The Samurai are the legendary warrior class of Japan. They played a crucial role in the country's history, politics and religion and their legacy continues to hold immense sway over popular culture.In this fascinating history, author Rod Johnson takes us through the rise and fall of the Samurai in Japanese society from the emergence of the new class in the eighth century through the turbulent periods of the Mongol invasions and the civil wars of the Sengoku period to the attempts o...

The Samurai are the legendary warrior class of Japan. They played a crucial role in the country's history, politics and religion and their legacy continues to hold immense sway over popular culture.In this fascinating history, author Rod Johnson takes us through the rise and fall of the Samurai in Japanese society from the emergence of the new class in the eighth century through the turbulent periods of the Mongol invasions and the civil wars of the Sengoku period to the attempts o...

Declassified explores some of the most remarkable revelations to have emerged from top secret documents brought to light in recent years. It ranges from revelations of spies and sleeper agents, such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the frankly bizarre Acoustic Kitty project, in which the US government trained cats to spy on the Kremlin, to the murky tale of the 'disappeared' citizens during Argentina's military dictatorship.In this book, the author explores these remarkable projec...

Declassified explores some of the most remarkable revelations to have emerged from top secret documents brought to light in recent years. It ranges from revelations of spies and sleeper agents, such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the frankly bizarre Acoustic Kitty project, in which the US government trained cats to spy on the Kremlin, to the murky tale of the 'disappeared' citizens during Argentina's military dictatorship.In this book, the author explores these remarkab...

Our insatiable demand for animals—for jewelry, pets, medicine, meat, trophies, and fur—is driving a worldwide poaching epidemic, threatening the continued existence of countless species. Illegal wildlife trade now ranks among the largest contraband industries in the world, yet compared to drug, arms, or human trafficking, the wildlife crisis has received scant attention and support, leaving it up to passionate individuals fighting on the ground to try to ensure that elephants, tigers, rhin...

Forget what you were taught in seventh grade-this riveting book takes readers down American history's back alleys and side streets.From the arrival of the Mayflower through the 2016 election, On This Date explores five hundred years of American history, revealing a compelling tale for each day in the calendar year.Drawing from Carl M. Cannon's popular RealClearPolitics' "Morning Note," On This Date is focused on fascinating -- and sometimes unknown...

A gripping, often startling biography of the Founding Father of an America that other Founding Fathers forgot--an America of women, African Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics, Quakers, indentured workers, the poor, the mentally ill, and war veteransNinety percent of Americans could not vote and did not enjoy rights to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness when our Founding Fathers proclaimed, "all men are created equal." Alone among those who signed the Declarat...

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A hugely ambitious, “delightfully readable, genuinely informative” portrait (The New York Times) of the two-centuries-long entwined histories of Iran and America—two powers who were once allies and now adversaries—by an admired historian and former journalist.In this rich, fascinating history, John Ghazvinian traces the complex story of the relations between these two nations back to the Persian Empire o...

For readers of What an Owl Knows and The World Without Us, this infectiously impassioned tour of the five New York City boroughs offers jaded city dwellers and bird lovers everywhere an unexpected, delightful new view of the concrete jungle – through its surprisingly enormous and diverse bird populationRyan Goldberg came to birding unexpectedly, but as many first timers do after seeing their “spark” bird, he fell hard. Enamored by the incredible v...

**"A world-class intellectual. . . . [Colin Woodard’s] research can help Americans rediscover their common identity in spite of all the attempts to divide them." —Garry Kasparov"A powerful paradigm for understanding the defining hot button issues of contemporary America and the action we can take to bridge our cultural divisions and save the republic." —The Next Big Idea Club“A lucid exercise in political geography with tremendous—and disturbing—explanatory power.” —Kir...

Brought to you by Penguin.A vivid and visceral portrayal of the most famous naval battle in history, focusing on the human cost of war, by a brilliant military historianAt or about 1.15 in the afternoon of 21 October 1805, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was struck by a 22-gramme, 15-millimetre French musket round fired down from the mizzen top of the Redoutable, a distance of some 70 feet to HMS Victory’s quarter deck. It nic...

An irresistible and enchanting journey through human history—from mankind’s earliest fires to the latest smart phones—that tells the surprising and untold story of storytelling.Joan Didion told us, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” And yet, the story of stories has never been told until now. MIT technology pioneer Kevin Ashton was at the forefront of the digital revolution that led to the invention of the smartphone, the ultimate storytelling device. Th...