A wide-ranging journey through the history of borders and an exploration of their role in shaping our world today.Since the earliest known marker denoting the edge of one land and the beginning of the next―a stone column inscribed with Sumerian...

A fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on mapsPeople have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary,...

“[A]n incisive and captivating reassessment of prehistory . . . In lucid prose, Geroulanos unspools an enthralling and detailed history of the development of modern natural science. It’s a must-read.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review“An astute,...

A globe-trotting work of relentless investigative reporting, Waste Wars is the first major book to expose the catastrophic reality of the multi-billion-dollar global garbage trade.Around the world, landfills, ports, and slums are overflowing with trash...

A magnificent work of original research that unravels history through textiles and cloth—how we make it, use it, and what it means to us.A New York Times Book Review Editor's ChoiceHow is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest?Why is a famous...

A brilliant, paradigm-shifting global history of how humanity has reshaped the planet, and the planet has shaped human history, over the last 500 years.Ever since innovations in agriculture, transportation, and medicine brought great freedom to vast...

Exploring literary representations of mass violence, Bruce Robbins traces the emergence of a cosmopolitan recognition of atrocity.Mass violence did not always have a name. Like conquest, what we think of now as atrocities have not always invited...

Why Do Humans Make Monsters, And What Do Monsters Tell Us About Humanity? Monsters Are Central To How We Think About The Human Condition. Join Award-winning Historian Of Science Dr. Surekha Davies As She Reveals How People Have Defined The Human In...

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Foreign Policy, Literary Hub, and The MillionsGhosh unravels the impact of the opium trade on global history and in his own family―the climax of a yearslong project.When Amitav Ghosh began the research for his...

A bold new history showing that the fear of Communism was a major factor in the outbreak of World War IIThe Spectre of War looks at a subject we thought we knew―the roots of the Second World War―and upends our assumptions with a masterful new...

How Enlightenment Europe rediscovered its identity by measuring itself against the great civilizations of AsiaDuring the long eighteenth century, Europe's travelers, scholars, and intellectuals looked to Asia in a spirit of puzzlement, irony, and...

William H. McNeill is known for his ability to portray the grand sweep of history. The Global Condition is a classic work for understanding the grand sweep of world history in brief compass. Now with a new foreword by J. R. McNeill, this book brings...