Hugh Thomas Books

My Dad had an extraordinary life. Born in Hungary in 1933, his early childhood was idyllic in many ways, Hungary being an independent nation at that point. He then experienced the Nazi occupation during WW2 which was immediately followed by another even more brutal regime under the Russians. In 1956 he became involved in the Hungarian uprising as a freedom fighter against the might of Russia and became an unintentional hero when he assisted many people to escape Hungary, probably saving many lives in the process, before reaching the safety of England as an almost fatally wounded refugee. The intention of this introduction is to outline how this book came about.

80 pages in color & 70 b/w illustrations! Chronicling the past 50 years, this celebration of the world's most prestigious horse trials recounts the entire Badminton story from its beginnings in 1949 and the vision of its creators to its place in the heart of every equestrian today. Coverage includes headline-making stories, fascinating facts and figures, profiles of leading figures, and a behind-the-scenes look at the sport--all complemented by glorious, full-color photographs from yesterday and today. Trim 8 1/4 x 11.

The Earl of Clarendon describes 17th century bullfights; Salvador Dali plays a surrealist joke on a snooty barman at the Ritz; Rubens visits the Alc�zar; Manet is at the Prado; generals and anarchists meet in the Puerta del Sol. Hugh Thomas has chosen these and other vivid snapshots of Madrid's history from diaries, letters, memoirs and novels across five centuries to evoke the city's drama and life.

After many years of research, award-winning historian Hugh Thomas portrays, in a balanced account, the complete history of the slave trade. Beginning with the first Portuguese slaving expeditions, he describes and analyzes the rise of one of the largest and most elaborate maritime and commercial ventures in all of history. Between 1492 and 1870, approximately eleven million black slaves were carried from Africa to the Americas to work on plantations, in mines, or as servants in houses. "The Slave Trade" is alive with villains and heroes and illuminated by eyewitness accounts. Hugh Thomas's achievement is not only to present a compelling history of the time but to answer as well such controversial questions as who the traders were, the extent of the profits, and why so many African rulers and peoples willingly collaborated. Thomas also movingly describes such accounts as are available from the slaves themselves.

'World Without End' is the conclusion of a magisterial three-volume history of the Spanish Empire by Hugh Thomas, its foremost worldwide authority. It tells the story of life in a conquered territory that stretched from Cuba to Peru, and of the final conquests of the greatest empire that the world had then seen since the fall of Rome 1,000 years before.

Since its first publication, Hugh Thomas's The Spanish Civil War has become established as the definitive one-volume history of a conflict that continues to provoke intense controversy today.What was it that roused left-wing sympathizers from all over the world to fight against Franco between 1936 and 1939? Why did the British and US governments refuse to intervene? And why did the Republican cause collapse so violently? Now revised and updated, Hugh Thomas's classic account presents the most objective and unbiased analysis of a passionate struggle where fascism and democracy, communism and Catholicism were at stake - and which was as much an international war as a Spanish one.

The first of three volumes on the Cold War by historian Hugh Thomas ('The Spanish Civil War' , etc.). The series promises to be exhaustive. Here Thomas surveys the nascent conflict between the two new great powers from the end of the Second World War in September 1945 to the first year of peace: 1946.

The great diversity of Spain is captured here in a series of breathtaking photographs accompanying a century of travel writing from the pages of the New York Times.

Tells the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world.

Beginning with the return of the remnants of Magellan's circumnavigation in 1522 and ending with Charles' death in 1558, the author brings to life the periods of the Renaissance, revealing how the Spaniards were able to conquer Guatemala, Yucatan, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru and Chile and why Cabeza de Vaca walked from Florida to Mexico.

The book explores China's historical journey of innovation, highlighting its early advancements and the failure to industrialize in the 19th century. It examines the Communist Party's efforts to revitalize the economy in the 20th century, leading to a robust intellectual property system today. The narrative emphasizes the crucial role of state planning in major projects like high-speed rail, while also showcasing the significant contributions of the private sector and the importance of collaboration between foreign multinational corporations and government policies in fostering innovation.

A history of the world from the dawn of time up until the Cold War, arranged thematically under subjects such as agriculture, law, industrialization and modern warfare. The first edition won the first National Book Award of the Arts Council in 1980.

La guerra civil no fue sólo un episodio crucial en la historia contemporánea de España, marcó un punto de inflexión en la conciencia del mundo occidental, anticipando el enfrentamiento entre el progreso y la reacción, entre el totalitarismo y la democracia. El libro de Hugh Thomas es un estudio clásico en la extensa bibliografía que la guerra española ha suscitado, una de las primeras obras a cuya amplitud y rigor se unen la claridad y la ponderación.

Dies ist die erste große Darstellung der Eroberung Mexikos seit über 150 Jahren. Hugh Thomas entwirft ein imposantes und farbenprächtiges Gemälde der Begegnung zwischen zwei Kulturen, Denkweisen und Mentalitäten. Er läßt das alte Aztekenreich mit seiner Hauptstadt Tenochtitlán wiedererstehen und schildert in spannender Weise die militärischen Aktionen, die den Untergang des Weltreichs besiegelten. Vor allem jedoch porträtiert er die handelnden Personen mit dem bewährten, klaren Blick des Angelsachen für Charaktere und ihre Eigenheiten - vor allen anderen die beiden Protagonisten Cortés und Montezuma.

Autor ukazuje, co se opravdu událo v Hitlerově protileteckém bunkru, co se skutečně stalo se samotným Hitlerem, s Goebbelsem, jeho ženou a dětmi, s Martinem Bormannem a dalšími.

Rok po smrti posledního nacistického vězně ve španělské káznici (17. 8. 1987) se na knižních pultech ve Velké Británii objevila publikace s názvem HESS: Případ dvou vražd. Jeji autor, Angličan Hugh Thomas, který byl počátkem sedmdesátých let vyslán do Berlína jako expertní lékař britské vojenské nemocnice, vzbudil rozruch už prvním vydáním svého rukopisu, tehdy ještě nazvaného Vražda Rudolfa Hesse. Knížka totiž zpochybňuje fakt, že významný pohlavár třetí říše, Hitleruv zástupce a osobní přítel Rudolf Hess (psáno také Heß), který v roce 1941 tajně a sám odletěl do Velké Británie, je totožný s člověkem, jenž byl po ztroskotání letadla zajat, po válce odsouzen v Norimberku na doživotí a za záhadných okolnosti zemřel jako poslední španělský vězeň. Otázek kolem osudu Rudolfa Hesse je dodnes mnoho. Detailní znalost prostředí i aktéru děje umožnila autorovi této knihy dát jasnou odpověď alespoň na některé z nich.