A profound exploration of the enduring impact of war in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "War is back again." So begins Alexander Kluge's latest book, prompted by a war of aggression that, though being waged in Europe, is of global...

Fall captive to the code—the real-life buccaneer bylaws that shaped every aspect of a pirate’s life. Pirates have long captured our imaginations with images of cutlass-wielding swashbucklers, eye patches, and buried treasure. But what was life really...

Drawing on an impressive range of archaeological and textual sources and a nuanced understanding of biases, this book offers a valuable reappraisal of the enigmatic Phoenicians. The Phoenicians is a fascinating exploration of this much-mythologized...

A sympathetic but clear-eyed exploration of Paul McCartney’s work in the 1990s, arguably his most important since the rise of the Beatles. Paul McCartney’s 1990s was an era like no other, perhaps even the most significant decade of his entire career...

An engaging look at ocean routes’ complicated beginnings and elusive impact. Sara Caputo’s Tracks on the Ocean is a sweeping history of how we have understood routes of travel over the ocean and how we came to represent that movement as a cartographical...

A sweeping history of New York that chronicles the construction of one of the world's great cities. Between the 1880s and the 1930s, New York City experienced explosive growth as nearly a million buildings, dozens of bridges and tunnels, hundreds of...

For the first time, the story of how and why we have plumbed the mysteries of reading, and why it matters today. Reading is perhaps the essential practice of modern civilization. For centuries, it has been seen as key to both personal fulfillment and...

A book highlighting the work of pioneering Black printmaker, sculptor, and activist Elizabeth Catlett. Accomplished printmaker and sculptor, avowed feminist, and lifelong activist Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) built a remarkable career around...

A far-reaching examination of how America came to treat street and corporate crime so differently. While America incarcerates its most marginalized citizens at an unparalleled rate, the nation has never developed the capacity to consistently prosecute...

Proposes that we can best understand literature’s relationship to sex through a renewed focus on masochism. In a series of readings that engage American and European works of fiction, drama, and theory from the late nineteenth through the early...

An in-depth exploration of the style and influence of Pat Metheny, a truly distinctive musical voice of our time. Guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, among the most acclaimed, visionary musicians of our time, has for five decades toured with his many...

A Nobel laureate offers a brief lesson on physics’ biggest mystery, accessibly explaining the two quantum revolutions that changed our understanding of reality. At the start of the twentieth century, the first quantum revolution upset our vision of the...

Economists dream of equilibrium. It's time to wake up. In mainstream economics, markets are ideal if competition is perfect. When supply balances demand, economic maturity is orderly and disturbed only by shocks. These ideas are rooted in doctrines going...

A sweeping narrative history of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas. During the era of the Atlantic slave trade, more than twelve million enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas in cramped, inhumane conditions. Many...

A Pulitzer Prize finalist in History, this eye-opening rethinking of nineteenth-century American history reveals the interdependence of the Northern industrial economy and Southern slave labor. The industrializing North and the agricultural...

An essential introduction to the use and misuse of language within the criminal justice system, updated for a new generation. Does everyone understand the Miranda warning? Why do people confess to a crime they did not commit? Can linguistic experts...

A groundbreaking history of how the Black Death unleashed revolutionary change across the medieval world and ushered in the modern ageIn 1346, a catastrophic plague beset Europe and its neighbours. The Black Death was a human tragedy that abruptly halved...

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZEA NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICEA WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEARThe modest apartment on Via Gemito smells of paint and white spirit. The furniture is pushed up against the wall to create a make-shift...

日本の怪奇物語集

A beautifully illustrated volume of haiku poetry from the 100 most famous Japanese poets. Ongoing spring; a nameless mountain under a light mist -- Basho This beautifully illustrated collection of seasonal haiku poems by Japan's best-known poets is the...