Madame Claude, by renowned social historian William Stadiem, is a magnificent audiobook about the brilliant, complicated, and utterly amoral woman behind the most glamorous and successful escort service in the world.In post-WWII Paris, Madame Claude ran the most exclusive finishing school in the world. Her alumnae married more fortunes, titles and famous names than any of the Seven Sisters. The names on her client list were epic—Kennedy, Rothschild, Agnell...

C. P. Ellis grew up in the poor white section of Durham, North Carolina, and as a young man joined the Ku Klux Klan.Ann Atwater, a single mother from the poor black part of town, quit her job as a household domestic to join the civil rights fight.During the 1960s, as the country struggled with the explosive issue of race, Atwater and Ellis met on opposite sides of the public school integration issue. Their encounters were charged with hatred and suspicion. In an amazing set...

The two decades after the Cold War saw unprecedented cooperation between the major powers as the world converged on a model of liberal international order. Now, great power competition is back, and the liberal order is in jeopardy.Russia and China are increasingly revisionist in their regions. The Middle East appears to be unraveling. And many Americans question why the United States ought to lead. What will great power competition look like in the decades ahead? Will the liberal w...

Managing the human side of workResearch by Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and coauthor of Primal Leadership, has shown that emotional intelligence is a more powerful determinant of good leadership than technical competence, IQ, or vision.Influencing those around us and supporting our own well-being requires us to be self-aware, know when and how to regulate our emotional reactions, and understand the emotional responses of those around us. No wonde...

The Human racks up the score in this one . . . That's because when you run out of options, all you can do is . . .Kill them. Kill them all.When The Human takes on a minor mercenary job of protecting a group of settlers against alien marauders, it seems simple enough . . . until the bad guys don't take no for an answer, leaving Adam with only one option . . .Kill them, kill them all.

World renowned scientist, Dr. Gerald Pollack, takes us on a fantastic voyage through water, showing us a hidden universe teeming with physical activity—providing simple explanations for common everyday phenomena, which you have inevitably seen but not really understood.For instance, have you ever wondered . . .How do clouds made up of dense water droplets manage to float in the sky? Why don’t your joints squeak as they rub together? Why do you sink in dry sand, but not in w...

In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in twentieth-century physics. Townes was inventor of the maser, of which the laser is one example; an originator of spectroscopy using microwaves; and a pioneer in the study of gas clouds in galaxies and around stars. Throughout his career he has also been deeply engaged with issues outside of academic research. He worked on applied research projects for Bell Labs...

A revised and updated edition (with more than 70% new material) of the classic book about innate differences between boys and girls and how best to parent and teach girls and boys successfully, with new chapters on sexual orientation and on transgender and intersex kids.Back in 2005, the first edition of Why Gender Matters broke ground in illuminating the differences between boys and girls—how they perceive the world differently, how they learn differently, how they proces...

Forest bathing is a gentle, meditative practice of connecting with nature. Simply being present with all of our senses, in a forest or other wild area, can produce mental, emotional, and physical health benefits. It is a simple, accessible antidote to our nature-starved lives and can inspire us to become advocates for healing our relationships with the more-than-human world. This book is both an invitation to take up the practice of forest bathing and an inspiration to connect with nature ...

The story of the greatest of all philosophical friendships—and how it influenced modern thoughtDavid Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as "the Great Infidel" for his skeptical religious views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy, and is now often hailed as the founding father of capitalism. Remarkably, the two...

Having trouble in your marriage? This book is for you. Tom Gardiner, a Chicago lawyer, explains how post-nuptial agreements can address marital problems effectively. Unlike counseling that often is no more than a temporary fix, this book talks about agreements that will result in long-term change.If your spouse drinks too much, for instance, you both agree in a legally binding document about the changes that need to occur—and the consequences if they don’t. There is another huge ad...

The Cold War meets Mad Men in the form of Karel Koecher, a double agent whose shifting loyalties and over-the-top hedonism reverberated from New York to Moscow.In the mid-1970s, the CIA and KGB were both watching Karel Koecher closely—and they were both convinced he was working for the enemy. They were both right. Traveling with his wife, Hana, Koecher posed as a Czechoslovak asylum seeker and arrived in the US as a Communist sleeper agent. After parlaying...