Showing titles in Civilization

Over the last three centuries, the West rose to dominate the planet. Then, suddenly, around the turn of the millennium, history reversed. Faced with economic stagnation and internal political division, the West has found itself in freefall. This is not the first time the global order has witnessed such a dramatic rise and fall. The Roman Empire followed a similar arc from dizzying power to disintegration - a fact that is more than a strange historical coincidence.

Civilization was born 8,000 years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophisticated urban societies. In the cities that they built, half of human history took place. In Babylon, Paul Kriwaczek tells the story of Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements seven thousand years ago to the eclipse of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period.

From the author of ‘Wartime’ and ‘The Thirties’comes an outstanding history of the most prolonged and devastating attack ever endured by Britain's civilian population – the Blitz. September 1940 marked the beginning of Nazi Germany's sustained attack on civilian Britain. Lasting eight...

Explores how our ancestors used shamanic rituals at sacred sites to create portals for communication with nonhuman intelligences Shares supporting evidence from the spiritual and shamanic beliefs of more than 100 Native American tribes Shows how the earliest forms of shamanism began...

Bloomsbury presents Assyria by Eckart Frahm, read by Matthew Lloyd Davies. The first comprehensive account of the rise and fall of what historians consider to be the world’s very first empire: Assyria 'A work of remarkable synthesis. The range of its sources is truly extraordinary . . . Frahm...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Do tough times create tougher people? Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology ever peak or regress? And why, since the dawn of time, has it always seemed as though death and destruction are waiting just around...

A TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘A diligent historian and a superb writer’ THE TIMES A gripping new history of the making of England as a nation. In December 1642, during the Civil War, Parliamentarian troops stormed Winchester Cathedral and smashed ten beautifully decorated wooden chests...

'A vivid, visceral and crucial read for our times' BETTANY HUGHES 'Wonderful and insightful' ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY The collapse of law and order in the last years of the Roman Republic told through the rise and fall of its most famous lawyer, Cicero. In its final decades, the Roman Republic was...

Ancient Egypt wasn't all pyramids, sphinxes and gold sarcophagi. For your average Egyptian, life was tough, and work was hard, conducted under the burning gaze of the sun god Ra. During the course of a day in the ancient city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor), Egypt's religious capital, we meet 24 Egyptians from all strata of society - from the king to the bread-maker, the priestess to the fisherman, the soldier to the midwife - and get to know what the real Egypt was like by spending an hour in their company.

The Age of Railways was an era of extraordinary change which utterly transformed every aspect of British life – from trade and transportation to health and recreation. Full Steam Ahead reveals how the world we live in today is entirely shaped by the rail network, charting the glorious...

Herodotus was a Greek historian born in Halicarnassus, subject at the time of the great Persian Empire. He lived in the fifth century BC (c. 484 - c. 425 BC), a contemporary of Socrates. He is often referred to as "The Father of History", a title originally conferred by Cicero. Herodotus was the first historian known to have broken from Homeric tradition in order to treat historical subjects as a method of investigation, specifically by collecting his materials in a critical, systematic fashion and then arranging them into a chronological narrative.

Except most of the ideas that form Western Civilisation are just that—ideas. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and human society grew into the tenets we live by, and we haven't questioned them a great deal since. But isn't it time we asked who really benefits from the values at the core of our society? How much truth lies in a science that conjured up 'race'? Who do laws and nations really protect? Why does it feel like time is money? What even is 'art'?

This audiobook narrated by acclaimed archaeologist and best-selling author Eric Cline offers a breathtaking account of how the collapse of an ancient civilized world ushered in the first Dark Ages.

Esta es la historia del encuentro entre dos mundos: Oriente y Occidente conectados por una red de caminos conocida como la Ruta de la Seda, por la que circularon la ambición, las riquezas, el poder y, sobre todo, el conocimiento. Todo comenzó con un puñado de objetos. Valiosas posesiones que pasaban de mano en mano y recorrían miles de kilómetros a través de océanos, desiertos y montañas. Su inmenso valor no dependía solo de su belleza o de la pericia necesaria para elaborarlas; aquellas mercancías exóticas poseían la capacidad de hacer soñar a los que las contemplaban con tierras...

Wales might seem like a quiet corner of the globe, but its history is anything but silent…. From Celtic warriors to Roman conquerors, this book takes you on a journey exploring a captivating nation forged through centuries of battles and achievements.

In "Ancient Egypt" journey back in time to one of the most fascinating civilizations in history. This concise yet comprehensive book takes you on a captivating exploration of the land of the pharaohs, offering a clear and insightful overview of ancient Egyptian culture, society, and achievements. Delve into the mystique of the pyramids, marvel at the grandeur of the temples, and unravel the secrets of the hieroglyphs. Discover the daily life of ordinary Egyptians, their beliefs in the afterlife, and the powerful rulers who shaped Egypt's destiny.

Bloomsbury presents The Musical Human by Michael Spitzer, read by Daniel Levitin. A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online 'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History 'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here'...

Drawing on startling new evidence from the mapping of the genome, an explosive new account of the genetic basis of race and its role in the human story Fewer ideas have been more toxic or harmful than the idea of the biological reality of race, and with it the idea that humans of different races...

A revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work, from the origins of life on Earth to our ever-more automated present. The work we do brings us meaning, moulds our values, determines our social status and dictates how we spend most of our time. But this wasn't always the case: for 95 percent of our species' history, work held a radically different importance. How, then, did work become the central organisational principle of our societies? How did it transform our bodies, our environments, our views on equality and our sense of time?

TikTok sensation Katie Kennedy, aka @TheHistoryGossip, serves up a delicious blend of fascinating, witty and salacious history tea for every day of the year. With infectious wit and historical insight, The History Gossip brings you the mad, bad and dangerous tales from around the world. With entries for every day of the year, this is history … but not as you know it.