History Of Saudi Arabia by Al-Rasheed Madawi

$49.95 AUD

Category: History

A SHAMEFUL ACT by AKCAM TANER

$26.00 AUD

Category: History

The Jewish People by Shmuel Ahituv

$36.95 AUD

Category: History

Contributors to this book include Anson F. Rainey, Shmuel Safrai, Haim Beinart, and Evyatar Friesel. This is the first atlas of its kind to document in such great detail the turbulent history of the Jewish people. A work of prodigious and meticulous scholarship by some of Israel's most brilliant scholar s, this atlas portrays every aspect of Jewish history that lends itself to cartographic interpretation, from biblical times to the present day. This is the fascinating story of how an ancient people, separated from their roots and dispersed throughout the world, survived in exile for two thousand years and eventually returned and recreated itself within the framework of a modern state. Now, in one profusely illustrated volume, the reader is presented with in-depth coverage of major themes in biblical, mishnaic, talmudic, medieval, and modern Jewish history by the foremost authorities in their field. Anson F. Rainey is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures and Semitic Linguistics at Tel Aviv University. Shmuel Safrai is Professor of the History of the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. ...Show more

Churchill: The Unexpected Hero by Paul Addison

$26.95 AUD

Category: History

During the Second World War, Winston Churchill won two resounding victories. The first was a victory over Nazi Germany, the second a victory over the legion of skeptics who had derided his judgment, denied his claims to greatness, and excluded him from high office on the grounds that he was sure to be a danger to King and Country. Churchill was the only British politician of the twentieth century to become an enduring national hero. The curious thing is that it happened at the age of 65, at a time when he was considered to be a spent force, with a track-record of disastrous decisions. All but the most hostile of his adversaries conceded that he possessed great abilities, remarkable eloquence, and a streak of genius. But it was almost universally agreed that he was a shameless egotist, an opportunist without principles or convictions, an unreliable colleague, an erratic policy-maker who lacked judgment, and a reckless amateur strategist with a dangerous passion for war and bloodshed. At one time or another in his career, he had offended every party and faction in the land, yet despite this he became the embodiment of national unity, an uncrowned king who threatened to eclipse the monarchy. In this incisive new biography, Paul Addison tells the story of Churchill's life in parallel with the history of his reputation. He seeks to explain why Churchill was transformed into a national hero, and why his heroic status has endured ever since in spite of the attempts of iconoclasts to debunk him. He argues that we are now in a position to reach beyond the mythology - both positive and negative - to see the real Winston Churchill, a warrior-statesman whose qualities were remarkably consistent through all the vicissitudes of his career. ...Show more

The War for All the Oceans by Roy Adkins

$27.99 AUD

Category: History

As France emerged from revolution, a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, hoping next to march overland to India. It would not happen. Britain swung her forces into action to battle for control of the world's sea-lanes and thus all international trade. The Battle of the Nile and then at Acre were the first sallies in what would be fifteen years of bitter fighting. It was a war won at sea, and by the time of Waterloo Britain had gained control and possessed the foundations of her vast empire. Brought vividly to life through the words and stories of the ordinary people caught up in the conflict, this is a sweeping history of the years of naval warfare that set the balance of power in Europe for the following century. Taking in gallant duels, bloody battles between huge fleets, amphibious assaults, daring coastal raids, and the subtleties of espionage and naval intelligence, this global conflict truly was THE WAR FOR ALL THE OCEANS. ...Show more

Trafalgar : The Biography of a Battle by Roy Adkins

$26.95 AUD

Category: History

A superbly researched, gripping account of the most important naval battle in British history, which thwarted Napoleon at sea and created a national hero in Nelson. This is the true story of the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain's most significant sea battle, as seen through the smoke-hazed gunports of t he fighting ships. In an atmosphere of choking fumes from cannon and musket fire, amid noise so intense it was almost tangible, the crews of the British, French and Spanish ships did their best to carry out their allotted tasks. For over five hours they were in constant danger from a terrifying array of iron and lead missiles fired from enemy guns, as well as the deadly wooden splinters smashed from the ships' hulls by the cannon-balls. While the men manoeuvred the ships and kept the cannons firing, the women helped the surgeons tend the sick or helped the boys - the 'powder monkeys' - in the hazardous job of carrying gunpowder cartridges from the central magazine to the gun decks. Trafalgar set the seal on British naval supremacy, which became the mainspring for the growth of the British Empire, and in the short term not only prevented Napoleon from invading Britain, but also enabled Britain and its Continental allies to mount the campaign that would eventually defeat the French Emperor: without Trafalgar there would be no Waterloo. Author Information: Roy Adkins is an historian and archaeologist. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Back List: 'The Keys to Egypt: The Race to Read the Hieroglyphs' (about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt) Reviews: * 'Wonderful - the equal of Beevor's STALINGRAD ' Independent on Sunday * ...Show more

Firestorm : The bombing of Dresden, 1945 by Paul Addison & Jeremy A Crang (eds)

$30.00 AUD

Category: History

On the night of 13 and 14 February 1945 the RAF bombed the city of Dresden, causing devastating fires which obliterated the historic city centre and killed many thousands of people. Sixty years later these raids remain one of the most notorious, and also one of the most controversial, episodes in the hi story of the Second World War. Firestorm: The Bombing of Dresden 1945 assembles a cast of distinguished scholars, including Sebastian Cox, Nicola Lambourne, Soenke Neitzel, Richard Overy and Hew Strachan, to review the origins, conduct, and consequences of the raids. Each contributor writes from his or her own perspective, offering the reader a panoramic reassessment of the evidence and the issues, including the question of whether or not the bombing of the city constitutes a war crime. Firestorm cogently demonstrates the reasons why Dresden has come to symbolise the military and ethical questions involved in the waging of total war. First published 2006. ...Show more

Hideous Absinthe A History of the Devil in a Bottle by Adams Jay

$38.00 AUD

Category: History

Mysteriously sophisticated, darkly alluring, almost Satanic: absinthe was the drink of choice for Baudelaire, Verlaine and Wilde. It inspired paintings by Degas and Manet, van Gogh and Picasso. It was blamed for conditions ranging from sterility to madness, to French defeats in World War I. The campaign against 'the devil in a bottle' resulted in its ban throughout most of Europe. "Hideous Absinthe" is a biography of the 'green fairy' that questions the basis of anti-absinthe hysteria and describes how absinthe came to symbolise the high points of art and the depths of degeneration. It comes up-to-date via the thrill-seeking American absinthe drinkers in the twentieth century, from Hemingway to the backpackers of Prague; and covers the rediscovery of absinthe in England's club culture of the twenty-first century. ...Show more

Shadows of War by Ryoko Adachi

$27.95 AUD

Category: History

World War 2 in the Asia-Pacific still casts many shadows. The shadows fall on the lives of Australian ex-POWs, soldiers and their families. Veterans are aged but recall horrors under Japanese Imperial Forces as fresh as yesterday. Dark, too, are the shadows cast on civilians trapped in the conflict - in nocents who suffered through starvation, forced labour and prostitution. Against this is the determination by reactionary Japanese powerbrokers to obliterate this history by rewriting school textbooks, so post-war Japanese remain ignorant of their war history. This book presents the deepest and innermost thoughts drawn from some 200 interviews and responses with Australian veterans. Critically, all tell of what they think of the Japanese now. This is their record in their own words. In the 60th year after the end of World War 2, wide education makes the young acutely aware of what happened in those critical war years of 1942-45. This book will appeal to teachers hungry for original materials, and their students who want to read history in the words of those who lived it. This book will appeal to veterans, whose leaders have gone in search of reconciliation to Japan. The image of Australian youngsters trekking in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, hand in hand with their Japanese contemporaries, will appeal to all who seek to put the war behind them. Released to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific, this book will be sought by many a general reader anxious to celebrate the memory of our World War 2 veterans. ...Show more

London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd

$45.00 AUD

Category: History | Reading Level: good

Much of Peter Ackroyd's work has been concerned with the life and past of London but here, as a culmination, is his definitive account of the city. For him it is an organism with its own laws of growth and change, so this book is a biography rather than a history. Ackroyd reveals the dozens of ways in w hich the continuity of the city survives - in ward boundaries unchanged since the Middle Ages, in vocabulary and in various traditions - showing London as constantly changing, yet forever the same in essence. ...Show more

Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd

$39.95 AUD

Category: History

Just as Peter Ackroyd's bestselling London is the biography of the city, "Thames: Sacred River" is the biography of the river, from sea to source. Exploring its history from prehistoric times to the present day, the reader is drawn into an extraordinary world, learning about the fishes that swam in the river and the boats that plied its surface; about floods and tides; hauntings and suicides; miasmas and malaria; locks, weirs and embankments; bridges, docks and palaces. Peter Ackroyd has a genius for digging out the most surprising and entertaining details, and for writing about them in the most magisterial prose; the result is a wonderfully readable and captivating guide to this extraordinary river and the towns and villages which line it. ...Show more

Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses by Lucy Worsley

$27.95 AUD

Category: History | Reading Level: very good

William Cavendish, courageous, cultured and passionate about women, embodies the popular image of a cavalier. Famously defeated at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, he went into a long and miserable continental exile before returning to England in triumph on the restoration of King Charles II to the t hrone in 1660. Lucy Worsley brings to life a fascinating household of the seventeenth-century, painting a picture of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, clandestine marriage and gossip. From Ben Jonson and Van Dyck to a savage, knife-wielding master-cook, Cavalier is a brilliant illumination of the stately home and all its many colourful inhabitants. ...Show more