History

“Venter instills awe for biology as it is, and as it might become in our hands.” —Publishers WeeklyOn May 20, 2010, headlines around the world announced one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in modern science: the creation of the world’s first...

“A rollicking tour through humanity’s evolutionary past, and von Hippel is the consummate tour guide. With equal parts wisdom, humor, authority, and charm, he shows how our past explains the present and why our well-being rests on an understanding of how...

This riveting conversation among journalists, historians, poets, novelists, essayists and photographers lends a Technicolor depth to our American story, opening a kaleidoscopic historical vista that leaves us to ponder voices and stories only now heard...

An investigation into the damage wrought by the colossal clothing industry and the grassroots, high-tech, international movement fighting to reform itWhat should I wear? It's one of the fundamental questions we ask ourselves every day. More than ever, we...

NEW YORK TIMES Editors’ Choice • THE TIMES BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR • WINNER OF THE HAWTHORNDEN PRIZEA groundbreaking new biography of philosophy’s greatest iconoclastFriedrich Nietzsche is one of the most enigmatic figures in philosophy, and his...

“Wide-ranging and thoroughly winning.” —Jordan Ellenberg, The New York Times Book Review“An absolute joy to read!" —Steven Levitt, New York Times bestselling author of FreakonomicsFor fans of Seven Brief Lessons in Physics, an exploration of the many...

From the award-winning author of A Splendid Exchange, a fascinating new history of financial and religious mass manias over the past five centuries"We are the apes who tell stories," writes William Bernstein. "And no matter how misleading the narrative,...

From a star theoretical physicist, a journey into the world of particle physics and the cosmos—and a call for a more liberatory practice of science.Winner of the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science & TechnologyWinner of the 2022 Phi Beta...

“Mine” is one of the first words babies learn, and by the time we grow up, the idea of ownership seems natural, whether we are buying a cup of coffee or a house. But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: you, reclining, or the squished laptop...

Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR and Science FridayA quest to explore some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and figure out why people abandoned them. In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes...

How scientists saved humanity from the deadliest infectious diseases—and what we can do to prepare ourselves for future epidemics.After the unprecedented events of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be hard to imagine a time not so long ago when deadly...

The groundbreaking international best-seller that turns everything you think about money, debt, and society on its head—from the “brilliant, deeply original political thinker” David Graeber (Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me) Before...

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) is perhaps the foremost economic thinker of the twentieth century. On economic theory, he ranks with Adam Smith and Karl Marx; and his impact on how economics was practiced, from the Great Depression to the 1970s, was...

Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize• One of The Economist's top history books of the yearFrom one of our leading historians, an important new history of the Greek War of Independence—the ultimate worldwide liberal cause célèbre of the age of Byron, Europe’s...

As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai...

In Conquerors, New York Times bestselling author Roger Crowley gives us the epic story of the emergence of Portugal, a small, poor nation that enjoyed a century of maritime supremacy thanks to the daring and navigational skill of its explorers—a tactical...

Vivid, powerful and absorbing, this is a first-person account of one of the most startling military episodes in history: the overthrow of Montezuma's doomed Aztec Empire by the ruthless Hernan Cortes and his band of adventurers. Bernal Díaz del Castillo,...

The writings of a first-rate scientist and daring adventurer, and a major inspiration for Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling novel The Signature of All Things John Cook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. In voyages that...

One of the greatest nineteenth-century scientist-explorers, Alexander von Humboldt traversed the tropical Spanish Americas between 1799 and 1804. By the time of his death in 1859, he had won international fame for his scientific discoveries, his...

'A roaring tale ... remains as vivid and exciting today as it was on publication in 1697' -- GuardianThe pirate and adventurer William Dampier circumnavigated the globe three times, and took notes wherever he went. This is his frank, vivid account of his...