The narrative explores Hitler's oppressive regime, which stifled dissent and forced many intellectuals and talented individuals to flee Germany. This exodus resulted in a substantial "brain drain," significantly enriching Britain and America with the contributions of some of Germany's brightest minds. The book delves into the broader implications of this migration on science, culture, and society during a tumultuous historical period.
The biography explores the pivotal yet overlooked role of the Duc d'Orleans in the French Revolution, highlighting his unique position as a royal who actively opposed the monarchy and voted for Louis XVI's execution. It brings to life key figures from the Revolution, including the Chevalier de Saint-George, a friend of the Duc and co-founder of France's first anti-slavery society, and Madame de Genlis, an influential intellectual and the Duc's mistress. This work sheds light on Philippe's significant impact during a transformative period in European history.
For an invention that has only been around for 200 years, the simple bicycle has changed the world in many ways. It democratised travel for the first time, allowing ordinary people to travel at reasonable speed without need of a horse, to commute further afield to work and to enjoy the benefits of the countryside. It has challenged social conventions, granting women a new-found freedom, and it has played an important role in wartime, whether used by British paratroopers or in Vietnamese supply lines. Today, despite the prevalence of the car, the bicycle is as important as ever, with more cycles appear on city streets each year.Bikes come in all shapes and sizes and the history of cycling is on of innovation in design: from Macmillan's first pedal-driven cycle to the eccentric Dursley Pedersen, and from the 1960s iconic Moulton to the free-styling BMX, the humble cycle continues to surprise and delight in equal measure. Illustrated in full colour with a wide range of photographs, The History of Cycling in Fifty bikes tells the story of the bicycle through 50 iconic machines, starting with the first primitive wooden two-wheelers through to carbon-fibre super bikes and the designs of the future, celebrating sporting achievements, technological advances and world records along with way.
A penetrating and incisive study of the fanaticism and foibles of some of history's most illustrious names From Assad to Nero, Gaddafi to Ivan The Terrible, this work attempts a thorough illumination of the minds of some of the most powerful people in history. While leaving some room to describe the amusing incidents and eccentricities associated with a host of men and women of power, it also reaches into the terrifying depths and depravities of minds that shaped the destinies of peoples and nations. Using a unique combination of history, politics, and psychology, this book fully describes how power not only corrupts but deranges.