Widely hailed for its “sweeping, sobering account of the American past” (New York Times Book Review), Jill Lepore’s one-volume history of America places truth itself—a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence—at the center of the nation’s history. The American experiment rests on three ideas—“these truths,” Jefferson called them—political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of…
First published in 1949, A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America’s relationship to the land. Written with an unparalleled understanding of the ways of nature, the book includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside; another part…
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring story of adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America; Charles Sumner, who enrolled at the Sorbonne because of a burning desire to…
Paul Theroux spent a lifetime crossing the globe, exploring exotic and rich history and folklore of foreign places. For his tenth travel book, Theroux explores a piece of America — the Deep South. He finds there a paradoxical place, full of incomparable music, unparalleled cuisine, and yet also some of the nation’s worst schools, housing,…
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life—but it is also so much more. Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It…
Ceremonial time is the moment when past, present, and future can be perceived simultaneously. Usually experienced only during ancient dances or rituals, this escape from time is the theme of this book, which traces the life on a single spot in New England from the last ice age through years of Indians, shamans, and bears,…
Outside Lies Magic is a book about the acute observation of ordinary things, about becoming aware in everyday places, about seeing in utterly new ways, about enriching your life unexpectedly.For more than 20 years, John R. Stilgoe has developed and practiced the art of exploring the everyday world around us, where so much lies hidden…
The Jamestown colony is one of the great survival stories of American history, and this book brings it fully to life for the first time. Drawing on extensive original documents, David A. Price paints intimate portraits of the major figures from the formidable monarch Chief Powhatan, to the resourceful but unpopular leader John Smith. Author…
With meticulous research and page-turning suspense, Patriots brings to life the American Revolutionthe battles, the treacheries, and the dynamic personalities of the men who forged our freedom. Author A.J. “Jack” Langguth is Professor Emeritus of the the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California and an American author and journalist. In addition to…
Hills and the Sea, first published in 1906 to critical acclaim, collects thirty-eight of Hilaire Belloc’s essays, spanning several periods of time and travel. Author Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during…
