Books
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson
Why is it that so many Americans have not heard of John Dickinson? John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and Delaware was an early leader of the resistance to British rule in the American colonies. In fact, to many, he was the most prominent figure in the struggle for independence, though his Quaker-influenced opposition to violence kept him from signing one of its most famous documents in July 1776. Still, Dickinson, one of the wealthiest men in the colonies, did more to promote the cause behind it than almost anyone else, not only as the lead draftsman in all the national Congresses, but in his popular writing. His hugely influential Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania educated colonists about their rights and instructed them in how to defend those rights in non-violent ways. In essence he taught the colonists to think of themselves as Americans, united in a common cause. Despite his refusal to sign the Declaration of Independence, he continued to serve the nation in a number of capacities--in Congress, as governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania, as president of the Annapolis Convention, as delegate to the Federal Convention, and as president of the Delaware constitutional convention. Because of his close association with Quakerism, he also took stances unlike any other major figure of his day, making him among the first to advocate civil disobedience as a form of protest, freeing his slaves and embracing abolitionism, advocating rights for women, Indians, prisoners, and the poor. He nonetheless volunteered for active service in the Delaware militia during the War of Independence. Despite the key part he played in the country's founding, few Americans today have heard of John Dickinson. Early chroniclers and historians, seeking to create a patriotic narrative and taking their cues from his political enemies, cast him as a coward and Loyalist for not signing the Declaration. Many later historians have simply accepted and echoed this distorted and dismissive view. Jane Calvert's fascinating, authoritative, and accessible biography, the first complete account of Dickinson's life and work, restores him to a place of prominence in the nation's formative years.
$40.00 $35.00
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Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool
Vanishing Fleece is a fast-paced account of the year New York Times bestselling author Clara Parkes spent transforming a 676-pound bale of fleece into saleable yarn, and the people and vanishing industry she discovered along the way. Join Clara Parkes on a cross-country adventure and meet a cast of characters that includes the shepherds, dyers, and countless workers without whom our knitting needles would be empty, our mills idle, and our feet woefully cold. Travel the country with her as she meets a flock of Saxon Merino sheep in upstate New York, tours a scouring plant in Texas, visits a steamy Maine dyehouse, helps sort freshly shorn wool on a working farm, and learns how wool fleece is measured, baled, shipped, and turned into skeins. In pursuit of the perfect yarn, Parkes describes a brush with the dangers of opening a bale (they can explode), and her adventures from Maine to Wisconsin ("the most knitterly state") and back again; along the way, she presents a behind-the-scenes look at the spinners, scourers, genius inventors, and crazy-complex mill machines that populate the yarn-making industry. By the end of the book, you'll be ready to set aside the backyard chickens and add a flock of sheep instead. Simply put, no other book exists that explores American culture through the lens of wool. "While I laughed and loved Clara's prose, I was left with so much more. It's actually a lovely and melancholy look at an American industry that's quickly changing, and a beautiful story of the people who are sacrificing to maintain it." --Judy Greer, actor, director, and author of I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star
$20.99 $15.99
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Book of Life
Peter Kingsley's Book of Life is the culmination and completion of an extraordinary body of work. As a historian he has revolutionized our understanding of ancient philosophy and religion; as a mystic, he introduced us to what philosophy and religion are meant to be.Hauntingly personal, almost autobiographical, this is not the story of one man's life. It's the secret story of us all. Beyond scepticism and cynicism, belief or imagination, A Book of Life offers a roadmap to reality by showing how it still is possible to experience the sacred truths our ancestors knew and lived -- that inside every human being lies the universe and that life itself, in all its splendour, is what lies behind our tiny lives.This little book is a wide open door into the timeless magic and unfathomable mystery our modern world has managed to forget. Even so, to encourage anyone to read it now would be totally wrong -- because it was written to be read not by people today but in a distant future.
$44.95 $39.95
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Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China
"In vivid detail... examines the little-known history of two extraordinary dynasties."--The Boston Globe "Not just a brilliant, well-researched, and highly readable book about China's past, it also reveals the contingencies and ironic twists of fate in China's modern history."--LA Review of Books An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist The Sassoons and the Kadoories stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than one hundred seventy-five years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and nearly losing everything as the Communists swept into power. Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families ignited an economic boom and opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country's deep inequality and to the political turmoil on their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue, and survival.
$23.00 $18.00
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Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly's Truths from Jim Crow's Lies
Known worldwide as Lead Belly, Huddie Ledbetter (1889-1949) is an American icon whose influence on modern music was tremendous - as was, according to legend, the temper that landed him in two of the South's most brutal prisons, while his immense talent twice won him pardons. But, as this deeply researched book shows, these stories were shaped by the white folklorists who 'discovered' Lead Belly and, along with reporters, recording executives, and radio and film producers, introduced him to audiences beyond the South. Through a revelatory examination of arrest, trial, and prison records; sharecropping reports; oral histories; newspaper articles; and more, author Sheila Curran Bernard replaces myth with fact, offering a stunning indictment of systemic racism in the Jim Crow era of the United States and the power of narrative to erase and distort the past.
$32.95 $27.95
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