“Remarkably moving” diaries about life in Tuscany during the German occupation of WWII—with stunning rediscovered photographs (The New York Times).“A compelling story of heroism, compassion.” —The Washington PostIn the Second World War, Italy was torn apart by German armies, civil war, and the Allied invasion. In a corner of Tuscany, one woman—born in England, married to an Italian—kept a record of daily life in a country ...

This intimate biography of Francesco di Marco Datini offers fascinating insights into the methods of medieval trade and vibrancy of Italian life in 14th-century Tuscany.“For God and Profit” is how the medieval merchant Francesco di Marco Datini headed a notebook in which he kept track of his business dealings, and these were certainly his guiding lights. Born in the 1330s in the Tuscan town of Prato, Datini set out at the age of 15 for Avignon, where over the cours...

This recently discovered “trenchant, intelligent” follow-up to the British expatriate’s classic memoir, War in Val d’Orcia, chronicles life in Italy in the year leading up to WW2 (New Yorker).This insightful diary provides a vivid, ground-level account of how Mussolini decided on a course of action that would devastate his country and ultimately destroy his regime. In 1939 it was not a foregone conclusion that Mussolini would enter World War II on...

An extraordinary memoir by Iris Origo, who chronicled political life in A Chill in the Air and War in Val d'Orcia, and now turns inward to describe her own family, the work of writing, and the transcience of memory.Images and Shadows, Iris Origo’s autobiographical account of her early life, is as perceptive and humane and beautifully written as her celebrated memoir War in Val d’Orcia. Origo’s father came from an old and moneyed ...

'Origo's diaries, trenchantly and pithily written, are a glory' SpectatorIris Origo, one of the twentieth century's great diarists, was born in England in 1902. As a child, she moved between England, Ireland, Italy and America, never quite belonging anywhere. It was only when she married an Italian man that she came to rest in one country. Fifteen years later, that country would be at war with her own.With piercing insight, Origo documents the grim ...

**NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 5 BOOKS OF 2024 ON CBS SUNDAY MORNINGONE OF *THE WASHINGTON POST'*S TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2024A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK“Vivid, revelatory, and politically unpredictable…What bothers Abrahamian, in the end, isn’t the anarchic but the unfair; if capital is free, people deserve the same respect.” *—*Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker"A season of unrest looms ahead, and The Hidden Globe lays out the unvarn...

What is and isn't antisemitism?'I cannot wait for Off-White to be read, debated and put into practice.' Naomi Klein, author of DoppelgangerAs claims of antisemitism continue to distort our politics at home and abroad, it has become almost impossible to talk about constructively, even in private. Instead, we find ourselves in a storm of misinformation, political mudslinging and bad-faith accusations.There is, howeve...

Meet the overlooked women in history who loved, nurtured, and defended the famed American scientist and founding father.“ . . . highlights a side of Ben Franklin too often ignored by historians . . . and provides a necessary reminder that the women who came into his life are as deserving of our attention as Ben himself.” —Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary MothersEveryone knows Benjamin Franklin—the thrifty inventor-statesman of...

**One of Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction From 2024The first volume in a two-book series about each of the atomic bomb drops that ended the Pacific War based on years of irreplicable personal interviews with survivors to tell a story of devastation and resilience**In this vividly rendered historical narrative, M. G. Sheftall layers the stories of hibakusha—the Japanese word for atomic bomb survivors—in harrowing detail, to give a minute-by-...

"A hugely entertaining achievement." –Esquire“An engaging survey through a period of intellectual history that reveals as much about people who wear watches as the objects on their wrists." – Wall Street Journal"As impeccably crafted and precisely engineered as any of the watches on which the author has worked so lovingly over the years, this book is a joy to behold and a wonder to enjoy.” –Simon Winchester, author...

In 1896, a Jewish state was a pipe dream. Today the overwhelming majority of Jews identify as Zionists. How did this happen?Ilan Pappe unveils how over a century of aggressive lobbying changed the map of the Middle East. Pro-Israel lobbies convinced British and American policymakers to condone Israel’s flagrant breaches of international law, grant Israel unprecedented military aid and deny Palestinians rights. Anyone who questioned unconditional support for Israel,...

This account of one man’s tempestuous relationship with the hawk he trained is at once a comedy of errors, a classic of nature writing, and one of the best glimpses into the world of falconry.The predecessor to Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk, T. H. White’s nature writing classic, The Goshawk, asks the age-old question: what is it that binds human beings to other animals? White, the author of The Once and Future King and Mistress Mash...