Introduces Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the best-known and busiest composers of all time who, as a child, played for royalty but later tried to break away from those who offered steady work but treated him badly.

Introduces Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the best-known composers of all time, who not only broke the rules about how music is written, but also about how musicians should be treated.

A biography of the German composer who had only one of his compositions published before his death.

"He's the most notorious cattle rustler in all of Texas. His name--Jebediah Cotton--strikes fear into the hearts of every rancher in the territory. So it's more than a little strange that someone would shoot Cotton's youngest son in the back. Whoever did it is either a coward, a fool, or a crazy man. Whoever did it must die. Even if he's a U.S. deputy marshal named Will Tanner... So begins not one, but two of the deadliest manhunts in frontier history....

Essayist Ryan Britt got a sex education from dirty pictures of dinosaurs, made out with Jar Jar Binks at midnight, and figured out how to kick depression with a Doctor Who Netflix binge. Alternating between personal anecdote, hilarious insight, and smart analysis, Luke Skywalker Can't Read contends that Barbarella is good for you, that monster movies are just romantic comedies with commitment issues, that Dracula and Sherlock Holmes are total hipsters,...

Winner of the National Book Award: Considered by many to be the definitive account of the Army-McCarthy hearings, Victor S. Navasky's Naming Names rivetingly documents one of the most shameful eras in American history Drawing on interviews with over one hundred and fifty people who were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee-including Elia Kazan, Ring Lardner Jr., and Arthur Miller-award-winning author Victor S. Navasky...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and the American Book Award, the bestselling Common Ground is much more than the story of the busing crisis in Boston as told through the experiences of three families.

David Giffels grew up fascinated by his father's dusty, tool-strewn workshop and the countless creations--some practical, others fantastical--it inspired. So when he enlisted his eighty-one-year-old dad to help him with the unusual project of building his own casket, he thought of it mostly as an opportunity to sharpen his woodworking skills and to spend time together. But life, as it usually does, had other plans. With wisdom and humor, Giffels grapples...

"After spending most of his young life driving cattle from Texas to Nevada, Will Tanner is ready to wash the trail dust from his throat. Maybe it was fate that brought him to the Morning Glory Saloon on the border of Indian Territory--or just plain bad luck--because no sooner does he sit down than three rough-looking characters walk into the bar with vengeance in their eyes, guns at their sides...and fingers on their triggers. The trio's target is...

"The problem of agriculture is as old as civilization. Throughout history, great societies that abused their land withered into poverty or disappeared entirely. Now we risk repeating this ancient story on a global scale due to ongoing soil degradation, a changing climate, and a rising population. But there is reason for hope. David R. Montgomery introduces us to farmers around the world at the heart of a brewing soil health revolution that could bring...