American Renaissance

The award-winning Beneath the American Renaissance is a classic work on American literature. It immeasurably broadens our knowledge of our most important literary period, as first identified by F.O. Matthiessen’s American Renaissance. With its combination of sharp critical insight, engaging observation, and narrative drive, it represents the kind of masterful cultural history for which David Reynolds is known. Here the major works of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and others receive striking, original readings set against the rich backdrop of contemporary popular writing.

At the time of its publication, Wallace Thurman’s debut novel was deeply provocative. This was due not only to its frank considerations of race and sex, but also to its vivid portrait of a Harlem that few other writers had dared to explore. At the heart of this journey into new terrain is Emma Lou Morgan, a Black woman who leaves her “color-struck” Idaho hometown behind and strikes out, first for Los Angeles and later for Harlem—where, unfortunately, discrimination simply takes on a new form.

For college graduate Sidney Temple, the Roaring '20s bring opportunities even members of his accomplished black bourgeois family couldn't have imagined. His impulsive marriage to independent artist Loretta is a happiness he never thought he'd find. And when he's tapped by J. Edgar Hoover to be the FBI's first African American agent, he sees a once-in-a-lifetime chance to secure real justice.

When Walt Whitman self-published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855, he rocked the literary world and forever changed the course of poetry. In subsequent editions, Whitman continued to revise and expand his poems - but none matched the raw power and immediacy of the first edition. This volume presents the 1855 "Leaves of Grass" in its entirety, unchanged, along with Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous letter to Whitman.

This book compiles both the first (1855) and final (1892) versions of Walt Whitman's masterpiece Song of Myself in one volume, making it unique and valuable for students of American literature.

Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, Ezio Auditore embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family's honor, he will learn the art of the Assassins. Along the way, Ezio will call upon the wisdom of such great minds as Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli, knowing that survival is bound to the skills by which he must live.To his allies, he will become a force for change in his fight for freedom and justice.

The second volume of the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography that The Washington Post hailed as “an engrossing masterpiece.” In this final magisterial volume, fifteen years in the research and writing, David Levering Lewis stunningly recreates the second half of W.E.B. Du Bois’s charged and...

Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume - the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World - chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453 - years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.

First time on audio! The timeless Pulitzer Prize winner, the first in an epic two-volume biography that set the standard for historical scholarship on this era, narrated by Emmy and Tony Award winner Courtney B. Vance. This monumental biography by David Levering Lewis—eight years in the...

David Eliezrie’s Undaunted chronicles the extraordinary courage of the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, as he confronted the brutal oppression of both czarist Russia and the Soviet regime. While many religious leaders fled as the Communists shuttered synagogues and schools, Rabbi Schneersohn remained, risking his life to preserve Jewish life and earning the reputation of “the last man standing.” Despite enduring torture, arrest, and a death sentence, his unwavering defiance and international advocacy ultimately secured his release.

A 2026 Audie Awards finalist for Best History/Biography! "Ron Butler's narration is a master class in maintaining the listener's attention over the course of a lengthy audiobook. He makes every change in tone, volume, and pace with careful purpose, creating a seamless listening experience." —...

Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde Includes meditation exercises Named a Lit Hub Independent Press Top 40 Bestseller. The Fire Inside explores the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin...

A ROADMAP OUT OF THE RUT. A BLUEPRINT FOR REINVENTION. A MANUAL FOR GREATNESS. Embark on the grand road trip adventure of iconic rapper and entrepreneur Rick Ross in this powerful guide, packed with his tools and secrets to staying inspired. It's been nearly twenty years since Rick Ross broke...

In this masterful work, listeners will encounter: the poets Petrarch and Boccaccio, the fathers of the Renaissance; the paintings, sculptures, and architecture of Milan, Florence, and Venice; the life and accomplishments of Leonardo DaVinci; the Catholic church and the popes of Avignon and Rome; the politicians and philosophers of Italy, including the Borgia family, Julius II, and Machiavelli; the Italian Wars, the conflicts with France, and the country's decline.

The daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, Ricki Wilde is the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her. When she moves into a Harlem brownstone, she leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. One evening Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.

This audiobook includes both of Henry David Thoreau's most popular and enduring works, the book Walden and the essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience."

This is a new edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece The Scarlet Letter. The story of Hester Prynne - the first great female character in American literature - is brought to life by narrator Amanda Brewer.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER | WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE | NBCC JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FINALIST One of The New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2025 One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2025 For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a...

Ay Yi Yai Yi! It’s halftime, America! Welcome to the intermission of empire, featuring interpretive dances by decaying institutions choreographed by lobbyists holding MBAs in short-termism. Like the infamous Coke bottle in The Gods Must Be Crazy, today's techno-totems—quantum AI supremacy, sovereign digital currencies, and China's Belt-and-Data colonialism—have crash-landed onto our meticulously manicured lawns. Initially celebrated as symbols of progress, these shiny artifacts now function as civilization’s Rorschach tests, exposing strategic confusion and institutional amnesia as ...

From a highly lauded modern voice in feminism and racial justice comes a deeply personal and insightful testament to the power of reimagining to dismantle the frameworks and systems that no longer serve us while building new ones that do. “Powerful . . . You will leave these pages changed for...