From the phenomenal bestselling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus

How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war or ecological catastrophe?

What do we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism?

How should we prepare our children for the future?

21 Lessons is an exploration of what it means to be human in an age of bewilderment.

'Fascinating…Harari has teed up a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the 21st century' Bill Gates, New York Times

The successful evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Belgium and northern France through the port of Dunkirk and across adjacent beaches is rightly regarded as one of the most significant episodes in the nation's long history, although Winston Churchill sagely cautioned in Parliament on 4th June that the country "must be careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations". Nevertheless, the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation "Dynamo", was a victory and, like many others before it, it was a victory of sea power. The Royal Navy achieved what it set out to do, despite grievous losses, in the teeth of determined opposition. It denied an aggressive and ruthless continental power a potentially war-winning total victory that could have changed the direction of civilization for generations to come. The loss of the main British field army would have enfeebled the nation militarily and psychologically, prompting political upheaval, potentially resulting in a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany on unfavourable terms dictated by Adolf Hitler. The undeniable success of the evacuation was certainly a crucial naval and military achievement but its positive effect on the nation's morale was just as important, instilling confidence in the eventual outcome of the war, whatever the immediate future might hold, and creating optimism in the face of adversity that added "the Dunkirk spirit" to the English language. This edition of Dunkirk, Operation "Dynamo" 26th May - 4th June 1940, An Epic of Gallantry, publishes the now declassified Battle Summary No 41, a document once classified as 'Restricted' and produced in small numbers only for official government purposes. This Summary, The Evacuation from Dunkirk, lodged in the archive at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, is one of the very few surviving copies in existence and records events in minute detail, being written soon after the evacuation using the words of the naval officers involved. This makes it a unique record and a primary source for the history of Operation "Dynamo" from mid-May 1940 until its conclusion on 4th June. The original document has been supplemented in this title by a Foreword written by Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, formerly the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Fleet, whose father commanded one of the destroyers sunk off Dunkirk when rescuing troops. In addition, there is a modern historical introduction and commentary, putting the evacuation into context and this edition is enhanced by the inclusion of a large number of previously unpublished photographs of the beaches, town, and harbour of Dunkirk taken immediately after the conclusion of the operation, together with others illustrating many of the ships that took part. Britannia Naval Histories of World War II - an important source in understanding the critical naval actions of the period.

When hate groups descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, triggering an eruption of racist violence, the tragic conflict reverberated throughout the world. It also had a profound effect on the University of Virginia's expansive community, many of whose members are involved in teaching issues of racism, public art, free speech, and social ethics. In the wake of this momentous incident, scholars, educators, and researchers have come together in this important new volume to thoughtfully reflect on the historic events of August 11 and 12, 2017. How should we respond to the moral and ethical challenges of our times? What are our individual and collective responsibilities in advancing the principles of democracy and justice? Charlottesville 2017: The Legacy of Race and Inequity brings together the work of these UVA faculty members catalyzed by last summer's events to examine their community's history more deeply and more broadly. Their essays-ranging from John Mason on the local legacy of the Lost Cause to Leslie Kendrick on free speech to Rachel Wahl on the paradoxes of activism-examine truth telling, engaged listening, and ethical responses, and aim to inspire individual reflection, as well as to provoke considered and responsible dialogue. This prescient new collection is a conversation that understands and owns America's past and-crucially-shows that our past is very much part of our present. Contributors: Asher D. Biemann; Gregory B. Fairchild; Risa Goluboff; Bonnie Gordon; Claudrena N. Harold; Willis Jenkins; Leslie Kendrick; John Edwin Mason; Guian McKee; Louis P. Nelson; P. Preston Reynolds; Frederick Schauer; Elizabeth R. Varon; Rachel Wahl; Lisa Woolfork.

An important new cultural study of the Cold War, Guolin Yi's The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963-1972 analyzes how the media in both countries shaped public perceptions of the changing relations between China and the United States in the decade prior to Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing. This book offers the first systematic study of Cankao Xiaoxi (Reference News), an internal Chinese newspaper that carried relatively objective stories the Xinhua News Agency translated from world news media for circulation among Communist cadres. As the main channel for the cadres to learn about the outside world, this newspaper provides a window into China's evolving foreign policy, including the reception of signals from the Nixon administration. Yi compares this internal communications channel with the public accounts contained in the more widely circulated newspaper People's Daily, a chief propaganda outlet of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) directed at its own people and China watchers all over the world. A third level of communication emerges in classified CCP instructions and government documents. By approaching the Chinese communication system on three levels - internal, public, and classified - Yi's analysis demonstrates how people at different positions in the political hierarchy accessed varying types of information, allowing him to chart the development of Beijing's approach to the U.S. government. In a corresponding analysis of the defining features of American reporting on China, Yi considers the impact of government-media relationships in the United States during the Cold War. Alongside prominent magazines and newspapers, particularly the New York Times and the Washington Post in their differing coverage of key events, Yi discusses television networks, which proved vital for promoting the success of Ping-Pong Diplomacy and the impact of Nixon's visit in 1972. With its comparative study of news outlets in the two countries, The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963-1972 presents a thorough and comprehensive perspective on the role of the media in influencing domestic Chinese and American public opinion during a critical decade.

Focusing on a decade in Irish history which has been largely overlooked, Youth and Popular Culture in 1950s Ireland provides the most complete account of the 1950s in Ireland, through the eyes of the young people who contributed, slowly but steadily, to the social and cultural transformation of Irish society. Eleanor O'Leary presents a picture of a generation with an international outlook, who played basketball, read comic books and romance magazines, listened to rock'n'roll music and skiffle, made their own clothes to mimic international styles and even danced in the street when the major stars and bands of the day rocked into town. She argues that this engagement with imported popular culture was a contributing factor to emigration and the growing dissatisfaction with standards of living and conservative social structures in Ireland. As well as outlining teenagers' resistance to outmoded forms of employment and unfair work practices, she maps their vulnerability as a group who existed in a limbo between childhood and adulthood. Issues of unemployment, emigration and education are examined alongside popular entertainments and social spaces in order to provide a full account of growing up in the decade which preceded the social upheaval of the 1960s. Examining the 1950s through the unique prism of youth culture and reconnecting the decade to the process of social and cultural transition in the second half of the 20th century, this book is a valuable contribution to the literature on 20th-century Irish history.

This book provides a holistic overview of the history of sustainable development in Denmark over the last fifty years, covering a host of issues central to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): ending poverty; ensuring inclusive and equitable education; reducing inequality; making cities and settlements inclusive, safe and resilient; and fostering responsible production and consumption patterns, to name a few. It argues for a new framework of sustainability history, one that is truly global in outlook. As such, it explores what truly global sustainable development would look like. It considers how economic growth has been the driver for prosperity in the global north, and considers whether sustainable development and continued economic growth are irreconcilable, and what the future of sustainable development initiatives in Denmark might look like.

In today's world, we can point to many international disputes and interstate conflicts fueled by past events. Historical resentments or memories of past suffering or fame are often used to justify political, economic and even territorial demands. Inter-state disputes and historical conflicts should be understood as evidence of political and social tensions related to active, serious differences in the assessment of the common past. The book explains the role of such conflicts in international relations and suggests ways of classifying them. It presents examples of the internationally relevant instrumentalisation of history from different regions of the world and outlines ways of overcoming them.

The Bosnian war of 1992-1995 was one of the most brutal conflicts to have erupted since the end of the Second World War. But although the war occurred in 'Europe's backyard' and received significant media coverage in the West, relatively little scholarly attention has been devoted to cultural representations of the conflict. Stephen Harper analyses how the war has been depicted in global cinema and television over the past quarter of a century. Focusing on the representation of some of the war's major themes, including humanitarian intervention, the roles of NATO and the UN, genocide, rape and ethnic cleansing, Harper explores the role of popular media culture in reflecting, reinforcing -- and sometimes contesting -- nationalist ideologies.