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Haile Salassie, the scion of a dynasty that was reputed to descend from King Soloman, was a pioneer of African unity and independence, a staunch confederate of the Allies in their fight against the fascist Axis powers and the messiah of the Jamaican Rastafarian movement. A reformer and an autocracy, his rule was brought to a brutal and ignominious end when he was toppled and and murdered by communist rebels.Asfa-Wossen Asserate – a close descendant, who knew the Emperor personally – for the first time brings clarity to the life of this impressive and complex personality. King of Kings is the story of the most eminent African ruler of the 20th century and the country he ruled through both stirring and tragic times.

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the forces of resistance were disparate and divided mujahideen groups, as interested in fighting each other and competing for Western arms as opposing the Russians. The exception was Ahmed Shah Massoud, the military strategist and political operator who solidified the resistance and undermined the Russian occupation by leading its members to a series of defensive victories.Sandy Gall was embedded with Massoud during Soviet offences and reported on the war in Afghanistan for a number of years. He has now written an illuminating biography of this charismatic guerrilla commander, which contains excerpts from the surviving volumes of Massoud's diaries. Massoud's prolific diary-keeping was little known during his lifetime, and his entries detail crucial moments in his life and throw fascinating light on his struggles, both in the resistance and in his personal life. Born into an ostensibly liberalising Afghanistan in the 1960s, Massoud ardently opposed communism and Mohammed Daoud, Afghanistan's puppet leader. He quickly rose to prominence and distinguished himself by coordinating the defence of the Panjshir Valley against repeated Soviet offensives. As the occupation wore on, Massoud became the resistance's unifying force.Massoud's assassination in 2001 presaged the attack on the Twin Towers just two days later and it is widely believed to have been ordered by Osama bin Laden. Forever the underdog in a life dominated by conflict, Massoud's attempts to build political consensus in Afghanistan were ultimately frustrated. Despite that, he is recognised today as a national hero.

The Socialist politician Karl Renner (1870 1950) was prime minister of the government that took power in Vienna after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He lead the delegation to Paris, which had to face the difficult issue of reparations and war guilt, for which the Allies held the successor states to the Empire responsible for. Fortunately, Renner was a likeable man and a realist, and the Austrian delegation became quite popular in Paris. The new Austrian state was in a perilous condition in 1919, on the brink of starvation and revolution, and facing territorial demands from both Italy, which had its eyes on the Tyrol, and the new Yugoslavia. Many in the German-speaking rump of the Empire sought union with Germany, Anschluss, but the Allied Powers vetoed it. Austria is often overlooked as one of the successor states to the Habsburg Empire, but it was no less important in the postwar settlement than Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the Balkan countries. Jamie Bulloch's account of Karl Renner's adroit handling of a difficult situation makes for fascinating reading.

In recent years, tourists have discovered the rustic charms of Puglia, also known as Apulia, the heel stretching down from the spur of the Italian boot. The region boasts beautiful landscapes and miles of dramatic coastline, cities with Romanesque cathedrals, Gothic castles, and a tremendous wealth of Baroque architecture, as well as rupestrian churches containing Byzantine frescoes. Yet until this book, almost nothing about the region had been published in English since the days of Norman Douglas and the Sitwells. Filling that gap, "Old Puglia" is an entertaining exploration of the area and its historical influences, cultural sites, and emerging popularity. Now fashionable as the new Tuscany, Puglia is featured on radio and television; travel supplements describe its beaches and cooking; and supermarkets worldwide stock Apulian wine, olive oil, bread, and pasta. Desmond Seward and Susan Mountgarret introduce readers to the story behind the destination, as they combine in-depth writing on Puglian history with discussions of the area s contemporary culture.A fascinating look at a region whose ancient roots continue to delight modern enthusiasts, "Old Puglia" will entertain travelers, history buffs, and everyone with a taste for Italy."

In an accessible survey of the last century, Contested Lands tells the story of the Middle East since the First World War: what happened, why, and what it all means today.With a focus on the many conflicts in the region over the last one hundred years, T. G. Fraser analyses the fault lines of the tension: the damaging legacies of imperialism; the creation of the State of Israel; the competition between secular, autocratic rulers and emerging democratic and theocratic forces; and the rise - and fall - of Arab Nationalism in the face of fraying regional alliances and the Islamic revival.Against this backdrop comes the twenty-first century, marked first by the tragedy of 9/11, then the 'Arab Spring', the Syria's civil war and now the Israel-Hamas conflict. And amid it all, complex social and economic change have transformed the region. In Contested Lands, T. G. Fraser untangles the threads of history in the Middle East and, in doing so, weaves a detailed and insightful picture of a troubled region and why its heritage remains important today.

The siren-like qualities of the Sicilian capital are woven layer upon layer, each one revealing a stratum of the city's character. In Palermo, Robert Alajmo lays out a compelling series of reflections on the city's apparently endless facets. Disguised as a tourist's handbook but written from the view of a lifelong resident - with all the experience, affection, inside knowledge and frustrations that entails - Alajmo offers more than the ordinary recommendations for travellers. Palermo has been at history's crossroads since recorded time began; an archive of hidden cultural, architectural and culinary jewels. Its people, their politics and their secrets, are subtly revealed, as is the ineffable presence of the mafia in the cycles of daily life. Ultimately what is described is the essence of the city and its beauty.

In 2006, "Time magazine" listed the King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, as one of the 100 'leaders and revolutionaries' who are changing our world today. Yet it was only in the 1960s that the first road linking "The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon" with India was opened, and since 1974 only a strictly limited number of tourists have been allowed to visit each year. Martin Uitz, a renowned expert on Bhutan, describes how the Bhutanese, in pursuit of the principle of 'Gross National Happiness', are carefully moving towards a more modern future, including a constitution and democracy, whilst preserving their traditional society and attempting to conserve the environment. Uitz made many fascinating discoveries in this enigmatic Kingdom. He was able to explain why the only traffic light was taken out of service, why six men are not allowed to go on a journey together, and what the subtle eroticism of a traditional hot-stone bath is all about. Along the way he also discovered that the Bhutanese hills are more alive with Edelweiss than the hills around his native Salzburg.

In the Gaza Strip, growing up on land owned by his family for centuries, fourteen-year-old Yousef is preoccupied by video games, school pranks, and meeting his father’s impossibly high standards.Everything changes when the Second Intifada erupts and soldiers occupy the family home, turning it into a virtual prison. Overtime, Yousef learns the rules of his new life in captivity – but he can’t anticipate that an Israeli bullet is about to transform his future in an instant.

During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, an Iraqi journalist is given a tour of a military prison. He is informed by the major in charge about what is expected of him: he is to write a fabricated report about a murder that has occurred in the camp, in order to demoralise the enemy soldiers. The journalist is unwilling to write this story. In a long night of intense discussion at his home, he speaks to the major of a historic conflict between the two countries and tells him that he is writing a novel about a group of soldiers trapped on a hill, dying of thirst as they compete for a water tank with a group of enemy soldiers on the opposite hill. So far the water tank has remained undamaged at the bottom of a rift between the hills, but neither group has a hope of reaching it without being shot by the other. Delirious, the soldiers await their end: either being saved by a fabled female lion who feeds her milk to all who are thirsty, or morphing into doves once they are martyred. At the same time, in Iran, another writer remembers how he first came into contact with a gun...In a narrative riddled with surreal images, shifting perspectives and dark humour, Dowlatabadi blurs the boundaries between the two warring countries as he questions the meaning of national identity when confronted with time and human suffering.

In the Future of Yesterday offers a refreshing approach to the life and work of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, delving into his considerable contribution to world literature, rooted in the Austro-Jewish tradition.A world traveller from the outset, Zweig liked to uproot himself – but whether he stayed in London, New York, or eventually Brazil, his literary baggage continued to contain the flair of fin de siècle Vienna.Looking anew at Zweig’s influential time in England and offering fresh insights into his final years in the United States and Brazil, Görner discusses Zweig’s prolific literary output in relation to his life and treats his political views on Europe, Zionism, and the world order with great depth and scrutiny.Most importantly, In the Future of Yesterday shows Zweig as a towering figure of a form of writing that was bursting with life and was written in the knowledge that there can only be a future if we remain conscious of the past.

From Lord Salisbury to Tony Blair, the books of this twenty-volume set biographically profile the nineteen men and one woman who served as Prime Minister of Britain during the twentieth century. Each volume contains a chronological narrative that examines the life prior to arrival at 10 Downing Street, their activities while holding the premiership, and assesses their political legacy. Each volume also contains a chronology detailing international and domestic British political and cultural events during the prime minister’s tenure and a guide to further reading.

This is a biography of the first Prime Minister of the 20th Century during the height of the British Empire.

The British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour led an eventual premiership, but will always be remembered for the 'Balfour Declaration', in which he told Lord Rothschild that Britain 'favoured the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People'.

Roy Hattersley brings the politician's to this concise history of the life of Henry Campbell-Bannerman, widely considered to be an ineffective Prime Minister; he was in fact the liberal of the 20th century to occupy the post.