11,396


2024 World & General History A record-breaking year


overall, total volume for the subcategory only increased by 3%. So, the nine-million-dollar question is, “What gives?” For one thing, the subcategory


benefitted from a new classifica- tion of Beard’s work. Her previous mega hit SPQR from 2015 is clas- sified as Ancient History rather than World & General History, as is Twelve Caesars, which published in 2021. For another, Emperor of Rome carried a hefty r.r.p. (£30) and, consequently, a chunky aver- age selling price (£25.76). Up until 2023, the a.s.p.


had held relatively steady, generally knocking around the £12 mark. In 2023, however, it leapt to £15.20 and there were four titles in the top 20 with a.s.p.’s of over £25, Beard’s included. It’s a perfect example of last year’s wider trend. Across many


       


subcategories worldwide, a.s.p.s are rising. In a recent press release, Nielsen BookData


Title Author


1 A Short History of the... 50 Lies* Natasha Tidd 2 The Earth Transformed* 3 The History of the... Chunks 4 Emperor of Rome 5 Ancestors*


6 The Silk Roads* 7 The Story of the SS 8 The Rest is History*


9 The Dawn of Everything 10 Woman’s Lore*


11 The House Divided 12 The World


13 The Blazing World*


14 A Village in the Third Reich 15 Dominion


16 A Little History of the World* 17 History Hit: Miscellany of...


19 Wanderers 20 James and John TheBookseller.com


Peter Frankopan Emma Marriott


Peter Frankopan Al Cimino


Imprint


RIDING HIGH WITH 50 LIES


ISBN (+978) Volume


Professor Mary Beard Profile Alice Roberts


Michael O’Mara 1789295269 11,396 Bloomsbury 1526622556 11,042 Michael O’Mara 1782437079 1846683787


Simon & Schuster 1471188046 Bloomsbury 1408839997 Arcturus


1788285353


T Holland & D Sandbrook Bloomsbury 1526667694 D Graeber & D Wengrow Penguin Sarah Clegg


Barnaby Rogerson


Apollo Profile


Simon Sebag Montefiore W&N Jonathan Healey


0141991061 1803280288 1781257258 1780225616


Bloomsbury 1526621696


Julia Boyd & A Patel E & Thompson 1783966639 Tom Holland E H Gombrich -


Little, Brown 0349141206 Yale Uni’y Press 0300143324 Hodder


18 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Yuval Noah Harari Vintage Kerri Andrews Chris Bryant


Reaktion Bloomsbury 1526644978


1399726009 1784708283 1789145014


5,346 5,115 3,913 3,509 3,500 3,393 2,412 2,374 2,314 2,202 2,164 1,938 1,881 1,863 1,548 1,504 1489 1399


NATASHA TIDD:


In the spotlight


BEARD: ENJOYING HISTORICAL PRECEDENT


stated that “Average prices for books increased [in 2023]… but the actual quantity sold went down in three-quarters of the regions surveyed”. So far, 2024 is sitting at £2.2m with 164,304 copies sold and the a.s.p. has fallen back to a more modest £13.48. Many of last year’s most


popular titles have carried on selling in 2024. In fact, 16 of the top 20 titles for 2023 are in today’s top 20, including academic and TV presenter Alice Roberts’ Ancestors in fifth and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari of Sapiens fame in 18th. World histories have been popular with no fewer than 14 making the top 50. Other popular topics include British history, the Second World War, cartogra- phy, and—most interestingly— fake history. Current


number one, A Short History of the World in


50 Lies by Natasha Tidd, doesn’t just uncover 50 untruths that changed the course of history, but interrogates how fiction becomes fact. Otto English takes a similar


approach in Fake History, which ranks 33rd and, in 27th, John Hamer’s Falsification of History purports that our reality is the result of a “grand deception”.


Data range 20 weeks ending 18th May 2024 Source Nielsen BookScan


Slave Empire: How Slavery Built Modern Britain Padraic X Scanlan


9781472142337


 





Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History Gretchen Gerzina 9781399804905


 


Volume for A Short History of the World in 50 Lies


The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis Maria Smilios 9780349009254


 


31


* Combined editions


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