After disgracing themselves at a high society New Year’s Eve party in Philadelphia in 1944, Madeline Hyde and her husband, Ellis, are cut off financially by his father, a former army colonel who is already ashamed of his son’s inability to serve in the war. When Ellis and his best friend, Hank, decide that the only way to regain the Colonel’s favor is to succeed where the Colonel very publicly failed --- by hunting down the famous Loch Ness monster --- Maddie reluctantly follows them across the Atlantic, leaving her sheltered world behind.

Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven Beckert’s rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world.

Ever since Christopher Columbus stepped off the Santa Maria onto what is today San Salvador, in the Bahamas, and announced that he had arrived in the Orient, the Caribbean has been a stage for projected fantasies and competition between world powers. In EMPIRE'S CROSSROADS, British American historian Carrie Gibson traces the story of this coveted area from the northern rim of South America up to Cuba, and from discovery through colonialism to today.

The rare book world is stunned when a reclusive collector, Adam Diehl, is found on the floor of his home with his hands severed. Adam’s sister, Meghan, and her lover, Will --- a convicted if unrepentant literary forger --- struggle to come to terms with the seemingly incomprehensible murder. But when Will begins receiving threatening handwritten letters, he understands that his own life is also on the line --- and attempts to forge a new beginning for himself and Meg.

In THE GREATEST KNIGHT, renowned historian Thomas Asbridge presents a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times. Asbridge follows Marshal on his journey from rural England onto the battlefields of France, to the desert castles of the Holy Land and the verdant shores of Ireland, charting the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honour, yet driven by unquenchable ambition.

Christopher Keen, once a master spy, is murdered in cold blood. His sons Mark and Benjamin, though they hadn't seen their father for over 20 years, are now drawn into the legacy of his life as a spy as they set out to discover the truth and avenge their father's death. But as their search proceeds, more questions arise. Is Christopher's death connected to his past life in MI6? Was his eldest son involved in a conspiracy that links him to Moscow, Afghanistan and the Russian mafia?

Shortly after a crowded New York-bound Boeing 747 takes off from Stockholm, a bomb threat is found in one of the aircraft’s lavatories. Police superintendent Alex Recht teams up with the energetic and often abrasive Eden Lundell from the security service’s counterterrorism unit to deal with the hijacking. Fredrika Bergman, who is currently working at the Justice Department, returns to the police force to act as a liaison between the government and the police. The investigation team soon realizes that the plot behind the hijacking is far more complex than they initially thought.

In I STAND CORRECTED, Eden Collinsworth tells the entertaining and insightful story of the year she spent living among the Chinese while writing a book featuring advice on such topics as the non-negotiable issue of personal hygiene, the rules of the handshake, and making sense of foreigners. Scrutinizing the kind of etiquette that has guided her own business career, Collinsworth creates a counterpart that explains Chinese practices and reveals much about our own Western culture.

Pompeii, Machu Picchu, the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon --- the names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery. The news is full of archaeology: treasures found and treasures lost. Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter? Marilyn Johnson’s LIVES IN RUINS is an absorbing and entertaining look at the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past.

For decades, women battered the walls of the male fortress of television journalism. After fierce struggles, three women --- Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Christiane Amanpour --- broke into the newsroom’s once impenetrable “boys’ club.” Drawing on exclusive interviews with their colleagues and intimates from childhood on, THE NEWS SORORITY reveals the hard struggles and inner strengths that shaped these women and powered their success.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has evolved ever since her hit single "Respect," amidst personal tragedy, surprise Grammy performances and career reinventions. Again and again, Aretha stubbornly finds a way to triumph over troubles, even as they continue to build. Her hold on the crown is tenacious, and in RESPECT, David Ritz gives us the definitive life of one of the greatest talents in all American culture.

In the U.S., Britain's George III, the protagonist of A ROYAL EXPERIMENT, is known as the king from whom Americans won their independence and as "the mad king." But in Janice Hadlow’s biography, he is another character altogether --- compelling and relatable. The struggle of King George --- along with his wife, Queen Charlotte, and their 15 children --- to pursue a passion for family will surprise history buffs and delight a broad swath of biography readers and royal watchers.

In his first book of short stories since LOVE BEGINS IN WINTER, Simon Van Booy offers a collection of stories highlighting how human genius can emerge through acts of compassion. Through characters including an eccentric film director, an aging Cockney bodyguard, the teenage child of Nigerian immigrants, a divorced amateur magician from New Jersey, and a Beijing street vendor who becomes an overnight billionaire, TALES OF ACCIDENTAL GENIUS contemplates individuals from different cultures and races, and reveals how faith and yearning for connection helps us all transcend darkness of fear and misfortune.

Raymond Chandler never wrote a memoir or an autobiography. The closest he came to writing either was in --- and around --- his novels, shorts stories and letters. There have been books that describe and evaluate Chandler’s life, but to find out what he himself felt about his life and work, Barry Day has chosen from Chandler’s writing, as well as the many interviews he gave over the years as he achieved cult status, to weave together an illuminating narrative that reveals the man, the work and the worlds he created.