Now in a deluxe 35th anniversary hardcover edition, "The Black Book" remains a breathtaking testament to the legendary wisdom, strength, and perseverance of black men and women intent on freedom. Features a new Foreword and original poem by Toni Morrison.

"With his international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of why civilizations rise and fall. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how some nations successfully recover from crises while adopting selective changes--a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises. Diamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals--ranging...

"In a world where rational, scientific explanations are more available than ever, belief in the unprovable and irrational--in fringe--is on the rise: from Atlantis to aliens, from Flat Earth to the Loch Ness monster, the list goes on. It seems the more our maps of the known world get filled in, the more we crave mysterious locations full of strange creatures. Enter Colin Dickey, Cultural Historian and Tour Guide of the Weird. With the same curiosity...

"The English and Their History presents the momentous story of England "first as an idea, and then as a kingdom, as a country, a people and a culture." Here, in a single volume, is a fresh and comprehensive account of the English and their history. With extraordinary insight, Robert Tombs examines language, literature, law, religion, politics, and more while investigating the sources of England's collective memory and belief. The English and Their...

"Germany is unlike any other country in the world. But how much do we really know about it, and how do its people understand themselves? In Germany: Memories of a Nation, Neil MacGregor -- director of the British Museum and author of A History of the World in 100 Objects -- presents the stories of a nation through a collection of thirty objects and touchstones. From coins and crowns to fairytales and philosophers, MacGregor presents the inventions,...

A history of shoplifting assesses its cultural and economic significance, tracing its rise with the onset of department stores, its pathology, and its role as a symbol of anti-establishment sentiments and hyper-consumerism.

"An Oxford professor of archaeology explores the unique history of magic, the oldest and most neglected strand of human behavior, and its resurgence today"-- Provided by publisher. "An Oxford professor of archaeology explores the unique history of magic—the oldest and most neglected strand of human behavior and its resurgence today. Three great strands of belief run through human history: Religion is the relationship with one god or many gods,...

From one of the most beloved authors of our time, a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home. Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as found in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying...

In the early days of photography, in the death-strewn wake of the Civil War, one man seized Americas imagination. A "spirit photographer, " William Mumler took portrait photographs that featured the ghostly presence of a lost loved one alongside the living subject. Mumler was a sensation: The affluent and influential came calling. Peter Manseau brilliantly captures a nation wracked with grief and hungry for proof of the existence of ghosts and for...

"The first book in a three-volume collection, The World of Lore : Monstrous Creatures shares the incredible true stories that inspired the legends of famous monsters, from werewolves to wendigo to the Jersey Devil"-- Provided by publisher. "They live in shadows--deep in the forest, late in the night, in the dark recesses of our minds. They're spoken of in stories and superstitions, relics of an unenlightened age, old wives' tales, passed down through...