History
1–20 of 259 results
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The War against Regulation: From Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush (Studies in Government and Public…
4722Battered by our economy and disappointed by our government’s role in that battering, we might be tempted to point the finger of blame at whoever’s currently on the hot seat in front of us. But, as Phillip Cooper shows, we must widen our vision to take in the long history behind this dismal state of affairs. By doing so, it becomes clear that our present circumstances are in many ways the predictable outcome of a several-decades-long war against government regulation and its potential to prote…
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Salt: A World History
4215An unlikely world history from the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the WorldIn his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes…
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State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanes…
3527In the movie Seven Samurai, a character accuses the samurai (all of them, as a caste of society) of destroying villages, raping women, and stealing from poor farmers. Samurai are usually portrayed as lawful — is there any legitimacy to this accusation?
Book by Conlan, Thomas Donald more about book… -
State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanes…
3527Book by Conlan, Thomas Donald
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
3042One of the world’s most beloved writers and bestselling author of One Summer takes his ultimate journey—into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail—well, most of it. In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we…
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The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
2919“If there is a candidate for ‘Living Buddha’ on earth today, it is Thich Nhat Hanh.” – Richard Baker-roshi In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, now with added material and new insights, Thich Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives. With poetry and clarity, Nhat Hanh imparts comforting wisd…
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The Conquest of the Incas
2765“Distinguished by an extraordinary empathy, a feeling of one’s way into the minds of the sixteenth-century Spaniards and Indians . . . Provocative.” — New York Times“An extraordinary book. Combining rigorous historical research and profound analysis with stylistic elegance, this work allows the reader to appreciate the tragic and fabulous history of the Incan empire in all its richness and diversity. It reads like the most skillful novel.” — Mario Var…
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The Maya (Seventh Edition) (Ancient Peoples and Places)
2748“A clear and intelligent description of the development and organization of Maya civilization.”—Natural History The Maya has long been established as the best, most readable introduction to the New World’s greatest ancient civilization. In these pages Professor Coe distills a lifetime’s scholarship for the general reader and student. Since the publication of the sixth edition of The Maya, new sites have been uncovered and further excavations in old sites have proceeded at an unprecedented pac…
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Thrill Murray (coloring book)
2519Be it in Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation, lost in translation or now, Moonrise Kingdom Bill Murray has become a favorite of the modern screen, the heartbeat of any DVD collection This a collection of images, assembled in a coloring book inspired by the great man himself. Color him in, you can even go outside the lines. “Thrill Murray fills us with so much joy. Is that a better name than any book on your bookshelf? Yes, yes it is.” Atlantic Wire “Belly Kids have announced a great new Bill…
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Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America (Third Edition)
2516“Should become mandatory reading for all police academy students.”—Damon Woodcock (Ret.), Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau“A well-researched, historically grounded, and mordant critique of American policing past and present.”—Christian ParentiEven critics have a difficult time imagining a world without police. But just what is the role of police in a democracy: to serve the public or to protect the powerful? Tracing the evolution of the modern police force back to the slave patrols, this contr…
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Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past (Historical Archaeology of the American West)
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Spent cartridges. The pieces of an original Tabasco Pepper Sauce bottle. Shards of a ceramic pot, stained red. For archaeologists each of the thousands of artifacts uncovered at a site tells a story. For noted Comstock authority Ronald M. James, it is a story resulting from decades of research and excavation at one of the largest National Historic Landmarks in America, the Nevada town that, with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, became a boomtown microcosm of the American West.Drawing on th… more about book… -
Maybe Yes, Maybe No
2134In today’s media-flooded world, there is no way to control all of the information, claims, and enticements that reach young people. The best thing to do is arm them with the sword of critical thinking.Maybe Yes, Maybe No is a charming introduction to self-confidence and self-reliance. The book’s ten-year-old heroine, Andrea, is always asking questions because she knows “you should prove the truth of a strange story before you believe it.””Check it out. Repeat the experiment. Try to prove it w…
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Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion t…
2094Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer PrizeThe explosive first-hand account of America’s secret history in AfghanistanTo what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising thread of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupu…
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Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victor
2063NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A SPY AMONG FRIENDSIn 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliant intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple and complicated— Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose. Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 and the British naval intellige…
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The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
2001Now in paperback, and following her extraordinary, bestselling, and much-acclaimed accounts of the most guarded secrets of the Second World War, here is a rollicking true story of spies, politicians, journalists, and intrigue in the highest circles of Washington during the tumultuous days of World War II.When Roald Dahl, a dashing young wounded RAF pilot, took up his post at the British Embassy in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and considerable charm to gain access to th…
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Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past (Historical Archaeology of the American West)
1921Spent cartridges. The pieces of an original Tabasco Pepper Sauce bottle. Shards of a ceramic pot, stained red. For archaeologists each of the thousands of artifacts uncovered at a site tells a story. For noted Comstock authority Ronald M. James, it is a story resulting from decades of research and excavation at one of the largest National Historic Landmarks in America, the Nevada town that, with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, became a boomtown microcosm of the American West.Drawing on th…
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The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
1810Pompeii is the most famous archaeological site in the world, visited by more than two million people each year. Yet it is also one of the most puzzling, with an intriguing and sometimes violent history, from the sixth century BCE to the present day. Destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ruins of Pompeii offer the best evidence we have of life in the Roman Empire. But the eruptions are only part of the story. In The Fires of Vesuvius, acclaimed historian Mary Beard makes sense of the remains. Sh…
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Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
1780A National Book Award finalist and National Book Critics Circle finalist, Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy is a remarkable view into North Korea, as seen through the lives of six ordinary citizens Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Demick brings to life what it mean…
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The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation (Springer Praxis Books)
1642Designing a mission for a flight to the Moon requires balancing the demands of a wide array of spacecraft systems, with the details of tending each component generating complex and often contradictory requirements. More than any other system in the Apollo spacecraft, the Apollo Guidance Computer drove the capabilities of the lunar missions. In the 1960’s, most computers filled an entire room yet the spacecraft’s computer was required to be compact and require little power. When compared to m…
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The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution
1530Resistance to malaria. Blue eyes. Lactose tolerance. What do all of these traits have in common? Every one of them has emerged in the last 10,000 years.Scientists have long believed that the “great leap forward” that occurred some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago in Europe marked end of significant biological evolution in humans. In this stunningly original account of our evolutionary history, top scholars Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending reject this conventional wisdom and reveal that the huma…