One hundred of today’s most prominent literary and cultural icons talk about the books that hold a special place in their hearts—that made them who they are today.Leading authors, politicians, CEOs, actors, and other notables share the books that changed their life, why they love them, and their passion with readers everywhere. Regan Arts has teamed up with the literary charity 826National, which will receive a portion of the book’s proceeds to provide students age...

Prior to becoming a "melting pot" of many languages, the continents of North and South America were already home to a variety of Native American tribes, each with its own language. What's more, subsets of tribes often had their own dialects, sometimes making communication between two people nearly impossible, even if they lived near each other. This book discusses the major Native American languages used by tribes in various regions and how some of their words have been incorporated into t...

"[A] wide-ranging and nuanced group portrait of the Founding Fathers" by a Pulitzer Prize winner ( The New Yorker).In the early 1770s, the men who invented America were living quiet, provincial lives in the rustic backwaters of the New World, devoted to family and the private pursuit of wealth and happiness. None set out to become "revolutionary." But when events in Boston escalated, they found themselves thrust into a crisis that moved quickly from protest...

A collection of sixty classic and contemporary essays, stories, lists, poems, quotations, and cartoons that celebrates the joys of reading, the feeling of spending hours browsing through a bookstore, and the people for whom buying books is a necessity.Booklovers will find themselves in good company within the pages of A Passion for Books, beginning with science-fiction great Ray Bradbury's foreword and throughout contributions like-- Umberto Eco's How ...

The book that inspired the stories of Gladiator & Gladiator II: Step into the ring with this classic, in-depth account of the ancient Romans' obsession with the bloody and brutal games."[ The Way of the Gladiator is] this crazy, tawdry, wild book about the Coliseum. . . . It hardwired in my brain the absolute similarities between who we are and who we were." —David Franzoni, Academy Award–nominated scree...

"A delightful exposition of commonly-encountered statistical fallacies and paradoxes and why they matter." —Samuel H. Preston, coauthor of Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population ProcessesAn essential guide to the ways data can improve decision making.Statistics are everywhere: in news reports, at the doctor's office, and in every sort of forecast, from the stock market to the weather. Allen B. Downey knows well that people have an innate abil...

In this trailblazing work from the internet’s most empathetic math teacher, Ben Orlin unravels the secrets behind the world’s most confounding language.Math, it is said, is the "universal language.” But if a language brings people together, why does math make so many of us feel so alone? In Math for English Majors, bestselling author Ben Orlin (Math with Bad Drawings) offers fresh insights for the mathematically perplexed and mathematical masters ...

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist meets George Orwell’s 1984 in this cross-genre tale, which marries visionary and political fiction in a heartfelt but high-stakes thriller.Darah, a tech writer living in the democratic nation of California, is dismayed to see the game she’s helping develop for a Silicon Valley tech company has been tampered with. When her hacker friend Jedd investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the nation—and the wor...

A magisterial journey through the epic life and transformative times of John Quincy AdamsIn this masterful biography, historian Randall B. Woods peels back the many layers of John Quincy’s long life, exposing a rich and complicated family saga and a political legacy that transformed the American Republic.Born the first son of John and Abigail Adams, he was pressured to follow in his father’s footsteps in both law and politics. His boyhood was spent amid the...

"America is in a self-reinforcing spiral of decreasing trust, confidence, and capability. [Howard] shows us how to break out of it . . . short, clear, passionate." —Jonathan Haidt, New York Times-bestselling author of The Righteous MindSomething basic is missing in our culture. Americans know it. Nothing much works as it should. Simple daily choices seem impossible, or fraught with peril. In the workplace, we walk on eggshells. Big projects—say, mo...

Ranging from math to literature to philosophy, Uncountable explains how numbers triumphed as the basis of knowledge—and compromise our sense of humanity.Our knowledge of mathematics has structured much of what we think we know about ourselves as individuals and communities, shaping our psychologies, sociologies, and economies. In pursuit of a more predictable and more controllable cosmos, we have extended mathematical insights and methods to more and more a...

Scandinavian Folktales — Where Magic and Reality Converge!Step into a world of enchantment, danger, and mystique as you meet the Vættir of Scandinavia. They are the Hidden Folk, the creatures of Scandinavian folklore, come alive in this collection of tales that brings together well-known beings like trolls, giants, and elves, as well as lesser-known figures such as the enigmatic Creaky Cart.Within the pages of this volume lie traditional Scandinavian short ...