In Wars, Guns, and Votes, Paul Collier investigates the violence and poverty in the small, remote countries at the lowest level of the global economy and argues that the spread of elections and peace settlements may lead to a brave new democratic world. For now and into the foreseeable future, however, nasty and long civil wars, military coups, and failing economies are the order of the day. An esteemed economist and a foremost authority on developing countries, Collier gives an eye-opening assessment of the ethnic divisions and insecurities in the developing countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia, where corruption is often firmly rooted in the body politic, and persuasively outlines what must be done to bring peace and stability. Groundbreaking and provocative, Wars, Guns, and Votes is a passionate and convincing argument for the peaceful development of the most volatile places on earth.

The true story of America's first great explorer and adventurer an African slave named Esteban Dorantes Crossing the Continent takes us on an epic journey from Africa to Europe and America as Dr. Robert Goodwin chronicles the incredible adventures of the African slave Esteban Dorantes (1500-1539), the first pioneer from the Old World to explore the entirety of the American south and the first African-born man to die in North America about whom anything is known. Goodwin's groundbreaking research in Spanish archives has led to a radical new interpretation of American history one in which an African slave emerges as the nation's first great explorer and adventurer.Nearly three centuries before Lewis and Clark's epic trek to the Pacific coast, Esteban and three Spanish noblemen survived shipwreck, famine, disease, and Native American hostility to make the first crossing of North America in recorded history. Drawing on contemporary accounts and long-lost records, Goodwin recounts the extraordinary story of Esteban's sixteenth-century odyssey, which began in Florida and wound through what is now Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as far as the Gulf of California. Born in Africa and captured at a young age by slave traders, Esteban was serving his owner, a Spanish captain, when their disastrous sea voyage to the New World nearly claimed his life. Eventually he emerged as the leader of the few survivors of this expedition, guiding them on an extraordinary eight-year march westward to safety.On the group's return to the Spanish imperial capital at Mexico City, the viceroy appointed Esteban as the military commander of a religious expedition sent to establish a permanent Spanish route into Arizona and New Mexico. But during this new adventure, as Esteban pushed deeper and deeper into the unknown north, Spaniards far to the south began to hear strange rumors of his death at Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. Filled with tales of physical endurance, natural calamities, geographical wonders, strange discoveries, and Esteban's almost mystical dealings with Native Americans, Crossing the Continent challenges the traditional telling of our nation's early history, placing an African and his relationship with the Indians he encountered at the heart of a new historical record.

Cutting-edge, user-friendly, and comprehensive: the revolutionary guide to the brain, now fully revised and updatedAt birth each of us is given the most powerful and complex tool of all time: the human brain. And yet, as we well know, it doesn't come with an owner's manual until now. In this unsurpassed resource, Dr. Pierce J. Howard and his team distill the very latest research and clearly explain the practical, real-world applications to our daily lives. Drawing from the frontiers of psychology, neurobiology, and cognitive science, yet organized and written for maximum usability, The Owner's Manual for the Brain, Fourth Edition, is your comprehensive guide to optimum mental performance and well-being. It should be on every thinking person's bookshelf. What are the ingredients of happinessWhich are the best remedies for headaches and migrainesHow can we master creativity, focus, decision making, and willpowerWhat are the best brain foodsHow is it possible to boost memory and intelligenceWhat is the secret to getting a good night's sleepHow can you positively manage depression, anxiety, addiction, and other disordersWhat is the impact of nutrition, stress, and exercise on the brainIs personality hard-wired or fluidWhat are the best strategies when recovering from trauma and lossHow do moods and emotions interactWhat is the ideal learning environment for childrenHow do love, humor, music, friendship, and nature contribute to well-beingAre there ways of reducing negative traits such as aggression, short-temperedness, or irritabilityWhat is the recommended treatment for concussionsCan you delay or prevent Alzheimer's and dementiaWhat are the most important ingredients to a successful marriage and familyWhat do the world's most effective managers know about leadership, motivation, and persuasionPlus 1,000s more topics!

Did you know about: The ballet that sparked a riot The rock star who became an astrophysicist The song that saved Wheaties The man killed by his own conducting The controversy behind "Mary Had a Little Lamb"Prepare to be astonished, bewildered, and stupefied by the tantalizing tidbits of music history collected here: amazing stories about jazz, classical, country, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, show tunes, composers, band names, song lyrics, instruments, technology, controversies, and more. Learn how the FBI spent years trying to decode the lyrics of one rock song. Discover how Watergate provided the inspiration for A Chorus Line. Find out how one megahit was born in a history class, while another was dashed off in a fit of anger at actor Robert De Niro. Meet the monk behind solfège, the aviation pioneer who created Muzak, and the prisoner who literally sang himself out of jail. Then there's the most important person in rock 'n' roll history—chances are you've never heard of him! Continuing the successful Greatest Stories Never Told series, Rick Beyer has delivered another classic volume for history and music buffs alike.

“I always bring Bang Bang in for my most special tattoos—the ones my touring team and I get at the end of a tour to commemorate another successful journey together. Each time, he’s created the definitive symbol of that era of my life.”—KATY PERRY “Bang Bang opened my eyes to art that I was originally too scared or nervous to do. He’s passionate about who he tats on and there’s a memory with each one. I love his authenticity and passion, and of course his skill of delicate design.” —RITA ORA “Bang Bang is the only tattoo artist I trust to put art onto my body.” —VANESSA HUDGENS “Bang Bang is someone who has inspired me to look at tattoos as more than spur-of-the-moment, impulsive ideas, but as meaningful and precious pieces of art that I will take to my grave with me. He’s helped me to really value what I ink into my skin and how to make it worthy of being a part of me forever. His work is beyond incredible.” —DEMI LOVATO

A journalist and blogger takes us on a colorful and spicy gastronomic tour through Viet Nam in this entertaining, offbeat travel memoir, with a foreword by Anthony Bourdain. Growing up in a small town in northern England, Graham Holliday wasn’t keen on travel. But in his early twenties, a picture of Hanoi sparked a curiosity that propelled him halfway across the globe. Graham didn’t want to be a tourist in an alien land, though; he was determined to live it. An ordinary guy who liked trying interesting food, he moved to the capital city and embarked on a quest to find real Vietnamese food. In Eating Viet Nam, he chronicles his odyssey in this strange, enticing land infused with sublime smells and tastes. Traveling through the back alleys and across the boulevards of Hanoi—where home cooks set up grills and stripped-down stands serving sumptuous fare on blue plastic furniture—he risked dysentery, giardia, and diarrhea to discover a culinary treasure-load that was truly foreign and unique. Holliday shares every bite of the extraordinary fresh dishes, pungent and bursting with flavor, which he came to love in Hanoi, Saigon, and the countryside. Here, too, are the remarkable people who became a part of his new life, including his wife, Sophie. A feast for the senses, funny, charming, and always delicious, Eating Viet Nam will inspire armchair travelers, curious palates, and everyone itching for a taste of adventure.

Cleary Wolters was going about her everyday life when she saw a commercial for a new TV show that stopped her in her tracks. The scene showed a young blond woman hopping out of a van, wearing an orange prison uniform. A blur of words and images followed, including allusions to lesbian lovers, drug smuggling, and life behind bars. Then Cleary saw a woman wearing her signature black-rimmed glasses and she dropped the remote. In that moment, Cleary knew that her private past had been brought to light in the most public way imaginable. Nothing would ever be the same again.Orange Is the New Black went on to become an Emmy-winning cultural phenomenon streamed onto laptops and into living rooms around the world. The series, and the number one New York Times bestselling book of the same name, follows Piper, a privileged white woman who spent thirteen months in prison for her involvement in an international drug-smuggling ring. Cleary binge-watched the show along with the rest of the universe, though what was fun for everyone else was a weirdly personal, strangely unnerving interpretation of events that had shaped her own life.Now speaking out for the first time to share her story including how she introduced Piper to the criminal activities that would ultimately send both of them to prison Cleary tells a brutally honest, emotional tale of the bold decisions and epic mistakes she made and the struggle to keep them from defining the rest of her life.

In a survival situation, a wrong decision could spell the difference between life and death. No one knows this better than Les Stroud, who has survived everywhere from the sun-scorched sands of the Kalahari to the snake-infested jungles of the Amazon. In Will to Live, Les examines many incredible true life survival stories explaining what happened and why, and offering valuable perspectives on what went right, what went wrong, and what could have been done differently. The tales in Will to Live include: Chris McCandless the subject of the book and movie Into the Wild. Yossi Ghinsberg who survived alone in the Amazon for twenty-one days. Douglas Mawson the Antarctic "superman" who survived three hellish months at the bottom of the planet. Nando Parrado who was trapped for two months high in the Andes after a plane crash killed his friends and family. Plus . . . stories from Les's own experiences, along with practical sidebars with tips on how to escape quicksand, butcher a moose, cross a snow-covered crevasse, and more. Provocative and entertaining, Will to Live is a compilation of history's most intriguing survival stories from one of the world's foremost experts.

On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver's family, government insiders, and others, Jess Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals. This is the story of what happened on Ruby Ridge: the tragic and unlikely series of events that destroyed a family, brought down the number-two man in the FBI, and left in its wake a nation increasingly attuned to the dangers of unchecked federal power.

From the editors of Public Agenda.org, an entertaining, irreverent, and absolutely essential nonpartisan guide to the energy crisis Energy: It's a problem that never goes away (despite our best efforts as a nation to ignore it). Why has there been so much talk and so little actionIn Who Turned Out the LightsScott Bittle and Jean Johnson offer a much-needed reality check: The "Drill, Baby, Drill" versus "Every Day Is Earth Day" battle is not solving our problems, and the finger-pointing is just holding us up.Sorting through the political posturing and confusing techno-speak, they provide a fair-minded, "let's skip the jargon" explanation of the choices we face. And chapters such as "It's All Right Now (In Fact, It's a Gas)" prove that, while the problem is serious, getting a grip on it doesn't have to be. In the end, the authors present options from the right, left, and center but take just one position: The country must change the way it gets and uses energy, and the first step is to understand the choices.

For Tony Hawk, it wasn't enough to skate for two decades, to invent more than eighty tricks, and to win more than twice as many professional contests as any other skater.It wasn't enough to knock himself unconscious more than ten times, fracture several ribs, break his elbow, knock out his teeth twice, compress the vertebrae in his back, pop his bursa sack, get more than fifty stitches laced into his shins, rip apart the cartilage in his knee, bruise his tailbone, sprain his ankles, and tear his ligaments too many times to count.No.He had to land the 900. And after thirteen years of failed attempts, he nailed it. It had never been done before. Growing up in Sierra Mesa, California, Tony was a hyperactive demon child with an I44 IQ. He threw tantrums, terrorized the nanny until she quit, exploded with rage whenever he lost a game; this was a kid who was expelled from preschool. When his brother, Steve, gave him a blue plastic hand-me-down skateboard and his father built a skate ramp in the driveway, Tony finally found his outlet--while skating, he could be as hard on himself as he was on everyone around him. But it wasn't an easy ride to the top of the skating game. Fellow skaters mocked his skating style and dubbed him a circus skater. He was so skinny he had to wear elbow pads on his knees, and so light he had to ollie just to catch air off a ramp. He was so desperate to be accepted by young skating legends like Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, and Christian Hosoi that he ate gum from between Steve's toes. But a few years of determination and hard work paid off in multiple professional wins, and the skaters who once had mocked him were now trying to learn his tricks. Tony had created a new style of skating. In Hawk Tony goes behind the scenes of competitions, demos, and movies and shares the less glamorous demands of being a skateboarder--from skating on Italian TV wearing see-through plastic shorts to doing a demo in Brazil after throwing up for five days straight from food poisoning. He's dealt with teammates who lit themselves and other subjects on fire, driving down a freeway as the dashboard of their van burned. He's gone through the unpredictable ride of the skateboard industry during which, in the span of a few years, his annual income shrank to what he had made in a single month and then rebounded into seven figures. But Tony's greatest difficulty was dealing with the loss of his number one fan and supporter--his dad, Frank Hawk. With brutal honesty, Tony recalls the stories of love, loss, bad hairdos, embarrassing '80s clothes, and his determination that had shaped his life. As he takes a look back at his experiences with the skateboarding legends of the '70s, '80s, and '90s, including Stacy Peralta, Eddie Elguera, Lance Mountain, Mark Gonzalez, Bob Burnquist, and Colin Mckay, he tells the real history of skateboarding--and also what the future has in store for the sport and for him.

As he did in the Edgar-nominated and Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards winning Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks, Christie expert and archivist John Curran once again examines the unpublished notebooks of the world's bestselling author to explore the techniques she used to surprise and entertain generations of readers.Drawing on Christie's personal papers and letters, he reveals how more than twenty of her novels, as well as stage *s, short stories, and some more personal items, evolved. Here are wonderful gems, including Christie's essay on her famous detective, Hercule Poirot, written for a British national newspaper in the 1930s; a previously unseen version of a "Miss Marple" short story; and a courtroom chapter from her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which was edited out of the published version in 1920; plus an insightful, well-reasoned analysis of her final unfinished novel, based on the author's notes and Curran's own deep knowledge of Christie and her work.A must-read for every Christie aficionado, Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making is a fascinating look into the mind and craft of one of the world's most prolific and beloved authors.

An honest, deeply American story of the power of faith, family, and music from one of America's most beloved bluegrass and country artists.Unlike other farm boys growing up in the small town of Cordell, Kentucky, Ricky Skaggs learned to play the mandolin at five years old. Sure, plenty of other mountain boys plucked guitars or fiddles, or learned the old songs their grandparents taught them. But few tried and fewer still mastered the mandolin. By the time he was six years old, Ricky Skaggs's talent was clear enough that his daddy knew he had to get that boy onstage. When bluegrass master and mandolin virtuoso Bill Monroe rolled into a nearby small town, Ricky was there. As the crowd cheered, Let little Ricky sing one! so began a storied life in music.With Bill Monroe as a mentor and with a family who supported him at every turn, Ricky joined the Clinch Mountain Boys band and became a professional musician at age fifteen. By twenty-one he was already considered a star in the bluegrass world. Yet, following the advice of music industry executives, Skaggs moved away from his roots into the world of mainstream country music and in doing so, became a country legend and a household name.Despite the hit singles, gold records, and successful tours, Ricky knew there was more to his mission. With a failed marriage and a sometimes strained relationship with his children, Ricky had to make a choice. He would follow God's plan, and rededicate his life to Christ, to his family, and to the music that made him. He would carry the torch lit by his musical heroes Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, and Bill Monroe and, most important, live the life and play the music that would make his mom and dad proud. Telling the intimate stories of a successful career built on passion, drive, and faith, sharing tales of his influences, and fondly recalling the instruments that have shaped his sound over the years and the friendships that have shaped his life, Skaggs paints a unique insider look at the evolution of bluegrass.

A lavishly illustrated history of America's game, from the unparalleled collections of the Library of Congress Baseball, the sport that helped reunify the country in the years after the Civil War, remains the National Pastime. The Library of Congress houses the world's largest baseball collection, documenting the history of the game and providing a unique look at America since the late 1700s. Now Baseball Americana presents the best of the best from that treasure trove. From baseball's biggest stars to street urchins, from its most newsworthy stories to sandlot and Little League games, the book examines baseball's hardscrabble origins, rich cultural heritage, and uniquely American character.The more than 350 fabulous illustrations many never before published featured first-generation, vintage photographic and chromolithographic baseball cards; photographs of famous players and ballparks; and newspaper clippings, cartoons, New Deal photographs, and baseball advertisements. Packed with images that will surprise and thrill even the most expert collector, Baseball Americana is a gift for every baseball fan.

A rescued rogue . . . Scandal has rocked the city of London. Colin Eversea, a handsome, reckless unapologetic rogue is sentenced to hang for murder and, inconveniently for him, the only witness to the crime disappears. Then again, throughout history, the Everseas have always managed to cheat fate in style: Colin is snatched from the gallows by a beautiful, clever mercenary.A captivating captor. . . Cool-headed, daring Madeleine Greenway is immune to Colin's vaunted charm. Her mission is not to rescue Colin but to kidnap him, and to be paid handsomely for it. But when it becomes clear that whoever wants Colin alive wants Madeline dead, the two become uneasy allies in a deadly race for truth. Together, they'll face great danger and a passion neither can resist.

Maximillian Wells, the Earl of Trent, couldn't believe his ears-or his eyes. Before him stood beautiful, unattainable Pandora Effington, the town's most scandalous beauty, and the fiery heiress was making him a most tantalizing offer. If he wanted to take Pandora's hand in marriage, he had to play a game of her devising-and he had no intention of losing. Most of London's eligible bachelors left Pandora cold and she longed for a true hero-a man who would do anything in his power to win her love. Maximillian's very touch sent shivers down her spine and made her dream of long nights spent in his arms. But was he willing to risk everything he held dear to prove his love?

James Cordier is all blue blood and entirely dangerous. He's a master of disguise, a brilliant thief, a first-class lover all for King and Country and, by gad, he's so weary of it. His last mission is to "acquire" a packet of incriminating letters from one notorious woman. Then he can return to London and meet sweet-natured heiresses not adventuresses and fallen women.Francesca Bonnard has weathered heartbreak, scorn, and scandal. She's independent, happy, and definitely fallen; and she's learned that "gentlemen" are more trouble than they're worth. She can also see that her wildly attractive new neighbor is bad news.But as bad as James is, there are others far worse also searching for Francesca's letters. And suddenly nothing is simple especially the nearly incendiary chemistry between the two most jaded, sinful souls in Europe. And just as suddenly, risking everything may be worth the prize.

The all-American chronicle of radio legend Carol Miller, from her rise to success in a male dominated world, to the rockstars she's know along the way, to, for the first time, the private story of her quietly waged battle with a deadly disease.As one of the nation's top radio DJs, Carol Miller introduced the music of Bruce Springsteen to the New York airwaves, was on a first-name basis with Sir Paul McCartney, dated Steven Tyler, and has been recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her on-air approach and singular voice have infl uenced the sound of rock radio for more than four decades, and her satellite and syndicated Get the Led Out programs are heard nationwide. In Up All Night, Carol spins the entertaining, moving, and revealing story of her life and times in rock radio and beyond. A nice Jewish girl from Queens, Carol was supposed to be a doctor or, at the very least, a lawyer. But hearing a doo-wop trio in the alley under her window changed the direction of her life forever: she fell in love with popular music. As the tumult and excitement of the sixties rocked colleges across America, Carol a biology major at the University of Pennsylvania became an underground rock DJ at the campus radio station. Radio jobs in Philadelphia and New York City quickly followed, and Carol rose to the top of the profession. But even as she enjoyed a professional and personal life imbued with rock and roll glamour, Carol harbored guilt, disappointment, and alienation, believing she'd failed her traditional, intellectual Jewish parents and often feeling like an outsider in the very culture she had helped to create. The specter of an unnamed illness that had claimed many of her relatives' lives hung over hers as well, and she too would face a monumental challenge when diagnosed with breast and uterine cancer. Told in the distinctive voice that has charmed millions of listeners for decades, Up All Night is a frank, funny, and inspiring memoir. Offering snapshots of the rarefied world of pop music and the shifting social history of our times, it is as much a cultural chronicle as it is one woman's candid and moving story.

Kim Kardashian is a phenomenon.Despite her privileged upbringing in Beverly Hills, ten years ago Kim was just a modest stylist to stars like Paris Hilton and Brandy, making extra money selling her clothes on eBay. But a combination of hard work, an astute business brain, a hit TV series and a body to die for turned her life around.In this revealing unauthorized biography of Kim, bestselling author Sean Smith discovers a sweet, kind, and smart young woman whose life story reads like an X-rated version of Dynasty . . . an infamous murder case, elopement, a notorious sex tape, a seventy-two-day marriage, gender transition and impossibly glamorous designer dresses.Finding love with one of the biggest stars on the planet, Kanye West, she has begun her own dynasty with her daughter, North, and the approaching birth of her son. Now, as Kim Kardashian West, she is the most photographed and talked-about celebrity of the past decade. Her following on Instagram alone exceeds 42 million, over 4 million more than the population of her home state of California.Kim Kardashian follows her extraordinary journey from her childhood and amazing family to her turbulent love life and multi-million-dollar lifestyle. It is the ultimate insight into an icon of our times.

"When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me . . . [my mother] sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down the street the next day." Joe Biden In this, the first definitive biography of Vice President Joe Biden, renowned journalist Jules Witcover examines the fascinating life of a man who, with his tenacity, outspokenness, and charming smile, has shaped Washington politics for the past forty years and who now serves as the forty-seventh vice president of the United States.Raised in the working-class towns of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware, and with lackluster grades in school and no particular goals other than to play sports or, fleetingly, to become a priest, Biden shocked the nation in 1972 when he became one of the youngest elected senators in U.S. history. From that point forward, he carved a legacy for himself as one of the most respected legislators in the country. Biden's record in Congress was impressive. He chaired three Senate committees, confronted Slobodan Miloevic head-on as a war criminal, and conducted the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court justices. After voting for the 2002 Senate resolution to use force in Iraq, he later called for its repeal and became an outspoken critic of the conduct of the war.Yet for all of Biden's achievements in the Senate, his life has been filled with tragedy and countless challenges. Within two months of being elected in 1972, Biden lost his wife, Neilia, and his young daughter in a tragic accident a loss that brought him to the nadir of despair and shook his resolve to stay in politics. And even after Biden vowed to continue his career, his tenure was marked by two brain aneurysms and career-threatening verbal gaffes. Then, after being considered among the front-runners in the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries, Biden was accused of plagiarism for a speech he made at the Iowa State Fair. He dropped out of the race to the sounds of Washington pundits chattering that the presidency would never be his. Through it all, Biden survived and ran and eventually dropped out again in the 2008 primaries. But even with this defeat, Barack Obama recognized Biden's vast experience in domestic and foreign affairs, and selected him to be his running mate.Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption is based on exhaustive research by one of Washington's most prolific journalists. In drawing on numerous exclusive interviews with Biden's confidants and family members, as well as President Obama and Vice President Biden, Witcover has gone beyond conventional biography to track the forces that have shaped a man who, with his plainspoken style and inspiring life story, has resonated with millions of Americans and whose work is now influencing the Obama-Biden administration and shaping America.

What can chess masters teach us about how humans become expertsWhy can't race car drivers explain decisions they've made behind the wheel?What does predicting the winner of a soccer match say about our ability to make the right choiceWhen we talk about experts, we typically have bought into the idea that they have all the answers. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Gordon Rugg exposes the surprising ways in which all people tend to make the same sorts of mistakes, regardless of what field they are in, how smart they are, or even their level of expertise. Focusing on why and how we make decisions, Rugg offers insight into what motivates us, how we fail to find the answers we are looking for, how we can learn to ask the essential questions, and more. Rugg has devoted his life to learning how experts solve problems. He gained international attention after arguing persuasively that the famous Voynich Manu* is a hoax. Now, he demonstrates his techniques in the Verifier Method, which can be applied to any seemingly unsolvable problem.Drawing on his personal odyssey in the field of human expertise, Rugg makes astute and entertaining conclusions about how and why we inevitably fail, and explains how to make better mistakes, work backward, and reengineer the ways we pursue success.