In this concise, lucid and entertaining book, with more than forty maps and illustrations, acclaimed historian John Hirst explores the qualities that have made Europe a world-changing civilisation.

Beginning with a rapid historical overview from the ancient Greeks to the present day (the ‘shortest history’ itself), Hirst goes on to examine what makes Europe unique: its political evolution; the shaping influence of its linguistic boundaries; the crucial role played by power struggles betwe...

Fully updated and carefully revised, this new 2nd edition of History by Numbers stands alone as the only textbook on quantitative methods suitable for students of history. Even the numerically challenged will find inspiration. Taking a problem-solving approach and using authentic historical data, it describes each method in turn, including its origin, purpose, usefulness and associated pitfalls.

The problems are developed gradually and with narrative skill, allowing readers to experience the ...

Published to tie-in with the start of a four-year and multi-media celebration of the centenary of these classics of children’s’ literature, this highly illustrated, full-colour book celebrates the lives and times of the two men who created them.

The idea of heritage as a "capital of irreplaceable cultural, social and economic value" was already present in the European Charter of the Architectural Heritage, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1975 (par.3). Today, this discourse is getting increasing attention on the research agenda. Some argue that, although heritage is always valued highly, the current interest in the impact of heritage is caused by the democratisation of heritage and the increased importance of heritage in today's s...

Step into the revolution that changed the world

'It took all the daring of an English author to embark on writing a guide that transports the walker back in time to the Paris of the French Revolution. Her book illuminates this difficult and complex period, one that opened the door to a shining age of liberty.' - Frédéric Lacaille, Curator, Musée National des Chateaux de Versailles et Trianon

You don't need to know anything about the French Revolution to enjoy Path of the Patriots, because...

"Bureaucrats of Liberation" narrates the history of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. Between 1963 and 1994, the Southern Africa Project connected lawyers from Namibia, South Africa, and the United States. Within the Project’s network, activist lawyers exchanged funding resources, provided logistical support for political trials, and mediated new voting ...

It is the paradox at the heart of the Dutch Republic: how could a state emerge from resistance to political slavery and subjugation by a foreign power, only to become a colonial empire that promoted slavery all over the world? Slavery and the Dutch State shows how the modern Dutch state and its predecessors were complicit in colonial slavery. It describes the roles of various actors, such as enslaved people, administrators and merchants in the Netherlands and the colonized societies. More tha...

World history is written with the blood of the terrific losses Napoleons coalition. It least half a million coalition soldiers never returned home. Also the costs for the Russian army as well as the Russian population was shocking.

Together with the loss of his soldiers, the Tsar had to accept a loss in human lives of at least 500.000 of his countrymen, so that the total cost of this failed adventure was more than one million casualties.

The campaign was doomed from the first phase.The lo...

Wist U dat de beroemde zwarte Amerikaanse vrijheidsstrijder Sojourner Truth als slavin van een Nederlandstalige slaveneigenaar werd geboren en tot haar tiende jaar Nederlands sprak? Of dat de Nederlanders tot slaaf gemaakte Afrikanen naar Noord Amerika brachten in schepen van de West Indische Compagnie? Deze verrassende gids toont de sporen van Nederlandse aanwezigheid in New York, de stad en de staat. Het accent ligt op het Nederlands bewind in Nieuw Amsterdam en Nieuw Nederland in zeventien...