History Essays

On January 1, 1966, New York came to a standstill as the city's transit workers went on strike. This was the first day on the job for Mayor John Lindsay - a handsome, young former congressman with presidential aspirations - and he would approach the issue with an unconventional outlook that would be his hallmark. Against this backdrop, too, the sporting scene saw tremendous upheaval.

In the half-century since its birth, as Sports Illustrated grew from a struggling start-up to America's preeminent sports magazine, one thing has remained constant: the commitment to great storytelling. That part of the magazine's mission has always been easy to define: Identify the most compelling sports stories of our time and get the best writers in the business to tell them. This book brings together a lineup of writing talent worthy of the Hall of Fame and the classic stories they produced for Sports Illustrated over the past 50 years. Many of the writers whose work is collected here are longtime favorites of SI readers (Frank Deford, Rick Reilly, Steve Rushin, Gary Smith).

One of the most influential books on economics ever written, Thomas Robert Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population remains one of the most controversial too. This 1798 work inspired naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace to develop the theory of natural selection. But it has also sparked criticism - Karl Marx famously called Malthus a "lackey of the bourgeoisie." Yet this hasn't stopped leading present-day environmentalists from taking up Malthus's ideas.

In What Wars Leave Behind, J. Malcolm Garcia reveals the people and pain behind the statistics. He writes about impoverished families scraping by in Cairo’s city of the dead, ordinary Syrians pretending all is well as shells explode around them, and others caught in conflicts that rage long after the cameramen have packed up and gone away.

Indiana champions shining examples of literary and artistic merit regardless of whether the individual artist or writer is famous; asserts a standard of care and tradition that has nothing to do with the ivory tower establishment; is unafraid to deliver the coup de grâce when someone needs to say the emperor has no clothes; speaks in the same breath—in the same discerning, insolent, eloquent way—about high art and pop culture. Few writers could get away with saying the things Gary Indiana does. And when the writing is this good, it's also political, plus it's a riot of fun.

Over the course of less than 24 hours in the spring of 1921, Tulsa’s infamous “Black Wall Street” was wiped off the map - and erased from the history books. Official records were disappeared, researchers were threatened, and the worst single incident of racial violence in American history was kept hidden for more than 50 years. But there were some secrets that would not die. A riveting and essential new book, The Ground Breaking not only tells the long-suppressed story of the notorious Tulsa race massacre.

America was founded on the concept of the innate and inalienable rights of humankind. Many Christians see an echo of the imago Dei—that every human being carries the image of God—within those ideals. Yet these rights were systemically withheld from the Black and enslaved residents of this country for centuries. Through it all, Black people have proclaimed the truth of their dignity and personhood in powerful and profound ways. Crowned with Glory collects many of the writings of these men and women, both familiar and lesser-known, to shine a light on what has always been there.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) had a profound influence on the shape of 19th-century thought and political discourse. His view of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to the unrestricted state. Mill favoured decentralised forms of socialism because he thought that a centralised model would discourage competition, neglect talent, and disregard freedom.

Honduras no es Irak, pero cada año mueren asesinadas 85 personas por cada 100.000 habitantes, una cifra que supera a la de Irak. Honduras vive una de las guerras no declaradas menos contadas del mundo. Una guerra laberíntica de todos contra todos: el narco, que transporta a través del país el 90% de la cocaína colombiana y venezolana que llega a Estados Unidos; los pandilleros convertidos en soldados del narco y en extorsionadores; una policía sin medios que, en vez de detener criminales, prefiere ejecutarlos....

El Rayo Vallecano es de los últimos equipos de barrio que pueden encontrarse en España. Este hecho lo ha dotado de una particular idiosincrasia que se refleja en este audiolibro, en el que se habla de fútbol, pero también de ideología, de historia y de una ciudad.

Il breviario dei politici contiene una raccolta delle massime di comportamento e strategie elaborate dal cardinale Mazzarino per manipolare le leve del potere. Il libro si costituisce come una guida politica dedicata all'individuo che vuole prevalere sugli altri, con astuzia e dissimulazione. Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino (1602-1661) fu un cardinale, politico e diplomatico italiano, che servì in Francia come Primo Ministro sotto il regno di Luigi XIV, succedendo il cardinale Richelieu.

No recuerdo cuándo dejé el fútbol. Solo sé que un tiempo después aprendí a controlar el balón con las figuras metálicas de un futbolín. A pocos metros del colegio, en un bar de La Maruca, había uno extraordinario, de madera maciza y mangos que se movían como pistones, mangos pegajosos. Las bolas tenían muescas. La última vale doble en caso de empate. Pasar por debajo al dejar al otro a cero. Cervezas en botellín. Vestidos. Los primeros móviles. Mejillones en salsa para doce. Cigarros.

«El Celta rozó la hazaña», se pudo leer en todas las crónicas deportivas. Si el roce hace el cariño, la hazaña debe de querer muchísimo al Celta porque llevamos décadas rozándola, acariciándola y haciéndole cosquillitas en el sofá. A la hazaña, estoy segura, le hemos provocado algún que otro orgasmo.

Where Will Man Take Us? explores the changes technology is bringing about in us - as a society and as a species. What will the next generation turn into, what will it be like, how will the new Adam and Eve live and love? In this audiobook, Atul Jalan tackles nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and genetics, seamlessly weaving the future of technology with the changing dynamics of human love, morality, and ethics.

Thoreau gives an account of three canoe and hiking journeys - by himself and with others - through the mostly uninhabited forests of Maine in the 1850s. Identifying birds, trees and plants by their botanical as well as their common names, he also records the Indian names of lakes, rivers and plants. He investigates the connections between waterways and trails, and provides detail on camping, fishing and hunting in the woods, using whatever is at hand. Extolling the beauty of the wilds that he encounters, Thorough’s narrative is also imbued with elements of his philosophy.

Anthony Bourdain chases the fumigation truck in Bergen County, New Jersey. Dave Eggers tells it straight: Illinois is Number 1. Louise Erdrich loses her bikini top in North Dakota. Jonathan Franzen gets waylaid by New York's publicist...and personal attorney...and historian...and geologist. John Hodgman explains why there is no such thing as a "Massachusettsean."

A collection of charming anecdotes, written with sophistication and taken from Michał Rusinek's life. They all start with an unfortunate use of some word or with a language puzzle. This book is a great feast for the lovers of anecdote, classy sense of humor, and beautiful, erudite use of the Polish language. ALERT: You won't find better Polish than written by Rusinek.

Gino Strada, chirurgo di guerra e fondatore di Emergency, l'associazione umanitaria italiana per la cura e la riabilitazione delle vittime di guerra e delle mine antiuomo, racconta in questo libro la storia del viaggio in Afghanistan iniziato il 9 settembre 2001, due giorni prima dell'attentato terroristico di New York. L'autore firma questo diario di viaggio che è al tempo stesso una testimonianza della guerra che ha portato alla disfatta dei talebani, la conquista della capitale da parte dell'Alleanza del nord e la "liberazione" di Kabul.

Robert Stone was a singular American writer, a visionary whose award-winning novels - including Dog Soldiers, Outerbridge Reach, and Damascus Gate - earned him comparisons to literary lions ranging from Samuel Beckett to Ernest Hemingway to Graham Greene. Stone had an almost prophetic grasp of the spirit of his age, which he captured with crystalline clarity in each of his novels. Of course, he was also a sharp and brilliant observer of American life, and his nonfiction writing is revelatory.

Honduras no es Irak, pero en algún momento, Alberto Arce - único corresponsal extranjero en Tegucigalpa de 2012 a 2014 - lo vivió así. Honduras no es Irak, pero cada año mueren asesinadas 85 personas por cada 100.000 habitantes, una cifra que supera a la de Irak. Honduras vive una de las guerras no declaradas menos contadas del mundo. Una guerra laberíntica de todos contra todos.