” Empires of the Sea” shows the Mediterranean as a majestic & bloody theatre of war. Opening with the Ottoman victory in 1453 it is a breathtaking story of military crusading, Barbary pirates, white slavery & the Ottoman Empire
- & the larger picture of the struggle between Islam & Christianity. Coupled with dramatic set piece battles, a wealth of riveting first-hand accounts, epic momentum & a terrific denouement at Lepanto, this is a work of history at its broadest & most compelling.
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The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day, ” Empires of the Silk Road” represents a fundamental rethinking of the origins, history, & significance of this major world region. Christopher Beckwith describes the rise & fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks & Tibetans, & Genghis Khan & the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, & artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, & others. In retelling the story of the Old World from the perspective of Central Eurasia, Beckwith provides a new understanding of the internal & external dynamics of the Central Eurasian states & shows how their people repeatedly revolutionized Eurasian civilization. Beckwith recounts the Indo-Europeans` migration out of Central Eurasia, their mixture with local people, & the resulting development of the Graeco-Roman, Persian, Indian, & Chinese civilizations; he details the basis for the thriving economy of premodern Central Eurasia, the economy`s disintegration following the region`s partition by the Chinese & Russians in the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries, & the damaging of Central Eurasian culture by Modernism; &, he discusses the significance for world history of the partial reemergence of Central Eurasian nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. ” Empires of the Silk Road” places Central Eurasia within a world historical framework & demonstrates why the region is central to understanding the history of civilization. ...

How the rise of the West was a temporary exception to the predominant world order What accounts for the rise of the state, the creation of the first global system, & the dominance of the West? The conventional answer asserts that superior technology, tactics, & institutions forged by Darwinian military competition gave Europeans a decisive advantage in war over other civilizations from 1500 onward. In contrast, Empires of the Weak argues that Europeans actually had no general military superiority in the early modern era. J. C. Sharman shows instead that European expansion from the late fifteenth to the late eighteenth centuries is better explained by deference to strong Asian & African polities, disease in the Americas, & maritime supremacy earned by default because local l&-oriented polities were largely indifferent to war & trade at sea. Europeans were overawed by the mighty Eastern empires of the day, which pioneered key military innovations & were the greatest early modern conquerors. Against the view that the Europeans won for all time, Sharman contends that the imperialism of the late nineteenth & early twentieth centuries was a relatively transient & anomalous development in world politics that concluded with Western losses in various insurgencies. If the twenty-first century is to be dominated by non-Western powers like China, this represents a return to the norm for the modern era. Bringing a revisionist perspective to the idea that Europe ruled the world due to military dominance, Empires of the Weak demonstrates that the rise of the West was an exception in the prevailing world order. ...

In October 1492, an Italian-born, Spanish-funded navigator discovered a new world, thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. In Empire`s Crossroads, Carrie Gibson, unfolds the story of the Caribbean from Columbus`s first landing on the island he named San Salvador to today`s islands
- largely independent, but often still in thrall to Europe & America`s insatiable desire for tropical luxuries. From the early years of settlement to the age of sugar & slavery, during which vast riches were generated for Europeans through the enforced labour of millions of enslaved Africans, to the great slave rebellions of the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries & the long, slow progress towards independence in the modern era, Gibson offers a vivid, panoramic view of this complex & contradictory region. From Cuba to Haiti, from Jamaica to Trinidad, the story of the Caribbean is not simply the story of slaves & masters
- but of fortune-seekers, tourists, scientists & pirates. It is not only a story of imperial expansion
- European & American
- but also of life as it is lived in the islands, both in the past & today.



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In Empire`s Crossroads, Carrie Gibson offers readers a vivid, authoritative & action-packed history of the Caribbean. For Gibson, everything was created in the West Indies: the Europe of today, its financial foundations built with sugar money: the factories & mills built as a result of the work of slaves thousands of miles away; the idea of true equality as espoused in Saint Domingue in the 1790s; the slow progress to independence; & even globalization & migration, with the ships passing to & fro taking people & goods in all possible directions, hundreds of years before the term `globalization` was coined. From Cuba to Haiti, from Dominica to Martinique, from Jamaica to Trinidad, the story of the Caribbean is not simply the story of slaves & masters
- but of fortune-seekers & pirates, scientists & servants, travellers & tourists. It is not only a story of imperial expansion
- European & American
- but of global connections, & also of life as it is lived in the islands, both in the past & today.


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This is from the bestselling author of Wild Swans & Mao: The Unknown Story. In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Empress Dowager Cixi
- the most important woman in Chinese history
- brought a medieval empire into the modern age. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state & it was she who abolished gruesome punishments like `death by a thousand cuts` & put an end to foot-binding. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative & cruel despot & also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace & the harem of Beijing`s Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs
- with one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences. Packed with drama, fast-paced & gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China & an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world`s population, & as a unique stateswoman. ” Powerful”. (Simon Sebag Montefiore). ” Truly authoritative”. (New York Times). ” Wonderful”. (Sunday Times). It is shortlisted for the James Tait Black Biography Prize.


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Solid brass with duotone bronze finish, moves up & down to different angles by adjusting a clever ball-joint. Weighted bass prevents tipping. Now a tool of study & fun, be it to study the lines on your palm, a picture, fingerprints, small print? A gift with excellent provenance, an accessory that delivers. This is a must-have for any desk. If we do not have this item in stock we will order it for you from our supplier. Delivery generally takes 3 weeks within the UK. For overseas delivery queries please email sales@stanfords.co.uk ...

In 1611, thirty-four-year-old Nur Jahan, daughter of a Persian noble & widow of a subversive official, became the twentieth & favourite wife of the Emperor Jahangir who ruled the Mughal Empire. An astute politician as well as a devoted partner, she issued imperial orders; coins of the realm bore her name. When Jahangir was imprisoned by a rebellious nobleman, the Empress led troops into battle & rescued him. The only woman to acquire the stature of empress in her male-dominated world, Nur was also a talented dress designer & innovative architect whose work inspired her stepson`s Taj Mahal. Nur`s confident assertion of talent & power is revelatory; it far exceeded the authority of her female contemporaries, including Elizabeth I. Here, she finally receives her due in a deeply researched & evocative biography. ...

This title features striking, unique aerial photography of the largest truly-deserted expanses of land on Earth. Aerial photographer George Steinmetz, shooting from a motorized paraglider, has created an unparalleled portrait of Rub`al-Khali, or `the Empty Quarter`, one of the largest
- & harshest
- sand deserts in the world. Although only a fraction of the size of its giant neighbour, the Sahara, the Empty Quarter`s punishing terrain has rarely been captured on film & never from such a striking perspective. Old maps, satellite images & a dose of Arabic hospitality enabled Steinmetz to venture where few had ever been before, revealing through his photographs a true wilderness, without a single permanent human habitation or known point of water & preserved by its harsh climate & extreme remoteness, as well as a fascinating tradition of a hardy people living at its edges. For experienced travellers or explorers who have heard of Rub`al-Khali, entering the heart of the Arabian Desert is truly the ultimate experience.

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A 379km long cycle route along the Ems, with additional 100kms along the Dortmund
- Ems canal. Detailed maps show the route &
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