“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia” – Winston Churchill, 5 March 1946 Following the Allies’ victory in World War II, the European continent was soon divided into two broad zones of influence, with Eastern Europe coming under communist Soviet control, and the west under the oversight of the liberal democracies led by the United States. What developed over the next 40 years was a military and ideological stand-off that defined Europe and much of the world until 1989. In countries such as Germany, the Cold War divided families between the two zones of control. The two opponents competed for global dominance, building up ever greater arsenals of nuclear weapons, funding and fighting costly proxy wars in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America, deploying espionage and trade embargoes, and even seeking technological advantage in space exploration, which became known as the “Space Race”. The Cold War provides a pictorial examination of this crucial era in 20th century history, offering the reader an instant understanding of the key events and figures in this 40-year period through 150 dramatic photographs.

A broken piano, a dilapidated staircase, a chair half standing on two bent legs surrounded by layers of history peeling from the wallpaper of an abandoned house. The chilling air of an abandoned church, or a desolated factory, with the faint signs of the human sounds now trapped in the detritus of lost interiors. In Michigan, in Italy, in Russia, Japan, in China, the lost dreams of a teaming human horde are captured in this evocative exploration of abandoned buildings, the achievements of humankind struck down by calamity or neglect, then over-run by the ancient forces of time and nature, as the planet earth moves slowly to regain its supremacy against the noisy, mechanical clatter of the human species. The incredible new book explores the half-life of abandoned buildings and the sad beauty of desolation.

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.

Rich and delicate, ethereal and muscular, the art of William Blake is as fascinating as the philosophies threading through his poetry and prophetic works. Presented here in this magnificent new collection, his vivid paintings and gently weaving illustrations are imprinted in the consciousness of Romantic art, but their impact on Gothic literature remains as strong and quixotic as the artist himself.

“The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy. We will rally the world. We will be patient. We’ll be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination.” – President George W. Bush, September 12, 2001 On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners, crashing them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and near the White House, killing nearly 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network quickly claimed responsibility for the outrage. The aftermath still reverberates around the world today, with President Bush declaring a “War on Terror” against al-Qaeda and its allies. By October, the US military was carrying out air strikes against al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, and US ground forces were deployed against bin Laden’s protectors, the incumbent Taliban regime. By June 2002 the Taliban had been ousted and a US-friendly government established in the capital, Kabul. But the campaign didn’t end there, as American and allied NATO forces became bogged down for the next two decades. Afghanistan provides a photographic exploration of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, from the first deployment of US special forces in October 2001 to the final withdrawal of US forces in August 2021. In between, the book offers a compact overview of the operations fought by the US and NATO forces against the Taliban/al- Qaeda insurgency, including the bombing of the Tora Bora cave complex, Operation Anaconda, President Obama’s deployment surge, the Navy SEAL’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in neighbouring Pakistan, the development of a local Afghan army, police force and government, the eventual withdrawal of US forces and the collapse of the Afghan administration amidst renewed Taliban pressure. Afghanistan offers a concise pictorial history of the war that came to define US policy in Central Asia and the Middle East in the 21st century.

Temples have been places of worship, a focus for spirituality and a place for communities to gather since the earliest days of human civilisation. The first temples date back to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, deriving from the cult of deities and residing places for gods and immortals. Today, temple buildings remain lively focal points for the Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh religions. Organised by continent, Amazing Temples of the World offers the reader an intimate portrait of some spectacular and unusual places of worship dating from the fourth millennium BCE to the present. Ornate or spartan, immense or intimate, from the Middle East to California, this book features such impressive places of worship as the Mahabodi Temple, India, built in the location where Buddha is thought to have achieved enlightenment; the fifth century BCE Temple of Confucius in Qufu, China, the largest Confucian temple in the world; Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, the great carved monument to the Pharaoh Ramses II; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, the spiritual home of the world's 25 million Sikhs; and the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the biggest Hindu temple outside India. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Amazing Temples of the World includes more than 150 places of worship, from Ancient Greece and Rome, through traditional synagogues to modern Buddhist, Taoist and Sikh temples.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, all books had to be written by hand. Manuscripts are the beautiful manifestation of this craft, and the most precious and expensive of such manuscripts were 'illuminated' through the use of brightly coloured pigments and gold embellishments. Beginning with a fresh and thoughtful introduction to illuminated manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts Masterpieces of Art goes on to showcase key works in this stunning artistic genre.

Symbols are all around us - some mysterious, some timeless, some arcane and some prosaic. But what are their origins? What does the infinity symbol really signify? Do you understand yin and yang? And why is the swastika really a good luck sign? This enticing gift book explores the world of classic symbols and signs, revealing the deep meaning and often quirky history behind each one. From the ouroboros and the ankh to the menorah, caduceus and astrological symbols, the book ranges widely across the world's most recognised symbols. With one symbol per page, accompanied by a detailed explanation and history, and printed on high quality paper with a special binding, Classic Symbols is a unique and attractive book which will appeal to a broad range of readers, both as a gift and as a source for tattoo designs and other creative projects.

The mythology and folklore of England is as old as the land itself, rich in symbolism and full of tales of quests and heroic daring-do, ghosts and witches, romantic heroines and noble outlaws. Who hasn't heard of the master sorcerer Merlin, Robin Hood and his merry men, or the legendary monster Grendel? Beginning with the great Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, English Myths explores the early legends of post-Roman England, many of which blend history and myth. The book goes on to examine the rich seam of Arthurian and romantic legends first told in the Medieval era, before looking at English folk heroes and the beasts, witches and ghosts that have haunted the land. Discover the brothers Hengist and Horsa, legendary leaders of the first Angles, Saxons and Jutes to settle in England; learn the tragic story of Cornish hero Tristan and his love for Irish princess Iseult; tremble at the Black Dog ghost, a nocturnal hellhound found stalking the country from Suffolk in the east to Devon in the west; and enjoy the tale of George and the dragon, who saved the nation from a rampaging serpent and became the patron saint of the country. Illustrated with 150 photographs and artworks, English Myths is an accessible, entertaining and highly informative exploration of the fascinating mythology underlying one of the world's oldest and most influential cultures.

On 26 April 1986, the unthinkable happened near the Ukrainian town of Pripyat: two massive steam explosions ruptured No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, immediately killing 30 people and setting off the worst nuclear accident in history. The explosions were followed by an open-air reactor core fire that released huge amounts of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere for the next nine days, spreading across the Soviet Union, parts of Europe, and especially neighbouring Belarus, where around 70% of the waste landed. The following clean-up operation involved more than half a million personnel at a cost of $68 billion, and a further 4,000 people were estimated to have died from disaster-related illnesses in the following 20 years. Some 350,000 people were evacuated as a result of the accident (including 95 villages in Belarus), and much of the area returned to the wild, with the nearby city of Pripyat now a ghost town. Chernobyl provides a photographic exploration of the catastrophe and its aftermath in 180 authentic photos. See the twisted wreckage of No. 4 Reactor, the cause of the nuclear disaster; marvel at historic photos of the clean-up operation, with helicopters spraying decontamination liquid and liquidators manually clearing radioactive debris; see the huge cooling pond used to cool the reactors, and which today is home to abundant wildlife, despite the radiation; explore the ghost town of Pripyat, with its decaying apartment blocks, empty basketball courts, abandoned amusement park, wrecked schools, and deserted streets.

At its peak in January 1945, 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park, reading 4000 messages a day, decrypting German and Japanese communications and helping the Allies to victory. But while we know that Bletchley was the centre of Britain's World War II code-breaking, how did its efforts actually change the course of the war? Enigma: How Breaking the Code Helped Win World War II tells the story of Bletchley's role in defeating U-boats in the Atlantic, breaking the Japanese codes, helping the Allies to victory in North Africa, deciphering the German military intelligence code, learning of most German positions in western Europe before the Normandy Landings, defeating the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean, and helping sink the German battleship Scharnhorst off Norway. In tracing these events, the book also delves into the stories of major Bletchley characters, 'boffins' such as Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman, and 'Debs' such as Joan Clarke and Margaret Rock. An accessible work of military history that ranges across air, land and naval warfare, the book also touches on the story of early computer science. Illustrated with 120 black-&-white and colour photographs, artworks and maps, Enigma: How Breaking the Code Helped Win World War II is an authoritative and novel perspective on WWII history.

The first story from the final season of Sylvester McCoy's tenure as the Doctor. The Doctor and Ace arrive on Earth in the late 1990s where they become involved in a battle between King Arthur and Morgaine. However, these are not the heroes of Britain's past but warriors from another dimension - and they recognise the Doctor as the wizard Merlin. As usual it is down to the Doctor and Ace to save the planet, but this time they find some help in the guise of the Doctor's old UNIT ally, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Companion title to The Astounding Illustrated History of Science Fiction this new book reflects the same roots in Gothic literature but follows a complementary path through the 20th century, to the movies of Peter Jackson, the success of streaming TV series such as Grimm, and the fantasy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. From the wellspring of Frankenstein, Germanic fairy tales, and heroic, epic myths a dark and fantastic path can be found to the fragmentation of the 1930s: the schlock horror of early modern movies, the invention of High Fantasy by Tolkien and fellow Inkling C.S. Lewis, and the pulp magazine powerhouse Weird Tales with Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery archetype Conan. A brilliant concoction of movie posters, stills, book covers, fantastic art and incredible timelines.

From a NATO nuclear attack on the Soviet Union to a Warsaw Pact land assault on Western Europe; from building an electric fence between North and South Vietnam to building a US base on the moon; it may all sound unlikely, but during the Cold War these operations and others were seriously considered by both sides. Cold War Plans That Never Happened tells the stories of some of the most secret and outrageous operations that were conceived, many of which would have changed the course of history; from the US plan to oust Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz and Chiang Kai Shek's plans to re-invade China from Taiwan, to experiments in psychokinesis. On an entry-by-entry basis, this book explains the context of each planned operation and explores whether it might have been successful, and what the impact might have been if it had gone ahead. Arranged by continents, the book includes easy-to-read factboxes, informing the reader of the date, intended purpose and forces involved. In addition there are rare photographs and illustrations to demonstrate that these were real operations seriously considered by the planning staffs. Authoritatively written and with more than 250 colour and black-and-white photographs, maps and illustrations, Cold War Plans That Never Happened will prove fascinating to anyone interested in twentieth century history.