Bücher von Peter Watson

Exploring the development of humankindbetween the Old World and the New?from15,000 BC to AD 1500?the acclaimed authorof Ideas and The German Genius offers agroundbreaking new understandingof human history.Why did Asia and Europe develop far earlierthan the Americas? What were thefactors that accelerated?or impeded?development? How did the experiences of OldWorld inhabitants differ from their New Worldcounterparts?and what factors influenced thosedifferences?In this fascinating and erudite history, PeterWatson ponders these questions central to thehuman story. By 15,000 BC, humans had migratedfrom northeastern Asia across the frozen Beringland bridge to the Americas. When the worldwarmed up and the last Ice Age came to an end,the Bering Strait refilled with water, dividingAmerica from Eurasia. This division?with twogreat populations on Earth, each unaware of theother?continued until Christopher Columbusvoyaged to the New World in the fifteenth century.The Great Divide compares the developmentof humankind in the Old World and the Newbetween 15,000 BC and AD 1500. Watson identifiesthree major differences between the twoworlds?climate, domesticable mammals, andhallucinogenic plants?that combined to producevery different trajectories of civilization in thetwo hemispheres. Combining the most up-to-dateknowledge in archaeology, anthropology, geology,meteorology, cosmology, and mythology, thisunprecedented, masterful study offers uniquelyrevealing insight into what it means to be human.

The story reunites Ian McLean with Jack Doyle, the estate locater, who has been asked by two brothers to find their step-brother. Ian''s trail takes him to the Northumberland area of England where he meets a beautiful Armenian girl.The motive of the two brothers becomes suspect, and as events play out there are more questions than answers. Who, for example, is Molly? The story also delves into the subject of Diaspora communities, and how they reflect and influence their host country''s interests. Comparisons are made between the Jacobite cause and modern nationalist and religious movements.

Can Jimmy escape the brutality of The Home?Jimmy McGuire's misdiagnosis led to him being placed in The Home, where he is subjected to sub-human brutality. No sooner does he escape than he is a suspect in an attack of a woman who has befriended him. Can Jimmy's friends help him overcome the odds and emerge as a whole person? This is a heartwarming story of the triumph of the human condition.

Why does the coma victim have a concentration camp number?A Canadian estate locator is asked by a client's niece to determine the identity of a coma victim in an English hospital, where she is a nurse. The only clue is a number tattooed on his arm. The search leads to France and the identity of a woman who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. A romance develops between the locator and the nurse. The story correspondingly follows the progress of a young Englishman who converts to Judaism and the consequences for him and his family. The novel examines attitudes toward outsiders, by those whom they wish to join, and the views of those who consider anyone who turns their back on the tribe to be a defector. The two stories connect toward the end, when the power of the various relationships is revealed.

A sweeping tour of French history from the 17th century to the present day from the highly acclaimed author of The German Genius