A handy and colourful illustrated guide to reading, writing and understanding ancient Egyptian names, epithets, titles and phrases.

How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first lesbian? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily gay? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? This title deals with these questions.

A unique and accessible insight into the world’s oldest writing system, revealing how ancient inscriptions lead to a new way of thinking about the past.

Takes a fresh look at the life of Nero (r. AD 54–68), providing insight into the inner conflicts of a Roman society in transition and challenging preconceptions of a figure dismissed by a hostile source-tradition as tyrannical, deluded and ineffectual.

Cats can be seen in ancient Egyptian homes, temples and adorning the heads of their gods. Cats in Egypt were probably domesticated by around 4,000 BC from wild ancestors. Over the following centuries, they became popular household pets. In this book, Dr Malek draws on a vast range of artistic and written sources to show how cats became one of the most widely esteemed and revered animals in Egypt.

Ideal as a spur to creative inspiration, this beautiful book offers a striking and unusual view of the wide array of Pacific art, evoking the skills of the most accomplished Pacific artists and craftworkers, past and present.