A New York Times Editors' ChoiceMost readers think they know Henry David Thoreau: the solitary curmudgeon with the shack out in the woods. In this delightfully engaging book, Robert Sullivan gives us the Thoreau we don't know: the gregarious adventurer, the guy who liked to go camping with friends ([...]
Named a Best Book of the Year by "The Wall Street Journal
"Americans tend to think of the Revolution as a Massachusetts-based event orchestrated by Virginians, but in fact the war took place mostly in the Middle Colonies--in New York and New Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania. In "My American Revo[...]
The author of Meadowlands and A Whale Hunt dispenses rat facts and entertaining rat stories, looks into the history of rats, and describes how, with the aid of a notebook and night-vision gear, he sat nightly in a garbage-filled alley getting to know the wild city rat. Reprint. 75,000 first printing[...]
This is a book of enticements or memories -or both. The things we remember best and longest are the lovely times on holiday with family or friends. That sublime afternoon on the secluded beach on Martha's Vineyard, or that unforgettable crimson sunset as seen from the top of Coppertop Mountain. That[...]
From Hoboken to Hollywood, Frank Sinatra was always a larger-than-life package of talent, charisma and controversy. Singers had been big before, but there had never been a sensation like the young Sinatra. He drove the women wild and lived a life of monumental drama and intrigue. He secured his stat[...]
Bobby Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota, relocated to New York City and precisely 50 years ago, set the world on fire. Having been personally re-imagined as Bob Dylan, he captured the hearts and minds of music lovers in lower Manhattan - and then everywhere. Some of his earlier songs like "Blowin' in [...]
He was the quiet Beatle only in that he was standing alongside two louder-than-life characters and in front of a guy playing drums. He held many strong opinions - on Beatlemania, on global want, on his right to privacy, on his God - and gave firm voice to most of them. But George Harrison was certai[...]
Did you know that Santa Claus returns to the North Pole 1,756 times during Christmas Eve? Or that he averages about 75 million miles over the course of 31 hours? Back in 1000 AD his sleigh was originally made of bone and ivory, but now it's entirely constructed of graphite and stainless steel, even [...]
We are living in a land rich with beauty and wonders. "Life" is fortunate that these stunning settings have attracted many of the country's - indeed, the world's - most talented scenic photographers. From the awe- inspiring work of Ansel Adams to the jaw-dropping photography of Galen Rowell to the s[...]
Sullivan tillbringade fyra årstider med anteckningsbok och mörkerseende kikare på jakt efter den stadsboende brunråttans själ. Han träffade skadedjurutrotare, sopåkare och stadsdelsaktivister som alla spelar en viktig roll i det uråldriga kriget mellan människa och råtta. Han fick kännedo[...]
First published in 1985, "Habits of the Heart" continues to be one of the most discussed interpretations of modern American society, a quest for a democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditions. In a new preface the authors relate the arguments of the book both to the [...]
"A creature from an alternative universe . . . wanting to understand what is on the American mind should rush to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy of this distinguished anthology . . . Exhilarating." -- "Publishers Weekly""The Best American Essays 2014" is selected and introduced by John Jeremiah[...]
On the 150th anniversary of the death of the English historian and politician Thomas Babington Macaulay, Robert Sullivan offers a portrait of a Victorian life that probes the cost of power, the practice of empire, and the impact of ideas. His "Macaulay" is a Janus-faced master of the universe: a pro[...]
Winner of the first John Newberry Medal, Hendrik Willem van Loon's The Story of Mankind, originally written for the author's grandchildren, has charmed generations with its warmth and wisdom. Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to illuminate all of history, van Loon's incom[...]