In his Gettysburg Address in 1863, President Lincoln wrote of the birth of the United States that had taken place "fourscore and seven years ago." Although a broad overview of American history leaps from the surrender of the British at Yorktown in 1781 to the firing upon Fort Sumter in 1861, historians realize that ...

Magic, sorcery and witchcraft are among the most common themes of the great medieval Icelandic sagas and poems, the problematic yet vital sources that provide our primary textual evidence for the Viking Age that they claim to describe. Yet despite the consistency of this picture, surprisingly little archaeological o...

⚔️ What if the secrets to victoryーon the battlefield, in business, and in lifeーwere written over 2,500 years ago? The Art of War by Sun Tzu is the legendary guide to strategy, leadership, and success. More than just a military manual, this classic has influenced world leaders, entrepreneurs, and thinkers across ce...

⚖️ What makes a government strong, fair, and free? Written over two centuries ago, The Federalist Papers remain one of the most influential collections of political writings in history. Penned by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, these 85 essays were originally published to persuade Americans to ratif...

This "elegant and engaging" biography dramatically reinterprets the life and reign of the sixteenth-century Holy Roman Emperor: "a masterpiece" (Susannah Lipscomb, Financial Times). The life of Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), ruler of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and much of Italy and Central and South America, h...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The enthralling true story of the rise and reign of O-Six, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her. Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 stat...

Comment raconter l’histoire des peuples originaires du nord, du centre et du sud de cet immense continent américain appelés « Indiens » par les conquistadores et missionnaires ? En ne se limitant pas à la seule période circonscrite aux sources écrites rédigées généralement par des chroniqueurs, des prêtres, des lett...

⛓️ What would you do if your life of freedom was stolen overnight? Twelve Years a Slave is the extraordinary true account of Solomon Northup, a free African American man living in New York, who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. For twelve harrowing years, he endured unimaginable cruelty on Southern planta...

"Practical wisdom from a Stoic masterーletters that still speak to the modern soul." In Moral Letters to Lucilius, the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger distills the essence of Stoic philosophy into powerful, heartfelt letters to his friend Lucilius. These writings are more than abstract reflectionsーthey are a p...

The brief history of the Weimar Republic is generally seen as an abbreviated intermission between the First and Second World Wars. It was the government, led by the Social Democratic Party, which took power, albeit with some trepidation, after Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the German throne. Socialists saw this as the...

The Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan and continued by his heirs, was one of the largest and most powerful the world has ever seen. Modern China was created from the remnants of the Mongol Empire, and at its peak, this empire controlled one-sixth of the total landmass of the world. Even today, it is estimated t...

This book is the first comprehensive study of the twelve New Music Bureau poems by the influential poet-official Yuan Zhen 元稹 (779–831) in comparison with the response poems of Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846). Its new perspective on music and ritual reveals connections between Yuan’s poems that otherwise appear to have ...

This book considers the changing fortunes of psychoanalysis in Soviet Russia from 1930 to 1980. Approaching social history in a psychoanalytic key, Lizaveta van Munsteren argues that the growing split between official and informal languages of the time produced multiple strategies to keep alive the conversation arou...

Dive into Japanese historyーand discover who the samurai really wereーin this fascinating study that reveals the flawed human warriors behind the idealistic myths. This is the go-to volume on bushido (“the way of the warrior”), drawing on a wide range of historical sources to paint a vivid picture of the samurai in ...

"Victory is in the mind before it is in the sword." Written in 1645 by Japan's greatest samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings is a legendary text on strategy, martial arts, and the philosophy of mastery. More than a manual of combat, it is a guide to discipline, clarity of thought, and success in any fie...

As the sole legitimate child of Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace was the progeny of literary royalty. Many might have naturally expected her to go into the field of her father, but instead of delving into poetry, she delved into the hard sciences of mathematics and analytic thinking. Even so, Ada still had the imagination o...