biography & autobiography / historical

"In the early days of Prohibition, . . . a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey . . . By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States. Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the U.S. Attorney's office hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences: . . . sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government--and that can only end in murder"--Provided by publisher.

"A total re-assessment of the life of Adolf Eichmann that reveals his activities and notoriety amongst a global network of National Socialists following the collapse of the Third Reich, and permanently undermines Hannah Arendt's often-cited notion of the "banality of evil.""--Provided by publisher.

Explores the life of Alexander the Great, including the author'sjudgement against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions.

". . . historian and classicist Barry Strauss tells the story of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the lives of ten . . . emperors, from Augustus to Constantine"--Provided by publisher.

A collection of essays by political historians that offer a critical look at the presidency of Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States, discussing the big issues that shaped the Obama years, including the conservative backlash, race, the financial crisis, health care, crime, drugs, counterterrorism, Iraq and Afghanistan, the environment, immigration, education, gay rights, and urban policy.

In graphic novel format looks at the life of American statesman, lawmaker, writer of the Federalist Papers, and first secretary of treasury under George Washington, Alexander Hamilton.

"... examines Adolf Hitler's time in Munich between 1918 and 1926, the years when Hitler shed his awkward, feckless persona and transformed himself into a savvy opportunistic political operator who saw himself as Germany's messiah. The story of Hitler's transformation is one of a fateful match between man and city. After opportunistically fluctuating between the ideas of the left and the right, Hitler emerged as an astonishingly flexible leader of Munich's right-wing movement. The tragedy for Germany and the world was that Hitler found himself in Munich; had he not been in Bavaria in the wake of the war and the revolution, his transformation into a National Socialist may never have occurred."--Provided by publisher.

"He was history's most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? The [bestselling biographer] brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography. Drawing on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from standing at the intersection of the humanities and technology. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history's most memorable smile on the Mona Lisa. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo's lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions. His ability to combine art and science, made iconic by his drawing of what may be himself inside a circle and a square, remains the enduring recipe for innovation. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it--to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different."--Jacket.

"An ... account of America's pivotal--and still controversial--intervention in World War I, enlivened by fresh insights into the key issues, events, and personalities of the period."--Provided by publisher.

A portrait of the outbreak of the 1917 Russian Revolution, told through eyewitness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold. Petrograd (the former St. Petersburg), was filled with foreign visitors who existed in hotels, clubs, offices, and embassies, and were acutely aware of the chaos in the city, the terrible shortage of edible food, and the fact that their lives were constantly in danger. The group included journalists, diplomats, businessmen, bankers, governesses, volunteer nurses, expatriate socialites, and some African Americans. Many kept diaries and wrote letters home. Much of the material in this book is previously unpublished and furnishes a unique and frightening picture of life in Petrograd during the revolution.