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'It''s often said that books are compulsory reading, but this book really is compulsory. You cannot understand slavery, or British Empire, without it'' Sathnam SangheraArguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain''s economic progress, Eric Williams''s landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism, and has influenced generations of historians ever since.Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision. Most significantly, he showed how slavery was only abolished when it ceased to become financially viable, exploding the myth of emancipation as a mark of Britain''s moral progress.''Its thesis is a starting point for a new generation of scholarship''New Yorker

A deliciously funny and moving comedy-of-manners about a Chinese father and son's experiences at the height of London's Jazz Age' He was in London - why be bothered looking at it? Wasn't it bad enough just being there?'Newly arrived from China, Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei run an antiques shop nestled by St Paul's Cathedral, where they try to make a living amid the smog and bustle of 1920s London. As they struggle with money, misunderstandings and the ways of the English - from the overbearing patronage of missionary Reverend Ely to their well-meaning landlady Mrs Weddeburn and her carefree daughter - can understanding, even love, blossom? Both a moving story of the Chinese immigrant experience and a bitingly funny satire on the English, Mr Ma and Son delicately portrays the dreams and disappointments of those seeking a new life in a distant land.Translated by William Dolby, with an introduction by Julia Lovell

The first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the Renaissance: an African diplomat's guide to AfricaA Penguin ClassicIn 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece,The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa.The Cosmographywas the first book about Africa, and the first book written by a modern African, to reach print. It would remain central to the European understanding of Africa for over 300 years, with its descriptions of lands, cities, and peoples giving a singular vision of the vast continent: its urban bustle and rural expanse, its culture, commerce and warfare, its magical herbs and strange animals. Yet it is not a mere catalogue: Leo also invited his readers to ackn