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Johannes Trithemius'Polygraphiae (1518)
Johannes Trithemius'Polygraphiae (1518)
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A book is a written work of substantial length created by one or more authors. They can be distributed in various forms such as printed books, audiobooks, and electronic books (ebooks). Books are broadly classified into fiction, which contains invented narratives or other imaginary content, and non-fiction, which contains content intended as factual truth.

The term may also refer to the physical or electronic object containing such a work. Modern books are typically printed in a codex format, composed of many pages bound together and protected by a cover. Before the wide adoption of the modern printing press, codices were used to create handwritten manuscripts. Older writing media include scrolls and clay tablets.

The book publishing process is the series of steps involved in its creation and dissemination, often undertaken in modern times by a commercial publishing company. The publishing industry has recently seen major changes due to new technologies, including ebooks and audiobooks (recordings of books read aloud). Awareness of the needs of people with print disabilities has led to a rise in accessible publishing formats such as braille printing and large-print editions. Google Books estimated in 2010 that roughly 130 million total unique books have been published.

Books are sold at general retail stores and specialized bookstores, as well as online, and can be borrowed from libraries or public bookcases. The reception of books has led to several social consequences, including censorship.

Books are sometimes contrasted with periodical literature, such as newspapers or magazines, for which new editions are published according to a regular schedule. Some objects broadly described as "books" are left empty for personal use, such as notebooks, diaries, sketchbooks, account books, and autograph books. (Full article...)

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  • Image 1 First edition cover of Madman's Drum (1930) Madman's Drum is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985), published in 1930. It is the second of Ward's six wordless novels. The 118 wood-engraved images of Madman's Drum tell the story of a slave trader who steals a demon-faced drum from an African he murders, and the consequences for him and his family. Ward's first wordless novel was Gods' Man of 1929. Ward was more ambitious with his second work in the medium: the characters are more nuanced, the plot more developed and complicated, and the outrage at social injustice more explicit. Ward used a wider variety of carving tools to achieve a finer degree of detail in the artwork, and was expressive in his use of symbolism and exaggerated emotional facial expressions. (Full article...)
    A book cover with a black-and-white illustration of a man standing atop an African drum with the image of a face on it. The title at the top reads "Madman's Drum", and at the bottom reads "A novel in woodcuts by Lynd Ward".
    First edition cover of Madman's Drum (1930)

    Madman's Drum is a wordless novel by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985), published in 1930. It is the second of Ward's six wordless novels. The 118 wood-engraved images of Madman's Drum tell the story of a slave trader who steals a demon-faced drum from an African he murders, and the consequences for him and his family.

    Ward's first wordless novel was Gods' Man of 1929. Ward was more ambitious with his second work in the medium: the characters are more nuanced, the plot more developed and complicated, and the outrage at social injustice more explicit. Ward used a wider variety of carving tools to achieve a finer degree of detail in the artwork, and was expressive in his use of symbolism and exaggerated emotional facial expressions. (Full article...)
  • Image 2 Epiphanius of Salamis' book the Panarion is the main source of information regarding the Gospel of the Ebionites. The Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given by scholars to an apocryphal gospel extant only as seven brief quotations in a heresiology known as the Panarion, by Epiphanius of Salamis; he misidentified it as the "Hebrew" gospel, believing it to be a truncated and modified version of the Gospel of Matthew. The quotations were embedded in a polemic to point out inconsistencies in the beliefs and practices of a Jewish Christian sect known as the Ebionites relative to Nicene orthodoxy. The surviving fragments derive from a gospel harmony of the Synoptic Gospels, composed in Greek with various expansions and abridgments reflecting the theology of the writer. Distinctive features include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus; an Adoptionist Christology, in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism; the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus; and an advocacy of vegetarianism. (Full article...)
    An illuminated manuscript
    Epiphanius of Salamis' book the Panarion is the main source of information regarding the Gospel of the Ebionites.

    The Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given by scholars to an apocryphal gospel extant only as seven brief quotations in a heresiology known as the Panarion, by Epiphanius of Salamis; he misidentified it as the "Hebrew" gospel, believing it to be a truncated and modified version of the Gospel of Matthew. The quotations were embedded in a polemic to point out inconsistencies in the beliefs and practices of a Jewish Christian sect known as the Ebionites relative to Nicene orthodoxy.

    The surviving fragments derive from a gospel harmony of the Synoptic Gospels, composed in Greek with various expansions and abridgments reflecting the theology of the writer. Distinctive features include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus; an Adoptionist Christology, in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism; the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus; and an advocacy of vegetarianism. (Full article...)
  • Image 3 An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory is a 2010 textbook by the British political theorist Alasdair Cochrane. It is the first book in the publisher Palgrave Macmillan's Animal Ethics Series, edited by Andrew Linzey and Priscilla Cohn. Cochrane's book examines five schools of political theory—utilitarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, Marxism and feminism—and their respective relationships with questions concerning animal rights and the political status of (non-human) animals. Cochrane concludes that each tradition has something to offer to these issues, but ultimately presents his own account of interest-based animal rights as preferable to any. His account, though drawing from all examined traditions, builds primarily upon liberalism and utilitarianism. An Introduction was reviewed positively in several academic publications. The political philosopher Steve Cooke said that Cochrane's own approach showed promise, and that the book would have benefited from devoting more space to it. Robert Garner, a political theorist, praised Cochrane's synthesis of such a broad range of literature, but argued that the work was too uncritical of the concept of justice as it might apply to animals. Cochrane's account of interest-based rights for animals was subsequently considered at greater length in his 2012 book Animal Rights Without Liberation, published by Columbia University Press. An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory was one of the first books to explore animals from the perspective of political theory, and became an established part of a literature critical of the topic's traditional neglect. (Full article...)
    An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory is a 2010 textbook by the British political theorist Alasdair Cochrane. It is the first book in the publisher Palgrave Macmillan's Animal Ethics Series, edited by Andrew Linzey and Priscilla Cohn. Cochrane's book examines five schools of political theory—utilitarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, Marxism and feminism—and their respective relationships with questions concerning animal rights and the political status of (non-human) animals. Cochrane concludes that each tradition has something to offer to these issues, but ultimately presents his own account of interest-based animal rights as preferable to any. His account, though drawing from all examined traditions, builds primarily upon liberalism and utilitarianism.

    An Introduction was reviewed positively in several academic publications. The political philosopher Steve Cooke said that Cochrane's own approach showed promise, and that the book would have benefited from devoting more space to it. Robert Garner, a political theorist, praised Cochrane's synthesis of such a broad range of literature, but argued that the work was too uncritical of the concept of justice as it might apply to animals. Cochrane's account of interest-based rights for animals was subsequently considered at greater length in his 2012 book Animal Rights Without Liberation, published by Columbia University Press. An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory was one of the first books to explore animals from the perspective of political theory, and became an established part of a literature critical of the topic's traditional neglect. (Full article...)
  • Image 4 Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas is the third book of Maya Angelou's seven-volume autobiography series. Set between 1949 and 1955, the book spans Angelou's early twenties. In this volume, Angelou describes her struggles to support her young son, form meaningful relationships, and forge a successful career in the entertainment world. The work's 1976 publication was the first time an African-American woman had expanded her life story into a third volume. Scholar Dolly McPherson calls the book "a graphic portrait of the adult self in bloom" and critic Lyman B. Hagen calls it "a journey of discovery and rebirth". In Singin' and Swingin, Angelou examines many of the same subjects and themes in her previous autobiographies including travel, music, race, conflict, and motherhood. Angelou depicts the conflict she felt as a single mother, despite her success as a performer as she travels Europe with the musical Porgy and Bess. Her depictions of her travels, which take up 40 percent of the book, have roots in the African-American slave narrative. Angelou uses music and musical concepts throughout Singin' and Swingin'; McPherson calls it Angelou's "praisesong" to Porgy and Bess. Angelou's stereotypes about race and race relations are challenged as she interacts more with people of different races. During the course of this narrative, she changes her name from Marguerite Johnson to Maya Angelou for professional reasons. Her young son changes his name as well, from Clyde to Guy, and their relationship is strengthened as the book ends. (Full article...)

    Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas is the third book of Maya Angelou's seven-volume autobiography series. Set between 1949 and 1955, the book spans Angelou's early twenties. In this volume, Angelou describes her struggles to support her young son, form meaningful relationships, and forge a successful career in the entertainment world. The work's 1976 publication was the first time an African-American woman had expanded her life story into a third volume. Scholar Dolly McPherson calls the book "a graphic portrait of the adult self in bloom" and critic Lyman B. Hagen calls it "a journey of discovery and rebirth".

    In Singin' and Swingin, Angelou examines many of the same subjects and themes in her previous autobiographies including travel, music, race, conflict, and motherhood. Angelou depicts the conflict she felt as a single mother, despite her success as a performer as she travels Europe with the musical Porgy and Bess. Her depictions of her travels, which take up 40 percent of the book, have roots in the African-American slave narrative. Angelou uses music and musical concepts throughout Singin' and Swingin'; McPherson calls it Angelou's "praisesong" to Porgy and Bess. Angelou's stereotypes about race and race relations are challenged as she interacts more with people of different races. During the course of this narrative, she changes her name from Marguerite Johnson to Maya Angelou for professional reasons. Her young son changes his name as well, from Clyde to Guy, and their relationship is strengthened as the book ends. (Full article...)
  • Image 5 True at First Light is a book by American writer Ernest Hemingway about his 1953–54 safari in Kenya with his fourth wife Mary. It was released posthumously in his centennial year in 1999. In the book, which blends memoir and fiction, Hemingway explores conflict within a marriage, the conflict between the European and native cultures in Africa, and the fear a writer feels when his work becomes impossible. True at First Light includes descriptions of his earlier friendships with other writers and digressive ruminations on the nature of writing. Hemingway began writing the book after he and his wife were involved in two plane crashes in the African bush in a two-day period in January 1954. He spent much of the next two years in Havana, recuperating and writing the manuscript of what he called "the Africa book", which remained unfinished at the time of his suicide in July 1961. Hemingway's son Patrick edited the work to half its original length to strengthen the underlying storyline and emphasize the fictional aspects. (Full article...)
    True at First Light is a book by American writer Ernest Hemingway about his 1953–54 safari in Kenya with his fourth wife Mary. It was released posthumously in his centennial year in 1999. In the book, which blends memoir and fiction, Hemingway explores conflict within a marriage, the conflict between the European and native cultures in Africa, and the fear a writer feels when his work becomes impossible. True at First Light includes descriptions of his earlier friendships with other writers and digressive ruminations on the nature of writing.

    Hemingway began writing the book after he and his wife were involved in two plane crashes in the African bush in a two-day period in January 1954. He spent much of the next two years in Havana, recuperating and writing the manuscript of what he called "the Africa book", which remained unfinished at the time of his suicide in July 1961. Hemingway's son Patrick edited the work to half its original length to strengthen the underlying storyline and emphasize the fictional aspects. (Full article...)
  • Image 6 Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution is a book written by Stephen Knight first published in 1976. It proposed a solution to five murders in Victorian London that were blamed on an unidentified serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper". Knight presented an elaborate conspiracy theory involving the British royal family, freemasonry and the painter Walter Sickert. He concluded that the victims were murdered to cover up a secret marriage between the second-in-line to the throne, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and working class girl Annie Elizabeth Crook, and that the killer was physician William Gull, aided by coachman John Netley. There are many facts that contradict Knight's theory, and his main source, Joseph Gorman (also known as Joseph Sickert), later retracted the story and admitted to the press that it was a hoax. (Full article...)
    Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution is a book written by Stephen Knight first published in 1976. It proposed a solution to five murders in Victorian London that were blamed on an unidentified serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper".

    Knight presented an elaborate conspiracy theory involving the British royal family, freemasonry and the painter Walter Sickert. He concluded that the victims were murdered to cover up a secret marriage between the second-in-line to the throne, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and working class girl Annie Elizabeth Crook, and that the killer was physician William Gull, aided by coachman John Netley. There are many facts that contradict Knight's theory, and his main source, Joseph Gorman (also known as Joseph Sickert), later retracted the story and admitted to the press that it was a hoax. (Full article...)
  • Image 7 Trinity College, Cambridge MS O.2.1 The Liber Eliensis is a 12th-century English chronicle and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of a newly formed bishopric in 1109. Traditionally, the author of the anonymous work has been given as Richard or Thomas, two monks at Ely, one of whom, Richard, has been identified with an official of the monastery, but some historians hold that neither Richard nor Thomas was the author. The Liber covers the period from the founding of the abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century, building on earlier historical works. It incorporates documents and stories of saints' lives. The work typifies a type of local history produced during the latter part of the 12th century. Similar books were written at other English monasteries. The longest of the contemporary local histories, the Liber chronicles the devastation that the Anarchy caused during the reign of King Stephen. It also documents the career of Nigel, the Bishop of Ely from 1133 to 1169, and his disputes with King Stephen. Other themes include the miracles worked by the monastery's patron saint, Æthelthryth, and gifts of land to Ely. (Full article...)

    Trinity College, Cambridge MS O.2.1

    The Liber Eliensis is a 12th-century English chronicle and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of a newly formed bishopric in 1109. Traditionally, the author of the anonymous work has been given as Richard or Thomas, two monks at Ely, one of whom, Richard, has been identified with an official of the monastery, but some historians hold that neither Richard nor Thomas was the author.

    The Liber covers the period from the founding of the abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century, building on earlier historical works. It incorporates documents and stories of saints' lives. The work typifies a type of local history produced during the latter part of the 12th century. Similar books were written at other English monasteries. The longest of the contemporary local histories, the Liber chronicles the devastation that the Anarchy caused during the reign of King Stephen. It also documents the career of Nigel, the Bishop of Ely from 1133 to 1169, and his disputes with King Stephen. Other themes include the miracles worked by the monastery's patron saint, Æthelthryth, and gifts of land to Ely. (Full article...)
  • Image 8 Title page from the second volume of Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France (1838) The Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men comprised ten volumes of Dionysius Lardner's 133-volume Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–1846). Aimed at the self-educating middle class, this encyclopedia was written during the 19th-century literary revolution in Britain that encouraged more people to read. The Lives formed part of the Cabinet of Biography in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. Within the set of ten, the three-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain and Portugal (1835–37) and the two-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France (1838–39) consist of biographies of important writers and thinkers of the 14th to 18th centuries. Most of them were written by the Romantic writer Mary Shelley. Shelley's biographies reveal her as a professional woman of letters, contracted to produce several volumes of works and paid well to do so. Her extensive knowledge of history and languages, her ability to tell a gripping biographical narrative, and her interest in the burgeoning field of feminist historiography are reflected in these works. (Full article...)
    Title page with an illustration of a man writing at a desk. There are filled bookcases and a curtain in the background.
    Title page from the second volume of Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France (1838)


    The Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men comprised ten volumes of Dionysius Lardner's 133-volume Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–1846). Aimed at the self-educating middle class, this encyclopedia was written during the 19th-century literary revolution in Britain that encouraged more people to read.

    The Lives formed part of the Cabinet of Biography in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. Within the set of ten, the three-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain and Portugal (1835–37) and the two-volume Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of France (1838–39) consist of biographies of important writers and thinkers of the 14th to 18th centuries. Most of them were written by the Romantic writer Mary Shelley. Shelley's biographies reveal her as a professional woman of letters, contracted to produce several volumes of works and paid well to do so. Her extensive knowledge of history and languages, her ability to tell a gripping biographical narrative, and her interest in the burgeoning field of feminist historiography are reflected in these works. (Full article...)
  • Image 9 The Log from the Sea of Cortez is an English-language book written by American author John Steinbeck and published in 1951. It details a six-week (March 11 – April 20) marine specimen-collecting boat expedition he made in 1940 at various sites in the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez), with his friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts. It is regarded as one of Steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction chiefly because of the involvement of Ricketts, who shaped Steinbeck's thinking and provided the prototype for many of the pivotal characters in his fiction, and the insights it gives into the philosophies of the two men. The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the narrative portion of an earlier work, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research, which was published by Steinbeck and Ricketts shortly after their return from the Gulf of California, and combined the journals of the collecting expedition, reworked by Steinbeck, with Ricketts' species catalogue. After Ricketts' death in 1948, Steinbeck dropped the species catalogue from the earlier work and republished it with a eulogy to his friend added as a foreword. (Full article...)
    The Log from the Sea of Cortez is an English-language book written by American author John Steinbeck and published in 1951. It details a six-week (March 11 – April 20) marine specimen-collecting boat expedition he made in 1940 at various sites in the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez), with his friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts. It is regarded as one of Steinbeck's most important works of non-fiction chiefly because of the involvement of Ricketts, who shaped Steinbeck's thinking and provided the prototype for many of the pivotal characters in his fiction, and the insights it gives into the philosophies of the two men.

    The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the narrative portion of an earlier work, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research, which was published by Steinbeck and Ricketts shortly after their return from the Gulf of California, and combined the journals of the collecting expedition, reworked by Steinbeck, with Ricketts' species catalogue. After Ricketts' death in 1948, Steinbeck dropped the species catalogue from the earlier work and republished it with a eulogy to his friend added as a foreword. (Full article...)
  • Image 10 Getting It: The Psychology of est is a non-fiction book by American clinical psychologist Sheridan Fenwick first published in 1976 which analyses Werner Erhard's Erhard Seminars Training or est. Fenwick based the book on her own experience of attending a four-day session of the est training, an intensive 60-hour personal-development course in the self-help genre. Large groups of up to 250 people took the est training at one time. In the first section of Fenwick's book, she recounts the est training process and the methods used during the course. Fenwick details the rules or "agreements" laid out by the trainers to the attendees, which include not talking to others or leaving the session to go to the bathroom unless during an announced break period. The second section is analytic: Fenwick analyzes the methods used by the est trainers, evaluates the course's potential effects, and discusses Erhard's background. Fenwick concludes that the program's long-term effects are unknown, the est training may not be appropriate for certain groups of people, and that a large proportion of participants report perceived positive effects. (Full article...)
    Getting It: The Psychology of est is a non-fiction book by American clinical psychologist Sheridan Fenwick first published in 1976 which analyses Werner Erhard's Erhard Seminars Training or est. Fenwick based the book on her own experience of attending a four-day session of the est training, an intensive 60-hour personal-development course in the self-help genre. Large groups of up to 250 people took the est training at one time.

    In the first section of Fenwick's book, she recounts the est training process and the methods used during the course. Fenwick details the rules or "agreements" laid out by the trainers to the attendees, which include not talking to others or leaving the session to go to the bathroom unless during an announced break period. The second section is analytic: Fenwick analyzes the methods used by the est trainers, evaluates the course's potential effects, and discusses Erhard's background. Fenwick concludes that the program's long-term effects are unknown, the est training may not be appropriate for certain groups of people, and that a large proportion of participants report perceived positive effects. (Full article...)
  • Image 11 Page from Hemming's Cartulary, folio 121 of the manuscript Hemming's Cartulary is a manuscript cartulary, or collection of charters and other land records, collected by a monk named Hemming around the time of the Norman Conquest of England. The manuscript comprises two separate cartularies, made at different times and later bound together; it is in the British Library as MS Cotton Tiberius A xiii. The first was composed at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. The second section was compiled by Hemming and was written around the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. The first section, traditionally titled the Liber Wigorniensis, is a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and other land records, most of which are organized geographically. The second section, Hemming's Cartulary proper, combines charters and other land records with a narrative of deprivation of property owned by the church of Worcester. The two works are bound together in one surviving manuscript, the earliest surviving cartulary from medieval England. A central theme is the losses Worcester suffered at the hands of royal officials and local landowners. Included amongst the despoilers are kings such as Cnut and William the Conqueror, and nobles such as Eadric Streona and Urse d'Abetot. Also included are accounts of lawsuits brought by the Worcester monks to regain their lost lands. The two sections of the cartulary were first printed in 1723. The original manuscript was slightly damaged by fire in 1731 and required rebinding. (Full article...)

    Page from Hemming's Cartulary, folio 121 of the manuscript

    Hemming's Cartulary is a manuscript cartulary, or collection of charters and other land records, collected by a monk named Hemming around the time of the Norman Conquest of England. The manuscript comprises two separate cartularies, made at different times and later bound together; it is in the British Library as MS Cotton Tiberius A xiii. The first was composed at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. The second section was compiled by Hemming and was written around the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. The first section, traditionally titled the Liber Wigorniensis, is a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and other land records, most of which are organized geographically. The second section, Hemming's Cartulary proper, combines charters and other land records with a narrative of deprivation of property owned by the church of Worcester.

    The two works are bound together in one surviving manuscript, the earliest surviving cartulary from medieval England. A central theme is the losses Worcester suffered at the hands of royal officials and local landowners. Included amongst the despoilers are kings such as Cnut and William the Conqueror, and nobles such as Eadric Streona and Urse d'Abetot. Also included are accounts of lawsuits brought by the Worcester monks to regain their lost lands. The two sections of the cartulary were first printed in 1723. The original manuscript was slightly damaged by fire in 1731 and required rebinding. (Full article...)
  • Image 12 The Heart of a Woman (1981) is an autobiography by American writer Maya Angelou. The book is the fourth installment in Angelou's series of seven autobiographies. The Heart of a Woman recounts events in Angelou's life between 1957 and 1962 and follows her travels to California, New York City, Cairo, and Ghana as she raises her teenage son, becomes a published author, becomes active in the civil rights movement, and becomes romantically involved with a South African anti-apartheid fighter. One of the most important themes of The Heart of a Woman is motherhood, as Angelou continues to raise her son. The book ends with her son leaving for college and Angelou looking forward to newfound independence and freedom. Like Angelou's previous volumes, the book has been described as autobiographical fiction, though most critics, as well as Angelou, have characterized it as autobiography. Although most critics consider Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings more favorably, The Heart of a Woman has received positive reviews. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1997. (Full article...)
    The Heart of a Woman (1981) is an autobiography by American writer Maya Angelou. The book is the fourth installment in Angelou's series of seven autobiographies. The Heart of a Woman recounts events in Angelou's life between 1957 and 1962 and follows her travels to California, New York City, Cairo, and Ghana as she raises her teenage son, becomes a published author, becomes active in the civil rights movement, and becomes romantically involved with a South African anti-apartheid fighter. One of the most important themes of The Heart of a Woman is motherhood, as Angelou continues to raise her son. The book ends with her son leaving for college and Angelou looking forward to newfound independence and freedom.

    Like Angelou's previous volumes, the book has been described as autobiographical fiction, though most critics, as well as Angelou, have characterized it as autobiography. Although most critics consider Angelou's first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings more favorably, The Heart of a Woman has received positive reviews. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1997. (Full article...)
  • Image 13 Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment is a 2007 non-fiction book by journalist Anthony Lewis about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The book starts by quoting the First Amendment, which prohibits the U.S. Congress from creating legislation which limits free speech or freedom of the press. Lewis traces the evolution of civil liberties in the U.S. through key historical events. He provides an overview of important free speech case law, including U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Schenck v. United States (1919), Whitney v. California (1927), United States v. Schwimmer (1929), New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), and New York Times Co. v. United States (1971). The title of the book is drawn from the dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in United States v. Schwimmer. Holmes wrote that "if there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought—not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate." Lewis warns the reader against the potential for government to take advantage of periods of fear and upheaval in a post-9/11 society to suppress freedom of speech and criticism by citizens. (Full article...)
    Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment is a 2007 non-fiction book by journalist Anthony Lewis about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The book starts by quoting the First Amendment, which prohibits the U.S. Congress from creating legislation which limits free speech or freedom of the press. Lewis traces the evolution of civil liberties in the U.S. through key historical events. He provides an overview of important free speech case law, including U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Schenck v. United States (1919), Whitney v. California (1927), United States v. Schwimmer (1929), New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), and New York Times Co. v. United States (1971).

    The title of the book is drawn from the dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in United States v. Schwimmer. Holmes wrote that "if there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought—not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate." Lewis warns the reader against the potential for government to take advantage of periods of fear and upheaval in a post-9/11 society to suppress freedom of speech and criticism by citizens. (Full article...)
  • Image 14 First edition The Autobiography of Malcolm X is an autobiography written by Muslim American minister and activist Malcolm X in collaboration with American journalist Alex Haley. It was released posthumously on October 29, 1965, nine months after his assassination. Haley coauthored the book based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and 1965. The Autobiography is a religious conversion narrative which outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of Black pride, Black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. After Malcolm X was killed, Haley wrote the book's epilogue, which describes their collaborative process and the events at the end of Malcolm's life. While Malcolm X and scholars contemporary to its publication regarded Haley as the book's ghostwriter, modern scholars tend to regard him as an essential collaborator who intentionally muted his authorial voice in order to create the effect of Malcolm X speaking directly to readers. Haley influenced some of Malcolm X's stylistic choices. For example, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam during the period when he was working on the book with Haley. Rather than rewriting earlier chapters as a polemic against the Nation, which Malcolm X had rejected, Haley persuaded him to favor a style of "suspense and drama". According to biographer Manning Marable, "Haley was particularly worried about what he viewed as Malcolm X's anti-Semitism" and rewrote material to eliminate it. (Full article...)

    First edition

    The Autobiography of Malcolm X is an autobiography written by Muslim American minister and activist Malcolm X in collaboration with American journalist Alex Haley. It was released posthumously on October 29, 1965, nine months after his assassination. Haley coauthored the book based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and 1965. The Autobiography is a religious conversion narrative which outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of Black pride, Black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. After Malcolm X was killed, Haley wrote the book's epilogue, which describes their collaborative process and the events at the end of Malcolm's life.

    While Malcolm X and scholars contemporary to its publication regarded Haley as the book's ghostwriter, modern scholars tend to regard him as an essential collaborator who intentionally muted his authorial voice in order to create the effect of Malcolm X speaking directly to readers. Haley influenced some of Malcolm X's stylistic choices. For example, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam during the period when he was working on the book with Haley. Rather than rewriting earlier chapters as a polemic against the Nation, which Malcolm X had rejected, Haley persuaded him to favor a style of "suspense and drama". According to biographer Manning Marable, "Haley was particularly worried about what he viewed as Malcolm X's anti-Semitism" and rewrote material to eliminate it. (Full article...)
  • Image 15 Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa is a non-fiction book written by Stephen Lewis for the Massey Lectures. Lewis wrote it in early to mid-2005 and House of Anansi Press released it as a corresponding lecture series began in October 2005. Each of the book's chapters were delivered as a different lecture in a different Canadian city, beginning in Vancouver on October 18 and ending in Toronto on October 28. The speeches were aired on CBC Radio One between November 7 and 11. The author and orator, Stephen Lewis, was at that time the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations. Although he wrote the book and lectures in his role as a concerned Canadian citizen, his criticism of the United Nations (UN), international organizations, and other diplomats, including naming specific people, was called undiplomatic and led several reviewers to speculate whether he would be removed from his UN position. In the book and the lectures, Lewis argues that significant changes are required to meet the Millennium Development Goals in Africa by their 2015 deadline. Lewis explains the historical context of Africa since the 1980s, citing a succession of disastrous economic policies by international financial institutions that contributed to, rather than reduced, poverty. He connects the structural adjustment loans, with conditions of limited public spending on health and education infrastructure, to the uncontrolled spread of AIDS and subsequent food shortages as the disease infected much of the working-age population. Lewis also addresses such issues as discrimination against women and primary education for children. To help alleviate problems, he ends with potential solutions which mainly require increased funding by G8 countries to levels beyond what they promise. (Full article...)
    Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa is a non-fiction book written by Stephen Lewis for the Massey Lectures. Lewis wrote it in early to mid-2005 and House of Anansi Press released it as a corresponding lecture series began in October 2005. Each of the book's chapters were delivered as a different lecture in a different Canadian city, beginning in Vancouver on October 18 and ending in Toronto on October 28. The speeches were aired on CBC Radio One between November 7 and 11. The author and orator, Stephen Lewis, was at that time the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations. Although he wrote the book and lectures in his role as a concerned Canadian citizen, his criticism of the United Nations (UN), international organizations, and other diplomats, including naming specific people, was called undiplomatic and led several reviewers to speculate whether he would be removed from his UN position.

    In the book and the lectures, Lewis argues that significant changes are required to meet the Millennium Development Goals in Africa by their 2015 deadline. Lewis explains the historical context of Africa since the 1980s, citing a succession of disastrous economic policies by international financial institutions that contributed to, rather than reduced, poverty. He connects the structural adjustment loans, with conditions of limited public spending on health and education infrastructure, to the uncontrolled spread of AIDS and subsequent food shortages as the disease infected much of the working-age population. Lewis also addresses such issues as discrimination against women and primary education for children. To help alleviate problems, he ends with potential solutions which mainly require increased funding by G8 countries to levels beyond what they promise. (Full article...)
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Diagram of a warship, From the 1728 Cyclopaedia, Volume 2.
Diagram of a warship, From the 1728 Cyclopaedia, Volume 2.

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Diagrams of first and third rate warships in the Cyclopaedia: or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (folio, 2 vols.) an encyclopedia published by Ephraim Chambers in London in 1728, and reprinted in numerous editions in the 18th Century. The Cyclopaedia was one of the first general encyclopedias to be produced in English.
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  • Image 1 The Adventures of Abdi is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on November 8, 2004, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The book is a moral tale inspired from a 300 year-old story by rabbi Baal Shem Tov, that Madonna had heard from her Kabbalah teacher. It tells the story of Abdi who was given the task of delivering a precious necklace to the queen. Madonna was inspired to write The Adventures of Abdi by the settings in "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and other folk stories from One Thousand and One Nights. Published in a 32-page jacketed hardcover format, the book was illustrated by Russian painters Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin. Madonna promoted the release by appearing for book signing events as well as on television shows. The Adventures of Abdi was criticized for being Orientalist and promoting Kabbalah to children; its illustrations received positive feedback. (Full article...)
    The Adventures of Abdi is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on November 8, 2004, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The book is a moral tale inspired from a 300 year-old story by rabbi Baal Shem Tov, that Madonna had heard from her Kabbalah teacher. It tells the story of Abdi who was given the task of delivering a precious necklace to the queen. Madonna was inspired to write The Adventures of Abdi by the settings in "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and other folk stories from One Thousand and One Nights. Published in a 32-page jacketed hardcover format, the book was illustrated by Russian painters Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin. Madonna promoted the release by appearing for book signing events as well as on television shows. The Adventures of Abdi was criticized for being Orientalist and promoting Kabbalah to children; its illustrations received positive feedback. (Full article...)
  • Image 2 Rekha: The Untold Story is a 2016 Indian biographical book by Yasser Usman, detailing the life of Indian film actress Rekha. The book chronicles her birth to South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli, which generated rumors in the media at the time, her well-publicised marriage to Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Agarwal, who died by suicide in seventh months of marriage, and her fifty-year-long acting career. After the success of his first book, Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar (2014), Usman was motivated to write a biography about Rekha. He collected archives of pre-2000s magazines and her interviews at the National Film Archive of India. While writing the book, Usman faced difficulties since mostly Rekha's collaborator forgot or refused to talk about her; it took more than a year for him to finish it. Rekha: The Untold Story was released on 29 August 2016 by Juggernaut Books, and was critically praised. (Full article...)
    Rekha: The Untold Story is a 2016 Indian biographical book by Yasser Usman, detailing the life of Indian film actress Rekha. The book chronicles her birth to South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli, which generated rumors in the media at the time, her well-publicised marriage to Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Agarwal, who died by suicide in seventh months of marriage, and her fifty-year-long acting career.

    After the success of his first book, Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar (2014), Usman was motivated to write a biography about Rekha. He collected archives of pre-2000s magazines and her interviews at the National Film Archive of India. While writing the book, Usman faced difficulties since mostly Rekha's collaborator forgot or refused to talk about her; it took more than a year for him to finish it. Rekha: The Untold Story was released on 29 August 2016 by Juggernaut Books, and was critically praised. (Full article...)
  • Image 3 Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now is a biography of musician Van Morrison, written by Steve Turner. It was first published in 1993 in the United States by Penguin Group, and in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing. Turner first met Van Morrison in 1985; he interviewed approximately 40 people that knew the subject in his research for the biography. Van Morrison did not think positively of the biography, and multiple newspapers reported he attempted to purchase all of the book's 25,000 copies. He sent a letter to the author asserting the 40 individuals interviewed for the book were not his friends, and accused Turner of "peddling distortions and inaccuracies about me personally". The biography takes a pictorial format, and includes many photographs of Van Morrison and scenes relating to his life, including close-up shots and contact prints. Turner discusses Van Morrison's youth in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and how early experiences shaped his perceptions. Flautist John Payne was interviewed for the book, and comments on his work with Van Morrison on the album Astral Weeks. Turner discusses Van Morrison's reluctance to be interviewed or engage with the public, and includes quotes from the musician about this desire for privacy. The author discusses Van Morrison's efforts to seek out creativity, and his exploration of spirituality. The book concludes with an assessment of Van Morrison's experiences with religion. (Full article...)
    Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now is a biography of musician Van Morrison, written by Steve Turner. It was first published in 1993 in the United States by Penguin Group, and in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing. Turner first met Van Morrison in 1985; he interviewed approximately 40 people that knew the subject in his research for the biography. Van Morrison did not think positively of the biography, and multiple newspapers reported he attempted to purchase all of the book's 25,000 copies. He sent a letter to the author asserting the 40 individuals interviewed for the book were not his friends, and accused Turner of "peddling distortions and inaccuracies about me personally".

    The biography takes a pictorial format, and includes many photographs of Van Morrison and scenes relating to his life, including close-up shots and contact prints. Turner discusses Van Morrison's youth in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and how early experiences shaped his perceptions. Flautist John Payne was interviewed for the book, and comments on his work with Van Morrison on the album Astral Weeks. Turner discusses Van Morrison's reluctance to be interviewed or engage with the public, and includes quotes from the musician about this desire for privacy. The author discusses Van Morrison's efforts to seek out creativity, and his exploration of spirituality. The book concludes with an assessment of Van Morrison's experiences with religion. (Full article...)
  • Image 4 c. 1891 portrait of Albert Levi Burt A. L. Burt (incorporated in 1902 as A. L. Burt Company) was a US book publishing house from 1883 until 1937. It was founded by Albert Levi Burt, a 40-year-old from Massachusetts who had come to recognize the demand for inexpensive reference works while working as a traveling salesman. The company began by reprinting home reference works and reprints of popular and classic fiction, before expanding into the field of children's works, particularly series books. A. L. Burt published both reprints and first editions, and targeted both adult and juvenile audiences. At the same time that it published works aimed at adults by authors such as Zane Grey, Harold Bell Wright, and Joseph C. Lincoln, it targeted the juvenile market with works by such authors as Horatio Alger, James Otis, Harry Castlemon, and Edward S. Ellis. The company repeatedly adapted with the market; it entered a popular paperback market, refocused on hardcovers when the paperback market became saturated, and in 1911, in an effort to compete with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, began issuing inexpensive juvenile series books. (Full article...)

    c. 1891 portrait of Albert Levi Burt

    A. L. Burt (incorporated in 1902 as A. L. Burt Company) was a US book publishing house from 1883 until 1937. It was founded by Albert Levi Burt, a 40-year-old from Massachusetts who had come to recognize the demand for inexpensive reference works while working as a traveling salesman. The company began by reprinting home reference works and reprints of popular and classic fiction, before expanding into the field of children's works, particularly series books.

    A. L. Burt published both reprints and first editions, and targeted both adult and juvenile audiences. At the same time that it published works aimed at adults by authors such as Zane Grey, Harold Bell Wright, and Joseph C. Lincoln, it targeted the juvenile market with works by such authors as Horatio Alger, James Otis, Harry Castlemon, and Edward S. Ellis. The company repeatedly adapted with the market; it entered a popular paperback market, refocused on hardcovers when the paperback market became saturated, and in 1911, in an effort to compete with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, began issuing inexpensive juvenile series books. (Full article...)
  • Image 5 Outliers: The Story of Success is a non-fiction book written by Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown and Company on November 18, 2008. In Outliers, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, how the Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history, how two people with exceptional intelligence—Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer—end up with such vastly different fortunes, how Joseph Flom built Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into one of the most successful law firms in the world, and how cultural differences play a large part in perceived intelligence and rational decision-making. Throughout the book, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours, though the authors of the original study have disputed Gladwell's usage. (Full article...)
    Outliers: The Story of Success is a non-fiction book written by Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown and Company on November 18, 2008. In Outliers, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he examines why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, how the Beatles became one of the most successful musical acts in human history, how two people with exceptional intelligence—Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer—end up with such vastly different fortunes, how Joseph Flom built Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom into one of the most successful law firms in the world, and how cultural differences play a large part in perceived intelligence and rational decision-making.

    Throughout the book, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours, though the authors of the original study have disputed Gladwell's usage. (Full article...)
  • Image 6 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1982 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. The 64-page adventure bears the code "S4" ("S" for "special") and is set in the Greyhawk campaign setting. It is divided into two parts, a 32-page adventure, and a 32-page booklet of monsters and magic items. The plot involves the player characters investigating rumors of lost treasure. After traversing a wilderness and two levels of dungeons, the players face Drelnza, the vampiric daughter of long-deceased archmage Iggwilv. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is a revised and expanded version of The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth, a tournament adventure that Gygax wrote for the 1976 WinterCon V gaming convention. Gygax expanded the tournament adventure by adding a wilderness area, with part of it based on earlier work by Rob Kuntz. Work on the adventure delayed the completion of The Temple of Elemental Evil, another Gygax adventure. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was included in the 1987 supermodule Realms of Horror, and updated for v3.5 in an online edition in 2007. It was well received by critics, ranked the 22nd greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004. A White Dwarf reviewer gave the adventure 9/10, noting its difficulty and rewards of powerful magic. It is part of a series along with S1: Tomb of Horrors, S2: White Plume Mountain, S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. It also has a loosely connected sequel: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. (Full article...)
    The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1982 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. The 64-page adventure bears the code "S4" ("S" for "special") and is set in the Greyhawk campaign setting. It is divided into two parts, a 32-page adventure, and a 32-page booklet of monsters and magic items. The plot involves the player characters investigating rumors of lost treasure. After traversing a wilderness and two levels of dungeons, the players face Drelnza, the vampiric daughter of long-deceased archmage Iggwilv.

    The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is a revised and expanded version of The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth, a tournament adventure that Gygax wrote for the 1976 WinterCon V gaming convention. Gygax expanded the tournament adventure by adding a wilderness area, with part of it based on earlier work by Rob Kuntz. Work on the adventure delayed the completion of The Temple of Elemental Evil, another Gygax adventure. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth was included in the 1987 supermodule Realms of Horror, and updated for v3.5 in an online edition in 2007. It was well received by critics, ranked the 22nd greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004. A White Dwarf reviewer gave the adventure 9/10, noting its difficulty and rewards of powerful magic. It is part of a series along with S1: Tomb of Horrors, S2: White Plume Mountain, S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. It also has a loosely connected sequel: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. (Full article...)
  • Image 7 Lotsa de Casha is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on June 7, 2005, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The book was written for readers aged six and up. The book's titular character is an Italian greyhound who learns the moral "money can't buy happiness". Madonna drew from her life when writing the story, from denouncing materialism to her motherhood. Portuguese artist Rui Paes illustrated the book, and modeled his illustrations on Renaissance and Baroque painting, and the works of painter Caravaggio. Callaway hosted a party for the book release at New York's Bergdorf Goodman store, where Madonna read the story aloud. She also made promotional appearances on television talk shows and gave magazine interviews. Lotsa de Casha debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list. It received mixed reviews from book critics, who found some humor in the story, but felt it did not gel with Paes' illustrations, which received positive feedback. (Full article...)
    Lotsa de Casha is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on June 7, 2005, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment. The book was written for readers aged six and up. The book's titular character is an Italian greyhound who learns the moral "money can't buy happiness". Madonna drew from her life when writing the story, from denouncing materialism to her motherhood. Portuguese artist Rui Paes illustrated the book, and modeled his illustrations on Renaissance and Baroque painting, and the works of painter Caravaggio.

    Callaway hosted a party for the book release at New York's Bergdorf Goodman store, where Madonna read the story aloud. She also made promotional appearances on television talk shows and gave magazine interviews. Lotsa de Casha debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list. It received mixed reviews from book critics, who found some humor in the story, but felt it did not gel with Paes' illustrations, which received positive feedback. (Full article...)
  • Image 8 Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Département des manuscrits, Grec 9, fol. 60r (rotated) The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and δ 3 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It contains most of the New Testament and some Old Testament books, with sizeable portions missing. It is one of the four great uncials (these being manuscripts which originally contained the whole of both the Old and New Testaments). The manuscript is not intact: its current condition contains material from every New Testament book except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John; however, only six books of the Greek Old Testament are represented. It is not known whether 2 Thessalonians and 2 John were excluded on purpose, or whether no fragment of either epistle happened to survive. The manuscript is a palimpsest, with the pages being washed of their original text, and reused in the 12th century for the Greek translations of 38 treatises composed by Ephrem the Syrian, from whence it gets its name Ephraemi Rescriptus. The lower text of the palimpsest was deciphered by biblical scholar and palaeographer Constantin von Tischendorf in 1840–1843, and was edited by him in 1843–1845. (Full article...)

    Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Département des manuscrits, Grec 9, fol. 60r (rotated)

    The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and δ 3 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. It contains most of the New Testament and some Old Testament books, with sizeable portions missing. It is one of the four great uncials (these being manuscripts which originally contained the whole of both the Old and New Testaments). The manuscript is not intact: its current condition contains material from every New Testament book except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John; however, only six books of the Greek Old Testament are represented. It is not known whether 2 Thessalonians and 2 John were excluded on purpose, or whether no fragment of either epistle happened to survive.

    The manuscript is a palimpsest, with the pages being washed of their original text, and reused in the 12th century for the Greek translations of 38 treatises composed by Ephrem the Syrian, from whence it gets its name Ephraemi Rescriptus. The lower text of the palimpsest was deciphered by biblical scholar and palaeographer Constantin von Tischendorf in 1840–1843, and was edited by him in 1843–1845. (Full article...)
  • Image 9 The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis is a 2010 non-fiction book written by Jeremy Rifkin. It connects the evolution of communication and energy development in civilizations with psychological and economic development in humans. Rifkin considers the latest phase of communication and energy regimes—that of electronic telecommunications and fossil fuel extraction—as bringing people together on the nation-state level based on democratic capitalism, but at the same time creating global problems, like climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation. Rifkin extrapolates the observed trend into the future, predicting that Internet and mobile technology along with small-scale renewable energy commercialization will create an era of distributed capitalism necessary to manage the new energy regime and a heightened global empathy that can help solve global problems. The book was published by Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc. as a hardcover in January 2010. It was noted as being well-researched and covering a significant breadth of academic fields. However, reviews were mixed; several reviewers found that while Rifkin provided a convincing overview of the development of empathy, he did not provide sufficient proof that increased empathy would necessarily bring people together to co-operatively solve global problems. (Full article...)
    The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis is a 2010 non-fiction book written by Jeremy Rifkin. It connects the evolution of communication and energy development in civilizations with psychological and economic development in humans. Rifkin considers the latest phase of communication and energy regimes—that of electronic telecommunications and fossil fuel extraction—as bringing people together on the nation-state level based on democratic capitalism, but at the same time creating global problems, like climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation. Rifkin extrapolates the observed trend into the future, predicting that Internet and mobile technology along with small-scale renewable energy commercialization will create an era of distributed capitalism necessary to manage the new energy regime and a heightened global empathy that can help solve global problems.

    The book was published by Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc. as a hardcover in January 2010. It was noted as being well-researched and covering a significant breadth of academic fields. However, reviews were mixed; several reviewers found that while Rifkin provided a convincing overview of the development of empathy, he did not provide sufficient proof that increased empathy would necessarily bring people together to co-operatively solve global problems. (Full article...)
  • Image 10 The frontispiece to an illustrated 1644 edition, Amsterdam Theophrastus's Enquiry into Plants or Historia Plantarum (Ancient Greek: Περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορία, Peri phyton historia) was, along with his mentor Aristotle's History of Animals, Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Dioscorides's De materia medica, one of the most important books of natural history written in ancient times, and like them it was influential in the Renaissance. Theophrastus looks at plant structure, reproduction and growth; the varieties of plant around the world; wood; wild and cultivated plants; and their uses. Book 9 in particular, on the medicinal uses of plants, is one of the first herbals, describing juices, gums and resins extracted from plants, and how to gather them. Historia Plantarum was written some time between c. 350 BC and c. 287 BC in ten volumes, of which nine survive. In the book, Theophrastus described plants by their uses, and attempted a biological classification based on how plants reproduced, a first in the history of botany. He continually revised the manuscript, and it remained in an unfinished state on his death. The condensed style of the text, with its many lists of examples, indicate that Theophrastus used the manuscript as the working notes for lectures to his students, rather than intending it to be read as a book. (Full article...)

    The frontispiece to an illustrated 1644 edition, Amsterdam

    Theophrastus's Enquiry into Plants or Historia Plantarum (Ancient Greek: Περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορία, Peri phyton historia) was, along with his mentor Aristotle's History of Animals, Pliny the Elder's Natural History and Dioscorides's De materia medica, one of the most important books of natural history written in ancient times, and like them it was influential in the Renaissance. Theophrastus looks at plant structure, reproduction and growth; the varieties of plant around the world; wood; wild and cultivated plants; and their uses. Book 9 in particular, on the medicinal uses of plants, is one of the first herbals, describing juices, gums and resins extracted from plants, and how to gather them.

    Historia Plantarum was written some time between c. 350 BC and c. 287 BC in ten volumes, of which nine survive. In the book, Theophrastus described plants by their uses, and attempted a biological classification based on how plants reproduced, a first in the history of botany. He continually revised the manuscript, and it remained in an unfinished state on his death. The condensed style of the text, with its many lists of examples, indicate that Theophrastus used the manuscript as the working notes for lectures to his students, rather than intending it to be read as a book. (Full article...)
  • Image 11 My Opposition (German: Mein Widerstand) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. Comprising ten notebooks, it is considered by leading historians as "an important piece of historical literature." The editors of the German magazine Der Spiegel called it "an image of Nazi Germany that has never existed before in such a vivid, concise and challenging form." Kellner began his 861-page diary on September 1, 1939, and wrote his last entry on May 17, 1945. In 1968, Kellner gave the diary to his American grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, to translate into English and to bring it to the attention of the public. Kellner's diary is voluminous, and all the entries were handwritten in the Sütterlin script. The amount of material and possible transcription efforts dissuaded publishers from the project for many years, until in 2005 when former US president George H. W. Bush, who had been a combat pilot in World War II, arranged for the diary to be exhibited in his presidential library, which brought the diary to the public. (Full article...)
    My Opposition (German: Mein Widerstand) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. Comprising ten notebooks, it is considered by leading historians as "an important piece of historical literature." The editors of the German magazine Der Spiegel called it "an image of Nazi Germany that has never existed before in such a vivid, concise and challenging form." Kellner began his 861-page diary on September 1, 1939, and wrote his last entry on May 17, 1945.

    In 1968, Kellner gave the diary to his American grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, to translate into English and to bring it to the attention of the public. Kellner's diary is voluminous, and all the entries were handwritten in the Sütterlin script. The amount of material and possible transcription efforts dissuaded publishers from the project for many years, until in 2005 when former US president George H. W. Bush, who had been a combat pilot in World War II, arranged for the diary to be exhibited in his presidential library, which brought the diary to the public. (Full article...)
  • Image 12 A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair is a 2003 book by the political scientist Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, previously the author of Hitler's Willing Executioners (1996). Goldhagen examines the Roman Catholic Church's role in the Holocaust and offers a review of scholarship in English addressing what he argues is antisemitism throughout the history of the Church, which he claims contributed substantially to the persecution of the Jews during World War II. Goldhagen recommends several significant steps that might be taken by the Church to make reparation for its alleged role. A Moral Reckoning received mixed reviews and was the subject of considerable controversy regarding allegations of inaccuracies and anti-Catholic bigotry. (Full article...)
    A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair is a 2003 book by the political scientist Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, previously the author of Hitler's Willing Executioners (1996). Goldhagen examines the Roman Catholic Church's role in the Holocaust and offers a review of scholarship in English addressing what he argues is antisemitism throughout the history of the Church, which he claims contributed substantially to the persecution of the Jews during World War II.

    Goldhagen recommends several significant steps that might be taken by the Church to make reparation for its alleged role. A Moral Reckoning received mixed reviews and was the subject of considerable controversy regarding allegations of inaccuracies and anti-Catholic bigotry. (Full article...)
  • Image 13 Bear Came Along is a 2019 picture book by Richard T. Morris and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. It tells the story of a group of animals on a river adventure. Published on June 1, 2019, Bear Came Along was based on memories Morris had of going to overnight camp for the first time. The watercolors, ink, and gouache illustrations Pham created were special for her. Critics wrote about her ability to juggle several different tones through the pictures. These illustrations were also generally seen as complementing the book's theme of being connected to others. The book was generally well reviewed and received a 2020 Caldecott Honor. (Full article...)
    Bear Came Along is a 2019 picture book by Richard T. Morris and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. It tells the story of a group of animals on a river adventure. Published on June 1, 2019, Bear Came Along was based on memories Morris had of going to overnight camp for the first time. The watercolors, ink, and gouache illustrations Pham created were special for her. Critics wrote about her ability to juggle several different tones through the pictures. These illustrations were also generally seen as complementing the book's theme of being connected to others. The book was generally well reviewed and received a 2020 Caldecott Honor. (Full article...)
  • Image 14 Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story is a 2021 Indian biographical book written by Yasser Usman, chronicling the life and career of the Indian actor and filmmaker Guru Dutt. It describes Dutt's birth in Panambur in 1925, his 18-year-long film career, his marriage to the playback singer Geeta Dutt, with whom he had three children, and his death in 1964. The book was written by Usman in the period of two years. He collected archives of Dutt's accounts and information from Dutt's family members, close friends, and colleagues, compiling them in a book that was later published on 7 January 2021 by Simon & Schuster. (Full article...)
    Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story is a 2021 Indian biographical book written by Yasser Usman, chronicling the life and career of the Indian actor and filmmaker Guru Dutt. It describes Dutt's birth in Panambur in 1925, his 18-year-long film career, his marriage to the playback singer Geeta Dutt, with whom he had three children, and his death in 1964.

    The book was written by Usman in the period of two years. He collected archives of Dutt's accounts and information from Dutt's family members, close friends, and colleagues, compiling them in a book that was later published on 7 January 2021 by Simon & Schuster. (Full article...)
  • Image 15 Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet is a children's literature book by science writer June A. English and astronaut Thomas David Jones that was published in 1996 by Scholastic. Jones was among the crew members of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during an eleven-day mission in space, which was launched in April 1994 to study the ecological well-being of Earth using specialized radar technology. The book, which is illustrated with radar images and picturesque photographs, chronicles the mission and Jones' experiences of it. Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet received a generally favorable reception in media coverage and book reviewers. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, "The authors convey the awe and wonderment of seeing Earth from space and the intricate delicacy of the Earth's ecology". The Dallas Morning News said, "The astronaut's descriptions are vivid". A review in Booklist was more critical; it said, "The authors try to cover too much in so few pages, and the narrative, with several focal points, becomes simplified at times". School Library Journal wrote, "It provides a unique look at a new method of research and an opportunity for youngsters to read one scientist's account of what it's like to engage in this exciting field of endeavor". The book was selected for inclusion in books Best Books for Children, and Adventuring With Books, or educating youths about history by using children's literature works. (Full article...)
    Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet is a children's literature book by science writer June A. English and astronaut Thomas David Jones that was published in 1996 by Scholastic. Jones was among the crew members of the Space Shuttle Endeavour during an eleven-day mission in space, which was launched in April 1994 to study the ecological well-being of Earth using specialized radar technology. The book, which is illustrated with radar images and picturesque photographs, chronicles the mission and Jones' experiences of it.

    Mission: Earth, Voyage to the Home Planet received a generally favorable reception in media coverage and book reviewers. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, "The authors convey the awe and wonderment of seeing Earth from space and the intricate delicacy of the Earth's ecology". The Dallas Morning News said, "The astronaut's descriptions are vivid". A review in Booklist was more critical; it said, "The authors try to cover too much in so few pages, and the narrative, with several focal points, becomes simplified at times". School Library Journal wrote, "It provides a unique look at a new method of research and an opportunity for youngsters to read one scientist's account of what it's like to engage in this exciting field of endeavor". The book was selected for inclusion in books Best Books for Children, and Adventuring With Books, or educating youths about history by using children's literature works. (Full article...)
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