History and Archaeology

'A mind-expanding tour of the world without leaving your paintbox. Every colour has a story, and here are some of the most alluring, alarming, and thought-provoking. Very hard painting the hallway magnolia after this inspiring primer.' Simon Garfield The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed

The famous “Tante Ju” in its legendary transport role over a variety of war fronts.

The story of the love and jealousy between two geniuses behind The Beatles, who merged and multiplied their talents to produce one of the greatest bodies of creative work in history.

In ‘Humans Are Doomed To Go Extinct’, an article in Scientific American published in November 2021, veteran Nature editor Dr Henry Gee predicted that Homo sapiens is on a rapid one-way ride to extinction. The article provoked media coverage and comment around the world. In The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, Gee expands the themes of his much-discussed article to book length,

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020'As brilliant a history of the Vikings as one could possibly hope to read' Tom HollandThe 'Viking Age' is traditionally held to begin in June 793 when Scandinavian raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria.

An engrossing study of seven of history's greatest golden ages, exploring what set them apart and what we can learn from them today.

Meritocracy: the idea that people should be advanced according to their talents rather than their status at birth. For much of history this was a revolutionary thought, but by the end of the twentieth century it had become the world's ruling ideology. How did this happen, and why is meritocracy now under attack from both right and left?

*WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2024*

A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 - and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

'Exhilarating' Observer
'Intensely moving' Sunday Times
'Engrossing and dramatic' William Boyd