In Words Like Loaded Pistols, Sam Leith traces the art of persuasion, beginning in ancient Syracuse and taking us on detours as varied and fascinating as Elizabethan England, Milton’s Satanic realm, t
An anatomy of white prejudice against African- and Native-Americans from the Revolution to the end of the Civil War, revealing how enlightenment liberals, despite deeply held beliefs in racial equalit
A global history of the 1850s, the turbulent decade that marked the peak of the Victorian era, the birth of modernity, and the beginning of the first global age
Abraham Lincoln grew up in the long shadow of the Founding Fathers. Seeking an intellectual and emotional replacement for his own taciturn father, Lincoln turned to the great men of the foundingWashin
An acclaimed historian explodes the myth about the special relationship” between Americans and their guns, revealing that savvy 19th century businessmennot gun loverscreated American gun culture
Every two minutes, Americans alone take more photographs than were printed in the entire nineteenth century; every minute, people from around the world upload over 300 hours of video to YouTube; and i
Revolutionary when it was first published in 2003, The Two-Income Trap remains disturbingly relevant today. In this expose, Senator Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that mod
The Way We Never Were examines two centuries of American family life and shatters a series of myths and half-truths that burden modern families. Placing current family dilemmas in the context of far-r
A penetrating, lyrical biography of John Quincy Adams, the President and politician whose experiences spannedand shapedthe most critical period in our nation’s history
Hyperpartisanship is as old as American democracy. But now, acrimony is not confined to a moment; it’s a permanent state of affairs and has seeped into every part of the political process. Identifying
"All of us are creatures of a day,” wrote Marcus Aurelius, “rememberer and remembered alike.” In his long-awaited new collection of stories, renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom describes his
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe.
The writings of the Greeks and Romans form the bedrock of Western culture. Inventing the molds for histories, tragedies, and philosophies, while pioneering radical new forms of epic and poetry, the Gr
In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Cla
From the Revolution through the Civil Rights Movement, Americans mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. But over the last half-century that political will has vanished. InThe Age
A prominent historian rewrites the history of gay life in 1970s America, arguing that our ignorance of the true nature of gay liberation has had harmful and lasting consequencesIn Stand by Me, Jim Dow
The strange, disquieting, and sometimes delicious story of humanity’s love affair with meatIn Meathooked, Marta Zaraska explores what she calls the meat paradox.” Scientific journals overflow with rep
Mary Pipher's groundbreaking investigation of America's "girl-poisoning culture,"Reviving Ophelia, has sold nearly two million copies and established its author as one of the nation'
Prized as "the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewelry out of it, coal has transformed societies, powered navies, fueled economies, and expanded frontiers. It mad
Draws on previously untapped sources to illuminate the secret friendship and disastrous estrangement between Cassius Clay and Malcolm X, sharing insights into Malcolm's alleged role in shaping Clay's
A philosopher of science examines the biggest ethical and moral issues in science today, and explains why they matter for all of usscientist and layman alike
Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institutionthe nation’s original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America’s later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffere
Look closely at any typically “American” article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have ta
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense fight with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence. But today’s conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over
Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer
I have no special talents,” said Albert Einstein. I am only passionately curious.”Everyone is born curious. But only some retain the habits of exploring, learning, and discovering as they grow older.
As a candidate in 2008, Barack Obama distanced himself from same-sex marriage, saying he believed marriage was “a sacred union” between a man and a woman. In 2012, he did just the opposite, proclaimin
As a glance down any street in America quickly reveals, American women have forgotten how to dress. We chase fads, choose inappropriate materials and unattractive cuts, and waste energy tottering in h
Saint Augustine is one of the most influential figures in all of Christianity, yet his path to sainthood was by no means assured. Born in AD 354 to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine spe
In A Just and Generous Nation, the eminent historian Harold Holzer and the noted economist Norton Garfinkle present a groundbreaking new account of the beliefs that inspired our sixteenth president to
On January 24, 1791, President George Washington chose the site for the young nation’s capital: ten miles square, it stretched from the highest point of navigation on the Potomac River, and encompasse
We assume we know our bodies intimately, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory, an enigma of bone and muscle, neurons and synapses. How many of us understand the way seizures affect the b
As early as 1941, Allied victory in World War II seemed all but assured. How and why, then, did the Germans prolong the barbaric conflict for three and a half more years?In The German War, acclaimed h
In 1973, a young filmmaker named George Lucas scribbled some notes for a far-fetched space-fantasy epic. Some forty years and $37 billion later,Star Warsrelated products outnumber human beings, a grow
The Vatican’s silence in the face of Nazi atrocities remains one of the great controversies of our time. History has accused wartime pontiff Pius the Twelfth of complicity in the Holocaust and dubbed
No president looms larger in twentieth-century American history than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and few life stories can match his for sheer drama. Following in the footsteps of his Republican cousin
From choosing the right pair of eyeglasses to properly coordinating a tie, shirt, and pocket square, getting dressed is an art to be mastered. Yet how many of us just throw on, well, whatever in the m
The Magic of Math is the math book you wish you had in school. Using a delightful assortment of examples, from ice cream scoops and poker hands that teach you factorials to mnemonics that help you mem
In this remarkable exploration of the Catholic world, the preeminent Catholic theologian George Weigel offers a luminous collection of letters to young Catholics, not-so-young Catholics, and curious s
