Cambridge Illustrated Histories – serie

The new edition of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare, written and updated by a team of nine distinguished military historians, examines how war was waged by Western powers across a sweeping timeframe, beginning with classical Greece and Rome, moving through the Middle Ages and the early modern period, down to the wars of the twenty-first century in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The book stresses five essential aspects of the Western way of war: a combination of technology, discipline, and an aggressive military tradition with an extraordinary capacity to respond rapidly to challenges and to use capital rather than manpower to win. Although the focus remains on the West, and on the role of violence in its rise, each chapter also examines the military effectiveness of its adversaries and the regions in which the West's military edge has been - and continues to be - challenged.

More populous than any other country on earth, China also occupies a unique place in our modern world for the continuity of its history and culture. In this sumptuously illustrated single-volume history, now in its second edition, noted historian Patricia Buckley Ebrey traces the origins of Chinese culture from prehistoric times to the present. She follows its development from the rise of Confucianism, Buddhism, and the great imperial dynasties to the Mongol, Manchu, and Western intrusions and the modern communist state. Her scope is phenomenal - embracing Chinese arts, culture, economics, society and its treatment of women, foreign policy, emigration, and politics, including the key uprisings of 1919 and 1989 in Tiananmen Square. Both a comprehensive introduction to an extraordinary civilization and an expert exploration of the continuities and disjunctures of Chinese history, Professor Ebrey's book has become an indispensable guide to China past and present. This second edition includes a new chapter on China's recent opening to the world and a fully revised guide to further reading.

Combining superb illustration with authoritative text, this is a major political and social history of France from earliest times to the eve of the new millennium. Colin Jones offers not only an expert's account of political, social and cultural developments, but also a fresh and full interpretation of French history. The Cambridge Illustrated History of France places an innovatory emphasis on the importance of issues of regionalism, class, gender and race in the French heritage. Ranging across social, political, geographical and cultural lines - from prehistoric menhirs to the Pompidou Centre, from Louis XIV's Versailles to twentieth-century high-rises, from Marie Antoinette to Marie Claire - the author provides a host of lively and penetrating new insights into the shaping of the modern nation.

From its mythical foundation in 753 BC to its sack in the fifth century AD, the city of Rome had an impact on the world that it would be hard to overestimate. At its height the empire which it built up stretched from northern Britain to the deserts of Arabia. In this new history an international team of historians, archaeologists and classicists presents a vision of the world's most famous imperial power based on the most up-to-date research and discoveries. Chapters and box-features present gripping accounts of Roman history and literature and deal with themes ranging from medicine to warfare. They are supported by a rich set of illustrations of sites, monuments and works of art from across the Empire. Read together, these build up a fascinating picture of a civilization permeated by its imperial role, and of the colossal costs as well as the gains of empire.