A "witty, irresistible" account of Jane Austen's most zealously devoted fans and their lively literary community (Lan Samantha Chang, author of The Family Chao).They walk among us in their bonnets and Empire-waist gowns, clutching their souvenir tote bags and battered paperbacks: the Janeites, Jane Austen's legion of devoted fans. Who are these obsessed admirers, whose passion has transformed Austen from classic novelist to pop-culture phenomenon? Deborah Y...

This illuminating history examines the life and many legends of the 16th century Queen who was executed by her husband, King Henry VIII.Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne's life and a revealing look at her afterlife in the popular imagination. Why is her story so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? Was she the flaxen-haired martyr of Romantic paintings or the raven...

An invigorating guide to fighting back—part philosophy, part history, and part manual for living with integrity in an age of conformity and authoritarian driftHow do we push back in a world where political leaders wield fear and intimidation? Where digital technology dehumanizes and flattens us? We need role models, and in this engaging book, acclaimed writer Gal Beckerman goes looking for them. Drawing on the stories of dissidents from around the globe and across ...

Minimize weeknight stress with easy, satisfying, and sophisticated meals from a New York Times –bestselling, six-time James Beard Award–winning food writer.Distilling recipes down to their simplest, most flavorful ingredients has become the trademark of Mark Bittman. No one does it better—and now, you can do it from home every night of the week. You don't have to rely on having perfect ingredients or expert skills to feed...

Meet the Gods of Sun and SacrificeStep into the dazzling world of ancient Mesoamerica with this engaging and accessible guide to Aztec mythology.#1 New Release in History of New Age & MythologyExplore the legends, gods, and cosmic cycles that defined one of the most powerful civilizations in the Americas. Far from a dry academic text, Myths, Gods, and Rituals of Aztec Mythology brings these...

*New enhanced edition of the best-selling guide to sea creatures: The World Beneath!*Meet the world's most fascinating sea creatures, see the lives and curiosities of colorful fish and coral reefs. This spectacular volume has more than 300 color photos and extraordinary text from a leading marine biologist and underwater photographer who is the international expert on seahorses.In this richly informative volume, brimming with new d...

In this "wise and wondrous" (David Quammen) exploration, a science writer reintroduces readers to The Snake, encouraging our initial reaction to the slithery creature to be one of awe rather than disgust.**For millennia, depictions of snakes as alternatively beautiful and menacing creatures have appeared in religious texts, mythology, poetry, and beyond. From the foundational deities of ancient Egypt to the reactions of squeamish children today, it is a historical...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Soul of America unites centuries of essential American voices to understand our national debates and divisions from 1619 to the present, with his signature commentary on the consequential speeches, letters, and essays that led us to this moment.“Jon Meacham has done it again. If there is a soul in American history, it emerges—indeed, explodes—from these pages.”—David W. Blight, Pulitzer...

One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024The bestselling author of Other Minds shows how we and our ancestors have reinvented our planet.If the history of the Earth were compressed down to a year, our species would arise in the last thirty minutes or so of the final hour. But life itself is not such a late arrival: It has existed on Earth for something like 3.7 billion years—most of our planet’s history...

NOW A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!Winner, A Friend of Darwin Award, 2024A gorgeously composed look at the longstanding relationship between prehistoric plants and life on EarthFossils plants allow us to touch the lost worlds from billions of years of evolutionary backstory. Each petrified leaf and root show us that dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, and even humans would not exist without the evolutionary efforts of t...

A "moving and original" memoir from the award-winning New Yorker writer about the profound discoveries he makes while learning math as an adult (Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times )A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceDecades after struggling to understand math as a boy, Alec Wilkinson embarks on a jo...

**Shortlisted for the Banff Centre Mountain Book AwardsNamed a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Economist, and Science News • A Scientific American Staff Favorite"Vivid and engrossing.…[A] celebration of beardom." —Richard Adams Carey, Wall Street JournalA global exploration of the eight remaining species of bears—and the dangers they face.**Bears have always held a central place in our collective memory, ...