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 ...

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...

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...

A haunting and beautiful memoir from a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot's genocide in the 1970s but who finds hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother's kitchen.**RECIPE: HOW TO CHANGE CLOTH INTO DIAMONDTake a well-fed nine-year-old with a big family and a fancy education. Fold in 2 revolutions, 2 civil wars, and 1 wholesale extermination. Subtract a reliable source of food, life savings, and family mem...

**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, ...

"A truly delightful and wonderfully compact introduction to philosophy's key questions and major thinkers from ancient times to the present day." —William Irwin, general editor of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture seriesWho are you? What is truly real? Is there such a thing as free will? If you have ever considered questions like these, that's philosophy. The Philosophy Book for Beginners breaks down the core concepts of both Eastern and Western phi...

In this “deeply personal and lyrical book” (Publishers Weekly) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Horse, Wendy Williams explores the lives of one of the world’s most resilient creatures—the butterfly—shedding light on the role that they play in our ecosystem and in our human lives.“[A] glorious and exuberant celebration of these biological flying machines…Williams takes us on a humorous and beautifully crafted journey” (

Fibbing, prevaricating, stretching the truth, white lies, of omission, of commission. Lying is so pervasive that we have countless words for it. But have you ever considered why you believed a lie you were told - or why we lie at all?In this witty, whirlwind tour through the annuls of deceit, bestselling author Aja Raden combines psychology, popular science and history to explore everything you've ever wanted to know about manipulation and lying, showing how it evolved and why even...