Eastern World History

From the author of Seed of Israel: DNA Guide to Tracing Your Jewish Ancestry comes this great dive into the history of Ashkenazi Jews. While controversial debates spark disagreements on the crystallization of this Jewish Diaspora, modern genetic studies and personal DNA samples finally conclude the Levantine Middle Eastern and Mediterranean roots of Ashkenazi ancestry: Judean people from the Holy Land that journeyed across the Mediterranean to the bottleneck of Europe.

If the history of the Eastern Han dynasty were limited to the accomplishments of its scholars, scientists, and inventors, it would be a glorious saga of the innovation and creativity of the human mind. Anesthesia was first used during surgical procedures in the years of the Eastern Han emperors, earthquake tremors were measured, and perhaps, most remarkable of all, a process for manufacturing paper was developed by a eunuch of the imperial court.

An old lady, an antiques dealer, dies in Basel, Switzerland. Her devoted daughter-in-law finally steels herself to do what all families must in the aftermath of a death - she heads upstairs to the attic to sort through the old lady's effects. But this wasn't just any old lady, and this wasn't just any old family house. Helene (Leni) Elias was born Helene Frank, only daughter of Alice Frank and sister of Otto Frank, who in turn was Anne Frank's father.1929 destroyed the Franks' banking business in Frankfurt; the rise of the Nazi party began to destroy their lives.

In the tradition of Hampton Sides and Simon Winchester comes a vital and timely work of historical adventure and reclamation by British archeological scholar Mike Pitts—a book that rewrites the popular yet flawed history of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and uses newly unearthed findings and documents to challenge the long-standing historical assumptions about the manmade ecological disaster that caused the island’s collapse.

In August 1989, a group of Hungarian activists did the unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain - and held a picnic. Drawing on dozens of original interviews with those involved - activists and border guards, escapees and secret police, as well as the last Communist prime minister of Hungary - Matthew Longo reconstructs not only this remarkable event but also its complex and bittersweet aftermath.

The Indian Ocean was the final battleground for Nelson's navy and France. At stake was Britain's commercial lifeline to India: and its strategic capacity to wage war in Europe.

In 1945, both the U.S. State Department and U.S. Intelligence saw Czechoslovakia as the master key to the balance of power in Europe and as a chessboard for the power-game between East and West. Washington believed that the political scene in Prague was the best available indicator of whether the United States would be able to coexist with Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union.

The sacrifices that enabled the Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 are sacrosanct. The foundation of their eventual victory was laid during the battle for the city of Stalingrad, resting on the banks of the river Volga. For Germany, the catastrophic defeat was the beginning of their eventual demise that would see the Red Army two years later flying their flag of victory above the Reichstag. Stalingrad is seen as the pivotal battle of the Second World War.

More than 1200 miles from the nearest inhabited island and 2200 miles from mainland Chile, Easter Island is one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, made famous by its thousand huge statues. How people came to live there and what happened to them has been the cause of heated debate. Now, in this compelling and deeply researched new book, we find out the answers.

Este tratado de estrategia fue escrito hace más de 2000 años. Sin embargo, sorprende por su vigencia y por la claridad de sus explicaciones, comprensibles para cualquier lector. El autor ha visto claramente los aspectos de la guerra y de la estrategia que no cambian con el paso del tiempo. Leyendo sus páginas se comprende que el triunfo no está necesariamente en manos del más fuerte, sino del más inteligente.

Dr Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist, specialising in forensic techniques to research the paths of Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now more than 1,000 years old, she can determine childhood diet and thereby where a person was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death date down to the range of a few years. And her research offers new visions of the likely roles of women and children in Viking culture.

Koledzy z Polskiej Armii na Zachodzie mówili o nich „PESTKI” (od Pomocniczej Służby Kobiet). Miłości, przyjaźnie, codzienne kłopoty. PESTKI po wojnie wylądowały w różnych zakątkach globu; w Afryce, w Australii, w Szkocji, Kanadzie i na Podkarpaciu. Losy 19 dzielnych kobiet, które wyrwały się ze Związku Sowieckiego i razem z II Korpusem polskim przeszły cały szlak bojowy. „Byłam jedną z pierwszych ochotniczek wcielonych do Pomocniczej Służby Kobiet. Dostałam mundur. Wreszcie czysta, syta i ubrana w coś innego niż łachmany.

With a deep understanding of both strategy and human nature, this military treatise illustrates the fine craft of knowing one’s enemy and oneself. From military officers to CEOs to those simply looking to be more powerful in their own life, The Art of War has become required reading for anyone seeking a path of success through the modern world.

Der Großvater erzählt dem Enkel vom Krieg - so wie er ihn erlebt hat - ohne Umschweife und verklärten Pathos. Die Fehler der Herrschenden werden stets von den einfachen Leuten mit Blut bezahlt. Das war schon zu allen Zeiten so. Nicht anders erging es einem steirischen Bergbauernsohn, der, in der Blüte seiner Jugend stehend, in den Fleischwolf der Ostfront geschmissen wurde. Das in einer Phase, wo der Krieg für das Dritte Reich so gut wie verloren war. Im Greisenalter erinnert sich der Bergbauernsohn an jene dunklen Stunden zurück, die ihn Zeit seines Lebens verfolgt haben.

In November 1943, with the outcome of the Second World War hanging in the balance, the Allies needed a new plan. The Americans' audacious suggestion to the Soviets was to open a second air front, with the US Air Force establishing bases in Soviet-controlled territory. Despite Stalin's obvious reservations about the presence of foreign troops in Russia, he was persuaded, and in early 1944 and Operation Baseball and then Frantic were initiated as B-17 Superfortresses were flown from bases in Italy to the Poltova region in today's Ukraine.

This book tells the stories of the Muslims, Christians, Jews and others who made a courageous stand against the mass slaughter of Ottoman Armenians in 1915, the first modern genocide. Foreigners and Ottomans alike ran considerable risks to bear witness and rescue victims, sometimes sacrificing their lives. Diplomats, humanitarians, missionaries, lawyers and other visitors to the Empire stood up, including Tolstoy's daughter, Alexandra; Raphael Lemkin, the jurist who first established genocide as an international crime; and the polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen.

El Arte de la Guerra es el mejor libro de estrategia de todos los tiempos. Inspiró a Napoleón, Maquiavelo, Mao Tse Tung, y muchas más figuras históricas. Este libro de dos mil quinientos años de antigüedad es uno de los más importantes textos clásicos Chinos, en el que, a pesar del tiempo transcurrido, ninguna de sus máximas ha quedado anticuada, ni hay un solo consejo que hoy no sea útil. Pero la obra del general Sun-tzu no es únicamente un libro de práctica militar....

"No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women's Rights in the Arab World" is a comprehensive exploration of the status of women in the Arab world from pre-Islamic times to the present day. The book highlights the impact of colonialism, nationalism, Islamism, and contemporary cultural and political trends on women's rights in the region. It delves into issues such as women's education, health, economic empowerment, and political participation, as well as the role of religion and culture in shaping women's status. The book also features chapters on women's activism and ...

1941: almost four million Nazi troops marched on Moscow, with a brutal scorched-earth tactic that saw millions of Soviet citizens massacred. A level of brutality only paralleled after the Soviet's triumphed at Stalingrad and took mindless revenge as they marched back into Berlin. Beginning with Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, to the appalling circumstances of the Fall of Berlin in April 1945 and told from the perspective of the people of Russia and Eastern Europe, Barbarossa is a heartrending story of tragedy, suffering and heroism.

The relationship between man and horse on the Eurasian steppe gave rise to a succession of rich nomadic cultures. Among them were the Mongols of the 13th century - a small tribe, which, under the charismatic leadership of Genghis Khan, created the largest contiguous land empire in history. Inspired by the extraordinary life nomads still lead today, Tim Cope embarked on a journey that hadn’t been successfully completed since those times: to travel on horseback across the entire length of the Eurasian steppe.