Adult

Tony Corcoran examines the magnitude of the operation of Guinness’s St. James’s Gate Brewery, and the working lives of the thousands of Dubliners who have depended on Guinness for their livelihood, either directly or indirectly. The company’s unusually progressive treatment of its workers—health care, training and housing --- is revealed in detail, as is the Guinness family’s philanthropy and compassion towards the less well-off residents of the city.

THE ARIADNE OBJECTIVE tells the remarkable story of the secret war on Crete from the perspective of amateur soldiers --- scholars, archaeologists, writers --- who found themselves serving as spies in Crete because, as one of them put it, they had made “the obsolete choice of Greek at school.” In this thrilling untold story of World War II, Wes Davis offers a brilliant portrait of a group of legends in the making, against the backdrop of one of the war’s most exotic locales.

The first surge of America's world power led to profound changes in diplomacy, and a vibrant official life in Washington, DC, naturally followed. In the 25-year period that William Seale terms the "imperial season," a host of characters molded the city in the image of a great world capital. THE IMPERIAL SEASON is a unique social history that defines a little explored period of American history that left an indelible mark on our nation's capital.

In the fall of 1944, a massive American bomber carrying 11 men vanished over the Pacific islands of Palau, leaving a trail of mysteries. Now, in a spellbinding narrative, Wil S. Hylton weaves together the true story of the missing men, their final mission, the families they left behind, and the real reason their disappearance remained shrouded in secrecy for so long.

When General George Washington beat a hasty retreat from New York City in August 1776, many thought the American Revolution might soon be over. Instead, Washington rallied --- thanks in large part to a little-known, top-secret group called the Culper Spy Ring. Drawing on extensive research, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger have painted compelling portraits of Washington’s secret six.

In this eye-opening new account of the Warren Commission and its findings, Howard P. Willens sets out to prove that Warren's advice ("history will prove that we are right") was prescient. Willens, one of the few living staff members of the Commission, supervised the investigation from the very beginning and has waited until now to silence the critics and well-intentioned armchair detectives.

Historian and cartography expert Jerry Brotton explores a dozen of history’s most influential maps, from stone tablet to vibrant computer screen. Starting with Ptolemy, “father of modern geography,” and ending with satellite cartography, A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 12 MAPS brings maps from classical Greece, Renaissance Europe, and the Islamic and Buddhist worlds to life and reveals their influence on how we --- literally --- look at our present world.

President Lyndon Johnson used power from his personal connections in Texas and from the underworld and from the government to escape an untimely end in politics and to seize even greater power. President Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, was the driving force behind a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In THE MAN WHO KILLED KENNEDY, you will find out how and why he did it.

FIVE LIEUTENANTS tells the story of five young Harvard men who took up the call to arms in the spring of 1917 and met differing fates in the maelstrom of battle on the Western Front in 1918. Delving deep into the motivations, horrific experiences and ultimate fates of this Harvard-educated quintet, the book presents a unique, timeless and fascinating account of citizen soldiers at war, and of the price these extraordinary men paid while earnestly giving all they had in an effort to end “the war to end all wars.”

AMERICAN STATECRAFT is a fascinating and comprehensive look at the unsung men and women of the U.S. Foreign Service whose dedication and sacrifices have been a crucial part of our history for over two centuries. Fifteen years in the making, veteran journalist and historian Moskin has traveled the globe conducting hundreds of interviews both in and out of the State Department to look behind the scenes at America’s “militiamen of diplomacy.”