An investigative journalist explores our world on the brink ofrunning out of usable water. Less than .0008 percent of the total water on Earth is fit forhuman consumption, but global consumption of fresh water isdoubling every twenty years. Water has become perhaps our mostprecious commodity-a life-sustaining but increasingly rare andprivatized resource. A dramatic gap exists between those who haveadequate water for survival and those who don't, and tensions overwater in some areas of the world hover just below open war. From Europe to Asia to Africa to America, Jeffrey Rothfeder hasvisited the world's hot spots, those with the least amount ofwater, as well as places where there is so much of it that plansare in the works to sell the excess to the highest bidder. In thiscompelling narrative account of our world in turmoil over water,Rothfeder describes the issues and struggles of the people on allsides of the water crisis: from the scarred survivors of bizarrewater-management practices, to

In 1969, Mark Edmundson was a typical high school senior inworking-class Medford, Massachusetts. He loved football, disdainedschoolwork, and seemed headed for a factory job in hishometown—until a maverick philosophy teacher turned his lifearound. When Frank Lears, a small, nervous man wearing a moth-eaten suit,arrived at Medford fresh from Harvard University, his studentspegged him as an easy target. Lears was unfazed by their spitballsand classroom antics. He shook things up, trading tired textbooksfor Kesey and Camus, and provoking his class with questions aboutauthority, conformity, civil rights, and the Vietnam War. Herearranged seats and joined in a ferocious snowball fight withEdmundson and his football crew. Lears’s impassioned attempts toget these kids to think for themselves provided Mark Edmundson withexactly the push he needed to break away from the lockstep life ofMedford High. Written with verve and candor, Teacher isEdmundson’s heartfelt tribute to the man who changed the course ofhis

If the thought of bacteria conjures images of germs thatshould be avoided at all costs—and certainly not ingested—thinkagain! Some friendly bacteria, called probiotics, are not onlybeneficial to your health, they’re essential. Now aninternationally recognized scientist at a top U.S. medicalschool—one of the leading researchers in the field—sheds light onthe extraordinary benefits of these natural healthsuperstars. Thanks to an explosion of research in recent years, one thing isclear: probiotics, the healthy bacteria that inhabit the digestivetract, are the body’s silent partners for good health, optimizingthe power of the immune system to fight disease and the “bad” germswe fear. But how do they work? And in the face of factors likestress and poor diet, which decrease their numbers, how do you keepyour supply well stocked? Here is an up-to-the-minute, highly accessible guide toprobiotics and the foods and supplements that contain and supportthem—many of which may be in you

In this forceful manifesto, Hirsch argues that childrenin the U.S. are being deprived of the basic knowledge that wouldenable them to function in contemporary society. Includes 5,000essential facts to know.

From an elite Special Operations physical trainer, aningeniously simple, rapid-results, do-anywhere program for gettinginto amazing shape For men and women of all athletic abilities! As the demand for Special Operations military forces has grownover the last decade, elite trainer Mark Lauren has been at thefront lines of preparing nearly one thousand soldiers, getting themlean and strong in record time. Now, for regular Joes and Janes, heshares the secret to his amazingly effective regimen—simpleexercises that require nothing more than the resistance of your ownbodyweight to help you reach the pinnacle of fitness and lookbetter than ever before. Armed with Mark Lauren’s motivation techniques, expert training,and nutrition advice, you’ll see rapid results by working out justthirty minutes a day, four times a week—whether in your livingroom, yard, garage, hotel room, or office. Lauren’s exercises buildmore metabolism-enhancing muscle than weightlifting, burn more fatthan aerob

In 1994, Dr. John Gottman and his colleagues at the Universityof Washingto— made a startling announcement: Through scientificobservation and mathematical analysis, they could predict—with morethan 90 percent accuracy—whether a marriage would succeed or fail.The only thing they did not yet know was how to turn a failingmarriage into a successful one, so Gottman teamed up with hisclinical psychologist wife, Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, to developintervention methods. Now the Gottmans, together with the Love Labresearch facility, have put these ideas into practice. In TenLessons to Transform Your Marriage, the Gottmans share this vitalinformation so that couples can develop the skills to turn theirrelationship problems around and create strong, lastingunions. What emerged from the Gottmans’ collaboration and decades ofresearch is a body of advice that’s based on two surprisinglysimple truths: Happily married couples behave like good friends,and they handle their conflicts in gentle, positiv

From the best-selling author of "The Rise of the CreativeClass" comes a brilliant new book on the surprising importance ofplace, with advice on how to find the right place for you. It's amantra of the age of globalization that where we live doesn'tmatter. We can innovate just as easily from a ski chalet in theAlps or a cottage in Provence as in the office of a Silicon Valleystart-up.According to Richard Florida, this is wrong. Globalizationis not flattening the world; in fact, place is increasinglyrelevant to the global economy and our individual lives. Where welive determines the jobs and careers we have access to, the peoplewe meet and the 'mating markets' in which we participate. Andeverything we think we know about cities and their economic rolesis up for grabs."Who's Your City?" is the first book to report onthe growing body of research on what qualities of cities and townsactually make people happy in their lives. Choosing a place to liveis as important as choosing a spouse or career, but until n

John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for hiscollege tuition. One weekend a month. Two weeks a year. A freeeducation. But in 2002, one semester shy of graduation and on hishoneymoon, Crawford was shipped off to the front lines in Iraq.Once there he was determined to get it all down, to chronicle thedaily life of a soldier in all its brutal, terrifying,heartbreaking honesty. The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell introduces a powerful new literary voice forged in the most intenseof circumstances.

A bold exposé ofthe controversial secret that has potentially dire consequences inmany African American communities Delivering the first frank and thorough investigation of life“on the down low” (the DL), J. L. King exposes a closeted cultureof sex between black men who lead “straight” lives. King exploreshis own past as a DL man, and the path that led him to let go ofthe lies and bring forth a message that can promote emotionalhealing and open discussions about relationships, sex, sexuality,and health in the black community. Providing a long-overdue wake-up call, J. L. King bravely putsthe spotlight on a topic that has until now remained dangerouslytaboo. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, statistics, and theauthor’s firsthand knowledge of DL behavior, On the Down Lowreveals the warning signs African American women need to know. Kingalso discusses the potential health consequences of havingunprotected sex, as African American women represent an alarming 64percent of new HIV

17 men, 6 cars, and a 21,000-mile race across 3continents On the morning of February 12, 1908, six cars from four differentcountries lined up in Times Square, surrounded by a frenzied crowd.The men who competed in the New York to Paris auto race were aninternational roster of personalities: a charismatic Norwegianoutdoorsman, a witty French nobleman, a pair of Italiansophisticates, an aristocratic German army officer, and a crankymechanic from Buffalo, New York. At a time when most people hadnever seen an automobile, these adventurous men set their courseover mountain ranges, through Arctic freeze, and desert heat. Therewere no gas stations, no garages, and no replacement parts in caseof emergency. Two men rose to the top. Ober-lieutenant Hans Koeppen, a risingofficer in the Prussian army, led the German team in theircanvas-topped 40-horsepower Protos. His amiable personality belieda core of sheer determination, and by the race’s end, he had wonthe respect of even his toughest critics. Hi

The brutal lynching of two young black men in Marion, Indiana,on August 7, 1930, cast a shadow over the town that still lingers.It is only one event in the long and complicated history of racerelations in Marion, a history much ignored and considered by manyto be best forgotten. But the lynching cannot be forgotten. It istoo much a part of the fabric of Marion, too much ingrained evennow in the minds of those who live there. In Our Town journalist Cynthia Carr explores the issues of race, loyalty, andmemory in America through the lens of a specific hate crime thatoccurred in Marion but could have happened anywhere. Marion is our town, America’s town, and its legacy is ourlegacy. Like everyone in Marion, Carr knew the basic details of thelynching even as a child: three black men were arrested forattempted murder and rape, and two of them were hanged in thecourthouse square, a fate the third miraculously escaped. MeetingJames Cameron–the man who’d survived–led her to examine how thequiet Midwestern