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Taking on decades of received wisdom, David Waldstreicher has written the first book to recognize slavery's place at the heart of the U.S. Constitution. Famously, the Constitution never mentions slavery. And yet, of its eighty-four clauses, six were directly concerned with slaves and the interests of their owners. Five other clauses had implications for slavery that were considered and debated by the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the citizens of the states during ratification. This 'peculiar institution' was not a moral blind spot for America's otherwise enlightened framers, nor was it the expression of a mere economic interest. Slavery was as important to the making of the Constitution as the Constitution was to the survival of slavery. By tracing slavery from before the revolution, through the Constitution's framing, and into the public debate that followed, Waldstreicher rigorously shows not only that slavery was actively discussed behind the closed and locked doors of the Constitutional Convention but also that it was deftly woven into the Constitution itself. Finding meaning in silences that have long been ignored, "Slavery's Constitution" is a vital and sorely needed contribution to the conversation about the origins, impact, and meaning of our nation's founding document.

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On the heels of explaining the intricacies of human genetics in "The Stuff of Life", the intrepid alien scientist Bloort-183 has been charged with covering the wider story of the evolution of life on Earth. Join Bloort as he takes King Floorsh and his son through a whirlwind tour of millions of years of history, from Earth's primordial soup to the first forms of life, from the four conditions needed for natural selection to the evolution of modern humans. The Cambrian Explosion and the Permian Extinction, symbiosis, and speciation - all are rendered clear, concise, and fun.

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Born to slaves in 1862, Ida B. Wells became a fearless antilynching crusader, women's rights advocate, and journalist. Wells' refusal to accept any compromise on racial inequality caused her to be labeled a 'dangerous radical' in her day but made her a model for later civil rights activists as well as a powerful witness to the troubled racial politics of her era. Though she eventually helped found the NAACP in 1910, she would not remain a member for long, as she rejected not only Booker T. Washington's accommodationism but also the moderating influence of white reformers within the early NAACP. In the richly illustrated "To Tell the Truth Freely", the historian Mia Bay vividly captures Wells' legacy and life, from her childhood in Mississippi to her early career in late-nineteenth-century Memphis and her later life in Progressive-era Chicago.

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Philosophy like you've never seen it before. The latest in the celebrated Cartoon Introduction series, The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy is an authoritative and engaging guide to the fundamental questions about our existence. In this indispensable primer, Kevin Cannon - one of the talented illustrators behind Evolution and The Stuff of Life - and the philosopher Michael F. Patton introduce the wisecracking Greek Heraclitus, who hops in a canoe with us as we navigate the great debates of Western thought. As we make our way down the winding river of philosophy, we meet the pre-Socratics, who first questioned mythology and wondered about the world around them; encounter the disciplines of logic, perception, and epistemology; face the central problem of free will; and witness historic arguments over the existence of God. Along the way, famous thinkers like Rene Descartes and Immanuel Kant spell out their work in clear, light-hearted conversations that will put readers at ease.

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Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show howls into Green Town, Illinois, at three in the morning a week before Halloween. Under its carnival tents is a mirror maze that steals wishes; a carousel that promises eternal life, in exchange for your soul; the Dust Witch, who unerringly foresees your death; and Mr. Dark, the Illustrated Man, who has lived for centuries off the misery of others. Only two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, recognize the dark magic at work and have a plan to stop this ancient evil - that is, if it doesn't kill them first. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" is Ray Bradbury's incomparable work of dark fantasy, and the gifted illustrator Ron Wimberly has stunningly captured its sinister magic in gorgeously realized black-and-white art. Complete with an original introduction by Bradbury, Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Authorized Adaptation" reintroduces this thrilling classic.

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Whereas "Volume One: Microeconomics" dealt with the optimizing individual, "Volume Two: Macroeconomics" explains the factors that affect the economy of an entire country and, indeed, the planet. It explores the two big concerns of macroeconomics: how economies grow and why economies collapse. It also illustrates the basics of the labour market and unemployment, inflation and debt, what the GDP is and what it measures, and the influence of government, trade, and technology on the economy. Along the way it covers the economics of global poverty, climate change, and the business cycle. In short, if any of these topics have cropped up in a news story and caused you to wish you grasped the underlying basics, this book is for you. And while walking you through an entire introductory macroeconomics course, its cartoon characters - with cameos from Nobel Prize - winning economists such as Milton Friedman and Paul Krugman - take the sting out of the subject.

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