20th Century History

In 1940 Sergei Rachmaninoff, living in exile in America, broke his creative silence and composed a swan song to his Russian homeland. What happened in those final haunted years and...

When the Taliban took control of Kabul, Kamila Sidiqi and all the women of Kabul saw their lives transformed. Overnight, they were banned from schools and offices and even forbidden...

THE NUMBER 1 IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 An Irish Times Book of the Year 2024 Ireland is a strikingly...

'Sincere love, detailed memory and deep knowledge make this dive into children's TV history truly joyful' - SAMIRA AHMED 'I love this book. It's important, invaluable and oddly emotional' -...

'Indiscreet, brilliantly observed, frequently hilarious' Evening Standard 'Hang on - it's a wild ride' Meryl Streep It's 1983. A young Englishwoman arrives in Manhattan on a mission. Summoned in the...

THE REST IS HISTORY CLUB BOOK OF THE MONTH 'One of the most engaging and fascinating histories of Europe I've read for years.' DOMINIC SANDBROOK 'Highly original and insightful' PD...

'Spain's finest contemporary novelist' Guardian 'Juan Marse's contribution to European fiction has been consistently remarkable' Times Literary Supplement From one of Spain's most acclaimed authors, comes an extraordinary novel about...

Break out the flannel, scrunchies, and high-rise jeans and indulge in this nostalgic illustrated trip through the 1990s' most influential albums across all genres. In 501 Essential Albums of the...

INTRODUCED BY LISSA EVANS 'I envy anyone yet to discover the joy of Monica Dickens. She's beady eyed, big hearted and blissfully funny' NINA STIBBE 'Wherever her eye falls, it...

One of the most dramatic chapters in the history of nineteenth-century Europe, the Commune of 1871 was an eclectic revolutionary government that held power in Paris across eight weeks between...

'The very best sort of panoramic portrait' David Kynaston'The Edwardians have long been the lost decade of British history, yet they are that history at its climax. Alwyn Turner sets...

The second volume of diaries from one of Britain's best-loved national treasures. After a live performance at the Hollywood Bowl, The Pythons made their last performance together in 1983 in...

Political risk - the probability that a political action could significantly affect an organisation - is changing fast, and it's more widespread than ever before. In the past, the chief...

'One of Singapore's finest living authors' South China Morning Post 'Simply glorious. Every nook and cranny of 1930s Singapore is brought richly to life' CATRIONA MCPHERSON 'Charming' RHYS BOWEN 'One...

'As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, this book takes some beating' Daily Telegraph 'A valuable addition to the canon of literature on Afghanistan ... [Seierstad] manages...

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE A NEW YORKER BEST BOOKS OF 2025 A TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR A...

Walter Tevis is widely regarded as a master for both his gritty poolhall novels and his brilliant rendering of the world of competitive chess. This long overdue collection establishes Tevis's...

No novel about any Black woman could ever be the same after this' TONI MORRISON I dreamed with my eyes open. All the Corregidora women with narrow waists and high...

Whether it's pumping oil, mining resources or shipping commodities across oceans, the global economy runs on extraction. Promises of frictionless trade and lucrative speculation are the hallmarks of our era,...

An electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century's greatest unsung power players, from the bestselling author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE 'Supremely enjoyable . . . With a...

Kathleen Lonsdale was a groundbreaking chemist who was instrumental in developing the science of crystallography. She was also a midlife convert to Quakerism who campaigned for peace and prison reform....

The first complete collection of A.A. Milne's short stories, including several never published before. A.A. Milne's real passion lay beyond Winnie-the-Pooh , as this new prose collection reveals. Collected in...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023 A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF...

A groundbreaking A-Z appraisal of the work of over 300 modern and contemporary artists born or based in Africa In recent years Africa s booming art scene has gained substantial...

"A leaking can of paint in hand, the artist strolls out of the gallery and drifts aimlessly through the city, leaving a trail of colour as he goes. So what...

Rosemary Woodruff Leary has been known only as the wife of Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor-turned-psychedelic high priest, whose jailbreak captivated the counterculture and whose life on the run with...

From the author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven , this piercing, genre-bending debut follows two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war in a stunning...

A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR FOR 2024 LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION, AND FT BUSINESS BOOK...

Brilliantly reconstructed from contemporary narratives, The Last Outlaws is both a gripping work of historical true crime and a richly revealing examination of our nation at its birth. The Chant...

How did a shy Polish immigrant kid - Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki - evolve into the fabulously eccentric Dr Karl? Shortlist ABIA Biography of the Year 2025...

27th November 1918, London. Just 16 days after the end of the Great War, with the nation on its knees, Billie Carleton takes to the stage for the last time....

The first thorough account of a formative and little understood chapter in Chinese history "Almost every page contains an eye-opening detail. . . . The Great Transformation evokes the multiple...

A fascinating exploration of the devious tricks and ingenious tools used by early modern spies-from ciphers to counterfeiting, invisible inks to assassination Early modern Europe was a hotbed of espionage,...

A major new political history of the French Revolution In 1786, France's ancien regime was functioning as usual. Its alliance with the victorious American colonies had restored its diplomatic prestige,...

An insightful new biography of the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, focused on the man himself and based on newly accessible documents "An admirable introduction not only to its...

An incisive account of modern Spain, from the death of Franco to the Catalan referendum and beyond "Comprehensive and engaging."-Gideon Rachman, Financial Times Spain's transition to democracy after Franco's long...

An authoritative and original history of the Maginot Line that reshapes our understanding of interwar France and the events of 1940 The Maginot Line was a marvel of 1930s engineering....

A reminder that war is not always, or even generally, good for long-term growth Many believe that despite its destructive character, war ultimately boosts long-term economic growth. For the United...

The dramatic story of a man who stood at the center of British intelligence operations, the ultimate spymaster of World War II: Thomas Kendrick "A remarkable piece of historical detective...

A renowned scholar argues that liberal hegemony-the policy America has pursued since the Cold War ended-is doomed to fail Named a Financial Times Best Book of 2018 "Idealists as well...

An intimate new portrait of one of history's most controversial figures: heroic revolutionary or the first terrorist? For some historians and biographers, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-94) was a great revolutionary martyr...

"A true-crime masterpiece." - Don Winslow A Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award Finalist (Best Fact Crime) From the FBI's former assistant director, a shocking journey to the dark side...

The first major book to showcase internationally renowned photographer Bent Rej's seminal photographs of 1960s rock legends, including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Bob...

Explore the captivating worldof 1970s California skateboarding through Hugh Holland's lens in Last Days of Summer. This complete archive, enriched with many never-before-seen images,an introduction by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey,...

'A great accomplishment . . . A wonderful reflection of an extraordinary sweep of history' - Barack Obama For 16 years, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany. She led the...

Winner of the Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award "Deeply researched and forcefully written . . . deftly explains the confused politics and diplomacy that bedeviled the war against...

"The relationship between China and Korea is one of the most important, and least understood, in Asia. With the wisdom and clarity we have come to expect from Westad, this...

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year Winner of the Norris and Carol Hundley Award Winner of the US-Russia Relations Book Prize "The achievement of a lifetime." -Stephen Kotkin,...