SOE sent more than 400 agents into France of whom 39 were women. Vigurs traces them all here, not just the well known ones, and sets them in their context.
Considers the Mongols as law givers, economists, diplomats, builders and promoters of religious tolerance, whose legacy remains palpable now across the 2 million square miles of Eurasia tha... read more
Explores the interaction of mass-market diamonds and German colonialism in Africa. Or how the new American fashion for diamond engagement rings funded Germany in two world wars.
An account of farming in Britain today - from sheep farming to polytunnels. Bella Bathurst's previous subjects have included the Lighthouse Stevensons, so she gets our vote.
A new departure for the author of 'The Tipping Point' etc... A history book about what happened in WW2 when technological innovation collided with good intentions...
A fascinating Great-Game-ish romp with yaks , spies, political intrigue and a cast that includes not only the Viceroy Curzon but the rather overlooked figure of Sir Charles Bell, British Pol... read more
Son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV: the man with the levers of power, to whom Shakespeare gave the speech about 'this sceptered isle'.
It seems that the stalwart defender of Imperial narratives and values was a compulsive and manipulative womanizer. Thousands of newly discovered letters show an unexpected side to the histor... read more
An immense and authoritative account that draws attention to Stalin's similarities with Hitler; their primary difference being that Stalin was a more successful murderous predator.
The marvellous Attlee takes us on the journey, through space and time, of one violin, whose voice "was powerful enough to unbuckle joints". Cremona, Russia, Venice, Alpine forests... (Her la... read more
A riveting portrait of the man who sold many of the books that drove the Renaissance, who knew where manuscripts were, arranged for copies to be made and trod carefully among rival ruling fa... read more
The author is at the forefront of the use of genetic science in archaeology. Here he explains the process and how it completely alters our understanding of early humans.
Demonstrates how constitutions evolved in tandem with warfare, and how they have functioned to advance empire as well as promote nations, and worked to exclude as well as liberate. LC is a b... read more
Having escaped the massacre at Katyn, Czapski was interned and lived to write these essays on some of those who were murdered, as well as pieces on Blok, Soutine, and others. He was the mode... read more