Indian Ocean

When did the first humans arrive in India and how did they get here? What are Roman artefacts from hundreds of years ago doing in a town near Puducherry? How did merchants from Arabia end up near Kochi? From the east coast of Africa to Australia, one big blue body of water has connected diverse...

On the world maps common in America, the Western Hemisphere lies front and center, while the Indian Ocean region all but disappears. This convention reveals the geopolitical focus of the now-departed 20th century, but in the 21st century, that focus will fundamentally change. In this pivotal examination of the countries known as “Monsoon Asia”—which include India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania—best-selling author Robert D. Kaplan explains how crucial this dynamic area has become to American power.

** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ** 'Gripping... the wildlife is so fantastical that the images on the page feel like works of the imagination.' Evening Standard 'THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR OCEAN AND WE MUST WRITE ITS NEXT CHAPTER TOGETHER. FOR IF WE SAVE THE SEA, WE SAVE OUR WORLD. AFTER A...

Throughout history, the Indian Ocean has been an essential space for trade, commerce, and culture. Every European power has sought to dominate it. Now, after a lull in the postwar period, control of major shipping routes has once again become a critical aspect of every rising state's ambition to be a global power. Darshana M. Baruah shows how governments from Washington, DC, to Nairobi and Canberra are expanding their interests in the region.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2023 ‘Grippingly vivid and pacey’ THE TIMES ‘A seven-year old girl on a seventy-foot yacht, for ten years, over fifty thousand miles of sailing’ SIMON WINCHESTER 'An astonishing almost day-by-day account of [a] hazardous journey and its...

The Silk Road may be one origin of globalization, but the Indian Ocean is another. Barry Cunliffe examines the beginning of maritime trade using the evidence of archaeology and the tales of great travelers such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and the Chinese Admiral, Zheng He. This story complements that of the land routes, showing how humans have been driven across thousands of years to create and maintain networks whatever the difficulties.

WINNER OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY BOOK PRIZE FOR GLOBAL CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN-HESSEL TILTMAN PRIZE 2021 LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2021 ‘Helps re-centre how we look at the world’ PETER FRANKOPAN ‘Global history at its finest’ SUNIL AMRITH ‘A master...

Bloomsbury presents Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle by Mark Stille, read by John Chancer. A detailed re-examination of Midway, one of the most significant battles in the Pacific Theater of World War II. In April 1942, the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy was at the...

In this, the first of Patrick O’Brian’s much lauded Aubrey–Maturin novels, discover a vibrant world conjured by a master storyteller, rich with detail and character. 1800. Napoleon Bonaparte is the biggest threat to peace yet seen. Newly promoted to command of his first ship, Captain Jack...

There is a fine line between privateer and pirate, between friend and foe. With a beleaguered Britain already facing war on two fronts – against Napoleon’s armies in Europe but also against the young and vigorous United States – the objective of ship’s surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin is...

How far will a man go in the name of revenge, honour, love or simple survival? Far from familiar seas, Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew must test themselves to the very limits of human endurance. Following a daring rescue, Jack Aubrey accepts a new command and a new commission to a far-flung...

Britain and America are newly at war, and Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are caught in the very thick of the action. En route to England and his next command, Captain Jack Aubrey, and his friend, ship’s surgeon and secret agent Stephen Maturin, find themselves swept up in the War of 1812. As...

Witness Hanuman’s legendary leap across the ocean to reach Lanka, a feat of courage, strength, and dedication in the quest to find Sita.