Adult

Two days after her husband of 30 years tells her he plans to have an affair, Fiona Maye, a High Court judge who regrets her childlessness, must decide whether or not to grant a hospital’s emergency request to give a blood transfusion to a 17-year-old boy dying of leukemia. He and his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses who have refused the treatment on religious grounds. McEwan’s latest novel is a powerful reminder that one’s actions often have unforeseen repercussions.

Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Scott Stossel presents an astonishing history of the efforts to understand the condition from medical, cultural, philosophical and experiential perspectives. He ranges from the earliest medical reports of Galen and Hippocrates, through later observations by Robert Burton and Søren Kierkegaard, to the investigations by great 19th-century scientists as they began to explore its sources and causes, to the latest research by neuroscientists and geneticists.

By the mid-1930s, from London to America, the Churchills and the Kennedys shared an ever-widening circle of friends, lovers and political associates --- soon shattered by World War II, spying, sexual infidelity, and the tragic deaths of JFK's sister Kathleen and his older brother Joe Jr. By the 1960s and JFK's presidency, these two powerful families had overcome their bitter differences and helped to define the “greatness” in each other.

The crown of England changed hands five times over the course of the 15th century, as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. In this follow-up to THE PLANTAGENETS, historian Dan Jones describes how the longest-reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson recovers an important --- yet almost always overlooked --- chapter of George Washington’s life, revealing how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president. Larson uncovers Washington’s vital role in shaping the Convention --- and shows how it was only with his support and willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country.

For the besieged American defenders of Bastogne, time was running out. Hitler’s forces had pressed in on the small Belgian town in a desperate offensive designed to push back the Allies. The U.S. soldiers had managed to repel repeated attacks, but as their ammunition dwindled, the weary paratroopers of the 101st Airborne could only hope for a miracle. In PATTON AT THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, Army veteran and historian Leo Barron explores one of the most famous yet little-told clashes of World War II, a vitally important chapter in one of history’s most legendary battles.

THE NAZIS NEXT DOOR is a revelatory secret history of how America became home to thousands of Nazi war criminals after World War II, many of whom were brought here by the OSS and CIA --- by the New York Times reporter who broke the story and who has interviewed dozens of agents for the first time.

For the first time, THE LOST TRIBE OF CONEY ISLAND unearths the incredible true story of the Igorrotes, a group of “headhunting, dog eating” tribespeople brought to America from the Philippines by the opportunistic showman Truman K. Hunt. At Luna Park, the g-string-clad Filipinos performed native dances and rituals before a wide-eyed public in a mocked-up tribal village. Millions of Americans flocked to see the tribespeople slaughter live dogs for their daily canine feasts and to hear thrilling tales of headhunting.

Many Americans in Jefferson Davis’ own time and in later generations considered him an incompetent leader, if not a traitor. Not so, argues James M. McPherson. In EMBATTLED REBEL, McPherson shows us that Davis might have been on the wrong side of history, but it is too easy to diminish him because of his cause’s failure. In order to understand the Civil War and its outcome, it is essential to give Davis his due as a military leader and as the president of an aspiring Confederate nation.

For two hellish nights in September 1942, about 840 United States Marines fought one of the most pivotal battles of World War II in the Pacific, clinging desperately to their position on what would soon be known as Bloody Ridge. BLOODY RIDGE AND BEYOND is the story of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, which showed courage and valor in the face of overwhelming numbers, as told by Marlin Groft, a man who was a member of this incredible fighting force.