***THE TOP TEN BESTSELLER ***'Refreshing... A rare example of a Broken Britain book with answers ' New Statesman'Engaging and informative, imploring us not to lose hope' Observer'A ray of sunshine' Start the Week, Radio 4'Rattlingly readable... Inspiring' Financial TimesAt a time w...

A WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 ONDAATJE PRIZE'A masterful portrait of one of the world's greatest cities... A must-read' PETER FRANKOPAN'Such a delightful read' KATJA HOYER, The Times'Berlin may well be Europe's most enigmatic city and John Kampfner is the ideal guide.' JONATHAN FREEDLAND, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Esc...

READ JOHN KAMPFNER'S NEW BOOK: IN SEARCH OF BERLIN: THE STORY OF A REINVENTED CITY***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***BOOK OF THE YEAR IN GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST & NEW STATESMAN'Excellent and provocative... a passionate, timely book.' Sunday Times'A fine new book... thoughtful, deeply reported and impeccably even-handed.' The TimesEmerging from a co...

From the Orwell Prize shortlisted author of Freedom for Sale, The Rich is the fascinating history of how economic elites from ancient Egypt to the present day have gained and spent their money.Starting with the Romans and Ancient Egypt and culminating with the oligarchies of modern Russia and China, it compares and contrasts the rich and powerful down the ages and around the world. What unites them? Have the same instincts of entrepreneurship, ambition, vanity, gr...

Democratic liberalism v. authoritarianism -- the ideological divide that defined the twentieth century. But when the cold war ended, "the end of history"; was proclaimed. Soon the fire of freedom would burn worldwide, the experts said. And where markets were freed, human rights would inevitably follow.Or not. In the last twenty years, nations including India, Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates have disproved the idea that capitalism and democracy are inextricably linked. Em...

Why is it that so many people around the world appear willing to give up freedoms in return for either security or prosperity? For the past 60 years it had been assumed that capitalism was intertwined with liberal democracy, that the two not just thrived together but needed each other to survive. But what happens when both are undermined?Governments around the world -- whether they fall into the authoritarian or the democratic camp -- have drawn up a new pact with their peoples. Th...

From the Orwell Prize shortlisted author of Freedom for Sale, The Rich is the fascinating history of how economic elites from ancient Egypt to the present day have gained and spent their money.Starting with Ancient Egypt and Greece and culminating with the oligarchies of modern Russia and China, it compares and contrasts the rich and powerful down the ages and around the world. What unites them? Have the same instincts of entrepreneurship, ambition, vanity, greed ...

The riveting new exploration of American history – and how it has led to the era of Donald Trump – from the award-winning political broadcaster.'A well argued and elegant answer to the question, 'how did America get to this place?'' Justin Webb, presenter of Americast'Pithy, entertaining and informative’ GuardianTrump’s second term, even more than his first, is often called ‘unprecedented’. But...

The blistering 1928 Bolshevik satire, unpublishable in the Russia until 1988 - in a brand new translation'A love that cannot be throttled by the rubber tube of an enema bulb is immortal.'Bookish and idealistic Vladimir is tormented with love for Olga; he brings her flowers when other men bring her flour and millet. Olga eventually agrees to marry him, as her building’s central heating will be out of service all winter and at least with two in the b...

'Sand seems as alive as if she had just walked out of the room... quietly witty... fascinating' *The Times'*Thought-provoking... written with energy, passion and commitment to its fascinating subject' Literary ReviewMy friends will respect me, I hope, just as much under my jacket as under my dress... So take me for a man or a woman as you wish.By the age of thirty,...

A gripping, vividly told journey into a family's wartime past, from the bestselling author of The Ruin of All Witches‘Endearingly personal, honest and reflective … invites you to rethink where memory ends and history begins’ Dominic Sandbrook, The Times, Books of the Year'As I finished his book, I began to see my own family’s past through his glass mountain' Ian Ellison, Literary ReviewMalcolm Gaskill knew two things about...

'Brilliant and discursive' Antonia Fraser, Sunday Times'Hughes-Hallett's exemplary reappraisal … throws a searching light on two thousand years of male erotic fantasy' Joan Smith, New StatesmanWinner of the FAWCETT PRIZE and EMILY TOTH AWARDIn the 2,000 years since her death, Cleopatra has been recreated over and over again by poets, artists and filmmakers, each time in a form that...