In Britain today there are many 'normal' houses that were once owned by, or been the birthplace of, famous authors, poets, painters, explorers and naturalists. Many are open to the public and the fascination and interests of their one-time occupants are often as diverse as the structures themselves. ... more »

Between the rugged coastal scenery of Cornwall, and the sheltered Riviera-style beaches of Devon, everything from castles to cliff railways can be found.  Tin and copper mining has been carried out in the area for centuries, and several ruinous mine workings now provide some of the most evocative ... more »

In Up from Zero, Paul Goldberger, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, tells the inside story of the quest to rebuild one of the most important symbolic sites in the world, the sixteen acres where the towers of the former World Trade Center stood. A story of power, politics, architecture, community, and culture ... more »

"If law be the bedrock of civil society, it can no more undergird torture than it could support slavery or genocide." -from the Introduction The graphic photographs of U.S. military personnel grinning over abused Arab and Muslim prisoners shocked the world community. That the United States ... more »

A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world's "great hush" In Thunderstruck , Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men--Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication--whose lives ... more »

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Continuing our exploration of castles from Volume one, this book features a further 30 examples of fortresses throughout Britain, including some of Scotland's famous landmarks. Some now survive merely as romantic ruins, whilst others continue to dominate the surrounding area as ancestral homes to the ... more »

Most of us think of the 1970s as an in-between decade, the uninspiring years that happened to fall between the excitement of the 1960s and the Reagan Revolution -- the Me Decade. Here is a fast-paced, powerfully argued, compulsively readable reexamination of the names and faces -- the politics, culture ... more »

The author of the New York Times bestseller Duty shows how a small town in Nebraska gave meaning, joy, and hope to every train of World War Two soldiers passing through their town. The town came to symbolise the patriotism of the American people during World War Two. North Platte, Nebraska, is alone ... more »

Twenty distinguished American historians vividly reimagine twenty events of great drama and significance in our country's past. "What is the scene or incident in American history that you would like to have witnessed--and why?" This is the thought-provoking question that editor Byron Hollinshead ... more »

At 31,000 feet above Japan, Tom Ferebee sits hunched over his bombsight. Below him lies the primary target of an operation called Special Mission Number 13 by the few military personnel aware of its existence -- Hiroshima, a city of over 300,000. He waits until the aiming point is directly below the ... more »

There is something quintessentially British about the seaside pier and many surviving today remain as individual in character as the resorts they enhance. Originally conceived as landing jetties for increasing paddle streamer traffic, the seaside pier soon became a popular venue for 'Promenading' or ... more »