**The #1 New York Times–bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches examines the real-life history of the scientific community of Elizabethan London.Travel to the streets, shops, back alleys, and gardens of Elizabethan London, where a boisterous and diverse group of men and women shared a keen interest in the study of nature. These assorted merchants, gardeners, barber-surgeons, midwives, instrument makers, mathematics teachers, engineer...

John Dee's angel conversations have been an enigmatic facet of Elizabethan England's most famous natural philosopher's life and work. Professor Harkness contextualizes Dee's angel conversations within the natural philosophical, religious and social contexts of his time. She argues that they represent a continuing development of John Dee's earlier concerns and interests. These conversations include discussions of the natural world, the practice of natural philosophy, and the apocalypse.

"A hugely entertaining achievement." –Esquire“An engaging survey through a period of intellectual history that reveals as much about people who wear watches as the objects on their wrists." – Wall Street Journal"As impeccably crafted and precisely engineered as any of the watches on which the author has worked so lovingly over the years, this book is a joy to behold and a wonder to enjoy.” –Simon Winchester, author...

A rieveting history, Pocahontas and the English Boys is the true story of four young people—English and Powhatan—who lived their lives between cultures.The esteemed historian Karen Ordahl Kupperman shifts the lens on the well-known narrative of Virginia's founding to reveal the previously untold and utterly compelling story of the youths who, often unwillingly, entered into cross-cultural relationships—and became essential for the colony's survival.

An in-depth look into the lives of the six daughters of King George III of England.In the dying years of the 18th century, the corridors of Windsor echoed to the footsteps of six princesses. They were Charlotte, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia, and Amelia, the daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Though more than fifteen years divided the births of the eldest sister from the youngest, these princesses all shared a longing for es...

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020Longlisted for the National Book AwardWinner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Minnesota Book Award for General NonfictionA Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardWinner of the Peace Corps Worldwide Special Book AwardA Best Book of the Year: NPR, ...

From the New York Times columnist, a portrait of a family and the cycles of joy and grief that mark the natural world: "Has the makings of an American classic." —Ann PatchettGrowing up in Alabama, Margaret Renkl was a devoted reader, an explorer of riverbeds and red-dirt roads, and a fiercely loved daughter. Here, in brief essays, she traces a tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents—her exuberant, creative mother; her steady, supportive father...

"A fascinating study of the also-rans and almost-made-its of medieval history . . . Beautifully written and well researched, it is an engaging read." — History . . . The Interesting Bits!When William the Conqueror died in 1087, he left the throne of England to William Rufus . . . his second son. The result was an immediate war as Rufus's elder brother Robert fought to gain the crown he saw as rightfully his; this conflict marked the start of 400 years of b...

" In a unique take on the cosmos, Gould makes the case that the emergence of a great many things are not only pre-ordained, but predictable." ( Forbes)We know the universe has a history, but does it also have a story of self-creation to tell? Yes, in Roy R. Gould's account. He offers a compelling narrative of how the universe?with no instruction other than its own laws?evolved into billions of galaxies and gave rise to life. Far from being a random accident...

The lives of the Scottish queens, both those who ruled in their own right, and also the consorts, have largely been neglected in conventional history books.One of the earliest known Scottish queens was none other than the notorious Lady MacBeth. Was she really the wicked woman depicted in Shakespeare's famous play? Was St Margaret a demure and obedient wife? Why did Margaret Logie exercise such an influence over her husband, David II, and have we underestimated James VI's consort, ...

A social history that pulls back the covers on the most intimate piece of furniture in our lives: "Entertaining . . . will keep you awake long into the night." —Paul Chrystal, author of The History of SweetsLouis XIV ruled France from his bedchamber. Winston Churchill governed Britain from his during World War II. Travelers routinely used to bed down with complete strangers, and whole families shared beds in many preindustrial households. Beds were expensi...

The long-hidden stories of America's black pioneers, the frontier they settled, and their fight for the heart of the nationWhen black settlers Keziah and Charles Grier started clearing their frontier land in 1818, they couldn't know that they were part of the nation's earliest struggle for equality; they were just looking to build a better life. But within a few years, the Griers would become early Underground Railroad conductors, joining with fellow pioneers and o...