History

A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities...

An NBCC Award and Los Angeles Times Book Award finalistA New York Times Notable Book for 2011 One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year People speak different languages, and always have. The Ancient Greeks took no notice of anything unless it was...

The entire Greek world plunged into three decades of bloodshed in 431 B.C., when the ongoing friction between Athens and Sparta exploded into war. Ten years into the struggle, the Athenian general Thucydides was dismissed for a military failure that led...

With stylistic brilliance and historical imagination, the first five books of Livy's monumental history of Rome record events from the foundation of Rome through the history of the seven kings, the establishment of the Republic and its internal...

`The language is refined, the smile not grave, My honest tongue recounts how men behave.' The Satyricon is the most celebrated work of fiction to have survived from the ancient world. It can be described as the first realistic novel, the father of the...

(Available after 3-20 days)Fragments of wisdom from the ancient worldIn the sixth century b.c.-twenty-five hundred years before Einstein—Heraclitus of Ephesus declared that energy is the essence of matter, that everything becomes energy in flux, in...

An irreverent and charming collection of deeply personal essays about the joys of low pop culture and bad taste, exploring coming of age in the 2000s in the age of Hot Topic, Creed, and frosted lip gloss—from the James Beard Award-nominated writer of...

(Available after 3-20 days)How often a new lens opens a whole new world! And what a new vista Tom Standage, deputy editor for The Economist, opens up for readers. The whole of human history divided into six eras, each defined by a different beverage. Six...

Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, is the undisputed masterpiece of English historical writing which can only perish with the language itself. Its length alone is a measure of its monumental quality:...

The landmark, bestselling account of the crimes against American Indians during the 19th century, now on its 50th Anniversary.First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's eloquent, meticulously documented account of the...

A renowned scholar brings to life medieval England’s most celebrated knight, William Marshal—providing an unprecedented and intimate view of this age and the legendary warrior class that shaped it.   Caught on the wrong side of an English civil war and...

The Number One best-selling, epic true-life story of one of the most notorious maritime disasters of the 19th century, beautifully reissued alongside Philbrick's new paperback, Sea of Glory. The sinking of the whaleship Essex by an enraged spermwhale in...

(Available after 3-20 days)The provocative bestseller explaining the decline of power in the twenty-first century — in government, business, and beyond.Power is shifting — from large, stable armies to loose bands of insurgents, from corporate leviathans...

“If I could give each of you a graduation present, it would be this—the most inspiring book I've ever read." —Bill Gates A provocative history of violence—from the New York Timesbestselling author of The Stuff of Thought, The Blank...

A New York Times Bestseller"A rich portrait of the urban poor, drawn not from statistics but from vivid tales of their lives and his, and how they intertwined." —The Economist"A sensitive, sympathetic, unpatronizing portrayal of lives that are ususally...

(Availabe after 3-20 days)Authentics, Old Skools, Sk8-Hi’s, Slip-Ons or Eras? How many smiling memories of life in your Vans, the fun in your footsteps, and that bit of connection to a culture of skaters, surfers, graffiti artists, rockers and “Off the...

Tokyo Junkie is a memoir that plays out over the dramatic 60-year growth of the megacity Tokyo, once a dark, fetid backwater and now the most populous, sophisticated, and safe urban capital in the world.   Follow author Robert Whiting (The Chrysanthemum...

“Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s DreamsNAMED...

Quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili offers a fascinating and illuminating look at what physics reveals about the worldShining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili...

From the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People, a lively tour through Japan, Korea, and China, exploring the intertwined cultures and often fraught history of these neighboring countries.There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, “Two tigers...