In this illuminating and thoughtful book, Will and Ariel Durant have succeeded in distilling for the reader the accumulated store of knowledge and experience from their five decades of work on the eleven monumental volumes of The Story of Civilization. The result is a survey of human history, full of dazzling insights into the nature of human experience, the evolution of civilisation, and the culture of man. With the completion of their life's work, they look back and ask what history has to say about the nature, the conduct and th... read more

The finest and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeu's exceptional "Atlas Maior", completed in 1665. The original 11-volume Latin edition, containing 536 maps, put Blaeu ahead of his staunch competitor, mapmaker Johannes Janssonius, whose rivalry inspired Blaeu to produce a grandiose edition of the largest and most complete atlas to date. Covering Arctica, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, Blaeu's "Atlas Maior" was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of history's finest examples of mapmaking. This reprin... read more

No Description

Africa is forever on our TV screens, but the bad-news stories (famine, genocide, corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of de-colonialisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What, if anything, is to be done? Fully revised and updated... read more

"This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ...in this book, there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ...An enjoyable book by a skilled author". - "Financial Times". The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? "Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt" uses Egypt's vi... read more

Maathai argues that Africans need to revive their sense of identity, their cultural inheritance, and a shared sense of common purpose to face the challenges posed by endemic corruption, the legacies of colonialism and the Cold and civil wars, poverty, and - most urgently - climate change. Countless images of nameless starving children aimed at guilt-tripping westerners have been internalised, leading to a demoralised and passive inertia among millions of citizens. Elections may have spread but the true tenets of a democratic societ... read more

A full-blooded history of the making of South Africa that covers not only the exploration of the ‘Dark Continent’, but also the diamond and gold rushes, the two Boer wars and the famous defeats at the hands of the Zulus. First published 2007.

An epic, sweeping history of the making of South Africa by the bestselling and acclaimed author of The State of Africa.

Africa is forever on our TV screens, but the bad-news stories (famine, genocide, corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of decolonialisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What, if anything, is to be done? Weaving together the ... read more

No Description

The terrible 1984 famine in Ethiopia focused the world's attention on the country and the issue of aid as never before. Anyone over the age of 30 remembers something of the events - if not the original TV pictures, then Band Aid and Live Aid, Geldof and Bono. Peter Gill was the first journalist to reach the epicentre of the famine and one of the TV reporters who brought the tragedy to light. This book is the story of what happened to Ethiopia in the 25 years following Live Aid: the place, the people, the westerners who have tried t... read more

Author and philanthropist Lapierre offers a harrowing overview of South African history, from Jan Van Riebeeck's first Dutch farming settlement to the presidential election of Nelson Mandela, including the founding of The Orange Free State and the Transvaal, the Boer war, the rise and fall of Apartheid, and more. Beginning with the arrival of Europeans in the late 17th century, Lapierre charts their subsequent Great Trek into the veld, their conviction that God had ordained them to found a new nation; and the martial clashes with Z... read more

Between 1856 and 1876, five explorers, all British, took on the seemingly impossible task of discovering the source of the White Nile. Showing exceptional courage and extraordinary resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, Samuel Baker, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and their reputations in the name of this quest. They journeyed through East and Central Africa into unmapped territory, discovered the great lakes, Tanganyika and Victoria, navigated the upper Nile and the Congo, and suffered the r... read more

The 21st century will be the century of Africa. If poverty and violence are still rampant, economic growth has taken off again and a middle class is developing. This title presents the different facets of this Africa, which will soon have a billion people, at the mid point of the most rapid population boom that humanity has ever known.

In December 2009, a group of the CIA's top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden's top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a thirty-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives, the agency's worst... read more

This edition no longer sold in New Zealand. See Canongate version. At this defining moment in our history, Americans are hungry for change. After years of failed policies and failed politics from Washington, this is our chance to reclaim the American dream. Barack Obama has proven to be a new kind of leader-one who can bring people together, be honest about the challenges we face, and move this nation forward. "Change We Can Believe In" outlines his vision for America. In these pages you will find bold and specific ideas about... read more

No Description

"The Quest" continues the riveting story Daniel Yergin began twenty years ago with his No.1 International Bestseller "The Prize", revealing the on-going quest to meet the world's energy needs - and the power and riches that come with it. A master story teller as well as our most expert analyst, Yergin proves that energy is truly the engine of global political and economic change. From the jammed streets of Beijing, the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the conflicts in the Middle East, to Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley, Yergin tells ... read more

Rebel Leaders focuses on the world-shaping, powerful arena of politics and warfare, looking at those revolutionaries throughout the centuries who have changed the course of history. Since ancient times, rebel leaders have fought against oppressive colonial masters, autocratic tyrants, crushing military regimes or rule by supreme monarchs and emperors. Other rebels have fought for causes less noble. Some of them have succeeded in overthrowing their enemy and establishing themselves and instituting their political vision - sometimes ... read more

A stunning book about the right stuff in the wrong war. As a child, Robert Mason dreamed of levitating. As a young man, he dreamed of flying helicopters - and the U.S. Army gave him his chance. They sent him to Vietnam where, between August 1965 and July 1966, he flew more than 1,000 assault missions. In Chickenhawk, Robert Mason gives us a devastating bird's eye-view of that war in all its horror, as he experiences the accelerating terror, the increasingly desperate courage of a man 'acting out the role of a hero long after he ... read more