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'ROBERT FISK HAS BEEN REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WITH INCOMPARABLE DEPTH AND UNDERSTANDING?AND EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE' NOAM CHOMSKY
In this final work from renowned journalist Robert Fisk, he picks up reporting on the Middle East where his internationally bestselling The Great War of Civilisation left off.
From the Arab uprisings and the Syrian civil war to Israel's conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon, Fisk condemns the West's ongoing hypocrisy and interference while revealing the horrific truth of life on the ground. Unafraid to criticise authority and unpick complex truths, hecreates a compelling narrative of passionate and engaging journalism, historical analysis and eyewitness reporting.
With a Postscript by Nelofer Pazira-Fisk and a foreword by Patrick Cockburn, Night of Power delivers an essential and prophetic account of the last twenty years, which exposes the inescapable consequences of colonial oppression and violence in the Middle East.
'This is a masterly work by a unique and gifted "historian of the present", who was unafraid to criticise authority while revealing the horrific realities of life and death on the ground' Conor O'Clery, Irish Times
'Every sentence of Robert Fisk radiates his loathe of wars and the inevitable dehumanization they produce, which makes his (sadly) last book an everlasting warning, beyond its value as a meticulous historical recount and analysis of today's events' Amira Hass, journalist, Haaretz
'Fisk's reporting is clear-eyed and unflinching, a model for what journalists should aspire to practice in their ever more important and widely threatened craft' Anthony Arnove, editor, Iraq Under Siege and author, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal
'I was at the funeral of a friend of mine, in Kilternan cemetery ? I came across Robert Fisk's grave. Someone has to bear witness to the unspeakable, and he did it, whatever the cost to himself' Neil Jordan, film director and writer

&#8216;ROBERT FISK HAS BEEN REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WITH INCOMPARABLE DEPTH AND UNDERSTANDING?AND EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE&#8217; NOAM CHOMSKY
In this final work from renowned journalist Robert Fisk, he picks up reporting on the Middle East where his internationally bestselling The Great War of Civilisation left off.

Night of Power

This much needed new edition provides a complete and essential guide to this fast developing, ever changing and often tense region. This book, fully updated for 2024, examines the origins and development of the events which have dominated the headlines for the last seven decades. Covering everything from religion and politics in the aftermath of the Second World War to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, terrorism, war in Iraq and Syria and the extraordinary economic growth of the Gulf states, it will change the way you think about the region and provide balance and clarity.

Offering an alternative to academic historical books, this text assumes no prior knowledge and is full of anecdotes and details that provide a personal appeal. It will help you to understand the current situation in the Middle East and the reasons behind it, from the foundation of Israel to the Iranian Revolution and the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The Middle East since 1945

*A BBC RADIO 4 Book of the Week* 'A fantastic achievement' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads 'Bright, expansive, and iconoclastic, this deliciously witty book has the potential to upset the applecart of "Western Civilisation" itself... Magnificent' Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb _________________
A radical new account of how the idea of the West has shaped our history, told through the stories of fourteen fascinating lives.
We tend to imagine Western Civilisation as a golden thread stretching from classical antiquity to the countries of the modern Western world. But what if this is wrong?
Told through the lives of fourteen fascinating historical figures - including a formidable Roman matriarch, an unconventional Islamic scholar, an enslaved African American poetess and a British prime minister with Homeric aspirations - archaeologist and historian NaoÃ¬se Mac Sweeney charts how the idea of the West was invented, how it has been used to justify imperialism and racism, and why it is no longer ideologically fit for purpose today.
The result is a bold and empowering new story of the people and ideas who made us who we are today.

Many of us assume Western civilisation derives from a cultural inheritance that stretches back to classical antiquity, a golden thread that binds us from Plato to NATO. But what if all this is wrong? What if the Western world does not have its ultimate origins in a single cultural bloodline but rather a messy bramble of ancestors and influences? What if &#8216;the West&#8217; is just an idea that has been invented, co-opted, and mythologised to serve different purposes through history? As battles over privilege, identity and prejudice rock the cultural wars, it&#8217;s never been more important to understand how the concept of &#8216;the West&#8217; came to be. This book tells a bold, empowering new story of how the idea of &#8216;the West&#8217; was created, how it has been used to justify imperialism and racism, and also why it&#8217;s still a powerful ideological tool to understand our world.

The West

An account of two lives during the war in Ukraine: one Ukrainian, one Russian, by the internationally bestselling author of Heimat Diaries of War is a magnificent feat of witness' Alison Bechdel 'Nora Krug's narrative can emotionally drain the reader, but the reader is unlikely to ever forget this book' Andrey Kurkov 
Immediately following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nora Krug connected with two anonymous subjects - 'K.', a Ukrainian journalist, and 'D.', a Russian artist - and began what would become a year of correspondence. Deeply moved by the rawness of their responses, she felt that through the personal accounts of these individuals who, directly and indirectly, experienced the war firsthand, she might be able to communicate something of the war and its human impact. Over the course of the next twelve months she communicated with each of them individually via phone chat, condensing their sometimes fluid, sometimes fragmentary answers into a consistent narrative and then created illustrations to go with each entry. The personal accounts contained in this book chronicle the first year of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in an intimate, epistolary format.
Diaries of War explores the personal, the political, conflict, family and daily life under war with immense skill, compassion and moving thoughtfulness. Through these two individuals we see the granular effects of war on two lives, but they are emblematic of millions. Diaries of War is a harrowing record of a heart-wrenching historical event that has devastated the world and continues to alter countless lives.

Immediately following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nora Krug connected with two anonymous subjects &#8211; &#8216;K.&#8217;, a Ukrainian journalist, and &#8216;D.&#8217;, a Russian artist &#8211; and began what would become a year of correspondence. Deeply moved by the rawness of their responses, she felt that through the personal accounts of these individuals who, directly and indirectly, experienced the war firsthand, she might be able to communicate something of the war and its human impact. Over the course of the next twelve months she communicated with each of them individually via phone chat, condensing their sometimes fluid, sometimes fragmentary answers into a consistent narrative and then created illustrations to go with each entry. The personal accounts contained in this book chronicle the first year of Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine in an intimate, epistolary format.

Diaries of War

THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author - the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family. 
We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.
A rich cast of complex characters form the beating heart of the story. Some are well-known leaders, from Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible and Genghis Khan to Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin and Zelensky. Some are creative, from Socrates, Michelangelo and Shakespeare to Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie and Tim Berners-Lee.
Others are lesser-known: Hongwu, who began life as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Kamehameha, conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome; King Henry of Haiti; Lady Murasaki, first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen. Here are not just conquerors and queens but prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, lovers, wives, husbands and children. This is world history on the most grand and intimate scale - spanning centuries, continents and cultures, and linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the centre of the human drama. As spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the story of humankind in all its joy, sorrow, romance, ingenuity and cruelty in a ground-breaking, single narrative that will forever shift the boundaries of what history can achieve.

&#8216;The World&#8217; by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a fresh and original history of humanity, unlike any previous world history: it uses family, the one thing all humans have in common, to tell the story. It is genuinely global, spanning all eras and all continents, from the perspective of places as diverse as Haiti, Congo and Cambodia as well as Europe, China and America. Starting with the first footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago, Montefiore steers us through an interconnected world via palace intrigues, love affairs and family lives, linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the heart of the human drama. It features a cast of extraordinary span and diversity: as well as rulers and conquerors there are priests, charlatans, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, gangsters, lovers, husbands, wives and children.

The World

This breakthrough scientific masterwork - and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - reveals the underlying forces that have shaped human history and will secure our future...
'Masterful. Galor answers the ultimate mystery' Lewis Dartnell 
The stunning advances that have transformed human experience in recent centuries are no accident of history - they are the result of universal and timeless forces, operating since the dawn of our species. Drawing on a lifetime's scientific investigation, Oded Galor's ground-breaking new vision overturns a host of long-held assumptions to reveal the deeper causes that have shaped the journey of humanity:
Education rather than industrialisation Family size and gender equality as much as inventions and technology Geography and diversity rather than wars, disease and famine
'Unparalleled in its scope and ambition . . . All readers will learn something' Washington Post
'An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork' New Statesman
'His optimism about humanity shines through' Observer
'If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is' Guardian

Here is a bold retelling of the entire human story from one of the world&#8217;s pre-eminent thinkers. What causes living standards to rise? Why are some countries so much richer than others? How might all humans thrive and survive? In this book, Oded Galor offers a revelatory explanation of how humanity escaped a life of subsistence poverty and began to enjoy previously unthinkable wealth and longevity.

The Journey of Humanity and the Keys to Human Progress

The first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the Renaissance: an African diplomat's guide to Africa.
In 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece, The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa.
The Cosmography was the first book about Africa, and the first book written by a modern African, to reach print. It would remain central to the European understanding of Africa for over 300 years, with its descriptions of lands, cities and peoples giving a singular vision of the vast continent: its urban bustle and rural desolation, its culture, commerce and warfare, its magical herbs and strange animals.
Yet it is not a mere catalogue of the exotic: Leo also invited his readers to acknowledge the similarity and relevance of these lands to the time and place they knew. For this reason, The Cosmography and Geography of Africa remains significant to our understanding not only of Africa, but of the world and how we perceive it.

The first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the Renaissance: an African diplomat&#8217;s guide to Africa. In 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece, &#8216;The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa.&#8217;

The Cosmography and Geography of Africa

<h3>'A galloping journey through thousands of years of Chinese culinary history . . . a timely reminder that the country's modern cuisine is the delicious fruit of a rich, ancient and perhaps surprisingly multicultural tradition' FUCHSIA DUNLOP, SPECTATOR
'A tasty portrait of a nation' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'A splendid introduction to the complex history of China' GUARDIAN
'A terrific read . . . Jonathan Clements writes with erudition and humour' DAILY MAIL </h3>
'This book is itself a feast, each chapter a sumptuous course' Frederik L. Schodt, author of My Heart Sutra
'Witty and insightful' Derek Sandhaus, author of Drunk in China
**************** The history of China - not according to emperors or battles, but according to its food and drink.
The Emperor's Feast is the epic story of a nation and a people, told through one of its most fundamental pillars and successful exports: food. 
Following the journeys of different ingredients, dishes and eating habits over 5,000 years of history, author and presenter Jonathan Clements examines how China's political, cultural and technological evolution and her remarkable entrance onto the world stage have impacted how the Chinese - and the rest of the world - eat, drink and cook.
We see the influence of invaders such as the Mongols and the Manchus, and discover how food - like the fiery cuisine of Sichuan or the hardy dishes of the north - often became a stand-in for regional and national identities. We also follow Chinese flavours to the shores of Europe and America, where enterprising chefs and home cooks created new traditions and dishes unheard of in the homeland.
From dim sum to mooncakes to General Tso's chicken, The Emperor's Feast shows us that the story of Chinese food is ultimately the story of a nation: not just the one that history tells us, but also the one that China tells us about itself.

From the humble takeaway in the middle of a tiny English village to the embarrassment of riches offered in a big-city Chinatown, Chinese food is everywhere to be found. But the meals on offer merely scratch the surface of a rich and dizzyingly varied culinary tradition, spread across 5000 years of history and over the more than 30 provinces and regions that constitute modern China &#8211; not to mention the Chinese diaspora communities all across the world. In &#8216;The Emperor&#8217;s Feast&#8217;, author and TV presenter Dr Jonathan Clements invites us into the history of Chinese food, starting with the earliest grain stews and the rudimentary chopsticks of the Bronze Age and taking us through the development of dining etiquette under Confucius, the popularisation of rice and the dawn of the dumpling in the 4th century.

The Emperor's Feast

'Meredith has given a spectacularly clear view of the African political jungle'Â - Spectator
 'This book is hard to beat... Elegantly written as well as unerringly accurate'Â -Â Financial Times
 The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically since the independence era began in 1957. As Europe's colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were born. Africa was a continent rich in mineral resources and its economic potential was immense. Yet, it soon struggled with corruption, violence and warfare, with few states managing to escape the downward spiral.
 So what went wrong? In this riveting and authoritative account, Martin Meredith examines the myriad problems that Africa has faced, focusing upon key personalities, events and themes of the independence era. He brings his compelling analysis into the modern day, exploring Africa's enduring struggles for democracy and the rising influence of China. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the continent's plight and its hopes for a brighter future.

The revised and fully updated edition of the seminal, sweeping history of post-colonial Africa.

The State of Africa

In The Beekeeper of Sinjar, the acclaimed poet and journalist Dunya Mikhail tells the harrowing stories of women from across Iraq who have managed to escape the clutches of ISIS. Since 2014, ISIS has been persecuting the Yazidi people, killing or enslaving those who won't convert to Islam. These women have lost their families and loved ones, along with everything they've ever known. Dunya Mikhail weaves together the women's tales of endurance and near-impossible escape with the story of her own exile and her dreams for thefuture of Iraq.In the midst of ISIS's reign of terror and hatred, an unlikely hero has emerged: the Beekeeper. Once a trader selling his mountain honey across the region, when ISIS came to Sinjar he turned his knowledge of the local terrain to another, more dangerous use. Along with a secret network of transporters, helpers, and former bootleggers, Abdullah Shrem smuggles brutalised Yazidi women to safety through the war-torn landscapes of Iraq, Syria, and Eastern Turkey.This powerful work of literary nonfiction offers a counterpoint to ISIS's genocidal extremism: hope, as ordinary people risk torture and death to save the lives of others.

In &#8216;The Beekeeper of Sinjar&#8217;, the acclaimed poet and journalist Dunya Mikhail tells the harrowing stories of women from across Iraq who have managed to escape the clutches of ISIS. Since 2014, ISIS has been persecuting the Yazidi people, killing or enslaving those who won&#8217;t convert to Islam. These women have lost their families and loved ones, along with everything they&#8217;ve ever known. Dunya Mikhail weaves together the women&#8217;s tales of endurance and near-impossible escape with the story of her own exile and her dreams for the future of Iraq.

The Beekeeper of Sinjar

"The fascinating story of arguably the greatest queen in sub-Saharan African history, who surely deserves a place in the pantheon of revolutionary world leaders." -Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Though largely unknown in the West, the seventeenth-century African queen Njinga was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history, a woman who rivaled Queen Elizabeth I in political cunning and military prowess. In this landmark book, based on nine years of research and drawing from missionary accounts, letters, and colonial records, Linda Heywood reveals how this legendary queen skillfully navigated-and ultimately transcended-the ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time.
"Queen Njinga of Angola has long been among the many heroes whom black diasporians have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past. Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga-one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend but also full of all the interests and inclinations that made her human. A thorough, serious, and long overdue study of a fascinating ruler, Njinga of Angola is an essential addition to the study of the black Atlantic world." -Ta-Nehisi Coates
"This fine biography attempts to reconcile her political acumen with the human sacrifices, infanticide, and slave trading by which she consolidated and projected power." -New Yorker
"Queen Njinga was by far the most successful of African rulers in resisting Portuguese colonialism?Tactically pious and unhesitatingly murderous?a commanding figure in velvet slippers and elephant hair ripe for big-screen treatment; and surely, as our social media age puts it, one badass woman." -Karen Shook, Times Higher Education

&#8220;The fascinating story of arguably the greatest queen in sub-Saharan African history, who surely deserves a place in the pantheon of revolutionary world leaders.&#8221;?Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Though largely unknown in the West, the seventeenth-century African queen Njinga was one of the most multifaceted rulers in history, a woman who rivaled Queen Elizabeth I in political cunning and military prowess. In this landmark book, based on nine years of research and drawing from missionary accounts, letters, and colonial records, Linda Heywood reveals how this legendary queen skillfully navigated?and ultimately transcended?the ruthless, male-dominated power struggles of her time.&#8221;Queen Njinga of Angola has long been among the many heroes whom black diasporians have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past. Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga?one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend

Njinga of Angola

From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, British women started travelling in any numbers to the East Indies, mostly to accompany husbands, brothers or fathers. Very little about them is recorded from the earlier years, about the remarkable journeys that they made and what drove them to travel those huge distances. Some kept journals, others wrote letters, and for the first time Patrick Wheeler tells their story in this fascinating and colourful history, exploring the little-known lives of these women and their experiences of life in India before the Raj. With a perceptive approach, Ribbons Among the Rajahs considers all aspects of womens lives in India, from the original discomfort of traversing the globe and the complexities of arrival through to creating a home in a tight-knight settlement community. It considers, too, the effects of the subservience of women to the needs of men and argues for the greater fusion of European cultures that existed prior to imperial times.

From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, British women started travelling in any numbers to the East Indies, mostly to accompany husbands, brothers or fathers. Very little about them is recorded from the earlier years, about the remarkable journeys that they made and what drove them to travel those huge distances. Some kept journals, others wrote letters, and for the first time Patrick Wheeler tells their story in this fascinating and colourful history, exploring the little-known lives of these women and their experiences of life in India before the Raj.

Ribbons Among the Rajahs

In a bestselling work of profound and lasting importance, the late Albert Hourani told the definitive history of the Arab peoples from the seventh century, when the new religion of Islam began to spread from the Arabian peninsula westwards, to the present day. It is a masterly distillation of a lifetime of scholarship and a unique insight into a perpetually troubled region.
This updated edition by Malise Ruthven adds a substantial new chapter which includes recent events such as 9/11, the US invasion of Iraq and its bloody aftermath, the fall of the Mubarak and Ben Ali regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, and the incipient civil war in Syria, bringing Hourani's magisterial history up to date. 
Ruthven suggests that while Hourani can hardly have been expected to predict in detail the massive upheavals that have shaken the Arab world recently he would not have been entirely surprised, given the persistence of the kin-patronage networks he describes in his book and the challenges now posed to them by a new media-aware generation of dissatisfied youth.
In a new biographical preface, Malise Ruthven shows how Hourani's perspectives on Arab history were shaped by his unique background as an English-born Arab Christian with roots in the Levant.

Hourani covers not only political history, but also culture, society, economy and thought. This edition includes events such as the crisis in Iraq, the civil war in Algeria and the aftermath of September 11th.

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