Secondhand History Books

THE AWARD-WINNING SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEREven in hell, hope can flower'I'll be forever changed by her story' - Oprah Winfrey'Extraordinary ... will stick with you long after...

Dan Jones narrates in his inimitably vivid and authoritative fashion the remarkable story of the Knights Templar. 'Exhilarating, epic, sword-swinging history' TLS'Jones is certainly an entertainer, but also a fine...

WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE 'Beautifully told' John Le Carre 'More than just history' Michael Palin 'Truly exceptional' Jon Snow 'Absolutely remarkable' Edmund de Waal 'Beautifully written' Stephen...

Measuring the World recreates the parallel but contrasting lives of two geniuses of the German Enlightenment - the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematician and physicist Carl...

Britain's favourite writer of narrative non-fiction Bill Bryson travels back in time to a forgotten summer when America came of age, took centre stage, and, in five eventful months, changed...

Absolute War tells the story of the greatest and most terrible land-air conflict of all time: the war between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. There have been many individual accounts...

Israel is a small and relatively young country, but its turbulent history has placed it squarely at the centre of the world stage for most of this century. For two...

Sarah Bradford's America's Queen is the definitive biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - a fascinating account of an extraordinary life. Jackie Bouvier's privileged upbringing instilled rigid self-control, while her expedient...

The beginning of the twentieth century saw human civilization at its most enlightened, well-educated, globalized and wealthy. What turned it into a bloodbath?Niall Ferguson re-tells the story of history's most...

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING COLIN FIRTH, NICOLE KIDMAN AND JEREMY IRVINEDuring the second world war Eric Lomax was forced to work on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway and was...

From the author of Fake History, Otto English, comes a shocking yet hilarious look at ten of the greatest liars from our past, examining these previously unquestioned idols and exposing...

The epic life story of the Atlantic Ocean from the bestselling author, Simon Winchester For thousands of years the Atlantic Ocean was viewed by mariners with a mixture of awe,...

8th April 2009 was just an ordinary day for 53 -year-old Richard Phillips, captain of the United States-registered cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama, as it headed towards the port of...

The definitive biography of John F. Kennedy, from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Fredrik Logevall. This is the untold story of how the rise of President Kennedy and the rise of the...

_____________________________________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE JQ WINGATE PRIZE 2015SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD'A gripping thriller, an unspeakable crime, an essential history.' JOHN LE CARRE_____________________________________Hanns Alexander was the son...

President Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas, three months after his father died in a traffic accident. When he was four years...

One of the greatest military feats during the Second World War was the transformation of the German force's activities in the weeks following the battles in Holland and the German...

The real story of how Winston Churchill and the British mastered deception to defeat the Nazis - by conning the Kaiser, hoaxing Hitler and using brains to outwit brawn. By...

The Pax Romana is famous for having provided a remarkable period of peace and stability, rarely seen before or since. Yet the Romans were first and foremost conquerors, imperialists who...

A brilliantly researched, hugely entertaining study of the English by Britain's best-known broadcaster. In the light of membership of Europe, the loss of an Empire and a devolved United Kingdom,...

In this remarkable book, Mark Mazower aims to offer a new view of Europe's modern history. The complacent belief that Europe is the natural home of freedom and democracy is...

'An illuminating glimpse of the chain reactions of human and physical geography.' Financial Times'A truly original adventure into new ways of exploring what we mean by a sense of place.'...

'I cannot think of a better biography of a spy chief'Richard Davenport-Hines, The SpectatorSir Maurice Oldfield was one of the most important British spies of the Cold War era. A...

Drawing together common features of society from a range of different contexts throughout Europe, from Italy and Spain to Poland and Russia, Early Modern European Society surveys the sweeping changes...

The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama was only two years old when his father walked out on the family. Many years later, Obama...

'Superbly entertaining.' Financial Times'Jaw-dropping.' Sunday Times'Fascinating.' Guardian'Gripping.' The Times'Terrific . . . A page-turning history of imperial hubris and nemesis, deceit and delusion, love and betrayal on a grand scale.'...

The book that offers a cure for affluenza, 'No Logo' is one of those rare books that defines a generation, the most significant one since Douglas Coupland's 'Generation X'. By...

China Mieville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: the Communist Manifesto.In 1848 a strange political tract was published by two emigres from Germany. Marx...

An extraordinary tale of family feuds, forbidden love, civil unrest and the downfall of a mining dynasty Wentworth in Yorkshire was surrounded by 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of...

'In the last couple of years I realised that, as one of the last witnesses, I must speak out.'Tomi Reichental, who lost 35 members of his family in the Holocaust,...

Despite the all-pervading influence of television ninety per cent of people in Britain still listen to the radio, clocking up over a billion hours of listening between us every week....

The incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion picture directed by Angelina Jolie. THE INTERNATIONAL NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean....

A fascinating tour of cities that have been lost to history, from the Neolithic period up to the late Roman Empire, that offers a fresh new perspective on the roots...

Peter Popham's major new biography of Aung San Suu Kyi draws upon previously untapped testimony and fresh revelations to tell the story of a woman whose bravery and determination have...

The Normandy Landings that took place on D-Day involved by far the largest invasion fleet ever known. The scale of the undertaking was simply awesome. What followed them was some...

'A brilliant and important book ... Five Stars!' Mark Dolan, talkRADIO'An important new book' Daily Express An alternative history of the world that exposes some of the biggest lies ever...

Amid the corruption and power struggles of the collapse of the Roman Republic, Cicero (106-43BC) produced some of the most stirring and eloquent speeches in history. A statesman and lawyer,...

Agincourt took place on 25 October 1415 and was a turning-point not only in the Hundred Years War between England and France but also in the history of weaponry. Azincourt...

It was situated on a perfect natural harbour at the mouth of a great river leading into a huge new land. Manhattan Island was to grow into the most powerful...