Today, 1913 is inevitably viewed through the lens of 1914: as the last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order and tear Europe apart, undermining its global pre-eminence. In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world of 1913 from this “prelude to war” narrative, and explores it as it was, in all its richness and complexity. Traveling from Europe to Asia, he provides a panoramic view of a world crackling with possibilities, its future still undecided, its outlook still open.

In 1941, as Hitler’s threat loomed ever larger, President Roosevelt realized he needed weaponry to fight the Nazis --- most important, airplanes --- and he needed them fast. So he turned to Detroit and the auto industry for help. THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a “bomber an hour.”

The American astronauts have been the subject of many books and movies. For their dedication and bravery, they earned a well-deserved place in American history. As the men blasted off into space, left back on terra firma were the wives who kept the homes running and the children cared for. This is a fly-on-the wall look at the lives of those astronaut wives, who became celebrities because of their spouses.

Sixty years after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, the Korean War has not yet ended. Sheila Miyoshi Jager presents the first comprehensive history of this misunderstood war, one that risks involving the world’s superpowers --- again. Her sweeping narrative ranges from the middle of the Second World War --- when Korean independence was fiercely debated between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill --- to the present day, as North Korea, with China’s aid, stockpiles nuclear weapons while starving its people.

One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late 19th century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach --- at once responsible and superior. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill’s personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire.

Franklin Roosevelt and Fiorello La Guardia were an odd couple: patrician president and immigrant mayor, fireside chat and tabloid cartoon, pragmatic Democrat and reform Republican. But together, as leaders of America’s two largest governments in the depths of the Great Depression, they fashioned a route to recovery for the nation and the master plan for a great city. CITY OF AMBITION is a brilliant history of the New Deal and its role in the making of modern New York City.

In 1856, two intrepid adventurers, Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke, set off to unravel mankind’s greatest geographical mystery: finding the source of the Nile River. To better understand their motivations and ultimate success, Martin Dugard guides readers through the seven vital traits that Burton and Speke, as well as many of history’s legendary explorers, called upon to see their impossible journeys through to the end.

The ancient Greeks invented democracy, theater, rational science and philosophy. But understanding these uniquely influential people has been hampered by their diffusion across the entire Mediterranean. Most ancient Greeks did not live in what is now Greece but in settlements scattered across Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Libya, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine. Acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall’s INTRODUCING THE ANCIENT GREEKS is the first book to offer a synthesis of the entire ancient Greek experience.

In October 1958, Pan American World Airways began making regularly scheduled flights between New York and Paris, courtesy of its newly minted wonder jet, the Boeing 707. Almost overnight, the moneyed celebrities of the era made Europe their playground. At the same time, the dream of international travel came true for thousands of ordinary Americans who longed to emulate the “jet set” lifestyle.

THE LAST BATTLE tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold's VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.

The Arab Revolt against the Turks in World War I was, in the words of T. E. Lawrence, “a sideshow of a sideshow.” At the center of it all was Lawrence himself. In early 1914, he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in Syria; by 1917, he was riding into legend at the head of an Arab army as he fought a rearguard action against his own government and its imperial ambitions. Based on four years of intensive primary document research, LAWRENCE IN ARABIA definitively overturns received wisdom on how the modern Middle East was formed.

For more than a decade, the book that literary critics now consider the most important novel in the English language was illegal to own, sell, advertise or purchase in most of the English-speaking world. THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK tells the remarkable story surrounding ULYSSES, from the first stirrings of James Joyce’s inspiration in 1904 to its landmark federal obscenity trial in 1933.

Renowned Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson leads us through space as much as time: from the Nile's mystical sources to Thebes, the fertile Delta, Giza, and finally, to the pulsating capital city of Cairo, where the Arab Spring erupted on the bridges over the Nile. Along the way, he introduces us to mysterious and fabled characters. With matchless erudition and storytelling skill, through a lens equal to both panoramas and close-ups, Wilkinson brings millennia of history into view.

In ONE SUMMER, Bill Bryson transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life. A number of major events transpired in that epochal summer of 1927, and Bryson captures its outsized personalities, exciting events and occasional just plain weirdness. In that year, America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event.

From 1951 to 1967, Egypt pursued a secret program to build military rockets that could have conceivably posed a threat to neighboring Israel. Because such an ambitious project required Western expertise, the Egyptian leader president Nasser hired West German scientists, many of them veterans of the Nazi rocket program at Peenemünde and elsewhere. These covert plans soon came to the attention of Israel’s legendary secret service, Mossad, and caused deep alarm in Tel Aviv.

Queen Victoria is Britain’s queen of contradictions. In her combination of deep sentimentality and bombast; cultural imperialism and imperial compassion; fear of intellectualism and excitement at technology; romanticism and prudishness, she became a spirit of the age to which she gave her name. Matthew Dennison's QUEEN VICTORIA is a compelling assessment of Victoria’s mercurial character and impact, written with the irony, flourish and insight that this Queen and her rule so richly deserve.

While the 13 colonies came together in 1776 and agreed to secede from the British Empire, the British were dispatching the largest armada ever to cross the Atlantic to crush the rebellion in the cradle. The Continental Congress and the Continental Army were forced to make decisions on the run, improvising as history congealed around them. In REVOLUTIONARY SUMMER, Joseph J. Ellis meticulously examines the most influential figures in this propitious moment.

The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution.

Lynn Sherr, an award-winning broadcaster and author who spent more than 30 years at ABC News and covered NASA during its transformation from a test-pilot boys’ club to a more inclusive elite, has written the definitive biography of Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, featuring exclusive insights from Ride’s family, partner, and countless friends and colleagues.

When 26 Army Air Force flight nurses and medics boarded a military transport plane in November 1943 on a mission to evacuate wounded and sick troops, they didn't anticipate a crash landing in Nazi territory. With hunger and sickness as their constant companions, they hid at night with courageous villagers who shared what little food they had, risking death at Nazi hands by doing so. For months, they prayed desperately to be rescued while doing everything they could to survive.

From celebrated historian of ideas Jonathan Lyons comes THE SOCIETY FOR USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, telling the story of America’s coming-of-age through its historic love affair with practical invention, applied science and self-reliance. Offering fresh insights into such figures as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, and the inimitable, endlessly inventive Franklin, Lyons gives us a vital new perspective on the American founding.

In 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, the Continental Congress declared independence, and George Washington crossed the Delaware. We are familiar with these famous moments in American history, but we know little about the extraordinary events occurring that same year far beyond the British colonies. In this distinctive history, Claudio Saunt tells an intriguing, largely untold story of an immense and restless continent connected in surprising ways.

WHAT SO PROUDLY WE HAILED is the first full-length biography of Francis Scott Key in more than 75 years. In this fascinating look at early America, historian Marc Leepson explores the life and legacy of Francis Scott Key. Standing alongside Betsy Ross, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere and John Hancock in history, Key made his mark as an American icon by one single and unforgettable act, writing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”