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Why did a long time reluctant US President Wilson finally enter World War I on the side of the Allies in April 1917?In retaliation of the British naval blockade of Germany since August 1914, the German Admirals determined at the beginning of 1915 to create a counter-blockade of the British Isles with their submarines. The U-boat commanders got – without knowledge of the government - a secret order to sink Allied passenger liners. The British Admiralty discovered the hunt for passenger liners by deciphering W/T messages to the U-boats. The sinking of the Lusitania on May, 6th, 1915, was no coincidence – the Royal Navy knew about the intentions of the U-boats and, after doing everything to protect the passenger liners in the beginning, they simply left the Lusitania alone in in the first week of May, to create frictions between America and the German Empire. A diplomatic quarrel between US President Wilson and Germany about U-boat warfare commenced. In spring of 1916 the German Navy acted again against the instructions of the Kaiser and ordered secretly the sinking of allied and neutral vessels in the British Channel, thereby opening an unrestricted U-boat war. When the channel ferry Sussex was attacked, Wilson threatened to break off of diplomatic relations with Germany. Under massive diplomatic pressure the German government had to give in. Further on, their U-boats only conducted a “soft”, restricted warfare, following the internationally agreed maritime rules and tolerated by Wilson. In Germany a heated debate set in after the Sussex case. The Navy promised the quick defeat of England by unrestricted U-boat war, and the Army joined this campaign end of 1916. The intention of the “war party” was to rule out any possibility of a negotiated peace and to set the German Empire on a – risky - course for definitive victory. But the government doubted the Navy’s capability for all-out U-boat warfare and argued that the only definitive result would be an America siding the Allies, leading to ultimate defeat. In the last months of 1916 it sent out peace feelers to Wilson, warning him, that in the case of a failure of his peace mediation they would get under unbearable pressure of the “military opposition” to begin unrestricted U-boat war again. At this time Britain was – like Germany – economically with its back against the wall: it suffered terribly by the sinking of its merchant ships, the moral of its Admiralty in Anti-Submarine-Warfare had completely broken down. Collapse was threatening. But the British government got wind of the conflicts inside Germany by the deciphering of the diplomatic cables between Wilson and the Germans. The new Prime Minster, David Lloyd George, chose a risky strategy – by rebuffing all American peace efforts he wanted to encourage the radical party in Germany to enforce total U-boat war. Finally this British strategy payed out: German Navy and Army pressed the Kaiser to declare unrestricted U-boat war from 1st of February 1917 on, and Wilson broke off diplomatic relations. But he still bristled to enter the war on Allied side – as long as American ships would be treated correctly by the Germans, he wouldn’t come in, not even after the publication of the Zimmermann-telegram. The tipping point came in the middle of March, when U-boats torpedoed American vessels without warning. This forced the American Declaration of War against the German Empire on April 6, 1917.

Ewen Southby-Tailyour's lifetime involvement with small boats, both civilian and military, began with his unusual christening and lasted until he sold his final vessel on his 80th Birthday. In between these two landmarks he sailed extensively but not through 'warm water' cruising grounds rather than in colder, seldom-visited climates; most notably the Falkland Islands and among the un-surveyed fjords of north-west Iceland and northern Norway in winter. His love of the sea was instilled in him when, just four, he was taken trawling under sail. Soon, he was crewing in the classic pilot-cutter Olga in which, over 30 years of family ownership, he sailed every Easter and summer holidays, all the while learning navigation, seamanship and ships' husbandry. At the Nautical College Pangbourne he passed 'O' Level in celestial navigation, seamanship and signals then, despite being captain of sailing, he turned down an Olympic trial in preference for deep water cruising and exploring. He navigated, inter alia, six Fastnet Races and skippered six two-handed Round Britain races as well as a single-handed round Majorca and a two-handed Iceland race.. During deployments abroad he took every opportunity to sail in and to understand local vessels such as Arabian dhows, Chinese junks, Kenyan out-riggers and square-riggers. In the Falkland Islands he found that the charts had not altered since the 19th Century so he surveyed the coasts and beaches in his own time, a work that became the basis for the amphibious planning in 1982. Clearly his sailing life has not been without drama: he fell overboard twice, once when alone. Bad weather is a function of seafaring and, in his case included being caught off an Icelandic lee shore in a Force 11: an episode of survival that merited a chapter in the seminal text book Heavy Weather Sailing. AUTHOR: Ewen Southby-Tailyour is a retired Royal Marines officer who played a leading role in the Falklands campaign. From an early age he was involved in offshore sailing and inshore exploring. His involvement with small boats and the sea continued in the service when he specialised as a Landing Craft Officer often operating with other NATO amphibious forces. In the early 1960s he was attached to France's maritime Special Forces before being seconded to the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces during the Dhofar War. In 1978 he commanded the Royal Marines' 'garrison' in the Falkland Islands when he was instructed to re-write the Standard Operating Procedures in case of an invasion. This study included the charting of much of the archipelago's coasts and beaches. Following his retirement in 1992 he was employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. On his return he established an Amphibious Consultancy to help industry design the latest generation of the Royal Navy's amphibious fleet. Later he was elected Yachtsman of the Year, established the Jester Challenge, single-handed ocean races to the USA, the Azores and the Republic of Ireland for yacht under 30 feet in length and sworn as a Younger Brother of Trinity House. Among his previously published works are Amphibious Warfare Post World War II, A Life Under Sail, Reasons in Writing, Amphibious Assault Falklands, Exocet Falklands, Blondie, the Life of Lieutenant-Colonel HG Hasler of Cockleshell Heroes fame and HMS Fearless (all with Pen and Sword). 23 colour, 33 b/w illustrations

In December of 1971 the Black Panther Party expanded to Australia. This might seem an odd place for a quintessentially African American political force, but as Jacynda Ammons reveals in this expansive work, Aboriginal Australians had long looked to the example of African Americans in their fight against white supremacy. Against a background of Australia's history of colonization and racialization, We Are Black, Too traces Aboriginal Australians' adoption of strains of Black activism from Marcus Garvey through the Civil Rights Movement and ultimately the Black Panther Party. In 1971 an International Section of the Black Panther Party was established in Algeria, but as Ammons shows, it was not until the demise of this section and a "split" within the party in the United States that a chapter of the Black Panther Party was formed in Australia. Tapping archival research from the United States and Australia, and in light of the emphasis on international activism by Huey P. Newton and the Oakland Panthers, We Are Black, Too explores the links between the American and Australian chapters of the BPP. As it brings to light these unexpected connections, the book adds to our understanding of both the Black Panther movement and Aboriginal activism in Australia. And as it expands the larger analysis of “transnational blackness” and the global Black Diaspora, it offers powerful insights, and holds valuable lessons, for the activism and internationalism of African Americans today in movements of global solidarity to end systemic racism.

Exploring the stories of nurses who served Florida’s Indigenous communities during the Great Depression and the decades of change that followedIn this intersectional history, Christine Ardalan tells the stories of nurses who worked among the Seminole and Miccosukee people in Florida during the mid-twentieth century. Ardalan profiles three US government field nurses, several public health nurses, and the Seminole practical nurse Betty Mae Tiger Jumper. Ardalan’s analysis offers insights into the tensions between the white nurses and their supervisors, cultural differences between them and the communities they served, and the ways they often reinforced settler-colonial ideologies. Ardalan looks at the work of the US nurses together with that of Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, who led the effort to respect traditional practices alongside government clinical care. Tiger Jumper cemented the healthcare message that the people themselves should determine their own paths toward healthfulness and well-being. The book concludes in 1971, when the Seminole Tribe of Florida assumed control of its health services. The information in this book contributes to the history of nursing and of Florida’s Indigenous communities during a period of great change.

Three Women, a Rabbi and a Musician From Bohemia explores the lives of members of a Jewish family who lived in rural Bohemia for over two hundred years, from early in the 18th century. It follows:Three incredibly strong women forced to bring up their families on their own following the early deaths of their husbands. The rabbi who, after living in Vienna, moved back to Bohemia, helping other family members on the way. The musician who survived being bayoneted in Serbia in World War One, and then moved to Berlin where he fell in love with a ballerina. The threat of the Nazi invasion also led to some fascinating stories of escape, survival and renewal in new countries, especially for the author’s parents and his older siblings. One cousin journeyed East through Russia to Shanghai and another arrived in Palestine as a teenager, eventually becoming an expert in cultivating bananas.

From the world-leading expert on the Maya, a monumental history of a flourishing civilization across three millenniaThe Four Heavens brings to life the cultural and visual splendor of the ancient Maya, drawing on the oldest indigenous texts of the Americas and the latest archaeological discoveries to present an entirely new history of this spectacular civilization. Renowned historian and archaeologist David Stuart, who has made groundbreaking contributions to the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics, shows how there was no single rise and fall of the Maya but a series of births and collapses over a breathtaking span of nearly three millennia. Maya history was seemingly lost forever when the first Europeans encountered the great ruins of ancient cities in what is today Mexico and Central America. Today, with the recent decipherment of their ancient writings, the story of the Maya can now be told from their perspective. Stuart traces the rapid emergence of permanent settlements in the rainforest, which gave rise to monumental architecture and a flourishing urbanism and ushered in the Classic period of Maya civilization beginning in the mid-second century CE. He reveals a world of majestic royal courts tightly bound together by marriages, shifting alliances, and warfare, much of it driven by the ambitions of two major dynasties, the Kanuls and Mutuls. Stuart describes how the long-standing rivalry between these two great houses shaped the fates of the surrounding kingdoms and may have set the stage for “the Great Rupture” of the ninth century, when the royal courts buckled under the weight of internal strife, social unrest, and environmental crisis, transforming Maya civilization yet again. With stunning illustrations, including many of Stuart’s own drawings and images, The Four Heavens is a work of momentous historical sweep, one that paints an unforgettable portrait of the Maya and the richly complex social, political, and cosmological worlds in which they lived. Available in Spanish from our partners at Grupo Planeta

A definitive new history of the origins, evolution, and scope of the ancient Greek city-stateThe Greek polis, or city-state, was a resilient and adaptable political institution founded on the principles of citizenship, freedom, and equality. Emerging around 650 BCE and enduring to 350 CE, it offered a means for collaboration among fellow city-states and social bargaining between a community and its elites—but at what cost? Polis proposes a panoramic account of the ancient Greek city-state, its diverse forms, and enduring characteristics over the span of a millennium. In this landmark book, John Ma provides a new history of the polis, charting its spread and development into a common denominator for hundreds of communities from the Black Sea to North Africa and from the Near East to Italy. He explores its remarkable achievements as a political form offering community, autonomy, prosperity, public goods, and spaces of social justice for its members. He also reminds us that behind the successes of civic ideology and institutions lie entanglements with domination, empire, and enslavement. Ma’s sweeping and multifaceted narrative draws widely on a rich store of historical evidence while weighing in on lively scholarly debates and offering new readings of Aristotle as the great theoretician of the polis. A monumental work of scholarship, Polis transforms our understanding of antiquity while challenging us to grapple with the moral legacy of an idea whose very success centered on the inclusion of some and the exclusion of others.

For more than 4,500 years people have been drawn to a windswept plain at the heart of southern England where a circle of vast upright stones topped with massive lintels stands. Yet Stonehenge – probably the most famous prehistoric monument in the world – remains mysterious. Today, nearly one and a half million people a year come from across the world to see for themselves this silent icon of the ancient past. But what do we really know about the people who built it, why they did so, and what they did here among the stones? In the 18th century stories of Druids, of sacrifices and pagan worship emerged in the silence. How has our understanding of this complex site changed since the? hrough spectacular new photography, historic images, artworks and a remarkable new reconstruction drawing, Susan Greaney tells the story of Stonehenge, its builders and the people whose lives have been touched by this awe-inspiring monument from earliest times to the present day.

Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be downtown, on Main Street. News footage shows office workers leaning out of windows, peering at the motorcade through a blizzard of ticker tape. On the sidewalks, the crowds are fifty deep, a wall of noise and celebration. Everyone thinks this is the place to be. A few blocks away, in Dealey Plaza, the air is different. There is no ticker tape here. The crowds are thin. The only person filming is a dressmaker balanced on a concrete plinth. In this quiet corner, there's a man opening an umbrella even though it isn't raining, a construction worker in a hard hat who claims he was sent here by God, three tramps who stand on the verge of becoming suspects, an unidentified witness known only as the Babushka Lady, and many more. This is not a book about conspiracies or a lone gunman. This is a book about memory, about how we construct our shared history, and about what happens when your life is defined by a single, fleeting moment. It's about a group of real people who opted out of the main event before John F. Kennedy was assassinated, only to find themselves accidental witnesses to the most scrutinised six seconds of the twentieth century.

The fiftieth-anniversary edition of the classic tale of a sixteenth-century miller facing the Roman Inquisition. The Cheese and the Worms is an incisive study of popular culture in the sixteenth century as seen through the eyes of one man, the miller known as Menocchio, who was accused of heresy during the Inquisition and sentenced to death. In the fiftieth anniversary edition of this now-classic book, Carlo Ginzburg uses the trial records to illustrate the religious and social conflicts of the society Menocchio lived in. For a common miller, Menocchio was surprisingly literate. In his trial testimony, he made references to more than a dozen books, including the Bible, Boccaccio's Decameron, Mandeville's Travels, and a "mysterious" book that may have been the Koran. And what he read he recast in terms familiar to him, as in his own version of the creation: "All was chaos, that is earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and of that bulk a mass formed—just as cheese is made out of milk—and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels."Ginzburg's massively influential book has been widely regarded as an early example of the analytic, case-oriented approach known as microhistory. In the preface, Ginzburg offers his own corollary to Menocchio's story as he considers the discrepancy between the intentions of the writer and what gets written. The Italian miller's story and Ginzburg's work continue to resonate with modern readers because they focus on how oral and written culture are inextricably linked. Menocchio's 500-year-old challenge to authority remains evocative and vital today.

The Future in Our Past tells the story of the 1926 General Strike on its centenary. It is a compelling on-the-ground account of how workers brought the country to a standstill for nine extraordinary days. Callum Cant and Matthew Lee take us on a journey through a Britain living on its nerves, from the London docklands to the South Wales coalfields and the railways and warehouses of middle England. Churchill feared that labour militancy presaged a Bolshevik-style revolution. The question of power hung in the air as rank-and-file militants pursued a chaotic, improvised and wildly uneven confrontation with the British ruling class. This is social history at its most immediate and relevant. Cant and Lee revisit the communities where the struggle burned brightest, uncovering the lessons the General Strike holds for labour movements today.

The story of education in Harrogate is a fascinating one. The nineteenth century was one of huge development and change in education, with the 1870 Forster Act aiming to create a school within reach of every child. As with so many aspects of life even now, class, religion and gender largely determined the type and quality of the provision of learning. Harrogate was no exception, and Paul Jennings examines all of these factors in this important new book. But in addition, Harrogate’s health resort status also led to the creation of an unusually high number of private schools, as fee-paying parents were assured that their children would benefit from the especially healthy surroundings. For all types of school, the author covers topicssuch as the patterns of the school day, meals (or lack of them), segregation of the sexes, punishments and the changing curriculum. The result is a comprehensive and readable volume that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of both education and the town of Harrogate.

The history of Russia - from Kievan Rus to Vladimir PutinRussia: A History cuts through the myths and mystery that have surrounded Russia from its earliest days, with startling revelations from classified archives that until comparatively recently were not even known to exist.A distinguished team of historians has stripped away the propaganda and preconceptions of the past to tell the definitive story of Russia, from tenth-century Kiev and Muscovy through empire and revolution to the fall of Communism and the ''new order'' of the 1990s and early 21st century. A compelling story in its own right, it is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Russia and its place in the world. This updated edition now covers the developments in the Putin era in the first decade of the 21st century.

In Civil War Photo Forensics, author Scott Hippensteel reconsiders iconic photographs from the American Civil War in a completely new light, questioning everything we have been taught about the images and their significance. Employing new scientific techniques to investigate the timing, location, and authenticity of photographs taken by Alexander Gardner, Mathew Brady, Timothy O'Sullivan, and their contemporaries, Hippensteel provides fresh insights into the motivations behind these pioneers in battlefield photography. As the first battlefield photojournalists, these documentarians and their work deserve a critical and scientific treatment of this order. In addition to their historical value, Hippensteel's study demonstrates that the degree of manipulation present in many of the most famous Civil War "combat" photographs should make us contemplate whether an image is more a work of art than an unbiased example of front-line reporting. Complete with 128 high-quality images, Civil War Photo Forensics will be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of Civil War and photography enthusiasts.

At 85 years of age, reflecting on his experiences in the Pacific Theater in World War II, former US Army cavalry soldier Warren E. Murtha said, “The proudest moment of my life occurred when I went through the gate at Santo Tomas in Manila and I saw the faces of the prisoners—the men, women, and children—their smiles, their expressions of relief and gratitude. . . . Suddenly I knew why we were on this mission . . . I thought to myself . . . all of it had been worthwhile in return for this one moment.” During World War II, the Japanese government held over 130,000 “enemy alien” civilians throughout the Pacific—including nearly 78,000 women and children. Most of the 7,800 civilians rounded up in the Philippines were American expatriates, and at any one time, about half of these were held at the campus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. By late 1944, Washington, DC, was concerned that any ground gained as the US Army approached Manila in the early days of the new year would result in execution of the prisoners. Out of other options, a risky behind-the-lines attack was launched with 20,000 Japanese soldiers and 100 miles standing between the captives and their liberators. Until now, no book has effectively blended the story of the internees with the military operation to free them. Discussing uncomfortable topics such as racism, collaboration with the enemy, and illicit personal relationships, Sixty-Six Hours to Manila: Survival and Liberation at Santo Tomas, 1942–1945 shines new light on what has largely been a neglected chapter in the story of World War II in the Pacific.

How should we remember George Washington’s entanglement in slavery? Americans have argued over that question for nearly 250 years. More than any other Founding Father, Washington’s ties to slavery have vexed us. He enslaved more people than any of his fellow founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bondage. Since his death, Americans have grappled with this contradiction, shaping and reshaping our collective memory of Washington and slavery—along with our understanding of the nation. In Thy Will Be Done, historian John Garrison Marks tells the story of Americans’ long, fraught struggle to come to terms with Washington’s legacy of slavery. He traces how politicians, abolitionists, educators, activists, Washington’s former slaves and their descendants, and others have remembered, forgotten, and manipulated slavery’s place in Washington’s story, and how they have wielded versions of that story in the political and cultural fights of their time. Marks shows how generational struggles over our collective memory of Washington and slavery have always been part of a bigger conversation about defining the United States and its people. As debates about the founders’ participation in the system of slavery continue to roil public discourse, Marks shows with new clarity that Americans have never collectively reconciled Washington’s conflicted legacy. By truly grappling with Washington’s role as enslaver and emancipator we may come to better understand the nation and ourselves.

An “adventure tale for puzzle lovers and Indiana Jones fans alike” (The Washington Post) following three free-spirited Victorians on their twenty-year quest to decipher cuneiform, the oldest writing in the world—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. It was one of history’s great vanishing acts. Around 3,400 BCE, a scribe in the mud-walled city-state of Uruk picked up a reed stylus to press tiny symbols into clay. For the next three thousand years, wedge-shape cuneiform script would record the military conquests, scientific discoveries, and epic literature of the great kingdoms of Mesopotamia. And then…the meaning of the characters was lost. London, 1857. In an era obsessed with human progress, mysterious palaces emerging from the desert sands have captured the Victorian public’s imagination. Assyria, Babylon, the mighty Persian Empire… these civilizations had gone down in the annals as the great antagonists to ancient Greece and ancient Israel. What did these “bad guys” of Western history have to say for themselves? What were their values, their rituals, their understandings of their place in the universe? What was it like simply to be human at the dawn of recorded history? Enter a swashbuckling archaeologist, a suave military officer turned diplomat, and a cloistered Irish rector, all vying for glory in a race to decipher the script that would enable humans to peer farther back into our history than ever before. From the ruins of Persepolis to lawless outposts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, let The Mesopotamian Riddle whisk you off on “an epic intellectual adventure” (The Wall Street Journal) through the golden age of archaeology in an epic quest to understand where we came from—and where we perhaps might go.

TELEGRAPH HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025By the summer of 1940, Great Britain watched as France succumbed to the might of Adolf Hitler’s forces. Her forces driven off the continent, many rescued from capture at Dunkirk, only the Royal Air Force, supported by the country’s newly established radar system, now stood in the way of the country being invaded. Herman Goering had promised his Fuhrer his air force would sweep the British skies of all opposition to allow Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of southern England, to commence. The intense aerial combat over the coming months across the English Channel and the countryside of southeast England would not reflect the optimism of Nazi propaganda. Researching and blending a diverse range of primary sources together (Luftwaffe air crews’ personal letters and diaries), with official combat reports, and contemporary German newspapers, Victoria Taylor weaves a rich, multifaceted tapestry of the military, political, social and cultural influences that shaped the German air force’s mentality and morale during the Battle of Britain. Eagle Days transforms the Luftwaffe’s historical role during the RAF’s ‘Finest Hour’ from a cartoonish antagonist to a multidimensional, flawed-yet-formidable opponent. The narrative contains not just the voices of the air crews who conducted the fighting, but uniquely never-before-translated primary source material of other contemporary eyewitnesses, (Luftwaffe’s paratroopers, anti-aircraft gunners and air signalmen). Eagle Days will offer all fans of this period a refreshing, comprehensive and exciting new account of the Luftwaffe’s real experiences during the Battle of Britain.

*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK, FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2025, SCOTSMAN BOOKS OF 2025, COUNTRY LIFE BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2025*'Packed with anecdote and colour, it's a surprisingly touching portrait of the countries' - Financial Times, Best Books of 2025'An insightful and engaging reflection on the appeal of the ancient' - The Times'I'm a card-carrying admirer of Peter Ross' - Robert MacfarlaneThe prehistoric sites of Britain and Ireland are places of wonder and wondering. Who made these structures? What did they mean to them? And what do they mean to us no? uthor of the bestseller Steeple Chasing and prize-winning A Tomb With A View, Peter Ross journeys from midwinter at Stonehenge to midsummer at Sycamore Gap. Along the way he encounters bog bodies in Dublin, a wooden goddess in Edinburgh and a chalk giant in Dorset. He asks what it is like to live within the great stone circle at Avebury, what rituals occurred in an Anglesey tomb and what draws volunteers to care for the Uffington White Horse. These objects and structures speak of the long human story. They offer the comfort of recognition and the pleasure of mystery. There is something about ancient places that fills a hollow in our souls. Upon A White Horse is a celebration of landscape and people - and all that is beautiful, strange and old. 'Ross scores highly on his intuitive interpretations of places and his non-judgemental observations of human nature; he is empathetic, but can stand back' - Country Life'Ross is a wonderfully evocative writer, deftly capturing a sense of place and history, while bringing a deep humanity to his subject' - Guardian