Bill Bryson is one of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey–into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It’s a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, “…how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since.” This is, in short, a tall order. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world’s most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemisty, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn’t some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of sc

YA?The events in this book are horribly off-putting, which, paradoxically, is why they must be remembered. Chang tells of the Sino-Japanese War atrocities perpetrated by the invading Japanese army in Nanking in December 1937, in which roughly 350,000 soldiers and civilians were slaughtered in an eight-week period, many of them having been raped and/or tortured first. Not only are readers given many of the gory details?with pictures?but they are also told of the heroism of some members of a small foreign contingent, particularly of a Nazi businessman who resided in China for 30 years. The story of his bravery lends the ironic touch of someone with evil credentials doing good. Once the author finishes with the atrocities, she proceeds with the equally absorbing and much easier-to-take story of what happened to the Nazi businessman when he returned to Germany and the war ended. This by itself is material for a movie. The author tells why the Japanese government not only allowed the atrocities to occur but also r

Propelled by the discovery of an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters, a young woman plunges into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family's past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the the truth becomes an adventure of monumental propportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the captitals of Eastern Europe - in a feat of storytelling so rich, so exciting, so suspenseful that it has enthralled readers around he world.

Tanks and armored fighting vehicles have dominated the battlefield in all conflicts all over the world. Their amazing firepower, armor, and mobility has lead to most countries maintaining a fleet of these versatile and fearsome machines. Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles features the best of these vehicles.Entries are listed chronologically from 1915 to the present day. Each entry is accompanied by a de*ion of its development and service record, and a full specification table is included, detailing all the essential data:armament, crew, dimensions, speed,range, engine types, and power utput. Specifications are given with both imperial and metric measures listed. Among the vehicles featured in the volume are the British Mk I tank of World War I, the German Panther, and the American M4 Sherman of World War II, and the MI Abrams seen in battle today. All of the major manufacturers in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Russia are covered, alongside the smaller nations to present a global commentary on the

Orwell's classic satire "Animal Farm" continues to be aninternational best seller. For the first time ever, "Orwell andPolitics" brings this major work together with the author's otherworks exploring the nature of politics and the Second WorldWar.

Taken from Appian's Roman History, the five books collected here form the sole surviving continuous historical narrative of the era between 133-35 BC - a time of anarchy and instability for the Roman Empire. A masterly account of a turbulent epoch, they describe the Catiline conspiracy; the rise and fall of the First Triumvirate; the murder of Julius Caesar; the formation of the Second Triumvirate by Antonius, Octavian, and Lepidus; and brutal civil war. A compelling depiction of the decline of the Roman state into brutality and violence, The Civil Wars portrays political discontent, selfishness and the struggle for power - a struggle that was to culminate in a titanic battle for mastery over the Roman Empire, and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra by Octavian in 31 BC

Collected in one volume, here are backfires and blundersthat collapsed empires, crashed economies, and altered the courseof the world. From the Maginot Line to the Cuban Missile Crisis,history is filled with bad moves and not-so-bright ideas thatsnowballed into disasters and unintended consequences. This engrossing book looks at one hundred such tipping points.Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. The Caliphs of Baghdad spend themselvesinto bankruptcy. The Aztecs greet the Conquistadors with open arms.Mexico invites the Americans to Texas-and the Americans neverleave. And the rest is history...

The Histories, by Herodotus, is part of the Barnes NobleClassics series, which offers quality editions at affordableprices to the student and the general reader, including newscholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully craftedextras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today s topwriters and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies ofcontemporary historical, biographical, and cultural eventsFootnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations,parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, andfilms inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Studyquestions to challenge the reader s viewpoints and expectationsBibliographies for further reading Indices Glossaries, whenappropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed tosuperior specifications; some include illustrations of historicalinterest. Barnes Noble Classics pulls together aconstellation of influences—biographical, his

Although 'continually and bitterly ashamed' that the Arabs had risen in revolt against the Turks as a result of fraudulent British promises of self-rule, Lawrence led them in a triumphant campaign which revolutionized the art of war. Seven Pillars of Wisdom recreates epic events with extraordinary vividness. In the words of E. M. Forster, 'Round this tent-pole of a military chronicle, T. E. has hung an unexampled fabric of portraits, de*ions, philosophies, emotions, adventures, dreams'. However flawed, Lawrence is one of the twentieth century's most fascinating figures. This is the greatest monument to his character and achievements.

This "New York Times" bestseller tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down over the Pacific. One of them, George H.W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. This edition features the same Afterword by the author that appeared in the trade paperback edition. 作者简介： James Bradley is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The story of the events on Chichi Jima was first brought to his attention after the publication of that book and involved several years of research, travel, and writing-including a return trip to Chichi Jima with President George H. W. Bush. This is Bradley's second book. He lives in New York.

Gerald of Wales was among the most dynamic andfascinating churchmen of the twelfth century. A member of one ofthe leading Norman families involved in the invasion of Ireland, hefirst visited there in 1183 and later returned in the entourage ofHenry II. The resulting "Topographia Hiberniae" is an extraordinaryaccount of his travels. Here he describes landscapes, fish, birdsand animals; recounts the history of Ireland's rulers; and tellsfantastical stories of magic wells and deadly whirlpools, strangecreatures and evil spirits. Written from the point of view of aninvader and reformer, this work has been rightly criticized for itsportrait of a primitive land, yet it is also one of the mostimportant sources for what is known of Ireland during the MiddleAges.

This book marries a child`s wonder a genius`s intellect .we journey into hawking`s universe,while marvelling at his mind` sunday times. Was there a beginning of time?Could time run backwards?IS the universe infinite ordoes it have boundaries?These are iust some of the questions considered in aninternationallV acclaimed asterpiecewhich begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein．before delving into the secrets which still Iie at the heart of space and time．

Able, bored and just down from Cambridge in the summer of 1937, Sally Marsden contemplates her future without enthusiasm. So many have assumed she will marry Hugh Jerrold it is, practically, an engagement. When Hugh returns from his diplomatic posting to China there will be a wedding and a thoroughly respectable settling down. One afternoon Sally's father, impelled by a mixture of his own dissastisfactions, compassion for his daughter's predicament, a newspaper advertisement in The Times and a passing desire to spite his wife, suggests that she travel to China herself. Sally can spend a winter in China and she and Hugh can return together the next spring. Sally accepts a last adventure before submitting to the strictures of upper-middle-class English female life. By the time she arrives in the East it is not long before the Sino-Japanese war begins to lap around the edges of the isolated and complacent western settlements. A move inland to Nanking restores the peace. But only a few weeks pas

"So much nonsense has been written on suburban life and mores that it comes as a considerable shock to read a book by someone who seems to have his own ideas on the subject and who pursues them relentlessly to the bitter end," said LJ's reviewer (LJ 2/1/61) of this novel of unhappy life in the burbs. It is reminiscent of the popular film American Beauty in its depiction of white-collar life as fraught with discontent. Others have picked up on this theme since, but Yates remains a solid read.

FOR MORE THAN NINE HUNDRED years the Bayeux Tapestry-one of the world s greatest historical docu-ments and artistic achievements-has preserved the story of one of history s greatest dramas:the Norman Conqueath of england culminating in the death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.Historians have held for centuries that the ajestic tapestry-almost300feet in length-trumpets the glory of William the Conqueror and the victoirisous Normans But is this true?In 1066 Andrew Bridgeford reveals very different story that rein terprets and recasts the most decisive year in English history. Reading the tapestry as if it werea written text examining each scene with fresh eyes Bridegeford discovers a wealth of new information subversively and ingeniously encoded in the threads which appears to under mine the Norman point of view while presenting a secret tale undetected for centuries-an account of the final years of Anglo-Saxon england quite differenft from the Norman version of events In the midst of it

The step-by-step decline into war, with Churchill becoming prime minister as "the tocsin was about to sound." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

General Chuck Homer commanded the U.S. and allied air assets the forces of a dozen nations-during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and was responsible for the design and execution of one of the most devastating air campaigns in history. Never before has the Gulf air war planning, a process filled with controversy and stormy personalities, been revealed in such rich, provocative detail. And in this updated edition, General Homer looks at the current Gulf conflict-and com ments on the use of air power in Iraq today.