Summer Catalogue | Page 31

HISTORY
HISTORY
THE GLASS MOUNTAIN
Malcolm Gaskill
HB $ 55.00
due dec 2
The bestselling author of The Ruin of All Witches returns with a gripping, vividly told journey into his family’ s wartime past. Malcolm Gaskill knew two things about his great-uncle Ralph’ s wartime adventures – he’ d been a prisoner in Italy, and he’ d cut his way out of a train with a knife and fork. Apart from that, he’ d faded into family folklore, lost to view. Until, one hot afternoon in an English country garden, a chance conversation set Gaskill on his uncle’ s trail and finds himself confronted by questions: Why do stories matter, and how much of the past can ever be true?
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF RICHARD III
Anthony Cheetham
HB $ 60.00
due dec 2
Richard III is one of the most mysterious figures in English history, and as such is the source of perennial fascination. This new edition of a classic royal biography includes an account of the discovery of Richard’ s remains in a Leicester car park in September 2012, and what his skeleton revealed about the physical condition of the last Plantagenet and the manner of his death. This new edition brings the story of England’ s most infamous monarch fully up to date. With a new introduction and concluding chapter from bestselling medieval author Dan Jones.
THE NUCLEAR AGE
Serhii Plokhy
PB $ 39.99
From the bestselling author of Chernobyl comes a sweeping history of the geopolitics behind the nuclear arms race. In The Nuclear Age, acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy paints an intricate picture of a world governed by fear. From the first artificial splitting of the atom in 1917 and the race to create the first atomic bomb in World War II, through the fraught arms race of the Cold War, to the imperialism, neo-colonial motivation and wars being waged today, the threat posed by nuclear weapons is as pertinent as ever.
due dec 4
THE FRENCH REV- OLUTION: A POLITICAL HISTORY
John Hardman
HB $ 51.95
John Hardman traces the political history of the French Revolution, from its origins to its aftermath. Hardman argues that the nature of ancien régime politics, the mismanagement of the fiscal crisis, and a new generation of young, overly confident politicians brought the Bourbon monarchy’ s apparatus crashing down. He shows how feudalism was on its last legs in 1789, and analyses the key roles played by Louis XVI, Antoine Barnave, and Georges Danton. This is a major new political history.
THE LAST TITANS: CHURCHILL AND DE GAULLE
Richard Vinen
HB $ 49.99
due dec 2
The Last Titans is a compelling dual biography of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle that shines new light on two of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. Richard Vinen explores what made these men exceptional and how profoundly they were influenced by their national cultures. Written with extraordinary narrative verve, The Last Titans: Churchill and de Gaulle offers a fresh exploration into the lives of de Gaulle and Churchill. By bringing their two stories into one, each man is seen afresh, and we gain new insights into their achievements and their legacy today.
EARTH SHAPERS
Maxim Samson
HB $ 45.00
due nov 4
Mountains, meridians, rivers and borders; these are some of the features that carve up the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe and, over time, we have become experts at reshaping our surroundings. Samson explores how we mould the world around us. And how, as we etch our needs onto the natural landscape, we alter the course of history. An immense work of cultural geography touching on ecology, sociology, history and politics, Earth Shapers argues that, far from being constrained by geography, we are instead its creators.
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