Higher Worlds

This book is about four cornerstones of modern thought that were put in place by people living in the ancient Mediterranean world. It covers approximately 2,000 years in time (from ca. 1000 BCE to 1000 CE) and spatially moves from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia (roughly, modern Iraq), through Greece and Rome, to the new Germanic states growing in what is now western Europe.

The planet is gripped in a state of frenzied panic as Vesta, an asteroid of apocalyptic proportions, is on a direct collision course with Earth. There is no place to hide. There is no way to stop it. When the countdown to oblivion begins, the doomsday clock's persistence poisons people's minds. Humanity becomes feral. Rain, a 16-year-old from Maine, watches in horror as her peaceful, coastal town descends into cataclysmic chaos. Hysteria mounts, civility vanishes, and no one is safe. Just when Rain thinks things can't get any worse, a new nightmare reveals itself: she may be descended from ...

Are you brave enough to face a free fall from over 400 feet in the air? If the mere thought of a heart-pounding drop makes your palms sweat, you’ll love diving into 25 Extreme Drop Tower Rides — the ultimate guide to the tallest, fastest, and most terrifying vertical thrills on Earth! Besides your roller coasters, carousels, and Ferris wheels, a staple attraction of any major amusement park is the drop tower ride. While common today, these freefall attractions don’t have a long, hundred-year history like the roller coaster or amusement park. The first tower rides didn’t appear until...

At 27, magician Natalie Webb is already a has-been. Shunned by the magic world after a disastrous liaison with an older magician, she now lives alone with her pigeons and a pile of overdue bills in a New Jersey apartment. In a desperate ploy to make extra cash, she follows up on an old offer to write a feature magazine article - on the art of cheating at cards. In the process, Natalie is dazzled by a poker cheat's sleight of hand and soon finds herself facing a proposition - to help pull off a $1.5 million magic trick that, if done successfully, no one will ever even suspect happened.

Ever since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, scientists have dreamed of preventing catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease. Yet despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise, inciting panic and dominating news cycles. From the Spanish flu to the 1924 outbreak of pneumonic plague in Los Angeles to the 1930 "parrot fever" pandemic, through the more recent SARS, Ebola, and Zika epidemics, the last one hundred years have been marked by a succession of unanticipated pandemic alarms.

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is a world-renowned scholar, professor of history and geography at Queen Mary, University of London, and a member of the Faculty of Modern History of Oxford University. The Americas, part of the acclaimed Modern Library Chronicles series, offers an intriguing history of the world's western hemisphere.

Evolutions brings to life the latest scientific thinking on the birth of the universe and the solar system, the journey from a single cell all the way to our human minds. Reawakening our sense of wonder and terror at the world around us and within us, Oren Harman uses modern science to create new and original mythologies.

The Kettlebell-Lover’s Primer for Rapid Physical Transformation and Peak Athletic Performance… When Dragon Door originated the modern kettlebell movement in 2001, it was love-at-first-sight for millions of fitness enthusiasts worldwide. This almost magical “gym-in-the-palm-of-your-hand” can deliver spectacular results--be it in strength, conditioning, power or movement quality. The health-strength benefits of vigorous, dedicated, skilled exercise with kettlebells can indeed be off-the-charts. But note the all-important word “skill”. Because without the proper know-how, the ...

Overlooking the Border continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the city since the decline of the peace process and the second intifada. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets, and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged narratives about belonging and rights to place.

Centered in the Dordogne region of Southwestern France, one of Europe's most concentrated regions for Neandertal and early modern human occupations, writer Beebe Bahrami follows and participates in the work of archaeologists who are doing some of the most comprehensive and global work to date on the research, exploration, and recovery of our ancient ancestors. From this prehistoric perch, Bahrami gets to know firsthand the Neandertals and the people who love them.

Long before their country officially joined the war, American aid workers were active in rescue efforts across Europe. Two such Americans were Martha and Waitstill Sharp, who were originally sent to Prague as part of a relief effort but turned immediately to helping Jews and dissidents after the 1939 invasion by Germany. They were not the only ones. Renowned historian Debórah Dwork follows the story of rescue workers in five major cities as the refugee crisis expanded to Vilna, Shanghai, Marseille, and Lisbon. Followed by Nazi agents, spiriting people across borders, they learned secrecy.

In August 1914, renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 set sail for the South Atlantic in pursuit of the last unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. They came with in eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped fast in the ice pack, and the crew was stranded on the floes.

The murder of a young Tibetan nun at the hands of Chinese border guards at the rooftop of the world offers a unique parable for the tale of modern Tibet. Chinese police are instructed to take any measures necessary to protect the border of Tibet. When a group of climbers witness the murder of a young Tibetan nun who is fleeing to India, two men have a choice: turn a blind eye and preserve their climbing careers or alert the world to the grand scale of human injustice played out daily in Tibet.

A shipwreck on an isolated island. No food. No comforts. And only one player wins. Jack’s back, and in the thrilling conclusion to the End-User Jack series, his nemesis Mr. Smiley has thrown him into the deadliest contest yet. He’s up against a new game set in an unforgiving wilderness against a dozen adversaries competing to be the last player standing. But Jack is here to bring it all down. If he doesn’t defeat the game’s mad host, the tower will fall. It’s a final collision between the virtual and real as Jack fights to uncover Starvation Island’s biggest secret—the ...

A battle rages for the heart and soul of America. For one group, the idea of "American Exceptionalism" is dead. Some never tire of lecturing us about how out of step America is with the rest of the world and how the country needs to get with it. Worse, America, they say, is bad for the world. Its freedom and prosperity are merely historical accidents.

Why Most Coaches Stay Broke While a Select Few Get Rich (The Truth No One Tells You) Let’s cut to the chase. Most coaches never make real money. They work long hours, get nickel-and-dimed by clients, and struggle to stand out in an industry that’s saturated with cheap, mediocre competition. The problem? They have zero positioning and no authority—so they’re treated like a commodity. That ends today. Magic Leone was once one of the struggling ones—ignored, dismissed, laughed at. He started with no money, no connections, no credibility. Yet today, he’s one of the highest-paid ...

1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain. To safeguard the Crown Jewels from the Nazis, Winston Churchill devises a daring gamble to have them shipped overseas. The priceless artifacts will be secretly removed from the Tower of London and driven north to Scotland by two operatives posing as a young married couple, to be taken from there to Canada.

The People First Effect is a business fable about CEO Dan Burton. Dan has successfully led his company out of the 2008 recession and sees his organization moving back toward sustainable growth - only to learn that his company has been sold to a foreign investor.

Set in an upper-middle-class Tel Aviv apartment building, this best-selling and warmly acclaimed Israeli novel examines the interconnected lives of its residents, whose turmoils, secrets, unreliable confessions, and problematic decisions reveal a society in the midst of an identity crisis.

A livewire debut from Dantiel W. Moniz, one of the most exciting discoveries in today's literary landscape, Milk Blood Heat depicts the sultry lives of Floridians in intergenerational tales that contemplate human connection, race, womanhood, inheritance, and the elemental darkness in us all. Set among the cities and suburbs of Florida, each story delves into the ordinary worlds of young girls, women, and men who find themselves confronted by extraordinary moments of violent personal reckoning.