In her “dry, delightful fairy tale for grown-ups” (People), celebrated novelist Marcy Dermansky offers a biting exploration of a woman’s search for self-realization and models of a life well lived. Wh
Michael Alexander Allen, baby cousin ofan extended family, was first arrestedat fifteen for an attempted carjacking.Tried as an adult and sentenced to thirteenyears, Michael served eleven. Three years
Long fascinated with the Mexican Revolution and the vicious border wars of the early twentieth century, Winston Groom brings to life a much-forgotten period of history in this sprawling saga of herois
Western philosophy is now two and a half millennia old, but much of it came in just two staccato bursts, each lasting only about 150 years. In his landmark survey of Western philosophy from the Greeks
At just forty-seven years old, William Giraldi’s father was killed in a horrific motorcycle crash while racing on a country road. This tragedy, which forever altered the young Giraldi and devastated h
Since 2010, The Stone—the immensely popular, award-winning philosophy column in the New York Times—has revived and reinterpreted age-old inquiries to speak to our contemporary condition. Now, doing fo
“Remarkably, a nineteen-year-old, writing her first novel, penned a tale that combines tragedy, morality, social commentary, and a thoughtful examination of the very nature of knowledge,” writes best-
Lauded as a “compelling” (The New Yorker) and “eye-opening tour of a process that many Americans never see” (Washington Post), David Daley’s Ratf**ked documents the effort of Republican legislators an
During a 68-year career, conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957) was famed for his fierce dedication, photographic memory, explosive temper, and impassioned performances. At various times he dominated
In the early nineteenth century, the United States turned its idealistic gaze southward,imagining a legacy of revolution and republicanism it hoped would dominatethe American hemisphere. From pulsing
Worshipped by Tea Party politicians but loathedby sane economists, gold has influenced Americanmonetary policy and has exerted an irrationalinfluence on the national psyche for centuries. It is an exi
Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis- Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resor
In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three ruthless and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover
Maine's rugged, picturesque Monhegan Island is home to weathered lobster fishermen and curious tourists…a genial if sleepy group. But when Spark Monahan—rakish prodigal son—returns unannounced to the
Lauded by Ta-Nehisi Coates for his “brilliant” and “fine understanding of the machinery of government policy” (The Atlantic), Richard Rothstein has painstakingly documented how American cities, from S
In a work rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin, the best-selling author of Leviathan, presents the definitive history of American lighthouses. Brilliant B
Even as major figures like Sheryl Sandberg and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie embrace the word “feminism,” the word “ambition” remains loaded with ambivalence. Few women describe themselves as ambitious, se
Hailed by critics and embraced by readers, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs” is one of the richest accounts of our third president. Following the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Hemingses of Monticello, Ann
With majestic prose, Christopher de Bellaigue presents an absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Stru
In his most urgent book to date, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and world-renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson states that in order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our own, we mus
Renowned constitutional scholar Geoffrey R. Stonetraces the evolution of legal and moral codes that haveattempted to legislate sexual behavior from the ancientworld to America’s earliest days to today
The great grail of psychologists and scientists for nearly a century has been to artificially replicate the thought patterns of the human mind. Challenging the notion that this can ever be achieved th
The only historic figure outside the early Christiantradition to whom the Gospels ascribe a dialoguewith Jesus is the first-century Roman prefect PontiusPilate. Presiding over the trial and execution
Combining hard-edged prose and savage Southern charm, Mary Miller showcases transcendent contemporary talent at its best. With its collection of lusty, lazy, hard-drinking characters forever in their
In the spare wing of a church-run sanitarium, some fervent youths create “the Library,” a space where lonely citizens can read one another’s private diaries and connect with like-minded types. But doe
Intrepid and empathetic, Patrick Kingsley has traveled through seventeen countries to bear witness to the largest forced migration since the end of World War II. Meeting hundreds of refugees and fleei
In the last decade, no industry has been through as much upheaval and turmoil as the music industry. If you’re looking for quick fame and instant success, you’re in the wrong field. It’s now a democra
Elvis Presley remains one of the most influential figures in American popular culture, a man whose fame and talent were matched only by his excesses and tragic end. Venerated in rock-and-roll history,
In 1988, then-struggling writer and movie store manager Davis Miller drove to Muhammad Ali’s mother’s modest Louisville house, knocked on the door, and introduced himself to his childhood idol. Nearly
It was the forerunner of our digital age, improbably a French poem about a shipwreck published in 1897 that, with its mind-bending possibilities of being read up and down, backward and forward, even s
Born at the dawn of the twentieth century, Leni Riefenstahl and Marlene Dietrich both came of age in Weimar Berlin, a time of great political ferment. Glamour and decadence thrived beside abject pover
In her trademark taut, mordantly funny, and “brainy, emotionally sophisticated” (New York Times) prose, Marcy Dermansky—a celebrated master of transgression— bring us a razor-sharp exploration of a wo
Long fascinated with the Mexican Revolution and the vicious border wars of the early twentieth century, Winston Groom brings to life a much-forgotten period of history in this sprawling saga of herois
At the close of the Victorian era, as now, privacy was power. The extraordinarily wealthy 5th Duke of Portland had a mania for it, hiding in his carriage and building tunnels between buildings to avoi
In the half a square mile of decay and demolition that was England’s Saxon capital, eternity is loitering between the firetrap housing projects. Embedded in the grubby amber of the district’s narrativ
In the half a square mile of decay and demolition that was England’s Saxon capital, eternity is loitering between the firetrap housing projects. Embedded in the grubby amber of the district’s narrativ
In SPQR, an instant classic upon its publication, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome “with passion and without jargon” and demonstrates how “a slightly shabby Iron Age village . . . rose to becom
The poetry of Clive James has been delighting readers and winning awards for decades. His recent poems looking back over his extraordinarily rich life have brought him an even wider readership; some,
“Never has the story been told so well,” said the New York Review of Books of Anthony Gottlieb's The Dream of Reason, an “endlessly entertaining and frequently instructive” (Times Literary Supplement)
On July 4, 1861, the schooner S.J. Waring set sail from New York on a routine voyage to South America. Seventeen days later, it limped back into New York’s harbor with the ship’s black cook and stewar
