'The next Bill Bryson' New York TimesTwo tigers cannot share the same mountain - Chinese proverbDespite geographical proximity, cultural similarities, and shared status as highly powerful nations, China, Korea and Japan love to hate each other. Why?In search of an answer, Michael Booth journeys across East Asia to explore the mutual animosity that frequently threatens to draw the world into all-out war. From misjudged cake decorations to electoral meddling, contradictory origin myths to territorial disputes, this deeply researched and hugely entertaining book shows that no conflict is too small to keep the fires of neighbourly hostility burning.'A fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts...useful, fact-packed and readable' Spectator Read more

'A learned, wise, wonderfully written single volume history of a civilisation that I knew I should know more about' Tom Holland 'Masterful and engrossing...well-paced, eminently readable and well-timed. A must-read for those who want – and need – to know about the China of yesterday, today and tomorrow' Peter FrankopanChina’s story is extraordinarily rich and dramatic. Now Michael Wood, one of the UK's pre-eminent historians, brings it all together in a major new one-volume history of China that is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand its burgeoning role in our world today. China is the oldest living civilisation on earth, but its history is still surprisingly little known in the wider world. Michael Wood's sparkling narrative, which mingles the grand sweep with local and personal stories, woven together with the author’s own travel journals, is an enthralling account of China’s 4000-year-old tradition, taking in life stationed on the Great Wall or inside the Forbidden City. The story is enriched with the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries; correspondence and court cases going back to the Qin and Han dynasties; family letters from soldiers in the real-life Terracotta Army; stories from Silk Road merchants and Buddhist travellers, along with memoirs and diaries of  emperors, poets and peasants.    In the modern era, the book is full of new insights, with the electrifying manifestos of the feminist revolutionaries Qiu Jin and He Zhen, extraordinary eye-witness accounts of the Japanese invasion, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao, and fascinating newly published sources for the great turning points in China’s modern history, including the Tiananmen Square crisis of 1989, and the new order of President Xi Jinping.   A compelling portrait of a single civilisation over an immense period of time, the book is full of intimate detail and colourful voices, taking us from the desolate Mongolian steppes to the ultra-modern world of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also asks what were the forces that have kept China together for so long? Why was China overtaken by the west after the 18th century? What lies behind China’s extraordinary rise today? The Story of China tells a thrilling story of intense drama, fabulous creativity and deep humanity; a portrait of a country that will be of the greatest importance to the world in the twenty-first century. Read more

'Fascinating' TOM HOLLAND | 'A delight from start to finish' MIRANDA SAWYER'A novel and fascinating perspective on world history' BILL BRYSON'By turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at once' GIDEON DEFOEPeople 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, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.More praise for 47 BORDERS: 'Fascinating and hugely entertaining' MARINA HYDE 'You'll never look at a map the same way again' STEPHEN BUSH '[A] clever, confounding history' PATRICK MAGUIRE'A witty grand tour' DORIAN LYNSKEY 'Warm, funny and sharply political' PHIL TINLINE Read more

'An illuminating book for the interested citizen as well as for those making policy' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON'An important, crystal-clear account of contemporary global geopolitics... Essential reading' PETER FRANKOPAN'An excellent short guide: concise, informed, and full of insight' SIR LAWRENCE FREEDMANWe have entered a new Cold War. The contest between America and China is global and unbridgeable, and it encompasses all major instruments of statecraft - economic, political and military. It has its tinder box: Taiwan. And both protagonists are working hard to draw allies to their side from across the world.We stand at its beginning. But this Cold War is nothing like the conflict between the Soviet Union and the West which defined the second half of the twentieth century. We need new ideas to navigate its risks and avoid a globally devastating hot war. In this urgent and necessary book, Robin Niblett argues that only by looking back can we learn the lessons to guide us through this new reality: he goes through the ten ways in which the New Cold War is different and offers five rules for navigating its onset.How we manage this contest will determine not only whether there is still space for international cooperation to deal with our many global challenges, from the climate emergency to the technological revolution, but also who will lead the twenty-first century and, quite simply, the course of all our futures. Read more

A New York Times-bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our timeWar can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization-sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling the end of political systems, cultures, and epochs. Though much has changed over the millennia, human nature remains the same. Modern societies are not immune from the horror of a war of extinction. In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war's drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again. Read more

This is the fantastic true story of the infamous pirate; Coxinga who became king of Taiwan and was made a god - twice. Read more

The gripping story of Taiwan, from the flood myths of ancient legend to its ‘Asian Tiger’ economic miracle ― and the looming threat of invasion by China.Once dismissed by the Kangxi Emperor as nothing but a ‘ball of mud’, Taiwan has a modern GDP larger than that of Sweden, in a land area smaller than Indiana. It is the last surviving enclave of the Republic of China, a lost colony of Japan, and claimed by Beijing as a rogue province ― merely the latest chapters in its long history as a refuge for pirates, rebels, settlers, and outcasts.In Rebel Island, Jonathan Clements offers a concise and vivid telling of Taiwan’s complex island story, beginning with the unique conditions of its archaeology before examining its indigenous history and its days as a Dutch and Spanish trading post. He delves into its periods as an independent kingdom, Chinese province, and short-lived republic, and the transformations wrought by 50 years as part of the Japanese Empire.In 1949, the island became a lifeboat for two million refugees from the Chinese Communist Revolution, and the White Terror began. Later chapters explain the recent conflicts that have emerged after the suspension of four decades of martial law, as the Taiwanese debate issues of self-determination, independence, and home rule ― all under the watchful gaze of President Xi Jinping, and politicians around the world.Rebel Island is an essential guide to Taiwan’s past and present, providing invaluable context at a time of escalating tension over its future. Read more

Taiwan: a place with its own flag, currency, government and military, but which most of the world does not recognise as a sovereign country. An island that China regards as a ‘rebellious province’, but which has managed to survive defiantly for decades. Now with its neighbour China a major power on the world stage and ally United States looking increasingly inward, Taiwan’s position has never been more precarious.Kerry Brown and Kalley Wu Tzu-hui reveal how the island’s shifting fortunes have been shaped by centuries of conquest and by a cast of dynamic characters, by Cold War intrigue and the rise of its neighbour as a global power, explaining how this tiny island, caught between the agendas of two superpowers, is attempting to find its place in a rapidly changing world order. Read more

“Street Tainan” is the second book focusing on Taiwan’s oldest and perhaps most beloved city. As the former capital and current cultural capital, Tainan is a unique blend of the old and the new, the permanent and the temporary, the revered and the irreverent, the sleepy and the energetic.Every street corner has a Buddhist temple; every section of the city hosts a distinctive night market. The number of museums would seem to equal the number of bubble tea shops. And there are a lot of bubble tea shops.Like most towns full of paradox, the hustle of daily life inevitably means overlooking the details, nuances and minutiae that define a city’s essence. We look, but we don’t really see. These photographs capture some of that overlooked, unobserved, unconsidered routine. For it is there that we find the hidden joys, the unexpected beauty and a true appreciation of the eccentricities of everyday life. Read more

“Facade Tainan” focuses on Taiwan's oldest and perhaps most beloved city. Tainan's rich architectural history reflects centuries of wide-ranging cultural, political and social influences. Whether it was from the indigenous Taiwanese, the Dutch, the Ming and Qing Dynasties or the Japanese Empire, today’s Tainan is a distinctive and dynamic fusion of the historical and the contemporary, creating a diverse visual experience.Journeying into the city’s side streets and back alleys, these photographs explore some of the countless facades of Tainan's everyday buildings. Facades are mysterious. Like landlocked icebergs they hide 90% of their form. What we observe is only a small visual representation that challenges us to ponder what lies within. Read more

'The next Bill Bryson' New York TimesTwo tigers cannot share the same mountain - Chinese proverbDespite geographical proximity, cultural similarities, and shared status as highly powerful nations, China, Korea and Japan love to hate each other. Why?In search of an answer, Michael Booth journeys across East Asia to explore the mutual animosity that frequently threatens to draw the world into all-out war. From misjudged cake decorations to electoral meddling, contradictory origin myths to territorial disputes, this deeply researched and hugely entertaining book shows that no conflict is too small to keep the fires of neighbourly hostility burning.'A fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts...useful, fact-packed and readable' Spectator Read more

Taiwan is a geopolitical hotspot. Militarily, financially and on what values will govern the world.For China's leader, Xi Jinping, it is a prestige project to incorporate Taiwan into mainland China including using military force. This can lead to a great power conflict between the US and China with the US supporting Taiwan.Economically, the stakes are high. China is the world’s second largest economy and a focal point for supply chains. On the other side, Taiwan produces the bulk of microchips powering our electronic everyday life. A conflict or even a blockade will shave trillions of US dollars of the global economy.The future of the world is at stake. The United States' global power position and the world order we know, can be altered over the outcome of Taiwan. The dividing line between democracy and autocracy cuts right through the Taiwan Strait."Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow." That's how many Taiwanese wrote on social media, right after Russia invaded Ukraine. The message was shared with both gloomy prediction and nervousness.Since Nancy Pelosi's visit in August 2022 and China's largest military exercises in decades, the Chinese military has attempted to establish a "new normal" with almost constant military incursions. Chinese and Taiwanese jet fighters in the air have become a part of everyday life for the Taiwanese population.China & Taiwan expert and former Danish diplomat Jonas Parello-Plesner stayed in Taiwan late 2022-2023 to investigate how the Taiwanese ensure their resilience against China. He has talked to top politicians, microchip executives, military personnel, Taiwanese volunteer soldiers in Ukraine, and digital experts to draw a close-up picture of the resilience of the small island democracy.A must read for every reader interested in geopolitics and the story of Taiwan's struggle against their big neighbor. Read more

A history of the US Navy's remarkable 1945 South China Sea raid against the Japanese, the first time in history that a carrier fleet dared to rampage through coastal waters.As 1945 opened, Japan was fighting defensively everywhere. As the Allies drew closer to the Home Islands, risks of Japanese air and sea attack on the US Navy carrier force increased. US forces wanted to take the island of Luzon which provided a base for Japanese aircraft from Formosa (Taiwan) and Indochina, and from where attacks could easily be devastating for the invasion fleet. US Naval Intelligence also believed Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga were operating out of Cam Ranh Bay. A fast carrier sweep through the South China Sea was a potential answer with the bonus that it would strike the main nautical highway for cargo from Japan’s conquests in Southeast Asia.Task Force 38 would spend the better part of two weeks marauding through the South China Sea during Operation Gratitude, a month-long sweep of the area, which launched air strikes into harbours in Indochina, the Chinese coast and Formosa, while targeting shipping in the high-traffic nautical highway. By the time the Task Force exited the South China Sea, over 300,000 tons of enemy shipping and dozens of Japanese warships had been sunk. With follow-up air strikes against Japanese harbours and airfields in Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands, the success of the sweep was unprecedented.Using detailed battlescenes, maps, bird’s eye views and diagrams of air strikes at Luzon, this intriguing account of Task Force 38's reign in the South China Sea proved that aircraft carriers could dominate the land-based air power of the fading Japanese. From the Korean War through to Vietnam, to the campaigns in Iraq, aircraft carriers could sail safely offshore, knowing their aircraft could prevail on both sea and land. Read more

If you want to discover the captivating history of East Asia, then keep reading...Four captivating manuscripts in one book:History of China: A Captivating Guide to Chinese History, Including Events Such as the First Emperor of China, the Mongol Conquests of Genghis Khan, the Opium Wars, and the Cultural RevolutionHistory of Japan: A Captivating Guide to Japanese History, Including Events Such as the Genpei War, Mongol Invasions, Battle of Tsushima, and Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiHistory of Korea: A Captivating Guide to Korean History, Including Events Such as the Mongol Invasions, the Split into North and South, and the Korean WarHistory of Taiwan: A Captivating Guide to Taiwanese History and the Relationship with the People's Republic of ChinaHere are just some of the topics covered in part 1 of this book:The Land of the Yellow EmperorImperial China EmergesThe Supremacy of the Han, 202 BCE–220 CEThe Golden Age: The Tang Dynasty, 618–907The Song Dynasty, 960–1279Kublai Khan: The Yuan Dynasty, 1271–1368The Great Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644The Rise of the Qing, 1636–1912Revolutionary MadnessThe Republic of China to the People’s Republic of ChinaAnd much, much more!Here are just some of the topics covered in part 2 of this book:Children of the SunWarring ClansThe Two Imperial CourtsEdo Japan: Part One-1603 to 1638Edo Period: Part Two-1638 to 1868The Meiji RestorationForeign RelationsThe Taisho EraThe Showa EraJapan in World War II and Its AftermathHeisei EraAnd much, much more!Here are just some of the topics covered in part 3 of this book:Land of the BearThe Dragon of the East SeaDynasties Rise and FallThe Joseon Dynasty of GoryeoForeign InvasionsMerchants, Farmers, and ForeignersFrom Independence to AnnexationKorea at WarNorth KoreaSouth KoreaAnd much, much more!Here are just some of the topics covered in part 4 of this book:Formosa: Beautiful IslandThe Arrival of the Chinese and Their ReligionThe Dutch Trading YearsThe Ming, The Qing, and Japan: The War YearsJapanese TaiwanThe Sino-Japanese War & World War IITaiwan After World War IIAnd much, much more!So if you want to learn more about the history of East Asia, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button! Read more

'Illuminating ... Johnson has not only lifted a corner of the curtain which covers China's reality beyond its glittering eastern cities; he has drawn the whole curtain' The Times Literary SupplementIn Wild Grass, Pulitzer Prize-winning Ian Johnson describes a China caught between the desire for change percolating up from below and the ossified political structure above. He recounts the stories of three ordinary people who find themselves finding oppression and government corruption, risking imprisonment and even death. A young architecture student, a bereaved daughter, and a peasant legal clerk are the unlikely heroes of these stories, private citizens cast by unexpected circumstances into surprising roles. Read more

Soldiers, Strategists, and Scholars of Warfare,In the annals of military history, there comes a work of such critical insight and strategic depth that it becomes a beacon for those navigating the treacherous waters of modern conflict. "The High Tech Battle For Taiwan: From Gunpowder to Quantum Cyberwar" is that guiding star in our current era of technological tumult and geopolitical strife.This book is a tactical blueprint, a historical reconnaissance, and a forward-looking dossier all rolled into one. It charts the course from the rudimentary yet revolutionary invention of gunpowder, a catalyst that forever altered the landscape of warfare, to the enigmatic and potent world of quantum computing, where battles are waged in the shadows of cyberspace and the very fabric of reality.At the heart of this narrative lies Taiwan - an island fortress in the eye of a geopolitical storm. Here, the echoes of past conflicts merge with the digital drumbeats of future wars. This book meticulously dissects Taiwan's transformation from a pawn in the global power game to a central player in the world's high-tech battleground. It is not just a tale of a land and its people but a chronicle of how the evolution of warfare technology has reshaped the strategies and destinies of nations.We delve deep into the corridors of cyberwarfare, where the digital soldiers of today engage in a new kind of combat, one that is as stealthy as it is devastating. We explore the role of artificial intelligence, the implications of drone warfare, and the potentialities of quantum computing, unraveling their impact on the Taiwan Strait and beyond.This book is not just for military historians or aficionados of war strategy. It is a clarion call to all who understand that the future of global security and power dynamics is being written now, in the code of computers and the algorithms of AI. "The High Tech Battle For Taiwan" serves as both a warning and a guide, highlighting the urgent need for adaptation and innovation in the face of emerging technological frontiers.As you turn these pages, brace yourselves for an expedition through time and technology. Prepare to witness the transformation of conflict from the blast of cannons to the silent but deadly cyberattacks. Understand the strategic significance of Taiwan, not just as a geographical entity, but as a symbol of the struggle for supremacy in a world where technology reigns supreme.This book is your map to understanding the high-tech battle for Taiwan - a battle that is as much about circuits and software as it is about soldiers and diplomacy. It is about the past, the present, and most importantly, the future of warfare.Stand ready, readers. The battle begins here. Read more

As a top 20 global economy and tech powerhouse, a liberal democracy on the frontline of autocratic pressure and a pivotal component in the free and open Indo-Pacific, the future security of Taiwan has enormous ramifications for today’s global order.Jonathan Sullivan and Lev Nachman consider Taiwan’s complex and multi-layered history and the many dimensions it holds in international politics. They show that an appreciation of its critical role in geopolitics is more than just the crude dichotomies of “democracy vs authoritarianism” or “independence vs unification”. Its history and future are intimately tied to wider questions of decolonialism, national identity, economic interdependence, multiculturalism and modern values – all set against an ever-present security threat. Read more

This is how you achieve changeFridays for Future. Just Stop Oil. Black Lives Matter.From Greta Thunberg's inspiring school strike in Sweden to emerging 'hacktivism' in Ethiopia and Iran to the toppling of the statue of a notorious slave trader in Britain, Barney Cullum travels around the world to find out how disruptors are fighting for a better future. Meet the dissidents campaigning for democracy in Moscow and Istanbul, activists in the Sahel, Palestine, Brazil, and Ukraine, a commune claiming underground energy in Denmark and climate emergency protesters across Europe. Everywhere Cullum goes, he asks: how are you achieving change? Find out the secrets of successful movements for social change, including:What made Ireland U-turn on abortion?How did Taiwan's students resist when Hong Kong's could not?What persuaded Britain to reform its drug laws?How did peace finally break out in Colombia?Reviews"Making a Movement is a call to action but also a great insight into some of the leading international campaigns over the last ten years, which gives a sense of hope and aspiration for the next generation of campaigners and activists." - Patrick Vernon OBE, Windrush Campaigner"Jam-packed with stories of collective action, Barney Cullum deftly brings to life the lives and passions of people who have been driven to action for a better world. Whatever your perspective on their campaigns, we all have things to learn from their imagination and skill in drawing people together to bring change." - Abigail Thomas, Hopeful Activists Podcast Host"Making a Movement delivers a wrecking ball to the unsustainable populism of the right." - Simon Speakman Cordall, Al Jazeera Journalist"If you read Barney Cullum's book, you will come away with comprehensive knowledge of the severe problems impacting people every day all over the world, but you will also feel utterly inspired to take action yourself. Powerful stories reframe the brave people and organisations who are truly taking risks to bring about positive change, all achieved in an accessible, fascinating way." - Lucy Skoulding, Human Rights Campaigner and Independent Journalist"Cullum skilfully weaves together and situates social movements, campaigns and their tactics around the world. Interviews with key and ordinary people are interlaced with stories of how he obtained access. Filled with illuminating behind-the-scenes accounts of current situations, poignant viewpoints include those of pacifist Russians and Belarusians on the war in the Ukraine. Closer to home in the UK, Cullum captures the senselessness of people locked up in psychiatric hospitals for years with no end in sight." - Valerie de Schaller, Amnesty International Grassroots Activist"Through interviews with activists and campaigners across the global spectrum, these chapters offer a crucial insight into environmental, political and human rights movements. From strike action, to street art, to direct action, this book is an argument for why a whole range of tactics are so critical to achieving real change. A captivating and meaningful read." - Ella Abraham, Praxis, For Migrants and Refugees Campaigner Read more