On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and, on behalf of 68 million compatriots, announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after World War II. In this vivid history, renowned scholar and celebrated author of Congo David Van Reybrouck captures...

"This history is a culinary romp through 50 dishes that shaped humanity-from prehistoric roasted mammoth to space-age dehydrated soup"--

Hawaii, 1941. War clouds with Japan are gathering and the islands of Hawaii have become battlegrounds of spies, intelligence agents, and military officials-with the island's residents caught between them. Toiling in the shadows are Douglas Wada, the only Japanese American agent in naval intelligence, and Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy sent to Pearl Harbor to gather information on the U.S. fleet. Douglas Wada's experiences in his native Honolulu...

"This book offers the first full account of Harriet Tubman's Civil War service and the Combahee River Raid. It details how Tubman commanded a ring of spies, scouts, and pilots and participated in military expeditions behind Confederate lines. It also recounts the story of enslaved families living in bondage and fighting for their freedom, using their own distinct and individual voices. The book uses more than 175 US Civil War pension files of the...

Drawing on eye-witness accounts from Beatlemaniacs, journalists, broadcasters and TV producers, this captivating book recounts the Beatles' musical transformation throughout the pivotal year of 1963 and its far-reaching cultural impact as the world watched them go from the bottom of the bill to the biggest band on the planet.

The story of one of Savannah's first and most prominent Jewish families, the son who died on the battlefield, and the house that remembers it all. Gratz Cohen's ghost seemed to haunt the apartment as its new owner worked to bring it back to life. As the work progressed, Jason Friedman became obsessed with understanding who the Cohens were, and how their story fit into existing narratives about the Jewish South and the Civil War. Liberty Street: A...

This title highlights major destinations within Italy and the people who shape the nation's culture. Readers will learn about the geography, wildlife, history, people, and economy of Italy, gaining an understanding of what life looks like in the country today.

A Dusty Tomes Audio BookIn Cooperation with Spoken Realms History of the American Frontier 1763-1893 by Frederic L. Paxson, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. Houghton Mifflin Company 1924. Pulitzer Prizewinner in History, 1925. The prize-winning History of the American Frontier, 1763-1893 covers a very wide sweep of topics, with unusual strength in handling violent relations between the frontiersman and the Indians. Paxson emphasized...

"Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names--businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else: a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by the imperious Judge Samuel Seabury,...

"Herod the Great (73–4 BCE) was a phenomenally energetic ruler who took advantage of the chaos of the Roman revolution to establish himself as a major figure in a changing Roman world and transform the landscape of Judaea. Both Jews and Christians developed myths about his cruelty and rashness: in Christian tradition he was cast as the tyrant who ordered the Massacre of the Innocents; in the Talmud, despite fond memories of his glorious Temple in...