A burgeoning city is built on the dreams of the American gold rush. In 1906 the dreams of this city, came crashing down beneath the rippling wave of a horrifying earthquake. This story delves beneath the surface of the earth, and explains why the world moves as it does. It portrays the lives of the people who suffered and survived the devastation.

* The International Sensation * In the tradition of THE SECRET HISTORY and THE ALIENIST - a captivating and suspenseful novel that delves into the true history of Count Dracula ...

On the basis of 1400 oral histories from the men who were there, this account reveals how the intricate plan for the invasion of France in June 1944 had to be abandoned before the first shot was fired.

Foucault shows the development of the Western system of prisons, police organizations, administrative and legal hierarchies for social control - and the growth of disciplinary society as a whole.

Antonia Fraser's bestselling biography of one of the most romantic and controversial figures in British history.

An account of an unprecedented feat of engineering, vision and matchless determination: the building of the railroad that united America's East and West.

Describes the hopes and cynical betrayals of the author's experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War.

The true story of three men and their dreams for a racehorse -- Seabiscuit -- that symbolised a pivotal moment in American history, as the 20th-century's greatest nation found the courage to bet on itself to win against the odds. Now a major motion picture directed by Gary Ross and starring Toby Maguire and Jeff Daniels.

The classic international bestseller -- a marvellously exciting and stimulating look at the emergence and development of Western civilisation

In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenceless city, but systematically raped, tortured and murdered more than 300000 Chinese civilians.

'Every Scot should read it. Scotland now has the lively, provocative and positive history it deserves.' Irvine Welsh, Guardian A dramatic and intriguing history of how Scotland produced the institutions, beliefs and human character that have made the West into the most powerful culture in the world.

Harvard Professor Robert Langton, visiting Paris, is called in when the curator of the Louvre is murdered. Alongside the body is a series of baffling ciphers. Langton and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, are amazed to find a trail that leads to the works of Da Vinci - and beyond.

Antonia Fraser's bestselling biography of Henry VIII's six wives - a subject of enduring fascination.

The Face of Battle is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at 'the point of maximum danger'. It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away.

An exploration of German society and its ingrained anti-semitism that demands a fundamental revision of our thinking about the years 1933-1945. The author aims to show that the perpetrators of the Holocaust were ordinary Germans who were not compelled to kill, but did so willingly and zealously.

Reveals one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century: the system of Soviet camps that are responsible for the deaths of countless millions. This work presents history of the camp: from its origins under the tsars, to its colossal expansion under Stalin's reign of terror, its zenith in the late 1940s and eventual collapse in the era of glasnost.

Written between 1919 and 1926, this text tells of the campaign aganist the Turks in the Middle East, encompassing gross acts of cruelty and revenge, ending in a welter of stink and corpses in a Damascus hospital.

A riveting, original book about the creation of the modern American mind.

The first volume of Hobsbawm's classic and universally acclaimed trilogy on the 19th century, beautifully repackaged as an Abacus History Great

This biography of Harry Truman presents a picture of an extraordinary American President. Drawing archival material and interviews, McCullough chronicles Truman's boyhood, his entry into politics and his emergence as President. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1993.