' The Book that really held me, in fact, obsessed me, was Rubicon ...This is narrative history at its best. Bloody and labyrinthine political intrigue and struggle, brilliant oratory, amazing feats of conquest and cruelty.' Ian McEwan, Books of the Year, GUARDIAN

A brilliant new account of the world's very first clash of civilisations between the Persians and the Greeks in 480BC.

From Moses to Nelson Mandela, speeches have changed the way we see the world and the way the world is shaped.The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches gathers together the world's greatest speeches, bringing together the words of over one hundred men and women. These brilliant and passionate declarations by Socrates, Robespierre, Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth I, Churchill, Washington, Pankhurst, Gandhi and many others provide a vivid glimpse of history in the making while retaining their power to move...

With a new foreword by Tim Cornell

'Can anyone be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means and under what kind of polity almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and bought under the dominion of a single city of Rome?' - Polybius, Greek Historian

The city of Rome created the foundations of an empire that would come to challenge and conquer the great civilizations of Europe and the Near East. H.H. Scullard's definitive and highly acclaimed study reveals the peculiar ge...

From the Gracchi to Nero is an outstanding history of the Roman world from 133 BC to 68 AD. Fifty years since publication it is widely hailed as the classic survey of the period, going through many revised and updated editions until H.H. Scullard’s death.

A fully updated and revised edition of a classic bestseller: the definitive guide to Tutankhamun and his tomb - what it contained, why, and what it means today.

On 4 November 1922, Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter's long search in Egypt's Valley of the Kings drew to a triumphant close: Tutankhamun's tomb had been found. As news of the discovery spread, and as images of the breathtaking treasures began to circulate, this once-obscure pharaoh would capture the imagination of the enti...