"Sarah Gristwood has written a masterpiece that effortlessly and enthrallingly interweaves the amazing stories of women who ruled in Europe during the Renaissance period."-Alison Weir Sixteenth-centu
Named Best Book of the Year by the Financial Times, the Economist and the AtlanticIn this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on five ce
From Handel's renowned biographer, the story of one of the most celebrated compositions of Western classical music, Handel's famous oratorio, Messiah In the late summer of 1741, George Friderick Hand
A gripping insider account of the clash between America's civilian and military leadershipThe Pentagon's Wars is a dramatic account of the deep and divisive debates between America's civilian leaders
In 1939, Richard Feynman, a brilliant graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. A lifelong friendship and enormously productive collabor
"A charmingly full, frank, and humorous account of a career dedicated to rigorous lexicographic rectitude. . . . He is an absolute hero."-Lynne Truss, New York TimesCan you drink a glass of balderdash
A definitive account of World War II by America's preeminent military historianWorld War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landsca
At fourteen, Amber could boast of killing her guinea pig, threatening to burn down her home, and seducing men in exchange for gifts. She used the tools she had available to get what she wanted, like a
In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this blatant violation of national sovereignty was only the latest iteration of a ce
"Penetrating, detailed, and very readable. . . . A splendid biography."-Wall Street JournalFew figures in American history have held as many roles in public life as John Quincy Adams. The son of John
A history of the British Empire told through twenty meals eaten around the worldIn The Taste of Empire, acclaimed historian Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food
From the National Legal Director of the ACLU, an essential guidebook for anyone seeking to stand up for fundamental civil liberties and rightsOne of Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2016I
A preeminent authority on the Catholic Church and papal biographer describes what he learned from chronicling the life of a Pole who became a saint. In Lessons in Hope, George Weigel tells the sto
"FROM CHRISTIAN MAIDEN TO MUSLIM QUEEN: Roxelana was born in Ruthenia, possibly the daughter of a priest but more likely into an average family, facing a hardscrabble life. She was captured by slavers
One of America's foremost scholars of religion examines the tumultuous era that gave birth to the modern Judeo-Christian traditionIn The Crucible of Faith, Philip Jenkins argues that much of the Judeo
A beloved folk singer presents an impassioned account of the fall and rise of the small American towns she cherishesDubbed by the New Yorker as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters," Dar Wil
A celebrated mathematician traces the history of math through the lives and work of twenty-five pioneering mathematiciansIn Significant Figures, acclaimed mathematician Ian Stewart introduces the visi
Why have recent presidents failed to bring promised change?In The Impossible Presidency, celebrated historian Jeremi Suri charts the rise and fall of the American presidency, from the limited role env
"Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see black youth seated together in the cafeteria. Of course, it's not just the black kids sitting together--the white, Latino, Asian Pacific, and
Legends don't come close to capturing the incredible story of the coyote. In the face of centuries of annihilation campaigns that employed gases, helicopters, and engineered epidemics, coyotes didn't
A leading educational thinker argues that the American university is stuck in the past--and shows how we can revolutionize it to prepare students for our age of constant changeOur current system of hi
How does trauma affect a child's mind?and how can that mind recover? In the classic The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Dr. Perry explains what happens to the brains of children exposed to extreme stress
In The Interpretation of Cultures, the most original anthropologist of his generation moved far beyond the traditional confines of his discipline to develop an important new concept of culture. This g
In Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, Lee Smolin provides an accessible overview of the attempts to build a final "theory of everything." He explains in simple terms what scientists are talking about whe
Why cracking the code of human conception took centuries of wild theories, misogynist blunders, and ludicrous mistakes Throughout most of human history, babies were surprises. People knew the basics:
"In The Russian Revolution, historian Sean McMeekin traces the origins and events of the Russian Revolution, which brought an end to Romanov rule and ushered the Bolsheviks into power. Between the daw
Passchendaele. The name of a small, seemingly insignificant Flemish village echoes across the twentieth century as the ultimate expression of meaningless, industrialized slaughter. In the summer of 19
What we can learn from Atlanta's struggle to reinvent itself in the twenty-first century Atlanta is on the verge of either tremendous rebirth or demographic meltdown. Atlanta has the highest income in
In The Collapse of Parenting, internationally acclaimed author Leonard Sax argues that rising levels of obesity, depression, and anxiety among young people can be traced to parents abdicating their au
Video games have seemingly taken over our lives. Whereas gamers once constituted a small and largely male subculture, today 67 percent of American households play video games. The average gamer is now
In Knowing the Score, philosopher David Papineau uses sports to illuminate some of modern philosophy's most perplexing questions. As Papineau demonstrates, the study of sports clarifies, challenges, a
Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in American History, this is a landmark history of how the entire American health care system of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and governme
In The Unruly City, historian Mike Rapport offers a vivid history of three intertwined cities toward the end of the eighteenth century?Paris, London, and New York?all in the midst of political chaos a
Today the United States is the dominant power in world affairs, and that status seems assured. Yet in the decade following the ratification of the Constitution, the republic’s existence was contingent
Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs ever
An acclaimed military historian charts the history of America's Special Operations Forces, highlighting both the heroism of America's finest soldiers and the strategic limits of special operations.
For many of us, classical music is something serious?something we study in school, something played by cultivated musicians at fancy gatherings. In Language of the Spirit, renowned music scholar Jan S
American taxpayers spend $30 billion annually funding biomedical research. By some estimates, half of the results from these studies can't be replicated elsewhere?the science is simply wrong. Often, r
An expanded edition of a classic intellectual history of Zionism, now covering the rise of religious Zionism since the 1970sFor eighteen centuries pious Jews had prayed for the return to Jerusalem, bu
From the summer of 1870 through the spring of 1871, France suffered a humiliating defeat in its war against Prussia and witnessed bloody class warfare that culminated in the crushing of the Paris Comm
