Nonfiction World

2019 was the last great year for the world economy. For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it. America...

“If you read just one book about economics, make it Andrew Leigh's clear, insightful, and remarkable (and short) work.” —Claudia Goldin, recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics and Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University A sweeping, engrossing history of how economic...

This is the ultimate book of weird history! Combining Volumes 1 and 2 in the “Weird Things in History and Why the Heck They Happened” series, this is your opportunity to jump into a time machine and visit some of the overlooked, the peculiar, and definitely the most amusing things that have influenced our contemporary world. Brace yourself for amusement and astonishment as you explore not only the 50 tales from the first two volumes but 5 additional historical events that you most likely won’t find in any school textbook! “Weird Things in History and Why the Heck They Happened” ...

Brought to you by Penguin. When does a bandit become a monarch? When does a gang become a government? And is organised crime at the heart of every modern state? On a thrilling whistle-stop tour of how the world's criminal underbelly has shaped state-making, capitalism, globalisation and all...

Perfect for fans of the musical Come From Away! When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17...

During World War II, Silence Could Mean Survival…or Death Tens of thousands of Jewish children were forced into a world of shadows and secrecy. Hidden in attics, cellars, forest bunkers—or living in plain sight under false identities—they clung to life with every whispered word, every careful movement, every heartbeat measured against the threat of discovery. For these children, survival was never guaranteed. The Children in the Attic brings their hidden lives into the light. Drawing on survivor testimonies, secret diaries, and archival records, this book traces the extraordinary ...

This intimate true account of Americans at war follows theepic drama of an unlikely group of men forced to work together in the face of an increasingly desperate enemy during the final year of World War II. Sprawling across the Pacific, this untold story follows the crew of the newly-built...

A True Story of Resilience Survival and Unbroken Spirit A Civilian Dutch Woman in Europe During World War II Treasures of Sadness is the story of Corrie's unbroken spirit. If you love historical fiction, don't miss reading this real life memoir and page-turner: Treasures of Sadness Treasures of Sadness is a real life account of a woman’s journey that began during World War II. Corrie grew up in an affluent neighborhood in Amersfoort, Holland in the 1940’s. From there she fell in love with a German soldier, rubbed elbows with royalty in Vienna, Austria and ended up in a coal mining town ...

Blood feuds, billion-dollar cocaine empires, and the mafia you’ve never heard of.... For decades, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Neapolitan Camorra stole the spotlight. But in the shadows of Calabria, another brotherhood was rising — one more disciplined, more secretive, and far deadlier. Today, the Ndrangheta is the richest and most powerful crime syndicate in the world, controlling up to 80% of Europe’s cocaine trade and laundering billions through banks, construction firms, and global finance. From kidnapped heirs chained in mountain caves to multi-ton shipments of cocaine ...

Did you know that most of our dinosaur fossils were discovered because two grown men absolutely hated each other? It’s true! Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World is a riotous audio exclusive, like if Monty Python taught your history class. Each volume of four 30-minute histories will dig into the petty name-calling and grumbling grudges that led to many of the world’s greatest advancements, all delivered with a cheeky sense of humor. Choose sides: Cope or Marsh, the jerks who discovered so many dinosaurs; Hamilton or Burr, whose rivalry fueled American politics; and many more....

In the blood-soaked pages of 35 True Crimes That Shocked the 18th Century, readers are plunged into a world where cruelty, terror, mass murder, and mayhem reign supreme. This gripping collection of historical true crime stories uncovers the darkest episodes of the 18th century, a time when pirates ruled the seas, tyrants held kingdoms with iron fists, and superstition blurred into horrors beyond imagination. These are the stories history books often ignore: raw, unfiltered accounts of humanity at its darkest. From brutal public executions to the massacre of entire villages and tribes, each ...

History’s Biggest Oops: The Blunders That Changed the World A witty, eye-opening journey through the most surprising mistakes that made history. What do global superpowers, billion-dollar companies, genius inventors, and well-meaning leaders all have in common? At some point, they all got it spectacularly wrong. This laugh-out-loud and deeply curious collection explores the unexpected missteps, miscalculations, and “what were they thinking?” moments that ended up shaping the world in strange and powerful ways. Blending sharp insight with irreverent humor, this book offers a guided ...

One of the finest history books for children, this well-loved Hillyer classic features stories of world history from prehistoric man through the 20th century, inspiring an appreciation of how events relate to one another.

Looking for the perfect gift for a history buff - or your next reading obsession? The Weirdest Tales in History delivers 25 full-length, immersive true stories that most textbooks skip, soften, or bury in a footnote - from ancient Rome to Cold War experiments, from medieval courts to modern disasters. Not trivia. Not listicles. Real stories - told the way they deserve. Every chapter starts with a quick snapshot: Absurdity/Evidence/Grimness ratings - how wild, how dark, and how well-documented it is A Truth Meter - rock-solid fact vs debated detail vs likely legend A “Tell-at-a-Party” ...

Hoist the mizzenmast and batten down those bloody hatches: Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World tells the hilarious-but-true adventures of history’s most amazing pirates.

Native Americans have a long tradition of storytelling. Now, you can easily introduce your children to these rich cultures with a compilation of powerful tales from multiple tribes like the Cheyenne and the Lenape.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families From the author of The Romanovs A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Smithsonian “Succession meets Game of Thrones.”...

What if the scariest ghost stories weren’t stories at all? The Ghost Tapes is a chilling collection of real first-person encounters from some of the world’s most haunted locations. From the echoing halls of the Stanley Hotel to the suffocating silence of Alcatraz’s Cellblock D, each account is told by those who lived it, and some who barely escaped. A travel blogger wakes to find a green ribbon in her hair she never packed. A ghost hunter records children singing a rhyme no one alive remembers. A museum visitor stares into a doll’s glass eyes, and it blinks back. These aren’t ...

WWII: 21 Secret Operations — The Hidden Battles That Changed the War Spies. Saboteurs. Secrets. The untold side of World War II. 👉 60+ incredible photographs bring these covert missions to life! Inside the Book — Discover the Hidden War Uncover the true tales of courage, cunning, and creativity that changed history forever: Operation Fortitude — the fake Allied army that fooled Hitler about D-Day. Operation Gunnerside — Norwegian saboteurs who stopped Germany’s nuclear ambitions. The Dambusters Raid — precision bombing that crippled vital Nazi infrastructure. Operation ...

The Unfiltered Truth Behind Sailing’s Greatest Madness The Vendée Globe is not just a race—it is a solitary pilgrimage across the planet’s most hostile oceans, a test of endurance, ingenuity, and raw will. In The Epic Story of the Vendée Globe 2020–21, the drama of the world’s toughest sailing challenge unfolds in all its brutal beauty. The 2020-21 Vendée Globe was supposed to be just another edition of the world’s toughest solo yacht race. Instead, it became a white-knuckle psychodrama of shattered boats, broken minds, and the kind of raw human moments that get scrubbed from...