The European empires as they existed from the Age of Discovery until after the First World War shaped the modern world. So great has been their political, economic and cultural influence that to fully understand contemporary history and events, it is essential to have an understanding of the imperial past. This book is an impressive achievement. It brings together in one comprehensive volume, all the essential facts and figures relating to the process of empire-building by the European pow...

A bestselling historian shows how the British Empire created the modern world.**“Scrupulous scholarship and a rattling good tale.” —**Wall Street JournalThe British Empire was the largest in all history, its reach the nearest thing to world domination ever achieved. By the eve of the Second World War, over a fifth of the world's land surface and nearly a quarter of the world's population were under some form of British rule. Yet fo...

A Financial Times and Economist Best Book of the Year exploring world trade from Mesopotamia in 3,000 BC to modern globalization.How did trade evolve to the point where we don't think twice about biting into an apple from the other side of the world?In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Birth of Plenty, traces the story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controv...

Famine may be triggered by nature but its outcome arises from politics and ideology. In Three Famines, award-winning author Thomas Keneally uncovers the troubling truth -- that sustained widespread hunger is historically the outcome of government neglect and individual venality. Through the lens of three of the most disastrous famines in modern history -- the potato famine in Ireland, the famine in Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines that plagued Ethiopia in the 1970s and 19...

A history of the English East India company.During 200 years the East India Company grew from a loose association of Elizabethan tradesmen into "the grandest society of merchants in the universe". As a commercial enterprise it came to control half the world's trade and as a political entity it administered an embryonic empire. Without it there would have been no British India and no British Empire. In a tapestry ranging from Southern Africa to north-west America, and from the reign...

Fully illustrated, information-packed exploration of British history from Neolithic times to the present day. Arranged in eight self-contained sections, each dealing with a major historical period, making it extremely accessible. A pleasure to dip into and simple to look up any subject that interests you from stone circles to the Battle of Britain. Timelines provide helpful chronological reference and are a handy addition to the text. Conveniently arranged in eight sections, each dealing w...

Commerce meets conquest in this swashbuckling story of the six merchant-adventurers who built the modern worldIt was an era when monopoly trading companies were the unofficial agents of European expansion, controlling vast numbers of people and huge tracts of land, and taking on governmental and military functions. They managed their territories as business interests, treating their subjects as employees, customers, or competitors. The leaders of these trading enterprises exercised ...

The waters off Newfoundland, in the North Atlantic, held the world’s most abundant supply of codfish, which, when discovered, was in great demand. Unlike the fur trade—the other major early commercial activity in what is now mainland Canada—the production of codfish did not require year-round residence. It did, however, require numerous men, young and old, for the fishing season, which ran from spring to early fall. This successful English-Newfoundland migratory fishery evolved into an exc...

Settlements of the Doomed is part of the Pocket History series - a conveniently portable, stylishly packaged and eminently collectible set of twelve books that each open a window onto a selection of remarkable stories, characters and themes from the past. History they say is written by the winners. We read about the first settlers arriving in Sydney Cove with modern icon the Opera House in our minds. But the world is scattered with the remnants of other, forgotten settlements. Her...

What are the 50 key events you need to understand to grasp British history?If you could choose the 50 things that define British history, events of significance not only in themselves, but in their importance to wider themes running through our past, what would they be? Hugh Williams has made that selection, and the result is a fascinating overview of Britain’s past.He refines British history into a series of key themes that represent a crucial strand in our history, and pi...

It takes charisma and inspiration to lead any group of people. Leaders who Changed the World explores the lives and careers of such extraordinary individuals as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Some have slogged and suffered in order to change the world for the better, while others, like Adolf Hitler or Osama Bin Laden have only succeeded in damaging humanity. Throughout history there have only been a handful of people capable of supreme leadership. Wha...

“A beautifully written story, a box of delights, a treasure trove: final proof of truth’s superiority over fiction.”—Andrew RobertsA sparkling anecdotal account with the pace of an epic, about the men and women who created turning points in history. Rebecca Fraser's dramatic portrayal of the scientists, statesmen, explorers, soldiers, traders, and artists who forged Britain's national institutions is the perfect introduction to British history.Just as much ...