The playback of recordings is the primary means of experiencing music in contemporary society, and in recent years 'classical' musicologists and popular music theorists have begun to examine the ways in which the production of recordings affects not just the sound of the final product but also musical aesthetics more generally. Record production can, indeed, be treated as part of the creative process of composition. At the same time, training in the use of these forms of technology has mov...

This account of the renowned composer's neglected wife—including her years in a Soviet prison—is "a story both riveting and wrenching" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Serge Prokofiev was one of the twentieth century's most brilliant composers yet is an enigma to historians and his fans. Why did he leave the West and move to the Soviet Union despite Stalin's crimes? Why did his astonishing creativity in the 1930s soon dissolve into a far less inspiring out...

From the Franz Kafka Prize–winning author. "Full of love, sorrow, and tenderness . . . a deeply heartfelt account of his family in the 1960s and 70s." —Xiaolu Guo, award-winning author of Nine ContinentsWith lyricism and deep emotion, Yan Lianke chronicles the extraordinary lives of his father and uncles, as well as his own during the Cultural Revolution. Living in a remote village, Yan's parents are so poor that they can only afford to use wheat flour on N...

The thrilling and definitive account of the Abdication Crisis of 1936On December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII brought a great international drama to a close when he abdicated, renouncing the throne of the United Kingdom for himself and his heirs. The reason he gave when addressing his subjects was that he could not fulfill his duties without the woman he loved—the notorious American divorcee Wallis Simpson—by his side. His actions scandalized the establishment, who we...

Now in one volume: the three-part autobiography from the National Book Award–winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.The former CBS foreign correspondent and historian provides an invaluable look back at his life—and the events that forged the twentieth century.The Start (1904-1930): In the first of a three-volume series, Shirer tells the story of his early life, growing up in Cedar Rapids, and later serving...

Shot at, bombed, imprisoned and arrested for murder. His is the story the establishment doesn't want you to read.br>Captain P. J. "Red" Riley is an ex-SAS soldier who served for eighteen years as an MI6 agent. Riley escaped internment in Chile during the Falklands war during an audacious top-secret attempt to attack the Argentinian mainland. He was imprisoned in the darkness of the Sierra Leonean jungle, and withstood heavy fire in war-torn Beirut and Syria. In 2015, he was arrested...

"An illuminating and highly readable narrative about the role of women at the center of imperial Rome—fascinating and important." —Lesley Adkins, author of Handbook to Life i n Ancient RomeAugustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—these are the names history associates with the early Roman Empire. Yet, not a single one of these emperors was the blood son of his predecessor. In this captivating history, a prominent scholar of the er...

Catherine Hewitt's richly told biography of Suzanne Valadon, the illegitimate daughter of a provincial linen maid who became famous as a model for the Impressionists and later as a painter in her own right.In the 1880s, Suzanne Valadon was considered the Impressionists' most beautiful model. But behind her captivating façade lay a closely-guarded secret.Suzanne was born into poverty in rural France, before her mother fled the provinces, taking her to Montmart...

A "blistering exposé" of the USA's secret history of financial, political, and cultural exploitation of Latin America in the 20th century, with a new introduction ( Publishers Weekly ).What happened when a wealthy industrialist and a visionary evangelist unleashed forces that joined to subjugate an entire continent? Historians Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennett tell the story of the forty-year campaign led by Standard Oil s...

A day in the life of a mad housewife in Manhattan: "One of the truest and most awesome books I have ever read" ( The Scotsman).She was born Mary Dunne. A New York actress in a stalled career, she's previously been known as Maria and Martha. Married three times, she's also been called Mrs. Phelan, Mrs. Bell, and currently, Mrs. Terence Lavery—wife of the esteemed playwright. No wonder Mary Dunne forgot her name this morning at th...

Three books on Jewish heritage from the author of Jews, God, and History, "the best popular history of the Jews written in the English language" ( Los Angeles Times).With over a million and a half copies sold, Jews, God and History introduced readers to "the fascinating reasoning" of acclaimed scholar Max I. Dimont's "bright and unorthodox mind" ( San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle). In these three volumes, Dimont builds ...

'Sensational. The most minutely researched and brilliantly told account ever' MAIL ON SUNDAY.Laura Thompson re-examines the truths behind one of post-war Britain's most notorious murders: the bludgeoning to death of nanny Sandra Rivett in a Belgravia basement on 7 November 1974. Lord Lucan, found guilty of the murder, was only granted a death certificate in 2016. His wife Veronica – last surviving participant in this dark episode – died in September 2017. I...