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Foreword by Dáithí Ó SéStep back into a world where turf fires warmed the hearth, water was drawn from the well, and stories told by flickering candlelight lit up the night. In Old Ways to New Days, folklorist Shane Lehane brings the soul of Ireland's past to life in a beautifully woven tapestry of tradition, transformation and memory. From the magic of birth to the customs of death and mourning; from matchmakers and milking stools to butter charms and fairy lore, Lehane traces the arc of a society rooted in the land, as it evolved with the arrival of bicycles, electricity, cinema and the wireless. At once scholarly and deeply personal, this is a celebration of how the old ways still echo in Irish memory and lore, even as the new days roll on. Wonderfully illustrated with dip-pen drawings, this is a book to treasure and a poignant reminder of who we were, and how we came to be.

Eleni put an arm around him and said: “Come, come, life is ahead of us. Raise your soul now. We have much to do.”This is a book about how the great forces of history shape us – and how world-famous political activist Yanis Varoufakis was inspired by the resilience and the courage of his family, from his mother Eleni and grandmothers Anna and Trisevgeni, to his partner Danae. It is both an intimate portrait of a political awakening and a dramatic sweep through Greece''s history of post-colonial independence, Nazi occupation, communist partisan resistance, Cold War fracture, civil war, fascist dictatorship, socialist revival and tumultuous present-day economic collapse.Raise Your Soul is a powerful tale of resistance and endurance – a beacon of hope for dark times.

From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain - the exchange of one''s soul in return for untold riches and power - has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations. Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to the Charlie Daniels Band, and illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil... and about ourselves.

The ending of the slave trade and abolition of slavery by European powers during the 19th century is generally told as the work of enlightened liberals fighting against entrenched slaving interests in Africa, the Caribbean, and European capitals. Sudhir Hazareesingh here turns this narrative on its head, showing how the enslaved resisted their oppressors from the earliest years of the Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century until the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865, and how this opposition was the driving force for change.Daring To Be Free portrays the struggle for liberation from the perspective of the enslaved, wherever possible in their own words. It shines a light on the lives of revolutionaries like Toussaint Louverture, José Antonio Aponte, Nat Turner, and the pregnant rebel Solitude; freed writers of narrative accounts like Frederick Douglass and Ottobah Cugoano; and the countless maroons, insurgents and conspirators whose acts of defiance destabilised the slave order in the colonies and galvanized the movement for abolition in France, Britain, and the United States. Hazareesingh gives particular emphasis to the powerful roles of women as campaigners, disruptors and warriors.Drawing on written archives and oral history, as well as a rich body of secondary sources, the book traces the networks of cooperation that connected runaway settlements, covert rebellions and organized uprisings from Haiti, Jamaica, Brazil and Cuba to Mauritius and the United States. It shows us how the struggle for liberty was shaped not only by western Enlightenment ideals but by the spiritual, martial, and religious influences from the lives of the enslaved in Africa before the Middle Passage – and by the inspiring example of Haiti, the first successful anticolonial revolution and the first independent black state, which echoed down the 19th century.Daring To Be Free reshapes our understanding of Atlantic slavery by portraying how enslaved lives were defined not by their dehumanisation at the hands of colonialists and slavers but by their own resilience, solidarity, and commitment to freedom. It also examines the afterlife of the slave trade in contemporary discussions about the legacy of slavery and possibilities for redress, reparations, and memorial in our own time.

Offers a sweeping, entertaining journey through the real power structures of world history Five Thousand Years of Monarchy challenges everything you thought you knew about political history. With wit, clarity, and a deep command of historical detail, Michael Arnheim reframes five millennia of global governance through a strikingly original lens: the idea that every government, from ancient Sumer to modern China, is either a monarchy or an oligarchy—regardless of its name or apparent ideology. This provocative framework reveals insights into some of history's greatest puzzles and personalities, from the Roman emperors to Castro's Cuba, Augustus to Queen Victoria, and from Louis XVI's missed opportunity to the untold powers of King Philip II. Drawing on lively anecdotes, surprising facts, and colorful historical vignettes, Arnheim brings the power struggles of the past vividly to life. Why was Imperial China more stable than any modern democracy? Could World War I have been avoided by more autocracy? And why are aristocracies more hostile to monarchs than revolutions ever were? Engaging, opinionated, and highly readable, Five Thousand Years of Monarchy offers a powerful reminder that what really matters in politics isn't titles or constitutions—it's who holds the power, and how. Presenting a bold and original reinterpretation of world history through the lens of power structure, Five Thousand Years of Monarchy: Distills all governments—ancient and modern—into just two essential types: monarchy or oligarchyProvides a global scope, covering rulers and regimes from every major civilization Reveals little-known historical facts, such as King Philip II of Spain's reign as King of EnglandOffers original, counterintuitive takes on major events such as the French Revolution and World War IExplores the surprising longevity and success of the Roman and Chinese empires Challenges conventional narratives and political assumptions with evidence-based analysis Written in an engaging, accessible, and often humorous style, Five Thousand Years of Monarchy is ideal for general readers with an interest in history, politics, or leadership, as well as students and instructors in History, Classics, and Political Science.

Hodges Figgis Book of the Year for 2025Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards History Book of the YearMaps allow us to see how the world is organised spatially and show us relationships which cannot be understood from simply reading a text. This magnificent book highlights a vast selection of maps that range across the centuries and cover every part of the island, shedding light on the history and development of Ireland. The themes are many and varied, from conquest and colonisation, the management of the landscape, natural resources, meeting the needs of tourists, transport, the growth of urban centres as well as exploring how others saw Ireland, and much more besides.  Carefully selected by two noted map experts, this highly visual book tells the story of Ireland in a unique and stimulating way.

'A witty, unforgettable celebration of the courage, genius and defiance that changed the course of history' Jacob Rees-Mogg'Gimson makes excellent cases for all his choices. His "cardinal point" about heroes, "seen from Homer to Hollywood, is that they are enjoyable". That is so right: no one who is immensely worthy but boring can be a hero' Charles Moore'This is a lovely book to dip in and out of, every visit an education' John RentoulA brilliant compendium of Britain's most renowned heroes from Boudicca to Mandela, illustrated by Martin Rowson. Heroes have flaws, but their stories stir the soul. In Gimson's Heroes, bestselling author Andrew Gimson traces the lives of fifty astonishing individuals who had the courage to defy conventional wisdom. From Horatio Nelson disobeying orders to Lord Byron scandalising polite society; Grace Darling rowing through a deadly storm to Florence Nightingale teaching the British how to nurse - these icons are no mere monuments of history, but living, breathing people of daring and defiance. Here are stories of resolve and sacrifice: Wallace Hartley plays on as the Titanic goes down, Noor Inayat Khan refuses to flee from occupied France, Stan Hollis storms an enemy pillbox and Nelson Mandela brings down the white regime in South Africa. A hero, Gimson concludes, is someone with the courage, originality and genius to see what must be done - and to dare to do it, no matter the cost. Complemented by Martin Rowson's uniquely charming illustrations, Gimson's Heroes is a witty, fascinating and lively celebration of the extraordinary legacies of those who went further than most would ever dream. The fifty Heroes included in the book are:Boudicca c.25-60/61 AD Alfred the Great 848-899 King Harold c.1022-1066 Robert the Bruce 1274-1329 Julian of Norwich 1342-1416 Owain Glyndwr c.1359 - c.1415 Bess of Hardwick c.1522 or 1527-1608 Queen Elizabeth I 1533-1603 Sir Francis Drake 1540-1596 Sir Walter Raleigh 1552-1618 Sir Philip Sidney 1554-1586 William Shakespeare 1564-1616 George Herbert 1593-1633 Gerrard Winstanley 1609-1676 Prince Rupert of the Rhine 1619-1682 Robert Boyle 1627-1691 Thomas Coram 1668-1751 Samuel Johnson 1709-1784 James Wolfe 1727-1759 Edmund Burke 1729-1797 James Boswell 1740-1795 Thomas Telford 1757-1834 Horatio Nelson 1758-1805 Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797 Thomas Clarkson 1760-1846 Jane Austen 1775-1817 Elizabeth Fry 1780-1845 George Stephenson 1781-1848 Lord Byron 1788-1824 Lord Shaftesbury 1801-1885 Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881 Isambard Kingdom Brunel 1806-1859 Charles Dickens 1812-1870 David Livingstone 1813-1873 Grace Darling 1815-1842 Prince Albert 1819-1861 Florence Nightingale 1820-1910 Octavia Hill 1838-1912 Fred Burnaby 1842-1885 Ernest Shackleton 1874-1922 Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965 Wallace Hartley 1878-1912 Ernest Bevin 1881-1951 The Unknown Warrior died c. 1914 John Betjeman 1906-1984 Stan Hollis 1912-1972 Michael Wharton 1913-2006 Noor Inayat Khan 1914-1944 Prince Alexander Obolensky 1916-1940 Nelson Mandela 1918-2013Praise for the three previous Gimson books:Gimson's Kings & Queens: Brief Lives of the Monarchs since 1066 'The most entertaining and instructive book on the English monarchy you will ever read' Daily TelegraphGimson's Prime Ministers: Brief Lives from Walpole to Johnson'The best general book on British politics I've ever come across. Learned, witty and wise, and splendidly illustrated by Martin Rowson' Tibor Fischer, GuardianGimson's Presidents: Brief Lives from Washington to Trump'This is history at its liveliest and most enjoyable. Most presidential biographies are abominably long-winded and reverential. With miniaturist wit and precision, Gimson manages to compress all the salient facts about each president into five or six pages, while offering beautifully crafted insights into their characters and temperaments ...There is something fascinating or funny on every page' Craig

A brilliant history of Britain, from 500 million BC to the next electionTaking the reader on a time-travelling adventure around the ‘spindly, sea-wracked islands’ we call home, The Discovery of Britain is panoramic and intimate, poignant and shocking, seriously funny, and enlightening in the most surprising way.In historian Graham Robb’s assured hands, and often from the unique vantage point of his bicycle, we encounter an entertaining cast of characters foreign and homegrown, drop in on places and events, and dwell on the successes and catastrophes across British history, seeing it all as it’s never been seen before. Political, geographical and social in scope, and with intriguing maps and illustrations throughout, The Discovery of Britain can be devoured whole or each chapter read in the time it takes to change a bicycle tyre or roll and smoke a cigarette. The wonderful choice of how to enjoy this original and sweeping history of Britain – from ancient settlements swallowed up by the sea to recent political earthquakes – is yours.

In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the beautiful young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking philanderer Carlos the Jackal sporting shades and open-neck shirts, and the radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. They sought to liberate the Palestinians and overthrow western imperialism, orchestrating spectacularly violent attacks that held governments to ransom and the world gripped to their television screens.Drawing on decades of research, declassified archive material and original interviews with witnesses and participants, Jason Burke provides a masterful account of their exploits over the course of this dark decade. From the Munich Olympics and the raid on Entebbe to the Iranian Embassy Siege in London and the Beirut bombings of the early 1980s, he takes us into the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these attacks, as well as the government agents who sought to thwart and assassinate them. In the process, he shows how the extreme fringe of a secular, leftist, revolutionary movement ultimately birthed something altogether different and far more lethal: the violent expression of a fanatically conservative religious zealotry.Gripping, globe-spanning and pulsing with drama, The Revolutionists is the definitive account of the decade when terrorism took to the skies and transformed the world.

From the acclaimed author of The Pursuit of Glory and Frederick the Great, a riotous biography of the charismatic ruler of 18th-century Poland and Saxony - and his catastrophic reign.''It''s been a superb year for history but Augustus the Strong ranks up there with the very very best! I cant recommend it strongly enough'' - Simon Sebag-Montefiore''The wonderful story of one of the worst monarchs in European history, told with enormous wit and scholarship by a supremely talented historian. If you have the slightest interest in Germans, Poles, porcelain, jewels, the Enlightenment, military disasters or the pleasures of fox-tossing, then this is the book for you'' - Dominic Sandbrook*Shortlisted for the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2025*Augustus is one of the great what-ifs of the 18th century. He could have turned the accident of ruling two major realms into the basis for a powerful European state – a bulwark against the Russians and a block on Prussian expansion. Alas, there was no opportunity Augustus did not waste and no decision he did not get wrong. By the time of his death Poland was fatally damaged and would subsequently disappear as an independent state until the 20th century.Tim Blanning’s wonderfully entertaining and original new book is a study in failed statecraft, showing how a ruler can shape history as much by incompetence as brilliance. Augustus’s posthumous sobriquet ‘The Strong’ referred not to any political accomplishment, but to his legendary physical strength and sexual athleticism.Yet he was also one of the great creative artists of the age, combining driving energy, exquisite taste and apparently boundless resources to master-mind the creation of peerless Dresden, the baroque jewel of jewels. Augustus the Strong brilliantly evokes this time of opulence and excess, decadence and folly.

When Australians defended against Rommel’s tanks at Tobruk and Alamein, tackled paratroopers landing among them on Crete, attacked French Foreign Legionnaires in Syrian forts, held off Japanese tanks in Malaya, fought hand-to-hand on the Kokoda Track, and took on well-hidden and tenacious Japanese soldiers in countless grim jungle locations, brave individuals risked everything to bring victory. Australian soldiers performed acts of remarkable bravery in the roles of stretcher-bearers and snipers, in victories and defeats, and in desert and jungle. Men like the truck driver who took on 22 Japanese fighters with his fists and Owen gun and won. Such astonishing deeds were often rewarded with medals, but many brave deeds went unrecognised, and whether acknowledged or not, the heroes often paid a heavy price for their courageous acts, in the form of physical injury, psychological trauma or death. In Australian Heroes of World War II, leading Australian military historian Mark Johnston shines a new light on the the courage of individual soldiers across every battle in which Australians fought in World War II.

Explore the fascinating history of the Japanese Samurais in this spectacular hardback guide, richly illustrated with full-colour art and photography throughout. The Samurai are the legendary warrior class of Japan. They played a crucial role in the country''s history, politics and religion and their legacy continues to hold immense sway over popular culture.In this authoritive history, author Rod Johnson takes us through the rise and fall of the Samurai in Japanese society from the emergence of the new class in the eighth century through the turbulent periods of the Mongol invasions and the civil wars of the Sengoku period to the attempts of the class to adapt to a changing world after the Meiji restoration in the nineteenth century.With features on key events, battles and figures in the history of the Samurai, this beautifully illustrated volume serves as the perfect reference for anyone who wants to know more about these fascinating people.

The racialization of immigrant labor and the labor strife in the coal and textile communities in northeastern Pennsylvania appears to be an isolated incident in history. Rather this history can serve as a touchstone, connecting the history of the exploited laborers to today’s labor in the global economy. By drawing parallels between the past and present – for example, the coal mines of the nineteenth-century northeastern Pennsylvania and the sweatshops of the twenty-first century in Bangladesh – we can have difficult conversations about the past and advance our commitment to address social justice issues.

Impoverished, indebted, and underdeveloped at the close of World War II, Romania underwent dramatic changes as part of its transition to a centrally planned economy. As with the Soviet experience, it pursued a policy of “primitive socialist accumulation” whereby the state appropriated agricultural surplus and restricted workers’ consumption in support of industrial growth. Focusing on the daily operations of planning in the ethnically mixed city of Cluj from 1945 to 1955, this book argues that socialist accumulation was deeply contradictory: it not only inherited some of the classical tensions of capital accumulation, but also generated its own, which derived from the multivocal nature of the state socialist worker as a creator of value, as living labour, and as a subject of emancipatory politics.

This unorthodox book is more than a story; it blends scholarship, fantasy, travelogue, and autobiography—fusing and overlapping historical accounts and newscasts, literary texts and films, dreams and nocturnal tales. Siegel uses imagination to explore the relation of real terror to horror fiction and to contemplate the ways fear and disgust become thrilling elements in stories of the macabre. This book is the product of Siegel’s deep knowledge of both Indian and Western literary and philosophical traditions. It is also an attempt to come to grips with the omnipresence of political and religious terror in contemporary India.

In October 1939, eighteen-year-old Tony Fowle took a day off school to enlist. Twelve years later, he was a decorated officer in the Royal Artillery, winning the Military Cross for gallantry in war-torn Korea. This extraordinary memoir - drawn from Tony's own vivid letters - traces his transformation from raw recruit to seasoned soldier. In 1942, he narrowly survived the brutal Battle of Knightsbridge in the Western Desert, before an unexpected posting to the Indian Army opened up a life of astonishing contrasts: desert warfare, Himalayan frontiers, and riding with mountain artillery units that seemed torn from the pages of Kipling. From dusty camps to palatial bungalows, and from 'scraps' in Kashmir to the bitter cold of Korea, Tony's story is one of personal liberation, loyalty and adventure on a truly global scale. Along the way, it sheds fresh light on two of the 20th century's lesser-known conflicts - and on a life lived with courage and curiosity in equal measure.

Combines new archival research with innovative theory to reassess the ship's dramatic voyage and analyze its representation in a broad range of texts, films, and artifacts of popular memory. Finalist for the 2025 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the History categoryIn 1939, the ocean liner MS St. Louis undertook a dramatic voyage with over nine hundred Jewish refugees that caught the world's attention and has been remembered in numerous printed texts, films, and artifacts. Denied permission to dock in Cuba, the United States, and Canada, the ship was finally forced to return to Europe, where many of teh refugees ultimately perished in the Holocaust. On Shoreless Sea is the first work to comprehensively analyze the journey's unfolding, its historical context, and its key representations in various media. Based on new archival research and featuring a translation of Captain Gustav Schröder's account of the voyage, the book corrects long-standing misassumptions about its subject. Author Roy Grundmann illuminates the voyage's historical significance and demonstrates its relevance to our present, in which prosperous nations once again stem mass migration. Arguing that the Jewish refugee crisis was caused not only by anti-Semitism but also by colonialism and neocolonialism, Grundmann calls for Holocaust studies to expand its field of inquiry and methodology. Working at the intersection of Holocaust studies, postcolonial theory, film and media studies, and cultural studies, On Shoreless Sea reads St. Louis memory culture as a reservoir of contradictory attitudes toward migration whose texts both intentionally and inadvertently testify to the need to discuss the Holocaust in relation to other genocides without denying its uniqueness.

Today people all over the globe invoke the concept of culture to make sense of their world, their social interactions, and themselves. But how did the culture concept become so ubiquitous? In this ambitious study, Andrew Sartori closely examines the history of political and intellectual life in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Bengal to show how the concept can take on a life of its own in different contexts. Sartori weaves the narrative of Bengal’s embrace of culturalism into a worldwide history of the concept, from its origins in eighteenth-century Germany, through its adoption in England in the early 1800s, to its appearance in distinct local guises across the non-Western world. The impetus for the concept’s dissemination was capitalism, Sartori argues, as its spread across the globe initiated the need to celebrate the local and the communal.

In 1940, with the Nazis sweeping through France, Henri Matisse found himself at a personal and artistic crossroads. His 42-year marriage had ended, he was gravely ill, and after decades at the forefront of modern art, he was beset by doubt. As scores of famous figures escaped the country, Matisse took refuge in Nice, with his companion, Lydia Delectorskaya. By defiantly remaining, Matisse was a source of inspiration for his nation. While enemy agents and Resistance fighters played cat-and-mouse in the alleyways of Nice, Matisse''s son, Jean, engaged in sabotage efforts with the Allies. In Paris, under the swastika, Matisse''s estranged wife, Amelie, worked for the Communist underground. His beloved daughter, Marguerite, active in the French Resistance, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Ravensbruck concentration camp - and miraculously escaped when her train was halted by Allied bombs. His younger, son, Pierre helped Jewish artists escape to New York; even his teenaged grandson risked his life by defying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators. Amidst this chaos, Matisse responded to the dark days of war by inventing a dazzling new paper technique that led to some of his most iconic pieces, including The Fall of Icarus, his profile of Charles De Gaulle, Monsieur Loyal, and his groundbreaking cut-out book, Jazz. His wartime works were acts of resistance, subtly patriotic and daringly new. Drawing on intimate letters and a multitude of other sources, Christopher C. Gorham illuminates this momentous stage of Matisse''s life as never before, revealing an artist on a journey of reinvention, wrenching meaning from the suffering of war, and holding up the light of human imagination against the torch of fascism to create some of the most exciting work of his career, of the 20th century, and in the history of art.