NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“The best true spy story I have ever read.”—JOHN LE CARRÉ
The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with his greatest spy story yet, a thrilling Americans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War.
If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States's nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky's name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain's obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky: the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets.
Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky's nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations.

在有令人毛骨悚然传说的莱茵河流域的古城「双月城」，凄惨的杀人事件掀起了。
惨剧的序章是美貌城主的凄惨尸体，巴黎警察引以为豪的名刑事——查理·贝尔特兰如何面对这样棘手的事件呢？
舞台是在中世纪色彩味很浓的古城「双月城」。
双生子姐妹城主，卡伦和玛利亚虽然外表酷似但是性格却截然相反，在这对姐妹出众的美貌面前服侍她们的佣人们全部发誓将献出一生的忠诚。
但是，随着名叫莱因哈德青年的到来，一切都变了……
惨剧发生在名为满月之塔的密室里，模仿古老的传说，现场的血腥是无法用言语来形容的，美丽的城主不在美丽，被无情地切下了头和双手手腕。面对如此匪夷所思的事件和一个紧接一个的密室，等待着我们的将是查理·贝尔特兰怎样的华丽推理呢？

《热什哈尔》记述了乾隆年间被清政府两次镇压的回民哲合忍耶派，以及他们的苏菲导师的故事。
它是非官方的、被禁绝的、底层民众的历史文献。由于残酷的迫害，一身褴褛满心悲愤的回民们选择了拒否，这种拒否在文史上的表现形式就是：不使人读。《热什哈尔》一书主要用阿拉伯文写成，这样便拒绝了汉语世界对之阅读的可能。写成后从未刻版，仅仅在哲合忍耶派回民的一些大学者（阿訇意即学者）中传抄。而作者为了进一步守密，书的后半部又改用波斯文，这样继而拒绝了相当多数的阿訇阅读，因为阿訇中识波斯文的毕竟更少。然而钞本亦极少。
“热什哈尔”一词系阿拉伯文rashah，原义是“泄漏出、出汗”；引伸常为“晶莹、烁亮”。约十世纪的诸苏菲主义（即伊斯兰神秘主义）著作中，有一部《原本生活的露珠.注》，就用了这个词。现在将它的文学含义译为“露珠”。

在這裡，一個人如何被定義？他們如何思考認同？
斐索人的認同無關歷史、血緣，或其他文化特徵，當下的行為才是關鍵。
馬達加斯加西南部有一群說南島語，住在海邊，以海為生的斐索人（Vezo）。一個理想的斐索人要會做一些與海有關的事情（但不需全部都會），例如游泳、到林中砍樹造船、行舟（這包括了划船、操帆、掌舵，以及通曉洋流波浪知識）、捕魚（蝦）、識魚、食魚、賣魚等；最重要的是得住在海邊，因為這對一個人的行為、思考方式，具有決定性的影響。而這些行為會在身體上留下斐索的印記──走路的方式、手上的繭、腰上魚線的磨痕；但如果你沒有持續這些行為，斐索的印記便會逐漸淡去，一如斐索認同。
所以，斐索人的認同是什麼？不同於一般族群以「血緣」、「祖先」、「歷史」，或是由此衍生的一些文化特徵作為認同標準，斐索人強調的是當下的行動。一個白人人類學家跟一個剛出生的當地孩子一樣，都不是「斐索」，但也都可以成為「斐索」；「斐索」即是他們所做的事，斐索身分認同是一種行為、而非一種存有狀態，一個斐索人的重點不是他是什麼、或他成為什麼，而是他做了什麼。
這是一本斐索人的民族誌，簡單地說，就是一本關於斐索人怎麼吃、怎麼捕魚、怎麼造船，他們關於經濟的想法（不是很重視賺錢）、婚姻的態度（結婚只要幾瓶酒就可以），以及他們如何看待歷史，如何面對生與死的差異。
人類學家透過田野中的活動參與，與斐索人對話「如何才是斐索」。
該如何思考認同？學術上將認同研究分為根基論和建構論兩大派別，根基論強調血緣、祖源、宗教、語言、習俗，背後有生物性繼承的預設；建構論則強調族群邊界的重要性。然而兩者都有「文化」的問題──根基論將文化本質化，建構論則將文化邊緣化。本書從當地人的觀點出發，以人類學視角分析認同的在地文化機制，反省認同理論的西方中心偏見，展現人類學民族誌的獨到之處。
推薦記錄
「任何對族群或認同有興趣者都必讀……少數能結合冷靜分析與溫暖描述的書。」──蘭貝克（Michael Lambek，研究馬達加斯加的人類學者），《美國人類學家》書評
「馬達加斯加從殖民時期以來一直被18-22個官方認定的「族群」（ethnic groups）框架所侷限，族群政治、甚至經濟發展想像都無法脫離此魔咒，本書的研究恰好提供另類的思考，批評了上述族群論述中的西方中心主義。」──韓森（Paul W. Hanson，馬達加斯加的研究者），《美國民族學家》
「在馬達加斯加脈絡下優美打造出來的民族誌」──米德頓（Karen Middleton），《非洲研究》期刊

用至高無上的騙局滿足你！
這次「翻轉故事」的線索，
到底藏在哪裡？
九則有長篇韻味的濃烈短篇，九個有微小裂痕的平凡家庭。
用文字將我們玩弄於鼓掌間，天堂與地獄的輪轉遊戲。
毛骨悚然，難以全猜中結局！
最會寫「最後一句」的日本推理作家矢樹純，
以精簡篇幅刻畫出長篇小說濃烈的餘韻。
★日本推理作家協會獎短篇部門得獎作
★每篇故事的「最後一句」都會令你屏息以待！
神小風 作家
陳又津 小說家
陳雪 作家
──震撼推薦
【故事簡介】
每個家族，都有自己的小祕密。
被曝光時，有好結局和壞結局。
這次，會是哪一種呢？
〈丈夫的骨頭〉
我不瞭解丈夫。唯一的線索只有藏在他遺物中，一具形似孩童的遺骨。而在這個家中，可以產下孩子的，就只有生前會用甜膩聲音呼喊丈夫的繼母……
〈空洞的牢籠〉
我從狗籠中醒來，頭部出血，角落蹲伏著一頭流著口水的惡犬。好不容易逃離丈夫家暴，如今卻要死在狗的利爪下。我原本想殺死牠的，因為這是牠得救的唯一手段……
〈老鼠之家〉
半夜，母親在磅礡雨勢中趴在屋頂上，好像在偷聽什麼。我想起十數年前在類似日子失蹤的妹妹，父親在世時，總告訴妹妹閣樓上和地板下藏著大批老鼠……
〈無可取代的你〉
丈夫玩投資失利，欠下大筆資金，而我們育有一個獨子晴紀。為了讓兒子幸福，我只能讓你死了……
9則精心布局的異色短篇──
〈丈夫的骨頭〉、〈不朽的花〉、〈柔軟的背〉、
〈扭曲的鏡子〉、〈繪馬的寬恕〉、〈空洞的牢籠〉、
〈老鼠之家〉、〈水壩深底〉、〈無可取代的你〉。
不瞭解丈夫的憂傷妻子、不在乎妹妹的強勢姊姊、重男輕女的固執母親、不負責任的賭博丈夫、不會育兒的新手老爸。
這裡有戴著假面的完美家庭，也有守著祕密來維持恐怖平衡的脆弱羈絆──溫暖與殘酷交錯，各色混雜的親情百相。
如果家人是顏色，家是調色盤，那麼黑色即是唯一的色彩。
【讀者評價】
．《丈夫的骨頭》將「家族」當主題，又有致鬱系要素，我原本以為讀起來會很有壓力，沒想到不會。故事縝密鋪排，隱隱約約帶著不安氛圍，當我慢慢讀下去，總是驟然出現一個意外的大逆轉，令我目瞪口呆，忍不住回頭重讀一遍──我一直維持這種「慢慢讀，被炸得頭暈目眩，又回頭尋找伏筆」的節奏，一口氣讀完九篇短篇。雖然找不到正確的形容詞，但這是一本讀完後讓我覺得「請一定要好好重視自己家庭」的獨特物語。
．這個充滿大逆轉的故事實在太厲害了！
．我隨便逛逛書店找本想買書，最後鼓起勇氣挑戰的作家矢樹純《丈夫的骨頭》實在太棒了！書中共收錄九篇故事，每一則故事的字裡行間都藏著毛骨悚然的氛圍，也猜不出來情節進展到底會變成什麼樣子──然後就在覺得自己差不多適應故事的瞬間，作者突然「碰！」一聲丟下一句震撼彈，令我頭昏眼花，實在太讓人佩服了。啊啊，讀完至今仍然無法冷靜下來！
．九則推理短篇故事，描繪糾纏在家族中的「罪孽」和「祕密」。日文小說的書腰上頭寫「無法完全猜中故事發展」，故事還真的如同文案所述，我自己沒有猜中任何一篇的結局，徹底完全地被騙了！！！
．標題作《丈夫的骨頭》讓我受到極大衝擊，最後一句餘韻過於強烈，始終無法離開我的腦海。我認為短篇集很難寫，要讓全書收錄的故事都維持「有趣」的品質非常不容易，但這本作品《丈夫的骨頭》很成功。質感穩定的故事散發出令人不安的氛圍和緊張感，也被這股不安所煽動，我不斷閱讀下去，直到抵達超乎想像、又在情理內的震撼結局。最後的結局是殘酷還是救贖，每一則故事都散發出不可思議的溫暖溫度。恐怖、悲哀，但又溫柔，非常厲害的推理短篇集。

春秋繁露是西汉董仲舒的主要著作，一般认为系后人辑录成帙。至有清一代，才出现两个较完善的校注读本。宣统年间，湖南平江苏舆，字厚菴，兼取廬校凌注，广采前人研究成果，[随时答录]，成《春秋繁露义证》，是目前为止校订春秋繁露较完善的本子。

《唐宋史料笔记:鹤林玉露》作者罗大经（1196—1242）字景纶，号儒林，又号鹤林，南宋吉水人。宝庆二年（1226）进土，历仕容州法曹、辰州判官、抚州推官。在抚州时，因为朝廷起起矛盾纠纷被株连，弹劾罢官。此后再未重返仕途，闭门读书，博极群书，专事著作。大经有经邦济世之志，对先秦、两汉、六朝、唐、宋文学评论有精辟的见解。著《易解》十卷。取杜甫《赠虞十五司马》诗“爽气金无豁，精淡玉露繁”之意写成笔记。

Part hidden history, part love letter to creative innovation, this is the true story of an unlikely friendship between a dancer, Loie Fuller, and a scientist, Marie Curie, brought together by an illuminating discovery.
At the turn of the century, Paris was a hotbed of creativity. Technology boomed, delivering to the world electric light, the automobile, and new ways to treat disease, while imagination blossomed, creating Art Nouveau, motion pictures, and modernist literature. A pivotal figure during this time, yet largely forgotten today, Loie Fuller was an American performance artist who became a living symbol of the Art Nouveau movement with her hypnotic dances and stunning theatrical effects. Credited today as the pioneer of modern dance, she was perennially broke, never took no for an answer, spent most of her life with a female partner, and never questioned her drive. She was a visionary, a renegade, and a loyal friend.
In the early 1900s, she heard about Marie Curie's discovery of a glowing blue element and dreamed of using it to dazzle audiences on stage. While Loie's dream wouldn't be realized, her connection with Marie and their shared fascination with radium endured. Radiant is the true story of Marie Curie and Loie Fuller, two revolutionary women drawn together at the dawn of a new era by a singular discovery, and the lifelong friendship that grew out of their shared passion for enlightenment.

わたしは花見堂小春、横濱女子仏語塾の三年生。うちの学校は少々変わっていて、実は魔女学校なの。学生はフランス語だけでなく、薬草学や占い、ダンス(箒で空を飛ぶことを、そう呼ぶ)も学んでいる。本当はもうひとつ大きな秘密があるんだけど……。そんなわたしのもとに、新聞記者の甥っ子が奇妙な噂話を持ち込んできた。横濱に巨大な化け猫が出没しているんですって。しかも学校の近くに。大正時代を舞台にした魔女学校3部作開幕!(「BOOK」データベースより)

《了如指掌书法结构日课》系列是为知识阶层、白领等成年人日常修习书法研发的自学教材。帮助成年人把书法作为日课进行修习。“了如指掌书法”不是为书法而书法，从书中反复强调“书法结构”可以看出训练方法是建立在“写好字”的基础上，从写好字进而写好书法作品，这是正确的途径。更为可贵的是，能把书法的学习与文字学、成语、诗词等传统文化进行很好的结合，正是我提倡的“写好中国字，做好中国人”，把传统文化的种子播下去。

MGB officer Leo is a man who never questions the Party Line. He arrests whomever he is told to arrest. He dismisses the horrific death of a young boy because he is told to, because he believes the Party stance that there can be no murder in Communist Russia. Leo is the perfect soldier of the regime. But suddenly his confidence that everything he does serves a great good is shaken. He is forced to watch a man he knows to be innocent be brutally tortured. And then he is told to arrest his own wife. Leo understands how the State works: Trust and check, but check particularly on those we trust. He faces a stark choice: his wife or his life. And still the killings of children continue...

「我不是哲學家，而是聖人，或者是瘋子。」
「故作姿態的神其實無比荒淫：帶著可人的面具，獻身於虔誠中，死時冠以花環，被老處女擁吻著。」
「神身上的血液如此悲傷地深藏在聲音之中。」
「我為自己感到羞恥。我是軟弱的，易被影響的……我老了。」
★《眼睛的故事》、《情色論》重量級文學家「巴塔耶」概念導讀書。
★詳實收錄巴塔耶小傳、創作關鍵字與生平年表。
★特別加收朱嘉漢編譯巴塔耶重要散文與詩作。
「身體的內部是如此深幽，與從中發出的吶喊相比，虔誠的呼喊只不過是牙牙學語。」
喬治．巴塔耶（Georges Bataille, 1897-1962），法國哲學家與文學家，被視為解構主義、後現代主義等思潮的先驅。對「二戰」後的法國思想界影響甚深，激發了傅柯、德希達、羅蘭．巴特等哲學家，傅柯稱其為「我們這世紀最重要的作家」。在「一戰」期間，巴塔耶信仰天主教，是虔誠的信徒，還曾立志成為神職人員。但他後來陷入信仰危機，遂拋棄天主教信仰，開始過起與天主教徒截然不同的生活。一九二八年以筆名洛德．奧歇（Lord Auch）推出小說《眼睛的故事》，後以《情色論》廣為人知。他的作品被認為大膽揭露人性的深層欲望，前衛的概念至今仍犀利無比，在讀者腦內植入最切膚的顫慄體驗。
小說家、文學研究者朱嘉漢爬梳巴塔耶著作與生平軼事，編譯巴塔耶經典文章與詩句，以清晰易懂的筆觸，為讀者架起一座通往巴塔耶思想的橋樑：「我期待這本書任何平易近人、方便理解的部分，能引導人們進入巴塔耶更難以理解、晦澀、令人困惑的領域。而閱讀巴塔耶最簡單、也是最好的方法，就是直接面對他，直接感受他帶來的感官刺激、觀念範疇的瓦解，以及巨大的抒情能量。」
本書特色
★曾被《眼睛的故事》殘暴情節嚇得半死、讀完《情色論》仍不得其門而入的讀者，請直接閱讀。
★小說家朱嘉漢以故事手法介紹巴塔耶生平，同時編譯其重要散文與詩作，是華文讀者進入巴塔耶思想世界最友善的入門書。
★同時推薦精液、尿液、血液，淋漓四濺；無法以「情色」解釋的狂暴之作：「《眼睛的故事》＋《聖神．死人》——《情色論》大師「喬治．巴塔耶」前衛小說集」
名人推薦
「拜德雅．巴塔耶文集」主編 尉光吉 專文推薦
《情色論》譯者、國立臺灣師範大學歐洲文化與觀光研究所退休教授 賴守正
國立政治大學哲學博士 蔡翔任
國立臺北藝術大學 藝術跨域所教授 楊凱麟
作家／影評人 黃以曦 專業推薦
（按姓氏筆畫數排序）

《清明上河图》描绘人物824位，牲畜60多匹，木船20多只……5米多长的画卷，画尽了汴河上下十里繁华，乃至整个北宋近两百年的文明与富饶。全图824位人物，每个人都有名有姓，佯装、埋伏在舟船车轿、酒肆楼阁中。看似太平盛世，其实杀机四伏。翻开本书，在小贩的叫卖声中，金、辽、西夏、高丽等国的间谍与刺客已经潜伏入画。824个人物逐一复活，只待客船穿过虹桥，就一起拉开北宋帝国覆灭的序幕。

《清明上河图密码》系列分别以士、农、工、商、兵五大行业为背景，深度描写了北宋末期不同社会阶层的风貌，揭开了埋藏在《清明上河图》中的帝国秘密。
系列1-5部每部一个主题，主角各不相同，故事相对独立，又彼此关联。汴京五绝：“讼绝”赵不尤、“牙绝”冯赛、“斗绝”梁兴、“作绝”张用、“相绝”陆青依次登场破局。
在第6部大结局中，京城汴京又现怪象，五个紫衣妖人相继出现，以五行妖法杀人，并分别以木遁穿门、火遁升空、金遁撞钟、水遁沉河、土遁隐地妖法当众消失。汴京五绝沿着各自所遇清明谜案留下的线索，不断破解离奇命案，并各自遭遇一妖。最后，“五绝”聚首，共揭终极秘密。

In the stories that make up Oblivion , David Foster Wallace joins the rawest, most naked humanity with the infinite involutions of self-consciousness--a combination that is dazzlingly, uniquely his. These are worlds undreamt-of by any other mind. Only David Foster Wallace could convey a father's desperate loneliness by way of his son's daydreaming through a teacher's homicidal breakdown ("The Soul Is Not a Smithy"). Or could explore the deepest and most hilarious aspects of creativity by delineating the office politics surrounding a magazine profile of an artist who produces miniature sculptures in an anatomically inconceivable way ("The Suffering Channel"). Or capture the ache of love's breakdown in the painfully polite apologies of a man who believes his wife is hallucinating the sound of his snoring ("Oblivion"). Each of these stories is a complete world, as fully imagined as most entire novels, at once preposterously surreal and painfully immediate.

これぞ“本格×ダンガンロンパ”!!
謎の依頼を受け集結した五人の探偵たちを待ち受けていたのは「犯罪被害者救済委員会」が企む『黒の挑戦』を通じた連続探偵殺人事件の幕開けだった……! 原作ゲーム『ダンガンロンパ』のシナリオライター・小高和剛からの直々の指名を受け、「物理の北山」こと本格ミステリーの旗手・北山猛邦が描く超高校級の探偵、霧切響子の過去――!

台灣出生長大，名列世界最佳50大餐廳的米其林大廚江振誠，深受會做菜母親影響，從小喜愛美味廚藝。炙熱淬煉寶石，萬分耕耘，必得收穫。《時代雜誌》兩次報導盛讚江振誠的廚藝，《紐約時報》將 Restaurant ANDRÉ 選為十大最值得搭飛機去品嚐的餐廳之一，不僅因為他令人驚艷的料理，更因他在頂級料理中建立的一套創意哲學、創作過程與營造恰如其分的用餐體驗，征服了全世界的味蕾。
歷時五年，江振誠首度完整公開他獨創的創意哲學，與他名列世界最佳50大餐廳的Restaurant ANDRÉ 365天的菜單。不論你是在餐廳工作、或單純喜愛美食，還是期盼發揮自我創造力的人，都能從他的八角哲學中啟發靈感。
台灣成長、日本記憶、再加上法國經驗，江振誠身上藏著與眾不同的創意DNA。簡化、後退、放下。臻至完美。他沈澱二十多年的廚藝創作，從自然與人文中獲得的實做經驗，創造出屬於他獨特的創意哲學──八角哲學。
八角哲學涵蓋八個創意元素，包括鹽（salt）、質（texture）、憶（memory）、純粹（pure）、風土（terroir）、南法（south）、工藝（artisan）及獨特（unique）。這八個創作元素內涵豐富、實用，各有獨特的個性，各自延伸出不同的屬性，創造出最平衡的體驗。可以組合成一道完美的料理，可以檢視擺盤設計、也可以用在其他創意發想，是Restaurant ANDRÉ 所有創意的骨幹，是江振誠激發創意與管理創作流程的方法，讓他的米其林餐廳每一季都有精采的演出。
「料理，不只是料理，料理，是創造極致的美食體驗，因此每個小細節都至關重要。」
他的料理不僅滿足味覺，更滋養心靈、挑戰想像力，從法國經典的鵝肝、到不可思議的木炭，都可以入菜。本書帶你走進江振誠Restaurant ANDRÉ 餐廳的創意基地──廚房，拆解365天的菜單。完整呈現每一道料理的故事及創作歷程，以大量圖像忠實呈現廚房裡的產出過程及最終呈現的完美料理與食譜，引領讀者進入美食新境界。江振誠在書裡將分享他如何運用獨特的觀點及法式料理的技藝，將不同的食材解構與重組，盡現物產、栽種及養殖人以及季節之美。

Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War Two, By Keith Lowe
Brendan Simms
In his memoir If This is a Man, the Italian writer Primo Levi recalls that the most terrifying time for him at Auschwitz was not the years of incarceration by the Nazis, when beatings, hunger, back-breaking work and the threat of murder were omnipresent. He came closest to despair during the vacuum between the flight of the guards and the arrival of the Red Army. This period, in which the prisoners were effectively left to their own devices, was characterised by a complete breakdown of all authority, however unjust, as well as the system of supply. I was reminded of these passages when reading Keith Lowe's Savage Continent: an excellent account of the two years or so between the end of hostilities in Europe with the defeat of Hitler, and the establishment of the Cold War order.
As the author points out, the Second World War did not end in 1945. In large parts of the continent, the contest lasted a lot longer as Polish, Ukrainian, Baltic and Greek partisans battled on in the mountains and forests of Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Some of these stories, such as the post-war travails of the Greeks, are well known to Western audiences, but the activities of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian anti-Soviet "Forest Brothers" are not. Perhaps the most arresting fact in this compelling book is that the last Estonian guerrilla fighter, August Sabbe, was killed as late as 1978, trying to escape capture.
Even where there was no fighting, Lowe demonstrates, Europe was in flux. A contemporary observer described Germany, the crossroads of the continent, as "one huge ants' nest", in which everyone was on the move. There were refugees everywhere, some trying to escape the victors, others returning to their homes. Millions of German prisoners of war were crammed into insanitary Anglo-American camps in the West; and they were the lucky ones, unlike those captured by the Russians and taken to camps in Siberia, or murdered en route. Almost everywhere, the Nazi collapse was followed by a bloody settling of scores against real or alleged collaborators. Lowe shows that the numbers affected in places like France to have been much exaggerated by subsequent myth-makers; in Yugoslavia, on the other hand, the reckoning was truly horrific, the more so as British troops were actively involved in sending men and women back to face certain death at Tito's hands.
All this was accompanied by the greatest population shifts in Europe since the Dark Ages. These had, of course, begun during the war. Lowe notes the huge void left by the Nazi murder of the Jews, but he points out that it was not so much the Holocaust itself as the persistence of anti-Semitism in places like Poland and Hungary which persuaded so many survivors to make for Israel or the US. In eastern Poland and western Ukraine, new borders led to a massive exchange of populations attended by great hardship and brutality.
The principal post-war victims, however, were the Germans, systematically expelled by the Czechs and Poles from lands which they had settled for hundreds of years. Lowe describes these events too with admirable sensitivity, placing them squarely in the context of prior Nazi policies, without in any way justifying them.
Europe was also in political flux. The war had destroyed the standing of the old elites, and brought the Red Army into the heart of the continent. It was Soviet power, rather than the failure of the ancien regime as such, which underpinned the wave of Communist takeovers in Eastern Europe. Lowe describes the Romanian case in fascinating detail. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria all met broadly similar fates: red terror, arrests, expropriation of land and property, and executions. In Greece, the boot was on the other foot, as the right-wing government parlayed first British then American help into brutal victory over the communists. Lowe notes the "unpleasant symmetry" caused by Cold War imperatives without in any way denying that "the capitalist model of politics was self-evidently more inclusive, more democratic and ultimately more successful than Stalinist communism".
Savage Continent is thus a fitting title for this book, and surely also an allusion to Dark Continent, Mark Mazower's brilliant history of the 20th century. Lowe's vivid descriptions of Europeans scrambling for scraps of food, rampant theft and "destruction of morals" are a timely reminder that a certain humility is in order when we look at less fortunate continents today. The author is also right to remind us, with respect to current travails in Iraq and Afghanistan, just how long it took to rebuild Europe and for democracy to take root – or to return.
That said, Lowe could perhaps have said more about the Europeans who emerged from the war with a new and uplifting vision: that the only way for the continent to prevent this from happening again, and to realise its full potential, was to chart a course towards greater unity. It was in the midst of the ruins described by this book that men such as Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, Alcide de Gasperi and Altero Spinelli were taking the first steps towards what was to become the European Union. In this sense, Europe is a continent which contains not only the seeds of its self-destruction but also of its renewal.

In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited by a publishing acquaintance to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in seventeen languages across the world.
Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation. A Little History of the World presents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savored and collected.
In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colorful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties.
The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.