Planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? The author explores who we are, how we got here and where we're going.
In a narrative beginning almost 1.5 million years ago with the emergence of Homo erectus, Frank Welsh takes the reader from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the age of terrorism.
Ranging from the days of Ancient Egypt, through the Reformation to the time of Napoleon, this work presents a history of western civilisation. It was written during the time when the European empires spanned the globe, the modern age was being forged in the nationalist revolutions of 1848, and the western civilisation was in its pomp.
Many books have been written which claim to be "A New History of the World". This one fully deserves the title...It is difficult, in a short review, to do justice to a book so ambitious, so detailed and so fascinating as this one -- Gerald DeGroot The Times A book that roves as widely as the geography it describes, encompassing worlds as far removed as those of Herodotus and Saddam Hussein, Hammurabi and Hitler...It is a tribute to Frankopan's scholarship and mastery of sources in multiple languages that he is as sure-footed on the ancient world as he is on the medieval and modern -- Justin Marozzi Sunday Times My book of the year: history on a grand scale, with a sweep of ambition that is rare ... A remarkable book on many levels, and one that anyone would have been proud to write: a proper historical epic of dazzling range, ambition and achievement -- William Dalrymple Observer The most illuminating book of the year ... A healthy antidote to Eurocentric accounts of history -- Books of the Year Times Literary Supplement Splendid ... tightly researched ... invigorating and profound with enough storytelling to excite the reader and enough fresh scholarship to satisfy the intellect...charismatic and essential -- Bettany Hughes Daily Telegraph A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world Wall Street Journal Based on astonishingly wide and deep reading and in all areas draws on the latest research...
This series supports the AS and A-Levels starting September 2000. The series provides coverage of all the most popular topics, so you can cover the whole of the specification with up-to-date resources. This text concentrates on the Cold War.
Renowned biographer and historian Philip Ziegler tackles the great cultural and social events, flashpoints and diplomatic wrangles that led the world from the First to the Second World War