The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in U.S. history, drowning crops and displacing more than half a million people across seven states. It was also the first envir
Ireland’s Immortals tells the story of one of the world’s great mythologies. The first account of the gods of Irish myth to take in the whole sweep of Irish literature in both the nation’s languages,
In America, fraud has always been a key feature of business, and the national worship of entrepreneurial freedom complicates the task of distinguishing salesmanship from deceit. In this sweeping narra
At the start of the nineteenth century, the Jesuits seemed fated for oblivion. Dissolved as a religious order in 1773 by one pope, they were restored in 1814 by another, but with only six hundred aged
A much-maligned minority throughout American history, atheists have been cast as a threat to the nation’s moral fabric, barred from holding public office, and branded as irreligious misfits in a natio
All across the social sciences, from development economics to political science, researchers are going into the field to collect data and learn about the world. Successful randomized controlled trials
In the past decade, the French delicacy foie gras—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles. In Contested Tastes, Micha
In an accessible narrative that explains complex ideas in clear language, Vittorio Hösle traces the evolution of German philosophy and describes its central influence on other aspects of German cultur
What makes WiFi faster at home than at a coffee shop? How does Google order search results? Is it really true that everyone on Facebook is connected by six steps or less? The Power of Networks answers
Was Darwin wrong when he traced our origins to Africa? The Real Planet of the Apes makes the explosive claim that it was in Europe, not Africa, where apes evolved the most important hallmarks of our h
For a century, social scientists have avoided genetics like the plague. But the nature-nurture wars are over. In the past decade, a small but intrepid group of economists, political scientists, and so
Whether we realize it or not, we carry in our mouths the legacy of our evolution. Our teeth are like living fossils that can be studied and compared to those of our ancestors to teach us how we became
An essential guide to recognizing bogus numbers and misleading dataNumbers are impressive, intimidating, confusing, and often deliberately deceptive, especially when they’re really big. The media love
This is the second volume in the first full-scale scholarly edition of Thoreau’s correspondence in more than half a century. When completed, the edition’s three volumes will include every extant lette
How the legacy of monarchical empires shaped Britain, France, Spain, and the United States as they became liberal entitiesHistorians view the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a turnin
Jung’s lectures on the history of psychology— in English for the first timeBetween 1933 and 1941, C. G. Jung delivered a series of public lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in
Divination and Human Nature casts a new perspective on the rich tradition of ancient divination—the reading of divine signs in oracles, omens, and dreams. Popular attitudes during classical antiquity
A book that finally demystifies Newton’s experiments in alchemyWhen Isaac Newton’s alchemical papers surfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in 1936, the quantity and seeming incoherence of the manuscripts wa
More than three centuries after its creation, calculus remains a dazzling intellectual achievement and the gateway to higher mathematics. This book charts its growth and development by sampling from t
Biological evolution is a fact—but the many conflicting theories of evolution remain controversial even today. When Adaptation and Natural Selection was first published in 1966, it struck a powerful b
With the publication of The Origins of Kabbalah in 1950, one of the most important scholars of our century brought the obscure world of Jewish mysticism to a wider audience for the first time. A cruci
The Greco-Roman mathematician Claudius Ptolemy is one of the most significant figures in the history of science. He is remembered today for his astronomy, but his philosophy is almost entirely lost to
The changing face of the liberal creed from the ancient world to todayThe Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry—and a
A leading neuroscientist explains why your personal traits are more innate than you thinkWhat makes you the way you are—and what makes each of us different from everyone else? In Innate, leading neuro
A revealing insider’s account of the power—and limitations—of functional MRIThe ability to read minds has long been a fascination of science fiction, but revolutionary new brain-imaging methods are br
A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin ReesHumanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled an
In this short book, acclaimed writer and philosopher Roger Scruton presents an original and radical defense of human uniqueness. Confronting the views of evolutionary psychologists, utilitarian morali
The ideal of the American Dream seems increasingly out of reach, even for many families who are trying to do everything right. To find out why, Jonathan Morduch and Rachel Schneider followed 235 low-
In today’s world, the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite. Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry canvas
A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin ReesHumanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled an
The first comprehensive field guide to the birds of Central AmericaBirds of Central America is the first comprehensive field guide to the avifauna of the entire region, including Belize, Guatemala, Ho
A new interpretation of the Holy Roman Empire that reveals why it was not a failed state as many historians believeThe Holy Roman Empire emerged in the Middle Ages as a loosely integrated union of Ger
The first comprehensive field guide to the birds of Central AmericaBirds of Central America is the first comprehensive field guide to the avifauna of the entire region, including Belize, Guatemala, Ho
The life and times of the New Testament’s most mystifying and incendiary bookFew biblical books have been as revered and reviled as Revelation. Many hail it as the pinnacle of prophetic vision, the co
A large-format, heavily illustrated look at the wide adaptability and rich diversity of the plant kingdomAll the plants around us today are descended from simple algae that emerged more than 500 milli
A splendid new translation of one of the greatest books on friendship ever writtenIn a world where social media, online relationships, and relentless self-absorption threaten the very idea of deep and
Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than i
A major new look at the work of one of America’s foremost self-taught artistsBill Traylor (ca. 1853–1949) came to art-making on his own and found his creative voice without guidance; today he is remem
A book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the online economyThe Internet was supposed to fragment audiences and make media monopolies impossible. Instead, behemoths like Google and
During the Jim Crow era, the Democratic Party dominated the American South, presiding over a racially segregated society while also playing an outsized role in national politics. In this compelling bo
