An irreverent analysis of late-nineteenth-century imperialism in the United States focuses on the annexation of Hawaii as a defining historical milestone, covering such contributing factors as the missionary overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the activities of whaling fleets.

"Our world was made on and by the Silk Roads. For millennia it was here that East and West encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas and cultures, the birth of the world's great religions, the appetites for foreign goods that drove economies and the growth of nations. From the first cities in Mesopotamia to the growth of Greece and Rome to the depredations by the Mongols and the Black Death to the Great Game...

Tracing the British Empire's beginnings and decline and its extraordinary range of forms of rule, from settler colonies to island enclaves, a one-volume history of Britain's imperium reveals how the modern world came into being.

Recalls the forgotten political debate at the beginning of the twentieth century over America's role in the world, with the country's political and intellectual leaders advocating either imperial expansion or restraint.

"A thought-provoking and original reassessment of World War II, from Britain's leading military historian Richard Overy sets out in Blood and Ruins to recast the way in which we view the Second World War and its origins and aftermath. As one of Britain's most decorated and respected World War II historians, he argues that this was the "last imperial war," with almost a century-long lead-up of global imperial expansion, which reached its peak in the...

This sweeping tale covers the whole of the Roman Empire, and tells it from three perspectives: First, it is a complete history of the Empire; Second, it explains what the archaeological record reveals; Third, it explores the larger questions of how Rome endured for so long and have such a profound impact on the modern world. [From publisher's description]