NONFICTION
Released: March 27, 2012
"Keeping a critical eye on the evidence and a skeptical one on theories, Tattersall confirms his status among world anthropologists by delivering a superior popular explanation of human origins."
A veteran anthropologist writes a superb overview of how our species developed (a long process) and how we grew smart enough to dominate the planet (a short process in which evolution played little part).
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NONFICTION
Released: March 27, 2012
"An erudite discussion both profoundly sympathetic and richly analytical."
A simultaneously scholarly and deeply personal analysis of evangelical communities in America.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 27, 2012
"A transformative work that joins the hands of Art and Science and makes them acknowledge their close kinship."
In a polymathic performance, a Nobel laureate weaves together the theories and practices of neuroscience, art and psychology to show how our creative brains perceive and engage art--and are consequently moved by it.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 26, 2012
"A surprising, sobering look at one of the deadliest terror networks in history and the American spy agencies charged with bringing it down."
Superlative storytelling and crackling reportage define a pulse-pounding narrative tracing the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 21, 2012
"Thoughtful, heartfelt and frequently moving, like the best music."
NONFICTION
Released: March 20, 2012
"Essential reading for Civil War buffs and a great overview of a key battle for neophytes."
NONFICTION
Released: March 20, 2012
"Anyone who enjoys a play of words and appreciates the turn of a phrase in a beautifully constructed sentence will value this book for years to come."
Not just a remarkable memoir of McWilliam's (
Wait Till I Tell You, 1997, etc.) battle with the onset of blindness, but also a blissful celebration of the poetry of her prose.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 20, 2012
"A candid, inspiring narrative of the author's brutal physical and psychological journey through a wilderness of despair to a renewed sense of self."
Unsentimental memoir of the author's three-month solo hike from California to Washington along the Pacific Crest Trail.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 19, 2012
"Rashid's concluding advice, although reasonable, requires too many leaders to come to their senses, but readers will welcome this insider's lucid, expert account of a disaster in the making."
In this grim but insightful sequel to
Descent into Chaos (2008), veteran Pakistani journalist Rashid's outlook is perfectly expressed by the title of that earlier overview.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 19, 2012
"Exceptional observations of the biological world worthy of any naturalist's library."
NONFICTION
Released: March 13, 2012
""I am neither indifferent to, nor weary of, this world; had I a hundred lives, I know I would not tire of it," he writes. Intelligent readers will find it hard to argue."
Love and death go hand in hand in the life of journalist and filmmaker Lanzmann, who at 84 delivers his first book (originally published in France in 2009): a beautifully written memoir driven by both the writer's passion for living and his memories of lost friends.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Deeply researched and superbly composed."
A thoroughgoing study of one of the most important civil-rights cases argued by Thurgood Marshall in dismantling Jim Crow strictures.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Impressive research underlies a well-told story that's simultaneously depressing (what a nasty species we are) and inspiring (what a wonderful species we are)."
Partisan bickering, back-stabbing rivalries, xenophobia, character assassination, political moves that would make Machiavelli blush--no, not Washington circa 2011, but the Washington Capitol in the 1850s.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Rothkopf delivers a lively, accessible treatment of a multifaceted, complex subject."
Rothkopf (
Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They are Making, 2009, etc.) uses a wide-angle lens to examine the relation between public and private power.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"This blistering indictment of corporate-funded chicanery demands a wide audience."
From climate scientist Mann (Meteorology and Geosciences/Penn State Univ.; co-author:
Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming, 2009, etc.), an important and disturbing account of the fossil-fuel industry's well-funded public-relations campaign to sow doubt about the validity of the science of climate change.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"A remarkable, emotional journey through unrelenting pain--and laughter. "
The funny, moving story of the blue-eyed, blond model/actress who became the unlikely poster girl for the plight of the poor and uninsured in America after she was struck by a car in New York City street in 2004.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Meticulously researched and packed with not just technological details, but sociopolitical and cultural details as well--the definitive history of the computer."
That we live in a digital universe is indisputable; how we got there is a mesmerizing tale brilliantly told by science historian Dyson (
Project Orion: The Atomic Spaceship 1957–1965, 2002, etc.).
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Raphael's exceptional history of the beginning years of the United States should be required reading, especially in an election year."
Renowned historian Raphael (
Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation, 2011, etc.) delivers an authoritative biography of the Constitutional Convention and the herculean task faced by the representatives.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 6, 2012
"Gritty, gripping and often heartbreaking--an impressive piece of narrative nonfiction."
NONFICTION
Released: March 1, 2012
"Halloran is a wonderful storyteller, and his gripping account of living among the apes alternates between thrills and chills, humor and tender moments."
A young primatologist at rainforest conservancy in Nicaragua digs into the mystery of chimpanzee language.
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POWER, INC.: THE EPIC RIVALRY BETWEEN BIG BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT--AND THE RECKONING THAT LIES AHEAD
