Modern History

The fascinating working lives of ordinary people are revealed in Studs Terkel’s masterful chronicle of American life, published as an illustrated edition for the first time by Folio.

Illustrated with archive photography, Ryszard Kapuściński’s masterpiece of reportage, Shah of Shahs, is a welcome addition to the Folio collection.

Max Hastings’ history of Bomber Command, now in a new Folio edition, illuminates this controversial aspect of the Second World War through contemporary photographs and first-hand interviews.

London and New York, 40 rare photogravures by a master of the art, in facsimile for the first time.

The First World War is brought to life with first-hand accounts and comprehensive research in this compelling two-volume set.

The Folio Society edition of The Mark of Command superbly presents celebrated military historian John Keegan's appraisal of four famous generals: Alexander the Great, Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and Hitler.

Before Downton Abbey graced our televisions, Mark Girouard went behind the scenes of England’s country houses. His fascinating bestseller is newly imagined in a stunning Folio edition with architect-designed binding.

The Folio Society edition of The Longest Day commemorates the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Cornelius Ryan’s riveting text is complemented by 42 integrated photographs, and a binding image by Robert Capa.

Humble plants have long been the spur to economic growth, the key to political power, the tools of conquest, yet until Henry Hobhouse wrote this pioneering book, they had rarely warranted even a footnote in history.

This lavishly illustrated edition of Mayflower meets you on board a storm-lashed ship filled with resolute Pilgrims and leaves you a generation later in the blood-soaked new American nation.

One hundred years on, the enduring impact of the First World War is explored in Paul Fussell’s acclaimed literary and cultural history.

With only two genuine dates, this irreverent romp is history as every schoolboy would wish it – hilarious and memorable.

The first illustrated edition of Steinbeck's absorbing dispatches for the New York Herald Tribune.

Illness and intrigue both proved deadly to the last Russian royal family. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Robert K. Massie reveals the tragic circumstances behind their infamous downfall.

Hand-drawn maps and a new image selection illustrate the Folio Society edition of Persian Fire – the bloodthirsty clash of civilisations by the master of classical history, Tom Holland.

An enthralling account of the French capital’s transition from German occupation to post-war liberty, with a new introduction by the authors.

A magnificent, spirited portrait of life as a secret agent in occupied France.

Night is one of the first and one of the greatest Holocaust memoirs. The new Folio Society edition is illustrated with art by survivors and witnesses and is published alongside Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

The Folio Society’s three-volume set of the journals of Captain Cook from 1768–1779, published to mark the first voyage’s 250th anniversary, is accompanied by a chart of the voyages bound in cloth.

Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell’s brutally honest account of his experience as a militiaman during the Spanish Civil War. The Folio Society edition is illustrated with 35 black and white photographs sourced from Magnum and Catalan archives.

Historian James Holland introduces a richly illustrated edition.

Celebrated writer and historian Cecil Woodham-Smith turns her acerbic eye on the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade.

Antony Beevor’s critically acclaimed historical masterpiece is a gripping and frequently harrowing account of the Red Army’s capture of the German capital in World War II’s final stages. Berlin: The Downfall 1945 was the Non-Fiction winner of the Folio Readers’ Choice 2017.

A lavishly illustrated 20th anniversary edition of Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning exploration of how and why Eurasians developed the weapons, diseases and technologies that enabled them to dominate the rest of the world.

Filled with extraordinary observations, and occasionally hair-raising anecdotes, this is the most endearing of all Darwin’s books.

A marvellous, kaleidoscopic social history of London during the 1660s, from Pepys to the Great Fire. Introduced by Jenny Uglow.

John Reed’s immersive eyewitness account of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

Published by Folio to mark the Telegram's centenary, Barbara Tuchman’s gripping account reveals the events that finally brought the United States into the First World War.

The Folio Society edition of Empire features a new preface specially written by its author, acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson.

The highly acclaimed history of the Belgian Congo and the exploitation that led to the murder of 10 million – the background to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.