Unforgettable Books
-
Death of Trotsky: The True Story of the Plot to Kill Stalin's Greatest Enemy
For fans of Ben Macintyre, the gripping story of the assassination of Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky and the deadly game of cat and mouse that preceded it On August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky invited a man he knew only as Jacques Mornard into his study. Mornard waited for Trotsky to sit, then smashed an ice pick he had hidden in his raincoat into his skull. For over a decade, Trotsky's greatest enemy, Joseph Stalin, had been trying to arrange his murder. His agents had hunted him across Europe and into a lonely, bitter exile in Mexico. He had liquidated Trotsky's family and friends, and yet Trotsky had always escaped his clutches. The man who changed this all was Ramón Mercader, a minor Spanish aristocrat and Soviet agent who had posed as Mornard, a dissolute Belgian playboy, and infiltrated Trotsky's inner circle. In The Death of Trotsky, Josh Ireland traces the separate paths walked by each of these protagonists as they steadily draw closer and closer to that fateful encounter on August 20. Blending intimate historical detail and thrilling historical narrative, swinging from Moscow to Paris to Mexico, and taking in a cast of morally conflicted Russian spies, fanatical Mexican painters, and innocent American idealists, The Death of Trotsky delves into the lives of two fascinating, complex men locked in a life-or-death struggle that will bend the course of history.
$40.00 $35.00
-
World: A Family History of Humanity
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families - From the author of The Romanovs A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Smithsonian"Succession meets Game of Thrones." --The Spectator - "The author brings his cast of dynastic titans, rogues and psychopaths to life...An epic that both entertains and informs." --The Economist, Best Books of the Year Around 950,000 years ago, a family of five walked along the beach and left behind the oldest family footprints ever discovered. For award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, these poignant, familiar fossils serve as an inspiration for a new kind of world history, one that is genuinely global, spans all eras and all continents, and focuses on the family ties that connect every one of us. In this epic, ever-surprising book, Montefiore chronicles the world's great dynasties across human history through palace intrigues, love affairs, and family lives, linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, and technology to the people at the heart of the human drama. It features a cast of extraordinary diversity: in addition to rulers and conquerors, there are priests, charlatans, artists, scientists, tycoons, gangsters, lovers, husbands, wives, and children. There is Hongwu, the beggar who founded the Ming dynasty; Ewuare, the Leopard-King of Benin; Henry Christophe, King of Haiti; Kamehameha, the conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, the Arab empress who defied Rome; Lady Murasaki, the first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, the Moroccan pirate-queen. Here too are moderns such as Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky. Here are the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads. These powerful families represent the breadth of human endeavor, with bloody succession battles, treacherous conspiracies, and shocking megalomania alongside flourishing culture, moving romances, and enlightened benevolence. A dazzling achievement as spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the whole human story in a single, masterful narrative.
$50.00 $45.00
-
Story of Philosophy
First published in 1926, "The Story of Philosophy" is noted historian Will Durant's survey of Western philosophy. Having been described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy", the book begins with detailed descriptions of the philosophical ideas of the ancient Greeks, i.e. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The book then proceeds in chronicling the different philosophical doctrines of French Enlightenment, German Idealism, Pessimism, Existentialism, and concludes with the social, economic, and political philosophers of the last part of the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth century. At the heart of philosophical inquiry are the very important questions of determining right from wrong, of how to structure society equitably, and how to structure one's mind concerning the purpose of one's own life. "The Story of Philosophy" details the preponderances of some of history's greatest thinkers on these very questions. A popular work on what can be an intimidating subject, "The Story of Philosophy" provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to Western philosophy suitable for both the casual reader and class instruction. This edition follows the original 1926 publication and is printed on premium acid-free paper.
$22.99 $17.99
-
Pope Leo XIV: Restless Heart, Faithful Shepherd
A new era for the Church begins with Pope Leo XIV--Augustinian friar, missionary for distant lands, bishop among the poor, prefect entrusted with appointing pastors throughout the world, and successor to Peter. Above all, Leo XIV has proven to be a tireless seeker of Truth. His vocation was born of that restlessness of heart to which Saint Augustine gave expression: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." In the Augustinian spirit, Leo XIV has trusted the power of the gospel to shape his style: humble yet firm, quiet yet courageous. His path has been marked by service, listening, and quiet fidelity--a shepherd who walks with seekers, unafraid of their questions, patient in accompaniment. So, what does Pope Leo XIV want us to know in order to live the gospel more faithfully? How can we ensure that Christ remains the center of our lives? Leo XIV invites us to live a faith that is alive and open to the world. This book explores themes inspired by his first Urbi et Orbiblessing as Peter's successor, given on May 8, 2025. Here we're invited to embrace a posture of listening from one who has made that his life's work.
$19.99 $14.99
-
Know the Theologians
Finalist for the 2025 Christianity Today Book Award in Popular TheologyKnow the Theologians is an introduction to the most important thinkers throughout church history and a demonstration of their ongoing relevance for believers today.The Bible describes the church as a kind of family. Those who believe in Christ are sisters and brothers in the faith, whether they live at the same time or are separated by centuries. For that reason, believers today need to know our family members who have come before and shaped our beliefs and practices now. In Know the Theologians, professors and authors Jennifer Powell McNutt and David W. McNutt introduce the most significant thinkers in the church's history.McNutt and McNutt survey over a dozen primary figures, including Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant theologians, who represent the breadth and depth of the church's theology. The book explores how they fit into their own time period and also draws attention to the theological voices of women throughout the church's history. Every chapter includes short sidebars on figures contemporary to the main theologians, bringing in additional important voices.This book has everything you need for a full personal or group study experience. As part of the KNOW series, Know the Theologians is designed for either personal study or classroom use, and it will also be an accessible resource for small groups and adult education in churches. Chapters end with reflection questions and recommended reading for further study. An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don't need to buy a DVD!) Sessions and video run times: 0. Introduction (6:30)1. Irenaeus of Lyons (17:00)2. Athanasius of Alexandria (24:30)3. The Cappadocian Four (16:00)4. Augustine of Hippo (14:30)5. John of Damascus (17:00)6. Anselm of Canterbury (19:00)7. Julian of Norwich (20:30)8. Thomas Aquinas (19:00)9. Martin Luther (22:00)10. John Calvin (25:30)11. Menno Simons (21:30)12. Teresa of Avila (19:30)13. The Wesley Brothers (21:00)14. Friedrich Schleiermacher (12:00)15. Karl Barth (14:00)16. Gustavo Gutiérrez (30:30)Streaming video access code included.?Access code subject to expiration after 4/2/2029. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
$27.99 $22.99
-
Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones
Lobotomy is a lurid and unlikely temperance tract from the underbelly of rock 'n' roll. Taking readers on a wild rollercoaster ride from his crazy childhood in Berlin and Munich to his lonely methadone-soaked stay at a cheap hotel in Earl's Court and newfound peace on the straight and narrow, Dee Dee Ramone catapults readers into the raw world of sex, addiction, and two-minute songs. It isn't pretty. With the velocity of a Ramones song, Lobotomy rockets from nights at CBGB's to the breakup of the Ramones' happy family with an unrelenting backbeat of hate and squalor: his girlfriend ODs; drug buddy Johnny Thunders steals his ode to heroin, "Chinese Rock"; Sid Vicious shoots up using toilet water; and a pistol-wielding Phil Spector holds the band hostage in Beverly Hills. Hey! Ho! Let's go!
$26.99 $21.99
-
Black Robes Enter Coyote's World: Chief Charlo and Father de Smet in the Rocky Mountains
Black Robes Enter Coyote's World brings to life the complicated history of Jesuit missionaries among Montana's Native peoples--a saga of encounter, accommodation, and resistance during the transformative decades of the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Sally Thompson tells the story of how Jesuit values played out in the lives of the Bitterroot Salish people. The famous Black Robe (Jesuit) Father Pierre-Jean De Smet actually spent little time among his "beloved Flatheads." Instead, he traveled extensively between the Pacific and the Rockies, mapping the pathways and noting the valuable resources. His popular writings helped spark the westward movement of white settlers. Thompson picks up the story of the Salish peoples and black-robed missionaries at a Potawatomi mission on the Missouri in 1839 and follows their intertwined experiences throughout the lifetime of Salish chief Charlo, who eventually cursed the day white immigrants came into his country. Chief Charlo attributed the missionaries' disconnected beliefs and exploitative actions to their status as orphans rejected from their place of creation, as he had learned from the story of Eden. Despite Charlo's valiant efforts to protect his homeland, the Salish endured a forced removal from their beloved Bitterroot Valley to the Flathead Reservation in 1891. Charlo died in 1910, just before the massive giveaway of more than half of the Salish's treaty-guaranteed lands through implementation of the Allotment Act. Despite it all, his people endure. In this up-close account of the Bitterroot Salish people during the lifetime of Chief Charlo, Thompson examines the fundamental differences in the ways Euro-Americans and Native Americans related to land and nature.
$41.95 $36.95
-
Tarot: A Graphic History: Pamela Colman Smith's Story of Arcana, Symbols & Magic
Pamela Colman Smith: artist, occultist, true bohemian. Her illustrations defined the iconography of the classic tarot deck, but she is all too often forgotten.Born in London in 1878, Pamela moved to Jamaica with her parents at the age of eleven and then to New York to study art. She dropped out of college following her mother's death in 1896, and after her father died in 1899 she found herself back in London, joining the infamous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society dedicated to the study of occultism. It was there that she met Arthur Edward Waite, with whom she created the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck that is still in print today.This beautifully illustrated graphic history tells the tale of Pamela's life and relates it to the iconic cards she helped to create, from the Fool, the beginning of every new adventure, to the Magician, who focusses energy, to the Hanged Man, who helps us see things from a different perspective, until finally we embrace the World and fulfil our destinies. With tarot expertise and a foreword from Lindsay Squire, The Witch of the Forest, this is a unique take on a perennially popular subject. You'll never look at a tarot deck in the same way again.
$24.99 $19.99
-
Magically Black and Other Essays
*** Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay****In this engaging follow up to How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, the recipient of PEN New England Award for nonfiction and finalist for the National Book Award sharply examines and explains Black life and culture with equal parts candor and humor.In Magically Black and Other Essays Jerald Walker elegantly blends personal revelation and cultural critique to create a bracing and often humorous examination of Black American life. He thoughtfully addresses the inherent complexities of topics as eclectic as incarceration, home renovations, gentrification, the crip walk, pimping, and the rise of the MAGA movement, approaching them through various Black perspectives, including husband, father, teacher, and writer. The collection's overarching theme is captured in the titular essay, which examines the culture of heroic action African Americans created in response to their enslavement and oppression, giving proof to Albert Murray's observation that the "fire in the forging process . . . for all its violence, does not destroy the metal that becomes the sword."
$29.99 $24.99
-
Turned On: A Creative's Guide to Awakening Presence, Pleasure, and Possibility
The world is imbued with a life force, a thrumming relational energy of creativity. That life force is Eros, and connecting with the erotic opens up a world full of possibility, sensuality, and creativity. For far too long we have relegated the erotic to the bedroom, when in reality it is a fundamental energy that helps us connect more deeply with ourselves, each other, the earth, and the creative potential within us. We also live in a world that equates our productivity with our worth, leaving us feeling overtaxed, exhausted, burned out, and completely disconnected from ourselves and others. In Turned On, artist and musician Brie Stoner redefines the erotic, stating that it is more than just human intimacy; it can be the antidote to feeling anxious, disconnected, and uninspired. By reframing Eros as the energy of life and creativity itself, Stoner invites us to reawaken presence, playfulness, and possibility as the gateways to transformation. Just as physical relationships are contingent upon the right context, good communication, and embodied presence, Stoner offers a similar contextual shift and the tools needed for us to access creativity through the body and in the present moment. Fittingly, she explores how the erotic has been minimized and misunderstood in modern life. She then offers practical applications of how an erotically enlivened life is a creatively fulfilling one, in which our relationships, parenting, work, and creativity flourish. For those of us who yearn for life to be more inspired, adventurous, and sensual, Turned On is our guide to relighting the spark within us.
$24.99 $19.99
-
Sailing Alone: A Surprising History of Isolation and Survival at Sea
2024 National Outdoor Book Award Silver Medal Winner "A masterfully curated collection...You don't have to be a sailor to be blown away by this fascinating, bighearted book." --Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea, Travels with George, and Second Wind A story as vast and exhilarating as the open ocean itself, SAILING ALONE chronicles the daring, disastrous, and often absurd history of those who chose to sail across the ocean, in very small boats, alone. Sailing by yourself, out of sight of land, can be invigorating and terrifying, compelling and tedious - and sometimes all of the above in one morning. But it is also a wide expanse of time in which to think. Sailing Alone tells the story of some of the remarkable people who, over the last four centuries, have spent weeks and months, moving slowly over the world's largest laboratory: a capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars, and countless sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening. Richard J. King profiles characters famous, diverse, international, and obscure, from Joshua Slocum of 1898 to modern teenagers daring to take the challenge. They see strange hallucinations, lie to us (and themselves) on their travel logs, encounter sharks, befriend birds, and experience ESP, all part of the unnerving reality of extended isolation. And some disappear altogether. Sailing Alone also recounts the author's own nearly catastrophic solo crossing of the Atlantic, and the mystery of his inexplicable survival one sunny afternoon. An enormously engaging new book for skippers and armchair voyagers alike.
$40.00 $35.00
-
China Men: National Book Award Winner
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER - The bestselling author of The Woman Warrior chronicles the lives of several generations of Chinese men in America, woven from memory, myth and fact. "A history at once savage and beautiful, a combination of bone-grinding reality and luminous fantasy."--The New Republic Maxine Hong Kingston's unforgettable imaginative journey into the hearts and minds of generations of Chinese men in America, from those who worked on the transcontinental railroad in the 1840s to those who fought in Vietnam. Mixing vivid fables and legends, personal stories from her own family, and details of the historical hardships faced by Chinese immigrants in different times and places, Kingston illuminates their long, arduous search for the Gold Mountain.
$23.00 $18.00
You have seen 1032 out of 1711 products