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Books > Humanities > History > World history
A reporter's vivid account of Central Asia's wild recent
history-violent in the extreme and rife with characters both heroic
and corrup It sounds like the stuff of a fiction thriller: two
revolutions, a massacre of unarmed civilians, a civil war, a
drug-smuggling highway, brazen corruption schemes, contract hits,
and larger-than-life characters who may be villains . . . or heroes
. . . or possibly both. Yet this book is not a work of fiction. It
is instead a gripping, firsthand account of Central Asia's
unfolding history from 2005 to the present. Philip Shishkin, a
prize-winning journalist with extensive on-the-ground experience in
the tumultuous region above Afghanistan's northern border, focuses
mainly on Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Both nations have struggled
with the enormous challenges of post-Soviet independent statehood;
both became entangled in America's Afghan campaign when U.S.
military bases were established within their borders. At the same
time, the region was developing into a key smuggling hub for
Afghanistan's booming heroin trade. Through the eyes of local
participants-the powerful and the powerless-Shishkin reconstructs
how Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have ricocheted between extreme
repression and democratic strivings, how alliances with the United
States and Russia have brought mixed blessings, and how Stalin's
legacy of ethnic gerrymandering incites conflict even now.
Provincial towns in Britain grew in size and importance in the
eighteenth century. Ports such as Glasgow and Liverpool greatly
expanded, while industrial centres such as Birmingham and
Manchester flourished. Market towns outside London developed as
commercial centres or as destinations offering spa treatments as in
Bath, horse racing in Newmarket or naval services in Portsmouth.
Containing over 100 images of towns in England, Wales and Scotland,
this book draws on the extensive Gough collection in the Bodleian
Library. Contemporary prints and drawings provide a powerful visual
record of the development of the town in this period, and finely
drawn prospects and maps - made with greater accuracy than ever
before - reveal their early development. This book also includes
perceptive observations from the journals and letters of collector
Richard Gough (1735-1809), who travelled throughout the country on
the cusp of the industrial age.
From the bestselling author of The Templars. 'Voyages, battles,
sieges and slaughter: Dan Jones's tumultuous and thrilling history
of the crusades is one of the best' SUNDAY TIMES. 'A powerful story
brilliantly told. Dan Jones writes with pace, wit and insight'
HELEN CASTOR. 'A fresh and vibrant account of a conflict that raged
across medieval centuries' JONATHAN PHILLIPS. Dan Jones,
best-selling chronicler of the Middle Ages, turns his attention to
the history of the Crusades - the sequence of religious wars fought
between the late eleventh century and late medieval periods, in
which armies from European Christian states attempted to wrest the
Holy Land from Islamic rule, and which have left an enduring
imprint on relations between the Muslim world and the West. From
the preaching of the First Crusade by Pope Urban II in 1095 to the
loss of the last crusader outpost in the Levant in 1302-03, and
from the taking of Jerusalem from the Fatimids in 1099 to the fall
of Acre to the Mamluks in 1291, Crusaders tells a tale soaked in
Islamic, Christian and Jewish blood, peopled by extraordinary
characters, and characterised by both low ambition and high
principle. Dan Jones is a master of popular narrative history, with
the priceless ability to write page-turning narrative history
underpinned by authoritative scholarship. Never before has the era
of the Crusades been depicted in such bright and striking colours,
or their story told with such gusto. PRAISE FOR THE TEMPLARS: 'A
fresh, muscular and compelling history of the ultimate
military-religious crusading order, combining sensible scholarship
with narrative swagger' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE. 'Dan Jones has
created a gripping page-turner out of the dramatic history of the
Templars' PHILIPPA GREGORY. 'The story of the Templars, the
ultimate holy warriors, is an extraordinary saga of fanaticism,
bravery, treachery and betrayal, and in Dan Jones they have a
worthy chronicler. The Templars is a wonderful book!' BERNARD
CORNWELL. 'Told with all Jones's usual verve and panache, this is a
dramatic and gripping tale of courage and stupidity, faith and
betrayal' MAIL ON SUNDAY. 'This is another triumphant tale from a
historian who writes as addictively as any page-turning novelist'
OBSERVER. 'The Templars is exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging
history' TLS. 'Jones carries the Templars through the crusades with
clarity and verve. This is unabashed narrative history, fast-paced
and full of incident ... Jones tells their story extremely well'
SUNDAY TIMES.
This is the third and final 'stand-alone' account of C Squadron
SAS's thrilling operations against the relentless spread of
communist backed terrorism in East Africa. Drawing on first-hand
experiences the author describes operations against
communist-backed terrorists in Angola and Mozambique, aiding the
Portuguese and Renamo against the MPLA and Frelimo respectively.
Back in Southern Rhodesia SAS General Peter Walls, realising the
danger that Mugabe and ZANU represented, appealed directly to
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This correspondence,
published here for the first time, changed nothing and years of
corruption and genocide followed. Although C Squadron was disbanded
in 1980 many members joined the South African special forces.
Operations undertaken included unsuccessful and costly
destabilisation attempts against Mugabe and missions into
Mozambique including the assassination of Samora Machel. By 1986
deteriorating relationships with the South African authorities
resulted in the break-up of the SAS teams who dispersed worldwide.
Had Mike Graham not written his three action-packed books, C
Squadron SAS's superb fighting record might never have been
revealed. For those who are fascinated by special forces soldiering
his accounts are 'must reads'.
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World War II Rhode Island
(Paperback)
Christian McBurney, Brian L Wallin, Patrick T. Conley, John W. Kennedy, Maureen A. Taylor
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R591
R494
Discovery Miles 4 940
Save R97 (16%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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When President Barack Obama visited Cairo in 2009 to deliver an
address to Muslims worldwide, he followed in the footsteps of
countless politicians who have taken the existence of a unified
global Muslim community for granted. But as Cemil Aydin explains in
this provocative history, it is a misconception to think that the
world's 1.5 billion Muslims constitute a single religio-political
entity. How did this belief arise, and why is it so widespread? The
Idea of the Muslim World searches for the intellectual origins of a
mistaken notion and explains its enduring allure for non-Muslims
and Muslims alike. Conceived as the antithesis of Western Christian
civilization, the idea of the Muslim world emerged in the late
nineteenth century, when European empires ruled the majority of
Muslims. It was inflected from the start by theories of white
supremacy, but Muslims had a hand in shaping the idea as well.
Aydin reveals the role of Muslim intellectuals in envisioning and
essentializing an idealized pan-Islamic society that refuted claims
of Muslims' racial and civilizational inferiority. After playing a
key role in the politics of the Ottoman Caliphate, the idea of the
Muslim world survived decolonization and the Cold War, and took on
new force in the late twentieth century. Standing at the center of
both Islamophobic and pan-Islamic ideologies, the idea of the
Muslim world continues to hold the global imagination in a grip
that will need to be loosened in order to begin a more fruitful
discussion about politics in Muslim societies today.
Today, 1913 is inevitably viewed through the lens of 1914: as the
last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order
and tear Europe apart, undermining its global pre-eminence. Our
perspectives narrowed by hindsight, the world of that year is
reduced to its most frivolous features--last summers in grand
aristocratic residences--or its most destructive ones: the
unresolved rivalries of the great European powers, the fear of
revolution, violence in the Balkans.
In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world
of 1913 from this "prelude to war" narrative, and explores it as it
was, in all its richness and complexity. Traveling from Europe's
capitals, then at the height of their global reach, to the emerging
metropolises of Canada and the United States, the imperial cities
of Asia and Africa, and the boomtowns of Australia and South
America, he provides a panoramic view of a world crackling with
possibilities, its future still undecided, its outlook still open.
The world in 1913 was more modern than we remember, more similar to
our own times than we expect, more globalized than ever before. The
Gold Standard underpinned global flows of goods and money, while
mass migration reshaped the world's human geography. Steamships and
sub-sea cables encircled the earth, along with new technologies and
new ideas. Ford's first assembly line cranked to life in 1913 in
Detroit. The Woolworth Building went up in New York. While Mexico
was in the midst of bloody revolution, Winnipeg and Buenos Aires
boomed. An era of petro-geopolitics opened in Iran. China appeared
to be awaking from its imperial slumber. Paris celebrated itself as
the city of light--Berlin as the city of electricity.
Full of fascinating characters, stories, and insights, "1913: In
Search of the World before the Great War" brings a lost world
vividly back to life, with provocative implications for how we
understand our past and how we think about our future.
As early as the third century, St Maurice-an Egyptian-became leader
of the legendary Roman Theban Legion. Ever since, there have been
richly varied encounters between those defined as 'Africans' and
those called 'Europeans'. Yet Africans and African Europeans are
still widely believed to be only a recent presence in Europe.
Olivette Otele traces a long African European heritage through the
lives of individuals both ordinary and extraordinary. She uncovers
a forgotten past, from Emperor Septimius Severus, to enslaved
Africans living in Europe during the Renaissance, and all the way
to present-day migrants moving to Europe's cities. By exploring a
history that has been long overlooked, she sheds light on questions
very much alive today-on racism, identity, citizenship, power and
resilience. African Europeans is a landmark account of a crucial
thread in Europe's complex history.
Oil and Nation places petroleum at the center of Bolivia's
contentious twentieth-century history. Bolivia's oil, Cote argues,
instigated the largest war in Latin America in the 1900s, provoked
the first nationalization of a major foreign company by a Latin
American state, and shaped both the course and the consequences of
Bolivia's transformative National Revolution of 1952. Oil and
natural gas continue to steer the country under the government of
Evo Morales, who renationalized hydrocarbons in 2006 and has used
revenues from the sector to reduce poverty and increase
infrastructure development in South America's poorest country. The
book advances chronologically from Bolivia's earliest petroleum
pioneers in the nineteenth century until the present, inserting oil
into historical debates about Bolivian ethnic, racial, and
environmental issues, and within development strategies by
different administrations. While Bolivia is best known for its tin
mining, Oil and Nation makes the case that nationalist reformers
viewed hydrocarbons and the state oil company as a way to modernize
the country away from the tin monoculture and its powerful backers
and toward an oil-powered future.
America: A Narrative History puts narrative front and centre with
David Shi's rich storytelling style, colourful biographical
sketches and vivid first-person quotations. The new editions
further reflect the state of our history and society by continuing
to incorporate diverse voices into the narrative with new coverage
of the Latino/a experience as well as enhanced coverage of gender,
African American, Native American, immigration and LGBTQ history.
With dynamic digital tools, including the InQuizitive adaptive
learning tool, and new digital activities focused on primary and
secondary sources, America: A Narrative History gives students
regular opportunities to engage with the story and build critical
history skills.
Quadratic equations, Pythagoras' theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi
- you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever
explain why? Never fear - bestselling science writer, and your new
favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help. In The
Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of the wonders of numbers:
how they enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and
astronomers to map the heavens; how they won wars and halted the
HIV epidemic; how they are responsible for the design of your home
and almost everything in it, down to the smartphone in your pocket.
His clear explanations of the maths that built our world, along
with stories about where it came from and how it shaped human
history, will engage and delight. From ancient Egyptian priests to
the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to juggling
robots, join Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of
characters in discovering how maths made us who we are today.
More than one million immigrants fled the Irish famine for North
America--and more than one hundred thousand of them perished aboard
the "coffin ships" that crossed the Atlantic. But one small ship
never lost a passenger.
"All Standing" recounts the remarkable tale of the "Jeanie
Johnston" and her ingenious crew, whose eleven voyages are the
stuff of legend. Why did these individuals succeed while so many
others failed? And what new lives in America were the ship's
passengers seeking?
In this deeply researched and powerfully told story, acclaimed
author Kathryn Miles re-creates life aboard this amazing vessel,
richly depicting the bravery and defiance of its shipwright,
captain, and doctor--and one Irish family's search for the American
dream.
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Second
Vatican Council (1962-1965), or Vatican II, is arguably the most
significant event in the life of the Catholic Church since the
Reformation. The Council initiated, intentionally or not, profound
changes not simply within Catholic theology, but in the religious,
social, and moral lives of the world's billion Catholics. It also
reconfigured, intellectually and practically, the Church's
engagements with those outside of it - most obviously with regard
to other religions. The sixteen documents formally issued by
Vatican II constitute some of the most influential writings of the
whole twentieth century. Debates over their correct interpretation
and authority are constant, but they remain an indispensable
point-of-reference for all areas of Catholic life, from liturgy and
sacraments, to the Church's vast network of charitable and
educational endeavours the world over. In this Very Short
Introduction, Shaun Blanchard and Stephen Bullivant present the
backstory to this event. Vatican II is explored in light of the
wider history of the Catholic Church and placed in the tumultuous
context of the 1960s. It distils the research on Vatican II,
employing the first-hand accounts of participants and observers,
and the official proceedings of the Council to paint a rich picture
of one of the most important events of the last century. ABOUT THE
SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University
Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area.
These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new
subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis,
perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and
challenging topics highly readable.
Between 1962 and 1965 Britain engaged in covert operations in
support of Royalist forces fighting the Egyptian backed Republican
regime that had seized power in the Yemeni capital Sana'a in
September 1962. Covert action was regarded as a legitimate tool of
foreign policy as Britain attempted to secure the future of the
newly formed South Arabian Federation against the animus of Nasser.
The use of covert action, as well as the quasi approval given to
the use of mercenaries to support the Royalist cause, was the
inevitable result of policy differences within Whitehall (most
notably between the 'mandarins' of the Colonial Office and the
Foreign Office) as well as international constraints imposed upon
the UK in the aftermath of the Suez crisis. The book examines the
extent to which British policy, while successful in imposing a war
of attrition upon Nasser in the Yemen, contributed to the political
demise of the very objective covert action was designed to secure:
the future stability of the Federation of South Arabia.
The 9th Battalion The Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby) was part
of Lord Kitchener's "New Army" made up initially of men from the
north midlands This is their story complete with pictures of many
of the men The 9th Battalion was not an elite force, but a group of
ordinary working men who felt compelled to serve their country but
found themselves in the most extra-ordinary military conflagration
**THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** 25th Anniversary Edition. Foreword
by Tom Hanks. The book that inspired Steven Spielberg's acclaimed
TV series, produced by Tom Hanks and starring Damian Lewis. In Band
of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose pays tribute to the men of Easy
Company, a crack rifle company in the US Army. From their rigorous
training in Georgia in 1942 to the dangerous parachute landings on
D-Day and their triumphant capture of Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' in
Berchtesgaden. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company.
Repeatedly send on the toughest missions, these brave men fought,
went hungry, froze and died in the service of their country.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary since the original publication,
this reissue contains a new foreword from Tom Hanks who was an
executive producer on the award-winning HBO series. A tale of
heroic adventures and soul-shattering confrontations, Band of
Brothers brings back to life, as only Stephen E. Ambrose can, the
profound ties of brotherhood forged in the barracks and on the
battlefields. 'History boldly told and elegantly written . . .
Gripping' Wall Street Journal 'Ambrose proves once again he is a
masterful historian . . . spellbinding' People
"Fascinating and alarmingly true."-Time Magazine. The true story of
a plot to overthrow Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the nearly
forgotten Marine who saved American Democracy. Many simply don't
know that in 1933, a group of wealthy industrialists-working
closely with groups like the K.K.K. and the American Liberty
League-planned to overthrow the U.S. government and run F.D.R. out
of office in a fascist coup. Americans may be shocked to learn of
the plan to turn unhappy war veterans into American "brown shirts,"
depose F.D.R., and stop the New Deal. They asked Medal of Honor
recipient and Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler to
work with them and become the "first American Caesar." Fortunately,
Butler was a true patriot. Instead of working for the fascist coup,
he revealed the plot to journalists and to Congress. Historian
Julies Archer here offers a compelling account of a plot that would
have turned FDR into fascist puppet, threatened American democracy
and changed the course of history. This book not only reveals the
truth behind this shocking episode in history, but also tells the
story of the man whose courage and bravery prevented it from
happening. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are
proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in
history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his
henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil
War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome,
medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title
we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national
bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are
sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise
find a home.
The Athenian Isokrates (436-338 BC) is well-known for his long
career as an educator and pundit; but originally he wrote
'forensic' speeches, i.e. for delivery in court. Six of them
survive (five from Athens, one from Aigina), on issues including
assault, fraud and inheritance. Here for the first time, after a
General Introduction, they are presented and analysed in depth as a
self-contained group. The Greek text and a facing English
translation - both new - are augmented by commentaries which
juxtapose this material with other surviving writers in the genre
(and with Isocrates' own later output). In the process, too, the
speeches' historical background, personnel, legal context,
rhetorical strategies and all other relevant topics are explored.
This volume gathers brand new essays from some of the most
respected scholars of ancient history, archaeology, and physical
anthropology to create an engaging overview of the lives of women
in antiquity. The book is divided into ten sections, nine focusing
on a particular area, and also includes almost 200 images, maps,
and charts. The sections cover Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia,
Cyprus, the Levant, the Aegean, Italy, and Western Europe, and
include many lesser-known cultures such as the Celts, Iberia,
Carthage, the Black Sea region, and Scandinavia. Women's
experiences are explored, from ordinary daily life to religious
ritual and practice, to motherhood, childbirth, sex, and building a
career. Forensic evidence is also treated for the actual bodies of
ancient women. Women in Antiquity is edited by two experts in the
field, and is an invaluable resource to students of the ancient
world, gender studies, and women's roles throughout history.
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