Most Popular Books by Giles Milton

"Originally published in Great Britain as The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by John Murray (Publishers)"--Title page verso.

On Saturday 9th September, 1922, the victorious Turkish cavalry rode into Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire. What happened over the next two weeks must rank as one of the most compelling human dramas of the twentieth century. Almost two million people were caught up in a disaster of truly epic proportions. PARADISE LOST is told with the narrative verve that has made Giles Milton a bestselling historian. It unfolds through the memories of the survivors, many of them interviewed for the first time, and the eyewitness accounts of those who found themselves caught up in one of the greatest catastrophes of the modern age.

In April 1586, Queen Elizabeth I acquired a new and exotic title. A tribe of North American Indians had made her their weroanza - ''big chief''. The news was received with great joy, both by the Queen and her favourite, Sir Walter Ralegh. His first American expedition had brought back a captive, Manteo, whose tattooed face had enthralled Elizabethan London. Now Manteo was returned to his homeland as Lord and Governor. Ralegh''s gamble would result in the first English settlement in the New World, but it would also lead to a riddle whose solution lay hidden in the forests of Virginia. A tale of heroism and mystery, Big Chief Elizabeth is illuminated by first-hand accounts to reveal a remarkable and long-forgotten story.

''To write a book that makes the reader sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmeg for'' Philip Hensher, The Spectator In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world''s nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth. A beautifully told adventure story and a fascinating depiction of exploration in the seventeenth century, NATHANIEL''S NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history

Giles Milton''s White Gold tells the true story of white European slaves in eighteenth century Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco. "An elegantly discursive retelling . . . customarily elegant prose." --Simon Winchester, The Boston Globe In the summer of 1716, a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow and fifty-one of his comrades were captured at sea by Barbary corsairs. Their captors--Ali Hakem and his network of Islamic slave traders--had declared war on the whole of Christendom. Pellow and his shipmates were bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco. Drawn from the unpublished letters and manuscripts of Pellow and survivors like him, Giles Milton''s White Gold is a fascinating glimpse at a time long forgotten by history.

Reveals the life of the medieval knight whose accounts of journeys to Jerusalem, India, China, Tibet, and Sumatra inspired explorers and writers, but who was later discredited and ignored.

In 1616, Nathaniel Courthope was dispatched to Run, the most lucrative of the Spice Islands to hold off the massive Dutch Navy. But after a four-year siege, Britain ceded the island and its lucrative spice trade to Holland--in exchange for Manhattan.

''Giles Milton is a man who can take an event from history and make it come alive . . . an inspiration for those of us who believe that history can be exciting and entertaining'' Matthew Redhead, The Times Did you know that Hitler took cocaine? That Stalin robbed a bank? That Charlie Chaplin''s corpse was filched and held to ransom? Giles Milton is a master of historical narrative: in his characteristically engaging prose, Fascinating Footnotes From History details one hundred of the quirkiest historical nuggets; eye-stretching stories that read like fiction but are one hundred per cent fact. There is Hiroo Onoda, the lone Japanese soldier still fighting the Second World War in 1974; Agatha Christie, who mysteriously disappeared for eleven days in 1926; and Werner Franz, a cabin boy on the Hindenburg who lived to tell the tale when it was engulfed in flames in 1937. Fascinating Footnotes From History also answers who ate the last dodo, who really killed Rasputin and why Sergeant Stubby had four legs. Peopled with a gallery of spies, rogues, cannibals, adventurers and slaves, and spanning twenty centuries and six continents, Giles Milton''s impeccably researched footnotes shed light on some of the most infamous stories and most flamboyant and colourful characters (and animals) from history. (Previoulsy published in four individual epub volumes: When Hitler Took Cocaine, When Stalin Robbed a Bank, When Lenin Lost His Brain and When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep.)

Originally published under the titles: When Hitler took cocaine and When Linin lost his brain.

An eye-opening account of the first encounter between England and Japan, by the acclaimed author of "Nathaniel''s Nutmeg. Samurai William" is the fascinating story of a clash of two cultures, and of the enormous impact one Westerner had on the opening of the East.

Edward Trencom''s unusual nose--long, aquiline, and bumpy--is the very same nose bestowed on all the Trencom men who have judged (and made) the very best cheeses in the world. But when Edward stumbles on a crate of family papers and discovers the fate of previous generations of his family, he must confront forces that are both mad and bad--and a wrong decision on his part could cost him dearly.

From internationally bestselling historian Giles Milton comes the remarkable true story of the motley group of Allied men and women who worked to manage Stalin’s mercurial, explosive approach to diplomacy during four turbulent years of World War II. In the summer of 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, shattering what Stalin had considered an ironclad partnership. There were real fears that Stalin’s forces would be defeated or that the Soviet leader would once again strike a deal with Hitler. Either eventuality would spell catastrophe for both Britain and the United States. Enter W. Averell Harriman: a railroad magnate and, at the start of the war, the fourth-richest man in America. At Roosevelt’s behest he traveled to Britain to serve as a liaison between the president and Churchill and to spearhead what became known as the Harriman Mission. Together with his fashionable young daughter Kathy, an unforgettable cast of British diplomats, and Churchill himself, he would eventually manage to wrangle Stalin into the partnership the Allies needed to defeat Hitler. Based on unpublished diaries, letters, and secret reports, The Stalin Affair reveals troves of new material about the path to Allied victory, full of vivid scenes between celebrated and infamous World War II figures. Includes eight-page, black & white photograph insert.

Originally published in Great Britain in 2010 separately as ''When Churchill slaughtered sheep'' and ''When Stalin robbed a bank'' by John Murray (Publishers).

From a master of popular history, the lively, immersive story of the race to seize Berlin in the aftermath of World War II as it’s never been told before BERLIN’S FATE WAS SEALED AT THE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE: the city, along with the rest of Germany, was to be carved up among the victorious powers— the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. On paper, it seemed a pragmatic solution. In reality, once the four powers were no longer united by the common purpose of defeating Germany, they wasted little time reverting to their prewar hostility toward—and suspicion of—one another. The veneer of civility between the Western allies and the Soviets was to break down in spectacular fashion in Berlin. Rival systems, rival ideologies, and rival personalities ensured that the German capital became an explosive battleground. The warring leaders who ran Berlin’s four sectors were charismatic, mercurial men, and Giles Milton brings them all to rich and thrilling life here. We meet unforgettable individuals like America’s explosive Frank “Howlin’ Mad” Howley, a brusque sharp-tongued colonel with a relish for mischief and a loathing for all Russians. Appointed commandant of the city’s American sector, Howley fought an intensely personal battle against his wily nemesis, General Alexander Kotikov, commandant of the Soviet sector. Kotikov oozed charm as he proposed vodka toasts at his alcohol-fueled parties, but Howley correctly suspected his Soviet rival was Stalin’s agent, appointed to evict the Western allies from Berlin and ultimately from Germany as well. Throughout, Checkmate in Berlin recounts the first battle of the Cold War as we’ve never before seen it. An exhilarating tale of intense rivalry and raw power, it is above all a story of flawed individuals who were determined to win, and Milton does a masterful job of weaving between all the key players’ motivations and thinking at every turn. A story of unprecedented human drama, it’s one that had a profound, and often underestimated, shaping force on the modern world – one that’s still felt today.

The 25th anniversary edition of the much-beloved true adventure tale of Nathaniel Courthope; “A magnificent piece of popular history” (The Independent on Sunday). The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago. Just two miles long and half a mile wide, it is remote, tranquil, and largely ignored. Yet 370 years ago, Run’s bountiful harvest of a then-priceless spice, nutmeg, turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and the British Crown. Out of the fighting came one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland, and in return was given Manhattan. This led not only to the birth of New York, but also to the beginning of the British Empire. The man who made it all possible? Nathaniel Courthope and his small band of adventurers, who were sent to Run in 1616 and for four years held off the massive Dutch navy. Nathaniel’s Nutmeg centers on the remarkable showdown between Courthope and the Dutch Governor General Jan Coen, and the brutal fate of the mariners racing to Run to reap the limitless profits of the spice trade. Written with the flair of a historical sea novel but based on rigorous research, Giles Milton’s Nathaniel’s Nutmeg is a brilliant, true tale of high adventure in the South Seas.

In this marvellous collection of fascinating footnotes, Giles Milton delves into the little-known stories from history. Covering everything from adventure, war, murder and slavery to espionage, including the stories of the female Robinson Crusoe, Hitler''s final hours, Japan''s deadly balloon bomb and the emperor of the United States, these tales deserve to be told.

An exciting account of the dangerous voyages, bizarre transactions, and desperate battles of the spice wars. The island of Run is a tiny, remote island in the Indonesian archipelago. At the beginning of the 17th cent., however, Run''s harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the powerful Dutch East India Co. and a band of ragtag British adventurers. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland but in return was given Manhattan. "A brilliant adventure story of unthinkable hardship, savagery, the navigation of uncharted waters, and the exploitation of new worlds."