From the torchlit processions of ancient Eleusis to the encrypted networks of the digital age, secret societies have shaped civilization from the shadows. SHADOWS AND OATHS is the definitive three-volume history of the world's most mysterious organizations — a sweeping...

The Complete History of Mercenary Warfare — All Continents, All Eras

For 4,500 years, hired warriors have toppled empires, built kingdoms, and changed the course of history. They have been pharaohs' bodyguards and popes' last defenders, conquerors of Athens and liberators...

A three-volume narrative history of world religions — from the Neanderthal graves of the Ice Age to the megachurches, meditation apps, and religious nationalism of the twenty-first century.

Why did our ancestors bury their dead with flowers sixty thousand years ago? How...