Are war and inequality inevitable, because evolution made men competitive and dominant? Think again with this entertaining yet powerful new history of ‘true’ human nature. How did humans, a species that evolved to be cooperative and egalitarian, develop societies of enforced inequality? Why did our ancestors create patriarchal power and warfare? Did it have to be this way? Elites have always called hierarchy and violence unavoidable facts of human nature. Evolution, they claim, has caused men to fight, and people—starting with men and women—to have separate, unequal roles. But that is bad science. Why Men? tells a smarter story of humanity, from early behaviours to contemporary cultures. From bonobo sex and prehistoric childcare to human sacrifice, Joan of Arc, Darwinism and Abu Ghraib, this fascinating, fun and important book reveals that humans adapted to live equally, yet the earliest class societies suppressed this with invented ideas of difference. Ever since, these distortions have caused female, queer and minority suffering. But our deeply human instincts towards equality have endured. This book is not about what men and women are or do. It’s about the privileges humans claim, how they rationalise them, and how we unpick those ideas about our roots. It will change how you see injustice, violence and even yourself.

A reassessment of the naval mutinies of 1797, arguing that the mutinies were more industrial dispute than expression of French revolution inspired political radicalism. The naval mutinies of 1797 were unprecedented in scale and impressive in their level of organisation. Under threat of French invasion, crews in the Royal Navy's home fleet, after making clear demands, refused to sail until their demands were met. Subsequent mutinies affected the crews of more than one hundred ships in at least five home anchorages, replicated in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Channel Fleet seamen pursued their grievances of pay and conditions by traditional petitions to their commanding officer, Admiral Richard Howe, but his flawed comprehension and communications were further exacerbated by the Admiralty. The Spithead mutiny became the seamen'slast resort. Ironically Howe acknowledged the justice of their position and was instrumental in resolving the Spithead mutiny, but this did not prevent occurrences at the Nore and elsewhere. The most extensive approach sinceConrad Gill's seminal and eponymous volume of 1913, The Naval Mutinies of 1797 focuses on new research, re-evaluating the causes, events, interpretations, discipline, relationships between officers and men, political inputs and affiliations and crucially, the role of the Irish and quota men. It poses new answers to old questions and suggests a new synthesis - self-determination - the seamen on their own terms. ANN VERONICA COATS is senior lecturer in the the School of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the University of Portsmouth and is Secretary of the Naval Dockyards Society. PHILIP MACDOUGALL is a writer and historian, author of seven books, with a doctorateon naval history from the University of Kent at Canterbury.

It is a common perception that all is not well with the world - and in particular with the USA. It is not that George W Bush is crazy. Even if he is, the advisers around him are sophisticated enough. Like the Reagan and Clinton administrations before them, they are trying to solve a problem. Industrial profits are declining. In the US, this has produced unemployment, privatisation of public services and recession and their answer has been globalisation and war. For the poorer countries of the world, the consequences of this policy have been devastating. This powerful and immensely readable book shows that American policy that is aimed at solving domestic problems has enormous consequences for the rest of the world.

Devon has a range of beautiful landscapes, breathtaking coastline and historical heritage. Photographer Jonathan Neale has captured Devon's essence in this collection of stunning images. With rugged moorland and hills, peaceful villages and towns, beautiful rural landscapes and river valleys, magnificent coastlines, scenic estuaries, fascinating wildlife, and man-made treasures, Devon in Photographs displays the south of the county at its best. For those who are proud to live in the county, as well as those visiting, this book is a must. Look through these photographs and you will quickly see why this area in the south-west of England has such enduring appeal.

This latest addition to The New Press's People's History series offers an incisive account of the war America lost, from the perspective of those who opposed it on both sides of the battlefront as well as on the homefront. The protagonists in Neale's history of the "American War" (as the Vietnamese refer to it) are common people struggling to shape the outcome of events unfolding on an international stage--American foot soldiers who increasingly opposed American military policy on the ground in Vietnam, local Vietnamese activists and guerrillas fighting to build a just society, and the American civilians who mobilized to bring the war to a halt. His narrative includes vivid, first-person commentary from the ordinary men and women whose collective actions resulted in the defeat of the world's most powerful military machine.