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History & Society

History books allow you to travel back in time. They let you discover a whole different era than our own with different lifestyles, morale compases and crises. To understand history is to understand, who you are, and what you come from. It is the foundation of today’s society and culture. In Tales’ selection of history and society books you can investigate both religion, mythologies, and wars with competent authors and scholars giving their interpretation of how events happened as they did and how we ended up with today’s society. Are you ready to get wiser of both past and present?
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  • Save 14%
    by Helen Russell
    £9.49 - 13.49

  • Save 24%
    by Kara Swisher
    £18.99

  • Save 14%
    by Michael Lewis
    £9.49

  • by Bruce Gilley
    £21.49 - 31.49

  • Save 10%
    by Simon Jimenez
    £8.99

    Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.

  • Save 15%
    by Keyu Jin
    £10.99

  • Save 25%
    by Michael D. Beaver
    £54.99

  • Save 14%
    by Kathleen Hanna
    £9.49 - 15.49

  • Save 21%
    by Planet Lonely
    £13.49

    Lonely Planet's New York City is our most comprehensive guide that extensively covers all the city has to offer, with recommendations for both popular and lesser-known experiences. Stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge, catch a Broadway show and get vertigo at the top of the Empire State Building; all with your trusted travel companion.

  • Save 15%
    by Dr. Caroline Leaf
    £10.99

    Anxiety, depression, and mental health struggles are increasingly present in children ages 3-10. Bestselling author and neuroscientist shares a clear and effective five-step plan to teach your child how to manage their minds so they can live a life with greater resilience, health, and happiness in a changing and challenging world.

  • Save 14%
    by Chris van Tulleken
    £9.49

  • Save 24%
    by Jean-Marc Jancovici
    £18.99

    There is no green energy. Nor pink, nor black. Nor clean nor dirty, for that matter. In this intelligent, eye-opening and witty bestseller, an eminent climate scientist takes a graphic novelist on a journey to understand the profound changes that our planet is experiencing. The scientist, Jean-Marc Jancovici, explains the workings of superpowers and history; oil and climate; ecology, economics and energy flows. He describes, in short, the world we live in today-a world whose future is deeply uncertain. The artist, Christophe Blain, intently listens and draws.As the pair come face to face with global warming, they - along with Mother Nature, Iron Man and Popeye, among others - create a picture of what the solution to our predicament actually looks like. It's not just about switching to renewable energy sources, they show. It's about rethinking everything: our energy supply, our economies and our whole world. We're left with a vision of the future in which nuclear power, food, education, housing, transport and communities - in other words all of us - work together to create a world without end.

  • by Jack Donovan
    £16.99 - 27.49

  • Save 14%
    - How Disruptive Imagination Creates Culture.
    by Lewis Hyde
    £9.49

    This book from the author of The Gift is about imagination and philosophy and was described by Margaret Atwood as a 'masterpiece'

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    by Anna Dintaman, Matthew Harms & David Landis
    £14.99

  • Save 25%
    by Tim Anderson
    £19.49

    Tim Anderson shows you the way to enjoy delicious homemade ramen on a regular basis, and gives you the tools to build your own ramen, just the way you like it! It is broken into five sections - Broth, Seasoning, Aromatic Oils and Fats, Noodles and Toppings - to enable you to mix and match to create your own ramen to suit your taste.

  • by Enoch
    £14.49

    One of the most important Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha works of the Second Temple Period is Enoch.According to the biblical narrative (Genesis 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the other patriarchs in the period before the Flood).Enoch "walked with GOD."Enoch is a figure who receives direct personal revelation from God. He sees the magnificence of God and begins to preach to those around him against sin. He warns that the sinners will be winnowed and that God himself will appear on Mount Sinai to judge the humans as well as the fallen angels on Earth. Among the more controversial material within this text is the detailed account it gives of fallen angels on earth and their cursed offspring, the Nephilim. Azazel features heavily as the instigator of metal weapon production, the use of cosmetics and advocate of widespread promiscuity and fornication. In this book, the figure of Enoch is charged with the knowledge of God's chosen and brutal punishment for the Nephilim, their human mothers and their Angel fathers.The Book of Enoch is a pseudoepigraphal work (a work that claims to be by a biblical character). The Book of Enoch was not included in either the Hebrew or most Christian biblical canons, but could have been considered a sacred text by the sectarians. The original Aramaic version was lost until the Dead Sea fragments were discovered. This is a compilation of several separate works, most of which are apocalyptic. Its oldest portion is the "Apocalypse of Weeks," written shortly before the Maccabean uprising of 167 BC against the Seleucids. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch is called a "pseudepigraphical work," meaning one that is not included in any canon of scripture, outside of even the Apocrypha. The only complete extant version is an Ethiopic translation of a previous Greek translation made in Palestine from the original Hebrew or Aramaic. The Book of the Watcher, tells the story of fallen angels from Gen 6:1-4 that took wives, created the Nephilim, and taught advanced technology to mankind, ultimately leading to the great flood and their destruction. The Parables of Similitude, is an apocalyptic book about the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days. These ancient prophecies of Jesus are directly in line with what we find in the Bible, and are remarkably similar to The Book of Revelation. The Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries is a detailed account of the stars and their functions. The Dream Visions is the prophecy of all human history, from the creation of mankind all the way to the end times and the final judgement. The past, present, and future are foretold in grand detail. The prophecy of weeks is similar to the prophecy structure in the book of Daniel. The Noah Fragments is the untold story of Noah from the Bible. We learn more about his mission to save all humanity and the struggles of his father Lamech and his grandfather Methuselah. Finally, included herein are all known fragments of The Book of Giants. Each work is independent, but all the works are bound by a common theme: the punishment of the wicked and the blessedness of the righteous.

  • Save 27%
    by Stuart A Reid
    £21.99

    "A spellbinding work of history that reads like a Cold War spy thriller-about the US-sanctioned plot to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the newly independent Congo"--

  • Save 14%
    by David Graeber
    £9.49

    'A characteristically radical re-reading of history that places the social and political experiments of pirates at the heart of the European Enlightenment. A brilliant companion volume to the best-selling Dawn of Everything' Amitav GhoshThe Enlightenment did not begin in Europe. Its true origins lie thousands of miles away on the island of Madagascar, in the late seventeenth century, when it was home to several thousand pirates. This was the Golden Age of Piracy, a period of violent buccaneering and rollicking legends - but it was also, argues anthropologist David Graeber, a brief window of radical democracy, as the pirate settlers attempted to apply the egalitarian principles of their ships to a new society on land.For Graeber, Madagascar's lost pirate utopia represents some of the first stirrings of Enlightenment political thought. In this jewel of a book, he offers a way to 'decolonize the Enlightenment', demonstrating how this mixed community experimented with an alternative vision of human freedom, far from that being formulated in the salons and coffee houses of Europe. Its actors were Malagasy women, merchants and traders, philosopher kings and escaped slaves, exploring ideas that were ultimately to be put into practice by Western revolutionary regimes a century later.Pirate Enlightenment playfully dismantles the central myths of the Enlightenment. In their place comes a story about the magic, sea battles, purloined princesses, manhunts, make-believe kingdoms, fraudulent ambassadors, spies, jewel thieves, poisoners and devil worship that lie at the origins of modern freedom.

  • Save 27%
    by Cole Horton
    £21.99

    Explore the "e;Wars"e; in Star Wars as never before!Enter a galaxy ravaged by conflict and discover the complete story of the epic struggles that define the Star Wars movies. This ambitious ebook presents major galactic conflicts from an in-world "e;historical"e; perspective: each battle is depicted with captivating imagery, explored with newly commissioned maps, and explained through detailed analysis of tactics, famous commanders, legendary warriors, key moments, and its impact on wider galactic history.This is the perfect ebook for any Star Wars fan, budding military historian, or would-be rebel hero! AND TM 2021 LUCASFILM LTD.

  • Save 20%
    by Ian Kershaw
    £11.99

    One of the great historians of our age asks: how far can a single leader alter the course of history?The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying array of instruments of control, persuasion and death. Whole societies were re-shaped and wars fought, often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms. At the summit of these societies were leaders whose personalities had somehow given them the ability to do whatever they wished.Ian Kershaw's new book is a compelling, lucid and challenging attempt to understand these rulers, whether operating on the widest stage (Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini) or with a more national impact (Tito, Franco). What was it about these leaders and the times they lived in that allowed them such untrammelled and murderous power? And what brought that era to an end? In a contrasting group of profiles, from Churchill to de Gaulle, Adenauer to Gorbachev, and Thatcher to Kohl, Kershaw uses his exceptional skills to think through how other, strikingly different figures wielded power.

  • by Frederic Gros
    £9.99

    ';It is only ideas gained from walking thathave any worth.'Nietzsche In A Philosophy of Walking, a bestsellerin France, leading thinker FredericGros charts the many different wayswe get from A to B the pilgrimage,the promenade, the protest march, thenature rambleand reveals what theysay about us. Gros draws attention to otherthinkers who also saw walking assomething central to their practice.On his travels he ponders Thoreau's eagerseclusion in Walden Woods; the reasonRimbaud walked in a fury, while Nervalrambled to cure his melancholy. Heshows us how Rousseau walked in orderto think, while Nietzsche wanderedthe mountainside to write. In contrast,Kant marched through his hometownevery day, exactly at the same hour, toescape the compulsion of thought.Brilliant and erudite, A Philosophyof Walking is an entertaining andinsightful manifesto for putting onefoot in front of the other.

  • Save 25%
    by Mateo Zielonka
    £19.49

  • Save 20%
    by Judith Herman
    £11.99

  • Save 10%
    by Tete-Michel Kpomassie
    £8.99

  • by Richard Rudd
    £19.49 - 24.49

  • Save 15%
    by Ernest K Gann
    £10.99

  • Save 21%
    by Kenneth (Author) Bailey
    £13.49

  • Save 14%
    by Eugen Herrigel
    £9.49

History
The concept history covers a large range of topics all with its different focus. On top of Tales’ history books list, you find history books giving their in-depth view of some of World History’s most tragic events in modern time - World War 1 and World War 2. The two world wars affected most of the world and so many people lost their lives to them - both soldiers and civilians. The wars changed the world forever, and to understand how and why you need to dive into one of our many brilliant history books about the historic wars, giving you all the analysis and nuances you need - because we all know history books best, when they are thorough and give us new perspectives on historical events. 
If you instead are interested in politics during different historical periods, our selection of history books also contains that. The political system of a nation is a defining factor for how the citizens are treated and what conditions of life they have. The political factors can also lead to crises and wars, and in that way politics can make its mark on a whole historical era, but it can also lead to better times, giving the citizens better conditions and possibilities of social mobility. If you are interested, you will find all the history books in english right here. 
If you want to travel back to the fascinating Antiquity you should try reading the classics The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer. However they can be hard to understand in their original form. That is why we recommend you to dive into Stephen Fry’s fascinating interpretations of the antic classics. The works of the Antic Greeks, especially Homer, have that special kind of universality that all the classics refer to, even though the lyrics are about ancient mythological heroes such as Achilleus and Heracles (better known as Hercules) and their challenging adventures. The historical tales leave the reader with universal morales of life. In Stephen Fry’s version called Heroes the tales are giving a modern language and new relevans - especially for young people. 
It is also important to teach your kids about our common history and that is why you also find history books for kids in Tales’ wide selection. 

Society
A society is formed by a community of individuals and has gone through many changes throughout history. The history of our society has gone through many different stages, and in order to contain this diversity Tales’ collection has a rich amount of societal books from different time periods. You can find society books concerning and analyzing all from the traditional society, the modern society, and the post-modern society to the humanistic society. 

Educational textbooks
If you study history or social science Tales’ collection of History and Society is the perfect place to find your next educational textbook. History is one of the most important humanistic disciplines educating the future historians and museum inspectors. Without historians there will be nobody to investigate the historical data and texts and no one to evaluate them critically, and most importantly there would be no one to arrange history and the historical sources. Without them we would in fact lack a lot of vital information about who we are and what we come from, and we would not have the same ability to learn from history, which would be a great loss. That is why you need to start your journey as a history student in Tales’ selection of history books. 
Social science is also a cornerstone in understanding who we are and why we act as we act. As a social science student you should dive into our selection of societal books in order to get inspired for your next case study. 

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