This unique and informative dictionary explores the history, meanings, and origin of place names around the world. In over 11,000 entries it covers an enormous geographical range, including continents, countries, islands, cities, mountains, rivers, and much more. Key historical facts are incorporated into each entry, as well as a record of the place name in the local language for an accurate and comprehensive account. For this fifth edition, 134 entirely new entries have been added, includ...

There is no populated place without a name, and every name is chosen for a reason. This fascinating dictionary unveils the etymological roots and history of thousands of locations and landmarks from around the world. It contains over 11,000 entries, and covers an enormous range of country, region, island, city, town, mountain and river names from across the world, as well as the name in the local language. Place names are continually changing, and new names are adopted for many different r...

On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China to "proceed all the way to the ends of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas." When the fleet returned home in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. The great ships were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost in the long, self-imposed isolation that followed was the knowledge that Chinese ship...

Out of 193 countries that are currently UN member states, we've invaded or fought conflicts in the territory of 171. That's not far off a massive, jaw-dropping 90 per cent. Not too many Britons know that we invaded Iran in the Second World War with the Soviets. You can be fairly sure a lot more Iranians do. Or what about the time we arrived with elephants to invade Ethiopia? Every summer, hordes of British tourists now occupy Corfu and the other Ionian islands. Find out ho...

Explore more than forty forsaken urban destinations around the world in a "highly entertaining read . . . for history buffs, mystery fanatics and travel junkies alike" (GoNomad).Cities are mortal, but the traces they leave behind tell a fascinating story. In Atlas of Lost Cities, an accomplished travel writer reveals the rise and fall of notable places, each pithy portrait illuminated by a vintage map that puts armchair explorers right in the scene. Wander ...

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...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families • From the author of The RomanovsA Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Smithsonian****“Succession meets Game of Thrones.” —The Spectator • “The author brings his cast of dynastic titans, rogues and psychopaths to life...An epic that both entertains and inform...

For nearly two decades Western governments and a growing activist community have been frustrated in their attempts to bring about a freer and more democratic Burma—through sanctions and tourist boycotts—only to see an apparent slide toward even harsher dictatorship. But what do we really know about Burma and its history? And what can Burma's past tell us about the present and even its future?In The River of Lost Footsteps, Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma, in p...

A monumental retelling of world history through the lens of maritime enterprise, revealing in breathtaking depth how people first came into contact with one another by ocean and river, lake and stream, and how goods, languages, religions, and entire cultures spread across and along the world’s waterways, bringing together civilizations and defining what makes us most human.Lincoln Paine takes us back to the origins of long-distance migration by sea with our ancestors’ first forays ...

Just 50,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors ventured off the African savannah and into the wider world. Now, our technology reaches far out into the cosmos. How did we get to where we are today?With lively text and colorful illustrations, From Then to Now explains how individual societies struggled to find their own paths, despite war, disease, slavery, natural disasters, and the relentless growth of human knowledge. From Hammurabi to Henry Ford, from Inca...

"I have committed many acts of cruelty and had an incalculable number of men killed, never knowing whether what I did was right. But I am indifferent to what people think of me."- Genghis KhanA spine-chilling chronicle of dictators and their crimes against humanity, Tyrants introduces the most bloodthirsty madmen - and women - ever to wield power over their unfortunate fellow human beings.From Herod the Great, persecutor of...

"A fabulous and erudite survey of words inspired by place names . . . Logophiles will have a ball." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)What makes a place so memorable that it survives forever in a word? In this captivating round-the-world tour, Paul Anthony Jones is your guide through the intriguing stories of how eighty places became immortalized in the English language.You'll discover why the origins of turkeys, limericks, Brazil nuts, and Panama ...