Scant facts about the Bard's personal life make for fertile ground in imagining the Shakespeare of Elizabethan England. Bill Bryson manages to weave together a witty, albeit brief, narrative that explores topics from the accuracy of the few extant pictures to whether Shakespeare actually wrote all that has been attributed to him.

In The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman concentrates on society rather than the state. With an artist's selectivity, Tuchman brings to vivid life the people, places, and events that shaped the years leading up to the Great War: the Edwardian aristocracy and the end of their reign; the anarchists of Europe and America, who voiced the protest of the oppressed; Germany, as portrayed through the figure of the self-depicted hero, Richard Strauss; the sudden...

Winner of the Abraham Lincoln Institute of Washington's 2019 book prize! A Renowned Historian Gives New Perspective on Statesmen at War Lewis E. Lehrman, a renowned historian and National Humanities Medal winner, gives new perspective on two of the greatest English-speaking statesmen-and their remarkable leadership in wars of national survival Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, as commanders in chief, led their nations to victory-Lincoln...

Stefan and Marion Hess's happy childhood was shattered in 1944. Torn from their home in Amsterdam, the six-year-old twins and their parents were deported to a place their mother called "a dying hell"-the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Inseparable is the vivid account of one family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. When caught in childish mischief, Stefan and Marion ran from SS soldiers, making a game of seeing who could get closest...

We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change - even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. In Why We Are Restless, Benjamin and Jenna Storey offer a profound and beautiful reflection on the roots of this malaise and examine how we might begin to cure ourselves. Drawing on the insights of Montaigne,...

"A Seminary Co-Op Notable Book of the Year" "Winner of the PROSE Award in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Association of American Publishers" Lorraine Daston is director emerita of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, visiting professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and a permanent fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study. Her books include Classical Probability...

How did your grandparents have fun? How did people listen to music in the 1950s? When did color television become popular? What toys were popular in the 1970s? Find all the answers and more in this book about how entertainment has changed since the 1950s.

First published in 1882 and revised in 1887, "The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)" was written at the peak of Nietzsche's intellectual abilities. It includes a large number of poems and an appendix of songs, all written with the intent of encouraging freedom of the mind. While he praises the benefits of science, intellectual discipline, and skepticism, the influence of the Provençal tradition from which he drew is also an enthusiastic affirmation...

How did your grandparents travel around? When did flying abroad become popular? When did people start to worry about the number of cars on the road? Find all the answers and more in this book about how transport has changed since the 1950s.

A guide to the history of early modern times, discussing major historical events, people, and practices around the world from 1600 to 1850.