{"title":"Jeremy Black","description":"\u003cp\u003eJeremy Black offers a distinguished range of historical works that explore the intricate stories of nations and regions across the globe. His books provide insightful overviews of key periods and themes, from the evolution of empires to the cultural and political shifts that have shaped modern history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect carefully researched narratives that blend military, cultural, and political history, presented with clarity and depth. Whether tracing the histories of Britain, America, or the Mediterranean, Black’s works serve as essential guides for those seeking a nuanced understanding of the past.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-short-history-of-war-by-jeremy-black-9780300267075","title":"A Short History of War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn engaging, accessible introduction to war, from ancient times to the present and into the future\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cb\u003e“Forty short chapters . . . describe war from the ancient world to the present day. . . . \u003ci\u003eA Short History of War\u003c\/i\u003e offers an expansive and often evocative account of great causes that are never lost or won.”—Crawford Gribben, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout history, warfare has transformed social, political, cultural, and religious aspects of our lives. We tell tales of wars—past, present, and future—to create and reinforce a common purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this engaging overview, Jeremy Black examines war as a global phenomenon, looking at the First and Second World Wars as well as those ranging from Han China and Assyria, Imperial Rome, and Napoleonic France to Vietnam and Afghanistan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack explores too the significance of warfare more broadly and the ways in which cultural understandings of conflict have lasting consequences in societies across the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWeaponry, Black argues, has had a fundamental impact on modes of war: it created war in the air and transformed it at sea. Today, as twentieth-century weapons are challenged by drones and robotics, Black examines what the future of warfare looks like.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46796075139308,"sku":"9780300267075","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24668493482294.jpg?v=1757077012"},{"product_id":"military-strategy-by-jeremy-black-9780300270365","title":"Military Strategy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMilitary Strategy\u003c\/i\u003e has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this ground-breaking account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation, and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTaking a “total” view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers—notably the United States, China, Britain, and Russia—in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France’s ancien régime and Britain’s empire building to present-day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon, and Hitler.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46796445352172,"sku":"9780300270365","price":28.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24701393482294.jpg?v=1757096628"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-america-by-jeremy-black-9781472147387","title":"A Brief History of America","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next in this series of admirably concise yet nevertheless comprehensive titles looks at the history of \u003cem\u003eall\u003c\/em\u003e Americans as well as America; its environmental history and its linkage to economic history; the political shaping of America; and America in the world, from being a colony to post-Cold War America.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack examines the environmental history of America and its linkage to economic history, crucially, the clearing of forests; the spread of agriculture; mineral, coal and iron extraction; industrialisation; urbanisation; and current and growing climate-crisis concerns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe explores the political shaping of America: indigenous American polities; free European and unfree African settlements; the creation of an American State, and its successes and failures from 1783 to 1861; Civil War; democratisation; the rise of the federal Government from the 1930s; the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onwards, and tensions in more recent governance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book considers America in the World: as a pre-colonial and colonised space; as a newly-independent power, then a rising international one, the Cold War and the USA as the sole superpower in the post-Cold-War world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese key themes are tackled chronologically for the sake of clarity, beginning with the geological creation of North America, human settlement and native American cultures to 1500; the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans to 1770 - the Spanish and French in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, the English and French, and the Dutch and Swedes further north.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe focus then shifts to settler conflicts with native Americans and between European powers leading to a British-dominated North America by 1770. Then the end of European rule and the foundation of an American trans-continental state. The section dealing with the years from 1848 to 1880 looks at the Civil War between North and South, reconstruction and the creation of a new society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBetween 1880 and 1920, the United States became an industrial powerhouse and an international power, also a colonial power - the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - and a participant in the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe interwar years, 1921 to 1945, brought turmoil: the Roaring Twenties; the growth of Hollywood; Prohibition; jazz; the Great Depression and the New Deal; finally the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1945 to 1968 was the American Age, brimming with confidence and success as the world's leading power, but also the ongoing struggle for civil rights.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSubsequent years to 1992 brought crisis and recovery: Watergate, the Reagan years and the USA as the sole world superpower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn bringing the book right up to the present day, Black looks at factors that divide American society and economy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832112206060,"sku":"9781472147387","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781472147387.jpg?v=1758365840"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-london-by-jeremy-black-9781472146717","title":"A Brief History of London","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the United Kingdom left the European Union, during a period of international and domestic turmoil, \u003cem\u003eLondon\u003c\/em\u003e found itself at a turning point. This critical moment presents an opportunity to look back, with a distinctive perspective, focusing on London in its national and, perhaps even more importantly, its international contexts, rather than on the city itself in isolation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the interactions of London that Black considers, and he does so in order to address the question of why London became the foremost international city, how it sustained that position, and what its future holds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book is as much about economics and culture as it is about politics and society. It deals with migration, communications, empire, and cultural energy, rather than the mechanisms of parish vestries. London's earlier period is covered, but the principal focus is on the last half millennium, the period during which London became a major trader with the trans-oceanic world, and the ruler of trans-oceanic colonies, while the English language became an increasingly important cultural medium, one centred on London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book includes plentiful literary references, quotations from visitors, and boxes covering discrete topics, such as Jack the Ripper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832113909996,"sku":"9781472146717","price":80.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3604693482712.jpg?v=1758366038"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-the-british-monarchy-by-jeremy-black-9781472147912","title":"A Brief History of the British Monarchy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe British monarchy is at a turning point. Concise and engaging, \u003cem\u003eA Brief History of the British Monarchy\u003c\/em\u003e charts the very beginnings of British reign through to the longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and looks forward to the reign of King Charles III.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMuch more than a linear history, this is the intertwined story of royalty and state, of divisions, invasions, rivalries, death and glory; the story of national fates deeply tied with the personal endeavours of monarchs through the ages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJeremy Black expertly weaves together thematic chapters from the origins of monarchy, medieval times and sixteenth-century developments, to the crises of the seventeenth-century, settlement and imperialism, and the challenges of the modern age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExploring the House of Wessex, the Norman Conquest, Henry VIII and the Tudors, Victorianism, and key events such as the abdication of Edward VIII, this book is a necessary and comprehensive guide to the British Monarchy and how it has shaped history—and our lives today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832119873772,"sku":"9781472147912","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3616643482712.jpg?v=1758366572"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-the-caribbean-by-jeremy-black-9781408713488","title":"A Brief History of the Caribbean","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA concise history of the Caribbean's long and fascinating history, from pre-contact civilisations to the present day\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a concise history, intended for travellers, but of inestimable value to anyone looking for an overview of the Caribbean and its mainland coastal states, with a focus on the past few centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of the Caribbean does not make much sense without factoring in the cities—Pensacola, New Orleans, Galveston—and the ambitions of the states on its continental shores, notably the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis account is grounded in a look at the currents and channels of the sea, and its constraints, such as the Mosquito Coast, followed by the history of 'pre-contact' civilisations, focusing on the Maya and the Toltec Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith the arrival of the Europeans, from the late fifteenth century to the early years of the seventeenth century, the story becomes one of exploration, conquest and settlement. Black charts the rise of slave economies and the Caribbean's place in the Atlantic world, also the arrival of the English—Hawkins and Drake—to challenge the Spanish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe examines the sugar and coffee slave economies of the English, French, Spanish and Dutch, also the successful rebellion in Haiti in the eighteenth century, and how the West Indies were further transformed by the Louisiana Purchase, the American conquest of Florida and the incorporation of Texas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe discusses the impact of Bolivar's rebellion in Spanish America, the end of slavery in the British Caribbean, and war between Mexico and America; also the defeat of the South by the Union, the American takeover of the Panama Canal project from France, and the Spanish-American War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first half of the twentieth century focuses on growing US power: intervention in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; Cuba as an American protectorate, and civil wars in Mexico.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Cold War brought new tensions and conflict to the region, but the same period also saw the rise of the leisure industry. The last part of the book looks at the Caribbean today—political instability in Venezuela and Colombia, crime in Mexico, post-Castro Cuba—and the region's future prospects.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Brief History of the Caribbean\u003c\/i\u003e by Jeremy Black is an enriching resource that delves into the complexities of the region's history and current dynamics, making it an essential read for anyone interested in this diverse and vibrant area of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832123216108,"sku":"9781408713488","price":89.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/15245573482689.jpg?v=1758366709"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-the-pacific-by-jeremy-black-9781472146731","title":"A Brief History of the Pacific","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis brilliantly concise history of the Pacific Ocean succeeds in examining both the indigenous presence on the ocean's islands and Western control or influence over its islands and shores. There is a particular focus on the period from the 1530s to 1890, with a greater Western coastal and oceanic presence in the Pacific, beginning with the Spanish takeover of the coasts of modern Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and continuing with the Spaniards in the Philippines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is also an emphasis on the very different physical and human environments of the four quadrants of the Pacific—the north-east, the north-west, the south-east, and the south-west—and of the 'coastal' islands, such as the Aleutians, Japan, and New Zealand, along with continental coastlines. The focus is always on the interactions of Japan, California, Peru, Australia, and other territories with the ocean, notably in terms of trade, migration, and fishing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack first examines the geology, currents, winds, and physical make-up of the Pacific, followed by the region's indigenous inhabitants up to 1520. He describes the Pacific before the arrival of Europeans, its history of settlement, navigation methods, and religious practices.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe focus then shifts from Easter Island to European voyages, from Magellan to Cook and Tasman, highlighting the challenges they faced, particularly the immense scale of the ocean. Black discusses the impact of these voyages on local people, including the presence of Russians in the Aleutian Islands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom 1788 to 1898, outside control of the region grew, with the British laying claim to Australia and America to the Philippines. Western economic and political impacts manifested in sandalwood and gold rushes, and the coming of steamships accelerated this influence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTerritorial claims spread through figures like Willis and Perry and the Americans, including to Hawaii. Black examines the Maori wars in New Zealand and the War of the Pacific on the South American coast. Christian missionary activity increased, while Gaugin offered a different vision of the Pacific.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe period from 1899 to 1945 marked the struggle of empires, featuring the rise of Japan as an oceanic power and the Second World War in the Pacific as a critical moment in world history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOil-powered ships heralded the American Age from 1945 to 2015, leading to the end of the British Pacific. France maintained a role in regions like Tahiti and New Caledonia, but America established itself as the dominant presence. Black explores the political, economic, and cultural impacts, such as Polynesians attending universities in America and Australasia, the spread of rugby, and relatively little international tension, though some domestic pressures remained, including instability in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Brief History of the Pacific\u003c\/i\u003e concludes with an examination of these themes and events, offering a comprehensive overview of the region's complex history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46832124494060,"sku":"9781472146731","price":52.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3604833482712.jpg?v=1758366858"},{"product_id":"france-a-short-history-by-jeremy-black-9780500296813","title":"France: A Short History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA concise history of France from prehistory to the present, recounting the great events and personalities and exploring France's cultural and political influence today.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eArtists, martyrs, kings, revolutionaries: France's sense of national identity is inextricably linked to its dramatic history, which fascinates the world and attracts millions each year to visit its chateaux and cathedrals, boulevards and vineyards. Ancient roots allied to a social, political and military history that has witnessed revolution, conflict, and occupation mean that France holds a unique position in the modern world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this short, easy-to-digest history of a vast subject, Jeremy Black succinctly narrates how France's past has created its distinct character. Country and destination, nation and idea, France has an incomparable cultural legacy, and exerts a powerful artistic, intellectual and political influence across the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack's vivid take on history emphasizes the unexpected nature of events and unpredictable outcomes on a fragmented country, from the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux to the origins of Gothic architecture, from Monet and Degas to the Lumière brothers, and from the cataclysm of the 1789 Revolution through the countercultural student protests of 1968 to today's \u003ci\u003egilets jaunes\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack's concise, insightful tour of the key historical moments and vibrant personalities that shaped France provides an indispensable guide to understanding the country today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833015455980,"sku":"9780500296813","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2788993482366.jpg?v=1758427646"},{"product_id":"paris-a-short-history-by-jeremy-black-9780500027080","title":"Paris: A Short History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA concise history of Paris and the great events and personalities, from prehistory to the present, that have shaped its unique cultural legacy.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnce described as 'that metropolis of dress and debauchery' by the Scottish poet David Mallet, then as now Paris had a reputation for a peculiar \u003ci\u003ejoie de vivre\u003c\/i\u003e. From style to sex, cookery to couture, it captivates minds and imaginations across the Continent and beyond. In \u003ci\u003eParis: A Short History\u003c\/i\u003e, Jeremy Black explores the unique cultural circumstances that made Paris the vibrant capital it is today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack explores how Paris has been shaped through the centuries, from the first century BCE, when the city was founded by the Parisii. From a small Gallic capital conquered by the Romans, Paris transformed into a flourishing medieval city full of spectacular palaces and cathedrals, including Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame de Paris. During the illustrious reigns of Louis XIV and XV, Paris became one of the most beautiful and cosmopolitan capitals in the world, before the Revolution tore French society apart, changing the city forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Belle Époque brought new ideas and architecture to the city, including the iconic Eiffel Tower, before the destruction of the First and Second World Wars launched a massive regeneration project. Black completes his history by exploring present-day Paris and its role as the seat of a leading power on the world stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack deftly demonstrates that the history of Paris is about more than a city: it is the history of a culture, a society, and a state that has impacted the rest of the world through centuries of changing fortunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833416667372,"sku":"9780500027080","price":41.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/91663482366.jpg?v=1758456456"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-britain-1851-2021-by-jeremy-black-9781408713617","title":"A Brief History of Britain 1851-2021","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the Great Exhibition's showcasing of British national achievement in 1851 to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Stratford in 2012 and on to Brexit, an insightful exploration of the transformation of modern Britain.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis revised and updated fourth and final volume in the concise \u003cem\u003eBrief History of Britain\u003c\/em\u003e series begins in the specially-constructed Crystal Palace, three times the length of St Paul's Cathedral, in Hyde Park at the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century. The Great Exhibition it housed marked a high point of British national achievement, at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, at the heart of a great empire, with Queen Victoria still to reign for fifty years. It was a time of confidence in the future, and exuberant patriotism for Britain's role in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe beginning of the Second World War in 1939 marks a turning point because of the great change it heralded in Britain's global standing. At its peak, protected by the world's greatest navy, the British Empire stretched from Australasia to Canada, from Hong Kong and India to South Africa, and from Jamaica to the Falklands. Now the empire is no more: a fundamental change not only for the world, but also for Britain. The Second World War had been won, but it had exhausted Britain and marked the beginning of its national decline.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack links cultural and political developments closely—transport, health, migration and economic and demographic factors—in order to make clear how porous and changeable the manifestations of national civilisation can be, and to make sense of themes such as the triumph of town over country, Britain's international clout and the shift from the dominance of the market at the turn of the nineteenth century to the growing significance of the state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eImportantly, he also looks at how public history has presented the nation's past, and how the changing and different ways we look at that past are central aspects of our shared history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848211943660,"sku":"9781408713617","price":91.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/15246863482689.jpg?v=1758967560"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-germany-by-jeremy-black-9781472145932","title":"A Brief History of Germany","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of Germany is intricately woven, threaded in time through its struggles and triumphs with religion, industrialisation, enlightenment, politics, unification, and war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA Brief History of Germany\u003c\/i\u003e, Jeremy Black questions how the Germany we know today came to be, chronicling the events that shaped its past, present and future in a fascinating new way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the fall of Rome in the 1500s to the enlightenment in the 1700s, from World War I and World War II to Germany post-unification, Black's writing will unlock the places and people that formed Germany and enrich your visit with stories of its society and culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConcise yet explorative, \u003ci\u003eA Brief History of Germany\u003c\/i\u003e is an astonishing work from a renowned UK historian. Whether you are a long-term reader of Black's expansive history work or are interested in learning more ahead of a short city break or longer trip, this intriguing look at the history of Germany is an essential read.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848212828396,"sku":"9781472145932","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/78c57a9e8d7580e244c41ffca1c75609.jpg?v=1759012631"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-portugal-by-jeremy-black-9781472143587","title":"A Brief History of Portugal","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Brief History of Portugal\u003c\/em\u003e by Jeremy Black is a comprehensive history that traces the evolution of Portugal from the Stone Age to the present day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book begins with an introduction that discusses geographical and climatic influences before delving into Portugal's prehistory and classical era, spanning from the Stone Age to the end of the Roman era. The narrative then moves to cover Portugal's history from AD 420 to the thirteenth century, including the era of the Suevi, Visigoths, and Moors. Readers will discover the development of Christian Portugal and the expulsion of the Moors, with insights into key historical sites.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA section on Spanish rule between 1580 and 1640 explains the reasons for Spain's takeover and the eventual collapse of Spanish rule in the region. The book significantly focuses on Portugal's global influence during the age of exploration from the fifteenth century to 1580. It describes the emergence of Manueline Portugal and prominent figures such as Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama. By highlighting Portugal's territories in places like the Azores, Madeira, West Africa, Brazil, Malacca, Macao, Goa, and Timor, the text illustrates Portugal's sustained imperial presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBaroque Portugal (1640–1800) is explored through its architectural marvels, including palaces in Mafra and Pombal, along with the wealth derived from Brazil. The nineteenth century, characterised by upheaval through the French invasion, the Peninsular War, Brazilian independence, successive revolutions, economic challenges, and the monarch's downfall, is vividly portrayed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn examining the early twentieth century, the author covers the tumult of Republican Portugal, the dictatorship of Salazar, and the transformative Carnation Revolution of 1974. Portugal's involvement in world wars and African wars is also scrutinised. The narrative progresses to discuss the transition from autocracy to a new democratic constitution, including the leadership of Soares, and addresses the fiscal challenges of recent times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout the book, Black introduces the history and character of Portugal's principal regions, such as the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands. He examines vital cultural aspects, including Portuguese food, wine, arts, and port. Notably, special sections are dedicated to Portugal's famous tiles and the historic university at Coimbra, established in 1290.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848215417068,"sku":"9781472143587","price":52.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3573393482712.jpg?v=1758968041"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-spain-by-jeremy-black-9781472141682","title":"A Brief History of Spain","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite being relatively brief, this very readable history covers environmental, political, social, economic, cultural, and artistic elements, and is very open to regional variations and to the extent that the history of the peninsula and of its political groupings was far from inevitable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts tone is accessible, supported by boxes providing supplemental information, and is perfect for travellers to Spain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Brief History of Spain\u003c\/em\u003e by Jeremy Black offers an engaging overview that enriches the understanding of Spain's diverse and complex past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848217907436,"sku":"9781472141682","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3554343482712.jpg?v=1758968177"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-the-atlantic-by-jeremy-black-9781472145918","title":"A Brief History of the Atlantic","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Atlantic has borne witness to major historic events that have drastically shaped humanity with each crossing of its path. In this broad and readable book, \u003cem\u003eA Brief History of the Atlantic\u003c\/em\u003e, Jeremy Black takes the reader through its evolution to becoming one of the most important oceans in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack discusses the importance of the Atlantic in relation to world history, addressing topics such as those bravest to attempt to cross the ocean before Columbus, the beginnings of slavery from 1400-1600, the struggle for control between empires in the 1600s, and the way technology adapted with steamships to telegraph cables. Moreover, he covers the battle of the Falkland and the Cold War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack also touches on the Atlantic we know today, and the struggles it faces due to urgent global issues including climate change, pollution, and the trials of the economic rise in the Indo-Pacific world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have ever yearned to know more about this famed and vital ocean, this clear and concise history will be a key read as one of the first of its kind on its evolution to becoming an established world ocean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848218235116,"sku":"9781472145918","price":80.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3596703482712.jpg?v=1758968202"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-the-mediterranean-by-jeremy-black-9781472144409","title":"A Brief History of the Mediterranean","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA wonderfully concise and readable, yet comprehensive, history of the Mediterranean Sea, the perfect companion for any visitor — or indeed, anyone compelled to stay at home.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSamuel Johnson, 1776\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mediterranean has always been a leading stage for world history; it is also visited each year by tens of millions of tourists, both local and international. Jeremy Black provides an account in which the experience of travel is foremost: travel for tourism, for trade, for war, for migration, for culture, or, as so often, for a variety of reasons. Travellers have always had a variety of goals and situations, from rulers to slaves, merchants to pirates, and Black covers them all, from Phoenicians travelling for trade to the modern tourist sailing for pleasure and cruising in great comfort.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout the book, the emphasis is on the sea, on coastal regions, and on port cities visited by cruise liners — Athens, Barcelona, Naples, Palermo. But it also looks beyond, notably to the other waters that flow into the Mediterranean — the Black Sea, the Atlantic, the Red Sea and rivers, from the Ebro and Rhone to the Nile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of western Eurasia and northern Africa played, and continues to play, a role, directly or indirectly, in the fate of the Mediterranean. At times, that can make the history of the sea an account of conflict after conflict, but it is necessary to understand these wars in order to grasp the changing boundaries of the Mediterranean states, societies, and religions, the buildings that have been left, and peoples' cultures, senses of identity, and histories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack explores the centrality of the Mediterranean to the Western experience of travel, beginning in antiquity with the Phoenicians, Minoans, and Greeks. He shows how the Roman Empire united the sea, and how it was later divided by Christianity and Islam. He tells the story of the rise and fall of the maritime empires of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, describes how galley warfare evolved, and how the Mediterranean fired the imagination of Shakespeare, among many artists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Renaissance and Baroque to the seventeenth-century beginnings of English tourism — to the Aegean, Sicily, and other destinations — Black examines the culture of the Mediterranean. He shows how English naval power grew, culminating in Nelson's famous victory over the French in the Battle of the Nile and the establishment of Gibraltar, Minorca, and Malta as naval bases. Black explains the retreat of Islam in North Africa, describes the age of steam navigation, and looks at how and why the British occupied Cyprus, Egypt, and the Ionian Islands. He looks at the impact of the Suez Canal as a new sea route to India.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848220954860,"sku":"9781472144409","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3581613482712.jpg?v=1758968339"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-britain-in-100-maps-by-jeremy-black-9780712354714","title":"A History of Britain in 100 Maps","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eA History of Britain in 100 Maps\u003c\/em\u003e, Jeremy Black takes readers deep into the unparalleled collections of the British Library Map Room to tell a new story of the British Isles through acknowledged treasures and previously undiscovered and unpublished items.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePresenting in detail 100 important maps, Black explores major themes in British history, from settlement, environmental change, state formation, and ecclesiastical development to industrialisation, urbanisation, and modern socio-political developments. In doing so, he also tells the story of how a rich mapmaking tradition developed from the medieval Mappa Mundi to the work of pioneering cartographers including Matthew Paris, John Speed, and Christopher Saxton, and on through institutions such as the Ordnance Survey and the A-Z Company.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCartographic records of the Civil War and Great Fire, or curiosities including Emil Reich's 'Map of British Genius', are contrasted with infographic maps of recent elections and the COVID-19 epidemic. The book also considers the growing field of fine and digital artists using delineated images of Britain as their subject matter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848290291948,"sku":"9780712354714","price":105.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16933753482441.jpg?v=1758971487"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-railways-in-100-maps-by-jeremy-black-9780712355018","title":"A History of Railways in 100 Maps","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContinuing the thematic strand of the successful and proven British Library '100 Maps' series, this new volume traces the fully international history of railways from their beginnings in the north-west of England through to the inter-continental lines of today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eArranged chronologically, and with some 140 newly photographed maps and ephemera from the British Library's cartographic holdings, \u003cem\u003eA History of Railways in 100 Maps\u003c\/em\u003e explores both the progress of the railways and railway infrastructure across the globe, and through mountains, deserts, cities, and even under oceans. The volume also charts the development of how railways were surveyed and presented in two- and three-dimensional forms for the purposes of engineering and construction, politics, economics, and indeed war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA dedicated chapter looks at fantasy and literary railway maps, while the book concludes with a presentation of recent breakthroughs in railway infrastructure, design, and mapping, and also looks ahead to future developments in this most lasting of transport inventions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848292552940,"sku":"9780712355018","price":105.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16936793482441.jpg?v=1758971711"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-the-second-world-war-in-100-maps-by-jeremy-black-9780712355315","title":"A History of the Second World War in 100 Maps","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst the First World War had seen an exceptional growth in the use and production of military cartography, the global conflict that followed employed maps, charts, reconnaissance, radar, sonar, and the systematic recording and processing of geographical and topographical information on an unprecedented scale. It is impossible to understand the events and outcomes of the Second World War without deep reference to mapping at all levels. Maps themselves became the weapons and had a decisive impact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this highly original work, Jeremy Black, one of the world's leading military and cartographic historians, shows how fundamental maps were to the conflict as he charts its historical sweep across each of the major theatres. The book's thematic arrangement—exploring the conflict's maps through strategic, operational, tactical, reportage, and propaganda means—provides a truly ground-breaking perspective.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe story is told through 100 key maps, many photographed for the very first time, from the unrivalled collections of the British Library and other major cartographic holdings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA History of the Second World War in 100 Maps\u003c\/em\u003e offers readers a unique and insightful look into the critical role maps played in shaping the course and outcome of the war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46848296911084,"sku":"9780712355315","price":69.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/16939763482441.jpg?v=1758972065"},{"product_id":"paris-by-jeremy-black-9780500297438","title":"Paris","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA concise history of Paris and the great events and personalities, from prehistory to the present, that have shaped its unique cultural legacy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eParis\u003c\/i\u003e has long been celebrated as a place of style, wit, and sensuality. In this deft and broad-ranging narrative, Jeremy Black demonstrates that the history of Paris is about more than a city: it is the history of a culture, a society, and a state that has impacted the rest of the world through centuries of changing fortunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack explores how a humble Gallic capital grew into a flourishing medieval city full of spectacular palaces and cathedrals. He depicts the opulent courts of Louis XIV and XV and the Revolution that tore French society apart; the Belle Époque and the destruction of World Wars I and II, leading us on to the Paris of today: one of the most iconic cities in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46849664254188,"sku":"9780500297438","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2795243482366.jpg?v=1759058973"},{"product_id":"strategy-and-the-second-world-war-by-jeremy-black-9781472145109","title":"Strategy and the Second World War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStrategy and the Second World War\u003c\/em\u003e by Jeremy Black offers a concise, accessible account of strategy during the Second World War. It explores how the war was both won and lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1941, the Second World War expanded into a global conflict when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, and Germany declared war on the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis timely book fills a significant gap by engaging with the strategic issues of the era, as they developed chronologically and interacted with each other. It also relates these strategies to subsequent debates about the choices made, revealing their lasting political implications.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeginning with Appeasement and the Soviet-German pact as key strategic elements, Jeremy Black examines the impact of France's fall on the strategies of all the powers involved. He demonstrates how Allied strategy-making was more effective at the Anglo-American level compared to that with the Soviet Union, not only for ideological and political reasons but also because the Americans and British possessed a better understanding of the global dimension.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe book explores how German and Japanese strategies evolved as the war progressed unfavourably for the Axis powers. It discusses the extent to which efforts to shape the post-war world influenced Allied strategic choices from 1943 onwards and the role these played in post-war politics, particularly during the Cold War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStrategy was not only a crucial tool for conducting the war; it remains essential for understanding it today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46849975943404,"sku":"9781472145109","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3588613482712.jpg?v=1759070331"},{"product_id":"the-french-revolutionary-and-napoleonic-wars-by-jeremy-black-9781538163702","title":"The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wars between 1792 and 1815 saw the making of the modern world, with Britain and Russia the key powers to emerge triumphant from a long period of bitter conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this innovative book, \u003cem\u003eThe French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars\u003c\/em\u003e, Jeremy Black focuses on the strategic contexts and strategies involved, explaining their significance both at the time and subsequently.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReinterpreting French Revolutionary and Napoleonic warfare, strategy, and their consequences, he argues that Napoleon’s failure owed much to his limitations as a strategist. Black uses this framework as a foundation to assess the nature of warfare, the character of strategy, and the eventual ascendance of Britain and Russia in this period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRethinking the character of strategy, this is the first history to look holistically at the strategies of all the leading belligerents from a global perspective. 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Black explores the context of Doyle’s ideas and stories and why they struck such a chord with readers in London and, ultimately, the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe portrays a complex man with eclectic interests, from soccer to spiritualism, from cricket to divorce-law reform. Standing twice for Parliament, Doyle was a committed meritocrat whose political experiences and values were expressed through his writings. Reading the Holmes stories through the lens of Doyle’s multifaceted career, Black throws fresh light on the values expressed in them and how Holmes would have been perceived at the time. He traces the imperial strand in the Holmes stories and his treatment of America and Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on a masterly knowledge both of Doyle’s era and his writings, this entertaining and wide-ranging book uses the Holmes stories to bring Victorian England to vibrant life, a world where crimes large and small abound and where dark corners and well-lit drawing rooms alike hide villainy. Holmes was a hero and an inspiration for many a character who redefined the idea of detection and the detective, a private man of great public importance. \u003cem\u003eThe Game Is Afoot\u003c\/em\u003e is his story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46850048458988,"sku":"9781538161463","price":60.11,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/17778983482735.jpg?v=1759078012"},{"product_id":"a-brief-history-of-italy-by-jeremy-black-9781472140890","title":"A Brief History of Italy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJeremy Black skilfully sketches social, cultural and political trends\u003c\/strong\u003e - Christina Hardyment, \u003ci\u003eTimes\u003c\/i\u003e audiobook of the week\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA remarkable mixture of cold history, wide culture and personal experience\u003c\/strong\u003e - Ciro Paoletti, Secretary General of the Italian Commission of Military History\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDespite the Roman Empire's famous 500-year reign over Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East, Italy does not have the same long national history as states such as France or England. Divided for much of its history, Italy's regions have been, at various times, parts of bigger, often antagonistic empires, notably those of Spain and Austria. In addition, its challenging and varied terrain made consolidation of political control all the more difficult. This concise history covers, in very readable fashion, the formative events in Italy's past from the rise of Rome, through a unified country in thrall to fascism in the first half of the twentieth century right up to today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe birthplace of the Renaissance and the place where the Baroque was born, Italy has always been a hotbed of culture. Within modern Italy, there is fierce regional pride in the cultures and identities that mark out Tuscany, Rome, Sicily and Venice, to name just a few of Italy's many famous regions. \u003ci\u003eA Brief History of Italy\u003c\/i\u003e draws on the diaries, memoirs and letters of historic travellers to Italy to gain insight into the passions of its people, first chronologically then regionally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn telling Italy's story, Black examines what it is that has given Italians such cultural clout - from food and drink, music and fashion, to art and architecture - and explores the causes and effects of political events, and the divisions that still exist today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000419533036,"sku":"9781472140890","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3546423482712.jpg?v=1763278739"},{"product_id":"studying-history-by-donald-macraild-9781137478597","title":"Studying History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis best-selling guide will help you get to grips with the larger themes and issues behind historical study, while also showing you how to formulate your own ideas in a clear, analytical style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFully updated throughout, further advice on using web-based sources and avoiding plagiarism will equip you with the tools you need to succeed on your course.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStudying History\u003c\/em\u003e by Donald MacRaild and Jeremy Black is an essential resource for any student looking to deepen their understanding of history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47432694530284,"sku":"9781137478597","price":60.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781137478597.jpg?v=1774556748"},{"product_id":"smolletts-britain-by-jeremy-black-9781587318535","title":"Smollett`s Britain","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed British historian examines the layers of craft and insight in Tobias Smollett, and discusses the particular nature of his genius and influence on British culture. Once again, Black acquaints the reader with the full range of a prolific writer's works and offers a backstage tour of the meaning and context of Britain's most beloved stories and story-tellers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSmollett's Britain\u003c\/em\u003e by Jeremy Black delves deep into the life and works of Smollett, providing a comprehensive look at his significant contributions to literature and culture. This insightful exploration is a must-read for those interested in understanding the nuanced impact of Smollett's writings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47461422366956,"sku":"9781587318535","price":161.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587318535-smollett-s-britain.jpg?v=1774967302"},{"product_id":"in-fieldings-wake-by-jeremy-black-9781587314285","title":"In Fielding′s Wake","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the second volume of The Weight of Words Series, Jeremy Black continues his efforts to present and preserve Britain's literary genius. Its intelligence and enduring influence is in large part reliant on the underlining conservatism that has motivated authors such as Agatha Christie (Black's earlier subject) and Henry Fielding alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFielding's epic comic novel, \u003ci\u003eTom Jones\u003c\/i\u003e, is unforgettable for many reasons, but the author must be credited with an aptitude for documenting contemporary cultural history and his contribution to a new species of writing. Black's treatment of Fielding draws to the fore a man who was of his time but not confined to it. \"Philosophy in practice encompassed his stance as a man of action as well as a reflective writer of genius.\" Fielding is shown to provide across the breadth of his work extensive and invaluable commentary on issues as diverse as law and order, marriage, women, and the interplay of urban and rural life. Black, an historian, is here a student of storytelling and recovers Fielding's rich descriptions of the human heart and call to defy the vices with which circumstances might taunt it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack has done a service along many fronts at once: the science of the novel and genre, the history of a people and the figure of a memorable writer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47463251542252,"sku":"9781587314285","price":41.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587314285-in-fielding-s-wake.jpg?v=1775030449"},{"product_id":"the-importance-of-being-poirot-by-jeremy-black-9781587314254","title":"The Importance of Being Poirot","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by the renowned British historian who has been described as both utterly thorough and humanely delicate, Jeremy Black offers a guided tour through the mind of Agatha Christie and life during the Great World Wars. His incomparable treatment of literary craft developing alongside global military engagement nearly overshadows the natural draw of the crime drama that is the subject of his book. Indeed, the “prurience and sensationalism” of crime is not as exciting as Black’s aptitude for drawing the reality from the fiction (and periphery sources), giving Christie a much louder voice than she might ever have dreamed. If Christie is also moralist and mirror to her times, Black here plays his part as the detective and reveals layers of previously unmined truths in her stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHercule Poirot as a character is masterfully imagined, but Black shows us how he is inseparable from Christie’s turbulent and changing world. He also illuminates significant social commentary in Christie’s fiction, and in so doing Black often uses his authority to vindicate Christie’s work from hastily, at times stupidly, applied labels and interpretations. He is especially magnificent in his chapters, \u003cem\u003eXenophobia\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Sixties\u003c\/em\u003e. Black nevertheless gives due recognition to Christie’s critics when they have something relevant and reasonable to say, and hence the reader finds yet another service in Black’s comprehensive review of the reviewers over the expanse of Christie’s writing career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor all this, Black proves himself to be a worthy history-teller because he can aptly ‘detect’ the meaning of stories that seek to answer the past and guide the present. His erudition runs much deeper than his ability to navigate the stores of resources available on the subject, and the reader gets a glimpse of this early on when in the introduction he proffers his own defence for writing about the importance of a Hercule Poirot. Black writes, “the notion of crime had a moral component from the outset, and notably so in terms of the struggle between Good and Evil, and in the detection of the latter. Indeed, it is this detection that is the basis of the most powerful strand of detection story, because Evil disguises its purposes. It has to do so in a world and humanity made fundamentally benign and moral by God.” The Golden Age of detective novels represents much more than a triumph of a literary genre. It is in its own right a story of how the challenge to address the problem of evil was accepted. Its convergence with the plot-rich narrative of the twentieth century in the modern age renders Black’s account a thrilling masterpiece, seducing historians to read fiction and crime junkies to read more history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471795405036,"sku":"9781587314254","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587314254-the-importance-of-being-poirot.jpg?v=1775254892"},{"product_id":"the-importance-of-being-poirot-by-jeremy-black-9781587314278","title":"The Importance of Being Poirot","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten by the renowned British historian who has been described as both utterly thorough and humanely delicate, Jeremy Black offers a guided tour through the mind of Agatha Christie and life during the Great World Wars. His incomparable treatment of literary craft developing alongside global military engagement nearly overshadows the natural draw of the crime drama that is the subject of his book. Indeed, the “prurience and sensationalism” of crime is not as exciting as Black’s aptitude for drawing the reality from the fiction (and periphery sources), giving Christie a much louder voice than she might ever have dreamed. If Christie is also moralist and mirror to her times, Black here plays his part as the detective and reveals layers of previously unmined truths in her stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHercule Poirot as a character is masterfully imagined, but Black shows us how he is inseparable from Christie’s turbulent and changing world. He also illuminates significant social commentary in Christie’s fiction, and in so doing Black often uses his authority to vindicate Christie’s work from hastily, at times stupidly, applied labels and interpretations. He is especially magnificent in his chapters, \u003cem\u003eXenophobia\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Sixties\u003c\/em\u003e. Black nevertheless gives due recognition to Christie’s critics when they have something relevant and reasonable to say, and hence the reader finds yet another service in Black’s comprehensive review of the reviewers over the expanse of Christie’s writing career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor all this, Black proves himself to be a worthy history-teller because he can aptly ‘detect’ the meaning of stories that seeks to answer the past and guide the present. His erudition runs much deeper than his ability to navigate the stores of resources available on the subject, and the reader gets a glimpse of this early on when in the introduction he proffers his own defence for writing about the importance of a Hercule Poirot. Black writes, “the notion of crime had a moral component from the outset, and notably so in terms of the struggle between Good and Evil, and in the detection of the latter. Indeed, it is this detection that is the basis of the most powerful strand of detection story, because Evil disguises its purposes. It has to do so in a world and humanity made fundamentally benign and moral by God.” The Golden Age of detective novels represents much more than a triumph of a literary genre. It is in its own right a story of how the challenge to address the problem of evil was accepted. Its convergence with the plot-rich narrative of the twentieth century in the modern age renders Black’s account a thrilling masterpiece, seducing historians to read fiction and crime junkies to read more history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471795503340,"sku":"9781587314278","price":85.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587314278-the-importance-of-being-poirot.jpg?v=1775254902"},{"product_id":"britains-imperial-histories-by-jeremy-black-9781587310874","title":"Britain's Imperial Histories","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMilitary historian Jeremy Black continues his review of the global context of martial conflict and spatial conquest into the modern era (16th–20th centuries), focusing on the British empire and its lasting effect on this landscape. Black offers a representation of the \"imperial experience\" that is eye-opening for a generation of readers who associate this with a strictly negative connotation. But the notion of an empire is not understood at all if this is true. Indeed, not only is there \"no one type of empire, no prototype,\" the basis of empire is much more \u003cem\u003eorder\u003c\/em\u003e than it is \u003cem\u003einvasion\u003c\/em\u003e. Furthermore, reflecting on the unavoidable cultural and sociological symbiosis and transfer, Black makes the case that in all instances of influence and encounter, sameness between peoples never results. But how does one distinguish influence from control? What are the long-term benefits among peoples? \"To many today, empire might seem obvious: governors with ostrich-feathers in their colonial garb ruling non-White peoples; but this scarcely describes the situation across time and place.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhy did the European empires ultimately fall? When approaching this question, \u003cem\u003eBritain's Imperial Histories\u003c\/em\u003e proposes that the perspective of \"making and remaking of the international system\" be made distinct from the \"rational pursuit of power and wealth and the use of technology.\" As seen in earlier work, Black's brilliance is centred in his capacity to incorporate the complexity of war and its battles in his assessments, while never neglecting the fact that wars themselves have specific and broad contexts that must be read thoroughly. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother highlight of the present work includes more insight into the British-American relationship and American political identity. \"If the British empire is blamed for many of the aspects of modernization and globalization, is also serves as a way of offering historical depth to a critique of American power.\" Yet he is also adept at drawing in Asia into the study and does so with uncommon acumen. This book provides an approach to history that has been neglected, especially in the New World, and connects the present to the past with a kind of hermeneutical responsibility that has been of late abandoned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47602840666348,"sku":"9781587310874","price":51.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587310874-britain-s-imperial-histories.jpg?v=1778048359"},{"product_id":"introduction-to-global-military-history-by-jeremy-black-9781138922471","title":"Introduction to Global Military History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIntroduction to Global Military History\u003c\/em\u003e provides a lucid and comprehensive account of military developments around the modern world from the eighteenth century up to the present day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeginning with the background to the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary wars and ending with the recent conflicts of the twenty-first century, this third edition combines fully up-to-date global coverage with close analysis not only of the military aspects of war but also its social, cultural, political and economic dimensions and repercussions. The new edition includes a fully revised chapter on conflicts during the eighteenth century, updated coverage of events post-1990, and increased coverage of non-Western conflicts to provide a truly international account of the varied and changing nature of modern military history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCovering lesser-known conflicts as well as the familiar wars of history and illustrated throughout with maps, primary source extracts, and case studies, it is essential reading for all students of modern military history and international relations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47932294037740,"sku":"9781138922471","price":341.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781138922471-introduction-to-global-military-history.jpg?v=1783858016"},{"product_id":"introduction-to-global-military-history-by-jeremy-black-9781138484191","title":"Introduction to Global Military History","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIntroduction to Global Military History\u003c\/em\u003e provides a lucid and comprehensive account of military developments around the modern world from the eighteenth century up to the present day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeginning with the background to the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary wars and ending with the recent conflicts of the twenty-first century, this third edition combines fully up-to-date global coverage with close analysis not only of the military aspects of war but also its social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions and repercussions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe new edition includes a fully revised chapter on conflicts during the eighteenth century, updated coverage of events post-1990, and increased coverage of non-Western conflicts to provide a truly international account of the varied and changing nature of modern military history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCovering lesser-known conflicts as well as the familiar wars of history and illustrated throughout with maps, primary source extracts, and case studies, it is essential reading for all students of modern military history and international relations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47932294070508,"sku":"9781138484191","price":93.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781138484191-introduction-to-global-military-history.jpg?v=1783858026"},{"product_id":"the-revolutionary-war-by-jeremy-black-9781587316937","title":"The Revolutionary War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMilitary historian Jeremy Black follows his engagement with the American Civil War (St. Augustine's Press, 2025) with a review of the Revolutionary War in North America and the strategic asymmetry it presents. This was a key episode for global affairs and formative for the United States, but also fascinating for military history as a whole. Black's earlier treatment of this war (1991) remains operational, but he thought it \"necessary to revisit the subject and reconsider not only the specifics of assessment, but also the more general ways of analysing and presenting the struggle.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack's rendering of the war is accurate, well-researched, and successfully hits his target without undue speculation. Identifying all the factors at play is one of Black's strengths, as is his sober restraint in applying hindsight while evaluating leadership and campaigns throughout. His field of vision is expansive and refers to the global theatre when offering any kind of final statements—for example, in his claim that the Revolution was largely lost long after the conclusion of battles, and that Canada in British hands underlined the failure of revolutionary efforts and the embodiment of continued threats.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Revolutionary War\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterful treatment of an historical event and also the very nature of revolutionary warfare. Black is a fair-handed assessor of 'American' interests and strategic politics, and likewise observant in explaining that Britain was not entirely bested by the revolution even in losing the war. His discussion of the aftermath is as critical as his illustration of the beginning of hostilities, as in his chapter dedicated to \"heritages, lessons, and retrospectives.\" Black is one of the most important and prolific historians of his generation, a writer whose concise and thorough manner renders readers in the United States a refreshing service of understanding their history more deeply.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47933336289516,"sku":"9781587316937","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781587316937-the-revolutionary-war.jpg?v=1783867337"},{"product_id":"the-civil-war-by-jeremy-black-9781587311178","title":"The Civil War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe American Civil War may have been more consequential to American history (and its global supremacy) than its Revolutionary War and participation in all other world wars. The influence of this war is not just reduced to the victory of the north and its economic infrastructure, but the fact of Union success ushered in the notion of 'what it means to be American' that even the revolution could not instill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEuropean military historian Jeremy Black reorients readers to see what was extraordinary in the civil war of 'the American colonies' and why this was warfare unlike anything that could be properly understood on the world stage at that time. He also examines with expertise the role of foreign powers (or lack thereof).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack's treatment might be the doom of civil war counterfactuals. Was the south destined to fail? Was it weaker motive, faulty strategy, or lack of European support? Was the north just lucky, or possessed of foresight and providential endowment? Black dispels romanticism and sentimentalist hindsight—the American Civil War is unparalleled in many respects, but it is not without clear lessons in warcraft, diplomacy, and cultural–economic impasse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, Black's \u003cem\u003eCivil War\u003c\/em\u003e is a new resource that teaches, reaffirms, and reminds readers of the intensity of the American past—in both error and idealistic impulse—that might continue to guide us to the best future and avoid the lose-lose circumstances of a civil war. Black's acumen for historical review in this case renders a kind of warning: May the leaders of men in the future come to a better way of self-realization than give way to the internal conflict that pits father against son, and sister against brother. But if he must engage, at least understand the distinction between war and politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlack's objective and concise account is a treasure for students and experts alike who need clarity and insight without too much of an investment. The take-away is an appreciation for the American spirit that civil strife petrified and an understanding of the tactical progression of this conflict and the context of combat of that era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48010621026540,"sku":"9781587311178","price":52.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/a54a93592f6f78e905cb6d30058c0c8b.jpg?v=1787727853"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/jeremy-black.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}