A magisterial history book on why some nations are rich and others poor.

A brilliant new study of a highly relevant and important topic, by one of our greatest writers.

A brilliant survey of the history and civilisations of the Middle East by one of the world's greatest authorities on the subject

Persepolis ended in a cliffhanger in 1984, just as 14 year old Marjane was leaving behind her home in Tehran, escaping fundamentalism and the war in Iraq to begin a new life in the West. Here we follow her through the next eight years of her life - four years in Vienna, and four years back in Iran.

Casting an analytical eye over Indian attitudes, the author further investigates the feelings that the vast, mysterious and agonised continent has previously aroused in him. What he sees and what he hears only reinforce in him his conviction that India, wounded by a thousand years of foreign rule, has not yet found an ideology of regeneration.

An account of the author's first visit to India. This book describes the author's arrival in prohibition-dry Bombay, bearing whisky and cheap brandy, when he began to experience a sense of cultural estrangement from the subcontinent. It provides a revelation of India and of the author.