Biography: historical, political and military Books
Penguin Putnam Inc Lincoln Speeches
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£14.25
Penguin Publishing Group George F. Kennan
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£21.25
Penguin Putnam Inc The Generals American Military Command from World
Book SynopsisA New York Times bestseller! An epic history of the decline of American military leadership—from the bestselling author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell.While history has been kind to the American generals of World War II—Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley—it has been less kind to the generals of the wars that followed, such as Koster, Franks, Sanchez, and Petraeus. In The Generals, Thomas E. Ricks sets out to explain why that is. In chronicling the widening gulf between performance and accountability among the top brass of the U.S. military, Ricks tells the stories of great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and generals who failed themselves and their soldiers. In Ricks’s hands, this story resounds with larger meaning: about the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, and about the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails.Trade Review"Engaging, informed . . . a highly entertaining book." —The Wall Street Journal"A masterful and critical study of the art of generalship from World War II through Iraq and Afghanistan by one of the smartest military experts out there." —The New York Times"[An important and timely book . . . trenchant, straightforward." —The Washington Post"Impressive . . . Stark, fact-based, and strongly argued." —Chicago Tribune "Ricks shines, blending an impressive level of research with expert storytelling." —The Weekly Standard "[A] savvy study of leadership. Combining lucid historical analysis, acid-etched portraits of generals from 'troublesome blowhard' Douglas MacArthur to 'two-time loser' Tommy Franks, and shrewd postmortems of military failures and pointless slaughters such as My Lai, the author demonstrates how everything from strategic doctrine to personnel policies create a mediocre, rigid, morally derelict army leadership... Ricks presents an incisive, hard-hitting corrective to unthinking veneration of American military prowess." —Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review) "Informed readers, especially military buffs, will appreciate this provocative, blistering critique of a system where accountability appears to have gone missing - like the author's 2006 bestseller, Fiasco, this book is bound to cause heartburn in the Pentagon." —Kirkus "Entertaining, provocative and important." —The Wilson Quarterly “This is a brilliant book—deeply researched, very well-written and outspoken. Ricks pulls no punches in naming names as he cites serious failures of leadership, even as we were winning World War II, and failures that led to serious problems in later wars. And he calls for rethinking the concept of generalship in the Army of the future.” —William J. Perry, 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense “Thomas E. Ricks has written a definitive and comprehensive story of American generalship from the battlefields of World War II to the recent war in Iraq. The Generals candidly reveals their triumphs and failures, and offers a prognosis of what can be done to ensure success by our future leaders in the volatile world of the twenty-first century.” —Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War “Tom Ricks has written another provocative and superbly researched book that addresses a critical issue, generalship. After each period of conflict in our history, the quality and performance of our senior military leaders comes under serious scrutiny. The Generals will be a definitive and controversial work that will spark the debate, once again, regarding how we make and choose our top military leaders.” —Anthony C. Zinni, General USMC (Ret.) “The Generals is insightful, well written and thought-provoking. Using General George C. Marshall as the gold standard, it is replete with examples of good and bad generalship in the postwar years. Too often a bureaucratic culture in those years failed to connect performance with consequences. This gave rise to many mediocre and poor senior leaders. Seldom have any of them ever been held accountable for their failures. This book justifiably calls for a return to the strict, demanding and successful Marshall prescription for generalship. It is a reminder that the lives of soldiers are more important than the careers of officers—and that winning wars is more important than either.” —Bernard E. Trainor, Lt. Gen. USMC (Ret.); author of The Generals’ War “The Generals rips up the definition of professionalism in which the US Army has clothed itself. Tom Ricks shows that it has lost the habit of sacking those who cannot meet the challenge of war, leaving it to Presidents to do so. His devastating analysis explains much that is wrong in US civil-military relations. America’s allies, who have looked to emulate too slavishly the world’s pre-eminent military power, should also take heed.” —Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford
£18.00
Penguin Putnam Inc Clementine
Book Synopsis“Engrossing…the first formal biography of a woman who has heretofore been relegated to the sidelines.”–The New York TimesFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller A Woman of No Importance, a long overdue tribute to the extraordinary woman who was Winston Churchill’s closest confidante, fiercest critic and shrewdest advisor that captures the intimate dynamic of one of history’s most fateful marriages. Late in life, Winston Churchill claimed that victory in the Second World War would have been “impossible” without the woman who stood by his side for fifty-seven turbulent years. Why, then, do we know so little about her? In this landmark biography, a finalist for the Plutarch prize, Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine Churchill her due. Born into impecunious aristocracy, the young Clementine Hozier was the target of cruel snobbery. Many wondered why Winston married her, when the prim
£17.10
OUP India Venizelos The Making of a Greek Statesman
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£999.99
OUP India Navalny
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£28.45
OUP India Fugitive of Empire
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£35.00
The University of Chicago Press Spokesmen for the Despised Fundamentalist Leaders
Book SynopsisPresenting eight vivid portraits of fundamentalist leaders who have turned their charismatic religious authority to powerful political ends. The biographies in this volume include interviews with true believers and bitter opponents, and in a number of cases with the subjects themselves.
£999.99
The University of Chicago Press Realism Utopia the Mushroom Cloud Four Activist
Book SynopsisA comparison of four dissident intellectuals who grappled with questions about international politics in a nuclear age and co-operation instead of coercion throughout their careers - Louise Weiss, Leo Szilard, E.P. Thompson, and Danilo Dolci.
£999.99
The University of Chicago Press Death of the Child Valerio Marcello Emersion
Book SynopsisThe death of Valerio Marcello, in 1490, left his father in a state of despair so profound that it occasioned an outpouring of consoling letters, orations, treatises and poems. Through these sources, King traces the story of a 15th-century family, as well as the cultural trends of the time.
£999.99
University of Chicago Press Max Lerner Pilgrim in the Promised land
Book SynopsisBeginning with Max Lerner's account of the hardships his family endured emigrating from Russia, the text traces Lerner's life, from his education at Yale, experiencing anti-Semitism, through his years as a radical, a widely read columnist, teacher, much-loved father and an unapologetic romantic.
£999.99
University of Chicago Press Isaiah Berlin A Celebration
Book SynopsisThis volume gathers tributes, reflections and commentaries on the great thinker Isaiah Berlin and his philosophy, politics and life - including contributions from Michael Ignatieff, Leon Wieseltier, Ronald, Dworkin, and Stephen Spender.
£999.99
Columbia University Press Conversations with Gorbachev
Book SynopsisThis title invites us to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation between one of the major political figures of the 20th century and his closest friend as they chat about the momentous events they lived through and helped orchestrate.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary transcription (and translation) of three blunt and probing conversations during the early 1990s between two old friends. Booklist A significant historical document... Journal of Democracy A timely and important book... An unusually candid and revealing dialogue between Gorbachev and Zdenek Mlynar. -- Robert D. English The Nation Gorbachev adds enough beyond what he has already written to offer valuable insight to his intellectual evolution, down to and including his conception of socialism. Foreign Affairs This books reminds us of [Gorbachev's] accidental greatness and his greatness of character... It reveals an argumentative, insightful and tenacious political frienship which did not end in betrayal. -- John Lloyd Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsConversation One: The Criss-Crossing of Our Paths 1. Student Communists 2. New Hopes and New Disappointments 3. Twenty Years, Divergent Paths Conversation Two: How We Sought to Reinvigorate Socialism 1. the Prague Spring and Its Defeat 2. More Democracy, More Socialism 3. Freedom of Choice Either Exists or It Doesn't 4. An Airplane That Took Off Without Knowing Where to Land 5. What to Do With the Party? 6. Can the Use of Force "Save Socialism"? Conversation Three: There's Only One World 1. Breaking Out of the Dead End of the Cold War 2. Socialism Is Alive as a World Process 3. At a Crossroads of Civilization Concluding Thoughts: The Conscience of the Reformer
£999.99
Penguin Books Ltd Edward VII Penguin Monarchs The Cosmopolitan King
Book SynopsisLike his mother Queen Victoria, Edward VII defined an era. Both reflected the personalties of their central figures: hers grand, imperial and pretty stiff; his no less grand, but much more relaxed and enjoyable. This book conveys Edward's distinct personality and significant influences.
£17.07
University of Illinois Press A Civil War Soldier of Christ and Country
Book SynopsisPresents a collection of letters and documents that offers a glimpse into a young officer's interesting but short life. This book features the relationships between the headstrong John Rodgers Meigs and his family and friends; his eagerness to please his demanding parents; his West Point experiences; and his life as a combatant in the Civil War.Trade Review"In this 19th-century era of formality in communication, even in the most close-knit families, there is an air of informality and playfulness in the letters published here, which strikes the reader and refreshing and heartwarming. . . . For anyone interested in life at West Point during the war or about everyday life in the field, this is a fine book."--Civil War News"Editor Giunta is to be commended for bringing the letters and official documents to publication. She offers a careful analysis of the controversial killing of Meigs. . . . Her efforts have produced a fine book on a notable Civil War family."--Blue & Gray Magazine"Anyone seeking information on wartime West Point, army engineers, or Montgomery Meigs and his family cannot afford to miss this attractive volume."--North & South"This book provides a solid documentary portrait of the life and death of Major John Rodgers Meigs. . . . Giunta has drawn her sources from an array of manuscript collections at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and West Point. This book is therefore a useful source for immediate access to these scattered materials, and, through welcome translation of numerous letters and journal entries from the original Pitman shorthand used by father and son, Giunta renders many documents readable to nonspecialists for the first time. . . . This book provides an intimate view of this prominent family's wartime service and sacrifice."--Journal of Southern History"This collection will appeal to historians of nineteenth-century family relations and those interested in the cadet experience at West Point."--Civil War History"Mary Giunta's research into the life of Lt. John Rodgers Meigs has been meticulous and far-reaching in its scope and depth. The promise and the tragedy of this young man's life and early death are brought forth with care, understanding, and vividness in this worthwhile addition to our expanding knowledge of the great American maelstrom we call the Civil War."--John L. Heatwole, author of The Burning: Sheridan's Devastation of the Shenandoah Valley
£999.99
MO - University of Illinois Press A Scalawag in Georgia
Book SynopsisA controversial period in American history as revealed through one man’s personal and political experiencesTrade Review"This book is a welcome addition to Reconstruction literature, especially because so little is known about Whiteley."--Journal of American History "A Scalawag in Georgia presents an interesting window into the world of Reconstruction as seen through the prism of a Southern Unionist."--H-CivWar "Rogers has unearthed a considerable amount of scattered material and has added significantly to our understanding of Reconstruction politics."--Journal of Southern History
£999.99
MO - University of Illinois Press Lincolns Legacy Ethics and Politics
Book SynopsisUnderstanding Lincoln’s influence on twenty-first century law and politics Trade Review"Students of the Civil War and of political history more generally will welcome this collection of four essays on important aspects of Lincoln's presidency."--Journal of Illinois History "Contains thoughtful essays by four prominent scholars of the Civil War era. The essays focus on important questions about democracy, equality, the rule of law, and political ethics that Abraham Lincoln confronted, questions that are still relevant to us today."--Journal of American History“Earns its place on the shelf of every Lincoln enthusiast.”--Journal of Southern History
£999.99
MO - University of Illinois Press Ralph Johnson Bunche Public Intellectual and
Book SynopsisThe legacy of an exceptional world leaderTrade Review"This book is an excellent treatment of American intellectual history and Bunche’s contribution to it as a scholar, statesman, and leader. Ralph Johnson Bunche is a must-read for diplomats and international politics students.”--Edmond J. Keller, Director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center–AfricaTable of ContentsContributors include Lorenzo DuBois Baber, John Hope Franklin, Jonathan Scott Holloway, Charles P. Henry, Ben Keppel, Beverly Lindsay, Princeton Lyman, Edwin Smith, and Hanes Walton Jr.
£999.99
MO - University of Illinois Press An American in Hitlers Berlin
Book SynopsisAn American labor leader's eyewitness perspective on the rise of Nazi power in Weimar-era BerlinTrade Review“[Plotkin] is an astute observer and captures everchanging moods.”--Jewish Book World"A harrowing picture of Berlin ravaged by the Depression, the Weimar Republic's last months and the onset of Nazism. . . . A rich subtle and extremely readable account of a crucial moment in German history."--European Journal of American Studies."A rare jewel. . . . An extremely valuable source for comparative labour historians and for historians of the Weimar Republic and of National Socialism."--Revue Francaise D'etudes Americaines"Once I started reading this work, I could not put it down. Plotkin's diary is a remarkable analysis 'from the bottom up' of German society, working-class institution, and politics in the period of transition from the Weimar Republic to the rise of Hitler. A very important book."--Fraser Ottanelli, University of South Florida"Plotkin's writing is lively and conveys a vivid portrayal of German political and economic life on the eve of the Nazi takeover. It also provides an excellent sense of the impact of the Great Depression on German society. A valuable contribution to German history, labor history, and Jewish history."--Vicki Caron, author of Uneasy Asylum: France and the Jewish Refugee Crisis, 1933-1942"We have almost no eyewitness accounts of this period from nonjournalist observers and certainly none from the perspective of an American working-class observer. This work adds significantly to our knowledge on the history of internationalist trade unionism in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s, which is under-researched for this period. Highly recommended."--Dorothee Schneider, coauthor of "My Life in Germany before and after January 30, 1933": Refugee Memoirs and ExperiencesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Abbreviations xi Introduction xiii Catherine Collomp and Bruno GroppoAbraham Plotkin's Diary October-November 1932 3 December 1932 31 January 1933 85 February 1933 137Abraham Plotkin The Destruction of the Labor Movement in Germany 175 Brief Chronology of Political Events in Germany, 1930-33 197 Index 201Illustrations follow page 136
£999.99
MO - University of Illinois Press Deadly Farce
Book SynopsisA history of one the McCarthy Era's most infamous witnesses--and his sensational recantation that changed the systemTrade Review"Harvey Matusow's life story is strange, even bizarre. Lichtman and Cohen have presented it with all its contridictions and inconsistencies."--Jewish Journal"An eye-opening biographical account of one man's role in McCarthy-era history, and his legacy concerning how government informers are treated and regulated to this day."--Bookwatch"Lichtman and Cohen's devastating documentation of the activities of government officials and prominent anticommunitsts refocuses our understanding of the McCarthy era as a period where the principal concern was not to advance legitimate national security concerns, but to promote a political climate hostile to radicalism, labor activism, and dissent."--Journal of American History"This is a brilliantly told story of a most unique informer, the figure with the conscience to repudiate his own charges, face down the institutional inquisition now directed toward himself, and try to make up for sins during the rest of his life. . . . The larger scope of this story is the institutional operation of the domestic Cold War, something with more relevance today than at any time during the last 30 years or so . . . . The authors make the point that the Justice Department was behind it all, more sinister than J. Edgar Hoover's operation because its officials made the key decisions to indict and imprison."--Paul Buhle, Left History"The job of telling [this story] was rendered unusually difficult by Matusow's penchant for lying continuously about practically everything (especially himself), and for repeatedly changing his version of events. Lichtman and Cohen have handled a tough task quite skillfully. Their book is extremely well researched . . . . To be sure, readers will not gain from it a complete understanding of Matusow. No book could provide that. This enigmatic and self-contradictory figure probably did not fully understand himself. Lichtman and Cohen have done as much as mere scholars could, however, to make the twists and turns of Matusow's convoluted life comprehensible. This is a valuable book that makes a small but extremely important contribution to our understanding of the national nightmare painfully remembered as McCarthyism."--American Historical Review
£999.99
Yale University Press Campaign of the Century Kennedy Nixon and the
Book SynopsisBased on massive new research, a compelling and surprising account of the twentieth century’s closest electionTrade Review“[Gellman] offers as detailed an exploration of the 1960 presidential race as can be found.”—Robert W. Merry, Wall Street Journal“Six decades after the 1960 presidential election, Irwin Gellman is the first historian to peel back the powerful myths shrouding that contest. The engaging and carefully documented story that emerges is startling and fresh. . . . An impressively balanced portrait of the strengths and weaknesses of Kennedy, Nixon and their teams.”—Will Swift, author of The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm and Pat and Dick: The Nixons, An Intimate Portrait of a Marriage“As usual, the indefatigable Irwin Gellman explores heretofore overlooked archival resources in his successful quest to shed new light on the pivotal 1960 election. It will be difficult for any presidential scholar to ignore this important contribution to the history of our controversial 37th president.”—Melvin Small, author of The Presidency of Richard Nixon“At last, a scholar has gotten the incessantly romanticized 1960 election campaign right. Irv Gellman provides a thoroughly researched, provocative account of an election that may indeed have been ‘stolen.’”—David A. Nichols, author of Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy“Theodore White’s Making of the President 1960 cast a powerful spell. Generations of journalists and historians have made the image of gallant Jack and sweaty Dick into conventional wisdom. Now comes Nixon scholar Irwin Gellman to present a more balanced and fact-based view. Digging deep into archives neglected by most historians of the 1960 race, Gellman has written a surprising, illuminating, and fascinating account.”—Evan Thomas, author of Robert Kennedy and Being Nixon“Irwin Gellman’s stunning, overdue rewrite of the 1960 election puts paid to Theodore White’s celebratory presidential fable. Readers may now decide whether the republic was better served by outcomes written by winners or by truths recovered by a conscientious historian.”—David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize winner for biography and author of The Improbable Wendell Willkie
£18.99
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group My Face Is Black Is True
Book SynopsisAcclaimed historian Mary Frances Berry resurrects the remarkable story of ex-slave Callie House who, seventy years before the civil-rights movement, demanded reparations for ex-slaves. A widowed Nashville washerwoman and mother of five, House (1861-1928) went on to fight for African American pensions based on those offered to Union soldiers, brilliantly targeting $68 million in taxes on seized rebel cotton and demanding it as repayment for centuries of unpaid labor. Here is the fascinating story of a forgotten civil rights crusader: a woman who emerges as a courageous pioneering activist, a forerunner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
£15.26
Random House USA Inc Von Braun Dreamer of Space Engineer of War
Book SynopsisCurator and space historian at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum delivers a brilliantly nuanced biography of controversial space pioneer Wernher von Braun. Chief rocket engineer of the Third Reich and one of the fathers of the U.S. space program, Wernher von Braun is a source of consistent fascination. Glorified as a visionary and vilified as a war criminal, he was a man of profound moral complexities, whose intelligence and charisma were coupled with an enormous and, some would say, blinding ambition. Based on new sources, Neufeld's biography delivers a meticulously researched and authoritative portrait of the creator of the V-2 rocket and his times, detailing how he was a man caught between morality and progress, between his dreams of the heavens and the earthbound realities of his life.
£17.09
Random House USA Inc In the Garden of Beasts Love Terror and an
Book Synopsis“Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.”—New York Times Book Review Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another, including with the su
£25.60
Random House USA Inc Patton Montgomery Rommel
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£16.20
Random House USA Inc Sydney and Violet
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£15.26
Random House USA Inc The Liberator
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£17.00
Random House USA Inc You Are Not Forgotten
Book SynopsisIn 1944 Major Marion “Ryan” McCown Jr., an earnest young Marine Corps pilot, came under attack by enemy fire and went down with his plane, lost to the dense jungle of Papua New Guinea. Some sixty years later, Major George Eyster V would find himself in the same sweltering and nearly impenetrable rain forest searching for evidence of MIAs. Coming from a long line of military officers dating back to the Revolutionary War, army service was Eyster’s family legacy. After a disillusioning tour of duty in Iraq and almost ending his army career, he accepts a posting to JPAC instead, an elite division whose sole mission is to bring all fallen soldiers home to the country for which they gave their lives. While Eyster’s search for McCown proves difficult, what emerges at the end of the unforgettable mission is an inspiring true tale of loss and redemption.
£13.29
St Martin's Press A Woman in Berlin
Book SynopsisA New York Times Book Review Editors'' Choice For eight weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman kept a daily record of life in her apartment building and among its residents. With bald honesty and brutal lyricism (Elle), the anonymous author depicts her fellow Berliners in all their humanity, as well as their cravenness, corrupted first by hunger and then by the Russians. Spare and unpredictable, minutely observed and utterly free of self-pity (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland), A Woman in Berlin tells of the complex relationship between civilians and an occupying army and the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject--the mass rape suffered by all, regardless of age or infirmity.A Woman in Berlin stands as one of the essential books for understanding war and life (A. S. Byatt, author of Possession).
£17.10
St Martin's Press The Last Days of the Romanovs
Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters and Caught in the Revolution, The Last Days of the Romanovs is Helen Rappaport''s riveting, moment-by-moment account of the last fourteen days of the Russian Imperial family. The brutal 1918 massacre of the Romanov family may be familiar, but in Russian scholar Rappaport''s hands, the tale becomes as shocking and immediate as a thriller. . . . A gripping read. People magazine This is the story of the murders that ended three hundred years of Romanov rule and set their stamp on an era of state-orchestrated terror and brutal repression. Counting down to the last, tense hours of the Imperial family''s lives, Rappaport strips away the over-romanticized versions of previous accounts. The story focuses on the family inside the Ipatiev House, capturing the oppressive atmosphere and the dynamics of a groupthe Romanovs, their servants, and guardsthrown together b
£16.19
Little, Brown & Company The Obamas
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£16.99
Back Bay Books The Mauritanian Originally Published as
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£18.04
Little Brown and Company E.R. Nurses
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£23.25
Back Bay Books Guantnamo Diary Restored Edition
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£18.04
Little Brown and Company The House of Kennedy
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£17.09
Random House USA Inc The Romanovs The Final Chapter
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£17.10
Random House Publishing Group Henry VIII
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£19.00
Random House USA Inc Gods of War
Book SynopsisHannibal vs. Scipio. Grant vs. Lee. Rommel vs. Patton. The greatest battles, commanders, and rivalries of all time come to life in this engrossing guide to the geniuses of military history. “A compelling study of military leadership.”—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom Any meeting of genius may create sparks, but when military geniuses meet, their confrontations play out upon a vast panorama of states or civilizations at war, wielding the full destructive power of a mighty nation’s armies. Gods of War is the first single-volume, in-depth examination of the most celebrated military rivalries of all time, and of the rare, world-changing battles in which these great commanders in history matched themselves against true equals. From Caesar and Pompey deciding the fate of the Roman Republic, to Grant and Lee battling for a year during the American C
£15.30
Random House USA Inc The Washington War Fdrs Inner Circle and the
Book SynopsisA Team of Rivals for World War II—the inside story of how FDR and the towering personalities around him waged war in the corridors of Washington, D.C., to secure ultimate victory on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. The Washington War is the story of how the Second World War was fought and won in the capital’s halls of power—and how the United States, which in December 1941 had a nominal army and a decimated naval fleet, was able in only thirty months to fling huge forces onto the European continent and shortly thereafter shatter Imperial Japan’s Pacific strongholds. Three quarters of a century after the overwhelming defeat of the totalitarian Axis forces, the terrifying, razor-thin calculus on which so many critical decisions turned has been forgotten—but had any of these debates gone the other way, the outcome of the war could have been far different: The army in August 1941, about
£18.00
Mariner Books War and Peace
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£999.99
WW Norton & Co Khrushchev
Book SynopsisWinner of the Pulitzer Prize Winner of the National Book Critics Circle AwardTrade Review"Thanks to Taubman, one of the most important figures of the 20th century finally has the biography he deserves." -- Strobe Talbott - Los Angeles Times Book Review"Masterful and monumental...one should salute its author for a wonderful achievement." -- Robert G. Kaiser - Washington Post"A portrait unlikely to be surpassed any time soon in either richness or complexity....shines with mastery and authority." -- Leon Aron - New York Times Book Review"The book is a gift, as fascinating as it is important." -- Robert Legvold - Foreign Affairs
£22.79
WW Norton & Co The Reluctant Mr Darwin An Intimate Portrait of
Book Synopsis"Quammen brilliantly and powerfully re-creates the 19th century naturalist's intellectual and spiritual journey."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
£12.34
WW Norton & Co Strong Passions
Book SynopsisShocking revelations of a wife’s adultery explode in an incendiary nineteenth-century trial, exposing upper-crust New York society and its secrets.Trade Review"A suspenseful courtroom drama…[A] page-turning glimpse into the lives of 19th-century New York's upper crust." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)"The seductive first sentence of Barbara Weisberg’s riveting historical drama, Strong Passions, sweeps the reader into the vanished world of old New York. It sets the scene for a bitterly contested divorce trial that offered a rare glimpse into the lives of men and women of all classes, from tenements to gilded mansions. Strong Passions is that rare combination of page-turner and thought-provoker." -- Helen Whitney, award-winning film producer, writer, and director"If you think your divorce was bad, Barbara Weisberg has a story for you! Strong Passions tells the true-life tale of a misbegotten marriage with echoes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edith Wharton, and the Real Housewives of New York. A cautionary tale for wives at a time when women’s rights are increasingly under attack." -- Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age"Strong Passions delivers a superb and insightful narrative of a disappointed young wife and mother who strayed into a lover’s arms in 1860s New York City. Barbara Weisberg’s rigorous detective work brings clarity to the competing accounts as she carefully teases out the characters’ emotions about love, sex, and marriage. Strong Passions is a very engrossing and sympathetic read." -- Patricia Cline Cohen, author of The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of a Prostitute in Nineteenth-Century New York"‘He said/she said,’—the characters for and against husband and wife echo the cast of an Agatha Christie whodunit. Strong Passions is a breathless read, a story to challenge the reader’s own judgment and character." -- Major General Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II"Beautifully written, solidly researched, and singularly empathetic, Barbara Weisberg’s Strong Passions is a tour de force. There are plenty of juicy, soap opera-worthy details here, yet Weisberg is alive to their larger social and cultural contexts." -- Clifton Hood, author of In Pursuit of Privilege: A History of New York City’s Upper Class and the Making of a Metropolis"Strong Passions is that rare delight—a fascinating, beautifully written story grounded in research rigorous enough to satisfy the most exacting historian. Weisberg’s book is more than a riveting legal drama about gender and power in old New York; it is also a thoughtful commentary on the anxieties created by the shifting boundary between private behaviors and public selves that beset Americans today." -- Joan Shelley Rubin, Dexter Perkins Professor of History, University of Rochester, author of The Making of Middlebrow Culture"The story of Strong vs. Strong is fascinating, disturbing, and a compelling dip into a divorce of the messiest sort. Weisberg marshals her facts and exposes 19th-century New York divorce laws and the suffering of women who experienced them firsthand." -- Deirdre Sinnott, author of The Third Mrs. Galway
£20.90
Houghton Mifflin Lincoln A Photobiography
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£999.99
Penguin Putnam Inc The Lost Gutenberg
Book Synopsis“A lively tale of historical innovation, the thrill of the bibliophile’s hunt, greed and betrayal.” – The New York Times Book ReviewAn addictive and engaging look at the ‘competitive, catty and slightly angst-ridden’ heart of the world of book collecting.” - The Houston Chronicle The never-before-told story of one extremely rare copy of the Gutenberg Bible, and its impact on the lives of the fanatical few who were lucky enough to own it.For rare-book collectors, an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible--of which there are fewer than 50 in existence--represents the ultimate prize. Here, Margaret Leslie Davis recounts five centuries in the life of one copy, from its creation by Johannes Gutenberg, through the hands of monks, an earl, the Worcestershire sauce king, and a nuclear physicist to its ultimate resting place, in a steel vault in Tokyo. Estelle Doheny, the first woman
£15.30
Penguin Putnam Inc Marine Sniper
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£16.20
Penguin Putnam Inc Macarthurs War The Flawed Genius Who Challenged
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£14.40
Penguin Putnam Inc Roughing It
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£8.05
