An account of one family's displacement and the tragic history of twentieth-century Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia: "Deeply moving." — Los Angeles TimesWinner of the Pearson Prize for NonfictionThe immense cataclysm of World War II devastated the Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, sending many of their inhabitants to the ends of the earth. Part history, part autobiography, Walking Since Daybreak tells the tragic sto...

This award-winning cultural history reveals how the Great War changed humanity.This sweeping volume probes the origins, the impact, and the aftermath of World War I—from the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War," as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point . . . for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places."In thi...

Named "One of the 100 best books ever published in Canada" (The Literary Review of Canada), Rites of Springis a brilliant and captivating work of cultural history from the internationally acclaimed scholar and writer Modris Eksteins.Dazzling in its originality, witty and perceptive in unearthing patterns of behavior that history has erased, Rites of Spring probes the origins, the impact and the aftermath of World War I--from the premiere o...

In Solar Dance, acclaimed writer and scholar Modris Eksteins uses Vincent van Gogh as his lens for this brilliant survey of Western culture and politics in the last century.The long-awaited follow-up to Modris Eksteins' internationally acclaimed Rites of Springand Walking Since Daybreak. Now he has produced another thrilling, iconoclastic work of cultural history that is a trailblazing biography of an era--from the eve of the First...

Art dealer Otto Wacker’s 1932 sensational trial in Berlin for selling fake Van Goghs leads Eksteins to a unique narrative of a collapsing Weimar Germany, the rise of another misfit, Adolf Hitler, and the replacement of nineteenth-century certitude with twentieth-century doubt.

FINALIST - Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (2012)FINALIST - Governor General's Literary Award - Non-Fiction (2012)FINALIST - BC Book Prize's Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (2012)A son’s decision to alter his father’s last surviving suit for himself is the launching point for this powerful book – part personal memoir, part social history of the man’s suit – about fathers and sons, love and forgiveness, and learning what it means to be a man.For ye...

This vivid New York Times bestseller about 1950s America from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist is "an engrossing sail across a pivotal decade" ( Time ).Joe McCarthy. Marilyn Monroe. The H-bomb. Ozzie and Harriet. Elvis. Civil rights. It's undeniable: The fifties were a defining decade for America, complete with sweeping cultural change and political upheaval. This decade is...

An illuminating portrayal of Richard Feynman—a giant of twentieth century physics—from his childhood tinkering with radios, to his vital work on the Manhattan Project and beyondRaised in Depression-era Rockaway Beach, physicist Richard Feynman was irreverent, eccentric, and childishly enthusiastic—a new kind of scientist in a field that was in its infancy. His quick mastery of quantum mechanics earned him a place at Los Alamos working on the Manhattan Project under...

“Vastly informative and vastly entertaining…A scholarly and fascinating book.” —Los Angeles TimesWith dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can’t), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson explores English grammar and word origins as he tell...

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese history.**"Exquisitely written." —**GuardianMany nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past.Keay's authoritative history examine...

The phenomenal number one bestseller and a major BBC TV series.A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick.Winner of the Specsavers National Book Award and Waterstones Book of the Year.**Beautiful, intoxicating and filled with heart-pounding suspense, Jessie Burton's historical novel set in Amsterdam, The Miniaturist, is a story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution.'Completely immerses the reader in ...

WINNER OF THE LIBRIS AWARD FOR BEST FICTION & BEST AUTHORSHORTLISTED FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE ROGER WRITERS' TRUST FICTION AWARDLONGLISTED FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE'Historical fiction at its best' Sunday TelegraphA mesmerizing epic set in the wilds of 17th century North America, from a Giller...