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The author finds that a relative’s 18th-century diary offers a window to the past and a context for his own life
Two books by leading historians do a fine job in charting the path from fanaticism and violence to national reconciliation
Simon Winchester takes a lively, digressive look at how humans have ordered and passed on knowledge over time
Serhii Plokhy offers a compelling rejoinder to those who blame Putin’s war on western provocations
Matthew Dallek’s fine new history looks at the 1950s conspiracy movement that radicalised America’s Republican party
Born in the GDR, the author argues in her new book for a ‘but’ in the history of the reviled former Communist state
Two books take a tour of the glorious past and uncertain future of Britain’s coastal resorts
Éric Vuillard writes another historically acute account of big business and political elites at play
The uprisings of that year have had a greater impact on European politics and society than we think, argues Christopher Clark
Little that we know is truly original or without influences, argues Martin Puchner in a survey of discovery, borrowing and revival
Jonathan Kennedy argues that germs have shaped our world more than humankind has — and it’s time we took notice
In an absorbing book curated like a museum, Karl Schlögel immerses readers in fascinating details of life in the USSR
Anna Grzymała-Busse’s fine book argues that the religious powers of the Middle Ages were fundamental in forging today’s secular institutions
A flawed history of the tricontinental diamond trade focuses on Amsterdam’s Jodenbuurt
The ‘Lincheng incident’ pitted bandits against a wealthy elite — and is recreated in James Zimmerman’s immersive account
Ian Buruma profiles three figures whose wartime actions remained mired in accusations of treachery — and delusion
Paul Strathern’s lively portraits prove that Italy was not the only part of Europe shaping the modern world
What can we learn from studying thousands of years of humanity’s response to natural disasters?
Two new books explore aspects of Ukraine’s troubled 20th-century history
By foregrounding humanity’s impact on nature and climate, Peter Frankopan reframes what matters most in the history of our planet
In her extraordinary memoir, Chilean writer Nona Fernández combines astronomy and neuroscience with a refusal to forget
With conflict over Ireland, Scotland and Europe, monarchy and governance, the 17th century had uneasy parallels with today
Rich with detail, this gripping book charts the extraordinary bravery and professional barriers faced by women working in intelligence
History contains some notable examples of progeny with more extreme politics than their parents or grandparents
A case for swashbucklers in Madagascar first discovering the ideals of reason, liberty and toleration
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