*"[A] superb and necessary book. This provocative assessment from a lifetime of scholarship might help us to place ourselves, not just territorially, but in that other precious element of history: time. " The Guardian *"A book that never fails to be informative, readable and provocative. Le Goff.

The year 2022 marks 2,500 years since Athens, the birthplace of democracy, fought off the mighty Persian empire. Kershaw tells the story of the three epic battles - Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis - that saved democracy, without which the history of Europe and the West would have been radically different.

A definitive new history of the Persian Empire, the world's first superpower.

A TABLET AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE YEAR

Shortlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize

'A tremendous feat of storytelling, propelled by numerous twists and revelations, yet anchored by a deep moral seriousness . . . Enthralling' Guardian

Across the world the last Nazi trials are winding their way through the courts. Nearly a century on from the Holocaust, survivors are still asked to give proof - and, in an era of rising revisionism and denialism, have their stories questioned. In this ...

'A revolutionary book' Sunday Times

'A pulsating account' Peter Frankopan

*A SPECTATOR AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR*

How did the People's Republic of China transform from a backwater economy in the 1970s into the world superpower of today? Drawing on hundreds of previously unseen archival documents, award-winning historian Frank Dikötter recasts our understanding of an era that both the regime and foreign admirers alike celebrate as an economic miracle. In a fascinating tale spanning f...

Offers an understanding of Vermeer's paintings and of the era they portray.

The untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East

A magnet for trade and travellers from all over the world, stylish, cosmopolitan Amsterdam is a city of dreams and nightmares, of grand civic architecture and legendary beauty, but also of civil wars, bloody religious purges, and the tragedy of Anne Frank.