In the final decades of the nineteenth century, threebrilliant and visionary titans of America’s Gilded Age—ThomasEdison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse—battled bitterly aseach vied to create a vast and powerful electrical empire. InEmpires of Light, historian Jill Jonnes portrays this extraordinarytrio and their riveting and ruthless world of cutting-edge science,invention, intrigue, money, death, and hard-eyed Wall Streetmillionaires. At the heart of the story are Thomas Alva Edison, thenation’s most famous and folksy inventor, creator of theincandescent light bulb and mastermind of the world’s first directcurrent electrical light networks; the Serbian wizard of inventionNikola Tesla, elegant, highly eccentric, a dreamer whorevolutionized the generation and delivery of electricity; and thecharismatic George Westinghouse, Pittsburgh inventor and toughcorporate entrepreneur, an industrial idealist who in the era ofgaslight imagined a world powered by cheap and plentifulelectricity and

This original contribution to Indian history, focusing oncontemporary and largely indigenous documents, introduces a set ofconcepts for the analysis of late Mughal rule. More specifically itexamines the origins and development of the Maratha svardjya or'self-rule' within the context of declining Muslim power. It tracesthe expansion of Maratha dominion to a process of fitna, a policyof 'shifting alliances' which was recurrent in the wake of Muslimexpansion throughout its history. The book gives an interestingperspective on Hindu-Muslim relationships in the pre-British periodas well as on the nature of the Indo-Muslim state and its mostimportant successor polity, on its capacity for change anddevelopment in the intermediate sections of society, theland-tenurial system, the monetization of the economy, and on thefiscal system.

In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, justa black and perfect silence. Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke todiscover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as theirfamily members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile hadcrashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many weredead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those whoremained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feetabove sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help.They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches,and then the devastating news that the search for them had beencalled off. As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to hisfather, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolvedthat he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes,even though he was certain the effort would kill him, tellinghimself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to hi

The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspiredthe film October Sky, Rocket Boys is a uniquelyAmerican memoir--a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at thedawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of agroup of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outerspace . . . and who made those dreams come true. With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickampaints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia miningtown of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, whenanything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed itsmen alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and gettingout, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle oftriumph--at once exquisitely written and marvelouslyentertaining. Now with 8 pages of photographs.

An absolutely wonderful book. --Russell Baker "Rick Bragg writes like a man on fire. And All Over but theShoutin' is a work of art. While reading this book, I fell in lovewith Rick Bragg's mother, Margaret Bragg, a hundred times. I feltlike I was reading one of the prophets in the Old Testament whenreading parts of this book. I thought of Melville, I thought ofFaulkner. Because I love the English language, I knew I was readingone of the best books I've ever read. By explaining his life to theworld, Rick Bragg explained part of my life to me. You feel thingsin every line this man writes. His sentences bleed on you. I weptwhen the book ended. I never met Rick Bragg in my life, but Icalled him up and told him he'd written a masterpiece, and I sentflowers to his mother." --Pat Conroy "Searingly honest, beautifully written, All Over but the Shoutin'is perhaps the most courageous thing Pulitzer Prize-winningjournalist Rick Bragg has ever written. Making his reputation on

When the struggle to save oil-soaked birds and restoreblackened beaches left him feeling frustrated and helpless, JohnFrancis decided to take a more fundamental and personal stand—hestopped using all forms of motorized transportation. Soon afterembarking on this quest that would span two decades and twocontinents, he took a vow of silence that endured for 17 years. Itbegan as a silent environmental protest, but as a youngAfrican-American man, walking across the country in the early1970s, his idea of "the environment" expanded beyond concern aboutpollution and loss of habitat to include how we humans treat eachother and how we can better communicate and work together tobenefit the earth. Through his silence and walking, he learned to listen, and alongthe way, earned college and graduate degrees in science andenvironmental studies. An amazing human-interest story with a vitalmessage, Planetwalker is also an engaging coming-of-agepilgrimage.

Book De*ion From Haruki Murakami, internationally acclaimed author of TheWind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood, a work of literaryjournalism that is as fascinating as it is necessary, asprovocative as it is profound. In March of 1995, agents of a Japanese religious cult attacked theTokyo subway system with sarin, a gas twenty-six times as deadly ascyanide. Attempting to discover why, Murakami conducted hundreds ofinterviews with the people involved, from the survivors to theperpetrators to the relatives of those who died, and Underground istheir story in their own voices. Concerned with the fundamentalissues that led to the attack as well as these personal accounts,Underground is a document of what happened in Tokyo as well as awarning of what could happen anywhere. This is an enthralling andunique work of nonfiction that is timely and vital and aswonderfully executed as Murakami’s brilliant novels. From Publishers Weekly On March 20, 1995, followers of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyounleashed

An excellent,reassuring book for women and their partners. It carries the womanalong step-by-step in the rediscovery of her own sexuality and thepleasure it will bring her. Liberated or not, single or married,young or old, all women will find this book accessible andsupportive.

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller For the first time, rock music’s most famous muse tells herincredible story Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton,finally breaks a forty-year silence and tells the story of how shefound herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuousmusical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the mostlegendary muse in the history of rock and roll. The woman whoinspired Harrison’s song “Something” and Clapton’s anthem “Layla,”Pattie Boyd has written a book that is rich and raw, funny andheartbreaking–and totally honest.

The most riveting political biography of our time, Robert A.Caro’s life of Lyndon B. Johnson, continues. Master of theSenate takes Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkableperiods: his twelve years, from 1949 through 1960, in the UnitedStates Senate. Once the most august and revered body in politics,by the time Johnson arrived the Senate had become a parody ofitself and an obstacle that for decades had blocked desperatelyneeded liberal legislation. Caro shows how Johnson’s brilliance,charm, and ruthlessness enabled him to become the youngest and mostpowerful Majority Leader in history and how he used hisincomparable legislative genius--seducing both Northern liberalsand Southern conservatives--to pass the first Civil Rightslegislation since Reconstruction. Brilliantly weaving rich detailinto a gripping narrative, Caro gives us both a galvanizingportrait of Johnson himself and a definitive and revelatory studyof the workings of legislative power.

在线阅读本书 Women make up almost half of today's labor force, but in corporateAmerica they don't share half of the power. Only four of the Fortune 500 company CEOs are women, and it's only been inthe last few years that even half of the Fortune 500companies have more than one female officer. A major reason for this? Most women were never taught how to playthe game of business. Throughout her career in the supercompetitive, male-dominated mediaindustry, Gail Evans, one of the country's most powerfulexecutives, has met innumerable women who tell her that they feellost in the workplace, almost as if they were playing a gamewithout knowing the directions. She tells them that's exactly the case: Business is indeed a game,and like any game, there are rules to playing well. For the mostpart, Gail has discovered, women don't know them. Men know these rules because they wrote them, but women oftenfeel shut out of the process because they don't know when to speakup, when to ask for responsibi