Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones

It is a thousand-year adventure that moves from the ruins of the once-mighty city of Rome, sacked by barbarians in AD 410, to the first contacts between the old and new worlds in the sixteenth century. It shows how, from a state of crisis and collapse, the West was rebuilt and came to dominate the entire globe. The book identifies three key themes that underpinned the success of the West: commerce, conquest and Christianity. Across 16 chapters, blending Dan Jones's trademark gripping narrative style with authoritative analysis, Powers and Thrones shows how, at each stage in this story, successive western powers thrived by attracting or stealing the most valuable resources, ideas and people from the rest of the world. It casts new light on iconic locations Rome, Paris, Venice, Constantinople and it features some of history's most famous and notorious men and women. This is a book written about and for an age of profound change, and it asks the biggest questions about the West both then and now. What made us? Also available in audio, read by the author.