In this landmark work of natural history, a journalist tells the epic story of the Mississippi River and the centuries of efforts to control it, which have damaged its once-vibrant ecosystems, carrying readers along the river's last remaining backchannels and exploring how scientists hope to restore what has been lost. A sweeping history of the Mississippi River―and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America. The...

"Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays's catch, Babe Ruth's called shot, and Kirk Gibson's limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes, the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar, and every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is...

"The New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls reveals the untold story of how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, a sweeping story of a "sisterhood" of women spies spanning three generations who broke the glass ceiling, helped transform spycraft, and tracked down Osama Bin Laden. Upon its creation in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency instantly became one of the most important spy services in the world. Like every male-dominated...

"A Place Called America takes the long view of the land's history from its earliest formation and inhabitants up through today. Meet those indigenous to the deserts, prairies, forests, and shores of the land called Turtle Island and their relatives who contributed to World War II and whose ideas founded the basis of the Constitution. Meet immigrant communities, who came to the land from all around the world-at different times and against all odds,...

"From historian and author of the popular daily newsletter LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN, a vital narrative that explains how America, once a beacon of democracy, now teeters on the brink of autocracy--and how we can turn back. In the midst of the impeachment crisis of 2019, Heather Cox Richardson launched a daily Facebook essay providing the historical background of the daily torrent of news. The essays soon turned into a newsletter and, spread by word...

From Philip IV of France's persecution of the Knights Templar in the fourteenth century to the troubled lives of Monaco's current royal family and from the Norman invasion to Windsor family feuds, Kings & Queens reveals the scandals, secrets, and sadness behind continental Europe's monarchies, including: Monaco: The "fairytale" wedding and marriage of Grace Kelly to Prince Ranier III that kep rumor mongers and the press well fed with gossip, innuendo,...

"When the application for a new sedative called Kevadon--commonly known as thalidomide--landed on Frances Kelsey's desk at the FDA in 1960, it seemed destined to sail through the review process. The drug, billed as entirely risk-free, was already being sold in forty-six countries. But when Kelsey learned that the drug caused terrible birth defects, she and a team of dedicated doctors, parents, and journalists fought Merrell, the drug's American manufacturer,...

"When veteran war reporter Benjamin Hall woke up in Kyiv on the morning of March 14, 2022, he had no idea that, within hours, Russian bombs would nearly end his life. As a journalist for Fox News, Hall had worked in dangerous war zones like Syria and Afghanistan, but with three young daughters at home, life on the edge was supposed to be a thing of the past. Yet when Russia viciously attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Hall quickly volunteered to go....

Provides detail on the lives, dress, and food of more than thirty-five soldiers from Roman times through World War II.

The first full-scale biography of the "father of the atomic bomb," the brilliant, charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the fire of the sun for his country in time of war. After Hiroshima, he became the most famous scientist of his generation--an icon of modern man confronting the consequences of scientific progress. He created a radical proposal to place international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen...