Basic Books: 1466 books
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces
Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time
Language: English
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Six lectures, all regarding the most revolutionary discovery in twentieth-century physics: Einstein's Theory of Relativity. No one--not even Einstein himself--explained these difficult, anti-intuitive concepts more clearly, or with more verve and gusto, than Feynman.
Quantum Mechanics
The Theoretical Minimum
Language: English
Release Date: February 25, 2014
From the bestselling author of The Theoretical Minimum, a DIY introduction to the math and science of quantum mechanics.
First he taught you classical mechanics. Now, physicist Leonard Susskind has teamed up with data engineer Art Friedman to present the theory and associated mathematics of...
Luther's Fortress
Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege
Language: English
Release Date: May 5, 2015
In 1521, the Catholic Church declared war on Martin Luther. The German monk had already been excommunicated the year before, after nailing his Ninety-Five Theses-which accused the Church of rampant corruption-to the door of a Saxon church. Now, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V called for Luther to...
by Amy Knight
Language: English
Release Date: August 24, 2007
Language: English
Release Date: August 24, 2007
On September 5, 1945, Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko severed ties with his embassy in Ottawa, Canada, reporting allegations to authorities of a Soviet espionage network in North America. His defection - the first following the end of WWII, occurring less than a month after atomic bombs exploded...
Churchill's Secret War
The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II
Language: English
Release Date: August 10, 2010
A dogged enemy of Hitler, resolute ally of the Americans, and inspiring leader through World War II, Winston Churchill is venerated as one of the truly great statesmen of the last century. But while he has been widely extolled for his achievements, parts of Churchill’s record have gone woefully...
Rothstein
The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series
Language: English
Release Date: September 13, 2011
History remembers Arnold Rothstein as the man who fixed the 1919 World Series, an underworld genius. The real-life model for The Great Gatsby's Meyer Wolfsheim and Nathan Detroit from Guys and Dolls, Rothstein was much more-and less-than a fixer of baseball games. He was everything that made 1920s...
Oskar Schindler
The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activites, and the True Story Behind the List
Language: English
Release Date: August 1, 2007
Spy, businessman, bon vivant, Nazi Party member, Righteous Gentile. This was Oskar Schindler, the controversial savior of almost 12,000 Jews during the Holocaust who struggled afterwards to rebuild his life and gain international recognition for his wartime deeds. Author David Crowe examines every...
A Conspiracy Of Decency
The Rescue Of The Danish Jews During World War II
Language: English
Release Date: April 20, 2009
The people of Denmark managed to save almost their country's entire Jewish population from extinction in a spontaneous act of humanity one of the most compelling stories of moral courage in the history of World War II. Drawing on many personal accounts, Emmy Werner tells the story of the rescue...
Phantom Terror
Political Paranoia and the Creation of the Modern State, 1789-1848
Language: English
Release Date: February 10, 2015
For the ruling and propertied classes of the late eighteenth century, the years following the French Revolution were characterized by intense anxiety. Monarchs and their courtiers lived in constant fear of rebellion, convinced that their power-and their heads-were at risk. Driven by paranoia, they...
Water
A Natural History
Language: English
Release Date: August 6, 2008
An environmental engineer turned ecology writer relates the history of our waterways and her own growing understanding of why our waterways continue to be polluted-and what needs to be done to save this essential natural resourse.Water: A Natural History takes us back to the diaries of the first Western...
Brazil
The Fortunes of War
Language: English
Release Date: June 3, 2014
In 1939, Brazil seemed a world away from the chaos overtaking Europe. Yet despite its bucolic reputation as a distant land of palm trees and pristine beaches, Brazil’s natural resources and proximity to the United States made it strategically invaluable to both the Allies and the Axis alike. As...
The Last Empire
The Final Days of the Soviet Union
Language: English
Release Date: September 8, 2015
"A stirring account of an extraordinary moment." --Wall Street Journal
On Christmas Day, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to celebrate what he described as a historic American victory: Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation as Soviet prime minister and the subsequent...
The Fair Chase
The Epic Story of Hunting in America
Language: English
Release Date: May 1, 2018
An award-winning historian tells the story of hunting in America, showing how this sport has shaped our national identity.
From Daniel Boone to Teddy Roosevelt, hunting is one of America's most sacred-but also most fraught-traditions. It was promoted in the 19th century as a way to reconnect...
Cleopatra
Last Queen of Egypt
Language: English
Release Date: August 5, 2008
The Romans regarded her as fatale monstrum”-a fatal omen. Pascal said the shape of her nose changed the history of the world. Shakespeare portrayed her as an icon of tragic love. But who was Cleopatra, really?
We almost feel that we know Cleopatra, but our distorted image of a self-destructive...