From the Ice Age to the Cold War, from Reykjavik to the Volga, from Minos to Margaret Thatcher, this book tells the entire story of Europe in a single volume. It was chosen ten times as Book of the Year.

A hundred years ago, enlightened people in the western world were outraged by a holocaust in Africa which left millions dead. Conan Doyle wrote a pamphlet on the Congo atrocities which sold 25,000 copies in the first week alone. Yet today not one person in a thousand could say what the fuss was all about, this book tells the story.

In this study of World War I the author presents the military conflict, the battles on land, sea and in the air, together with interpretations of military events. He also shows how the war also acted as an engine for social change which shapes our world today.

In the year 1000 the world was one of people who feared an apocalypse and who had no idea what year it was or what lay beyond the nearest valley. Narrated through the progression of the seasons, this book presents a recreation of English life at the end of the first millennium AD.

Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History' was completed in 731 and still ranks among the most popular of history books. In this edition, the Latin text is accompanied by a English translation; the introduction provides an historical background and a survey of surviving manuscripts

Entertaining, popular but also serious account of pirates and pirate life by the acknowledged expert on the subject.

When the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945, killing 100,000 men, women and children, a new era in human history opened. This book presents an account of six men and women who struggled to cope with catastrophe and with often crippling disease.

In 1771, at the age of 65, Benjamin Franklin sat down to write his autobiography, having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity. The result is a classic of American literature.

The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography From the best-selling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book is a history of man's urge to uncover the secrets of codes, from Egyptian puzzles to modern day computer encryptions.

Between 58 and 50BC Caesar conquered most of the area now covered by France, Belgium and Switzerland, and twice invaded Britain. This title records of his campaigns.

'Rubicon' is a narrative history which provides bloody and labyrinthine political intrigue and struggle, oratory and amazing feats of conquest and cruelty.

Hidden behind velvet curtains above a stairway in a house in London's Piccadilly is an enormous and beautiful hand-coloured map - the first geological map of anywhere in the world. Its maker was a farmer's son named William Smith. Born in 1769 his life was beset by troubles. This title tells his story.

This study looks at the past 500 years to demonstrate that nations which became great powers declined as their growth rate slowed and their spending on defence continued to increase. The author explains how this can be eased or worsened by clever or short-sighted policy decisions.

The author recounts the story of how the atomic bomb was developed, from the discovery at the turn of century of the vast energy locked inside the atom, to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan during the Second World War.

An exploration of one of the paradoxes of history: the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests.

Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine was one of the leading personalities of the Middle Ages, and also one of the most controversial. Having inherited a vast feudal domain stretching from the Loire to the Pyrenees, she was one of the greatest heiresses in history. This biography offers a perspective on this woman.

The story of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, when for six extraordinary months the city was at the centre of world government as the peacemakers wound up bankrupt empires and created new countries. This book brings to life the personalities, ideals and prejudices of the settlement brokers.

Explores both the benefits and disadvantages of the developments in global communication. The author discusses the annoyance and dangers of BlackBerrys in meeting rooms, hands-free kits in conversation, and using a phone or iPod whilst driving.

To understand what Britain has become we need to know what it has been. The first volume in this history tells the story of Britain from the time of the earliest settlements, discovered in the Orkneys, to the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Each chapter focuses on a major theme.