History and Archaeology

From the author of the best-selling A Venetian Affair (“A narrative of novelistic resonance . . . Astonishing” —The Washington Post), the story of an Italian Renaissance book editor who introduced European minds to the wider world through his passion for geography In the autumn of 1550, a thick volume containing a wealth of geographical information new to Europeans, with startling woodcut m

A classic work of American theatre, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in defense of a schoolteacher accused of teaching the theory of evolution The accused was a slight, frightened man who had  deliberately broken the law. His trial was a Roman circus. The chief gladiators were two great legal giants of the century. Lik

A delightful and majestic reckoning with the ascent of American fiction in the twentieth century through the prism of the under-known man who had an astonishing amount to do with it Malcolm Cowley is not a household name today, but the American literary canon would look very different without him. A prototypical “man of letters” of his generation—Harvard University, a volunteer in the Frenc

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION An enthralling and groundbreaking new biography of one of modern America´s most fascinating and consequential political figures, drawing on important new sources, by an award-winning biographer who covered Kennedy closely for many years John A. Farrell´s magnificent biography of Edward M. Kennedy is the first single-volume life of the gr

From America's call for a free press to its embrace of the capitalist system, Democracy in America--first published in 1835--enlightens, entertains, and endures as a brilliant study of our national government and character. Philosopher John Stuart Mill called it "among the most remarkable productions of our time." Woodrow Wilson wrote that de Tocqueville's ability to illuminate the actual workings

Could the 2024 election have been the last free election held in a unified America? "A dire warning of the right´s drift towards authoritarianism.” —Financial Times Published in the run-up to Donald Trump´s victory, Rebellion sounded a chilling and clear-eyed warning about the threats posed to American democracy by the increasingly radicalized Republican Party. With the Trump administratio

From one of our most eminent historians, a penetrating and timely examination of how the meaning of antisemitism has mutated, with unexpected and troubling consequences What are we talking about when we talk about antisemitism? For most of its history it was understood to be a menace from the political Right, the province of ethno-nativists who built on Christendom´s long-standing suspicion of it

A revealing exploration of a quarter century of cultural stagnation, examining the commercial and technological forces that have come to dominate contemporary culture—from music and fashion to art, film, TV, and beyond Over the past twenty-five years, pop culture has suffered from a perplexing lack of reinvention. We´ve entered a cultural “blank space”—an era when reboots, rehashes, a

An award-winning French journalist´s far-ranging critique of Europe´s betrayal of universal values and equal rights as war and right-wing populism spread worldwide, with a new introduction for U.S. readers. “Europe is a garden…It is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity, and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build…Most of the rest of the wo

An acclaimed historian illuminates today's political situation by examining the relationship between governing and storytelling, from the Middle Ages to the “post-truth” present, in these engaging essays. In the wake of Donald Trump´s election, renowned medievalist Patrick Boucheron delivered a powerful, probing series of lectures on “political fictions” in the context of rising authoritarianism

There are rich examples of geometric Square Kufic patterns and Islamic blessings in the Scandinavian textiles from the 9th and 10th centuries. The authors of this book describe these ancient patterns in detail, turning upside down traditional ideas about Viking culture as purely Nordic.

Among the major powers of World War II, the uniforms and equipment of the Japanese army have received the least coverage. This new, detailed volume presents the subject with a superb collection of actual vintage items, and rarely seen World War II era photographs. Among the subjects covered are: the Imperial Japanese army uniform series; undergarments; footwear; headwear; personal field equipment;

This fully illustrated volume explores the uniforms, insignia, and equipment of American Airborne, Glider, Troop Carrier, and Airborne Engineers in World War II. Included are over 500 detailed, up-close images of individual items, and multi-side views of full combat rig, and over 100 World War II era color and black and white photos, most unpublished, showing the uniforms and equipment as worn by

This two volume set (companion volumes to the author’s previous books on World War II German helmets) is packed with nearly 1000 full-color photographs of more than 180 helmets and covers, all shown at full page size and many in detail. The helmets shown are some of the most wonderful and exotic camouflage helmets to be seen in private and public collections.The various sections are divided into:

This large-format book is an in-depth photographic study of Luftwaffe tropical uniforms, headgear, and insignia worn by the Fallschirmjäger during the battles for Africa in World War II. Both full-color and war-era photographs illustrate rare uniforms and equipment including tropical jump smocks, Ramcke Brigade jump helmets, and officer\s "Meyer" caps. This book also provides the first accurate de

This two volume set (companion volumes to the author’s previous books on World War II German helmets) is packed with nearly 1000 full-color photographs of more than 180 helmets and covers, all shown at full page size and many in detail. The helmets shown are some of the most wonderful and exotic camouflage helmets to be seen in private and public collections.The various sections are divided into:

This comprehensive and easy to use reference covers the prominent brand names and proprietary markings that appear on German small arms, optics and edged weapons between 1900-1945 and is aimed at the World War II German militaria, cutlery, and small arms collector. The author provides a broad overview of the early marketing industry, the development of regional identities, and major tradenames and

Richly illustrated volume covers the development of modern German rifles and machine pistols, as well as their ammunition, and includes many rare and experimental types. Covered are the Werder rifle, Mauser rifles, the various M/71 rifles and ammunition, the 88 cartridge, the Infantry Rifle 88, the 98 rifles, the Fallschirmjäger rifle, the 41 & 43 rifles, ERMA and Walther machine pistols and many

The American sailing vessel Adriatic collided with the French steamship Le Lyonnais on November 2, 1856, off the coast of Nantucket in what can best be described as a maritime hit-and-run. Adriatic´s captain, Jonathan Durham, rendered no aid and left the passenger steamship to fend for herself. 114 people died in the collision and in the days that followed. Durham did not count on a hero, French