Western Europe

How did descendants of Viking marauders came to dominate Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East? It is a tale of ambitious adventures and fierce freebooters, of fortunes made and fortunes lost. The Normans made their influence felt across all of western Europe and the Mediterranean, from the British Isles to North Africa, and Lisbon to the Holy Land. In Empires of the Normans we discover how they combined military might and political savvy with deeply held religious beliefs and a profound sense of their own destiny.

Rome - as a city, as an empire, as an enduring idea - is in many ways the origin of everything Robert Hughes has spent his life writing about with such dazzling irreverence and exacting rigour. In this magisterial book he traces the city's history from its mythic foundation with Romulus and Remus to Fascism, Fellini and beyond. For almost a thousand years, Rome held sway as the spiritual and artistic centre of the world.

Cambridge professor and renowned historian Anthony Pagden covers a vast subject in a compact package with Peoples and Empires. This wide-ranging and intellectually stimulating work examines the origins and history of the West with terse, efficient prose. With a captivating narration by Robert O'Keefe, listeners will find this work enjoyable and utterly absorbing.

With travel tips and culture in our guidebooks written by a local, it is never too late to visit Verona. Greater Than a Tourist: Verona Veneto Region Italy offers the inside scoop on the city of love. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, this audiobook will give you candid travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination. Experience cultural, culinary delights, and attractions with the guidance of a local. Slow down and get to know the people with this invaluable guide.

The 19th century saw the rise of one of the largest, most powerful empires of the modern era. The sun never set on the British Empire, whose holdings spanned the globe, in one form or another. Its naval supremacy linked the Commonwealth of Canada with the colonies in South Africa and India, and through them trade flowed east and west. An integral but underutilized part of this vast trade network included China, a reclusive Asian kingdom closed off from the Western world that desired none of its goods.

Narrow streets, shattered paths, and satisfied tummies—Eat Like a Local Porto by Ekansh Kukreja offers a piece of foodie heaven often overlooked in those tiny streets of Porto. Culinary tourism is an important aspect of any travel experience. Food has the ability to tell you a story of a destination, its landscapes, and culture on a single plate. Most food guides tell you how to eat like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Eat Like a Local series, this book will give you a food guide from someone who has lived at your next culinary destination.

If you are planning to go to Amsterdam for vacation or business, and you only have two or three days and you want to make the best of your short stay, then you have come to the right place. The focus of this book is to make your short stay one of the most memorable experiences of your life. The goal of this book is not to squeeze everything the city has to offer into two or three days. The goal is to show you the best of the city in a short time. I know people like different things, but Amsterdam is such an incredible city that even in a small area you will find a variety of things that will fascinate or interest you.

Half a century ago, at the height of the Cold War and amidst a world economic crisis, Western democracies were forced to undergo a profound transformation. Against what some saw as a full-scale 'crisis of democracy' - with race riots, anti-Vietnam marches and a wave of worker discontent - a new political-economic order was devised and the postwar social contract was torn up and written anew. In this narrative of the events that have shaped our times, Simon Reid-Henry shows how liberal democracy, and Western history with it, was profoundly reimagined when the postwar Golden Age ended.

King George V predicted that his son, Edward VIII, would destroy himself within a year of succeeding to the throne. In December 1936 he was proved right, and the world’s press revealed the king was abandoning his throne to marry Wallis Simpson. A life spent in the shadow of his charismatic elder brother left the new king, George VI, magnificently unprepared for the demands of ruling the kingdom and empire. Drawing on personal accounts from the royal archives, Deborah Cadbury uncovers the very private conflict.

Looking to dive into the heart of London's most cherished performing art scene, the dazzling West End? If yes, you've come to the right place. Uncover the fascinating story of its evolution! Did you know that the first theatre in the West End was established in the 16th century and was simply dubbed "The Theatre"? This doesn't even scratch the surface regarding the captivating history that shaped this iconic theater district.

Greater Than a Tourist: Skopje, Macedonia by Katerina Prochkova Coss offers the inside scoop on Skopje. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, this aduiobook will give you travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination. In this audiobook, you will discover advice that will help you throughout your stay. It will not tell you exact addresses or store hours, but instead, it will give you excitement and knowledge from a local that you may not find in other travel books. Travel like a local.

Whether a visitor to, or a native of, the great and ancient metropolis of London, the listener will be drawn in by this book's strange and sometimes horrendous tales about this global melting pot of a city. It discusses in detail some of the demons, ghosts, and life-essence stealers who inhabit London's netherworld and call it their home. This book's tales of hauntings and terror deal exclusively with that hugely haunted area of London known as the West End which has the famous Piccadilly Circus at its centre.

In a moment of historic threat and uncertainty in mainland Europe, this collection, makes the case for the 'small countries' of Central Europe as the nucleus of European values and a lightning rod for its potential dangers, where language and culture play an active role in affirming national identity and democracy is under continued threat from the threat of Russian oppression. However, these countries have been historically overlooked by the major powers of Western Europe.

June 1942. The Third Reich is victorious everywhere. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who escaped to Britain just before the War. Many have lost their families, their homes - their whole worlds. And now, in the crucial final battles against the Nazis, they will stop at nothing to defeat them. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop.

Greater Than a Tourist - Parma, Italy by Noelle Scarlett offers the inside scoop on Parma, one of the food capitals of the world. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this book will give you travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination.

After his surrender to the Royal Navy, Napoleon became the object of massive English public interest. He would live out his last years on the island of St. Helena without ever admitting to being a prisoner. This close study of Napoleon in captivity attempts to reconstruct an authentic portrait of the fallen emperor by examining contemporary documents and records of public opinion.

For the people of the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, the city of Rome had been a symbol of power for centuries, and entering the early 5th century AD, the Eternal City hadn't been taken by an enemy force since the Gauls had done it about 800 years ago, an unheard of period of tranquility in a world wracked with almost constant warfare. Thus when the Visigoths, who the Romans considered uncultured and inferior, took the city of Rome and sacked it in 410, the world was stunned.

Margaret Thatcher was a British stateswoman and the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. From 1975 to 1990, she was the Leader of the Conservative Party. She was elected Prime Minister three times and served for 11 years, longer than any other British prime minister of the 20th century. Her political views, based on loose economics and individual self-realization, along with her policies, were referred to as Thatcherism, which for decades remained an influential political concept in the United Kingdom.

At 43, Ninya was depressed, out of shape, and filled with crippling anxiety after addiction, cancer, and divorce had destroyed nearly everything. One day, she received a message from a stranger. This woman offered to lead her on a self-healing trip hiking through the Scottish highlands. In this memoir, an introverted Pollyanna is paired up with her opposite, a steamrolling, abrasive female with unorthodox healing methods. As they barrel through the winding roads in a rental car, a series of events forces Ninya to find the strength to heal in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

In this short essay, Mark Twain discusses the patriot William Tell, the city of Interlaken, and the Jungfrau mountain. He describes the beauty of the landscape with great admiration.