Books with title A Traveller's History of Turkey

The Traveller's History series is designed for travellers who want more historical background on the country they are visiting than can be found in a tour guide. Each volume offers a complete and authoritative history of the country from the earliest times up to the present day. A Gazetteer cross-referenced to the main text pinpoints the historical importance of sights and towns.Illustrated with maps and line drawings, this literate and lively series makes ideal before -you-go reading, and is just as handy tucked into suitcase or backpack.

Essential reading for travelers who wish to enjoy the amazing diversity of Australia, this book outlines the history of that great southern democracy from the arrival of the earliest Aborigines some fifty or sixty thousand years ago to the present. The ancient Aboriginal way of life is described; early European sightings; and the establishment of the British convict colony in 1788, which dragged the continent into the modern world. The dynamic story of Australia in the twentieth century, its role in two world wars, the post-war discoveries of huge mineral deposits, its courting of Asia in recent decades, the return of vast areas of land to the Aborigines, and its confident cultural vibrancy in wine, food, film, and art are also examined.

Kenneth Pearce begins with life before the major civilisations of the area took hold, and then shows the growth of the first elite groups of the Olmecs and Mayans. Their culture was finally subsumed into the mighty Aztec Empire which, in its turn, was tragically ended by the arrival of Cortes and might of Spain. The crushing burden of colonial rule driven by greed and oppression leads to further unrest for many centuries. The 19th century War of Independence finally leads to the founding of the Mexican Republic. The author ends his survey with a portrait of the country facing the next millennium with a rising population and problems with drugs and corruption.