History and Archaeology

Celebrated novelist, biographer and critic Peter Ackroyd paints a vivid picture of one of the world's greatest cities in this brilliant and original work, exploring how the city's many hues have come to shape its history and identity.   Think of the colours of London and what do you imagine? The reds of open-top buses and terracotta bricks? The grey smog of Victorian industry, Portland stone and

Porsche 356: 75th Anniversary relates the full story of Porsche’s original sports car from the first Gmund coupe to today’s beloved collector car. Ferdinand Porsche was a brilliant engineer who, prior to World War II, had been involved in a variety of significant automotive engineering developments including the first hybrid drive  vehicles. From the early 1900s, Porsche was developing racing ca

A NEW YORKER ESSENTIAL READ • From the best-selling author of The Invention of Nature comes an exhilarating story about a remarkable group of young rebels—poets, novelists, philosophers—who, through their epic quarrels, passionate love stories, heartbreaking grief, and radical ideas launched Romanticism onto the world stage, inspiring some of the greatest thinkers of the time. A

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author John Hersey's seminal work of narrative nonfiction which has defined the way we think about nuclear warfare. “One of the great classics of the war" (The New Republic) that tells what happened in Hiroshima during World War II through the memories of the survivors of the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city. "The perspective [Hiroshima] o

This is not just another Italian cookbook filled with pizza and pasta recipes. Italian Street Food takes you behind the piazzas, down the back streets and into the tiny bars and cafes to bring you traditional, local recipes that are rarely seen outside of Italy. Delve inside to discover the secret dishes from Italy´s hidden laneways and learn about the little-known recipes of this world cui

“This book made me happy in the first five pages.” —AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible Award-winning author Gretchen Rubin is back with a bang, with The Happiness Project. The author of the bestselling 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill has produced a work that is “a cross between the Dalai Lama’

This authoritative sourcebook offers comprehensive information on Knights Templar history, symbols, key figures, unanswered questions, and more.   "Knights Templar Encyclopedia offers both general readers and specialists alike a remarkable source work on the famous medieval military order.  Scholarly and authoritative, Dr Ralls' treasury of Templar traditions is highly recommended

In IMHOTEP THE AFRICAN, Egyptologist, Robert Bauval, and astrophysicist, Thomas Brophy, uncover the mystery of Imhotep, ancient Egyptian superstar, pharaonic Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo and Newton all rolled into one. Based on their research at the Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara, Bauval and Brophy delve into observational astronomy to 'decode' the alignments and other design features of the S

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is one of the oldest and greatest classics of Western spirituality. Until now, the available translations have treated these writings as historical curiosities that have little relevance to our contemporary situations. This new version, made from the hieroglyphs, approaches the Book of the Dead as a profound spiritual text capable of speaking to us today. These writin

TEMPLARS IN AMERICA reveals the story of two leading European Templar families who combined forces to create a new commonwealth in America nearly a century before the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Henry St. Clair of the Orkney Islands, then part of Normandy, and Carlo Zeno, a Venetian trader, made peaceful and mutually beneficial contact with the Mi'kmaq people of what is now Canada. Proof of t

Two longtime friends share an intimate and urgent conversation about life, music, and their enduring love of America, with all its challenges and contradictions, in this stunningly produced expansion of their groundbreaking Higher Ground podcast, featuring more than 350 photographs, exclusive bonus content, and never-before-seen archival material. Renegades: Born in the USA is a candid, revealin

The T-33 jet trainer was derived from the Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star, the USAF's first operational jet fighter, in 1948. In the fifty years since its introduction the T-33 has trained more jet pilots than any other training type. In addition to this role, it has served, and continues to serve, as an attack fighter – the AT-33 – and as a reconnaissance aircraft – the RT-33 – in several foreign ai

The period of turmoil that preceded and marked the Napoleonic era caused an expansion in the navies of Europe and the United States. Naval tactics were evolving too, as the old system of individual ships and captains was replaced by true navies, governed by a hierarchy and working together as a force. The book falls into three parts: Part One: The Ships and the Men describes ship construction, rig

Abandoned villages hold mysteries that only ghosts can reveal. Read accounts forgotten places, such as flooded Flagstaff, Maine, that contains the spirits of former residents still clinging to homes now nothing more than foundations or cellar holes. Visit Dudleytown, Connecticut, where residents fell victim to demons, murder, and insanity. Stroll through Massachusetts's Dogtown Common, a dead vill

A mini "art show" of the celebrated artist's best-known and little-seen paintings, reproduced on stamps from around the world. Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved international renown and success for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, becoming one of the most recognizable figures in 20th-century art. His paintings are located in museums througho

Covers the use and design of the numerous cars used by the Wehrmacht during WWII.

The B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most iconic aircraft in aviation history. Through a broad range of photos gathered from around the world, this book, the first of a two-volume series, chronicles the design, development, and wartime use of the early models of the Flying Fortress, from the ill-fated experimental model 299 through the B-17D, including the famous "Swoose." These early models are

The World War II–era destroyers of the Japanese Fubuki class were the first of a type sometimes referred to as "super destroyers." These destroyers were extremely large and heavily armed with guns and torpedoes. Ironically, the IJN was pushed to create heavier destroyers by the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, which discouraged the construction of new capital ships. Particular emphasis was pl

Paper dolls and accurate costume details help take you inside the world of Marie Laveau (1794 -1881) New Orleans' powerful "voodoo queen." Laveau was both widely respected as a healer to all who sought her help and feared as a woman capable of putting a powerful hex on any enemy. She bartered information, liaisons, and love potions to black and white alike, and was believed capable of solving ever

Battling flak and enemy fighters over the skies of Europe during World War II, the US Army Air Force Martin B-26 Marauder bomber named “Flak-Bait” completed a remarkable 201 combat missions, a feat that made it the highest mission scorer of any Allied medium or heavy bomber. For many years the author has held a special interest in the B-26, and especially those of the 387th Bomb Group. It was duri