When NPR contributor Scott Huler made one more attempt to get through James Joyce’s Ulysses, he had no idea it would launch an obsession with the book’s inspiration: the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey and the lonely homebound journey of its Everyman hero, Odysseus.No-Man’s Lands is Huler’s funny and touching exploration of the life lessons embedded within The Odyssey, a legendary tale of wandering and longing that could be read as a veritable gui...

In 1700, a young man named John Lawson left London and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to make a name for himself. For reasons unknown, he soon undertook a two-month journey through the still-mysterious Carolina backcountry. His travels yielded A New Voyage to Carolina in 1709, one of the most significant early American travel narratives, rich with observations about the region’s environment and Indigenous people. Lawson later helped found North Carolina’s first two c...

“Nature, rightly questioned, never lies.” —A Manual of Scientific Enquiry, Third Edition, 1859Scott Huler was working as a copy editor for a small publisher when he stumbled across the Beaufort Wind Scale in his Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary. It was one of those moments of discovery that writers live for. Written centuries ago, its 110 words launched Huler on a remarkable journey over land and sea into a fascinating world of explorers, mariners, scientists, and writers. Aft...

Best Creative Nonfiction of the South serves as a valuable resource for scholars, students, writers, and general readers interested in creative nonfiction both from specific areas of the South and across the region as a whole. This North Carolina volume, second in the series, contains essays that celebrate and document the Tar Heel state’s diverse cultures and geography, from the mountains to the sea. The writers included here come from diverse backgrounds, generations, and artist...

Learn more about Greek and Roman Mythology with this comprehensive and fully illustrated book.Audience:Intended for everyone interested Greek and Roman Mythology. Written in plain English.FEATURES:- Fully illustrated with maps, art, and photographs - Search for the words or phrases - Navigate from Table of Contents or read page by page - Add Bookmarks - Designed for optimal navigation on electronic devices with a small screen - Access the guide anytime, anywhere - at home, on the train, in...

"Variably genial, cautionary, lyrical, admonitory, terrifying, horrifying and inspiring…A lifetime of thought, travel, reading, imagination and memory inform this affecting account." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Blending history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, science and exposition, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester tells the breathtaking saga of the Atlantic Ocean in a masterful work of narrative nonfiction. A gifted storyteller and...

Italo Calvino's beloved, intricately crafted philosophical novel about an Emperor's travels—a brilliant journey across far-off places and distant memory.“Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.” In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo—Mongol emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sen...

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.The sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago in 1912, and the subsequent deaths of over 1,500 passengers, sent shock waves around the world. Never before or since has a maritime disaster in a time of peace had such an impact.TITANIC: HISTORY IN AN HOUR is an entertaining and well researched account of the events leading up to the sinking of this ‘unsinkable’ ship, providing an fascinating commentary on the pressures of the W...

This illustrated Travel Guide is designed for optimal navigation on eReaders and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically and by category, making it easier to access individual articles. Articles feature information about attractions, landmarks, districts, transportation, cultural venues, dining, history and much more. Addresses, telephones, hours of operation and admissions information are included. The guide is complimented by clearly marked maps that are linked to city att...

"An extraordinary story of bravery and insanity on the high seas. . . . One of the most gripping sea stories I have ever read." — Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect StormIn the tradition of Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm, comes a breathtaking piece of maritime history and an oceanic adventure about an obsessive desire to test the limits of human endurance.In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring ...

This is the only digital version of Sappho’s work that presents each fragment in the original Greek alongside a concise brand new English translation. A brief biography is also included, as well as an Ancient Greek pronunciation section, allowing you to read aloud and experience the true beauty of Sappho’s original text. (Version 2)Features:* new translation of the surviving fragments* includes the recent 2005 discovery of a near complete poem by Sapp...

**A New York Times/PBS NewsHour Book Club PickFrom award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author of The Lost: a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic masterpiece.**When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For...