Islands of banishment approached through three lives: New Caledonia in the South Pacific, where Louise Michel, grandmother of French anarchy and a leader in theParis Commune, was sent for s... read more
Zulfikar was executed in 1979; three of his children were murdered. One can understand why the brilliant author Fatima keeps her distance from politics.
A study of the way in which Vesuvius and the excavations in the Bay of Naples in 1738 and afterwards became a potent political and emotional vehicle for artists, intellectuals, Grand Tourist... read more
Despite its often fraught encounters with democracy, science and secular culture, the Catholic Church's story in the modern era is one of remarkable survival.
The European revolutions of 1848 and their aftermath, explored through a series of set-pieces by the renowned historian, author of The Sleepwalkers and Iron Kingdom.
Spiced with Dickens's wit and eye for detail, this is a tautly plotted, dazzling historical thriller. Set before and during the French Revolution, it turns on a French nobleman who repudiate... read more
Spiced with Dickens's wit and eye for detail, this is a tautly plotted, dazzling historical thriller. Set before and during the French Revolution, it turns on a French nobleman who repudiate... read more
A love affair and its aftermath, set in the closing years of the GDR. The girl is young, the man significantly older; the alteration in their love finds a parallel in the oppression of the r... read more
A superb account of how European imperialism in Asia was undermined by a network of ingenious radicals, who used printing presses, global travel and the colonisers' languages to spread their... read more