20th Century History

Two Harvard professors explain the stages in which governments collapse - and how we can prevent this Democracies can die with a coup d'etat - or they can die slowly....

A lyrical translation of Kafka's first novel - a menacing allegory of modern life Karl Rossman has been banished by his parents to America, following a family scandal. There, with...

Pavese's seductive masterpiece of memory and betrayal in the Italian countryside, in a vivid new translation by Tim Parks Having made his fortune in America, Eel is magnetically drawn back...

Mailer's classic account of the 1967 anti-Vietnam War rally in Washington D.C., and one of the best 'nonfiction novels' ever written October 21, 1967, Washington, D.C. 20,000 to 200,000 protesters...

A breakthrough work of social and cultural criticism from one of the foremost intellectuals of his era Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his...

A complex, psychological novel about familial loyalty, new to Penguin Modern Classics A corporate lawyer from the House of Single & Single is shot dead in cold blood on a...

Le Carre's singular story of a cautious man plunged into recklessness, published in Penguin Modern Classics for the first time Aldo Cassidy is the naive and sentimental lover. A successful,...

The story of two friends whose dubious relationship spans West Berlin in the 1960s through the Cold War to the age of present day terrorism is new to Penguin Modern...

Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism, a surprise bestseller in 2017 Arendt's classic work explores totalitarianism through an extended analysis of the Nazi and Soviet regimes. In a series of dazzling...

The book that shocked a generation and introduced Kathy Acker as the enfant terrible of the 1980s literary underground This is a book about feminism, capitalism, sex, punk, youth, the...

From the bestselling author comes a transporting new novel about the secret lives of a film crew in Brighton, 1968 A producer. A novelist. An actress. It is summer in...

A haunting history of the Chernobyl disaster by the winner of the Nobel prize in literature On 26 April 1986 the worst nuclear reactor accident in history occured in Chernobyl...

For the first time, the phenomenal bestselling literary memoir will be published in Penguin Modern Classics Every Thursday morning in a living room in Iran, over tea and pastries, eight...

A compelling account of Australia's bloodiest and most significant battle of the Vietnam War, in time for the battle's 50th anniversary, by critically-acclaimed war writer David Cameron. On the afternoon...

The Pulitzer prize-winning historian and journalist anatomizes the personal and ideological dimensions of the current appeal of authoritarian regimes A FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR...

From the winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize, the incredible true story of one of the most audacious and little-known operations of WW2 In November 1943, with the outcome of...

A dramatic, minute-by-minute account of one of the most shattering events of the Cold War, from an award-winning historian On the morning of 26 April 1986 Europe witnessed the worst...

An extremely funny scene-by-scene analysis of the Richard Burton/Clint Eastwood film Where Eagles Dare - published as the film approaches its 50th anniversary Where Eagles Dare is both a thrillingly...

A short, devastating study of history's most notorious killing ground At the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz. In a total inversion of earlier hopes about the use...

A bold and eye-opening account of the coming integration of Europe and Asia In this original and timely book, Bruno Ma es argues that the best word for the emerging...

The definitive modern biography of the great slave leader, military genius and revolutionary hero The Haitian Revolution began in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue with a slave revolt in...

An unflinching, brilliant book on the Parachute Regiment and the Falklands War Our Boys brings to life the human experiences of the paratroopers who fought in the Falklands, and examines...

The essential introduction to Islam by a leading expert Hardly a day goes by without mention of Islam. And yet, for most people, and in much of the world, Islam...

The definitive history of a divided Europe, from the aftermath of the Second World War to the present After the overwhelming horrors of the first half of the 20th century,...

The first-person chronicle of a lengendary journalist at the flashpoint of the Russian Revolution Ten Days That Shook the World is John Reed's eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution. A...

Written by a Communist insider, a candid portrait of one of the most dangerous men in history This extraordinarily vivid and unnerving book three meetings held with Stalin during and...

Revolutionary essays on design, aesthetics and materialism - from one of the great masters of modern architecture 'But art has nothing to do with forgery, with lies. The paths of...

With a new introduction by Christopher de Bellaigue Shah of Shahs depicts the final years of the Shah in Iran, and is a compelling meditation on the nature of revolution...

'Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell...

Ordinary Men has been admired all over the world and is now published in the UK for the first time. It takes as its basis the detailed records of one...

Burke's seminal work on the French Revolution, and a fine example of conservative political thought Burke's seminal work was written during the early months of the French Revolution, and it...

'Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn't exist'. Ryszard Kapuscinski has been writing...

'A true story, a murder story, a love story and a thriller bursting with humour, sex and often dazzling language' Independent Writer, Samson Young, is staring death in the face,...

The ingenious, hilarious new novel from award-winning writer Elif Batuman - 'It's a novel about being young and stupid that's both wise and clever - and it's a treat' Evening...

A collection of fifteen stories, evoking the voices and lives that teem in Joyce's vision of his native city EDITED BY HANS WALTER GABLER WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY SCARLETT BARON AND...

The greatest rediscovered classic of recent years, Stoner is a literary legend. This is the story of a quiet man, destined to be a farmer but who becomes an academic....

A European classic of comic literature This ebullient, gallivanting novel encapsulates the world vision of the Czech Republic's best-loved author in one tumbling, breathtaking sentence. Saints and sinners, emperors and...

The history of a family through 264 objects - set against a turbulent century - from an acclaimed writer and potter **THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** **WINNER OF THE...

Ellroy's back with the third of his LA Quartet! Ellroy's back with the third of his LA Quartet! Christmas 1951, Los Angeles- a city where the police are as crooked...

From the bestselling author of Wild Swans and Mao- The Unknown Story, the extraordinary story of the woman who single-handedly dragged China into the modern age Discover the extraordinary story...

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'Top-class' The Times March 1943, the war hangs in the balance, and at Bletchley Park Tom Jericho, a brilliant young codebreaker, is facing a double...

FROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'A writer who handles suspense like a literary Alfred Hitchcock' Nelson Mandela April, 1964. The naked body of an old man floats in a...

'Captivating and compelling. A masterpiece' Independent on Sunday Set against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia...

Murakami tells the true story behind an act of terrorism that turned an average Monday morning into a national disaster Murakami tells the true story behind an act of terrorism...

'The best thing he has ever written' Observer Discover the modern classic that has sold over two million copies. 'A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn...

'A daring and colourful novel. A superb observer of the human race' New York Times Book Review Hugo Baumgartner is a man who doesn't belong anywhere. He's a Berlin Jew...

A mesmerising new novel from the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author of The English Patient. **LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018** An elegiac novel set in post-WW2 London about memory,...

Inspector Maigret falls victim to a pickpocket and is drawn into a peculiar incident A pickpocket steals Maigret's wallet only to return it the following day, on the condition that...