After 150 years, many unsolved mysteries and enduring urban legends still surround the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by the popular stage actor John Wilkes Booth.In a new look at the case, award-winning author Robert Hutchinson (The Dawn of Christianity) explores what we know, and don’t know, about what really happened at Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865. In addition, he argues that the deep-seated political hatreds that roiled Washington, DC, in the final ...

How much do you really know about how the human body works, and how it reacts to food, exercise, nutrition, and the environment? While most of us have read about at least one fad diet, we’re left wondering about the greater biochemistry, psychology, sociology, and physiology of the obesity crisis in the United States.Gut Reactions by chemist Simon Quellen Field shows us how our bodies react to food and the environment, and how our brain affects what and how much we eat, an...

An immersive dive into the meaning and mystique of shipwrecksThe sea is the largest museum on earth, with more than a million lost ships resting in its depths. Those shipwrecks date back thousands of years, some from civilizations long vanished, others from more recent history. Some are famous, others obscure and unremembered but each has a story to tell.In The Great Museum of the Sea, archaeologist, museum director, television host, journalist, an...

Science fiction has imagined some pretty wild ideas about how the universe could work—from hidden extra dimensions in Interstellar to life as a mental projection in The Matrix. But these imaginings seem downright tame compared to the mind-bending science now coming out of physics and astronomy, and in this book, we look at the strange and fascinating discoveries shaping (and reshaping) the field today.

A new edition of the blockbuster book that revealed the top secret findings of the US government about UFOsThroughout the 1950s and 1960s, while publicly dismissing the existence of UFOs, the United States Air Force (USAF) was engaged in a secret program for evaluating every report of unidentified flying objects. Under the code name Project Blue Book, the Air Force analyzed over 13,000 incidents. The goal of this enterprise was threefold: To determine the cause for each UFO sightin...

A fascinating examination of the rapid concentration of global capital, with chapters that focus on China and Russia.In Titans of Capital, Peter Phillips, a political sociologist, poses three key research questions: To what extent do the wealthy influence—or even dominate—decision making that affects all of us in society? Who are the most powerful people? And how does the accumulation of capital work?Networks of wealthy individuals have evolved sin...

Is time an illusion? Is time travel possible? Could time end? In this audiobook, A Question of Time, we take an interdisciplinary look at the fourth dimension, exploring the latest thinking on the nature of time and the ways it dominates our physical and mental worlds.

An FBI veteran explains how the Mueller–Comey cabal turned the FBI from a “swear to tell the truth” law-enforcement agency to a politicized intelligence organization.Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an institution they once regarded as the world’s greatest law-enforcement agency. Thomas Baker spent many years with the FBI and is deeply troubled by this loss of faith. Specific lapses have come to light and each is thoroughly discusse...

Where nature writing meets humor—a raucous, hilarious look at life in the high desert of Nevada, from the author of Raising Wild and Rants from the HillEdward Abbey encouraged his readers to “be loyal to what you love, be true to the Earth, and fight your enemies with passion and laughter.” Here is Michael Branch’s response. Full of clear-eyed explorations of the natural world, witty cultural observations, and heart-warming family connections,

Combining natural history, humor, and personal narrative, Raising Wild is an intimate exploration of Nevada’s Great Basin Desert, the wild and extreme land of high desert caliche and juniper, of pronghorn antelope and mountain lions, where wildfires and snowstorms threaten in equal measure.Michael Branch “earned his whiskers” in the Great Basin Desert of northwestern Nevada, in the wild and extreme landscape where he lives off the grid with his wife and two curious little ...

Welcome to the land of wildfire, hypothermia, desiccation, and rattlers.The stark and inhospitable high-elevation landscape of Nevada’s Great Basin Desert may not be an obvious (or easy) place to settle down, but for self-professed desert rat Michael Branch it’s home. Of course, living in such an unforgiving landscape gives one many things to rant about. Fortunately for us, Branch—humorist, environmentalist, and author of *Raising Wild—*is a prodigious ranter.From bees hivi...

All families have stories and all families have secrets. Some stories can be hidden forever. Others come out over time, or suddenly through revelation. With the advent of easy to obtain and cheap DNA kits, more and more people are stumbling across biological secrets they never suspected, sometimes with happy outcomes, but sometimes with shocking results.In this book, the author provides a real-life example of the shocking revelations and aftermath of DNA investigation. Growing up a...