In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surroundi...

One of the most famous and influential books of its (or any) time, The Origin of Species is, surprisingly, little read. True enough, most people know what it says---or think they do, at any rate. The first comprehensive statement of t...

In this combination medical history and medical mystery, Steven Johnson recounts how John Snow, a scientist, traced the source of a London cholera outbreak in 1854 to a well pump, and how his inventive use and presentation of quantifi...

A dramatic history of cities and of urban life ranges from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day, tracing the evolution of the city from its religious roots in antiquity, to the rise of the classical city and later commercial city-em...

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the ...

A whimsical treasury of famous myths, paired with behind-the-scenes trivia on the actual facts, debunks such popularized stories as Mario Puzo's model for the Don Corleone character and McCarthy's actual role in creating the infamous ...

It was truly a white Christmas in the Ardennes Forest in 1944, but that was cold comfort to the Allied soldiers trying to stop the Nazis from retaking Belgium in one of the most decisive battles of World War II. While a German loudspe...

'Unquestionably the finest narrative of tank warfare to come out of World War II.'—Los Angeles Times A tank officer's story of the desert war in North Africa, Brazen Chariots is one of the most widely praised war books ever publ...

The stunning, never before told story of the quixotic attempt to recreate small-town America in the heart of the AmazonIn 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazili...

The 2013 National Book Award WinnerA New York Times BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2013One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of 2013A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013An NPR Best Book of 2013One of t...

Dubbed the "pirate queen" by the Vatican and Spain's Philip II, Elizabeth I was feared and admired by her enemies. Extravagant, whimsical, and hot-tempered, Elizabeth was the epitome of power. Her visionary accomplishments were made p...

Harry Turtledove marches on through history with The Great War: Walk in Hell. In his alternate timeline, the Confederate States of America won the Civil War, aided by Britain and France. In the 1880s (How Few Remain), Americans fought...

Life at the Dakota is a deliciously entertaining social history which describes the lives of the rich and trendy who have lived at the Dakota, a New York apartment house daringly erected in 1884, "too far up" and on the wron...

Albert Cashier' served three years in the Union Army and passed successfully as a man until 1911 when the aging veteran was revealed to be a woman named Jennie Hodgers. Frances Clayton kept fighting even after her husband was gunned d...

Midcentury Los Angeles. A city sold to the world as "the white spot of America," a land of sunshine and orange groves, wholesome Midwestern values and Hollywood stars, protected by the world's most famous police force, the D...

When Roald Dahl, a dashing young wounded RAF pilot, took up his post at the British Embassy in Washington in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and considerable charm to gain access to the most powerful figures in Am...

Leave It to Beaver was not a documentary, a man's home has never been his castle, the 'male breadwinner marriage' is the least traditional family in history, and rape and sexual assault were far higher in the 1970s than they are today...

In the summer of 1913, under the cover of London's perpetual smoggy dusk, two brilliant minds are pitted against each other — a celebrated gentleman thief and a talented Scotland Yard detective — in the greatest jewel heist of the...

The bestselling author of Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel surveys the history of human societies to answer the question: What can we learn from traditional societies that can make the world a better place for all of us? Most of...

Senator Christopher J. Dodd (Connecticut) presents letters his father wrote home while serving as a prosecutor at Nuremberg. Senator Thomas Dodd began his career of public service as prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials. Chris Dodd rece...

In THE WORST HARD TIME, Timothy Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history, told through characters he brought to indelible life. Now he performs the same alchemy with the Big Burn, the larges...

It was a contest of titans. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two heroes of the Revolutionary era, once intimate friends, now her antagonists locked in a fierce battle for the future of the United States. The election of 1800 was a thu...

This is the adrenaline-soaked story of nine men who fought the Japanese from America's deadliest submarine, survived its sinking and endured months of brutal torture in captivity. By October 1944, the US Navy submarine Tang was legend...

While the Civil War raged in America, another very different revolution was beginning to take shape across the Atlantic, in the studios of Paris: The artists who would make Impressionism the most popular art form in history were showi...

In early March 1861, civil war loomed. By late April, Americans had begun to kill their fellow citizens. Cry Havoc! recounts in riveting detail the events that divided the states and reveals how quirks of timing, character, and plac...

A best-selling historian considers Churchill's first speech before Parliament--a speech that transformed both Churchill and the nation he had come to lead. On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill stood before the House of Commons to deliv...

A gifted and well-practiced writer can tell an old story and make it seem new and exciting. Louis Menand is such a writer, and his version of the story of pragmatism is the most lively and integrated yet told. Menand's incisive and re...

In this acclaimed Lannan foundation lecture from September 2002, Roy speaks poetically to power on the US’ War on Terror, globalization, the misuses of nationalism, and the growing chasm between the rich and poor. With lyricism and ...

In this monumental work, David Shipler, award-winning correspondent for The New York Times, examines the forces that contribute to the mutual aversion and hatred in Israel.

Who are the women of Windsor? Queen Elizabeth: Born to duty, adored by her parents, she swore as a teenager to serve her country above all else . . . and she has lived up to her promise, even when her crown has been a burden. Eli...