Islam: a Short History

V.s. Naipaul

Panmacmillan

At the centre of this extraordinary historical narrative are two linked themes: the grinding down of the aborigines during the long rivalries of the quest for El Dorado, the mythical kingdom of gold; and, two hundred years later, the man-made horror of the new slave colony. In The Loss of El Dorado, V. S. Naipaul shows how the alchemic delusion of El Dorado drew the small isla...

Ben Macintyre

Ladybird

The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah's fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America - unknown to the public - would be to use nuclear weapons. Redwood is the story of how at the height of the Cold War, one mysterious double agent, whose intelligence reache...

Max Siollun

Penguin

'Incredibly necessary, magnificently done, Siollun charts the characters and events that shaped the lives of those who inhabited Nigeria's territories centuries before colonisation' - Remi Adekoya, author of It's Not About Whiteness, It's About Wealth'Without a doubt, Max Siollun is the best Nigeria-focused historian of our times' - Matthew T. Page, former U.S. State Department...

Justin Marozzi

Penguin

**SHORTLISTED FOR 2025 THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION** A startling exploration of slavery in the Islamic world from the 7th century to the present Slavery in the Islamic world has a long, diverse and controversial history. Captives and Companions is a brilliant synthesis of history and contemporary reportage that brings to life the voices of the enslaved in stories ...

Annie Jacobsen

Corgi

In this engrossing and deeply disturbing exposé from the bestselling author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen tells the gripping story of a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States. In the chaos following the Second World War, the US government faced a critical decision: what to do with the great scientific mind...

Adam Lebor

Penguin

Budapest, autumn 1943. Four years into the war, Hungary is allied with Nazi Germany and the Hungarian capital is the Casablanca of central Europe. The city swirls with intrigue and betrayal, home to spies and agents of every kind. But Budapest remains at peace, an oasis in the midst of war where Allied POWs, and Polish and Jewish refugees find sanctuary. The riverside cafes are...

Karen Armstrong

Canongate

As long as we have been human, we have been mythmakers. In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong holds up the mirror of mythology to show us the history of ourselves, and embarks on a journey that begins at a Neanderthal graveside and ends buried in the heart of the modern novel. Surprising, powerful and profound, A Short History of Myth examines the world's most ancient art...