Modern American Culture

Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture illustrates how the spaces between tiles and the moments between games have fostered distinct social cultures in the United States. This mass-produced game crossed the Pacific, creating waves of popularity over the 20th century. Annelise Heinz narrates the history of this game to show how it has created a variety of meanings, among them American modernity, Chinese American heritage, and Jewish American women's culture.

It is an era that redefined history. As the 1790s began, a fragile America teetered on the brink of oblivion, Russia towered as a vast imperial power, and France plunged into revolution. But in contrast to the way conventional histories tell it, none of these remarkable events occurred in...

What do Native American stories, modern belief, and pop culture all have in common? Bigfoot. In Voices for Sasquatch, author and cultural anthropologist Sharon Eby explores the deep-rooted Indigenous knowledge and oral traditions surrounding Sasquatch, alongside modern interpretations and cultural shifts. This powerful volume gives voice to Native American contributors, reservation sightings, and regional place-names while examining how Bigfoot belief reflects identity, spirituality, and resistance. Through thoughtful analysis and guest insights from researchers like Henry Franzoni and ...

The internationally bestselling author of Who Cooked the Last Supper? presents a wickedly witty and very current history of the extraordinary female rebels, reactionaries, and trailblazers who left their mark on history from the French Revolution up to the present day. Now is the time for a new...

The story of Miles' career is the story of the golden age of jazz. It is the story of the transition from big bands to small ensembles. It is the story of developing and exploring improvised music in small combos: trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets. Miles was at the forefront of every major style and genre of jazz that took place over a rapidly maturing arc from just after World War II through the sixties. This period was twenty-five years of explosive creativity and accelerated musical development. The breadth and depth of Miles’ impact, influence, and creative output are staggering....

An addictive, unpredictable, darkly hilarious collection of stories from Danny McBride—the beloved creator and star of The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound & Down. There are many sides to Danny McBride: He’s starred as the iconic character Kenny Powers in the cult classic HBO show Eastbound...

Pioneering historian, sociologist, editor, novelist, poet, and organizer, W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the foremost African American intellectuals of the 20th century. While Du Bois is remembered for his monumental contributions to scholarship and civil rights activism, the spiritual aspects of his work have been misunderstood, even negated. W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet, the first religious biography of this leader, illuminates the spirituality that is essential to understanding his achievements.

The classic introduction to economic thought, now updated in time for the publication of New Ideas from Dead CEOs This entertaining and accessible introduction to the great economic thinkers throughout history? Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and more?shows how...

When European missionaries first arrived in India in the sixteenth century, they entered a world both fascinating and bewildering. Hinduism, as they saw it, was a pagan mess: the worship of devils and monsters by a people who burned women alive, performed outlandish rites and fed children to...

What happens when Americans lose faith in their religious institutions—and politicians fill the void? From the Puritans to Donald Trump, this sweeping history will change your understanding of the forces that create leaders and hold their followers captive. “Elegant and insightful...

Cameron Mitchell’s “dish room to boardroom story” began when he was 16-years-old and started working as a dishwasher at a local steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio. Two years later, when Mitchell was working as a line cook during a chaotic shift change, he had an epiphany. He realized he loved the restaurant business and set out to make it his lifelong career. He knew he wanted to be the president of a restaurant company, one day.

What does it really mean to be a man today? The topic of modern manhood has been at the forefront of our media and politics for several decades now. It has become a totem of the culture war, hotly debated again and again in both public and private spaces. More recently, the conversation has...

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking backstairs look at the White House, The Residence, comes an intimate, news-making look at the true modern power brokers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the First Ladies, from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama. One of the most...

Hey, y’all. Welcome to the South! Viral sensation and TikToker Landon Bryant (@LandonTalks) presents his tongue-in-cheek “anthropological dive” into the food, fashion, linguistics, culture, holidays, and traditions of the American South. “Let’s discuss . . .” These two words began...

Whiting award-winning poet and Distinguished Chair of Humanities at MIT, Dr. Joshua Bennett creates a masterful synthesis of personal narrative and history that illuminates the promises and perils of being labelled a Black prodigy. If our gifts aren’t earned, but given, then what do they...

If you want to finally understand British slang, banter, and polite put‑downs, keep reading. Or don’t. Honestly, most Brits would prefer you didn’t. Have you ever heard a British phrase that sounded perfectly polite—yet somehow felt like a warning? Perhaps you love British TV but keep missing the subtext. Or maybe you just enjoy British humor and suspect you’re not always in on the joke. (You’re not.) If so, this book is for you. Or at least, it’s for people who think buying a book about British slang is a good idea. This isn’t a dictionary. Dictionaries are for people who ...

A captivating chronicle of the pivotal decade in American sports, when the games invaded prime time, and sports moved from the margins to the mainstream of American culture. Every decade brings change, but as Michael MacCambridge chronicles in THE BIG TIME, no decade in American sports history...

What do the Spartans, Samurai, Shaolin monks, early Christian ascetics, and Native American warriors all have in common? Across continents and centuries, these warrior traditions discovered the same hidden truth: that solitude and celibacy are not weaknesses - but powerful weapons in the forging of discipline, resilience, and inner strength. In Solitude and Celibacy in Warrior Cultures, you’ll journey through the training grounds, monasteries, deserts, and battlefields where history’s fiercest warriors tested their minds and bodies against hardship, hunger, and desire. From the Spartan ...

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Literary Hub From the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lords of Finance, a magnificent and timely reckoning with the first truly global financial calamity and the famous banking family at the center of the whirlwind Over the course of the 1850s and...

"Allison Raskin’s bookunpacks the questions and uncertainties around marriage that so many of us have... a must-read for anyone and everyone that may be curious about the intricacies of modern marriage.” –Nick Viall, TV Personality, Host of The Viall Files, and Bestselling Author From Just...