Geopolitics History

Following in the footsteps of Robeson, Ali, Robinson and others, today’s Black athletes re-engage with social issues and the meaning of American patriotism Named a best book of 2018 by Library Journal It used to be that politics and sports were as separate from one another as church and state...

In The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world's hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands.

From writer and political analyst Jared Yates Sexton comes an eye-opening journey through American history that unearths and debunks the myths we've always told ourselves. Recent years have brought a reckoning in America. As rampant political corruption, stark inequality, and violent bigotry...

In one of the most timely political books in years, Gail Collins declares that “what happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas anymore.” Gail Collins’s fascination with Texas began rather abruptly in that distant spring of 2009 when she heard Governor Rick Perry—back to the wall, boots...

Two lifelong peace activists and guides to Israel/Palestine, both of whom have lost family in the conflict, take readers on a revealing life-changing journey across this holy, bloodstained land and discover the mythic, political, and personal history that divides but also binds them and their...

How the world’s oldest asset secretly shapes our modern economy In The Land Trap, Mike Bird—Wall Street editor at The Economist—reveals how this ancient asset still exerts outsize influence over the modern world. From the speculative land grabs of colonial America to China's real estate...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The acclaimed author of How to Be an Antiracist and the National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning charts how “great replacement theory” has become a dominant political idea of our time and ushered in an antidemocratic age. “Kendi argues brilliantly...

“Thought-provoking—a must read for [everyone] seeking a firm grasp of accurate American history." —Kirkus (starred review) Brilliant, readable, and raw. Maj. (ret.) Danny Sjursen, who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at West Point, delivers a true epic...

Most history books tell you what happened. This one reveals why the world runs on oil—and who controls it. From the first drilling rigs of the 19th century to today’s high-stakes geopolitical battles, oil has shaped empires, ignited wars, and determined the fate of nations. Behind every major conflict lies a hidden force—pipelines, reserves, and the relentless pursuit of energy dominance. In Oil, Power, and War, you will uncover: How John D. Rockefeller built one of the most powerful monopolies in history The rise of the Seven Sisters and the secret agreements that divided the ...

NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER From two winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, “who have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity” “A wildly ambitious work that hopscotches through history and around the world...

From the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economics and the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail "Why is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A...

Maps have a mysterious hold over us. Whether ancient, crumbling parchments or generated by Google, maps tell us things we want to know, not only about our current location or where we are going but about the world in general. And yet, when it comes to geo-politics, much of what we are told is generated by analysts and other experts who have neglected to refer to a map of the place in question.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The epic story of how America turned the world economy into a weapon, upending decades of globalization to confront a new authoritarian axis—Russia, China, and Iran. "Deftly written, Chokepoints is a compelling and dramatic narrative about the new shape of...

Before the Strait of Hormuz became the world’s most watched energy chokepoint, it was a drowned plain, a migration corridor, a Bronze Age trade route, a medieval island kingdom, and the gate through which empires tried to command the seas. Hurmuz tells that full story in one sweeping narrative. Beginning with geology, post-glacial flooding, and the first human movements out of Africa, this book follows the making of the Persian Gulf world through ancient trade, Persian and Islamic empires, the rise of medieval Hormuz, Portuguese and British power, the pearl age, oil, tanker wars, and the ...

An inclusive and landmark history, emphasizing how essential Asian American experiences are to any understanding of US history Original and expansive, Asian American Histories of the United States is a nearly 200-year history of Asian migration, labor, and community formation in the US...

An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics "A magisterial account of Moscow that reveals the city’s history and something of its soul through countless interwoven...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The urgent and influential guide to the forces that have undermined democracies across the globe—forces running rampant in the United States today—hailed as “a touchstone” (The New Yorker) that “comes at exactly the right moment” (The Washington Post)...

The New York Times bestselling author of God’s Hand on America reveals that what the Founders always believed has been proven true: that America’s rise to prosperity and power, from the writing of the Constitution to the Civil War, unfolded according to a master plan. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE...

In A History of Chess, Bob Kowalski offers an in-depth and engaging study of the ancient history of chess, exploring its cultural, social, technical and geopolitical evolution over the centuries. The author presents chess not only as a game, but as a complex expression that combines art, science and sport, as well as functioning as an educational tool and philosophical metaphor, reflecting the societies in which it flourished. Kowalski begins his account of the game's ancient roots in India, with Chaturanga, which began as a war simulation full of religious symbolism and cultural ...

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION The story of a hotel. The story of a nation. When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected...