Penguin Books Australia

' Ancient Worlds really does put flesh on the bones of history and Richard Miles brings long lost cities to life'  Observer

Ancient Worlds tells the epic story of civilization, and the cities that made us who we are.

David Gilmour's captivating history tells the story of Italy from Virgil to Verdi and on to today. Filled with colourful figures, vivid detail and personal observations based on a lifelong love of Italy, it also debunks many of the myths surrounding the country. Gilmour shows that Italy's glory comes not from a unified national identity, but from its regions, with their distinctive art, cuisine, civic...

'By far the most insightful survey of Pakistan I have read in recent years . . . a vital book'  Mohsin Hamid, New York Review of Books

Iran often appears in the media as a hostile and difficult country. But beneath the headlines there is a fascinating story of a nation of great intellectual variety and depth, and enormous cultural importance. A nation whose impact has been tremendous, not only on its neighbours in the Middle East but on the world as a whole - and through ideas and creativity rather than by the sword.

'Affirms Hugh Thomas's record as one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times'  The New York Times

'An astonishing feat . . . the author does more to explain the phenomenon of Fidel's rise to power than anybody else has done so far'
SPECTATOR

'A Riveting story of adventure and cruelty . . . a considerable literary and scholarly accomplishment' Ben Wilson, Daily Telegraph

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America in the sixteenth century, they swept across the continent in a blaze if imperial expansion and brutal savagery. While adventurers and explorers like Cortes and Pizarro built entire cities and amassed vast wealth from...

'Teeming with colourful characters . . . Abulafia wears his scholarship lightly, even dashingly . . . at its heart, this is a history of mankind - gripping, worldly, bloody, playful'  Simon Sebag Montefiore, Financial Times

A FINANCIAL TOMES AND ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A wonderful history of modern China and a cracking good read'
CHRIS PATTEN

In 1850, China was the 'sick man of Asia'. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth.

'The final word on one of the most iconic weapons of our times' 
Independent on Sunday

The AK-47, or 'Kalashnikov', is the most popular weapon on earth. It never jams. It is so light and efficient a child can fire it. It is the everyman's gun, used by guerrillas, terrorists and dictators everywhere.

Featuring villains and idealists, profiteers and killers, superpowers and revolutionaries, The...

'An excellent book … his real achievement lies in digging below the surface to present a tapestry of French life … the overall sweep and depth of the book is masterly'  Jonathan Fenby, The Times

NINETEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE was one of the world's great cultural beacons, renowned for its dazzling literature, philosophy, art, poetry and technology. Yet this was also a tumultuous century...

This chilling, fascinating new book is the first fully to get to grips with how Hitler's Nazi empire really functioned. There was no aspect of Nazi power untouched by economics – it was Hitler's obsession and the reason the Nazis came to power in the first place. The Second World War was fought, in Hitler's view, to create a European Empire strong enough to take on the United States – a...

 This book depict native artefacts, accommodation and clothing and has probably also contributed and fueled the popular image of Borneo as a place inhabited by wild headhunters and bare-breasted women.

For over three thousand years, the Mediterranean Sea has been one of the great centres of world civilization. From the time of Troy until the middle of the nineteenth century, human activity on and around the Sea has decisively shaped much of the course of world history. David Abulafia's The Great Sea is the first complete history of what has happened on and immediately around the Mediterranean, from...

'Powerful, astute and readable . . . meticulously researched, and written with flair and feeling'  John Keay, Literary Review

From opium wars, conquest and rebellion to the end of the Qing imperial dynasty, the history of the European colonial 'scramble' for China is one of brutality and idealism, oppression and adventure - a story that is still central to the country's image of itself today...