(Paperback)

Cities is a fascinating exploration of the nature of the city and city life, of its structures, development and inhabitants.

From the ruins of the earliest cities to the present, Reader explores how cities coalesce, develop and thrive, how they can decline and die, how they remake themselves.

(Paperback)

Mr Potato Head. But the story of the solanum tuberosum is darker - one of struggle, disease, dirt and survival.

Before domestication thousands of years ago, high up on the Andean antiplano, the high alkaloid content of potatoes made them poisonous to humans.

(Paperback)

Recreates the panorama of African history, from the primeval cataclysms that formed the continent to the political upheavals facing much of the continent. This book shows how the world's richest assortment of animals and plants has helped - or hindered - human progress in Africa.

(Paperback)

The story of one of the world's most important crops

From the gold potatoes at the Sun Temple in Cuzco, Peru, the muddy ones in Ireland and those grown in China for McDonald's chips, the story of the spud is both satisfying and fascinating.