The making of the "Oxford English Dictionary" was a monumental 50 year task requiring thousands of volunteers. One of the keenest volunteers was a W C Minor who astonished everyone by refusing to come to Oxford to receive his congratulations. In the end, James Murray, the "OED's" editor, went to Crowthorne in Berkshire to meet him.
Hidden behind velvet curtains above a stairway in a house in London's Piccadilly is an enormous and beautiful hand-coloured map - the first geological map of anywhere in the world. Its maker was a farmer's son named William Smith. Born in 1769 his life was beset by troubles. This title tells his story.
Chronicles the destruction of Indonesian island of Krakatoa in 1883. This book describes how one island and its inhabitants were blasted out of existence and how colonial society was turned upside-down in a cataclysm.
Danubia is the brilliant and entertaining companion to the Sunday Times top ten bestseller Germania. It was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013.
Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and the Superpower Future of China shatters the many myths and caricatures that shroud one of the world's most secretive political organisations and its leader.
The Last Giants explores the rapid decline of one of the world's favourite animals and the measures required to halt their extinction, through Levison Wood's time spent with elephants in Africa.
'With In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood wrote the book for history on TV.' The Times 'Michael Wood is the maker of some of the best TV documentaries ever made on history and archaeology.' Times Literary Supplement
Follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest of the Spanish adventurers travelling from the forests of Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, the deserts of North Mexico, the snowpeaks of the Andes and the heights of Machu Picchu. This work explores the turbulent and terrifying events surrounding the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires.