A quest for a valuable manuscript turns into a hunt for its author’s killer. Meet Oxford’s Eve Brook, literary detective, as she tackles her first mystery.David Morrow, Oxford don and controversial media pundit, is found dead in his college rooms. Eve Brook is recruited to complete his latest book, a dazzling takedown of "woke" history. But the manuscript is missing, and everyone Eve meets seems to have something to hide—and a reason to want Morrow dead.Set against the back...

John Milton (1608-1674) is best known as the author of the masterful epic retelling of fall of man, Paradise Lost. But he was more than just the 17th century voice of Satan. Wise and witty scholar Anna Beer traces his literary roots to a youthful passion for ancient verse, especially Ovid. She also rounds out parts of his life that have been, until now, little studied. Milton was deeply involved in the political and religious controversies of his time, writing a series of...

Anna Beer investigates the lives and achievements of eight women writers, uncovering a startling and unconventional history of literatureWarned not to write—and certainly not to bite—these women put pen to paper anyway and wrote themselves into history.From the fourteenth century through to the present day, women who write have been understood as mad, undisciplined, or dangerous. Female writers have always had to find ways to overcome or ch...

The Life of the Author: William Shakespeare delivers a fresh and exciting new take on the life of William Shakespeare, offering listeners a biography that brings to the foreground his working life as a poet, playwright, and actor. It also explores the nature of his relationships with his friends, colleagues, and family, and asks important questions about the stories we tell about Shakespeare based on the evidence we actually have about the man himself.The book is written u...

Sir Walter Ralegh’s life is romantic, irresistible, and of central importance to our island story. His death is a convoluted and contested tale of bargaining, failure and betrayal. Through the Elizabethan golden age and Ralegh’s famous adventures to the final act, Anna Beer presents his stranger-than-fiction life in all its richness.How could a man once the Queen’s favorite find himself consigned to the Tower by her successor? Should his legacy be fame or infamy? Who was the real S...

**"A terrific book for parents who want to know how to talk about difficult, emotional issues with children."––Nancy Eisenberg, Regents' Professor of Psychology, Arizona State UniversityIncludes how to talk to your kids about COVID-19.**In a lifesaving guide for parents, Dr. Abigail Gewirtz shows how to use the most basic tool at your disposal––conversation––to give children real help in dealing with the worries, stress, and other negative emotions caused by problems in the...

The extraordinary ways the brain can misfire: Why would someone wake up and claim they’re Napoleon? Or why would they believe they have been turned into a wolf and demand to be fed raw meat?For centuries, people have dismissed delusions as a problem for the shrinks to sort out in distant asylums. But delusions are more than just bizarre case studies. They tell stories of collective anxieties and traumas.Examining the study and documentation of delusions ove...

In each chapter of You're Going to Be Okay, author Madeline Popelka shares an insight that she gained along her healing journey that shifted her perspective, brought her comfort, reduced her shame, or helped her feel less alone. She weaves in her own personal stories throughout the book, providing readers with the encouragement to keep going so survivors can feel whole again after trauma has turned their world upside down. Readers will find help to release their shame and self-bla...

A landmark collection: the first anthology of short fiction by Afghan women that are "powerful, profound, and deeply moving" (Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees, a Reese's Book Club pick)"My pen is the wing of a bird; it will tell you those thoughts we are not allowed to think, those dreams we are not allowed to dream."Eighteen Afghan women living in, speaking about, and writing from the country itself tell stories that are powerful...

“We can no longer see ourselves as minor spectators or weary watchers of history after finishing this astonishing work of nonfiction.” —Kiese Laymon, author of HeavyConnor Towne O’Neill’s journey onto the battlefield of white supremacy began with a visit to Selma, Alabama, in 2015. There he had a chance encounter with a group of people preparing to erect a statue to celebrate the memory of Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most notorious Confederate gener...

A groundbreaking and thorough examination of the trauma caused by the media covering crimes, both to victims and journalists, from a respected journalist and victim advocateIn The Trauma Beat, an eye-opening combination of investigative journalism and memoir, former big-city crime reporter Tamara Cherry calls on her award-winning skills as a journalist to examine the impact of the media on trauma survivors and the impact of trauma on members of the media. ...

A practical, all-encompassing guide to disaster preparedness, from avalanches and blackouts to pandemics and wildfires.An emergency room physician and U.S. Air Force veteran, Dr. Torres, aka “Dr. Disaster,” has spent his career on the front lines, saving lives in all sorts of disasters. He’s seen it all, from late nights treating patients in the ER to early mornings covering the country’s latest crisis on NBC/MSNBC as senior medical correspondent. His entire job is...