Tudor England.

Updated with significant new material, the paperback edition of the 2019 political bestseller. Theresa May presided over the most dramatic and historic peacetime premiership for a century. May at 10 tells the compelling inside story of the most turbulent period in modern British politics for 100 years. Written by one of Britain's leading political and social commentators, May at 10 describes how Theresa May arrived in 10 Downing Street in 2016 with the clearest, yet toughest, agenda of any Prime Minister since the Second World War: delivering Brexit. What follows defies belief or historical precedent. This story has never been told. Including a comprehensive series of interviews with May's closest aides and allies, and with unparalleled access to the advisors who shaped her premiership, Downing Street's official historian Anthony Seldon decodes the enigma of the Prime Minister's tenure. Drawing on all his authorial experience, he unpacks what is the

Ken Thompson served as Sarasota's city manager from 1950 to 1988, making him the longest-serving manager in United States history. During these years, Sarasota experienced a population explosion and an unprecedented modernization of city services. The city moved from a sleepy little town to an independent city with an identifiable economy. This period of growth gave residents a vastly improved bayfront that included Island Park and the Marina Jack development and saw the creation of the current city hall and the Van Wetzel Theater. In thirty-eight years, Sarasota moved from the Circus City to the multifaceted city it is today. Follow well-known Sarasota historian Jeff LaHurd as he recounts the sometimes controversial era of Sarasota's greatest growth.

The first book ever written about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover by a member of his personal staff-his former assistant, Paul Letersky-offers unprecedented, "clear-eyed and compelling" (Mark Olshaker, coauthor of Mindhunter) insight into an American legend. The 1960s and 1970s were arguably among America's most turbulent post-Civil War decades. While the Vietnam War continued seemingly without end, protests and riots ravaged most cities, the Kennedys and MLK were assassinated, and corruption found its way to the highest levels of politics, culminating in Watergate. In 1965, at the beginning of the chaos, twenty-two-year-old Paul Letersky was assigned to assist the legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who'd just turned seventy and had, by then, led the Bureau for an incredible forty-one years. Hoover was a rare and complex man who walked confidently among the most powerful. His personal privacy was more tightly guarded than the secret "files" he carefully collected-and that were so feared by politicians and celebrities. Through Letersky's close working relationship with Hoover, and the trust and confidence he gained from Hoover's most loyal senior assistant, Helen Gandy, Paul became one of the few able to enter the Director's secretive-and sometimes perilous-world. Since Hoover's death half a century ago, millions of words have been written about the man and hundreds of hours of TV dramas and A-list Hollywood films produced. But until now, there has been virtually no account from someone who, for a period of years, spent hours with the Director on a daily basis. Balanced, honest, and keenly observed, this "vivid, foibles-and-all portrait of the fabled scourge of gangsters, Klansmen, and communists" (The Wall Street Journal) sheds new light on one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in American history.

The Sunday Times top 10 bestseller The incredibly moving and powerful memoir of an Auschwitz survivor who made headlines around the world. With a foreword by King Charles III. 'Unforgettable' - Daily Mail When Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert was liberated in 1945, a Jewish-American soldier gave her a banknote on which he'd written 'Good luck and happiness'. And when her great-grandson, Dov, decided to use social media to track down the family of the GI, 96-year-old Lily found herself making headlines round the world. Lily had promised herself that if she survived Auschwitz she would tell everyone the truth about the camp. Now was her chance. In Lily's Promise she writes movingly about her happy childhood in Hungary, the death of her mother and two youngest siblings on their arrival at Auschwitz in 1944 and her determination to keep her two other sisters safe. She describes the inhumanity of the camp and the small acts of defiance that gave her strength. From there she and her sisters became slave labour in a munitions factory, and then faced a death march that they barely survived. Lily lost so much, but she built a new life for herself and her family, first in Israel and then in London. It wasn't easy; the pain of her past was always with her, but this extraordinary woman found the strength to speak out in the hope that such evil would never happen again. 'Utterly compelling, heartbreaking, truthful and yet redemptive, a memoir of the Holocaust, a testimony of irrepressible spirit and an unforgettable family chronicle, written in lucid prose by a truly remarkable woman . . . I couldn't stop reading it.' - Simon Sebag Montefiore

A new, updated, revised edition of JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHY, the wider history of the Middle East through the lens of the Holy City, covering from pre-history to 2020, from King David to Donald Trump. The story of Jerusalem is the story of the world. Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today's clash of civilisations. How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the 'centre of the world' and now the key to peace in the Middle East? Drawing on new archives and a lifetime's study, Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem. A classic of modern literature, this is not only the epic story of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and co-existence, but also a freshly-updated history of the entire Middle East, from King David to the twenty-first century, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wars of today. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem - the only city that exists twice - in heaven and on earth.

More than three decades after her election to Parliament, Diane Abbott is still racking up firsts. The first black woman elected to Parliament, she also recently became the first black person to represent their party at PMQs. Abbott came to fame in the 1980s as part of a new generation of Labour activists, quickly dubbed the 'loony left' by right-wing tabloids. Decades later she is still a divisive figure. Inside the Brexit echo chamber she is treated with unparalleled contempt. Yet for her supporters she is a trailblazer, someone who has remained true to her principles and her community after thirty years in 'the belly of the beast'. Based on interviews with her colleagues, her political opponents and friends from school and university, as well as extensive archival research, Diane Abbott: The Authorised Biography traces Abbott's path from London, via Cambridge University, through the media and radical politics into Parliament, and then to the top of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow Cabinet.

The authoritative Beethoven biography, endorsed by and produced in close collaboration with the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, is timed for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. With unprecedented access to the archives at the Beethoven House in Bonn, renowned Beethoven conductor and scholar Jan Caeyers expertly weaves together a deeply human and complex image of Beethoven-his troubled youth, his unpredictable mood swings, his desires, relationships, and conflicts with family and friends, the mysteries surrounding his affair with the "immortal beloved," and the dramatic tale of his deafness. Caeyers also offers new insights into Beethoven's music and its gradual transformation from the work of a skilled craftsman into that of a consummate artist. Demonstrating an impressive command of the vast scholarship on this iconic composer, Caeyers brings Beethoven's world alive with elegant prose, memorable musical descriptions, and vivid depictions of Bonn and Vienna-the cities where Beethoven produced and performed his works. Caeyers explores how Beethoven's career was impacted by the historical and philosophical shifts taking place in the music world, and conversely, how his own trajectory changed the course of the music industry. Equal parts absorbing cultural history and lively biography, Beethoven, A Life paints a complex portrait of the musical genius who redefined the musical style of his day and went on to become one of the great pillars of Western art music.

In 1979, aged only seven, Monica Macias was transplanted from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea. She was sent by her father Francisco, the first president of post-Independence Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung. Within months, her father was executed in a military coup; her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang. At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises. After university, she went in search of her roots, passing through Beijing, Seoul, Madrid, Guinea, New York and finally London - forced at every step to reckon with damning perceptions of her adoptive homeland. Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica's astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes.

For the first time in paperback, the highly acclaimed, remarkably intimate, and surprisingly revealing secret diary of the woman who spent more private time with FDR than any other person during his years in the White house. At once a love story and a major contribution to history, it offers dramatic new insights into FDR--both the man and the president.
- Bestselling author: Geoffrey C. Ward is an award-winning biographer of FDR and the bestselling coauthor of many books with Ken Burns, including The Civil War and Baseball.
- Widely acclaimed: "A fascinating, very personal view of the man and his life" (USA TODAY). "A remarkable portrait" (The Washington Post). "A new mirror on Roosevelt" (The New York Times). "engrossing" (The New York Review of Books).
- Intimate portrait of a president: FDR trusted Margaret "Daisy" Suckley completely--she was allowed to photograph him in his wheelchair, was privy to wartime secrets, and documented his failing health in great detail.
- Major contribution to history: Daisy's diary offers unique insights into FDR's relationship with Winston Churchill and other wartime leaders, his decision to run for an unprecedented fourth term, and his hopes for the postwar world.

A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY 'The Red Prince announces Helen Carr as one of the most exciting new voices in narrative history.' Dan Jones Son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV and the sire of all the Tudors. Always close to the English throne, John of Gaunt left a complex legacy. Too rich, too powerful, too haughty... did he have his eye on his nephew's throne? Why was he such a focus of hate in the Peasants' Revolt? In examining the life of a pivotal medieval figure, Helen Carr paints a revealing portrait of a man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage, passionately upheld chivalric values, pressed for the Bible to be translated into English, patronised the arts, ran huge risks to pursue the woman he loved... and, according to Shakespeare, gave the most beautiful of all speeches on England.

Imbokodo: Women Who Shape Us is a groundbreaking series of books which introduces you to the powerful stories of South African women who have all made their mark and cleared a path for women and girls. These books recognise, acknowledge and honour our heroines and elders from the past and the present. South African women are silent no more on the roles that we have played in advancing our lives as artists, storytellers, writers, politicians and educationists. The title 'Imbokodo' was been chosen as it is a Zulu word that means "rock" and is often used in the saying 'Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo!', which means "You Strike a Women, You Strike a Rock!" These books were made possible with the support of Biblionef and funding from the National Arts Council. In 10 Curious Inventors, Healers & Creators you will read about the women who shape our world through education, science and maths. You will read about women who became teachers, nurses, social workers, scientists and community workers, overcame obstacles and through their work fought for social change.

Just over one hundred years ago, a young lawyer arrived in South Africa from India to do some legal work. He planned to complete his work and return to his family and friends in India. But Mohandas Gandhi soon saw and experienced for himself injustices in the country. He decided to stay and fight the government's cruel race laws. Later, he returned to India and played and important role in its struggle for independence. Today, Gandhi's "passive resistance" method of protest is known throughout the world - and is used by many who believe in non-violence as one of the ways of fighting for their rights. Gandhi's fight against racial and social injustice in South Africa as told by his granddaughter, Ela Gandhi, began a momentum that inspired many political organisations opposed to this country's racial laws. His legacy will continue to inspire people in their fight against all forms of oppression. They Fought for Freedom tells the life stories of southern African leaders who struggled for freedom and justice. In spite of the important roles they played in the history of southern Africa, most of these leaders have been largely ignored by the history books. The series tells their stories in an entertaining manner, in clear language and aims to restore them to their rightful place in history.

In 2002, Colombian senator, anticorruption crusader, and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas. She was their prisoner for more than six years. Until now.

"Until Death Do Us Part" is the deeply personal autobiography of an extraordinary woman who gave up a life of comfort and safety to become a political leader in a country slowly being demolished by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. A memoir that reads like a fast-paced political thriller--at once poignant, chilling, and inspiring--it is a story of a reformer, a mother, a patriot whose love for her country and faith in democracy gave her the courage to stand up to the power that has subjugated, intimidated, or corrupted all those who opposed it . . . and ultimately paid an unimaginable price for her commitment.