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1776

Draws on personal correspondence and period diaries to present a history of the American Revolution that ranges from the siege of Boston, to the American defeat at Brooklyn and retreat across New Jersey, to the American victory at Trenton.

The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.

Alexander

For nearly two and a half millennia, Alexander the Great has loomed over history as a legend–and an enigma. Wounded repeatedly but always triumphant in battle, he conquered most of the known world, only to die mysteriously at the age of thirty-two.

The Dogs of God

From historian James Reston, Jr., comes a riveting account of the pivotal events of 1492, a year when towering political ambitions, horrific religious excesses, and a drive toward adventure and conquest changed the world forever. The Dogs of God chronicles one of the most savage epochs in human history, the years of the Spanish Inquisition.

Columbus in the Americas

Based on the logbook of Columbus and numerous other firsthand accounts of his four voyages to the New World, this vividly detailed history also examines the strengths and weaknesses of Columbus as a navigator, explorer, and leader. It recounts dramatic events such as the destruction of Fortress Navidad, the very first European settlement in the New World; a pitched battle in northern Panama with the native Guaymi people; and an agonizing year Columbus and his men spent marooned on a narrow spit of land in southern Jamaica.

The Age of Scurvy

During the Age of Sail, Scurvy was responsible for more deaths at sea than war, piracy, storms and shipwreck combined. For centuries the scourge of the seas was treated with ineffective remedies like oil of vitriol, bloodletting, seawater and wort of malt, and countless mariners suffered an agonising death.

Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age

Heroes of History is a book of wisdom and optimism, complete with Pulitzer Prize-winner Will Durant's wit and ability to explain events and ideas in simple, exciting terms. Here are the lessons of our heritage passed on for the benefit of future generations - a fitting legacy from America's most beloved historian and philosopher.

Return of the Black Death: The World's Greatest Serial Killer

If the twenty-first century seems an unlikely stage for the return of a 14th-century killer, the authors of Return of the Black Death argue that the plague, which vanquished half of Europe, has only lain dormant, waiting to emerge again-perhaps, in another form. At the heart of their chilling scenario is their contention that the plague was spread by direct human contact (not from rat fleas) and was, in fact, a virus perhaps similar to AIDS and Ebola. Noting the periodic occurrence of plagues throughout history, the authors predict its inevitable re-emergence sometime in the future, transformed by mass mobility and bioterrorism into an even more devastating killer.

Skeletons On the Zahara: A True Story of Survival

In 1815, twelve American sailors washed up on the shore of North Africa. Captured and sold into slavery, they were then dragged along on an insane journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara - a region no Westerners had ever explored. Rain was expected once every six years and it was so hot that cadavers naturally mummified. Along the way the Americans would encounter everything that could possibly test them: barbarism, murder, starvation, death, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on armies of camels.

Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason

The first book to focus on one of the most sensational treason trials in American history The subject of several popular books, including Gore Vidal's bestselling novel, Aaron Burr remains one of the most compelling figures in United States history. Remembered as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, Burr served as vice president, from 1800 to 1804, and before that, had gained a national reputation as a brilliant attorney.