The Devil's Cup
A History of the World According to Coffee
Written by Stewart Lee Allen

Format: Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
On Sale: March 4, 2003
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-0-345-44149-2 (0-345-44149-4)

In this captivating book, Stewart Lee Allen treks three-quarters of the way around the world on a caffeinated quest to answer these profound questions: Did the advent of coffee give birth to an enlightened western civilization? Is coffee, indeed, the substance that drives history? From the cliffhanging villages of Southern Yemen... Read more >

Manhunt
The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad
Written by Peter L. Bergen

Format: Trade Paperback, 384 pages
Publisher: Broadway
On Sale: April 30, 2013
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-95588-3 (0-307-95588-5)

Chosen by the Washington Post As One of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2012
Based on exhaustive research and unprecedented access to White House officials, CIA analysts, Pakistani intelligence, and the military, this is the definitive account of ten years in pursuit of bin Laden and of the twilight of al-Qaeda.

It... Read more >

The Frenzy of Renown
Fame and Its History
Written by Leo Braudy

Format: Trade Paperback, 720 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: November 25, 1997
Price: $25.00
ISBN: 978-0-679-77630-7 (0-679-77630-3)

For Alexander the Great, fame meant accomplishing what no mortal had ever accomplished before. For Julius Caesar, personal glory was indistinguishable from that of Rome. The early Christians devalued public recognition, believing that the only true audience was God. Marilyn Monroe owed much of her fame to the fragility that led... Read more >

Desire of the Everlasting Hills
The World Before and After Jesus
Written by Thomas Cahill

Format: Trade Paperback, 368 pages
Publisher: Anchor
On Sale: February 13, 2001
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-385-48372-8 (0-385-48372-4)

From the bestselling author of How the Irish Saved Civilization and The Gifts of the Jews, his most compelling historical narrative yet.

How did an obscure rabbi from a backwater of the Roman Empire come to be the central figure in Western Civilization? Did his influence in fact change the world? These... Read more >

Immortality
The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization
Written by Stephen Cave

Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Publisher: Crown
On Sale: April 3, 2012
Price: $25.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-88491-6 (0-307-88491-0)

A fascinating work of popular philosophy and history that both enlightens and entertains, Stephen Cave’s Immortality investigates whether it just might be possible to live forever and whether we should want to. But it also makes a powerful argument, which is that it’s our very preoccupation with defying mortality that drives... Read more >

Political Leadership
Stories of Power and Politics from Literature and Life
Written by Robert Coles

Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: October 18, 2005
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7170-5 (0-8129-7170-1)

From ancient times to the present day, here are indispensable insights on political power and leadership as expressed in the novels, plays, and poetry of the world’s greatest artists and intellectuals. Adapted from a course taught at Harvard by Pulitzer Prize—winning author Robert Coles, Political Leadership features scenes, stories, and speeches... Read more >

The Cold War
A Military History
Written by Stephen E. Ambrose, Caleb Carr, Thomas Fleming and Victor Hanson
Edited by Robert Cowley

Format: Trade Paperback, 496 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
On Sale: November 7, 2006
Price: $18.00
ISBN: 978-0-8129-6716-6 (0-8129-6716-X)

Even fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, it is still hard to grasp that we no longer live under its immense specter. For nearly half a century, from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, all world events hung in the balance of a simmering... Read more >

The Korean War
A History
Written by Bruce Cumings

Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: July 12, 2011
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7896-4 (0-8129-7896-X)

A bracing account of a war that lingers in our collective memory as both ambiguous and unjustly ignored.

For Americans, it was a discrete conflict lasting from 1950 to 1953. But for the Asian world the Korean War was a generations-long struggle that still haunts contemporary events. With access to new evidence... Read more >

Eyewitness to History
From Ancient Times to the Modern Era
Edited by Patricia Daniels
Foreword by James Reston, Jr.

Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Publisher: National Geographic
On Sale: October 19, 2010
Price: $35.00
ISBN: 978-1-4262-0652-8 (1-4262-0652-6)

History comes alive in this engaging and lavishly illustrated chronicle, which spans world events and people from ancient times to the 21st century. The voices of the great and humble speak to us through songs, documents, edicts, poetry, letters, menus, and even graffiti, revealing each era’s conflicts, daily life, arts, science... Read more >

Irresistible North
From Venice to Greenland on the Trail of the Zen Brothers
Written by Andrea Di Robilant

Format: Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Vintage
On Sale: August 7, 2012
Price: $15.95
ISBN: 978-0-307-39066-0 (0-307-39066-7)

A century before Columbus arrived in America, two brothers from Venice are said to have explored parts of the New World. They became legends during the Renaissance, and then the source of a great scandal that would discredit their story. Today, they have been largely forgotten.

In this very original work—part history... Read more >

The Rise of Rome
The Making of the World's Greatest Empire
Written by Anthony Everitt

Format: Hardcover, 512 pages
Publisher: Random House
On Sale: August 7, 2012
Price: $30.00
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6663-6 (1-4000-6663-8)

From Anthony Everitt, the bestselling author of acclaimed biographies of Cicero, Augustus, and Hadrian, comes a riveting, magisterial account of Rome and its remarkable ascent from an obscure agrarian backwater to the greatest empire the world has ever known.

Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in... Read more >

The Hero with an African Face
Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa
Written by Clyde W. Ford

Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: January 4, 2000
Price: $17.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-37868-9 (0-553-37868-6)

Drawing on extensive research and his own wide travels in Africa, Clyde Ford vividly retells ancient African myths and brings to light their universal meanings. From great creation myths to tales revealing the intimacy of humans and animal spirits, Ford shows numerous parallels between African spiritual symbols and those of other... Read more >

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume II
A.D. 395 to A.D. 1185 (A Modern Library E-Book)
Written by Edward Gibbon
Illustrated by Gian Battista Piranesi

Format: eBook, 912 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: November 1, 2000
Price: $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-679-64147-6 (0-679-64147-5)

"I devoured Gibbon," wrote Winston Churchill.  "I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all."  Gibbon's magnum opus -- which encompasses thirteen hundred years of history, swinging across Europe, North Africa, and Asia -- remains one of the greatest works of history ever written.  This Modern Library e-book bundle contains... Read more >

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume III
A.D. 1185 to the Fall of Constantinople in 1453
Written by Edward Gibbon
Illustrated by Gian Battista Piranesi

Format: eBook, 896 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: October 23, 2000
Price: $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-679-64148-3 (0-679-64148-3)

"I devoured Gibbon," wrote Winston Churchill.  "I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all."  Gibbon's magnum opus -- which encompasses thirteen hundred years of history, swinging across Europe, North Africa, and Asia -- remains one of the greatest works of history ever written.  This Modern Library e-book bundle contains... Read more >

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume I
A.D. 180 to A.D. 395 (A Modern Library E-Book)
Written by Edward Gibbon
Illustrated by Gian Battista Piranesi
Introduction by Daniel J. Boorstin

Format: eBook, 928 pages
Publisher: Modern Library
On Sale: November 1, 2000
Price: $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-679-64146-9 (0-679-64146-7)

"I devoured Gibbon," wrote Winston Churchill.  "I rode triumphantly through it from end to end and enjoyed it all."  Gibbon's magnum opus -- which encompasses thirteen hundred years of history, swinging across Europe, North Africa, and Asia -- remains one of the greatest works of history ever written.  This Modern Library e-book bundle contains... Read more >

State vs. Defense
The Battle to Define America's Empire
Written by Stephen Glain

Format: Hardcover, 496 pages
Publisher: Crown
On Sale: August 2, 2011
Price: $26.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-40841-9 (0-307-40841-8)

A masterful account of how sixty years of American militarism created the Cold War, fanned decades of unnecessary conflict, helped to fuel Islamist terror, and threatens to bankrupt the country.

For most of the twentieth century, the sword has led before the olive branch in American foreign policy. In eye-opening fashion, State... Read more >

Tower of Babble
How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos
Written by Dore Gold

Format: Trade Paperback, 336 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
On Sale: October 25, 2005
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-4000-5494-7 (1-4000-5494-X)

A United Nations insider exposes the ugly truth about the UN—including how Gold believes the UN organizations have been funding terrorist groups.

In the New York Times bestseller Tower of Babble, former United Nations ambassador Dore Gold blows the lid off what he asserts is the UN’s shocking failures to keep international... Read more >

A War Like No Other
How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
Written by Victor Hanson

Format: Trade Paperback, 416 pages
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
On Sale: September 12, 2006
Price: $17.00
ISBN: 978-0-8129-6970-2 (0-8129-6970-7)

One of our most provocative military historians, Victor Davis Hanson has given us painstakingly researched and pathbreaking accounts of wars ranging from classical antiquity to the twenty-first century. Now he juxtaposes an ancient conflict with our most urgent modern concerns to create his most engrossing work to date, A War Like... Read more >

The Golden King
The World of Tutankhamun
Written by Zahi Hawass

Format: Trade Paperback, 172 pages
Publisher: National Geographic
On Sale: May 16, 2006
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-0-7922-5914-5 (0-7922-5914-9)

Tutankhamun has mesmerized the world ever since Howard Carter's dramatic discovery of his treasure-filled tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.
In this richly illustrated book, Egypt's leading archaeologist chronicles the Boy King and the royal dynasty from which he descended. From Tut's grandfather, the Sun King Amenhotep III, to... Read more >

The Liberator
One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
Written by Alex Kershaw

Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Publisher: Crown
On Sale: October 30, 2012
Price: $28.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-88799-3 (0-307-88799-5)

Forthcoming October 30, 2012. Professors: To request a complimentary advance reader's copy, email RHAcademic@randomhouse.com (Limited Supply Available)
The true story of the bloodiest and most dramatic march to victory of the Second World War: the battlefield odyssey of a maverick U.S. Army officer and his infantry unit as they fought for over... Read more >

The Taste of Conquest
The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice
Written by Michael Krondl

Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
On Sale: October 28, 2008
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-345-48084-2 (0-345-48084-8)

The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trotting tale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, fickle fashion, and mouthwatering cuisine–in short, the very stuff of which our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, and anecdote-filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writer and food historian, tells the... Read more >

The First Clash
The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization
Written by Jim Lacey

Format: Trade Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Bantam
On Sale: April 9, 2013
Price: $17.00
ISBN: 978-0-553-38575-5 (0-553-38575-5)

“A compelling and provocative read . . . With a soldier’s eye, Jim Lacey re-creates the battle of Marathon in all its brutal simplicity.”—Barry Strauss, author of Masters of Command

Marathon—one of history’s most pivotal battles. Its name evokes images of almost superhuman courage, endurance, and fighting spirit. In this eye-opening book... Read more >

In the Garden of Beasts
Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Written by Erik Larson

Format: Trade Paperback, 480 pages
Publisher: Broadway
On Sale: May 1, 2012
Price: $16.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-40885-3 (0-307-40885-X)

A 2011 New York Times Notable Book


“Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.”—New York Times Book Review

Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand... Read more >

Double Cross
The True Story of the D-Day Spies
Written by Ben Macintyre

Format: Trade Paperback, 416 pages
Publisher: Broadway
On Sale: May 14, 2013
Price: $15.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-88877-8 (0-307-88877-0)

On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and suffered an astonishingly low rate of casualties. D-Day was a stunning military accomplishment, but it was also a masterpiece of trickery. Operation Fortitude, which protected and enabled the invasion, and the Double Cross system, which specialized in... Read more >

Double Cross
The True Story of the D-Day Spies
Written by Ben Macintyre

Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Publisher: Crown
On Sale: July 31, 2012
Price: $26.00
ISBN: 978-0-307-88875-4 (0-307-88875-4)

In his celebrated bestsellers Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat, Ben Macintyre told the dazzling true stories of a remarkable WWII double agent and of how the Allies employed a corpse to fool the Nazis and assure a decisive victory. In Double Cross, Macintyre returns with the untold story of the grand... Read more >