As an archaeologist, Steven Mithen has worked on the Hebridean island of Islay over a period of many years. In this book he introduces the sites and monuments and tells the story of the island's people from the earliest stone age hunter-gatherers to those who lived in townships and in the grandeur of Islay House. He visits the tombs of Neolithic farmers, forts of Iron Age chiefs and castles of medieval warlords, discovers where Bronze Age gold was found, treacherous plots were made against the Scottish crown, and explores the island of today, which was forged more recently by those who mined for lead, grew flax, fished for herring and distilled whisky – the industry for which the island is best known today. Although an island history, this is far from an insular story: Islay has always been at a cultural crossroads, receiving a constant influx of new people and new ideas, making it a microcosm for the story of Scotland, Britain and beyond.

A far from willing conscript into a war instigated by a foreign empire, Graven, not much more than a boy, is forced to take up the sword - or die. He finds his life spiraling into a web of violence and betrayal. In a world of uncertain alliances and where life is cheap, he must stay alive and prove his worth. His simple, sheltered village upbringing has not prepared him for the carnage and horror he must now face if ever he is to see his homeland again. In a bitter struggle that will rip away the innocent youth and leave a harsh and uncompromising man, his arduous journey begins.

Peter Kenez's comprehensive study of the Soviet propaganda system, describes how the Bolshevik Party went about reaching the Russian people. Kenez focuses on the experiences of the Russian people. The book is both a major contribution to our understanding of the genius of the Soviet state, and of the nature of propaganda in the twentieth-century.

Companion disc features recordings of popular songs and vaudeville skits performed by some of Russia's most famous singers and comics of early twentieth century.

Early Stalin, the first volume in a forthcoming trilogy of historical fiction on the life of Joseph Stalin entitled Death Only Wins, tells the story of the future Soviet dictator in two parts, Caucasus and Siberia: In And Out. It recounts Stalin's abysmal childhood, his mother's efforts to get him into the Orthodox priesthood, his ecclesiastical education, his expulsion from the Tiflis Theological Seminary, his life as an organizer of robberies to fund Lenin's revolutionary enterprises, his first marriage, the death of his wife, his love affairs, his trips abroad, and his many arrests, exiles, and escapes from Siberia. Always in the background of the novel is the land of Georgia with its splendid food and wine, spectacular beauty, literature, customs, and culture in general as well as the harshness of the Siberian landscape. A major purpose of the first volume is to provide clues to Stalin's behaviour as ruler of the Soviet Union, an explanation of how Stalin became Stalin.