A visceral and unflinching memoir of a young Russian soldier's experience in the Chechen wars.In 1995, Arkady Babchenko was an eighteen-year-old law student in Moscow when he was drafted into the Russian army and sent to Chechnya. It was the beginning of a torturous journey from naïve conscript to hardened soldier that took Babchenko from the front lines of the first Chechen War in 1995 to the second in 1999. He fought in major cities and tiny hamlets, from the bom...

A tale of cave bears and comet strikes and a hundred million years of history by the bestselling author of Here on Earth: "Marvelous."— Publishers Weekly (starred review)In Europe: A Natural History, world-renowned scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery applies the eloquent interdisciplinary approach he used in his ecological histories of Australia and North America to the story of Europe. He begins 100 million years ago, wh...

[Illustrated with 52 maps and diagrams]Sixteen years after its commencement and six years after its cessation, the Soviet-Afghan War remains an enigma for Westerners. Set against the backdrop of earlier successful Soviet military interventions in East Germany (1953), Hungary (1956), and Czechoslovakia (1968), and occasional Soviet military pressure on Poland, the stark military power of the Soviet state seemed to be an irresistible tool of indefatigable Soviet political power...More...

Written by the award-winning creator of the global board game sensation, Catan is a new adventure perfect for longtime fans and new readers alike.Norway, 860.Half-brothers Thorolf, Yngvi, and Digur have conspired to help Asla—daughter of Halldor, a powerful Viking chieftain—to escape her father’s oppressive rule. However, when they are discovered the chieftain’s revenge is swift and mighty. Pillaging his way through the realms of his daughter’s lib...

In a quest to advocate for her daughter, Pepper Stetler uncovers the dark history of the IQ test, leading her to question what exactly we are measuring when we measure intelligence.When Pepper Stetler learned that her daughter, Louisa, who has Down Syndrome, would be required to take periodic IQ tests to secure support in school, she asked a simple question: Why? The hunt for an answer set Stetler on a winding, often dark investigation into how the IQ came...

A billion years in the future, humanity is extinct.But Shakespeare remains.A machine civilization, so far advanced that it has the power to recreate lost civilizations, stumbles upon the works of the playwright, William Shakespeare.With only those plays to represent humanity, the machines must decide whether humanity is worth resurrecting or not.The only way to know the plays is to stage them.Enter J-9, although she ...

A public policy leader addresses how artificial intelligence is transforming the future of labor—and what we can do to protect the role of workers.As computer technology advances with dizzying speed, human workers face an ever-increasing threat of obsolescence. In Human Work In the Age of Smart Machines, Jamie Merisotis argues that we can—and must—rise to this challenge by preparing to work alongside smart machines doing that which only humans can: thinking...

The untold WWII story of a former NFL player turned White House insider who worked with Churchill’s undercover agents in New York City to conduct the biggest foreign spy operation ever within the US, and inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond, for fans of Ben Macintyre and Erik Larson.As a tough but smart Italian American kid, Ernest Cuneo played Ivy League football at Columbia University and was in the old Brooklyn Dodgers NFL franchise before becoming a city hall lawy...

A young war widow is unwittingly drawn into a sinister web of intrigue and murder in this taut, unexpected, masterfully plotted historical thriller set in WWII-era Seattle, where the enemy may be closer than anyone thinks. A crafty, addictive read for fans of The Americans, Anna Pitoniak, Graham Moore, and Elizabeth Wein.**“A page-turning masterclass in storytelling— historically captivating, emotionally rich, and crackling with slow-burn menace.” ...

A noted linguist examines extinct languages, from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the mysteries of as-yet undeciphered writings, in this scholarly work.While certain ancient languages were passed down continuously through the ages, many others were ignored for centuries. When scholars began to decipher these extinct languages in the early nineteenth century, they uncovered previously inaccessible riches of knowledge and history. Yet much work remains to be done on undeciphe...

An “UNEXPECTEDLY PROFOUND,” “DEEPLY STRANGE,” and “UTTERLY UNIQUE tour of the human body” (Publishers Weekly)"A must read for anyone who’s ever been amazed or aghast at what just came out." — Rachel Yoder, author of NightbitchTo live, our bodies must continuously shed materials. Stop urinating, stop defecating, stop expelling breath, and death is near. While we often think of these materials as embarrassing waste products, they serve far more complex functions. The color of...

An utterly gripping historical novel from NUMBER ONE bestseller Louise Douglas ️ Inspired by an incredible true story!Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Jane Eyre ✨1864, Bristol, EnglandThe seamstress is found in the darkened docks, floating, silenced. Those who found her are sure it must be a tragic accident, probably the result of too many drinks in a nearby public house. But journalist Nelly Brooks recognises the ...