Shortest History Series – serie

Ancient Rome gave rise to the Roman Empire, one of history’s greatest civilizations. It flourished for roughly five hundred years and, at its height, made up at least 20 percent of the world’s population. It left an indelible mark on the world, shaping politics, laws, philosophy, and architecture, and gave us Roman numerals, the calendar, aqueducts, and concrete. Alongside the Greeks, the Romans laid the groundwork for Western civilization.In this fast-paced history, Ross King introduces the emperors and warriors, the madmen and upstarts, and the artists and gladiators responsible for the empire’s rise, reign, and ruin. King’s vivid narrative offers fresh context for key political and religious events and paints lively portraits of Rome’s most formidable and notorious leaders. Spanning over one thousand years of Roman history, The Shortest History of Ancient Rome brings an ancient civilization to vibrant life, elucidating why the Romans still matter to us today.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

When Britain’s thirteen American colonies declared their independence on July 4, 1776, the United States of America was born. It became a profoundly powerful nation that, for much of its history, has been the crucible of invention and creativity, a refuge for millions, and a beacon of hope, freedom, and multiculturalism. But from the start, it was hardly united. In this insightful, evenhanded account, Don Watson highlights the key figures who fought for the country’s inalienable rights and embodied its indomitable spirit—in politics and at home, on the frontiers and in its cities, in books and music and on screens. And he traces how the central conflicts of the United States—those over freedom, race, enterprise, religion, and violence—evolve through its history. As we witness a country at war with itself in the 1860s, leading the free world less than a hundred years later, and beset by wild division and turmoil in the twenty-first century, we see that this singular nation has never ceased changing—and that the American experiment continues to unfold.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

A country both admired and feared, Germany has been the epicenter of world events time and again: the Reformation, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It did not emerge as a modern nation until 1871—yet today, Germany is the world’s fourth-largest economy and a standard-bearer of liberal democracy.“There’s no point studying the past unless it sheds some light on the present,” writes James Hawes in this brilliantly concise history that has already captivated hundreds of thousands of readers. “It is time, now more than ever, for us all to understand the real history of Germany.”The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

India—a cradle of civilization with five millennia of history, a country of immense consequence and contradiction—often defies ready understanding. What holds its people together—across its many cultures, races, languages, and creeds—and how has India evolved into the liberal democracy it is today?From the Harappan era to Muslim invasions, the Great Mughals, British rule, independence, and present-day hopes, John Zubrzycki distills India’s colossal history into a gripping true story filled with legendary lives: Alexander the Great, Akbar, Robert Clive, Tipu Sultan, Lakshmi Bai, Lord Curzon, Jinnah, and Gandhi. India’s gifts to the world include Buddhism, yoga, the concept of zero, the largest global diaspora—and its influence is only growing. Already the world’s largest democracy, in 2023, India became the most populous nation.Can India overcome its political, social, and religious tensions to be the next global superpower? As the world watches—and wonders—this Shortest History is an essential, clarifying read.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

France has long been feted for its unsurpassed cultural and historical riches. Gothic architecture, Louis XIV opulence, revolutionary spirit, café society . . . what could be more quintessentially French? Rarely do we think of France as a melting pot, and yet historian Colin Jones asserts it’s no less a mélange of foreign ingredients than the United States—and by some measures, more so.The Shortest History of France reveals a nation whose politics and society have always been shaped by global forces. With up-to-date scholarship that avoids the traps of national exceptionalism, Jones reminds us that it was only after the first millennium of French history—after constant subjugation to the Roman Empire and Germanic tribal forces—that a nation-state began to emerge, while absorbing influences from its European neighbors. Later, the Crusades and subsequent overseas colonization paved the way for cultural exchange with Africa, the Caribbean, East Asia, and elsewhere.France has been home to the Enlightenment, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Paris Agreement . . . but also to the Vichy regime, the Algerian War, and persistent racism and civil unrest. By turns serious and spirited, The Shortest History of France is a dynamic, global story for our times.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Zen, haiku, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga, film, video games . . . Japanese culture has long enriched our Western way of life. Yet from a Western perspective, Japan remains a remote island country that has long had a complicated relationship with the outside world.Japan—an archipelago strung like a necklace around the Asian mainland—is considerably farther from Asia than Britain is from Europe. The sea has provided an effective barrier against invasion and enabled the culture to develop in unique ways. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shoguns successfully closed the country to the West. Then, Japan swung in the opposite direction, adopting Western culture wholesale. Both strategies enabled it to avoid colonization—and to retain its traditions and way of life.A skilled storyteller and accurate historian, Lesley Downer presents the dramatic sweep of Japanese history and the larger-than-life individuals—from emperors descended from the Sun Goddess to warlords, samurai, merchants, court ladies, women warriors, geisha, and businessmen—who shaped this extraordinary modern society.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

From the first microbial exchanges of DNA to Tinder and sexbots, how did sex begin, and how did it evolve to be so varied and complex in humans? What influence do our genetic ancestors have on our current love lives? And what might sex look like in the future?With acuity, humor, and respect for human diversity, The Shortest History of Sex reveals where the many facets of our sexuality—chemical, anatomical, behavioral, social—come from. Chasing down our evolutionary family tree, from the first aquatic creatures to primate societies, David Baker sheds light on our baffling array of passions, impulses, and fetishes, and guides us toward a clear understanding of one of the deepest, most abiding forces of human nature.The Shortest History of Sex also charts how sex changed for humans across the foraging, agrarian, and modern eras, showing how, even as our biology and sexual instincts have remained the same, the current nature of our sex lives has no historical or evolutionary precedent.The result is a revealing, utterly unique insight into history and human behavior—and the profound forces of nature and nurture compelling our most intimate relationships.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

The ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine is one of the most bitter conflicts in history, with profound global consequences. In this book, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann succinctly describes its origins and charts its evolution from civil war to the present day. Each chapter offers a lucid explanation of the politics and ends with personal testimony from Palestinians and Israelis whose lives have been impacted by the dispute.While presenting competing interpretations, Scott-Baumann examines the key flash points, including the early role of the British, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Six-Day War of 1967, and the Trump administration’s peace plan, pitched as “the deal of the century,” in 2020. He delineates both the nature of Israeli control over the Palestinian territories and Palestinian resistance—going to the heart of the clashes in recent decades. The result is an indispensable history, including a time line, glossary, and analysis of why efforts to restore peace have continually failed and what it will take to succeed.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

As we enter the “Asian century,” China demands our attention for being an economic powerhouse, a beacon of rapid modernization, and an assertive geopolitical player. To understand the nation behind the headlines, we must take in its vibrant, tumultuous past—a story of “larger-than-life characters, philosophical arguments and political intrigues, military conflicts and social upheavals, artistic invention and technological innovation.”The Shortest History of China charts a path from China’s tribal origins through its storied imperial era and up to the modern Communist Party under Xi Jinping—including the rarely told story of women in China and the specters of corruption and disunity that continue to haunt the People’s Republic today. A master storyteller and exacting historian, Linda Jaivin distills this vast history into a short, riveting account that today’s globally minded readers will find indispensable.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.#1 Bestseller in Student Travel Guides

This compact history unspools the tumultuous global story that began with democracy’s radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own futures. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane traces how this concept emerged and evolved, from the earliest “assembly democracies” in Syria-Mesopotamia to European-style “electoral democracy” and to our uncertain present.Today, thanks to our always-on communication channels, governments answer not only to voters on Election Day but to intense scrutiny every day. This is “monitory democracy”—in Keane’s view, the most complex and vibrant model yet—but it’s not invulnerable. Monitory democracy comes with its own pathologies, and the new despotism wields powerful warning systems, from social media to election monitoring, against democracy itself.At this urgent moment, when despots in countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia reject the promises of democratic power-sharing, Keane mounts a bold defense of a precious global ideal.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

War has changed, but we have not. From our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the rival nuclear powers of today, whenever resources have been contested, we’ve gone to battle. Acclaimed historian Gwynne Dyer illuminates our many martial clashes in this brisk account, tracing warfare from prehistory to the world’s first cities—and on to the thousand-year “classical age” of combat, which ended when the firearm changed everything. He examines the brief interlude of “limited war” before eighteenth-century revolution ushered in “total war”—and how the devastation was halted by the nuclear shock of Hiroshima.Then came the Cold War and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which punctured the longest stretch of peace between major powers since World War II. For all our advanced technology and hyperconnected global society, we find ourselves once again on the brink as climate change heightens competition for resources and superpowers stand ready with atomic bombs, drones, and futuristic “autonomous” weapons in development.Throughout, Dyer delves into anthropology, psychology, and other relevant fields to unmask the drivers of conflict. The Shortest History of War is for anyone who wants to understand the role of war in the human story—and how we can prevent it from defining our future.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Great’s fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. “Byzantine” conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek.Greece’s modern chapter, too, tells of triumph and calamity—from liberation and expansion to schism, homegrown dictatorship, Nazi occupation, and civil war. Today’s nation is battered by austerity, encroaching climate change, and a refugee crisis—yet unwavering in its ancient values.James Heneage captures the full Grecian drama in this riveting, short history, revealing Greece as the wellspring of Western civilization—and a model that may yet save modern democracy.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

In this thrilling history, David Baker captures the longest-possible time span—from the Big Bang to the present day—in an astonishingly concise retelling. His impressive timeline includes the “rise of complexity” in the cosmos and the creation of the first atoms; the origin of all galaxies, stars, and our solar system; and the evolution of life on Earth, from tiny single-celled organisms to human beings.Weaving together insights across the sciences—including chemistry, physics, biology, archaeology, and anthropology—Baker answers the fundamental questions: How did time begin? Why does matter exist? What made life on Earth the way it is? He also argues that never before has life on Earth been forced to adjust to a changing climate so rapidly, nor has one species ever been responsible for such sudden change. Baker’s grand view offers the clearest picture of what may come next—and the role we can still play in our planet’s fate.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

The calendar. The Senate. The university. The piano, the heliocentric model, and the pizzeria. It’s hard to imagine a world without Italian influence—and easy to assume that inventions like these could only come from a strong, stable peninsula, sure of its place in the world. In this breakneck history, bestselling author Ross King dismantles this assumption, uncovering the story of a land rife with inner uncertainty even as its influence spread.  As the Italian tale unfolds, prosperity and power fluctuate like the elevation in the Dolomites. If Rome’s seven hills could talk, they might speak of the glorious time of Trajan—or bemoan the era of conquest and the Bubonic Plague that decimated Rome’s population. Episodes of wealth like the First Triumvirate and the time of the Medicis are given fresh life alongside descriptions of the Middle Ages, the early days of Venice, the invasion of Napoleon, and the long struggle for unification.  Highlighting key events and personalities, King paints a vibrant portrait of a country whose political and cultural legacies enrich our lives today. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

For the last two centuries, groups of influential men have, in the professed interest of fiscal responsibility, crime reduction, and outright racism, attempted to control who was allowed to bear children. Their efforts, “eugenics,” characterize a movement that over the last century swept across the world—from the US to Brazil, Japan, India, Australia, and beyond—in the form of marriage restrictions, asylum detention, and sterilization campaigns affected millions. German physicians and scientists adopted and then heightened these eugenics practices beginning in 1939, starving or executing those they deemed “life unworthy of life.”But well after the liberation of Nazi deathcamps, health care workers and even the US government pursued policies worldwide with the express purpose of limiting the reproduction of poor non-whites. The Shortest History of Eugenics takes us back to the founding principles of the movement, revealing how an idea that began in cattle breeding took such an insidious turn—and how it lingers in rhetoric and policy today.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

No other art is as popular—or pervasive—as music. With just a few clicks, anyone can cue up (and critique) Chopin or Cher, The Bangles or The Beatles—even the brand-new Beyoncé. But things weren’t always this way.In this brisk, breakneck history under 300 pages, award-winning composer, author, and broadcaster Andrew Ford replays the dramatic evolution of music, from early oral songs to the first orchestras (and their wealthy patrons) and from the emergence of recording technology to the multibillion-dollar industry we know today. The Shortest History of Music explores the immense influence of religion, politics, and the economy on world music, what led humans to make music in the first place, and why—in every era—we are irresistibly drawn to listen to it.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

The Shortest History of the Dinosaurs tells the 230-million-year epic of these staggeringly fascinating prehistoric creatures, covering their small beginnings, spectacular golden periods, and stunning evolutionary success—before an unthinkable asteroid event brought everything to a screeching halt. But this history digs deeper, using numerous recent fossil discoveries and fresh understandings of genetics and evolution to show how we’ve gleaned so much about a long-lost world from mere fragments of fossil. Marshaling the evidence, award-winning author Riley Black reveals the startling relationships that dinosaurs shared with one another, the land they lived on, and other animal species. By conjuring a more complete picture of Earth in the age of the dinosaurs, she shows us how these massive monsters owe their rise to luck as much as to their cunning—and the many surprising ways they left an indelible mark on their dramatically changing world.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

We are a species in motion—from the first steps of Homo sapiens across Africa to America’s “melting pot.” And when we move—in search of better things, or against our will—our beliefs and skills clash and combine, reshaping society time and again.In this visionary Shortest History of Migration, Ian Goldin uncovers key moments of cultural exchange while carefully examining empire, slavery, and war. Throughout, we meet famous explorers (Zheng He), exiles (Pablo Neruda), and everyday people in extraordinary circumstances: a Jewish man saved by the Kindertransport, a Japanese gardener who blossomed in Mexico City.Today, freedom of movement is being curtailed, even as climate change and conflict mobilize people everywhere around the world. Goldin reminds us that passports at every border are a modern invention (he traces the “birth of big brother” to World War I), revealing the folly of trying to halt migration—and proposing commonsense policy instead. A gripping chronicle of want and wanderlust, this is a moving portrait of humanity—in every sense of the word.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.#1 Bestseller in Human Geography and Emigration & Immigration

Since Alan Turing first posed the question “Can machines think?” artificial intelligence has evolved from a speculative idea to a transformative force. The Shortest History of AI traces this evolution, from Ada Lovelace’s visionary work to IBM’s groundbreaking defeat of the chess world champion and the revolutionary emergence of ChatGPT.Revealing how many “overnight” successes were decades in the making, this accessible and illuminating book tells AI’s history through the six main ways it functions:It uses symbols to represent common concepts and ideas.It chooses its best possible move based on the information it is given.It simulates human expertise by following simple rules.It learns based on its past experiences.It assesses its mistakes and learns to avoid making them again in the future.It computes probability based on the evidence it’s provided with.Fast-paced and rich with facts, The Shortest History of AI explores how artificial intelligence is being created—and how it will continue to transform and affect our lives now and in the future.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Scandinavia has long been lauded for its equality, universal welfare, peacefulness, and untouched nature—not to mention its interior design, crime literature, and love of all things hygge. But the Nordic nations have had their dark periods, too: pandemics, wars and occupations, and expansionism are all essential to understanding the Scandinavian story.In The Shortest History of Scandinavia, historian Mart Kuldkepp sketches the outlines of the region’s rich history, tracing its political and social evolution from its first-known peoples, who followed the retreating ice sheet north during the last Ice Age, to the modern Scandinavians living in countries that are among the happiest in the world today.Through Scandinavia’s many cultural touchstones—tales of Vikings, the Nobel Peace Prizes, and even ABBA—Kuldkepp illuminates the concept of “Nordicness,” a hard-to-define quality that has nonetheless steered the region to respond to major challenges, actively shaping its history and exerting a considerable influence on European and global history in the process. As the issues of climate change, democracy, and world peace continue to shift, The Shortest History of Scandinavia is a pertinent, brisk primer on one of the world’s most admired regions.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

How did a simple kicking game conquer the world? In this concise yet comprehensive history, sports historian Brian D. Bunk traces soccer’s unlikely, meteoric rise, showing how a pastime humbly rooted in English schoolyard contests grew to become the planet’s most popular sport. Today, soccer is a cultural and economic juggernaut: The World Cup, the sport’s crown jewel, is now our most-watched sporting event, and one of soccer’s biggest stars, Cristiano Ronaldo, is the world’s most-followed person on social media. Soccer even has the power, as Bunk’s surprising history recounts, to sway elections and topple governments. Drawing on key historical and contemporary events both on and off the field, from famous victories to the dark money and backroom deals that now power the game at its highest levels, Bunk shows us the many ways that a single soccer goal today may not only electrify a sold-out stadium but reverberate around the world.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.