Liveright: 269 books

**A Boston Globe Best Book of 2015 A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Pick of 2015 Magisterial in scope, this dual biography examines two complex lives that began alike but ended on opposite sides of the century’s greatest conflict.** Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl, born less...

This “splendid biography” (Wall Street Journal) of Goethe presents his life and work as an essential touchstone for the modern age. A masterful intellectual portrait, Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is celebrated as the seminal twenty-first-century biography of the writer considered to be...

“An inventive, fast-paced look at what have become our modern shrines in a sports-obsessed society.”—Tom Verducci In this “addictive” (Publishers Weekly) romp, intrepid sportswriter Rafi Kohan finagles access to our most beloved fields to find out just what makes them tick: from old-timer...

This “suspenseful narrative history” (Maureen Corrigan, NPR) brings to life the momentous eclipse that enthralled a nation and thrust American science onto the world stage. On a scorching July afternoon in 1878, at the dawn of the Gilded Age, the moon’s shadow descended on the American...

A landmark and collectible volume—beautifully produced in duotone—that canonizes Frederick Douglass through historic photography. Commemorating the bicentennial of Frederick Douglass’s birthday and featuring images discovered since its original publication in 2015, this “tour de force”...

Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize Separating historical fact from fantasy, an acclaimed historian retells the story of Kishinev, a riot that transformed the course of twentieth-century Jewish history. So shattering were the aftereffects of Kishinev, the rampage that broke...

In this “incredibly rich” (New York Times) definitive history of the Bolshoi Ballet, visionary performances onstage compete with political machinations backstage. A critical triumph, Simon Morrison’s “sweeping and authoritative” (Guardian) work, Bolshoi Confidential, details the Bolshoi...

A remarkable account of a wildly artistic life, finally restored to its unexpurgated form, with a revealing new introduction by Joan Acocella. The visionary choreographer and dancer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) not only revolutionized dance in the twentieth century but blazed a path for other...

Matched only by Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, Paris France is a "fresh and sagacious" (The New Yorker) classic of prewar France and its unforgettable literary eminences. Celebrated for her innovative literary bravura, Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) settled into a bustling Paris at...

“Golway’s revisionist take is a useful reminder of the unmatched ingenuity of American politics.”—Wall Street Journal History casts Tammany Hall as shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft and patronage personified by notoriously crooked characters. In his groundbreaking work...

One Nation Under Gold examines the countervailing forces that have long since divided America—whether gold should be a repository of hope, or a damaging delusion that has long since derailed the rational investor. Worshipped by Tea Party politicians but loathed by sane economists, gold has...

“Evokes the fire of Redding. . . . Ribowsky tells the story with nonstop energy, while always probing for the larger social and musical pictures.” —New York Times Book Review When he died in one of rock's string of tragic plane crashes, Otis Redding was only twenty-six, yet already the...

"A compassionate yet clear-eyed" (Washington Post) portrait of country music’s founding father and "Hillbilly King." Mark Ribowsky’s Hank has been hailed as the "greatest biography yet" (Library Journal, starred review) of the beloved icon. Hank Williams, a...

“Fearlessly frank” and “unabashedly vulnerable” (Tracy K. Smith), Dorothea Lasky’s ROME confronts love and heartbreak in the modern world. Dorothea Lasky is one of the most talented American poets of her generation. With haunting lines that “recall Frank O’Hara and Allen Ginsberg”...