The world's largest democracy and second-most populous country, 21st century India is a dynamic nation with a thrusting economy, made up of a variety of beliefs and peoples united under one flag. Its...

The recorded history of Brazil is brief when compared to most European countries, having been discovered by Portuguese sailor and explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral just over five hundred years ago. Since...

During this time of conflict and suspicion, it is perhaps more important than ever to understand the beliefs and philosophies of other cultures. A Short Introduction to Religion provides a useful guide...

The turbulent and chequered past of the world's most populous country is one of the most fascinating in world history, and relatively little known in the West. From the beginnings of Chinese prehistory...

Africa. The cradle of civilisation. From the dawn of human time in prehistoric Africa right through to the so-called 'Arab Spring' of 2011, Gordon Kerr offers a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling...

The First World War, lasting just four years, from 1914 to 1918, was without parallel, the first true global conflict in which all of the earth's great powers participated.A Short History of the First...

What is Europe? Firstly, of course, it is a continent made up of countless disparate peoples, races and nations, and governed by different ideas, philosophies, religions and attitudes. Nonetheless, it...

The Korean War of 1950-1953 ended in a frustrating stalemate, the echoes of which reverberate to this day. It was the only conflict of the Cold War in which forces of major nations of the two opposing...

Situated at the crossroads of three continents, the Middle East has confounded the ambition of conquerors and peacemakers alike. Christianity, Judaism and Islam all had their genesis in the region but...

It began with the horse-drawn carriage and ended with the aeroplane...An era, beginning in the 1830s and ending with the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, that saw the British Empire - the largest ever...

On 8 March, 1965, 3,500 United States Marines of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade made an amphibious landing at Da Nang on the south central coast of South Vietnam, marking the beginning of a conflict...

Having conquered the world's taste buds and established itself as a staple in our daily lives, coffee has mirrored the moods and movements of society for centuries - yet, how much do we know about its...

The Italian Alps,1944. The Resistance is fighting a bitter battle against German forces on the treacherous mountains of the Valtellina. Eighteen-year-old Sandro Bellini falls in love with the wife of...

Capital punishment was abolished for murder in Great Britain in 1969, but remained as the punishment for high treason until as recently as 1998, demonstrating how seriously we take the crime of betraying...

Everyone knows we're a nation obsessed with runners-up and near-missers, that we find failure heroic and success boring, if not downright rude. In this hilarious, fact-packed and up-to-date compendium,...

The story of monarchy in Europe is a long and extremely bloody one, fraught with appalling violence, scandal and controversy. The position of monarch was once one of absolute power granted by God. Royalty...