Reading for Leisure: History: World

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.

A History of the World Since 9/11 shows us just why, a decade after the horrifying attacks on New York and Washington, we are no closer to winning the war on terror than we were on September 10, 2001. Acclaimed author and journalist Dominic Streatfeild traveled across the world for years in pursuit of answers for this stunning collapse of international law. The results of his search form the most fully realized study of the war on terror yet written. Piercing reportage blends with sobering human drama, woven into eight narratives of how our world went wrong after 9/11.

The extraordinary story of the lost world of the Andes, chronicling the ancient civilizations of the Paracas, Chavin, Nazca and Moche and other tribes and cultures of ancient south America

Covering early societies, the classical, postclassical, and modern periods, and the 20th century, and blending the great advances in historical research over the past quarter century, Experiencing World History represents an important addition to the teaching of world history. Focusing on major issues in social history in the context of world history and divided into five chronological sections that highlight the mixture of change and continuity, the volume traces key aspects of society over time, among them gender; work and leisure; state and society; culture contact and population patterns. Truly global in scope, Experiencing World History includes deep coverage of all the major areas including Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. A brief introduction ties the social history themes to more conventional world history coverage, and an epilogue after each of the five sections suggests overarching themes and connections.

The Age of Jihad charts the turmoil of today's Middle East and the devastating role the West has played in the region from 2001 to the present. Beginning with the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Cockburn explores the vast geopolitical struggle that is the Sunni-Shia conflict, a clash that shapes the war on terror, western military interventions, the evolution of the insurgency, the civil wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria, the Arab Spring, the fall of regional dictators, and the rise of Islamic State. As Cockburn shows in arresting detail, Islamic State did not explode into existence in Syria in the wake of the Arab Spring, as conventional wisdom would have it. The organization gestated over several years in occupied Iraq, before growing to the point where it can threaten the stability of the whole region. Cockburn was the first Western journalist to warn of the dangers posed by Islamic State. His originality and breadth of vision make The Age of Jihad the most in-depth analysis of the regional crisis in the Middle East to date.

The World Until Yesterday provides a mesmerizing firsthand picture of the human past as it had been for millions of years—a past that has mostly vanished—and considers what the differences between that past and our present mean for our lives today. This is Jared Diamond’s most personal book to date, as he draws extensively from his decades of field work in the Pacific islands, as well as evidence from Inuit, Amazonian Indians, Kalahari San people, and others. A characteristically provocative, enlightening, and entertaining book, The World Until Yesterday will be essential and delightful reading.

This comprehensive work provides a penetrating analysis of modern Middle Eastern history, from the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms, through the challenge of Western imperialism, to the impact of US foreign policies. After introducing the reader to the region’s history from the origins of Islam in the seventh century,A History of the Modern Middle East focuses on the past two centuries of profound and often dramatic change. Although built around a framework of political history, the book also carefully integrates social, cultural, and economic developments into a single, expertly crafted account. In updating this fifth edition of the late William Cleveland’s popular introductory text, Martin Bunton provides a thorough account of the major transformative developments over the past four years, including a new chapter on the tumultuousArab uprisings and the participation of Islamist parties in a new political order in the Middle East.

In this concise, accessible introductory survey of the history of the United States from 1790 to the present day, Edward J. Davies examines key themes in the evolution of America from colonial rule to international supremacy. Focusing particularly on those currents within US history that have influenced the rest of the world, the book is neatly divided into three parts which examine the Atlantic world, 1700-1800, the US and the industrial world, and the emergence of America as a global power. The United States in World Historyexplores such key issues as: the dynamics of the British Atlantic community the American revolution the impact of industrialization on the US the expansion of US consumer and cultural industries the Cold War, and its implications for the US. Part of our successful Themes in World Historyseries, The United States in World History presents a new way of examining the United States, and reveals how concepts that originated in America's definition of itself as a nation - concepts such as capitalism, republicanism and race - have had supranational impact across the world.

Has there ever been a history of the world as readable as this? In The Human Story , James C. Davis takes us on a journey to ancient times, telling how peoples of the world settled down and founded cities, conquered neighbors, and established religions, and continues over the course of history, when they fought two nearly global wars and journeyed into space. Davis's account is swift and clear, never dull or dry. He lightens it with pungent anecdotes and witty quotes. Although this compact volume may not be hard to pick up, it's definitely hard to put down.

Leading an enlightening and entertaining tour, the authors debunk widespread knowledge about Chinese culture, society, politics, and economy. In some cases, Chinese themselves encourage mistaken impressions. But many of these myths are really about how we Westerners see ourselves, inasmuch as China or the Chinese people are depicted as what we are not. Western perceptions of the empire in the East have for centuries oscillated between sinophilia and sinophobia, influenced by historical changes in the West as much as by events in China. This timely and provocative book offers an engaging and compelling window on a rising power we often misunderstand."