Books similar like Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History

Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States

An Economist Best History Book 2017

“History as it should be written.”—Barry Cunliffe, Guardian

“Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civili…

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Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

In November 1519, Hernando Cortés walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story—and the story of what happened afterwards—has bee…

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Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

An account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs

According to the accepted narrative of progr…

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Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization

Civilization was born eight thousand years ago, between the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when migrants from the surrounding mountains and deserts began to create increasingly sophis…

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Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

Compulsory ujamaa villages in Tanzania, collectivization in Russia, Le Corbusier’s urban planning theory realized in Brasilia, the Great Leap Forward in China, agricultural "modernization" in the Trop…

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The Earth Transformed: An Untold History

A revolutionary new history that reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the development—and demise—of civilizations across time

Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces t…

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The Return of Martin Guerre

The clever peasant Arnaud du Tilh had almost persuaded the learned judges at the Parlement of Toulouse when, on a summer’s day in 1560, a man swaggered into the court on a wooden leg, denounced Arnaud…

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After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations

In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why …

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Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

The Viking Age - between 750 and 1050 - saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they reshaped the world between eastern North Ameri…

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China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

In China After Mao , award-winning author Frank Dikötter delves into the history of China under the communist party – from the death of Chairman Mao in 1976 up until the moment when Xi Jinping stepped…

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Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases

How did it start? Why did it spread? How do we stop it?
Packed with one thrilling medical mystery after another, Patient Zero tells the curious stories of 21 of the world's worst disease—including smal…

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