A biography of the city founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, once the largest city in the world and for a thousand years the capital of Egypt. Looks at the modern period too.
The pioneering struggle of early C20th women gardeners, who were excluded from the profession on account of their sex by such august bodies as the RHS. Fiona Davidson's previous book was The... read more
The great historian of late antiquity mixes the personal with the scholarly in telling the story of his life and work. Engagement with the non-European world has been intrinsic to his work.
Although never the language of a state or ethnic group, Syriac remains widely used across the globe and is regarded as the third language of Christianity. It even reached China, thanks to th... read more
9000BC years ago there were pastoral economies; by 3000BC the desert reasserted itself. A fascinating study of human adaptability in the face of early climate change and geophysical influenc... read more
A compelling account of the world's first empire, drawing extensively on recent discoveries in the field with the use of new archaeological techniques.
For all those who, in their heart of hearts, yearn to shoot backwards from the saddle with a compound bow, sitting astride an embroidered saddle rug, wearing tattered silk and a metal bonnet... read more