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In A Brief History of History , acclaimed historian Jeremy Black seeks to reinvigorate and redefine our ideas about history. The stories we tell about the past are a crucial aspect of all cultures. However, while the traditional storytelling process-what we think of as \"history\" in the proper sense-is useful, it is also misleading, not least because it leads to the repetition of bias and misinformation. Black suggests that the conventional idea of history and historians is constructed too narrowly, as it fails to engage with the broad nature of lived experience. By focusing on a singular idea or story within the history being explored, we fail to understand the interconnectivity of the everyday experience. A Brief History of History challenges accepted norms of the historical perspective and offers a view of human history that will surprise many and (perhaps) infuriate some. But above all, it is a history of historians written for this moment in time, a time when the traditional Eurocentric approach to history now appears wholly inappropriate.

Swiftly following World War Two, the Cold War between a Soviet-led alliance and an American-led one might appear to be a clearcut case of a continuity with Mackinder’s 1904 perspective. In practice, there was the significant intervening stage of the earlier ideological political contest of 1918-41 between the Soviet Union and a British anti-Communist system.

To write history is to consider how to explicate the past, to weigh the myriad possible approaches to the past, and to come to terms with how the past can be and has been used. In this book, prize-winning historian Jeremy Black considers both popular and academic approaches to the past. His focus is on the interaction between the presentation of the past and current circumstances, on how history is used to validate one view of the present or to discredit another, and on readings of the past that unite and those that divide. Black opens with an account that underscores the differences and developments in traditions of writing history from the ancient world to the present. Subsequent chapters take up more recent decades, notably the post-Cold War period, discussing how different perspectives can fuel discussions of the past by individuals interested in shaping public opinion or public perceptions of the past. Black then turns to the possible future uses of the then past as a way to gain perspective on how we use the past today. Clio's Battles is an ambitious account of the engagement with the past across world history and of the clash over the content and interpretation of history and its implications for the present and future.

Artists, martyrs, kings, revolutionaries: Frances sense of national identity is inextricably linked to its dramatic history, which fascinates the world and attracts millions each year to visit its chateaux and cathedrals, boulevards and vineyards. Ancient roots allied to a social, political and military history that has witnessed revolution, conflict and occupation mean that France holds a unique position in the modern world. In this short, easy-to-digest history of a vast subject, Jeremy Black succinctly narrates how Frances past has created its distinct character. Country and destination, nation and idea, France has an incomparable cultural legacy, and exerts a powerful artistic, intellectual and political influence across the globe. Blacks vivid take on history emphasizes the unexpected nature of events and unpredictable outcomes on a fragmented country, from the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux to the origins of Gothic architecture, from Monet and Degas to the Lumiere brothers, and from the cataclysm of the 1789 Revolution through the countercultural student protests of 1968 to todays gilets jaunes. Blacks concise, insightful tour of the key historical moments and vibrant personalities that shaped France provides an indispensable guide to understanding the country today.

Rethinking Military History is a bold new 'thought book' that reconsiders military history at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The chapters provide a valuable and concise survey of the main themes in the study of military history from 1500 to the present day as Jeremy Black reveals the main trends in the practice and approach to military history and proposes a new manifesto for the subject to move forward. This must-read study demonstrates the limitations of current approaches, including common generalizations, omissions, and over-simplications. Engaging theoretical discussions, with reference to specific conflicts, suggest how these limitations can be remedied and adapted, whilst incorporating contributions from other disciplines. Rethinking Military History is essential reading for all those with an interest in military history, and all who wish to take part in moving the discipline forward. Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He is editor of the Routledge series Warfare and History. Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Sound of Guns: Military History Today 3. Redressing Eurocentricism 4. Qualifying Technology 5. Setting Military Objectives 6. 1500-1815 7. 1775-1918 8. 1914-Today 9. Conclusions Selected Bibliography Index ' [this book] is stimulating and thought-provoking. It will be of particular value to serious students of military history, and to those who aspire to write it.' - British Army Review '...essential reading for all those with an interest in military history, and all those who wish to take part in moving the discipline forward.' - USI Journal

1. England in the Age of Shakespeare focuses on Shakespeare's plays (not the poetry) and explores everything from everyday life to the political, scientific, and religious climate of the era. 2. The topics covered are of perennial interest both in schools as well as for general audiences interested in learning more about what real life was like in Elizabethan England. Author Jeremy Black is a master of the sweeping introduction written for a general audience. 3. This book would be ideal for use in high school or college course adoption. The language throughout is aimed at a general reader, the pacing is quick, and the content is not loaded down with too many footnotes or academic digressions. How did it feel to hear Macbeth's witches chant of \"double, double toil and trouble\" at a time when magic and witchcraft were as real as anything science had to offer? How were justice and forgiveness understood by the audience who first watchedKing Lear; how were love and romance viewed by those who first sawRomeo and Juliet? InEngland in the Age of Shakespeare, Jeremy Black takes readers on a tour of life in the streets, homes, farms, churches, and palaces of the Bard's era. Panning from play to audience and back again, Black shows how Shakespeare's plays would have been experienced and interpreted by those who paid to see them. From the dangers of travel to the indignities of everyday life in teeming London, Black explores the jokes, political and economic references, and small asides that Shakespeare's audiences would have recognized. These moments of recognition often reflected the audience's own experiences of what it was to, as Hamlet says, \"grunt and sweat under a weary life.\" Black's clear and sweeping approach seeks to reclaim Shakespeare from the ivory tower and make the plays' histories more accessible to the public for whom the plays were always intended.

Swiftly following World War Two, the Cold War between a Soviet-led alliance and an American-led one might appear to be a clear cut case of a continuity with Mackinder’s 1904 perspective. In practice, there was the significant intervening stage of the earlier ideological-political contest of 1918-41 between the Soviet Union and a British anti-Communist system.

Information is power. For more than five hundred years the success or failure of nations has been determined by a country's ability to acquire knowledge and technical skill and transform them into strength and prosperity. Leading historian Jeremy Black approaches global history from a distinctive perspective, focusing on the relationship between information and society and demonstrating how the understanding and use of information have been the primary factors in the development and character of the modern age. Black suggests that the West's ascension was a direct result of its institutions and social practices for acquiring, employing, and retaining information and the technology that was ultimately produced. His cogent and well-reasoned analysis looks at cartography and the hardware of communication, armaments and sea power, mercantilism and imperialism, science and astronomy, as well as bureaucracy and the management of information, linking the history of technology with the history of global power while providing important indicators for the future of our world.

A global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this new account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system. Taking a 'total' view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers - notably the United States, China, Britain and Russia - in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France'sAncien Regime and Britain's empire building to present day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon and Hitler.