History & Archaeology Books

A riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intolerance.Over the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of...

A War on Global Poverty provides a fresh account of U.S. involvement in campaigns to end global poverty in the 1970s and 1980s. From the decline of modernisation programs to the rise of microcredit, Joanne Meyerowitz looks beyond familiar histories of...

Turkish Kaleidoscope tells the stories of four unfor-gettable protagonists as they navigate a society torn apart by violent political factions. It is 1975 and Turkey is on the verge of civil war. Faruk and Orhan are from conservative shopkeeping families...

A look at the duty of nations to protect human rights beyond borders, why it has failed in practice, and what can be done about it. The idea that states share a responsibility to shield people everywhere from atrocities is presently under threat. Despite...

The first major history of the bravura movement in European paintingThe painterly style known as bravura emerged in sixteenth-century Venice and spread throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. While earlier artistic movements presented a...

The essential resource on military and political strategy and the making of the modern worldThe New Makers of Modern Strategy is the next generation of the definitive work on strategy and the key figures who have shaped the theory and practice of war and...

The little-known history of public school teachers across the Arab world-and how they wielded an unlikely influence over the modern Middle EastToday, it is hard to imagine a time and place when public school teachers were considered among the elite...

The unlikely story of how Americans canonized Adam Smith as the patron saint of free marketsOriginally published in 1776, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was lauded by America's founders as a landmark work of Enlightenment thinking about national...

Washington Post, One of E.J. Dionne Jr.'s Recommendations A major new history of how democracy became the dominant political force in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century What happened in the years following World War II to create a...

A richly illustrated celebration of the paintings of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle ObamaFrom the moment of their unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery in early 2018, the portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama have become two of the...

From the moment a child in ancient Rome began to speak Latin, the surrounding world became populated with objects possessing grammatical gender-masculine eyes (oculi), feminine trees (arbores), neuter bodies (corpora). Sexing the World surveys the many...

A feminist biography of the only woman to become prime minister of IsraelIn this authoritative and empathetic biography, Pnina Lahav reexamines the life of Golda Meir (18981978) through a feminist lens, focusing on her recurring role as a woman standing...

A cultural and literary history of mountains in classical antiquity.The mountainous character of the Mediterranean was a crucial factor in the history of the ancient Greek and Roman world. The Folds of Olympus is a cultural and literary history that...

As Featured on Wall Street Journal's Holiday Books Round-up Nature The enduring influence of naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt on American art, culture, and politics.Alexander von Humboldt (17691859) was one of the most influential...

*Shortlisted for the American Library in Paris Book Award**Shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, McGill University*"Winner of the PROSE Award in European History, Association of American Publishers*An innovative history of deep social and...

During the late nineteenth century, opium was integral to European colonial rule in Southeast Asia. The taxation of opium was a major source of revenue for British and French colonizers, who also derived moral authority from imposing a tax on a peculiar...

How a controversial biblical tale of conquest and genocide became a founding story of modern IsraelNo biblical text has been more central to the politics of modern Israel than the book of Joshua. Named after a military leader who became the successor to...

For Victorian lawmakers and judges, the question of whether a book should be allowed to circulate freely depended on whether it was sold to readers whose mental and moral capacities were in doubt, by which they meant the increasingly literate and...

How America's global financial power was created and shaped through its special relationship with BritainThe rise of global finance in the latter half of the twentieth century has long been understood as one chapter in a larger story about the postwar...

A richly illustrated account of the story of ancient vinicultureThe history of civilization is, in many ways, the history of wine. This book is the first comprehensive account of the earliest stages of the history and prehistory of viniculture, which...

A colorful, comprehensive, and authoritative account of Machiavelli's life and thoughtThis is a colorful, comprehensive, and authoritative introduction to the life and work of the Florentine statesman, writer, and political philosopher Niccolo...

How British authorities and Indian intellectuals developed ideas about deviant female sexuality to control and organize modern society in IndiaDuring the colonial period in India, European scholars, British officials, and elite Indian...

How the creation of the Nobel Prize in Economics changed the economics profession, Sweden, and the worldOur confidence in markets comes from economics, and our confidence in economics is underpinned by the Nobel Prize in Economics, which was first...

A photographic study of the land that served as the main testing site for American nuclear devices for four decadesMore nuclear bombs have been detonated in America than in any other country in the world. Between 1951 and 1992, the Nevada National...

From one of our finest writers and leading environmental thinkers, a powerful book about how the land we share divides us-and how it could unite usToday, we are at a turning point as we face ecological and political crises that are rooted in conflicts...

The untold story of Michelangelo's final decades-and his transformation into one of the greatest architects of the Italian RenaissanceAs he entered his seventies, the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo despaired that his productive years were...

Acclaimed literary historian Schmidt provides a unique meditation on the rediscovery of Gilgamesh and its profound influence on poets today. He describes how the poem is a work in progress even now, an undertaking that has drawn on the talents and...

A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceWhy the conventional wisdom about the Arab Spring is wrong.The Arab Spring promised to end dictatorship and bring self-government to people across the Middle East. Yet everywhere except Tunisia it led to either...

Why violence in the Congo has continued despite decades of international intervention Well into its third decade, the military conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been dubbed a "forever war"-a perpetual cycle of war, civil unrest, and...

An urban history of modern Britain, and how the built environment shaped the nation's politicsFoundations is a history of twentieth-century Britain told through the rise, fall, and reinvention of six different types of urban space: the industrial estate,...

*World Magazine, Honourable Mention, Accessible History Book of the Year*Why have most modern revolutions have ended in bloodshed and failure-and what lessons they hold for today's world of growing extremism. Why have so many of the iconic...

A compact, incisive history of one of the defining conflicts of our time Leaving almost half a million dead and displacing an estimated twelve million people, the Syrian Civil War is a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable scale. Syrian Requiem...

A history of modern European cultural pluralism, its current crisis, and its uncertain futureIn 2010, the leaders of Germany, Britain, and France each declared that multiculturalism had failed in their countries. Over the past decade, a growing consensus...

How deadly germs and pandemics have shaped history - and why they are products of our success as a species.Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from...

The first major English-language biography of Francisco Goya y Lucientes, who ushered in the modern era.The life of Francisco Goya (1746-1828) coincided with an age of transformation in Spanish history that brought upheavals in the country's...

The first biography of Kierkegaard's literary muse, from the author of the definitive life of the philosopherKierkegaard's Muse-the first biography of Regine Olsen (1822-1904), the inspiration and one-time fiancee of Danish philosopher Soren...

The life and times of the most important theological work of medieval ChristendomThomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae holds a unique place in Western religion and philosophy. Written between 1266 and 1273, it was conceived by Aquinas as an instructional...

How the billionaire owners of Hobby Lobby are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make America a "Bible nation"The Greens of Oklahoma City-the billionaire owners of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores-are spending hundreds of millions of...

An in-depth look at how politics and economics shape the relationship between Congress and the Federal ReserveBorn out of crisis a century ago, the Federal Reserve has become the most powerful macroeconomic policymaker and financial regulator in the...

A sweeping exploration of animals in Japanese art and culture across sixteen centuriesFew countries have devoted as much artistic energy to the depiction of animal life as Japan. Drawing upon the country's unique spiritual heritage, rich literary...

From acclaimed historian Michael Brenner, a mesmerizing portrait of Munich in the early years of Hitler's quest for powerIn the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I and the failed November Revolution of 191819, the conservative government of...

An accessible modern translation of essential speeches from Thucydides's History that takes readers to the heart of his profound insights on diplomacy, foreign policy, and war Why do nations go to war? What are citizens willing to die for? What...

The first study of album-making in the Ottoman empire during the seventeenth century, demonstrating the period's experimentation, eclecticism, and global outlookThe Album of the World Emperor examines an extraordinary piece of art: an album of paintings,...

A wide-ranging look at the history of Western thinking since the seventeenth century on the purpose of the Jewish people in the past, present, and futureWhat is the purpose of Jews in the world? The Bible singles out the Jews as God's "chosen people,"...

The gripping story of an explosive turning point in the history of modern IndiaOn the night of June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, suspending constitutional rights and rounding up her political opponents in midnight raids...

Since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has maintained unrivalled control over the country, persisting even in the face of economic calamity, widespread social upheaval, and violence against its own people. Yet the party does not sustain dominance...

Postcards from Absurdistan is a cultural and political history of Prague from 1938, when the Nazis destroyed Czechoslovakia's artistically vibrant liberal democracy, to 1989, when the country's socialist regime collapsed after more than four decades of...

A gripping biography that brings together the most recent research to shed provocative new light on the life of Saint PatrickSaint Patrick was, by his own admission, a controversial figure. Convicted in a trial by his elders in Britain and hounded by...