A journey through Cambodia with the simple and romantic ambition to find the folkloric spirit trees, the powerful connecting force between man and nature, Ken Finn's travels turned out to be anything but simple. Back-wearing motos, immobilizing gastric assaults, unexpected road blocks, and monkish processions all contributed to the journey, but most dramatically, instead of enriching forests, destruction was found: the black market timber trade. A...

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. He is often caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't capture the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency. Before the Civil War, Grant was flailing. His business ventures had ended dismally, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War...

"The first biography of the federal judge Irving Robert Kaufman (1910-92). Kaufman presided over the atomic espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1951 and sentenced them to death. The book also examines Kaufman's rise from poverty, his work as a celebrated prosecutor, his landmark opinions expanding civil liberties, and his often tragic personal life"--

After two and a half years of ISIS occupation, and months of fighting between the militants and government forces, the Mosul Zoo was one of the few outdoor attractions still standing in Iraq's second city, its inhabitants kept alive by Abu Laith, a square-set 50-something mechanic and passionate animal lover. As the animals began to starve under the siege by advancing Iraqi army forces, Abu Laith, the "Father of Lions" and his protégés and family...

"Born Archibald Leach in 1904, he came to America as a teenaged acrobat to find fame and fortune, but he was always haunted by his past. His father was a feckless alcoholic, and his mother was committed to an asylum when Archie was eleven years old. He believed her to be dead until he was informed she was alive when he was thirty-one years old. Because of this experience Grant would have difficulty forming close attachments throughout his life. He...

"From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date--a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance."--Publisher's description.

"The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply. As a journalist said of Pappy Van Winkle, "You could call it bourbon, or you could call it a $5,000 bottle of liquified, barrel-aged unobtanium." Julian Van Winkle, the third-generation...

Bennett gives readers an insider's look at Melania Trump, from her childhood in Slovenia to her days in the White House, and everything in between. In comparing her to other First Ladies, Bennett shows just how different Trump is and why she matters. A reluctant pillar in a controversial presidential administration, a woman who speaks five languages and runs the East Wing like none of her predecessors ever could-- Bennett believes she is the most...

Documents the story of the Gilded Age mansion Biltmore, tracing George Vanderbilt's construction of his European-style estate and the efforts of his bride, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, to become its protector in the face of changing fortunes and times.

Based on a decade of research and reporting, Author in Chief tells the story of America's presidents as authors--and offers a delightful new window into the public and private lives of our highest leaders. Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to...