Books with category đź“ś History
Displaying books 97-144 of 307 in total

How to Be an Antiracist

2019

by Ibram X. Kendi

At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colors to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Racism intersects with class and culture and geography and even changes the way we see and value ourselves.

In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves. Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism.

This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

They Called Us Enemy

A graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself.


Long before George Takei braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future.


In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard.


They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future.

Largo pétalo de mar

2019

by Isabel Allende

Largo pétalo de mar es una novela escrita por Isabel Allende. La historia se desarrolla durante la Guerra Civil Española y sigue a los personajes de Víctor Dalmau y Roser Bruguera. Juntos, huyen a Francia y luego se embarcan en el Winnipeg, un barco fletado por el poeta Pablo Neruda, para llegar a Chile. En Chile, Víctor y Roser se enfrentan a los desafíos de una nueva vida, pero también encuentran amor y amistad. A medida que el tiempo pasa, la historia se entrelaza con eventos históricos como el golpe militar de 1973 y el exilio forzado de muchos chilenos. Esta novela épica es una historia de amor, pérdida, esperanza y resistencia. Isabel Allende teje hábilmente la narrativa, explorando temas de identidad, pertenencia y el poder del amor en tiempos difíciles.

Photographs

2019

by Eudora Welty

Eudora Welty’s Photographs, originally published in 1989, serves as the definitive book of the critically acclaimed writer’s photographs. Her camera’s viewfinder captured deep compassion and her artist’s sensibilities.

Photographs is a deeply felt documentation of 1930s Mississippi taken by a keenly observant photographer who showed the human side of her subjects. Also included in the book are pictures from Welty’s travels to New York, New Orleans, South Carolina, Mexico, and Europe in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s.

The photographs in this edition are new digital scans of Welty’s original negatives and authentic prints, restoring the images to their original glory. It also features sixteen additional images, several of which were selected by Welty for her 1936 photography exhibit in New York City and have never before been reproduced for publication.

The book includes a resonant, new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and Mississippi native Natasha Trethewey.

The Huntress

2019

by Kate Quinn

The Huntress, by Kate Quinn, is a historical fiction narrative that intricately weaves the paths of a battle-haunted English journalist and a fearless Russian female bomber pilot with an extensive objective: to track down a Nazi war criminal hiding in America.

Nina Markova, fueled by her dreams to fly, joins the legendary Night Witches—an all-female night bomber regiment during World War II. Her survival and courage are tested when a disastrous encounter with the Huntress, a lethal Nazi murderess, puts her life on the line. In a surprising twist of fate, the hunter becomes the hunted.

Meanwhile, Ian Graham, a journalist who has seen the horrors of war, is on a mission to seek justice. He partners with Nina to find the elusive Huntress, but to succeed in their quest, both must confront a shared secret that could derail everything.

In post-war Boston, young Jordan McBride's aspirations to become a photographer are met with a wave of skepticism when her father brings home a new German fiancée. Suspicions about her stepmother's past set Jordan on a troubling path that might unbury secrets too dangerous to confront.

Kate Quinn offers a story of grit, suspense, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

Midnight in Chernobyl

Midnight in Chernobyl is the definitive account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Journalist Adam Higginbotham uses his extensive research, including hundreds of hours of interviews, letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives to bring the disaster to life through the eyes of those who witnessed it firsthand.

The explosion of Reactor Number Four on April 26, 1986, triggered one of the twentieth century's greatest disasters. For thirty years, Chernobyl has been a symbol of the horrors of radiation poisoning and the risks of dangerous technology. The true story of the accident, obscured by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute.

This masterful nonfiction thriller is an indelible portrait of human resilience and ingenuity, and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will—lessons that, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary. Midnight in Chernobyl brings us closer to the truth behind this colossal tragedy and is a powerful investigation into how much can go wrong when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world.

The Mastermind

2019

by Evan Ratliff

The incredible true story of the decade-long quest to bring down Paul Le Roux—the creator of a frighteningly powerful Internet-enabled cartel who merged the ruthlessness of a drug lord with the technological savvy of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

It all started as an online prescription drug network, supplying hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of painkillers to American customers. It would not stop there. Before long, the business had turned into a sprawling multinational conglomerate engaged in almost every conceivable aspect of criminal mayhem. Yachts carrying $100 million in cocaine. Safe houses in Hong Kong filled with gold bars. Shipments of methamphetamine from North Korea. Weapons deals with Iran. Mercenary armies in Somalia. Teams of hit men in the Philippines. Encryption programs so advanced that the government could not break them.

The man behind it all, pulling the strings from a laptop in Manila, was Paul Calder Le Roux—a reclusive programmer turned criminal genius who could only exist in the networked world of the twenty-first century, and the kind of self-made crime boss that American law enforcement had never imagined. For half a decade, DEA agents played a global game of cat-and-mouse with Le Roux as he left terror and chaos in his wake. Each time they came close, he would slip away. It would take relentless investigative work, and a shocking betrayal from within his organization, to catch him. And when he was finally caught, the story turned again, as Le Roux struck a deal to bring down his own organization and the people he had once employed.

Award-winning investigative journalist Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together this intricate puzzle, chasing Le Roux's empire and his shadowy henchmen around the world, conducting hundreds of interviews and uncovering thousands of documents. The result is a riveting, unprecedented account of a crime boss built by and for the digital age.

Kane and Abel

2018

by Jeffrey Archer

Born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. These two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred. Over 60 years and three generations, through war, marriage, fortune, and disaster, Kane and Abel battle for the success and triumph that only one man can have.

Becoming

2018

by Michelle Obama

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. 

Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

In 1845, runaway slave Frederick Douglass became, almost overnight, the most celebrated African American author in history with the publication of his Narrative. In stark, powerful prose, he conveyed his observations of owners and overseers, the demoralizing effects of slavery on both slave and slaveholder, and his own triumph over oppression.

In the latter part of the century, Douglass became a public figure of enormous stature: an orator, a newspaper publisher, and a statesman. But he is perhaps best remembered as America's first major African American writer, a man whose work still makes a powerful impact on both our minds and hearts.

For a new perspective on Douglass' narrative, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s, introduction examines its literary and social importance, and considers the issues Douglass raised as the foundation for today's field of African American studies. Gates's illuminating insights, and an extensive bibliography, make this edition essential reading for scholars, historians, and students of African American literature.

A Doll's House

2018

by Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House (1879), is a masterpiece of theatrical craft which, for the first time portrayed the tragic hypocrisy of Victorian middle class marriage on the stage. The play ushered in a new social era and "exploded like a bomb into contemporary life".

The Student Edition contains these exclusive features:

  • A chronology of the playwright's life and work
  • An introduction giving the background of the play
  • Commentary on themes, characters. language and style
  • Notes on individual words and phrases in the text
  • Questions for further study
  • Bibliography for further reading.

Good and Mad

From Rebecca Traister, the New York Times bestselling author of All the Single Ladies, comes a vital, incisive exploration into the transformative power of female anger and its ability to transcend into a political movement.

In the year 2018, it seems as if women's anger has suddenly erupted into the public conversation. But long before Pantsuit Nation, before the Women's March, and before the #MeToo movement, women's anger was not only politically catalytic--but politically problematic. The story of female fury and its cultural significance demonstrates the long history of bitter resentment that has enshrouded women's slow rise to political power in America, as well as the ways that anger is received when it comes from women as opposed to when it comes from men. 

With eloquence and fervor, Rebecca tracks the history of female anger as political fuel--from suffragettes chaining themselves to the White House to office workers vacating their buildings after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Here Traister explores women's anger at both men and other women; anger between ideological allies and foes; the varied ways anger is perceived based on its owner; as well as the history of caricaturing and delegitimizing female anger; and the way women's collective fury has become transformative political fuel--as is most certainly occurring today. She deconstructs society's (and the media's) condemnation of female emotion (notably, rage) and the impact of their resulting repercussions. 

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism—and antiracism—in America.

This is NOT a history book. This is a book about the here and now. A book to help us better understand why we are where we are. A book about race.

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future.

Stamped takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.

Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas—and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

White Fragility

White Fragility is an in-depth exploration of the counterproductive reactions white people exhibit when their assumptions about race are challenged. This phenomenon, known as white fragility, is characterized by a variety of emotions and behaviors, such as anger, fear, guilt, argumentation, and silence, which serve to reinstate white racial equilibrium and obstruct meaningful cross-racial dialogue.

Anti-racist educator Dr. Robin DiAngelo delves into the development of white fragility, how it upholds racial inequality, and provides insights on how to engage in more constructive conversations about race. Through this examination, DiAngelo sheds light on the societal and individual patterns that contribute to the persistence of racial tension and inequality.

The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

2018

by Aaron Mahnke

A chilling, lavishly illustrated Who's Who of the most despicable people ever to walk the earth, featuring both rare and best-loved stories from the hit podcast Lore, soon to be an online streaming series.

Here are the incredible true stories of some of the mortals who achieved notoriety in history and folklore through horrible means. Monsters of this sort—serial killers, desperate criminals, and socially mobile people with a much darker double-life—are, in fact, quite real, including:

  • H. H. Holmes, the infamous Chicago serial killer;

  • William Brodie, the Edinburgh criminal mastermind who inspired The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;

  • And Bela Kiss, a Hungarian tinsmith with a most disturbing hobby: collecting women in gasoline drums.

This riveting best-of-the-worst roundup will haunt your thoughts, chill your bones, and leave you wondering if there are mortal monsters lurking even closer than you think.

How to Change Your Mind

2018

by Michael Pollan

Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness.

When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on the cusp of psychological revolution. It promised to shed light on the deep mysteries of consciousness, as well as offer relief to addicts and the mentally ill. But in the 1960s, with the vicious backlash against the counter-culture, all further research was banned.

In recent years, however, work has quietly begun again on the amazing potential of LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Could these drugs in fact improve the lives of many people? Diving deep into this extraordinary world and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs.

How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of human consciousness.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

2018

by Steve Brusatte

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a captivating narrative that takes us through the 200-million-year-long history of dinosaurs. Authored by Steve Brusatte, a renowned American paleontologist, this book draws on the latest scientific research to vividly recreate the world of the dinosaurs and shed light on their mysterious origins, their incredible diversity, and their abrupt extinction.

Brusatte's storytelling brings us closer to understanding the real story behind these magnificent creatures that once dominated our planet. We follow the evolution of dinosaurs from their humble beginnings as small creatures in the Triassic period to the dominant species we are familiar with, such as T. rex and Triceratops. The narrative doesn't end with their extinction; it also explores the living legacy of dinosaurs and their connection to modern birds.

Through his global expeditions, Brusatte shares fascinating discoveries and insights from what he calls 'a new golden age of discovery' in dinosaur research. His accounts include findings of primitive tyrannosaurs and giant carnivores that surpass the size of T. rex, as well as the significant feathered raptors from China.

This book is not just a tale of the past; it also resonates with the present, offering lessons as humanity faces a potential 'sixth extinction.' The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is an electrifying scientific history that will stand as a definitive account for years to come.

Circe

2018

by Madeline Miller

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

The Terror

2018

by Dan Simmons

The bestselling author of Ilium transforms the story of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition into a devastating historical adventure that will chill you to your core. The men on board Her Britannic Majesty's Ships Terror and Erebus had every expectation of triumph. They were part of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition ďż˝ as scientifically advanced an enterprise as had ever set forth ďż˝ and theirs were the first steam-driven vessels to go in search of the fabled North-West Passage. But the ships have now been trapped in the Arctic ice for nearly two years. Coal and provisions are running low. Yet the real threat isn't the constantly shifting landscape of white or the flesh-numbing temperatures, dwindling supplies or the vessels being slowly crushed by the unyielding grip of the frozen ocean. No, the real threat is far more terrifying.

There is something out there that haunts the frigid darkness, which stalks the ships, snatching one man at a time ďż˝ mutilating, devouring. A nameless thing, at once nowhere and everywhere, this terror has become the expedition's nemesis. When Franklin meets a terrible death, it falls to Captain Francis Crozier of HMS Terror to take command and lead the remaining crew on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Eskimo woman who cannot speak. She may be the key to survival ďż˝ or the harbinger of their deaths. And as scurvy, starvation and madness take their toll, as the Terror on the ice becomes evermore bold, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.

Aednan

Aednan marks the American debut of Sweden's esteemed literary figure Linnea Axelsson with an epic, multigenerational novel-in-verse that delves deep into the lives of two Sámi families. This groundbreaking work explores their enduring bond through a century marked by migration, violence, and the scars of colonial trauma.

This sweeping Scandinavian epic, reminiscent of classics such as Halldór Laxness’s Independent People and Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, begins in the 1910s. We follow Ristin and her family as they migrate their reindeer herd to summer pastures. Amidst this journey, a tragedy strikes, etching a path of sorrow that echoes throughout the novel.

In the 1970s, we meet Lise, a member of a new Sámi generation confronting her identity and legacy. Her reflections on a childhood marred by forced separation from her family and the loss of her ancestral language at a Nomad School paint a vivid picture of the struggles faced by her people.

The narrative then carries us to the 2010s, introducing Sandra, Lise’s daughter. Sandra stands as a symbol of Indigenous resilience, an activist demanding justice in a landmark land rights trial during a time when the Sámi language teeters on the brink of extinction.

Through the interwoven voices of characters spanning generations, Axelsson crafts a poignant family saga centered around the fallout of colonial settlement. Ædnan serves as a testament to the tenacity of language, even when adopted, to encapsulate memories of what has been lost. The verse of one character to another resonates beyond mortality: "I was the weight / in the stone you brought / back from the coast // to place on / my grave," and the haunting call, "There will be rain / there will be rain."

The Lost Book of the Grail

2018

by Charlie Lovett

Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library. Increasingly, he feels like a fish out of water among the concrete buildings of the University of Barchester, where he works as an English professor. His one respite is his time spent nestled in the library, nurturing his secret obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral.

But when a beautiful young American named Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester charged with the task of digitizing the library's manuscripts, Arthur's tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat modern technology poses to the library he loves, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit with a similar love for knowledge and books—and a fellow Grail fanatic.

Bethany soon joins Arthur in a quest to find the lost Book of Ewolda, the ancient manuscript telling the story of the cathedral's founder. And when the future of the cathedral itself is threatened, Arthur and Bethany's search takes on grave importance, leading the pair to discover secrets about the cathedral, about the Grail, and about themselves.

The Republic of False Truths

The Republic of False Truths offers an intense and gripping narrative that takes us into the heart of the Egyptian revolution. This globally-acclaimed novel provides an intimate look at the struggle for freedom in a country under the grip of a repressive regime.

In the bustling streets of Cairo in 2011, tensions mount as a revolution brews. Characters from all walks of life are drawn into the chaos: General Alwany, a high-ranking government official entrenched in the security apparatus, balances his piety and love for his family with his role in torturing state enemies; Asma, a young teacher, fights against the rampant corruption at her school; Ashraf, an unemployed actor, is swept into the heart of Tahrir Square through a fortuitous encounter; and Nourhan, a television personality, staunchly defends those in power.

Their lives intertwine as a new generation raises its voice, love crosses social divides, and the revolution gains momentum. Even as the old regime clings to power, individuals like General Alwany face pivotal moments when their own kin join the protests. Alaa Al Aswany crafts a deeply human portrait of the Egyptian Revolution, offering a compelling and passionate recount of his country's recent history.

Brotopia

2018

by Emily Chang

In this powerful exposé, Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals, why bro culture endures despite decades of companies claiming the moral high ground, and how women are finally starting to speak out and fight back.

For women in tech, Silicon Valley is not a fantasyland where millions of dollars grow on trees. It's a "Brotopia," where men hold all the cards and make all the rules. Vastly outnumbered, women face toxic workplaces rife with discrimination and sexual harassment, where investors take meetings in hot tubs and network at sex parties.

Drawing on her deep network of Silicon Valley insiders, Chang opens the boardroom doors of male-dominated venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins, the subject of Ellen Pao's high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit, and Sequoia, where a partner once famously said they "won't lower their standards" just to hire women. Interviews with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer--who got their start at Google, where just one in five engineers is a woman--reveal just how hard it is to crack the Silicon Ceiling. And Chang shows how women such as former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, entrepreneur Niniane Wang, and game developer Brianna Wu, have risked their careers and sometimes their lives to pave a way for other women.

Feel Free

2018

by Zadie Smith

This electrifying new collection showcases Zadie Smith as a true literary powerhouse, demonstrating once again her credentials as an essential voice of her generation.

How much joy can a person tolerate? How many kinds of boredom make up a life? Who owns the story of black America? Should Justin Bieber be more like Socrates? And why is there a dead art collector floating in the swimming pool? Dazzlingly insightful, explosively funny and ever-timely, Zadie Smith is back with a second unmissable collection of essays. 

From German Old Masters to the new masters of East Coast rap, from social networks opening lines of communication to national referenda closing doors, Feel Free reaches out in all directions and draws back a rich feast of ideas. Here pop culture, high culture, social change and political debate all get the Zadie Smith treatment- dissected with razor-sharp intellect, set brilliantly against the context of the utterly contemporary, and considered with a deep humanity and compassion. 

With the easy intimacy of a local and the piercing clarity of an outsider, Feel Free casts a sharp critical eye over the creative luminaries that have shaped our world- from J. G. Ballard to Karl Ove Knausgaard, Orson Welles to Charlie Kaufman, Joni Mitchell to Beyonce, and far beyond. And it considers the points of contact where the author herself meets this world, where the political meets the personal and critique meets memoir. 

How to Stop Time

2018

by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history—performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald.

Now, he just wants an ordinary life. So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher—the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him.

But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him.

Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present. How to Stop Time is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures

2017

by Aaron Mahnke

A fascinating, beautifully illustrated guide to the monsters that are part of our collective psyche, this book features stories from the Lore podcast—now a streaming television series. It includes tales such as "They Made a Tonic," "Passed Notes," and "Unboxed," as well as rare material.

Monsters live in shadows—deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. Spoken of in stories and superstitions, they are relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales passed down through generations. Yet, no matter how wary and jaded we have become, both as individuals and as a society, a part of us remains vulnerable to them: werewolves and wendigos, poltergeists and vampires, angry elves and vengeful spirits.

In this volume, Aaron Mahnke serves as a guide on a fascinating journey through the history of these terrifying creatures, exploring not only the legends but also what they tell us about ourselves. He takes us to places like the desolate Pine Barrens of New Jersey, home of the notorious winged, red-eyed Jersey Devil, and delves into harrowing accounts of cannibalism. He also visits the dimly lit rooms where séances take place, and the European villages where gremlins make mischief.

Whether these beasts and bogeymen are real or just a reflection of our primal fears, we know that not every mystery has been explained and that the unknown still holds the power to strike fear deep in our hearts and souls. As Mahnke reminds us, sometimes the truth is even scarier than the lore.

The Call to Serve

2017

by Cece Whittaker

In 1943, Annie, Joan, Bernice, and Helen's hopes of romance are sidelined by the War, but they are resolved to make the best of it. When Annie's Sylvester is called to active duty, she finds that putting her energies into helping Joan find her true love takes the sting out of missing him. The magical party at the church hall brings bright hope to Joan, but will the handsome Dick Thimble continue his attentions to her or be taken in by the attractive and wealthy Gloria Marini?

Then, when Helen's husband Harry and Sylvester go MIA at the same time, Joan and Bernice are determined to keep their dear friends from losing faith. As Christmas approaches, they are all possessed of a very special kind of hope. But will their prayers be answered?

The Call to Serve is Book I of the Serve Series about Friendship and Love in the World War II, 1940s era.

Killers of the Flower Moon

2017

by David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon delves into the haunting true-life murder mystery of one of the most monstrous crimes in American history. In the 1920s, members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma were the wealthiest people per capita in the world, thanks to oil discovered beneath their land. They lived opulently with chauffeured automobiles, mansions, and European-educated children. However, a sinister series of events unfolded as they began to be systematically murdered.

The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, was a prime target, with relatives being shot and poisoned. As the body count grew, the newly formed FBI stepped in, with the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, assigning former Texas Ranger Tom White to the case. White assembled an undercover team, including a Native American agent, to work with the Osage and uncover a chilling conspiracy.

Author David Grann presents a masterful work of literary journalism that captures the urgency of the mystery. Killers of the Flower Moon is not only a riveting account but also a searing indictment of the era's racial injustice.

Seattle Walks

Seattle is often listed as one of the most walkable cities in the United States. With its beautiful scenery, miles of non-motorized trails, and year-round access, Seattle is an ideal place to explore on foot.

In Seattle Walks, David B. Williams weaves together the history, natural history, and architecture of Seattle to paint a complex, nuanced, and fascinating story. He shows us Seattle in a new light and gives us an appreciation of how the city has changed over time, how the past has influenced the present, and how nature is all around us—even in our urban landscape.

These walks vary in length and topography and cover both well-known and surprising parts of the city. While most are loops, there are a few one-way adventures with an easy return via public transportation. Ranging along trails and sidewalks, the walks lead to panoramic views, intimate hideaways, architectural gems, and beautiful greenways.

With Williams as your knowledgeable and entertaining guide, encounter a new way to experience Seattle.

Utopia for Realists

2017

by Rutger Bregman

Universal basic income. A 15-hour workweek. Open borders. Does it sound too good to be true? One of Europe's leading young thinkers shows how we can build an ideal world today.

After working all day at jobs we often dislike, we buy things we don't need. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian, reminds us it needn't be this way—and in some places it isn't. Rutger Bregman's TED Talk about universal basic income seemed impossibly radical when he delivered it in 2014. A quarter of a million views later, the subject of that video is being seriously considered by leading economists and government leaders the world over. It's just one of the many utopian ideas that Bregman proves is possible today.

Utopia for Realists is one of those rare books that takes you by surprise and challenges what you think can happen. From a Canadian city that once completely eradicated poverty, to Richard Nixon's near implementation of a basic income for millions of Americans, Bregman takes us on a journey through history, and beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he champions ideas whose time have come.

Every progressive milestone of civilization—from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy—was once considered a utopian fantasy. Bregman's book, both challenging and bracing, demonstrates that new utopian ideas, like the elimination of poverty and the creation of the fifteen-hour workweek, can become a reality in our lifetime. Being unrealistic and unreasonable can in fact make the impossible inevitable, and it is the only way to build the ideal world.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

2017

by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, offering invaluable ideas for preserving our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.

The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew: the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.

Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has written the rare kind of book that can be read in one sitting but will keep you coming back to help regain your bearings.

Pachinko

2017

by Min Jin Lee

There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant — and that her lover is married — she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters — strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis — survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

The Lost City of the Monkey God

2017

by Douglas Preston

The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story is an enthralling narrative by acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston, taking readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest. This riveting account details the discovery of a lost civilization and unfolds into a stunning medical mystery.

Rumors of a lost city called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God have circulated since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés. Indigenous tribes tell of ancestors who escaped the Spanish invaders to this sacred city, a place said to curse those who enter with illness and death. In 1940, journalist Theodore Morde claimed to have found the city, returning with artifacts but tragically took his own life without disclosing the location.

Decades later, Doug Preston joined a team of scientists equipped with lidar technology to map the rainforest canopy. Their exploration revealed a sprawling metropolis, hinting at an enigmatic, lost civilization. Facing the dangers of the wilderness, the team's success was overshadowed by a horrifying discovery upon their return—contracting a mysterious and sometimes lethal disease from the ruins.

The Lost City of the Monkey God is not only a tale of historical and scientific significance but also a testament to human curiosity and the relentless pursuit of knowledge, despite the risks involved.

Un revĂłlver para salir de noche

Un revólver para salir de noche, escrita por Monika Zgustova, es una obra que sigue su exploración de la figura femenina en el siglo XX. En esta ocasión, la autora se enfoca en Véra Nabokov, la esposa de Vladimir Nabokov, quien desempeñó un papel clave en la vida y el éxito del renombrado escritor.

Véra Nabokov es retratada como una mujer de gran claridad, que eligió dedicar su vida al triunfo de su esposo. Ella fue la primera en leer los manuscritos de Vladimir, encargándose de transcribirlos y prepararlos para su publicación. Además, Véra organizó la vida de la familia Nabokov durante su exilio, viviendo primero en Berlín, luego en París y, finalmente, en Estados Unidos. Allí convenció a Vladimir de cambiar al inglés y centrarse en la novela, hasta que volvieron a Europa y se establecieron en Suiza.

La novela también explora las dinámicas de poder en la relación de los Nabokov, cuestionando si Véra era realmente independiente o si su existencia giraba completamente en torno a su marido. La narrativa se sumerge en las complejas interacciones de Nabokov con otras mujeres y el impacto que tuvieron en su vida y obra, a pesar de los esfuerzos de Véra por mantener el control.

Born a Crime

2016

by Trevor Noah

The memoir of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

Our Revolution

2016

by Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is one of the most influential voices in a global movement fighting injustice. He has dominated two Democratic primary races, and changed the political conversation around the world. But he began as an unknown underdog. So how did he get here?

In this remarkable memoir, Sanders shows how a young man from Brooklyn, via Civil Rights demonstrations and a lifetime of independent politics, became one of the most radical voices in America. He provides a unique insight into the campaign that galvanized a movement, and shares experiences from the campaign trail as well as the ideas and strategies that shaped it.

Drawing on decades of experience as an activist and public servant, he outlines his vision for continuing this revolution.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

2016

by T.E. Lawrence

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an unusual and rich work. It encompasses an account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, politics, adventure, and drama. It is also a memoir of the soldier known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.

Lawrence is a fascinating and controversial figure and his talent as a vivid and imaginative writer shines through on every page of this, his masterpiece. Seven Pillars of Wisdom provides a unique portrait of this extraordinary man and an insight into the birth of the Arab nation.

MĂ©xico racista

Con un afán polémico y un tono irreverente, este libro busca despertar el debate y denunciar la prevalencia de nuestras costumbres racistas y las formas de pensar que las acompañan.

A partir de ejemplos cercanos y actuales, el historiador Federico Navarrete realiza un original análisis de los vínculos entre el racismo y graves casos que han cimbrado a México desde los feminicidios en Juárez, pasando por la matanza de migrantes en San Fernando, hasta la desaparición forzada de los normalistas de Ayotzinapa.

El racismo impera en MĂ©xico. Es un hecho cotidiano que cobra forma lo mismo en una charla privada que en anuncios de tintes "aspiracionales" o en polĂ­ticas pĂşblicas excluyentes. Desafortunadamente, una gran parte de la poblaciĂłn es indiferente ante el fenĂłmeno.

Amén de ofrecer un examen de los orígenes históricos del racismo en México, vinculados con lo que llama la "leyenda del mestizaje", Federico Navarrete nos ofrece una serie de posibles caminos para liberarnos de esta lacerante situación en busca del respeto a las diferencias y la convivencia sensata. Su aviso es claro y estamos a tiempo de hacer de la pluralidad un germen de convivencia y esperanza.

Fist Stick Knife Gun

2016

by Geoffrey Canada

Long before U.S. News and World Report named him one of America's Best Leaders and Oprah Winfrey called him an angel from God, Geoffrey Canada was a small, vulnerable, scared boy growing up in the South Bronx. Canada's world was one where "sidewalk" boys learned the codes of the block and were ranked through the rituals of fist, stick, and knife. Then the streets changed, and the stakes got even higher.

In this candid and riveting memoir, Canada relives a childhood in which violence stalked every street corner. If you wonder how a fourteen-year-old can shoot another child his own age in the head and then go home to dinner, Canada writes, you need to know you don't get there in a day, or week, or month. It takes years of preparation to be willing to commit murder, to be willing to kill or die for a corner, a color, or a leather jacket.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family

2016

by Alex Haley

Alex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a monumental journey of a family stretching from the African shores to the American soil. In Henning, Tennessee, Haley's grandmother would recount tales that traversed generations, reaching back to an ancestor known only as "the African." He was taken from his homeland near the "Kamby Bolongo" and endured the harrowing journey to Colonial America.

Haley's relentless pursuit of his family's history led him through three continents and a quest spanning ten years. He uncovered the identity of "the African"—Kunta Kinte, and the exact location of his village, Juffure, in The Gambia. Haley's discovery was more than personal; it was a revelation for an entire people whose cultural identity had been stripped away by the cruelty of slavery.

Through the character of Kunta Kinte and his descendants, Haley weaves a narrative that spans over two centuries, encompassing the trials and triumphs of slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lumber mill workers and Pullman porters, lawyers and architects. It is a story that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit, a testament to the enduring legacy that each generation passes on to the next.

Roots is not just a tale of African-American heritage, but a universal story that resonates with all people, regardless of race, reminding us of our shared humanity and the strength that comes from understanding our past.

Stamped from the Beginning

2016

by Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped from the Beginning offers a deeply researched and fast-moving narrative that chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. This book uses the lives of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and anti-racists.

From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W. E. B. Du Bois to legendary anti-prison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading pro-slavery and pro–civil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America.

As Kendi illustrates, racist thinking did not arise from ignorance or hatred. Racist ideas were created and popularized in an effort to defend deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and to rationalize the nation’s racial inequities in everything from wealth to health. While racist ideas are easily produced and easily consumed, they can also be discredited.

In shedding much-needed light on the murky history of racist ideas, Stamped from the Beginning offers tools to expose them—and in the process, reason to hope.

Letters from a Stoic

2016

by Seneca

The power and wealth which Seneca the Younger (c.4 B.C. - A.D. 65) acquired as Nero's minister were in conflict with his Stoic beliefs. Nevertheless, he was the outstanding figure of his age. The Stoic philosophy which Seneca professed in his writings, later supported by Marcus Aurelius, provided Rome with a passable bridge to Christianity.

Seneca's major contribution to Stoicism was to spiritualize and humanize a system which could appear cold and unrealistic. Selected from the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, these letters illustrate the upright ideals admired by the Stoics and extol the good way of life as seen from their standpoint.

They also reveal how far in advance of his time were many of Seneca's ideas - his disgust at the shows in the arena or his criticism of the harsh treatment of slaves. Philosophical in tone and written in the 'pointed' style of the Latin Silver Age, these 'essays in disguise' were clearly aimed by Seneca at posterity.

Sorcerer to the Crown

2015

by Zen Cho

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut. At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.

It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.

 The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story.

A Tale of Two Cities

2015

by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities is a profound historical novel set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The narrative follows the story of Dr. Manette, who is released from an 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille and reunited with his daughter Lucie in England. Their lives intertwine with those of Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable yet brilliant English lawyer, both of whom love Lucie.

Their destinies are woven together amidst the backdrop of revolutionary fervor and the terror that follows. As they move from the peaceful streets of London to the chaotic and bloodstained avenues of Paris, they find themselves caught in the deadly shadow of the guillotine. It is a tale of sacrifice, redemption, and the enduring power of love.

Seattle's Waterfront

Seattle's waterfront has served as a central hub for people, transportation, and commerce since time immemorial. A low natural shoreline provided the Duwamish-Suquamish people with excellent canoe access to permanent villages and seasonal fishing camps. High bluffs served as a sacred place for tribal members' final journey to the spirit world.

When the first settlers arrived in the 1850s, Seattle's shoreline began to change drastically. Emerald hills covered with dense forests were logged for timber to make way for the new city. As time passed, Seattle constructed a log seawall, wooden sidewalks, wharfs, buildings, streets, railroad trestles, and eventually, a massive concrete viaduct over the original aquatic lands, changing the natural environment to a built environment.

Today, Seattle's shoreline continues to change as the city demolishes the viaduct, rebuilds the seawall, and creates an inviting new waterfront that all will enjoy for generations to come.

The Eighth Life

Six romances, one revolution, the story of the century.

At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified- this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste... 

Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the centre of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. Stasia's is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. 

Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends. 

Sapiens. De animales a dioses

Sapiens. De animales a dioses: Una breve historia de la humanidad es una exploración fascinante de cómo la biología y la historia han definido a la humanidad. Yuval Noah Harari, uno de los historiadores más interesantes de nuestros tiempos, nos lleva en un viaje desde que los primeros humanos caminaron sobre la Tierra hasta los avances de las tres grandes revoluciones que nuestra especie ha protagonizado: la cognitiva, la agrícola y la científica.

Utilizando hallazgos de disciplinas tan diversas como la biologĂ­a, la antropologĂ­a, la paleontologĂ­a o la economĂ­a, Harari examina cĂłmo las corrientes de la historia han moldeado nuestra sociedad, la fauna y la flora que nos rodean, e incluso nuestras personalidades.

El libro plantea preguntas profundas: ÂżHemos ganado en felicidad a medida que ha avanzado la historia? ÂżSeremos capaces de liberar nuestra conducta de la herencia del pasado? ÂżPodemos hacer algo para influir en los siglos futuros? Audaz y provocador, Sapiens cuestiona todo lo que creĂ­amos saber sobre el ser humano: nuestros orĂ­genes, ideas, acciones, poder... y nuestro futuro.

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