Modern Library

When seventeen-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she’s trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city’s labyrinthine subway system. But there’s something eerily beguiling about...

The library of Ashurbanipal, Assyria’s last great king, held an astonishing collection at the forefront of knowledge in its day, from ancient traditions in religion and literature to the latest developments in magic and medicine. When the Assyrian empire fell, the library burned to the ground, and its contents, clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing, lay buried for thousands of years until a team of Victorian archaeologists discovered the remnants in modern-day Iraq. The clay had baked and hardened; the very fire that consumed the library had helped its texts to survive for millennia.

Founded by Alexander the Great and built by self-styled Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age, legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lighthouse. But it was most famous for the astonishing intellectual efflorescence it fostered and the library it produced. If the European Renaissance was the "rebirth" of Western culture, then Alexandria, Egypt, was its birthplace.

The American Revolution signalled a great change in the course of world history and progress. From this colonial revolt sprouted ideals of liberty and democracy, and all the aspirations and ambitions of a new people. In this work, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. Wood discusses the character and consequences of the revolution, grounding the events and ideas that shaped the American consciousness.

In this fascinating work, winner of the Wolfson Prize for History Mark Mazower uncovers the history of the Balkans with detail and clarity. He explores the reasons for current conflicts and examines the Balkans as a religious, cultural, and economic melting pot for Europe and Asia. Through Robert O'Keefe's articulate narration, listeners will be absorbed by this rich world.

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE The “exhilarating” (The Boston Globe) story of the legendary Random House founder, whose seemingly charmed life at the apogee of the American Century afforded him a front-row seat to literary and cultural history in the making “[A] big...

LA Times Book Award winner and expert on the past and present Japan, Ian Buruma examines the transformation of a country. Following Japan's history from its opening to the West in 1853 to its hosting of the 1964 Olympics, Buruma focuses on how figures such as Commodore Matthew Perry, Douglas MacArthur, and Emperor Mitsushito helped shape this complex country.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Extra Life, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and...

Lawrence M. Friedman is Professor of Law at Stanford University and author of 23 books about law and legal history. Hailed as American law's greatest living historian, Friedman traces the evolution of America's legal system from the colonial period to the present. A Modern Library Chronicle, this book is concise, insightful, and graced with wit.

NEWLY REVISED AND EXPANDED: Now with 29 complete texts and updated scholarship. In 1945, a farmer in Upper Egypt cracked open a sealed clay jar and found thirteen codices buried since 367 CE. Inside were gospels, cosmologies, hymns, and visions from a rival Christianity so sophisticated it nearly won. For a thousand years, everything we knew about these texts came from the people who destroyed them. Now you can read them yourself. Twenty-nine texts in clear, modern English. No archaic phrasing. No dense scholarly apparatus. Just the words, made readable. The Gospels: The Gospel of Thomas (...

Why do some leaders command absolute loyalty while others fall into ruin? The answer lies in a cold, hard truth Niccolò Machiavelli spoke centuries ago: the world is not as we wish it to be, but as it truly is. The Prince is the ultimate manual for strategic survival. By dissecting the fundamental questions of leadership—Is it better to be loved or feared? How does one master Fortune?—Machiavelli provides a roadmap for those who refuse to be victims of circumstance.

Why do some leaders rise to absolute power while others crumble under pressure? History is written by the victors, and for centuries, the victors have studied Niccolò Machiavelli. This collection unites two foundational texts that changed the course of Western thought: The Prince and The Art of War. Together, they form a ruthless manual for navigating authority, competition, and survival. While The Prince shatters the illusion of virtuous leadership to explore the psychology of power, The Art of War bridges the gap between political will and military capability.

Have you ever wondered why the most successful leaders always seem one step ahead of the competition? Sun Tzu's The Art of War is arguably the most influential strategy book ever written. Composed in ancient China, its lessons have transcended time to become a staple for modern CEOs, strategists, and anyone seeking to master the dynamics of conflict. Whether you are launching a startup, managing a team, or navigating human interaction, this edition provides a clear blueprint for success emphasizing preparation, adaptability, and the subtle art of deception.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century is the story of a family of Southern aristocrats on the brink of personal and financial ruin. The definitive corrected text, including Faulkner's Appendix One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100...

Deep down, most people think that happiness comes from having or doing something. Here, in Alan Watts’s groundbreaking third book (originally published in 1940), he offers a more challenging thesis: authentic happiness comes from embracing life as a whole in all its contradictions and paradoxes, an attitude that Watts calls the “way of acceptance.” Drawing on Eastern philosophy, Western mysticism, and analytic psychology, Watts demonstrates that happiness comes from accepting both the outer world around us and the inner world inside us,

Best-selling author and renowned religious scholar Karen Armstrong presents a concise and articulate history of Islam, the world's fastest-growing faith. Beginning with the Prophet Muhammad's flight from Medina and concluding with an examination of modern Islamic practices and concerns, Armstrong delivers an unbiased overview. She contends that no religion is more feared and misunderstood by the Western world as Islam, and firmly challenges the notion that these two civilizations are on a collision course.

The book that invented modern short fiction. Fifteen stories. One city. A new kind of literature. When James Joyce published Dubliners in 1914, after nine years of fighting with terrified publishers and threatened printers, English-language fiction changed permanently. The stories collected here — written between 1904 and 1907, when Joyce was in his early twenties — created the modern short story as we know it: stripped of plot machinery, oriented toward the epiphany, written in a prose of such restraint and precision that every word seems weighed against silence. There is nothing like ...

The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake's New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six—guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the...

The much-acclaimed BookTok sensation from Olivie Blake, The Atlas Six is now newly revised, edited with additional content, and available on audio for the first time. The tag #theatlassix already has millions of views on TikTok A dark academic debut fantasy with an established cult...

The Wisdom of Libraries: Exploring the Five Laws of Library Science and Their Modern Relevance is a deep exploration of one of the most influential frameworks in the history of librarianship. Written for students, professionals, and curious readers alike, this book unpacks S. R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science and demonstrates how they continue to shape libraries in the twenty-first century. From the principle that “books are for use” to the idea that “the library is a growing organism,” these timeless laws offer insights into access, personalization, efficiency, and ...