Disasters are by their very nature hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate
From the international bestselling authors of WillpowerWhy does a bad impression last longer than a good one? Why does losing money affect us more than gaining it? What makes phobias so hard to shake?
In 402 AD, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easily defendable city on the Po estuary - Ravenna. Until 751 AD, Ravenna served as the capital of the
The 'Viking Age' is traditionally held to begin in June 793 when Scandinavian raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria, and to end in September 1066, when King Harald Hardrada of N
The definitive biography of one of the most famous and influential artists the world has ever seenA GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, AND DAZED MAGAZINE 'BOOK TO LOOK FORWARD TO' IN 2020'Art and art history jumped
'If you're a progressive, in Britain or elsewhere, and if you think the movement needs fresh ideas, read this book, it's full of them. Then get to work.' Oliver Bullough, The Guardian'It ought to be r
The experience of the last decade has not been kind to the image of economists- asleep at the wheel (perhaps with the foot on the gas pedal) in the run-up to the great recession, squabbling about how
Even in the midst of runaway economic inequality and dangerous social division, it remains an axiom of modern life that meritocracy reigns supreme and promises to open opportunity to all.The idea that
Migrants have stood at the heart of modern Europe's experience, whether trying to escape danger, to find a better life or as a result of deliberate policy, whether moving from the countryside to the c
How ownership came to control us - and what we can do about itOur love affair with our possessions seems to be all-consuming, even as our planet reaches breaking point. Despite the constant warnings a
'It is going to change the way in which we understand many modern debates about economics, politics, and society' Ha Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About CapitalismOver the past f
'Matt Parker shows off math at its most playful and multifarious' Jordan Ellenberg, author of How to Not Be WrongWhat makes a bridge wobble when it's not meant to? Billions of dollars mysteriously van
This is a fresh and surprising account of Japan's culture from the 'opening up' of the country in the mid-nineteenth century to the present. 'How much I admired it, what a lot I learned from it and, a
'A superb book ... Anybody interested in Scottish history needs to read it' Andrew Marr, Sunday Times Eighteenth-century Scotland is famed for generating many of the enlightened ideas which helped to
'Beguiling ... Limpidly written, effortlessly learned' William Boyd, TLS, Books of the YearIn November 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her two children sailed to Majorca to escape the Parisian w
How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our cl
From the Pulitzer Prize winning of the acclaimed Ghost Wars, this is the full story of America's grim involvement in the affairs of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2016 'The CIA itself would be hard put to b
'It will change the way you remember the 20th century and read the news in the 21st' Steven Pinker 'A clarion call to preserve law and order across our planet' Philippe Sands 'A fascinating and import
The new international bestseller from the Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The World is Flat - this is an essential and entertaining field guide to thriving in the twenty-first century. 'As a guide
From the Pulitzer Prize winner and No.1 international bestselling author of The World is Flat, an essential and entertaining field guide to thriving in the twenty-first century. We all sense it - some
In 2012, Norman Davies set off on a global circumnavigation. Native Lands is his account of the places he visited and the history he found there, from Abu Dhabi to Singapore, the settlement of Tasmani
The reign of Edward II (1307-27) was a serious of total disasters, making him unsuccessful to an extent almost without equal. At some level Edward simply did not inspire trust or respect. He failed to
A captivating guide to the past, present and future of 'the amazing crystal' that plays a vital role in regulating our planet. Peter Wadhams is Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambrid
Solidarity and prosperity fostered by economic integration: this principle has underpinned the European project from the start, and the establishment of a common currency was supposed to be its most a
From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the Russian Revolution, the tsarist regime exiled more than one million prisoners and their families beyond the Ural Mountains to Siberia. This book bri
Bundled together in 1969 to stymie an international takeover attempt on the part of Chase Manhattan Bank of New York, Standard Chartered Bank has come to consolidate its status as one of the world's l
An exploration of the power dynamics that shape everyday life - from the board room to the dinner table, the playground to the bedroom. It shows us that everything we thought about power is dead wrong
Society is often talked about as a ladder, from which you can climb from bottom to top. The walls are less talked about. This book is about how people try to get over them, whether they manage to or n
An award-winning photojournalist returns to his home country to capture the spirit of Irish life in its centenary year. One hundred years after Ireland's 1916 Rising, the revolt tha
The most significant revolution in the history of music has to do with listening: it is now possible to listen to nearly anything at any time, to ignore albums, and to instantly flit across genres and
The first popular book on the science of the individual, in which Todd Rose draws upon the very latest findings in the fields of psychology and sociology to show how, when we focus on individual findi
What does it mean to devote yourself wholly to helping others? In Strangers Drowning, Larissa MacFarquhar seeks out people living lives of extreme ethical commitment, and tells their intimate stories:
In the summer of 1914 most of Europe plunged into a war so catastrophic that it unhinged the continent's politics and beliefs in a way that took generations to recover from. The disaster terrified its
A lively and compelling account of how the crusades really worked, and a revolutionary attempt to rethink how we understand the Middle Ages The story of the wars and conquests initiated by the First C
Henry V's invasion of France, in August 1415, represented a huge gamble. As heir to the throne, he had been a failure, cast into the political wilderness amid rumours that he planned to depose his fat
Born to a plebeian family in 63 BC, Augustus went on to become the heir to Julius Caesar and the founder of the Roman Empire. In this monumental biography, translated into English for the first time b
People today have more romantic options than at any point in human history, and thanks to social media, smartphones and online dating, our abilities to connect with these options are staggering. Yet w
Offers a radical interpretation of global economics. While economists often turn to measures like GDP or per-capita income, the author turns to information theory to explain the success or failure of
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In The Road to Character David Brooks, best-selling author of The Social Animal and New York Times columnist, explains why selflessness leads to greater success We all pos
