‘Life is like rowing a boat; you have to look backwards to go
forwards.’ The past is essential to our understanding of both the
present and the future, and our general history books provide an
accessible explanation of key historical events, as well as bring to
light some aspects of the past that have previously been hidden from
view. Covering a millennium and spanning the globe, from the Norman
Conquest to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and from the search for the
North-West Passage to the Anglo-Zulu War, they are essential reading
for anyone with an interest in the past, the present or the future.