Rakuten Kobo

Guns, Germs, and Steel

The Fates of Human Societies

by Jared Diamond, Ph.D. ...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize • New York Times Bestseller • Over Two Million Copies Sold“One of the most significant projects embarked upon by any intellectual of our generation” (Gregg Easterbrook, New York Times), Guns, Germs, and Steel presents a groundbreaking, unified narrative of human history.Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, ... Read more

$2.99 USD

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize • New York Times Bestseller • Over Two Million Copies Sold“One of the most significant projects embarked upon by any intellectual of our generation” (Gregg Easterbrook, New York Times), Guns, Germs, and Steel presents a groundbreaking, unified narrative of human history.Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans,
... Read more
The Silk Roads

A New History of the World

by Peter Frankopan ...

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next."A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world.” —The Wall Street JournalFrom the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast ... Read more

$1.99 USD

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Far more than a history of the Silk Roads, this book is truly a revelatory new history of the world, promising to destabilize notions of where we come from and where we are headed next."A rare book that makes you question your assumptions about the world.” —The Wall Street JournalFrom the Middle East and its political instability to China and its economic rise, the vast
... Read more
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

A New History of a Lost World

by Steve Brusatte ...

"THE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BIOGRAPHY," hails Scientific American: A thrilling new history of the age of dinosaurs, from one of our finest young scientists."A masterpiece of science writing." —Washington PostA New York Times Bestseller • Goodreads Choice Awards Winner • **A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Smithsonian, *Science Friday,***The Times (London), <st... ... Read more

Was $7.99 USD Now $3.99 USD

"THE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BIOGRAPHY," hails Scientific American: A thrilling new history of the age of dinosaurs, from one of our finest young scientists."A masterpiece of science writing." —Washington PostA New York Times Bestseller • Goodreads Choice Awards Winner • **A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Smithsonian, *Science Friday,***The Times (London), <st...
... Read more
Four Lost Cities

A Secret History of the Urban Age

by Annalee Newitz ...

**Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science FridayA quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them.**In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, ... Read more

$12.99 USD

**Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science FridayA quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them.**In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world,
... Read more
The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

by David Graeber, David Wengrow ...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free ... Read more

$12.99 USD

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free
... Read more
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria

Birthplace of the Modern World

by Justin Pollard, Howard Reid ...

"A lively history of the legendary ancient city, from creation to destruction." -- Kirkus ReviewsA short history of nearly everything classical. The foundations of the modern world were laid in Alexandria of Egypt at the turn of the first millennium. In this compulsively readable narrative, Justin Pollard and Howard Reid bring one of history's most fascinating and prolific cities to life, creating ... Read more

Was $7.99 USD Now $1.99 USD

"A lively history of the legendary ancient city, from creation to destruction." -- Kirkus ReviewsA short history of nearly everything classical. The foundations of the modern world were laid in Alexandria of Egypt at the turn of the first millennium. In this compulsively readable narrative, Justin Pollard and Howard Reid bring one of history's most fascinating and prolific cities to life, creating
... Read more
Bloodlands

Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

by Timothy Snyder ...

The definitive history of Hitler and Stalin's politics of mass killing, explaining why Ukraine has been at the center of Western history for the last century, from the author of the international bestseller, On Tyranny**.**Americans call the Second World War "the Good War." But before it even began, America's ally Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens, and kept killing them during and ... Read more

Was $15.99 USD Now $1.99 USD

The definitive history of Hitler and Stalin's politics of mass killing, explaining why Ukraine has been at the center of Western history for the last century, from the author of the international bestseller, On Tyranny**.**Americans call the Second World War "the Good War." But before it even began, America's ally Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens, and kept killing them during and
... Read more
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

by Bettany Hughes ...

**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning historian and broadcaster comes an immersive, awe-inspiring tour of the ancient sites that kindle our imagination and afford us a glimpse into our shared history“This fascinating book is brimming with stories of people and places, all told with Bettany’s natural sense of wonder and adventure.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning historian and broadcaster comes an immersive, awe-inspiring tour of the ancient sites that kindle our imagination and afford us a glimpse into our shared history“This fascinating book is brimming with stories of people and places, all told with Bettany’s natural sense of wonder and adventure.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times bestselling
... Read more
Salt

A World History

by Mark Kurlansky ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | THE BOOK BEHIND THE VIRAL TIKTOKOne tiny rock. One epic history.**"A must-have for any serious cook or foodie."—Anthony Bourdain"This is a "wow!" book: roving, startling, engaging.” —Washington Post“Kurlansky finds the world in a grain of salt.”—New York Times Book ReviewAn unlikely world history from the bestselling author of Milk! and Cod**... ... Read more

Was $14.99 USD Now $9.99 USD

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | THE BOOK BEHIND THE VIRAL TIKTOKOne tiny rock. One epic history.**"A must-have for any serious cook or foodie."—Anthony Bourdain"This is a "wow!" book: roving, startling, engaging.” —Washington Post“Kurlansky finds the world in a grain of salt.”—New York Times Book ReviewAn unlikely world history from the bestselling author of Milk! and Cod**...
... Read more
An African History of Africa

From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence

by Zeinab Badawi ...

Already a major international bestseller, Zeinab Badawi’s sweeping and much-needed survey of African history traces the continent’s extraordinary legacy from prehistory to the present from the African perspective.“Equal parts gripping and galvanizing. . . . Researched across more than 30 countries, it brings the dazzling civilizations of pre-colonial Africa vividly to life. A book that feels both ... Read more

$19.99 USD

Already a major international bestseller, Zeinab Badawi’s sweeping and much-needed survey of African history traces the continent’s extraordinary legacy from prehistory to the present from the African perspective.“Equal parts gripping and galvanizing. . . . Researched across more than 30 countries, it brings the dazzling civilizations of pre-colonial Africa vividly to life. A book that feels both
... Read more
Sapiens [Tenth Anniversary Edition]

A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari ...

New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21**st** CenturyThe tenth anniversary edition of the internationally bestselling phenomenon that cemented Yuval Noah Harari as one of the most prominent historians of our time—featuring a new afterword from the author.One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo s... ... Read more

$16.49 USD

New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21**st** CenturyThe tenth anniversary edition of the internationally bestselling phenomenon that cemented Yuval Noah Harari as one of the most prominent historians of our time—featuring a new afterword from the author.One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo s...
... Read more
The Emperor of All Maladies

A Biography of Cancer

by Siddhartha Mukherjee ...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.Now ... Read more

$16.99 USD

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.Now
... Read more
How to Kill a Language

Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words

by Sophia Smith Galer ...

An urgent, globe-spanning exploration of languages at risk, from Kichwa to Ukrainian, that asks: What do we lose—culturally, politically, and personally—when a language is silenced?“Fascinating . . . Galer casts a bright light on the massive linguistic diversity that the world seems set to lose.”—John McWhorter, The New York TimesLanguages can be killed in many ways: war, the climate crisis, ... Read more

$13.99 USD

An urgent, globe-spanning exploration of languages at risk, from Kichwa to Ukrainian, that asks: What do we lose—culturally, politically, and personally—when a language is silenced?“Fascinating . . . Galer casts a bright light on the massive linguistic diversity that the world seems set to lose.”—John McWhorter, The New York TimesLanguages can be killed in many ways: war, the climate crisis,
... Read more
Work

A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots

by James Suzman ...

**"This book is a tour de force." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and TakeA revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman**Work defines who we are. It determines our status, and dictates how, where, and with whom we spend most of our time. It mediates our self-worth and molds our values. But are we hard-wired to ... Read more

$4.99 USD

**"This book is a tour de force." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and TakeA revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman**Work defines who we are. It determines our status, and dictates how, where, and with whom we spend most of our time. It mediates our self-worth and molds our values. But are we hard-wired to
... Read more
Intellectuals

From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky

by Paul Johnson ...

"Johnson revels in all the wicked things these great thinkers have done…great fun to read." — New York Times Book ReviewA fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In an intriguing series of biographical essays, Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sartre, Edmund Wilson, Victor Gollancz, Lillian Hellman, Cyril Connolly, Norman ... Read more

$7.99 USD

"Johnson revels in all the wicked things these great thinkers have done…great fun to read." — New York Times Book ReviewA fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In an intriguing series of biographical essays, Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sartre, Edmund Wilson, Victor Gollancz, Lillian Hellman, Cyril Connolly, Norman
... Read more
China

A History

by John Keay ...

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese history.**"Exquisitely written." —**GuardianMany nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past.Keay's ... Read more

$16.99 USD

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese history.**"Exquisitely written." —**GuardianMany nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past.Keay's
... Read more
1177 B.C.

The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated

by Eric H. Cline ...

Series series Turning Points in Ancient History
A bold reassessment of what caused the Late Bronze Age collapseIn 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and ... Read more

$14.39 USD

A bold reassessment of what caused the Late Bronze Age collapseIn 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and
... Read more
After 1177 B.C.

The Survival of Civilizations

by Eric H. Cline ...

Series series Turning Points in Ancient History
**In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why some disappeared forever“A landmark book: lucid, deep, and insightful. . . . You cannot understand human civilization and self-organization without studying what happened on, before, and after 1177 ... Read more

$24.49 USD

**In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why some disappeared forever“A landmark book: lucid, deep, and insightful. . . . You cannot understand human civilization and self-organization without studying what happened on, before, and after 1177
... Read more
The Classical World

An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian

by Robin Lane Fox ...

The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics -- these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Augustus. From the ... Read more

$14.99 USD

The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics -- these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Augustus. From the
... Read more
The Origin of Empire

Rome from the Republic to Hadrian

by David Potter ...

Series Book 4 - History of the Ancient World
Beginning with the Roman army’s first foray beyond its borders and concluding with the death of Hadrian in 138 CE, this panoramic history of the early Roman Empire recounts the wars, leaders, and social transformations that lay the foundations of imperial success.Between 264 BCE, when the Roman army crossed into Sicily, and the death of Hadrian nearly three hundred years later, Rome became one of ... Read more

$25.99 USD

Beginning with the Roman army’s first foray beyond its borders and concluding with the death of Hadrian in 138 CE, this panoramic history of the early Roman Empire recounts the wars, leaders, and social transformations that lay the foundations of imperial success.Between 264 BCE, when the Roman army crossed into Sicily, and the death of Hadrian nearly three hundred years later, Rome became one of
... Read more
Native Nations

A Millennium in North America

by Kathleen DuVal ...

**PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A magisterial overview of a thousand years of Native American history” (The New York Review of Books), from the rise of ancient cities more than a thousand years ago to fights for sovereignty that continue todayWINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE, THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE, AND THE MARK LYNTON HISTORY PRIZE**Long before the colonization of North America, ... Read more

$6.99 USD

**PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A magisterial overview of a thousand years of Native American history” (The New York Review of Books), from the rise of ancient cities more than a thousand years ago to fights for sovereignty that continue todayWINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE, THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE, AND THE MARK LYNTON HISTORY PRIZE**Long before the colonization of North America,
... Read more
Conquistador

Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs

by Buddy Levy ...

A thrilling narrative of the larger-than-life clash between a relentless conqueror and a formidable king that led to the destruction of the Aztec empire, from the award-winning historian and author of River of Darkness“Fascinating . . . [an] almost unbelievable story of missionary zeal, greed, cruelty, and courage.”—The Wall Street Journal“A sweeping and majestic history of a clash of ... Read more

$13.99 USD

A thrilling narrative of the larger-than-life clash between a relentless conqueror and a formidable king that led to the destruction of the Aztec empire, from the award-winning historian and author of River of Darkness“Fascinating . . . [an] almost unbelievable story of missionary zeal, greed, cruelty, and courage.”—The Wall Street Journal“A sweeping and majestic history of a clash of
... Read more
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edited and Abridged)

Abridged Edition

by Edward Gibbon ...

Series series The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Edited, abridged, and with a critical Foreword by Hans-Friedrich MuellerIntroduction by Daniel J. BoorstinIllustrations by Giovanni Battista PiranesiEdward Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the Roman Empire from the second century A.D. to its collapse in the west in the fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, is widely considered the greatest work of history ever ... Read more

Was $14.99 USD Now $4.99 USD

Edited, abridged, and with a critical Foreword by Hans-Friedrich MuellerIntroduction by Daniel J. BoorstinIllustrations by Giovanni Battista PiranesiEdward Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the Roman Empire from the second century A.D. to its collapse in the west in the fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, is widely considered the greatest work of history ever
... Read more
The End of Everything

How Wars Descend into Annihilation

by Victor Davis Hanson ...

**An Instant New York Times BestsellerA major military historian explains how and why some societies chose to destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time.“A profound book.” —Wall Street Journal**War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization—sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ... Read more

Was $16.99 USD Now $2.99 USD

**An Instant New York Times BestsellerA major military historian explains how and why some societies chose to destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time.“A profound book.” —Wall Street Journal**War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization—sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has
... Read more

eReaders

Apps

Accessories

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Your Shopping Cart is empty

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Available:

1 audiobook monthly

+ FREE 30-day trial

Recommended For You

Civilization eBooks

Show: