With the use of quotations, this book examines the political events in the Hellenistic world. It also describes the different social systems of the peoples under Greek rule, developments in literature, science and technology and the founding of religious movements.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ‘A rigorous and thoughtful study of what has happened on battlefields over the past eight decades’ THE TIMES ‘A hugely important book … elegantly written and persuasively argued’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

A groundbreaking new perspective on catastrophes throughout human history, with vital lessons for our future

You’ve heard all about the ‘brilliant men’ of ancient myth, but what about the scheming and scandalous women who were so often lost in their shadow?

A TELEGRAPH BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023 ‘A highly imaginative and thought-provoking way of exploring the personality of a man who, like him or loathe him, left an indelible mark on our age’ ADAM ZAMOYSKI

'This is a wise book, and hopefully its wisdom will rub off' Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature'Progress upturns shibboleths. Without new understandings of our past, such as that given here, chaos may be inevitable' Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%

'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' PETER FRANKOPAN'This book is a revelation ... both original and important' MISHAL HUSAINA history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it.

The astonishing story of the ten million books that were smuggled across the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.