Confidence is like a magnet that attracts people to you and helps you get closer to reaching your goals. When you believe in yourself, you send the message that you have the brains, ability, and talent to handle whatever life sends your way. And the truth is, you do!Think Confident, Be Confident for Teens shows you how to tap into your self-esteem so you can be yourself in every situation, no matter how awkward you feel or scary that may sound. The fun exercises and tips i...

Musical culture in Jewish communities in early modern Italy was much more diverse than researchers originally thought.An interdisciplinary reassessment, Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy evaluates the social, cultural, political, economic, and religious circumstances that shaped this community, especially in light of the need to recognize individual experiences within minority populations. Contributors draw from rich materials, topics, and app...

"A worthy synthesis both for victims who want to know why and for policymakers who need to know what to do" about violence in society ( Scientific American ).Why is there evil, and what can scientific research tell us about the origins and persistence of evil behavior?Considering evil from the unusual perspective of the perpetrator, Roy F. Baumeister asks, How do ordinary people find themselves beating their wives?...

"A thoughtful, funny, and at times lyrical" (Wall Street Journal) exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on purpose--from dominatrices, religious ascetics, and ultramarathoners to ballerinas, icy ocean bathers, and sideshow performersMasochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshiped, and delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to balleri...

This fascinating and bizarre collection compiles the most unusual, obscure books from the far reaches of the human imagination throughout history.From the author of the critically acclaimed bestsellers The Phantom Atlas and The Sky Atlas comes a unique and beautifully illustrated journey through the history of literature. The Madman's Library delves into its darkest territories to hunt down the oddest books and manuscripts ever written, u...

"A searing memoir-meets-manifesto . . . [arguing] that society needs to radically reframe the crime of rape and how we think about survival." ―Gabrielle Korn, author of Yours for the TakingLonglisted for the 2020 National Book Award for NonfictionTime 's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020Publishers Weekly , Best Books of 2020

Discover the rich cultures of non-human beings in Earth's remaining wild places, as revealed by bestselling author Carl Safina.In this superbly articulate cri de coeur, Carl Safina, New York Times bestselling author, brings readers close to three non-human cultures—what they do, why they do it, and how life is for them. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace is a revelatory account of how animals function beyond...

"Filled with heart, humor and hope" a inspiring memoir on living with depression from the acclaimed mental health podcast Depresh Mode with John Moe ( People ).For years John Moe, critically-acclaimed public radio personality struggled with depression; it plagued his family and claimed the life of his brother in 2007. As Moe came to terms with his own illness, he began to see similar patterns of behavior and coping mechani...

This is the story of the last acrimonious days of the Beatles, a final chapter reconstructing for the first time the seismic events of 1969, the year that saw the band reach new highs of musical creativity and new lows of internal strife. Two years after Flower Power and the hippie idealism of the Summer of Love, the Sixties dream had perished on the vine. By 1969, violence and vindictiveness had replaced the Beatles' own mantra of peace and love, and Vietnam and the Cold War had supplante...

A concise history of an uprising that took down a three-hundred-year-old dynasty and united the great powers.The year is 1900, and Western empires are locked in entanglements across the globe. The British are losing a bitter war against the Boers while the German kaiser is busy building a vast new navy. The United States is struggling to put down an insurgency in the South Pacific while the upstart imperialist Japan begins to make clear to neighboring Russia its ter...

Brought to light from the depths of libraries, museums, dealers, and galleries around the world, these forgotten artistic treasures include portraits of oddballs such as the British explorer with a penchant for riding crocodiles, and the Italian monk who levitated so often he's recognized as the patron saint of airplane passengers. Discover impossible medieval land yachts, floating churches, and eagle-powered airships. Encounter dog-headed holy men, armies of German giants, 18th-century st...

"This brilliant book is a virtual Voyage of the Beagle! Carl Zimmer shows, with the benefit of a hundred and fifty years of hindsight, how right Darwin was." —Steve Jones, author of Darwin's GhostDarwin's The Origin of Species was breathtaking—beautifully written, staunchly defended, defiantly radical. Yet it emerged long before modern genetics, molecular biology, and contemporary findings in paleontology.In this remarkable book, a ...