Here are fifty concise, entertaining histories on a broad, eclectic range of ideas (borders, feminism), global issues (migration, world trade), commodities (bananas, jeans), regions (Africa, Ireland), and institutions (corporations, the World Bank).Lucid and irreverent, Brief Histories of Almost Anything challenges common perceptions associated with the subjects by going behind the facts. Each history has been selected from the New Internationalist magazine, a lea...

Is flying an irreplaceable part of 21st-century life? Can businesses succeed in a globalised world without international air travel? What about 'love miles' – visiting friends and family overseas?Architect and writer Chris Watson grew up in an airline family, passionate about aviation and how it allows us to explore the world, share knowledge and create more diverse communities. But this freedom has come at a cost for the environment. Aviation is a...

One World Two is the eagerly awaited follow-up to One World and another globe-trotting collection of stories. But it is more than simply an anthology of short fiction, as it contains representative literature from all over the world, conveying the reader on thought-provoking journeys across continents, cultures and landscapes.One World Two is even more ambitious than Volume One in its geographic scope, featuring twenty-one writers drawn from every contine...

Updated and revised edition of the second best-selling No-Nonsense Guide (45,000 sold).Includes a new chapter from the perspective of the end of the first decade of the 21st century and includes material on the financial crisis and the world response to climate change.Considers often overlooked points in history.Tackles complex, topical issues in an accessible and easy-to-read style.Includes b&w maps charts and graphs to illustrate key points.Fully refere...

Mankind has come a long way since our ancestors first stood up on two feet, but how did we get to where we are today? This book tells the story, through conflict and intrigue, power won and lost, great empires built and destroyed.With over 350 illustrations, timelines and box features, A Short History of the World is a comprehensive and entertaining look at the ways in which man has spent his time on earth. Find out how the great Egyptian dynasties crumbled, how medieval E...

“A work of tremendous originality and insight. ... Makes you see the world differently.”—Washington PostA modern classic that uses historical analysis to shed light on the present, The Future of Freedom is, as the Chicago Tribune put it, "essential reading for anyone worried about the promotion and preservation of liberty." Hailed by the New York Times as "brave and ambitious...updated Tocqueville," it enjoyed extended stays on the New York T...

'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENTWinner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize'Astonishingly accomplished'THE TIMES'Remarkable'OBSERVER'Gripping'NEW YORK TIMES'Fabulously atmospheric'GUARDIAN'Engros...

*** Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 ***** US National Book Award 5 Under 35 **'To play the country-game, we have to choose a country. Everybody wants to be the USA and Britain and Canada and Australia and Switzerland and them. Nobody wants to be rags of countries like Congo, like Somalia, like Iraq, like Sudan, like Haiti and not even this one we live in - who wants to be a terrible place of hunger and things falling apart?'

Essential reading for anyone interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this Very Short Introduction looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. Key themes in current thinking about Africa's history are illustrated with a range of fascinating historical examples, drawn from over 5 millennia across this vast continent.

From 1789 in France to 2011 in Cairo, revolutions have shaken the world. In their pursuit of social justice, revolutionaries have taken on the assembled might of monarchies, empires, and dictatorships. They have often, though not always, sparked cataclysmic violence, and have at times won miraculous victories, though at other times suffered devastating defeat. This Very Short Introduction illuminates the revolutionaries, their strategies, their successes and failures, and the ways...

“There are those who think that Paul Theroux is the finest travel writer working in English. This collection can only enhance that reputation.”—The New York Times Book ReviewAuthor and travel writer Paul Theroux does what no one else can: he travels to the isolated, unusual, and fascinating spots of the world, and creates an elegy to them that makes readers feel they are traveling with him. Evocative, breathtaking, intriguing, here is the armchair traveler...

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*Why do some countries succeed while others fail? What causes boom or bust? The World Trade Editor of the FT explains how the world really works.'A thorough examination of economies from the age of empire to the age of the IMF' The Washington PostWhy do oil and diamonds lead to economic disaster more often than boom? Why doesn't Africa gr...