As the military's needs wound down and Britain ceased to be a great power, National Service came to be seen as just an embarrassment, and its culture of rank and discipline something which many Britis
Looks beyond the familiar exploits of the army and navy to the politicians and civil servants, and examines how they made it possible to continue the war at all. This book shows the degree to which, a
From Alexandria to York, this unique illustrated guide allows us to see the great centers of classical civilization afresh. The key feature of Cities of the Classical World is 120 specially drawn maps
'Give me chastity, but not yet', young Augustine famously prayed to God. From his time as a sexual sinner and member of an outlawed heretical sect to his eventual conversion to Christianity, his maste
Tells the story of Seneca, the Roman philosopher, dramatist, and rhetorician of the first century CE, who came from Spain to Rome, spent his youth in Egypt, was exiled to Corsica under Claudius but re
Shows how human culture keeps our fear of death at bay by infusing our lives with order, stability, significance and purpose, allowing us to function moment to moment without becoming overwhelmed by t
One of our most scintillating public intellectuals explores the political paradoxes of the pandemic and helps us think our way through it'We are able to imagine anything because we are being besieged
We know our world's unequal. But, says Owen Jones, it doesn't have to stay that way. No status quo simply dissolves of its own accord: it must be replaced with something else. Without a real alternati
When Henry IV seized the throne from his cousin Richard II, some commentators saw it as a hopeful new beginning for England. The first monarch to have English as his mother tongue since the Norman con
An icon of the last fifty years, Stephen Hawking seems to encapsulate genius: not since Albert Einstein has a scientific figure held such a position in popular consciousness. In this enthralling memoi
In this unflinching intervention, philosopher Kate Manne offers a radical new framework for understanding misogyny. Ranging widely across the culture, from the Kavanaugh hearings and "Cat Person" to H
'Endlessly fascinating and full of surprises. Easily one of my books of the year' BILL BRYSONThe myth-busting science behind our modern attitudes to exercise: what our bodies really need, why it matte
'Tell them. Tell them what is happening on the land. Someone has to tell them... When I was young there was cowslips and ragged robin everywhere, and butterflies on the thyme in the rocky crags on t
A gripping narrative of the intertwined lives of the four philosophers whose ideas reshaped the twentieth centuryThe year is 1919. Walter Benjamin flees his overbearing father to scrape a living as a
Other species adapt to their environment; we create ours. Our remaking of the world has not only liberated much of the planet from plague and famine: it has reshaped the human phenotype - the interact
We think we know bullshit when we hear it, but do we? A spotter's guide to bullshit in the wild from two brilliantly contrarian scientistsThe world is awash in bullshit, and we're drowning in it. Poli
You're going to die. The Earth will, one day, be toast. So too, our Sun will eventually shine its last. But what's next?The End of Everything is a unique exploration of the destruction of the cosmos.
In The Habsburgs, Martyn Rady tells the epic story of a dynasty and the world it built - and then lost - over nearly a millennium. From modest origins, the Habsburgs grew in power to gain control of
An intimate portrait of Stephen Hawking -- the man, the friend, the physicistAn icon of the last fifty years, Stephen Hawking seems to encapsulate genius: not since Albert Einstein has a scientific fi
Wagner's last music-drama tells the story of Parsifal, the 'pure fool, knowing through compassion', who has been called to rescue the Kingdom of the Grail from the sins that have polluted it. The Grai
An award-winning medic and scientist makes the game-changing case that genetic females are stronger than males at every stage of life'A powerful antidote to the myth of a "weaker sex"' Gina Rippon, au
This is the story of a family led to confront a crisis they had never foreseen. Aged eleven, their eldest daughter has stopped eating and speaking. Alongside diagnoses of autism and selective mutism,
'This is one of those rare books that have something really important to say. Anatol Lieven, one of the most original and independent-minded foreign policy thinkers, is telling his fellow realists tha
'This acutely argued book will engender a thousand conversations' Cynthia OzickThe prescient New York Times writer delivers an urgent wake-up call exposing the alarming rise of anti-semitism -- and ex
Humanity's greatest feat is our incredible ability to learn. Even in their first year, infants acquire language, visual and social knowledge at a rate that surpasses the best supercomputers. But how
Humans now live longer and better than ever before, and we are the most populous big animal on earth. Meanwhile, our closest living relatives, the now-endangered chimpanzees, continue to live as they
Taking us from the French Revolution to the Cold War and the Falklands, Andrew Roberts presents us with a bracingly honest and insightful look at nine major figures in modern history: Napoleon Bonapar
An award-winning Financial Times columnist exposes the threat that Big Tech poses to our democracies, our economies and ourselves Today Google and Facebook receive 90% of the world's news ad-spending.
Humans dream of super-intelligent machines. But what happens if we actually succeed?Creating superior intelligence would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, according to the world's
In November 1943, with the outcome of the Second World War hanging in the balance, the Allies needed a new plan. The Americans' audacious suggestion to the Soviets: a second air front, with the US Air
The fight for a green world is the fight of our lives. And with On Fire, Naomi Klein gives us the ammunition to do it.In frank, personal terms, she shows us how the only way forward out of a polluted
The highly anticipated new book from Malcolm Gladwell, No.1 international bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw and David and GoliathIn July 2015, a young black wo
A deeply comforting and enlightening book on how Stoicism can inspire us to lead more enjoyable livesWhat aspects of your life do you really control? What do you do when you cannot guarantee that thin
'Visionary. . . A must-read for anyone who wants solutions to our most important problems' - Riz AhmedAn incisive, optimistic manifesto for a more inclusive globalismToday, globalism has a bad reputat
As the western world struggles with its legacies of racism and colonialism, what can we learn from the past in order to move forward?Susan Neiman's Learning from the Germans delivers an urgently neede
A sweeping, magisterial new history of India from the middle ages to the arrival of the BritishThe Indian subcontinent might seem a self-contained world. Protected by vast mountains and seas, it has c
'A woven time-travelling book, about love, land, life ... Short stories that link together like trees in a forest' Jackie MorrisOn a clear Kentucky night in 1888, a young woman risks her life to save
Most of the time, the maths in our everyday lives works quietly behind the scenes. Until someone forgets to carry a '1' and a bridge collapses, a plane drops out of the sky or a building rocks when it
The British in this book lived in India from shortly after the reign of Elizabeth I until well into the reign of Elizabeth II. Who were they? What drove these men and women to risk their lives on long
The dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only a minor role in economic life. Money, it is claimed, is nothing more than a medium of exchange; and economic outcomes are b
