When it comes to falling in love, Tammy Whinot will stop at nothing:No matter that when she meets Mr. Perfect, he's shooting it out with a Chechen convenience store owner.Or that five minutes later he takes a leap over a drunken Porsche into a coma and a stint in a wheelchair.Or that the fixer-upper Tammy buys Mr. Perfect contains a family of ghosts trapped in an afterlife of murky tribulation.Or that tribulato numero uno is the mobster Tony Ten Finger's obs...

In literature and film the spy chief is an all-knowing, all-powerful figure who masterfully moves spies into action like pieces on a chessboard. How close to reality is that depiction, and what does it really take to be an effective leader in the world of intelligence?This first volume of Spy Chiefs broadens and deepens our understanding of the role of intelligence leaders in foreign affairs and national security in the United States and United Kingdom from the early 1940s...

"It is a magnificent epic," said William H. Prescott after the publication of History of the Conquest of Mexico in 1843. Since then, his sweeping account of Cortés's subjugation of the Aztec people has endured as a landmark work of scholarship and dramatic storytelling. This pioneering study presents a compelling view of the clash of civilizations that reverberates in Latin America to this day."Regarded simply from the standpoint of literary criticism, the Conquest of ...

Rachel Blaustein is an attractive but lonely old woman living in a hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. She is estranged from her daughter and an unknown quantity to her grandchildren. She discovers that she is going to die and realizes that she first needs to make peace with her daughter Marnie.The ensuing reunion is anything but peaceful. Marnie is the mirror image of her mother, with the same blend of passion and cold steel. They hate the loss of each other, but the issues that divide ...

Alex is a writer whose mind see-saws through multiple levels of reality. When we first meet him, he is a grungy postal worker living in a ratty apartment and sending his literary characters out into an unforgiving world.Alex loves his characters, but unfortunately, power corrupts, and Alex's power over his creations corrupts absolutely. He forces them into clichés no self-respecting imaginary character would tolerate. But when they argue with him, they quickly find themselves choki...

In November 1532, a group of 168 Spaniards seized the Inca emperor Atahuallpa in the town of Cajamarca, in the northern Peruvian highlands. Their act, quickly taken as a symbol of the conquest of a vast empire, brought them unprecedented rewards in gold and silver; it made them celebrities, gave them first choice of positions of honor and power in the new Peru of the Spaniards, and opened up the possibility of a splendid life at home in Spain, if they so desired. Thus they became men of co...

A monumental achievement of scholarship, this volume on the Nahua Indians of Central Mexico (often called Aztecs) constitutes our best understanding of any New World indigenous society in the period following European contact.Simply put, the purpose of this book is to throw light on the history of Nahua society and culture through the use of records in Nahuatl, concentrating on the time when the bulk of the extant documents were written, between about 1540-50 and the late eighteent...

The fourth book of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series!John Smith—Number Four—thought that things would change once he and Nine reunited with the others. But he was wrong. After facing off with the Mogadorian ruler and almost being killed, the Garde realize they are drastically unprepared. Now they're hiding out in Nine's Chicago penthouse, trying to figure out their next move.Even with the return of an old ally, these superpowered tee...

It began with an unsigned email: "I am a senior member of the intelligence community".What followed was the most spectacular intelligence breach ever, brought about by one extraordinary man, Edward Snowden. The consequences have shaken the leaders of nations worldwide, from Obama to Cameron, to the presidents of Brazil, France, and Indonesia, and the chancellor of Germany.Edward Snowden, a young computer genius working for America's National Security Agency, blew the whistl...

Narrated in a bold, fearless, unforgettable voice and set against the lush, panoramic backdrop of Hawaii, The Descendants is a stunning debut novel about an unconventional family forced to come together and re-create its own legacy—and the inspiration for the major motion picture starring George Clooney.Fortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a f...

With startling speed, Spanish conquistadors invaded hundreds of Native American kingdoms, took over the mighty empires of the Aztecs and Incas, and initiated an unprecedented redistribution of the world's resources and balance of power. They changed the course of history, but the myth they established was even stranger than their real achievements. This Very Short Introduction deploys the latest scholarship to shatter and replace the traditional narrative. Chapters explore New World civili...