“john man”

The name Attila the Hun has become a byword for barbarism, savagery and violence. His is a truly household name, but what do we really know about the man himself, his position in history and the world in which he lived? This riveting biography reveals the man behind the myth. In the years 434-454AD ... More

The Terracotta Army is one of the greatest, and most famous, archaeological discoveries of all time. 6,000 life-size figures of warriors and horses were interred in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of China -- each is individually carved, and they are thought to represent real members of the emper... More

Genghis Khan has a very strong claim to be the greatest leader the world has ever seen. As a teenager he was an outcast fleeing enemies on a mountain in northern Mongolia, an exile, a nobody. Yet it took only twenty years for Genghis to build the largest land empire in history – four times the siz... More

The creator of the world's greatest empire is one of history's immortals. He is also at the heart of one of the greatest mysteries -- how and where was he buried? Its solution might, conceivably, reveal a treasure on a scale not seen since the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb. "From the Hardcover edi... More

The authoritative biography of the great Mongol ruler, by the author of Genghis Khan and Attila. "In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure dome decree" Kublai Khan lives on in the popular imagination thanks to these two lines of poetry by Coleridge. But the true story behind this legend is even mo... More

In 1450, all Europe's books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. The invention of one man - Johann Gutenberg - had caused a revolution. Printing by movable type was a discovery waiting to happen. Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germa... More

Marco Polo’s journey from Venice, through Europe and most of Asia, to the court of Kublai Khan in China is one of the most audacious in history. His account of his experiences, known simply as The Travels, uncovered an entirely new world of emperors and concubines, great buildings – ‘stately p... More

The Great Wall of China is a wonder of the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists take the five-mile journey from Beijing to climb its battlements. While myriad photographs have made this extraordinary landmark familiar to millions more, its story remains mysterious and steeped in myth... More