History & Archaeology Books

They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would...

‘What joy to be at sea again, adrift on the vast Pacific, in the clutches of a gifted storyteller. Harrison Christian and the mutineers of Men Without Country held me happily captive to the very last page.’ Dava Sobel, author of LongitudeA...

'Sometimes my mind reaches back beyond the fear and the arid landscapes of war, to memories of childhood that fill me with happiness and laughter.' So begins this searingly honest memoir by Kailash Limbu, a serving Gurka soldier who undertook five tours...

Loving Country is a powerful and essential guidebook that offers a new way to travel and discover Australia through an Indigenous narrative. In this beautifully designed and photographed edition, co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou, in...

In Play by the Rules, acclaimed writer and historian Michael Pembroke offers a fresh take on the USA’s vast influence and asks whether it is still a force for good. In the heady days after 1945, the authority of the United States was unrivalled. But...

Diane Von Furstenberg, Vivienne Westwood, Sarah Burton, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Donna Karan, and Iris van Herpen are among the great women designers to emerge in the last few decades. We now live in an age when no one would dare call them "that little...

Discover the hidden history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings. Portillo’s Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its ‘lost’ or...

Around the World in 80 Cocktails celebrates the globetrotting history of the cocktail through eighty different cocktails – each with its own story to tell. Bartender and writer Chad Parkhill takes you on a whirlwind tour of the places that have...

Alexander Pearce and seven of his fellow convicts escaped from gaol in 1822 into one of the most unique and beautiful places on earth – the Tasmanian wilderness. This classic Australian story details the men’s attempt to free themselves from the most...

This collective memoir is for anyone who has ever wondered why Aboriginal people choose to live in remote communities in the heart of Australia. It is for all who want to truly understand why nyinanyi ngurangka – being on country – is not a “lifestyle...

Shortlisted for the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the YearA riveting inside look at an elite unit within the Pentagon—the Defense Innovation Unit, also known as Unit X—whose mission is to bring Silicon Valley’s cutting-edge technology to...

#1 New York Times bestselling author Craig Whitlock’s masterful account of one of the biggest public corruption scandals in American history—exposing how a charismatic Malaysian defense contractor bribed scores of high-ranking military officers,...

The story of Australia’s Black convicts has been all but erased from our history. In recovering their lives, Santilla Chingaipe offers a fresh understanding of this fatal shore, showing how empire, slavery, race and memory have shaped our nation.On the...

For the first time, the First Nations story of Cook’s arrival, and what blackfellas want everyone to know about the coming of Europeans.Both 250 years late and extremely timely, this is an account of what First Nations people saw and felt when James Cook...

An awe-inspiring deep-dive into the treasures found on the sea floor and what they reveal about our past.A shipwreck is a time capsule. When a maritime archaeologist picks up an item from the seabed, there is a direct connection with history...

Renowned investigative journalist Richard Behar delivers the definitive account of history’s largest—and longest-running—financial fraud, “the scale of the deception…beggars belief” (New York Post).Some $68 billion evaporated during Bernie Madoff’s epic...

From Simpson’s donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight...

Connect with the celestial powers of ancient goddesses• Explores beliefs and myths from Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and around the Mediterranean, revealing how ancient goddesses were powerful Queens of the Heavens and Guardians of the Underworld, not...

An in-depth investigation of the ancient structures at Karahan Tepe, its builders, and its cosmic shamanic purpose• Examines the intricate carvings, chambers, and structures, revealing the site’s acoustical properties, shamanic symbolism, and...

This stirring and vibrant account of women’s athleticism throughout history “will leave readers feeling inspired and powerful” (Ms. magazine).Part group biography, part cultural history, Strong Like Her delves into the fascinating stories of our muscular...

A guide to the ancient wisdom of the Ogham and Coelbren symbols as well as Celtic tree lore• Provides a full explanation for each character of the Celtic tree alphabets and their historic variants, including each symbol’s corresponding trees, colors,...

An exploration of Indigenous cosmology and history in North America• Examines the complexities of Indigenous legends and creation myths and reveals common oral traditions across much of North America• Explores the history of Cahokia, the Mississippian...

In 1742, when the legendary dome atop St. Peter’s Basilica—designed by Michelangelo—cracks and threatens to collapse, Pope Benedict XIV summons three mathematicians whose groundbreaking ideas spark a revolution in the world of architecture.1742: the...

A vivid, thoughtful examination of how technological innovation—especially AI—is shaping the tensions between democracy and autocracy during the new Cold War.So much of what we hear about China and Russia today likens the relationship between these two...

An inside account of the Chinese invasion of Tibet told through the voices of three persecuted monks• 2024 International Book Award Nonfiction - Creative Category• Shares the true story of three monks’ heroic escape from occupied Tibet and the subsequent...

'The definitive telling of the life of a West Indian hero' Sir Clive Lloyd The brilliant all-rounder Frank Worrell had to wait until 1960 to become the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies cricket team, denied for a decade by the...

A prolific poet, raconteur, activist, and thinker, Allen Ginsberg was also a prolific collector, meticulously saving letters, postcards, draft notes and manuscripts, photographs and snapshots, appearance bills and rally broadsheets, not only featuring...

An in-depth and unified exploration of genius in the arts and sciences through the life and works of five seminal intellectual and cultural figures: Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Ludwig von Beethoven, and Albert Einstein.Who among...

An exploration of German esoteric history from prehistory to the present• Examines the survival and revival of the old pre-Christian gods, investigates prehistoric sacred sites, and reveals ancient shamanic traditions• Looks at Rosicrucianism and the...

A full-color exploration of the encoded ceiling at the Temple of Dendera• Draws on more than 5,000 high-resolution photographs taken by the author to reconstruct the complete ceiling of the portico of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera• Reveals in detail...

“One of the rare books on the topic that manages to be both entertaining and factually grounded.” —The Wall Street JournalFrom the bestselling author of Raven Rock, The Only Plane in the Sky, and Watergate (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history)...

A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year/Politics Winner of the Jewish Book Council’s Natan Notable Book Prize“One of the most accurate and fascinating books so far” (Michael Bar-Zohar, coauthor of Mossad) about how Israel used sabotage,...

The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy.In her previous two bestsellers, Professor Alice Roberts powerfully and evocatively...

A “compelling” (The Wall Street Journal) account of the only mutiny in the history of the United States Navy—a little-known but once notorious event that cost three young men their lives—part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, and as propulsive and...

For more than 60 years, Barbie has reflected fashion trends and set them. Now, her iconic outfits are paired with the legendary looks from iconic designers for a fascinating celebration of the relationship between the runway and the toy aisle.Barbie has...

The first joint biography of Bennelong and Governor Arthur Phillip, two pivotal figures in Australian history – the colonised and coloniser – and a bold and innovative new portrait of both.Winner of the 2024 ACT Literary Awards, Non-Fiction Shortlisted...

Meet the Jewish salon host in 1930s Shanghai who brought together Chinese and expats around the arts as civil war erupted and World War II loomed on the horizon.Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only...

*Updated with a new introduction*Journalist Rebecca Traister’s New York Times bestselling exploration of the transformative power of female anger and its ability to transcend into a political movement is “a hopeful, maddening compendium of righteous...

A riveting and illuminating exploration of the transatlantic slave trade by an intrepid team of divers seeking to reclaim the stories of their ancestors.“For me, Enslaved is an attempt to give a voice to the millions whose voices were...

An “extraordinarily brilliant” and “pleasurably naughty” (André Aciman) investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy…and who the Bard might really be...

“Impeccably researched…captivating!” —Elin Hilderbrand * “A well-paced history.” —The New York Times Book Review * “Fascinating…with new details and well-sourced reporting.” —Associated PressNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! The intimate, multigenerational...

The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra.During those perilous...

The history books are full of heroes and villains … but what about all the idiots? Comedian and armchair historian Mikey Robins tells the astonishing story of human stupidity, one idiot at a time.Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity,...

A rich portrait of a compelling, complex woman who emerged from a sheltered rural childhood into the fraught, often deadly world of the French royal court and Parisian high society—and who would come to rule them both.Married off at sixteen to a...

'Edward Brooke-Hitching's delightful book is a collection of curiosities. From a 19th-century lonely hearts ad to a nuptial blessing of the bride’s buttocks, an entertaining history of love over the millennia that proves when it comes to the heart,...

A “captivating” (The Washington Post) true story of “courage, resolve, and determination” (The Christian Science Monitor), author Ralph White’s successful effort to save nearly the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan bank and their...

The lost world of the “gay paradises” in San Francisco and New York is beautifully documented in this collection of remarkably intimate portraits and street scenes taken by photography activist and chronicler Nicholas Blair from 1979–1986. The lovely,...

A classic David & Goliath tale, complete with colorful heroes, cold-hearted villains, and nail-biting games—with the hockey rink serving as an arena for a nation’s resistance.During the height of the Cold War, a group of small-town young men would...