History
A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders
Surprising Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps
by Jonn Elledge
Paper Over Boards | $24.95 US / $32.95 CAN

People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or … Continue reading

A Pocket History of Human Evolution
How We Became Sapiens
by Silvana Condemi, François Savatier
Paperback | $14.95 US / $19.95 CAN

Prehistory has never been more exciting: New discoveries are overturning long-held theories left and right. Stone tools in Australia date back 65,000 years—a time when, we once thought, the first Sapiens had barely left Africa. DNA sequencing has unearthed a … Continue reading

Hitler’s Boy Soldiers
How My Father’s Generation Was Trained to Kill and Sent to Die for Germany
by Helene Munson
Hardcover | $27.95 US / $36.50 CAN

When Helene Munson finally reads her father, Hans Dunker’s, wartime journal, she discovers secrets he kept buried for seven decades. This is no ordinary historical document but a personal account of devastating trauma. During World War II, the Nazis trained … Continue reading

How Would You Like Your Mammoth?
12,000 Years of Culinary History in 50 Bite-Size Essays
by Uta Seeburg, Max Miller (Foreword)
Paper Over Board | $19.95 US / $25.95 CAN

Did you know that ancient Egyptians mummified beef ribs for their dearly departed to enjoy in the afterlife? That Roman gladiators were relegated to a vegan diet of grains and beans? That the fast-food hamburger was a result of a … Continue reading

Memories of My Life in a Polish Village, 1930–1949
by Toby Knobel Fluek, Rakhmiel Peltz (Foreword)
Paper Over Boards | $24.95 US / $32.95 CAN

In her own words and with her own beautiful paintings and drawings, artist Toby Knobel Fluek (1926–2011) lovingly unfurls a unique view of Jewish life. She introduces us to her village, to her family, to the people among whom they … Continue reading

Modern
Genius, Madness, and One Tumultuous Decade That Changed Art Forever
by Philip Hook
Hardcover | $35.00 US / $45.00 CAN

Modern begins on a specific day—March 22, 1905—at a specific place: the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, where works of art we recognize as modern were first exhibited. Drawing on his forty five-year fine art career, author Philip Hook illuminates … Continue reading

Much Ado About Numbers
Shakespeare’s Mathematical Life and Times
by Rob Eastaway
Paper Over Boards | $19.95 US / $25.95 CAN

Books on Shakespeare are plentiful, but until now there has never been a book written for a general audience about math and science in Shakespeare’s time and how they influenced his works. Shakespeare grew up in a time of remarkable … Continue reading

Nineteen Reservoirs
On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
by Lucy Sante, Tim Davis (Photographs)
Paperback | $19.95 US / $25.95 CAN

From 1907 to 1967, a network of reservoirs and aqueducts was built across more than one million acres in upstate New York, including Greene, Delaware, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. This feat of engineering served to meet New York City’s ever-increasing … Continue reading

Nineteen Reservoirs
On Their Creation and the Promise of Water for New York City
by Lucy Sante, Tim Davis (Photographs)
Hardcover | $24.95 US / $32.95 CAN

From 1907 to 1967, a network of reservoirs and aqueducts was built across more than one million acres in upstate New York, including Greene, Delaware, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. This feat of engineering served to meet New York City’s ever-increasing need … Continue reading

Retracing the Iron Curtain
A 3,000-Mile Journey Through the End and Afterlife of the Cold War
by Timothy Phillips
Hardcover | $30 US / $39 CAN

Initially a victory line where Allies met at the end of World War Two, the Iron Curtain quickly became the front of a new kind of war. It divided Europe from north to south for a staggering forty-five years. Crossing … Continue reading

The Feldafing Boys
Uncovering My Father’s Stolen Childhood at an Elite Nazi School
by Helene Munson
Paperback | $18.95 US / $24.95 CAN

When Helene Munson finally reads her father, Hans Dunker’s, wartime journal, she discovers secrets he kept buried for seven decades. This is no ordinary historical document but a personal account of devastating trauma. During World War II, the Nazis trained … Continue reading

The Shortest History of China
From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower—A Retelling for Our Times
by Linda Jaivin
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

As we enter the “Asian century,” China demands our attention for being an economic powerhouse, a beacon of rapid modernization, and an assertive geopolitical player. To understand the nation behind the headlines, we must take in its vibrant, tumultuous past—a … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Democracy
4,000 Years of Self-Government—A Retelling for Our Times
by John Keane
Paperback | $15.95 US / $21.00 CAN

This compact history unspools the tumultuous global story that began with democracy’s radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own futures. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane traces how this concept emerged and evolved, from the earliest … Continue reading

The Shortest History of England
Empire and Division from the Anglo-Saxons to Brexit—A Retelling for Our Times
by James Hawes
Paperback | $15.95 US / $21.00 CAN

England—begetter of parliaments and globe-spanning empires, star of beloved period dramas, and home of the House of Windsor—is not quite the stalwart island fortress that many of us imagine. Riven by an ancient fault line that predates even the Romans, … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Eugenics
From “Science” to Atrocity—How a Dangerous Movement Shaped the World, and Why It Persists
by Erik L. Peterson
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

For the last two centuries, groups of influential men have, in the professed interest of fiscal responsibility, crime reduction, and outright racism, attempted to control who was allowed to bear children. Their efforts, “eugenics,” characterize a movement that over the … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Europe
How Conquest, Culture, and Religion Forged a Continent—A Retelling for Our Times
by John Hirst
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

Propelled by a thesis of startling simplicity, celebrated historian John Hirst’s fast-paced account of the making of modern Europe—from Ancient Greece to today—illuminates the continent as never before. Just three elements—German warrior culture, Greek and Roman learning, and Christianity—account for … Continue reading

The Shortest History of France
From Roman Gaul to Revolution and Cultural Radiance—A Global Story for Our Times
by Colin Jones
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

France attracts more travelers from around the globe than any other destination, thanks to its unsurpassed cultural and historical riches. Gothic architecture, Louis XIV opulence, revolutionary spirit, café society, haute cuisine and couture . . . what could be more … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Germany
From Roman Frontier to the Heart of Europe—A Retelling for Our Times
by James Hawes
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

A country both admired and feared, Germany has been the epicenter of world events time and again: the Reformation, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It did not emerge as a modern nation until 1871—yet today, Germany … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Greece
The Odyssey of a Nation from Myth to Modernity
by James Heneage
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from … Continue reading

The Shortest History of India
From the World's Oldest Civilization to Its Largest Democracy—A Retelling for Our Times
by John Zubrzycki
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

India—a cradle of civilization with five millennia of history, a country of immense consequence and contradiction—often defies ready understanding. What holds its people together—across its many cultures, races, languages, and creeds—and how has India evolved into the liberal democracy it … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine
From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace
by Michael Scott-Baumann
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

The ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine is one of the most bitter conflicts in history, with profound global consequences. In this book, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann succinctly describes its origins and charts its evolution from civil war to … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Italy
3,000 Years from the Romans to the Renaissance to a Modern Republic—A Retelling for Our Times
by Ross King
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

The calendar. The Senate. The university. The piano, the heliocentric model, and the pizzeria. It’s hard to imagine a world without Italian influence—and easy to assume that inventions like these could only come from a strong, stable peninsula, sure of … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Japan
From Mythical Origins to Pop Culture Powerhouse—The Global Drama of an Ancient Island Nation
by Lesley Downer
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

Zen, haiku, martial arts, sushi, anime, manga, film, video games . . . Japanese culture has long enriched our Western way of life. Yet from a Western perspective, Japan remains a remote island country that has long had a complicated … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Our Universe
The Unlikely Journey from the Big Bang to Us
by David Baker, John Green (Foreword)
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

In this thrilling history, David Baker captures the longest-possible time span—from the Big Bang to the present day—in an astonishingly concise retelling. His impressive timeline includes the “rise of complexity” in the cosmos and the creation of the first atoms; … Continue reading

The Shortest History of Sex
Two Billion Years of Procreation and Recreation
by David Baker, Simon Whistler (Foreword)
Paperback | $16.95 US / $21.95 CAN

From the first microbial exchanges of DNA to Tinder and sexbots, how did sex begin, and how did it evolve to be so varied and complex in humans? What influence do our genetic ancestors have on our current love lives? … Continue reading

The Shortest History of War
From Hunter-Gatherers to Nuclear Superpowers—A Retelling for Our Times
by Gwynne Dyer
Paperback | $15.95 US

War has changed, but we have not. From our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the rival nuclear powers of today, whenever resources have been contested, we’ve gone to battle. Acclaimed historian Gwynne Dyer illuminates our many martial clashes in this brisk account, tracing … Continue reading

Too Big for a Single Mind
How the Greatest Generation of Physicists Uncovered the Quantum World
by Tobias Hürter
Paperback | $18.95 US / $24.95 CAN

There may never be another era of science like the first half of the twentieth century, when a peerless cast of physicists—Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, and others—came together to uncover the quantum world, a concept so … Continue reading

Too Big for a Single Mind
How the Greatest Generation of Physicists Uncovered the Quantum World
by Tobias Hürter
Hardcover | $30 US / $39 CAN

There may never be another era of science like the first half of the twentieth century, when a peerless cast of physicists—Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, and others—came together to uncover … Continue reading

Vagabonds
Life on the Streets of Nineteenth-Century London
by Oskar Jensen
Paperback | $18.95 US / $24.95 CAN

London, 1857: A pair of teenage girls holding a sign that says “Fugitive Slaves” ask for money on the corner of Blackman Street. After a constable accosts them and charges them with begging, they end up in court, where national … Continue reading